Why is the Demon Venerable Like That? - Chapter 7

Lu Yuan asked her with a glance what the current situation was.

“The Haotian Alliance is currently handling the matter of the evil spirits in Lin’an Town,” Lin Jiangxue said, attempting to interpret his silent inquiry.

Lu Yuan was well aware of the Alliance’s efficiency. Back then, he had detested the Haotian Alliance for being too rigid, so he never followed protocol during his missions. Consequently, countless people held grudges against him.

However, whenever he grew annoyed and told them they could give the position of Chief to whoever they liked, those old fossils would bow and scrape, insisting it was impossible. They claimed Lu Yuan was the only person in the world who had ascended to the Dao and that no one else could command such public respect.

If they waited for the Haotian Alliance to decide on a solution, pigs would fly before anything got done.

But that was not what Lu Yuan wanted to ask. “Do you know the original owner of this body?”

Lin Jiangxue’s brow furrowed so deeply it could have crushed a fly. “Wasn’t this wood puppet body given to me by you before you died? Why do you have such a bewildered expression?”

Shortly after Lu Yuan had handed her this puppet, he had fallen. To avoid raising suspicion about his identity, she could not show the puppet any special treatment. She simply placed him in the secure position of an outer disciple.

There was no need for effort or ambition. The puppet only needed to know to eat when hungry, drink when thirsty, sleep when tired, and wait for death. It was the ultimate state of lying flat.

However, after she emerged from a long period of secluded cultivation, she discovered the wood puppet had suddenly vanished. Terrified, she immediately scanned the entire Fengchi Sect with her divine sense.

Only then did Lin Jiangxue realize that this puppet, which had developed thoughts because of a remnant strand of Lu Yuan’s consciousness, had suddenly experienced a late blooming of sorts. It seemed to have fallen in love for the first time.

In short, this sudden infatuation had turned the puppet’s small brain upside down. To please the other party, the normally dim-witted puppet had snuck into the team heading for the Secret Realm and followed them all the way to Lin’an Town.

Lin Jiangxue did not even have time to change her clothes before rushing to Lin’an Town. On the way, she had conveniently brought Xiao Jingchun back as well.

She had diligently guarded this puppet containing a fragment of Lu Yuan’s soul for many years. When she arrived in Lin’an Town and saw him on the brink of death, she was so frightened she nearly reported to the underworld herself. But when she felt his pulse, the aura of the divine blood Lu Yuan had left behind made her ecstatic.

Today, sensing that Lu Yuan had woken up, she had hurried over to verify her theory.

Lu Yuan was speechless. He had always assumed this body just happened to share his name. For a moment, he even thought he had possessed the shell of a stranger.

Seeing that Lu Yuan’s confusion was genuine, Lin Jiangxue grabbed his wrist without a word. Her expression suddenly tightened as she whispered, “My apologies.”

An icy chill spread from his wrist to his entire body, followed by a sudden, piercing cold in his chest.

Lu Yuan’s chest erupted in agonizing pain. In a daze, he saw a narrow, sharp longblade piercing through his heart.

Lin Jiangxue released his hand and muttered in confusion, “Your soul is still damaged. How can this be? What method did you use to prevent your soul from dissipating, and how did you return to this body?”

Lu Yuan felt as though the blade from his hallucination had left a hole through his chest. He did not even dare to breathe heavily. He certainly could not tell her that he had been dead for a long time, wandering the three realms as a ghost, only to be brought back because a System made a mistake.

Lu Yuan said vaguely, “I do not remember some things, but it should not be anything major.”

Lin Jiangxue snorted coldly. “Not anything major? Do you have any idea how much chaos has erupted in the three realms since you died? Evil spirits are everywhere, and mortals have suffered countless casualties.” She paused, then asked curiously, “By the way, how exactly did you lose your life?”

Lu Yuan replied, “Exactly. How did I die?”

Lin Jiangxue: “?” She was momentarily choked by his counter-question. “You do not even remember how you died?”

Lu Yuan nodded quite frankly. Seeing Lin Jiangxue’s “are you kidding me” expression, he said helplessly, “I truly forgot.”

“You were killed by Lingchuan Du in Jiucang City, and then you fell from the floating city and met your divine end,” Lin Jiangxue said, quickly reciting the facts known to the entire cultivation world.

“Impossible.” Although Lu Yuan had heard this once from the System, it was still hard to accept. He insisted stubbornly, “How could Lingchuan Du kill me? I could beat him even if I gave him a one-handed handicap.”

Lin Jiangxue held up three fingers. “First, the day you died, you ordered everyone to stay out of the Hesue Garden in Jiucang City. At that time, everyone saw that only Lingchuan Du entered with you.”

“Second, Lingchuan Du was holding your blade, and the snow was covered in blood. No one could survive losing that much blood.”

“Lastly, Lingchuan Du admitted it himself. He confessed to killing you.”

Lu Yuan skillfully ignored the last point and found a flaw in her logic. “If I ordered everyone to stay out, how did anyone get in to find that Lingchuan Du had killed me?”

Lin Jiangxue gave a hollow laugh. “That is because the commotion of your death was too great.”

Lu Yuan: “…”

Lin Jiangxue was not being sarcastic or making an ill-timed joke. Back then, Lu Yuan had already ascended to the Dao and possessed a semi-divine body. The moment he died, all things mourned, and the sky suddenly darkened. Countless funeral bells tolled as if eager to announce to the world that Lu Lingyue was dead. Any living person would have rushed into the garden to see what had happened.

