Chapter One: A Stroll in the Garden

  The spring rain is cold and gloomy, connected to the lake water, a vast misty expanse.

  By the lake, a waterside pavilion with open windows, rainwater like silk, blown in by spring breeze. Inside the pavilion, a huge bronze stove is set up. The bronze stove has ancient inscriptions, but its four legs are cast into ferocious Qilin shapes.

  The Great Jin Dynasty, the Qilin represents the army, and those who dare to cast a Qilin on a bronze furnace are necessarily fierce generals in the military, with power bestowed by the emperor.

  Around this nine-foot copper furnace, however, were eight girls in colorful clothes. The copper furnace was burning charcoal, and although winter had passed, the charcoal was for roasting fresh fish.

  On the copper stove, a iron net is set up. Eight girls in colorful clothes are standing on high stools, holding long silver forks to turn over the fresh fish bodies that have turned slightly yellow, and using silver pots to spray seasoning liquid upwards.

  Aromatic and overflowing, the fish from the spring water has very little fat, only the seasoning sprinkled on top falls into the charcoal fire, emitting a faint wisp of smoke.

  A copper stove makes the temperature inside the pavilion rise, and the spring chill is gone.

  In the middle of the pavilion, a curtain was hung. At the other end of the curtain, there was a long table that reached the ground, twelve feet long. Around the table, there were also eight girls in colorful clothes. At the head of the table, on an imperial chair, lay a boy of fourteen or fifteen years old.

  The young man wore a slightly old-fashioned brocade robe, which was very clean. He was barefoot, with his shoes kicked off under the chair. One hand rested on the long table, holding a blue porcelain wine bottle that had been tilted and emptied.

  The long table was also in a state of disarray. The golden plates and jade cups were overturned without making a sound.

  On the other side of the long table, a girl in colorful clothes held a book with both hands, her voice clear and crisp as she read aloud. The young man on the noble chair closed his eyes, his right hand embracing a short sword, using his fingers to lightly tap the scabbard, listening intently to the content of the girl's reading.

  Behind the young man, beside the noble chair, stood a girl. She was slightly younger than the young man and resembled him. She wore a light green skirt and only a jacket on top, without an outer garment. Like the young man, her clothes were somewhat old and not like those of the girls in colorful clothes, adorned with silk and satin.

  Only the reading girl read: "Wake up dragon magnificent, people can't reach. Overnight in a lonely ridge, there is a woman coming to surrender..."

  The voice of this colorful girl was like jade striking gold, crisp and moving. When I read to here, I suddenly stopped, with tears in my eyes.

  The girl standing behind the boy said: "Lilac, continue reading!"

  The girl named Zǐténg raised her head stubbornly and stared straight at the woman behind the young man, saying: "Young master reads this kind of book, you... how can you..."

  "What's wrong with this book?" The girl in green skirt narrowed her eyes and smiled slightly.

  "This is pornography!"

  "Hah! Violet, you and your father are really alike. One went to advise the emperor and got beheaded, and the other has already been sold into slavery, yet still thinking of advising their master. Can't you just do your job properly?" The girl's words were extremely piercing, and Violet couldn't hold back her tears anymore, crying silently.

  The young man opened his eyes and said, "Ziteng, why are you being so unreasonable?"

  Zi Teng clenched her teeth tightly, her snow-white neck stretched straight up, just like her father, who had been upright and unyielding all his life, rather die than yield.

  The young man's eyes didn't show any annoyance, he slowly said: "Father has gone to the capital again and will be reused this time. He needs to deal with the great enemy in the northwest, Duke Wei... Hmph, how many people are jealous? This time I'll also go to the capital. After arriving at the capital, can't I be like you? I must properly act as a young master so that father can do his job."

  "It's alright..."

  "I'm not a big man yet." The young man interrupted Ziteng's words, saying: "I'm still a kid, let's talk about it when I become a big man. As for cultivating one's character and nature, the teacher has already told me what to do, so don't come teach me again."

  Wistaria thought for a moment, wiped away her tears and continued to advise: "Young master, this kind of book is always bad, talking about ghosts and monsters, confusing people's minds. Young master is still young, shouldn't read such books. Are there really ghosts and monsters in this world?"

  "Hah!" The young man laughed and said to the girl beside him, "Xiao Yu, Zǐtén says that there are no monsters in this world, so she doesn't want me to read this kind of book."

  The girl called Xiaoyu tidied up her green long skirt and smiled lightly: "Young master, there are monsters in this world. Not only are there monsters, but also gods."

  "An immortal? Haha, is it like the kind of National Master?"

  Xiao Yu said seriously: "The National Master is not a fairy, fairies are free in the sky. Those on earth can only be considered as earthly immortals."

  The young man didn't smile at this time. He sat up and said, "It's pointless to talk about these things. Forget it, take Zǐténg back, lock her up, and let her reflect on herself."

  The little rain's black eyes turned around and whispered to the young man, "Young master, if you want to see a fairy, I can't help it, but as for monsters, they can always be seen."

  "Really?" The young man became curious, he was the only son of Duke Wei Guo, named Bai Qi, and had not yet been given a style name. Since childhood, Bai Qi had invited great Confucian scholars as his teachers, his father Duke Wei Guo Bai Jian was a famous general in the imperial court, with a long spear that had killed countless enemies in the northwest without being defeated, Bai Qi could also be considered to have both literary and military talents, although he was still young, according to the martial artist ranking system of the Great Jin Dynasty, he was already a postnatal first-class figure.

  The great Jin dynasty's Wu Zhe is divided into nine grades of Hou Tian and nine grades of Xian Tian, as well as three levels of Lu Di Jian Xian.

