Capturing My Demon King Costar

MY COSTAR OBEYS ME

Their gloomy procession makes its way through the streets of Youdu without drawing anyone's attention. None of the ghosts spare them even a single look.

Yao Shen leads the way with Fan Wujiu, heading straight for the administrative building where the three traitors, plus Si Wang, usually hang around.

He's fairly certain that they won't find Si Wang there, but it's possible that he warned the others in advance.

He shouldn't have worried.

All seven of them manage to walk up into the the building through it's open awnings without raising any alarm.

Er Wang is the first to notice them. She's lounging on a chaise when the sound of footsteps draws her attention.

Yao Shen watches in satisfactions as her narrow cat eyes widen two sizes in shock..

"This-this...," she struggles to say anything, her long pipe trembling between her slender fingers.

Yi Wang steps forward, walking right up to Er Wang. "Long time no see."

In no time at all, both the beautiful Jiu Wang and the stoic Qi Wang join them as well.

Jiu Wang shoots Fan Wujiu a threatening glare. "What's the meaning of this?"

Well, since they are so entirely clueless about the situation, Yao Shen can just spin it whichever way he wants.

"I'm afraid Si Wang has betrayed you all," he says his tone grave. "He has been manipulating all of you to his own advantage."

The recently rescued ghost kings exchange a look of confusion, until one of them clears his throat loudly and roars, "That bastard!"

After that, all of them catch on and start offering up grumbles of their own.

That leaves the three traitors alone in their confusion.

Er Wang is quick to see an opening, and recovers quickly from her initial blunder. "Si Wang betrayed us, you say?" She looks at the vacant faces of the other returning kings. "Was he behind our brother's and sister's disappearances?"

Yao Shen nods gravely. "We're afraid so. Fan Wujiu's memories have been affected but he has some recollection of being coerced into sealing them."

Fan Wujiu grimaces, it's hard to tell if he's pretending to be aggrieved about his actions, or is uncomfortable about having to lie.

Yao Shen is the actor, so he decides to take control of the situation. "I found out that Si Wang was behind all the disturbances in Youdu while I was exploring the city." He turns to Jiu Wang, who doesn't seem as quick to believe as Er Wang, and raises an eyebrow at him. "I bet he came up with all kinds of excuses for my odd behaviour."

Jiu Wang doesn't say anything, but Qi Wang snorts in distaste. "That's right, he said he had everything under control."

"If he knew you were looking into him, then how come he let you go on?" Jiu Wang asks, crossing his arms in front of his bare chest.

Yao Shen wishes he'd cover up before Xin Hulei gets there.

As it stands, he's happy to buy some more time by talking circles around him and his smug eyebrows. "That's because he thought I was on his side," Yao Shen says, which is not so much a lie as much as a sideways truth. Si Wang 'hoped' Yao Shen was on his side. "He wanted me to use Xin Hulei to get rid of the three of you."

The three of them fall silent, and Yao Shen knows their defences are lowered now. It's a possibility they have entertained before, and none of them are happy with the idea of having been the ones deceived.