His mission was clear a while ago. It was done. He had brought the foolish herb picker to his brother. Now he was free to go. Shi Xun walked in a bratty manner, enjoying all the attention he drew from his beaming, ethereal looks. Females, epecially the young ones, were looking at his flawless feature, squeaking as he glanced and half-smiled. Even the older ones were charmed by him. Shi Xun smirked. Had he still maintained his dark past as soul collector, these humans would have vanished from their existence already. The would have ran out of their life force already.

However, it was  his past. He had changed, because of the love of his brother. Yeah, he owed too much from him. Helping him to find his true love would be the least he could do to pay his kindness, even though he was still feeling not sure about that.

After some moment walking, Shi Xun felt bored. However, he spotted someone familiar eating a white bun, alone at the bench on the river bank. He tiptoed to the man's back.

"Hello again, my friend!"

Bao Xian almost choked as the bun blocked his throat. Shi Xun had to hit his back, making the bun chunk flew to the river. Bao Xian was coughing hard, Shi Xun laugh mercilessly.

"You! You almost made me dead!" Bao Xian gasped some air to his sore throat. He glared to Shi Xun who was smirking innocently.

"I just want to greet you. Is that wrong for friends to greet each other?"

"No, but you almost killed me."

"Probably. You'd never know what I could do."

Bao Xian rolled his eyes at Shi Xun's sly grin.

"What are you doing here anyway? Are you done with your errands?"

Shi Xun sat on the bench, shrugging.

"Well, I guess yes." he said with bored expression. "I finished what my brother asked already."

"Then why haven't you returned home? It's way past evening already. You have to go home now."

"I don't want to. I am bored. Why are you fussing me to go home. Why don't you go home? To wherever temple you have there."

"It's dangerous here!" Bao Xian retorted.

"If it is that dangerous, then you should leave too. Not eating that thing like a starving pig!"

Bao Xian was red on his cheeks, feeling half embarrassed and half upset to hear Shi Xun's remark, but he was indeed acting like ravenous pig. He chewed the last bite of his bun and sighed.

"I can't go. I have a very important job here. I am hunting demons."

Shi Xun rose from the bench, looking at the distance.

"Do you remember the old saying, there is someone smarter than you know. It applies to demons too."

Shi Xun smiled playfully, grabbing Bao Xian's bun bag. He took a bun and chewed it. After a second, he spat it out.

"What is it? This is gross!"

"This is called 'white bun', Shi Xun! In case you don't know, this is the most delicious bun over this town."

Bao Xian took his bun bag back, muttering something about incapability of tasting sense.

"Well, again, about the demons you are hunting now, you're no match for this. I advise you to give up, my dear."

Shi Xun put his hand on Bao Xian's shoulder, only to be removed by Bao Xian.

"Well, I can't. I can't back up now. Never. I have sworn to obey my Master. My Master said we had to trap bat demons tonight."

Shi Xun sighed and shook his head.

"Hufth .... Well, if you want to kill yourself, then do it."

Shi Xun swiped herself to the edge of the bench, putting Bao Xian's demon compass aside. Upon seeing the swiftly moving compass, Bao Xian gasped.

"There is a very, very powerful demon here!"

Shi Xun rolled his eyes. Bao Xian was clearly an amateur demon hunter. A skillful demon hunter would have felt his presence from a long distance.

He suddenly frowned. Shi Xun smelled something unusual in the air. The smell of demon. He focused his sight to a pasing boat. The boat was fancy and clearly luxurious. It was big and expensively decorated. On the front of the board were four extremely beautiful girls playing  Chinese traditional string instrument. He used his third eyes, revealing the reality happening inside the boat.

"Well, no, not really. It's just a bat demon which is biting a girl. And ...,ugghh, she is all bloody."

"How do you know that?!" Bao Xian's eyes widened.

Shi Xun smirked. "I am an expert too."

He motioned his fingers to the boat. Bao Xian was intrigued. He looked upset and frantic.

"I, I can't let it go away! Sorry, we can't talk anymore! I have to take care of this! Until next time!"

Shi Xun was still scanning at the boat when he realized that Bao Xian had leapt.

"No! Wa ....it ...."

Shi Xun shook his head.

"Well, well, well .... There goes my companion .... Should I help him or not? Well ..., he clearly is not that qualified. A real demon hunter will not chew that disgusting food when he was supposed to be alert. Mostly, he would have sensed myself eversince saw me. Tck .... He is still green. Well, as a fellow green, I guess I have to help him."

He rose from his seat and was about to leap to before a voice, telepathically, sounded in his mind.

"Shi Xun, Shi Xun! I met him already!"

Shi Xun sighed.

"Of course you did, Gege! I practically escorted him to you ...."

"Hehehe, thank you, dear brother! I owe you pecks and kiss on your cheeks! Anyway, let's just retreat for tonight. I will bring my handsome prince to his house. You should come here too. I want you to rest with us."

"Ewww .... If you both want to e, do not involve me!"

