Moonlit Reunion

Yongfu Ward, the former residence of Guo Cunzhong, once the Minister of Works. This mansion had been abandoned and neglected for years, with wild grass overgrowing everywhere from the outer ward walls to the inner courtyard, where horses were once tethered.

Mei Zhuyu led a team consisting of several clerks from the Ministry of Justice, a coroner's assistant, and a few soldiers through the gate in Yongfu Ward's wall directly into the estate. As they entered, the dilapidated main gate collapsed with a loud crash, raising a cloud of dust.

Over a decade ago, Guo Cunzhong had wielded immense power. His mansion was vast, adorned with intricately carved beams and painted rafters—many of which reportedly exceeded official architectural regulations. After his sudden downfall and the confiscation of his property, this grand estate fell into ruin. As a second-rank official, the mansion could only be sold to someone of higher rank. Lower-ranking buyers would have to demolish and rebuild the non-compliant structures, making it too troublesome.

Moreover, the crimes Guo Cunzhong committed were so severe that most of his family members hanged themselves within these walls, rendering the place inauspicious. Thus, the mansion remained unsold and abandoned to this day. Forgotten for over a decade, the estate was now in utter disrepair. Only the weathered stone hitching posts, troughs buried in weeds, and the faded lacquered patterns on the lintels hinted at its former grandeur.

Two older clerks who had visited before sighed at how much had changed. At the front of the group, Mei Zhuyu asked, "Where were the bodies found? And where is the person who reported this?"

"He's waiting inside, in the main hall. The informant is a man named Ma Pan from a nearby ward. Though the estate was officially sealed off, after all these years, the gates have collapsed, the official seals rotted away, and everything valuable inside has long been stripped. With nothing left but an empty shell, no one bothered to guard it. So, people from neighboring wards occasionally sneak in, hoping to scavenge usable items."

The speaker was an assistant magistrate from the Ministry of Justice, sporting a thin mustache that he stroked repeatedly as he spoke. "Here we are—ugh, the stench is unbearable!"

Everyone covered their noses as Mei Zhuyu stepped into the main hall, his brow slightly furrowed.

The hall, long abandoned, was thick with dust and completely bare—even the doors and windows had been pried away. Left unattended, it had become a shelter for beggars and vagrants, offering at least some shelter. The two unrecognizable corpses lay in tattered clothing, one head severed and rolled to the side, its hair a tangled mess. Clearly, the victims were beggars who had taken refuge in this ruined mansion.

Two ward soldiers restrained a shabbily dressed middle-aged man, who knelt trembling. Upon seeing the officials, he wailed, "I swear I had nothing to do with these deaths! I only came to take a few roof tiles to fix my house. When I smelled something foul, I thought it was a dead stray dog or cat. But when I looked closer, I saw... these bodies! It wasn’t me, I swear!"

Mei Zhuyu glanced at him. "Understood. Be quiet."Upon hearing this, Ma Pan immediately fell silent and obediently retreated to the side. Mei Zhuyu summoned the coroner to examine the corpses and had the clerk record the details, while he himself approached the bodies to inspect them.

The two corpses were in a gruesome state, barely recognizable as human. Their limbs were scattered, as if torn apart by some large beast. The elderly coroner muttered under his breath while examining them, insisting that no human could have done this—no one had the strength to tear a person apart like this.

Vice Director Tao stood outside the door with his hands behind his back, glancing inside before quickly turning away, unable to bear the sight or the stench. Seeing Mei Zhuyu crouched beside the corpses, he couldn’t help but call out, "Doctor Mei, isn’t it unbearable to stay so close? Why don’t you come outside and wait? Let them finish the examination, and that’ll be the end of it."

After all, it wasn’t a human’s doing. They could simply conclude the case by blaming wild dogs. The victims were just two homeless beggars—no one of importance. If Mei Zhuyu hadn’t offended Vice Minister Xu, even such a trivial matter wouldn’t have required his presence here, Vice Director Tao thought to himself.

Mei Zhuyu stood up and surveyed the hall. The space was vast, its walls mottled with age. To an ordinary person, nothing seemed amiss, but in his eyes, the walls were covered in black claw marks.

Claw marks saturated with Demonic Qi—their shape resembled those of a canine, but they were far larger than any ordinary dog’s. The stench of canine saliva clung thickly to the scattered remains of the corpses.

The coroner, unaccustomed to such mangled bodies, quickly finished his examination and instructed the soldiers to gather the remains for removal.

Mei Zhuyu glanced at the sky outside and said to the workers, "Hurry up. Finish quickly and leave as soon as possible."

No one wanted to linger here, so they hastened their pace at his words. Once everything was packed up, Mei Zhuyu said, "Vice Director Tao, you may return first. I’ll stay behind to investigate further."

Vice Director Tao let out a surprised "Ah," clearly baffled as to why anyone would choose to remain alone in such a sinister place. But recalling Mei Zhuyu’s reputation for eccentricity, he didn’t press further and merely offered politely, "It might be dangerous to stay alone. Perhaps two men should accompany you."

Mei Zhuyu replied curtly, "No need. You all go ahead."

Just as others had said—truly odd, Vice Director Tao mused. He gathered the group and left, leaving Mei Zhuyu alone in the house.

As soon as the others departed, the atmosphere in the house grew heavier. Though the sun had not yet set, shadows in the corners seemed to stir restlessly, and the entire residence darkened. An eerie silence enveloped the place, broken only by the soft, rhythmic sound of Mei Zhuyu’s footsteps.

