Chapter 1: The Hamster Demon (1)

Luoyang, the Eastern Capital. Inside Taiqing Temple.

An elderly Daoist priest with white hair, white brows, and a youthful face sat cross-legged on a prayer cushion. His eyes were shut, his body perfectly still, as though he had entered deep meditation.

Zhou Xin sat upright below him, her back ramrod straight and her head lowered, not daring to meet his eyes.

It had already been the time it took to burn a stick of incense since she had been summoned inside, yet the man had simply left her sitting there without saying a word. She was so nervous she barely dared to breathe.

How was she supposed to explain things so that the Daoist before her — the original owner’s master, Immortal Linghe, the abbot of Taiqing Temple — would believe she had transmigrated here, rather than possessed someone’s body?

This was way too hard.

When other people transmigrated, they either got a cheat ability or inherited the original owner’s memories. But her? Her mind was completely blank. Ask her anything, and she knew nothing.

If she hadn’t happened to run into someone who recognized her, she wouldn’t even know who the original owner was.

Chaonanyi — first disciple of Immortal Linghe of Taiqing Temple.

A remarkable young woman who, at only eighteen, had captured countless demons, become famous throughout the Eastern Capital, been personally granted the title Lady Lingyun by the Emperor, and been specially appointed to the Bureau of Astronomy.

If the disciple was that powerful, then the master could not be underestimated either. If he realized that the soul inside this body had been swapped, he might treat her as an evil cultivator who had possessed and destroyed another person’s soul. In the end, she might suffer the fate of having her own soul obliterated.

After thinking it over from every angle, she made up her mind.

Rather than live in fear of exposing herself, she might as well pretend to have amnesia.

After all, when she woke up, she had found herself lying in a grove of scholar trees, clutching a bronze sealing vessel in her hand. There had also been a pool of blood of unknown origin on the ground, as well as a broken black-iron Seven Star Sword.

Anyone could tell from the scene that Chaonanyi — the original owner of this body — had met with an accident while sealing away an evil spirit in the grove.

Having decided what to say, she took a deep breath and slowly lifted her head.

The next instant, Zhou Xin suddenly clutched the corner of her robe, utterly panicked.

Immortal Linghe, who sat in the seat of honor, had opened his eyes at some point and had been studying her with an unreadable expression for who knew how long.

Knock, knock, knock—

A soft rapping sounded at the door, followed by a rather young voice.

“Immortal, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review has sent someone to ask Senior Sister to assist in capturing a demon.”

Shen Jibai, Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, was an oddity among officials. Not only did he judge human cases, he also sought justice for demons. On several occasions, he had even sent people who abused demons to prison.

If even someone like him could not capture this demon, then how could a fake spiritualist like her, who knew nothing about real magic, possibly subdue it?

She was just about to refuse when she saw Immortal Linghe move slightly. With unhurried calm, he took a talisman paper from his sleeve and handed it to her.

Zhou Xin: “?”

After a moment of silence, she reached out and accepted it. Then, after a pause, she still could not help asking,

“Will this… really work?”

“Whether it works or not, you will know once you go.”

Zhou Xin: “…”

At this very moment, she had absolutely no confidence.

Was he kidding?

Wasn’t this an evil-dispelling talisman?

Evil-dispelling, evil-dispelling — it was specifically used to break evil energy. That had nothing to do with demons at all. What use could this talisman possibly have?

*

The incident had taken place at Changfeng Tavern, on the busiest street in Luoyang.

By the time Zhou Xin arrived, the Court of Judicial Review had already cleared the entire road. Yamen runners surrounded the place, and when they saw her, they looked as if they had seen their savior.

“Lady Lingyun!”

Forcing out a smile, she followed the yamen runner into the tavern’s rear courtyard.

The courtyard was in complete disarray. At its center stood eight or nine guards with swords drawn. They wore black military uniforms embroidered with beast patterns and matching black headcloths. Their clothing was different from that of the Court of Judicial Review’s ordinary runners.

The men had formed a circle. When they saw her, their eyes lit up. Just like the runners guarding the outside, their expressions swiftly shifted from vigilance to relief, as though their backbone had finally arrived.

“Lady Lingyun is here!”

At the center of the circle stood a hamster, over three meters tall, its entire body bound in transparent threads.

As a fraud who made a living deceiving people, Zhou Xin had barely even seen ghosts, let alone demons. And especially not a demon this huge. She could not help being startled.

In the moment she was distracted, a tall, handsome young man walked out from behind the hamster demon.

