The Young Girl's Chronicles of Demon-Slaying

Chapter 1: Falling into the Water

In mid-May, the weather gradually began to get hotter. Just past 6:00 p. m. , as the Sun was about to set—the coolest time of the day—Azure Park became the most popular place for exercise among the surrounding neighborhoods. Many nearby residents took advantage of this rare cool spell to gather in Azure Park to exercise and take walks, making the park a bustling scene. Wearing a tank top and shorts with running shoes on his feet, Fang Heng joined the stream of people jogging around the central lake in Azure Park. He ran at his own pace, unconcerned as people occasionally passed him by. He simply maintained his own rhythm—neither too fast nor too slow—glancing around to take in the park’s scenery and enjoying the cool breeze blowing off the lake, looking thoroughly at ease. As he looked around, he suddenly spotted a young woman in her early twenties not far ahead. She had long, jet-black hair and was wearing a simple white printed maxi dress. She was facing the lake, lost in thought as she gazed at something. He glanced at her a few times and thought she was quite pretty—in no way inferior to those made-up female celebrities online. But he figured a girl like her probably had plenty of suitors, and he certainly wouldn’t stand a chance, so he didn’t give it a second thought and soon jogged past her. However, just as he had passed her and hadn’t run more than a few steps, he suddenly heard a splash behind him. He turned to look, but the girl standing by the railing had vanished, leaving only ripples spreading across the lake’s surface. Did she jump into the lake to commit suicide? No sooner had that thought crossed his mind than someone who had seen the girl jump began shouting, “Someone’s jumped into the lake to commit suicide! Quick, save her!” Without a moment’s hesitation, he turned and ran a few steps to where the girl had jumped, scaled the railing, and leaped into the water. “Someone’s in the water!” “Quick, save her! Who can swim?” Only then did the people on the shore begin to gather, but by then there was no sign of anyone on the lake’s surface—only ripples still rippling out. As soon as he hit the water, Fang Heng forced his eyes open. After a brief search, he spotted the girl who had jumped into the lake, sinking steadily toward the bottom. The lake water made the girl’s long hair billow; she held her hands high, as if clinging to this world one last time before death. Fang Heng swam swiftly toward the girl, quickly catching up to her, then reached out with his right hand, trying to grasp the hand she was holding aloft. Just as his hand was about to grasp hers, Fang Heng noticed that the Buddhist prayer beads he always wore on his right hand suddenly began to glow with a golden light. Such a strange occurrence left him momentarily stunned. What was going on? He certainly didn’t recall this Buddhist prayer bead bracelet—which he’d worn for many years—ever having a flashy, gold-colored, rotating light effect. Just then, a sudden, strange turn of events occurred. The girl, who had been keeping her eyes closed and sinking naturally toward the lake bottom, suddenly opened a pair of blood-red eyes. Veins bulged on her face, as if her blood vessels were straining to the limit; her expression became hideous, a far cry from the pretty face he’d seen on the shore earlier. She stared at Fang Heng like a malevolent ghost. She fixed her gaze on Fang Heng, the corners of her mouth curving upward into a chilling, eerie smile. Faced with such a terrifying and spine-chilling sight, Fang Heng felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end; it was as if the lake water had suddenly dropped below freezing, becoming bone-chillingly cold. In his panic, he lost his breath, and foul-smelling lake water immediately gushed into his mouth. He hurried to recover, turning to flee—but unfortunately, they were standing so close that the girl simply reached out and grabbed his ankle as he turned, then began dragging him deeper and deeper toward the lake’s bottom. The girl’s fingers were slender, and her palm was small; she had only managed to grasp half of Fang Heng’s ankle. Yet no matter how he struggled or kicked, he could not break free from her grip and was dragged deeper and deeper into the lake. By this point, Fang Heng was already struggling to hold on, but his will to survive compelled him to bend over in the water, trying to pry apart the five fingers gripping his ankle. However, she was no longer human, and her strength could not be measured by conventional standards. Though those five fair, slender fingers looked delicate, their grip was truly astonishing—like a pair of steel pliers—clamping down on his ankle so tightly that no matter how hard he pried, he could not budge them even a fraction. By this point, he had given up all hope. His oxygen was gone, his stomach was filled with water, and his consciousness was gradually fading. But just then, a brilliant golden light suddenly flashed before his eyes, and immediately afterward—even underwater—he heard a shrill, anguished scream fade into the distance. Immediately afterward, he felt the hand gripping his ankle let go. Unfortunately, it was already too late. Deprived of oxygen, his consciousness plunged completely into darkness. Because of its pleasant surroundings, Azure Park was flanked by quite a few upscale residential complexes. At that moment, in a room in one of the nearby residential complexes, what appeared to be some kind of mysterious religious ritual was taking