Chapter 11

To shut Second Brother up, Master stepped in to see justice done.

He hung me around his own neck.

Master, you really understood justice.

Then a wild gust swept through, and a demon carried off both Master and me.

Damn it! I’d forgotten that being on Master was the most dangerous place of all!

Second Brother was definitely shouting right now, “Eldest Brother! Master and Little Sister have both been captured!”

I was dying of laughter.

But I didn’t actually want to die.

The demon leaned close to me. “What’s this? Catch one, get one free?”

Thank you. I felt thoroughly insulted.

This demon was the Golden Leopard.

He looked as if one glance at him could make you rich.

I really wanted to kneel and worship him.

He used vines to bind Master and me in one spot and a married couple in another.

The husband seemed injured and lay unconscious. His wife was sobbing beside him as if her heart would break.

Master comforted her. “Please don’t grieve, madam. I have three disciples of great ability. They will certainly come to rescue us.”

Master, what about me? You couldn’t stop counting me just because I was a tiny bit useless!

The woman paused. “If they’re so powerful, how did you get captured?”

Well.

That was a tricky one to answer.

The demon returned and lifted the woman’s chin. “Beauty, I’ve caught Tang Sanzang. Eat his flesh with me, and you’ll live forever!”

She spat. “Who cares about living forever? I only want to be with my husband!”

The demon’s face changed slightly. His grip on her chin tightened. “Refuse the easy way, and you’ll get the hard way!”

He picked up a vine and lashed it down… on the unconscious man beside her.

Now I knew where the man’s injuries had come from.

I sighed. “Your Majesty, what do you like about this woman?”

The demon glanced over and said dismissively, “Her beauty, of course.”

I gave a sweet laugh and took human form. “Your Majesty, aren’t I beautiful?”

The demon froze. “Wait. Why didn’t you tell me you looked like this?

“My poor beauty. You’ve suffered.”

He came over to untie me, then stopped. “But someone as beautiful as you would never like me.

“I’d better torture you a little first.”

I drew a deep breath. “How could you think that?

“You’re so special. You’re different from all the other men I know. There’s a distance about you, a sense of loneliness, as though you’re close and far away at the same time. I’ve heard so many people call themselves lonely, but I think your loneliness is the real thing. I feel that deep inside, you’ve always been alone, always pretending. You want a little excitement, a little danger, something unpredictable, even a little torment. You want excess. You want to be consumed beyond all reason. You want the flames of emotion to sear your soul. You want a love that can burn through your life. You remind me of that line by Borges: you are nothing but each fleeting instant of loneliness. Whenever I see you, you draw my eyes, even with no expression on your face. So often I want to understand you, to know what you’re thinking, yet I feel there’s a protective film around you that I don’t want to break.

“Just standing there, you look as though you’re about to shatter.”

No man could withstand that speech.

Even if he had no idea who Borges was.

Sure enough, the Leopard Demon was deeply shaken. He hurriedly untied me and clasped my hand with tender devotion. “Beauty, you understand me.

“I never thought anyone would see through my hard exterior.”

He summoned his minions and pointed at the couple. “Those two are useless now. Boil them and eat them.”

“…Huh?” I hurried to stop them. “Your Majesty, if we’re eating anyone, let’s eat Tang Sanzang. Why would you fob me off with inferior stuff like that?”

Master looked at me, wanting to say something but holding back.

The demon hadn’t been bright to start with. Now beauty had addled his brain and made things worse. All he said was, “Yes, yes, yes. We’ll eat Tang Sanzang.”

“Mortals are unclean,” I added. “Let’s wait a day for him to be clean before we eat him, Your Majesty.”

The demon put his arm around me, delighted. “Yes, yes, yes.”

Brother, hurry. You didn’t have much time left.