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They reached the town long after the sun had set.
Shang Qinghua muttered sour words under her breath as she knocked on the door of the village's only inn.
“You may need to knock louder than that if you want to be heard,” Wang Mobei said pointedly, patting away the dust on her cloak.
Shang Qinghua grit her teeth but complied without a sound of protest, banging on the wooden panel until she heard rustling and rushed steps coming towards them.
“Who is there?” A masculine voice rose from the other side of the door, roughened by sleep.
“Two travellers,” Shang Qinghua answered with the most calm and assured voice she could manage. She carefully repressed her annoyance as she waited for the man's next words.
This was all Wang Mobei's fault. Had the cultivator listened to Shang Qinghua, they would have arrived in the evening and they would have had no difficulty renting a room. Now, they had to convince the not-so-cooperative man to let them in.
“What does it have to do with me? We're closed, go on your way!”
Shang Qinghua sighed internally. She turned to Wang Mobei with little hope in her mind. The inflexible gaze of her human tyrant told her everything she needed to know. Wang Mobei would not stoop so low as to sleep outside when a bed was a door and a grumpy innkeeper away.
“Please, we have nowhere else to go and we walked all day,” she pleaded, trying to coax the man. “We can pay you handsomely.”
There was a beat of silence before the innkeeper finally opened the door to glare at them. His gaze barely brushed past Shang Qinghua, lingered a few moments on Wang Mobei's cloaked silhouette before turning to Shang Qinghua's belt.
“You can pay, you say,” he said.
“Yes. How much for one night?”
“For the both of you?”
“Yes.”
Shang Qinghua refrained from tapping her foot as he held his chin and pretended to think about their offer.
“Twenty copper coins. Each,” he eventually said.
Shang Qinghua wanted to protest against this obvious scam but she was tired and she wanted to slip into bed as soon as possible.
“Fine,” she agreed through her clenched teeth. She pulled out her qiankun pouch and poured out her copper coins in her hand. She gave them to the innkeeper ten by ten until the whole sum sat in his palm. He pocketed the money with a slightly less closed expression.
“This way, my ladies,” he said almost agreeably, walking back into the inn with the two travellers on his heels.
They progressed through the empty main room to the staircase leaning against the opposite wall. The wooden steps creaked under their weight as he led them to a room at the end of the hallway.
“Here. Rest well,” he told them. “Also, there is only one bed left.”
“Hey,” Shang Qinghua called after him with a hoarse voice, fully intent on getting her money back. They had paid for a two-person stay!
Without a glance at them, Wang Mobei pushed the door open and stepped inside, cutting Shang Qinghua's momentum.
“Hey,” the demoness repeated in a quieter voice, following her inside.
She carefully stepped over the belongings of the room's other occupants. There were six or seven people sleeping in five beds. At least two different people were snoring.
Shang Qinghua exhaled through her nose. If only Wang Mobei had listened to her… They could have had the whole room for cheaper most probably.
Thankfully, one bed was still empty near the window. Wang Mobei walked straight to it and dropped her bag on the covers. She undressed to her innermost robes with practiced efficiency.
“Do you think there's enough room for both of us?” Shang Qinghua worried as she picked up the discarded clothes and rolled them in a compact ball of fabric that she put into their bags.
“You sleep on the floor,” Wang Mobei commanded coldly.
'Excuse me!?' Shang Qinghua did not yell because she did not want to wake up their roommates and because Wang Mobei was not a woman to argue with. Especially since Shang Qinghua was a demon and she was a human cultivator. Their lots did not mingle much not to say that they killed each other on sight.
One wrong word from Shang Qinghua and it would be the last one; she would be silenced forever by Wang Mobei's spiritual sword, which she handled skilfully. It was to be expected from the daughter of one of the most renowned wandering cultivators of their time. Her father and his parents before him were exceptional fighters who had practiced heavenly cultivation under the tutelage of one of the four major sects before leaving the latter to live by their values.
From what little Shang Qinghua had glaned about her secretive travel companion, Wang Mobei had been raised and trained by her family instead of being sent away to learn. She had perfected her own sword fighting style of which Shang Qinghua had been the unlucky target once. It was like gushes of wind surging out of Wang Mobei's blade and assaulting her enemy. One could be caught off guard by such agility and speed from the bulky woman. Shang Qinghua had been, and it had almost cost her her life. Thankfully, Wang Mobei had not been in a state to hurt her upon their first meeting.
Soon after her father's passing, a monster had stolen her family heirloom, a spiritual sword soaked in the qi of generations upon generations of cultivators. Going after the thief, she had fallen prey to a grouped attack and sustained severe injuries. This had given Shang Qinghua the chance to get away with her life. With her human-enough appearance on, she had thrown herself at the cultivator's feet, promising her everything a lowly demoness such as herself could give her, from precious pieces of intel about the Northern Demon Court to the sparse jewellery she had been wearing. It was an unbecoming behaviour from a direct descendant of the Great King of the Ice Demon Clan but Shang Qinghua largely valued her life over honour and bravery.
It was not like anyone in the Northern Court expected anything from the weak runt of the Ice Demon lineage whose blood purity was still questioned. The only reason Shang Qinghua was still alive was because she had no qualms throwing her pride and her morals aside when needed.
This meant that she did not feel an ounce of remorse when Wang Mobei accidentally formed a pact with her – an unbreakable pact that bound them soul and blood.
When Shang Qinghua had offered to do anything to keep her life, Wang Mobei had raised an eyebrow – which was as handsome as the rest of her person. Although she had been bleeding through a makeshift bandage, an ill hue of blue spreading on her face, she had looked royal in front of Shang Qinghua's quivering form. The demoness had regretted her words immediately as the human cultivator had looked like she was seriously considering the offer. She had eventually unpinned the talisman that had flown to Shang Qinghua's back to partially restrain her motions. Eventually, she had enunciated her part of the deal. She would let Shang Qinghua live and would protect her from harm as long as the demoness stuck with her in her quest for the spiritual sword.
Deep inside, Shang Qinghua had felt the bound take and chain her to the terrifying human. Since then, they had travelled together through the central meadows, following a trail of fresh rumours whispering about a powerful legendary weapon exuding enough spiritual energy to cleanse a whole cemetery from bad spirits by its sole presence. Some said that a habile, greedy thief had stolen it. Others said that they had seen dogs carry it between their fangs and recover from rabies as they trotted through villages with wagging tails. Most of these stories were exaggerated as rumours often were but they helped Shang Qinghua and Mobei-jun keep track of the sword.
According to the last people they had interrogated – Shang Qinghua asking the questions and Wang Mobei threatening them into compliance through her icy gaze alone –, an unusual amount of demonic creatures had been spotted around the village as of lately. Some claimed that they had seen rows of monsters march North in the dead of the night.
