One ask Questions, one Strikes!

Their journey to Shuisheng was uneventful for the most part. Zhen yan behaved himself, aside from his usual provocations. He didn't bother Ying yue too much and let him sleep peacefully at night.

Even though Ying yue's sleep was now much lighter and he woke up more quickly, he visibly relaxed in Zhen yan's company. As the innkeeper had predicted, they reached the City of Water three days later. Ying yue was climbing the last hill when an impressive panorama presented itself. Below him stretched a gigantic lake, its surface glistening silvery and gently rippling.

In the middle of the lake rose a small island that could be circled in half an hour. Further back, the tops of the coniferous trees and a mountain range rose up and at the foot of the lake, a large city spread out, nestled around the adjacent water veins. It was the color of the water that gave the lake its name, Yinhu. Zhen yan stood next to him and looked at the city with interest.

The cities had grown larger and more populous since his last visit to the mortal world. The people were loud and boisterous, and they left the mischief to capable cultivars like Bai Yingyue. Rarely was a village completely trampled into the dust and entire cities burned to the ground. Even though Zhenyan had a taste for chaos, he liked the vibrant life and the flourishing vitality of the people.

Outside the city gates, small shrines had been set up at regular intervals, and their yang energy formed a fine network around Shuisheng, protecting him from major demon attacks. Zhen yan was impressed by the ingenuity and skill of the cultivators. Even in the old days, when he had fought battles, they had been quite capable, but their strength lay more in brute force and the precise use of their weapons. But over the centuries, their techniques had become more refined.

Talismans and amulets were used to make protection available to the general population. As agreed, Zhen yan took three steps behind Ying yue and kept quiet as soon as they reached the city walls. The great demon was eyed suspiciously, but was allowed to enter when Ying yue declared that he had been tamed. They followed the directions of the inhabitants and soon found themselves in a huge square, where people were crowded together.

»Yesterday the wet woman took another man!« a voice rang out. It was deliberately disguised to sound deep and ominous. »That's the seventh fisherman she's dragged down to his watery grave in just one month!« he said, slamming a tied-up roll onto a table set up in the middle of the square. »She must be stopped! Carry the news to every clan and branch office, so that capable fighters may come and rid our fair city of this disgusting monster!«

An approving murmur and shouting rose. But none of them looked truly concerned. After all, it only affected the simple fishermen; most of the residents who remained within the city walls felt safe.

»When did the woman drown? What was her name? Where did she live? Are there any other family members?« a strong, deep voice asked.

Zhen yan and Ying yue's eyes slid to a man at the edge of the crowd. He was wearing dirty, worn clothes and a saber on his back that was almost as big as he was. His hair was messy and his beard unshaven; to make matters even worse, he wore a pair of worn straw sandals. A young woman, also modestly but neatly dressed, stood beside him, gazing eagerly at the ground. She had tied her long dark hair into a loose, low braid.

Unlike the man, she wore a simple but decent robe and boots. On her belt dangled a jade pendant, a simple ring that identified her as a wandering Xia, a free demon hunter. They did not belong to any clan, but had proven their abilities and worked as freelance hunters, living off the collected bounty. They were constantly on the move, never staying in one place for long, always on the lookout for a new demon and a new hunt to finance their living.

She only looked up briefly when she felt the eyes of the others on her, as she was undoubtedly a looker. She had dark eyes, an oval face, and a round mouth. She pursed her lips into a shy smile and greeted the gawkers warmly. The man who had gathered the crowd and sent them after the demon stroked his goatee and eyed the tattered but sturdy man suspiciously.

»Youxia?« he asked mockingly. The young woman bowed, »My name is Xueling, and this is my mentor, Wei meng!« she introduced herself. ‚We followed the proclamation from Donggu here!' The old man continued stroking his silver beard. His gaze softened when Xueling spoke. »From Donggu? Was it you who slew the Mowei?« he asked with interest. Wei meng laughed dryly.

»Of course, killing a Mowei is like a slaughter; these man-eating demons are strong and terribly brutal. You won't get very far with the elegant blade twirls of the cultivators. You have to chop off their heads and limbs, that's work for a saber, not a magical sword,« he grumbled. ‚Answer my questions!' Wei meng demanded.

Bai Ying yue and Zhen yan had now advanced to the front row of the crowd and were watching the exchange between the old storyteller and the man named Wei meng. Zhen yan stood so close behind Ying yue that he could feel his breath on his neck. With a stern look, he admonished him to keep a distance of three steps.

