Capturing My Demon King Costar

MY COSTAR IS THE ONE I LOVE

Qing Yu told Yao Shen that he could find Meng Po around the Bridge of Forgetfulness, either on the bridge itself, or at her house nearby.

The roads leading up the bridge over the Spring of Forgetfulness were no less crowded, but there was a different energy about the ghosts there.

Yao Shen expects to see some grand open area, and a magnificent bridge rising over the a large swath of the springs.

Instead, he finds a narrow wooden viewing bridge linking two banks of the river, which could more accurately be called a stream. The towering buildings seem to lean towards each other as Yao Shen makes his way to the bridge, almost forming an archway.

The other side of the riverbank looks just as crowded and busy as the rest of Youdu. Yao Shen is confused about where exactly the souls are supposed to "cross" to.

That is, until he notices an elderly woman standing in the middle of the bridge, her back bent under the weight of her years. She's giving something to drink to a little girl.

After the girl drinks everything she returns the cup to Meng Po and continues on across the bridge, before she can reach the other side she disappears in a wisp of smoke.

Well, that's one way to do it.

Old Granny Meng turns around with her hands clasped behind her back, a distant look in her rheumy eyes. All around her, ghosts go on their way, able to cross the bridge without anything happening to them.

Some of them give her a wide berth, as if afraid that proximity alone is enough to rid them of their memories.

Slowly, Yao Shen makes his way towards her. Maybe he's afraid too.

For the most part his current lifetime hasn't been particularly happy, but the past few months have been a bright spark in a squalid field of grey. Yao Shen doesn't want to forget even a second of that.

Maybe he could have remained perfectly content with his middling life if he had never met Xin Hulei, and discovered an entire new world he had no idea about. But now the idea of returning to that drab existence is unbearable.

It's true what they say, once expanded a mind will never return to its original size.

"Ah, it's you again," Meng Po says, as Yao Shen draws nearer. The corners of her heavily lined lips turn downwards in a displeased frown. "You must be in love with me with how quickly you run to my side. Either that or you're allergic to being alive."

Her words stop Yao Shen in his tracks. "Uh, hello."

She cracks a gummy smile at him and waves him towards her. "Come on over then, maybe you'll have better luck this time."

"That's not why I'm here," Yao Shen hurries to say, looking from side to side. He feels too exposed out here in the open. "Actually, can we go somewhere else to talk?"

Meng Po sizes him up for a moment, smacks her lips twice, and finally nods.

With slow halting steps she makes her way across the bridge, Yao Shen hurries to her side and takes her arm, helping her along.

She shakes her head with a mournful sigh. "I knew it, you really are in love with me."

Yao Shen humors her with a thoughtful hum.

---

Meng Po's house is the first level of a huge tower. The walls are short and made of clay, but the inside is surprisingly spacious.

She putters around the rough wooden furniture in her kitchen, bumping into things without a care. Her shuffling makes Yao Shen flinch, and want to rush to her side to help her around, but he worries she would take offence.