Time was ticking. The spiritual sword of Wang Mobei's family was a powerful artefact to which monsters and restless souls were instinctively attracted. Many opportunistic souls, humans and demons alike, were also after it, which greatly complicated the cultivator's quest. Worse, in the absence of an owner, the sword's power was steadily leaking as it waited to be claimed by a worthy wielder. If they took too long, the metal would be completely drained.
To maximise their speed, the two travellers used their respective powers to progress. Wang Mobei could carry them both on her sword for a couple of hours and Shang Qinghua could use her ice demon abilities to create portals. It was less efficient in the meadows since there was very little relief that would allow Shang Qinghua to see in the distance. As she was not familiar with the region they crossed, her ability was limited by her sight. Opening multiple portals in succession was exhausting. Thus why they needed to rest frequently.
Shang Qinghua could not afford to be picky on that night.
She mournfully dressed down to her inner robes like her human companion who shamelessly took up the whole space on the bed. Patting their bags, the demoness shaped two pillows for her head and lay on the floor between Wang Mobei and the window. Soon, her eyelids felt as heavy as mountains and even the sound of rustling fabric could not keep her from falling asleep. She barely registered the sensation of a blanket being thrown over her body as she slipped into slumber.
***
When Shang Qinghua woke up, she sighed heavily and screwed her eyes closed. She wished she could stay like that forever, comfortably snuggled in a warm bed, bathing in the sun's warmth.
She blinked her eyes open.
She was in the bed. She could feel in her back the deeply-burrowed pain of having laid on a hard surface for too long but it was overpowered by her comfortable current position.
Wang Mobei was nowhere to be seen.
The demoness propped herself up and took a look at the inn room in the morning light. Three other women were still sleeping in the shared room. From the belongings scattered on the floor Shang Qinghua deduced that there had been three, maybe four, more people sleeping in that room. All women and children, luckily enough. That was reassuring to see. The innkeeper was not that heartless.
Her stomach gurgled loudly, reminding her of the fact that she had not eaten dinner the day before. She threw her outer robes on and knelt to check the protective talismans on their bags. They were intact, a clear sign that no one had tried to go through their belongings. She made her way to the inn's main room where chatting and clattering had replaced the heavy silence that had welcomed them the previous night.
She found Wang Mobei sitting at a table in a dark corner, the backdoor a mere two feet away and the main door in her sight. The cultivator only had to turn her head slightly to the left or the right to keep an eye on the kitchen and the stairs. She knew what she was doing, that was for sure. This was both a blessing and a curse for Shang Qinghua. Together, they had never been taken by surprise, but this heightened vigilance also meant that Shang Qinghua could not escape her attention easily. Not that she could abandon the human since the pact was still active.
Not that she resented the human for her caution, of course not. How could she when this Wang Mobei was so clearly a reinterpretation of Shang Qinghua's favourite character: the Queen of the Northern Desert? It was only a secondary character in her reverse-harem trash webnovel The Destitute Reincarnated Villainess' Revenge, which included all the popular tropes such as a villainess going back in time to save herself, many secondary plots to multiply the number of love interests, and several, very convenient misunderstandings that set back the story each time it looked like it was about to make some progress. The Northern Desert Queen, unlike the other female characters of the novel, had not been a love rival of the main character. She did not have a love story at all and had instead been a dependable ally with cool abilities and the fans' unconditional love. Shang Qinghua often included doodles of her at the end of the exclusive chapters that fans had to pay to read.
“Morning,” Shang Qinghua greeted her human companion, pulling on a nearby stool to sit down.
Without answering, the human pushed a plate her way. It contained congee and dried fruits, the perfect breakfast for a traveller.
“Eat, we have to gather more information today,” Wang Mobei commanded with an impassive expression.
“Okay, okay,” Shang Qinghua mumbled. “One second, please.”
Wang Mobei clicked her nails on the table but did not rush her this time.
Shang Qinghua had cleared half of her plate when an inn attendant walked up to their table.
“Is everything to your liking? I hope you slept well.”
“Bring us some tea,” Wang Mobei said without acknowledging his questions.
“Of course, please wait a moment,” he replied with an overly sweet and meek smile, going back to the kitchen with their order.
Shang Qinghua popped a dried plum into her mouth and chewed it slowly as they waited for their tea.
“Thank you for ordering my breakfast,” she said. “That's… very considerate of you.”
“They brought two meals when I ordered mine,” Wang Mobei said dispassionately.
“Ah.”
Shang Qinghua went on finishing her plate, enjoying the fruits. As an Ice Demon, she had grown up eating dried fruits imported from warmer kingdoms from the south of the Demon Realm. They also brought back memories of her past life, when she was a young, carefree girl ignorant of the world and adults' problems.
The attendant came back with a wooden board sporting a steaming teapot and the assorted cups. He put it in front of Wang Mobei and left. Without being asked to, Shang Qinghua served them tea.
“Did you hear anything interesting?” She asked her human companion as she took a careful sip of the tea – mildly flavoured with floral tones but pleasantly warm.
“People here noticed an increase in supernatural activity as well,” Wang Mobei said. “There are a few walking corpses that have been spotted. No victims as of now, but they spook the animals. The pigs and chickens have been skittish lately and hunters rarely catch rabbits these days.”
“Do you think the sword attracts them?” Shang Qinghua asked, tilting her head slightly.
“It's my hypothesis, yes. If you got us on the right path,” Wang Mobei stated coldly.
Shang Qinghua's mental eyebrow twitched in irritation but her face showed no sign of it.
“I'd say this is proof of my skills. Let's investigate! Is there a particular spot where corpses gather?”
“The innkeeper couldn't tell me anything more. I will check the woods. Resentment is easy to track down,” the human said.
She finished her cup of tea in one gulp.
Shang Qinghua followed her example and stood up.
“I'm gonna pay, I'll be back right away.”
Wang Mobei did not answer and went back upstairs, presumably to gather the rest of their belongings.
This whole stay was starting to feel like a robbery to Shang Qinghua who lightened her qiankun pouch some more into the innkeeper's hand. Knowing Wang Mobei's discussion tactics, he was probably taking the indemnification for psychological distress.
She waited for the human cultivator outside, noting how colder the weather had gotten during the night. As an Ice Demon, even a mixed-blood, it did not represent any issue for her. She was more worried about Wang Mobei who had a clear dress code that involved blue and exposed chest. The human, as her name indicated, was born in a cold region, but it was still worrying to see so much of her skin. Not that Shang Qinghua would tell her anything. She did not want to die now and Wang Mobei's sentiments towards her were too volatile to risk it. While she was radically cold and indifferent to pretty much everyone, the human seemed to swing between finding Shang Qinghua unbearable and acknowledging her usefulness.
