Lin Shijin felt light-headed. The ringing in his ears drowned out every other sound, leaving only that whisper, echoing endlessly.
“Mother—”
He heard a child’s voice. Not far away, a little girl wearing a flower-maiden mask stood by the firelight, coughing as the smoke choked her. The flames looked ready to swallow her whole.
The pleasure barge was smothered in black mist, the air filled with screaming. The scourge-slayers and the immortal sect disciples were all occupied fighting the fiends, with no attention to spare for the people trapped aboard.
When Lin Shijin saw a cloud of black vapour, faintly bearing a human face, drawn towards the crying girl in the mask, he forced his mind to steady and stepped out of the barrier without a second thought.
The moment he crossed it, countless wails crashed into his ears. His fingers trembled around the hilt of his sword. A moment ago he had still hesitated. Every time he tried to draw his blade, an invisible force seemed to hold him back.
Just as the black mist was about to rip through the child, his heart thudded wildly, his pupils tightening. He shouted, “Careful!” and lunged forward, scooping her into his arms as he rolled aside.
His voice was pitifully small amidst the chorus of cries. No one heard him… not even the girl, and even if she had, she would not have had time to react.
Flames licked across his cheek, burning him with a sharp, searing pain. The small body in his arms was warm; his shoulder brushed the black mist, sending needles of pain across his skin. As they fell, he instinctively twisted so that he took the brunt of the impact.
His back struck something sharp. He stifled a groan, his features twisting.
“Are you alright?” Lin Shijin himself was close to tears. The pain rooted him to the spot. But when he glanced at the girl in the flower-maiden mask, unharmed in his hold, he let out a faint sigh of relief.
She had been crying moments ago; now she fell into a small, trembling silence, her eyes round and dark as black grapes as she stared at him. Between hiccupping sobs, she whispered, “Thank you, gege.”
Still wearing his veiled hat, Lin Shijin adjusted it. The girl turned and, catching sight of the black mist, screamed again.
“Gege… the demon… it’s still there…”
Lin Shijin was terrified too. His calves were shaking. But to show fear now, in front of a child, felt far too shameful.
“Don’t be afraid. Gege will protect you,” he murmured, as though comforting her… and himself. He tightened his grip on his sword.
Before the fiend could close in, he sent out a slash of sword-qi.
It flew a little off-mark, but the black mist still flinched aside on instinct. In truth, the sword-qi was feeble, wholly incapable of harming it.
Suspended in the air, the black fog shifted its attention to the attacking youth. Its initial wariness faded as it realised the sword-qi was pathetically weak, and an irritated sense of having been fooled surged forth. The youth had clearly been bluffing.
By the time the fiend reacted and swept forward to deal with him, the youth had vanished.
The black mist circled left and right, eventually spotting them on the far side of the barge. Lin Shijin had carried the girl to where the flames could not reach.
He might know nothing else, but he did know how to run. Without curses binding him or powerful demons suppressing him, he bolted across the deck with the girl in his arms.
“Stay here. It’s safe. Don’t go out,” he instructed, setting her down. When he turned back, the black mist was ramming the barrier. It was the one Sheng Rufei had set, and nothing the fiend could break. Still, the girl recoiled in fear.
“It’s alright. It can’t get through.”
Just to be sure, Lin Shijin rummaged through his storage pouch. He found an exorcising artefact, the one Feng Rugao had given to him.
It resembled a length of white bone. Lin Shijin placed it in the girl’s hands. “Hold this. With it, evil spirits won’t dare come near.”
“Whatever happens, don’t step outside. Wait for gege here.”
The moment he produced the artefact, all the surrounding fiends halted their assault and withdrew, shrinking back as though sensing something they absolutely feared.
Lin Shijin finally relaxed. Inside, a little version of himself was wailing. Everything hurt, and he had no idea where his shixiong was.
But Sheng Rufei clearly had no time to worry about him. Lin Shijin blinked back the tears threatening to fall, endured the pain spreading down his shoulder, and stepped out of the barrier again.
He didn’t dare kill fiends, but saving people… he could do that much.
Pushing every other concern aside, he ran through the barge, stopping whenever he saw someone fleeing, dragging them towards the barrier. It stood on the far side, away from the flames, and the fiends could not cross it.
