The waiting that can not be waited for

Chapter 10

"Xiang Liu,"

The whispered name fell into his ears, shattering his dream and dragging him ruthlessly back to the here and now. Opening his eyes, he pulled his fangs out of the woman's neck and turned her face towards him. As the poison found its way out, his mind cleared, returning what they had stolen: his memories. 

Why was Xiao Yao so close to him? Had he fed on her? 

Impossible! 

Xiao Yao hated him. The fact that as soon as he had thrown the last of his spirit power at her in the alley outside the pleasure house, his Fangfeng Bei disguise had crumbled, leaving him looking like himself: the ruthless demon general of the Chenrong army, should have been enough for her to abandon him. 

The woman in front of him couldn't have been Xiao Yao. She just couldn't. Why would she save him? Why was she not next to Tushan Jing? 

"Who are you?" He asked just as suspiciously as he had the first time they had come face to face years ago when he had suspected her to be a spy from Xiyan. 

For a moment, the woman who looked and felt exactly like Xiao Yao said nothing. Xiang Liu noticed that even though she looked slightly pale, a smug smile was plastered on the woman's lovely face. Typical. 

As the demon continued to watch, smugness left Xiao Yao's countenance; a soft smile replaced it. "Who do you want me to be?" she asked, placing her hand over the demon's from where it had not moved since he had held her there while feeding on her. "Whether it's as Xiang Liu or Fangfeng Bei, why do you insist on protecting me, demon?"

When the demon kept staring, she followed with another question, "Why did you willingly take the bug into you, knowing that we could never be? You already know the consequences if I don't choose you. Don't pretend otherwise. You knew there was a good chance that if you did this, your heart would perish. You may have nine lives, but you have only one heart. Why did you give it to me?"

Now that Xiang Liu had regained strength, he pulled his hand off her waist and pushed her away. Sitting up straight, he snapped his fingers. His wine robes instantly morphed into his usual pearl white ones, and Xiao Yao's yellow outer robe- the one she had used to cover him- fell to the floor. "I haven't given you the permission to question me, Grand Princess." 

He caught Xiao Yao's eyes, hoping to see them full of hate for him. It surprised him that not only had he not managed to push her to the floor as he had intended, but failed to anger her as well. 'Why is she smiling? Did I feed too much? Is she alright?' he worried. 

The demon general looked within himself. He felt fine. In fact, he was feeling better than he had done since injecting the bug. His heart- the part that belonged to Xiao Yao- was comfortable… very much so. 'Why, though?'

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