He wore a jade crown in his hair and a dark-black Hu-style riding outfit. His posture was straight, his limbs long, his shoulders broad, and his waist narrow. He had the lean, wiry build of someone who looked slim in clothes but clearly had muscle underneath.

Among those surrounding the hamster demon, he was the youngest — and also the calmest.

His refined face carried no unnecessary expression. His aura was cold as ice, giving off a distant chill that warned others to stay away.

Before Zhou Xin realized it, her gaze had drifted over to him, settling on his slightly upturned phoenix eyes, sharp and piercing like those of a hawk.

As though sensing something, he turned his eyes toward her. His handsome brows were cold, as if hiding frost and snow, and his cutting gaze carried obvious disgust. Even his voice held a trace of impatience.

“Are you not going to help?”

The yamen runner who had led her in quickly added, “Lady Lingyun, it is very strong. I’m afraid the demon-binding rope won’t hold for much longer.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the hamster demon broke free of the demon-binding rope and sent the surrounding guards flying.

The yamen runner hurried toward the young man and shouted anxiously,

“Vice Minister!”

So he was Shen Jibai, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

Shen Jibai reacted extremely quickly. While still in midair, he drew his blade and stabbed it backward. The tip pierced the ground, and he used the hilt to support himself, flipping one-handed before landing steadily.

The guards who had been thrown away scrambled up from the ground and immediately rejoined the fight against the hamster demon. Shen Jibai cast Zhou Xin a cold glance, his dark eyes carrying a hint of anger, then joined the battle as well.

Someone shoved her from behind.

Zhou Xin stumbled into the encirclement, and the guards very sensibly stepped back, clearly prepared to support her from the side. Their faces were full of trust as they waited for her to make a move.

Even the hamster demon, whose back had been facing her, seemed to sense that she was the true pillar of this group. It slowly turned its head. Its crimson eyes gleamed with cold light, making it look extremely dangerous.

Zhou Xin instinctively took a step back.

In an instant, she lost badly in terms of presence.

Was this some kind of joke?

The original owner might have been highly skilled in Daoist arts, but Zhou Xin had only learned the most basic talismans and spells. She could fool people with a convincing act, sure, but in a real fight, even catching a ghost would be hard for her.

How was she supposed to catch a demon?

She had originally thought that, now that she had transmigrated, she could take the opportunity to seriously study Daoist arts and become a real demon hunter. But heaven had not given her any time at all. The moment she arrived, she had been shoved into the job.

Who could handle this?

In a panic, Zhou Xin ducked behind a wine vat and could not help muttering,

“My god, isn’t this way outside my field?”

I only ever caught fake ghosts. How am I supposed to catch a demon?

Seeing this, the seven or eight sword-wielding guards looked at one another.

“?”

Then, with remarkable unity, they all took a step back and left the demon to Shen Jibai.

Watching the morale that had inexplicably surged just moments ago collapse in an instant, Shen Jibai cursed under his breath.

“Useless.”

“Yes, yes, yes. Vice Minister Shen isn’t useless. Vice Minister Shen is the best. In that case, Vice Minister Shen, please hurry up and take it down!”

“Is Lady Lingyun going to do something or not?”

Do something, my ass!

Just then, there was a loud bang, as if something had been smashed apart.

Zhou Xin poked her head out and saw the seven or eight sword-wielding guards sprawled all over the ground. Only Shen Jibai remained standing, still circling the hamster demon.

She was just about to praise him with a “not bad” when she saw the hamster demon grab both ends of his long blade and snap it in two with a sharp crack.

Zhou Xin: “?”

And he had the nerve to call me useless?

Shen Jibai was thrown off balance by the force and staggered toward the hamster demon. In the next instant, it grabbed him by the neck, lifted him up, and moved him toward its gaping mouth.

“Vice Minister!”

“Vice Minister Shen!”

“Lady Lingyun, save him!”

Save him, save him, save him!

But how?

In that split second, an idea suddenly came to Zhou Xin.

She stood up, rapidly formed hand seals with both hands, and began muttering under her breath. Her voice was very low, almost hummed like a tune.

“Bye-bye, donuts, hotpot, milk tea, instant noodles — freeze!”

As she shouted the word “freeze,” her hand seal completed.

The hamster demon froze in place, completely motionless.

“Vice Minister Shen! Run!”

Shen Jibai used both hands to pry at the demon’s fingers, but the hamster demon was too strong. He could not pull them apart. He could only kick and struggle until he created a slight gap, finally breaking free and falling to the ground with a thud.

