Once they saw Pei Sijing's unit safely enter one of the shelters to take cover from the rain and rest for the remainder of the night, Fan Ying gave up his supervision of the unit for the time being and they returned to one of the inner ring towers to see how things were going in the days they had been away. High-ranking officers also carry teleportation talismans made with a special golden ink of divine power, so it only takes a moment for them to return to their duties while the unit rests.
"Lord Fan, Zhuo Yixuan, it's nice to see you back." One of the small tower's master hunter greeted them with a respectful bow.
"How are things going tonight? It's been stormy, but we all know rain is no problem for demons. Are there any signs of disturbances anywhere?" Fan Ying asked the master demon hunter in front of him.
"Not so far, my Lord, the inner barrier is as steady as ever, but tonight is unusually quiet, if you ask me. Some demons tend to be more active in weather like this, but.... I don't know if you can sense it too, but there's something lingering in the air." He tried to explain himself, but felt he was coming up short of what he really felt. He had watched that tower for many years and this was the first time he had ever felt so restless.
"I know what you mean, I can feel it too... Could it be the great demon Zhu Yan?" Yixuan asked as he stared into the distance, his eyes glowing amber. This was one of the many things that differentiated his divine power from Yichen's, and not even his father could understand why his two sons, born of the same mother, had such distinct powers and abilities. That was why he didn't inherit the Cloud Light sword, as it refused to awaken in his hand, but it did glow brightly in Yichen's even as a child.
"No one can know for sure... it's quite a mystery. He spends much of his day perched in his favorite tree. We assume he cultivates demonic energy that way and can remain in that same position for weeks or months. Sometimes he disappears, sometimes he comes closer, but he never shows true killing intent, just curiosity... but then, when we get too close, he shows his ominous energy, but he never charges into battle first. The few times he attacked have been because some foolish demon hunters had challenged him. I've always wondered if he wants us gone or not, maybe he is just lazy." The man said, also looking towards Zhu Yan's tree. It was too far away to be seen from the tower, but everyone knew where he was.
"He's a true enigma, I agree." Yixuan whispered, finding the great demon a fascinating disturbance.
"You're the only one who's seen him face to face and lived to tell the tale. What do you think?" Fan Ying turned to Yixuan, who smiled slightly.
"It was just once, and I think he was curious, nothing more. I even think he wanted to ask me something, and for some reason, sometimes I feel like he's looking for me." Yixuan explained, recalling that time their paths crossed and he was impressed by his imposing figure, but he radiated... calm, serenity, peace, the very opposite of what one would expect from the strongest demon in the Forest of Convergence.
"Perhaps he has a crush on you? I mean, he's been alone for so long, and suddenly he comes face to face with a human beauty. We know that demons don't care about gender, so who can blame him?" Fan Ying joked, and the master demon hunter laughed while Yixuan sighed.
"It's not that... I think he expects something from me, or maybe it's not really me, but the blood that runs through my veins." Yixuan theorized and Fan Ying arched an eyebrow in surprise.
"You mean the god dragon Bing Yi?" The master hunter asked bluntly.
"Yes. From what we know, Zhu Yan is several thousand years old and may have met my ancestor at some point in his long life, but that's just my thinking. Don't take it to seriously, I may be quite wrong." Yixuan tried to dismiss his own beliefs, but Fan Ying could see the merit of his reasoning.
"If he's truly interested in your bloodline, then things might improve for us, hopefully. If he's not an unreasonable demon, perhaps we can offer him something mutually beneficial. What do you think, Yixuan? Would you be willing to meet with him and speak with him on behalf of humanity? It would greatly aid our limited understanding of him, even if he only answered the question we all want to know, what he truly wants, or why he's staying on the edge of our world, without actually entering it." Fan Ying offered Zhuo Yixuan this unexpected mission.
He had known Zhuo Yixuan for years. First, because his father and he were good friends back when they worked in the same Bureau in Tiandu, and second, Yixuan was a valuable member of his first unit when the boy was fifteen and he was a Commander. Therefore, he trusted that precious young man with his life, so if there was really a possibility to reason with the great demon, even if it was not because he was a descendant of Bing Yi, he would have offered him the proposal anyway, as Yixuan's kind and patient personality was perfect for the mission. Yixuan considered the possibility for a moment and finally nodded in agreement.
