Now that she had won over the court, she spent all her time, rounding up demons wreaking havoc as she went. Her name quickly spread and she really became known as the Demoness. It wasn't like she was wreaking havoc because she wanted to. There were many uncounted for demons pretending to be humans so that they could prey on the many innocent lives. For the demons who were willing to return to the Demon Realm, she let them live and those who opposed her were killed.
Many people thought she was killing for her enjoyment not knowing that those people she killed were demons. She didn't bother clearing her name because she knew that it was futile. Human hearts were fickle and suspicious.
A couple years went by with her doing this. She even managed to slip in a few loyal demons acting as her eyes and ears in certain towns. All that was left was the harem. Dealing with a bunch of angry old men and rogue demons were easy but Xiu Xiang had no idea how to handle an harem!
The moment the doors opened to reveal a large group of handsome men and women, Xiu Xiang's mouth gaped open.
"Uh... what am I supposed to do with all of you?" Xiu Xiang asked. A group of men and women instantly ran over to fawn over her.
"My lord, are you tired? Why not join me for a bath?"
"My lord, come over here. I'll feed you."
"Have a seat. I'll pour you a drink."
"My lord."
"My lord."
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Xiu Xiang escaped the horde of clingy half naked people and barely came out scratched free. Her robes were in disarray and her hair was disheveled. Combing out her long hair she glared at Hua Jian, who was laughing at her current state.
"Aw... is the innocent Demon King having trouble with her harem?" Hua Jian asked.
A ball of fire erupted from her hands and she got ready to throw it in his face.
"Wait! Wait! I got good news! If you kill me now, you'll regret it!" Hua Jian cried out.
Xiu Xiang contemplated for a bit and finally killed the fire within her hand. She dropped into a chair with her arms folded together in front of her.
"What is it? If it isn't good, I will roast you alive," Xiu Xiang threatened.
Hua Jian grinned and tossed her a set of plain white clothing.
"What is this?" Xiu Xiang asked. Compared to the clothes she had been wearing, it really was quite ordinary.
"A wedding will soon take place at Tian Ling Sect, which means that security around the inheritance cave will be lax. It's our best chance to infiltrate it," Hua Jian said.
"A wedding?" Xiu Xiang thought. If a wedding took place at Tian Ling Sect, it could only mean that the wedding was Wei Xing's. Looks like Wei Xing and Bai Qing had fallen in love after all. This was a good thing, she thought. Once she freed the Demon King's other half of the soul, he would revive, and she'd be free of this responsibility. She'd soon be free to roam the world however she'd like.
Xiu Xiang changed into the set of clothes that Hua Jian gave her and the two set off to the human realm. There was a gate behind the palace that connected the Demon Realm to the Human Realm. The both of them stepped through the gate and appeared on top of a mountain. It really was bright and beautiful. Seeing the beautiful view of the green mountains and bright blue sky, she was glad to get out of the Night Palace.
"Let's go," Xiu Xiang said.
The two of them descended the mountain and entered a small town. The gate had teleported them to the town closest to Tian Ling Sect. It was the same town where she had traded all of Master Feng Mian's treasure for money.
In order to prevent the townsfolk from recognizing her, she disguised her face with a face changing spell that wears off after twenty four hours.
The town was lively and heavily decorated in celebration of the wedding between Tian Ling Sect and Qing Qiu Sect. She was just about to decide on where to go when she caught a conversation between two men in green robes. Just one look at them, and anyone could tell they were from a distinguished sect.
"Xiao Ping ah! Why must we go there now? I want to enjoy the cuisine here before we enter the sect," the larger build man whined.
"Xiao Pong, you know the Young Master hasn't bought a wedding gift yet. We need to hurry to the sect and hand over the gift," the second man said.
"NO! I'm going to eat my fill of food here first!" With that said Xiao Pong took off in a certain direction. His partner, Xiao Ping, groaned in annoyance and quickly chased after him.
Grinning from ear to ear, Xiu Xiang turned to Hua Jian. "I know a restaurant around here that serves great food and wine!" She darted down the busy street and missed the eyeroll that Hua Jian had given her.
When the two of them arrived at the entrance of the restaurant, they noticed that it was densely packed. She was worried that they might not get a seat when a server bounced up to them.
"Ai, would you two look a private room?" the server asked.
"There's extra private rooms?" Xiu Xiang asked.
"Of course! We especially saved rooms for special guests like you!" the server chirped.
Xiu Xiang's clothes were quite plain but if anyone were to look closely, they can tell that the fabric was quite expensive. She eyed the crowded restaurant until she spotted Xiao Ping and Xiao Pong from earlier. They were being escorted to the second floor. She quickly handed over a few gold coins to the server and the two of them were taken up to the second floor and into a private room that was right next to the two men in green clothes.
They were served tea first and the server took off to go get them the finest wine and put in their order for the food.
"My lord, must we be eating right now? Shouldn't we try to find a way to enter the sect?" Hua Jian asked.
Xiu Xiang gulped down her tea and grinned.
"What are you worried about? I've already found a way to get in," Xiu Xiang said.
"?"
She didn't bother to explain as she nodded her head toward the next room. Hua Jian snapped his mouth shut and listen closely.
When he heard the two men talking about the wedding, he quickly understood.
"Will you do it, or should I?" Hua Jian asked.
"Let's eat first. Afterwards, we'll make our move," Xiu Xiang replied.
It was getting late when Xiao Ping and Xiao Pong finished their meal. They were just about to head out of the restaurant when a beautiful young maiden accidentally bumped into them.
"I'm terribly sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going," the beautiful maiden said. She was dressed in a plain white outfit but that only heightened her natural beauty. She sent the two of them a gorgeous smile and bowed respectfully before heading down the stairs and out of sight.
"Wasn't she beautiful...?" Xiao Pong asked. He looked like a lovesick fool.
"Yea, yea. She's beautiful and so is Young Master's sword if we are any later than we already are," Xiao Ping hissed.
Xiao Pong recovered his senses and the two of them quickly made their way to Tian Ling Sect. When they made it to the main gates of Tian Ling Sect, Xiao Pong reached into his sleeve for the invitation but realize the invitation letter was missing.
"What the...? Did I drop it somewhere?" Xiao Pong asked.
"Are you serious? You dropped the invitation? How are we supposed to enter Tian Ling Sect?" Xiao Ping cried.
"I don't know! I swore I just had it!" Xiao Pong cried.
As the two grown men struggled to fix their dilemma, Xiu Xiang and Hua Jian were already being led deeper into Tian Ling Sect with the stolen invitation.
"Wei Xing ah, what are you still doing here all alone? You should be out there greeting guests," Sect Leader Lin said.
"Master, I..." Wei Xing was having second thoughts about the wedding. He didn't want to marry Bai Qing after all.
After he fought with Hua Jian, Bai Qing had stepped in to help and ended up injured. He promised to take responsibility, but did he have to marry her? He didn't know why his heart felt so heavy knowing that he was going to marry Bai Qing. All he could think about was Xiu Xiang.
He didn't mean to hurt Xiu Xiang. He just wanted to bring her back to the sect. Who would've thought those strange golden restraints on her wrists would cause such a sever backlash?
"What's wrong, Xing Er?" Sect Leader Lin asked.
"...Nothing," Wei Xing muttered.
Sect Leader Lin has never seen his disciple look this down before. Was he wrong to have thrown this marriage upon his only disciple? He couldn't help but worry over Wei Xing but with the allotted time drawing nearer, Sect Leader Lin had no choice but to leave his pavilion and head out to greet the incoming waves of guests.