“Squeak squeak…” Some sound came from the rooftop of Huakui Tower on the left side of the street, followed by several light sounds of tiles colliding as a gray shadow swiftly flashed across the eaves and entered the back hall of Huakui Tower.

Ever since dusk had fallen, Yusang had been keeping watch atop the highest bell tower in Yunsui City. She had personally witnessed that demon creature leap out from somewhere in the eastern part of the city, then bound across rooftops and walls throughout the city until reaching Yuntian Street. Seeing the demon creature prowling back and forth on the eaves of Huakui Tower several times, she had also followed by treading on tiles and flying across eaves, landing on the rooftop of Fulai Pawnshop across from Huakui Tower to observe quietly.

Seeing the demon creature enter the back hall of Huakui Tower, Yusang drew a white jade writing brush from her waist to prepare for defense. At the tip of this jade brush hung a red tassel adorned with bright pearls. The pearls emitted a faint glow at the touch, clearly indicating they were no ordinary objects. The brush handle was somewhat longer than ordinary writing brushes, made in the style of bamboo with seven sections. Though its material was unclear, it warmed at the touch – clearly a divine artifact. Only the brush tip had not a single strand of hair.

Yusang gripped the white jade brush in her hand, about to take action, when she caught sight of the street below from the corner of her eye and stopped, crouching down again to observe the changes quietly.

On Yuntian Street, a point of lamplight gradually emerged through the vast water mist. As the fire drew closer, one could vaguely make out that it was a lantern being carried by someone. Yusang initially thought it was a night watchman patrolling the city, but when the lantern bearer came closer, she discovered it was a young man in white robes, though he was too far away to make out his specific features.

The man also seemed to have come for the demon creature in Huakui Tower. Carrying the lantern, he walked to the entrance adorned with red silk flowers and stopped, facing Huakui Tower as he curved his fingers beside his lips and chanted several incantations. The flame in the lantern immediately brightened considerably, then sounds of things toppling over could be heard from within Huakui Tower.

“Crash…” Suddenly, a fierce shriek came from a second-floor window of Huakui Tower. Half of the carved window frame was shattered into pieces, and a pair of twisted, gaunt hands with long fingernails tightly gripped both sides of the window opening. Then a thin, sharp head protruded, glaring with enormous emerald green eyes at the man standing in the street.

“Hiss…” The demon creature turned its head, opening wide a mouth still stained with blood, baring a full set of dark yellow fangs as it let out a strange cry.

“Stinking Taoist, it’s you again.” The demon creature’s long fingernails dug fiercely into the wooden window sill, the emerald light in its eyes growing more intense, its yellow teeth clicking together in the darkness with a sound that made one’s hair stand on end.

“I already promised you I would never again set foot in the flower district, yet you still won’t let me go. You bully people too much – don’t blame me for being merciless.” The demon creature spoke through gritted teeth, then leaped from the window straight toward the man.

The man slightly raised his head to look at the demon creature pouncing down directly at him. He made no defensive moves or attempts to dodge, only raising the lantern in his hand a bit higher when the demon creature was within ten feet of him. The moment the demon creature touched the light from the lantern, it was as if burned by fierce flames – it shrieked miserably and was thrown heavily back against the street wall outside Huakui Tower.

“A Soul Collector lantern, this… is a Soul Collector lantern… who are you… Who are you…” The demon creature curled up and writhed at the base of Huakui Tower’s street wall, its eyes flashing with resentful light while staring at the lantern in terror, its lips trembling.

The man didn’t answer his words, only casually tossing the lantern into the air. The lantern seemed to find support and suspended itself beside the man. Then the man began curving his fingers in incantation, drawing from between his fingers a ball of white radiance that formed into a phantom sword.

Seeing the man intended to attack, the demon creature snapped out of its shock at the lantern, rolled on the ground, then suddenly expanded its form and pounced at the man again. This time it was clever – instead of going for the upper body near the lantern’s firelight, it dove straight for the man’s feet.

The man dodged the pounce with a flash, the phantom sword in his hand tracing sword flowers as it stabbed toward the demon creature’s lower body. The demon creature moved very quickly, but was still grazed on the ankle by the sword edge.

