The Demon's Chosen.

Song Of The Female Demon.

The rental house, built with sturdy green bricks, had a garden overrun with untended vegetation and green moss covering the stone paths.

At the far corner of the backyard stood a tall sandalwood tree, as high as a three-story building, its dense canopy forming a perfect circle. It was a common belief that plants with a heavy Yin energy always have canopies that form a spherical shape when viewed from any angle.

The guest, following behind, asked: "What's your name?"

The girl replied: "I'm Aurora."

"That's a beautiful name."

"And your name?"

"I am Dominic Anderson."

By this time, the house had been tidied up, the atmosphere bright and clean. Aurora took the guest around, pointing to the bedroom: "The bed is all set, you just have to unfold it to sleep."

"Thank you."

"Do you want me to cook for you? The prices are very reasonable."

"That would be great."

"There's one more thing, don't ask why, but you must remember it."

Dominic looked a bit surprised: "What is it?"

Aurora pointed to a table in the living room: "You must always keep this living room well-lit. Open the windows during the day, and at night you must keep these four oil lamps lit, never let them go out."

"Will ghosts come if the lights are out?"

"Not afraid of ghosts coming, just afraid of people leaving." After lighting the four lamps, Aurora turned and went back to her house.

After the landlady had completely left, Dominic rearranged his belongings, took some clothes out of his backpack to hang in the closet, leaned a long object wrapped in thick cloth against the corner of the wall, and pulled a bronze censer from a side pocket of the backpack. He then lit a small piece of incense, placing it inside the censer.

As the incense ignited, releasing a dense white-blue smoke that settled in the censer, Dominic took out herbs like Jade Dog, Golden Sun, and Reinforcement. He chopped a bit of each, ground them into a fine powder, and mixed them together into a pink-blue powder, which he sprinkled into the censer.

Waiting for this powder to ignite, producing a faint pink flame that spread around, he cut his finger, letting a few drops of blood fall into it, causing a pungent, spicy red smoke to rise from the censer.

At this time, dusk was settling in. He brought the incense burner into the living room, placing it in the center of the table and dimmed the four oil lamps to their lowest, so that the flickering light just barely illuminated the dim living room. The faint light made the hanging corpse appear even more distinct. Dominic looked up and adjusted the burner so that the rising smoke spread directly over and enveloped the hanging figure.

He observed the Demon’s Manifestation of Lingering Shadows carefully. It was a man, dressed in a rustic style with a hint of mountain fashion, his face covered in a rough, intimidating beard. 

On the left side of his chest, over the heart, a knife was deeply embedded to the hilt, with blood flowing from the handle, running down the body to the tip of the big toe, where it disappeared.

The corpse's face was not swollen, the tongue not protruding, and the eyes closed. Clearly, the man had not died from hanging, but from the fatal stab wound to the heart, and was hung post-mortem. Therefore, the body didn’t exhibit the typical signs of a hanging victim.

Engulfed in the red smoke, the image of the dead body gradually faded away. His blood, known as Pure Yang Strengthens Blood, combined with sandalwood oil and various anti-demonic herbs, was very effective in erasing the Demon’s Manifestation of Lingering Shadows.

Though this phenomenon was not dangerous, it could lead to a house being wastefully abandoned, especially problematic for a female owner, and more so for one as attractive as she.

After a while, the image of the hanging corpse completely vanished. He cleared away the incense burner, turned up the oil lamps as instructed by the homeowner, but only to brighten the room. Soon after, Aurora brought in the dinner, which to Dominic's surprise, consisted only of vegetables and tofu. He asked curiously: "Are you a vegetarian?"

"Do you have a problem with vegetarian food?"

"No, I was just asking. It's good to have food."

Seeing the bright living room as she had instructed, Aurora felt relieved and went back. Dominic tasted the dinner; the food cooked by the female homeowner was not bad, suiting his taste. After eating, not knowing what else to do, he went outside for a walk, the moon casting a soft and gentle light upon the earth.

Stepping out, he looked left and right, and seeing a high, seemingly desolate slope to the left, he decided to go in that direction. He followed the trail in front of the house, leading out of the village and up the slope, gazing down at the valley below. The scattered lights of the houses in the village showed that Chrysanthemum village was perched on the slope, spilling down into a valley, with even the furthest house at the edge of the village not falling into the depression, but still at a fairly high level compared to the center of the valley, which was engulfed in darkness.

Behind him, opposite the valley, stood the famous Ethereal Mountain. He wasn’t sure if the mountain was renowned for its ancient treasures or exotic herbs, only that many had entered it and never returned.

After admiring the scenery for a while, Dominic turned back. Entering the house, he laid out a mat, sprawled onto the bed, closed his eyes, and the cool breeze coming through the window soon lulled him into a deep sleep.

Not knowing how long he had slept, but as the moonlight shone brightly, Dominic stirred and turned, awakened by some sound. He opened his eyes and listened carefully, realizing it was singing, the voice of a girl.

The melody was sometimes deep, sometimes high, sometimes clear, sometimes faint, sounding both distant and yet as if nearby.

Initially, he thought it was the singing of the lady next door, but when he peeked out of the window, he saw that the neighboring house was dark and silent, with no light whatsoever. Moreover, the singing seemed to come from the opposite direction, from where he had strolled to the hilltop earlier that evening. The moonlight was bright, illuminating everything as clear as day, and he decided to get up, grab the long, cloth-wrapped object leaning against the wall corner, and step outside.

He followed the old path towards the source of the singing. The moonlight illuminated dewdrops on the grass, sparkling like jewels. The night air was colder, but his robust body hardly felt the chill.

The singing continued, melodious and enticing, as if beckoning him. Yet, as he walked, the origin of the sound seemed elusive. Before he knew it, he had reached the hilltop again. The singing appeared to echo from the foot of the opposite hill, and he thought irritably: "Such far-reaching singing! If I go down there and still don't find the source, I might as well return."

It seemed as though the singer sensed his thoughts, for as he reached the bottom of the hill, the singing abruptly stopped. Looking around, he noticed a figure sitting on the edge of a well, back turned to him, making it impossible to see their face.

He slowly approached, the gravel crunching underfoot, yet the figure remained still, unaffected by the wind that passed him and fluttered the hem of the figure's garment.

As he drew nearer, he gradually realized it was a girl. She wore a long, white cloak that reached her feet, her long hair flowing down her back, gently swaying in the breeze.

Having reached behind her, Dominic found the girl still unmoved, prompting him to break the silence: “Excuse me, was that your singing just now?”

The girl did not respond but slightly turned her face towards him. He could only see half of her face, but it was enough for him to realize she was no ordinary person.

On her fair skin, there were only bright red lips; her eyes, nose, and eyebrows were absent.

Dominic calmly continued his inquiry: "Have you been disfigured by someone?”

The girl silently nodded.

“Can you speak?”

She shook her head.