According to reports, the demon would appear whenever the courtesans were sleeping with men. It was a vengeful, female spirit whose hatred was ignited after she caught her husband having an affair with a beautiful courtesan. Out of anger and jealousy, she murdered the both of them and killed herself by jumping off the cliff.
This wasn't the end of her existence, for she soon came back to life as an evil being. Her hatred lived on till this day and she would wander around with a malicious intent to kill every single courtesan in town.
To eradicate her, Zhijian and Xiaoyu were lying in wait for her appearance.
And they had to spend the night in the room. Alone.
The fact that this was a courtesan house meant that the room next to theirs wasn't exactly being quiet when the pair was trying to get some rest.
After the encounter with Dukai earlier, Zhijian was still in a foul mood and he was grumbling under his breath. "I'll kill that good-for-nothing the next time I meet him and boil his pets to make some soup."
There was no brush or paper for Xiaoyu to write down her response and she reached for his hand instead. With a faint smile on her lips, she traced a few words on his palm with her finger.
"Not the animals."
Warmth passed through them from the touch and his eyes softened as he took in her gentle expression. "I was joking," he said before adding on, "but only about the latter. I will not let Dukai off the hook."
He gestured towards the only bed in the room. "While we're waiting for the demon to appear, you should rest first. I'll take the floor," he told her but she shook her head to decline the offer. The floor was cold and she wasn't going to let him fall sick because of that.
After a minute of squabbling, they eventually reached a consensus by taking one side of the bed each – with Xiaoyu lying on the left side and Zhijian sitting on the right side. Crossing his arms, he propped one leg up in nonchalance and hugged his sword to his chest.
When he glanced down at her, their eyes connected and she couldn't seem to look away from his curious gaze. He studied her intently and his lips parted slightly in hesitance, seeming as if he had several questions weighing on his mind for a long time.
"Not being able to talk is frustrating, isn't it?" he started. "Were you born this way?"
Caught off guard by his questions, her body stiffened briefly before she eventually gave a slight nod in response. If he had sensed her reluctance in answering his question and noticed that she lied, he didn't comment on it or let it show on his face.
To Xiaoyu, this was for the best. The less people knew her secret, the less innocent would be harmed.
"I did hear your voice a few times before," Zhijian admitted.
Surprised, she glanced up at him with wide eyes. There was a brief smile playing on his lips as he continued his explanation. "Perhaps it was our bond, but I heard your voice clearly when I was in your dreams. Do you think you can try to do it again? Say something in your head and I'll try to listen."
Xiaoyu did as she was told, immediately thinking of a few words in her head.
Do you hate me?
However, he couldn't seem to hear her question. His eyebrows knitted in concentration, but it was probably a failed attempt as disappointment flickered across his face.
"Hm..." Zhijian mused, running his fingers across his chin thoughtfully. "I wonder why it isn't working."
Now that they were having a heart-to-heart conversation, Xiaoyu wanted to ask him a question. She was always intrigued by his way of living and her curiosity fuelled her confidence to speak her mind.
Before she could lift her arm, she was surprised when Zhijian offered his hand so that she could trace her question on his palm. After spending a few weeks with her, he seemed to understand her emotions and actions easily.
"Why do you fight?" she asked.
"Why do I fight?" he repeated. "It's simple, I hate demons. They killed my parents before my eyes and deprived my brother of the happy childhood that he should have had."
"We were from one of the nearby villages just south of here," he told her. "My father worked as a woodcutter and a fisherman, while my mother was a seamstress. We were living a happy life but a few months after my brother was born, everything changed. Our village was attacked by a horde of demon wolves. My parents fought and died for us to make sure that I escaped safely with my baby brother. I thought I was going to die until Dukai showed up in the nick of time to save us."
It seemed like he had a rough past as well. Even though Zhijian had often blurted how annoying and detestable Dukai was, there was gratitude and admiration shining in those mesmerising, greyish eyes of his.
"And that was how I decided that I wanted to be a demon hunter. I didn't want anybody else to experience the same pain that I went through."
Reaching out towards him, she surprised him when she placed her hand on his and gave him a light squeeze to show her support. When she tried to pull away because she was afraid he might dislike it, he responded by grasping her hand tightly in return.
"What about you?" he asked. "What was your childhood like?"
Startled by his question, she looked up at him before looking away. Being trapped on that island for all her life, her childhood was mundane and miserable on days, especially when she was berated by her clan for her existence. Often, she would wonder how it would be like to travel the world someday and have new experiences.
Now, to be able to fulfil that wish was something she never thought she could have attained in this life.
There was an unreadable look in his eyes as Zhijian gauged at her reaction. For a fleeting moment, something passed through between them and a soft, warm feeling grew in her chest. Like a pull of gravity, he leaned towards her unconsciously and she remained still, feeling her heart thudding madly the closer he got.
They almost forgot their purpose for coming here. It was nearing midnight and the demon finally made its appearance.
Sensing its incoming presence, Zhijian sprang into action immediately.
He slid himself over Xiaoyu's body quickly. His hands were beside her face and his legs straddled her, a knee on either side of her thighs. Pinning her underneath him, his dark eyes glinted as he held her captive.
With his devilishly handsome face just less than a breath away, she found herself drowning in his gaze.