Chapter 115: Daughter Kingdom! The Invitation of the Thousand-Year Demon

The high-speed train slowly pulled into the station.

A subtle atmosphere brewed in the confined space; the girl in his arms gradually calmed, yet her supple body remained limp, nearly collapsing into Zhang Fan’s embrace, radiating warmth and softness, with faint fragrances drifting through the air.

“This damn thing can’t be a scam.”

Suddenly, Zhang Fan jolted awake—news like this, whether on high-speed trains or subways, was all too common; some men were falsely accused of taking secret photos just for scrolling on their phones.

In his situation, if someone called for help, he’d be locked up for ten or twenty years! “I… I’m fine.”

At that moment, a soft, melodic moan rose from his arms, pulling Zhang Fan’s thoughts back.

The girl sat upright, smoothing her disheveled hair, a hint of embarrassment coloring her lovely face.

“I’m… really sorry… I scared you just now…”

“What… what happened to you?” Zhang Fan couldn’t help asking.

“Old problem. A little medicine fixes it.” The girl fidgeted nervously: “I’m Su Shiyu… I’m truly sorry about earlier.”

As she spoke, Su Shiyu bowed to Zhang Fan—but in the cramped space, she had no room to move properly; as she lowered her head, she accidentally brushed against an awkward spot.

“Holy shit…”

“You… you okay…?”

“I… I’m fine…” Zhang Fan’s face flushed crimson; he reached for the door handle.

“What’s your name? Let’s add each other on WeChat… I’m really sorry about earlier,” Su Shiyu hurriedly added.

“Huh?” Zhang Fan froze.

Is this a pickup?!

In his entire life, he’d never once been asked for WeChat by a beautiful girl in a high-speed train restroom—why did it feel so bizarre?! “I’m Zhang Fan.”

“Are you getting off at Suzhou too?”

“Yeah, you too?”

“Small world. Can I take you to dinner sometime?”

As they spoke, they opened the restroom door and stepped out one after the other.

The train had just stopped; the door beside the restroom was packed with people. Seeing a man and a woman emerge from the same restroom, they all cast them strange glances.

Thud…

At that moment, the train doors opened—but no one got off; a dozen curious eyes remained fixed on Zhang Fan.

“Lao Zhang, you’re something else—just going to the restroom and you’ve already…”

From the crowd, Jiang Hu pushed forward, stepping up to Zhang Fan with a sly grin, his gaze implying…

“The mountains and rivers are bleak, brother—you’ve earned my respect.”

“Your smile’s gone yellow…” Zhang Fan rolled his eyes and rushed to say: “It’s not what you think!”

“White doves don’t kiss crows, and liars don’t have mothers. Lao Zhang, that’s cheap. There’s no one else here.” Jiang Hu spoke solemnly, a touch of melancholy creeping in.

Others saw only beauty or legs—he saw demons and ghosts. Same Daoist, why such a gap?

“Both of you, get off. We’re here for business.”

At that moment, Zhan Xinyue and Sui Chunsheng walked up, luggage in hand, their gazes toward Zhang Fan colder, tinged with disdain.

“Wait, listen—I’ll explain… Su…”

Zhang Fan turned, hoping Su Shiyu would clear things up—but beside him, the space was empty; Su Shiyu had already disembarked, vanished into the sea of people.

“That’s your personal conduct. No need to explain,” Sui Chunsheng said, waving a hand, then pushed his suitcase past Zhang Fan.

“Fellow Daoist, please maintain your dignity,” Zhan Xinyue murmured sharply, following Sui Chunsheng.

“Lao Zhang, don’t take it to heart. At least it’s the company’s reputation that’s stained,” Jiang Hu clapped Zhang Fan on the shoulder.

“You’re terrible at comforting people,” Zhang Fan shot him a look, then stepped off the train.

“Wait up for me!”

Suzhou High-Speed Rail Station was thronged with people.

“Master, that demon must have gotten off at the next stop.”

On the platform, Gu Jingqiu watched the flowing crowd, his brow knotted into a deep “ Chuan .” He hadn’t caught the demon on the train—now that it had disembarked, finding it was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

“Forget the demon for now. Since we’re in Suzhou, let’s first pay our respects to Xuemiao Temple,” Hua Yixun said gravely.