Bodies lay strewn across the deck, faces mangled beyond recognition by the demons. Lin Shijin glanced at one and nearly fainted. Thank heavens he wore a veiled hat, otherwise his rabbit ears would surely have sprung upright.
So much blood… nothing but blood.
His face went white. Fear drove his feet faster. Whenever he saw someone screaming, he snatched them on instinct and hauled them to safety, explaining only once they were inside.
“This place is safe. See the line on the ground? Don’t cross it.”
The person he dragged over stared blankly. He heard the youth’s trembling voice which sounded more frightened than he was. He only nodded in confusion before the youth darted off again.
More and more people gathered inside the barrier, and soon those rescued began shouting, “This way!” “It’s safe over here!”
Many on the barge saw it too:
A young man in scourge-slayer robes, veiled hat askew, was rushing about rescuing people. He was so flustered he could barely form sentences; his sword-qi was weak, but he ran astonishingly fast. His movements were clumsy with panic. Several bystanders were yanked into safety before they even realised what was happening.
People’s fixed image of Scourge-Slayer Envoys was as follows: the city lord’s hounds; cold, suspended blades drenched in blood; emotionless creatures. Once they donned the crescent sword robes and carried the scourge-slayer blade, they were no longer considered human… merely pieces on the board, serving their master unto death.
This was the first time any of them had seen such a lively little scourge-slayer. Weak as he was, he ran astonishingly fast. He was frightened of corpses, on the verge of fainting whenever a demon appeared, yet he darted about to rescue people.
He even spoke to them, his voice low and gentle, seemingly not much older than a youth. When confronted with terrified, crying children, he would awkwardly attempt to comfort them.
“It’s all right now. In a moment, I’ll have my shixiong help you look for your mother. I can’t go anywhere near the golden platform…”
Lin Shijin felt rather embarrassed. At most, he could save people on this side; his rabbit legs were close to giving out. The golden platform was thick with black fog. Entering it would be nothing short of serving himself up as a sacrifice.
He possessed at least that much self-awareness.
The little boy clinging to him sobbed and hiccupped as he spoke. “Gege, my mother’s legs aren’t good. She wasn’t at the golden platform. I saw her just now… Please, please save her.”
“I only have my mother left. Father died because of demons. My mother said working on the boat today would earn her a little extra. She shouldn’t have had to come at all… It’s all my fault. I wanted her to bring me here.”
The boy who was about seven or eight years old, had cried so hard his eyes were a blur. His face looked vaguely familiar, and to him, the scourge-slayer appeared to be the only lifeline in sight.
His voice was childish, trembling with fright.
He fell to his knees at once. “Gege, please… If my mother meets a demon, she won’t be able to run. She’ll die.”
Lin Shijin’s heart softened at once. He couldn’t bear the sight of a child kneeling before him. He hurriedly pulled him up. His own body ached from head to toe, and under his breath he muttered something, then asked the boy:
“Where is your mother…? I-I can go have a look. But I can’t promise I’ll find her.”
Many people around them were listening. The little girl he had saved earlier was still holding onto her bone flute, wearing a flower-maiden mask. She spoke in a small, reluctant voice.
“Gege can’t go. Gege’s scared of demons. If he goes, he’ll die.”
Several others chimed in.
“He’ll have to carry someone back. He’ll definitely be chased down.”
“He’s so weak, don’t make things difficult for him.”
“That’s right, that’s right.”
Lin Shijin: “…”
His face grew hot. He was a little offended too. Even if he was weak, they didn’t have to say it out loud. He looked again at the little boy’s tearful, pleading eyes, and his heart turned soft once more. Imitating the way Sheng Rufei rubbed his head, he reached out and gently ruffled the boy’s hair.
“I’ll go and have a look. If I can find your mother, I’ll bring her back.”
He was still crouching when the child in his arms burst into grateful, messy tears, nearly kneeling again to knock his head on the ground. Lin Shijin’s chest still throbbed where he had hit the boat rail earlier.
“Thank you, gege… you’re so good—wuwaaa!”
The little boy’s sudden surge forward knocked him dizzy; he almost fainted. Reeling, he got to his feet, picked up his sword, and stepped out of the barrier.
Following the boy’s directions, he headed towards the indicated place. It was close to the golden platform, the corner of a house already collapsed and flames licking outward. Avoiding prowling demons with great care, he slipped inside.
