When Xu Zhijian becomes a full-fledged demon hunter, he is given a talisman to summon his familiar. However, he ends up calling forth the sleeping 'Demoness' and finds himself bound to her without a choice.
Days go by and he begins to discover that...
⚠️ : The scene ahead might be triggering for some.
—
She was back on the Demoness Island again.
The crimson red moon in the night sky was like a reflection of herself – of how her purity and beauty were tainted by her sins. She glanced down at herself, flinching at the sight of her hands and clothes that were stained with blood. Even if she could wash it off, the smell of death was etched in her mind forever.
She approached one of the bodies lying on the ground and pulled the sword from the dead man's body. Resting the blade against her throat, she couldn't stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks.
She should die.
What was the point of living when everybody else was dead? Everyday, the ghastly white faces of her family members haunted and consumed her with tremendous grief and guilt.
When she murdered those people from the Jiang clan in cold blood, she kept telling herself that they deserved it. That they were the bad guys who had committed so many evil sins in the first place. As a result of their selfish actions, they caused her so much pain that she allowed herself to be consumed by the rage within her.
With a sad smile, she whispered to the Jiang ghosts of the dead. "If you had left me alone, none of this would have happened."
A flash of pain ripped through her and she collapsed onto the ground, weak and numb. She laid on the cold grass for several minutes, waiting for death to take her away. But no matter how desperate she was to join her family members on the other side, the deep wound on her neck would seal up quickly and leave no scar behind.
Her exceptional healing ability, she thought, was both a blessing and curse.
With a choking cry, her tears fell once again. The pain in her chest was excruciating and she felt as if her heart was ripped to pieces.
It was only when she felt a little tug at her hand did her cries cease. Her curious eyes flitted to her hand, realising there was something tied around her pinky finger – a red string.
Observing it carefully, she realised she hadn't had a clue of where it came from.
There was a tug once again and she sat up slowly. She gave it a slight tug and a second later, she received the same response in return. Her eyes followed the trail of the red string, soon realising that the other end of it was attached to the hand of a dark figure that was watching her from a distance.
She squinted into the darkness but couldn't make out the face of the unmoving figure. "Who's there?"
An answer came, one whose voice was so familiar. "Wake up."
And she did. Almost immediately, she felt the motion of her body reeling back to reality. Going back to where she really came from and heading towards the gentle voice that called for her.
***
When Xiaoyu woke up, she found Zhijian sitting by the side of her bed this time. For some reason, he was resting his hand on hers but she didn't say a word about it. His touch always had a calming effect on her and they both knew about it.
"Another nightmare again?" he asked, concern marring his features.
She nodded her head and sat up on the bed. Her forehead glistened with sweat and she wanted to wipe it away with the back of her sleeve but Zhijian beat her to it. He dabbed a cloth at her forehead gently, letting his eyes roam over her restless face.
"You're like a child, you know," he remarked amusedly. "How often do you have such dreams? Are they always this bad?"
She shrugged. It would happen almost every night but on some days, it wouldn't. Her nightmares weren't within her control and she had no idea how to stop them.
How was it that he was always there whenever she had nightmares? The burning question on her mind made her grab her writing materials from her nightstand. She wrote down her question and showed him quickly.
"How do you know when to come?
The soulmate bond?"
He nodded once and knitted his brows in concern. "I felt your pain. It's hard to ignore it and go back to sleep."
"Sorry for waking you up."
And then she sucked in a deep breath, realising who the mysterious person she had seen in her dream was.
"You saw me.
You were watching me in my dream."
Reading her words that she wrote on the paper, the silent look that he gave her confirmed her suspicion. He knew and saw everything that happened, yet he still came to her.
Why?
"Instead of bottling it up and hurting yourself, you can tell me about it," Zhijian said quietly, his tone was firm and gentle at the same time. "The stories that I hear about you don't match up to what I've seen. There's more to this than what the old tales spoke about, right?"
She blinked in surprise, before hastily writing down her reply.
"If I tell you, will you believe me?"
He paused briefly. "I may not have witnessed what happened twenty years ago, but after watching you for the past few days, I know for a fact that you will never hurt anyone, not even an animal, with ill intentions. Would a true villainess resort to killing herself? No."
When Xiaoyu hesitated for a long time, he sighed quietly and ran a hand through his hair. "Tell me whenever you're ready, alright?"
With those words hanging in the air, he stood up and crossed the room, gazing out of the window to watch the sun peeking over the horizon. Out of nowhere, he suggested. "Shall we head to the market later?"
Her eyes widened in surprise.
"Can I?"
Zhijian scratched the side of his head. "Well, I had a talk with Leader Xu. Seeing how you've been on good behaviour for the past few days and your aid in the recent kidnapping case, he agreed that you're free to move about so long as you stay close to me. And this also means I can continue taking up missions." His face brightened at that last thought.
After hearing that she was allowed to leave her room, Xiaoyu, too, was happier than she thought she would be. She always wanted to explore the world and see the towns or markets full of bustling activities that her mother had often told her about.
She hadn't realised that she was smiling until she caught Zhijian frowning at her.
"You should keep smiling like that." A blush tinted across her cheeks as he spoke. "It suits you better."
Her heart fluttered lightly. He was doing it again and there came the butterflies in her stomach.
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