Luna pushed the unconscious boy off her and sat up, clutching her neck, hissing as she drew in a sharp breath.
With a flick of her wrist, she conjured a water mirror and carefully examined the wound on her neck.
A distinct bite mark marred her skin, the edges beading with tiny threads of blood.
What is he, a dog? she thought bitterly. Fortunately, it was only a surface wound—though for a moment she'd thought he'd taken a chunk out of her throat.
"Tianyu was scared to death just now!" the sword spirit's voice trembled.
Luna patted the hilt of her sword to comfort it. "Don't be afraid. The mission is complete."
"Really? That's great!" Tianyu twirled in delight. "And Luna didn't even have to make a move. I heard fighting is exhausting…"
Luna: "…"
And there went the mood.
…
"Chi Su?"
Luna reached out and patted his cheek. No response.
This time, Chi Su was truly out cold.
His body had curled instinctively into a tight ball, like some small animal protecting itself.
"So this is the Moon Demon…"
It was the first time Luna had ever been so close to a man.
The boy was as beautiful as he was delicate, his hair a cascade of silver.
No ears, no tail—he looked little different from a human.
His eyelashes were long and silver, like butterflies in the dark night or moonlight falling quietly to earth.
As the demon blood within him was suppressed, the silver gradually faded to black, the flush on his face receding, leaving only lips the color of cinnabar, glistening with a faint, bewitching sheen.
Luna studied him for a moment, then looked away as if nothing were amiss—only to wince as the movement tugged at the wound on her neck.
"Ugh… that hurts."
The memory of his bite made her grit her teeth in frustration.
But what could she do? Like a long-suffering mother, she forgave him anyway.
She'd thought the villain she'd picked up was just a tiny cub—raise him right, keep him from going astray, and she'd finish her mission. She hadn't expected him to be a half-grown boy, nearly her own age.
With a sigh, Luna pulled out some injury medicine from the original host's storage ring, tore a strip from her dress lining, and began tending to his wounds.
The slash on his arm wasn't serious. As she rolled up his sleeve, she noticed his wrist—so thin it was little more than skin and bone—encircled by a string of prayer beads.
They were the very beads the merciful old monk had given him before his death.
Luna's sigh deepened.
She gathered a thread of spiritual energy at her fingertips and probed into Chi Su's spiritual core.
Moments later, she withdrew her power.
His cultivation was only at the True Core stage—nothing to fear.
But his soul was damaged, as if poisoned.
Withdrawing her divine sense, she glanced toward the ghost realm's rift—it had long since closed. Taking him away now was out of the question.
If they wanted to leave, they'd have to pass through Huangquan City.
She decided to wait for him to wake, settling into meditation to guard the cave.
The air inside carried the faintest trace of fragrance, so subtle it was nearly imperceptible.
Naturally, Luna didn't notice. She only felt her head grow heavier and heavier until, at last, she slumped against the wall and lost consciousness.
The sky in the ghost realm was pale and dim; even when sunlight fell, it was choked by the thick red mists.
Chi Su opened his eyes. His gaze landed on the girl curled in the corner, clutching her sword in her sleep.
Propping his head with one hand, he studied her face in the cave's muted light, noting the jade token at her waist—mark of a disciple of the Lingjian Peak.
And he remembered the wide, startled apricot eyes he'd seen just before passing out—dark and round like a startled fawn's.
He walked over, crouching beside her with a thoughtful look.
The hem of his robe was stiff with dried blood, and the water pooling on the floor slowly bled the color out of it.
His eyes curved slightly, a faint, unreadable gleam in their depths—was he smiling?
She carried a faint sweetness in her scent. He'd noticed it the night before.
His nose twitched. Leaning closer, he nearly brushed her cheek with the bridge of his nose.
Yes—it was the same scent. Familiar. Calming.
The cave walls were narrow; the girl slept obliviously, soft snores escaping her lips.
From within her sword, Tianyu gave a warning hum. Luna's brows furrowed, her lashes trembling as she began to stir.
Chi Su tapped a finger against her crown, sending a flash of white light into her mind.
She slumped again, falling into an even deeper sleep.
