And again a new chapter of this story. I am starting to feel tired, I want to write something fresh... Bleah. :P
Special thanks to Souma Kagura for pointing out some mistakes. I edited chapters 28 and 31 of Ni Tang, and the previous chapter of Heing Meh a bit. Nothing too drastic, no need to reread.
HEING MEH
Chapter 29
Bai Tsa's eyes glowed in satisfaction as she broke through the surface at the docks in San Francisco. She started to swim towards the nearest pier.
When she got closer she let the bubble she had created break into water. Suppressed shouts told her that none of her companions had learned to appreciate water.
"Dai Gui can't swim!" the earth demon exclaimed in slight panic and tried to hold on Hak Foo who did his best to stay away from the demon.
Bai Tsa rolled her eyes. On land her brother was a mighty beast who feared nothing and no one, but in water he turned into a pathetic clown. Even more so than Xiao Fung.
They climbed on the pier and the water demon took a human form again. It felt like she had become so weak and ridiculous all of sudden. She had enjoyed being in her true form.
"Come. We must return to the others before Hsi Wu. It will do good to him to remember what his place in the family is," she said in determination and watched as the rest climbed from the sea.
Dai Gui coughed water.
"Dai Gui hates water," he growled to himself.
"I don't think I've ever been this happy to be back in San Fran," Finn stated as he looked around. He tried to squeeze his jacket dry, barely noticing what he was doing.
Bai Tsa paid no attention to the comments of the others. She started walking and led her small group towards Uncle's shop.
When they arrived there they immediately realised that something had happened. The door was slightly open and it was clear that someone had first broken it, and then put it back to its place.
"Hehe, the old Chan will have a heart attack when he hears about burglars," Finn stated in amusement. Bai Tsa glared at him.
"Idiot! I hope you realise that anyone could have stepped into our portal and appeared in the middle of Dai Gui's palace," she said angrily.
Dai Gui looked happy to hear that.
"Dai Gui gets all the mortals lost in his palace," he announced and it was more than clear what he intended to do with them.
The water demon sighed.
"I too would be more than glad to take part in the fun, but we have no time now. Tso Lan and Po Kong must have taken care of the intruders already, if there even were any," she said.
They stepped in. Ratso put the door back to its place as well as he could.
"Looks like nothing has been stolen," Hak Foo said as he took a quick glance around.
"That is not important," Bai Tsa said and circled the portal to make sure there was nothing wrong with it. "You," she said grabbing Finn's shoulder, "Go first so that we know it's safe."
"Hey, wait a minute!" Finn tried, but the demon simply pushed him through the portal. After a short while the Irishman peered through it. "I guess it's safe."
Ratso and Hak Foo were next to go.
"You knew the portal was safe," Dai Gui pointed out to his sister.
"So?" she snorted as a reply and followed the mortals.
When they arrived to the other side Dai Gui immediately took his true form. Bai Tsa glared at him darkly. She would have given anything if the palace had been even a little wetter.
"I'll go and find Tso Lan," she announced. The earth demon nodded.
"Dai Gui comes too."
Ratso, Hak Foo and Finn watched as the demons walked away not paying attention to them.
"Did they leave us here just like that? No guards?" Ratso asked in surprise.
"I guess so," Finn stated and the trio turned to look at the portal behind them. They had the perfect chance to get lost and travel to the other side of the world, away from the demons.
"There must be something behind this," Hak Foo pointed out.
"Why? Maybe they just forgot us?" Ratso suggested.
"I don't think so. I think they are testing us. They want to see if we are honourable warriors."
Finn gave the big man a long stare.
"Whatever. You can stay if you care about that, I'm out of here. Well, as soon as we find Chow, that is. We can't leave him here," he said.
"But don't they need him for saving the world? Surely we can't just take him out without anyone noticing," Ratso said.
Finn run his fingers through his hair and shrugged.
"There doesn't seem to be any way out of this. Valmont can take care of himself and so can Chow, but he would never forget it if we left him here." He stopped for a moment. "And talking about Chow, where is he? It would be good to know what has been going on while were gone."
