Chapter 4

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

In Chapter 4 of The Demon in the Mirror, we begin to delve further into the mystery of Yin’s abduction together with Xi Feng, as we discover that the small, black demon which we first encountered was not, in actuality, the demon that demanded Yin as a sacrificial offering:- so, the perennial problem remains; who is this demon, and what is its motivation?

Chapter 4: Empty Coffin (Part 4)

The spring season always brought with it intermittent rain and frequent showers, and for a good half of the month of March, great sheets of water poured out from the Heavens and crashed down onto the Earth, filling every nook and cranny with water.

The interior of the coffin which Xi Feng lay in, however, remained extremely dry, and she was certain that she was in far greater comfort being inside than coffin, than outside. Before the villagers sealed the coffin, they had asked her worriedly, “Lady, is this really OK? Given that the coffin is fairly sturdy, it would be difficult for you to break out and escape from the coffin at a later stage, if you so wish to do so. Also, the air inside the coffin will run out after a certain amount of time – what if you suffocate to death?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it all under control.” Xi Feng waved at the worrisome villagers, and instructed them to seal and carry the coffin to the original location in the forest as designated by the demon.

After all, there would be no such “demon” awaiting her. Once the villagers had deposited the coffin into the designated location, she would instruct Xiao Huo to release her from the coffin. They would then spend one night in the forest together before returning to the villagers to proclaim that the “demon” had been successfully “vanquished” by her.

After that, she would claim her monetary reward from the village chief, and head back to town and reward herself with a feast.

Immersed in her wondrous dream, Xi Feng hummed her favorite tune as she contemplated the various food items that were available in town.

Before long, the villagers came to a halt, and Xi Feng could hear the villagers dig at the ground next to her. They must have arrived at their destination. The villagers slowly lowered the coffin (and Xi Feng) into the ground before shoveling loose soil onto the coffin in an attempt to cover the coffin. The wooden lid of the coffin creaked in protest as the small pieces of soil ricocheted off the lid.

The coffin was rather narrow, and the air inside grew increasingly thin. Thankfully, the villagers didn’t dawdle, and left fairly quickly after completing the burial. The villagers had barely left for a few minutes when Xi Feng detected movement outside the coffin.

Ah, it looks like Xiao Huo is still relatively reliable after all, and was speedily executing the rescue plan!

The loose soil that had been heaped onto the top of the coffin was quickly clawed away, the coffin reverberating with the distinctive scratching sounds made by sharp, bestial claws.

Crack.

A huge, gaping hole suddenly appeared in the midst of the thick, coffin lid. A set of sharp claws reached directly through the hole and into the coffin, very nearly scratching Xi Feng’s cheek as it did so. Surprised, Xi Feng directed her gaze along the claws… only to find herself face to face with a giant beast with a ferocious and unfriendly gaze.

This… this isn’t her Xiao Huo at all! Rather, it’s a humongous dog demon!

Taking full advantage of Xi Feng’s momentary surprise, the dog demon shoved the coffin lid away, and leaned down and gripped Xi Feng’s clothes with its teeth before dashing into the depths of the forest.

The dog demon had already traversed a good part of the forest before Xi Feng finally came to her senses – Wait, that’s not right. The small, black demon was a mountain demon, and not a dog demon?

So, where exactly did this dog demon come from?

“Hey there, Brother Dog, could you put me down for a moment?”

Preoccupied with sprinting, the dog demon paid no heed to Xi Feng. Not one to be ignored, Xi Feng raised her fist and brought it down, hard, on the dog demon’s mouth. Taken aback by the sharp pain that shot through its mouth, the dog demon hurriedly loosened its grip on Xi Feng. Taking full advantage of the momentum, Xi Feng swiftly leapt onto the ground, and retrieved her flute from her waist. Without a moment’s delay, Xi Feng transformed the flute into a sword, and pointed the sword directly at the dog demon, “Little Doggy, what great courage you have, to dare to eat live human beings.”

The dog demon pinned Xi Feng with a cold glare, “You’re just an insignificant, puny demon-catcher – how dare you impersonate the sacrificial offering? Leave this place immediately, or face the consequences of my wrath.”

