Demons

Fahai smiled. "You praise me. I have led a simple life without any glamour. There is nothing extraordinary about it. I left the temple in my youth, because it was too passive a life for me. I wanted to help people, far beyond the limits which life in the temple allowed."

His eyes had a distant look. "I sought to free people from the lies and malicious plots of demons. There are many such spirits wandering around; animal spirits, mostly, which have attained human forms after amassing enough spirit energy to become aware of themselves. Many of them do not know how to handle this power and behave like animals, using their powers to abuse humans and take what they want, controlled by their bestial lusts. These are the ones I have sworn to destroy, to protect the people from. I have dedicated my life to travelling across the nation, to root out those I can find, and keep them from hurting people."

Xuxian laughed nervously. "You mean they hide among us, looking the same as any other human?"

Fahai's gaze stoically avoided Suzhen. "Yes, I am afraid so, Physician Xu. Some are very cunning. Some have thousands of years of spirit energy which they have cultivated over time, and they have disguised themselves so well it is difficult to tell them apart from a human. Even I, I have learnt never to trust appearances. No matter how convincing."

Suzhen picked industriously, if aimlessly, at a piece of dried chilli.

Chewing thoughtfully on his chopsticks, Xuxian asked, "But are there really that many of these--spirits--hanging around us? I mean, I have surely heard of rumours of spirits; fox fairies, for one, eh, Susu?" he chuckled, but Suzhen could barely bring herself to smile in return.

"But surely that's the exception. Unless, of course, you mean to say that there really are that many of them, it's just that no one knows."

Fahai said nothing, and Xuxian swallowed awkwardly. "Well. I see that's the case." He tapped his chopsticks on the table absently. "I had no idea, you see. It is a rather disturbing idea, to be sure."

"It is indeed, disturbing. But unfortunately it does not stop there. There is also a very real danger."

"Danger!" Xuxian echoed.

"I have seen, with my own eyes, how they sucked the life essence from unsuspecting humans. Worse still, they eat their hearts. Human hearts give them an extraordinary advantage in maintaining and improving their human form. The more bestial ones cannot control their flesh-eating impulses and eat the other organs as well, having developed a taste for human flesh. It is no pretty sight to see. I have saved many, but there have always been the ones I was not in time for. Those are my regrets."

There was a brief silence at the table. Xuxian shifted uncomfortably. "They--they eat human hearts?"

Fahai had a faraway look in his eyes. "I saw it myself. That was five years ago, in a small town near the border of Jiangxi. I was hunting down a tiger spirit who had disguised herself as a courtesan, and was seducing men, using them to feed her spirit energy. She went by the name of Minglan, and she was skilled in playing the zither and dancing. She was beautiful to the eye, and very graceful."

The silence was pregnant with tension as he paused. Xuxian glanced nervously at him. Suzhen's eyes were fixed steadfastly on the hands in her lap.

"It was hard to find a way to approach her, for she was much sought after." Fahai said slowly. "Men were infatuated with her, for she was charming. But looking past the external appearance, I observed how she chose her prey, selecting those strong and hearty looking ones, or those who were willing to spend money on her. She was a heartless creature who deserved to die, playing with the men who trusted her like that."

"What kind of men were they, though?" Suzhen said softly. It was the first time she had spoken, and Xuxian started.

"Whatever kind of men they were, they did not deserve to die like that." Fahai replied without a change of expression, as if he had been aware of her the whole time, though his eyes had never turned once in her direction. "She abused their trust. And for many of them, she killed them cruelly."

He turned to Xuxian suddenly. "What do you think, Physician Xu? Would you let a man die, if you saw him in serious danger, because you knew he was a worthless man? What would you do, Physician?"

Xuxian said confusedly, "But of course, I would try to save his life. I am a physician, after all. The human life is precious. Even if he was my enemy, I would not want to see him die."

Suzhen looked up for the first time to glance briefly at him, and then she looked down again.

Fahai smiled. "You are a good man, Physician Xu. You are not far from the path of enlightenment."

He continued. "Several times, the bodies that were found ripped open, lying in the back alleys or floating in the river, were always her customers. But no one suspected her. An old mother, however, begged me to help, and told me with sobs how her only son had died with his heart torn out. She was convinced that Minglan was behind it, and her only hope was on me to reveal the demoness for what she was."

Xuxian caught his breath in sympathy. He envisioned Granny Hong's grief if Yuanzheng were to have been killed in such a gruesome way. "No," he breathed. "How cruel of her. The poor old woman. Then what happened?"

"I surprised her, right in the act." Fahai said calmly. "Using my qinggong, I came in from the window, just in time to see her eating his heart while her victim writhed out his last death agonies on the bed. He was a young man, still in the peak of his youth. The only son of an official. In another two days his results in the imperial examinations would have been announced."