Xinfaxian, 6 PM.
Surrounded by the mountains is a small land called
At the heart of the Xinfaxian is the bustling market. A young and handsome man can be seen wandering around, looking at the sold goods with his eyes full of interest. The young man is wearing light green robes like the fresh leaves shone by the sunlight in summer. On the chest is a bending flower, its blooming petals are pointed downwards, and the leaf on the back of its stem is pointed upwards.
A jade pendant is hanging by the young man's waist. His hands are on his back as he looks around as if thinking about which item should he buy.
"Oops – " he exclaimed when he bumped into someone. He looked up and saw a man glaring at him. "S-sorry, brother." He said and apologetically smiled.
"Tch. Watch where you're going!" the man told him and left.
The young man shrugged, then continued to look around.
"How much is this comb? I want to buy it."Â
The young man turned and saw a woman holding a wooden comb.
"It's not much, young lady." The vendor said.Â
The woman nodded and reached for her purse. "Huh? Where was it – " she said as she looked but she didn't find it.Â
"Young lady."
The woman turned and saw a handsome young man smiling at her. He has a fair and smooth skin. His brows are thin but sharp like a sword. His eyes are deep, and blanketing them are his eyelashes that are long and curled. His nose is tall and his lips are thin like his brows, but thin and pouty as if he is always smiling.
She blushed as she was stared at by those deep and dark eyes like the night. "Yes?"Â
"Perhaps this is yours?" the handsome young man said. On his hand is a purse of rose color.
The woman's eyes widened. "T-thank you. I – I seem to have lost it – " she said and shyly smiled as she took the purse, her fingers slightly touching the slender fingers of the handsome young man.
The handsome young man just smiled. "Please always be mindful of your belongings." He said. "Even though the night is young, that doesn't necessarily mean it's safe." He told her.
The woman nodded and stared at him as if she were in a daze. She watched the handsome young man leave and felt disappointed.
"Young lady, are you still buying it?" she heard the vendor ask.
"I will!" the woman answered and immediately bought the comb.
On the other side of the market, a loud curse can be heard from a man. "Pei! You stole my money, didn't you, brat?!" the man said. He was glaring at the kid he was grabbing by the collar.
"I didn't! I didn't!" the kid cried as he shook his head like a rattling drum.
"You lie – ow!" the man cried when he felt the back of his head hurt. "Who's that?!" he turned and saw a group of children glaring at him, big stones on their small hands.
"Let go of our friend!"
"Yes ah!" the kids piped as they looked at their crying friend.
"He stole my money when he bumped me!" the man said.
"He didn't! He's been with us since earlier! You can ask the auntie in that shop!" the leader of the children said and pointed to the noodle shop. "You're the one lying! You took our friend when he was alone to hurt him!" they said as they raised their hand holding the stone. "Bad guy!" they said and started to throw stones at the back of the man.
The man gritted his teeth but immediately let go of the kid. He immediately ran away, avoiding the stones being thrown at him. "What an unlucky night!" he said, pissed. He lost the money he stole and he was thrown stones by a group of brats. "Just you wait… you bastard…" he muttered as his eyes reddened in anger. His knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists. In front of him, it's as if he can see the man who's his enemy. It is the leader of their group of thieves. He hadn't given his share last week and so he is desperate to look for someone who he can steal money from. "Bastard… die… die…" he muttered as his eyes started to redden and blood dripped from his palm that his nails bore as he tightened to clench his fists.
He didn't notice black smoke coming from his body and traveled to the dark alley behind him. From the alley, the black smoke was sucked by a figure appearing from the dark. The figure has sallow and dry skin. The muscles underneath its skin are loose, making its skin look like a crumpled cloth wrapping around its body. The figure is hunched and is slowly walking, its legs are shaking as it takes a step, making it look like it's gonna tumble to the ground at any time. On its head is a cluster of dry and frizzy hair that is covered with unknown dirt. Its eyes and mouth are hollow and from its hollow mouth came a low growl like that of a beast.
The thief heard a faint thumping sound coming from his back. He turned and saw a dark alley. The sound is coming from it. He walked towards it to see what was in it when suddenly, from the dark, a figure flashed and jumped on him. It was very fast for him to see what it was.
