The night grew lonelier, and the air turned colder and longer. But Yong didn't feel the chill at all; on the contrary, he felt hot.
A fang protruded, scratching the corner of his lips and drawing drops of blood. Slowly, it tasted sweet yet bitter. Yong clicked his tongue every time he heard a noisy laugh echo in his mind.
Then he spoke, "So loud, this demon. After being defeated, you're just freeloading in someone's body. You truly have no shame."
"Haha!" The laugh echoed again. "There's no such word as shame in a demon's dictionary. You think I want to be cramped in a body this small? If I could, I'd already be out!"
"Coming out when you're powerless—isn't that just throwing your life away? Especially if you leave my body, I'm sure the gods in the heavens will descend and turn you to ash."
Though he seemed strong in the face of this struggle, Yong was actually on the verge of losing consciousness. He was struggling every single second. The pain and heat continued to rage, and embers of fire began to seep out of every part of Yong's body that night.
"You talk too much!"
"You're the one who talks too much!"
Crouching down, he covered half of his face. It wasn't long before his demonic transformation became more apparent.
Yong grew more panicked as he realized the demon's power was getting stronger. Its desire to take over control was overwhelming.
"So-so much... you! Ugh!"
"Hahaha! Feel it! Just let me have this body for a moment, hey swordsman!" the demon exclaimed excitedly.
Yong's demeanor sometimes changed unpredictably. He would sometimes look annoyed and express his anger, but other times he'd burst into loud laughter. Know that these were two different faces overlapping each other.
They both fought for control of the body and consciousness on that foggy night. Neither Yong nor the demon was willing to back down.
"Stay calm and be quiet. Don't talk so much, this is my body!" Yong said, opening his eyes wide.
With his body trembling violently, he forced his weakened legs to stand, while he felt for and held onto a nearby tree for support.
"Hehehe! You foolish boy! You're just a normal human now. Without me, sooner or later, you'll definitely be hunted down by others!" the demon stated, cackling mockingly. It even laughed using Yong's face again.
"Don't laugh with my face!" Yong yelled.
The demon didn't stop laughing, it mocked how ridiculous Yong was, who could only endure alone. The negative emotions made the demon stronger, and when he realized this, Yong quickly emptied his mind for a moment.
"Forget... everything..."
Yong followed Xiang Lu's advice on how to defend himself from an evil spirit's attack from within. Besides remembering who he was, Yong had to let everything go and empty his mind, even if only for a moment. Yong's gaze was like a dead fish, he stayed rigid for a moment. After that, the transformation was gone.
***
"Oh, I'm back," Yong said, blinking as he stood and looked up at the sky.
Yong was resting in a cave behind a hill, leaning against the cave wall inside. He hugged his two swords, which were like his very life. He kept his eyes open, afraid that if he fell asleep, the demon would emerge.
Yong sighed for a moment, thinking about what his fate would be in the future. The time seemed to stretch endlessly until it finally arrived.
"Did you finish it?"
"Of course. I'm great, you know."
"Huh, don't get cocky just because of that. Remember, we are all cursed, and this is not a blessing from heaven."
One by one, members of the nameless group began to arrive. This was their gathering location, so it was only natural. However, they didn't enter the cave like Yong, they chose to gather in the wide open field.
"Oh, right, I heard the young man possessed by a spirit from hell has successfully completed his first job?"
"Ah, is that so? It must be because the leader helped him."
"Heh, heh, that must be it. Besides, he can't be compared. What's so great about the swordsman from the west and east? His swordsmanship is already gone because he's cursed."
"Don't speak too loudly, or he'll hear you."
They all spoke freely, but Yong couldn't deny it because all of those jobs were done by Zhuge, the leader of this group. Yong could only mess things up.
The gathering was attended by people in black robes at night, so of course, they seemed non-existent or completely invisible. To Yong, this was not a gathering of cursed people but a gathering of monsters.
In essence, humans themselves already looked like real monsters. It was just that now their physical forms or appearances were more clearly revealed.
"Ah, how annoying," Yong grumbled, holding back his emotions.
Dawn broke, the sun rose from the east and cleared the darkness into bright light. A bright morning should begin with equally bright activities, but work was waiting for the workers to move.
"Good morning, everyone! You all seem healthy," Zhuge said, greeting them.
"Oh, leader. You're still acting so funny. What's the point of greeting the morning when none of us ever sleep?" said one person with a clawed hand.
"Yes, leader! Just explain the new job that just came in!" another shouted in reply.
"Alright, alright."
Leader Zhuge nodded and then showed a painting of a large, furry animal.
"This job is an escort. Two of us will do it, escorting a girl from a monster that's targeting her," Zhuge explained.
"I'm surprised. I thought we'd be escorting a monster."
"Why be surprised? We're no different from this creature ourselves."
"That's true. So, leader, is this creature a possessed person?" thought the short man, who often looked at Yong with a sneer.
"That's a possibility, or maybe even a real monster. And I'm hoping I can give this escort mission to Yong," Zhuge said, looking at Yong with hope.
Yong was startled. Meanwhile, Rin enthusiastically raised his hand and said, "Then I'll go too!"
"No." Zhuge rejected him firmly. "Rin, you'll come with me and the others to find out about the Gǔdài dòngwù," he said.
Rin pouted, his enthusiasm disappearing in an instant. Yong, on the other hand, volunteered to go with him to find out about the Gǔdài dòngwù.
"Leader, let me go with you!"
"No." Zhuge rejected him directly. "I'll tell you the results later, but I'm asking you to handle this one job, okay?" he added, smiling again.
"Tsk!" Yong was annoyed. He turned his face away and then left.
"Please help him," Zhuge said, looking at the short man.
"Huh?!"
The short man was shocked that he would be on the same team as Yong today. Who knows what Zhuge's intention was by pairing up the two of them who couldn't get along.