Crashing into Daylight
Chapter 1
Chapter 1 - Reunion
Along the path where red maple was growing, the pale floating clouds and waterfalls
from the sky were a perfect match. As the oldest demon slayer academy in history, Maple
Bridge1 Academy was hidden in the mountains.
Early in the morning, in the 10th grade office.
As Dean Qin looked at the student standing in front of him, his face grew darker. This
was the third time this veteran had gotten caught2. On the surface, he looked as though he was
deep in remorse, but in reality, his eyes were unfocused; he had probably zoned out.
“Stand up straight! Lift up your head!” Dean Qin knocked the desk with force, “Going
down the mountain overnight with no regard for the prohibitions, even running to the damn
internet cafe to surf the web overnight! I couldn’t believe it when the night patrol team told me a
student had broken through the barrier and gone down the mountain. Your trip this time was so
sneaky3, should I somehow be praising you for improving or something?!”
“I was just wondering which oddball demon slayer student liked going to the internet cafe
to play games; I understood it all the moment I heard your name - Xu Yinian! From your
enrollment till now, how many of the thirty-five school rules have you not broken?!”
“Ten.” The male student answered without hesitation.
“Utter rubbish!” Dean Qin bellowed.
“You even remembered it this clearly?” The male student eyed him with suspicion, “Nine
then, it can’t be less.”
“Four! Only four! Still saying that it can’t be less, I’m guessing you haven’t even taken
the trouble you’ve made before to heart at all! Dean Qin inhaled deeply, barely managing to
keep it together. “Go collect your graduation assessment task yourself! Once you’ve collected it,
hurry back to the dorms, pack your things and be on standby. The other students in your team
have already gotten ready, the only one missing is you!”
Budding demon slayers entered the doors of the academy at the age of eleven. At the
age of twenty-one, they would be faced with the graduation assessment after studying for ten
years. The assessment results would determine if one could become a demon slayer that could
stand on their own feet.
1 枫桥: ‘Feng’ = maple and ‘Qiao’ = bridge.
2 三进宫的老人: A more literal translation would be ‘third time this veteran was going to jail’, but for better
flow I went with this!
3 神不知鬼不觉: A more literal translation would be: unknown to god or ghost.
Catching onto a certain keyword, Xu Yinian finally focused his attention. “Graduation
assessment? So soon?”
“It wasn’t supposed to happen this soon. Recently, some areas have not been very
peaceful, and as the situation hasn’t been settled yet, the Demon Slayer Bureau tossed the
minor demons over to the academy to handle. It just happened to function nicely as your
graduation assessment.” Dean Qin’s expression relaxed some as he recounted, “The task your
group has been assigned to isn’t considered too difficult; you’re responsible for maintaining
order at the Demon Realm auction. The leader of your team is Chen Ran. You’ll have him
leading, so make sure to complete the task smoothly.”
Hearing the name of a certain loser, Xu Yinian repeated, “Chen Ran? He’d better not
drag me down.”
Dean Qin was in disbelief, “Who’s dragging who down? Chen Ran gets straight As on
the final assessments every year, but I can’t say the same about you!”
“It’s because I let him.”
“...”
“If the exams only test on the practical skills and not theory, Chen Ran would also be
trashed by my skill level—”
“Xu! Yi! Nian!” Seeing that he held no remorse for the nonsense he was spouting, Dean
Qin bristled with rage, slamming the desk, “Have you no shame?! Ever since Maple Bridge
Academy’s establishment, the only person who has gotten a single digit for the theory exams
has been you! Yet you manage to get a perfect score on every practical assessment, are you
partial to practicals or are you just stupid?!”
“...” Xu Yinian did not respond for a while.
After some time, he bit down on his lower lip and muttered, “I’m just too lazy to learn.”
God knows that the mere sight of theory was enough to send his head spinning. What
he could easily complete in practice was impossible to understand the moment it was laid on
paper.