All in all, it was not that bad to work with her.
Ironically enough, Shang Qinghua felt more safe travelling with her than living among her family of blood-thirsty and power-hungry royal heirs. The human was also a huge reserve of spiritual energy, which was why Shang Qinghua had targeted her in the first place before realising that she was her favourite creation.
Shang Qinghua was a mixed-blood demon. Her father, the current sovereign of the Northern Desert, had taken a Friend from afar as a concubine and Shang Qinghua was born from their union. She had taken on her mother's family name at birth. At that moment, her mother had already left the king's harem thanks to her very nature. As a Friend from afar she had the ability to bind other souls to her with contracts. She had accepted to give herself up to the king and to abstain from establishing any contract with him for as long as her body was. The king had mistaken her words for a promise to eternal loyalty. Instead, as soon as all the cells in her body had died and been replaced, she had left him with their child in her womb. His part of the deal stated that he would provide her with expensive, non-nefarious gifts for the rest of her life or his own. If he were to break the contract by not abiding to it, she would consume his spiritual energy until all that was left of him was a shell.
Friends from afar were not particularly aggressive demons and did not live as a clan battling to get power over other demon families, but they were no less dangerous. Knowing this, the king had come back to her to take their child to his palace. Shang Qinghua's mother had given her up against the assurance that she would be treated as good as her step-siblings and that she would be free to do whatever she wanted.
During the first years of her life, her father had to surround himself with many physicians and powerful demons to retain a decent amount of spiritual energy in his body through medicine and qi transfer as he had to oppose his daughter's many unreasonable whims like asking for a star from the sky as a birthday gift or trying to convince her father to let her pet a Depths-Rummaging Bird. Years later, he still needed help from his wives as each time one of his other children bullied Shang Qinghua he would suffer the consequence. Very few knew of his condition and Shang Qinghua was content with that. She did not particularly like her genitor but he was an interesting demon.
Just like her ice powers were weaker than her Ice Demon siblings', her pacts were not as strong as her mother's. Most Friends from afar could shape a contract through their will, meaning that they did not have to pay as much attention to their words as their victims did. If a Friend from afar said 'Let me go alive' and meant 'Let me go alive and unscathed, this instant, and don't try to go after me', the contract would naturally turn in their favour and bind the other party as securely as it would have with the complete sentence.
Shang Qinghua did not get as much leeway to express her conditions when she created a pact. She had to be careful with her words or risk binding herself to someone else forever. Her father had tried to take advantage of it when she was too young to understand what her powers were but since she had no intention to establish a contract at all, his attempts had failed and she had remained free from him besides their blood ties.
She was lucky Wang Mobei had been severely injured upon their first encounter. Had the human realised who she was, the demoness would have been skewered right away. Thankfully, her human appearance was quite convincing and the area had been too contaminated by demonic qi for Wang Mobei to realise what she was. It had not stopped her from threatening and attacking Shang Qinghua who had offered to help in her quest to retrieve her father's sword in exchange for the assurance that she would guarantee Shang Qinghua's safety for as long as they worked together. Wang Mobei had been quite confused at the moment, a blink away from unconsciousness, but she had to have some sense of what was going on because the pact took and bound them to each other.
It had been three months since then, three months spent following the traces of that sword as it was stolen back and forth by a variety of thieves. Humans, demons, even animals. It would be no surprise if a walking corpse were to lay their hands on it. It would be quite providential if it were the case as the sword would finally stay in one place for longer than a day since walking corpses typically did not travel over long distances.
Wang Mobei came back with the rest of their belongings safely tucked into their bags. As always, she was wearing a heavy cloak and her collarbone was on display. She did not look bothered by the cold in the slightest.
“A cultivator came here two days ago, asking after a powerful sword,” Wang Mobei said with a slight crease between her eyebrows. “He hasn't come back yet.”
Shang Qinghua was growing apprehensive. Her powers were not combat-based at all! Plus, Wang Mobei could not kill her or let anything hurt her but if they were to face a powerful foe that could kill Shang Qinghua in one blow, she could get out of their contract easily by abandoning the demoness. The magical deal would not hold after Shang Qinghua's death. She was a free spirit, she probably hated the thought of having someone chained to her.
“The villagers say that monsters are gathering with walking corpses in the forest, to the East.”
Having said that, she started walking in that direction, where the sun was peeking through tall mountains and covering everything with a blanket of pale yellow.
Shang Qinghua hurried after the human cultivator, nibbling on her lower lip but keeping to herself until a question popped into her mind.
“Why did you let me sleep in your bed this morning? Not that I complain, of course not.”
Wang Mobei did not even turn her face in her direction to answer.
“I was waiting for the first customers to come to the inn to ask my questions. As for the bed, you were bothering everyone in the room.”
Shang Qinghua could not see how her lying on the ground between Wang Mobei's bed and the wall could pose an issue to anyone but she did not contest the answer. Who knew what was going through Wang Mobei's mind? Not Shang Qinghua, even though she technically was her creator. Living, breathing Wang Mobei was widely different from the secondary character she had created, which was ultimately just her own fantasies put into words.
“And we arrived late yesterday evening,” Wang Mobei added after a short pause.
Shang Qinghua did not remind her that it was her fault if they had travelled in the middle of the night. It had eventually proven to be a good thing since they had been able to gather more hints and find a lead, but she was not going to admit it.
The road leading up to the nearby forest was empty. It snaked on the side of a tall hill, sometimes dipping into deep ravines filled with moving shadows. Every five feet or so there was a storm lantern with a shivering flame inside. Most of them had completely burnt out and were waiting for a local government officer to refill them with fuel.
Shang Qinghua walked on the road with her mind at peace, knowing that she could rely on her demonic senses to alert her if an enemy were to sneak up on them.
The demoness was cautious about where she stepped to avoid the silent menace of a twisted ankle. Back when she was a mediocre human writer, she had had weak joints that would creak anytime it rained and turn into over-cooked noodles the moment she stepped outside. She had died before getting a proper diagnosis as her parents had never cared much about her health and her adult life had been an endless race against time to write chapter after chapter of her webnovel. Now that she was a demoness with magic powers, she had a much sturdier body.
Focused on her feet, she almost bumped into Wang Mobei's large back. The human had stopped in her tracks, her free hand lightly put on her sheathed blade, ready to bare her.
Shang Qinghua knew better than to ask her for an explanation out loud. Instead, she pulled on her sleeve.
Wang Mobei shook her hand in her direction, as though shooing away a fly.
Vexed, Shang Qinghua was about to ask her who she thought she was when the sound of cracking leaves and branches caught her attention. It was coming from the left. She did not turn her head in that direction to avoid alerting whatever was spying on them that she had spotted it.
