Chicago's night wind blew fragments of neon into the smoke-filled bar on the street corner. Lazy blues flowed from a vintage record player, and the smell of tobacco mingled with the rich aroma of whiskey and a faint trace of perfume. Dim lights stretched the swaying figures on the dance floor into suggestive silhouettes. Dean wore his black leather jacket, the one he used to look good, its collar casually open to reveal a white T-shirt. A roguish, cocky smile hung on his lips as he planted his elbows heavily on the vintage wooden bar and tapped the counter with his knuckles. His bright eyes swept the dance floor like radar before locking onto two striking figures. Bai Haorui sat beside him in a simple white T-shirt and black pants, the fabric fitting his lean but straight-backed frame. He toyed with three Five Emperor Coins strung together, rubbing his fingertips over their markings and putting on an utterly profound air. His eyelids were half lowered, but his peripheral vision stayed busy as he and Dean quickly exchanged looks about their targets.
"The one in the red dress on the left-her glass has been empty forever, and she hasn't ordered another. Obviously waiting for someone to come over. You take her. You've got more money." Dean mouthed the words, pointing swiftly toward the other end of the bar, his voice extremely low and full of amused encouragement. "I'll take the redhead over there and fool her with that 'Eastern mysticism' routine of yours. Last time, you told that French chick her destiny lacked fire and sweet-talked her into clinging to your arm and acting all cute. I memorized your spiel. Now watch me work!"
Bai Haorui raised an eyebrow and slowly set down the Five Emperor Coins, tapping his fingertips crisply against the bar as a teasing smile curled his lips. "That's the only kind of thing you remember clearly, you bastard. Come on, let's see who scores first. Last time, I took someone back to the hotel half an hour before a certain somebody~"
"Hmph, that was because she had no taste!" Dean lowered his voice, pulled a quarter from his pocket, and tossed it. The silver coin traced an arc under the lights. "You're on. They don't call me Little Dean Bruce for nothing!"
Bai Haorui snorted, straightened the hem of his T-shirt as he stood, and walked over to the blonde beauty on the left side of the bar. She was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, a classic sunny American beauty, with long, voluminous, light-blonde curls whose naturally curved ends rested on her bare shoulders, and healthy, wheat-colored skin. She wore a fiery red slip dress with a slit reaching the top of her thigh, revealing smooth, shapely, long legs, and silver heels with thin straps. Her ankles were slender and her toes long; as she moved, her skirt swayed, outlining her full breasts and the taut curves of her waist and hips. Her makeup was vivid without being overdone, with pale gold eyeshadow over deep-set eyes, long, curled lashes, and slightly upturned outer corners that held a languid allure. Glossy orange-red lip lacquer coated her full lips, and when she smiled, two small pointed canines showed.
"Got a light, beautiful?" Bai Haorui's voice was gentle, his English especially distinctive with its slight Eastern accent. He sat on the stool beside her, holding one of the Five Emperor Coins and gently turning it between his fingertips. "By the way, the silver necklace you're wearing today clashes a little with your destiny."
The blonde raised an eyebrow, set down her empty glass, and leaned forward slightly, revealing her delicate collarbones as she studied him with interest. "Eastern fortune-telling? That's new." Her voice was clear with a slight huskiness. "I actually have been having nightmares lately, waking up drenched in cold sweat. How did you know?"
"Silver has a cold nature." Bai Haorui shook the Five Emperor Coins in his hand, making them clink softly together. "Your Eight Characters lean toward yin. Wearing pure silver jewelry on top of that makes it easy to attract sinister yin energy. Naturally, you won't sleep peacefully at night." He pointed at the silver chain around her neck, a simple silver cross necklace. "Want me to take a look?"
Her eyes lit up, and she leaned a little closer. Her perfume became more distinct, a sweet, fresh blend of citrus and jasmine. "Sure. Then help me take it off. Let's see what else you have to say."
