To Be a Demon - Chapter 10

I hated, hated, hated, hated, hated Fu Chen.

He was my born nemesis.

Had been thwarting me since childhood.

The moment he arrived at our house, Dad liked him. My siblings depended on him.

He even did housework better than me.

I was always falling short. Even after we entered Liuqing Mountain, a technique that took me two sleepless days to learn took him only a few extra tries. I was so stupid. It took me ages to understand that Fu Chen was a genius. No amount of effort would let me catch up.

I hated geniuses.

Then I became a demonic cultivator and fell out with the genius.

I could understand it, really. He loathed that path. He hated every demonic cultivator, just as I hated everyone from Chaoshang Sect. By becoming one, the family he had grown up with had betrayed him.

And I became a particularly troublesome demon.

The only person in the world who could kill me was him.

When Silver Radiance pierced my heart, I really, truly hated him.

Who wouldn’t hate their killer?

Then he took my sword without asking. I would call that stealing.

He nearly drowned me.

Three times.

Finally, he let me go, only to drop me out of the air onto the grass. I thought my tailbone would crack.

I already hated him quite exceptionally enough.

But after I swallowed my anger and said all those humiliating things, he simply stared at me in that silent way. His eyes were heavy, as though filled with too much, or with nothing at all—only vast silence and desolation.

This time I stared back, refusing to give ground.

At last he turned his head. His gaze fell casually on a piece of jade, anywhere but me. Again, that wisp of demonic energy flickered between his brows.

“I won’t.”

Two curt words. I thought the veins in my forehead would spring out of my skin. Preferably straight up Fu Chen’s nostrils, so he could learn what suffocation felt like.

I rose, barely in control. My sweet little mouth was about to produce some beautiful language.

Fu Chen cast a teleportation spell.

My surroundings became my own room.

I imagined my pillow was Fu Chen’s head and beat the pillow all day.

I really… hated, hated, hated, hated, hated, hated, hated Fu Chen!

But he didn’t order me out again.

So I stayed in Yunyan. Zhang Wu really was the old sect leader’s faithful subordinate. After the old man left, his successor, Heavenly Venerable Wujie Fu Chen, had all the power in the world but scarcely handled sect affairs. Dutiful second-in-command Zhang Wu worked himself to death keeping Yunyan running, playing both mother and father to the place.

He also took my training seriously.

Before dawn every morning, he had me practicing basic techniques with a group of inner disciples. I could have performed any of those tricks with endless variations.

Things I had finished playing with years ago.

I worried about how to become Fu Chen’s disciple.

Then inspiration struck. Surely the sect leader’s disciple ought to be the best of all the disciples. I needed to be a peerless prodigy who astonished everyone.

Understood.

While the youngsters frowned over how to shoot spiritual power from their fingertips quickly and forcefully enough to serve as a weapon, I gave a practiced flick.

Bang!

Something across from me shattered.

…Oh. That looked like the former sect leader’s statue.

Everyone froze as if they had turned to stone themselves.

For one brief moment, I felt guilty. It seemed rather valuable.

Only one moment, though.

Then I realized.

That was my grandfather’s statue. Anyone else breaking it might be in trouble. Me breaking it? A minor family disagreement.

Unfortunately, the situation wasn’t quite that simple.

Behind the old man’s statue stood… Fu Chen’s statue.

I really was strong. Both shattered together.

One twist after another. And then another twist.

Zhang Wu’s face twisted too, until it resembled wrinkled pigskin. He looked heartbrokenly at the rubble. It had been spiritual stone; once broken, its energy dispersed. Useless now. Then he looked heartbrokenly at me.

“Young miss… truly a descendant of Venerable Tuofeng… such extraordinary talent… Yunyan has a worthy successor…”

He actually managed to praise me. Proof that I had astonished everyone.

Or that my connections were very solid.

But there was a catch.

“Still, one of those statues did belong to the Heavenly Venerable… You had better apologize to him, young miss.”

I hadn’t expected my next meeting with Fu Chen after the bathing pool to happen under these circumstances.

I stood below him while he sat in the seat of honor. Zhang Wu kept signaling with his eyes.

He wanted me to hurry up and apologize.

But…

I couldn’t say it.

I would rather eat shit than apologize to Fu Chen.

“Heavenly Venerable, I broke your statue today,” I said abruptly into the silence.

“I blame myself. I’m in pain too. Sigh. How could I be so careless and break your statue?”

“But the dead can’t come back, and a broken stone can’t be put together.”

“So I’ll do something useful.”

“You’re getting on in years. All sorts of everyday things must be inconvenient. Don’t worry. Grandpa’s the same, so I have plenty of experience with you elderly people.”

“I’ll look after you for a month!”