Volume One: Menial Tasks in Changshui County Chapter One: The Daylight Demoness

Though the season of Awakening Insects had already passed, the air remained decidedly chilly.

Changshui County lay far to the north—while flowers already blanketed the southern lands, here snowflakes still drifted down now and then.

Lu Jiuzhang instinctively pulled his coat tighter around himself and quickened his pace.

His elder brother, Lu Huaigu, had not shown himself for several days. After searching for him all day long without finding any clues, Lu Jiuzhang could not help but wonder: Where could he have gone?

Usually, if Lu Huaigu was not flirting at the Yi Hong Courtyard, he would be drinking himself senseless at the taverns north of town. But Lu Jiuzhang had checked both locations more than once, all without success.

It was almost time for his brother to collect his stipend again. If Lu Jiuzhang didn’t receive his living expenses soon, he’d likely starve to death.

What a useless elder brother! He really was unreliable.

Suddenly, a silvery, bell-like laugh reached his ears.

At the far end of the narrow alley, a gentle woman in red approached, holding a paper umbrella. Her features were exquisitely delicate, her skin as pale as snow; every glance and smile was enough to stir a man’s heart.

The surrounding air seemed to grow colder, and snowflakes began to swirl once more.

The woman walked barefoot, her gauzy clothing so thin it seemed almost transparent.

“Sir, do you find me beautiful?” she asked in a voice that bewitched.

So forward?

Lu Jiuzhang stiffened slightly in respect.

When he did not reply, the lady in red drew closer, her tone soft and alluring: “Sir, the night was chilly, and I felt so cold. Might you accompany me tonight and help ward off this northern wind?”

As she spoke, her slender jade hand rested gently on his arm.

Lu Jiuzhang shivered involuntarily.

Any ordinary man would be hard-pressed to resist such a thing.

“Sir, is it that I am not beautiful enough to please you?” she asked, a hint of hurt in her voice.

She twined herself around him, as if wishing to seduce him further.

Lu Jiuzhang felt his senses cloud, enchanted by her presence.

It was not that he lacked reason, but rather that he was a man of sixteen or seventeen, brimming with youthful energy.

A feverish heat rose in him, a nameless fire burning within.

Just as he was about to act, a sudden jolt ran through his mind.

A towering, ancient pavilion, a hundred yards tall, loomed indistinctly in his consciousness, trembling ceaselessly.

At that moment, the pavilion emitted a faint white glow.

The glow radiated from his mind, enveloping his entire body.

A sharp scream pierced the air.

As if terrified of that light, the lady in red instantly leapt dozens of yards away, staring at Lu Jiuzhang like a cornered animal.

Behind her, a massive fox’s tail emerged, and her once delicate lips now bristled with countless razor-sharp teeth.

As the red gauze slipped from her body, fur like that of a beast began to show.

What on earth was that?

A fox demon?

Lu Jiuzhang felt a chill run down his spine—this was far more than he could handle.

Before he could recover, the demon lunged at him again, muttering, “Sir, I was so kind to you—why would you wish to harm me?”

She moved with incredible speed, closing the distance in an instant. Just as her deadly claws were about to strike, the ancient pavilion in his mind trembled once more.

The white light surged forth, driving the fox demon back.

But this was more than mere defense—the demon’s lips bled from the force.

Seeing this, she refrained from pressing the attack.

“Sir, we shall meet again very soon,” she said with a chilling smile, then vanished into the distance with a few swift leaps.

Her parting smile was so sinister that Lu Jiuzhang shuddered involuntarily.

It’s not the thief you catch who worries you, but the one who keeps you in his sights. And this fox demon wanted more than his belongings—she wanted his life.

The alley grew quiet again. Only after waiting a long while to be sure she wouldn’t return did Lu Jiuzhang, his legs still weak, finally exhale in relief.

It had been far too close—he hadn’t tried to run because his legs simply wouldn’t obey him.

Were it not for that ancient pavilion in his mind, he’d likely be dead by now.

As for the pavilion itself, Lu Jiuzhang had no idea what it truly was.

Roughly half a year ago, he’d crossed into this world and become the younger brother of Lu Huaigu, a menial worker at the Demon-Slaying Bureau.

The mysterious, hundred-yard-tall pavilion had appeared in his mind at the same time.

He’d tried countless times over the past six months to enter it, but the doors would not budge.

If not for the fox demon, he would have thought the pavilion nothing more than an ornament, utterly useless.

Other transmigrators were bound to systems, cheating their way through life, surrounded by saints and empresses and admirers.

But Lu Jiuzhang’s lot was a miserable one.

He had drifted through half a year in a daze; only the monthly allowance from his elder brother, employed at the Demon-Slaying Bureau, had kept him from starvation.

Yet with each passing month, his understanding of this world deepened.

This was a continent where humans, demons, and monsters coexisted. The Great Zhou dynasty was among the mightiest powers.

Lu Jiuzhang’s current home was in Changshui County, Anxi Prefecture, North Slope Commandery, all under the dominion of Great Zhou.

Confucian scholars, Daoists, sorcerers, Buddhist monks, and martial artists all thrived here. Cultivation was divided into nine ranks, each granting extraordinary powers to those who reached the higher levels.

Confucians could shape reality with their words, martial artists could move mountains and fill seas, and sorcerers could divine the mysteries of the world by observing the stars.

Increasing his pace, Lu Jiuzhang reached his home about a quarter hour later.

But unlike usual, a middle-aged man stood outside his door.

The man radiated authority—dressed all in black, a long blade at his waist, his hair bound and capped, an appearance not seen among ordinary folk.

He was clearly an official, and likely a high-ranking one at that.

“Sir!” Lu Jiuzhang, having lived in this world for half a year, knew its ways. He hurried forward and offered a respectful greeting.

“You are Lu Jiuzhang?” the man in black studied him with surprise.

“I am he,” Lu Jiuzhang replied. “May I ask what business brings you here, sir?”

“I am Chen Xuanfeng, Deputy Director of the Demon-Slaying Bureau. You may address me as Director Chen. I have come regarding your elder brother, Lu Huaigu.”

Director Chen’s words made Lu Jiuzhang’s heart skip a beat.

“Please, Director Chen, come in!” he said, quickly opening the door. As his brother’s superior, Director Chen was a person of great importance in all of Changshui County, and so Lu Jiuzhang showed him extra courtesy.

Just as he was about to serve tea, Director Chen waved a hand dismissively. “No need for that—I have only come to deliver something, then I will be on my way.”

It was only then that Lu Jiuzhang noticed the black cloth bundle in Director Chen’s right hand.

An ominous premonition welled up within him.

“Lu Huaigu is dead. These are his ashes.”

With that, Director Chen placed the bundle on the table.

With a crisp sound, the urn collided with the table.