I'm really not the Saviour! (我唔係救主囖!) [danmei/BL xuanhuan]

1 - I think you have the wrong person

If you like what you read here, consider checking out my other stories Ginseng and Yew, At the Water's Edge and Eitsu's Nine Lives, which are all set in the same universe (although not necessarily in the same timeframe).

***

It was a perfectly ordinary day in the country of Sek'suen. Under a clear blue sky, people were going about their business as usual, from the city port of Yuk-hoi to the countryside in the west.

Approximately twenty lei west of the capital, Maau-daan-si, a young man sat on a large stone by the side of the road and contemplated his empty water gourd, his eyelids lowered.

No matter how long he stared at it, it remained empty.

Blank-faced, he tossed the heavy gourd carelessly behind him into the bushes. What was the point of carrying something so heavy if it served no purpose?

He squinted up at the blue sky and thought about his next move. This was a large road, so surely someone would pass by soon and he could try to hitch a lift, or even just ask for some water.

In the meantime, it had been a while since he had given his dou, a single-edged and curved blade as long as his arm, some maintenance. He drew it from its sheath at his side and assessed it. Smeared with dirt and who-knows what, the blade was dull and miserable-looking. At least the grip looked relatively clean, although the unusual jade-coloured hilt and matching scabbard only looked marginally less shabby than the blade. He roughly scrubbed at the metal with fistful of his robe, which only smudged it even more.

He blinked at the results expressionlessly.

This wouldn't do. He stood up and went to put away the sword, but missed the scabbard entirely, his arm flying backwards under the momentum as it failed to sheathe as he expected. Yet the blade did suddenly stop, only a little further back than it should have.

He looked behind him.

A small demon, ridges running down the middle of its face, stood behind him, poised to stab down with a short spear. The young man's sword had gone straight through the demon's sternum.

They both stared at the blade, then looked each other.

Without a single change in expression, he pulled the sword out.

The demon fell down, dead.

"You did it!" a voice exclaimed suddenly.

All at once, a crowd of villagers, some carrying farming implements, popped out from the bushes a little further up the road. Nervous and excited, they crowded around the young man.

"Those two demons have been terrorising us, and travellers along this road, for weeks!"

"We thought you were done for!"

"We didn't know what to do! Lucky you are strong!"

Two demons?

The young man looked behind him, and saw that a clawed hand was protruding out from the bushes. The empty water gourd lay nearby, and when he moved the plants aside to take a look, he saw that his discarded gourd had accurately hit another demon on the head and knocked it out instantly.

"This one is still alive," he said in a low voice. Even when he spoke, he kept his eyelids half-closed, as though sensitive to the afternoon sunlight.

"All the better! Let's tie it up!"

A group of villagers, made brave by their numbers, surged forward, clamouring, to grab the unconscious demon. They led it away with shouts and cheers.

A young girl shyly pulled at the young man's sleeve. "You're him, aren't you?"