Xiaojun woke up with the haziest of memory as his head and body seared with pain. “Where am I?” he muttered aloud. “What just happened?” He looked to see that he was being dragged by a nine-tailed fox. With a rope tied to his leg, the animal had continuously dragged him forward.

The fox lay him down in a forest where she transformed into her human form. “Good lord,” she panted, “you’re finally conscious. You do know that you’re a heavy bastard, right?” Xiaojun attempted to sit himself up, only to be attacked by a sharp pain. “What happened? Didn’t I just kill Siumeng?” he asked. Hua started a fire as she answered. “When you killed him, the castle began to fall apart. Luckily, I didn’t run far and I managed to find an opening back into the room. You were already on the floor.”

She lit the flame and sat back, drinking loads of water as her exhausted body attempted to rejuvenate itself. “I picked you up, and for days, I’ve been hauling you and feeding you my blood.” Xiaojun shot up, ignoring the pain in his body. “I’ve been unconscious for days?” he demanded. Hua nodded in response. “Your body was covered in these poisoned needles, which must’ve been the reason why it took so long for your body to heal, even with my blood.”

Xiaojun scoffed as he held his weapon. At the very least, he still had that of all things. “We have to get moving. I’ve been asleep for far too long.” Hua just exhaustively laughed as she shook her head. “You forget that I’ve been hauling a giant warrior wearing loads of armor and holding that big weapon. I am not moving another inch without my rest.”

“Do you not realize what is at stake?” Xiaojun demanded. “While we rest here, the Four Beasts and the Beast of Corruption are building themselves and their forces! Evil is spreading while we sit in these woods and rest.” Hua yawned as she laid herself down. “Yeah. I know. You’ve been mumbling on about it while you were out. ‘I’ll kill you demon.’ Or something like ‘Nina! Stay away!’ I can tell you want to fight.”

Xiaojun prepared to rise to his feet to reprimand the fox girl only to fall right as he stood up. Hua just side eyed him as she closed her eyes. “Tomorrow morning, we can get out of here. Does that sound good?” To this Xiaojun grunted before finally resigning. “Fine. That sounds good.” With that, they closed their eyes, though Xiaojun slept lightly.

The next morning, as promised, they were back on the move. Hua exhaled in relief as she cracked her back. “Carrying you around really takes its toll, you know.” Xiaojun said nothing as his mind remained preoccupied with other things. So many memories had resurfaced during his time of unconsciousness. Memories of the Half-Man. Memories of the wars. Memories of Nina. It was this coalition of memories that haunted his mind.

“By the way, why are you so adamant to heading to Dajing?” Hua asked. “You mentioned it only once: something about how the Beast of Corruption is probably there. Not that I’m doubting you, since I’ve seen how all humans are a bit crazy in the head, but at the same time I don’t think seeing him early on is a great idea.” Xiaojun grunted in response as he scolded the girl. “What do you mean?”

“When you were fighting Siumeng and his sons, I could tell you were struggling,” she said. “Even with the excuse of being injured at the time, I highly doubt that Siumeng is even a fraction of the strength that any of the Four Beasts, let along the Beast of Corruption, is capable of. I think you need to get stronger first.”

“I am strong enough,” Xiaojun replied. “I will make it work. As humanity’s envoy, I must rid the world of them.” They continued to march on as Hua sighed in disbelief. “I don’t know much, but I’m sure that the title of being ‘the envoy’ can only do so much.” Suddenly she stopped. “Something’s wrong.”

She transformed into a fox, sniffing the air like a dog searching for a specific scent. Afterward, she returned to her human form with a face of complete fear. “That smell! Good god! It’s the same smell I felt back in Lord Luo’s castle!” Xiaojun held his weapon and prepared himself. “What smell?” he asked. With fear in her eyes, she gave the answer. “The smell of a demon.”

Fog covered the land around them as they stood carefully. It was a complete mistake to continue venturing on while being injured and exhausted. But Xiaojun knew what he was getting himself into. Ignoring the sharp pain in his body and mind, he stanced himself and his weapon properly.

Muddy footsteps came from the right as they immediately turned towards it. They were strong and heavy footsteps, as if the being coming toward them was a dark and corrupted knight. “The smell! I hate it! We should run!” Hua whispered. But Xiaojun held his ground. “If we run, it will catch us. You know that running from demons is impossible.” Then the footsteps stopped.

There was a terrifying silence. The kind of silence that proceeds a gunshot or earthquake. The kind of silence that the dead give upon their passing. The two held their breath as they prepared for what was to come. There was no room for weakness.

