The Messengers of Sanctuary

40 - Lianmin

Min had no idea why the man hadn't killed her at first, but as she entered his camp, it became increasingly obvious.

He was the leader. He was in charge of protecting his people. Therefore, if Min had looked in need of protection, he might have seen it as someone in need. He might have seen Min as someone he had lost, just as he seemed like old Yan to Min.

Min sat in the tent, clutching a lantern as she tried to understand why anyone would protect someone who attacked them. Let alone a demon.

Though it seemed like they didn't have demons here, Min hadn't smelled any the entire time, and besides Ben, everyone smelled unerringly human. It was so strange to be around humans. Min had mostly just avoided them if at all possible, hiding out with the other street demons and banding together whenever the angels decided to cull the demon population.

Technically Min didn't sleep, the closest thing being when her demon took over at the advent of night. It had always been strange to her that humans regularly passed out for several hours per day, undefended entirely. Even the tian still needed sleep, though from what Min had heard it was less than humans, their overactive metabolisms forcing them to stay awake.

Truly the world was strange.

Min hummed to herself as she hung onto that lantern, sitting in the darkness with a blanket draped over her shoulders. She'd often wondered what part of her needed light, but it seemed as if she was fine as long as she could see the light behind her eyelids.

Ben, the human who wasn't human, came up beside her, sitting down and watching her curiously. He clearly wanted to ask something, but that pesky language barrier was still there. So he simply sat down.

---

Min watched curiously from the camp as Ben and several of his humans exited the area. Chrissy, the nice woman who'd given Min the lantern stood beside her, her features wrought with worry.

She said something in what Min was increasingly certain was English, and led Min back toward the camp, where several other women and a decent but somewhat lacking number of children waited.

They all stood solemnly for a long moment and then Chrissy clapped her hands together, saying something commanding. It reminded Min of Mao Heng, Who had always been assertive in everything she did.

Always caring and loving.

Min cringed as she wondered if these people would be her new jia. Her new home. She turned away from that idea for the moment, but it persisted in the back of her mind.

Min followed Chrissy as she introduced Min to all the human women. They looked at her red eyes curiously, but none of them seemed aggressive. They trusted that she was acting human and most likely would remain doing so.

The girl was fairly certain though that the moment she got a cursory understanding of English, she would have explanations to give. Min met all the women, was introduced to the children, and then directed to stay by Chrissy's side through the whole evening. And the entire time, Chrissy didn't stop talking. She was clearly doing it on purpose, if only to make it easier for Min to pick up on words and phrases. They definitely intended on breaking this language barrier sooner rather than later.

A few hours later, Min lifted her nose to the air, feeling her demon stir as she caught the distinct scent of the undead. It wasn't the living scent though, it was the scent of their blood. The scent of their death. The scent that had her demon happily laying back down as if a hunt had been achieved.

Min found this disconcerting as the men returned through the gate, their blades drenched in the blood of the undead and their faces a mixture of satisfaction and disgust. Min felt her demon interested in this development, it could tell that they were also creatures that would execute the unnatural without a second thought.