Chapter One (Continued)

Masterlist of all posts and character list

Situ Ming allowed Wen Xiao to enter the dungeon, but Zhuo Yichen discreetly added more guards to ensure her safety and report to him immediately.

So, early in the morning, Wen Xiao hurried to the dungeon. Seemingly for no reason, she awoke with blood flowing from her nose over her lips… She’d had another terrible nightmare. After this nightmare, she recalled when Great Demon carried her away from the Wilderness on his back. She’d seen a strange mark behind his ear that shimmered faintly with silvery light. As she wiped her nose clean, she had a vision of blood fallen on fresh flowers. She was anxious to confirm some things.

She arrived at the door of Zhao Yuanzhou’s cell to discover him lying still on the floor with his eyes closed, face pale, and blood staining the corners of his mouth. Wen Xiao instantly asked the guard at the door, “What’s going on?”

The guard looked in and was equally startled. “This…this…this…Miss, I don’t know either…” He trembled through his reply. “When Mr. Zhuo was here last night, he was still fine.”

“Xiao Zhuo? Commander Zhuo came here?” Wen Xiao pondered this a moment, then “Open the door,” she said.

The guard hesitated, remembering Commander Zhuo’s order, but he dare not disobey Official Wen either. Finally, he unfastened the lock. Just as he was about to signal additional guards to approach, Wen Xiao stopped him with a wave of her hand. No one needed to accompany her. She wanted to meet Zhao Yuanzhou alone.

She entered the cell. After a glance around, she looked down at the motionless Zhao Yuanzhou on the ground. She walked over to him and crouched down behind his prone form, close enough to inspect the skin behind his ear. That place was absolutely empty, no sign of the unusual mark she’d remembered.

He was not Great Demon.

The lingering hope she’d held in her heart drifted away. It hurt worse to be without it. She lowered her eyes, only to see Zhao Yuanzhou’s eye peek open and his closed mouth fighting a smile.

“Get up, stop pretending,” she said.

Zhao Yuanzhou didn’t move.

Wen Xiao lifted the Demon Hunting Bureau token, dangling its tassel to lightly brush against him. Still, Zhao Yuanzhou didn’t move.

She took out her dagger, raised it, and aimed at his thigh. Halfway through the plunge downward, Zhao Yuanzhou bolted upright. “I didn’t expect Miss Wen Xiao would be so concerned about me,” he said. “I can’t help but feel touched—Aiya! What the—!”

Wen Xiao stabbed his thigh anyway, pulling it out neatly after.

Zhao Yuanzhou wailed piteously. “I already sat up and you still stabbed me?!”

“I’m prepared for all contingencies. I’ll stab you with my dagger first and the Huanling Powder on the blade will restrain your demonic power. Otherwise, I’m afraid you might hurt me.”

“It’s you who keeps hurting me!” Zhao Yuanzhou replied dejectedly. “Humans and demons shouldn’t touch each other. Why did you come looking for me?”

“I came to bring you a gift.” She handed him the Demon Hunting Bureau token.

He accepted it with a smile. “Ah, seems Mr. Fan accepted my proposal. It’s only polite to repay in kind. I’m a very polite person. Tell me, what do you want?”

“I want an answer.”

Interested, Zhao Yuanzhou moved closer to her, his curiosity on full display. “What do you want to ask?”

Wen Xiao smiled dryly. “Why did Xiao Zhuo[1] come to see you?”

Zhao Yuanzhou’s smile dropped immediately, gaze cooling with hot jealousy. “Why are you concerned about him? He’s a mediocre, unremarkable man.”

“Xiao Zhuo is not a mediocre man.”

Zhao Yuanzhou might as well have been a child for the way he retched and repeated Wen Xiao in a mocking tone. “Xiao Zhuo… Xiao Zhuo…Yuck.”

Wen Xiao responded to this childishness by raising her dagger again. “Are you going to answer or not?”

Zhao Yuanzhou rushed to stop her. “This arrangement between Commander Zhuo and me is private. How could I so easily tell an outsider?”

Wen Xiao put away her dagger and coldly looked him up and down. “‘Outsider?’ You, Zhao Yuanzhou, specifically asked to catch demons with me. And now you call me ‘outsider?’”

