The Vanguard’s Shadow and a Night of Crimson

Where, exactly, was my future headed?

Confronted by the shocking truth of the day, Xiu Lan found herself in the rare grip of insomnia.

Habitually, she burrowed her head beneath the covers, as if by hiding there, she could sever herself from the outside world.

Yet, the vexation churning within her clung like a shadow, refusing to be cast off.

A sigh escaped her lips.

With a resigned sigh, Xiu Lan acknowledged that sleep would elude her this night.

Driven by a desire to understand this other ‘her,’ the young woman retrieved her phone, her fingers gliding across the screen as she scoured various forums for any information pertaining to [Vanguard].

“Why Vanguard Reigns as the Foremost Hero.”

Intrigued, she tapped on a highly upvoted thread.

What greeted her eyes was a dazzling white image.

[Vanguard Swimsuit.jpg]

Xiu Lan, her curiosity piqued, clicked on it and nearly lost her composure.

On a sun-drenched beach, the silver-haired girl sat gracefully and elegantly on a chair, a thin blue jacket draped over her shoulders.

Despite being thoroughly covered, the uncharacteristically voluminous curve of her chest remained strikingly prominent in the image.

Her lower half was simply clad in capri pants, revealing only her fair, tender calves and ankles.

‘Brother, what kind of swimsuit is this supposed to be?!’

Suppressing her urge to complain, Xiu Lan curiously opened the comment section below.

It was a veritable free-for-all, a chaotic dance of madness.

A few rational fans, who questioned things like, “That chest size isn’t right,” or “When did Vanguard ever go to the beach?”, were utterly drowned out by the deluge of comments.

****

“Thwack.”

A blush staining her cheeks, Xiu Lan slapped her phone into the covers, her chest heaving with shame.

‘Seriously, is no one going to do anything about this? Is a hero who saves the world meant to be mere entertainment for people?’

The more she pondered, the angrier she grew.

Embracing a pragmatic approach, she surreptitiously glanced at the so-called swimsuit picture again, then compared it by gently kneading her own chest.

She had some curves, certainly, but they were nowhere near as exaggerated as in the image.

‘This has to be Photoshopped, damn it!’

Suppressing her indignation, she continued scrolling down the page.

As expected, a myriad of silver-haired girls appeared, teetering on the edge between suggestive and outright lewd.

The most terrifying realization, however, was that…

…she herself was starting to feel a flicker of desire.

“Slap.”

She harshly slapped herself across the face.

‘Regardless of the reason, to feel aroused by someone who looked exactly like her was utterly mortifying, especially when it was a heavily Photoshopped image.’

Thus, to safeguard both her own and [Vanguard]’s reputation, Xiu Lan, a faint slap mark still visible on her face, issued an ultimatum to the forum.

79464: [You have infringed upon [Vanguard]’s right to reputation. You are hereby ordered to delete the images in this thread before tomorrow, or I will report you to The Association.]

To bolster her threat, she had even specifically taken a screenshot of The Association’s reporting webpage.

Unfortunately, the aggression of netizens in this era remained undiminished.

The moment she hit ‘send,’ a swarm of night owls immediately reacted.

“Are you an animal? You want to report lewd pictures too?”

“Has Mi O Shan (TL Note: A Chinese slang term, ‘mǐ O shān,’ often used to refer to a company or online entity known for controversial or lewd content.) risen from the grave?”

“Heh heh, I bet it’s an [Azure] fan, always losing to [Vanguard] in the polls and coming here to cause trouble.”

“What the user above said +1.”

“Where did this old fossil come from? I reckon [Vanguard] herself doesn’t even have an issue with it.”

“The pictures I posted are all compliant; they don’t show any sensitive parts, nor are they used for commercial purposes.

Friend, you’re slandering my love for [Vanguard].”

Faced with fierce rebuttals from the netizens, the young woman’s face flushed crimson as she furiously argued back and forth on the forum.

Her online skirmish only ceased when an administrator banned her for disrupting forum order.

‘No matter how I look at it, that person isn’t me.’

Failing in life and failing online, Xiu Lan, defeated in her online battle, glumly kicked off her covers.

She rolled onto her back, her long grey hair fanned out across the pillow.

Her thin nightgown subtly outlined the graceful curves of her youthful body, with even a slight prominence at her chest.

“Arghhhhhh!”

After rolling around on the bed a few more times, the restless Xiu Lan picked up her phone once more, continuing to browse through [Vanguard]’s information.

From the information she had unearthed, if one were to describe the silver-haired girl with a single word…

…it would be ‘perfection.’

She wasn’t the strongest hero, yet she was the most reassuring ‘firefighter’—a reliable presence in any crisis.

On major search platforms, apart from the Photoshopped, suggestive images, the most prevalent content was authentic photos of her engaged in disaster relief and rescue operations across various regions.

Despite already being an A-rank hero of The Association, a savior of humanity, she tirelessly remained active on numerous front lines and disaster zones, truly living up to her moniker of [Vanguard].

‘If she is a hero who saves the world, then I, in contrast, am nothing more than a trembling mouse cowering in a dark corner.’

No matter how she tried to persuade herself, Xiu Lan couldn’t find any sense of belonging in [Vanguard]’s experiences.

Pondering deeply, she wondered, ‘Can ten years truly transform a person so dramatically?’

‘At least, I can’t imagine it.’

‘Thinking this way, it could only mean I’ve been possessed, right?

[Vanguard] is practically a flawless, saint-like protagonist from a novel,’ Xiu Lan mused secretly.

‘Someone whose personality suddenly shifts dramatically, then begins fighting monsters, leveling up, and saving the world—it perfectly aligns with plots from novels I’ve read.’

‘Oh, unknown entity, if you’re still alive, please return quickly.

