I Failed to Fake My Death After Scumming the Demon Lord [Transmigration] - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next morning, Qin Gu and Ji Yun traveled down the mountain together.

Lin’an is not far from Qing County. Traveling by sword, it took less than half a day before the scenery beneath their feet widened, and the gates of Lin’an City appeared ahead.

The Immortal Alliance had regulations: unless necessary, cultivators were forbidden from using magic in front of mortals.

Qin Gu and Ji Yun put away their swords in a bamboo forest not far from the city gate and switched to walking.

The paper crane was faster than them. Qingsong Temple had already received the reply, and the young man in Daoist robes sent to greet them bowed from afar with hands cupped.

Qin Gu returned the bow with hands folded, taking advantage of the distance to quietly cast a pleading look at Ji Yun.

He was still playing the role of someone with amnesia, so naturally, he shouldn’t recognize the cultivator before him.

Ji Yun’s expression remained unchanged, betraying no emotion: “This is Senior Brother Qingli.”

Qin Gu followed the cue smoothly: “Senior Brother Qingli, long time no see. How is the situation?”

He sounded as natural as if it wasn’t him asking “who is that” just a second ago.

Qingli didn’t notice anything, his brows furrowed with worry: “Young Alliance Leader, let’s talk as we walk. Please, this way.”

As the three walked toward the city, Qingli spoke of the current situation with a distressed face:

Since last month, disappearance cases had been frequent in Lin’an City. The local government had investigated without success and could only ask the Immortal Sects to intervene.

Qingsong Temple had sent two disciples, originally thinking it was the work of ordinary monsters. Who would have guessed that after tracking them, the two disciples would lose all contact, and even their magical artifacts could not be traced.

“It is just my luck that such a powerful monster appeared while my Master was in seclusion,” Qingli sighed mournfully. “I am afraid only someone with the Young Alliance Leader’s cultivation level can resolve this.”

Qin Gu: …

There was a subtle feeling of being flattered to death.

He shook his head sincerely, saying “you are too kind” while changing the subject: “Does Qingsong Temple have any leads—excuse me—yet?”

Qin Gu was nudged by a passerby behind him, stumbling slightly. The person who bumped into him muttered a “sorry” and continued walking forward cheerfully.

Turning his head, he realized they had unconsciously placed themselves in a crowd. Pedestrians were walking in pairs, lovers and devotees showing deep affection—it was clear they were couples.

Looking at the direction the crowd was moving, a temple with pointed corners appeared before them, with a plaque reading “Temple of the Lady of Double Happiness.” The area in front of the temple was teeming with people, rising and falling like a tide.

Qingli said: “All the missing persons have been to the Temple of the Lady of Double Happiness. This is the place.”

The name of the side quest was exactly “Lady of Double Happiness.”

However, he had been prepared for the Lady of Double Happiness to be some rogue deity. He hadn’t expected her to enjoy a dedicated temple in Lin’an City, with such prosperous incense offerings.

Qin Gu glanced sideways: “Does Qingsong Temple not stop the worship at this temple for fear of alerting the enemy?”

His question was abrupt, and Qingli was stunned for a moment: “As the Young Alliance Leader said, the incense at the Lady of Double Happiness Temple is too popular, with a great number of people coming and going to offer incense every day. If news of this matter got out, I fear it would cause panic in Lin’an and also be detected by that monster.”

The cultivation world had a duty to protect humanity. If they could not eliminate the monster, the Immortal Alliance would hold Qingsong Temple accountable—this was likely the reason Qingli didn’t want to make a big scene.

Qin Gu didn’t expose his petty agenda and walked into the temple, following the crowd.

The temple was small, with only a main hall and two rooms for monks to live in.

Inside the main hall, a statue of pure gold sat on a lotus throne. It was in the form of a woman, her brows and eyes cast downward, holding a red thread in one hand, the other hand forming a vow-granting mudra. This was the Lady of Double Happiness.

The monks stood at the entrance. Men and women seeking love received red ropes from these monks, tied them to the hanging hand of the Lady of Double Happiness, and then respectfully offered a stick of incense and some money—that was the full process.

Under the gaze of the statue, the temple should have been sacred and solemn. However, from the moment he stepped inside, it felt as if decaying factors were dissipating into the air, like the damp air of a rainy season, making one feel thoroughly uncomfortable.

Qin Gu mobilized his spiritual energy and could faintly see strands of black mist mixed into the air.

“There is demonic energy.”

Ji Yun’s intentionally lowered voice sounded from behind.

