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Shen Qingqiu was talking to Luo Binghe about what happened so far, while the latter was cutting assorted cold meats, cheese and bread for a light lunch, when there's a rapping on the door. He was excited because he knew that this must be the demon hunter. He Xuan opened the door and in walked the finest species of a man, although a little bit different from the usual public standard. The man was very handsome in an unorthodox way, but most importantly, he exuded danger, with his five o'clock shadow, piercings in his ears, eyebrows and when he said hi, his tongue. He wore a fit black shirt, and tight ripped jeans which boasted his excellent physique, with his Italian coloring and fully tattooed arms. His longish dark hair was tied back in a half ponytail, adding to his charm. But the most eye-catching thing about him was his golden eyes, framed by long dark lashes. It was slightly different from Lan Wangji, which exuded coldness. Noah's eyes were a warm golden color like fire. This man had the appearance and aura of an apex predator.

Shen Qingqiu shuddered a little when their eyes met. But he smiled and shook Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe's hands warmly.

"Noah St.Claire. Nice to meet you." 

Even his voice was a nice baritone with a bit of a smoker's rasp. Any lesser men would be running for their lives at this point and Shen Qingqiu almost did but his feet became jelly, but he grabbed a hold onto Luo Binghe, who understood his sentiment exactly, since he also felt the light shivering himself. Demon hunter was a fitting description for this man since the demons must be scrambling out of his way in fear.

"So, what can I do for you guys?" He walked to the kitchen table and took the cold cuts and cheese then put them between two pieces of sourdough bread, adding marinated peppers and tomatoes, then he bit into it. He was hungry and he could use some light lunch.

"We need you to see what happened to the people we caught. It looks like some of them are monsters but I'm not sure. They're under some kind of a spell, and they won't talk." He Xuan explained their situation and Noah nodded.

"Sure. Let me finish this and we can go." Then he turned to Hua Cheng and observed him with his sharp golden eyes. "So, how about you? How are you feeling? Anything out of the ordinary?"

"As a matter of fact, I have never felt better." Hua Cheng smiled. "Also, my senses are enhanced. Did you meet Wei Ying and Lan Wangji on your way here?"

"Uhm, no? Why?" 

Strange, he could definitely catch a whiff of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji's scents on him, although there was a bit of a difference in it.  But why would he lie? He had no reason to.

"Nothing. I thought I smelled something that resembled their scents." Hua Cheng looked at Xie Lian, who looked back at him with a question in his eyes. "Really, it's nothing."

"You mind if I do a quick check on you?" Noah shook off the crumbles from his shirt and he got up to stand in front of Hua Cheng. It was not a request since he really wanted to make sure that Xie Lian's boyfriend was fine.

"Fine." Hua Cheng stood in front of Noah while the others observed them. 

Noah opened his arms and said some passage in Latin, and his tattoos were slowly glowing gold. There's some kind of golden aura coming out of him and they moved toward Hua Cheng. It surrounded the latter for a bit then dispersed themselves. When they fully disappeared, Noah looked at Hua Cheng and smiled.

"Congratulations, you're the first human-demon hybrid that successfully fully merged without any side effects."

"What's with the gold dust?" Shen Qingqiu asked him. He was mesmerized by the ritual just now, it was so alien to him, and apparently to the others too.

"Oh that? Well, it's some kind of demon detector." Noah explained it to them.

"What happens if it detects a demon?"

"You don't wanna know." He grinned and walked to the fridge to take out a bottle of cold beer and drank it. "So, Xie Lian, when can I start learning to make your arrays?"

"How about now?" Xie Lian walked to Noah and then he made a small array on Noah's forehead, then he slapped it with an open palm.

"Ow? What was that?" Noah was surprised to be hit by Xie Lian, although it didn't hurt. Xie Lian chuckled seeing Noah became so confused.

"I just synced my knowledge of arrays with your brain. Since you're… an extraordinary person, you will be able to absorb them quickly." He couldn't say that since he was a nephilim, that was the quickest way to learn his arrays, an ordinary man could not learn his vast arrays like this and they would take approximately hundred years to learn and master them all. Not to mention that he really liked this man, his behaviour was refreshing, just like Wei Wuxian. And he was weak to his Xianxian. 

He did smell the same thing that Hua Cheng detected before, wafting faintly from all over his body, and he had a theory about that, but he did not want to say it now. He wanted to see how everything went first.

"Oh wow, that was quick, and efficient." Noah rubbed his forehead in awe. Now he was curious to find out who exactly Xie Lian was. He was this mysterious being who always smiled, but he could detect that this beautiful man was not that simple. He wanted to know more about him and his origin.

"You'll master them in no time. Anything you want to ask, you're welcome to find me." He smiled.

"I'll hold on to your words." Noah grinned and then he turned to He Xuan. "Let's go now."

He Xuan nodded and all of them walked out of the apartment to the containment room where they stashed the prisoners. After entering the necessary code, they went in and straight to the individual containment chambers. They were like small cubicles with glass walls that could be locked from the outside. Almost all of them were just sitting on the floor with blank expressions on their faces, but one of them was screaming and hitting the bulletproof glass repeatedly.

"That is a wendigo." Noah pointed to the screaming creature and came closer until they were face to face. The wendigo growled and showed Noah its fangs, but Noah had no expression on his face. He then turned to He Xuan and asked him about the lock. He Xuan showed him that in order to open the chamber, they would have to push the red button. 

Noah smiled and did exactly that.

His action caused the others to gasp, but he easily pursued the wendigo and put his hand around its neck. The wendigo screamed in pain, since Noah's hand left a black smoking mark and it obviously hurt the wendigo.

"How strong do you think he is?" Shen Qingqiu whispered to He Xuan in awe. This was the first time he saw anyone did what Noah did so effortlessly.

"He can crush any monster's heads only with his bare arms." He Xuan answered him. "He's unbelievably strong for a human, but I think he chants something just now." He Xuan answered him while their eyes could not move away from the view in front of them. 

The wendigo shrieked like he was talking and after a while Noah threw it back inside the chamber then wiped his hand on his jeans.

"He said that if he didn't do whatever he was told to do, they would kill his family. What a cliche." 

"You… talked with him?" Shen Qingqiu looked at him in awe.

"More like reading his memory. I saw someone dressed in all black pay him a visit in the woods, no, more like kidnapping him and injecting him with something to ensure his obedience. He was taken to a building with high security and there were many more like him there."

"Hmm, that might be their headquarters." He Xuan nodded, then his phone rang. He picked it up and saw that the caller was Pei Ming, his Head of Security. "Yes?"

"Boss, this… I have Xuan Ji here with me, and she insists to talk to you right now." Pei Ming sounded a bit flustered.

He Xuan raised his brow. Xuan Ji was the spy who took the nanites to give it to Mianmian, who had connections with Kingpin and whorehouse and the fight ring. He wondered what she wanted.

"Fine, take her to the containment chamber."









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