Sensing his master's danger, Tianyu tried to emerge from its scabbard.
"A sword spirit?"
Chi Su pressed a single finger to the sheath, thoughtful.
"A sword with a spirit… Who are you, I wonder?"
Tianyu buzzed angrily, but with a mere touch he suppressed it completely.
Chi Su's gaze lingered on the girl's serene face.
"Such courage…"
His hand reached for her throat, thumb brushing her pulse. The spot was soft, the beat loud and clear beneath his touch.
Her neck was fragile in his palm; he could crush her windpipe with ease.
Warm blood pulsed within—flesh sweet with a scent that made one want to bite down.
But then his thumb slid over an odd patch of roughness.
On her smooth skin lay faint indigo finger marks and a distinct bite scar, the wound already scabbed crimson.
Chi Su's eyes narrowed briefly. He released her.
Rising, he walked out of the cave without looking back.
"Luna! Wake up!"
Her dreams were broken by Tianyu's urgent voice.
She opened her eyes to find the sword spirit hovering anxiously. "Luna! Chi Su tried to kill you!"
Luna blinked. "Where is he?"
"Gone." Tianyu's tone sagged. "I'm useless—he suppressed me with a single finger…"
"He suppressed you?" Luna frowned. "I checked his cultivation—only True Core."
Tianyu was equally baffled. Could it be due to his innate sword bones?
Luna didn't dwell on it. If Chi Su truly meant to kill her, the system would have forcibly awakened her.
Still, she knew she'd been careless.
Even after becoming an immortal, she hadn't changed her mortal habits—three meals a day and four hours of sleep were nonnegotiable. To the other celestials, she was the one who ate the most, slept the most, and worried the least.
Yet this nap had been unsettling—dreams of a hand around her throat, ready to strangle her.
Shaking it off, Luna mounted her sword and flew toward the ghost realm's heart—Huangquan City.
Huangquan City was the ghost market of the underworld.
Just as sword cultivators and Buddhist cultivators had their own paths, the ghost path had ghost cultivators—though they were the lowest of the low, hardly considered people at all.
It was no wonder. Ghost cultivators were all the dead—spirits and wraiths—who hid in the ghost realm, venturing out only at night. If caught by sword cultivators or Dao cultivators, they faced utter annihilation.
Unlike the wandering spirits outside the city, the ghost cultivators within Huangquan City lived much as they had in life, bound by the rules of the Underworld's master.
Luna sheathed her sword, concealed her presence, and strolled past stalls selling delicacies unique to the ghost realm—human brain soup, stir-fried eyeballs—on her way to the grandest structure in the city, the City Lord's Mansion.
During her early training as a minor immortal, she had often come to ghost markets.
They brimmed with rare treasures, precious artifacts, and high-grade spirit stones, all at low prices. Many high gods from the heavens secretly came here to bargain-hunt.
After all, immortals had their hierarchies too, and there were plenty of poor, penniless minor celestials like her. Without a few lucky finds, they'd be squeezed out in no time.
She stopped a short distance from the mansion, observing.
In the novel's plot, there had been no clear description of Chi Su's actions in Huangquan City—only a vague line about him striking a deal with the Underworld's ruler, then retrieving the Sword of Slaughter from the underworld's forbidden grounds.
If the Baize Divine Sword was the ultimate righteous artifact of this age, then the Sword of Slaughter was its dark counterpart.
Remembering the poisoned, near-berserk state he'd been in earlier, Luna knew he was close to turning.
The City Lord's Mansion had eight massive gates, each heavily guarded, every entrance under inspection.
Luna decided to slip in from the side. She intercepted a ghost cultivator leaving the mansion on an errand.
At first, the ghost was defiant—until she beat him soundly. Then he spilled everything.
"That young lord's been here for a while. Right now he's drinking with our master. She's in a fine mood, told us to prepare wedding gifts."
"Wedding gifts?" Luna blinked. "Your master is taking a wife?"
The ghost cultivator gave a dry laugh. "Immortal, our master is a woman. She's taking a new husband."
Luna: "And who's the lucky groom?"
Ghost cultivator: "Who else? The young lord you're looking for, of course."
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