Hong Bao soon returned just as she had said and it didn’t take much longer until it was time for dinner. The three of them followed the servants over without having gotten around to actually talking about the wedding. When Hong Ai and Shen An De saw the two guests, they exchanged a glance and raised their brows.
After what had happened the other time, they had wondered just how the dragon king would be behaving in the future. To see that he was back now … well, it was a little unexpected, but it also took a worry off their shoulders. After all, if he really was worried about them deliberately harming his lover, he definitely wouldn’t have come here again with him, right?
Thus, they just calmly invited the two of them to sit and Hong Ai even inquired about how Jing Yi was doing. "I hope you were able to deal with that matter with the Beguiling Night Tree’s fruit the other day."
Jing Yi’s expression froze when he was suddenly reminded of the matter that he had tried to forget and he wasn’t quite sure what to say. To be honest, no, he hadn’t gotten over it. While he had told Qiu Ling and his lover had also taken it quite well, it didn’t change the fact that he still saw remnants of the dream even now whether he was sleeping or awake. He almost wanted to ask Hong Ai if this was normal but he also figured that it wasn’t the right moment. Thus, he just nodded, but it was so stiff that both Hong Ai and Shen An De realized that there still had to be something up.
They exchanged another glance, a little worried. Shen An De originally had just wanted to draw out some information about what was up with the Son of Heaven but as a result, he had almost offended the dragon king. It was too late to regret though. Thus, he could only hope that Jing Yi would be doing well again soon.
"Well, I’m sorry about that. I really should have warned you the other day. It just didn’t cross my mind since Xiao Bao has been eating them as well and she also hadn’t cultivated for that long."
Jing Yi nodded, putting his thoughts of what he had seen the other day away and instead focusing on the issue at hand. "Right, Hong Bao said that she joined the demon-hunting sect not too long ago. And if I understood right, then Madam Shen was also part of a demon-hunting sect before, is that right?" To be honest, the details in Hong Bao’s story had been slightly fuzzy. Well, other than how she had vividly described her sister and the handsome stranger falling in love. But that also meant that he wasn’t sure just how much he could trust.
Hong Ai raised her brows, a little surprised at that statement. "A demon-hunting sect? No, that’s not quite right. The demon-hunting sects are sects that only specialize in hunting demons. They don’t care much for cultivation or other practices as long as they aren’t suitable for hunting demons. Their goal isn’t to ascend but to gain strength for what they see as their task in life.
"The sect I was from — the Tian Yu Sect — isn’t like that. They would deal with demons if they made trouble for the humans close by or if say encountered one while out on a mission. But it was never the thing we focused on." That was also why the Elders of the Tian Yu Sect hadn’t felt it wrong not to react when Hong Bao wrote a letter to alert Hong Ai about the matters in their home village. It was too far away for them to care. If it had been in their jurisdiction, they might have sent a group of disciples over to check it out. But in this case, it wasn’t something they would have cared about. For Hong Ai that was unforgivable.
Jing Yi nodded, feeling that he had learned something new. "So the demon-hunting sects are like that. To be honest, I already met a demon hunter once. I felt that he was a bit scary though." He didn’t mention that it was Liu Cheng of all people to make sure that Hong Bao wouldn’t feel slighted. Otherwise, they really might not be able to find out anything.
Hong Ai sighed when she heard that, putting the matter of her own sect to the back of her mind. "Well, they certainly can be a scary sight. A lot of them have suffered from demon attacks themselves. Some lost their whole families to the demons or other person that were very close to them. Some even almost lost their own lives before they were rescued by the demon-hunting sects. So a lot of their disciples are outraged whenever they hear about another demon. Fighting against them is as much taking revenge for themselves and their loved ones, as it is helping others. So I don’t think it’s strange at all that you had that kind of encounter. Who knows what the backstory of the person that you saw was?"
Jing Yi nodded slowly, feeling that this was quite plausible. In any case, Liu Cheng had also seemed like he was intent on destroying every last demon that he saw. If there was something bad in his past that had caused this, it wouldn’t be too surprising.
After a moment, Jing Yi couldn’t help but glance at Shen An De. "I’m sorry if this is a bit too invasive a question but … from what that demon hunter said, it sounded like all demons are evil creatures. That whatever they do would only be to harm others. But it looks like Madam Shen is quite happy with Grandmaster Shen. Do you think that demon hunter was wrong?"
To be honest, this was something he had been grappling with since the moment he saw Liu Cheng kill Yawen. To Jing Yi, just who was a dangerous person that one should be careful about was pretty clear. It definitely hadn’t been the woman who just tried to defend herself.
And right now, he also felt that the relationship between Shen An De and Hong Ai seemed quite good. Shen An De also seemed to care about Hong Bao as his sister-in-law. That definitely wasn’t the image of a vicious demon like Liu Cheng had described them. On the other hand, this person was the Grandmaster of a demonic sect. So maybe there was more than what met the eye.
He just wasn’t sure. And this question … even though it might be a little strange, this was still his best way to determine things. Maybe the answer would at least let him figure out something. He sure hoped so. Otherwise, this would really be too embarrassing.