In front of a teacher, he couldn’t humble himself to admit that he was only good at
fighting. Observing the indifference in his tone, Dean Qin felt his blood pressure instantly spike.
“The foundation lies in theory! If your foundation is unstable, being any good in practice is
useless! Straighten out your attitude towards learning!! ...”
Xu Yinian was then subject to a harsh beratement by Dean Qin. When he left the office,
Dean Qin’s anger hadn’t fully dissipated; a female teacher by the side took a leisurely sip of
warm water.
“Dean, calm down.” The female teacher consoled, “For some students, it’s useless no
matter how you go about it. You’ve gone to all that trouble and effort for him, yet he doesn’t take
your teachings seriously at all.”
As she continued on, she looked towards that male student’s departing shadow, her
gaze meaningful.
“He was born like this, he can’t be taught.”
Dean Qin turned his head to look at her, his voice grave, “If you’re unable to teach your
students well, perhaps consider that the problem lies in your own teaching ability!”
“...” The female teacher clenched the mug tightly, no longer saying a word.
Xu Yinian walked down the hallway.
He was a little lethargic, his eyes slightly downcast. The hallways of Maple Bridge
Academy were adorned with hanging scrolls of demons - they were in the three colors of gold,
silver and red. He walked with an unhurried pace; his face was brighter than the Hundred
Demon painting, his distinctive appearance tinged with the aura of a demon on a rampage.
Intentionally or otherwise, all of the students were staring at him.
“Xu Yinian is skipping class again?”
“He’s incredible. When I walked past the office this morning, I heard Dean Qin showering
him with torrents of abuse.”
“How many times has it been? Isn’t he worried that he can’t graduate?”
“With his status, what would he be afraid of? If any regular person had his fate, they
would’ve long been…”
It was widely known that the Demon Slayer World had the Four Great Families. As the
Xu family’s sole heir in this generation, Xu Yinian’s reputation had already been notorious when
he was ten - he was a household name.
Based on convention, a fortune-teller would predict the fates of all the little demon
slayers just before they turned ten. When it was Xu Yinian’s turn, the fortune-teller had
immediately gone ghastly pale. In his readings, massacre and bloodshed were intertwined, the
lives of the people plunged into calamity. It was an inauspicious reading that predicted the
greatest of evils.
Such a domineering reading caused a furor throughout the entire Demon Slayer World.
Although the Xu family tried ways and means to change Xu Yinian’s fate, it remained as
immovable as a mountain, continuing to steadily intimidate others.
Xu Yinian was accustomed to being watched like a tyrannosaurus rex on display; he
walked into the classroom without haste.
Before the first class of the afternoon had begun, there were quite a number of students
who were reciting the study materials in advance. Xu Yinian walked over to his own seat. He'd
played through the night, and when he let out a few lazy yawns, it was as though the classroom
had suddenly pressed the pause button, the chanting sound of memorization fading away in a
rustle.
One person hadn't heard his yawns and continued to chant, and his deskmate reminded
him at a volume that he'd assumed was inconspicuous. “Stop memorizing already! The boss is
sleepy!”
“Fuck!” That person shut his mouth in alarm. “I'm sorry for bothering you!”
“...” Xu Yinian didn't even raise his head. “Continue, it's hypnotizing.”
The moment he finished his sentence…
The sound of loud and clear reading picked up from the four corners of the classroom,
and even students who hadn't previously been reading fished out their textbooks. This caused
the teacher-in-charge who walked into the class to be so touched that he was an utter mess.
“Students, I can see all of the hard work that everyone is putting in, so believe me when I say
that every student in this class will be able to successfully pass the graduation assessment!”
In this atmosphere that reeked of enthusiastic learning, Xu Yinian simply could not fall
asleep. He dug around for his phone and logged into the joint forum.
