The closer Xiu Xiang got to the manor, the denser the aura was. It was heavy and dark as if a shadow had enveloped the entire area.
"This isn't a curse..." Xiu Xiang suddenly remembered about a small time demon who loved eating the souls of virgins, especially female virgins. The demoness had scouted it to be a part of her demon clan after she left the peak.
What was his name again?
Hua Jian?
"Ugh... this aura feels gross. It's like I'm getting groped..." she thought. Goosebumps traveled up her arms and she couldn't help but shiver. She easily jumped over the wall of the manor and landed into a beautiful courtyard.
A soft flute could be heard in the distance. It sounded quite enticing as if it was beckoning her to give herself to it. She easily ignored the beckoning call but willingly followed the sound. Whoever was behind the music was the demon she was looking for.
She entered a large hall where a group of girls dressed in promiscuous clothing lined up one after another. They were all on their knees staring up lovingly at a man who sat on a throne like chair at the end of the room.
The man had beautiful silky silver hair tied loosely by a red ribbon. He donned a loosely tied robe, revealing the shapely body underneath. In his hand was a handcrafted jade flute. He leaned casually back with one leg propped up, showing well sculpted legs.
How could he be more beautiful than a woman?!
Upon hearing someone enter the room without his permission, he stopped blowing on the flute and opened his eyes to reveal golden cat like eyes.
"What's this...? A mere human actually managed to enter my dimension without even falling into my hallucinations?" Hua Jian asked. He sounded quite surprised and intrigued.
Xiu Xiang shrugged as she walked forward with her hands behind her back. She was just about to speak when she noticed a familiar figure among the many women who were shooting love beams at the beautiful man.
"Bai Qing?" she thought. Her brows furrowed as she stared at the young maiden in yellow.
How did she end up here? It hasn't even been an hour since the two of them separated! How troublesome!
As she thought this, she suddenly remembered a distinct character from the novel who was quite annoying. The future wife of Wei Xing was constantly getting into trouble and was always at odd's end with the Demoness. What was her name? Bai Qing--!
"Ah!" she cried as she furiously pointed a finger at Bai Qing.
Hua Jian, who watched her curiously, couldn't help but reveal a beautiful grin.
"I like you, human. You don't seem to fear me, and you even managed to break into my humble abode. Become one of my servants and I'll reward you well," he spoke.
Xiu Xiang had finally gotten over the shock of Bai Qing and Hua Jian's words finally registered in her mind.
"Your servant?" Xiu Xiang scoffed and she rolled her eyes in annoyance. In the novel, he was her servant. As if she was about to let a small time demon tell her what to do. She could easily turn him to dust with a snap of her fingers if she wanted to. Her eyes flashed bright red as she smirked at him. Her demon beast aura intensified and easily overpowered Hua Jian's weak aura. The groping sensation finally disappeared and Xiu Xiang felt a bit better.
Hua Jian shifted uncomfortably in his throne from the intense aura.
"You're... not human?" he asked nervously.
"Did I say that I was?" she retorted.
Hua Jian forced out a nervous laughter as he spoke, "Pardon my inhospitality, revered one. To what do I owe the pleasure of having this revered one grace us with his presence?"
Xiu Xiang thought that he had quite the tongue. It's no wonder that the Demoness scouted him as an underling but unfortunately, Xiu Xiang had no intention of scouting the Demoness's old underlings nor does she plan to start the Demon Sect that would one day inflict fear upon the world.
"I was told by the townspeople that the lord of this manor had taken their daughters as hostage. Are you the one behind all of this?" Xiu Xiang asked.
"Ah... could it be that you're also looking to eat some delicious souls?" Hua Jian asked as he caressed the cheek of a young maiden who had climbed onto his lap.
She cringed at the thought. She may be a full demon now that the demon beast blood in her had awakened but there was no way she was feeding off humans.
"Um... my tastes lies in a different direction," she replied. The thought of delicious pork belly filled her mind suddenly and her mouth suddenly salivated. Who would've thought that Hua Jian had taken her response in a completely different sense?
"I see. Your taste runs like that, huh?" he wagged his eyebrows at her and nodded as if he completely understood her. He wrapped his arms protectively around himself and sighed. "I'm sorry but all I have are females and no males around. I simply can't stand the stench of them."
"That's not what I meant!" Xiu Xiang cried.
The demon thought she was a man who had a taste for men!
"Oh, there's no shame in admitting that you like men! In fact, it's quite normal in the demon realm for men to like men!"
"I'm not--! Ugh, forget it," Xiu Xiang groaned. The first thing she was going to do once she was done with her business here, was get rid of this get up as a man. Did she really look like a man? Come on, with a beautiful face like hers? "Let all of these women go."
Upon hearing that her business here was to help the women, Hua Jian frowned. Every demon knew not to fight a demon stronger than him, but all demons were prideful and Hua Jian wasn't about to back down without a fight. He suddenly lost all fears he had for her and smirked.
"And lose out on a grand feast? I don't think so."
Hua Jian shot out from his throne and lifted his flute to his lips. A sharp high pitch tone emitted from the flute and a powerful wave of energy burst out at her like a tidal wave. Xiu Xiang twirled into the air to avoid the attack and landed back on her feet a good distance away.
"Damn..." she thought. Where she had been standing before was now a large ditch. If she had been completely hit, she would've been a goner. During her training with the Demon King, it was mostly done with her spiritual soul and not her actual body. She was spiritual and mentally strong but physically, she was still the same as she had been ten years ago. That was partially the reason why she didn't want to get into reckless fights.
She thanked her lucky stars that even with the golden shackles on her wrists, she could still move faster than anybody else.
"You're quite fast but far weaker than I initially thought if you tried to avoid my measly attack. I'll consume you, body and all then I won't need to constantly feed off of virgin souls," Hua Jian cackled.
Ugh! He wanted to eat her? Gross!
He was just about to make another move but suddenly froze in place. He pursed his lips and clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"What is this? Someone else broke through my barrier?"
As he finished speaking, Xiu Xiang finally noticed a strong aura coming from outside. It was strong and dense yet gentle and stern.
A powerful cultivator?
A sense of danger went off in Xiu Xiang's mind and she immediately leaped to the side. Right as soon as she leapt off to the side, the doors to the main hall, blew up as if someone had set off a bomb.
"What the heck? Let's all destroy this hall, why don't we?" Xiu Xiang thought bitterly as she managed to dodge the explosion by hiding behind a pillar.
A large dust cloud filled up the entrance of the main hall and from within the dust cloud came a tall looming figure dressed in white. His hair was tied up into a ponytail adorned with a silver hairpin. His sharp eyes cast a threatening glare at Hua Jian. Just as dangerous as his glare was the silver sword in his hand.
"Wei Xing...? How...?" Xiu Xiang barely managed to utter his name. That handsome man that stood among the rubble that once been the entrance to the main hall was no doubt, Wei Xing, the man who would soon become her enemy.
Was he the one sent out to track her down? Of all the people, why him?!