Her father was auditioning for a bodybuilding competition. Shirtless, posing and flexing in the yard, clapping, living the moment with complete enthusiasm. Wong Chai was cutting circles around him.
Elizabeth did not like this at all, and she kicked Wong Chai. His crime was bringing uninvited guests home. Poor Wong Chai's robotic heart broke. He remembered how he had been beaten by the Demon Queen before, and now his master was standing there admiring Burs's body. Nobody understands this dog.
Elizabeth demanded immediately that Eve and Burs get out of here. She already lived here. Obviously, Liping handled the situation and asked everyone to sit inside and talk. Liping offered tea. Eve looked at the cup as if it contained poison. She asked whether this magical tea was what had healed her father so instantly. Liping told her it was just warm water. Nothing special.
Elizabeth was already getting bored with the guests, although she herself belongs on that list, a thing she conveniently forgot.
Burs was slowly starting to remember. How had Wong Chai brought them here? Liping gave them water, which made them feel energetic, and then after they drank the tea something incredible happened. To Eve and Burs it felt like they were lying down in a vast, beautiful field. The sky was so beautiful that their eyes could not take it in, and at that very moment Eve gained a star. She became a one-star arch mage, and her ears turned elf-like. Burs's own arch mage level went from three to four.
Liping offered them more. Burs was so overwhelmed that he could not speak.
Liping did not have any snacks to offer, because the Demon Queen had eaten everything, and he did not have the courage to poke her about it. He could not resist, though, and asked them why they had been attacked. Burs explained that the reason was the elf bloodline. And Eve's body.
Eve told her story. Her mother is a sentinel of the elf race who fell in love with Burs, in spite of that strict rule of the elf bloodline that says they are not allowed to marry outsiders. Liping asked whether the elves were the ones behind them. Elizabeth dismissed that theory with a shake of her head. She told them that the interracial marriage rule was now as outdated as the old world, and that all this had happened because of the Demon Queen, who had unified the world.
Burs said that when his wife had to go back to the elf lands, he took Eve and went into hiding. Liping felt this was a tragic love story. But Burs made it clear that the elves had let him go because of his wife's sacrifice.
The real problem was the Dark Guild from the Demon Realm.
Liping looked at Elizabeth, who looked like she felt like cutting someone's head off. You are one of them, after all. He immediately apologized. Elizabeth put her anger aside and asked for details about the Dark Guild.
Burs explained that the Dark Guild is experimenting on humans, and that they are trying to bring the Demon Queen back. For this, they want elves. That is why they are targeting Eve, whose bloodline powers have not even been activated yet.
Elizabeth looked at Liping, reading his thoughts with her eyes. Liping asserted that he knew perfectly well where she had been for this one year. Burs and Eve did not understand what this telepathic connection between the two of them was.
The argument went on. Elizabeth asked who had told them that the Demon Queen died. Burs told her that the Demon Queen had disappeared five hundred years ago. If she were still alive, by now she would have come back to rule.
On hearing this, Liping's face turned pale, as if he had seen a ghost. Five hundred years.
Elizabeth asked for details. Eve told them that according to the literature, the Demon Queen was killed by the legendary hero. The two of them fought for one complete month, and finally the hero sacrificed himself and saved the continent, and both of them were killed.
Elizabeth's aura at that moment came on like a sudden summer storm. Burs and Eve immediately realized that the rumour was false, and then Liping dropped the bomb that he is the legendary hero, according to the system, and introduced Elizabeth as the Demon Queen in the same breath.
Both father and daughter almost fainted.
Elizabeth, obviously, misunderstood again. She decided that Liping was mocking her for having locked her up. She became furious, got up and slammed the door shut so hard that the walls shook.
Burs breathed a sigh of relief and asked Liping what his plan was for them. Liping himself was in shock. He said, give me some time, let everything settle down.
Night fell. Burs and Eve lay down, but where was sleep? The day's events had been mind-blowing. They were whispering to each other. Eve had a twisted version of the whole story in her mind. She felt that Elizabeth had fallen in love with the hero Liping and was living with him in hiding. Burs was trying to keep himself busy by remembering exactly what Liping had said.
Then Liping appeared in the darkness. It was as if a ghost had walked in. He asked why they were not sleeping, and he suggested playing cards late at night.
A harmless idea. But to Eve and Burs it seemed like a life-or-death test. As if the result of this game would decide whether Liping would keep them alive or not.
When they sat down, Eve felt some evil energy emanating from the cards. She mustered up the courage to ask what the name of the game was.
Liping paused for a second. He thought about whether he should give them the original name, or whether he should give these poor people a name that would make sense to them. He settled on Dragon Fight.
And just hearing that name, Eve and Burs's blood ran cold, as if the execution order had been received.
And in the room there was another presence that no one could see. Elizabeth, with her concealment magic, was sitting there hidden.
Liping explained that in this game there are two brave heroes who together defeat a dragon. But the cards will decide who is the hero and who is the dragon.
Eve and Burs's eyes met, and only doom was written in them.
Liping drew the first cards and looked satisfied with them. Then Burs pushed Eve forward. Eve reluctantly extended her hand, and as her fingers touched the cards the whole room seemed to shift. Her energy started draining away like a phone battery during a call.
She softly said sorry to Burs. Burs replied, in obvious denial, that it would all be fine. He covered it up.
Liping asked whether he wanted to be the dragon. Both of them refused together. Liping confirmed it and drew the cards to start the game. But as soon as the card was revealed, his face fell. Eve panicked and wondered whether they had already failed the test.
Liping placed an eight first. Burs took his turn as if someone were defusing a bomb. After very careful consideration, he took out the jack and set it aside. Eve skipped her turn, and poor Liping thought for a long time about his next move. In the end, he just passed.