Incense Ash Falls

The night was a bit cold.

Wind snaked in through a hole in the window, carrying rustling sounds from outside that hinted at an unsettling silence.

Inside the room, in darkness so profound one couldn't see their hand in front of their face.

Yang An lay on the bed, his body completely hidden beneath a thin blanket.

He slowly reached out, trying his best not to make a sound, and felt a soft lump under his pillow. Only then did he feel a little more at ease.

Under the pillow was a fist-sized red cloth, wrapped around a small pinch of incense ash. A faint scent of pine could still be detected.

For the past few days, many common folk in town had been promoting this method, claiming it could ward off the demons that frequently appeared at night.

All one had to do was offer incense at the White Buddha Temple north of town, obtain a pinch of ash, wrap it in red cloth, and place it under their pillow.

Even if a demon entered the house, it would ensure safety and go unnoticed.

However, obtaining even this small pinch of incense ash was no easy feat.

The monks at the White Buddha Temple charged exorbitant prices. A donation for incense started at a minimum of thirty copper coins, and for that, you'd only get a pinch of ash about the size of your thumb.

Yang An felt a pang of regret for the cost.

He hadn't been in this world for long, and the original owner of this body was already quite poor. It wasn't that the house was bare, but it was barely enough to get by. Thirty copper coins was no small sum for him.

But when he thought about his own life, money was ultimately just an external possession. He didn't want to die just a few days after arriving in this world, so he had no choice but to grudgingly pay.

He could only hope the incense ash was as effective as the townspeople claimed.

When Yang An first arrived in this world, he was initially very skeptical about the existence of demons, thinking it was all just fabricated rumors.

However, as the days passed and he gradually absorbed the memories of the original body's owner, he finally understood just how terrifying this world truly was.

Before, the dynasty had collapsed, wars were everywhere, and the people suffered greatly.

Now, demons wreaked havoc across the land, appearing endlessly and preying on humans.

The impoverished populace, already in dire straits, coupled with continuous years of famine, were in unbearable pain.

In such an environment, even a small Jiu Nan Town, secluded in a corner far from the battlefields, was shrouded in a thick veil of despair on the faces of its people.

Recently, rumors had spread that a man-eating demon had appeared in Jiu Nan Town. Then, one night ten days ago, several bodies with exceptionally gruesome deaths inexplicably appeared in the town.

One of the deceased was less than a hundred paces from Yang An's house.

Yang An, along with others, had gone to take a look and almost vomited on the spot, unable to eat for two days.

In the following days, he would occasionally hear whispers in the streets about another family going missing, or someone else disappearing, but Yang An no longer went to join the crowds.

Judging by the situation, it was clear that demons were at play, and there was no mistaking it.

In these chaotic times, one could be safe for a while, but not forever. If even Jiu Nan Town had demons, other places were even worse. There was no escape.

As a result, the wealthy merchants in town had paid a hefty sum to hire monks from the White Buddha Temple to guard their homes.

The poor, who had no money, could only seek other ways to survive. Ultimately, their gaze fell upon the White Buddha Temple again, exchanging money for a bit of incense ash in hopes of gaining temporary protection.

Yang An had no choice but to follow suit and buy some incense ash, all the while praying that the demon wouldn't find him.

After a lifetime of mediocrity in his previous life, fate had given him another chance.

He truly didn't want to waste this hard-won second life so quickly.

However, the existence of demons in this world did remind Yang An of something from the original body's memories.

It was a scripture fragment passed down from his ancestors. According to his father, it contained an immortal art and was buried in the soil beneath the water vat.

But his father had warned him on his deathbed never to retrieve it unless it was a matter of life and death, lest it invite disaster.

The original body had always firmly believed his father's dying words, and thus had never felt any curiosity about it.

Now that Yang An was here, he was different.

From his knowledge in his previous life, in such a terrifying world, where there were demons, there must also be gods and spirits, or at the very least, individuals with powerful combat abilities.

He just couldn't understand why, when his family possessed such a treasure, his father had warned him not to touch it on his deathbed.

That was an immortal art.

Yang An had never witnessed what a legendary immortal art looked like.

Why was that?

Just as Yang An was pondering this question, a piercing scream suddenly echoed from the street outside his house.

It sounded like a woman's voice, screaming desperately, particularly loud in the silent night.

But the sound lasted less than a breath before abruptly stopping, and the surroundings fell back into an eerie silence.

Huddled under the covers, Yang An's body stiffened, and he instinctively pulled the blanket tighter around himself.

A demon had arrived!

At that moment, his breathing quickened, and his heart pounded with tension.

The source of the sound seemed to be very close to him, making him worry about his own safety and causing his mind to race.

What if the demon found his house?

Does the incense ash from White Buddha Temple actually work?

What should I do if it doesn't?

Many thoughts flashed through Yang An's mind, making him incredibly nervous. Even the air in his blanket seemed to grow intensely hot.

After a while, everything outside remained silent, as if nothing had happened.

After those few piercing screams, everything seemed to have calmed down again.

But Yang An didn't dare to relax his vigilance at all. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He felt unbearably hot, and his consciousness seemed to grow hazy.

Another while passed.

Just as Yang An was becoming groggy, a very light footsteps seemed to echo from within the room, slowly approaching from afar.

It was as if something had entered his room!

But at this moment, Yang An could no longer concentrate at all. His head felt increasingly heavy, his body weak, and he couldn't even move a finger.

He just felt something drawing near, walking to the bedside.

And then.

He completely lost consciousness.

He didn't know how much time had passed.

When Yang An opened his eyes, he gently lifted the blanket and discovered that it was already bright daylight outside.

White light streamed in through the doors, windows, and cracks, illuminating the room brightly. Tiny dust motes danced clearly in the air.

"I... fell asleep last night?"

He rubbed his eyes, threw off the blanket, and checked his body.

Intact.

Yang An immediately breathed a sigh of relief, but for some reason, he felt a bit uneasy.

He recalled that before he lost consciousness in the middle of the night, he had clearly felt something walking to his bedside.

Could it have been a hallucination?

Hiding in the blanket, with poor air circulation, had the lack of oxygen caused him to hallucinate?

That seemed plausible.

As long as he was okay, that was all that mattered.

Ultimately, Yang An didn't dwell on last night's events.

Rubbing his eyes, he felt much more awake. Yang An turned and neatly folded the blanket. Then, he lifted his pillow, and the red cloth bundle containing the incense ash was still there.

He decided to keep it on his person. Whether for its value or for peace of mind, he couldn't just leave it lying around.

But just as he reached out to grab the red cloth bundle.

Before his hand could exert any force.

The red cloth wrapping the incense ash, along with the ash itself, visibly and suddenly turned into black cinders and slipped through his fingers, scattering across the bed.

Yang An was stunned.