“Yes,” Qingli replied from the side. “This humble Daoist is ashamed. Although we detected the demonic energy in the temple, we could not find the source no matter what. This demonic energy is extremely weak but omnipresent…”

Plus, the prosperous incense in the Lady of Double Happiness Temple largely dispersed the demonic energy, making its traces even harder to track.

Qin Gu understood. According to the cultivation system of this book, the gap between realms was like a chasm. Since experts like Qingli, who were at the Nascent Soul stage, could not do it, then…

Well, he could only rely on himself.

Although Qin Gu genuinely didn’t want to steal the protagonist’s spotlight, he was the only one present who had reached the Soul Formation stage.

Steeling himself, Qin Gu walked toward the statue of the Lady of Double Happiness. He walked very slowly, observing the passing pilgrims as he went.

If all the missing persons had entered the Temple of the Lady of Double Happiness, then regardless of what they were praying for, they must have all done one thing—

Wrapped the red rope around the hand of the Lady of Double Happiness.

Qin Gu imitated the pilgrims, respectfully wrapping the red rope around the Lady of Double Happiness’s fingertips with both hands.

At the same time, a surge of spiritual energy shot along the red rope into the statue, as fast as lightning.

This set of movements was fluid and natural, vividly illustrating what it meant to be disrespectful to gods and Buddhas.

Qingli, standing to the side, widened his eyes at the sight: “Young Alliance Leader, we have already investigated this statue…”

—Before he could finish, a sudden change occurred.

A streak of black mist flew out from the Lady of Double Happiness’s hand that held the red thread, crashing out of the temple!

Qin Gu had planned his route long before he came over, so the crowded pilgrims in the temple did not affect his pace in the slightest. He didn’t forget to instruct: “Junior Brother Ji, watch the statue!”

After saying this, he set off, following closely behind.

The demonic energy fled very quickly, like a snake weaving through the streets. Naturally, Qin Gu could not let it escape. He focused on the path ahead, following it tightly.

As he pursued, he stopped abruptly.

At some point, the noisy human voices around him had ceased.

No, that wasn’t right. It seemed that from the moment he stepped out of the Temple of the Lady of Double Happiness, he hadn’t heard a single sound other than his own breathing.

The alarm bells rang in his heart. Qin Gu realized that his surroundings were filled with thick fog. Not only the pedestrians, but even the streets and eaves were barely visible, almost swallowed by the mist.

Perhaps realizing that it could no longer lure the young cultivator, that streak of demonic energy vanished without a trace in an instant.

But deep within the fog, the sound of footsteps seemed to rise, accompanied by a woman’s chanting.

Qin Gu remembered the mechanical voice desperately trying to stop him from taking the quest. The monster wreaking havoc in Lin’an was likely on par with his own strength, or very likely above it.

Then…

A cold light flashed as his long sword left its sheath, the biting sword energy splitting a rift in the mist.

The thick fog did not immediately close back up; deep within the rift, the graceful back of a woman appeared faintly.

Her hair reached her waist, her figure was exquisite.

But even though it was her back, the woman seemed to be constantly moving closer to Qin Gu.

Looking down, Qin Gu was horrified to discover that the woman’s toes were pointed toward him!

What woman? This was clearly a monster!

Even though he could watch horror movies without changing his expression, he still found seeing this in reality terrifying enough.

Sweat oozed from Qin Gu’s hand holding the sword. He quickly recalled the sword moves learned by the original owner, and the moment the monster approached, he swung his sword!

This strike contained ten-tenths of his power. Where the sword energy traveled, the bricks and tiles on the ground were shattered.

“Clang—”

The collision of metal produced a harsh sound. The monster retreated several meters only to immediately pounce back, each strike aiming at his heart.

Qin Gu raised his wrist, barely blocking the monster’s onslaught.

His arm was numbed by the impact. The monster gave him no chance to breathe, the sword light arriving in an instant.

Qin Gu dodged sideways, intending to counterattack, when his expression suddenly stiffened.

A sword?

He looked at the monster in the mist again—five fingers deathly white, black nails long like sharp claws. Where was there any sword?

Another palm strike smashed toward him. Qin Gu ducked and swung his sword in the air.

This slash was full of holes and was intercepted halfway through.

At the same time, Qin Gu’s expression sank completely.

—He could not have been wrong. The way the monster blocked this blow was the Maple-Reed Sword Technique of the Yin-Feng Pavilion!

The moment he realized this, the figure of the monster before his eyes suddenly dissipated, replaced by a face that couldn’t be more familiar.

