“Hehe…little newbie, why are you acting so jittery? Are you looking for a ghost?” A rough and aged voice chided lightly.

In an eerily quiet forest, two figures were slowly making their way through dense thickets and vines, their figures illuminated by the pale moonlight. One of the figures had the appearance of a middle-aged man, who was being supported by a baby-faced young man who appeared to be in his early twenties. The middle-aged man held a silver spear half a zhang long loosely with the arm he had draped over the young man’s shoulder, while the other held a small gourd, which reeked heavily of liquor, that he occasionally took a swig from.

The young man appeared to be struggling greatly to keep him and the middle-aged man on their feet. The young man’s legs were shaking like a newborn fawn’s as he nervously scoured the forest, darting his eyes from one spot to the other, seemingly very anxious. This didn’t go unnoticed by the middle-aged man…

“Eh…I…C-C-Captain Ling, h-h-haven’t you heard about the ‘M-M-Malicious M-M-Moon D-D-Devil’?!” The young man replied shakily in a high-pitched tone, “They say it always comes out on f-f-full moons…l-l-like tonight…”

“The ‘Malicious…Moon…Devil’…” the middle-aged man, Captain Ling, muttered in a drunken stupor, before breaking into a wretched smile, “pft…that’s a made-up creature meant to scare children into behaving! Don’t tell me…a big man like you is scared of an old wives’ tale? You village people…so stupid” Stopping to brandish the silver spear in his hand, captain Ling continued, boasting wildly, “besides, even if it’s real, so what? Hehe, this granddaddy is an esteemed ‘Noble Lord’! With a single strike of my ‘Apocalyptic Silver Spear Arts’, I can kill tens of that ‘Malicious Moon Devil’ or whatever!”

“B-B-But, captain, have you heard…the ‘C-C-Celestial M-M-Moon E-E-Envoy’ in our empire, was k-k-killed, and his ‘C-C-Celestial M-M-Moon B-B-Brigade’, was m-m-massacred, o-o-overnight, b-b-by a m-m-masked devil…on a f-f-full m-m-moon, l-l-like t-t-this!” the scared young man rebuked, his body shivering uncontrollably.

“Eh…” Hearing the young man’s words, Captain Ling became slightly uneasy, the ‘Celestial Moon Envoy’ in question was a powerful ‘Hallowed Court’ cultivator! Not to mention, the ‘Celestial Moon Brigade’ that always followed the envoy was a powerful five hundred strong force, each one even stronger than a measly ‘Noble Lord’ like himself! To think that such a fearsome force could be wiped to the last man at all, much less over the span of a few shi…

“Um…m-m-maybe it has a g-g-grudge against t-t-the ‘C-C-Celestial M-M-Moon P-P-Palace’!” Captain Ling d-d-do you reckon that it could c-c-come here? the young man suddenly asked, “T-T-There is a r-r-revered guest from the ‘C-C-Celestial M-M-Moon P-P-Palace’ h-h-here as w-w-well…”

“Ahahaha!” The middle-aged man began to laugh uproariously when he heard the young man’s words, he couldn’t even bear to imagine what kind of suicidal idiot would be willing to brave the tens of thousands of soldiers and the many 'Hallowed Court' cultivators who defended this place! Quickly regaining his spirit, the middle-aged man began to bluster heartedly once more. “Even dragons and phoenixes would be forced to obediently keel over and lick our boots if they dared to intrude this place! Much less this dog shit ‘Malicious Moon Devil’! Hehe, if that motherfucker or whatever moon devil dares to show up here, this granddaddy will drink his own piss!”

Even though the ‘Malicious Moon Devil’ had been able to slaughter the ‘Celestial Moon Envoy’ and his ‘Celestial Moon Brigade’ were powerful, they were nothing compared to the forces stationed at this place! Of this, Captain Ling was incomparably sure of! Since as a captain, he was privy to a few gossips related to the revered figure visiting this place.

But suddenly, the middle-aged man’s body went slack, and the spear he held in his hand fell onto the ground with a resounding clang…

“A-a-a-ah…” the middle-aged man stutteringly exclaimed, his finger shakily pointing at a figure ten zhang away from them.

Surrounded by a deep red mist, the figure had long, messy black hair, was dressed in pure white robes, stained in blood, it’s face was covered by a mask seemingly carved out of burnt wood, depicting the visage of a horrendous devil. In the figure’s right hand was a curved sickle, blood trickling down its serpentine edge, in its other hand was a dozen severed heads, fresh blood still dripping from their severed neck…

“Mor…tal…why…have…you…in…voked…this…de…vil?” a voice, scraping and cold, reverberated from beneath the figure’s mask.

Dropping the decapitated heads in its hands, the devilish figure slowly floated towards the two as red mist billowed out of its white robes. Although it radiated no oppressive might, and no fluctuations of qi could be sensed from within it, Captain Ling and the young man could feel an indescribable chill creep up their spine when they met with the devil’s gaze.

