This is an English translation of the novel Half-Demon Allure by Mo Bai Qian Jiu. It was adapted into the drama series Demon Girl and Demon Girl 2. This translation is from what I believe is the original Chinese novel uploaded online. It’s available to read legally in Chinese online through QQ read, but I can’t sign up for a QQ account from where I live so I’m not working from that version. This means that there are two extra chapters that I don’t have access to and so will not be including in this translation. I’ve never found anywhere to buy a complete e-book or physical copy from so unfortunately can’t advise on how to support the original author.
- Title: Half-Demon Allure; Half-Demon Qingcheng
- Author: Mo Bai Qian Jiu
- Translated into English by: aphellion
- Status: In Progress
- Chapters: 541
- Rating: Unrated
- Genre: Fantasy; Modern Romance
Detailed Warnings (possible mild spoilers)
None Yet — I haven’t read the whole novel yet!
The Times Have Changed.
The fall of the Qing Dynasty1 — those rouge-stained days of whoring — had already been swallowed up in the endless flow of history.
The Shanghai of today was half West, half East. Men no longer grew their hair into long queues2 but rather dressed in Western suits and leather shoes. And women no longer wore brocade robes, instead wearing gorgeous qipaos3 that revealed their enchanting figures and bared their slender arms.
The flourishing city carried with it the illusion, as transient as a bubble, of decadence and glamour.
At that very moment, the tall facade of Shanghai’s most popular cabaret nightclub, Xianlesi, was enshrouded in a thin fog.
The early morning Shanghai was slightly cold, for now without the commotion seen in its former days. There were only the rickshaw men running up and down the main street and a girl wrapped in an overcoat walking slowly in the mist.
She had a very beautiful face, with snow-white skin, completely concealed in a plain colored scarf. However, as she turned to walk into Xianlesi, the swaying door revealed a huge poster.
The woman on the poster had ink-dark curved eyebrows and rosy pink cheeks, exuding charm and beauty.
She was Xianlesi’s most popular dancer: Qingcheng4.
As Nie Qingcheng walked to the backstage she was greeted by people along the way, “Miss Qingcheng, you’re here.”
“M-hm, I am. It’s a bit cold outside today.” Nie Qingcheng responded to them warmly. Placing a hand on the outside of the door, she heard Xiaoya’s laughter coming from inside.
In the past, Xiaoya used to love to talk about weird and fantastical things. Nie Qingcheng smiled helplessly. However when she heard Xiaoya’s next sentence, she instantly stopped her hand.
She also halted the step she had been about to take to enter the room.
“Oh my, do you all know? A few days ago I heard a story from a friend, it was so incredible. Supposedly, when Beijing fell and the Eight-Nation Alliance entered the city5, there was a woman who flew up to the city gate tower and turned into a giant butterfly. It’s also said that that butterfly monster blocked their guns, giving a great many people the chance to escape.”
The birthmark on Nie Qingcheng’s hand suddenly hurt. As she frowned imperceptibly, she heard the room erupt with laughter as many people poked fun at Xiaoya – there was no such thing!
Xiaoya pouted, not willing to be outdone, and said: “I think it’s a beautiful image. You might not believe, but I think there are fairies in this world!”
The whole hall roared with laughter.
Nie Qingcheng let out a faint sigh of relief, her expression already turned indifferent. With a smile, she pushed open the dressing room door, bringing with her the slight chill of the early morning air. “What are you all talking about?”
Xiaoya repeated the entirety of what she had just said. Relentlessly shaking Nie Qingcheng’s arm, she said, “Qingcheng, what do you think? My father’s friend saw it with his own eyes and they still don’t believe it.”
Again, Nie Qingcheng felt a slight pain in her birthmark. She frowned imperceptibly, instead asking with an annoyed smile, “Do you have that much spare time? We’ll be on stage soon, aren’t you afraid you won’t be ready in time?”
Everyone who had originally been idly chatting dispersed with a loud cry, turning and lunging towards their own respective dressing tables.
Nie Qingcheng breathed a sigh of relief, quickly sitting down to get started on her own makeup.
She was the standout star of Xianlesi, the most famous cabaret nightclub in Shanghai.
Applying her makeup in front of the mirror, she made herself up to have a seductive and charming appearance. In reality, it wasn’t a look Nie Qingcheng liked, but she had to do it like that.
She had to hide from her father that she was doing this.
Since her mother had died in the chaos of the fall of Beijing, her father had supported the family on his own and things had really been extremely hard.
Fortunately, God had gifted her with unique abilities.
Nie Qingcheng changed into a long indigo qipao, embroidered with pink and white peonies. A feathered fan in her hand that another colleague had passed to her, she sat and looked at the layer of bright red on her frost white skin, as if by painting it like this she could conceal the depths of the emptiness within her own heart.
“Get ready to go on stage. Girls, there are distinguished guests in the audience today, keep your spirits up for me,” came Ms. Qiao’s6 voice from outside.
Nie Qingcheng stood up gracefully, turning and walking towards the world of decadence and revelry outside.
- This happened in 1912 ↩︎
- This hairstyle with the long plait
↩︎ - Something like this, although probably often also with some kind of sleeve as well in the time period this is set in
↩︎ - The Qingcheng of the main character’s name is the same ‘qingcheng’ that’s translated to allure in the title. Her name can be translated as meaning ‘allure’ or ‘great beauty’ that potentially leads to the overthrow of nations (according to Baidu). I get Helen of Troy vibes, but I’m not 100% sure. In the title, I’ve left it as ‘allure’ as I’ve always known this novel title to be ‘Half-Demon Allure’ ↩︎
- This happened in 1900 ↩︎
- The name is given as Qiao-jie in the Chinese. Qiao is probably her surname and ‘jie’ means older sister or a term of address for a woman (who I’m guessing is possibly a little older than the dancers). I’ve chosen to translate this as ‘Ms.’, at least until I know more about her character. ↩︎
ap.hellion 
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