Small Bai Ze
Early in the morning, just after dawn, almost every household in the village was already up, feeding the chickens and starting their daily work. The morning light filtered through the mountains, casting a quiet glow over the small village, while neighbors greeted each other as they went about their routines.
Having just arrived in a new place, Lu Congxing had been unable to sleep the entire night due to being unaccustomed to the bed. He lay awake until dawn.
So, when someone approached, he sensed it immediately and got up to open the door in advance.
Just as Tian Rourou was about to knock, the door swung open. Her hand froze awkwardly in mid-air.
“You’re up so early,” she said with a smile. “I thought young people liked to sleep in.”
Not wanting to explain his insomnia, Lu Congxing got straight to the point. “Is there something you need?”
“Oh! I brought you breakfast!” Tian Rourou cheerfully took out a plate of eggs, along with white porridge and pickled vegetables, from her basket.
She added proudly, “These eggs are from my family’s own hens!”
The eggs were boiled in water without being shelled—exactly five, just enough for everyone in the house.
“Thank you.” Lu Congxing politely accepted the basket, accidentally brushing against Tian Rourou’s hand.
It felt soft.
He glanced at the girl’s face, full of youthful collagen.
Tian Rourou looked puzzled, seemingly a little embarrassed by his stare. “What’s wrong?”
Lu Congxing shook his head. That brief touch just now felt a little strange, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint what was strange about it.
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll go deliver the rest of the breakfasts.” Tian Rourou smiled again and cheerfully ran off.
Lu Congxing placed the basket on the small table in the courtyard and went to wash up. By the time he finished, only Gu Hanyin was awake.
The award-winning actor was strict about his daily routine and wasted no time getting up and washing his face.
Hot water was hard to come by in the village, so everyone had to use cold water in the morning. The icy splash on the face was enough to jolt anyone awake.
Gu Hanyin, his expression cool, wiped his dripping hair with a towel and gestured at Lu Congxing. “Hey, little charlatan, go wake the others.”
“I’m not a little charlatan,” Lu Congxing retorted, then turned away without looking at him, heading inside to wake the others.
Gu Hanyin muttered under his breath, “Looks soft and obedient, but he’s got quite the temper.”
It was another fifteen minutes before everyone finally gathered in the courtyard for breakfast.
By then, the eggs were no longer steaming hot.
Lu Congxing slowly peeled one as he held it in his hand. He had plenty of food in his Qiankun space, but since he had barely carried any luggage yesterday, taking out too many things might attract unnecessary attention.
Di Jiang, not a picky eater, ate his porridge with pickled vegetables and carefully cradled his egg. “This is great. The villagers are so kind—offering eggs to their guests. That must be quite precious to them.”
The assistant director interjected, “We actually pay extra for our meals. The daily food budget per person is about eighty yuan…”
Still, everyone had mentally prepared for the rustic conditions before coming to the mountains, so getting to eat eggs was an unexpected treat.
Lu Congxing slowly ate all the egg whites, leaving the yolk untouched for Di Jiang.
He liked soft-boiled yolks, not the fully cooked ones.
Gu Hanyin glanced at him again and chuckled. “So delicate.”
In reality, he knew this so-called “little charlatan” wasn’t delicate at all. Despite looking fair-skinned and delicate, Lu Congxing had climbed the mountain in complete silence yesterday, never once complaining. This morning, he had even gotten up early to fetch water from the well for everyone.
But for some reason, Gu Hanyin just felt like teasing him—like playing with a cat.
Since there was no real malice behind his words, Lu Congxing simply ignored him. The director, however, shot Gu Hanyin a glare and muttered under his breath, “Why do you keep messing with him?”
Gu Hanyin stretched out his long legs, tilted his head slightly, revealing a roguish side, and said, “It’s fun.”
The director scoffed. “I swear, your fans should see you like this.”
After finishing his meal, the director wiped his mouth, full of energy. “Alright, time to start filming!”
Before shooting could begin, they had to hold an opening ceremony.
The director handed the entire responsibility over to Lu Congxing, afraid that any misstep would bring bad luck.