With a roll of his eyes, Zhen yan returned his challenge and obediently stepped back. One of the two city guards in blue uniforms, with wavy embroidery on the sleeves, stepped forward and answered his questions succinctly.

»We don't know. Normally, it would be obvious that it is a young woman who drowned in the Yinhu in the recent past, but there are no incidents like this. The last time someone died in the Yinhu was thirty years ago. There are also no missing persons reported. That's why we called for cultivators, an ordinary desperate soul wouldn't be so brutal and a problem we could have solved ourselves,« he replied.

Bai Yingyue had crossed her arms and listened to the city guard. Since no one had any idea where the wet woman came from, the matter was complicated. Yao could be born and created. The wet woman was a demon born of pure hatred and revenge. A person who carried deep resentment in his heart tragically killed himself.

He drowned or hanged himself and then haunted the place of his death. It wasn't hard to get such vengeful ghosts under control; usually it was enough to disperse their negative energy. Or they were kept away from the object of their hatred for a while, with talismans or protective spells, for example, until the resentment subsided by itself. I

n fact, it happened quite often that the souls and bodies of the dead could not rest and kept wandering. But most of these events subsided faster than a cultivator could be summoned. However, if one of the two, body or soul, mutated into a Yao, things were quite different. With every murder, the demon's power grew.

Wei meng glared at the city guard from narrowed eyes. He was not at all satisfied with the answer. »Do you have any clues?« he asked grumpily. The city guard shook his head. »If there hadn't been any other fishermen on the boat during their first attack, no one would have noticed the disappearance at first. Only when the cases had increased in a short time!« he said.

Ying yue rubbed the bridge of his nose and watched the tattered man's eyes narrow even further.

»Of course no one would have cared if a few fishermen were missing!« he scoffed angrily. The city guard was now glaring back. Of course, this wouldn't have been noticed. Even if Shuisheng was fine, it wasn't uncommon for fishermen, rice farmers, and others from the working class to move elsewhere if they thought they would have better luck there.

They wouldn't have reacted until there was a suspicious accumulation of incidents and multiple reports. But since there was an outcry as soon as a Yao was sighted, it was possible to act so quickly. However, that made Ying yue suspicious. Especially at the beginning, Yao were rather reserved. Since their power was not yet established, they often attacked from ambush and kept a low profile as long as they could.

Shouldn't it have been easier for the wet woman to grab a lonely fishing boat? There were surely many lonely fishermen, too, who would have gone a long time without anyone noticing. But she made such a fuss right from the start.

»Were there no missing persons before this? Was it thoroughly researched that this was her first attack?« Wei meng asked. The city guard had now adopted a dismissive attitude. Accusing the man in uniform of not doing his job properly was personal. Although Wei meng's question was justified. Perhaps she had been active for much longer?

»I'm sure!« the city guard replied coolly. ‚There are no unsolved missing persons cases. The citizens of Shuisheng know each other, they would have noticed if one of them had suddenly disappeared. Even the old are taken care of!' he took the wind out of the ragged man's sails. How? Meng tilted his head, but didn't ask any further.

After the discussion between the two men had died down, the crowd gradually dispersed. Ying yue and Zhen yan also looked for an inn where they could stay.

Ying yue sat at the table, frowning and rolling his chopsticks back and forth. Zhen yan, who preferred to drink to eating anyway, watched him for a while before he took a second pair of chopsticks and stuffed the pickled vegetables into Ying yue's mouth.

Ying yue coughed, but then swallowed the food and knocked the chopsticks out of Zhen yan's hand.

»What the!« he snapped at the demon in a voice that trembled at the beginning. Nevertheless, he spoke softly so as not to attract the attention of the other guests. Zhen yan raised an eyebrow.

»You looked like you couldn't decide, I wanted to help,« he said innocently. Help? Ying yue glared at him angrily.

»What are you thinking about?« Zhen yan asked, putting the chopsticks aside now that Ying yue had started eating on her own. »A month, and yet an announcement was sent to the cultivators only a few days ago,« he wondered under his breath. Zhen yan shrugged.

»Even if they did their own thorough investigation first, that's still a short period of time!« he replied. Ying yue considered. If it had happened to a member of the royal house, a messenger would have been sent immediately to at least three nearby clans.

He sat up crossly, partly from the pickled vegetables, partly because he didn't like how great the gap between rich and poor was. While he put meat on his rice and drank some soup, his thoughts continued to revolve.