place. It was a room no larger than twenty square meters, containing no ordinary furniture. The floor, ceiling, and all four walls were covered with black paper—one of the five colors used in such rituals. This type of paper is generally used only in funerals and rituals to make various paper offerings; ordinary people would never use it for anything, let alone cover the walls of an entire room with it. The black five-colored paper covering the entire room was covered in chaotic, scrawled, and irregular characters written in cinnabar—mysterious symbols that resembled incantations. These characters emitted a faint red glow; set against the black five-colored paper, they appeared as if written in fresh blood, making them particularly striking and eye-catching. In the center of the room, a middle-aged man in his thirties, dressed in a silk jacket and black trousers, sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, his hands formed into a strange mudra. The bright red incantation symbols written on the black five-colored paper on the floor all radiated out from him. In addition to these eerie incantations, a small jade-colored incense burner sat before him, with two black incense sticks inserted into it; to its left and right stood two thick white candles. The two tiny flames were the only source of light in the room, but their brightness was dimmed, as if suppressed by an invisible force. Though the flames were large, they failed to illuminate the room, casting light only on a small area around the incense burner. By the light of these eerie flames, one could see five tiny figurines, each less than the length of a palm, lying in front of the incense burner. These five little figures lay in a circle, with the soles of their feet as the center. Three of them were bald, had no facial features, and were dressed in tiny paper garments. However, the other two were different. These two distinctive dolls were strikingly lifelike in both appearance and attire: one was a man in a suit and leather shoes, while the other was a young girl with long, jet-black hair, wearing a white, patterned long dress. The young girl’s doll had a delicate, beautiful face, her eyes gently closed. If one disregarded her size, one might momentarily mistake her for a living girl, her body merely shrunk thousands of times smaller. Bathed in a faint red glow, the middle-aged man sitting cross-legged on the meditation cushion appeared blurred, and the five tiny dolls in front of the incense burner only added to the eerie and terrifying atmosphere in the room. The room was completely silent, and it was unclear how long this had gone on. However, just as the Buddhist prayer beads on Fang Heng’s right wrist—as he sat in the lake—burst into a brilliant golden light, the flames of the two white candles suddenly flickered. Two distinctive black incense sticks snapped in half, and among the five figurines lying in a circle with their feet at the center before the incense burner, the young girl’s figurine suddenly burst into flames. This flame was unlike any ordinary flame; it did not emit ordinary light, but rather radiated a golden glow. Amid the radiance, faint, ethereal Buddhist chants seemed to emerge. Caught off guard, the middle-aged man suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, his blurred features instantly contorting into a hideous grimace. As he spat out the blood, the bright red incantations written on black, multicolored paper throughout the room simultaneously burst into brilliant light. The crimson glow rapidly coalesced, clashing with the golden Buddhist light emanating from the burning flames but in the end, the Buddhist light proved too feeble; the crimson glow quickly gained the upper hand and suppressed both it and the flames. Finally, the flames died out, and the Buddhist light vanished. Yet by then, it was already too late. The ritual had been interrupted, and the damage was inevitable. In addition to the middle-aged man, who was gravely wounded and coughing up blood, the beautiful young girl’s doll had also been destroyed. A faint creaking sound could be heard as cracks rapidly appeared on the charred, blackened doll, which then shattered into pieces, reduced to rubble. The middle-aged man slowly opened his eyes; his face, pale from his injuries, was etched with murderous intent and rage. He slammed his fist into the ground in fury, his face contorted in rage as he spat out two words, his fury impossible to conceal: “Buddhist Order!!” “How is it? Is there still a chance?” “Why hasn’t the ambulance arrived yet?” “Everyone, don’t crowd so close! Step back! “I’m a doctor—everyone step back!” The embankment by the lake was covered in water stains, and two young people, soaked from head to toe, stood among the crowd, concerned about the well-being of the person they had rescued. The onlookers were in an uproar. Through the gaps in the crowd, one could see a middle-aged man performing first aid on the person lying on the ground, while a middle-aged woman crouched beside him, assisting under his direction. Those inside the circle were busy saving the person, while those outside were buzzing with speculation. The first to voice a doubt was someone in the crowd. “That’s strange. I clearly saw a girl and a boy jump into the lake one after the other just now. How come the one they pulled out is a little girl?” “Did you get a bit confused?” “No way! It wasn’t just me—lots of people saw two people, a man and a woman! The woman was in her early twenties, and the man was around twenty too. The woman jumped in first, and