Chapter 2

Under the gaze of those beastly eyes, Ji Chan's strength gave out. Her cheek pressed against the ground, and her voice was barely audible. "You... are you going to eat me?"

In the darkness, there was still only the sound of heavy breathing. Those terrifying beastly eyes did not change.

"Then come eat me. It's better than dying here like this..." she murmured in fits and starts. "I'm just a little afraid of pain."

Amid the suffocating silence, she suddenly heard a soft, bewitching woman's voice. "I don't eat people."

There was no doubt that the voice came from the owner of the beastly eyes hidden in the darkness.

"You—you're a demon?"

Only demons from legends could speak human language and take human form.

"Yes."

"How... how did you come to Shangjing? If people find you, you'll die." Ji Chan curled up on the ground. The fear of impending death seemed to have eased considerably with this demon appearing beside her.

"I came seeking investiture."

Ji Chan vaguely remembered reading in a collection of strange tales that if a demon successfully sought investiture from a human, it could take human form.

"So you want to become human. You can... seek investiture from me."

"Why aren't you afraid? I'm a demon." Confusion colored that lovely voice.

Ji Chan's lifeless eyes watched the snowflakes drifting down before her. "What's there to be afraid of about demons?"

The most terrifying thing was people—the human heart.

The voice in the darkness paused, then suddenly asked, "Do I look human?"

"Yes. You look more human than any of them."

After saying that, Ji Chan had used up all her strength. Yet nothing happened in the darkness.

The owner of the voice sighed. "What a pity. All eight of my tails are severed. I can't become human."

One could not speak openly of seeking investiture. She told this dying woman only because she wanted someone to talk to before she died. To her, seeking investiture was merely an obsession.

"How... could that be?" A strange sense of frustration welled up in Ji Chan. She could do nothing—not even help someone before she died.

"I'm going to die too," the voice said.

She had fled thousands of miles to Great Xia's capital, Shangjing, but there was no way for her to stay alive here. She had broken into the city and still could only wait to die. She had never expected that, before death, she would have a human for company.

In the darkness beyond Ji Chan's sight, a tailless fox demon lay quietly on the ground, her body covered in wounds deep enough to expose bone. Her body was already in ruins; she could hold on no longer.

Snow fell on her, quickly stained by the blood flowing from her body.

"To die together here... perhaps this is what you humans call fate."

Ji Chan seemed infected by the faint hint of delight in her words and unconsciously tugged at the corner of her lips.

Yes. Having someone die alongside you could be called fate, too.

"Why were all eight of your tails severed?"

"Because I trusted someone I shouldn't have. What about you?"

"Maybe my father doesn't want me to live."

The human and the demon fell silent once more. To be betrayed by someone you trusted, or by your own kin—it all sounded so tragic.

After saying just that one sentence, Ji Chan spat out a mouthful of blood. The snow before her eyes gradually faded from view.

She knew she would die soon, but she was still unwilling to accept it—unwilling to die so easily, unwilling to be unable to do anything.

She suddenly remembered the strange-tales collection she had read. "I heard... I heard that ghosts and demons can possess humans and live on in their bodies. Is that true?"

"It is, but it's difficult. The Heavenly Dao won't tolerate such an evil act."

"What if... what if it's voluntary?" Ji Chan's voice abruptly grew urgent. "If I give you my body, can you stay alive?"

"...Perhaps." Only after a long while did the voice reply.

Ji Chan smiled. "All right. I'll leave you this body of flesh and bone. After I die, live on in my place."

"Why?" Deep confusion filled the voice.

"You said we were fated to meet. We can't both die here. One of us has to live, and I hope it's you. If... if you can stay alive, can you help me and my mother get revenge?"

"...All right." If she truly possessed the human before her, perhaps she really could stay alive, just as the other had said.

She was a naturally born Eight-Tailed Fox with a powerful soul. Once inside a frail human body, her remaining power could repair it.

She did not know what she would face in the future after agreeing. But if she could live, who would want to die?

Hearing her answer, Ji Chan wanted to smile, but her face had already stiffened.

She said, "My name is Ji Chan. Ji as in the Four Seasons, Chan as in 'beautiful moonlight.' My mother gave me this name, and I love it. You can borrow it from now on."

"All right. Once I've avenged you, I'll return your name."

"Thank you... What about you? What's your name?"

"My name is A Chan. Chan as in 'lingering.' I don't have a surname."

"A Chan..."

Ji Chan called her softly once, then fell silent forever.

The instant the last trace of life left Ji Chan's body, the beastly eyes in the darkness suddenly dimmed. A streak of blue light shot out from the fox demon's ruined body and plunged into Ji Chan.

A muffled thunderclap sounded out of nowhere in the sky, and then the thunder rolled on without end.

As A Chan had said, possession defied the laws of Heaven. And here in Shangjing, where human authority flourished, the Heavenly Dao would not allow a demon to become human.

Had Ji Chan not willingly given her body to A Chan, perhaps A Chan would have died beneath heavenly thunder the instant she possessed her.

The moment she entered Ji Chan's body, weakness and agony engulfed her consciousness. Thunder rumbled incessantly in her ears, as if it could tear her soul to shreds at any moment.

But in the end, the thunder merely boomed in the sky. It did not strike down.