Not all demons were targeted by demon slayers. For the most part, demons who didn't
stir up trouble or harm other humans would instead become the esteemed guests4 of demon
slayers. In order to avoid bloodshed, humankind had always advocated for the peaceful
co-existence of both species. To gradually solve the estrangement that existed between
demonkind and demon slayers for the last thousand years as well as to enable regular humans
to better understand demons, the Demon Slayer Bureau had set up the joint forum to facilitate
communication between both species.
It was a pity that after the joint forum was set up, the demons hardly ever made posts on
their own. When there was an interesting topic, they’d occasionally comment on the post, their
responses often rather peculiar.
4 座上宾: term to be confirmed, possibly a specialized term for demon-demon slayer collaboration.
[Question: Will drinking blood from a demon species turn me into a demon?]
[A demon replied: It can treat your cerebral palsy.]
[[Vomit][Vomit] I was harassed by a Canine demon on the way home from work. Can this
monster just go and die???]
[A demon replied: What the heck? Are you sure it was a Canine demon? Give us some details.
If our species really birthed such scum, I’ll get rid of them tonight.]
...
...
Other than the public section, access to the demon section and demon slayer section
both required identity verification. To infiltrate the demon section, Xu Yinian had paid a high
price for an account belonging to a Feline demon.
Very quickly, he saw a post that was gaining traction on the first page of the demon
section.
[Have you heard? Yu Huai will be going to the Qihai auction!]
[Really?! My husband is finally willing to show his face?]
[Aaaaaa who has the invitation to the auction? Sell it to me sell it to me, we can negotiate the
price!]
[Sister, calm down! Think about the rumors about his reign of terror. Don’t fight me for the
invitation, let me be the one to bear this grave danger.]
[Is anyone selling the invitation to the Qihai auction? I don’t know who Yu Huai is and most
definitely don’t know who this number one face in the Demon Realm is. I just want to broaden
my horizons.]
[Is all this necessary? How many hundreds of years has it been since you’ve seen a man?]
[It’s true, I haven’t seen a man who is handsome, has a great pedigree, and who managed to
come out of the Burial Grounds alive, hehe.]
Xu Yinian’s finger halted its scrolling. He couldn’t help but glance at the assignment he’d
just received. Written clearly on it was the venue of his graduation assessment.
Qihai City, Demon Realm auction.
As he stared at the assessment venue, his gaze grew cold.
[Does everyone think Yu Huai is a random dog or cat on the roadside who’s willing to attend any
random shitty auction? If he really shows up, I’ll pluck my head off and let everyone kick it like a
ball.]
[I’ll be blunt. I want to play soccer. Yu Huai, don’t disappoint me.]
[You’re just fishing for responses5. Who doesn’t know that Yu Huai never attends such events?
The last time he showed his face publicly was when he fought his way out of the Burial
Grounds. Just keep fishing.]
Xu Yinian scrolled till the very end. There was a lot of buzz and the opinions of the
demons were divergent, yet in the end, they could not come to a definitive conclusion.
He wasn’t sure to rejoice or be disappointed as he closed the webpage.
-
The history of the Demon Realm auction ran long and deep. In ancient times, the items
on auction included human bodies and ancient, evil tools. In recent years, as the relationship
between the human and demon species improved, the Demon Realm auction gradually became
legal and proper. All sorts of sanguinary and bloody novelties were replaced by precious
treasures that were worthy of being presented on stage.
As its name suggested, the Qihai City6 that was hosting the auction was a financial hub
located by the sea, and along the city was a chain of islands that formed the shape of a
crescent moon. Located along the beach of one of the private islands was a villa built like an
archetypal imperial city from ancient Rome. With a giant white roof shaped in an arc, its stained
glass windows were bright and reflective, and within the air drifted the faint aroma of bay leaves
that were being used as interior decoration.
This time, the Phantom demons and the Demon Slayer Bureau of Qihai City were
collectively responsible for maintaining order at the venue, and the students that were coming
for their graduation assessment would have to support the local Demon Slayer Bureau in this.
