Guardian: The Broken World

The Fated Encounter

"This is odd... a demon hunts humans either for the pleasure of killing or because they wanted to feed on their flesh, but so far, the little damage made to the lobby area is too contained coming from a vicious creature. So far, only a few claw marks in the reception area, which was probably were the guard was attacked and a good amount of residual energy is left behind. The Ghost Slayer is a formidable fighter, feared by those who knew him in the war... such a fight should have caused devastation all around, yet there is nothing..." Da Qing said, while closely inspecting the place.

"The Ghost Slayer has godlike powers, even if he was only a half-god as the Professor confirmed. Creating barriers should be a walk in the park for him, especially when he seems to be fixate with protecting humans in general. He is such a caring man, I wonder just what in the world happen to him two thousand years ago. It's not like him, to abandon those he fight so hard to protect, but more than that, I wonder why he is back again now." Zhao said, passing his hand over the only mark coming from a sword, the Ghost Slayer legendary blade, capable to even kill gods and his mind begin to race in search for a logic explanation.

"You know, this is not the first time he had shown up. Actually, there must be a record in the library about the times the Ghost Slayer had been rumor to be back, to later despair again for centuries." The cat added.

"Hum... let's see, that is odd. How many times do you remember of him being active after the war?" Zhao asked.

"I honestly can't remember much of the things that happen that long ago, but I think the Order had less work when he was around, even if no Guardian saw him personally." The cat said, trying to recall all the times, the elusive Ghost Slayer had been around. He had been by Zhao's side in all his reincarnations, as it was his duty to find the soul of his master and although his personality had varied between one another, there was something all Kunlun's reincarnations had in common. All of them had obsessed themselves with finding the missing hero and failed.

"Remind me to go down to the library and ask Sang Zan to have a look at the old records. Maybe we can find some clues there. I wonder... do you think that Professor Shen can give us a bit more of information about the Ghost Slayer?" Zhao asked merrily, while taking out a set of yellow talismans he always carried with him when on difficult cases.

"Us? You mean you, right? This should be a brand new record for you. Just knowing him for a few minutes and you are already looking for excuses to meet him again. Was it love at first sight?" Zhu Hong asked Zhao, joining them after she send away the older Professors who were completely clueless of what had happen at their dormitory.

"Sure, why not? I had the feeling that I already know him for centuries..." Zhao said without thinking and Da Qing stared at Zhao, trying to decipher if he was joking or being serious. He doubt that he had met the Professor on a previous life, he would had known if that was the case, however, he wonder whatever or not Kunlun was a step closer to awaken.

"You pervert, he is too much for you. There is something strange about that Professor and you should be more wary of him. All my senses are yelling at me to stay away from him and I am a serpent..." She said while shuddering.

"So, he is not only smart and handsome, he also had the ability to scare off one of Nuwa's descendants... damn, he is just too perfect. I like him even more now..." Zhao teased, making the woman give him a death glare.

"Too bad you will be scaring him off with your bad habits and mess-up personality." She rebutted, but Zhao only laughed.

"That's yet to be seen. Who knows, he may even like me back..." He infused the talismans with some of his own energy.

"Yeah, right... only if he goes blind..." The cat said, making Zhu laugh.

Zhao ignored them and threw the talismans, inscribed with red ink, he was holding and they floated in the air in a circular motion around him. Then, he whispered an ancient incantation passed down from one generation of Guardians to another and the talismans flared with a blinding golden light for a few seconds before attaching to different points in the ceiling, forming a thirty-two layers of protection. The formation itself was set in eight circles of different sizes and although it wasn't enough to properly enclose and protect the entire campus, it was a bit exaggerated for a single building. Nonetheless Zhao smiled at his handy work, obviously proud of it.

"You used the whole set? That's a pretty strong barrier for only a few floors... I guess I was right in reassuring the Professor he will be safe while he sleeps..." Lin Jing said, joining them at last.