In the ruin of the half-collapsed wall, he glimpsed the edge of a plain dress. Using his sword, he painstakingly shifted the broken door board aside and met the eyes of the woman beneath it.
Meanwhile, on Sheng Rufei’s side, they had finally cleared away most of the demons. Only a handful were still fleeing about. The array atop the golden platform had been sealed, and another group was guarding the city lord’s household.
“Sheng-shixiong, look over there… isn’t that Lin-shidi?”
The baby-faced youth sounded uncertain. Sheng Rufei followed his gaze.
Through the spread of firelight, a veiled youth was running with a woman slung across his back. Her posture was strange. Beneath her clothing there was only emptiness. A closer look revealed she had no legs.
Sheng Rufei distinctly remembered ordering the boy to stay within the barrier and not to move. Looking back towards the barrier, he saw a dense crowd of people huddled behind it.
“…”
“Gege, run faster. The demon’s catching up!”
“Hurry, quicker…!”
“Why don’t we throw her over first? Someone can catch her…”
The people in the barrier were frantic. Tiger, hearing someone suggest flinging his mother over, shot the speaker a murderous glare. The man fell silent immediately.
Lin Shijin wanted to run faster as well, but he simply had no strength left. The woman felt feather-light at first, but carrying her turned out to be anything but easy. Perhaps it was his imagination, but with each step, she seemed heavier.
He could feel the demon behind him… he could glimpse the roiling black fog edging closer. Anxiety clawed at him, his heart pounding wildly. He willed his legs to move faster, but they refused.
The moment the black fog reached him, his fingers weakened. His movements slowed, as though time itself had thickened. He could even hear the thunder of his own pulse.
As his grip faltered, he shut his eyes for a heartbeat, mourning his own impending death. His throat constricted with terror.
Then… silence.
His knuckles whitened. A sharp pain shot through his shoulder as the woman slipped from his back. He swayed instinctively to one side.
A streak of sword-light flashed across the edge of his vision. Lin Shijin thought he was imagining it… and then he collapsed into a cool-scented embrace.
“Take her to the barrier.”
He recognised that cold, familiar voice. He saw another scourge-slayer catch the falling woman. Relief washed over him.
“Shixiong…?” Lin Shijin looked up and met a familiar face. With Sheng Rufei here, there was nothing left to fear.
The pain across his whole body surged sharply. Every joint, every muscle ached. Nestled against Sheng Rufei’s chest, he suddenly couldn’t bear to move.
“Shixiong… it hurts, it hurts so much…”
He would never whimper in front of strangers, but in front of Sheng Rufei he no longer held back. All he wanted was to stay in his arms, to have his shixiong rub his head and soothe him.
The others around them: “…”
Was… was he acting coquettish with the scourge-slayer?
Lin Shijin, however, only focused on Sheng Rufei. If Sheng Rufei ignored him now, he would be utterly devastated. With no attention to spare for anything else, he didn’t even notice when his veil slipped off.
A small clatter… and everyone stared.
His hair spilled out, revealing the pair of rabbit ears atop his head. The youth, oblivious, still clung to the scourge-slayer’s chest, the soft ears drooping pitifully.
The entire pleasure barge fell silent.
A short while ago, they had all doubted the scourge-slayer. Now, having been rescued by him, most held their tongues… though many still believed the trouble must have been caused by the scourge-slayer’s presence.
“A demon… the scourge-slayer is with a demon!”
Lin Shijin felt the shift in atmosphere. Turning, he saw the little girl at the barrier take a fearful step back, her eyes wide.
“Gege… gege is a bunny… he’s a demon.”
“A demon… he’s a demon!”
“The demon is seducing the scourge-slayer!!”
Their commotion drew immediate attention. In an instant, Scourge-Slayer Envoys encircled Lin Shijin, swords raised and pointed at him.
Only now did Lin Shijin fully understand what had happened. Still pressed against Sheng Rufei, he was about to pull away when Sheng Rufei pulled him closer instead, shielding his rabbit ears with one hand.
“Don’t be afraid.” Sheng Rufei’s cool voice sounded beside his ear. His fingertips pressed lightly against the soft fur; it made Lin Shijin squirm. Pressed against Sheng Rufei’s chest, he could hear the steady thump of his heartbeat.
When Sheng Rufei spoke, his chest subtly vibrated. Hearing that quiet “Don’t be afraid,” Lin Shijin felt, inexplicably, safe.
