After everyone presumed that Lady Mingzhu was also an expert. There was another sudden piece of rumor.
Two months ago, the demons unexpectedly appeared and made trouble by killing many commoners in Hu, especially people who lived near the city gate.
The sudden appearance caught the Emperor off guard. Even if he sent his underlings to deal with this matter, he was unable to stop those demons.
One day, there was a man who came back from visiting his paternal family. The man was walking on the desolate path that people usually didn't dare to wander during the night. They were afraid that they would run into the demons.
However, this unfortunate man had been away from the Shing Capital for some time. Thus, he wasn't aware of this news at all.
Walking on the soundless road in the gloomy night, the man began to shiver uncontrollably. He felt chill all over his body, yet before he could proceed forward, there was a figure appearing in front of him.
The figure was tall and strong. Within one glance, the man could determine in an instant that the figure standing in front of him now was a demon, not a human.
The man was frightened out of his wits. The demon's appearance was extremely hideous, its eyes bulged strangely, and the mouth was wide enough to reach the two ears. This was probably a beginner-ranking demon that couldn't change into a decent human form yet.
The man started to retreat, intending to escape from the demon's claws. But how could the demon let him run away so easily?
Before the man could flee, the demon had already caught his right arm, pulling him over. Then, the man saw the demon raising its powerful hand and moved toward him.
The man trembled, he closed his eyes, thinking this was his last moment. Yet, there was a bell sound coming from the dark, breaking the tranquilness of the night.
The demon's hand that was currently holding the man quivered, it hurriedly let go of the man, using its two hands to press on its ears before screaming painfully.
The sound of the bell didn't stop, it became more and more intrusive. The demon couldn't hold on anymore, it knelt on the ground, clutching its head while shrieking in agony.
Blood flew out of the demon's eyes and nose. The demon's howl also became softer than before until it was inaudible.
Right at that moment, the demon's body fell to the ground. It was dead. The whole area was silent and returned to its calm atmosphere once again. The man stood stunned on the spot.
Before he could react, a figure in red appeared in front of him under the moonlight. The lady's face was covered entirely, making him unable to catch a glimpse of the beauty hidden inside it. She also held a red tambourine in her hand, which should have been the weapon that had killed the demon earlier.
Seeing the sudden appearance of this lady, the man already guessed in his heart that she was the one who saved him a moment ago. He hastily knelt on the ground, kowtowed to the lady in red three times, and said gratefully, "Thank you, benefactor, for saving this lowly one's life."
"Um, you can leave. The demon is already dead. There's no harm for you to continue moving forward." A gracious voice came under the veil, and then the lady in red disappeared into the darkness.
The man recalled the appearance of the benefactor once more before he continued to walk home. The next day he told this incident to his neighbor and his family.
He also said that the lady was dressed in red, she had a red tambourine as her weapon, which looked powerful. From that day onward, everyone had already assumed the lady's identity after the Mingzhu Residence emerged.
...
In one of the tea houses near the city gate. Many people, both old and young, men and women, were gossiping endlessly about everything that had occurred in the Shing Capital.
At the corner of the tea house, sat two young men. Suddenly, one of the men asked curiously, "I'm wondering whether Lady Mingzhu is a married woman?"
The other man, who appeared to be his companion, took a sip of tea before responding, "Ah Zhao, why did you ask about this out of the blue?"
The man named Ah Zhao waved his hand. Sighing, he said: "You know, two days ago, I just went to a bookshop. What I saw at the time was the novels that were written about Dark Lord Limu and Lady Mingzhu." He hesitated, "Er...it seemed to be romance novels."
Ah Zhao's companion laughed. He asked casually, "You are just aware of this now?"
"Ah? What do you mean?" Ah Zhao was puzzled.
"What I wanted to say is that during these months, lots of people thought Lady Mingzhu was Dark Lord Limu's partner."
Ah Zhao's eyes were about to pop out, he inquired in surprise, "...Aren't they afraid Dark Lord Limu and Lady Mingzhu would be displeased?!" Then, he whispered, "Especially Dark Lord Limu..."
Three years ago, it was the day when many demons came out of seclusion and started to slaughter people in the Hu Kingdom. At that time, many commoners in Hu died, and the Emperor was also helpless. Yet, three days after the incident, the demons in the Hu Kingdom suddenly reduced by half within one night.
The demons were killed one after another every night, as for who was the one behind this massacre, no one knew. It was only until the demons began to retreat, seemingly afraid of death, did the rumors spread around the Hu Kingdom, and this event was also known by the other three kingdoms.
The rumor said it was a man, wearing a black robe, half of his face was covered with a black mask. His name was Limu, and since he always appeared during the night to slaughter, everyone began to call him Dark Lord Limu.
Besides these sorts of rumors, there were some other mocking and insulting words such as-
"Legendary Dark Lord Limu?! Heh, this is really absurd!"
"What kind of legendary figure is this?! It was all fake!"
"If he's that powerful, why not appear during the day?!"
"That was all fake, he only wanted to show off, and act as a hero. He is just a weak chicken!"
However, it was only one day, the people who had ridiculed Dark Lord Limu suddenly came out and asked for forgiveness from him. Within what had happened that day, no one dared to insult this legendary hero again. There were also several people saying Dark Lord Limu was the type of person who liked to take action more than talk.
He was cold and aloof, simply an existence that made people feel hard to approach. But, these were all just rumors. Some people said they had seen Dark Lord Limu with their own eyes when he saved people. Just by seeing his appearance and behavior, they had already guessed in their heart that this expert was indeed difficult to approach.
Ah Zhao's companion also remembered what had happened those years, he said softly, "I don't know. Since the day everyone began to gossip saying Lady Mingzhu was Dark Lord Limu's partner. Nothing has happened, so everyone becomes bold and assumes what they had said was true. After all, the two legendary figures didn't object to this."