As Xu Yinian and Chen Ran had the most attractive physical profiles, they were selected to
stand guard by the main entrance to receive guests. Although they were the same age and both
successors of the Four Great Families, their personalities did not mesh well. Not a single word
was said between them all morning.
5 钓鱼的没妈: Slang, something along the lines of asking purposefully dumb questions to get netizens to
respond. Read here for more information!
6 祁海市: ‘Qi’ = vast and ‘Hai’ = sea. So the city is a namesake for its location.
The auction was prestigious and renowned; other than demons, the guest list also
included a number of powerful humans who were members of the elite. A supercar painted in
dark purple flashed past and stopped in the near distance. When the door opened, a young man
with dyed red hair alighted the car accompanied by a female internet celebrity.
Red Hair removed his sunglasses, looking around at his surroundings before speaking in
a particularly pleased tone, “Look! Isn’t this even more exclusive than a cruise party or mountain
road-racing circuit? My brothers don’t even know this place exists in the world; this island
doesn’t show up on any map. If not for my family’s connections with the organizers, you
probably wouldn’t even be able to step foot on this island.”
“Yes, yes.” The little internet celebrity laughed along, fiddling with her long hair non-stop.
“It’s all because of you.”
“Let me tell you, even though the people who are coming and going look human, it’s
possible that they’re all not humans.”
The little internet celebrity revealed an expression of alarm mingled with surprise.
“President Yu, can I do a live broadcast?”
Red Hair furrowed his brow. “This place prohibits photography. You should watch
yourself; I won’t be able to protect you if anything happens.”
As Red Hair walked, he peered in all directions. When his line of sight reached Xu
Yinian, he suddenly asked, “What species are you? Let me guess, are you a fox?”
From the moment this pair had arrived Chen Ran had been frowning. He was caught off
guard upon hearing this idiot try to pick a fight with Xu Yinian, his sarcastic tone insinuating that
Xu Yinian looked like a fox vixen. He couldn’t resist a touch of Schadenfreude, the tension
between his brows easing some.
Xu Yinian ignored him.
Red Hair was displeased and stepped forward to argue. “I’m talking to you, can’t you
hear?”
Xu Yinian’s eyelid twitched. “Nope.”
“?”
At this point, Chen Huo politely yet forcefully stopped Red Hair from continuing. “Please
come in.”
As he spoke, he pushed open the door of the main entrance.
Red Hair comprehended the kind of occasion he was attending and could only glare at
Xu Yinian before entering in a huff.
Unlike Red Hair, Xu Yinian was a demon slayer and could easily differentiate between
the demons and humans on-site.
A female demon emanating a graceful air held up her dress as she walked over. If he
recalled correctly, she was a popular female celebrity in human society. Behind the female star
was a middle-aged male demon with a seemingly ordinary appearance. After thinking carefully,
he surmised that he seemed to be some financial magnate. If he looked back even further, Xu
Yinian could vaguely see the big shots of military and politics, elites of the business world...
What he found strange was that these immaculately dressed demons would practically
all halt their step when walking past him. What’s more, some would even turn back and look at
him again. On their faces was laughter and ridicule; it looked like they were watching an exciting
show play out, or even mocking him.
“Is it that one? The one on the left.”
“From the Xu family…”
“He’s certainly got guts to dare stand here. Doesn’t he know who’s coming today?”
Because of the earlier help out of his predicament, Xu Yinian had a slight change of
opinion towards Chen Ran. He casually asked, “Is it very funny for a security guard to stand
here?”
“It’s not that the security guard is funny. No one’s looking at me.” On this rare occasion,
Chen Ran decided to give him a hint. He kept his tone flat and neutral. “They’re laughing at
you.”
Xu Yinian found this baffling, inwardly wondering how or when he became a comedian.
Before he could figure it out, another luxury car stopped in front of the entrance.
The attendant bent his waist to open the door, and stepping out of the car was a tall
young man fully dressed in formal attire. The man’s face was clearly illuminated by the sunlight;
he squinted his eyes to look over, his face handsome yet arrogant7.
