Meeting

Stone Well Alley.

An oil lamp lit the room. Shadows swayed behind the paper windows like a shadow puppet play. Inside, the starving Li Da Niu complained about the food while Xu Xian ate absentmindedly. Xu Jiaorong, the only one who could cook, had come home too late, leaving the two grown men's stomachs to suffer.

"Wife~ What are you standing at the gate for?"

"You two eat first. I'll stand outside for a while~"

Li Da Niu seemed to be muttering again that he could not stomach his own cooking. Xu Jiaorong paid her man no mind. Cows did not care whether food tasted good or not; grass was enough.

The weather was scorching, yet they did not dare open the windows. With them open, the mosquitoes were unbearable, while mosquito nets could keep the bugs out but were too expensive to afford.

Mosquito incense burned in the room, and Xu Xian occasionally coughed once or twice from the smoke.

Pale yellow candlelight spilled through the paper window, illuminating the uneasy Xu Jiaorong at the gate. She had not dared tell her family about the demons. Some matters were harmless so long as they remained unspoken, but once laid bare, there was no turning back. For her younger brother, she was willing to shoulder everything.

Before long, a tower-like figure approached from afar.

"Master... were you able to subdue that Female Demon?"

"Sorry, I could not."

Xu Jiaorong was dumbstruck. In her eyes, Golden Mountain Courtyard was home to omnipotent immortals. How could this have happened...

"What are we to do..."

"Benefactor, do not worry. Though that woman is a demon, she still conducts herself with restraint and will not slaughter innocents indiscriminately. As for what comes later... we shall speak of it later."

"This..."

"Farewell."

The Martial Monk