“I don’t need you to tell me that!”

He had probably been strangled so hard that he could barely breathe. He covered his neck and coughed several times.

Everyone else silently let out a breath of relief and began getting to their feet.

“Luckily Lady Lingyun took action. Otherwise…”

“She should have acted long ago!” Shen Jibai shot her a cold look, not the slightest bit grateful. “A drunken rat demon that has lost its senses — would it usually require this much effort?”

“That’s true,” one of the yamen runners agreed. “In the past, no matter what kind of demon it was, Lady Lingyun could always subdue it instantly. Sometimes, she didn’t even need to draw the Seven Star Sword.”

Every word they said, openly or not, blamed her for acting too late — as though she had volunteered to capture the demon out of sheer arrogance and then held back on purpose.

Zhou Xin had never been the type to lose in a war of words. She immediately fired back,

“If the Court of Judicial Review looks down on me so much, then don’t come to Taiqing Temple asking for help in the future!”

Shen Jibai turned his gaze toward her.

“The Court of Judicial Review handles human cases. Taiqing Temple captures demons and evil spirits. It was Immortal Linghe who claimed he did not have enough manpower, which is why His Majesty ordered the Golden Guards and the Court of Judicial Review to assist with demon captures.”

His phoenix eyes narrowed slightly. His dark gaze swept over from the corners of his eyes, carrying a dangerous edge.

“Lady Lingyun — haven’t you gotten that backward?”

Oh no. He was suspicious.

Zhou Xin’s heart suddenly leapt into her throat, but she forced herself to remain calm.

“Is that so?”

Instead of answering, Shen Jibai asked, “Is it not?”

She spread her hands, shrugged, and sighed lightly.

“My apologies. I suffered a backlash while sealing away an evil spirit, and my memory has been damaged. I truly can’t remember very clearly.”

Hearing this, one of the yamen runners could not help exclaiming,

“As expected of Lady Lingyun. To think you sealed the King of Ten Thousand Foxes all by yourself!”

So the thing sealed inside that vessel was the King of Ten Thousand Foxes — a nine-tailed spirit fox.

That would definitely not be easy to deal with. No wonder Chaonanyi had lost her life over it.

Just then, the hamster demon beside them moved slightly.

Then, stiffly, it turned its head. Its blood-red eyes stared straight at her, rage practically bursting from them.

Seeing this, everyone was both startled and panicked. They all looked at her, the trust on their faces long gone.

“...Lady Lingyun, what is going on?”

What else could be going on?

Zhou Xin turned and sprinted toward the courtyard gate.

“Run! The spell doesn’t work on it!”

Perhaps because she had drawn too much hatred, the hamster demon ignored everyone else and chased only her.

Zhou Xin fled the rear courtyard in a panic. Then she suddenly stopped, spun around to face the pursuing hamster demon, pointed at it with one finger, and stomped her foot as she shouted with impressive force,

“Back! Back! Back!”

Unexpectedly, it actually stopped. It even froze in confusion and took one step backward.

The sword-wielding guards in the courtyard were stunned.

Zhou Xin, meanwhile, turned around and kept running.

Before long, heavy footsteps sounded behind her again, mixed with the enraged roars of the demon beast.

She turned from the side path onto the main street, then stopped again and repeated the same trick.

“Back! Back! Back!”

This time, the hamster demon did not stop. Instead, it sped up.

How could she dare waste another second? She turned and ran.

“Help!”

Her clear cry pierced the sky. Quite a few people poked their heads out from the shops and taverns lining the street, only to see Lady Lingyun — famed for “subduing demons with a flick of her finger and slaying evil with her treasured sword” — being chased all over the place by a monster.

“Are you kidding me?”

“There are so many people here! Why is it only chasing me?”

“Sure enough, even demons bully the weak and fear the strong!”

The area around the tavern had been cleared of pedestrians. Only at both ends of the road stood rows of Court of Judicial Review runners, like human walls, blocking passersby from approaching.

Seeing that she was about to reach the human wall, the runners drew their blades one after another, wearing expressions that said they were ready to die facing a great enemy.

Not far away on the street, a few ordinary people had just stepped out of the shops along the roadside.

To keep the hamster demon from hurting innocent bystanders, Zhou Xin abruptly stopped.

The next instant, the hamster demon caught up. With a sweep of its giant claw, it grabbed her and lifted her toward its mouth.