I Failed to Fake My Death After Scumming the Demon Lord [Transmigration] - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

By his ear, the beep and beep of a heartbeat hitting zero became extremely distant. Replacing it was a cold, mechanical voice that rang out from thin air.

[Consciousness connection successful, system activated.]

Qin Gu opened his eyes abruptly.

What met his eyes were antique-style curtains, hanging all the way from the edge of the bed to the floor.

— He was not in the hospital bed he was familiar with.

As if to corroborate his thoughts, the mechanical voice sounded again, devoid of any emotion:

[Main quest generated. Your mission is: Prevent the protagonist from destroying the cultivation world.]

[Quest success rate: 2%]

“To help you better complete the mission, the original plot will now be imported for you.”

Before Qin Gu could react, countless fragmented images bored into his mind. His brain felt like it was being stirred by a red-hot iron rod. The headache was unbearable.

The intense pain blurred his vision, but Qin Gu gritted his teeth and remained silent.

This process lasted for a dozen seconds. When the pain subsided, Qin Gu braced himself against the bed and sat up slowly. His movements were stiff, as if a long-dead corpse were rising from the grave.

Through the just-imported data, Qin Gu gained a rough understanding of his current position.

Simply put, he had transmigrated into a book.

He had become the arrogant villain in the story who bullied the protagonist at every turn, only to be stabbed through by the protagonist’s sword in the end and end up with no place to be buried.

And the current situation, complex as it sounded, could be summarized in one sentence:

The villain foolishly provoked the protagonist and was slapped unconscious by the protagonist.

Qin Gu was speechless for a moment. He raised a hand and felt his forehead, and sure enough, he felt a circle of bandages wrapped tightly around his head.

Suddenly, rapid footsteps approached from afar. Qin Gu was startled and quickly adjusted his facial expression.

A moment later, a withered hand pushed aside the curtains, revealing a face full of wrinkles.

Qin Gu recognized this face. The visitor was named Shan Cang, in charge of the Immortal Alliance’s Medicinal Supervisory Division, and also an elder of this sect, specializing in medicine and pharmacology.

Seeing him awake, Shan Cang immediately took a few steps back and bowed to him.

Having an elderly man with a face full of wrinkles bow deeply to him made Qin Gu instinctively uncomfortable. But for his current identity, it was entirely logical.

After all, his mother was the Alliance Leader who ruled the cultivation world. His background was truly impenetrable. To draw an analogy, the Immortal Alliance Leader was like an ancient emperor—though she worked with the various departments, she held the power to make the final decision.

Shan Cang said: “Young Alliance Leader, do not worry. Although you fell from the maple tree, the injury on your head is not serious. I have already prepared an ointment. You will be fully recovered after applying it for a few days.”

Fell?

Qin Gu was stunned, his eyes inevitably filled with a hint of admiration.

To save his face, they could actually pass off being knocked down as falling—truly remarkable.

Qin Gu found it amusing and said warmly: “Thank you, Elder.”

Shan Cang had been prepared for Qin Gu to be furious upon waking up. He never expected him to be so amiable. Feeling slightly relieved, he seized the opportunity to probe: “Young Alliance Leader, the elders have ordered Ji Yun to kneel in front of the mountain gate for seven days and seven nights as a warning to others. You are broad-minded…”

Before the word “generous” could leave his lips, the young man before him blinked in confusion.

Qin Gu hesitated and asked: “Ji Yun… who is that?”

Shan Cang’s expression suddenly turned extremely terrified. He grabbed Qin Gu’s wrist. The pulse was smooth and strong, showing no abnormalities. Yet Qin Gu’s gaze was sincere, and he even politely added: “I don’t seem to remember.”

Shan Cang: …

Oh no. Could it be that he hit his head just right, causing amnesia due to stagnant blood flow?

The world suddenly became quiet. Silence reigned not only for Shan Cang but also for the system that had been reminding Qin Gu to pay attention to his role-playing.

Qin Gu kept smiling, staring wide-eyed at Shan Cang.

Shan Cang had never seen Qin Gu offer such a warm smile before, so he believed his judgment even more. He immediately bowed deeply: “Young Alliance Leader, please do not move. I shall report this to the Immortal Alliance immediately.”

Qin Gu nodded, submissively watching as Shan Cang’s hurried figure disappeared.

The next moment, he stood up quickly, pushed open the window, and vaulted out, his movements far more urgent than Shan Cang’s.

Taming his limbs was easier than Qin Gu had imagined, and the cultivation techniques could be executed with just a thought, obeying him a hundred times better than his original body.

