Almost a month had passed since the bedroom incident. Wei Xing never bothered to check on Xiu Xiang while she made sure to steer clear of him. Since they both lived on opposite sides of the Night Palace, they were bound to never see each other unless they were forced into the same room.
During this time, Xiu Xiang spent her days restoring her strength. She had already restored more than half of her energy. She had the Demon Realm's dense energy to thank for. Right when she was about to decide whether she should sneak out to find some food or not, her personal guards appeared at her door.
"My lord," the captain of the guards addressed.
If Wei Xing was around he would've recognized these guards as the same guards who almost caught Wei Xing when Xiu Xiang was bathing. It didn't take long to convince the captain of her personal guards that she was the real Xiu Xiang. All she had to do was mention an embarrassing story that only she and the captain knew.
"Bai Er, how did it go?" Xiu Xiang asked without even looking at her guards. Her personality had slowly reverted to the time when she was the Demoness.
"We've checked thoroughly. The cultivator named Wang Yue from Tian Ling Sect is indeed dead. Everyone else who was at the Cliff of Abyss also died except for a woman named Song Yi Yan," Bai Er reported.
"And what of Wang Yue's activities before he died?"
"He spent all his time within Tian Ling Sect before his death except a month ago, he was given a mission to got to Jade Mountain Range."
"Jade Mountain Range..."
That was the place where Xiu Xiang had woken up in her real body and where the Demoness's body was stored.
"Did you see any strange demons between Tian Ling Sect and Jade Mountain Range?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary."
If there had been any human forcefully turned into demons, there would've been chaos by now. Since there was nothing then it could only mean that Wang Yue was the only human who had been forcefully turned into a demon.
Somewhere along Tian Ling Sect and Jade Mountain Range, Wang Yue had turned into a demon. Somehow, Xiu Xiang didn't believe it completely. If it was indeed related to the real Demoness in the novel, then he could only have turned into a demon either at Jade Mountain Range or within Tian Ling Sect as the places in between both places have no correlation with the Demoness.
There were no other clues to go off of and Wang Yue was dead. Could she have been worried over nothing?
"My lord?" Bai Er's voice snapped Xiu Xiang back to reality. Whether she was overthinking this or not, she couldn't put it to rest unless she investigated it herself. That was of course after she had put something in her stomach first. Her stomach growled loudly as if a beast was living inside of her.
"Where's Hua Jian?" she asked.
"Hua Jian had been ordered by Lord Wei to investigate how to dig out your old body from Jade Mountain Range."
Dig out her old body? What for?
In that split second, she wanted to smack herself silly. In any case, she already decided she wanted nothing to do with Wei Xing. Why should she care what he wanted to do?
Since Hua Jian wasn't around, she could only use the portal gate in the west lands.
"You all are dismissed." Xiu Xiang strolled past them and was about to leave the room when Bai Er asked, "Where is my lord going?"
Xiu Xiang frowned. She has never once been questioned on what she was doing. She slowly turned around to face the captain of the guards and raised an eyebrow at her.
"You're asking me where I'm going? When did you attain such guts to ask me about my business?" she asked calmly. Her aura burst out within the room. Tables and chair smashed into smithereens. As for the captain and the guards behind her, their knees sunk heavily into the marble floor to the point where cracks bubbled around them. Sweat dripped down the guards faces. They dared not look up at her.
If they had any doubts whether Xiu Xiang was the real Demoness or not, all that doubt was swept away from her presence.
"Lord Wei had instructed that we keep you within sight," One of the guards managed to say under the immense pressure that Xiu Xiang exuded on them.
She cocked an eyebrow at them, then asked, "Do you serve me, or do you serve your Lord Wei?"
There was silence for a moment. Bai Er lowered her head even more and replied, "We are forever loyal to you, my lord."
"That's good to know. You're dismissed," Xiu Xiang said sharply and turned her back on them. Her clothes fluttered behind her and soon disappeared on the spot.
The west lands seemed to be heavily guarded after the invasion of the Demon Realm. Xiu Xiang stepped up to the demons guarding the portal gate.
"I need to use the portal," she said.
The two demons guarding the gate looked at each other and then back at her.
"I'm sorry but authorization is needed to use the portal. Unless you are granted permission from the Lord or Hua Jian, we cannot let you pass," the demon on the right said.
Xiu Xiang sighed. Things were so much easier when she was the Demoness. Her stomach growled. Demons had no need for real food so there wasn't anything tasty in the Demon Realm. When she was the Demoness, she made sure that there was food for her. With Bai Qing being in the Demon Realm, there was probably something to eat, but Xiu Xiang wasn't going to find her to ask for food.
"As if!" she thought bitterly. She remembered the town where the eviler side of Hua Jian had once taken over. The restaurant there had quite the cuisine and she wanted to go back to have a taste.
Without bothering to say anything else, she stepped forward. The two demons realized that Xiu Xiang was still going to try and enter the portal. Instantly, they both took up a defensive position.
"No authorization. No passing." The two demons were ready to strike her down if necessary.
Xiu Xiang chuckled. Did the two little demons honestly think they could prevent her from filling her stomach? In a blink of an eye, she brought the two demons down and jumped through the portal. Thankfully, she regained most of her strength, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to put up with the pain of jumping through portals.
She landed on the outskirts of a forest. Not actually sure where she landed, she went forward in search of some information.
Meanwhile, back at the Night Palace, the guards informed Wei Xing that Xiu Xiang had escaped. Upon hearing that Xiu Xiang had escaped, a deathly silence filled the room.
The guard who had reported it was down on his knees. Wei Xing hasn't said anything but he was already trembling with fright. The demons all thought Xiu Xiang was scary until they met Wei Xing. With Wei Xing's indifferent face, they never know when he would burst out and kill them mercilessly.
"Where are the Night Guards?" Wei Xing asked.
"Th-they're outside the main hall..." the demon replied shakily.
"Bring them in."
Moments later, the personal guards of Xiu Xiang walked in. They immediately bowed and addressed themselves.
"How are you doing your job? Didn't I warn Hua Jian to keep an eye on the prisoner?" Wei Xing asked sharply.
The guards behind the captain looked at one another. This action irritated Wei Xing. He lifted his hand and made a grabbing motion. Instantly, the captain was raised into the air with her hands cupping her neck as if someone were strangling her.
"If you can't do your job, there's no need for you." Wei Xing clenched his hand. He was just seconds from breaking the captain's neck, when she choked out, "My lord probably went to the human realm to look for food."
Confusion settled in as Wei Xing tried to understand the captain's words. He quickly released his hold on the captain. Now that he got a good look at the captain, he realized that the guards before him were the personal guards of Xiu Xiang's. They listened only to Xiu Xiang.
"What did you say?"
The captain coughed heavily. She fearlessly glared up at Wei Xing.
"We are only loyal to our true lord. Whether she chooses to stay or leave the Night Palace is not up to us to question."
Wei Xing went silent as the captain's words settled in while Bai Qing who had been silently beside him this whole time, finally spoke up.
"Are you trying to say that you think that woman the lord brought back is Xiu Xiang?"
It was as if Bai Qing's words woke Wei Xing up. Could it be? Was it possible that Xiu Xiang had been with him this whole time?
"Speak of this to no one," Wei Xing said harshly. He eyed Bai Qing from the corner of his eyes, hinting that his words were meant strictly for her. He then got up from his throne and disappeared from the spot.
Everyone else who had been left behind in the main hall looked just as confused. For the demons, they wondered why they must keep silent about their lord's return while Bai Qing was fuming at the fact that the woman that Wei Xing had been faithfully waiting for had returned.