4.
Du Minh Sinh’s expression stiffened for a moment, and he instinctively looked down at his feet.
I stared at him without saying a word.
Du Minh Sinh felt uneasy for some reason. He tried to act casual and took a step back. “Take your dog and go. I’ll let you off this time.”
With that, he shoved me aside and casually kicked A Hoàng’s body into a nearby filthy ditch.
I glanced around, then reached out and grabbed Du Minh Sinh by the wrist.
“You dirtied its body.”
Du Minh Sinh found it amusing. “So what?”
I looked up at him, my eyes almost a pale gray. “You have to make it up to him.”
Du Minh Sinh trembled, cold sweat running down his forehead. He opened his mouth to call for help, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t make a sound, as if an invisible pair of hands were squeezing his throat.
All he could do was stare at the person he despised most as he slowly reached out, all five fingers spreading across her face…
Meanwhile, at the mouth of the alley, someone was growing impatient. It was Hoàng Huy, the guy who had secretly followed us to stir up trouble.
If he hadn’t snitched, Du Minh Sinh wouldn’t have remembered to deal with the dog.
Hoàng Huy thought he’d managed to use the thugs to vent his anger, and felt pretty pleased with himself.
He peered deep into the alley. “Why haven’t they come out yet?”
“What’s the rush?” someone else shot him a glance.
After waiting a little longer, Hoàng Huy lost patience, tossed his cigarette to the ground, and turned to head into the alley. “I’ll go take a look.”
He’d gone only a few steps when he suddenly stopped. Someone emerged from the dark alley. Hoàng Huy breathed a sigh of relief. “Young Master Du.”
Du Minh Sinh glanced at him and walked past. As he passed, he paused briefly, his nose twitching twice.
Hoàng Huy looked confused. “What’s wrong?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Du Minh Sinh abruptly turned around, charged at him, knocked him to the ground, and rained punches down on his head and body.
Hoàng Huy panicked, shielding his head as he screamed in agony. His cries drew the attention of the others.
Everyone looked at one another, unsure what to do. No one dared step in to pull Du Minh Sinh away. After all, he was known for being overbearing and acting strangely, and everyone knew it.
After beating him until he was exhausted, Du Minh Sinh panted and left.
No one knew why he had suddenly attacked Hoàng Huy. Even Hoàng Huy had no idea.
But I knew. Hoàng Huy had bullied me, and A Hoàng was getting revenge for me.
The next morning, I went to school as usual. My classmates looked at me suspiciously.
They all knew that Du Minh Sinh and his gang had dealt with me, but there wasn’t a mark on my face. They thought that was strange.
The teacher came into the classroom after me. Everyone fell silent, their gazes shifting away from me.
5.
When the dismissal bell rang, my classmates filed out of the classroom. I slung on my backpack and headed for the door, but a few people blocked my way.
“Same as usual.”
The one in front pointed upstairs and said, “Let’s go to the rooftop.”
The rooftop was their lawless territory. I didn’t say a word, just quietly followed them upstairs. They hadn’t expected anyone to already be up there.
“Young… Young Master Du?”
They didn’t think much of it. After a moment of surprise, they simply explained, “We couldn’t find you, so we brought her up here first.”
With my back to them, I looked at Du Minh Sinh.
“Don’t hit me in the face.”
The two boys were surprised. “You dare talk to us?”
“I’m not talking to you.”
I pointed at Du Minh Sinh. “I’m talking to him.”
As the boys watched in astonishment, Du Minh Sinh strode toward them and swung his fists at them.
No one had expected the thug Du Minh Sinh to openly declare that he would protect Khương Uyên forever.
He beat up the bullies who had picked on Khương Uyên, then stuck close by her side, as loyal as a dog.
At dusk, Du Minh Sinh followed me home.
Once there was no one around, I turned and stroked his head. “A Hoàng is such a good boy. Is this body really that convenient?”
His head rubbed against my palm, and he let out a purr.
A Hoàng left.
When I reached the door of my rented room and opened it, something small sprang at me. It was a mouse tied to the door. Hearing the noise, it waved its claws and lunged at me, only to be yanked to the ground by the cord around its leg.
I looked down at it and smiled. “Good evening, Mr. Du.”
The mouse squeaked, apparently furious. See? Even when weak creatures are angry, they still look adorable.