"He is most likely in the cell where they kept us," Hak Foo reasoned. The warrior's disgust was clear in his voice. Finn guessed that Hak Foo knew nothing as horrible as being locked away like an animal. Now that he thought of it, neither did he.
"Let's go and take a look before someone decides to do something about us," he suggested. No one disagreed and the trio headed to the direction they supposed to be the right one.
It didn't take them too long to find the right place. Finn and Ratso weren't that good with directions, but Hak Foo proved again that there were times when it was useful to have an experienced warrior around.
To their surprise the door that had been locked when they had last seen it, was now open. It was a good thing for them because the door had been meant for demons and none of them could have opened it.
"Chow? Are you there?" Finn asked and peered in.
Chow was sitting his back against the wall both hands behind his head. Because of the man's glasses Finn couldn't see his eyes, but he supposed they would have reflected ultimate boredom.
When he heard his friend's voice the Chinese man started and turned to look at them. He had probably been trying to sleep.
"Finn! You came back already," he said.
"Well, Bai Tsa's place wasn't so groovy that we would have wanted to stay there any longer," Finn said as he stepped in. Ratso and Hak Foo followed him.
Chow snorted.
"I'm sure it was better than this. I have done nothing but sat here or wandered around. There is nothing to do and no one even notices me. Those two bookworms do nothing but worship their texts and dear old Tohru is too attached to Po Kong's company to have a word with me," he said.
Finn remembered what Po Kong had told him earlier, but he said nothing. He didn't want to be stomped by a huge green thing only because he had told her private matters to someone else.
"And no one else has returned, right?" he asked. Chow shook his head.
"No, but Black appeared some time ago." Everyone groaned.
"Not him. This is already too difficult, but Black too? What is wrong with everyone?" Finn asked in frustration. The place was starting to resemble a city! More people came all the time.
"The wrestler is not here yet," Chow pointed out with a weak smile. Finn sat on the floor next to him.
"Small advantage. This has to be the worst experience of my life," he muttered.
"Come on. At least you have a beautiful woman with you," Ratso said.
"A beautiful woman? Hadn't seen one in weeks, not in any form," the Irishman said. "I wish I could say otherwise. I don't want to count how long it has been since..."
"Please, don't say more. I don't want to know the details of that," Chow pleaded and Finn glared at him.
"What woman are you talking about?" he asked Ratso, though he already had a pretty good idea of that.
Ratso shrugged.
"Bai Tsa, of course. Or didn't you notice that you are her favourite mortal?" he asked.
"Dude, that's only because she thinks I'm her slave," Finn argued. He was tired already, he didn't want a crazy demon to get involved as well.
"Well, why did she pick you? You are not the only male here, you know. Look at Hak Foo. He's Asian, just like her, and look at his muscles. Women like strong men."
Both Finn and Hak Foo looked at Ratso looking disturbed. Especially Hak Foo looked like he wanted to be anywhere else.
"This is a ridiculous conversation. Do you even know who we are talking about? Bai Tsa is a demon, do I have to spell that for you? She would never be interested in a mortal man. And I am not interested in her. She reeks of fish!" Finn said.
"Well, she wouldn't have to be interested in you as a person, the physical contact should be enough for her. I doubt demons can love, but who knows what they are like in bed if no one tries?" Chow asked joining the chit chat.
Finn could only stare at the others.
"Dude, you are really sick," he said then and shook his head.
"We are back!" Bai Tsa announced happily and lifted the Eye of Atlantis above her head in victory. Only then she realised that neither Tso Lan nor Po Kong was around.
Only Uncle and a bald man she didn't recognise were in the library.
"Hey, where is everyone?" she asked, angry for that no one important was there to congratulate her.
Uncle didn't even lift his eyes from his book. "Tso Lan went to look for an old book in China. He won't be back today. Don't know where Po Kong is, and the rest are not back yet," he said.
Bai Tsa snorted and brushed several locks of hair behind her shoulder.
