The village slept early that night.Xu Yang noticed it the moment the lamps were extinguished one by one,doors were barred,and voices were lowered.He lay on the roof beam,eyes open,listening.The shrine at the edge of the village tugged at him again.Xu Yang exhaled slowly.I can't ignore it anymore...He slipped down soundlessly and padded into the tall grass beyond the houses.When he reached the abandoned shrine,the world felt thinner,like stretched silk ready to tear.Xu Yang paused.He looked toward the dark entrance for a long moment.
Then,for the first time since arriving,he let go.His body twisted silently and familiar shape of a cat began to change.Fur receded beneath his skin as his limbs lengthened and his spine straightened.His paws slowly became hands,his body rising until he stood upright.Xu Yang remained still for a moment as the transformation settled.He could feel every small change,even the parts that clearly hadn't gone away.In the moonlight,a young man stood where a cat had been. Black hair fell loose down his back,and his eyes were sharp and bright with an unnatural light.Faint markings flickered along his collarbone before fading,catlike sigils left incomplete.Small black cat ears rested on top of his head,twitching faintly at the slightest sound.
They shifted instinctively.When he blinked, his eyes caught the moonlight strangely bright,alert,with narrow pupils that were far too sharp in the dark.Not human.Not fully demon either.Something in between.Xu Yang froze."Oh."He slowly lifted his hands and stared at his unfamiliar fingers.Human, but tipped with slightly sharper nails than they should have been.He turned one hand over,then looked up at the ears."Why are the ears still here?"One ear flicked.Xu Yang immediately flinched."No...don't do that. That's…weird."His voice sounded human again,but lighter than before,carrying an odd softness beneath it that made him pause in mild offense."Why do I sound like that?" Then his tail,because of course there was still a tail,shifted behind him and brushed lightly against his leg.Xu Yang went completely still."No...Absolutely not."
He twisted slightly,as if refusing to acknowledge it would somehow make it disappear."I got the human form…and they still kept the accessories?"His ears flattened instinctively."Is this a joke?"Xu Yang exhaled slowly,pinching the bridge of his nose.Then he paused when he realized,with growing irritation,that even the gesture felt more graceful than it used to."I look like a side character from a suspiciously expensive fantasy drama."Then he accepted that and sighed."Okay,but this is still better than four legs."He stepped forward and placed his hand against the shrine door.
The wood was old and rotting,but something inside stirred at his touch."Come out!"Xu Yang said quietly.His expression changed instantly,the last trace of uncertainty fading beneath caution."Who's there?"No one answer but the presence remained.His fingers pressed more firmly against the shrine door,and his voice dropped lower."I can feel you."Then faint movement happened.Xu Yang's tail stilled."Come out!"he said again,calmer this time,but sharper."Or I come in."
For a brief second,nothing happened.Then the darkness inside seemed to pull inward. Xu Yang narrowed his eyes."So you do understand me."His body tensed,instincts sharpening."Who are you?"The shadow within hesitated.Then a demon came half-formed,its eyes glowing dull green,its body stitched together by instinct rather than intelligence.It hissed when it saw Xu Yang. "Can't I sleep in peace?"Xu Yang froze."You talk?"The creature shifted further into the moonlight,and Xu Yang's expression changed immediately."Oh."
The demon was not fully beast and not fully human either.Its upper body was vaguely man-shaped,thin and pale in places,with a face that looked almost human until the details settled wrong.Its jaw was slightly too sharp,its eyes too hollow,and dark fractured markings spread from its throat downward like veins stitched from shadow.Below that, Xu Yang's breath caught."No...no."Its lower form was spider-like.Multiple jagged limbs curled beneath and behind it,twitching against the shrine floor with dry scraping sounds."Absolutely not."One of Xu Yang's ears flicked back instinctively."Why are there legs?"
The demon's dull green eyes narrowed. "That was rude."Xu Yang pointed immediately."No,I think I'm being extremely reasonable right now."The creature let out a dry,exhausted sound somewhere between a hiss and a scoff."You barged into my shelter At night and now this."Xu Yang blinked.The demon looked at him once,directly at the ears,tail,and faint markings near his collarbone.Demon looked at him for second then said,"This place isn't for you.""Then why are you here?"Xu Yang asked quietly. The demon's jaw tightened."Because I was here first."After paused it added,"And because outside is worse."
Xu Yang's eyes narrowed. "You know something."The half-spider demon gave a weak laugh. "Knowing...and telling you...are different things."Xu Yang raised his hand but
Nothing happened.He frowned and looked at his palm.[Power response incomplete.]
"Again."He tightened his fingers and pushed his palm forward.For a moment,there was still nothing.Then a thin golden light suddenly appeared between his fingers.Xu Yang's eyes widened slightly and light spread across his palm,brighter with every breath,until golden energy burst forward with a sharp crack.
The spider demon barely had time to react.
"Wait—"The golden force struck it directly.
Its body flew backward and slammed into the shrine wall and stone shattered around it as the dark markings covering its body flashed violently before fading.Xu Yang's arm dropped from the force of the attack. His fingers trembled slightly.[Power activated.][Control remains unstable.]The demon coughed weakly from beneath the broken stones.Xu Yang stared at his hand.
"So that's how it works."Then his ears twitched.[System: Presence detected above.]
Xu Yang looked up.Someone stood a top the broken shrine wall.Tall and broad-shouldered,he balanced easily on the cracked stone as if the unstable wall beneath him meant nothing. Moonlight caught his hair first.Silver strands fell loosely over his shoulders,bright against the darkness.A few strands moved across his face in the night breeze.Large fox ears rose naturally from his hair,their pale fur carrying a faint crimson shade along the edges.One ear twitched as he looked down.Behind him,several white tails moved slowly through the night air,unhurried and strangely graceful.Faint crimson markings curved along his neck and disappeared beneath the loose collar of his dark robes. The clothes were refined,but he wore them carelessly,the outer layer hanging slightly open around his shoulders.Then his golden eyes settled on the scene below.
