Li XiWang swallowed hard before turning around.
"Oh…you're so beautiful!" She exclaimed, without thinking.
The Demon standing and watching her was truly striking in her looks. Her skin was the colour of damsons, a pale purplish glow lighting up her face. She had long hair but it was twisted into a high bun on the top of her head, so severe that not even one tendril escaped.
She had a flame brand in the centre of her forehead, three licks of fire, red and angry looking, high cheekbones in an angular face, and red eyes to match, right now looking back at her curiously.
"I haven't been beautiful in a long time!" She snarls, her red mouth twisted into a cruel grin.
"But you are!" Li XiWang whispers, cringing back.
Rumi is awake now and growls next to her, watching both his sister and the enemy. Right now, anyone who wasn't WingAnLaZhan was a bad person. His tail curls protectively around his sister, even as his hands grab hers.
"Beauty isn't everything!" The Demon snaps back.
She's sitting on the other side of this shimmering wall, at a sort of desk in this weird cave bathed in yellow light. She flicks one of the crystal clear balls next to her and it fills with a white smoke. She flicks it again, and it makes a noise of distress.
"Stop that! You're hurting it!" Li XiWang shouts.
"How do you know?" The Demon says bitterly. "They cannot feel anything any more." She does it again, in a spiteful attempt to prove her point.
The noise comes again, this time a bit louder.
"See?" Li XiWang crosses her arms over her chest. "You are hurting it. Stop doing that!"
"Why should I?" The Demon petulantly repeats the action.
"I can't believe you are so cruel! Why would you hurt something on purpose?" She cries out.
Rumi is growling louder and louder.
The Demon suddenly stands up and stomps out.
"It's okay, Rumi. I'll get us out of here." Li XiWang says, wiping her face with her sleeve.
She looks around, as Rumi wraps his skinny arms around her neck, climbing into her lap for comfort. His little body is trembling.
That's when DaErduo decides to show himself. He has taken on the form of his original self, a little white Demon with the blackest of eyes.
"Mistress! Let's find a way out of here." He says, his eyes fearful and huge.
"DaErduo!" Li XiWang brings him into the hug too, and he's quite taken aback by that.
There have been many scritches and head pats, lots of cuddles when he's in his fox form, and he knows Li XiWang loves his soft ears because she's always commenting on how silky they feel. But hugs can only happen when he's like this.
It's the best feeling.
"My parents must be really worried." Li XiWang sniffs, trying to keep it together.
"Xiao Mao will tell them what happened to us. Meanwhile, if we can find a way to get past this barrier… It will definitely help. I am wondering why Hui Gai hasn't come yet." DaErduo says.
"Hui Gai!" Li XiWang shouts.
But nothing happens.
She tries again, and it does the opposite of helping: the Demon stomps back in, frowning at her. DaErduo just about manages to turn back into a dust mite.
"Why are you shouting? I hate children!" She shouts back in irritation.
"Then take us back! My father will definitely take that into consideration! He might not kill you, then." Li XiWang retorts.
She doesn't mean it, not really. She knows her parents; they do not kill without reason. But she knows they'll be freaking out about their disappearance and this person had better have some sort of plan for not dying on the spot.
Li XiWang has seen what both of her parents can do, when they're fighting in battle. Her Father Zhan taught her how to wield her guqin in the same way, and that gives her an idea….maybe to try when they're alone.
She's seen the way he could obliterate any opposition with just a few strikes of spiritual energy from his WangJi…she could try to do the same.
Father Wei could manipulate resentment energy in the same way, making it do his bidding in any given situation. Li XiWang remembers the time they had gone into Caiyi Town and the Children of the Tree had suddenly attacked. He had saved them then, too.
And he's going to be angry now.
Very few things could piss him off, and generally, both of her fathers were even tempered.
But she didn't envy this Demon when they finally caught up to her.
"Oh…don't you worry, Sweetie…I have plans for you. We'll go back when I'm good and ready…" the beautiful Demon cackles, and it's not a nice sound.
"What is it that you want?" Li XiWang asks her, curiously.
The Demon kicks one of the crystal balls which must have rolled onto the cave floor; it squeaks and shrieks as it hits the wall and bounces away.
"One last wish." The Demon scowls back.
A light dawns on Li XiWang.
"That's the genie! The JingLing! But…" She suddenly makes the connection between the crystal balls scattered all around them.
None of these are filled with coloured smoke; there are no friendly eyes peering out, looking back at them. There's just a white smoke trapped within the confines of its clear glass barrier holding it inside.
"They're all genies! Oh my gosh! What have you done to them?" Li XiWang covers her mouth in horror. "They're hurt! You've done something!"
"Nothing they didn't deserve!" The Demon shouts back, angrily.
"Who are you to decide that?" Li XiWang cries out. "I can't believe you would destroy them like that!"
"They're not dead!" The Demon protests, kicking the round ball to muted cries of pain.
"Stop that!" Li XiWang shouts at her. "Haven't you done enough?" She presses up against the wall, hoping to force it back, to let her through.
The Demon zooms in and presses her face right next to Li XiWang, scaring her.
"No. I haven't." She says, ever so quietly.