His Demoness

22 ⚔️ For The First Time

The sudden arrival of Zhijian startled everyone in the room.

A sense of security washed over Xiaoyu and obliterated her fears. She could still feel his anger radiating off his body in dark, sharp waves and it unnerved her. With his jaw clenched tightly and the way he was glowering at the Grandma Ghost through his blazing eyes, she could finally understand why Jinlong had told her that his nickname was the Beast.

A raspy gasp came from the demon as she clawed her chest, appalled that she was stabbed.

"Y-you wretched human! How dare you?!"

"Well," Zhijian drove the sword deeper into her chest, causing a choked sound to escape from her throat. "Maybe you should have thought twice of kidnapping a kid whose brother is a demon slayer."

He pulled his sword out of her chest and she screamed in pain. Backing away from him, her eyes flickered to the doors. When she scrambled for the exit, Zhijian threw a dagger and it struck her right leg. The demon dropped to her knees painfully but persisted in dragging her wounded body across the floor.

Sheathing his sword, Zhijian turned away from the Grandma Ghost and glanced at Xiaoyu, whose anxious eyes were still fixed on the demon crawling away from them.

He assured her confidently. "Leave the demon be. The dagger is coated with a paralysing drug; most effective in a demon's weakened state. Trust me, she won't get past ten feet." Taking a step closer to Xiaoyu, the hardness around his eyes softened.

"More importantly..."

He slumped over her, spent and exhausted, while she struggled to hold his weight. Sweat glistened his forehead and his laboured breath whispered through her hair.

"Let me rest for a minute," he murmured softly, finally showing his fatigue. Letting his fingers brushed against hers lightly, he sighed in content when the Healing Fire spread through his body.

Feeling the warmth coming from him was comforting and Xiaoyu soon relaxed in his arms. But all too soon, he pulled back slightly, his raven hair falling over his forehead as he glanced down at her in concern.

Eyeing the nasty bruise on her forehead, his frown carved a deeper ravine across his face.

"Did that thing do this to you?"

Growing embarrassed, she shook her head and pointed at herself. She had inflicted the bruise on herself by slamming her own forehead against the wall.

"Me."

Astonished, Zhijian gaped at Xiaoyu in disbelief. "You did it to yourself?! You dummy, have you got no sense? With your powers sealed, you're as helpless as a normal human!"

Growing ashamed, she bit her bottom lip and her fingers fumbled awkwardly at her sleeves. Her plan had been to distract the demon and buy them some time before their rescuers turned up. All she ever wanted to do was to save those children and clearly, she hadn't thought much about the consequences.

"Does it hurt?" Zhijian asked quietly.

She shook her head quickly and relief flooded in his eyes. Before he could ask her the next question, Jinlong burst through the door then.

He skidded to a stop when he saw the unconscious demon lying sprawled on the floor. His worried eyes settled upon the pair and frowned at their close proximity.

"Erm, guys? I hate to break your lovey-dovey moment, but we have a bunch of crying kids waiting for us to save them. We can't have them wet their pants and clear up their mess afterwards, can we?"

"Right," Zhijian agreed. He took Xiaoyu's hand and pulled her along with him. When Jinlong tried to follow them, he was stopped.

"You should wait here," Zhijian said. "Our reinforcements will be arriving soon to clear things up here."