He was younger than most of the demons present, yet all of the demons were staring at
him.
“Holy shit…!” Upon realizing who this god was, Chen Ran inhaled deeply.
7 桀骜: I’m holding myself back from using ‘guarded’ here!!!
Xu Yinian’s entire body was frozen in place, his breathing nearly ceasing.
He looked in disbelief at that figure within the crowd. The post from the joint forum
abruptly emerged in his mind.
...
[I suddenly thought of something - the Xu family is at the very least considered a noble family of
demon slayers. This is such a grand auction, Xu Yinian might also attend. If he does, the scene
is definitely going to be very exciting hahahaha.]
[Can you not bring this idiot up? It’s bad luck.]
[I’m already used to it. As long as Yu Huai is mentioned, you-know-who’s name will definitely
show up in less than ten minutes.]
[Are you crazy? There are still people who ship this?! Based on Yu Huai’s temper, if Xu Yinian
shows up in front of him now he’s just courting death. Back then, his marriage to Yu Huai was a
total social climb for him - did Yu Huai say anything? Was he not good to him? The moment
things went awry, he was the fastest to turn against him; not even a marriage contract was
enough to stop him from cutting ties. That surnamed Xu definitely has a problem with his
morals.]
[Then again, we can’t entirely blame Xu Yinian. Back then, how many people could have
predicted that Yu Huai could walk out of the Burial Grounds alive? After all, something like this
has never happened before.]
[I’m curious how long young master Xu stayed up till the night that Yu Huai came out of the
Burial Grounds.]
[He probably didn’t sleep all night, scared for his life. For things to end up like this is
well-deserved; he asked for it.]
...
...
After Yu Huai got off the car, the female companion that was accompanying him
extended a hand to hold onto his arm.
The female demon’s long platinum hair trailed down her back in curls, her complexion
pale like fresh snow. Both her and Yu Huai’s appearances were exceedingly outstanding, and
when they stood together they were particularly eye-catching.
Xu Yinian unconsciously pursed his lips.
“Hey!” Chen Ran had initially planned on just minding his own business, but upon seeing
Xu Yinian staring fixed in that direction, he had no choice but to lower his voice and remind him.
“Hurry up and hide! Or at the very least bury your face!”
Xu Yinian’s mind was in a tangle, and he instinctively listened to Chen Ran. The moment
he lowered his head, he thought this gesture was truly just overdoing it on his part.
Those idiots on the joint forum constantly fantasized that Yu Huai hated him to the core,
messing with his head till he’d even started believing it.
From alighting the car till now, Yu Huai hadn’t spared him a single glance.
It had been five whole years since they’d broken up. Judging by Yu Huai’s current status
and standing, the amount of love and admiration he received was naturally too much to count.
Yu Huai had likely forgotten all about him.
Xu Yinian shut his eyes, working to suppress the ripples in his heart.
Yu Huai no longer cared… Wasn’t that good enough? Wasn’t this what he’d wished for
himself?
The very first person to step forward to chat with Yu Huai was that middle-aged man. He
spoke politely, “Mr Yu, I’ve heard a lot about you.”
A female demon asked cautiously, “Why did you come to the auction? In the past, you
didn’t seem very interested in attending similar events.”
Rather than behaving in an unbridled and unrestrained manner, Yu Huai actually hardly
ever showed up in public. Demons that were familiar with his personality were few and far
between, and the understanding that the rest of the world had about him came from a mixed
bag of true and false rumors.
Although they admired the powerful by nature, any demons that approached or got close
to him would inevitably be on guard.
“I heard there’s a large variety of objects being auctioned this time, so I wanted to take a
look.” Yu Huai’s gaze swept across the two demon slayers standing by the main entrance,
pausing for a moment on Xu Yinian who had his head lowered like an ostrich.
He let out a laugh, then continued meaningfully. “I must have good luck, I’ve stumbled
upon something I want.”
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