Ning Xiang looked at the crowd that had appeared at some point without her noticing.
Her father's face was livid, her mother looked thoroughly pleased, and her brothers wore expressions of eager spectators.
Next came Lu Qingchen's iceberg face, several degrees colder than it had been yesterday.
Beside Lu Qingchen stood the tall, elegant Su Lang, emotions Ning Xiang could not describe flickering in his eyes.
Behind them was the handsome, upright Mingyuan. At that moment, the Demon Venerable stood with his arms folded, his index finger tapping his arm now and then. Ning Xiang tried to interpret his expression. It probably meant, "Old Demon King, you're dead."
Ning Xiang stepped out of Zhu Yu's embrace and forced out a greeting. "Dad, Mom, Master, Lord Demon Venerable, eldest brother, second brother, senior brother... you're all up early."
Ning Hui smiled. "It's not early. It's almost noon."
Ning Xiang glanced up at the round sun overhead, then weakly ducked behind Zhu Yu.
"You can protect me, right?" Ning Xiang poked the old Demon King in the small of his back.
"Of course."
"Great! I'll leave my parents and Master to you, then!"
With that, Ning Xiang slapped an Invisibility Talisman on herself and made her escape.
Looking at the group eyeing him like tigers stalking their prey, Zhu Yu suddenly felt that sometimes backing down was a virtue, too.
In the end, Ning Xiang was still called back, because the powerful figures promised they had serious matters to discuss and would not give her trouble.
Although Ning Xiang felt that her presence made no difference to this friendly meeting of powerful figures, she obediently returned anyway.
Ning Xiang did her utmost to make herself inconspicuous, but Iceberg Lu's gaze kept drifting toward her, sending a chill over the back of her