"Nothing less for a future wife..." Zhao shamelessly said, only stopping when sensing something out of place. The sudden strong dark energy was overwhelming even for him, who was accustom to fight strong creatures coming from the underworld and sometimes even from Hell.

"Yunlan! This is bad, Hell hounds are coming!" Da Qing yelled, although his warning was unnecessary, because all of them could feel them even before multiple portals opened a few yards outside the building.

Despite the sudden critical situation, Zhao frowned at the never seen before sight. That many Hell hounds were not supposed to cross the border by any means known to him and even less coming to a place without anything special that could attract their attention, unless... Could it be that the Ghost Slayer was still somewhere close by? And sure enough, a second later, the air inside the lobby area started to drop in temperature, half covering the walls with a light layer of frost and mist.

"Ghost Slayer..." Zhao whisper just before two figures emerged from a portal.

-Ghost Slayer-

He didn't have time to properly introduce himself to Yunlan. Once he had showed up, the Hell hounds had begun to move closer, barring their fangs in defiance. The blood-thirsty creatures were extremely ferocious and their claws, were like sharp blades that could tear apart even bones.

Chu moved to meet the Hell hounds first, attacking the first round coming their way with skillful movements and precisely aiming his barely visible treads to decapitating his enemies. The Ghost Slayer would be mad with him for taking the initiative when he had clearly wanted for him to protect the head Guardian. Still, in his book, His Honor safety will always come first, no matter what.

"Guardian, you did well in creating such a barrier, so perfect for this kind of situation. The Hell hounds will not brake this many layers even if for some miracle they escape form me, so stay inside it, we will handle this." The Ghost Slayer said to Zhao, not giving him time to reply, going out to join Shuzhi and Zhao watched almost in fascination at impressive sight. Instinctively, Zhao had summon his enchanted whip, just in case he needed to act to protect his people despite what the Ghost Slayer had just said, although all of them were capable to hold their own in a fight as crazy as that one.

Zhao thought of joining the new found underworld guardians, but dropped the thought, realizing he will only be on their way. The two obviously had fight together for a long time, as their deadly dance was almost hypnotical and in perfect synchrony. The man with the bluish treads was always watchful of the Ghost Slayer movements and there was a kind of barrier made to protect him from unexpected attacks, which somehow make Zhao feel a hint of jealousy.

Outside, the Ghost Slayer showed no mercy to the foul beasts. He slayed everything that dare come closer. His movements were graceful and quick, his blade lethal. He summon ghost fire over those Hell hounds farther away from his blade blast, fully controlling the flames to consume only the hounds and leaving behind their ashes.

Soon, the numbers of hound's decreased, until there was nothing but dark ashes covering a huge portion of the front yard of the teacher's dorms. It was then, that both the Ghost Slayer and his personal guard came to meet the astonished Guardians. Zhao's expression, however make the man under the cloak a bit worry. He knew Yunlan was smarter than he let others known and right at that moment he was probably realizing there was something out of place in the dorms, probably related to him, which could put Shen Wei's identity in jeopardy if he wasn't careful.

"Guardian..." His voice was deeper than that of his other self.

"Ghost Slayer, Your Honor..." Zhao said, coming closer, despite the intense cold surrounding him.

"I had been away for a long period of time, however, as you had seen, there are a few urgent matters I need to take care off back in the underworld to be around for long periods. However, as the numbers of ghost and other creatures crossing the border had increased, I will like for you to accept the help from someone I will entrust my life." He signalled Shuzhi to come closer.

"This is Chu Shuzhi, my right hand man. He can't officially join the Order as he is not a human, nor blessed with a soul, but I assure you he is someone you can trust. He is going to be my envoy, whatever you need of me, he will do you the honor. Also, there is a human who will come to you in a few days, his name is Guo Changcheng. If you don't mind, make him a member of the Order, he will not have any problems with his name been written in the Guardians book. Just look at him once and you will know why." And just like that, the Ghost Slayer was gone, making Zhao speechless for the first time in his life.

AN: Just to clarify, Nuwa is the goddess that created the human kind and she also had the form of a serpent.