All the children looked at one another.

"But if you take us home, what's going to happen to Uncle Ning?" SiZhui asked, first.

"I'll come back for him late. I'm sure he's going to be fine." Hui Gai laughed, all of his pointy teeth on display. "He's already dead...sort of...but when I come back, I'll check on your fathers too...How's that?" He reassured them.

"I guess so...I mean, we're not allowed over that stupid bridge so we're just twiddling our thumbs so to speak." JingYi spoke up.

The trouble was, no one wanted to go home.

"Shall we get a move on...then?" Hui Gai pushed. "Things are happening back home too, things you don't know about...so if we can speed this along...that would be mighty helpful." He urged. "Plus, since you lot never told anyone what you were doing, those stick-in-the-muds will probably want to punish you...right?" He looked at SiZhui for confirmation.

Maybe that wasn't the right thing to say because they looked even more resistant to leaving now.

Hui Gai wished they would hurry up and decide. He still had to prepare his own plan for defeating the other two demons, and these kids were wasting his precious time with their procrastination.

"It's not just the elders of your Sect. Did you think about your uncles? How worried they are about you? There are developments they would presumably need to talk about with you too...that's just a guess though, what with you being a Sect Leader too." Hui Gai added, dryly.

"So what gives?" Zago suddenly appeared.

This time JingYi was too startled to even make a noise, and he clutched his chest in fear.

"When they decide..." Hui Gai replied to her impatient look.

"You want to stay here?" She asked in disbelief. "You do realise that he," she herked a thumb at Hui Gai, "is your only way out of here for now, right?"

"We came on the babies...we can leave on the babies." JingYi retorted.

There were hoots and squeals to support him.

Hui Gai rolled his eyes.

Zago was not helping.

These kids were resourceful if nothing else and it wouldn't do to trigger their obstinate side.

"Alright, I probably shouldn't tell you, but I guess you're all old enough." Hui Gai stroked their egos. "The Sleeping Sickness Demon is going to return to Cloud Recesses. He wants something. PengYou strengthened the wards so he can't get in, but they're going to change something tonight. That's why your uncles want you back. No other reason..." He lied.

If people expected demons to be untrustworthy and mischievous, well, then Hui Gai didn't see it as doing anything wrong. He was just going along with their misconceptions.

And these children in particular were loose canons in that they could get in worse trouble if they stubbornly refused to go home; at least with his explanation, they might fall for the you're-old-enough-so-I'm-going-to-trust-you spiel.

His friend may not blame him if anything went wrong...say if the kids hurt themselves...but he would feel disappointed...and Hui Gai was under no circumstances ready for that.

They still looked unsure.

Right then, threats it was going to be.

"You're only making it worse, you know." He tapped his nose.

"Worse?" SiZhui asked, worry in his eyes. The other two were holding onto their nerves quite well.

SiZhui was a good boy, Hui Gai thought. But then he expected nothing less from his friend's child.

"Well it seems to me...who do you think is going to be the most disappointed with your behaviour?" Let them work it out. Hui Gai wanted to cackle loudly.

Zago bit into her third lollipop just standing there.

"Can demons get cavities?" JingYi wanted to know. "Or put on weight?"

Zago threw him a fierce look and he shut up immediately.

"Alright, we get it. My parents will learn about it and feel upset that we didn't do what they would have wanted." SiZhui offered. "I guess we should go back." He added quietly.

"And you..." Hui Gai gained leverage by one kid on his side already, so he targeted the other one with a scowl on his face. "Your Uncle already wants to break your legs...."

Jin Ling paled.

"I think you're right." He told SiZhui quickly. "The earlier we get back, the faster we can report on everything that happened here, right? They'll be so amazed about your Dragon pearl, they'll forget about everything else."

"Our Dragon pearl." SiZhui corrected him, with a broad smile.

So only one kid to go.

Hui Gai stared JingYi down.

Zago tore the wrapper on the fourth lollipop, maintaining eye contact all throughout at JingYi.

"Fine! Let's go back. But just remember this, you're both just as much to blame as I am. Equal punishment." JingYi demanded, glaring at both of them.

"How are they gonna strengthen the wards?" SiZhui asked, nodding agreement to JingYi.

"Oh...I don't know anything about that!" Hui Gai lied, not feeling any remorse at all.
"Your uncles will explain. Now come on."

They all held hands and wings and Hui Gai got them out of there.

He knew the dragon babies wouldn't fit inside the Hanshi so he landed outside it instead.

The commotion of four adults and three Dragons was enough to bring out quite a few people, including the two whose wrath the children hoped to avoid.

"Jin Ling...what are you doing here?" Jiang Cheng asked, in a friendly voice. "I thought you boys had gone back home..."

Jin Ling glanced at him before putting two and two together. He quickly turned to Hui Gai.

"But YOU! You said-"

"Bye! Nearly dead corpses to save and all..." Hui Gai took Zago and vanished with a wave of his fingers.