"What else can you expect? They are too slow for me," she announced. Then she turned her eyes on Black who was looking at them with a confused expression. "And you are?"
The water demon put down the Eye of Atlantis and walked to Black. She looked at him in real interest and was amused to notice how the man was disgusted to see her. A good guy, then.
"Captain Black," Black replied with a forced voice. Bai Tsa's eyes widened.
"You killed Tchang Zu!" she screamed and slapped the man with such force that the whole room echoed.
Black didn't let out a sound, but rage and disgust flamed in his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something when another slap -- this time from Uncle -- silenced him.
"Don't say a thing," the old man told him.
"I don't know what you think you'll find here, but this is a dangerous place for you, mortal. Our family will never forget how you insulted us," Bai Tsa spat.
"Dai Gui will crush the mortal!" the earth demon added and for the first time in a while showed his brutal and simple nature that he had kept hidden for a good time. The demon was a very threatening sight with his red eyes blazing and the huge body shaking in rage.
"Don't stomp on my books!" Uncle tried to warn, but no one listened to him. The old man leaped behind Dai Gui waving with his hands and looking ridiculous, but the demon didn't even look at him. "You can't kill him!"
Black was agile and managed to get past the demon before he had time to trap him in a corner. Dai Gui turned around as fast as he could, but even in rage he wasn't nimble enough to get Black quickly enough. It was still more than obvious that given time, he would crush the man.
Suddenly Bai Tsa stepped next to Dai Gui.
"No, not yet," she said while glaring daggers at the bald mortal.
"He killed Tchang Zu," Dai Gui growled, but obeyed his sister. He still looked angry as hell and was ready to continue his attack.
"I know," Bai Tsa said and slit her eyes, "And believe me, I want to rip him apart as much as you do, but now is not the time. It would destroy everything we have accomplished this far and Chans would never work with us again. You know what Tso Lan will do to us if that happens."
Dai Gui didn't move his eyes from Black who followed the conversation ready for everything.
"Dai Gui understands, but..." the earth demon muttered and clenched his huge fists.
Bai Tsa nodded.
"Yes, once this is over," she promised and shot a glare full of promises of pain and suffering at Black. How she hated that mortal!
"Inform us when Tso Lan returns," the water demon announced and left together with her brother.
"Why do we let him live?" Dai Gui asked once they were gone.
"Didn't I just explain that? Idiot!" Bai Tsa snapped. She was just as mad as the earth demon.
"We should not think of mortals as our equals. Dai Gui thinks that -- "
"I don't care what you think. This is what Tso Lan and most likely Po Kong want. We can torture and kill them as much as we like once this is over, but right now we have to wait..."
"For a moment I thought that would be my end," Black stated as he walked back to Uncle. He kept an eye on the door in case either of the demons decided to come back.
"It could be better if you left. This is not a good place for you," the old man said. His voice lacked his usual harsh tone and Black realised that he was truly worried.
"I want to help as much as I can," he said. "Even if I had to tolerate the demons for a while. We are going to banish them back after this, right?"
Uncle nodded looking only slightly uncertain.
"Most of them at least. Shendu can not be left free in the world, but something tells me that one or two of them could be allowed to stay," he said.
Black stared at him for a moment.
"What do you mean? They can not have changed since you last faced them. What is different now?"
"Even if we manage to destroy Heing Meh the world needs more magic. Few things are as magical as demons, so it's vital that some of them stay," Uncle said. "But now, let Uncle be! Must read!"
Black didn't reply, merely shook his head. He knew he would never understand all the magic stuff. But he did know that even if the demons changed they would still be demons and capable of hurting someone. Maybe they wouldn't touch his friends or loved ones, but there was always someone whose heart would break every time the demons followed their desires.
Just like in China at the moment...
At the almost exactly same time there was night in China. The sky was completely clear and an almost full moon lit the mountain view. The area was almost deserted; a handful of nomads lived there, but anyone rarely travelled to the area.
Tso Lan thanked all possible spirits for it. It was highly possible that the place where he was heading to still existed and maybe he would even find what he was looking for.
