Human Demon

The night was deep, and the woods were darker still.

A slender woman with long hair strode through the night, snapping dead branches and fallen leaves beneath her feet as she approached the tree where the fat man and the thin man hung upside down.

She raised her head.

Moonlight slipped through the gaps in the branches, revealing the sinister mask on her face, smooth and featureless.

"Interesting?" she asked softly.

The two men's mouths were bound with strips of cloth, torn from their own clothes.

The fat man said nothing.

The thin man let out a muffled, "Mmmph, mmmph, mmmph!"

"Are you two tired of this?" the woman asked again. A dangerous aura began to spread.

Whoosh~

Zheng Third gave a gentle puff, and the tightly bound strips of cloth drifted away and fell.

He laughed like a child. "It's fun."

The woman took two steps. "The boss didn't send you here to play."

"We're not just playing and doing nothing," Zheng Third said with a strange laugh.

Li Fourth made a strange, "Duk, duk, duk," sound.

The cloth over his mouth flipped over one section at a time, then rolled itself into a little ball...

Smack!

It hit the ground, punching a tiny, bottomless hole straight down.

"Exactly," he chimed in.

"Who are you playing with?" The woman in the Faceless Mask sounded a little exasperated.

Zheng Third turned to exchange a look with Li Fourth, then faced her again. "Not telling you!"

"Is that person interesting?" The woman acted as though she hadn't heard his refusal. Slowly, she floated up until her head was level with Li Fourth's upside-down face, gazing into his eyes.

Li Fourth shrank back and looked to Zheng Third for help. "Third Brother?"

Zheng Third closed his eyes, pretending not to see.

"Hmm?"