Why is the Demon Venerable Like That? - Chapter 10

Fengchi Sect, Ronglan Hall.

Lin Jiangxue and Lingchuan Du stood facing each other in silence.

“Did you call me here to see who enters meditation first?” Lingchuan Du spoke, his tone displeased.

Internally, Lin Jiangxue was cursing. This pair of damnable brothers spoke with the exact same lack of charm.

“I need to head to the Old Capital to resolve the Jian mutation. I want you to go to the secret realm at Heaven Capital City for me to investigate the plague from ten years ago.”

Lingchuan Du generally ignored the affairs of the cultivation world and was unfamiliar with the origins of these secret realms. However, he felt Lin Jiangxue’s request was not overly demanding. “What secret realm?”

Lin Jiangxue explained, “Ten years ago, a plague broke out in Heaven Capital City and subsequently spread everywhere, killing hundreds of thousands.”

Lingchuan Du showed an impatient expression. “Tell me something I do not know.”

Lin Jiangxue took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to swear. “To put it simply, the dead formed a living secret realm. This realm is constructed from the residual consciousness of those who died wrongful deaths. Therefore, the realm is ever-changing; a single different step can lead to a different conclusion.”

Back then, many people died alone in foreign lands due to the plague.

Misty evening rain falls, and the partridges cry.

Consequently, this massive secret realm about to open was known among cultivators as the Partridge Dream.

After finishing, she handed Lingchuan Du a booklet.

Lingchuan Du scanned the words on the cover. “What is this?”

“Oh, these are some disciples I have selected. I intend for them to go into the realm with you.” Having found a source of free labor, she was determined to squeeze out every drop of use.

Looking at the densely packed names, Lingchuan Du was already annoyed. “What is this collection of nobodies?”

Lin Jiangxue was stunned. The people she had selected for training were absolute young talents. How did they become nobodies in Lingchuan Du’s mouth?

“Shen Xun’an is my closed-door disciple. He reached the early Golden Core stage at twenty,” Lin Jiangxue said, attempting to save her dignity. Disparaging her students made her look bad as a teacher.

Lingchuan Du countered, “Lu Yuan was at the Nascent Soul stage at eighteen.”

Comparisons could truly infuriate a person. Lu Yuan possessed extreme talent and a divinely gifted skeleton; the blood of the Ancient God flowed in his veins. His cultivation increased even as he breathed or drank water. Back when Lin Jiangxue had struggled to reach the Nascent Soul stage, he was already at the late Deity Transformation stage.

Lin Jiangxue maintained an expression that said, “If you want to put it that way, there is nothing I can do,” and she firmly refused to take back the list.

Lingchuan Du tossed the roster onto the table with an impatient look. “Do as you wish. I do not care whether these people live or die.”

Lin Jiangxue replied, “You only need to lead them inside. Life and death are up to fate.”

Under the flickering lamplight, Lingchuan Du crossed his arms, his mind drifting until the candle wick gave a faint pop. The flame flickered slightly, bringing him back to the present.

He ran the back of his finger gently over the roster, his touch as lingering as if he were treating a lover. “If you cannot fulfill your promise, then I shall begin killing people, starting right here.”

Although Lin Jiangxue was immune to Lingchuan Du’s intermittent bouts of madness, she still felt a spark of tension. She sat up straight and spoke in a formal, steady voice, “I will not fail. Besides, there is no benefit for me in deceiving you.”

Lingchuan Du gave the overly serious Lin Jiangxue a half-smile. He slowly ran his finger over the rows of names, as if he were the King of Hell checking a ledger.

He stopped his hand when he saw a particular name.

Lin Jiangxue leaned in, pretending not to care. “Is there a problem?”

“Make him change his name,” Lingchuan Du said unreasonably.

“Who?” Lin Jiangxue played dumb.

Lingchuan Du slapped the roster directly onto Lin Jiangxue’s face. The name Lu Yuan hung clearly before her eyes. “Is your eyesight failing at your age, Sect Leader Lin?”

Lin Jiangxue looked troubled. “Asking someone to change their name for no reason is probably not a good idea.”

Lingchuan Du laughed again, the sound echoing eerily in the empty hall. “He is quite lucky not to have died in Lin’an Town.”

Lin Jiangxue watched the man before her shift from anger to laughter. His unpredictability was worse than the weather in March. She silently rolled up the roster, determined to dump this hot potato onto Lu Yuan as quickly as possible. Staying with Lingchuan Du any longer would give her a nervous breakdown.