“It's probably nothing,” she said. “Let's get going, we can't keep wasting time.”
She pushed Wang Mobei forward with little strength, pulling on the human's sleeve again, this time in the direction of the suspicious sound.
In her peripheral vision, she saw Wang Mobei make a tiny nod to confirm the origin of the ominous sound.
They continued to walk in the usual silence that often settled over the two travellers. Wang Mobei was not the type to chatter the boredom away. Shang Qinghua was more often than not the one to break the quiet with her many questions – that she answered herself – and the stories she had learnt about this universe. As the effective creator of this world, there was a lot that she already knew since it was born from her mind, but there were elements that she had never developed, details that she had never even thought about that she learnt from the inhabitants of her story. It was as though an omniscient mind had filled in the gaps that she had left, whether because it was irrelevant to the story or because she had not had the time to flesh out some aspects of world building.
With a hellish writing pace of one chapter a day, she had already been overwhelmed by the simple necessity of targeting and working on the most popular tropes, the most satisfying ways to deliver vengeance and the most frustrating cliff-hangers, which would ensure she had something to eat the following week.
Now that she had the time to appreciate the complexity of this world and an audience that never complained, she often ranted about local traditions, topology, the current states of human politics, and demonic powers. She was sometimes overcome with pride when she saw how nuanced and lively her world had become, far from the stiff background that only existed to serve her protagonist's story.
Wang Mobei never told her to keep quiet. In fact, she listened to Shang Qinghua rambling and though she almost never partaken to the conversation, she sometimes had a comment to add to Shang Qinghua's words. While the demoness was still very much afraid of her human contractor, she had to admit that it was nice to have someone listen to her stories even when said someone was an hereditary enemy.
For now, however, Shang Qinghua had refrained from talking about the six-ways gender system of the Cave Dweller demons living in the West of the Demon Realm to focus on the footsteps following them from the side of the road. Another hill abruptly gained in height on their left, its foot covered in dense thickets that created plenty of hiding places for whoever or whatever was stalking after them.
They progressed steadily, pretending to be blind to the imminent danger. Shang Qinghua could see tension stiffen Wang Mobei's shoulders as her body prepared for battle. For a character that Shang Qinghua had specifically described as impassive and unreadable, Wang Mobei had a surprisingly honest body language. Shang Qinghua felt pretty confident in deciphering it after mere months of travelling together.
The visible apprehension in Wang Mobei's attitude amplified her own nervousness. She was perfectly aware that many powerful creatures were after the sword and it was not too far-fetched to imagine that some of them would make a little detour to eliminate some competitors. Aside from their current quest, both of them had their fair share of enemies, Wang Mobei because she was an experienced cultivator and Shang Qinghua because she was the weakest heir of the Northern Desert. To look on the bright side of things, this meant that they knew how to deal with nuisances.
When the shadows of the forest suddenly staggered and darkened in the corner of Shang Qinghua's vision, she instantly braced for an attack, shouting at Wang Mobei's attention.
She conjured thick ice around her arm and blocked the first attack, tiny shards of ice flying everywhere under the impact. An ashen, emaciated humanoid face entered her sight and she shivered with disgust. The creature's claws tightened their grip on her forearm, causing the protective layer to crack. She panted out of pain and reflexively kicked her assailant away.
The creature stumbled backwards and Shang Qinghua was able to identify it. Scrawny limbs, long, curved claws, a tall and light build, it was a Grey Scavenger. It was a race of demons that had originated from the central plains of the Demon Realm before spreading in all directions, some clans crossing the border to the Human Realm and settling down in uninhabited regions. As their name suggested, they did not kill and were not particularly aggressive even towards other individuals. They never fought for food. Each member shared information about their surroundings with the whole community at all times through their hive mind so competition for food was minimal. If a place did not have enough food, the colony simply moved to a different region.
A Grey Scavenger had no reason to attack them except if he was after the sword as well.
The Grey Scavenger jumped back onto foot with ease, a large, inhuman smile pulling on his wrinkly, hairless skin. He wore simple clothes of beast fur and, beside bone slabs, there was no armour on him.
Wang Mobei swiftly placed herself between the two demons, her sword unsheathed and ready to strike. Her free hand shone with qi as she drew a seal in the air, creating a shimmering shield in front of her. Wind rushed in the ravine and caught the lapels of her robes, shaking them dramatically around her poised silhouette.
Shang Qinghua did not let the breathtaking sight distract her. Instead, she looked down at the ground between Wang Mobei and the Grey Scavenger who was bounding on its toes, ready for combat. At this moment, her binding powers as a Friend from afar were not useful and she would have to rely on her other set of magical capabilities. She could not manipulate large volumes of ice in such a warm biome, but she could mess with the other demon's footwork to give Wang Mobei a serious advantage over him.
The cultivator was an habile swordswoman who could take on such a meagre adversary by herself very easily. Shang Qinghua's intervention was merely an assurance that she did not hurt herself or tire her body needlessly.
The Grey Scavenger's face was still creased by his large smile. The latter was not necessarily an expression of joy for Grey Scavengers just like laughter was not always happy or humourous for humans. For that species, smiles were a response to various kinds of hormonal reactions in their bodies. If Shang Qinghua had to guess, the Grey Scavenger was nervous. Wang Mobei exuded serenity and confidence.
For a few seconds nothing happened. The tension in Shang Qinghua's body grew and caused her heart to beat louder and louder until her bones vibrated within her.
The Grey Scavenger was the first to move, jumping to the side and rushing forward, leaping left and right to destabilise the human cultivator. Wang Mobei let him come to her, maintaining a perfect guarding stance.
Shang Qinghua focused her attention on the demon's feet, attempting to decipher his intentions through his movements. Eventually, she realised that his steps were heavily drifting to the right as he advanced, though he carefully concealed his trajectory with superfluous moves. He was not planning on fighting Wang Mobei from upfront. Perhaps he was not planning on fighting her at all. Escape would be the wisest course of action in his situation.
Wang Mobei looked like she had caught on the demon's strategy. She stepped forward and turned to face him, exposing her left side but covering it with her shield. The spiritual energy that had been gathering in her left hand went crashing into the thickets bordering the road to cut the demon's escape route.
The Grey Scavenger rushed to his right to dodge the attack. Five feet away from Wang Mobei, he fell on all fours and suddenly charged her.
The human cultivator clumsily stepped back to adjust her aim to a much smaller target. The Grey Scavenger went for her legs, his claws ready to sink in her calf.
Shang Qinghua conjured ice from the ground around his feet. Not much, but enough to throw him off balance.