Several talismans were drawn on the red cloth covering the offering table. Under the guise of retrieving something from his bag, Lu Congxing discreetly pulled out a pair of large red candles from his Qiankun space.
He placed them on either side of the incense burner. The incense used was not for worship but was specifically crafted for exorcists. A closer look revealed intricate symbols of the Bagua formation1 engraved upon them.
This type of incense couldn’t be mass-produced; each piece had to be meticulously handcrafted, a true testament to exquisite craftsmanship.
During these rituals, Lu Congxing always stood apart from the others. As a demon himself, he had no need to worship gods or spirits. He didn’t prepare meat or fruit as offerings—instead, he arranged eight empty red plates.
He took out eight talismans designed to subdue ghosts from all directions and placed one on each plate, treating them as sacrificial offerings. If a wandering ghost was lured in, it would be instantly trapped by the formation.
The moment the incense ignited with a blue flame, an inexplicable gust of wind swept through the area.
The sudden rush startled everyone.
“My umbrella!”
“Watch out! Something’s flying this way!”
The wind arrived at the worst possible moment, as if deliberately disrupting the opening ceremony.
Yet, amidst the chaos, Lu Congxing remained perfectly still. Not a single strand of his hair was disturbed, and the table before him remained untouched.
No one noticed that, despite the strong gusts, neither the plates nor even a corner of the red cloth had been moved.
A faint trace of ominous energy lingered within the wind.
However, with a mere flick of Lu Congxing’s slender wrist, it vanished without a trace. The movement of his hand carried a chilling sharpness, like the glint of a blade.
The ominous energy was silently erased, and the wind ceased instantly.
The director let out a sigh of relief. “Finally, it stopped. Hey, is everything still intact?”
Noticing that the table and its contents remained untouched, he immediately broke into a smile.
What had seemed like a bad omen now felt like a good one.
By the time the opening ceremony was finished, most of the day had already passed. Not wanting to get in the way of the busy film crew, Lu Congxing quietly stepped aside.
The first scene to be filmed was an interaction between the male and female leads. Since Wen Yi and Di Jiang weren’t involved, they moved closer to Lu Congxing and spoke to him in hushed tones.
Wen Yi asked, “Xing Cub, do you know how to read fortunes? Can you tell if this shoot will go smoothly?”
There was no need to guess who had given her that nickname. Lu Congxing shot a glance at Di Jiang, who remained silent, staring at the ground as if deep in thought.
“I don’t know,” Lu Congxing replied. Then, after a brief pause, he added, “Just be careful. Don’t get too close to the people here.”
Yesterday, he had noticed Wen Yi chatting and laughing with the villagers who had helped carry her luggage. She was easygoing and unreserved when interacting with others.
“Why?” Wen Yi asked, her eyes widening in surprise.
“Have you seen any children or elderly people in this village?” Lu Congxing asked.
Wen Yi thought for a moment, then shook her head. “Now that you mention it, that is kind of strange. In a mountain village like this, usually the young adults go out to work while the elderly and children stay behind. But here, I’ve only seen able-bodied adults. There are so many empty houses, and the villagers say the previous residents moved away. That means this village isn’t completely closed off from the outside world…”
As Wen Yi spoke, she found herself swallowing nervously.
The youngest person she had seen in the village so far was a girl named Tian Rourou, but even she was at least eighteen.
The village was small and remote, with limited resources for farming and livestock. It didn’t seem like the kind of place that could be completely self-sufficient. If nothing else, they would at least need to regularly purchase essentials like salt and spices.
Yet, whenever the villagers spoke about the outside world, none of them showed any longing or disdain. Their reactions were eerily neutral.
Lu Congxing continued, “And not a single person here owns a cat or a dog.”
Cats and dogs were highly sensitive to supernatural presences. Even the slightest disturbance would alert them.
Di Jiang and Wen Yi frowned. Now that it had been pointed out, all these small details became much clearer.
No wonder the village felt so unnervingly quiet—there were no barking dogs, no children running around. Just adults going about their work.
But drawing conclusions based on this alone would be too rash, so Lu Congxing didn’t elaborate further. He had been paid to ensure the crew remained safe from supernatural disturbances, and he intended to conduct his own investigation.
