Song Lan was sure that the giant wolf was a yaoguai right up until it shouted at him in English and turned into a man. Song Lan pulled his next blow, almost stumbling in his surprise, but held Fuxue at the ready.
The woman with the man who used to be a wolf did something clever with her hands to block Shuanghua’s icy glare and then pointed her gun at Xiao Xingchen. “Who the hell are you?” she demanded.
Xiao Xingchen exchanged a speaking glance with Song Lan and they sheathed their swords in tandem. Xiao Xingchen, as usual, spoke for them both. His English was better, anyway.
“Apologies,” he said, bowing over his sword. “I am Xiao Xingchen and this is my good friend Song Lan. We were hunting rumors of a yao…” He paused, looking for the English phrase. “A resentful animal spirit, and we mistook this gentleman for that monster.”
“A resentful animal spirit?” the man repeated, frowning. “Have there been attacks farther out than Selkirk?”
Song Lan nodded. “There were attacks in Bridge Lake and Louis Creek,” he said.
“That still doesn’t tell us who you are,” the woman said. Her hands had not wavered — she was still pointing her firearm at Xiao Xingchen’s chest. If Song Lan weren’t reasonably certain that Xiao Xingchen could survive the bullet, he would be more concerned. “How do you know about these things?”
“Jodi, c’mon,” the man said. “They’re clearly supernatural in some way themselves.”
“We are Daoist priests,” Xiao Xingchen said. “We cultivate the sword path and travel the world, seeking justice and protecting the innocent.”
The woman, Jodi, stared at Xiao Xingchen for a long moment and then holstered her weapon with a long groan. “Sword-wielding priests, too? Sure, why not. It’s not like we were having a normal week, anyway.”
The man chuckled, a low rumble of a laugh. “Well it’s nice to meet you, Mister Xiao, Mister Song,” he said. “I’m Garrett and this is Jodi. We’re… park rangers here in Selkirk. We are also attempting to seek justice and protect the innocent. It… could be going better.” He tilted his head, considering. “It sounds like we’re after the same thing—to find whatever it is that’s behind these attacks. Why don’t we go somewhere more comfortable and share information?”