Zhao Yuanzhou propped himself up with his hands behind him, eyes on hers. “Don’t you carry a brush and a small notebook every day to take notes about we monsters of the Wilderness? I thought you’d be interested in capturing demons.”

“I’m not interested,” Wen Xiao denied directly.

Zhao Yuanzhou laughed. “All women in this world say one thing and mean another.”

Wen Xiao leaned in to press her dagger threateningly to the fragile skin beneath his jaw. “How much have you secretly investigated about me?”

“If I didn’t specifically request you, I’m afraid that you—with your weak, ‘knocked over by a strong wind’ body—would never in your lifetime get to join a demon-hunting squad.” He smiled.

Wen Xiao raised an eyebrow. “When did I say I wanted to join?”

Zhao Yuanzhou tilted his head away from her dagger. “See? What they say in the novels is right. Women, ah, they love to say one thing and mean another. Before I came here, I did ask around about the Miss Wen Xiao who has devoted herself to helping demons and monsters, stealing them away right before the eyes of the Chongwu Camp to rescue them and release them in the Wilderness… You always love to say, ‘Humans are divided into good and bad. Demons, too, are divided into righteous and evil,’ right?”

Light glimmered in Wen Xiao’s eyes as she gazed at him. Zhao Yuanzhou’s gaze drifted down to the Demon Hunting Bureau token dangling at her waist. He lifted his chin. “And didn’t you eagerly accept the token? Are you still saying you didn’t want to join?”

Wen Xiao met his questions with silence, unwilling to continue wasting words on him. She only gave him a smirk and stood to walk out.

Zhao Yuanzhou called out to stop her, “I also know you’re the Baize Goddess’s disciple.”

Wen Xiao halted her steps. She turned back to face him, that light in her eye turning cold. “What’s so strange about that? All the demons and beasts of the Wilderness know I have become the new Baize Goddess. In the Wilderness, if we’re talking about fame, I’m no less well-known than you, Zhu Yan.”

“The Baize Goddess who does not have the Baize token or the Baize power is indeed well-known. A well-known joke.” Zhao Yuanzhou paused, expression no longer indifferent and his tone becoming serious. The torches flickered in a gust of wind, hiding his face in shadow. “If your Master, Zhao Wan’er, could see you now, would she be disappointed?”

Would she? She would. Wen Xiao couldn’t even ponder his intention in asking because the answer forced itself to her mind and brought tears to her eyes. She curled her fingers, silently grasping the cloth of her dress in a tight fist. She looked at Zhao Yuanzhou, that feeling of familiarity growing even stronger. Why did he bring up her master? Who the hell was he?

“Have we met before or not?”

Zhao Yuanzhou stood slowly. The shadows vanished from his face. “This question…you already asked me once when we met. Why don’t you take a closer look and decide?” He stepped closer and bent over, bringing his face close to hers. Their eyes locked, so near, and she felt his breath against the tip of her nose.

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[1] This basically means “Little Zhuo” and is a nickname that indicates affection and closeness. At the risk of confusing people, I’m going to use “Xiao” (rough pronunciation: “shao”) instead of “Little” when people use it because it flows with their names better.

Idioms that appear in this section:

迫不及待 (pòbùjídài) – very impatient; unable to hold back; too impatient to wait; anxious to do something

一动不动 (yīdòngbùdòng) – still

空空如也 (kōngkōngrúyě) – absolutely empty

干脆利落 (gāncuì-lìluo) – be clear-cut; come straight to the point; direct

拖泥带水 (tuōní-dàishuǐ) – messy; sloppy; slovenly

 以防万一 (yǐfáng-wànyī) – be prepared for all contingencies; be ready for any eventuality

来而不往非礼也 (lái ér bù wǎng fēi lǐ yě) – It is impolite not to reciprocate—one should return as good as one receives; it is only proper to repay in kind

溢于言表  (yìyúyánbiǎo) – (of feelings) show clearly in one’s words and manner

指名道姓 (zhǐmíng-dàoxìng) – mention somebody by name; name names

口是心非 (kǒushì-xīnfēi) – say yes and mean no; say one thing and mean another; double-faced

迫不及待 (pòbùjídài) – very impatient; unable to hold back; too impatient to wait; anxious to do something

玩世不恭 (wánshì-bùgōng) – thumb one’s nose at the world; cynical; indifferent