For a while now he had suspected that he would find several texts about Sha Fuju somewhere in China, but starting the search had seemed like a hopeless mission. The area was huge and he didn't know which of the ancient libraries had been able to save their texts, or where they were kept. If any of them were still in function they wouldn't do a thing to offer him their help.
Then he had thought of old Chinese abbeys and temples. They had saved information for thousands of years and made sure nothing was lost. They were completely ruled by mortals and Tso Lan had never thought of them as valuable as the libraries of the demon race.
But now that demons were gone, so were their collections. All he could do was to turn to the mortals.
Moonlight felt soothing against his skin as he floated higher following a narrow path. Tso Lan had to turn his thoughts to his palace that he had built in his empire. When the Heing Meh mess was over he would build it again and withdraw in solitude... at least for a couple of decades. He would also start to collect his own library. It was shocking that many mortals owned more books than he did.
The landscape became rougher as he got higher, but Tso Lan thought nothing of it. As a moon demon he was used to plain views and he could stand the coldness very well.
When he finally reached the temple gates he sensed that something was wrong. He floated over the gate and landed in the middle of the courtyard. There was nothing special in sight, but his sensitive tongue told him much.
Something had happened -- something violent.
Though he liked to think that he was calmer and more civilized than his siblings, Tso Lan couldn't help that smelling blood -- mortal blood, that is -- made his own blood flow faster in his veins and he felt unusually excited.
As if I was young again, the demon thought in rare amusement and eyed the temple while tasting the air with his tongue. Now that he knew things weren't right he would have to reconsider his next move.
Deciding that it was not a good idea to be seen in his demon form he took a human disguise. The change never pleased him, he had never learned to do well with only one pair of arms and it felt pathetic to be forced to walk.
Tso Lan forced the thoughts of disgust in the back of his mind and headed for the entrance. He was dressed in complete red and the design was an exact copy of what a Chinese peasant would wear. The clothes were made of very fine fabric though, and no one would have confused him with the poor.
His steps were silent on the stone floor, but he still walked slowly and preferred the shadows. The demon knew that if he wasn't the only magical being in the palace he would have to be more than careful.
A half eaten corpse lay in the middle of the corridor. The floor, the man's clothes and the wall were covered in blood and it looked like someone had ripped him apart merely because of the sheer joy of it. Tso Lan stepped closer and breathed the scent. So tempting.
Suddenly an agonised scream echoed in the corridors and Tso Lan froze. Whoever the screamer was, he couldn't be in his senses anymore. The demon could recognise some words, but they were just mindless rubbish.
Ah, someone was being torn apart. The thought reminded him of ancient times, but he didn't let himself dwell on them. He had more important things to do.
The basic structure of mortal temples was somewhat familiar to him so he chose a corridor that led him away from the screamer and his torturer. He believed that was the way towards the library, but he knew he would need luck if he wanted to find it fast.
It felt difficult to hurry to the library when something was obviously going on. Tso Lan found another body, just as badly tortured as the previous. His curiosity grew stronger, but he forced himself to continue. Finding the library was more important than the secret of the temple because Heing Meh...
Tso Lan froze. Why hadn't he thought of that before? Heing Meh could very well be involved with this -- he most like was. The demon had originally come after him and his family. Maybe he had decided to start from less magical creatures, like these mortals, after all?
"Interesting," Tso Lan muttered. If he was careful he could catch a glimpse of their enemies. He wasn't usually one to take risks, but this was a chance that he simply couldn't --
"Who are you? Please! Help me!"
The moon demon turned on his heels as he heard a frightened voice behind him. A man who had already passed middle age and was wearing loose blue fabric stood in front of him. He was bald and slightly plump, and he wore a terrified expression on his face.
"Please, you are not with him, are you?" the man asked.
"Who are you? Can you tell me where the library is?" Tso Lan asked in return.
"Save me! Don't let him have me!" the man screamed and grabbed Tso Lan's clothes in desperation. The moon demon pushed him away in disgust and took a step back.