Cold eyes, cold face, ethereal temperament.

Qin Gu gasped: “Ji Yun?!”

Ji Yun remained unmoved, his sword moves fast and ruthless, carrying torrential hatred as he thrust toward his face.

Qin Gu turned his sword to block, looking into Ji Yun’s eyes. The captivating purple-black irises were devoid of focus.

The situation was clear: the mist was an illusion. The monster had lured him deep inside, intending for him and Ji Yun to kill each other.

But why would Ji Yun be here? Didn’t he tell Ji Yun to guard the Lady of Double Happiness statue?

Knowing that the person opposite was actually Ji Yun, Qin Gu felt constrained. Forced to move from offense to defense, he dodged Ji Yun’s attacks while thinking about how to wake him up.

Ji Yun, however, paid no heed to this. His swordplay was crisp and decisive, pressing in step by step. Qin Gu was forced to the end of the alley, with nowhere left to retreat.

Yet Ji Yun showed no signs of waking up; for some reason, he was trapped deep in a nightmare.

The distance between the two was as close as it could be. Ji Yun’s sword intent pierced the air, pouring down like a storm.

Qin Gu did not dodge.

As the blade pierced his left shoulder, Qin Gu stepped forward instead of back. He concentrated his spiritual energy at his fingertips and tapped hard on the maple leaf tattoo between Ji Yun’s brows!

A gentle, scorching spiritual energy flowed along the center of his brows into his sea of consciousness. Ji Yun staggered, and his blurred eyes regained focus. He looked somewhat dazed, as if just waking from a dream, first subconsciously observing his surroundings before turning his gaze back to the front.

He met a pair of beautiful peach-blossom eyes.

Ji Yun was stunned. He saw Qin Gu’s face pale, the veins on his neck bulging as if he were enduring extreme pain; shifting his gaze downward, a long sword was stuck horizontally between them, the tip already embedded in flesh, blood dripping down, staining Qin Gu’s red robes even redder.

Qin Gu looked at Ji Yun’s handsome face turn pale bit by bit, his eyes filled with disbelief, and thought inappropriately: Truly pitiful to behold.

The sword that had pierced his flesh was slowly retracted. Even though Ji Yun was extremely careful, the sound of the blade cutting through blood vessels was still clearly audible.

Qin Gu gritted his teeth, enduring the pain, not forgetting to comfort: “It’s fine, just a small wound.”

Ji Yun opened his mouth: How could it be fine? You are clearly trembling from the pain.

“Senior Brother,” Ji Yun stepped forward to steady him, “I…”

Qin Gu did not dare to accept the protagonist’s apology and quickly changed the subject: “Why are you here?”

This was the key point. Ji Yun swallowed the “sorry” and instead said: “Senior Brother had been gone for an hour. I saw it was getting late and feared… so I followed the demonic energy out.”

An hour? But Qin Gu clearly remembered he had only just entered the fog.

The fog could not only create illusions but also distort one’s perception of time?

…This monster was even harder to deal with than he had thought.

After Ji Yun sobered up, the mist surrounding them vanished without a trace. The surroundings returned to the appearance of a normal street. Even the traces of the fight disappeared.

Looking at the sky, the full moon hung high. It had been night for a long time.

Simply bandaging the wound on his shoulder, the two returned to the temple without a moment’s delay.

Qingli was pacing back and forth with a nervous expression; waiting with him were several monks from the temple.

Seeing them return, Qingli welcomed them with joy, but as soon as he saw Qin Gu’s disheveled and injured appearance, his smile stiffened: “This, Young Alliance Leader, this is…”

“A small accident,” Qin Gu waved his hand, telling him not to worry. “During the time we were gone, did the statue move?”

Qingli nodded and then shook his head: “The statue did not move, but I asked the monks—this statue was donated not long ago by a wealthy merchant named Jia in the city. It was covered with a red cloth when it was carried in. I have already found out the whereabouts of this merchant…”

Speaking of this, Qingli paused, handing the decision-making power to Qin Gu.

Qin Gu did not respond, his eyes narrowing like a fox.

A pure gold statue, carried in?

It defied reason.

Either the monks in the temple were lying;

Or—

Qin Gu nodded slightly, and amidst the shocked gazes of the crowd, he gripped his sword in reverse, the end of the hilt hitting the statue’s torso with a light strike.

His movement was effortless, but it produced a thundering sound upon contact.

The statue cracked, centered on the point of impact, and the entire front shattered in an instant!

Support