"Creak…" As Mei Zhuyu passed through the hall into the rear courtyard, a long, drawn-out creak sounded from a second-floor window before it slammed shut with a bang. From the dark, gaping windows above, sticky gazes locked onto Mei Zhuyu, accompanied by hushed whispers.

These were the shadowy entities that thrived in long-abandoned homes—harmless and incapable of killing, mere nuisances. Mei Zhuyu paid them no mind, ignoring his surroundings as he strode purposefully toward one particular direction. The thing lurking there was the only one that truly needed to be dealt with.Deep within the residence, a man wearing a veil hat noticed Mei Zhuyu's approach. He chuckled softly and patted the head of a vicious hound beside him. "I wasn't planning to kill him yet, but he's come knocking on death's door himself. Ah well, go ahead—devour him."

"Oh, and don't chew up his head. His face should still be recognizable. Wu Zhen ought to see the look of terror on her chosen man's face when he dies."

With that, the vicious hounds surrounding the man all stood up. Even on all fours, they towered a head taller than him. Their expressions were ferocious, their muzzles still stained with blood. Without a sound, they surged forward like a gust of wind.

Mei Zhuyu had sensed the Demonic Qi in the inner quarters, but as he reached the central courtyard, his steps faltered. He swiftly raised a hand and pointed forward. A gray-and-white hound materialized mid-air, its forehead precisely where Mei Zhuyu's finger landed. The beast crumpled to the ground as if struck by a tremendous force, dead in an instant.

Mei Zhuyu paid no attention to the fallen hound. Sidestepping the rush of wind by his ear, his hand shot out and seized something from the air—a savage claw. With a crisp crack, that claw, which looked frail and harmless, more suited to holding a brush, snapped it clean off.

One after another, Mei Zhuyu located and killed all five hounds. The last one, sensing danger, tried to flee but was kicked out of hiding by Mei Zhuyu. It crashed into a wall to the right, collapsing the entire structure.

Mei Zhuyu murmured under his breath and drew several yellow talismans from his sleeve, affixing them to the hounds' corpses. The talismans burned away upon contact, and the massive canine bodies shrank to the size of ordinary dogs.

Frowning deeper, Mei Zhuyu pressed onward toward the inner quarters.

These hounds were on the verge of becoming demonic beasts. However, they weren't naturally demonic—they had been deliberately fed human flesh to hasten their transformation. Such artificially cultivated demonic hounds were mindless, consumed only by a thirst for human flesh, and exceedingly violent. If released, they would undoubtedly claim many innocent lives in Chang'an.

In the inner quarters, the veiled man was startled to find all his hounds dead. "Mei Zhuyu isn't an ordinary man? How does he know Taoist techniques?!" He had investigated Mei Zhuyu beforehand and found him to be utterly unremarkable. Even now, before Mei Zhuyu acted, he had detected nothing unusual. But the moment Mei Zhuyu made his move, the veiled man realized his mistake—this man was not only a Taoist practitioner but likely a formidable one.

What he had assumed would be a trivial matter had suddenly become complicated. Several things had gone awry, souring the veiled man's mood. He had no intention of lingering any longer. This time, he had underestimated his opponent. Next time, he would come prepared to deal with Mei Zhuyu properly.

Just as the veiled man turned to leave, Mei Zhuyu's voice rang out from beyond the door: "Come out."

"You're quicker than I expected." The veiled man pushed the door open and stood on the steps, looking down at Mei Zhuyu. Initially, he had dismissed him as a nobody, unworthy of attention. Now that he knew Mei Zhuyu was one of their kind, he finally regarded him properly.

Unfazed by the man's scrutiny, Mei Zhuyu asked, "Did you deliberately feed those hounds human flesh to make them eat people?""Quite obvious, isn't it?" The man in the veil spread his hands with a laugh. "Just ate a few beggars, no different from eating rats."

Before his smile could fully form, a hand abruptly appeared behind him and snapped his neck. The man's laughter cut off mid-sound, his expression turning to shock before freezing permanently.

Mei Zhuyu knocked off the man's veil and examined his face, finding it unfamiliar. With another twist of his hand, the man's neck went completely limp.

Releasing his grip, Mei Zhuyu let the corpse slump to the ground as he stepped around it to leave.

The world of ordinary people operates by state laws. The world of Non-human entities has no laws—but those who treat human lives lightly deserve death.

As Mei Zhuyu exited the sinister mansion, he unexpectedly saw Wu Zhen dismounting her horse at the gate. The man who had just coldly snapped a neck instantly transformed into a lovestruck youth, tongue-tied with delight at the sudden appearance of his beloved.

"I ran into Vice Minister Tao from the Ministry of Justice on the road. He said you were still alone in this rundown mansion, so I came to check." Wu Zhen walked up to him and glanced at the dilapidated entrance. "This place clearly isn't wholesome. You shouldn't come here anymore."

Mei Zhuyu nodded. "Alright, I won't. It's really not good here—you shouldn't come either."

Wu Zhen laughed. "Why would I come to such a dump? Anyway, since you're fine, I'll be going now."

Mei Zhuyu blurted out, "We haven't seen each other for days..."

Wu Zhen: "No? We see each other often." Then she remembered—she'd been frequently following the young man in cat form. From his perspective, they truly didn't meet often.

"Does the young master not want me to leave? Wants to see me?"

"..."

"If you don't say it, how would I know you want to see me? Next time, just send word when you want to meet—I'll come see you." Wu Zhen grinned and casually stroked the young man's hand, turning him into a stiff rabbit with ears standing straight up.