  Bai Qi only needs to make further progress, he is a warrior of the first nine grades, he practices his father's gun technique, the Bai family's broken army aura, which is also a top-notch martial skill in the entire Great Jin Dynasty.

  How could a young man like him believe in the existence of monsters and gods? If they existed, why wouldn't those monsters and gods overthrow the emperor and take his place instead? Although he didn't believe it, Xiaoyu was his childhood companion, and despite being a maid, her status was different from that of other maids.

  Xiao Yu's mother was a wet nurse for young people in the inner house of Duke Huan Gong and was also a person who had a say.

  Bai Qi lost his mother at a young age and had great respect for his wet nurse, whom he would also call "Mother" every day. He knew what kind of person Xiao Yu was, but now that Xiao Yu was telling him seriously that he could see monsters, the boy's curiosity was piqued.

  "Xiao Yu, you!" The purple wisteria was so angry that she couldn't say anything else, pointing at her with a furious expression, thinking that Xiao Yu was teasing Master.

  "What's wrong with me?" Xiaoyu looked at Ziteng, and Ziteng was terrified to find that Xiaoyu's eyes had turned from black to a bloody red.

  "Ah!"

  A small rain spouted a thick smoke from its mouth, spreading throughout the water pavilion, inside and outside the brocade curtain. All sixteen colorful-clad girls fainted.

  Bai jumped up in surprise, pointing at Xiao Yu.

  "Xiao Bai Ge, want to see more monsters?" Xiao Yu looked at everyone who had passed out and smiled as she used a private nickname.

  Bai Qi's mind was turned upside down, and Xiao Yu suddenly used this ability, obviously not a martial skill, indeed it seemed like a demonic art, but would Xiao Yu harm himself? Bai Qi wouldn't believe it even if he was beaten to death.

  "Look!" Bai Qi said succinctly and painfully, he inserted his short sword at an angle on his waist and said: "Where to look?"

  Xiaoyu's eyes had returned to their normal black and white color, her eyes curved into a sly smile as she said: "The Great Jin Dynasty has immortal masters, monsters dare not cause trouble within its borders, the place we're going is far away, we'll have to fly there.

  "So you were just teasing me." Bai Qi felt a bit disappointed, wanting to fly, but it's said that at least one needs to reach the level of a Land Sword Immortal to do so.

  "Little White Brother, close your eyes." Xiaoyu smiled mischievously as she dragged over a long bench. Bai was suspicious but still closed his eyes, wondering what Xiaoyu wanted to do.

  "Ride over." Xiaoyu pulled Baiqi's hand and straddled the bench.

  Xiao Yu sat behind Bai Qi, whispering in his ear: "Little White Brother, if there's any change later, you're not allowed to open your eyes. If you do, I'll be dead and I won't be able to explain it to Mother."

  Bai Qi felt a sudden tightening of the small rain's hand around his waist, and before he knew it, his body was already soaring through the air, strong winds slapping against his face, and a deafening roar filling his ears.

  It really flew up! Bai Qi's hand involuntarily wanted to grab the long bench tightly, his hand reached down and grabbed it, but found that the long bench had changed. The originally thick wooden board now had scales growing on its surface, smooth and very cold.

  He was startled and his body swayed, but he was pulled back by the rain.

  "Little white brother, don't panic, it's just a grass dragon."

  Bai Qi encountered this strange phenomenon and didn't dare to open his eyes. Only then did he realize that Xiao Yu had extraordinary skills, absolutely not limited to just spitting out two mouthfuls of enchanting smoke.

  "What is the Grass Dragon?" Bai Qi couldn't help but ask, facing a fierce gust of wind. If he wasn't a postnatal first-rate expert, his breath would have been frozen by such a strong wind, making him unable to speak.

  "Plants and trees can transform into spirits, changing all things. I'm using demonic magic to turn the essence of plants and trees into dragon shapes, allowing me to ride the wind and fly."

  "Sorcery? Xiao Yu, are you a demon?" Bai Qi was unafraid.

  "I suppose so."

  "That wet nurse of hers..." Bai Qi was extremely sharp, if Xiaoyu was a monster, then what about his own wet nurse? If the wet nurse was also a monster, wouldn't that mean he had grown up drinking a monster's milk and would become one himself?

  Such wild thoughts only flashed through his mind, and Bai Qi immediately thought of the proper matter. If there really are monsters in this world, if the wet nurse is a monster, would Father not know? This monster hiding in one's own home doesn't seem to have done anything bad, and the wet nurse treats oneself even more kindly than one's own mother.

  When I was young, I would play with Xiaoyu and our wet nurse would scold her. If this were an ordinary noble family, it would be normal, but for a demon, is it really necessary?

  "Little White Brother, are you afraid of me?" Xiaoyu asked softly in Baiqi's ear.

  "What are you afraid of? If you dare to be insolent, you will be dealt with by family law!" Bai Qi shouted.

  "Hmm, you have a bit of the old master's dignity. However, the great Confucians in the imperial court are all superficial, and their so-called noble spirit is useless against small monsters without corresponding skills. Can you learn from the master?"

  "Just a moment." Bai Qi grumbled in response. He couldn't subdue Xiaoyu, no matter if she was a demon or not.

  "That's it, come with me to get a good look, or you'll suffer when you enter the capital. You don't know, the Qi Refiners in this world are much more powerful than any martial artist, your father..."

  Xiao Yu said up to this point and then stopped talking.

  "What's wrong with my dad?"

  "My mother said, this time entering the capital is a great calamity."