The Beheading

"Aah!!"

Denji grabbed Meng Fan's arm.

It wasn't just a severed head that had fallen from the sky. A fright had come with it.

"Don't be scared. It's just a severed head."

"Just a severed head?!" Denji glanced at the head staring at them with lifeless eyes, deeply impressed by Meng Fan's composure.

"Aah, a devil!!!"

Before Denji could recover from his fright, another woman's scream came from the hot spring next door.

"What's going on? Did a devil show up?"

"It's a devil, and a bastard of a devil at that."

"A bastard of a devil? How do you know?"

"It threw a severed head into our room. What else would you call it?"

"Forget that. Let's hurry over and take a look."

Denji hurriedly climbed out of the hot spring.

He kept as far away as possible from the head with its eyes still wide open in death.

Meng Fan was in no hurry to get out.

He lifted the head and examined the cut.

"Hey, Denji."

"What now?" Denji asked, turning back impatiently.

Suddenly, an unidentified object came flying toward him.

He caught it on reflex.

When he looked down, he saw that it was the severed head.

"Aah!! You bastard!"

He threw it back to Meng Fan.

Meng Fan swatted it back at him.

After they tossed it back and forth, Denji finally threw it back into the room next door.

"Aah!!!" Seeing the head fly back, the woman next door thought it had come to life.

"Sorry, threw it too far."

"Hurry up and put on a bathrobe. Let's go take a look."

Meng Fan knew where the room next door was.

He led Denji over at a run.

By then, the entrance to the women's baths was crowded with female customers in bathrobes.

"Hey, what are you doing? Don't go in."

"There might be a devil inside."

"Then we have all the more reason to go in, because we're Devil Hunters."

"Public Safety Devil Hunters?"

"Civilian Devil Hunters."

"We don't have the money to hire you."

"No payment needed. Even a devil's corpse is worth a lot to us."

With that, he led Denji inside.

Denji, meanwhile, was completely captivated by the beautiful, fair-skinned women at the entrance to the women's baths.

It was his first time seeing so many scantily clad women.

"Stop staring. Once you kill the devil and become a hero, they might fall for you."

"They'll fall for me (｡ᴗ｡)!!!"

"Who are you?"

The attendant in charge of the women's baths immediately stopped the two men when she saw them barge in.

"We're Devil Hunters. We were next door to the scene when we saw someone throw a severed head into our room."

"Devil... Hunters." The attendant paused. "Then hurry over and take a look. There really might be a devil. I took one look inside and ran back out. There's still a woman in there."

Meng Fan nodded.

The two entered the scene.

An unconscious woman lay in the doorway leading from the room to the hot spring.

She wasn't wearing a bathrobe, but was fully dressed in casual clothes.

She was still clutching a blood-soaked head.

They went farther inside.

A headless female corpse floated in the bright red hot spring pool.

There was also a gash across the corpse's belly, exposing a small length of intestine.

The wooden cold-water bucket beside the pool lay overturned on the floor.

A ring of faintly bloodstained water surrounded the pool.

"Urgh!!"

Denji clapped a hand over his mouth and nearly threw up.

But after sensing his surroundings,

Meng Fan couldn't detect even a trace of a devil.

Just then, footsteps tapped outside the door.

The attendant had returned.

"Well? Did you find a devil?"

"No, but what did you see when you got here?"

"I saw a severed head fly over from next door. That woman caught it, then screamed and fainted."

"What about before that? I heard someone scream and shout 'devil,'" Meng Fan said.

"Yes, I heard it too. I was standing at the entrance to the women's baths. I hurried over when I heard it, and then everything happened just as I told you."

"You didn't see anyone else on your way here?"

"No. From where I was standing, I could see the whole corridor. No one appeared in it when the scream rang out."

"So those two were the only customers in this hot spring room?"

"That's right. They were laughing and chatting when they arrived, talking about a new movie premiering tonight. Apparently, the deceased had been looking forward to it for ages. She kept thanking the other girl for coming to see it with her."

"All right, I understand. You can leave now."

"But if there really is a devil, you have to deal with it. One person's already died here. If another dies, we really won't be able to stay in business."

"If you can't kill it, at least drive it somewhere else."

"Don't worry. I'm the strongest Devil Hunter. I won't let a single devil get away."

After sending the attendant away,

Meng Fan walked over to the unconscious woman.

She was wearing casual clothes rather than a bathrobe.

He placed a hand on her forehead.

He found that she had indeed fainted from fright.

Then he tapped her forehead.

The woman slowly opened her eyes and woke up.

"Did it work?"

"What worked?" Meng Fan frowned.

Hearing a man's puzzled voice, the woman's eyes flew wide open.

"You... who are you?"

"I'm a Devil Hunter. I was in the hot spring next door. I heard someone shout 'devil,' so I came to take a look."

"A Devil Hunter!!" Upon hearing that, the woman burst into aggrieved tears. "Please save me! A devil killed my friend."

She grabbed Meng Fan's collar, her body trembling.

"The devil's gone."

"G-gone?" The woman sighed in relief, then turned and saw her friend's severed head. She immediately threw her arms around Meng Fan.

Denji watched from the side, feeling quite jealous.

"Tell me what you saw."

"Could you move Eiko's head aside first?"

"Just cover it up." Denji picked up a cushion and placed it over the dead woman's head.

"Eiko and I were bathing. When I finished, I went back into the room to get ready to watch the movie. Eiko stayed in the hot spring alone, but then I suddenly heard her scream. I ran over and saw a headless devil holding Eiko's head. It casually tossed it over to the other side."

"Damn it! So it really was a devil that threw that head and scared me." Denji punched his palm indignantly.

"Then I screamed, 'Devil!'"

"The devil didn't kill you?"

"No. I was scared out of my mind. I don't know why it didn't kill me."

"Where did the devil go?"

"It disappeared."

"How did it disappear?"

"Do you have to ask about every little detail? She's already scared. Shouldn't we take her outside first?"

Denji was very eager to help.

He was determined to get the woman's attention.

"It just disappeared like a ghost." The woman looked a little dazed. She hadn't expected Meng Fan to question her in such detail.

"So a devil suddenly appeared and killed your friend, then threw her head over to us. You saw the devil and screamed, and then it disappeared."

"Y-yes... that's right," the woman stammered.

"Then what did you mean when you woke up and asked, 'Did it work?'"

"I... did I say that?"

"You did, you did. I heard it too," Denji chimed in, making matters worse.

"It just slipped out. I don't know either." The woman gave an awkward smile.

Meng Fan's expression was stern as he said, "Do you think I'd believe that?"

His icy tone nearly took the woman's breath away.