"Of course not, silly! We wouldn't do that ..., yet .... I just want to take him to rest. This day was overwhelming, for both of us."

Shi Xun shrugged. He was kinda tired too. Chasing Bao Xian would surely drain him. Besides, his lovely Master could trail behind him. He had this feeling that Bao Xian's master was not someone of normal, general. He could be tremendously powerful, someone with real deal of demon hunter skill. Shi Xun didn't have any taste for fight right now. Bao Xian could handle this small matter. This was just a bat demon anyway, not a really challenging nuisance.

"Alright, Ge. I am coming to you."

Shi Xun turned transparent before he transformed into his demon form. He flew to the sky, following white, shimmery glints of light that was made by his brother in the air. This man's house had better have some pillars for him to hang.

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Bao Xian leapt from roof to roof. He was determined to chase the boat. It was not easy at first. Right after the boat passed crowded area of river, it sped up, going to the direction of town border. Bao Xian had to trailed for quite some minutes before he jumped to the roof of the boat.

"Bao Xian of Jinshan Temple! Demon hunter and enforcer of Buddha's law!"

He straightened his posture, holding it a battle ready mode. His hands were holding two golden magic cymbals with demon repellent property.

He smirked. He had made a grand entrance. Four beautiful ladies below him were stunned by his action.

Before they hissed at him, revealing sharp fangs and blue, slithed eyes.

"Let's get this done!"

The demon girls spread their wings. They were floating before Bao Xian. Now it was Bao Xian who was stunned. He looked helplessly as the demon girls lifted their colourful dresses and let thousands of poisonous bats fly to Bao Xian.

"Oh my ...."
Bao Xian stepped back and crashed the two cymbals together. There was blue light when the surfaces of the cymbals hit each other, producing high-pitched sound that was inaudible for humans but effectly damaging the bats. The bats started to fall to the river, each entering water with plucking sounds.

Bao Xian had to keep crashing his cymbals, as the number of the bats was still abundant. He grew alert when he saw the four demon girls approached him from four different directions, wanting to shred him into pieces.

"Well, you guys can't fight one on one, huh? Alright! Challenge taken."

Bao Xian firmed his standing. The demon girls were flashing to him now. Instead of crashing the cymbals together, he rubbed it. The cymbals produced a screeching sound now, painful even to human's ears, shimmering even shinier blue lights with each sound wave it made. The demon girls halted in the air, hitting blue barrier of sound. They were screaming, as the sound killed their sense of hearing.

Bao Xian spun his body and collected the momentum, throwing the cymbals in the air. The cymbals whirled ferociously. They slayed the frozen bodies of the demon girls. The demon girls were shrieking as the cymbals ripped their stomachs, exposing hundreds of smaller bats which formed their body. The bats were frantically dispersed, trying to run away. However, the cymbals had returned to Bao Xian already. He flew his inner power to both his hands and crashed the cymbals as hard as possible.

"Screw you!"

He smirked as rain of bat fell before him.

"Aieeeee!!!"

There was something moving inside his robe. Bao Xian screamed as that thing was scratching his clothes, trying to reach his private area. He frantically pulled it. A bat was hissing at him.

"You! Darn bat!"

He released the bat but crashed the cymbals at once. He gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"Serve you right, huh?"

Bao Xian sighed and proceed too jump, but ....

"ARGGHHHH!!!!"

His left foot was pulled beneath. He couldn't contain his body as he fell to the ground, breaking a wooden table. His eyes bulged when he saw a full formed bat demon. It was really scary, with very sharp loooking fangs and over muscled body. It was not the ordinary bat demon, it was possibly the king. The demon bat locked his body, trapping him in his embrace. He could not move. His cymbals were not with him.

"ACKKKKK!!!!"

A very painful sting penetrated Bao Xian's nape. The bat demon was biting him, his blood. Bao Xian whimpered. The bite was damn painful.

"Master! Save me!"

He could not scream now as blood was filling his throat. He tried to push the demon away with no avail. The pain was killing now. He helplessly searched through his pocket, finding something that would bring his master.
"Ma ..., mas ... ter! Save ... me!"
His finger touched something. A bell. He shook his hand and rang a bell. The bell was of course magical. It was a sirene of danger, the tool his master gave him in the moment of emergency. Bao Xian kept ringing the bell, wishing to his gut that his master would come to save him.

"Mas ... ter ..."

Bao Xian gasped as the pain had been unbearable. He was losing his energy. The grip on his bell loosened, until it dropped from his hand, hitting the floor, letting out small tingling sound. It was the last sound Bao Xian heard before he was lost to darkness and unconsciousnes.

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2014/05/12

Yehet! Another chapter for you guys! This time the story will be having more and more action. I initially wanted to focus on Suhan story only, but Baekhun story becomes more alluring for me to resist. Kris's? Well, just see how the story will go. I hope you all like this chapter as much as the previous ones.

And don't forget to comment, your comment is always precious! All subs and upvotes are really appreciated too. :)

Schandelierre