Jade-Faced froze. "What?"
The Bull Demon King did not answer. He lowered her hand, turned, and took another sheet of paper.
Jade-Faced stared at him. "If you're only going to look for someone, why would you die?"
"What else are you planning to do?"
She stood beside him, waiting for him to speak. The Bull Demon King kept his head lowered and wrote out the same words again.
This time, she did not stop him.
The Bull Demon King put down his brush and offered her the paper.
Jade-Faced did not take it. "Great King."
"Yes."
"Even if you're afraid of dragging me down with you, does that give you the right to decide this for me?"
The Bull Demon King raised his eyes.
She gazed at him and asked again, "What if I refuse to accept it?"
He held the paper, his hand suspended between them.
Jade-Faced looked at the letter of repudiation, and her tears finally fell. She raised a hand to wipe them away, but her voice did not soften.
"Bull Demon King! Remember this: once you walk out that door today, coming back won't be so easy, even if you want to."
The Bull Demon King was silent for a moment. "All right."
Jade-Faced gazed at him. Her lips moved, but in the end, she said nothing more.
She turned away and no longer looked at him.
The Bull Demon King set the letter of repudiation back on the desk and picked up the Iron Cudgel leaning beside it.
As he passed Jade-Faced, he paused. She did not look at him.
Several maids were waiting on either side of the hall. When they saw him emerge, they hurried out of his way.
The Bull Demon King walked straight out of the cave.
The little demon guarding