A dilapidated Daoist temple, most of it long since collapsed.
But it was more than enough to shelter from the rain.
Jiang Chengjiao sat beside the fire pit. The fire had long gone out, and atop the embers lay a roasted pheasant, glistening with dripping fat.
Outside the temple, rain pattered steadily.
It was a strangely exquisite feeling.
Jiang Chengjiao had never experienced it before.
He could not help thinking of the old servant from his childhood home.
Of course, he did not miss a servant. He had merely been a servant, and Jiang Chengjiao's Lineage had many of them.
He had simply thought of a book that old servant had given him.
It was a book called Great Hero Azure Dragon.
It told the story of a youth polluted by Jiao Blood and turned into a demon, yet who still upheld justice and roamed the land as a hero.
Before a jiao transformed into a dragon, it was a demon.
And the Killing Intent within demons could contaminate mortals.
Great Hero Azure Dragon had been tainted by a jiao's blood.
Yet through the chivalry in his heart, he had restrained himself and not fallen into demonhood.
Instead, he used that demonic power to protect the weak.
Too much time had passed. Jiang Chengjiao had long forgotten most of the book's plot.
That hero had loved Daughter Red most, loved listening to rain most, and loved roasted pheasant most of all.
The book often mentioned the hero roasting pheasants around a fire in Daoist temples, Mountain God Temples, and monasteries at midnight.
Looking back now, those were dull scenes that wasted the reader's time.
Yet Jiang Chengjiao had liked them very much.
He had always wondered.
Just how good would that wine taste? Just how delicious would that roasted pheasant