Chapter Two (continued)

Masterlist of posts and character list

Bai Jiu was carried all the way to the official conference hall, fearing death the whole way.

Zhao Yuanzhou took a seat by his side. If Bai Jiu stood, he pushed him right back down again. Bai Jiu struggled to breathe, his chest tight with fear, and sweat beaded on his forehead.

Wen Xiao gave him a reassuring smile. “You don’t need to be afraid. Zhao Yuanzhou is just rude and likes to frighten people. He doesn’t eat children.”

Bai Jiu said in a quavering voice, “He…He’s an extremely hungry demon, isn’t he? If he’s so hungry, how…how could he resist eating people?”

Wen Xiao let out a laugh.

Zhao Yuanzhou raised his eyebrows and turned to stare at Bai Jiu. What was this absolute nonsense he was talking?

Bai Jiu clamped his eyes shut against this look of such murderous intent. Living is better than dying, he thought to himself.

It wasn’t until Zhuo Yichen and Pei Sijing entered the hall that Bai Jiu finally opened his eyes as if he’d been reborn. “Wow, Mr. Zhuo Yichen. And the legendary Bingyi Clan’s Cloud-Light Sword. Isn’t this the sword all demons fear? Does Great Demon fear it, too?”

Zhao Yuanzhou gave a dismissive snort. Of course he didn’t fear it. Zhao Yuanzhou turned to say this, only to discover Bai Jiu had already slipped off to sit close by Zhuo Yichen’s side.

Zhuo Yichen looked at Bai Jiu and nodded in greeting. “Hello.”

Bai Jiu smiled giddily. “Ah…Hello…”

Pei Sijing entered with Zhuo Yichen, so they shouldn’t need introduction, Wen Xiao thought. She stood to introduce Pei Sijing to Bai Jiu. “Ms. Pei, this is the newly arrived physician Bai Jiu.”

Bai Jiu immediately hopped to his feet to greet her. “Hello, jiejie[1]. From here on, I hope I can trouble you to look after me.”

Pei Sijing looked at Bai Jiu, eyes softening a moment. She went distant, trance-like as if she’d returned to her many years on the training field when her little brother Pei Siheng came to find her. He bowed, saluted, and said, “Hi, jiejie” and troubled her to look after him… Only…

Pei Sijing’s eyes slid away, filled with profound sadness.

When her thoughts came back to the present, she turned a cold look on the Demon Hunting Bureau token on the tabletop. “I didn’t come here to join you. I’m just returning this token. Demon Hunting Bureau’s reputation and peace in the two realms has nothing to do with me.”

Wen Xiao froze, startled. With some urgency, she said, “Didn’t we come to an agreement? We’ll help you investigate your little brother’s case. Why are you suddenly backing out?”

Pei Sijing shot a glance at Wen Xiao and Zhao Yuanzhou before bluntly replying, “I have no trust in the word of an evil demon and a woman too weak to withstand a gust of wind.”  Without another word, she turned to leave.

Wen Xiao hurried after her, refusing to accept this situation. “You don’t trust us. That’s right. Demon Hunting Bureau lacks skilled people and Chongwu Camp wants to interfere in this case. It’s not easy.”

Zhen Mei arrived, leading a line of troops that swiftly filled the Bureau’s courtyard. He stood before his soldiers with hands clasped, expression arrogant and sneering as he spoke with wanton derision. “Mr. Zhuo is so impressive now. I suppose we forget the past once the wound has healed. Back then, Zhu Yan destroyed your troops. Our Chongwu Camp stepped up in the time of crisis to fulfill your duties, arresting demons and punishing evil, protecting the common people. How have you forgotten this? You’re a pack of stray dogs. The crisis has past and we’ve had years of peace. Now you want to start trouble again in this vain attempt to restore your Demon Hunting Bureau. What sort of position does this put our Chongwu Camp’s general in?”

Wen Xiao recalled with bitter hatred her earlier experience with the Chongwu Camp’s indiscriminate killing of innocents. So now, to hear Zhen Mei talking so pretentiously about “arresting demons and punishing evil” and “protecting the common people” over and over again, she fought even harder to restrain her fury.

“Chongwu Camp’s method of arresting demons is vicious and cruel, even risking harm to human life, operating counter to the laws. Earlier, you shouldn’t have allowed your Chongwu Camp to act arbitrarily.” The weak and temperate Wen Xiao of ordinary days was nowhere to be seen. The rage in her words resounded against the walls as she spoke.

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[1] This means “big sister” or “older sister” in Mandarin and is used not only for actual family, but also for women and girls of your generation who are older than you are. Rather than translate it as “big sister” as I’ve done so far, I’m going to start using jiejie, much like how I’m using xiao (little) in affectionate nicknames. As they start to be used more often, they’ll flow better with the character names if I used the original language.

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Idioms that appear in this section:

弱不禁风 (ruòbùjīnfēng) – too weak to withstand a gust of wind; extremely delicate; fragile

好了伤疤忘了疼 (hǎoleshāngbāwàngleténg) – to forget past pains once the wound has healed

溃不成军 (kuìbùchéngjūn) – (of troops) be utterly routed; be beaten to a mummy; break and scattered

临危受命 (línwėi-shòumìng) – be entrusted with a mission in times of danger; take on a challenging task at a critical moment; to take on a leadership role at a time of crisis

蠢蠢欲动 (chǔnchǔn-yùdòng) – ready to start wriggling—ready to make trouble

滥杀无辜 (lànshā-wúgū) – wanton slaughter (or indiscriminate killing) of innocent people

冠冕堂皇 (guānmiǎn-tánghuáng) – pretentious; high-falutin’; high-sounding; highflown

独断专行 (dúduàn-zhuāngxíng) – make arbitrary decisions and take peremptory action; act arbitrarily

掷地有声(zhìdì-yǒushēng) – make a ringing sound when thrown to the ground; (of speech) powerful and resonating