Lin Jiangxue felt more wrinkles forming on her forehead. She sighed. “What do you remember?”

Lu Yuan paused. “The older the memory, the clearer it is. For example, you back then.”

Speaking of the past, their meeting had been pure coincidence. Lin Jiangxue was the daughter of the Sword-Holding Elder of the Fengchi Sect. To outsiders, she was obedient and sensible, but in reality, she was determined to slay demons and was deeply dissatisfied with the cultivation partner her elders had chosen for her.

To escape the marriage, she snuck out of the Fengchi Sect in the middle of the night, determined to make a name for herself as a world-renowned cultivator. She naively believed that once she achieved fame, no one could control her.

However, shortly after descending the mountain, she almost met her end in a small village called Fuhua Village.

“Do you need help?” a vibrant youth asked her with a smile.

The sunlight broke through the thick black mist hovering over Fuhua Village. In the golden light, the youth looked like a deity. That was eighteen-year-old Lu Yuan.

Back then, he was full of youthful vigor and high spirits. His posture was as straight as a pine tree. His fingers were slowly brushing over the horizontal blade at his waist, while golden patterns crept secretly from his neck. His expression was leisurely, as if he were not preparing for a fierce battle but taking a stroll in search of spring scenery.

Lin Jiangxue shouted, “Hero, save me!” She ran toward him without looking back, trailing a string of evil spirits behind her. She had already led the spirits in several circles around the village, and she was unlucky enough not to find the way out.

Bujue vibrated excitedly in its sheath, emitting a heavy yet crisp sound. It smelled the evil spirits and could not wait to leave its scabbard to punish evil.

Lu Yuan drew his long-bladed horizontal sword. Instantly, his relaxed aura vanished, replaced by a sharp, piercing gaze. He took a deep breath and charged through the spirits. Black blade light moved effortlessly before Lin Jiangxue’s eyes as Lu Yuan and his blade became a single sharp line.

Lin Jiangxue felt a shiver. The spirits she considered a nightmare were cut down in an instant.

The young Lu Yuan stood amidst the corpses of the spirits. Without looking back at Lin Jiangxue, he simply pointed toward the exit and told the lady to leave quickly, as the death energy remained and more changes might occur. Then, he walked toward the center of the village with his blade.

Lin Jiangxue did not know what she was thinking then. She was terrified and had many other options, such as accepting her fear and running back to the Fengchi Sect to accept her arranged marriage. But she gritted her teeth and followed him.

When she took that step, fear crawled up her like a parasite, but she also felt a lightness in her body and heart. The invisible shackles were gone. She walked faster, and as she chased the youth’s footsteps, her fear slowly vanished.

Lin Jiangxue started running and shouted, “Wait for me! I can help you.”

Lu Yuan stopped and said, “If I remember correctly, were you not just being chased by a group of evil spirits?”

Lin Jiangxue’s face turned bright red. She murmured, “That was my first time encountering such a situation. I had not reacted yet.” It was just a lack of combat experience, not a lack of strength!

Afraid of being rejected by Lu Yuan, she introduced herself. “I am Lin Jiangxue of the Fengchi Sect. I recently reached the Gold Core stage and will definitely not hold you back.”

Hearing this, Lu Yuan was amused. He was not laughing at the ridiculous scene of a mid-level cultivator being chased by low-level spirits. Seeing Lu Yuan’s back trembling slightly, Lin Jiangxue thought he was possessed. She retreated a few steps, her thumb pressing against the hilt of her sword.

Lu Yuan finally could not hold back and laughed out loud. In this village filled with death energy, it was a bit eerie.

Lu Yuan turned around and said to Lin Jiangxue with a grin, “原來你就是我師弟那個逃婚的道侶啊.” (So you are the bride who ran away from my Junior Brother.)

He laughed with his eyes crinkling, still carrying a bit of boyish innocence.

Lin Jiangxue gasped as she realized, “You are Lu Yuan of Jiucang City!”

Lu Yuan tilted his head and appraised her. “You were right to run away. My Junior Brother is a man of few words. Two quiet people like you would not be a good match.”

Lin Jiangxue was embarrassed. She had run away from a marriage only to run into the groom’s Senior Brother. She stammered an explanation. “I just… I just felt that since we had never met, the most important thing is… it has to be someone you like.”

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow. If the atmosphere had not been so wrong, he would have applauded. “You are right. Let us settle this quickly. Otherwise, my Junior Brother will come looking for me if I am gone too long, and it would be awkward if you met.”

As it turned out, because of an unexpected incident that day, they did not settle things quickly, and Lin Jiangxue did meet Lingchuan Du.

Lin Jiangxue looked bitterly at the man lying on the couch. He was so haggard, his face devoid of blood and filled with an air of decay. The Lu Yuan of back then seemed entirely unrelated to this person whose life-fire seemed ready to blow out with a single breeze. She could not bear to look any longer and silently turned her head away.

Lu Yuan looked like he wanted to say something. His mouth opened and closed before he finally could not help himself. “So, did you marry Lingchuan Du?”

“Shen Xun’an is your personal disciple, and I see you treat him well. Is he your child?”

“Wait, that is not right. His surname is Shen. Is he your illegitimate son?”

Lin Jiangxue stood up, looking dazed.

Haha.

Worrying about him was clearly unnecessary.