She left the hall without any sense of guilt. After all, they had known each other for a long time; she was certain Lu Yuan had his own ways of dealing with a madman.

Lu Yuan, who was the focus of Lin Jiangxue’s high hopes, was currently following a standard routine of living for the sake of eating. He had successfully become perfect meal partners with fellow disciple Zhang Chafu.

To put it delicately, Zhang Chafu’s cultivation was several steps below Lu Yuan’s current level. To put it bluntly, Zhang Chafu was a common mortal. However, this did not stop him from happily performing cleaning duties at the Fengchi Sect every day.

Using the excuse of poor health, Lu Yuan declined morning lessons and joined the ranks of the cleaning disciples with Zhang Chafu. This was not a difficult decision, as morning lessons began even earlier than routine cleaning. He naturally chose to be a salted fish who did not have to wake up early.

After spending several days in blissful idleness, he was notified to attend a meeting at the sect plaza.

On the way there, the System loudly announced that the results of his reputation reassessment were in. Because of Lu Yuan’s actions in Lin’an Town, his reputation had successfully moved from negative twenty to negative ten.

Lu Yuan noted, “It does not look much better.”

The System explained: 【Because there is a group of people in the Fengchi Sect who have secret crushes on Xiao Jingchun, and they are speaking ill of you.】

“Oh,” Lu Yuan replied.

The System shouted: Why are you just saying “oh”? Do you really not intend to save your image?

Lu Yuan was busy calculating whether he should bring a small stool to the plaza. In his experience, meetings usually lasted for a very long time. In the past, he had sat in the seat of honor with a soft chair and a wide view. When bored, he could open his divine consciousness to look at scenery elsewhere, so he had never cared how long a meeting lasted. Now, however, he was not pleased at the prospect of standing for so long.

The System watched in astonishment as Lu Yuan pulled a small stool out of his storage bag, checked it, and then stuffed it back in. 【Why are you putting a stool in your storage bag?】

Lu Yuan gave it a strange look. “To sit and rest after cleaning. I can also listen to Zhang Chafu’s gossip.”

Ever since the Chief had heard the System talk about the novels, he had developed a strong interest in the gossip of the cultivation world. He would listen intently, occasionally marveling or slapping his hand in excitement, providing excellent emotional feedback. Zhang Chafu had never met such an appreciative audience and consequently added even more flair to his stories.

The System said: 【You should remember that you are not actually a cleaning disciple.】

“I am one now,” Lu Yuan replied.

The System could do nothing but watch as Lu Yuan arrived near the sect plaza and intentionally dawdled behind the other disciples. Once he was sure everyone had arrived and stood in their designated spots, Lu Yuan took out his stool and sat down with satisfaction.

Lu Yuan tilted his chin toward the System. The System flew over reluctantly. 【What is it?】

“Perform a trick for me to pass the time.”

The System protested: 【I am a serious system!】

In all its time working, every host had flattered it, trying to gain more benefits. Lu Yuan was treating it like some kind of plaything!

Lu Yuan watched in wonder as the System turned from white to red and back to white. “You can even change colors.” He had only ever seen the System with its lights off. This was novel. “Can you turn into other colors?”

The System surrendered. 【I will read you a story, alright?】

Although Lu Yuan had previously told the System to read fewer novels, that was because the protagonist was himself. If it were about someone else, he was happy to accept. “Then give me the best seller.”

The System replied: 【The best seller is the one I mentioned before about betrayal and desertion, the epic love triangle.】

Lu Yuan commented, “Vulgar taste. What about the second best seller?”

The System said: 【This one is a romance between two people.】

Lu Yuan grew interested. “Let us hear that one then.”

The System warned: 【But it is still about you and your junior brother. Are you sure you want to listen?】

Lu Yuan was furious. “Who exactly is writing these?”

The human and the system bickered in the back for a long while before Lu Yuan realized that the voice of the Elder speaking in the plaza had disappeared. Everyone around him was staring at him.

He looked up to see Lin Jiangxue on the stage, barely maintaining her smile.

Lu Yuan thought: It seems I missed something.

Lin Jiangxue maintained her poise as a Sect Leader and asked gently, “Lu Yuan, do you have a problem?”

Lu Yuan looked at her blankly. What problem could he have? He had not even heard what the topic was.