After all, the humans of this world need you, not a good-for-nothing like me.’

At this thought, Xiu Lan couldn’t help but chuckle to herself.

‘Only I could manage such a pathetic act as willingly surrendering my own body.’

“Forget it.

Sleep, sleep.”

After a brief moment of self-counsel, Xiu Lan resolved to simply sleep through her difficulties, deciding that tomorrow’s worries could wait for tomorrow.

****

****

“Zzzzt, zzzzt, zzzzt.”

A sound akin to electrical current hummed persistently in her ears, refusing to cease even when she hid beneath the covers, hands pressed firmly over her ears.

“It’s so loud! Can’t a person get some sleep?”

Tossing off her covers, Xiu Lan indignantly strode to the window, peering out.

She was determined to discover who was disturbing the peace in the dead of night.

…only to behold an utterly unexpected sight.

‘What in the world is going on? Has the sky changed?’

From an unknown moment, the night sky had become shrouded in crimson, and where the moon should have been, a palace of extravagant opulence now stood.

This bizarre phenomenon made her instinctively rub her eyes.

‘Could I have transmigrated again?’

‘This time, is it through time or space?’

“Zzzzt, zzzzt, zzzzt, zzzzt, zzzzt.”

The sound grew steadily closer.

Xiu Lan opened her window, cautiously leaning out to peer into the night.

****

It was a creature that could only barely be called ‘human.’

Though it still possessed four limbs, it was currently scuttling up a tall building, its incredibly sharp claws scraping against the glass, producing that very sound.

The moment Xiu Lan opened her window, she entered its field of vision.

Their eyes met, and the young woman finally discerned its face.

Its two eyes were devoid of pupils and whites, its features twisted into a grotesque mess: a mouth above, a nose below, one ear atop its head and the other on its forehead.

‘This is far too abstract, brother.’

“Howl! Howl!”

“W-wah!”

“Bang!”

The half-open window was instantly smashed inwards, and the crawling creature, seemingly defying gravity, lunged into the room.

Its terrifying visage made Xiu Lan’s legs buckle, sending her sprawling to the floor.

Fortunately, her collapse inadvertently dodged the monster’s attack.

It sailed directly over her head, slamming into the doorway.

“CRASH!”

The iron door lay shattered…

‘The thought of being reprimanded by her landlord again, and potentially having to pay for damages, flashed through her mind.’

To prevent further expenses, Xiu Lan could only weakly rise to her feet, inwardly summoning the power of the [Devouring Hound].

The shadows began to swirl once more, and the familiar black greatcoat enveloped her completely.

‘This is a righteous battle to protect my home!’

‘Hopefully, it’ll be over quickly.’

“Hoh, hoh…”

The monster unhurriedly crawled into the room, its sharp claws scraping against the floor, a sound that grated on Xiu Lan’s nerves.

Under her pained gaze, it strode straight towards her, incidentally sending all the furniture in its path flying.

“Damn it! Stop destroying things! Think about a poor person’s quality of life!”

The young woman, fueled by anger, stepped forward.

Yet, her action only served to provoke the monster further.

Its twisted body suddenly tensed, like a leopard preparing to strike, and in an instant, a flash of movement streaked through the cramped room.

In the blink of an eye, the monster lunged.

Xiu Lan could even glimpse her own reflection on its rapidly approaching claws; death loomed perilously close.

‘So fast.’

Despite the imminent danger, Xiu Lan remained remarkably calm.

She stood silently in place, and without her realizing it, a dense layer of shadow had coalesced before her, firmly ensnaring the monster, preventing it from advancing even an inch.

No need for hesitation, no need for thought; instinct alone was enough to crush her foe.

This was the true power brought forth by the awakened [Devouring Hound].

“Howl! Howl!”

The monster struggled desperately, yearning to break free, but the shadows held it utterly motionless.

‘This was the expected outcome.’

Bathing at the restrained monster, Xiu Lan drew a deep breath, the cold air sharpening her senses.

Then…

The shadows began to flow, and the monster was hoisted aloft by some immense force, defying gravity itself.

Xiu Lan raised her right hand, power coalescing within it.

Then, amidst the monster’s howls of agony and despair… she unleashed a single punch, tearing open its chest.

“Devour it.”

Following the gash she had created, the shadows plunged into the monster’s body like a ravenous glutton, consuming its internal organs until nothing but a desiccated corpse remained, before flowing back into Xiu Lan’s hand.

“Ngh…”

A faint, unnatural flush bloomed across the young woman’s face, hidden beneath the greatcoat.

Incredibly, the act of devouring the monster had filled her with a satisfaction akin to feasting on a gourmet meal.

The last time she had felt such a sensation was when she had consumed “Huang Siying.”

‘Does this mean the essence of this monster is quite similar to Huang Siying’s?’

‘Is it a Blood Kin?’

‘Recalling the various vials of medicine that had originated from her own hands…’

‘Could this creature also be a victim, born because of me?’

Xiu Lan looked at the corpse on the ground.

The monster’s already twisted face had become even more unrecognizable after her consumption.

‘Perhaps it, too, was once an ordinary citizen, with a wife, children… loved ones awaiting its return home.’

‘But now…’

‘It lay alone on the ground, transformed into a dried husk.’

‘And who was the culprit behind all of this?’

‘Was it those Blood Kin operating in the shadows?’

‘Or…?’

Unconsciously, her fists beneath the greatcoat clenched tight, and the young woman’s expression beneath the shroud of black mist was one of deep turmoil.

‘Indeed, I can’t just stand by and do nothing.’

‘Even a good-for-nothing like me understands the principle of taking responsibility for one’s own mistakes.’

Having made up her mind, Xiu Lan stepped out of the room where the door no longer existed.

‘I hope no one tries to steal anything.’