Faces of the Demon King

The kitchen staff were in awe as the Demon King himself brought the pot of fish into their floor. The head chef of the kitchen, Gang Dao, only prepared the cutting board and the rest of the needed utensils. He placed it in the middle counter where he normally worked. He waited for the king to arrive nearby.

The Demon King, who was watched by everyone, got the pot into place and took one fish and handed the head chef. The fishes were already dead, but they were still fresh. Even if they were not fresh anymore, it was better than scraps of a human body. Gang Dao, who was a tailed demon but with a taller stature, took a bite from the raw fish, using his teeth to tear into the flesh. Fan Yusheng and Niao Yi just entered the place by then, and the lady was shocked by his actions.

"Yum! Good fish! Good fish!" Gang Dao walked to his assistant chefs and discussed what meals to make out of it.

Fan Yusheng was about to go to the Demon King, but Niao Yi held her back by the arm. She was grateful he did. The Demon King picked up a fish and, despite his rather human-like form, ate the fish whole. He stuffed one that was smaller in size through his mouth and down his throat as if it was just a piece of preserved meat. The lady covered her mouth with her fingers, bewildered by the king's action. More when he started coughing.

"My king!" Gang Dao showed the bitten fish to the king and ran the tip of his finger under the fish's belly. "No organs. Cut!"

"Okay." The king responded as if he was going to work himself.

It was a curious scene to the bird demons. They continued to watch as the Demon King took another fish and ran his fingers through the same side Gang Dao gestured. A slit drew on the skin, and blood oozed from the belly. The Demon King's smile suddenly grew across his lips; one that was wickedly fascinated by the pouring blood.

Fan Yusheng frowned at the behavior of the king. Soon, she got tapping from Niao Yi, who gestured to a tailed demon next to them. It was the head of the kitchen servants, Gu Wei.

"Thank you for the fish! King never saw fish so many!" Gu Wei waved his arms around, trying to demonstrate the 'many' in his sentence. He then continued as if trying to get his words right. "King likes cutting, slicing, blood! King always help in kitchen when no bad human attacks."

"Oh," Fan Yusheng murmured before she sat on her legs. "He must be a good king then, right?"

Gu Wei went silent and left his mouth gaped.

The lady only nodded her head as she stood up and turned to the mess the king was doing in the kitchen. Even though it did not fit the warnings that came with the Demon King, the lady could not help but to feel lighter as she watched him cut the fishes one by one. He would toss the fish for someone to catch and place into another bowl. Another set of demons reach into the bowl to pull out the organs before handling it to another who rubbed the scale off of the fishes. The finished ones were gathered in another pot, perhaps to be cut and cooked soon enough.

Fan Yusheng had seen enough, and so she left the kitchen through the door they came from. She refused to disturb the flow of their work. Besides it was the castle exterior. She took a stroll through the bony trees that bore no leaves and had rotten to the barks. She huffed and placed her hand against the dead ones, only to feel bad about the negligence they suffered from the hands of this supposed unmoving king.

"Lady Fan! Lady Fan!" Cao Daimeng's voice echoed through the walls that shaped the exterior. She bothered not to hold her hanfu before she stepped on its edge, stumbling on her own. She continued to smile and waved at her though. "Lady Fan!"

"Please, call me Yusheng." Fan Yusheng chuckled and helped her up, dusting the poor gold hanfu that had been wiping the floors of every place where Cao Daimeng went. She smiled back at the excited girl. "What is it, Daimeng?"

"I heard the Demon King brought fish! Oh, I love fish! Did you see him take all the way here!?" Her eyes sparkled. Her reptilian eyes glimmered under her humanesque form, and her long slender tail lifted the edge of her hanfu.

"I didn't see him. I was... left behind." Fan Yusheng sighed as she remembered being carried by her guard to the kitchen. She then gestured to the way towards the kitchen. "He's helping out the kitchen staff right now. Do you want to see him?"

Cao Daimeng twitched and moved her head to the side. "Helping out in the kitchen? The Demon King? Why?"

"Well, he wants to cut the fish." Fan Yusheng shrugged with a chuckle. "I guess everything that has blood fascinates him all that much."

"But we're... not supposed to go to the kitchen." The clumsy beauty's tail disappeared under her hanfu. "I was told never to go to dirty places and touch dirty things." She whimpered, dropping her shoulders. "The king is in the kitchen, huh..."

If Fan Yusheng was rude, she would have reminded Cao Daimeng that she had been rolling in dirt ever since she got to Huanjing. The owl lady could only hum. "I guess you just have to wait for the fish to be cooked, or for the Demon King to be done helping them. But I have been to the kitchen; it's not dirty. It was actually spotless and bright!"