Wang Mobei slid half a step away and her blade came down with a hiss, cutting into the demon's neck with a whistling sound. The Grey Scavenger gawked and opened his mouth to shout, a grey flow of blood gushing out instead. He writhed on the ground, blood bubbling at the corners of his mouth before he eventually went still.
Wang Mobei circled his body before more of his blood could stain her cloak. She pulled out a handkerchief from her sleeve and began to wipe her blade clean of the translucent blood.
“We have to go now,” Shang Qinghua said with a pressing voice, rushing to the human's side. “Can you take us on your sword?”
“Other enemies might see us if we fly,” Wang Mobei pointed out, diligently cleaning her blade of the blueish, viscous blood.
“All Grey Scavengers have access to some kind of generalised consciousness, like a hive mind, and are capable of sharing information with the colony. The other members of his clan probably know where we are already. If they are after the sword, we have to hurry,” Shang Qinghua said urgently.
Wang Mobei nodded and sheathed her sword. While it was not the legendary blade of her father, it was still a finely crafted object that channelled her power with great efficiency. Now that they had taken care of the demon and confirmed with more or less accuracy that they were close to their goal, they were free to fly away on Wang Mobei's sword. Risking to be seen at that moment was less important than getting to the sword first.
With a flick of her wrist, Wang Mobei caused her blade to levitate a foot over the ground. She stepped onto her and extended a hand towards Shang Qinghua. The demoness hastily accepted the invitation and climbed onto the scabbard in front of Wang Mobei, grimacing when the human's arm looped around her waist.
She was an Ice Demon and the cultivator's body was ten degrees too hot for her, putting aside the fact that their people were hereditary enemies. Thankfully, the wind rushing by her ears soon cooled down her body, making the trip bearable despite her robes and Wang Mobei's warmth around her.
Wang Mobei was a skilled flyer and Shang Qinghua barely felt the changes in direction and height as the sword under her feet soared high in the air. Embraced by Wang Mobei's strong arms, Shang Qinghua let her thoughts wander, thinking back to the Grey Scavenger that had attacked them. Even if he were to be after the sword, he had no reason to attack them. He had spent several minutes trailing after them, waiting for the opportunity to strike.
The only reason a demon would know of the sword would be because they had sensed it. That demon should have known where the sword was already and gone for it, ignorant of the fact that the sword would not have acknowledged him. Had he had a different goal? But what? Why target Wang Mobei and Shang Qinghua of all people?
“We're going down,” Wang Mobei warned the demoness in her arms. “The forest is too thick, I can't see anything and there are too many different spiritual signatures here. I can't sense the sword.”
Glancing down, Shang Qinghua realised that they had reached the Eastern part of the forest. Just like Wang Mobei, she could feel multiple energies of various kinds crowd against her senses. Resentment, demonic qi and some heavenly spiritual energy were mixed, floating up from the trees beneath them. That section of the woods seemed ancient, its trees having grown for centuries, the tallest ones reaching nearly thirty feet in height.
Wang Mobei carefully manoeuvred the sword towards the less dense edge of the forest, landing softly. She stepped down from her scabbard and held out a hand for Shang Qinghua to grasp. The sword was already at ground level but the demoness accepted the help. It was probably a reflexive gesture.
They took in their surroundings. The forest was quiet as though the local fauna had fled the gathering of monsters, walking corpses, demons and cultivators. Shang Qinghua checked the position of the sun in the sky to determine where East was. It was the only hint they had beside the concentration of energies. The resentful energy was the strongest here and they were swathed in it. It was hard to locate its exact origin. Most probably, there was not one origin but many. Ghosts were attracted to the sword but maybe the latter was carried by someone or something else that tried to keep it and lose the other creatures seeking it.
It could be a Grey Scavenger. That would explain why another one had appeared on Wang Mobei's path if they felt the need to protect the finding, but it still did not make much sense. Grey Scavengers had no reason to act this way. Given their hive mind consciousness, they should have been able to escape the forest with the treasure. Had they discovered that the weapon remained unresponsive to their efforts to connect with it? Had they understood that only Wang Mobei's blood could activate the bound?
“We should hurry,” she said. “East is this way. Maybe we'll be able to detect the sword's spiritual energy as we progress?”
“No need, I can sense it,” Wang Mobei revealed, staring at the thick undergrowth barring the way. She picked up her sword and started to make her way through the bushes, paying no mind to the thorns getting caught in her clothes.
Shang Qinghua followed after her, turning the problem of the Grey Scavenger and the sword's current location in her mind. She was sure that with all the information she had at her disposal she could make something out of it. They were on an unknown land, the more knowledgeable they would be about their situation the better. There was something about the fact that the sword was close enough to be detected by Wang Mobei that rubbed her the wrong way. Rumours, being rumours, were often outdated by a few days. Why had the sword stopped moving? Was something or someone keeping it in place? For what reason? Had they sent the Grey Scavenger after them?
Pondering the same questions over and over, Shang Qinghua was progressively becoming more and more certain that there was someone who wished the sword for themself who knew that the sword's wielder could not be anyone and who tried to… slow down Wang Mobei?
“Eek!” Shang Qinghua yelped when roots trapped her foot and caused her to lose balance. She fell forward and gripped Wang Mobei's cloak to stop her fall.
The human's arm curved around her to support her, finding the same comfortable placement as when she was holding Shang Qinghua in the air.
“Thank you,” the demoness sighed with relief. “This forest is treacherous.”
“Look where you step,” Wang Mobei said flatly.
It was hard to tell if it was a remonstrance or a genuine advice.
“Thank you, I didn't think of that,” Shang Qinghua mumbled. “Go on, lead the way.”
The human barely hesitated before resuming clearing the way in front of them, using her sheathed sword as a machete to clear a path for them through the undergrowth. It was a very energy intensive endeavour and Shang Qinghua wondered why they had not simply followed the forest paths that wildlife and hunters used. Undoubtedly, it would be less tiring. Anyone in their right mind would avoid consuming so much stamina by undertaking such a useless task. This was probably the reason why Wang Mobei had decided to cut through the wildest, least changed section of the forest. She had probably gathered from the Grey Scavenger's attack that they were expected. She had even cast a camouflaging spell on them to erase their qi signatures.
The part of the forest they were currently exploring appeared to be abandoned and displayed few marks of human presence. Shang Qinghua's intuition was proven right when they came across the first ruins. The crumbling remains of a temple and its guarding statues littered the area, speaking of an area long ago when the followers of some kind of local cult visited this place before the forest invaded the region. The white rock of the building had been slowly swallowed by moss and roots, nature claiming back her rights. A few feet farther there was the corpse of another unnamed temple. And so on. They walked past half a dozen ancient places of worship. Wang Mobei showed no interest in them, stubbornly carving a path to her rightful inheritance.