Bai Haorui picked up the Five Emperor Coins between his fingertips, closed his eyes, and silently recited a couple of lines before tossing the coins onto the bar. They landed in a pattern of "two heads, one tail." He opened his eyes and said with feigned solemnity, "Fortunately, it's only a minor ill omen. Have you been anywhere dark and damp lately? An abandoned building or an old cemetery, for instance?"
The woman gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh my God! How did you know? I explored an abandoned psychiatric hospital out in the suburbs with my friends last week!"
"That explains it." Bai Haorui nodded and raised a hand to summon the bartender, Weite, saying in English, "Weite, another round, on me. Make this lady whatever drink your bartenders do best."
The server, a middle-aged man with a full beard, smiled and nodded. "No problem, sir."
Meanwhile, Dean carried a freshly poured whiskey toward the redhead on the other side of the bar with an easy stride. Her style was completely different from the blonde's: a striking beauty with a strong personality. Her neat, short, wavy red hair shone like burning flames, the strands hugging her cheeks and accentuating her sharply defined face, full forehead, and prominent brow bones and nose. Her skin was a cool, pale shade that carried a hint of aloofness. Her eyes were deep-set, their irises a clear ice blue like Alaska's glaciers. Their outer corners drooped slightly, yet she had an untamed air. She wore a cropped black leather jacket that exposed her midriff and high-waisted ripped jeans, revealing a flat, taut stomach and a slender yet powerful waist. Hers was the kind of figure that looked slim clothed but full undressed, with smoothly shaped shoulders and faint muscle definition in her arms that conveyed healthy strength. She wore black combat boots and several metal rings, holding a slender women's cigarette between her fingers. Amid the curling smoke, matte black lip lacquer covered her red lips, giving her a cool, glamorous sensuality.
"Mind if I sit here?" Dean set his glass on the bar and leaned in, his roguish smile just right, neither sleazy nor forced. "I saw you drinking here alone, one glass after another, and figured you might want some company to liven things up. After all, drinking alone's no fun."
The redhead glanced up at him, a hint of amusement in her ice-blue eyes. She took a drag and slowly blew a smoke ring, her voice husky and magnetic. "Oh?" In front of her sat a glass of amber liquor, straight bourbon whiskey, with no ice against the glass.
Dean sat beside her and pointed at her drink. "You don't look like someone who drinks sickly-sweet cocktails like mojitos. I'm Dean. Dean Winchester."
"Lina." The redhead raised an eyebrow and extended her ring-covered hand, giving Dean's hand a light shake. Her palm was slightly cool, and her fingertips smelled of tobacco. "Were you making a bet with your friend just now? I saw you exchanging looks."
Dean froze for a moment, then burst out laughing, showing a mouthful of white teeth. "Hey, you caught us. We're betting on who can get the beautiful woman beside him to agree to a little discussion of life's philosophy first." He made no attempt to hide his intentions, and his honesty actually made Lina laugh, her smile beneath the black lip lacquer carrying a touch of mischief.
"Oh? Then you'd better try harder." Lina lifted her glass and took a sip of whiskey, her Adam's apple bobbing, the motion brisk and sexy. "I'm not interested in boring pickup lines."
"Don't worry. I'm never boring." Dean moved a little closer and lowered his voice, adding a hint of mystery. "I can tell you a story. A horror story about adventures on the road. Guaranteed you've never heard it."
Lina's eyes brightened, and she leaned forward slightly. "Sounds a lot more interesting than those tired old sweet nothings. I'm all ears, then."
At opposite ends of the bar, Bai Haorui held the Five Emperor Coins as he explained to the blonde how to dispel "sinister yin energy." She listened earnestly, nodding from time to time. Dean, meanwhile, animatedly recounted his "bizarre experiences" on the road, while Lina listened with relish and occasionally gasped in amazement. The two men exchanged a look across the room, each seeing the same challenging certainty of victory in the other's eyes. Their smiles deepened as the bar's blues music, laughter, and clinking glasses wove together into Chicago's night at its most vivid.