"I promise to help you if you tell me what is going on and show me the library," he offered. This seemed to calm the man down a little and he sighed.
"I am Yen Tan, and I work in the library. I'll show you the way, but help me out of here then before he kills me too."
"Who is this 'he' and what has happened here?" Tso Lan asked in interest as they walked.
Yen Tan looked nervous and glanced around.
"A demon. A horrible, horrible demon. I don't know where he came from, he just appeared and started to kill us. He slaughtered everyone he could find and finally, when there were only a handful of us left, he started to hunt us down. Our temple is a complicated labyrinth of tunnels and offers enough space for him. We split up and he found us one by one. I... I think I am the last. I haven't heard of the others in a while... if we don't count No Ti Shan's scream, that is..." he explained fast. "Let's hurry or he'll find us!"
"Do not worry, just show me the library," Tso Lan said calmly.
"Why do you want to go to the library at a moment like this? We should -- " Yen Tan tried desperately, but one glare from Tso Lan made him shut up.
The rest of the way was walked in silence and Tso Lan preferred that. He wasn't actually worried about the strange killer, he believed he would make it if they met. He also found it amusing to watch how Yen Tan shook, sweated and glanced around next to him.
"The library is here, but hurry," the man begged as they came to the entrance.
"I have no intention of leaving before I've found what I came to look for," Tso Lan announced and stepped in. Yen Tan followed him.
"But can't you see? He will come and kill us both! We have to leave now!"
Tso Lan went through the rows of texts in thought. Some of them were books, some old rolls. "I am in no hurry."
Yen Tan looked like he was about to cry. Whatever he had seen had made him almost insane with fear.
"Then let me help you."
"Fine. I want to have everything that has something to do with Sha Fuju."
"Why do you want to know about it? Who are you?"
The moon demon took an old book in his hands and browsed through it. "Call me Tso Lan if you want to. Find me everything I want and I will make sure that you get out of here alive," he muttered.
"Yes! Of course!"
Yen Tan almost charged at the shelves with such enthusiasm that Tso Lan had to chuckle. Mortals lived for such a short moment and most of them were ridiculously addicted to life. Even those who lived in temples and should have known better.
He snorted and concentrated in his own work again.
It was silent in the library with the exception of the sound of flipping through pages and Yen Tan's breathing. There was no sign of the murderer and Tso Lan wondered if he had left.
"Here is all we have. Please, leave with me now!" Tso Lan took the thick book the man offered him and pressed it against his chest with a feeling most males felt for their females. He craved to open it and get to know its secrets, and he was barely able to stop himself from doing that.
"I don't need anything else. It is time to leave," he said in satisfaction. The moon demon was just about to turn towards the exit when the wall opposite them collapsed.
"I should have looked for you here in the first place," the newcomer hissed and stepped through the hole he had made. He had to draw in his feathered wings to fit through.
Yen Tan shrieked in terror and stumbled backwards knocking down a shelf full of rolls. Tso Lan grimaced as he thought about the destroyed texts. The shout from the new demon made him remember what was important, though.
"Who are you? I thought I had killed everyone but this weakling."
The moon demon looked at the newcomer and his red wings, brown scales and almost insane expression in the red eyes...
Tso Lan lifted his eyes from his book as Po Kong stepped in. The mountain demon didn't have to say anything, the moon demon could tell that things hadn't gone well.
"What happened?" he asked and put the book away.
"The small one didn't make it," Po Kong stated simply. Tso Lan nodded.
"And mother?" he asked. He didn't want to know anything about their father. He had expected much of their new brother and promised that his birth would bring a change to their lives one day. All that was impossible now.
"Not well. It was difficult and left her very weak." Po Kong frowned. "I feel that..." She didn't finish, but Tso Lan understood.
Maybe the small one had changed their lives after all, by taking their mother with him. Maybe it had meant to be that way since the beginning.
"We are going to have a problem. The small one's death has shaken the balance of our family. If mother won't stay to give birth to a new son... We are going to have to do something about it," he said.