“Impersonate?” Xi Feng was hit by a sudden bolt of realization, “Ah, so it turns out, that the demon that had demanded the sacrificial offering had been you all along.”

If that’s the case… that would mean that the small, black mountain demon wasn’t the culprit responsible for threatening the villagers. Rather, it had, by chance, discovered the buried Yin and, on realising that Yin would serve as the key critical for the activation of the blood formation, had ‘abducted’ her.

Since the small, black demon was a mountain demon, he had several connections with the ground and the Earth [1]. As such, it was not surprising for him to have discovered Yin when she was buried deep within the ground.

But…… if the dog demon hadn’t insisted on being offered a sacrificial offering, Yin would not have been selected, and buried. And, if Yin had not been buried, she would not have been uncovered by the small, black demon, and the small, black demon would not have been able to release the green dragon, which had been living in self-imposed purgatory.

Now that she thought about it…… the small, black, demon was really just an unfortunate child with horrid, horrid luck.

Xi Feng paused, having a short moment of silence for the small, black demon, before turning to the dog demon, “If you wanted a sacrificial offering, couldn’t you be straightforward about it? Why did you insist on the sacrificial offering being buried deep within the ground? It’s so troublesome for all who are involved.”

A look of embarrassment flashed across the dog demon’s face, “……You will never be able to understand the joys and quirks of the dog tribe.”

Finally coming round, Xi Feng nodded, “……Ah… you wanted to experience the joy of dig… digging soil?” Xi Feng nearly burst out laughing, and was seized by an irresistible urge to stroke its fur, “How cute.”

Humiliated, the dog demon raged, “I’m not cute! You’re cute!”

Xi Feng solemnly curtsied, “Thank you.”

“……” The dog demon was close to losing his mind, “I’m going to devour you!”

Even though the dog demon was a ‘lowly’ bestial demon, legend has it that the strongest dog demon in the universe – the Heavenly Dog [2] – still wielded powers that were sufficient for it to devour the Moon. The dog demon presently in front of Xi Feng had relatively strong demonic powers, and, with a huge roar, the ground began to shake, whilst the trees in the forest began to tremble in earnest.

Fighting in the forest in the middle of the night, would have been highly disadvantageous for normal human beings. But, Xi Feng was no ordinary mortal –

Raising her sword and pointing it directly in front of her, Xi Feng listened keenly to the muted noises surrounding her. Easily discerning the sound of the incoming attacks amidst the pitter-patter of the pouring rain and the rustling of the falling leaves, Xi Feng ducked about effortlessly, and successfully avoided all the attacks that were launched at her.

Infuriated, the dog demon launched 100 consecutive attacks on Xi Feng, but to no avail – the dog demon was unable to hurt even a single thread of hair on Xi Feng’s head. Just then, the clear, arrogant voice of the young lady rang out beside his ears, “My turn~” Startled, the dog demon hastily swung at its ear, but unsurprisingly, found nothing but air next to its ear.

The scent of the young lady vanished abruptly.

The young lady was nowhere to be found.

The dog demon was overcome with fear and terror. All of a sudden, the scent of the young lady reappeared once more – but, before the dog demon could even react, the young lady had already materialized directly before his eyes, and, together with her slim, svelte figure, was the cold flash of her razor-sharp sword. With a single thrust, the icy cold blade pierced into his body, and sealed its demonic powers.

The gargantuan body of the dog demon collapsed onto the ground, his humongous body creating a deep hole where it fell. It was as though, the dog demon had dug a nice, cosy hole for himself to lie in.

“You……” Immobile, the dog demon stared at the beautiful young lady sauntering towards him, “How are you related to the people from Ling Temple?”

Raising her eyebrow slightly, Xi Feng clarified, “You’re mistaken. I have absolutely nothing to do, with those rotten eggs.”

Before the dog demon could pose any further questions, Xi Feng tapped the dog demon lightly on his head – and, with that, the dog demon instantly transformed into a small ball of light, and flew into Xi Feng’s outstretched palm.

Now that she had successfully captured the dog demon that had been wreaking havoc on Shan Ba Village, Xi Feng could no longer rely on the noisy breaths of the dog demon to navigate the pitch black forest. Aggrieved by the difficulty of finding her own way out of the forest, she scolded Xiao Huo aloud, “Rotten egg Xiao Huo, where on earth did you go?!”

