Just less than an hour ago, Shaojun had received an emergency call for help from Nan Xi, who required his assistance to pick up the girls from their shopping at the mall, since he had to leave momentarily. After a further grilling by Shaojun, Nan Xi revealed that he had seen Clares at the mall and followed her to an abandoned building. He didn't realize how he had arrived there, but in his mind, nothing was more crucial to him than finding the girl who had left him behind years ago.

Despite his friend's advice, Nan Xi was adamant on pursuing the female figure who closely resembled his ex-girlfriend. Shaojun found it suspicious since Clares had declared been missing for a few years now, but Nan Xi was incredibly convinced that she was Clares. Knowing how stubborn Nan Xi was, Shaojun gave up.

In the first place, Shaojun planned to pick up some used textbooks from the secondhand store for the upcoming programming modules that he would be taking in the next semester. Due to this, and since he couldn't outtalk his friend, he figured that he would as well do Nan Xi a favour by going to fetch the girls. Nan Xi had sounded frantic over the phone and also burdened with guilt for leaving the girls behind to pursue 'Clares. Judging by how Nan Xi was concerned for Xin Li and Rufeng and that they would come to danger, Shaojun heaved a sigh and promised him that he would do him a favour.

Ah, Xin Li was nothing compared to Clares, he laughed. Clares would always be number one in Nan Xi's heart, and should both women fell into the swimming pool, the decision that Nan Xi would make to rescue one of them was very evident. Months of admiration opposed to years of love and regret were nothing. Reflecting on Nan Xi and Clares' relationship, he had been an innocent bystander when Nan Xi and Clares were together and witnessed their bittersweet moments. They would quarrel and split up from time to time, but Nan Xi loved Clares profoundly and would do anything to get her back.

Upon Clares' strange and unannounced disappearance, the two friends had made countless trips to the neighbourhood police station, but no avail. Eventually, the cops told Nan Xi to go to the Interpol instead. Clares' family was not of the country as they lived in the States, and he learned that he had better luck finding her in the States. But without any clues and leads, they were clueless about where to start. Clares had been like an alien in their city. Nobody knew anything about her family despite her studying there since her late teenage years. After much difficulty, Shaojun had managed to intrude into the membership records stored in a computer of a student who was vice-president of a club that Clares had joined during university, to obtain the contact numbers of Clares' parents, Mr and Mrs Chen, but they had not wanted to speak to Nan Xi even after numerous tries. Nan Xi had attributed this to Clares being mad at him, and thus not wanting her parents to speak to Nan Xi. However, he did not know the reason why she was mad with him.

Shaojun changed into a checkered tee and black three-quarter length jeans and prepared to head out when he passed the living room. Observing the annoying kitty now perched on the sofa, he maintained his distance and backtracked into the dining room. He then grabbed his smartphone on the dining table, followed by his satchel bag. Earlier, Nan Xi had called for a private ride for Rufeng's appointment at the saloon, for the three of them to save on parking fees, so the Honda was unused.

Before Shaojun left the flat, he cast a glare at the scary creature that he always had a problem with since his childhood, only for the kitty to tell him "goodbye". Flabbergasted, he wondered how in the world would a cat be able to talk. He shivered, and but another glance at the cat just yielded a meow and revealed an average cat napping on the sofa. He must be imagining things, he thought, as he closed the door and locked it after him. It couldn't be, was the guardian things that Nan Xi was telling him getting to his head and costing him his sanity? He didn't want to think about it any longer, and promptly shut the door, brisk-walking to the elevator.

So, grab the textbooks and then fetch the girls, he reminded himself as he turned the key in the ignition. Music boomed in his car as he absorbed himself in the latest songs by Arizona Cactus to forget about the peculiar incident with Gerald earlier. He flicked on the power to the GPS installed in the car and directed his journey to Wildness Bookstore, at Westside. He anticipated he would need fifteen minutes to get his work done and then take another twenty to reach the mall, considering the traffic conditions.

He ended up requiring another five minutes as he haggled with the shopkeeper for a discount for the used textbooks, the best price he could ever get in town and gladly placed them on the passenger seat of the car like a child receiving a new toy. Then he remembered that Rufeng did not have a smartphone, and her only method of contact had to be through Xin Li. Nan Xi had mentioned that they were in the Acres' Department Store in the mall shopping for some suitable clothing for Rufeng. Since the bulk of her clothes were ripped or ruined, and there was an upcoming Gala Night at the university which Nan Xi had wanted to bring Rufeng to with them, he had arranged Xin Li to help her shop. That would ultimately mean she would be getting dresses to match the dress code of the event.

