บท 150: Why Is It Her Again?

Qiu Ling reached the place where the so-called Beguiling night tree was supposed to grow. In contrast to those small herbs he needed to search for, he spotted the tree easily. It really stood just there in the middle of a chasm.

The only thing that made it slightly more difficult to find was the fact that it was nearly invisible if seen from afar. The bottom of the chasm was shrouded in shadows and the tree had dark green sometimes even black leaves, not to speak of the fruits hanging on its branches that were of a deep purple color. This tree was practically camouflaging itself!

Since Qiu Ling had known where to look for the tree and since dragons had better eyes than humans anyway, it wasn't that hard to spot, though. He had the winds carry the cloud down and just plucked some of the fruits. Who knew if they were of different quality? Better take some more so that the old geezer could choose which one to take.

Qiu Ling already wanted to hurry to his next — and finally last — destination when he actually spotted an estate that wasn't deserted. This was the first time he happened upon a place with people while searching for the ingredients, so he stopped for a moment and had a look.

The estate was spacious with a lot of different courts and buildings. In fact, it seemed like a small city instead of just one estate. One might compare it to the royal court in the capital city that Jing Yi had left five years ago, though it seemed to be even larger. It occupied a spot right in the mountain where a seemingly natural plateau had formed some way up from the Beguiling night tree.

Just like the tree most of the buildings were black: Black lacquered beams held the roofs, while equally black tiles covered them. The wood the doors and windows were made of were black, too. It was quite the peculiar sight.

Qiu Ling narrowed his eyes. This was how he had imagined the court of the demon king: A dark and eerie place but still somehow stylish. It really fitted that bastard, Jin Ling. Had this estate something to do with him?

Qiu Ling hovered in the air and contemplated. If this was really related to the demons, then he couldn't just leave. Not even considering that they might be a danger to his beloved if he let them stay in the mortal world … he just didn't want that bastard to achieve whatever he had planned. Ruining his plans would be a joy.

Qiu Ling exchanged the white robe of the Yun Zou sect for the black robes he normally wore and let the cloud disperse. Then, he flew over and landed on the roof of one of the courtyards in the back of the estate.

This courtyard was the biggest in the whole estate. It had the best structure and was the most lavishly decorated. Knowing that bastard, he would definitely stay at this courtyard if he really had something to do with this place.

Qiu Ling didn't have to wait. Almost instantly he noticed a figure next to a gurgling stream. The person held a silvery sword in her hand and was swinging it through the air. It was alright for a human but nothing that could impress Qiu Ling. And indeed, the person was only human. Not just that, she was also a woman. Did this really have nothing to do with the demons?

Qiu Ling frowned. He couldn't believe it. His instinct told him that something was fishy about all this.

He slowly crept over the roof and tried to get a better look at the woman. Demons were the odd ones in comparison to dragons and gods. They didn't think much of being faithful. That bastard of a demon king had an especially large harem. If the information Fu Min had given him a while back wasn't outdated already then there should be over five hundred men and women in it.

Right, that bastard was swinging both ways. One of the countless reasons Qiu Ling hated him. If he was only into women it would be alright but since he also lusted after men he was an enemy that had to be defeated! He wouldn't stand for that guy getting interested in his beloved!

Qiu Ling reached the other side of the roof and finally got a good look at the woman's face. He was instantly stunned. No, not because she was such a heaven-defying beauty. Actually, she wasn't. She had a slightly rounder face with big eyes and some curves, though they weren't enough to say she had a gorgeous figure.

The real problem was … He had seen that woman before. He couldn't remember where but he knew he had seen that face before.

Hm … He took a closer look: She might have been a little taller than the average woman but not exceedingly so. There also wasn't anything remarkable about the way she dressed. She only wore a long black dress with some red parts that highlighted the good parts of her figure. Really, the only thing noticeable was probably that she was a little on the chubby side.

Actually, Qiu Ling's evaluation was quite mean. The woman definitely couldn't be described with the word 'chubby'. The problem was rather that he measured everyone against crown prince Jing He who was a special sort of beauty. Even if one disregarded the mortals and only looked at the gods, he would still be considered a rare beauty and a good part of that was because of his slender limbs. If one was compared to him … It didn't matter how one looked the result would still be unpleasant to hear.

Qiu Ling frowned. He still felt like he had seen her somewhere before. But where could it have been?

Before he could find an answer, a door opened and a man in black robes stepped outside. Qiu Ling's eyes narrowed. That guy, he had some resemblance to that bastard Jin Ling. So this was really related to the demons somehow.

The man walked over to the woman and smiled seductively. "Still not finished?" He looped an arm around her waist and pulled her toward his chest.

The woman lowered her sword and turned around. She smiled sweetly at him and her eyes shone with a gentle light.

Qiu Ling slapped the roof in front of him in realization. He finally remembered who she was!

"Hong Bao!"

That's right! It was her! That damned servant that had tried to kill his beloved! Grr! What was she doing here? And even with some handsome, demonic-looking man to boot?

The man and woman both turned around. Qiu Ling cursed in a low voice and slid down on the roof and out of their sight. This was an important discovery but he couldn't get to the bottom of this now. He still had to find the last ingredient and make sure that Jing He could start to cultivate. He'd investigate this later.

Thus, Qiu Ling silently ran away and made his way over to the last place: The Glowing sea. In spite of the pleasant sounding name, this was a place he dreaded visiting.