Song Ciwan soared through the streets of Pinglan City, occasionally encountering soldiers from the City Patrol Department.

Of course, people in the mortal world couldn’t see her.

Occasionally, she also encountered people from the Otherworld hurrying along their way. Because she was using Escape into the Night, an Escape Technique enhanced by the darkness, her speed reached its absolute limit. Even the Cultivators of the Otherworld could usually only glimpse a dark shadow flitting past them in an instant.

Their paths didn’t cross. Song Ciwan simply focused on her journey. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Monstrous figures frequently appeared on the roads.

Soldiers from the City Patrol Department were unleashing Talismans and fighting in formation to slay the monsters, while Demon-slaying Captains from the Lantern Hanging Department rushed about. The ordinary soldiers could handle the Low Level creatures, but for anything of a slightly higher Level, a Demon-slaying Captain was required.

But the number of Demon-slaying Captains was limited, as was the number of soldiers in the City Patrol Department. Inevitably, some monsters broke through the confines of the streets and buildings, bursting into the homes of common people to cause horrific massacres.

Song Ciwan dared not delay any further. Within thirty minutes, she passed through ward after ward, covering a distance an ordinary mortal would need ten to fifteen days to travel. Finally, after charging through a street swarming with monsters, Song Ciwan slipped into Shanren Square.

The small courtyard she rented was in Shanren Square. This place was Song Ciwan’s temporary home.

Upon entering Shanren Square, Song Ciwan saw numerous Martial Artists in the streets, fighting back-to-back as they slew monsters.

To Song Ciwan, most of these Martial Artists were actually familiar faces.

Shanren Square was one of the largest residential areas for commoners in Pinglan City. Most of the mortals living here were reasonably well-off; while they couldn’t compare to the rich, they were far better off than the poor.

Thus, many martial arts schools had opened in Shanren Square—practicing martial arts was, after all, the most common path for ordinary mortals to climb the social ladder.

In Shanren Square, Song Ciwan’s public identity was that of a young martial artist girl named Song Xun. Although she rarely interacted with her neighbors—her days consisting of leaving early for her job at the Washing Room and returning late—she had nevertheless come to recognize the faces of the Martial Artists from the local schools.

Now, seeing these familiar Martial Artists, Song Ciwan, for some reason, felt a faint, hazy sense of belonging.

Not toward any specific person, but toward this world.

This bizarre world, overrun with Demon Fiends; a world filled with so much absurdity, so much depravity, so much suffering... Yet there were always those who would, in unguarded moments, reveal an uncommon brilliance.

A headless ghost soared and shrieked down the street, and several young Martial Artists were so frightened they started bawling, a mess of tears and snot, as they screamed in panic.

Their master erupted in a tirade of curses. "What are you crying for? You little bastards, if you have the energy to scream, why didn’t you put more effort into your training? You idiots, pick up your sabers and slash at it! Hack away! A man may fear a ghost three parts, but a ghost fears a man seven!"

"You’re brimming with Yang energy! What is there to be afraid of?"

One young Martial Artist squeezed his eyes shut, swung a long-handled saber, and started yelling, "Kill! Kill, kill, kill! I’m not afraid! I’m not afraid! Ah! Die, you monster! Die, die, die!"

His slash went wide. Just as the shrieking ghost head was about to bite him, a passing Song Ciwan released a swarm of Black Insects from the darkness. The insects charged from the side, instantly knocking the ghost head right under the young Martial Artist’s descending saber.

THWACK!

Struck, the ghost head let out a bloodcurdling shriek.

The young Martial Artist’s eyes flew open, and he began to laugh through his tears. "I hit it! I hit it! Master, your disciple isn’t useless! Monster, taste my Cloud-Breaking Saber again!"

Suddenly, another saber flashed in from the side, instantly dicing the ghost head he had just wounded into nothing but ash.

The wielder of the saber was a young Female Martial Artist. She laughed smugly and said, "Eighth Senior Brother, your Cloud-Breaking Saber still isn’t fast enough! How about you watch your junior sister’s Wind-Chasing Saber?"

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! In a single instant, she delivered eighteen slashes, each one kicking up a fierce wind that shredded all the ghost heads swarming them from every direction.

The moment these shattered ghost heads hit the ground, they crumbled into ash.

Song Ciwan silently recalled the Black Insects and brushed past the Martial Artists in the Otherworld.

She crossed several more streets in an instant and, a few breaths later, arrived before her own home.

Then, Song Ciwan witnessed an interesting scene.

Next door to her own house, she saw a tragically beautiful woman knocking insistently on the door.

"Sir, oh sir, please open the door. Just yesterday, you passed me on the main street and praised my charms. Why are you being so cruel tonight?"

"Sir, I’m so frightened! Please open the door, won’t you? Save me! It’s full of terrifying things out here!"

...

The beauty’s pleas came one after another, each cry laced with a captivating allure, like a fresh spring bud brushing against the surface of a murmuring brook.

On, and on.

But of course, no one inside paid her any mind.

It was the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, with the Lantern Festival just ahead. The Night Parade of Hundred Demons was upon them—who wouldn’t bolt their doors?

The soldiers of the City Patrol Department had long since beaten their gongs and drums again and again. Even if they couldn’t be present on every street, the sound of their warnings carried far and wide.

Any citizen in the city with a home to return to had pasted up spring couplets, hung Peach Talismans, and made offerings to their Door God.

These things were somewhat effective. Though the common people were mortals, the national fortune of the Great Zhou had not yet declined. Within the country’s borders and inside its cities, citizens were protected by the righteous aura of the Government Office and watched over by the City God and Land God. Under normal circumstances, people inside their homes had some means of protecting themselves.

So, what constituted an abnormal situation?

For instance, when a Demon Fiend or other such anomaly was powerful enough to break down a door by force—that was typically an abnormal situation.

Another special case was when, influenced by the Nether Qi and Malice in the world, a Demon Fiend or some other anomaly spontaneously manifested inside a home...

And then there was the case where the master of the house, giving in to the temptation of the creature outside, insisted on opening the door himself. Well... that was just called courting death. What more could be said?

Most of the citizens of Pinglan City were well aware of this common knowledge.

Therefore, people could generally resist and see through ordinary temptations.

But the beauty outside, seeing that the family refused to open the door, suddenly changed her tone. "Master Sun, it’s me!" she cried pitifully. "Just now, that good-for-nothing husband of mine was eaten by a fiend! Thank goodness I was quick on my feet—I grabbed the family’s silver and barely managed to escape!"

"Master Sun, please, open the door! I’m not asking you to leave your wife. I’m willing to be your concubine and serve both you and your lady. Please, just open the door, won’t you?"

...

As the beauty continued her pleas, the faint, rustling sounds of conversation began to drift from behind the door.

The man of the house said, "Wife, that’s Liu Quezi’s wife. She has made eyes at me before, you know. She says her husband is dead and that she’s brought all her money to seek refuge with me. I think... I think we should open the door..."

The lady of the house cursed under her breath. "You and your lecherous thoughts, did you think I wouldn’t know? Hey! What are you doing? What do you think you’re doing?"