"I'll try coming there some other time, Yusheng." Cao Daimeng only chuckled before she took Fan Yusheng's hand. "Would you like to tour the castle with me? I've seen a lot of beautiful paintings in a hall in the East wing!"

Like asked, the two traveled to this mystical east wing hall Cao Daimeng was talking about. However, Fan Yusheng came to a realization that Cao Daimeng was not talking about the east wing at all. It was the Northeast entrance to the dungeons whose door was broken by force. Fan Yusheng stared at the swung unhinged door towards the spiral staircase to the darkness.

'Did she force herself to open this, or did she fall into this place?' Fan Yusheng thought as she looked unconvinced to go.

"Ah! It should be there somewhere!" Cao Daimeng gasped and hurried towards the door.

Her gold hanfu swept next to Niao Yi, but the bird demon grabbed the back collar of her dress and Fan Yusheng's waist. He dragged the two women away from their spots- as a sword thrust from the shadows. The girls yelped in surprise and in pain as Niao Yi dropped them to his side. He entered his stance, watching a human warrior emerge from the broken door.

"I have to thank you for waking me." The human warrior laughed out, swinging his sword around. He glanced at his blind spots before laughing at them. "Ah, so I get to kill three demons, two beautiful girls."

Cao Daimeng screamed as she tried to scram away, but Fan Yusheng only went before her as if protecting her. She hid behind the supposed older consort, and trembled in fear.

"How did you get in here!?" Fan Yusheng yelled with authority.

"I don't need to answer to you!" The warrior jumped in and headed for Fan Yusheng, but Niao Yi fought him instead.

His sword swung at every precise direction, but Niao Yi was a demon. He was faster than the human by nature, and it was only his wrong calculations that might get him in trouble. The warrior could attack and block, but Niao Yi did not have a weapon on him. He was only thinking of fishing and forgot to bring anything to counter this human.

Fan Yusheng ran to the side of the hall, leaving Cao Daimeng on the floor. She grabbed a potted plant and ran towards the human. She threw the plant towards him, which was broken by a single strike. The warrior laughed at Fan Yusheng's futile attack, failing to realize her attack had just started.

Niao Yi hopped towards Cao Daimeng and picked her up, soon hopping again to get away from the warrior. They received taunting- seconds before the plant that was at the warrior's feet grew its roots to wrap around the man. Horrified screaming followed as the roots held onto his frame.

"Daimeng!" Fan Yusheng called the other lady who came fast like a dog. She glanced at Niao Yi who was readying for another round.

The warrior broke free from the roots, and had become enraged. He ran towards them, holding his sword up high for a big slash. However, a black figure swept across him from behind. The silhouette that had manifested stayed next to Fan Yusheng before turning to look at the human.

Blood spurted as the body was sliced into three.

Fan Yusheng turned Cao Daimeng's head away from the view. She turned to the Demon King who was now standing next to her. He returned her silent gaze before a servant, who heard the commotion, came to check. The Halls bureau was summoned, after finding a big splatter on the floor.

The owl lady sat with Demon King in the sitting room. Cao Daimeng was with them, but she was still cooped up against the owl lady's chest as she cried at the view. For a reason, Fan Yusheng felt envy towards a very delicate and protected lady; but it dissipated as she realized it was because she was being trained to be the king's consort.

"The feast will be in an hour," the Demon King spoke after receiving a word from another tailed demon servant. He gazed at the shuddering Cao Daimeng. "She's still scared?"

"I don't think she ever saw someone die in front of her before." Fan Yusheng hummed as she kept on stroking at the lady's back. "Can't you feel she's so delicate?"

"Delicate? What made them change?" The Demon King raised the dark camellia to his eyes again and stroked at the petals as if feeling its coarse,veined surface. "Consorts from other clans are normally assassins."

Fan Yusheng turned to the Demon King. For some reasons, she was having too much doubt in the situation. One, why was he talking to her? Two, how could he say when Cao Daimeng was with them? Three, why was he talking to her!? The owl lady took a deep breath and glanced at the door where Niao Yi was standing guard.

"Why would you say that? Did any of the consorts try to kill you before?" She frowned at the king who was so fascinated by the camellia, he started crushing the petals just so they would reform one by one. "And please stop doing that to my gift."

"Why do you think every clan knows about Lamei and Mouye?" He chuckled, which was the first time in front of her, as he ignored the second half of her side. "Every other consort was sent to kill me. They were the only ones who didn't dare. I could count up to all my fingers, but that wouldn't be enough to account every one of those assassins.

"But I don't mind. I enjoyed painting the walls with their blood." His gaze then flew to Fan Yusheng who was shuddering in place. "Do you know that demon blood looks exactly like humans'? The only difference was the smell. Demon blood smells like sewer; human blood are like fruits..."

"...But demon blood is way darker than human blood..." Fan Yusheng frowned some more.