He was not truly suffering from amnesia, of course. He just used it as an excuse to get rid of Shan Cang. As for his goal…

Naturally, it was to see Ji Yun.

Qin Gu ran toward the mountain gate, following his memories. He felt as if he were walking on flat ground, arriving in the blink of an eye. When he finally stopped, he was only slightly out of breath.

Turning his head, the stone steps behind him ascended into the clouds. The path he had come from was obscured by mist and no longer visible.

Further down was the mountain gate Shan Cang had mentioned. The Yin-Feng Pavilion was one of the five great families in the cultivation world today, and the majesty of its mountain gate was naturally beyond what others could compare to.

As he got closer, the wind carried harsh human voices.

Looking ahead, he could see three people in front of the mountain gate. Two were standing with only their backs to him, and one was kneeling, obscured by the others, showing only a straight-backed silhouette. His face was not clear.

But a little brainpower was all it took to know which one he was looking for.

Qin Gu approached slowly.

The two cultivators’ cultivation levels were inferior to his, and because they had their backs to him, they did not notice his arrival. Ji Yun kept his head down, and it seemed he had not noticed either.

The dialogue drifted into Qin Gu’s ears without a word missing.

“Junior Brother offended the Young Alliance Leader yesterday, so you can’t stay in the Yin-Feng Pavilion anymore. The sword manual is useless to you anyway. You might as well give it to us in exchange for us putting in a good word for you before the Young Alliance Leader.”

Qin Gu, who was hit by stray fire while lying down: …

He waited, but there was only the sound of the wind.

The other cultivator sneered and pulled a gourd from his sleeve: “So ungrateful. Who are you putting on this lofty act for? Since we are fellow disciples, you must show us the courtesy of drinking this parting wine, Junior Brother.”

As he spoke, he unscrewed the gourd, raised it high above his head, and twisted his wrist. The pungent smell of strong liquor spread rapidly, and the humiliating liquid poured down from the mouth of the gourd—

Like a venomous snake crawling past, it left winding water stains on the red clothing.

Wait, red clothing?

The cultivator’s eyes widened, and he let out a scream as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight: “Young… Young Alliance Leader?!”

The cultivator was so scared that his face turned pale as paper. He had no idea when Qin Gu had appeared, but he knew that since his wine had splashed onto the other party, he would be rolling away faster than Ji Yun.

However, the young man who had made his liver tremble did not fly into a rage as expected.

The wine soaked half of his clothing, dripping and clinging to his body, outlining the young man’s exceptional physique. He curled his lips, and his peach-blossom eyes looked over with a playful gaze.

With this one look, the hairs on the cultivator’s body stood on end. He couldn’t help but tremble, and he knelt on the ground.

Qin Gu: ?

It seemed he had underestimated how terrifying he was.

He cleared his throat, his voice carrying an undeniable dignity: “Bullying fellow disciples and abusing power is not tolerated by the sect rules.”

Every word spoken carried a hint of pressure. The crushing weight of superior cultivation was fully manifested in this moment. By the time he finished speaking, the two cultivators were already crawling on the ground, seemingly wishing they could dig a hole and hide in it.

Seeing that he had achieved his goal, Qin Gu retracted some of his spiritual aura: “Go accept your punishment.”

The two cultivators, as if granted amnesty, scrambled away to accept their punishment.

After clearing away the distractions, Qin Gu turned around.

He was suddenly met with a pair of eyes as black as violet ink.

From the moment he blocked the strong liquor to the disciplining of the cultivators, Ji Yun had not said a word, as if none of it concerned him. But these beautiful eyes proved that Ji Yun had been watching him the entire time.

Even though their gazes met and immediately parted, Qin Gu still saw the dense chill and murderous intent in the depths of Ji Yun’s eyes—piercing and intense.

This was also within Qin Gu’s expectations. He acted as if he had seen nothing, suddenly let out a muffled groan, and raised a hand to cover his head—precisely touching the place where the bandages were wrapped.

Ji Yun’s expression finally changed. After a moment of hesitation, he reached out to steady Qin Gu’s swaying body: “Senior Brother Qin, be careful.”

Qin Gu took the opportunity to look at him sideways. Although Ji Yun was supporting him, his brows were slightly furrowed, and his eyes were fixed straight ahead on the empty space. If given the chance, Ji Yun would probably pull his hand away immediately. His disgust was so deep that he might even want to wipe it off with a silk cloth.

Qin Gu gave a bitter smile in his heart: The original owner really left him a mess.

