After His Demise, the Demon Lord's Doted Canary Finally Sees the Light - Chapter 45

After Qiu Fuxue  obtained the Tribulation Cloud , he went into seclusion for seven days. When Jiufang Cangze  saw him again, the wooden sword in his hand had been replaced with a longsword, as thin as a cicada’s wing yet sharp and sturdy.

Engraved at the bottom of the blade were the glowing characters, “Zhengxin” .

“A-Xue, did you slay the Tribulation Cloud?” Jiufang Cangze leaned in. The sword’s aura felt incredibly familiar.

As soon as he spoke, a small, formless black sword spirit ran out. It brandished its arms and legs at him but didn’t dare to get close, looking just like a miniature version of the Tribulation Cloud.

“It’s scared of you because you beat it up,” Qiu Fuxue said, stroking the soft little thing. “I can sense it. Since it didn’t want to disappear, it chose to become my sword spirit.”

Before forging the sword, he had only intended to use the Tribulation Cloud as a raw material to create a weapon as useful as his Fen Yu sword. He hadn’t expected the Tribulation Cloud, having cooperated with him once before, would willingly continue to work with him and transform itself into a sword spirit.

Jiufang Cangze’s heart felt sour. He had captured the Fiendish Shadow more than ten times, yet now it was willing to stay obediently with a cultivator.

“To refine a fiendish spirit into a sword spirit, A-Xue truly is the world’s number one person.”

Qiu Fuxue ignored the sourness in his words. After all, the reason he could sense the fiendish spirit was because of Jiufang Cangze’s broken spiritual core.

Qiu Fuxue mercifully gave Jiufang Cangze another task—to sweep the sect gate—and then went to bond with Zhengxin. As he bonded with the sword spirit, it truly revealed many secrets.

Snowfall Mountain was covered in snow year-round, but the Thousand Thoughts Sect at the top was always as warm as spring, with only an occasional cold wind blowing through.

Early one morning, as all things were awakening, Qiu Fuxue, fully dressed, went to a small wooden hut with open sides near the sect gate.

This was the plot of land he had given to Jiufang Cangze for shelter. A cultivator could use the sky as a blanket and the ground as a bed, but Jiufang Cangze was not content with just the open space. He had gone down the mountain, cut down timber, and built a simple wooden hut.

The door creaked as he pushed it open. The inside of the hut was even more basic than it looked from the outside, just like Jiufang Cangze’s former palace: a table and a bed.

The bed seemed to have been made too small due to a lack of materials. His tall body was crammed into it, looking pitifully small.

Perhaps he was tired from sweeping the gate lately, but Qiu Fuxue stood by the bed, yet Jiufang Cangze showed no reaction, sleeping soundly and defenselessly.

The morning sunlight filtered through the cracks in the wooden planks and fell on half of his face. To conceal his identity, the vivid demonic mark on his forehead had been erased. A pair of crimson eyes were calmly hidden beneath his eyelids. Without the demonic and wicked traits, his sharp facial features were left with nothing but handsomeness.

That day down the mountain, Jiufang Cangze had caused many young women to turn their heads. Qiu Fuxue had seen all of it.

But how could someone be so good-looking?

He was in a daze, watching the thick eyelashes, when the sleeping man suddenly rolled over. He stretched out a long arm and pulled Qiu Fuxue, who was standing by the bed, into his embrace.

A sense of fulfillment filled Jiufang Cangze as he had what he had lost. He sighed. “A-Xue, move closer. You look even better this way.”

This was the first time Jiufang Cangze had touched him since Qiu Fuxue had awakened.

Realizing he had been caught off guard, a blush appeared on his cheeks. He tried to get up in a panic, but the arm wrapped around his waist tightened.

“…”

When you refuse a polite invitation, you’re forced to accept the harsh one.

“Ah—!!”

Following a bloodcurdling scream, Qiu Fuxue calmly got up from the narrow wooden bed and smoothed out his wrinkled outer robe.

