Chapter 3: The Catfish Demon's Reckoning
As soon as our senior martial brother finished speaking, he soared away on his sword. My junior brother and I hurried to follow.
Sword flight demands immense skill. Before long, exhaustion weighed us down, but fearing our senior brother would send us back, we gritted our teeth and endured.
Finally, unable to continue, I blurted out the first excuse that came to mind:
"Senior Brother! We're starving! Let's find somewhere to eat first!"
He turned to assess our condition. I rubbed my stomach for emphasis while struggling to maintain balance.
No wonder our master had approved this trip—he’d known we wouldn’t last long.
If only I’d trained harder.
"Let’s rest here before continuing," Senior Brother conceded, descending toward a shadowy forest below.
Wolf howls echoed around us. Fear crept in, and I clung to my junior brother’s arm.
"Shijie, your timing is terrible!" he whispered, equally terrified.
"I only said it because you looked ready to collapse!"
"Don’t pin this on me! At least I trained properly!"
"Chang Heng, should we use a teleportation talisman to go back?"
Another howl shattered my nerves.
"You use it if you want. I’m not running like a coward."
This little—!
He clung to me like a shadow every other day, yet now he wanted me to disgrace our sect?
I tightened my grip on his arm, resting my head against his shoulder.
"Fine. You passed my test of courage just now."
"Tch." He rolled his eyes.
When Senior Brother returned with a rabbit, fish, and firewood, I rushed to help.
"Chang Xuan, cook these. Let’s see your skills."
His words struck like lightning.
I stared between the food and his expectant gaze before accepting my fate.
Chang Heng claims to love my cooking. He’ll eat whatever I make.
The charred fish went straight to his plate.
"Junior Brother, enjoy!"
He gulped, trapped by his own lies.
"Come on, isn’t this your favorite?"
Forced to chew, his face twisted as if eating dung. "Cr-crispy outside, tender inside! Shijie, amazing!"
Senior Brother took over after witnessing my "skills."
We resumed our journey at dawn, reaching the catfish demon’s latest attack site by midnight.
"It’s gone. Search for survivors."
The village entrance’s shattered posts bore fresh claw marks.
"None alive," I reported.
"Bloodstains are sparse. The villagers likely fled," Chang Heng added, showing off.
Showoff.
As we repaired the damage, I wondered aloud, "Why don’t they leave permanently?"
Senior Brother sighed. "Without official permits, they’d be enslaved as fugitives."
"The authorities won’t help?"
"They did—by requesting our aid. But relief funds get embezzled. Villagers can only hide at night."
His words made me grateful for our sect’s sheltered life.
Exhausted, Chang Heng and I collapsed on a haystack while Senior Brother kept watch.
I awoke choking—Chang Heng’s face inches from mine.
"Shijie! You sleep like the dead!"
Villagers surrounded us. Blushing, I hid behind Senior Brother.
"The elder invited us to rest at his home," he said, dark circles betraying his fatigue.
"Chang Heng and I will take shifts guarding," I declared.
To my surprise, my junior brother whispered, "Sleep first, Shijie. I’ll watch over you both."
His rare maturity stunned me. "As your senior, I should—"
"You and Senior Brother need energy for tonight. Let’s alternate shifts."
Pleasantly dazed, I made him promise to wake me before drifting off.
I awoke to a chicken-leg meal in Senior Brother’s hands.
"Lazybones. Eat up—we fight tonight."
"Chang Heng promised to—"
"I told him to rest after eating."
Seeing him asleep nearby, my heart warmed. The food tasted sweeter.
At dusk, we evacuated villagers and prepared our ambush.
Nervous, I startled at every rustle until Senior Brother and Chang Heng steadied me.
The demon arrived—now in human form.
When it transformed, memories flooded back: my family’s screams, their deaths.
Kill it. Avenge them.
"Chang Xuan, calm down!"
"Shijie!"
They restrained me as the demon entered our trap. But hatred overwhelmed me.
"MONSTER! DIE!"
I lunged, sword flashing.
Initial success turned to disaster. A tail swipe sent me crashing down.
"Shijie!"
Chang Heng abandoned his post to reach me.
Distracted, Senior Brother was batted away like a fly.
Regret crushed me. My recklessness doomed us all.
As the demon loomed over Senior Brother, I saw resignation in his eyes.
"Too weak, old fish! That hit tickled!"
I hurled random talismans—fire, lightning, explosions—anything to divert it.
It worked. The demon turned toward me.
"Practice more, weakling."
It struck before I could activate my life-saving talisman.
Then Senior Brother moved.
A golden seal flashed as he let himself be swallowed whole.
"Chang Heng, take her away!"
His last words.
The teleportation talisman activated. Through tears, I saw golden chains erupt from the demon’s mouth—a sealing array.
Villagers read our grief instantly. I sobbed into Chang Heng’s chest as he wordlessly comforted me.
At dawn, we returned to find only bloodstains and a severed whisker—no body, no remains.
We lied to the villagers. "He drove it off. It won’t return soon."
Master aged decades upon hearing the news.
"Why? Why no body?!"
"My fault—" I began.
"We held Senior Brother back," Chang Heng interjected. "He sacrificed himself."
"The life-saving talisman!" Master rounded on me. "I’d rather you died than him!"
The truth crystallized: Senior Brother had known.
No wonder he acted.
As Master stumbled away, my heart turned to ice.
"I’ll avenge him," I whispered.
Chang Heng squeezed my hand. "Together."
We trained like demons—rising before dawn, sleeping past midnight.
But talent gaps can’t be bridged by effort alone.
When news came of the demon’s return, we sneaked away.
Same village. Same trap. One less person.
This time, we waited patiently.
Golden threads erupted as the demon entered our array, forcing its true form.
"NOW!"
Talismans rained down.
"Fleeing worms return?" it mocked. "Still so weak!"
Chang Heng lunged, activating Senior Brother’s restraint seal—the last charge.
As the demon struggled, I soared above it, chanting forbidden words.
Life for power.
Lightning descended.
Chang Heng’s eyes widened in realization.
We’ve avenged you, Senior Brother.
My final thought?
Sorry, Master. You’ll need new disciples.
The world went white.