It had been exactly twenty years since he last set foot in Suzhou.

Xuemiao Temple was Suzhou’s most renowned Daoist temple, its incense burning continuously since the Eastern Jin Dynasty. If the demon truly came to Suzhou, with the temple’s experts aiding them, it wouldn’t escape.

…

Evening, Shantang Street.

In a quiet alley, dim streetlights carved faint beams through the darkness.

Under the hazy night, a slender figure approached a small courtyard and knocked twice. The door opened.

“Sister Shiyu, you’re here.”

The one who opened the door was a girl, about twelve or thirteen, with two pigtails. Seeing Su Shiyu, she quickly ushered her inside.

“The Laoshan Daoists were too persistent—I barely made it.” Su Shiyu shuddered at the memory of the train incident, yet Zhang Fan’s face surfaced in her mind.

“Did you reveal your true form?” The girl’s expression changed instantly.

For a demon, revealing one’s true form in public was a grave taboo—death was almost certain.

It was an unwritten rule.

“No,” Su Shiyu shook her head, a trace of confusion in her beautiful eyes.

Logically, her madness had taken hold, her transformation nearly irreversible—but at the final moment, it reversed.

Su Shiyu vaguely knew her reversal was tied to the man she’d met.

“Zhang Fan…”

Su Shiyu whispered his name softly.

Had the Laoshan Daoists not been chasing her so fiercely, forcing her to flee, she would have stayed to see what was special about this Zhang Fan.

Fortunately, they’d added each other on WeChat.

“Sister Shiyu, what are you muttering about?”

The girl noticed Su Shiyu’s distracted expression and asked.

“Nothing… Has Yun Yi arrived?” Su Shiyu changed the subject.

“Yun Yi got to Suzhou two days ago. She heard rumors that the Jiangnan Dao Alliance is escorting something extremely important here—something deeply tied to our Wuwei Sect,” the girl said gravely.

“No wonder the call for reinforcements was so urgent!” Su Shiyu mused.

She had joined the Wuwei Sect through Yun Yi’s hand, and she knew that though the sect appeared obscure, its influence was immense—it gathered not only extraordinary Daoists but also many demons and ghosts who relied on it.

In ancient times, during its peak, the Wuwei Sect claimed to “dominate all demons and ghosts,” for both sides excelled in soul-possession—the Daoists branded them heretical, so all the demons and spirits of the mountains and seas naturally turned to Wuwei.

Thus, since the first “Shattering Mountains and Destroying Temples,” Wuwei had declared itself the foremost of all demons and ghosts, wielding life-and-death authority to preserve its existence.

“Such haste in gathering forces… the item being escorted must be extraordinary,” Su Shiyu said gravely. She knew Yun Yi’s nature—under normal circumstances, she’d never mobilize demons or ghosts. Now she’d summoned even Su Shiyu—how vital the object must be.

“Strange… if it’s so important, why would the Jiangnan Dao Alliance leak the news?” Su Shiyu frowned.

“Times have changed. The Daoist sects aren’t unified anymore. Some have long secretly pledged allegiance to our Wuwei Sect…” the girl said coolly.

The Wuwei Sect thrives on absorbing souls as medicine—a shortcut to cultivation.

Compared to the elusive path of pure yang, readily available power naturally attracted many Daoist masters.

Beyond that…

“Soul-possession… many Daoist masters within the sects have already been possessed by our experts. Not just the Dao Alliance—even among the Ten Great Sects, there are…”

The girl fell silent, but her implication was clear.

Among the Ten Great Daoist Mountains, Wuwei Sect’s experts lurked.

“When will Yun Yi arrive?” Su Shiyu asked.

“Maybe tonight… I’m not sure. You know Yun Yi’s identity is mysterious—we only communicate through single lines,” the girl said, lying on the sofa with a helpless expression.

Yun Yi was mysterious. Su Shiyu only knew she was from the Daoist world.

Beyond that, she knew Yun Yi was immensely powerful, with an odd and obscure origin—many rumors swirled about her.

It was said she came from the legendary Daughter Kingdom.

This Daughter Kingdom differed from the one in Journey to the West.

