Chapter One

  My name is Xia Qinghe, I live in a small town near the sea, I am 15 years old, and I study at Shengde High School, first year class two. On this day, just like usual, after finishing a day of classes, I was preparing to head home.

  Walking out of the school gate and turning left, there is a street full of cherry blossoms. The sun sets in the west, and the lawns on both sides of the road are neatly trimmed, feeling soft and comfortable underfoot.

  "Clear lotus."

  Xiao Su's voice came from behind me, and I turned around to give her a faint smile.

  Xiao Su is my best friend in Sheng De, and also my good sister who grew up with me since childhood.

  She rushed forward, looking somewhat guilty and said: "Qinghe, I'm sorry. Today I have to go shopping with Chen Jie to buy Jay Chou's poster, so I won't be able to accompany you home."

  Chen Jie is a boy in Class 3 of Grade 2 who wears glasses and rarely speaks. He doesn't have much presence in school, I don't know how Xiao Su got to know him or when they became boyfriend and girlfriend.

  "This is nothing, I shouldn't always be taking up your time!" I smiled at her, "I'm not a kid anymore, what's the problem with going home alone? You go ahead and hurry off!"

  "Alright, Qinghe, I'm really sorry this time! Tomorrow, after school tomorrow, I'll definitely walk home with you."

  Xiao Su raised her hand to the sky and made a vow-like gesture, which made me laugh at her comical appearance.

  "Alright, alright, let's go quickly."

  I patted her shoulder and pointed with my finger to Chen Jie who was still waiting by the roadside not far away, "He's still there waiting for you, go on!"

  She stuck out her tongue and ran towards the highway, halfway through, she still didn't forget to turn back and wave at me.

  "Alright, have fun!"

  Watching them walk away, I turned around and walked back quickly by myself. Today, Xiao Su didn't accompany me home, probably going to run into some monster again.

  Since I was young, I thought that others could also see the illusory and eerie shadows in my eyes, so I always loved to point out the various supernatural creatures floating before my eyes and tell the people around me.

  At that time, they always laughed at me and thought there was something wrong with my brain, so I would talk nonsense all day long. At first, I still argued with them, but later on, I slowly gave up and no longer sought their understanding.

  Later on, as I grew up, I gradually came to understand that it was because my eyes were different from others.

  Every day after five o'clock in the afternoon, those ghostly shadows would appear before my eyes, and they wouldn't slowly fade away until eight o'clock in the morning.

  Because I was born with this special physique, I followed my grandfather to learn the art of demon-slaying from a young age. I thought that one day I would be able to find the demon that killed my parents and avenge them. However, no matter how hard I tried to practice, I always seemed to be half a beat slower than my peers who were learning at the same time.