The two returned to their lodgings and saw, on the sofa,
Sam, and they both rolled their eyes despite themselves. Sam sat by the window with a laptop open in front of him. On the left side of the screen was an online psychology lecture from Stanford University, with the professor explaining "post-traumatic stress disorder." On the right were news reports about the recent serial murders in Chicago. The autopsy report for the latest victim, Meredith, was also open on the page: "Heart missing. No obvious signs of struggle on the body. A Z-shaped Zoroastrian summoning symbol found at the scene." His fingers flew over the keyboard, and he occasionally paused the video to take notes, completely shutting out Dean and Bai Haorui's clowning.
"Sam!" Dean walked over with a glass of water and patted his shoulder. "Keep studying like this and you really will turn into a nerd. What, planning to give us 'combat veterans' psychological counseling someday?"
Sam did not even look up. "Something's wrong with these three murders. The victims were all young women between twenty-five and thirty, all killed while coming home from work late at night. Their hearts were ripped right out. There were no signs of forced entry, just a strange Z-shaped symbol left at the scene. I checked the FBI's unsolved case files. Three identical murders happened in Chicago ten years ago, too, and they were never resolved."
Bai Haorui came over as well, wiping a lipstick mark from his chest with a towel-a friendly gift from the beauty in the bar's restroom earlier. "I kept the Five Emperor Coins in my hand on the way, too. The yin energy in the bar was normal, and there wasn't any reaction on the road either. But the cases you're talking about sound a little like the 'Shadow Sha' in my grandfather's notes." He took a sip of liquor and pulled the yellowed Expelling Evil notebook from his backpack, turning to a page. "Look. During the Guangxu era in the late Qing dynasty, a salt merchant in Tianjin was killed in his study by a black shadow. His heart vanished without a trace, and there was a symbol 'resembling a Z' at the scene, too. Grandfather noted, 'An evil spirit of the Western Regions. Born by dwelling in yin, it craves hearts for food.'"
Dean's playful mood vanished instantly, and he leaned toward the laptop. "Where's the symbol? Let me see."
Sam brought up the crime scene photos. The Z-shaped symbol with an O in the middle stood out sharply on the screen. Dean narrowed his eyes and tapped the screen. "That's a Zoroastrian summoning sigil. An ancient religion from the sixth century BC, two thousand years older than Christianity. Dad mentioned it in his notes. This symbol can summon a shadow demon called a Daeva, a creation of the evil god Ahriman, known as 'darkness made manifest.'"
Just then, a cold system notification suddenly sounded in Bai Haorui's mind:
[High-intensity yin energy fluctuations detected. Energy signature matching "Shadow Sha" detected at coordinates in downtown Chicago. Side quest triggered: banish the Daeva (shadow demon) and expose the summoner's plot. Quest reward: active skill "Shadow-Breaking Technique" (can condense pure yang power to tear apart the forms of low-tier shadow spirits; deals additional bonus damage to evil spirits of the Daeva type).]
Bai Haorui put away the notebook and Five Emperor Coins, stood, and picked up the backpack in the corner. Through a gap in its zipper, the neatly arranged peachwood sword, cinnabar pouch, ink-line reel, and bundle of yellow talismans inside were visible. "Perfect. We've had our fun. Time to get to work!"
Dean drained the whiskey in his glass and patted Sam's shoulder. "Great scholar, pack up. Let's go meet this 'shadow demon.'"
Sam closed his laptop. "I've already found the victim Meredith's address. It's an apartment building downtown. We can head over now. Also, I contacted a local occult enthusiast named Jake. He specializes in Zoroastrianism and might know more about Daevas."
The three walked out of the bar, and Dean started the Impala, its engine's roar breaking the night's silence. Bai Haorui leaned back in the passenger seat, leafing through his grandfather's notes and muttering, "The Shadow Sha dwells within darkness, fears pure yang, and dreads evil-breaking power. Only with light as the guide and talismans as the blade can it be eliminated..." Dean hummed along to the rock music on the radio, occasionally glancing at Bai Haorui and complaining, "That chant of yours is a real tongue twister. I couldn't learn it even if I wanted to." Bai Haorui said, "Heh, you want to learn? Learn pinyin first, then we'll talk!" Sam sat in the back, continuing to study the information on Daevas.