According to the Nanyang Miscellany, during the warlord era, corpses littered the land. An army, lost in the deep mountains, stumbled upon a village.

The village was nearly isolated from the outside world, with at least a hundred years of history. The strangest thing: there were no men.

At first, the soldiers didn’t know. Seeing so many women, their lust flared. These soldiers, hardened by years of battle and rarely seeing women, couldn’t contain themselves. Their commander led the charge, plundering women, raping them brutally for three days and nights—a Kuanghuan for them, a nightmare for the women.

Satisfied, the soldiers settled in the village. But soon, they noticed its strangeness.

The village had a custom: on the first and fifteenth of every month, at midnight, every woman would dress, don red robes, light incense before a bronze mirror, and guard it until dawn—never letting anyone see the mirror. Month after month.

The soldiers were merely curious at first. Remote villages had odd customs—nothing strange. But gradually, soldiers began disappearing.

No trace was found in the mountain ravine. The commander suspected the women were retaliating, so he imprisoned them all, torturing them—but the disappearances continued.

Eventually, they discovered the village’s secret: thirty li away lay a earthen tower.

No one knew when or by whom it was built—not even the women. But every winter solstice, every woman aged sixteen or older entered the tower and stayed seven days and nights. When they returned, some became pregnant.

This was the village’s greatest secret. Those who didn’t conceive died soon after. The village survived this way.

The earthen tower rose over nine stories, ancient and crude. Outside stood a stone tablet inscribed with four characters: “No Living Person May Enter.”

The tower was clearly ancient. What lay inside? Perhaps treasures. The soldiers’ greed overcame caution—they ignored the warning and broke in.

After that day, no one ever saw those soldiers again. The village was never found again.

“Daughter Kingdom… does such a place truly exist?”

Su Shiyu, even though he was a demon, had never seen this so-called Daughters’ Country; yet some outsiders claimed that Aunt Yun had come from that village, entering the Daoist sect as a child with extraordinary talent.

Boom boom…

At that moment, a thunderclap erupted outside the room, accompanied by lightning that tore through the sky.

“The weather’s changing—tonight’s going to be lively,” the little girl murmured softly.

Su Shiyu gazed outside, where dark clouds churned in the sky, as if a storm were about to break.

…

At this moment, Sanji Hotel.

“Isn’t Xuanmiao Temple nearby? Just deliver the item and be done—why stay an extra day?”

Zhang Fan lay on the bed, utterly unable to understand the arrangement made by Zhan Xinyue and Sui Chunsheng.

“That’s how things work in the system… more procedures, less convenience—it’s normal,” Jiang Hu said casually.

“Anyway, we’re just here to kill time—stay as long as you like…”

As he spoke, Jiang Hu sprang up from the bed.

“The scenery of Jiangnan, the ancient city of Suzhou—let’s enjoy two days…”

“Outside Suzhou lies Hanshan Temple, park the carriage and…”

“Hulu… do you know what’s inside the jar the Dao Alliance is escorting?”

At that moment, Zhang Fan spoke, his eyes filled with curiosity.

“I don’t know, and it’s certainly not anything important—if it were, why would they assign us to guard it?” Jiang Hu declared firmly.

“That’s true.”

Zhang Fan nodded and opened the “Little Yellow Book” app.

“Huh!?”

As soon as he entered, he noticed that the avatar of [Thousand-Year Old Demon] in his follow list was lit up.

He quickly tapped the avatar, opened the chat window, and sent a message.

“Dare you reply to me.”

Whoosh…

The message was sent successfully.

“He took me off his blacklist.”

Zhang Fan’s eyes brightened as he saw the message marked as read.

“Who are you really?”

“Thousand-Year Old Demon.”

The other party replied.

“I mean—who are you in real life? You seem to know something about me…”

“Do we know each other?”

Zhang Fan sent a string of question marks—he was intensely curious about this Thousand-Year Old Demon.

But the other party fell silent, offering no reply.

“Speak up, you really…”

Zhang Fan grew impatient and quickly typed another string of characters, but before he could send it, the other replied.

“Want to meet?”

That simple sentence made Zhang Fan’s heart skip.

“When?”

“Now!”

The Thousand-Year Old Demon replied.

(End of Chapter)