To Be a Demon - Chapter 6

Yunyan’s people were stunned.

The man in blue-green robes was flustered.

The fat Changting boy nearly lost control of his bowels.

And Fu Chen finally deigned to look at me.

“Wang Tuofeng’s granddaughter?” Unlike the others, he was perfectly calm.

The letter slipped from my fingers, flew before him, and unfolded.

He read it and sent it flying back into my hand.

“Since you’re Wang Tuofeng’s granddaughter, you may stay.”

He casually instructed a few people to make arrangements for me, plainly couldn’t be bothered with the details, and turned to leave.

As he turned, I caught sight of the sword at his waist.

A black longsword.

My hand reached for it instinctively.

My… Black Goose.

Why did Fu Chen have it? And why could I see only Black Goose, not the Silver Radiance that should have been hanging at his waist? Where was his sword?

My fingers were almost touching Black Goose when Fu Chen flashed aside. He looked displeased, as though he hated anyone touching that sword.

Yan Beibei would have fought with everything she had to take it back.

But I couldn’t be Yan Beibei.

I was Wang Xiangyun, her complete opposite. The hand that had reached for Black Goose tugged at Fu Chen’s sleeve instead. I looked aggrieved.

“Heavenly Venerable, when will you take me to have my hand healed? I don’t want a scar. It won’t be pretty.”

Acting the opposite of Yan Beibei was actually ridiculously easy.

I had a model.

The fairy-like woman Fu Chen cherished.

I wondered if they were married now.

Though they had been together for almost three years back then and he was still a virgin. Maybe he couldn’t get it up.

Fu Chen’s beloved was the prettiest girl in our generation of cultivators.

A small face, smiling crescent eyes, black hair cascading like a waterfall. Even the wind favored her, forever setting her purple skirts fluttering. As ethereal as a fairy could be.

The fairy had a lovely name too.

Yue Lingyan.

I hadn’t thought about her in a long time.

Truthfully, I could accept Fu Chen wanting me dead. We had broken with each other long before. I wasn’t as ruthless as him; losing was only fair.

What I had never expected was Yue Lingyan standing on the other side too.

She had helped plan my death.

She had once been my best friend.

Before I turned to demonic cultivation, I had actually been one of the good ones. I was born with hardly any spiritual power, but my spiritual root tested as one in ten thousand. It caused plenty of controversy. Still, Liuqing Mountain, the foremost sect of the time, eventually accepted me.

And so…

Me, the strangest cultivator of our generation.

Fu Chen, the most gifted.

Yue Lingyan, the most beautiful.

By one coincidence after another, we became an inseparable trio.

We attended lessons together and cultivated together. Being a boy made some things less convenient for Fu Chen, but A-Yan and I practically ate, drank, slept, and did everything else together.

Soon after learning to fly on our swords, we sneaked out one night to look at the stars above the rear mountain. There were so many stars that night. I had heard people became stars when they died. I got so distracted searching that I fell off my sword.

A-Yan practically jumped off hers and caught me.

Luckily, Fu Chen caught her.

Otherwise, I would have broken a few limbs.

Once we landed, she hugged me and quietly wiped away tears. “You scared me, Beibei. How could you be so careless?”

Right then, I decided I wanted Yue Lingyan as my friend for life.

So when she told me she liked Fu Chen, I helped with everything I had.

Of course I did. Fu Chen and I had left the same home to make our way in the world. I knew his likes and dislikes inside out.

The results were obvious.

They always had things to talk about, and his eyes were always patient and gentle when he looked at her.

During one practice session, sword energy cut A-Yan’s hand. She cried easily, and this time was no exception. Tears rolled down her face from the pain.

“Brother Fu Chen, what should I do? I don’t want a scar. It won’t be pretty.”

He took her hand, spiritual power spreading from his fingertips as he carefully healed her.

I stood to one side, an outsider, utterly dumbfounded.

Was this really Fu Chen, who kept everyone a thousand miles away and seemed to want a block of ice wrapped around himself?

Was this… the power of love?

Later, we grew a little older. That year, the Gathering of Immortals tournament had just ended, giving the younger generation their chance to shine. Fu Chen lived up to his reputation as a once-in-a-century genius and, naturally, took first place.

A-Yan dazzled everyone too. They named her Fairy Ziyan.

Who wouldn’t love such a handsome couple? Everyone thought they belonged together, a perfect pair of immortal lovers.

As for me…

I hadn’t entered.

I had gone off to cultivate the demonic path.

A-Yan was the only person who supported me. “Beibei, everyone has secrets. I know you must have your reasons. Do what you want to do. Don’t be scared. I’ll always believe in you.”

Even after I became a demon feared by everyone, burned the fifth-ranked Chaoshang Sect for three days, and slaughtered it to the last person. The cultivation world was shaken. For a while, nobody on the righteous path could mention me without spitting curses.

A-Yan would write to me in secret.

She warned me which sect was planning to destroy me and where to be careful. She sent the same gossip as always: some sect leader had taken a secret mistress and been chased around by his cultivation partner, some wedding had been interrupted by someone stealing the bride. She said she was bored, that she wanted to visit me in the demonic realm but didn’t dare because of who we were. She wished things could be like before.

It was through her letters that I learned she and Fu Chen were together.

“We’re both fine. Don’t worry. Just take care of yourself.”

Until the moment I died, I never understood it.

Why, when Fu Chen killed me, was A-Yan standing behind him? Her eyes held hatred and the relief of something finally finished. A complicated look, with everything except sorrow at losing a friend.

What did she hate me for?