Suddenly, a figure charged in and Xiaojun blocked its strike. As quickly as it came in, it returned to the fog. “What was that?” Hua yelped. The figure returned and gave another strike. Xiaojun blocked it once more as the figure went back into the fog. It was as if the demon was playing and toying with the two of them.

“Show yourself!” Xiaojun demanded. He struck into the fog only to leave himself completely open. In this split second, he found a blade’s tip right at his throat as both he and Hua froze in place. Then, emerging from the fog, was the demon himself. “Xiaojun. You are wounded,” the demon said. The warrior froze as he recognized the face of the demon. “Jin the Half-Man…”

Soon after, they were brought to an isolated hut within the fog. It seemed that Jin had been living in the hut for a while as there was bedding, a fire, and other signs of residency. Sitting inside, Hua and Xiaojun awaited the return of the demon. “Who was that?” Hua asked. “Why didn’t he kill us?”

She silenced herself as the door reopened. Jin presented them with bowls of rice porridge. Hua squealed when she saw it. “Rice! How did you get this?” She immediately ate through his warm bowl as Jin sat himself down. “If one scours enough, they can find many villages with food. The people have either died, or ran before they could even pack supplies.”

Xiaojun slowly supped from his bowl as the demon sat patiently. “What do you want?” he asked. Jin gave a straight-forwarded answer. “You need to heal, and you need to better consider your current strategy.” Xiaojun slammed his fist down as he replied. “Are you asking me to give up?”

“No,” Jin calmly said. “I am simply asking you to be smart, as the enemies of man are thinking just as intelligently.” The fog remained outside as they sat patiently. “For one, entering the Fog of the Depths was not an intelligent move.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Hua looked up from her bowl. “The Fog of the Depths?” Jin nodded. “Xiaojun knew about it as he led you here. Many creatures and monsters venture here and use the fog as cover. In fact, this hut was once the home of a lonely gardener. You can find her in the fog, though not as the woman she used to be.”

Hua scoffed in disgust as she looked at the warrior. “You idiot! If you knew that this place was full of monsters, why in the hell did you bring us here?” Jin answered for Xiaojun. “He wanted a shortcut. He wanted to make it to Dajing as soon as possible.” Hua slapped her own face in irritation. “We’re injured and tired! Do you realize that our supplies have been running low too? Why?”

“Hubris,” Jin once again answered. “You forget, Xiaojun, that although you are the envoy of man, you are also only a man. Even with my armor and weapon, you are still a man.” Xiaojun scoffed in complete irritation as he looked the demon in the eye. “If you wish to be the envoy, why don’t you do it then?”

“I do not wish to be the envoy,” Jin calmly replied. “And I cannot be the envoy of man, when I am not a man. My blood and body is tainted with the blood and body of a demon. When I walk in the realms of man, I must conceal my face in order to not terrify them. You know this, Xiaojun. That is why you, someone who is truly a man, must represent your kind.”

“Then why do you care so damn much?” Xiaojun demanded. “As you just said, humans don’t even want to look at you! So why do you care so much about humanity’s survival?” Jin calmly sighed as he supped on his cup of tea. “My reasons have changed over the eons, but what matters in the present is your actions, Xiaojun. You must be patient and fight the beasts when you are truly ready.” Xiaojun scoffed once more. “And how do you want me to be ready?” Jin rose to his feet.

“You killed the demon known as Siumeng. A feat, but in the end, the Beasts cannot be killed with the means of normal and conventional weapons. You must use a gifted weapon in order to do so.” He then retrieved a map and pointed to mountains in the north. “Here. This is where you can retrieve one. It will require every ounce of your strength, but once you have it, you will be a step closer to defeating the Beasts.”

Xiaojun finished his porridge quickly as he rose to his feet. “If what you are telling me is true, then I must begin my journey now.” Jin sighed once more. “Hubris. Do not lean into it. The Beast of Avarice and the Beast of Corruption can use it against you. I must ask you to wait here for some time.”

Xiaojun gripped his weapon. His body, though injured, itched to leave this hut and charge forward. But in the end, he let go of his weapon. “What you are saying is true.” He sat himself down, looking almost disappointed in himself. “I… I must stay then…” Suddenly, the earth began to shake as Jin calmly retrieved his sword. “The monsters of the fog have smelled the scent of your flesh.”

The earth shook rhythmically as something large continued to step outside. Xiaojun sighed and relaxed while Hua remained stiff and nervous. She looked out of a hole as she wished to catch a glimpse of the creature outside.