From the darkness, a tiny voice whispered, “I’m here.”

Turning back, Xi Feng was immediately greeted with a small, red flame floating in mid-air. The glow from the tiny flame easily illuminated its smooth, crimson fur, and, right next to it… Xi Feng’s brows creased in confusion. Claws?

Scaly, shiny claws, that seemingly emitted an eerie, green light under the glow of the blaze.

It couldn’t be……

Gulping in the cold night air, Xi Feng raised her head gingerly, and slowly directed her gaze upwards.

And was immediately greeted by a pair of grave, dignified eyes. Green, and bright.

Xi Feng was so anxious, she was certain that she would faint any moment now.

The green dragon slowly shifted his head closer to her, before greeting her, “Guide.”

“……” How on earth, was she going to serve as guide for such an immense dragon?! Bringing a colossal green dragon around the various Realms would definitely cause great alarm and panic amidst the ordinary population at large!

Without skipping a beat, Xi Feng promised readily, “Of course I’ll be your guide!”

Between the two – she was left with no choice but to sacrifice the ordinary population (and not herself) –

After all, she is the one and only smart and crafty Xi Feng.

After all, she is the one and only heroic and suave Xi Feng.

“But…” Xi Feng hedged, “I have to return to the Ba Shan Village first to confirm the completion of the mission… Why don’t you go to the trail over there and wait for me? I’ll return to look for you once I’m done debriefing the villagers. What do you think?”

She blinked her wide, sincere-filled eyes in an innocuous manner. The green dragon nodded in agreement, “Sounds good.”

Xi Feng was extremely shocked, not having expected the green dragon to fall for her lies so easily. Nevertheless, she maintained a cool poker face, her expression betraying no hint of her deceit. Before she could respond, however, the green dragon waved the tiny ball of fire that was trapped within his claws, “Hostage.”

“……” Dammit! Of course the green dragon wasn’t as cute or innocent as he originally portrayed himself to be!

Xiao Huo, who was suffering from a severe bout of dizziness as a result of the green dragon’s shaking, pleaded with Xi Feng in a woeful tone, “You must return for me, or there’d be nobody left on Earth who has the guts to hear you sing.”

With a sly grin plastered all over her face, Xi Feng beamed at Xiao Huo before turning about, and dashing into the forest, towards the Ba Shan Village.

Xiao Huo was overwhelmed with a sense of fierce desperation – he had a hundred reasons to believe, that Xi Feng, was. never. coming. back.

Recalling the young, female immortals who gracefully danced and sang during the numerous banquets held in the palaces of the God Realm in days of yore, the green dragon asked curiously, “Does she sing well?”

“……No, she sings terribly.”

“How terrible?”

Xiao Huo enunciated and stressed each word slowly and clearly, “Extremely, extremely, terrible. It is so terrible, that you would even suspect that your ears are no longer malfunctioning, and that they are not receiving the sound from the external world properly.”

“Oh. To be able to sing so terribly, is definitely an impressive skill in and of itself.”

Xiao Huo was rendered speechless, “……”

Is this green dragon, in actuality, a pea-brained nincompoop?

&&&&&

Having once again made her escape from the demonic green dragon’s clutches, Xi Feng was determined never to cross paths with him ever again. With a hop in her step, she began making her way to Ba Shan Village – once she managed to collect her rewards, she’d be on her way to town.

She believed, with every fibre of her being, that Xiao Huo would understand her position, and that he too, didn’t wish for her to return to the green dragon’s side in order to save him.

After all, Xiao Huo was her upright, righteous, noble companion.

He would not want her to sacrifice her life in opposing the green dragon.

After all, their enemy this time round was a powerful, formidable demon dragon who had only been sealed away (by himself) as a result of boredom, whilst she was merely a fragile human being.

Having made the painful decision to leave Xiao Huo in the green dragon’s demonic clutches, Xi Feng heaved a huge sigh of relief and headed to the village chief’s residence with a serene peace of mind. Upon reaching the village chief’s home, she retrieved the small ball of light from within her robes, and flung the orb of light onto the ground.