If not for Nan Xi getting carried away by 'errands', he would have saved on the hefty parking fees that the mall's management would now incur on Shaojun's Honda for a mere half-hour of parking. Most malls would only provide a ten minute grace period for parking, and it was not enough. That was the reason why Shaojun wanted to get to the girls quickly and rush out of there before the management imposed a huge 'donation' on him for a more extended parking period exceeding thirty minutes.

Xin Li's number was busy, so without thinking, he marched up to the dressing room section and called out to Rufeng to let her know that he was around. He didn't like waiting for girls to finish shopping, but as there was no other way he could contact her, he had to go to search for her. In their city, people were generally more open-minded, and thus the reason why the fitting rooms for general clothing apart from intimate wear, were not secured with doorknobs or segregated by gender. Even if one were to chance upon the opposite sex changing, they would be no panic and people would look away and continue with what they were doing earlier. Furthermore, the men had seen almost everything when women dressed in bikinis at the beach.

In this case, given Rufeng's mishaps in the flat and how she had appeared in his bathroom out of nowhere, Shaojun had never perceived Rufeng to be female. She was tough, she was their equal, and her roughness translated in his mind to not a girly impression. Furthermore, he had difficulty trusting or believing her that she was a demon-slayer since such people no longer existed! But everything had proven to be different when he had seen her half-naked. Her scars showed clearly on her chest, but something else on her abdomen sparked the urge for him to believe her: the mark of the demon-slayers. In the twentieth century, people would call it a tattoo, but in Rufeng's era, the pain involved in creating a mark was unbelievable.

Fortunately, the mark was given to her when she was a child since nurturing and building up her skills as a demon-slayer was required to commence from a tender age. Even then, the pain was already exhilarating for her. She had passed out a few times in the process. A shaman had performed the branding of the mark on her back by infusing both physical force and innate shamanic powers of the tribe. Rufeng felt as if she was tossed deep into the inferno alive, and even at seventeen, she could not forget the ordeal of being branded with 'the mark'. Every first and fifteenth of each lunar month, she would be tormented by the pain of the innate powers suppressed within her, scorching her with ferocity. If only the men knew of what she had been through to get the 'tattoo', then maybe they would treat her with much more respect.

.......................................................................................

Shaojun didn't know how it happened, but he was starting to feel an intense desire to taste more of her lips. He couldn't explain how he had liked the warmth and feeling of her small body on his larger frame, but thinking more about these sinful desires of himself made him feel that he was such a pervert. Furthermore, for landing on her and putting his entire weight on her, she had given him a well-deserved slap and punch! Xin Li had returned just in time to save Rufeng from murdering Shaojun, and also made him apologize for his blunder. She told him that since Rufeng was from a very traditional village, it was rude of him to appear at the fitting room just like that. Shaojun

The drive back was in complete silence. Nobody said a word, and he didn't dare to turn on any music in the fear that it would annoy either of them. Xin Li was too distraught, while Rufeng appeared to be calm yet speechless. Despite almost turned into mincemeat by the weight of the massive boulder that had crushed her earlier, the kiss wasn't bothersome to Rufeng. She remembered Lu Jing once doing that to her when they were children, and she had responded with a similar gesture. Wasn't that what their parents did to them? She thought. She had also seen many parents doing that with their children. But now that she was thinking about it when Shaojun kissed her, why did their tongues get involved? And why did it seem to have gone on much longer compared to when Lu Jing had kissed her?

He stepped on the brake at the red light and turned towards the girls. Xin Li persisted with ignoring him and wouldn't face him. He didn't understand why Xin Li was being cold to him and averting his gaze. Why couldn't she fathom that accidents could happen?

"We're dropping you off first," he told Xin Li, and she glared at him. Now she looked angry, but for what reason?

Girls were so unpredictable and confusing. One moment she was okay, then the next she was cold, and now, she was angry! Just what were they composed of, combustibles?

Since nobody had said a word in objection, he assumed silence meant consent and proceeded to make the turn into the university ladies' dormitory to drop Xin Li off.