Du Minh Sinh’s friends couldn’t easily accept his strange change. It didn’t seem right for a thug to suddenly turn into a bodyguard like this.
At first, they guessed Young Master Du might have found me novel and intriguing. But later, they realized they were wrong.
Du Minh Sinh hadn’t just started protecting me; his personality and his eating and living habits had changed too.
So they reported the situation to the Du family. The Du family soon realized something was wrong as well, and quietly began searching for occult practitioners from outside…
They suspected Du Minh Sinh had fallen under an evil spell.
6.
On Friday evening, no one bullied me, so I went back to the alley as usual.
But when I reached the mouth of the alley, I stopped.
Someone was standing in the alley. From her figure, she seemed to be a girl.
When she saw me, she stepped out of the shadows.
“Huh.”
I looked at her in mild surprise. “Vân Như Ý.”
A few minutes later, Vân Như Ý stood in my cramped rented room, showing no discomfort at all.
I poured her a glass of water, watching her as I did.
She quietly drained the glass, then looked up at me. “Do you know why I came here?”
“Did the Du family invite you?” I raised an eyebrow at her.
“So, did you come here to deal with me?”
The mouse tied to the door squeaked, as if it sensed something too and saw her as its last hope.
That made sense. Vân Như Ý was now one of the strongest demon hunters, and she was also the wife of Long Vương Minh Uyên. If she wanted to save that mouse, I couldn’t stop her.
Vân Như Ý looked at the little mouse, then back at me, and shook her head. “No, I only asked the Du family to find you for me, Khương Uyên. I need your help with something.”
I was a little surprised. “What is it?”
Vân Như Ý asked me, “Have you ever heard of soul-capturers?”
Of course I had. I knew them very well.
Those of us from the Minh clan are born with the ability to capture souls.
Once, because I was bored and wanted some fun, I accidentally released the souls of the wicked people our clan had captured.
That was why my father sent me to the mortal world to serve my punishment and reflect on what I’d done.
In a way, soul-capturers are also members of the Minh clan; their bloodline is simply impure.
They are descendants of the Minh clan and humans. They can capture souls, but their ability is very limited.
Only the sick, frail women and children, and others with unstable souls can have their souls captured by them.
Vân Như Ý said, “There have been ten cases of malicious soul-stealing in Hải Thành this month.”
“Khương Uyên, I need your help.”
I sat on the chair, swinging my legs. “So, what can you offer me in return?”
Vân Như Ý braced herself with one hand and looked at me. “I already spared you. Isn’t that enough?”
7.
The first case of “soul-sucking” happened at a hospital.
By the time Vân Như Ý brought me there, it was midnight. We quietly slipped into the hospital room.
A frail woman lay on the bed, her eyes tightly shut and her breathing weak. The moment I saw her, I knew she’d lost half her soul. If it wasn’t found within ten days, she wouldn’t survive.
“Whoever did this still left her half her soul.”
Vân Như Ý said, “Let’s go. There’s somewhere else we need to check.”
All night, she led me around Hải Thành. The other victims were in the same condition, each missing half their soul and hovering near death.
At the entrance to the last villa, Vân Như Ý pointed inside. “Someone you know is here.”
She was right. I did know him.
Hoàng Huy lay on the bed, his head bandaged and his face pale. He, too, was missing half his soul.
I was a little surprised. I hadn’t seen Hoàng Huy at school since A Hoàng beat him up. I’d assumed he was badly injured and recuperating at home.
Vân Như Ý explained, “The person responsible shouldn’t have targeted him, but he’d been beaten and was in shock, so his soul was unstable. That made him an easy target.”
“Khương Uyên, you played a part in this.”
I curled my lip. “He deserved it.”
Before we could say anything more, footsteps sounded in the hallway.
“Huh? Why is the door open?”
Vân Như Ý and I exchanged a glance, hurried out onto the balcony, and jumped down.
By the time I’d figured out what was going on, Vân Như Ý had already left. Before she went, she warned me, “You should return his soul soon. Otherwise, he might end up an idiot.”
The little mouse she’d pointed to heard that and immediately began running around.
I glanced at her. “End up an idiot? So what?”
Did a bully really expect me to care about him?
Vân Như Ý pursed her lips and gave me a thumbs-up. “That’s our little demon of the Minh clan.”