The situation was turning weirder and weirder. It could not be a simple coincidence that Wang Mobei's sword had been brought to such a place. There was something about these ruins that was uncanny. There was something off, a little unidentified detail that destabilised one's senses. Shang Qinghua could not shake off the feeling that they were walking into a trap.
The sword, the Grey Scavenger, even the cultivators who had stopped at the inn before them, they all felt like the pieces of a bigger mechanism that was pulling Shang Qinghua and Wang Mobei into its cogs.
Shang Qinghua's mind went back to the hints they already had, combining them and including unknowns to the equations until it felt like every element had fallen back into place.
Everything was pointing to an individual who was ready to go to great lengths to get hold of the sword and eliminate Wang Mobei. That person undoubtedly knew the truth about the sword. The latter could only be wielded by someone of her previous owner's blood. Knowing this, they would have sent the demon after them to slow down their progression. Grey Scavengers shared a common consciousness with all the members of their community and could act like a hive mind though they could also display personal preferences and opinions. If one were to convince a Grey Scavenger to trust them, they would have a colony of around fifty individuals ready to act on their behalf spread across the map. The person who had sent that demon after Wang Mobei knew about the necessary condition of getting the sword to acknowledge one as her legitimate wielder, and wanted to slow her to get to the family heirloom before her. Maybe they even knew that it would take some time before they could take in all the spiritual energy stored into the sword, which would leave them vulnerable to attack. This considerably narrowed down the number of hypotheses about the mastermind's identity. It could only be Wang Mobei's uncle, the one Shang Qinghua knew as Linguang-jun.
He was determined to get his brother's powers even to the cost of his niece's life, just like in Shang Qinghua's novel. She felt stupid for not realising it sooner. She also felt panic and disarray.
“Wang Mobei!” She called out. “I think your uncle is after us. We should stop and think of something to face him.”
The cultivator did not spare her a glance.
“I figured so. I have to get to the sword before he does.”
Shang Qinghua stopped in her tracks.
“You knew your uncle was after us? Why didn't you say anything?” She asked, disbelief sinking in her bones. Linguang-jun was an enemy not to be underestimated, especially since there was no Luo Binghe to help Wang Mobei in this world. “Do you realise that he is too dangerous for us two especially if a colony of Grey Scavengers works for him?”
“You don't need to know everything,” Wang Mobei answered coolly as she broke away a mass of entangled roots and low branches that had grabbed the tail of her cloak. “I'll deal with the demons as usual.”
“Excuse me? I almost died there!” The demonesse protested in her back.
“You didn't.”
For a few seconds, Shang Qinghua was mute with anger and she had to resist the urge to stomp. She could not believe that Wang Mobei would willingly put her in danger and be so indifferent about it. After everything Shang Qinghua had done for her! Truly, she had no heart and knew no consideration for her saviour! Shang Qinghua had saved her life, damn it! When she had stood over the human cultivator lying on the road with open wounds and high fever, she had almost finished her off with a rock before deciding against it. She knew that by rescuing Wang Mobei, she was putting herself at risk of getting killed later on and Shang Qinghua had graciously spared her nonetheless. The human should be thankful all Shang Qinghua did was to bind her with a weak contract that was not even that constraining! Such ungratefulness!
“How dare you! Our contract stipulates that you have to protect me!”
“Wrong. The deal was that you help me retrieve my late father's sword and that I see that no harm is done to you in exchange. You have not been harmed and, right now, you aren't helpful,” Wang Mobei retorted impassively. She did not once shift her eyes away from the task at hand, clearing out the ground.
Shang Qinghua remained rooted to the spot, too baffled to react at first.
“Fine then! I'm not helpful? Please, continue on your own. See if I care! You know where the sword is now, right? My job here is done, our contract is null!”
Having said that, she spun on her heels and angrily strode in a random direction, only thinking of putting as much distance as she could between her and Wang Mobei. Her body was doing a weird thing where her heart beat fast and painfully and a heavy mass blocked her throat. Her eyes were burning. She refused to think about Wang Mobei anymore and ignored the little part of herself that noticed Wang Mobei had not tried to stop her, not even tried to contest her words. Truly, Wang Mobei had never seen her as anything beside an assistant, maybe even a nuisance she was stuck with.
Shang Qinghua could feel in her core that the contract had not been terminated and that it still awaited for its conditions to be filled. It would never be. The deal would never be completed and Shang Qinghua would have to live with that half-complete obligation hanging on her bones all her life, not to mention the gashes on her chest that only seemed to deepen at each of her steps.
She could not believe that she was feeling sad but she did.
As she walked through the forest, crunching dead leaves and getting her legs all clawed up by thorns, she felt her mood sour and her heart squeeze in her chest. No matter how much she told herself that she had had no say in this sudden fall out, she was already missing her human companion. She truly loved Wang Mobei. If Luo Binghe had been the reflection of her anger and frustration, Wang Mobei had been that cool character she would picture in her mind when life got rough. Something like a guardian angel, a comforting presence in the intimacy of her dreams. She had spent so much time refining Wang Mobei's character and she had to admit that what she had just done was very in-character for the cold Queen of the Northern Desert who trusted no one but herself to succeed.
The ache in her heart grew and grew until it eventually struck her that the pain she felt was not just an emotional response. Something was weighing on her chest. She stilled and checked her surroundings, nervousness settling in her body. She was at the edge of a clearing with yet another set of damaged carved pillars and arches. Had she walked straight into an array without realising it?
She glanced around but was unable to gather anything to support her intuition.
“I know you're here.”
She would have next to no chance against a surprise attack. The mysterious spell caster's presence was as well concealed as the array had been. In this situation, Shang Qinghua would have to rely on her wits, words and tricks.
She waited for a reply, standing tall with all the assurance she could fake, waiting for the spell caster to reveal themself.
Eventually, the undergrowth on her side rustled and a human silhouette emerged from the shadows, a concealing spell dissolving from their frame to reveal it.
It was a human man who looked around six years older than Wang Mobei. He was obviously a cultivator but no distinct sign indicated his affiliation to any sect. Perhaps he was also a wandering cultivator like Wang Mobei. And Shang Qinghua was thinking an awful lot about the woman who had just abandoned her like an ugly puppy.
“Hello there,” the man greeted her. “I didn't mean to spook you. I'm just a traveller who got lost.”
Shang Qinghua did not let her disbelief show. They were in the middle of nowhere, plunged so deep in an ancient forest that they were surrounded by the traces of a cult remembered by none.
“What are you doing here, if that's not too much to ask?”
The man made a self-deprecating smile.
