Song

Chapter 1: Beginnings

"Could you be any less ungrateful?" the boy with purple hair chides. Thanks to his countless exploits in aiding the locals of Hong Zhou, along with his beautiful features and fiery disposition, he's been bestowed many names and titles. But his real name is Shu, and he prefers to be called that.

"What? I never asked you to save it for me." The boy with silver hair rolls his eyes, stretching his arms behind his back. Like his partner Shu, his beauty and deeds have earned him many names, but he too prefers to be referred as by his real name: Song.

"You say that now, but if I killed that Seeker by myself, you'd be whining about wasting all that time tracking it without getting any of the action."

"Yeah, probably. So?"

"So I gave you the kill! The bet is off; that one didn't count."

"Shut up. You're annoying," Song says, unperturbed by his comrade's outburst. The sight of the city's most renowned meat store looms into view. Song nods towards it. "Hey, Shi Xian's shop is just over there. Go make yourself useful."

"I told you, the bet is off!" Shu is about to argue again, but remembering how stubborn Song can be, he sighs in resignation. He knows that if he doesn't buy Song his meat skewers, he'll be sulking for the rest of the week. "Fine, whatever. Wait here."

As Shu jogs towards the building, Song looks up into the sky. Judging by the position of the moon, it should be eleven or so, four hours to midnight. The fact that the entrance of meat shop is closed proves it, but since it's Shu, the owners will make an exception for him.

Song's eyes glaze over his surroundings. Bai Hu, one of the oldest cities of Hong Zhou, has always had a soothing effect on him. The flat stone streets, the buildings with their straight inclined, gabled roofs with its sides curving up towards its apex, and the iconic lanterns hanging by the outside of each building－ these sights go on for miles with little change.

A lot of outsiders often express their distaste for Bai Hu's old and monotonous architecture, but Song believes they just don't understand the city's charm. They don't see it the way he does. Since young, Bai Hu has offered him the mental and emotional solace he needed to survive his training days as a Purger.

A Purger, huh...

Song's attention turns to the passers-by in city square. The few people left about avoid eye-contact with him, ducking their heads and quickening their footsteps whenever his line of sight meets them.

Though his uniform is lewd, the people wouldn't even dream of laying a finger on him. They even treat him with utmost respect, like they do with all Purgers. Only outsiders would make that mistake. Very, very distant outsiders. To these peasants, Purgers like him are heroes.

And yet, we couldn't even save the ones who turned tonight. Some heroes we turned out to be...

"Shu sure is taking his own sweet time." Song draws a yawn.