Eternally Ambitious Wangfei

Chapter 57

Surrounded by people on all sides had never made Mingxia Jie feel so suffocated in a single moment. As though the combined pressure all pushed her into a small confined space and this terrified her. She then felt a hand rest on her shoulder, snapping her out of her spiraling mentality. Looking across from her she met with an old man's gaze, the older man smiled, took his hand off her shoulder and disappeared into the crowd. This confused Mingxia Jie as she had no memory of previously meeting him. Then she felt the presence of someone else, a group of eyes burning into her being. But she could not spot any of them. The old man's presence had warned her of those around her. Grateful she purposefully lost herself in the crowd until the gazes retracted from her being. Letting out a sigh she rested in an alley to catch her breath. It wouldn't help her that she did not know where Bai currently resided. Letting out a long sigh she wandered further down the alley in the hopes of finding something. The feeling that something was waiting for her tugged at her heart and piqued her curiosity. She scurried along hiding her presence when she heard voices. 

-"Where is she?"

-"What are you complaining about? You lost her idiot!"

-"Both of you calm down. You know how Master gets when we lose her. I sense her close."

-"Maybe her Majesty has finally started take over her! I can't wait to have her back. I was clearly her favorite!"

-"Would you shut it!  I am her favorite."

-"Quiet."

The group fell silent as they looked around. The one who had asked for silence pointed towards a wall as they creeped about looking about. Mingxia Jie held her breath as a burning sensation escaped through her chest. It felt something was forcing its way through her body trying to take momentary control. She peeled back her clothing when she saw a bit of smoke from clothing rise. Taking off the clothing she noticed the sun tattoo on her heart as it moved on her skin, expanding and burning her. She felt like letting out a whimper, but in doing so would alert those around her. She bit hard on her tongue, as she pulled the clothing back on to cover herself. Using her senses she felt the group slightly disperse out to search for her. She crouched as her eyes traveled over the ground. Discovering a small hiding spot she crawled in and grabbed a small rock. She chucked the rock and it clattered off somewhere in the distance. 

-"Over there! Follow it."

-"Wait."

But none of the group heard the second voice as they disappeared to where the sound was. The individual left behind looked over closely at where Mingxia Jie was hiding.  The individual let out a sigh and looked around the alley before coming out of hiding. From his back a pair of dark wings sprouted and black and blue horns sprouted from his forehead. His black eyes took the colour of blue eyes with feline slits. 

-"Much better."

Inhaling the individual sniffed the air and crouched to Mingxia Jie's level. She stared closely at his features taking in the constellation on his forehead. Drawn to the demon in front of her, she outstreched her hand. The demon slightly tensed but then relaxed as he noticed what she was doing. Mingxia Jie dragged her hand through his head of hair, lightly touching his horns. He bristled slightly at the actions before letting out a purr. Mingxia Jie's hands momentarily stopped and looked at the demon. The demon got embarrassed as he turned pink and his wings fluttered at the awkwardness. Mingxia Jie burst out in laughter at the sight and continued to stroke the demon's hair. As they had finally become comfortable with each others presence the demon stood up quickly hiding Mingxia Jie in her hiding spot. 

-"Astaroth. What are you doing in your normal form?"

-"I needed to let my wings breathe Bael. Where are the others?"

-"You know Astaroth, exploring the human world. They are still young."

Astaroth clicked his tongue thinking about how old those demons were compared to humans. Bael could live with humans given his powers, but the others couldn't. Hiisi would surely try to take over every forest in sight. Iblis would tempt every man and woman into his bed and Eumenide would probably just seek out the dying. He let out a sigh he couldn't contain as Bael looked up and down at him. Catching his eyes Astaroth sent him a death glare. If looks could kill Bael would be dead a hundred time over. Astaroth smoothed down his hair in order to seem more natural in front of Bael, but it wasn't working. 

-"You've met her. Haven't you?"

Astaroth froze in his actions. His lips pulling down into a frown. 

-"How did you know?"

-"Quite simple really. First of all you're in your original form meaning that you sniffed her out. Second of all, your hair is a mess."

-"What does that have to do with anything Bael."

-"You don't even let Master touch you. The only person who can is Her Majesty. Where is she Astaroth?"

Letting out a huff Astaroth finished smoothing down his hair. 

-"I let her go, she was curious as was I and I let her touch me. It felt both soothing and conflicting because Her Majesty wasn't there. It was merely the mortal. But I didn't feel disgusted by her touching me at all. When I turned around to face you she had already disappeared from my sight."

Bael let out a similar sigh to Astaroth as he put a hand on his shoulder and stared him directly in the eyes.

-"Astaroth, you're whipped."

The face that Astaroth made could not me explained. It was as though shock, elation and fear all appeared on his face, and then his ears turned pink as he shoved Bael who would not stop laughing at him. In a gruff manner he picked up Bael and fled from the alley where Mingxia Jie currently hid. 

In a sigh Mingxia Jie removed herself from her hiding spot, remembering Astaroth's words replay in her head. Soothing and conflicting as if those two words did not define her entire existence. As she clambered out of the alley the sun had started to set, and with it so was the thread that was Bai's life. Mingxia Jie knew that she would not be able to save him, but he could not watch him die entirely, at least not without a proper farewell. With what little money she had left and tears in her eyes, she entered a music store.