A rumble of low, quiet laughter could suddenly be heard from outside the manor. An ominous, foreboding sound.
Abruptly, the Jiangshi Master spun towards the entrance, a dreadful chill creeping up his spine. He narrowed his eyes as he stared outside, trying to feel out this elusive enemy who had managed to mask his presence. He could have sworn he had heard that voice before.
"Who are you, intruder? Are you so eager to court death?"
A ghostly hush stretched out.
Sheng Jing Wu, the Jiangshi Master, grabbed the nearest weapon, a crescent moon spade, and slithered out of his room, silently pacing through the halls leading out of the manor. As he reached his courtyard, his eyes immediately locked upon a tall figure hovering over the outer wall.
The dark shadowy outline of a tall, lean man floated a few feet above the roof tiles. The man's ankle length hair swayed around him, enveloping him like a snowstorm. Similar to a beacon of light engulfed by inky darkness, his eyes were shining golden, suffused with uncanny light inside the murky underground. His left hand was wielding a long, narrow sword, and from its tip dripped a stream of red liquid across the cold, forged steel.
The air was heavy with the smell of burnt flesh and the iron of freshly spilled blood, festering like a stagnant bog.
"Enemies are bound to meet on a narrow road." The man hovering in the air said, his bone chilling voice betraying a trace of amusement.
"Do I know you?" Sheng Jing Wu inquired, gritting his teeth in a mixture of dread and resentment. From the corner of his eye, he noticed something odd lodged on each of the pointed ends of his manor's iron fence.
He turned and squinted his eyes for a closer inspection. A small sigh of anxiety escaped his lips upon discovering those objects were, in fact, severed heads.
The head of his own master among them.
His own heart, which hadn't felt dread for so many years, had now begun to beat erratically. His own home had turned from a place of pleasure into a dismal graveyard.
The silver-haired man responded with another low, rumbling chuckle. The ghastly laughter pealed around the courtyard. "When I had first arrived here, I thought this task to be a tedious chore." His lips curved up into a chilling smile, "Yet, it seems as though I have received a boon instead. Fate certainly works in mysterious ways."
He gracefully descended from above, standing in front of Sheng Jing Wu with his bloody sword drawn out.
"You are…?" Sheng Jing Wu asked again, brandishing the extended spade. He couldn't shake off the strange feeling that somehow, he knew this man, but for the life of him, he could not recall the previous encounter he had had against this foe.
"I already answered your question once before." In the blink of an eye, the silver-haired man raised his sword and aimed it at Sheng Jing Wu's throat. His golden eyes flashed in contempt, "You coveted another man's wife, and think it is possible to escape unscathed?"
Sheng Jing Wu's hand trembled at the sight, his mouth pursed in thought. Those eyes. He had seen those eyes before.
"Impossible. Are you… are you that fox?" He asked, his voice filled with ridicule at the very notion.
As though prompted by the very words, the moment Sheng Jing Wu's question was uttered, he could suddenly see a faint outline of long canine ears atop the devilish man's head, along with multiple silver tails swishing behind him.
The silver haired man didn't acknowledge his question, however, the sneering smile painted on his matchless countenance was enough of an answer.