Kylie Chan - Heaven to Wudang

‘Is he insulting me?’ Leo said.

‘He’s probably insulting both of us,’ I said.

The Demon King stepped out of the sedan chair in Celestial Form. His perfectly white, strikingly beautiful face was surrounded by a huge mane of red hair that stood up on his head then fell down his back past his waist. His scaled armour and boots were red and gold.

The Tiger summoned an outdoor table and chairs, and I stepped forward to talk to the Demon King. He saluted me and I saluted back, then I gestured for him to sit. He bowed slightly and gestured for me to sit first.

I had an uncomfortable feeling of déjà vu and wished that John was doing this. Now that I was clear of the demon essence, I felt the King’s dark nature even more intensely. He was sinister and charismatic, and I just wanted this done and to get out of there.

I sat at the table, and my staff repositioned themselves to the optimal configuration. The King’s men moved to stand behind him, mirroring my own Retainers. The Demon King sat and smiled across the table at me, his face alight with warmth.

‘You failed,’ I said.

He raised one hand slightly. ‘I forgot for a moment it was you, and straight to the point as usual. You’re alive, Emma, and clear of the demon essence. I didn’t fail.’

‘If the Xuan Wu Serpent hadn’t intervened I would have died.’

He dropped his head slightly and an expression of remorse swept across his face. ‘I acknowledge that I caused you a great deal of suffering and that you nearly died.’ He raised his head and saluted me again. ‘I apologise most sincerely for my misjudgement, madam.’

‘You owe me one, George.’

He waved one hand to indicate the demons behind him. ‘These are a gift to make up for it. Enjoy them until they expire, then dispose of them.’

I glanced at the handsome young men. ‘I think you underestimate me, Wong Mo.’

He shrugged. ‘Okay. Worth a shot. Come and live with me and you can have as many of these as you like.’ He leaned over the table and grinned. ‘Three, four, at once, they’re remarkable. You should try. How about I send you one or two just for a sample?’

‘Give it up,’ I said.

He sighed theatrically, his shoulders moving with the sound. ‘Guess I’ll just have to give them to the Mothers then. That’s what they were originally bred for. I have to keep making them, they don’t last long.’

I inhaled sharply. ‘I’ll take them then.’

He waved me down. ‘No, no, if you’re not going to use them as sex toys then don’t bother. That’s all they’re good for, they can’t even speak.’

‘I’ll still take them.’

He shrugged. ‘Suit yourself.’ He waved the young men forward. ‘Serve the Dark Lady.’

The demons moved mechanically to stand behind my staff, seemingly unfazed by their fate.

‘Will you still bring me Kitty Kwok?’ he said. ‘She needs to be stopped, and she’s human. I can’t do it.’

I nodded once. ‘We made a deal. You cleared the essence from me; I agreed to bring her to you. You will have her.’

‘Is there anything else I can do to atone for the pain I caused you, Emma?’ he said, his face still warm and full of affection.

‘Yi Hao, Er Hao.’ I waved my two demon servants forward without looking behind me. ‘These are my demons from One Two Two’s nest. I want you to tell me if they are the original demons or copies; and if they are programmed to turn. I want your assurance that I am safe with them, because I love them dearly.’

He turned his attention to them and his face lit up. ‘If you can love these two demons then maybe there is room in your heart for one more.’

‘You said you’d love me as snake broth,’ I said.

He leaned back and his expression grew wry. ‘You’ll never let me forget that, will you? It was a spur of the moment thing, Emma, just competitive bullshit. You know I was talking out of my ass.’

‘Will you check my demons for me?’

‘I will.’ He waved them closer. ‘Come here, little ones, I will not harm you.’

‘Or hurt them,’ I said.

He nodded acquiescence. ‘Of course.’ He waved to them again and they sidled towards him. ‘I hear you were willing to sacrifice the Tiger’s wives — one of whom is your own best friend — for these two tiny demons.’

‘The wives had the Tiger’s whole army defending them. All these demons had was me,’ I said. ‘Any creature that chooses to seek humanity and attain the Tao is worthy of protection.’

‘You need to concentrate on the bigger picture, sweetie. Ah Wu would have protected the humans before any demon.’ He gestured towards the demons. ‘Kneel.’ They hesitated, and he spoke more brusquely. ‘Down!’

Yi Hao approached and knelt before him. He put one hand on the side of her head and concentrated; she remained rigid with fear as he studied her.

‘Demons are demons and they don’t have a real life at all,’ he said. ‘Even if they choose to turn and pursue the Way, they’re not worth anything.’

He snapped back, then waved Er Hao forward. She knelt and he touched her head as well, then released her. ‘They’re not copies. They’re nothing special. No programming.’ He glanced up at me. ‘How were you identifying the copies if these ones were suspect?’

‘Touch them loaded with shen energy …’ I hesitated. Had I told him too much?

‘Don’t worry, Emma, I don’t have access to shen energy. You can tell me.’

‘Touch them loaded with shen energy and you get a similar effect to a Shen touching them without protecting them. They go black.’

‘And these little ones go black in response to shen energy as well?’ the King said, turning his attention back to my demons.

‘They do.’

‘They shouldn’t do that. They are probably the result of some of Simon’s breeding experiments before his Mother was destroyed. Or …’ He leaned hungrily towards them. ‘Maybe they’re the spawn of that Mother he made himself.’ He grinned at me. ‘The one he made from your friend.’ He put his hands on his knees. ‘I would love to tear these two apart and see what’s inside. They’re fascinating.’

Yi Hao and Er Hao jumped to their feet and scurried to hide behind me.

‘Don’t worry,’ I said, putting my hands behind me to touch them without looking away from the King. ‘I won’t let him hurt you.’

‘We trust you, ma’am,’ Yi Hao said, but her voice quavered with fear.

‘Can I trust them?’ I said. ‘You said they were probably specially bred by One Two Two. Are they agents for Kitty or the Death Mother? Are they spies?’

‘They are tame demons, and they are yours. They have been tamed with the Fire Essence Pill and cannot turn on you. You can trust them.’

‘Go back to the others,’ I said, and they ran back to my group. ‘Tell the Tiger to summon tikuanyin tea for me.’

‘Allow me,’ the King said, and a pot and cups of priceless crackled green glaze appeared before us. He poured for both of us and raised his cup. ‘Warn the Celestial about the demons those two have created, the ones that are programmed to explode. I never thought I’d see the like again, and here they are. So wrong. Probably just a small part of their arsenal, Emma, be very careful. They may have copies that are undetectable even with shen.’

‘How badly do you want the Death Mother and Kitty taken down?’ I said.

He carefully replaced his cup on the table. ‘Badly enough to enlist your help. Particularly Kitty — she is an unknown quantity. I’ve never seen anyone do what she’s done; she’s well on the way to some sort of twisted Immortality. She can survive in Hell unassisted, but she’s still human enough that I can’t break my vow to Ah Wu and deal with her myself.’ He lifted his teacup again and studied it. ‘To be honest, she scares me. I think she has designs on my throne.’ He gazed at me over the rim of the cup. ‘She has links with the other Centres; being human, she has no limitations on her travel. She helped Six make those hybrid stone elementals using Western stones.’