Look at what he had done to Ji Yun—the boy wasn’t even willing to pretend anymore.

The board was in a dead end; overturning it and starting over was the best strategy.

Qin Gu shook his head: “Thank you… who are you?”

He had rehearsed this line several times in his mind; now, the rising inflection and hesitation were perfectly measured.

Ji Yun frowned, cold and distant: “What is Senior Brother trying to do?”

What new trick was he rehearsing now?

Qin Gu smiled helplessly, his expression open and sincere: “As you can see, there are many things… I cannot remember very well.”

The emotion in Ji Yun’s eyes shifted from disgust to speculation: “Senior Brother has amnesia? That is quite a coincidence.”

Qin Gu keenly caught the undisguised probing in Ji Yun’s words—the sarcasm was so sharp that it was practically screaming, “Senior Brother is a great actor.” If the original owner were here, he would have blown his top after being teased with such backhanded compliments.

Talking more leads to more mistakes. Qin Gu just pretended not to hear it and endured.

For him now, what was the most important thing?

Naturally, it was the quest success rate.

Acting according to the original owner’s settings was convenient, but it was equivalent to trapping himself, while turning over a new leaf and hugging the protagonist’s thigh…

He didn’t think Ji Yun would believe a bizarre story about a wicked senior brother suddenly turning over a new leaf after a nap.

Since he hadn’t brought up the word “amnesia” himself, whether the current situation was true or false, he would let Ji Yun guess for himself. After all, it was a fact that he had hit his head. Even a one-in-ten-thousand chance was still a chance.

Qin Gu smiled, Ji Yun remained expressionless. For a moment, they looked at each other in silence.

The awkward atmosphere was broken by the sound of flapping wings. A paper crane flew over from the foot of the mountain, circled Qin Gu, and hovered by his side.

This was a request for assistance sent by a lower-level immortal sect to a higher-level one, automatically locking onto the cultivator with the highest cultivation level.

The paper crane unfolded in Qin Gu’s palm into a piece of paper, and a line of golden text floated up from it, containing only a few words:

“Earnestly request the Yin-Feng Pavilion to extend a helping hand.”

Signed: “Qingsong Temple of Lin’an.”

Qingsong Temple was a small sect within the territory of the Yin-Feng Pavilion, famous for its skill in dealing with demons and anomalies. The Temple Master was a cultivator at the Soul Formation stage, who had recently gone into seclusion. The acting Temple Master was at the Void Refinement stage, with a cultivation level comparable to Qin Gu’s.

Ji Yun asked: “Senior Brother, should we report this to the Immortal Alliance?”

With the sect leader away, the affairs of the Yin-Feng Pavilion were implicitly handed over to Qin Gu to handle. The original owner had handled them in a total mess, so Ji Yun asking for Qin Gu’s opinion was just a formality. In reality, he had no hope that Qin Gu would have any insight.

But today was different from the past. Qin Gu pondered for a moment and immediately took action.

He pointed a finger into the void. Under the influence of his spiritual power, the paper crane folded itself back up and flew leisurely along the path it had come.

Qin Gu said: “Qingsong Temple chose to send a crane, meaning the situation is urgent and cannot be delayed. The Immortal Alliance should be informed of this, and later I will ask the sect elders to notify my mother, but we must take the first step to investigate the situation.”

This was the most efficient solution, coinciding exactly with what Ji Yun had thought. Ji Yun’s gaze deepened a fraction more.

Qin Gu added: “Junior Brother, with my current condition, I am afraid I will need Junior Brother to accompany me.”

Ji Yun did not know what Qin Gu was up to. He clearly wanted to shake his head and refuse. However, the request was reasonable and logical, leaving him no excuse, and he could only nod in agreement.

The matter was settled. The two agreed to depart the next day. Ji Yun seemed to find every second spent with him difficult. He immediately cupped his hands in farewell, as if avoiding a plague god.

Qin Gu gave a bitter smile and walked up the stone steps alone, casting his gaze into the distance as he walked.

A “Ding!” sounded in his mind.

[Side Quest: The Lady of Double Happiness]

[Quest Information: ???]

[Quest Difficulty: Given your current cultivation, it is difficult to complete.]

[Reward: Increase the success rate of the main quest.]

“Please carefully consider whether to accept the quest.”

The side quest was issued synchronously with the arrival of the paper crane—no explanation, no time for him to adapt. The mechanical voice repeatedly advised him not to take risks, but this was Qin Gu’s only chance to salvage his almost non-existent quest success rate.

Qin Gu did not hesitate: “Yes.”