Chapter 28: Lin Yue.

The doors opened slowly, creaking as if announcing not just a room, but a trial. Damon entered with firm steps, though he felt every muscle in his body ready to react. The space before him was a contrast to the shadowy hallway: the room was vast, lit by golden lanterns suspended from the ceiling, casting a warm glow on walls covered in crimson and gold silk. The air was permeated with sweet incense, so thick it seemed to seep into the lungs, making breathing slow, almost lazy.

The center of the room was dominated by a gigantic sofa, deep red velvet with intricately carved dark wood details. Upon it, like an empress who ruled not only this room but the entire fate of those who entered, sat Lin Yue.

She rested on her side, her legs gracefully folded, her kimono spread open in layers of black and crimson silk that seemed to move on its own, like dark flames. In her hands, she held a long jade and silver pipe, from which emanated a delicate smoke that danced in the air in almost hypnotic patterns. Her gaze, narrow and penetrating, fell on Damon as he crossed the threshold.

It was like being struck by an invisible arrow.

Her eyes didn’t just watch him: they stripped him bare. Layers of his soul seemed to be examined, turned inside out under that gaze too calm to be human.

The doors closed behind him with a sharp thud. Damon barely had time to look back before two figures emerged from the shadows—tall women dressed in tight black kimonos, their movements as precise as trained soldiers. In the blink of an eye, they kicked him in the back of the knees.

Damon fell heavily, the sound of his knees hitting the floor echoing through the room.

“What the hell…?” he growled, placing one hand on the floor, trying to regain his balance.

The two guards stood behind him, motionless as statues, as Lin Yue took a long drag on her pipe and exhaled slowly. The mist spread through the air, swirling until it dissipated near Damon’s face.

Then she spoke.

Her voice was soft, velvety, but carried an authoritative weight that made each syllable dig in like claws.

“Interesting… an Incubus in disguise, sitting in my hall. Or rather…” her lips curved in an enigmatic smile, “kneeling before me.”

Damon froze for a moment.

The words echoed like blades.

He slowly raised his face, and despite the discomfort of being on his knees, a wry smile formed on his lips. A chuckle escaped his throat.

“Tsk… seriously?” he muttered, glancing sideways at the guards behind him. “You could have just offered me a seat.”

Lin Yue didn’t laugh. Didn’t move. He simply drew again on his pipe, releasing another cloud of smoke that seemed to writhe like a living serpent between them.

“Your disguise is effective. Enough to fool courtesans and nobles. But not me. Nor this place.” His eyes narrowed even more, piercing as sharp blades. “So tell me, creature… why are you here, hidden beneath the skin of a human?”

Damon felt the muscles in his neck tense. Slowly, he raised his right arm, pulling back his sleeve and revealing the metal bracelet clasped around his wrist. It was a simple-looking artifact, made of aged silver, but it held a subtle, almost pulsating glow.

He tapped his finger lightly on the bracelet, letting the metallic sound echo in the heavy silence of the room.

“This thing here.” A half-smile played on his lips. “It’s just to avoid causing trouble; I don’t care about this place.”

Lin Yue’s eyes flickered with something vague—surprise? Recognition? Amusement?—before returning to their expressionless state.

“Causing trouble in…” she murmured, as if tasting the joke she was hearing, savoring it. “An incubus is something even the demon cult hates. For it has the ability to steal power through all sorts of disgusting things. And here you are. An incubus inside a brothel. You want to kill my courtesans?”

The smoke from Lin Yue’s pipe spread like veils of shadow and fire, enveloping the room with a sweet, suffocating scent. Her gaze never left Damon, and the accusation hung in the air like a death warrant.

“An incubus inside a brothel…” she repeated, each word laced with venom, as if his very existence were an affront. “What do you intend? To steal the essence of my courtesans? Do you know what would happen if I let this pass? The Song of the Phoenix would fall from grace. And I do not tolerate weakness in my house.”

The guards behind him shifted slightly, their hands sliding to the blades hidden beneath their kimonos. A single gesture from her, and Damon’s throat would be slit.

He took a deep breath, maintaining his crooked smile, but his thoughts raced. Damn it… I don’t even know what a cultivator does, let alone this demonic cult. And now this woman is throwing it in my face that even demons hate incubi…? What kind of trouble did I get into in a damn brothel?

Still kneeling, he raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, forcing his voice to remain calm.

“Hey, calm down… you’re tripping. I didn’t come to rob anyone, nor am I here plotting against your brothel.”

Lin Yue narrowed her eyes, silent, but the glint in her eyes made it clear she wasn’t so easily believed.

“You really think you can lie to me?”

“Lie?!” Damon laughed nervously, shaking his head. “I barely know what kind of world I’m in, let alone plotting something like that.”

The whole room seemed to freeze. The laughter faded as quickly as it had come, and he felt the guards’ gazes burning into the back of his neck. Damon knew he needed an immediate exit, or he would be torn apart on the spot.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, adopting a weary expression.

“Look… I’m not even a cultivator, for starters. I don’t know anything about these factions you guys talk about. I just… followed an order.”

Lin Yue arched an eyebrow.

“Order?”

“Yeah.” He jerked his thumb back, as if still speaking to Ester. “They told me to come here, ’get something to eat’…” He made air quotes with his fingers, trying to mimic the ironic tone he remembered from Ester. “…and come back in the morning.”

For a moment, silence.

Then one of the guards huffed in indignation, clearly interpreting it as an insolent joke. But Lin Yue remained motionless, staring him up and down, as if measuring him not with her eyes, but with something far beyond.

“You expect me to believe you were sent here as… some random client?” Her tone was disbelieving, but there was a spark of curiosity.

Damon shrugged.

“Believe what you want. I didn’t ask to come. If it were up to me, I’d be lying in bed, sleeping. But… you know how it is. When they order you to do something, you do it.”

He leaned back a little, supporting himself better, trying to appear relaxed despite the tension.

“Besides, if I had any intention of attacking your courtesans, do you really think I’d be sitting here, drinking, and letting ten of them fight over who got me? I just stood there, trying not to cause a fuss.”

Lin Yue drummed his fingers on the arm of the sofa. Smoke from his pipe rose in curls that resembled closing claws.

“So you don’t deny who you are.”

“Why would I?” Damon retorted with a wry smile. “I was a slave. I didn’t choose to be born that way. I didn’t ask for it. But I’m not out there devouring people like a maniac, either, if that’s what you think. I am me, and that’s all. Now let me go; that cold woman will come after me when she realizes I haven’t come back.”

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