“I heard there was a powerful weapon in this forest that attracted resentful ghosts and monsters so I had to investigate it. The villagers showed me the direction to the forest, but once I walked into it I lost all sense of direction. Now, I'm just looking for a way out. I'm glad I was lucky enough to meet someone!”
His story did not explain the presence of the array Shang Qinghua had stepped into and which she could make out more and more clearly as she focused on it. It did not explain why a human cultivator would look so happy to meet a demoness of all things. Shang Qinghua knew that her human form was very convincing but she could not disguise her spiritual signature. Something was amiss here.
“Is that so,” she answered noncommittally. “Maybe you shouldn't have gone into an unknown forest all alone.”
The man let out a loud guffaw.
“I couldn't have said it better, Miss! But here I am. Would you mind pointing the way back to me? I am very hungry and in need of a bed. It feels like I've wandered for days and days,” he whined.
Cold sweat started to gather at the base of Shang Qinghua's spine. The man was way too jovial.
She stepped back over a short distance only to feel her heel hit something solid. An electric shock went through her body. The array.
“I'm sorry. I can't let you go now,” the cultivator said, looking almost apologetic. All traces of glee had faded from his face. “Believe me, I wished I didn't have to do that but you made a contract with the wrong person.”
Wang Mobei. Did he think their contract somehow gave advantage to the woman in any way? Or did the person who sent him thought so? Was it all Linguang-jun's machinations?
Shang Qinghua grit her teeth and prepared for battle. The man traced a seal in the air and spiritual energy whirled around his fist.
The demoness summoned a thin shield of ice and dashed to the left. She was not inept in battle but with the impossibility to establish a contract with her assailant and the fact that her ice powers were too weak to withstand direct attacks, she was at a disadvantage. For the time being, she decided to focus on the array that was keeping her trapped, searching for a weak point in its structure. Preferably, she wanted to directly destroy the talisman that had conjured it to deactivate it completely.
“Not so quick,” the man said, having visibly guessed what she was planning to do.
He sent two bursts of qi her way, forcing her to duck away from the edge of the array. She dodged the first hit and deflected the second one with a qi strike of her own. Shang Qinghua was not really optimistic about the outcome of this battle.
She created small ice formations at the cultivator's feet to interfere with his footwork. By doing so, she confirmed to herself what she already knew: the array had an addition that limited the flow of her qi. That was the pressure she had felt in her chest earlier. She continued to target the man's boots and started to focus some of her attacks onto his joints as well to impede his mobility to the maximum. He was a skilled fighter and his technique had something familiar about it. He had not even unsheathed his sword as though to mock her.
Shang Qinghua swiftly moved aside to dodge another wave of qi sent her way and scrambled to put some distance, keeping in mind her goal to check the array while parring and avoiding her adversary's attacks.
The man diligently followed her and cut her escape route each time he had the opportunity, slowly backing her into a corner of the clearing.
“This was a lovely exchange but, sadly, I have to put an end to this,” he said as though he deplored it while his smirk told another story.
At last, he summoned a blade. She was not the one that was in the scabbard hanging at his hip but another, shorter sword that had come out of his qiankun pouch. Holding his weapon with great assurance he approached Shang Qinghua menacingly.
The demoness searched for a breach in the array, a little crease, anything that she could exploit, scanning the ground with her senses attuned to spiritual energy while her eyes remained fixed on the danger walking toward her.
There was no weak point in the trap. The craftsmanship was remarkable.
This left Shang Qinghua with very limited options.
She opened her arms and presented her palms face up.
“Listen,” she said, pulling some persuasion from her Friend from afar blood. “Maybe we can talk this out.”
“Maybe not. I know what you are, demoness,” the man replied instantly.
He took another step forward. The last one as his body suddenly swayed and fell to the ground.
Shang Qinghua's eyes grew wide. In her fear, she had barely registered the hissing sound of an arrow flying through the air. The very next moment, she felt the array around her break and vanish.
(Art by Soapy_soap)
“You came back,” she said to Wang Mobei, feeling her throat close up on an unnameable emotion.
They had been away from each other for less than an hour, she was being ridiculous. However, Shang Qinghua could not help but feel immensely grateful that Wang Mobei had saved her.
“I felt his spiritual energy,” Wang Mobei explained laconically, tucking her bow away in her qiankun pouch.
“Thank you,” the demoness said with a heartfelt voice.
The human cultivator glanced at her.
“… It's fine. Don't mention it. I shouldn't have talked to you the way I did.”
Shang Qinghua blinked a few times, very quickly. Did Wang Mobei just apologise for her previous behaviour? That was unheard of!
“I was in the wrong as well,” Shang Qinghua said. “I shouldn't have left like that. Did you find anything on your side before you came here?”
Wang Mobei pinched her lips and shook her head.
“No. There is something strange about this forest. I could follow the trail of spiritual energy until the ruins but now it is very diffuse and vague. Right now… I feel the sword very near, in this clearing.”
Shang Qinghua took in the clearing with a puzzled look. There was nothing here beside the cultivator's corpse. Nothing that could hide a sword.
“Let's take a look around together then. Any news of your uncle?”
Wang Mobei shook her head again.
“None. I found no trace of him.”
“Is that so?” A sweet voice interrupted them. “You mustn't have checked very well then.”
Another man walked into the pool of sunshine raining from the opening of the clearing.
“I am right here, Mobei,” Linguang-jun said with a mocking smile.
“Uncle.”
The woman's body was stiff, all her muscles contracted and ready to propel her forward. But she did not move from her position next to Shang Qinghua, her hand still gently looped around the demoness' biceps where she had gripped her to check for wounds.
“I didn't know you had befriended a demon, Mobei. I wonder what your father would have said about that.”
“Father is dead. This is none of your business,” Wang Mobei said curtly.
The next second, Linguang-jun was right beside them, his finger jabbed into Wang Mobei's ribs. A talisman in his other hand shone briefly as his niece groaned in pain.
Linguang-jun tsked.
“This is no way to talk to your uncle. I should teach you some manners.”
He raised his arm again and was about to strike Wang Mobei when Shang Qinghua sprung into action and created a shield of ice that shattered under the impact but absorbed the strength of it. She pulled the human cultivator with her and placed a safe distance between them.
Linguang-jun's peach blossom eyes darkened and the corner of his mouth twitched in distaste.
“You've got yourself quite the loyal dog. I wonder what you promised her,” he mused. “What kind of contract have you made with that demoness?”
Wang Mobei did not answer. Her hand was gripping her chest, where he had struck her earlier. She had an unhealthy sheen on her forehead.
