I'm really not the Saviour! (我唔係救主囖!) [danmei/BL xuanhuan]

30 - Demon Realm

A/N: It's back!

There are some changes that will be appearing, for those who have been reading along. I've never been entirely comfortable with using Jyutping transliterations for character and place names - I don't think it's particularly intuitive. So I'm changing to a different system. What does this mean? Well, the way that character names are written will be different. This does not mean that the character names have changed, or that the pronunciation has changed, the only thing that has changed is the transliteration. I'll be going back and editing the existing chapters so that it matches.

***

The world beyond the portal was both dark and dank. Like an underground chamber with no airflow, the atmosphere pressed against them physically. Their skin felt slimy within moments.

"There really are no stars." Chan Bik shivered, glancing at the sky.

"What are you talking about?" Gou Dzing said cheerfully. "There's two here! One! Two!" He pointed to Chan Bik and Cheng Baak-hap. The two girls laughed weakly.

"Pay attention," Wong Tang chided sternly. She looked uncharacteristically uncomfortable, but her mouth twitched a little.

Gong Lau Yan led the way, carefully following a broken road away from the portal. In less than a minute, they almost tripped over a couple of demons.

The two small figures froze where they sat on the road, eyes huge and luminous. They had ears like cats', no arms, and tiny glowing lights orbited them.

In the dirt between them was etched a grid, and some of the glowing lights were nestled in the grid squares.

They seemed to be playing a game.

One of the demons, eyes fixed on the weapons carried by the unexpected visitors, began to whimper, a sound so high-pitched it was almost beyond human hearing. Everyone winced.

The second demon flung itself at them.

Razor-sharp teeth sprouted suddenly from a gaping mouth. Still, it couldn't defeat Gaam Yuk Ying's speed. His hand shot out and slapped the demon on its short nose. The demon crumpled immediately, wailing.

Cheng Baak-hap frowned with concern. "These... are children, aren't they? So soon-"

Before she could even finish her sentence, they could hear the sound of many people approaching at a rapid pace. The demon children fled in the direction of the sound.

"One... Two... Five... Seven approaching," Gong Lau Yan counted quietly.

"Can I try speaking with them?"

Everyone turned to look at Gou Dzing. Maan Dzi King's mouth bent coldly, but the others merely looked curious.

"How?"

"I'm not sure, but we should try..."

The small group of demons appeared over a low hill. The demon children were immediately pulled behind them, but the demon rescue part were themselves in poor shape, nervous, thin, and badly armed with sharpened sticks and broken swords.

"Given that there have been reports of demons stealing weapons," Cheng Baak-hap surmised, "there must be some kind of hierarchy. These demons have so little."

Wong Tang could have flicked her finger and destroyed them all in a second, but instead they all watched as Gou Dzing stepped forward with his hands spread to show they were empty, hoping that this would be a universally understood gesture. "Yuk Ying, take your hand off your blade," he muttered out of the corner of his mouth without turning around. Gaam Yuk Ying scowled, but did as he was told.