The half-spider demon was still alive,leaning weakly against the shrine wall,its jagged limbs twitching from time to time.Xu Yang stood a short distance away,one hand still raised.The fox demon looked from the injured creature to Xu Yang and he smiled. "Did I interrupt something?"Xu Yang slowly lowered his hand."You've got to be kidding me."His tail had already gone stiff.First the spider thing.Now this..."Can demons not take turns?"
The fox demon raised an eyebrow."Take turns?""Appearing when I'm already dealing with someone else."The fox demon glanced at the half-spider demon,then back at Xu Yang."Bad timing.""For me.""Obviously."A weak hiss came from the floor."Don't include me."Xu Yang glanced down at the half-spider demon."You're still alive?" Spider demon looked at him."What do you think?!"
The fox demon looked at the creature,then at Xu Yang."You were about to finish him?" Xu Yang lowered his hand completely."I was trying to stop him.""And did you?"Xu Yang paused."Not exactly."Fox demon laughed. Xu Yang gave him a flat look but said nothing.The fox demon stepped down from the broken wall and landed on the ground. His eyes passed over Xu Yang once more, briefly pausing at the black ears on his head and the tail behind him.Xu Yang sighed and looked toward the ruined shrine."This night keeps getting worse."The fox demon's tails swayed lazily behind him."I think it's getting interesting."Xu Yang looked at him in annoyed expression and said,"Who is interesting?! There's nothing!"
The fox demon's smile widened slightly. "You're an interesting one."Xu Yang gave him a tired glance."That doesn't sound compliment."The fox demon stepped towards him."You know Wang Xiao."Xu Yang's expression tightened.His tail went still."Did he send you?"Fox Demon shook his head and replied,"No."Then he looked toward the dark forest."But he knows something is wrong."
Xu Yang remained silent.The fox demon's gaze shifted to the half-spider demon."I felt a correction fail."The creature stirred weakly, but said nothing."Something that should have disappeared survived,"the fox demon continued."Then Heaven looked away."Xu Yang's fingers curled slowly at his side. "Why?"The fox demon's smile faded."I don't know.That's what concerns me."Xu Yang looked toward the village."And Wang Xiao?" Demon looked at him with smile."He knows something survived.Not what."
Xu Yang lowered his gaze."Don't tell him." The fox demon studied him for a moment, then gave a faint smile."Tell what?!"Xu Yang looked back at him. "That I was here." The fox demon's eyes narrowed slightly. "You think Wang Xiao would come looking for you?" "I don't know." "Then why hide?" Xu Yang glanced at the injured spider demon. "Because I don't know what I am yet." Fox Demon looked towards mountain."I see." Xu Yang looked at him. "Do you?" "Enough to know I shouldn't interfere." A brief silence passed between them. "Will you tell him?" Xu Yang asked. The fox demon shook his head."I'll watch a little longer before I decide what this is."
The fox demon stepped backward into the darkness.His tails slipped behind him one after another."Be careful,little cat.The village is beginning to notice."Xu Yang looked toward the distant houses,but when he turned back,the fox demon was already gone.He stood silently for a moment,then glanced at the injured demon against the wall."And you."The half-spider demon opened one dull green eye.Xu Yang pointed toward it."Stay alive."The demon gave a weak hiss."I intend to."
Xu Yang sighed and shifted back into his cat form.Bones folded,Fur spread across his body,and his limbs shortened until a black cat sat quietly in the grass.He waited until the fox demon's presence was completely gone before slipping toward the village just before dawn.Xu Yang slowed when he heard voices ahead.He slipped beneath a wooden cart and stayed still.Two villagers stood beside a well.One was pulling up a bucket while the other kept glancing toward the shrine."You heard it too?"the older man asked.
The younger villager nodded without looking at him."Something moved near the shrine." He lowered the bucket slowly."I heard scratching.""My dog wouldn't stop barking." The older man frowned."All night?""Until dawn."He rubbed his arms uneasily."It kept staring toward the shrine."A woman carrying firewood stopped nearby."Animals don't act like that without reason."The three of them fell quiet.The older man looked toward the distant shrine."Don't go there."The younger man frowned."I wasn't planning to.""Good." His voice became quieter."Whatever is there,we leave it alone."The woman tightened her grip on the firewood."Then why was the lantern burning?"
The older man looked at her sharply."What?" "I saw it."She pointed toward the shrine. "The lantern was lit.""That shrine has been empty for years.""I know what I saw."No one answered.Xu Yang's ears slowly flattened beneath the cart.A child ran past them, calling for his mother,and the villagers immediately lowered their voices."Don't talk about this where the children can hear." "People will start panicking.""Let them stay inside tonight."The older man looked once more toward the shrine."Something is wrong there."They gathered their things and moved away.
Xu Yang waited until their footsteps faded before crawling out from beneath the cart. He glanced toward the shrine.The morning mist had settled low across the ground.The old lantern hung motionless now,but beneath it were fresh marks in the dust.Xu Yang approached,His paws stopped at the edge of the shrine grounds.He lowered his head and sniffed.The scent was faint,but unfamiliar.It was not the spider demon's and the fox demon's.Someone else was there... His ears lifted slowly.He looked toward the forest."Great,"he muttered."Another one."He turned back toward the village,but stopped when he heard a door open behind him.Someone was watching.He spun around but there was nothing there.Xu Yang stared at the empty path for several seconds before his tail slowly lowered."I'm starting to hate this place."Then he slipped away before anyone could see him.