Chapter One (continued)

The rain had already stopped.

Down the alley by the Demon Hunting Bureau’s rear door, the light-blue silhouette of a lost soul moved at a slow, unsteady pace. Wen Xiao couldn’t recall how long she’d sat in the rain when a child broke into tears, frightened by her ghostly appearance. As if the child’s wailing woke her from a long dream, she quickened her steps and fled, embarrassed. By now, her clothes were already half dry, a few threads of damp hair stuck to her forehead.

After entering the rear door, she soon discerned the unusual atmosphere. Footsteps sped in her direction. Wen Xiao quietly touched a hand to the dagger at her waist.

The approaching steps belonged to another library official. 

“Official Wen, thank heavens you’ve finally returned… Quickly, come with me. We must hide. Wait, are you injured?” His eyes dropped to the bloodstain on her shoulder in surprise.

“It’s not serious. Why do we need to hide? What happened?” Distracted by worry, Wen Xiao’s grip on her dagger slackened.

The library official vigilantly glanced all around. Once he’d confirmed safety behind him, he took a step forward and spoke in a trembling tone. “A demon barged into the Demon Hunting Bureau!”

Wen Xiao found this hard to believe. “A demon barged into the Demon Hunting Bureau? It must have a great deal of courage…”

The library official gave a vivid description, hands gesturing to paint the scene. “Not only his courage is great, his whole person, everything about him is great…great-great-great…a great demon!”

“Great demon? What kind of great demon?”

“Zhu Yan.”

Hearing that, Wen Xiao’s expression fell.

Eight years ago, Great Demon had delivered her to the front door of the Fan mansion. The housekeeper had brought her inside where Fan Ying asked her family’s name. He said he knew her elders and took her in as his adopted daughter. But Wen Xiao had never realized her family had such lofty connections. She couldn’t bear to think how Great Demon had arranged this place for her, how he’d clearly spent a lot of thought and effort to find such family relationship in the human world.

The Fan mansion was both very big and very small. The sky overhead, framed by square eaves, seemed so much less vast than it did in the Great Wilderness. She couldn’t get used to it. The servants were very respectful of her and kept their distance. She felt very alone. She often laid on her stomach, gazing out through the window and hoping Great Demon would honor his promise to come find her. She spent each day lost in this hope as summer turned to fall.

As winter set in, Tiandu experienced a major event. Wen Xiao remembered that night, how the Fan mansion was busy with people coming and going nonstop. She hid herself behind a pillar to eavesdrop on Fan Ying talking with one of his officials. Only then did she understand what had happened.

For six months, a great number of demons of in the Wilderness had taken advantage of the upheaval to flee into the human world and there’d been no lack of those who’d then seized the opportunity to inflict harm. Only thanks to the Demon Hunting Bureau, the world of humans had not fallen into chaos. But this time, the demon Zhu Yan had left the Wilderness and come to Tiandu. After the Demon Hunting Bureau tracked him down, they wanted to do their duty and kill him—but instead, Zhu Yan slaughtered them. A mountain of corpses lay inside the Demon Hunting Bureau, blood flowing like a river. The only survivor of the entire Zhuo family was the youngest son, Zhuo Yichen.

At this point, all that remained in the empty hall was a sigh. Without thinking, Wen Xiao had sighed, too, then clamped a hand over her mouth and darted off. As she ran into the courtyard, she saw an unfamiliar face. A teenage boy sat quietly on the stone steps in mourning clothes, eyes lowered and silent.

This was the first time Wen Xiao saw Zhuo Yichen. After this, she stopped waiting for Great Demon all the time, but instead spent her days at someone else’s side. Wen Xiao and Zhuo Yichen—one the Baize goddess with no Baize goddess power, the other the wielder of a hollow Cloud Light sword he didn’t know how to use. Two people who had lost everyone they’d loved. They were the same. Their meeting seemed like fate.

Zhuo Yichen gave up the Zhuo family’s estate to become the new Demon Hunting Bureau. Wen Xiao knew that the Demon Hunting Bureau had been his father and elder brother’s life’s work, their most important mission left to their only remaining son. She also knew how much Zhuo Yichen hated Zhu Yan. With his talents, she wouldn’t worry about him against any other demon. But if his opponent was Zhu Yan… Wen Xiao could not settle her fearful heart. She practically ran the whole way to the dungeon.

The guard at the doors immediately blocked her entry. “Commander Zhuo gave orders. No one is permitted to enter the dungeon.”

“Not even me?” Wen Xiao asked impatiently.

The guard lowered his head in a respectful salute. “Official Wen, not even you.”

Idiom in this section:

绘声绘色 (huìshēng-huìsè) – vivid; lively

血流成河 (xuèliú-chénghé) – blood flowing like a river—bloodbath; rivers of blood