No! He couldn't let that happen! Jing He was still waiting for him! They still hadn't married! He certainly wouldn't die before that! He had waited so long, far too long to give up now that he was only a few days short of attaining his goal.
Shen An De frowned and gripped his own weapon. This disciple had attacked his wife without warning and obviously still harbored ill-intent. He couldn't give him any chances to try anew.
Hong Ai just smiled. "Shouldn't we be the ones asking that? What were you trying to achieve through attacking me?"
"Hmph." Qiu Ling averted his face. "You —" His eyes bulged and he stopped talking, instead staring at the woman who was sitting at the table and chewing on the remains of a stuffed bun. Heavens! Why was there another servant girl?! Wasn't one of them enough? This was basically double the trouble!
Hong Ai smiled and crouched down next to him. "That's Hong Bao, my younger sister." Even though this man had attacked her, she didn't actually feel threatened by him. A guy who fantasized about his wedding on their roof couldn't be a bad person.
"Younger … sister?" Qiu Ling frowned at Hong Bao, then turned back to Hong Ai. Shit. He had no idea which one was which. "So … Which one of you was the one who tried to kill Jing He?"
Hong Ai blinked. "Jing He?" She had never heard of that person. "Could it be you're mistaken? I don't know anyone with that name."
Qiu Ling turned back to Hong Bao. "Then it has to be you."
Hong Bao gulped the remainder of the bun down and shook her head. "I also don't know."
"You're lying." His expression fell. This was definitely the same servant girl. That manner of speaking … Hadn't the woman who had rattled on next to him when he had gotten drunk sounded the same way?
"My sister lost her memory. Even if she had known that Jing He she couldn't tell you."
Qiu Ling sat up. Right. She was supposed to have lost her memory. He had just thought she still remembered because she was in league with the demons.
He pressed down on his arm and scooted over, sitting down next to her. "You really don't remember? The teahouse in the capital, does that ring any bell?"
Hong Bao pursed her lips and looked up at the ceiling as if the answer was written up there somewhere. There was indeed something that came to mind … "I don't know about any teahouse and I've never been to the capital. But Liu Cheng asked the same."
"Who's Liu Cheng?"
"My one true love, obviously!" Hong Bao turned around to him and grabbed his hand. "Brother-in-law said you were planning your wedding. When is it going to be?"
Normally, Qiu Ling would have loved to talk about his wedding but this time the reason why he couldn't marry sat right in front of him. Mn, he should probably try to get something out of her.
"Your one true love? I thought that was Shun Tao."
Hong Bao blinked. "Who's Shun Tao? I've never heard that name."
Hong Ai also hadn't heard of that but she was intrigued. This had to be something that had happened before Hong Bao became a disciple of the Chun Feng Sect. Maybe they could finally find out what had happened in those years! She hurriedly sat down on Hong Bao's other side and looked at Qiu Ling expectantly.
Shen An De sighed, let go of his weapon and sat down next to his wife. It would really be for the best if they could finally shed some light on all this. Including this new disciple's identity.
Qiu Ling looked at the three people in front of him and smiled. "Why should I tell you anything? You injured me!" He pointed at his arm just in case that shameless woman would pretend not to know what he was speaking of.
Hong Ai pouted. "You attacked me first and I didn't know this would happen. The weapon doesn't work on humans. How would I have known that you're a demon?"
"I'm not a demon!" Qiu Ling leaped to his feet and pointed at her. "Take that back!"
Hong Ai sighed. "There's no reason to be like that. An De also has some demon-blood. We don't mind at all."
"I. Am. Not. A. Demon." Qiu Ling's eyes were blazing. He wouldn't stand for it if she called him a demon again.
"Alright. You're not." She smiled but her tone said that she didn't believe a word of what he said.
"I'm really not a demon!"
Shen An De rubbed his temples. This wouldn't get them anywhere. "You can't be human either. The weapon Hong Ai used was from the demon hunters. It's made so that it can't hurt humans but will injure demons."
Qiu Ling frowned and sat down. "Show me that weapon." He reached over but Hong Ai hesitated.
"Why do you want to have it?"
"Let me have a look."
Hong Ai glanced at her husband. He had given her that weapon after they had met back then and he had told her to never let go of it. She definitely didn't want to give the weapon to Qiu Ling.
Shen An De lightly touched her arm. "It should be alright."
"But —"
"You also want to know what happened to your sister, don't you? If we want him to tell us anything, we have to meet him halfway."
Hong Ai nodded and handed the weapon over.
Qiu Ling just snatched it away and turned it over in his hands. This weapon … sure was peculiar. The blade actually felt hot to him as if it would burn his body to ashes when it struck him. That definitely wasn't normal. For a dragon to feel such intense heat it would need a place like that Court of Flames he had visited to get the Flaming Lion's Tail for Jing He last year.
If this kind of heat was condensed into just one weapon … Qiu Ling furrowed his brow. This was definitely not something that could be achieved easily. It would most likely need a special material and maybe even a different forging process than normal. It wasn't impossible, though. But to have this weapon not injure humans … How was that supposed to work?
"Is something the matter with that sword?" Shen An De observed Qiu Ling's face. As someone who had a bit of demon blood in his veins, he was always cautious with the sword. The fact that this could be used to easily kill him was the reason he had gifted it to Hong Ai. It was the proof of his trust in her. Now seeing it in the hands of another person made him apprehensive, too. But he understood that Qiu Ling was likely their only way to find out what had happened to Hong Bao.
Qiu Ling put the weapon down on the table and pushed it over to Hong Ai. "It's quite peculiar and certainly not just used to kill demons."
Shen An De raised his brows. "What makes you say so?"
"Well, I'm not a demon," he iterated. "And I'm sure that this thing …" He pondered something he could use as an example without giving his identity as a dragon away. "Have you ever tried to kill a spiritual beast with it?"
"Uh … no." Hong Ai shook her head.
"You'd be able to. And they aren't demons either. Most of them aren't, at least."
Shen An De nodded. That much was true. So this new disciple … was partly a spiritual beast? That certainly was rare! But it would explain how he could be so strong even at such a young age.
"So, you've seen the weapon. Can you tell us now what happened to Hong Bao?"
"Sure. There isn't much to say, though. She did something bad and was thrown out of the Nine Heavens. Well, she deserved it." He crossed his arms, lifted his chin and looked at Hong Bao condescendingly.
Trying to assassinate his beloved. She deserved even more than being thrown out! Huh. He should make sure she got her just desserts while he was in this Hei Dian Sect.