Demons Beside You

After leaving Rufford’s apartment, David suggested, “How about a drink together?”

“Sure. Your treat.”

David drove his car, looking for a bar. On their way, David suddenly pointed at the roadside and said, “Look. Is that not Ms. Sienna?”

Chen Zhao turned his head too. Carrying at least a dozen bags of various sizes, Sienna was walking on the street with much difficulty.

Chen Zhao was unwilling to have any contact with Sienna, but David had already pulled over.

“Ms. Sienna, do you need help?”

“Oh, it’s the two of you. Come and help. Carry all my stuff into your car.” Sienna was not polite with Chen Zhao and David at all.

“I can do it myself.”

David walked up and carried a suitcase with one hand. Very quickly, he carried all of Sienna’s luggage into the car.

The trunk was not large enough, so David had to put the rest onto the roof of the car.

“Chen, why do you always bring so many pets with you outside?” Sienna looked at the several demons who crowded the rear seats with her.

“If you don’t want to share a car with my kids, you can get out now and walk.”

“Ms. Sienna, are you moving houses?” David immediately changed the topic.

“No, I was chased out by the owner.”

“Err... Where do you plan to go next?”

“Nowhere. Chen, how about I stay at your place for a while? You have an empty room anyway.”

“No, I don’t like to share a house with a stranger,” Chen Zhao rejected without hesitation.

Nobody knew if Sienna would discover his secrets. What if she entered Blackie’s space crevice?

Hellhound knew no one else. By then, Sienna would definitely be devoured in one piece.

“How about my place? I’m staying alone,” David asked carefully.

“Sure,” Sienna agreed without a second thought.

She was totally broke at the moment and urgently needed a place to stay.

Even though she had no affection for David, she did not mind staying in the same house as him, provided he would not harass her.

“Ms. Sienna, why are you so poor now? Aren’t you a spiritualist?”

“What about spiritualists? Can’t spiritualists be poor? Damn, why is the rent in Los Angeles so expensive? Also, the pay your police station gives me is way too low. If you invite me next time, I must increase the charge,” Sienna said, gritting her teeth.

“So where are we going now? How about a meal? I haven’t had lunch.”

“...”

Realizing that David and Chen Zhao were silent, Sienna said again, “I know a decent restaurant.”

“What sources of income do you have?” David asked curiously. “Not just a consultant for our station, right?”

David knew that his police station had a few consultants, but they would only get paid minimally, perhaps less than a hundred dollars each time.

“I also do exorcism. Oh yeah, if you need such things, you can contact me. Chen, ignore my last sentence.”

“I thought spiritualists should be very rich.”

“Where did you get that idea from? Since I’ve been in Los Angeles, I’ve only done exorcism twice. I received two thousand for one of them, and only three hundred for the other, and that’s like three months ago.”

“You can send your evil spirit servants to wealthy families and create trouble. Then, you show up and solve their problem,” Chen Zhao suggested.

“Chen, don’t discuss about how to blackmail in front of a policeman.”

“Fine, I was joking.”

“That wouldn’t work. My evil spirits can’t even show up under usual circumstances, neither can they affect normal humans.”

It seemed like Sienna had had this idea before, but it would not work.

“Then why can we all see them last night?”

“Ask Chen. He should know it better.”

“Nope. I’m an amateur.”

“You must be mocking me, right?”

“I was being honest.” Chen Zhao shrugged his shoulders. “Give me your name card. If you know clients who require these things, I’ll introduce them to you.”

“Why? Aren’t you stronger than me?”

“I said I’m a doctor. I don’t exorcize spirits.”

“By the way, Ms. Sienna, why don’t you appear in TV shows like those famous spiritualists?”

“They’re all tricksters! Damn, stop comparing me to them. The ‘spiritualists’ I know who orate on TV shows are all tricksters. Every single one of them.”

“Since these tricksters can do it, why can’t you?”

David’s question was really stupid. Even Chen Zhao rolled his eyes.

Clearly, it was because they had a team behind them for planning and hyping. All these required money.

The so-called spiritualists who orated on TV shows were more or less similar to celebrities. They needed to invest a huge sum of money, which Sienna was certainly lacking.

Moreover, even if she had that much money, she might not be talented enough.

Real spiritualists might not actually be great talkers.

Because of Sienna, Chen Zhao and David changed their plan and found a restaurant instead.

“David, do you always eat so much?”

“Not my fault. Chen gave me a potion today. It greatly increased my physical strength but also my appetite.”

Sienna looked at Chen Zhao. “Greatly increase physical strength? Unless it’s a magic potion. Chen, are you also an alchemist?”

“Amateur.”

“...”

“Why do I feel that whenever you say you’re an amateur, you’re just humiliating me?”

“You really feel I’m humiliating you?”

Sienna nodded, “Yes.”

“At least your feeling is right.”

After lunch, Chen Zhao was also asked to help Sienna move.

David lived in an old apartment. There was no elevator and the stairwell was rather moist.

Sienna complained about it, but she had no other choice anyway.

Fortunately, David’s room was quite clean. Apart from his own room, there was another empty one.

“Let me warn you first: if you dare to enter my room without my permission, I’ll curse you to never be able to get hard. Don’t try to challenge a witch’s tolerance.”

With a long face, David asked, “What if I ask you to move out now?”

“I’ll change your sexual orientation.”

“Chen, you’ll protect me, right?”

“Sorry, I can’t help you. I’m an amateur.”

“Finally tidied everything up after an afternoon’s work. David, do you have ingredients here? Let me make you dinner.”

“Huh? You’re cooking? Are you good at cooking?”

“No, I’ve only made dinner once before. Today will be my second time.”

“What? I think we should eat outside today.” David was terrified.

What could a person who had only cooked dinner once make?

Dark cuisine?