"Oh, is it? I don't see it that way." His small fascinated smile fell, and he started musing over the camellia again.

The owl lady glanced at Niao Yi once more before turning to the Demon King. "Demon King, I heard this place was constantly attacked by magic wielders. How do you feel about them?"

"Should I feel something about them? They're all bugs asking to be squashed." He glared at the camellia. "Humans and demons alike. They come to attack for different reasons, but only a few came close. Most of them die after one swing; it's boring." He huffed and placed his arms down and slid down the chair a little. "What's your guard's name again?"

"Huh? Why do you ask?" Fan Yusheng twitched, suddenly receiving a different topic.

"Tell him to get me something to eat. I'm hungry."

Before the owl lady could react, the doors opened. Cheng Lamei and Zhao Mouye walked in the room. They gave their customary bow to the king. and the first consort presented a plate of watermelons to the king. The smell of food distracted Cao Daimeng, and so she raised her head and sat properly next to Fan Yusheng.

"Those are watermelons from Jinxin. The winged demons sent their regards to the king." Cheng Lamei placed the plate before him, watching the king pull up to his seat. "It's cold, my king. And its juice is sticky. Be careful."

"They look good. Can we grow them in the garden?" His gaze flew to Fan Yusheng. "You're making it useful again, right?"

"I would need a whole one to cultivate the patches." The owl lady sent a smile his way. Not because she liked it, but for the fact that the Demon King did not seem to be a picky eater. Then again, she remembered him swallowing an entire raw fish. Perhaps it was out of the question to begin with.

Cao Daimeng stared at the watermelons in front of her. She turned to the Demon King, and then to the watermelons again. She turned to the Demon King once more, who caught her gaze this time. She gasped all of a sudden and bowed in apology. "My apologies, my king. It looks tasty..."

"Get one. I don't mind." He nonchalantly answered. He seemed to ignore Cheng Lamei's glare as the supposed youngest among the consorts took a slice and ate it. The king turned to the other two. "Take a seat, Lamei, Mouye." He then looked at the four. "Call Tianshi. Ask her to bring water."

Niao Yi turned to the door and opened it with a crack. There were servants outside waiting for orders which he relayed without delay. He was used to this, as it was his job back in Niaochao. The bird kept his eyes on the windows across him, guarding the possible entrances in case a wild human showed up again. However, he could not stay put. Fan Yusheng had been talking with the king, and he was worried something wrong might come out of her mouth.

The Demon King twitched as if he remembered something. He looked at Lamei. "Lamei, what city was that? The one we visited days ago?"

"We went to a lot of cities before the consorts came, my king. What else do you remember about it?" Cheng Lamei gave the king a polite smile.

"The one serving smoke reptile." He hummed as he ate his fourth slice of watermelon. "Oh, wait, I went there alone."

"My king!" Zhao Mouye seemed to complain. "Didn't we advise you against going on your own? The humans might attempt to trap you."

"It was in the deserts. The kingdom doesn't care about them." He answered like a spoiled brat. "I remember walking around, and the people were only looking at me. They can see my horns, but they weren't screaming."

"Ah, would you like to go there again, my king?" Cao Daimeng decided to join their conversation. "I have never seen a living human before..." -her spirits then dropped- "that didn't want to hurt me."

"Not really. The watermelon they gave me tasted like this."

"Gave you?" Fan Yusheng murmured, but in a louder voice than she intended. She felt their gazes fell on her before she cleared her throat. "Desert villages normally have high prices because of the scarcity of food. A watermelon in Jinxin cost a lot of gold. One being given to you is quite... suspicious."

The Demon King sneered. He left two more slices for Cao Daimeng or Lu Tianshi. "The man in the store saw me looking at his shop and he told me to take it. I did."

"That only meant he was scared of you!" Fan Yusheng frowned at the king's smug expression. "You should have at least left him some gold!"

"Why should I leave gold?" The Demon King hummed at the idea of currency.

"As... as a payment. You took something from a shop so... you have to pay." The owl lady did her best to redeem her grace after the outburst. She could still feel the eyes of the full demons at her, and more of Niao Yi's glare from behind. "You... have financing, right? Do you not use gold?"

"The king doesn't handle any matters connected to financing remote clans." Cheng Lamei sighed at her supposed ignorance. "Refrain from talking about it with the king."

He threw his glare at Cheng Lamei instead. He then gazed at everyone joining him at the table. The Demon King only sighed and leaned against his seat. "Let's go around the deserts after wiping out the human army along the borders. I want to find that guy and give him the gold I owe."

Niao Yi then turned to them and gave his customary bow before speaking. "My king, with your permission, I would like to ask." He raised his head. "The village in the deserts from where you got a watermelon and smoked lizard. Were you referring to Hongtu?"