“Taoist, I know I’m no match for you. If you’re willing to spare me, I’ll gladly offer a hundred years of cultivation to assist your practice, and never again emerge to do evil.” The demon creature quickly spoke after dodging.

If this were anyone else, hearing such words would surely move their compassionate heart. But this man seemed not to have heard at all – not only did his sword momentum not slow in the slightest, it actually quickened several degrees. He thrust the sword into the demon creature’s abdomen, causing it to immediately shriek miserably as it was pinned to the ground, unable to move.

“Why, why… I already promised never to do evil again, yet you still won’t spare me.” The demon creature’s life gradually ebbed away, and one could already faintly see an inner core manifesting from within its body. Still, it stared with wide emerald eyes in great unwillingness, the resentment and shock in its gaze even greater than when it first saw the man.

The man seemed not to see the demon creature’s gaze, calmly extending his long fingers to cast a spell, collecting the demon creature’s inner core into his palm to examine it. Looking again at the demon creature on the ground that was about to turn to ash and smoke, he slightly curved the corner of his lips, took the lantern back in hand, and turned to leave leisurely.

“I most hate being called a Taoist, yet you foolishly called me that twice. How could I spare you?”

The indifferent yet clear voice rang out leisurely in the deserted, rain-soaked street at night. Hearing this explanation, the demon creature first widened its eyes in shock, then felt overwhelming regret, wishing it could slap itself several times. But it had reached its final moments, and its form was gradually dissipating. Watching the man slowly disappear between the streets, the demon creature’s heart filled with unwillingness. Not giving up, it gathered its last bit of strength to ask: “You… who exactly are you?”

“Yan Qige!”

In the blink of an eye, both the demon creature outside Huakui Tower and the phantom sword that had pinned it motionless to the ground vanished like smoke and clouds. Everything returned to calm. The fine rain continued falling, the street remained shrouded in mist, as if everything that had just occurred was only a dream. Yusang stood up from the rooftop, looked around, then quietly leaped up and departed by treading on tiles.

Just as Yusang’s figure disappeared on the rooftops beside Yuntian Street, a shadow wearing a black cloak quietly appeared behind the destroyed broken window. Looking down at the now-empty street below, a hand holding a folding fan emerged from beneath the cloak, gently tapping the palm of the other hand.

The next day, Magistrate Wang was still in his dreams when he was awakened by the sound of the grievance drum. Then a disheveled county clerk, accompanied by a constable, came running over, shouting outside his door that another murder had occurred.

Magistrate Wang cursed under his breath, but his hands and feet moved very efficiently as he got out of bed. Wearing only a white undergarment, he opened the door, then took down the official robes hanging on the folding screen and tossed them to the middle-aged, scholarly-looking clerk. Spreading his arms and turning his back toward the black-clothed, sword-carrying constable in front of the clerk, he said: “Speak quickly – who died this time?”

“It’s Miss Ranqing’s maid from Huakui Tower.”

“What?” Magistrate Wang exclaimed in surprise, then immediately noticed his loss of composure. He coughed dryly to cover his embarrassment, pushed away the clerk’s hands that were about to tie his sash, and nimbly tied it himself, continuing: “Who discovered this?”

“It was the brothel keeper who rose early at Huakui Tower.”

“Go take a look immediately.” Magistrate Wang adjusted the hair knot on his head and put on the black gauze cap the clerk handed him. But just as he lifted his foot over the threshold, he collided head-on with someone coming toward him.

“Are you blind? How dare you bump into this official?” Magistrate Wang’s already poor mood became even worse, and he couldn’t help but burst out with crude language.

Looking more carefully, he saw it was the household steward Wang Wang. Knowing that Wang Wang would only come looking for him so urgently if there was something important, he suppressed his anger and asked: “What is it? Speak quickly. This official is in a hurry to handle a case.”

Wang Wang bowed apologetically while saying: “It’s… it’s the old mistress who got angry again and drove away the maid who was serving in her room.”

“Then go find another one from outside. Don’t come ask me about such matters again.” Magistrate Wang gave the order casually, then hurriedly led the constable and clerk to meet the coroner waiting outside and headed to Huakui Tower.