"Don't talk like that, Tso Lan! You act like our family was a machine that can't function without all parts!" the mountain demon scolded her brother.
Tso Lan shrugged and opened his book. After a while he lifted his eyes again.
"What did the small one look like?"
"He would have become a beautiful demon. He was a western dragon with brown scales, black claws and bright red feathered wings. He would have done well in our family," Po Kong said.
Tso Lan took a surprised step back. He hadn't spared a thought to their dead brother since the mess with Heing Meh had begun, but now the memories practically screamed at him.
This demon was an exact copy of their brother, just older.
For the first time in centuries Tso Lan didn't know what to say or do.
"Your chi feels familiar, who are you?" the Nameless asked and slit his eyes in curiosity. He bent closer and didn't even look at Yen Tan anymore. Then his eyes widened and he drew his head back sharply. "You are one of them!"
"You seem to know who I am. Could you show me the honour of telling your name?" the moon demon suggested.
"My name is none of your business!" the dragon snapped with slight uncertainty. Tso Lan didn't miss it, but he didn't comment it.
"You are Shin's master and the young Chan lost her life because of you," he said calmly. The Nameless lifted his head and ruffled up his feathers with pride.
"Once I am strong enough I will take the name Heing Meh as my own! You or anyone else can't do anything to stop me, brother!" he announced and spat the last word as if it was poison.
Tso Lan snorted. He was more than interested in hearing the story of the demon, but he knew he wouldn't be told it voluntarily. And the moon demon didn't want to start a fight. It was too barbaric, especially in such a place as a library.
"I am sure that you know how much I would love to stay and talk, but I have to go," he said and took a step back.
A hand grabbed his clothes and he realised he had completely forgotten Yen Tan.
"Don't leave me!" the man begged, but Tso Lan merely shook him off.
"My little brother is hungry," he said coldly and was gone with a puff of magic before either of the souls left could do anything.
Yen Tan lifted his eyes with fright. The Nameless was the last thing he ever saw.
"I am sure that I could follow your brother's chi and lead you to the lair of your enemies," Shin announced as he knelt in front of the Nameless. The dragon's face was covered in blood and some of his feathers were also a bit too dark.
"An appealing option," he said and stretched his muscles. "But you forget something. There are more of them and even though are not all present at the moment, we wouldn't beat them. Yet. I would have slaughtered my elder brother if he hadn't left so soon. I have to grow more powerful before I can become Heing Meh."
"Of course, my master," Shin said reluctantly. "May I suggest something? My family waits in my home realm and they are more than eager to help you. But only a demon can call beings of my race in this world, and -- "
The Nameless's tail hit him in the ribs and sent him flying away before he had time to finish his sentence.
"Didn't I say you can't see your family before I have won? And don't look that angry. I know better than well that my well being is not what you want the most," the Nameless said.
"Yes, master," Shin muttered and rubbed his chest. The hit had opened the old wounds that Hsi Wu had given him.
"You may go. I want to sleep."
The Nameless had taken the most beautiful place in the temple as his own and crushed a statue of Buddha to make room for himself. The dragon curled into a ball and covered his body with his wings.
Shin bowed once and left limping a little. When he was a safe distance away he allowed himself to sigh and frown.
I hate him. I hate this whole cursed world and these cursed beings, he thought to himself. If he had even been treated as a proper servant he might have tolerated it and supported the Nameless of his free will, but as long as things were like they were, he would not enjoy himself.
The Nameless never let him kill anyone, not even one mortal. There were no humans in Shin's home world and he had soon grown attached to the taste of their blood after he had been called from it. It had all been so sweet in the beginning, but then the Nameless had taken over...
Shin sighed in frustration.
He would have to get back home where he was respected and feared.
And he knew who could help him.
"This can't be!"
"Don't be so upset, we will continue soon -- " a nervous man didn't have time to finish his sentence before Shendu threw him to the ground.
"Soon? We are busy!" the demon raged not caring about that a whole bus full of people was staring at him with scared and confused expressions.