“Children? Where are you?” a beautiful feminine voice called from outside. It was a large multi-legged beast which walked and looked like some kind of spider. However, it had a tower of haired flesh on its top which searched around like a sentry. With a human face which blinked and maintained a wrinkling smile, the creature stomped about. “Children? Where are you?” it called as if it were singing.

It looked around the hut. With it’s mouth located on its underside, it seemingly sniffed around. Everyone remained silent as Hua froze as she looked at the thing from her hole. Suddenly, a wounded horse neighed in the distance. Suddenly, the face turned to the horse’s direction and began to grin with its teeth. “There you are child! I have missed you!”

It began to sprint with each one of its feet shaking the earth with its weight. The horse struggled to run, as one of its legs was visibly broken. The spider impaled the horse with one of its legs as the face began to laugh. “Mommy gets scared when you run! She feels as if you don’t love her anymore!” With the horse screaming and bleeding, the spider stuffed the creature into her maw. With a single bite, the screaming stopped.

Satiated for now, the spider went off as Jin and Xiaojun pretended as if nothing happened. “What was that thing?” Hua asked, still shaken by the sight. “That,” Jin answered, “was the woman who lived here. When she was still human, her husband died in one of the emperor’s many wars and their only child died as an infant. Demons love to plague those in pain, which is why they chose her to be their next victim.”

Hua curled herself as she shook with the thought of pure fear. “I know I’m technically a monster, but if things like that exist, how can humans even compare us?” Jin said nothing as he put his sword away, knowing that he didn’t need to use it. “In the end, humans are scared and fragile things living in the depths of the universe. That is why they see anything that is not human as either a resource or an enemy.”

Hua knew that it was true as the days of being in Zheng Qiang’s dungeon resurfaced. The faces of all those different people that remained trapped along with her flashed into her mind as well. It made her think: what good was there in saving humanity anyway? She, at the very least, could never know the answer. “Jin,” she suddenly asked, “what exactly are you if you are neither demon or human?”

“I am a half-man,” he said. “I was born in a time much different from now when the walls between the world of the living and the world of demons was not well separated. It was a time far worse than this when humanity was truly nothing but a mere underbelly: a fat weakness meant to be used to eaten.”

He sat himself in front of the huli jing as he explained himself. “My mother was a human. She was raped. A demon had come into the night and used her as nothing but a plaything. I am the spawn that came from that crime. Ever since my birth, I have been cursed from both the lands of men and the lands of demon. A half-man, and a half-demon. One who was never whole in either.”

“So why do you want to fight for humanity?” she asked. “Well,” he replied, “I didn’t want to fight for humanity. I just wanted to fight against the demons. I wished to punish them for what they did. With my strange body, I slaughtered many of them in both the world of the living and the world of demons. Hubris. Anger. Arrogance. I became nothing but a demon myself.”

He looked outside, ensuring there were no more creatures here to interrupt them. “There are many more details lost into the sands of time, or are simply not necessary to know. You must simply remember that Xiaojun must never give in to hatred or any of the vile emotions ushered by the beasts. There is a reason they gain strength from it, and it is because they are all the dark sides of humanity. Please ensure that he strays from that evil path.”

Hua looked over at Xiaojun. The warrior had already and accidentally fallen asleep, probably since his many injuries had made him completely exhausted. With a smile on her face, she nodded. “Fine, Mister Half-Man. I’ll do my best.”

“Good,” Jin said. “And be sure not to eat humans again. The taste is unforgettable and will call you to dark places.” Hua was wide eyed as she stammered. “H-how did you know that I—” Then she stopped. “Not that long ago, I’d probably just ignore you.” She sat herself back and raised her hand. “Fine. I promise not to eat people. I only did all of that because I was hungry, and I had no idea what I was doing.”

Jin then rose to his feet and grabbed his things. “Wait wait wait,” Hua called, “what’re you doing?” Jin opened the door as he prepared to leave. “Xiaojun does not need me. Not yet, at least. In the end, the journey as man’s envoy is his and not mine.” He put on a straw hat which covered his head. “May the heavens bless the both of you.” With that, he shut the door.

Hua sighed in annoyance. “What a strange guy,” she thought. “Gives us a whole stream of information and then leaves like nothing happened.” She looked at the sleeping Xiaojun in front of her. Even when he was unconscious, he was still holding onto his weapon with a tight grip. “Guess there really is no stopping you, huh?” She rested her head onto his lap and closed her eyes. “What a strange man…” With that, the two of them slept restfully for the first time in a very long time.