From the Ashes of Love

Chapter 73

Linyou the Frog Spirit swallowed his hurt feelings, and then offered his hand to Qintian.

"I'll take you back to your Mother now" he said quietly.

She grabbed his hand, and together they flew to the Wangchuan River crossing.

The Ten Kings of the Demon Realm, as well as Xu Feng, the Phoenix, stood there. They appeared to be in conference with one another. They looked startled by the appearance of Linyou and Qintian.

Linyou squeezed Qintian's hand quickly, and then proferred her up to her Mother, who came rushing up to meet them.

"Qintian!" exclaimed the Supreme Demon Lord. She grabbed the girl by the shoulders. "I was so worried about you!"

"I'm okay, Mother" she reassured her.

"Where have you been this entire time?" her mother asked her vehemently.

Qintian looked back at Linyou, and gestured weakly.

"Is that the Frog Spirit? The one you kidnapped?" her mother asked in alarm.

Qintian nodded. The Supreme Demon Lord sucked in her breath, her eyes raging.

One of the other Demon Kings interjected.

"Do you mean to tell me that you mobilized the entire Demon Army, because your daughter was shacking up with her boyfriend?" he asked incredulously.

The Supreme Demon Lord glared at him. "She might have been kidnapped by him! We don't know yet!" she shouted.

She looked back to Qintian, still grasping her by the shoulders. "Did he take you against your will, sweetie?" she asked, nodding her head with her eyes open wide.

"Uhhhhhh" Qintian didn't seem to know how to respond.

"Ohhhhhhh, No!" replied that Demon King. "I am not going to war against the Heavenly Realm because you can't control your daughter."

He gestured to someone in the distance, summoning them. "Have the Heibai Wuchang disperse my army. I'm going back to Yan City." Then he looked back at Qintian's Mother in disgust. "I don't take orders from you anymore. The Demon Realm doesn't need a Supreme Demon Lord" he informed her. He disappeared in a pillar of black smoke.

Qintian's mother scoffed in disbelief. She looked back at her daughter. "LOOK at the trouble you have caused!" she accused her. "What would your father say if he were alive to see this? You are nothing like him!" she raged.

"I'm more like you" replied Qintian quietly.

Her Mother raised her arm to slap her. Linyou reacted without thinking. He grabbed Qintian's arm and pulled her backwards, interjecting himself between them.

"Young man!" The Supreme Demon Lord spluttered. "This is between me and my daughter!"

"She is going to be my wife" he replied coldly.

"All those speeches about self control" said a third Demon King in amazement. "All of those speeches, and this is what it amounts to. The King of Yan City is right. We don't need a Supreme Demon Lord." He disappeared in a plume of black smoke. The other kings teleported out in black wisps after him.

The now dethroned Supreme Demon Lord looked startled, staring at the spot where the last king had been. She turned to look at the Phoenix Spirit.

"Xu Feng?" said Qintian's Mother worriedly.

He shook his head at her. "I can't fix this" he replied. "I am sorry."

Then he looked at Linyou. "Congratulations. You've broken the strength of the Demon Realm. Runyu should be proud" he said drolly.

A pillar of red flames erupted around him and he disappeared. Qintian's Mother glared at Linyou, and then she too disappeared, black smoke trailing behind her.

Linyou turned around and looked at Qintian worriedly. Her face looked paler than normal. He wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry, Qintian" he said brokenly. "I promised I wouldn't hurt you again, and now I've broken my promise."

Her arms squeezed around his midsection as she hugged him back. "It's not entirely your fault" she replied. "I started this, and the other Demon Kings would use any excuse to back out of the alliance."

She sighed heavily. "I want to go home" she said mournfully.

Linyou looked across the River.

"Not there!" she denied. "Dongting Lake is my home now."