“I have to admit, I never really liked you, Mobei. You are too proud of a woman and you have no consideration for your elders. Truly, your education was deplorable,” he went on, raising a hand to his heart. “I always thought that sword should have been mine. You could have given it to me without making a fuss. But you refused and it was lost to some monster. Thankfully, I tracked it down successfully and found it. I thought I should punish you. But you know what? I have a better idea. See that young boy over there? Do you recognise him?”
Wang Mobei did not grace him with an answer. Under her hands, Shang Qinghua could feel spiritual energy rush in the human's body, trying to find the origin of her pain.
“I thought so. This boy was one of your father's apprentices. You never cared to learn to know them, did you? And you killed him without remorse although he was practically a brother to you. You know, your father had great expectations for him.”
“He was weak,” Wang Mobei simply said in reply. “And he attacked first.”
“But he did not attack you, right? I told him not to. So what, is that demoness more important than a fellow cultivator?”
Wang Mobei kept silent again. She was gathering her strength while her uncle talked.
Of course, he noticed it.
“I see I don't have much time to wrap up my lesson. After the theory, it's time for the application. The boy has what you seek. Check his scabbard.”
Neither woman moved.
Linguang-jun sighed and pointed his index finger at Shang Qinghua.
“You. I could kill you with a mere thought and Wang Mobei is currently unable to protect you. You would be truly done for if I were to attack you now, don't you think?”
Shang Qinghua did not let her fear show. Instead, she sent a fresh flow of spiritual energy into Wang Mobei's body to help her recover faster. She worriedly glanced at her companion when Wang Mobei pushed her hand away. Their eyes met and the human clenched her jaws, nodding.
Shang Qinghua let her go and turned her full attention toward Linguang-jun. As Wang Mobei rushed to the corpse of the man who had attacked her, Shang Qinghua conjured thin needles of ice and made them pierce Linguang-jun's feet. She felt most of them crack before they were fully formed but she had the satisfaction of seeing the man's face contort with pain and anger.
“You stupid girl,” he hissed.
Wang Mobei had reached the scabbard.
“Do you know how this works? Do you know how long this is gonna take?”
His niece did not let his words deter her. She unsheathed the sword and closed her eyes, channeling her spiritual energy into it.
“You'll die before the sword acknowledges you,” he snarled.
“Not if I'm here,” Shang Qinghua grit, placing herself between the two cultivators.
The man's eyebrows twitched.
“Do you think your tricks scare me? I'll crush you.”
As he raised his arm to act upon his threat, Shang Qinghua concentrated her power on Wang Mobei to progressively create a defensive wall around her. This was going to take some time for her to generate that much ice, but it would protect her friend. She only had to resist Linguang-jun's attacks until then.
When his hand flashed bright, she sent her own little spell to parry his attack. Having deviated from its trajectory, the qi blast crashed into a nearby tree. The bark cracked ominously.
“Not too bad, demoness.”
Wang Mobei was now fully plunged into a trance to connect with her late father's weapon.
Linguang-jun sent two other bursts of power that Shang Qinghua countered in a similar fashion. Eventually, he traced a seal in the air and called his sword into his hand.
Fear ran through Shang Qinghua's system but she refused to let it dominate her. The ice wall was still rising around Wang Mobei, she could not let her guard down or Linguang-jun would get to his niece while she was in a vulnerable state. It was undoubtedly what he had had in mind when he had revealed the true localisation of the weapon to his niece.
Shang Qinghua could not let Linguang-jun get to her. She had to slow him down as much as possible.
Just like she had done with the Grey Scavenger, she targeted his joints and modified the ground under his feet to interfere with his agility.
Linguang-jun's displeasure was clearly written on his face as he stopped moving and directed another salve of qi bursts at Shang Qinghua who barely succeeded in sending them away. She barely had enough attention left to slow him down as she created a sturdy shield and protected herself at the same time. It was hard holding on on three different fronts.
Eventually, her attention slipped and a burning strike hit her in her chest sending her onto her back. Black points quickly invaded her eyesight.
Through her panic, she sent her last reserves of qi into the wall protecting Wang Mobei.
She grunted when the heavy boot of Linguang-jun stepped onto her chest.
He was telling her something that she could not hear. She was struggling to breathe now and could not make out anything that was around her. He was probably taunting her. She yelped and weakly fought back when a cruel hand gripped her hair and pulled on it, shaking her head in all directions. Her consciousness was starting to slip away.
The weight on top of her lifted abruptly.
She welcomed the new rush of air with greedy inhales, ignoring everything to breathe.
There were fighting noises next to her but she could barely move, much less pay attention to anything that was not her body.
A clear clinging sound resonated before a dull thud indicated that something had been dropped onto the forest ground.
Shang Qinghua forced herself to sit upright to check that Wang Mobei was well.
The human cultivator clearly had the upper hand on her uncle. She was holding the blade of her new found sword against his neck. His own sword lay on the bare ground.
“Disappear,” Wang Mobei whispered, looking absolutely incensed.
“I won't forget about that, Mobei,” Linguang-jun warned her with a tense voice, stepping back slowly before retreating, walking back into the forest with a limping leg.
The human cultivator crouched down beside Shang Qinghua and covered her chest with her hands, sharing huge amounts of qi with her. It was evident that the sword had acknowledged and accepted her as her rightful wielder.
“You did it,” Shang Qinghua whispered with glee.
“Don't talk. Focus on healing yourself,” the human ordered.
Shang Qinghua obeyed her for a few minutes, taking in deep breaths and feeling how power circulated inside her.
After a while, she could no longer keep her question in.
“Why did you come out of the shield? It could have gone very badly…”
“I promised I would keep you from harm,” Wang Mobei retorted without hesitation.
Shang Qinghua bit her lips as her heart was struck by a heavy pang of emotion. The pace of her heartbeat picked up speed but she was pretty sure it had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with Wang Mobei's lovely face and her worried gaze.
Shang Qinghua wondered if it would be too forward on her part to ask for a kiss. For some reason, she was certain that Wang Mobei would not deny her request.
She held out a shaking hand and tried to touch Wang Mobei's face. Her arm was painful and her target felt like it was unreachable in her state. However, Wang Mobei took her hand and gently brought it to her face, covering the side of her face with the demoness' hand.
Shang Qinghua smiled a little stupidly.
“You are so beautiful.”
Wang Mobei kept her hand against her skin for a few more moments before putting Shang Qinghua's hand back onto her stomach.
“Later, Qinghua.”
***
Later, they went back to the inn and ate a celebratory meal.
They observed Wang Mobei's new blade and admired it.
Afterwards, they got ready to go to sleep.
Wang Mobei took Shang Qinghua by surprise and insisted that they shared a bed.
And yet later, when Shang Qinghua lay right next to the human with her eyes wide open in the dark, too scared to move or even breathe, Wang Mobei kissed her for the first time.
The first time in a series of many more.