»The wet woman must either be very confident of her power or she wanted to attract attention at all costs,« he finally said, putting the pickled vegetables out of reach. Instead, he reached for the second bowl of rice and steamed dumplings.

After days of nonstop walking and barely eating anything except for a few stale steamed buns the innkeeper from Wusheng had packed for him, he was ravenous. He had only eaten a little with Zhen yan, too, because he didn't trust the demon. Zhen yan watched him intently.

»Why does she need attention?« Zhen yan followed up.

»Seven fishermen in just one month, she took every opportunity someone was on the lake. It's impossible for her to want revenge on each one, even if she eats them, she should have been full in between. So the only possibility is that she wanted to be seen,« Ying yue replied and pointed at Zhen yan with her chopsticks.

»Then she's also very, very stupid,« Zhen yan remarked and continued to watch Ying yue. He had propped one hand on the table and rested his cheek on it. He looked like a very curious student studying his subject. Ying yue squirmed visibly under Zhen yan's gaze, finally putting down his chopsticks and finishing his meal. Zhen yan hadn't touched anything but his alcohol.

»Don't you do anything but drink?« Ying yue asked sharply. Zhen yan gave him a generous smile.

»Alcohol has a cleansing effect, the stronger the alcohol, the stronger the cleansing effect. It helps to keep the demonic energy in balance and...« He waved the rest in the jug. ‚It tastes good.' Ying yue frowned.

He was taught to live abstemiously. To keep the body free of lust, sin, and alcohol. His masters were unanimous in their belief that the consumption of alcohol led to the committing of sin, so he kept well away from it.

»Back to the wet woman!« Zhen yan changed the subject. »How do you plan to approach the case?«

»From the beginning,« Ying yue answered truthfully. »Since the city guard insists that the last drowning was thirty years ago, we'll start there.«

For today, though, they would leave it well enough alone; evening was already falling and a thick fog was beginning to creep up the shore from the lake. Soon it would lie ominously over the city.

Ying yue paid for the meal and then went up to her room with Zhen yan; at first he felt uncomfortable, but the demon sat down naturally in front of the low table and conjured up an inconspicuous book from the depths of his robe.

He didn't say or make any comments, only his eyes flickered furtively over the pages to Ying yue, as he peeled off his robe and got ready for bed. Since their first night in the inn in Wusheng, Zhen yan hadn't touched him. Even when he was itching to trace the contours of the swordsman's face with his fingers and rub Ying yue's lips raw with his thumb.

When he woke up the next morning, he would surely be furious. When Ying yue lay down on the bed and pressed Xiaodan demonstratively close to his body, Zhen yan hid his amused grin behind the pages of the well-thumbed book.

Even if it was difficult for him, he wanted to build more trust between them first. As a demon, taking a human's feelings into consideration wasn't easy and a part of him kept asking himself why he was playing this game? If he wanted the young man, he might just as well take him and lock him up in his residence until he had had enough.

But every time such thoughts arose, his heart contracted painfully and every fiber of his body refused to use violence against Ying yue. He watched the regular breaths that gently moved the blanket up and down. Ying yue's sleep was light and watchful, one wrong move and he would wake up immediately, but at least he was sleeping now.

In the first days after his fall, his recovery had been delayed because he had neither eaten nor slept in Zhen yan's presence. It had taken a little magical persuasion to relax him. But if Zhen yan magically let him sleep every night, it would only make Ying yue more suspicious. The young man tossed and turned in bed, turning over.

Zhen yan put down his book and looked at the swordsman's face in the single small candle flame that still illuminated the room. Even in his sleep, his facial features appeared serious. His eyebrows were slightly drawn together, but his lips were slightly open. He seemed to mumble something that sounded like,

»Impudent!« His white skin made him look like the image of a young god, and the demon thought again of the scars on his back, involuntarily a green cloud of smoke shot into the air and the ashes of the book he had just read trickled gently to the ground.

When Zhen yan leaned forward to cover him, Xiaodan trembled a little when he let go of him, and the sword calmed down again. Zhen yan put an arm over his bent knee and drummed his fingers on his lips. Xiaodan was indeed an impressive sword.

A magical masterpiece with a personality and spirit of its own and it was loyal to Ying yue. The young man automatically clutched it tighter when he noticed the reaction and opened his eyes briefly, but since there was obviously no danger, he closed them just as quickly and held Xiaodan even closer. Zhen yan raised an eyebrow and the corners of his mouth twitched.

»I'm not jealous of a sword!« he grumbled quietly.