"If there's a chance for this war against the demons to end peacefully, I'm willing. As I said before, I'll do whatever it takes to make my brother's life easier, and if he no longer needs to fight the demons, all the better." At that, Fan Ying smiled proudly and patted Yixuan on the shoulders. But then all hell broke loose and a surge of demonic energy hit them hard, sending them against the tower walls and activating the emergency barriers that now glowed bright red.
⨳⨳⨳⨳ Demon Hunting Unit ⨳⨳⨳⨳
The chaos they witnessed from their vantage point, far away but close enough to see the divine exchange between two forces beyond their comprehension was quite terrifying and Bai Jiu glued himself to Zhuo Yichen's arm, while Wen Xiao did more or less the same with Pei Sijing and Ying Lei simply watched the battle in the distance with a mixture of shock and fascination.
It wasn't every day that you could witness a battle between great demons and it wasn't every day that you felt like you were fighting a futile war in which you had no real hope of winning. Ying Lei had grown up among real gods, even if they were not major gods, they were still divine, but he had never felt such raw power coming from them, such pure destructive waves of demonic energy, like in that moment.
Yichen was in his own inner conflict, for he wanted so badly to protect his people that risking his life was a worthy price, but even he had to admit that no human so far had awakened enough divine power to go against the full real strength of something that was closer to the gods than anything else. How could he stand against this demon Zhu Yan or the one he was fighting? What about both of them? They knew nothing of the great demons, especially since Zhu Yan had inspired deep fear in the hearts of demon hunters for centuries and they learned to stay away from him the hard way.
However, if no one took the first step to try to stop that striking force, then they were all doomed. Perhaps just one unit of god's inherited blood was not enough to defeat Zhu Yan, let alone the one fighting him, but who else could take their place? His brother? Yes, his brother was strong, smart, careful, quick and patient, but even he was no match for that demon and the rest of the demon hunters, even the veterans were also not enough to fight a demon at full strength, but then what, offer them their world on a silver platter? No, he would rather die than let that happen.
The barriers glowed a deep red for hours, but thankfully most of the destructive force remained within the inner ring, which was a relief as Pei Sijing was right in saying that no demon hunter would dare to come close to such a battle unless they had a death wish and both demons were focused on their own duel, a show of strength the likes of which they had never witnessed in their generation.
"Why do you think those two demons duel? Why every few hundred years? And why did Zhu Yan stay within the inner circle when he can clearly cross over whenever he wants?" Wen Xiao asked to no one in particular, and Yichen pondered such questions as he watched the end of the battle and the eerie silence that followed, once all the pent-up demonic energy settled back into the land.
"Who knows, what's clear is that we were fooling ourselves with the demons. So far, we've only faced the lowest levels, probably demons on our side of the gate... against great demons from their realm..." Pei Sijing paused, hearing something approaching rapidly.
"You don't stand a chance..." Someone else behind them said and they all turned to be face to face with a tall and strikingly beautiful man, his presence both alluring and intimidating.
His long, flowing black and gray hair cascaded down his back like a waterfall of silk darkness mixed with creamy white, framing a face that could have belonged to a celestial being. His lips curved into a playful smile, his skin light and smooth under the moon. The man's eyes glittered like crimson rubies, dressed in dark robes embroidered with intricate patterns that seemed to vibrate and dance in the moonlight, exuding an aura of unfathomable power and mischief. With every breath, it felt as if the air around him thrummed with energy. This was the great demon Zhu Yan in the flesh.
The Cloud Light sword glowed with blinding power, pulsing in Zhuo Yichen's hand, but not with the intent to kill, for what Yichen felt from their connection of fated sword and master, was not their shared desire to get rid of the demons that were killing their people, but the recognition of someone or something with which the sword was familiar and they had just been reunited.
"That's... great... great demon Zhu Yan!!!" Bai Jiu shouted his name so loud, that Zhu Yan thought the boy might have ruptured his eardrum, along with those of Pei Sijing who was momentarily paralyzed by the shock of being face to face with her greatest enemy out of nowhere, just like the rest of her unit. However, Yichen stepped forward and unsheathed his Cloud Light sword, because ready or not, he was facing the demon head on.
"Ying Lei, use the portal and leave now!" Yichen shouted as he lunged forward to try and hit Zhu Yan, but only got empty air.
"Oh, you're the type to hit first and ask questions later, huh? Should I praise your bravery or mock your youthful foolishness?" Zhu Yan asked and Pei Sijing readied her bow as the others prepared for a battle they might not win, but they wouldn't back down either.