The middle-aged man was so horribly terrified that soon, a noxious odor wafted into the young man’s nostrils…

“C-C-Captain…” The youth stuttered as he turned to look at his superior. “W-W-Wha-”

The young man was suddenly interrupted when Captain Ling thrusted his body towards the ‘Malicious Moon Devil’, while the latter made a mad dash for it, not looking back even once.

Tossed forwards by Captain Ling, whose cultivation was leagues above his own, the young man fell flat on his face. In a panic, the young man hurriedly got back to his feet and withdrew a three chi long saber from his waist, with the saber in his hands, a glint of determination appeared in his eyes, hidden amidst the terror reflected in them…

His gaze trained onto the figure floating towards him, the saber in his arm held parallel to his body, although he was scared beyond a doubt, the young man wasn’t going to turn his back and run away! Even though he was a scaredy-cat, he wasn’t a coward who would flee before an enemy of the empire!

Well…even if he did try to run at this point, it’s not like he was going to make it…might as well go down fighting, eh? His gaze fixed on the devil’s bloody eyes, the young man almost shat himself when abruptly, its neck began to twist in a gruesome manner, and the mask on its face started to pivot…

*Bam*

Suddenly, the dirt surrounding the devil’s feet was blasted apart as its figure surged forward in a blur, it’s bloody sickle glinting beneath the moonlight. Seeing this, the young man swung his blade down as fast as he could, as his eyes slammed shut. Despite the brave front he was putting up, he was scared, very, very scared, he couldn’t even bear to see this ‘Malicious Moon Devil’ up close!

The young man could feel his saber slash through the air, before landing on the dirt in front of him, hitting nothing. His eyelids still pressed together tightly; the young man slowly counted down to his demise…

“Hehe…”

A charming laughter suddenly rang out next to the young man’s ears, and in response, his eyes snapped open in shock, and his gaze met with a pair of striking pupils, one jade green, the other sky blue.

Letting go of the saber in his hand, the young man fell flat on his butt in surprise, and the figure of an attractive young woman came into his view. Wearing the same white robes, albeit lacking the morbid bloodstains, the young woman was balanced atop the saber’s spine on the tip of her feet. Displaying a brilliant smile on her red lips, the young woman’s beauty, paired with her delightful expression caused the young man to blush deeply, his lips parting in awe…

“Ah…” he exclaimed softly.

“Little fellow, what’s your name?” The young woman asked, a strange and irresistible charm infused in her voice…

“Tie…tou” the young man, muttered along, somewhat in a daze.

“Ai~yah…what a lame name…are you from some backwater village or what?” The young woman complained, pouting slightly, “But well…at least an inconspicuous appearance like yours won’t stick out…”

Smiling lightly, the young woman’s form began to distort, her figure growing taller, her face changing…her dainty chin started to widen, her thin brows thickening. Within moments, it was like the young man was looking at a mirror, the young woman had just transformed into him! Even the robes on her body had transformed into the exact same armor he was wearing!

Withdrawing a copper mirror from the folds of her robes, the young woman, now wearing the young man’s face, scrupulously examined her own handiwork.

“Hmm…I think I’m starting to get the hang of this! Well, there’s still some teeny details that might need work though…” the young woman uttered, her voice now identical to the young man’s, as she made some final adjustments to her new face…

After putting on the finishing touches to her newly acquired features, the young woman turned to face the young man.

“Well, well, well~ what should I do with you now, little fellow?” The young woman smiled sweetly as she caressed the young man’s throat, “I can’t have anyone tattling on me now, can I?”

Seeing the woman’s coy smile on a face identical to his, and hearing his own voice utter those words to him, the young man almost fainted in fear, and completely lost control of his bowels…

“Ew! You! I was just kidding! Did you have to go and shit yourself?! Argh! IT SMELLS!” The young woman swore loudly as her figure flashed away from the young man.

*Blurgh*

Unable to bear the stench any longer, the young woman began to retch violently, so badly that her face began to distort, and she returned to her original appearance.

Breathing a sigh of relief, the young man started to crawl away slowly, hoping the young woman wouldn’t notice…

“Stop! I see what you’re trying to do! I’m not going to get close to you, but don’t you dare run away!” The young woman turned around, wiping bits of vomit on her cheeks with the corner of her sleeves, before turning back to the ground and heaving out another mouthful…

An incense stick's time later, the young woman finally stopped, and she glared at the young man hatefully as she picked up a round pebble from the ground. Weighing it in her hand for a few moments, a cold smile crept up the young woman's face as she spoke,

“oi, you disgusting little fellow, I don’t want to get too close to you, so I’m going to try taking you out of the picture with this rock, okay? You had best not dodge, if I hit you wrong…I might have to throw another one…”

When he heard these words, the young man immediately turned tails and ran, but unfortunately, he only managed to take five steps before he felt something hard strike his cranium, and his vision began to blur.

“Now…how am I going to hide this body?” Were the last words Tie tou heard…