The village slept early that night.
Too early.
Xu Yang noticed it the moment the lamps were extinguished one by one, doors barred, voices lowered. Fear had not vanished after all it had simply learned to whisper.
He lay on the roof beam, eyes open, listening.
Wind brushed past the eaves.
The shrine at the edge of the village tugged at him again.
Not hunger.
Recognition.
Xu Yang exhaled slowly.
I can't ignore it anymore.
He slipped down soundlessly and padded into the tall grass beyond the houses. No footsteps followed. No lanterns flared.
Good.
When he reached the abandoned shrine, the world felt thinner like stretched silk ready to tear.
Xu Yang paused.
Then, for the first time since arriving
He let go.
His body twisted silently, bones shifting with practiced inevitability, Fur receded, Limbs lengthened, His spine straightened.
In the moonlight, a young man stood where a cat had been.
Black hair fell loose down his back, eyes sharp and bright with unnatural light. Faint markings flickered along his collarbone before fading catlike sigils, incomplete.
Xu Yang flexed his fingers.
Power did not surge.
It answered.
Weakly. Reluctantly.
But enough.
He stepped forward, bare feet soundless against stone, and placed his hand against the shrine door.
The wood was old.
Rotting.
But something inside stirred at his touch.
"Come out," Xu Yang said quietly.
The shadow within hesitated.
Then peeled itself away from the darkness.
A demon emerged half-formed, eyes glowing dull green, body stitched together by instinct rather than intelligence.
It hissed when it saw Xu Yang.
Not in challenge.
In recognition.
"You shouldn't be here,"
Xu Yang said calmly.
"This place isn't for you."
The demon snarled weakly, but it didn't attack.
Xu Yang raised his hand.
The warmth in his chest flared briefly, controlled this time.
The demon screamed then dissolved, torn apart not by force, but by authority it did not understand.
Silence returned.
Xu Yang lowered his hand, breathing steady.
That was when he felt it.
Another presence.
Not behind him.
Above.
Xu Yang's eyes snapped upward.
Someone stood atop the broken shrine wall.
Tall,Broad-shouldered.
Crimson markings glowing faintly beneath the moonlight.
Golden eyes gleamed with sharp amusement.
"Well," the demon said lazily, "this is interesting."
Xu Yang's blood went cold.
Damn it.
He turned slowly, expression blank, controlled.
"You shouldn't be here either," Xu Yang said.
The demon laughed softly. "You just said that."
Xu Yang studied him carefully.
This demon was different.
Stable.
Strong.
Not a fragment.
A high-ranking demon, one who walked the world openly.
"And you," the demon continued, tilting his head, "definitely shouldn't exist."
Xu Yang did not deny it.
"Did Wang Xiao send you?" Xu Yang asked evenly.
(Before dying in his original world, Xu Yang read a cultivation novel.
In that book:
Wang Xiao existed
He was famous
Cold, ruthless, untouchable
A demon hunter )
The demon's smile sharpened. "So you know his name."
That was answer enough.
Xu Yang shifted his weight subtly, preparing to flee if needed.
The demon noticed and waved a hand casually.
"Relax. If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't be standing."
"Why are you here?" Xu Yang asked.
The demon hopped down from the wall, boots crunching softly on stone. "I felt a correction fail," he said. "Then I felt Heaven pretend not to notice."
His eyes narrowed. "That usually means something troublesome survived."
Xu Yang said nothing.
The demon studied him openly now, gaze sharp and invasive. "A cat demon with sealed power. Living as a pet.
Hiding in a mortal village."
He chuckled. "You're either very clever… or very cursed."
Xu Yang met his gaze unflinchingly. "You didn't answer my question."
The demon snorted.
"Fine. I'm here because my friend keeps sensing something he can't explain."
Xu Yang's heart skipped once.
"Wang Xiao doesn't chase ghosts," the demon continued. "So if he's uneasy, I investigate."
Xu Yang turned away.
"That's all you get," the demon said lightly. "I won't expose you. Not yet."
"Why?" Xu Yang asked quietly.
The demon paused, then smiled not cruelly, but with interest. "Because whatever you are… you scare Heaven."
That was worse than a threat.
"Tell Wang Xiao nothing," Xu Yang said.
The demon laughed.
"Too late for that."
Xu Yang stiffened.
"But," the demon added, "I won't tell him everything."
He stepped back into the shadows, his form blurring. "Be careful, little cat. Humans are starting to notice you too."
With that, he vanished.
Xu Yang stood alone under the moonlight, fists clenched.
So it begins.
He shifted back quickly, bones folding, fur returning, until a black cat sat silently in the grass.
He crept back toward the village just before dawn.
Too late.
The dawn mist clung low to the earth, weaving between the wooden homes like a living thing. Xu Yang kept to the narrow paths, paws silent against the cool soil. Every sound felt sharper now a door creaking, hushed voices, the distant clatter of a bucket.
Suspicion had taken root.
He slipped beneath a cart and waited, watching as two villagers paused nearby.
"I'm telling you," one whispered, "the shrine lantern was lit when I passed. No one goes there at night."
"The old stories say spirits wander when the lantern burns," the other replied, voice tight. "Or demons."
Xu Yang's tail stilled.
Demons.
The word carried weight here fear, blame, an excuse for anything they could not understand.
A child's laughter rang out suddenly, breaking the tension. The villagers moved on, their whispers fading, but the unease lingered like smoke after a fire.
Xu Yang crept toward the edge of the village, toward the small shrine nestled beneath an ancient banyan tree.
The air there felt… wrong.
Not hostile but watched.
He froze.
The shrine lantern was swaying gently, though there was no wind.
And beneath its dim glow, fresh footprints marked the dust.
Not human.
Not animal.
Too deliberate to be either.
Xu Yang's ears flattened as a faint chill slid down his spine.
Someone else had been here.
Watching.
Waiting.
Xu Yang stood alone under the moonlight, fists clenched.
So it begins.
He shifted back quickly, bones folding, fur returning, until a black cat sat silently in the grass.
He crept back toward the village just before dawn.
Whispers followed him.
"The cat was gone last night."
"I heard something near the shrine."
"My dog wouldn't stop barking."
"Animals don't do that without reason."
And somewhere far away, Wang Xiao stood beneath a darkened sky, eyes narrowed, a name lingering unspoken on his lips.
Not remembered.
But felt.