He fell on his back from the impact and the weight of the unknown being that jumped on him. He cried out in pain, then turned his head to see what it was. He opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly, he felt a pain not only coming from his back because of his fall but also something hit his stomach. "Guh - !" he coughed and his face went pale when he saw he sputtered blood. The blood from his mouth splattered on the balding head before him. However, he didn't have time to mind it when he felt the pain in his stomach became more painful. He felt his insides were being squeezed and tugged. Then, something that was messing with his intestines moved, making him cough more blood, and the front of his clothes was soaked, along with the bald head before him that looked like it bathed in blood. He lowered his eyes, only for his eyeballs to almost fall out of their sockets when he saw the figure that jumped on him, its arm was on his stomach. Its hand is inside him, squeezing his organs. "Ack - !" more blood flowed out of his mouth as he felt like vomiting and dying in pain. His tears fell and soaked his face.
"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!" a sharp shriek broke the bustling night in the market as was followed by screams and shouts.
On the other side of the market, a handsome young man is walking against the tide of the escaping people, as if he's passing through by them. He looked like a gentle breeze as his light green clothes like the summer leaves fluttered. In just a couple of steps, he crossed a hundred meters and bypassed the running citizens. He stopped in his steps when he finally reached the scene of the crime, his feet landing on the ground didn't make a single sound.
"Ai." The handsome young man exclaimed in a loud voice when he saw the thief almost on his last breath as the walking corpse's hand continued to rupture his organs. "Isn't this the man who stole the pretty lady's purse earlier?" he asked as he looked at the corpse's hand connected to the thief's body. He saw in the dried-up veins of the corpse a fresh blood coursing. His eyes narrowed as he immediately pulled out the jade pendant on his waist.
The jade pendant moved in the air and shone by reflecting the lights coming from the houses and the stalls in the market. It turned into powder, then the powder formed a hilt. Slowly, from the hilt came a lustrous thin but sharp blade, forming a sword.
The young man grabbed the hilt of the sword and then swung it. A glare comes out of the blade's edges and shot towards the arm of the corpse that's sucking the thief's blood. "I thought it was a zombie. It's actually a vampire?!" the handsome young man exclaimed as the arm was cut and the corpse fell on its back when its arm was severed. It wriggled on the ground. After it sucked a certain amount of blood, it was charged with energy. "What the hell is this black magic…?" the handsome young man muttered, his sharp brows knit as his narrowed eyes zoomed in to the corpse's hand that was on the thief's stomach.
The thief's face is now bloodless and starts to dry up, but since the corpse's hand was cut and the blood suckling was stopped, the thief's face right now looks like an old man in his hundreds. The corpse's hand that was still on the thief's stomach began to rot.
The handsome young man pursed his lips, holding himself back not to retch as he saw maggots come out of the corpse's rotting hand and crawl on the thief's body. However, his eyes glinted when he saw that the maggots themselves started to suck blood, too. "Tch – " he said as he raised his sword.
He was about to send another shot of light energy when a hand grabbed his wrist from behind. He turned and saw a tall and handsome man standing behind him. The man has thick brows but gentle and deep eyes and is staring at him. He has sun-kissed skin, the light green robes perfectly hugging his body. He's standing upright like a tree, making him look aloof and cold. "Da shixiong." He called out when he saw Fei Yin.
The eldest disciple of the Xinfaxian Sect, Fei Yin, spoke. "What do you think you're doing here?" he asked, his voice deep and husky. "Cheng-shidi?"
Cheng Sheng sheepishly smiled. "Aia. Da shixiong. What do you mean?" he asked as he pulled his wrist from Fei Yin's grasp.
Fei Yin didn't answer and just stared at him, making Cheng Sheng turn his eyes away. "Speak." Fei Yin said.
Cheng Sheng pursed his lips and pointed with his sword at the thief and the walking corpse not far from them. "Look, da shixiong! I found a walking corpse!" he said and smugly looked at Fei Yin.
"Your merit won't be counted since it isn't your turn to night watch." Fei Yin said as he took out a qiankun pouch. He threw it towards the thief's corpse. The pouch floated above the thief's corpse and then emitted a bright light. It shone on the thief's corpse, then the thief's corpse was sucked into the pouch. The pouch then flew back to Fei Yin's hand.
"Da shixiong…" Cheng Sheng called as he blinked his eyes, looking at Fei Yin. His face looks like he's wronged.
Fei Yin stared at Cheng Sheng, then sighed as he looked away. He threw the qiankun pouch to Cheng Sheng and walked towards the walking corpse… ah, now it's a wriggling corpse, like a worm, and dealt it by burning it with fire talismans. After that, he turned back to Cheng Sheng and grabbed the other by the back of his neck. "Let's go." He said as he tugged at his jade pendant. Like earlier, the jade pendant turned into a sword.
Cheng Sheng bitterly rode on Fei Yin's sword. Fei Yin is afraid