Capturing My Demon King Costar

MY COSTAR IS INTIMIDATING

Yao Shen thinks Er Wang is talking with him, and gets up from the bed with a start, it's only when he looks to the side, that he sees the Crown Prince lying next to him, wearing his face and an expression of extreme disappointment. If it's disappointment at seeing her, or at waking up at all, Yao Shen can't tell.

The Prince gets up from the sofa and stretches his neck, along with his arms. "I couldn't get past the city walls."

Er Wang snorts. "We could see that, seeing as we found you outside Youdu's gates unconscious."

The Crown Prince ignores her, and moves towards the doors leading out of the administrative building that Er Wang and her cohort usually haunted.

"Not so fast, Si Wang informed us of an interesting development."

Yao Shen notices how the Crown Prince's back goes rigid at the mention of 'Si Wang'. "What does he want this time?" he spits out, through gritted teeth.

Er Wang coos. "Come on, Shi Wang, don't be jealous because he got here after you and is already proving himself, such a skilful...communicator."

Yao Shen would describe Si Wang using other adjectives, and he's sure the Crown Prince would do the same.

In any case, it's interesting to see that despite the tension between them, both of them agreed to keep their relationship as brothers secret from the other ghosts.

Er Wang waves with her pipe in the air, spreading the cloying smoke all around them. "Anyway, he's found that Xin Hulei is in Youdu."

It takes everything in the Crown Prince not to react to that name, but Yao Shen notices his shuddering intake of breath.

"And what does Si Wang want me to do about it?" The Crown Prince asks, keeping his hands balled into fists at his side.

"Well, he's paying a visit to the Fragrant Peony...and Si Wang thinks you're in an unique position to approach him."

"Why me?" Shi Wang asks.

Er Wang shrugs one insouciant shoulder. "Honestly? I don't think he likes you very much."

The Crown Prince turns to her with a weary expression and a sad smile. "That must be it."

It's obvious that Er Wang doesn't understand what the Prince's odd mood means, but neither does she care much about it. "Anyway, it could be worse, Xin Hulei is attractive, as far as demons go. He's not trying to hide his identity, which means his guard will be lowered. He's close to the demon king Xie Huan, so getting close to him will be a huge advantage for us."

The Crown Prince nods, his gaze distant, and then sighs. "Why do you keep insisting on this? Why can't we leave the demons and Modu alone."

Er Wang's smug smirk slips. "In case you haven't noticed, we have ghosts already trying to move there. Pretty soon all the paper money, buildings, and resources the living burn will be going to Modu instead of Youdu...what then?"

The Crown Prince sighs, incredibly tired. Yao Shen knows he's seen it all before. People fighting over so-called "resources", convinced of their scarcity, without once considering that what they had to lose in that fight was much more valuable.

"They haven't done anything, we should stop this."

Er Wang is getting annoyed now, her feline eyes flash with barely restrained emotion, and she takes a deeper pull of her pipe. "For now...maybe they're bidding their time." She flicks her short hair to the side with her free hand. "Anyway the decision isn't up to you," she smirks," we had a vote, remember?"

His mouth flattens into a thin line. Yao Shen can imagine his opinion of that "vote", and with the added information of how the four ghost kings manipulated the other five...well, it's not surprising that things always turned out in their favour.