While everyone else was busy filming, Lu Congxing quietly slipped away from the crowd.
He wanted to track down the source of that ominous wind from earlier.
A thin, ghostly blue thread—visible only to him—unraveled from his fingertip, writhing like a serpent as it scanned its surroundings before darting straight toward the mountains.
The source wasn’t in the village—it was in the mountains?
Lu Congxing frowned and followed the thread, sensing the restless stirrings of his spiritual energy.
Bai Ze’s spiritual energy, which he had been relying on, was starting to run low.
If he reverted to his cub form in the mountains, would he end up being mistaken for a wild animal and be eaten?
Despite the thought, he pressed forward fearlessly, taking a path completely opposite to the one they had originally traveled.
Unexpectedly, the deeper he went, the more stable his spiritual energy became. It was as if it had sensed something before he did.
Pushing aside an obstructing branch, he suddenly caught sight of someone who absolutely should not have been there.
In that instant, everything clicked.
Even with his aura suppressed, an ancient divine beast’s presence naturally still intimidating. Standing in the open space, He Zhouyan’s tall, broad-shouldered frame exuded an imposing energy, as if even the sweltering heat dared not get too close.
He turned to look at Lu Congxing, raising an eyebrow.
“We meet again, little cub.”
The last two words carried a deep, magnetic tone, as if whispered right beside his ear.
For some inexplicable reason, Lu Congxing’s ears turned red. His round apricot eyes widened as he gazed at the man, a small green leaf accidentally caught in his hair.
“What are you doing here?”
“Hm?” He Zhouyan seemed amused. Taking a step closer with his long legs, he answered, “Didn’t I tell you yesterday? I was just passing through.”
…When did he say that?
Lu Congxing instinctively wanted to refute him but hesitated when he met the man’s amused gaze.
Now that he thought about it, He Zhouyan had offered him a ride yesterday morning, and he had mentioned something about passing through.
He Zhouyan reached out and removed the green leaf from his head. “Little friend, I have some matters to take care of in the next few days and would like to stay in the mountains for a while.”
Lu Congxing gave him a look that clearly said: And what does that have to do with me?
“Don’t call me ‘little friend.’ I’m an adult.”
This was even more infuriating than being called “Xing Cub.” As expected, he still really disliked Bai Ze.
Feeling that their proximity was a bit too close, Lu Congxing subtly shifted backward. Yet, he still felt trapped.
The little cub’s age didn’t even amount to a fraction of his own, yet he was trying so hard to act mature. The contrast between his fierce demeanor and his natural adorableness was almost too much.
No wonder the demons at the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs were always going on about how much they wanted to “absorb the cub’s energy.” Now it made sense.
He Zhouyan chuckled and returned to the topic. “If I stay in these mountains too long, I’ll be discovered. That’s why I need to stick close to you and use your spiritual energy to mask my presence.”
Discovered by what?
And what would happen if he was discovered?
Lu Congxing was never someone overly curious about other people’s business. Even though he was a little confused, he rejected the request without a second thought.
“No.”
“Hmm?” He Zhouyan asked the question that had been on his mind since the moment they met. “Is it because you hate me?”
Caught off guard, Lu Congxing suddenly felt at a loss.
The pale blue in the man’s eyes was faint under the sunlight, yet it was so deep that it seemed capable of pulling people in.
Without realizing it, Lu Congxing found himself caught in the flow. “N-no, it’s just that my spiritual energy can’t cover yours.”
“So if it could, you’d agree?” He Zhouyan’s lips curled slightly.
Before Lu Congxing could refuse, he saw the mighty and imposing Bai Ze—an ancient divine beast—use an illusion technique right in front of him.
In the blink of an eye, the once majestic creature had transformed into… a small white dog no bigger than two fists!
“Woof?” The small Bai Ze tilted its head.
Author’s Note:
Today, Bai Ze is willing to throw away all dignity just to stay by Xing Cub’s side.
As for why Xing Cub didn’t like Bai Ze at first, that’ll be explained later—it’s just a little misunderstanding!
- 八卦阵 (Bāguà zhèn)
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