Tough Luck, Demon Struck Part 2
The Immoral Immortal
Act 1. Chapter 1.
Tough Luck, Demon Struck Part 2
As the first rays of dawn break inside through the cracks in the latched window, an older mare neighs curiously, bending down its neck and sniffing the nightly visitor in its barn. Within the hays slumbers a rugged looking lad, whose expression keeps shifting and twitching as he dreams until he begins to grin and mumble nonsensical things that end up in a smooch that’s wet and warm.
And smelling of bad breath.
ChenXi springs his eyes open that instant, finding himself face to face with the mare that’s been nosing and nudging his face with its snout till now. What follows his realization is series of retching noises as he tries to wipe away the taste of horse drool. Whether he wanted it or not he is now fully awake and forces himself up to dust off the stray strands of hay off his hair and clothes.
He rubs his temples and face to soothe the minor throbbing in the back of his head. Even while awake he feels as though his thoughts remain distracted somewhere else with vivid images from his dreams of long light hair and flickers of snow dirtied by soil. It’s only when there’s another nudge of soft snout brushing his side that he returns from his lingering thoughts to the present.
“Good mornin, mʼ lady,” He yawns heavily and stretches his sore limbs due to having slept in an awkward position for too long. He offers the brown mare a few pats on its mane and neck, “It’s been lovely here and thank you for sharing your hay with me, but I must politely decline this show of affection, mʼ lady.”
ChenXi reaches out to feed bits of hay to the horse as his means of an apology and explains, “You see, I’m a man of adventure and such is no place for a lady.” He provides some more grooming before finally stepping away from the old mare that stays back in its barn and tilts its head curiously, watching the human leave.
A rooster has been cuckooing on top of its chicken coop as the mark of a new morning but after a couple times its voice turns into a series of challenging and annoyed shrieks then finally a panicked cry. By the time ChenXi makes it out he finds Nian in the farmyard with the said rooster under his front paw.
“So this is where you have been,” the familiar’s voice barks in ChenXiʼs head again, “sleeping with the horses!?” ChenXi sighs and turns away, he doesn’t need to look to be able to tell how disappointed the other is and that one of Nianʼs lectures is incoming.
Before ChenXi even gets a word out Nian is already at it. “I have been looking for you everywhere—just what did you do? The town is a mess!”
The familiar is furious, that much is clear but why he is sitting on a rooster is another. Adding one plus one, if ChenXi had to guess the rooster had attacked Nian for intruding the yard it owns then naturally Nian had bested the rooster in one swipe.
“Nian—no matter who started it—let the bird go,” ChenXi steps in to interrupt the lecture, seeing that the rooster is starting to choke under Nianʼs paw as the latter is venting his anger. Looking at this ChenXi rubs his temples in frustrated manner, trying to clarify to his familiar but Nian isn’t convinced.
“This offensive creature should be executed for its ignorance to fail to recognize those ranked higher than itself. I’d imagine one of the zodiacs should know better. Divine animal? Even low-level demons know better than this foolish creature.”
“It didn’t know it was challenging a nian beast. Now let it—go.” ChenXi underlines his last words, making it clear this is a command.
At that Nian finally relents, lessening the pressure on the rooster. He scoffs at the rooster that keeps flapping its wings and struggling under the heavy weight. It clearly took a more formidable opponent than it can handle while Nian could care less for the rooster’s broken pride as he quite literally wipes the floor with the stubborn bird till he finally releases the poor thing at ChenXiʼs request. The second the rooster is freed, it darts away into the chicken coop, not daring to come out again until Nian has left the yard.
As they continue their way Nian tracks next to ChenXi. Most people tend to avoid getting too close to the couple due to Nianʼs fierce looks, him being far larger than a common dog but nothing beyond that of a guard breed. Once the two are on the road again and walking on the outskirts of the town does ChenXi ask Nian to carry on where they left their conversation, namely the town being a mess part in particular.
“I can’t recall having done anything to cause an uproar if that’s what you mean. I took the girl back home and that’s about it.”
“That’s about it?” Nian repeats incredulously then booms back, “They’re saying a demon masked ert stalks the streets. Does this ring a bell?” He shoots an accusing glance at ChenXi, who coyly rubs his nose tip, playing the fool.
“Ah-hah-hah...is that so?”
ChenXi does a strained smile of wonder as he tracks his memories back to last night since they separated their ways in the forest. He made it to the town without a hitch and even managed to avoid being seen if not for accidentally running into a couple of lovers that were having a bit of a midnight thrills. And that he may have just seen them and commented on when passing by.
“But you know, it was a crime towards the lady to receive such poor service.” ChenXi adds and he can almost see how the other facepalms internally at hearing this mention.
“How am I supposed to face your parents...” Nian groans heavily, probably feeling the second-hand embarrassment that his master clearly doesn’t due to his lacking moral compass. It’s always Nian who feels the burden of his master’s actions and regardless his attempts to educate ChenXi on such matters, he’s yet to succeed even till this day and age.