then the man happened to be passing by and jumped in after her—probably to save her.” “Did three people jump into the lake?” “But there’s no one left in the lake!” A man, soaking wet, wrung the water from his clothes as he spoke. Then he turned to another man, equally drenched, and asked, “I went in and only found this little girl. What about you?” “I only saw this little girl, too.” “That’s strange!” Several people nearby who had witnessed the entire scene exchanged bewildered glances. One of them suddenly shuddered and said, “Could it be a ghost?” “A ghost? Are you kidding?” Although equally puzzled, one of them refused to believe it: “In broad daylight… if it really were a ghost, would she have been able to come back up alive?” “True…” Everyone thought that made sense, and just then, the crowd suddenly let out a cheer: “She’s waking up! She’s waking up!” “Is she okay now?” “Thank goodness she’s awake! Quick, ask her how she fell into the lake. Where are her parents?” I opened my eyes groggily to the sound of chaotic cheering, and the first person I saw was a middle-aged man who was still somewhat handsome. I’m not dead? I’m saved?! These two thoughts flashed through Fang Heng’s mind, and only then did he realize he really wasn’t dead. After he’d gone under, the people on the shore must have seen that he wasn’t resurfacing, so someone else had jumped in to help. So, he’d been saved! A sense of having escaped death and been given a second chance at life welled up inside him. He felt completely weak, yet he still braced himself against the ground, struggling to stand up. But he soon realized that something was wrong with his current situation. Why were his hands so small?! The hands bracing against the ground were short and slender. Why is this shirt so big?! The tank top hung loosely on him, almost dragging down to his knees. Why am I so short?! Even though he was standing up, the middle-aged man in front of him—who was crouching slightly—was still almost level with his face. Before he could figure out what was going on, the man asked in a gentle tone, “Little sister, how are you? Is there anywhere you’re feeling uncomfortable?” “Little girl?” “Sir! Did you get my gender wrong? I’m a grown man—and you’re calling me ‘little girl’ in public?!” Fang Heng opened his mouth to speak, but felt a searing pain in his throat, triggering a violent coughing fit. He coughed and coughed, seemingly unable to stop; he kept coughing until he bent over, which triggered a bout of retching, but nothing came up—only some sour liquid. The middle-aged woman standing nearby asked anxiously, “Old Song, what’s going on?” The middle-aged man furrowed his brow. Seeing how badly the little girl was coughing, he gently patted her back while reaching out to feel her forehead: “She’s got a cold and a high fever! We need to get her to the hospital right away!” “Why isn’t the ambulance here yet?” No sooner had the words left his mouth than the sound of a police siren could be heard in the distance. “It’s coming! With a whoosh, the ambulance arrived at the scene. The nurse lowered the stretcher, and the little girl who had fallen into the water was quickly helped onto it and loaded into the ambulance. The middle-aged man and woman who had just administered first aid to the girl followed them inside. The ambulance made only a brief stop before speeding away from the scene, leaving behind a crowd of onlookers murmuring among themselves in confusion and bewilderment. Afterward, some people still called the police, suspecting that two more people had not been rescued from the lake. However, after a day or two of search and rescue efforts, there was no sign of them whatsoever. The person who called the police was nearly accused of making a false report, but fortunately, there were quite a few others who swore that two people had not been brought ashore. After taking statements from all of them, the matter was eventually dropped. Of course, that was later; for now, the ambulance was rushing to a nearby hospital. The doctors and nurses on board seemed quite familiar with the middle-aged man who had boarded with them. One of the male doctors on the ambulance even chuckled, “Thank goodness Director Song was there to administer first aid; otherwise, the little girl would have been in serious danger.” After saying that, he glanced at the woman sitting next to Song Wencheng and asked, “Is this Director Song’s wife?” “Yes, this is my wife, Lin Yuqin,” Song Wencheng said with a smile. “Hello!” After exchanging friendly greetings, their attention turned back to the little girl lying on the stretcher. At that moment, the nurse on the ambulance fitted the little girl with an oxygen mask and was checking her blood pressure and administering an injection—they’d done everything they could. Now, the only thing left was to rush her to the hospital for emergency treatment as quickly as possible. “That’s strange—why is this little girl wearing an adult tank top?” The doctor accompanying the ambulance finally voiced his confusion. The little girl looked to be no more than thirteen or fourteen years old. She was barefoot, wearing nothing but an adult man’s tank top—the straps barely hanging on her shoulders. Other than that, she wore nothing underneath; she was essentially as good as naked. “I’m not sure about that.” Song Wencheng had actually noticed this long ago, but since he didn’t know the reason, he could only shake his head in response. The attending physician was merely puzzled; seeing that Song Wencheng didn’t know, he didn’t press the matter further.