Chapter 20 : Are There Demons Everywhere in Lin’an City?

‘There are demons in this nightclub, among this crowd of people, right now!’

Bai Ling immediately confirmed her judgment.
Although she had only just turned into a snake demon two days ago, her demon’s instincts told her that the faint smell now lingering in her nasal cavity was from her own kind.

Bai Ling’s eyes quickly scanned the dense crowd on the dance floor.
The laser lights crisscrossed and flickered above the heads of the crowd.

Lin Xiao Xia and Chengzi were still bouncing around in the dance floor like two fools.

She turned her head to look at Su Jiu Li.
Su Jiu Li’s manicured nails were tracing circles along the rim of her glass, the condensation on the glass wall sliding down with gravity.

‘Do these three have a demon-attracting constitution, or do I?’

‘Why do I encounter demons every time I go out?’

“I smell a demon. It’s not going to harm people, is it?“

She immediately took out her phone, opened the chat box with Guan Qing, and tapped her thumb rapidly on the dialogue box.

“Ping, ping!“

Guan Qing’s reply bubble quickly popped up.
“If you can smell it, it means it has no intention of hiding its demonic energy.“

“If it’s a Resentful Demon that hasn’t eaten in three days, the entire nightclub is its revolving sushi bar.“

“What’s a Resentful Demon?“

“Demons born from human negative emotions or supernatural legends. This kind of demon is very aggressive. Where are you now?“

“A nightclub called Ming. So what kind of demon am I?“

“Demons like you, formed from living creatures or objects, are called Ancient Demons. You should leave as soon as possible. The Demon Suppression Division might already be on their way.“

“I’m going to the restroom!“

Bai Ling suddenly shot up, her wrist, with the sophora flower bracelet, nearly knocking over the marble table.

‘No matter what, I can’t let that demon hiding in the nightclub make a move now. There are too many people here. If it does, many people will die.’

‘And it will attract the Demon Suppression Division. If the Demon Suppression Division comes, Bai Ling will probably be in trouble too.’

‘She had finally gotten a chance to live a normal life. Bai Ling didn’t want that demon from who-knows-where to ruin her upcoming university life.’

“Is this guy planning to have a buffet?“

Bai Ling rushed into a bathroom stall, muttering to herself as she tore open the paper bag with her new clothes.

According to Guan Qing, the biggest difference between Ancient Demons and Resentful Demons was that Ancient Demons had no need to risk being hunted by the Demon Suppression Division to attack humans.
Only Resentful Demons, born from human negative emotions or supernatural legends, couldn’t achieve a self-sufficient internal cycle of demonic energy and needed to prey on humans to survive.

‘In that case, the demon hiding in this nightclub was most likely a Resentful Demon.’

The mirror in front of the sink reflected the girl’s swift movements.
The fluorescent strips on the white baseball jacket glowed with a cold light in the dark.

Bai Ling held a hair tie in her mouth and gathered her stray hairs into a high ponytail.
The brim of her newly bought baseball cap was pulled down to cover her brow bone.
She then put on a mask, the cherry blossom embroidery on the edge trembling slightly with her breath.

And so, Bai Ling completed her simple disguise.

‘The best way now is to find it before it makes a move and deal with it before the Demon Suppression Division finds out.’

‘Anyway, it wasn’t the first time Bai Ling had dealt with a demon.’

As for Guan Qing’s advice to leave as soon as possible, Bai Ling had no intention of listening to her.
Even if she wasn’t some glorious and righteous character, as a human, well, a former human, she couldn’t just watch a demon have a buffet in such a crowded place.

Walking out of the restroom, excited shouts from the crowd on the dance floor came.
Bai Ling’s nose sharply caught a hint of a sweet, fishy smell.
It was the hormone of fear mixed in with the smell of alcohol.

The light beam from the crystal chandelier cast a shadow on the girl’s cheeks from her baseball cap.
The girl squeezed into the crowd, her feet moving to the beat of the music.

Men and women danced freely to the music.
Under the flashing neon lights, no one noticed that her pupils had transformed into the amber-gold unique to snakes.

Her eyes flickered in the shadows, like an anaconda before a hunt.

In her vision, all the humans were covered in a layer of moving blood film.
The smell, mixed with the smell of alcohol, drew a viscous black line in the crowd.

The viscous black line guided her through the crowd on the dance floor, and the final target was locked on a familiar figure.

‘The gray-haired man who had just tried to hit on them! He was slumped in the booth area, vomiting, the collar of his shirt soaked with tequila stains.’

A black spot, like a lipstick mark, appeared on his neck.
In the girl’s vision, the black spot was seeping with a pine-resin-like mucus.
It was the mark of demonic energy corrosion.

This behavior, similar to a wild animal marking its territory, meant: ‘He’s my target!’

Bai Ling walked up and supported this clearly delirious man as if he were a drunk friend, planning to take him to the emergency exit outside the nightclub first.

‘As long as she took this marked prey out, this unknown Resentful Demon would also follow. Then, as long as she dealt with it outside, no one would notice.’

Bai Ling held his arm and smelled the lingering smoke on his collar.
The smell of smoke, mixed with the smell of alcohol and demonic energy on him, formed an indescribable smell.

“M… miss?“

This guy seemed to have a little bit of thinking ability left, his words slurred.

“You’re drunk. I’ll take you outside for some fresh air.“

The girl’s fingertip pressed against his temple, and her demonic energy slowly seeped into it.

The cold demonic energy blocked the unknown Resentful Demon’s demonic energy, preventing it from continuing to corrode the gray-haired man’s brain nerves, but it also made him drowsy under the effect of the demonic energy.

“A Resentful Demon…“

The girl chewed on this word and pushed open the fire door.
The green light of the emergency exit stretched her shadow into a winding snake shape.

She casually threw this guy on the stairs, clapped her hands, and then it was time to wait for the prey to take the bait.

‘The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. This time, the girl was the oriole.’

The smell of her own kind became stronger and stronger.
A sound similar to sharp claws scraping against metal suddenly came from the ventilation duct.

‘Here it comes!’

The pupils under the brim of the girl’s baseball cap glowed with an amber-gold light, drawing two trajectories in the dim stairwell.

A wisp of black hair, stained with the smell of tequila, suddenly poured out from the gap in the iron pipe.

“Rip!“

The moment the sound of tearing metal sounded, a black claw stabbed out from the iron pipe!

The girl was quick on her feet.
She kicked the gray-haired man half a flight of stairs away.

The next second, the claw stabbed into the spot where he had just been slumped.
The concrete stairs were cut like tofu.

If the girl hadn’t reacted quickly and kicked the gray-haired man slumped on the stairs away, that one claw would have pierced his chest directly!

“You finally couldn’t resist making a move…“

The girl slowly lowered her body, her natural, instinctive fighting stance like a python about to hunt.

“My own kind!“

As they say, faster than a speeding bullet, the girl’s figure shot out like lightning, kicking at the claw