For over ten years they had travelled together on the roads and experienced many situations. ChenXi excelled in many fields and people would call him a genius if not for this one particularly peculiar trait that made all the difference which also eventually created the nickname he’s known for.
The Immoral Immortal.
—————
The town is bustling with people. Merchants have set up their stalls, local farmers have come to sell their products and citizens mingling with one another. The words move fast from one person to another in this way until soon enough the whole town whispers of it. Cultivators have been seen walking the streets, heading for the town hall.
The local inn too has received its share of spotlight as many have gathered either to take a curious look or pay a visit to the household of the inn keeper’s family. The inn is having an exceptional number of visitors that day all because of the rumours circling around.
“Something very strange has been going on lately with these odd disappearances.” The carpenter begins to chatter with his fellow craftsmen at the inn as they dine. He glances left and right then leans in to speak lower voice.
“Someone’s gone missing again.”
The blacksmith adds in, “I heard it is the inn keeper’s girl that’s gone missing?” and nods a few times in agreeing manner to the first mention till the third man, a builder, interjects.
“Haven’t you heard the news yet? She’s returned last night. They say she was found passed out on their home’s front porch.” The builder explains and taps the tip of his nose cleverly a few times with his finger. “You see, my wife is close friends with the inn keeper’s and heard from the lady herself that her child has returned. Seemingly healthy too if not a bit scared.”
The other too nod to each other, “Now that you mention it, there’s more to this. The city lord has announced a search for his missing son just this morning. Heard from a client that they even called in some cultivators from a Righteous sect.” The carpenter fills in which receives similar agreement from the two.
The blacksmith huffs after having concluded his own, “Think about it, first she goes missing then suddenly she’s back and now it’s the city lord’s son that has disappeared. How can that be a coincidence—I think not!”
“Do you think the inn keeper’s girl could have done something?” The builder questions which receives a few long looks while the others continue to ponder on the facts.
“True that, I call that very suspicious! Not to forget how they called in some cultivators to assist, undoubtedly this must some demon’s work.” The carpenter joins in on their opinions and the three men carry on with their drinking and eating.
In the corner spot of the same inn sits ChenXi and right beside him on the floor rests Nian. They have been listening in on the neighbouring table discussions, picking up on the latest news, which has Nian quietly growl out.
“Cultivators...just what we needed. We better leave it to them.” He arches his brows slightly to gauge ChenXiʼs reaction, but the lad seems uncaring as his attention seems to follow something else. It takes only a fraction of a second for Nian to connect the dots and bark at ChenXi to regain his focus.
“ChenXi, ignore the inn keeper’s girl! Focus!” Nian nips at ChenXiʼs leg for emphasis which startles the lad.
“You’re such a spoilsport,” ChenXi hisses at Nian in return, “Can’t you see I’m performing important investigation here to see whether she can remember me or not.”
ChenXi frowns at Nian then directs his attention back to the inn keeper’s daughter, her name Xiao Lu, and Lu as in deer. Age, seventeen. Her three sizes, quite impressive—No wonder she’s popular. However, the looks of the others around her and her own behaviour don’t match. She is nervous and anxiously tries to hide it behind half a smile.
He can’t help but wonder at this point because according to common logic shouldn’t everyone feel overjoyed for her safe return? It seems people take her for something else as if she’s the cause of the disappearances when it’s the lord’s son who kidnapped her in the first place. Why is it that nobody appears to know of this? Has she not spoken to anyone or is she being repressed by someone?
There’re far too many things that don’t match up and the only way to be sure is to visit the other party. All the answers are there.
ChenXi keeps watching Xiao Luʼs working at the inn for his time until deciding, “Nian, I want you to keep an eye on her, make sure nothing happens to our witness. In the meantime, I’m going to go pay a visit.”
Nian raises his head up now, “No, no—and one last time, no. You are not going to the lord’s mansion. That’s where the cultivators are!” His fur is standing on ends too as he stares at his master and shakes head in disapproval.
“I know,” ChenXi says as matter of fact and gets up after paying for his meal. He heads out of the inn, taking a turn to a less populated side alley. It’s where he continues to speak of his speculations as they walk.
“Most likely entering the mansion is a trap too.” ChenXi figures with pieces of the puzzle falling in. “If I were them, the enemy of my enemy is my ally, meaning the cultivators.”
Whoever it was that invited them, is aware the son is already dead and used the disappearance as an excuse to summon the sect. They know someone is coming for them and must have prepared accordingly. After all who’d make a better source of an alibi and bodyguards than members of the Righteous sects.
ChenXi leads their way over towards the lord’s mansion for a closer look. The whole mansion area is secured behind a wall and the gates are guarded. However, the area is large, making it also vulnerable and possible to breach without being noticed. What only remains to concern him is which one of the sects they have summoned.
That could prove out to be a problem.
Author's Notes:
Another update! Compared to my past story updates they're much smaller now but it helps me keep better consistency with my releases. Either way things are starting to happen and our MC is going to dive right in. Nian on the other hand is admirably trying to keep his cool with ChenXi's recent actions. Look forward to the next update and happy readings!
Until next time, Wian13
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