Capital City at Night
The streets were quiet already. Important intersections stood un-manned, with only watchmen carrying small lanterns and striking bronze gongs as they made their rounds.
The lights in most houses had already been extinguished, while a few still held faint glows. Yet occasional travelers passing through had to be on guard against surprise questioning by roving patrollers or yamen runners.
A dark shadow appeared abruptly, leaping upward and dashing forward. It prepared to dart into the long, narrow streets and alleys, but a dull thud sounded—like a knife slicing through melon. Just this single sound, accompanied by a brief, agonizing shriek, made anyone who heard it feel their hair stand on end.
Yet in truth, if anyone had witnessed the scene at that exact moment, they would have understood what it meant for allure and terror to coexist. That sight was truly bizarre enough to drive an ordinary person mad.
A grotesque, terrifying monster, and an exquisitely beautiful, gentle young maiden who had just slain it—the contrast in this scene was too vast, and the impact vastly exceeded that tragic, piercing scream.
The monster's blood splattered as its head was lopped off, landing on the ground with a sizzling hiss. The "murderer" closest to the corpse bore the brunt of the flying gore.
However, the droplets flying toward the maiden suddenly seemed to gain a consciousness of their own, sliding instantly away to the sides and parting automatically to avoid her!
The screams startled the nearby houses, but the reaction was not to come out and inspect, but rather to extinguish the lamps immediately.
High in the sky, the Giant Eagle circled low, emitting similarly low, hooting cries.
The sword-wielding maiden slaying monsters was none other than Zhou Yao, who had pursued Xie Zhenqing atop the Giant