However, the fact that the other party was willing to speak put him slightly at ease; if the visitor had come with malicious intent, they probably wouldn’t have waited for him to open his eyes again.

He fumbled around, pulled a fire striker from the clothes at the foot of the bed, struck a spark, and lit the candle on the table. The dim candlelight instantly dispelled the dusk in the room and allowed him to see the visitor’s appearance.

The visitor was not human—this was Brian Carter’s first realization.

Although “she” did indeed look like a woman, the pair of upright ears on top of her head was far too conspicuous.

Unless the other party was a cosplay enthusiast, a creature with such non-human features would generally be called a chī or a yāo—a demon.

“Dog?” Brian Carter ventured.

No response.

“Cat?”

Those eyes, reflecting light in the night, really did look just like a cat’s.

Still silent.

“Wolf?” he guessed again.

“Enough, I’m a fox!” Her voice finally showed a hint of emotion.

Chapter 5: First Encounter

“Is that so… Sorry, the branches of the canine family look pretty similar, I really can’t tell them apart…” Brian Carter gave an awkward laugh and shrugged, but inside, waves of shock were surging.

My god, he had actually encountered a fox demon!

His master had once said that among all things evil, demons were actually among the less harmful, because they had their own thoughts and knew how to seek benefit and avoid harm. That’s why most demons would stay far away from human settlements and try not to interact with people. As a result, there were very few records about them; most of what circulated among the people were just stories passed on by word of mouth, not really reliable. All that was known was that they did exist, and that they originated from the mutation of various animals.

Of course, his master’s original description was much less polite, directly calling them “beasts and fowl,” the filthy part of the world’s energy, a sign of a declining age.

“Canine family? What’s that?”

“A broad classification—wolves, dogs, bears, and foxes all fall under it—”

“Absurd! How can dogs be compared to foxes?” The other party interrupted him, agitated, but quickly realized her voice was too loud and returned to her original cold tone. “Don’t change the subject, human. I’m asking you, why aren’t you afraid?”

“You mean that dream?” Brian Carter said, a little embarrassed.

“That ‘nightmare’.” She emphasized.

“You made me have it?”

“That’s right.” The fox demon didn’t deny it and answered directly. “A heavenly anomaly, a blood moon in the sky, the dead rising, evil spirits possessing bodies—aren’t these the things you humans fear most? All I have to do is give a little guidance, and you’ll fill in the most terrifying scenes you’ve ever witnessed in your life. It’s normal to be so scared you wet yourself. But why do you show no fear?”

Hey, could you not put it so bluntly?

At this moment, Brian Carter more or less understood the origin of that dream. So it was the other party who had designed a nightmare scenario, adding in all sorts of terrifying elements, and then let the dreamer’s own mind take over. In this era, even a meteor shower could be interpreted as a bad omen and cause panic, let alone the bizarre sight of the night sky dyed blood red.

But the problem lay precisely in this “fill in yourself” part.

The blood moon was such a classic element that Brian Carter had too many memories of similar scenes. Combined with the dead rising, the most fitting scenario turned out to be the monster respawn scene from the game “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild”—nicknamed “BotW.”

He couldn’t very well say that not only was he not afraid, he actually felt a bit nostalgic and even looked forward to it, right? After all, when the blood moon appeared, it meant he could collect weapons and materials from the monsters again.

“Well… maybe it’s because I’ve experienced it myself, so I’m more composed.” Brian Carter coughed twice and said.

“You’ve experienced it?” The woman stared at him. “How is that possible? I should have been the first to come up with these things…”

Looks like she was quite proud of her nightmare design.

“The world is a big place. How do you know similar anomalies haven’t happened somewhere else?”

“……” The other party fell silent, as if considering whether he was lying. After a moment, she turned her head, as if about to leave.

“Wait!” Brian Carter hurriedly called out to her.

The woman stopped, looking over with an impatient gaze.

“Why are you doing this? I’m not the only one who had a nightmare tonight, am I?”

Brian Carter didn’t consider himself anyone special; it was unlikely the fox demon had come just for him.

“Playing dumb, are you?” She snorted. “You’re planning to become a fangshi, aren’t you? And exorcising demons and slaying monsters is what fangshi always talk about. In other words, you’ll be our enemy in the future, so why not do this?”

That… actually makes sense. Is she trying to nip her “enemies” in the bud?

“If that’s the case, why not just take action directly?”

If she could sneak into Qingshan Town without a sound, all she’d need was a dagger and to swap the nightmare for a sweet dream—hardly anyone would react before being attacked.

“That’s because you haven’t become a fangshi yet.”

“…What?” Brian Carter didn’t react for a moment.