He Could Trick Some Petty Demons

In a place near the border of the dragon realm, Xiang Yong furrowed his brows. Since His Majesty had finally remembered An Bai and commanded him to get him out, he was now already on his way to the demon realm to do so. But at this moment, one of his transmission stones lit up.

At first, he wanted to ignore it and just continued to rush over. After all, he didn't feel that it was wise to leave An Bai even a second longer in the demon realm's dungeon if it wasn't necessary. But then again, His Majesty had already contacted him twice today so it was probably better to make sure this wasn't another instruction he had. Thus he took out the transmission stone but continued to rush forward, only being there with half his mind when he answered.

"Xiang Yong!"

An Bai's voice startled him out of his thoughts and made him stop, taking a double look at the apparition of his friend's face. "An Bai? Did you manage to break out?"

An Bai glanced over his shoulder and then shook his head. "No, but I need to get out of here. Fast."

"Are you still in the dungeon?" Xiang Yong asked that question but already continued to rush forward, now at an even faster pace.

An Bai shook his head. "I … Well, I did manage to get out for the moment to contact you but I am not in a good situation." Even though he had created an array outside, he still lowered his voice, afraid that the demon would notice that something was going on. "How fast can you be here?"

"Well, I'm already on the way. Just before, His Majesty told me to come and get you. I'll be there in a bit."

"Please, hurry up. I'm afraid …" He finally just shook his head, giving an embarrassed smile. Who would've thought he'd ever get into a situation like this?

Xiang Yong glanced at him and noticed that there was something off about the image that was being projected. "You …" The apparition only showed An Bai's head and shoulders, the latter being covered by his white hair. It took a moment for him to realize that he could clearly see his clavicle. His hair also seemed slightly damp. "Are you taking a bath?"

An Bai's expression turned even worse. "I am. And I'm afraid that if you don't hurry up, I might end up getting married today."

Xiang Yong's expression that had been hovering between confusion and worry turned into one of horror. "Can you tell me where exactly you are?"

"One of the guard's quarters. I don't know any more than that. The person was guarding at the dungeon before. Maybe you can investigate from there."

"I will. Try to hold on for as long as you can. I'll hurry up." He didn't wait for An Bai to answer and just cut the connection, putting the transmission stone away. He turned into his other form in the blink of an eye and then rushed to the demon realm at the fastest speed possible.

He only changed back when he was close enough to the palace to be seen. He made use of the terrain to make those that might be following off his tracks and then rushed toward the palace again, breaking in through a window without alerting anybody.

He glanced around and then slipped through the corridors, trying to find the way to the dungeon. He couldn't lose even a single second. Every moment that passed was another moment that An Bai might get hurt. And the kind of pain it would cause him to lose what should only be given to the person he wanted to spend his life with … There was no way he would let anybody afflict that on his friend.

Xiang Yong finally made his way over to the dungeons. He looked for a hiding place and then kept out of sight while he surveyed the situation. There were still several guards standing around, glancing at the cells or down the corridor every once in a while but otherwise, they didn't move or talk, seemingly taking their job at least halfway serious.

He pondered for a moment, his eyes narrowed. There were only two ways to go about this: He could either force one of these guys to spill the beans or he could make them willingly tell him what he wanted to know.

The former might create a ruckus that he wouldn't be able to keep down. Then, not only might he need to fight with them, losing valuable time, no, he might also lose this chance to find out about where An Bai had gone. Thus, it was much better to use the second way.

Xiang Yong looked up and down the corridor and his lips slowly turned into a smile. This couldn't be too hard. He had convinced people for years that his own king was a hard-working and conscientious person without anyone in the dragon race save for his own advisers ever doubting it. He should be able to trick a few petty demons.

He looked at the robe that he was wearing and then changed into something that looked a little more official like what he would be wearing if he was doing some business in the dragon king's palace.

He also changed the way he had done up his hair, and then made a few of his scales show on his face. Even though the dragons had long split from the demons, there were still other races with scales in their true form or some that only had one form but had retained some traces of the past. This should probably make him look more or less like a convincing demon, shouldn't it?

He smiled to himself and then retracted that smile completely, his expression turning blank. He walked down the corridor, his steps making crisp sounds on the floor.

The guards couldn't help but look up when they heard two steps. Somehow, that gait made them feel tense. They immediately straightened up and furrowed their brows, trying to get a look at who the one coming over was.

Xiang Yong finally came into sight. He stopped a few steps into the dungeon and nodded at one of the guards with his chin. "You, get me the prisoner from the dragon realm."

The guard tensed up and already wanted to rush over to An Bai's cell to open it when he noticed that the cell was empty. He stared at it in a daze for a moment and then turned around to Xiang Yong with an embarrassed expression. "That's —"

Xiang Yong furrowed his gray brows, his gaze darkening. "What are you waiting for?"

The demon started to stutter, pointing at the cell with a worried expression.

Xiang Yong looked over, his gaze seemingly going blank for a moment as well. Then, he turned back to the demon, his expression turning more ferocious. "What's the meaning of this? You want to tell me that the prisoner escaped?! What is the lot of you standing here for?!"

The demon instinctively took a step back before he remembered that this wasn't true at all. "That's not it!" He hurriedly brought out that sentence, hoping that the other person wouldn't attack before listening to any explanation. Right now, he certainly looked like it.

Xiang Yong's gaze was indeed blazing and he raised his hand as if to attack him the next moment. Naturally, he wouldn't really do that. After all, he was a dragon. He didn't have the same magic as the demons so as soon as he did, it would be obvious what was going on. How could he let that happen? "Speak! Where is he?"

The guard hurriedly lowered his head. "One of the other guards took him away to have some fun. I don't know any more than that."

Xiang Yong didn't grow angry since he had already known that this was what had happened but he still scoffed. "So? Where are they now? Or do you want His Majesty to wait?"

The demon flinched and then rushed over to Xiang Yong, motioning down the corridor. "I can bring you there."

Xiang Yong kicked him down the corridor, his expression getting even more dangerous. "Don't talk. Just go!"

The demon rushed not to fall and then scrambled away, running down the corridor at the fastest speed. If he could bring this person over to that room, he might be able to slink away and get out of this unharmed. Then the one who would have to suffer wouldn't be him any longer.