The moment the small orb of light touched the ground, a blinding, fluorescent light exploded in the room — and, when the village chief and the villagers were finally able to reopen their eyes, they found a dog demon that was approximately the size of a small hill before their very eyes. The shocking sight caused the various villagers to faint from shock, whilst the village chief was rendered speechless and could only tremble timidly in fear.

Xi Feng positioned herself right next to the dog demon, and began stroking his head whilst reassuring the villagers, “Don’t worry, he can’t move for the time being. And, even if he could so move, he wouldn’t dare to, for I am here. Chief, can I trouble you to confirm whether this dog demon is indeed the demon who insisted on Lady Yin being offered up to him as a sacrificial offering?”

A few courageous villagers nodded their heads earnestly, “That’s him, that’s the demon who demanded the offering!”

Ah, it turned out that the small, black demon truly wasn’t the culprit responsible for threatening the Ba Shan villagers – what a silly, silly mistake. Once again, Xi Feng’s heart panged with pity for the small, black demon and she held a a short moment of silence for the small, black demon before asking the villagers, “So, would you like me to hand the dog demon over, for your further handling, or would you prefer that I take over the responsibility for the dog demon?”

The villagers hurriedly waved their hands about as a sign of refusal, “We place full trust in you – please feel free to deal with the dog demon as you deem fit. It would, however, be best if you could ensure that this issue is put to rest once and for all.”

“Of course, since I’ve agreed to resolve this issue in exchange for a monetary reward, it is my duty to ensure that such resolution is permanent.” Xi Feng had intentionally raised the issue of the monetary reward as a gentle reminder to the villagers, but, to her surprise, she was met with an awkward silence. Coughing lightly, she inquired, “On the issue of the monetary reward…”

“Lady, please could we trouble you to help us resolve one final issue? Once you’re done, we will most definitely hand over the monetary reward as originally promised.”

“What’s the issue?”

“Although you managed to save Yin from the demon, she’s in a constant daze – it’s as though she lost her soul, and that all that’s left is her physical body. We’re really at a loss as to what to do.”

Xi Feng silently digested the issue for several moments before piping up, “To confirm – Yin is able to eat and walk like a normal human being, but her eyes are dull and display no spirit, and she doesn’t sleep at night?”

“That’s exactly right!”

“Dammit.” What a sticky, sticky problem. No matter how peculiar, or unique Yin’s physique was, she was a mere mortal after all. Having served as the critical component for the destruction of the immense and powerful seal, it was impossible for Yin to come out of the entire ordeal unharmed.

It was commonly said, let he who tied the bell on the tiger take it off [3]. However, this time round, although the person who tied the bell on the tiger was the small, black demon, the only person capable of taking the bell off, was the green dragon.

In the end, after all the purposeful and careful deliberation and consideration, she would still require to return to the green dragon in order to obtain the monetary reward for her meat-filled buns.

Xi Feng felt the onset of a migraine.

“Lady, please, please agree to resolve this for us. Please save the pitiful Yin!”

“This… this is extremely tough to resolve. A single wrong step could easily cost me my life.” Xi Feng gazed at the village chief who was pleading in earnest, “I will have to charge more for this.”

[1] As a mountain demon, the small, black demon’s main element is “Earth” (as opposed to Fire, or Water, for instance), and would be able to tap on its connection with the Earth to sense and discover Yin, who had been buried deep within the ground.

[2] The Heavenly Dog (天狗) is a legendary creature in Ancient China, who was famed for having consumed a pill granted to his original owner that was capable of granting the consumer with immortal status. The ancient Chinese attributed lunar eclipses to the power of the Heavenly Dog to “consume” the Moon.

[3] The actual Chinese idiom, 解铃还须系铃人, is usually utilised to convey the idea that the responsibility for resolving a problem (the removal of the bell from the tiger’s neck) should fall on the person who created such problem (i.e. the person who tied the bell onto the tiger’s neck in the first place). In the present case, however, although the small, black demon had “created” the problem by forcefully utilizing Yin to break the seal, the green dragon is the only person capable of resolving the problem, as he is the only being powerful enough to create the seal (and should therefore have a clearer idea of how to resolve the ‘side effects’ arising from the destruction of the seal).

Like this:Like Loading...

Related