Meanwhile, the perpetrator’s arm was twisted at an awkward angle, clearly dislocated.

Qiu Fuxue glared at him. “If there’s a next time, I can’t guarantee that arm will still be in one piece.”

“I won’t… I won’t do it again!” Jiufang Cangze begged for mercy, his body drenched in cold sweat from the pain. His loose hair was plastered to his cheeks.

Since he wanted him to learn a lesson, Qiu Fuxue had no intention of fixing his arm anytime soon.

He gave an order. “Come down the mountain with me.”

“…Now?” Jiufang Cangze’s entire face was a mess of grimaces.

“Now.” A cold glint flashed in his pale red eyes.

“Alright,” Jiufang Cangze sighed helplessly. Enduring the pain, he used his other hand to find the joint of his shoulder. With a sickening ‘click’, he popped the dislocated arm back into place himself.

Of course, he couldn’t avoid a painful howl.

Before leaving, Qiu Fuxue looked at Jiufang Cangze’s tattered clothes. He looked like a beggar begging on the street, which would tarnish the Thousand Thoughts Sect’s reputation.

Reluctantly, he found a new set of clothes for him.

Jiufang Cangze was so moved that he burst into tears, whether fake or real. But because he had wasted a little time, he received another ruthless beating.

“The Tribulation Cloud said it sensed a demonic presence at the Sunset City governor’s manor. It just so happens that the governor, Wu An (烏安), hasn’t been very cooperative lately. You’re coming with me to investigate.”

Sunset City, located at the foot of Snowfall Mountain, had been under the protection of the Thousand Thoughts Sect for a long time. But ever since Qiu Fuxue was captured, the governor, Wu An, had shown a clear inclination to seek refuge with another immortal sect, the Luoshui Sect (洛水門).

The fact that Yuan Lietian (原栎天) was harmed by a demon and Qiu Fuxue had just taken over the sect solidified Wu An’s intention to rely on another sect.

The reason things were still seemingly calm was simply that he wanted to see how Qiu Fuxue would manage the sect, ensuring he had a way to advance or retreat.

Jiufang Cangze touched his still-throbbing cheek. “You’re just calling me along to be bait, aren’t you?”

The demons now lurking in the mortal realm were all after Jiufang Cangze. If Qiu Fuxue went alone, it would have no effect.

Qiu Fuxue didn’t deny it. “Remember, in front of others, your identity on this trip is my servant.”

“You say it so nicely. I don’t mind being your male concubine, actually.”

Qiu Fuxue had once been his male concubine, and Jiufang Cangze wanted to make him pay for it, to avoid having old debts brought up in the future.

He clenched his fists, which were half-hidden in his sleeves. Qiu Fuxue held back the urge to kill the man right there in the street and said coldly, “I am not as disgusting as you.”

Disgusting.

Jiufang Cangze was insulted again, but he was already used to it. Sometimes he didn’t feel right if he wasn’t scolded at least twice a day.

Qiu Fuxue hadn’t informed the governor’s manor in advance of their arrival. Wu An was caught with his concubine in the back garden. When he received the news of Qiu Fuxue’s visit, he hurriedly got dressed and ran out to welcome him in.

On the way through the front yard, two large rocks in the flowerbeds caught Qiu Fuxue’s attention.

In the main hall, a servant offered a cup of hot tea to Qiu Fuxue. Jiufang Cangze stood behind him with a cold face, like a living Yama King. His imposing aura was not fake.

Wu An said politely, “Sect Leader Qiu, why have you come? You didn’t even let us know beforehand. As you can see, I haven’t prepared a thing.”

“It’s no trouble. It is my honor that Governor Wu personally came out to greet me,” Qiu Fuxue said courteously, explaining the reason for his visit. “The disciple selection has just finished, but the Thousand Thoughts Sect is still in need of new talent. I thought that with the Flower Festival approaching, there would be more people in the city, so I came down to look for new disciples.”