The Ancient God Is Actually Her?!

It is recorded in a book: During the Xuanjing era of the Great Song, nature underwent a monstrous transformation. Living things became demons, and demons and ghosts appeared everywhere, running rampant across the world. This was said to be an omen from Heaven.

Baishui Pavilion was a secret organization that maintained order between humans and demons, ensuring that all living things could coexist in peace.

Baishui Pavilion had no pavilion master, only an acting master.

One day, the acting master somehow brought back a cool, quiet young lady and hired her as a clerk.

The pavilion's spirit beasts hadn't even had time to condemn him for his heartlessness in employing child labor before they shoved the piles of case files in front of the girl. “Thank you, young lady, for saving our lives!”

*

Yuqing was a newly born book spirit. Compared with the spirit beasts, who had lived for tens of thousands of years, she really was just a somewhat cool and quiet young girl.

But she had a secret.

Whenever she touched a demon or ghost, information about it would appear on her jade slip: its species, habits, abilities... even its weaknesses.

For example, her colleagues, who treated her so well, all had extraordinary identities: there was the far-flying chicken, skilled at tracking, and the eight-tailed fox, alluring and captivating...

Yet she could never see through the young man who had recruited her to Baishui Pavilion, despite his carefree, debauched ways.

Until one day, a troublesome malaria demon tried to attack Yuqing. He suddenly stepped in front of her, and a massive crimson apparition filled her entire field of vision.

At last, she learned what he really was.

“And what about you? What are you?” He pinned the wailing, sobbing malaria demon beneath his foot and smiled calmly, his eyes filled with emotions she couldn't understand.

Yuqing said nothing. She only felt that the jade slip in her hand, now burning hot, seemed somehow unfamiliar.

*

Back when Yuzhuo was a little crimson snake on Zhangwei Mountain, his favorite thing to do was take the form of a child and run after a woman, watching her make a bamboo fan for him with her own hands.

The day she died, he fought back his grief and searched all six realms, but couldn't find even a trace of her. All he could do was honor her wish and wait in the Baishui Pavilion they had founded together.

He believed she would come back.

Ten thousand years later, when the waters off Min erupted in turmoil, he went to investigate and caught sight of “her” at a glance.

P.S.

1. Worldbuilding: traditional monster mythology + the Taoist six realms + an alternate Song Dynasty setting. (I can't promise perfect historical accuracy, but I'll do my best to write a world where humans and demons coexist as I imagine it.)

2. Also known as The Xuanjing Record of Demonic Transformation. The book really did exist, but it has been lost. Only three volumes, preserved in Shuofu, remain, and it will be mentioned in the story.

Other reference books include, but are not limited to, The Classic of Mountains and Seas, Baopuzi, and The Illustrated Guide to Strange Creatures by Baize.

3. Books I consulted for the Song Dynasty setting include The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendor, The Elegant Song, and What If You Lived in the Song Dynasty?

Theme: All beings have spirits, and all things have feelings.