Thinking for a moment, I took out my phone, found the WeChat of the third tiger demon, and sent her a video call. The tiger demon answered, and the background was very lively, full of pretty young women with heavy makeup.
"What's up, boss? We're live-streaming!" the tiger demon asked in a low voice.
"Do you recognize this person?" I directly flipped the camera to face the man.
The man remained calm, glanced at my phone camera, then lowered his head to continue reading the magazine.
The third demon took a closer look and said she didn't recognize him.
I then handed the phone screen to the man: "Do you recognize her?"
The man looked at it and also said he didn't recognize her, continuing to read his magazine.
I understood. The third demon had only recently transformed into human form, and as Yao Yao had said, this man had also transformed into human form over a hundred years ago. Therefore, they wouldn't recognize each other in their human guises.
"Third demon, transform back into your true form," I said.
Hearing these words, the man finally looked up once, a look of confusion on his face as he stared at me.
"Oh." The tiger demon took the phone, went into the next room, propped it up, and transformed into a big tiger.
"Ah!" the man exclaimed in surprise.
"Recognize her now?" I asked with a smile.
"An Yala!" the man cried out, though it wasn't exactly those three words. His pronunciation was very slurred, possibly in Manchu.
The third tiger demon, hearing her name, tilted her head and walked closer to the phone, her scraggly tiger muzzle almost touching the screen.
"An Yala," the man snatched my phone, taking a selfie up close, "Bibilasha Gu Da!"
I understood this one. "Bibilala" in Manchu means self-introduction, equivalent to "I am" in Chinese, "I am" in English, "Watashi wa" in Japanese, or "Chon-neun xx-seumnida" in Korean. I truly am a language genius!
However, Yao Yao hadn't taught me this; I'd learned it from watching movies.
"Bibilala Changshan Zhao Jingzhong!"
The third tiger demon had clearly heard this name before. Her large tiger eyes welled up with tears. She no longer cared about her form and immediately transformed back into a human, speaking a string of Manchu.
The two began to converse across the screen, leaving me on the sidelines.
Could they have been lovers in a past life?
After about five minutes of talking, the two tigers showed no signs of stopping. I had no choice but to clear my throat lightly. The man then restrained himself, wiped the tears from his eyes, bid the third tiger demon a reluctant farewell, hung up, returned the phone to me, and nodded in apology: "My apologies! I lost my composure."
"It's alright. This is what you call a reunion after a long separation?"
"Yes, my sister and I haven't seen each other in four hundred years," the man sniffled, tears still streaming down his face, "Thank you, Boss Wu!"
So, they were siblings.
"Don't call me boss. I'm not a boss. You can call me Xiao Wu or Cheng Feng," I said with a smile.
Just then, Yao Yao strolled over and sat opposite me. The man was startled again, froze for two seconds, then stood up and bowed: "Your Highness the Gege, please accept this servant's bow!"
"Quickly, quickly, stand up. What era are we in? Still talking about servants? We don't do that anymore."
It seemed he was also an old acquaintance.
Through further conversation, I learned that when Yao Yao's master was selecting divine beasts to seal, he hadn't initially decided to use only female demons. Therefore, the third demon's brother had been among the candidates. Later, he chose his sister, and after being passed over, the brother cultivated alone, finally achieving human form before the fall of the Qing Dynasty.
Their sibling relationship wasn't biological blood kinship because the brother was over three hundred years older than the sister. It was only because they were of the same clan and came from the same territory that they recognized each other as siblings. Demons generally didn't form romantic relationships with each other, as their partners of choice were humans.
His name was something like Sha, it was a bit difficult to pronounce and I couldn't remember it. He pulled out his ID card: "This is the name I use now."
Still with the surname Sha, his name was Sha Wuji. His registered address was in Fengtian Province, Hulu Grandpa Island. His birth year was set to 1976, which matched his current appearance.
Demons did not age. Once they transformed into human form, they remained at the age they transformed at forever. Therefore, they needed to change their identities every few years to match their appearance, which was quite troublesome. However, compared to the joy of being human, they didn't find it bothersome.
I asked Sha Wuji if he was really an extra.
"No, no, it's just a cover. I... I am going to Jinling on a case."
Yao Yao and I exchanged glances and asked in unison: "What case?"