One look at his face told Lin Jiangxue that he had heard nothing. “If there is no problem, please come to the front to take your incense.”

Some disciples looked at him with envy, while others looked with pity, leaving Lu Yuan even more confused.

Beside Lin Jiangxue and several white-haired Elders, a man dressed in black and wearing a ritual mask was seated.

He wore a blood-red ghost mask with snow-white fangs. His pale skin was visible through the gaps in the ferocious mask. The man sat as still as a statue, completely motionless. This person, who looked entirely out of place in the Fengchi Sect, sat with his eyes closed, ignoring everyone on the stage.

Lin Jiangxue handed Lu Yuan a piece of incense that was exceptionally long. Lu Yuan watched the slender incense sway in the air, fearing it might snap at any moment. After receiving it, he saw a line of disciples already formed and took his place beside the man in black.

Once the Elders had called up a dozen more people, Lin Jiangxue glanced at the man in black. Seeing him nod slightly, she concluded the meeting. “At the first quarter of the Hour of the Rooster today, please light this Dream-Burning Incense. I and the Elders will assist you in entering the Partridge Dream.”

The disciples in the plaza began to disperse. Those who had received incense hurried back to prepare their life-saving tools.

Lu Yuan felt an urge to throw away the Dream-Burning Incense immediately. Lin Jiangxue sent him a look that said, “If you do not go, I will report you to Lingchuan Du immediately.”

She sent him a private transmission: Do not throw it away. Do not expect me to do your work for you; go investigate yourself. Also, I have given you a Heart-Revealing Pill. Find an opportunity in the secret realm to feed it to Lingchuan Du. I know you do not believe he killed you, and neither do I. Although he admitted it, his mouth is as stubborn as an old woman’s heel. Only the gods know what he is struggling with internally.

Lu Yuan stopped himself from snapping the incense on the spot. He felt something appear in his storage bag. His divine consciousness found a brown pill.

Heart-Revealing Pill. As the name suggested, you ask, and he answers truthfully and completely.

The System looked at the pill and said, trembling: 【That is a huge pill! The person who truly wants to kill Lingchuan Du is Lin Jiangxue, right?】

Lu Yuan had been frowning since he heard the name “Partridge Dream.” He knew that secret realms ending in dream were living realms. Unlike ordinary realms, each entry could result in a different storyline. Only the core cause of the realm remained unchanged. People pulled into the realm would automatically replace one of the original inhabitants.

One might become a beggar on the verge of starving to death or a wealthy local gentleman, depending entirely on one’s luck. The realm would automatically construct the logic and order of the world based on the consciousness of those who died wrongful deaths.

To put it simply, a group of cultivators would enter to play house with a group of dead people.

Suddenly, he wanted to go even less.

Lu Yuan racked his brain for a way to escape. The setting sun held no warmth now. He wrapped his clothes tighter around himself and sent a reply to Lin Jiangxue: Fine, fine, fine.

As an outer disciple who had recently and lazily joined the cleaning ranks, the accommodation arranged for him by the Fengchi Sect manager was quite far away. Lu Yuan’s body was weak, and due to a lack of exercise lately, he began to pant after running for a distance. “Will I make it back to my quarters in time?” If he could not, he might as well light the incense where he stood.

The System said sorrowfully: 【Look at you now. You are in a worse state than when you were first reborn! Your eight-pack is about to become a one-pack!】

Lu Yuan was tired of running and began to talk nonsense. “What kind of abs does a wooden man have? If he was carved with eight at the start, he will have eight forever.”

By the time Lu Yuan hurried back, it was almost time for the gathering. He haphazardly inserted the incense into a burner and lay down on his bed to wait for the effect.

The Dream-Burning Incense had almost no scent. If not for the thin smoke rising from the burner, one would not even know it was there. Lu Yuan stared at the smoke as it twisted in the wind until he successfully fell asleep.

When he opened his eyes again, it was still dark.

Lu Yuan carefully identified the sensation beneath him. He was on a very comfortable soft couch. The pillow smelled of soothing medicinal herbs. Listening closely, he could hear the faint chirping of insects outside.

Moonlight peeked into the dark room. It seemed he had entered the realm in the middle of the night. Consequently, Lu Yuan closed his eyes again, intending to go back to sleep.

Just as he was about to drift off, a somber voice spoke in the darkness.

“How are you able to sleep?”