A/N: This is friday's update! Sorry for being late! Been a bit busy >.<

XG 176 - Appreciating you feel like I've cheated on him

"You are here because I want to have a look at you, who inherited my genes."

"Every person that has that gene is under that category."

"Those are mutated."

"And mine doesn't?" Wong Xue Guo asked when the man once again remained unhelpful in explaining things.

"When it comes to you, you followed me, the original." The man stood up and the tiger shadow went to his side.

"The 'Lord' doesn't follow your genes?"

"Not quite. To my surprise, only you inherited my genes almost perfectly. Like a daughter from her father."

"What a coincidence." That does explain why her shadow was the same as his shadow. And from his words, the 'Lord' does not have this shadow ability. Then it was just pure power that allow him to overpower her possession?

"That human's name is Zene, and the power I've bestowed him is immortality. Among those that inherited my gene, only you could stop his foolishness."

Oh? Why is he suddenly giving out information without being prompted? It was also rather puzzling that he was much friendlier compared to a second ago.

"Why did you not stop him if you agree that his actions are foolish?"

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Demons are not allowed to step onto the human realm. This matter can only be solved by humans themselves."

"You are a demon...?" Pieces of clues finally fit in Wong Xue Guo's mind. That explained the underlying sense of disobedience around this place. After being chased by zombies and seeing humans with supernatural powers, the existence of demons was not overly hard to accept.

"Surprised?"

"Is there a reason for you to appear harmless before me?" A demon that wears white and standing at a blinding virtuous-themed place was rather contradicting to the tales of demons she had heard since childhood.

Possibly to get her to drop her guard and get brownie points from her?

"I have no intention to harm you." The man showed a disarming smile that surprisingly moved her heart.

Until now, she was rather proud of herself for not being easily swayed by good-looking people, and the only person that ever get her romantically interested was Chen Yibo.

Oh, is her heart cleaning out Chen Yibo's spot for another man?

... Hold on.

This face...!

It was the bloody maxed-out beauty points Chen Yibo!

As this demon never smiled until just now and had a dominating aura, it took her way too long to match it to the good-natured Chen Yibo!

"Why do you not use your real face when talking to me?" Wong Xue Guo asked accusingly.

All the while they spoke, he would accidentally reveal more of his skin, thanks to his thin clothing that bared his muscular arms, chest and legs. The view was not bad per se, but it constantly broke her concentration because of who he resembled.

"Are you not pleased with this appearance?"

"I do, but I prefer the real person you borrowed the face from. Appreciating you feels like I've cheated on him." Even if they were not even a couple, her heart already belonged to him. It also made her feel better that her reputation as a firm-hearted gal loyal to one man had remained intact.

"Alright." In just a blink of an eye, the maxed-out gorgeous version of Chen Yibo morphed into a maxed-out version of Charles Wong, still wearing the same ancient white Greece outfit.

This isn't any better! It was even more uncomfortable looking at the demon now!

"Could you not use this face either?" Wong Xue Guo requested stiffly.

"This is your father's face. Do you not like your father?"

Answering that would definitely have the demon twist the meaning, no matter how she worded it. "It would be more sincere of you to talk to me without a disguise."

"A human will go insane once they see my real appearance."

"... If you like my father's appearance, you may continue using it."

"My real body is in Hell. We are in a mind space where I pulled your soul over for a chat. If you had not broken the threshold limit of the necessary strength and had a shadow servant, it would be impossible for us to meet."

Again, he volunteered information without being prompted. Was he the type to be more friendly the longer they converse?

Towards someone that offered politeness, sh was willing to treat him the same until he reveals his true goal. "Mr Demon, could you tell me more about Zene, and why you would give him your gene?"

Also, if the demon had only given Zene his gene, why do so many humans end up having it?

Did Zene have fifty wives and thousands of children? An immortal basically has a lot of time on his hands, so much so that he would create zombies to wipe out the human population. If he was so bored with life, why not try all the ways to commit suicide and avoid harming innocent people?

Calling the demon as 'Mr. Demon', was to get him to offer his name. But other than having a pensive look, the demon just let it be.

Wow, does knowing a demon's name really give them power over them?

"I can tell you, but why not make things more interesting? Let it be your reward after you finish learning certain things. Humans tend to cherish things more if they work hard to earn them instead of being given them for free."

"Pardon? You wish to teach me something?"

"Your ability is the most similar to mine, albeit weaker. At my level of strength, one look is enough to get rid of Zene. But you, a human, could never get to my level no matter how much vitality you absorbed. Your human body and soul could not withstand it."

Wong Xue Guo understood that this demon wanted to help her to take down Zene, but she did not understand why.

"Has Zene offended you, or broken a promise he made with you?" In her biased view, a demon would kill someone even if it was a minor disagreement.

"The former."

Well, that was not a surprise. Zene might have formed a contract with Mr Demon to gain immortality. Did he break the contract because he grow bored of being immortal? Was that why he created zombies because he could not break free from the contract?

"What did he promise you?" Wong Xue Guo asked curiously.

"I will share after you did well in learning what I will be teaching you."

"Shall I take it that I'm the first person, and likely the strongest 'Awaken' person to be graced by your presence?"

"That is correct, but I dislike that term you humans used."

"I had not participated in that naming decision. How will you be teaching me how to use my shadow properly?"

Mr Demon eyed her shadow in the shape of her frame. "You are fortunate that your servant is obedient to you even without being properly trained."

All this while, Wong Xue Guo had thought the shadow was just an extension of her emotions but it turns out that her shadow had intelligence. As Mr Demon said, it was her fortune that her shadow obeyed her, and not being rebellious as he had hinted it could be.

"Would Zene be defeated if I absorb his energy?"

"If he did not absorb you first. He has lived much longer than you and certainly has better control of his powers. His injuries will heal fast, no matter how serious it is."

"Basically, he won't die no matter what kind of damage he receives? Not even his heart?"

"That's why you are the only one that can stop him. Once you extracted my gene from him, he will no longer be immortal."

Could I do that?

"Could you elaborate on the use of my ability?"

She had half guessed that he would once again avoid answering, leaving it as a reward, but he did otherwise.

"You can give them power, just as you can take it away. A very domineering ability," the demon praised himself.

"Then why didn't you take back your gift?"

"To do that, a living sacrifice is needed to summon my real body. A second is the longest I can stay with a single, healthy sacrifice. The more living sacrifices, the longer I can stay." Mr Demon eyed her knowingly. "But will you choose this method to end everything?"

Even if it was really an easy way, but... "No."