Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The first time I met my senior brother, he was exorcising a demon.

I was the demon.

Below the hillside, through the thick curtain of rain, I saw a barrier of qi shrouding him, faintly glimmering with scattered flecks of light, separating him from the damp, gloomy chill between heaven and earth.

The fat man beside him was not nearly so fortunate.

Even hiding under three oil-paper umbrellas, he was still drenched from head to toe.

“Master, why haven’t you made your move yet?”

The fat man rubbed his hands together and smiled obsequiously.

My senior brother swept him a cool glance, then looked at me.

“I only exorcise demons. I don’t kill people.”

“You call something that looks like her a person?” The fat man’s eyes went wide. “This demoness has occupied my back mountain for months, eaten over a hundred of my chickens raw, and she even-she even…”

He lifted the hem of his robe, revealing the wooden crutch still braced against his knee.

“She even broke one of my legs!”

He howled a few times, his fury far from spent. “You have to kill her for me today!”

“She really is human. I can’t kill her.”

My senior brother seemed a little impatient. He gritted out those words, then turned and walked away without another care.

But the fat man spat several times and chased after him, cursing, “Pah! What kind of damn master are you? You freeloaded in my estate for all these days, and now you think you can just walk away?

“Men-”

At his command, the servants behind him quickly surged forward and surrounded my senior brother.

My senior brother looked extremely troubled.

He truly must have been unable to kill people, so he had no choice but to compromise with the fat man and take me away.

Rain and mist swirled. My senior brother leaped through the air and landed in front of me.

Only then did I see his face clearly.

His complexion was white as paper, making his eyes look like black plum blossoms in snow, coldly proud and indifferent.

His lashes were thick and long, as if a ring of black silk had been planted around his eyes. Before he spoke, he had to blink twice.

“You-”

Before he could finish, several streaks of Silver Light burst from my body, scorching the hand he had reached toward me.

My senior brother hissed in displeasure.

Startled, I shrank back and warily retreated half a step. When I looked up again, the hostility in his eyes had already vanished.

“What are you afraid of? I’m not going to hurt you.”

He softened his tone and curled his fingers somewhat unnaturally.

My gaze followed them downward, landing one by one on his distinct knuckles, the sword at his waist, and the delicate mask hanging there.

It was a Rabbit Mask.

I sucked in a deep breath.

For some reason, those two pink-and-white ears made me feel that he was a good person.

So with a turn of thought, I copied him and, as if possessed, handed over my hand.

But the moment I reached out, I froze.

Because when they arrived, I had only just finished tearing apart a chicken with my bare hands.

My palm was still stained with chicken blood, mixed with mud, sand, and rainwater, with a few clumps of chicken feathers stuck fast to it.

Compared with the broad, clean palm opposite mine, it was rather unsightly.

My senior brother froze too.

He lowered his eyes and hesitated for only half a breath before withdrawing his hand.

Then he snapped off a branch and tossed it to me, saying with faint disgust,

“Hold this.”