"Xiang Liu," The maiden's grip on the demon's hand tightened, stopping him from pulling his hand away, "Let me tell you, I am a physician who just saved your life."

The demon's eyes registered shock. The woman was obviously lying, but at the moment, he had bigger fish to fry. There was something wrong with his human body, and he had no intention of disclosing that to the female. He turned his face away and willed his muscles to cooperate to help him shield the swollen, throbbing area. Having come into his human form recently, many of its workings were a mystery to him. Closing his eyes, he used his senses to get some idea of his location. The last thing he remembered was that he was on his way to Chenrong. He had heard that the king of Chenrong, who was in hiding, accepted and commanded many demons like him. It was thus the only place where beasts who had cultivated their spirit power and successfully acquired human bodies were not shunned. He, a nine-headed serpent, was taboo everywhere except in Chenrong. 

Incidentally, he was precisely where he wanted to be: in Chenrong. However, if he was to believe his senses, there was no other soul, immortal or otherwise, within miles of them. 

"We are in Chenrong, but I suppose you have already guessed that," the woman's voice made the demon side-eye her. "The arrows, there were three, punctured the three vital points of your heart. They were lined with silver. If not for my protection, you would have died in the Central Plains." 

"The Central Plains?" Xiang Liu repeated in disbelief. Why would a demon go there? The immortals there despised the likes of him. Maybe it was just another lie concocted by the woman. After all, he knew better than most what evils both immortals and humans were capable of. When he had just hatched, he was first caught by a human who had barely kept him alive before selling him to a nine-tailed fox who wanted to use his poison to bring nothing but pain to humans and demons alike. It was solely his will to survive and escape that hellhole that had given him the courage to end the fox's life and start his cultivation journey. 

"Yes," His companion bobbed her head, "We are here thanks to Furball." 

"Furball?" 

The woman blinked and cocked her head to her left, "Your gold-crowned, white-feathered giant condor; your mount, remember?" She elaborated, perhaps hoping to jog the demon's memory, but the latter drew a blank. 

Xiang Liu shook his head. "Woman, if you are not my enemy, tell me the truth or else-"

"You will bite my head off and feed the rest to Furball, or," she rolled her eyes and continued, "you will chop me into nine pieces and feed it to each of your heads all at once." When she finished, a put-upon look came over her divine features, "Looks like loss of memory has done nothing to change the way you threaten people who are nothing but kind to you. Maybe I should have just left you to die," she added, sounding bored.

Chapter word count: 534
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ord count so far: 3758