The boy in red

Yan Yunhe remained perfectly composed. He even stepped forward and lifted the red cloth with his folding fan to read the inscriptions.

"Li Awei, born in the sixteenth year of Yuanhe, died in the thirty-third year of Yuanhe, aged seventeen..."

"Chen Erniu, born in the eighteenth year of Yuanhe, died in the thirty-fourth year of Yuanhe, aged sixteen..."

"Zhao Gousheng, born in the thirteenth year of Yuanhe, died in the thirty-first year of Yuanhe, aged eighteen..."

Xiao Qinghe frowned and walked among the graves. After a closer look, his expression grew grave.

"All the dead were of marriageable age, and every one of them died within the past ten years."

Thousands of tightly packed graves lay tangled in strips of red cloth, making the sight all the more eerie.

Xiao Qinghe could not help turning to A Zhen, who had tried to kill herself. "Are you from here? Do you know what happened with these graves?"

A Zhen glanced at the grave-covered hillside, terror crossing her face as she shook her head frantically.

Her expression practically told everyone she was lying!

Xiao Qinghe's face darkened. "What do you know? Were those red cloths used for weddings...?"

At the word "weddings," A Zhen suddenly let out a piercing scream, turned, and ran away.

Xiao Qinghe turned his gaze to A Qiang.

Pale and trembling all over, A Qiang kept repeating, "Stop asking. You'll die," before he, too, ran off.

The wind began to howl, as though the wronged souls covering half the mountain were wailing in grief, shrill, mournful, and utterly chilling.

Xiao Qinghe shuddered and hurried away.

Before long, they took their seats in a small teahouse.

"A pot of tea, gentlemen?" the waiter asked with a bright smile.

"A pot of tea and two plates of pastries." Yan Yunhe sat down at his leisure and asked casually, "Do you know anything about that grave-covered hillside to the north?"

The moment he spoke, several patrons in the teahouse turned to stare at him, as though Yan Yunhe had touched upon some terrible taboo.

"Please don't ask, gentlemen. That isn't something we can talk about." The waiter trembled.

With a flick of Yan Yunhe's folding fan, a silver ingot landed on it, and he held it out to the waiter.

Xiao Qinghe felt his own empty pockets and suddenly decided traveling with Yan Yunhe was not so bad. "Waiter, isn't Brother Yan's silver enough to buy a little information?"

The waiter looked miserable. "It's not that I'm trying to hide anything. It's just that the Female Demon is too terrifying..."

Xiao Qinghe and Yan Yunhe exchanged a glance.

Was the Demon Clan behind this?

"You may not know this, gentlemen, but ten years ago, the young master of a wealthy family in town got married. The bride and groom were a perfect match, a talented man and a beautiful woman. On their wedding day, the young master welcomed his bride with a bridal procession stretching for miles. Everyone envied them. But no one expected their wedding night to fall on a full moon, or for the bride to suddenly go mad, slaughtering people and thirsting for blood. It turned out she was from the Demon Clan!"

"Furious at her deception, the young master wanted to sever all ties with her. But that enraged the Female Demon. Hating him for loving her only to abandon her, she slaughtered his entire clan, then vented her fury on every loving couple in the world."

"Ever since then, on the fifteenth of every month, when the moon is full, a newlywed couple dies at the Female Demon's hands. She's utterly twisted and deliberately strikes on the bride and groom's wedding night. Those poor couples die horribly on their first night together, every drop of blood sucked from their bodies."

Xiao Qinghe set down his teacup. "Why does the Female Demon only strike on the night of the full moon?"

"I don't know."

"If you know her rules for killing, why throw your lives away by insisting on getting married on the fifteenth?"

At the mention of marriage, everyone shuddered again, their faces growing even paler.

"The Female Demon comes and goes without a trace. Any loving couple in town will catch her eye, without exception. Once she chooses her targets, she hangs a silver bell outside their door."

There was a rule like that, too?

"What sort of silver bell? What happens to the households where she hangs one?"

"It's an ordinary silver bell. They say it was the token of love the young master and the Female Demon once exchanged. Any man and woman who receive one must marry on the fifteenth of that month."

"And if they refuse?"

"Once, the fiercest blacksmith in town refused to submit. He forged the sharpest blade he could and gathered all the young, able-bodied men in his clan, declaring that he would fight the Female Demon. But that night..."

The waiter's voice trembled.

The patrons broke out in cold sweat, barely able to hold their teacups steady.

"That night, blood flowed in rivers. Not a single person in the blacksmith's clan survived, and his bride-to-be's entire clan died as well. By the time anyone found them, they had all become dried corpses..."

"Ever since then, for ten whole years, no one has dared marry lightly. Whenever the fifteenth approaches, everyone lives in terror, afraid they'll open their door and find a silver bell. Even the word 'marriage' has practically become taboo. No one dares mention it for fear of drawing the Female Demon here..."

Xiao Qinghe recalled the grave-covered hillside. "So the people buried there are her victims?"

The waiter nodded. "The graves come in pairs, linked by a red thread. Since they died unjustly in this life, we wish for them to find each other again in the next, rekindle their love, and leave no regrets. If not for the Female Demon, they could have been blissful couples, happy all their lives..."

Just then, someone in the corner suddenly spoke. "How do you know the killer must be from the Demon Clan? Have you seen her?"

The figure was slender but sat ramrod straight.

He wore brilliant, alluring red, like a splash of thick blood across the world.

Red gauze hung from his veiled hat, hiding his face.

With his features barely visible, only his voice suggested he was a young boy.

The waiter was momentarily at a loss for words.

"No..."

"If you've never seen her, why are you so certain?"

The boy in red spoke coolly, his tone edged with mockery.

The waiter flushed crimson.

"The Demon Clan is deceitful by nature, cruel and bloodthirsty. Who else could it be?"

The others could not believe anyone would speak up for the Female Demon, and outrage swept through them.

"Those innocent victims died horribly. No ordinary human could have done that. It had to be the Female Demon!"

"The Demon Clan are all monsters! Bloodthirsty murderers, every last one of them! They all deserve to die!"

Having swallowed the Ghost King Spirit Pill and become half demon himself, Xiao Qinghe felt caught in the crossfire despite doing absolutely nothing.

Look at me!

Look at Xie Jun, whom I taught!

Not everyone in the Demon Clan was rotten, you know!

The boy in red gave a cold laugh. "Full of prejudice, parroting what everyone else says. So this is the Human Clan."

The waiter's expression shifted. "Y-you're from the Demon Clan?"

"What if I am? What if I'm not?" The boy in red set down his cup and raised his head slightly.

The red gauze of his veiled hat concealed his expression, but there was no ignoring that chilly gaze.

Several patrons exchanged looks, then drew their blades in unison.

"He must be from the Demon Clan!"

"Even if he isn't, anyone who defends them is their accomplice. He deserves to die!"

They swarmed him, blades swinging.

Yan Yunhe turned to Xiao Qinghe, who remained unmoved. "Your Demon-Slaying Sect has always considered subduing monsters and slaying demons its duty, and your Master, Bai Yuqing, hates the Demon Clan to the bone. Why are you so indifferent to them?"

The moment he finished speaking, the boy in red jerked his head up.

The red gauze swayed gently, revealing a glimpse of him staring at Xiao Qinghe, a sharp look flashing in his large eyes beneath thick brows.