Atop the Reaching Heaven Tower in the imperial city, the people of the Directorate of Astronomy had been observing the heavens and divining the Great Xia Dynasty's fortune for the year. When they heard the thunder, their expressions changed dramatically.

The Director immediately handed the Heavenly Observation Disc to the flustered Deputy Director beside him and ordered, "Take the disc to the Mingjing Division Commissioner at once. Tell him a Great Demon has entered the city and stirred the celestial phenomena."

"Yes, sir." The Deputy Director hurried away, holding the Heavenly Observation Disc in both hands.

The Mingjing Division had been founded by the founding emperor of Great Xia himself and was commanded by his blood brother, Prince Ming.

The Great Xia Dynasty had stood for a thousand years, and the Mingjing Division had passed from generation to generation. Every Division Head came from the imperial family and bore the title Prince Ming.

The Deputy Director stumbled to the Mingjing Division's office. After giving his name, he asked to see the Commissioner, only to hear the guard on duty hesitate. "Tonight, the Sage is holding a grand banquet for the court in the imperial city. The Commissioner went to attend."

The Deputy Director's heart sank. The Great Demon the Director had mentioned was probably at least in the Fourth Realm.

Cultivators under Heaven revered the Fifth Realm above all. The Mingjing Division's Division Head, Prince Ming, was in the Fifth Realm, while the Commissioner was currently at the peak of the Fourth Realm. With Prince Ming away, sending the Commissioner was the safest course.

Tonight was when the dynasty's fortune converged. If the disturbance grew so great that it alarmed the Sage, no one would escape unscathed.

"Then what should we do? Which other lord is here besides the Commissioner?"

"The Pacification Commissioner is still at the office," the guard replied.

"Which Pacification Commissioner?"

The Mingjing Division had four Pacification Commissioners who quelled strange disturbances across the Nine Provinces. Each had formidable cultivation; if one of them was here, he could just about manage.

"Lord Bai Xiuming."

Hearing which Pacification Commissioner it was, the Deputy Director's heart finally settled. He hurriedly said, "Lord Bai is here? Please inform him at once."

As the guard hurried away, the Deputy Director wondered why Lord Bai had not attended the Shangyuan Palace Banquet with Prince Ming tonight.

Bai was the imperial surname. This young Lord Bai, who had already risen to the rank of Pacification Commissioner, naturally came from the imperial clan. There were even rumors that Prince Ming had raised him, and that he might inherit Prince Ming's title one day.

Five years ago, Bai Xiuming had been parachuted into the position of Pacification Commissioner. At first, many people were dissatisfied. Then he had slain the rampaging Fourth Realm Black Dragon with a single strike on the banks of the Weishui River, and those voices had finally died away.

Lord Bai had previously been stationed in Youzhou. By the reckoning, it was now time for him to rotate to another post.

These thoughts flashed through the Deputy Director's mind. He did not have to wait long before the guard returned. "Please come with me, sir."

The guard led the Deputy Director toward the main hall of the Mingjing Division's office.

Before they could reach it, a figure slowly emerged from the main hall. He looked exceptionally young, with strikingly handsome features. When he looked at people, his peach-blossom eyes naturally held a trace of tenderness, making it easy to mistake him for a man with a gentle temperament.

His hair was bound with a golden crown, and a black overcoat draped over him. Beneath it, the hem of his crimson official robe showed as he walked.

The Deputy Director did not dare look too long. As soon as Bai Xiuming appeared, he bowed. "Lord Bai, I am the Deputy Director of the Celestial Surveillance Division. The Director sent me to report that a Great Demon has entered the city and stirred the celestial phenomena."

"Where?"

The Deputy Director offered the Heavenly Observation Disc with both hands. "The Director asked me to give this to you, sir."

Bai Xiuming took the somewhat battered Heavenly Observation Disc. The ring on his index finger tapped against its wooden body with a light click.

He lowered his eyes to the disc. Three needles—black, white, and red—sat on its face. The red one had shifted position; it must be pointing toward the Great Demon that had entered the city.

"Call the men," Bai Xiuming said.

Several people nearby answered at once. "Yes."

The Deputy Director was startled. He looked around, but could not see where the speakers were.

In moments, dozens of Mingjing Division Guards stood ready.

Before Bai Xiuming mounted the Dragon Blood Horse brought by his subordinates, he instructed someone to escort the Deputy Director back.

The Mingjing Division's Dragon Blood Horses galloped straight down Heavenly Street. The people along the road hurried aside, and no one dared follow to see what was happening.

At the Dragon Blood Horse's pace, they found the Great Demon's last known location in less than a quarter of an hour.

More than ten horses stopped at Anping Quarter. Everyone dismounted and slipped into the quarter without a sound, while Bai Xiuming walked toward the spot indicated by the needle.

The pitch-black alley could not block a cultivator's sight. With a single glance, Bai Xiuming took in everything within it.

A human and a demon lay together. The demon had no trace of life, while the person curled beside it seemed to still be alive. A bloodstained arrow lay by that person's hand.

Even after her soul had repaired the shattered heart, A Chan's body remained weak. She had no strength to spare. Humans were more fragile than she had imagined, especially an ordinary human like Ji Chan, who could not cultivate.

She could not get up now. All she could do was huddle close to her original body for warmth.

Suddenly, she heard steady footsteps. Someone was coming.