However, Zhu Yan didn't want the other members of that young man team to interfere, so he cast a one-word spell on them to freeze them over on their spot and allowed only Bing Yi's descendant to move, so he could confront him. The air between them was thick with an eerie stillness, at the edge of a high cliff, where jagged rocks jutted out like the fangs of some slumbering beast, their two figures facing each other in a dramatic standoff that crackled with tension.
"What did you do to them?" Yichen's expression was fierce yet determined as he asked the question. He knew he was up against the most formidable being in existence, but he was not going to let the demon toy with his friends without a fight.
"There's no need to look so fierce, they're perfectly fine, and unharmed. I just want to play around for a little bit, you don't mind, right? It's been very boring lately." Zhu Yan said as if he hadn't just rampaged through the forest in an epic battle that lasted for hours against another great demon.
"Fine! I can entertain you, but only the two of us. You won't harm any other members of my unit." Yichen said as he challenged the great demon with his intense gaze, summoning his divine power into his sword, and tried to strike first in their limited space at the top of the cliff, but that only made Zhu Yan smile.
"So righteous, I like it. Come, show me what you got." And so, Yichen obeyed fearlessly.
He had no idea why Zhu Yan had ended up there after his battle with the other great demon, but if he wanted more fun, he wasn't going to show any less determination, even when his skills were nowhere near the great demon's. He might not win, but at least he could be cunning and try to find his blind spots or his weakness. So he charged in with sword and spells to test the waters and better understand his fighting style, his spells, and his movements. All of that was valuable information to glean from him, and for the moment, aside from the extent of his power, which practically everyone in the forest could see or sense, Yichen could tell that Zhu Yan was the kind of mischievous, teasing demon.
As they exchanged blows, Zhu Yan danced around Yichen with ethereal grace, their movements almost blurring as they clashed steel against black claws like iron, resonating through the night air like thunder. Yet it was painfully evident that Zhu Yan's playful demeanor only concealed his overwhelming superiority, with each parry and thrust, Yichen struggled to keep pace.
Suddenly, during one heated exchange, Yichen try to get away from Zhu Yan's claws and miscalculated his closeness to the edge of the cliff and stumbled backward toward a perilous drop into an abyss where shadows coiled like serpents waiting to devour him whole. In that split second between falling and fate, Zhu Yan's expression shifted from enjoyment to concern as he wasn't ready for this encounter to end so abruptly. He mean that beautiful young man no real harm.
With swift reflexes born from centuries of experience, Zhu Yan lunged forward and caught Yichen by the waist just before he tumbled off into oblivion. Thus Yichen found himself suspended in mid-air for a heartbeat longer than time itself with their faces mere inches apart. Their bodies were too close for comfort, but Yichen clung to him like a lifeline for salvation and grabbed onto the great demon's shoulders for dear life.
"Careful now." Zhu Yan teased lightly, though there was an unexpected gentleness in his grip that contradicted his earlier relentless strikes. Yichen's heart raced faster than he wished, as he regained his footing on solid ground once more. A rush of conflicting emotions surged within him, gratitude for just saving his life even when they were enemies and frustration at his own near-folly, not to mention inferiority in power.
"Why save me?" Yichen challenged through clenched teeth as he stepped back cautiously. Zhu Yan chuckled softly, releasing him quite slowly, but maintaining eye contact that felt charged with something unnameable, a mixture of amusement and respect.
"You said no harm to your unit, which of course, includes you. I am a man of honor." Zhu Yan respond him while raising his head in a sign of dignity.
"You are no man, more like a monkey for all the time you spend perch on that tree." At that Zhu Yan sighed.
"I'm an ape, a white ape. Have you forgotten me already? You give me such a charming smile that make my heart flutter and I have too run away." Zhu Yan said without a trace of shame, and then Yichen understood what he meant and blushed. The great demon Zhu Yan was that tiny monkey he had seen just a few hours ago on the other side of the shelter. The one he had find it cute.
"That monkey was you?" He asked in embarrassment.
"An ape, but yes... I enjoy our little dance tonight quite a lot. Tell your superiors that if they want a truce, I'm willing to meet with the Bing Yi bloodline brothers." Zhu Yan replied enigmatically before stepping back into the shadowy depths of the forest, leaving Yichen both bewildered and intrigued.
AN: Thanks for reading, hope you like it. This was fun to write. Until next time, take care.