Xiao Fung was leaning against the bus and watched the scene with a grin. He was probably the only one who enjoyed it.
"The more you scream at him, the longer it will take for things to get started," Valmont pointed out lazily. Shendu turned at the man with an expression of anger and frustration.
"You! Silence! If we can't continue soon enough I will kill all of you!" he hissed.
Jackie, Xu Lin and Valmont glanced at each other.
"Hehe, he is always like that when he gets mad..." Jackie tried to explain.
The driver who Shendu had been shouting at stood up and brushed his clothes, clearly trying to hide the shaking of his fingers.
"I have never met anyone with such a temperament. It's not my fault if we get a flat tyre," he muttered.
"At least you could have shown an act of intelligence and taken an extra one with you!" Shendu snapped. The driver looked surprised to notice that Shendu had heard his quiet words.
"Well, there is no need to worry about that now. It's more important to decide who will go and get a new tyre. There is a gas station some miles away," the driver said.
"Since this is your fault, you will go," Shendu decided.
"Gladly, at least I won't freeze here that way. But I can't carry the tyre here all by myself, and if I know Sven, he won't give me a lift here," the driver said.
"I can come," Jackie offered immediately. Shendu glanced at the archaeologist with a snort. Always helping everyone like some sort of world hero.
The driver shrugged. "Fine with me. You others, go in the bus so that you won't freeze. It will take a while before we get back and it's no use staying out here," he said.
And so he and Jackie left.
Unlike most of the travellers, Valmont didn't go in the bus. He didn't feel cold at all, and he couldn't stand the idea of sitting next to someone in a situation like that for a couple of hours. The bus was crowded and there wasn't a single extra seat. Until now he had sat next to an old lady who had done nothing but talked to him in Swedish during the entire trip. Valmont had tried to say that he didn't understand a word, but the lady hadn't listened. Or understood.
When he glanced in the direction of the bus Valmont saw that Shendu was the unfortunate one who had to sit next to the lady at the moment. Even from outside the Brit could see that there was an expression of anger and disgust on the demon's face, and he suspected that he would change his seat soon enough.
It meant that either he or Chan would have to sit next to the lady. How nice...
They had been travelling for about five hours. His muscles were sore from sitting and he was glad to be able to walk around a bit. If they hadn't been in such a hurry he would have been glad for the flat tyre.
They had been lucky for that the bus hadn't crashed with a tree. The driver had been fast and taken care of the situation well, and Valmont was thankful for that. Shendu would have exploded if something worse had happened and the Brit didn't want the demon to be any angrier.
And talking about Shendu... Valmont glanced back in the direction of the bus and noticed that the demon had indeed left the old lady. The crime lord decided to return to the others and claim the last lady free place before Jackie came back.
As he stepped in he saw that Shendu had chosen the empty seat next to Xu Lin. At first the choice confused Valmont, but then he noticed that the other option had been sitting next to Xiao Fung.
He didn't have to consider his own choice at all. Anything was better than the wind demon, and Valmont took his place next to the old lady more than gladly.
"Well, do you understand anything of it?" Hsi Wu asked impatiently and Necrosis lifted his eyes from his book.
"A bit from here, a bit from there. I am not as good as you think I am," he announced in annoyance. The demon had bugged him the whole trip. He had even took the place next to the doctor and insisted that he had to be informed of everything.
Hsi Wu growled quietly.
"Why did I endanger myself for this if you are of no use?" he asked.
"You knew that I have nothing but the basic education in Necromancy. Blame yourself," Necrosis stated and concentrated in the book again.
Reading and understanding the book was surprisingly difficult. He understood the words he read and some of their meaning, but in order to know what it all meant as a whole he had to read several parts more than once. He really hoped that Po Kong or someone else would be there to assist him.
Otherwise there was no guarantee that the young Chan would wake up. Or maybe she would do that, but her possible state of mind was an open question.
"We will revive Jade once we get back," Hsi Wu stated in determination. Necrosis glanced at the demon from the corner of his eyes and hoped that he wouldn't be killed if something went wrong.
To be continued...