To Be a Demon - Chapter 7

If I had come back right after dying, I would definitely have investigated.

But I had been dead too long. So many feelings had faded. Compared with those things that seemed to belong to another lifetime, all I wanted after fifty years of confinement was freedom.

So I could learn to act like Yue Lingyan and try to please Fu Chen, the man who had killed me.

Hopefully, looking like his beloved would make him take me as a disciple.

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

I thought it would move him.

He didn’t even slow down. “Someone will see that you’re healed.” Then he left.

What? Not Yue Lingyan enough?

The man in blue-green who had shouted at me came scurrying over. “Young miss, I served your grandfather, Venerable Tuofeng, as a guardian. How is he these days?”

Such a drastic change of attitude. I was overwhelmed by the honor.

“Off enjoying himself,” I said, remembering the old man.

“Good, good.” He nodded repeatedly. “When he abruptly stepped down and disappeared all those years ago, we were desolate for a long time. Looking back, all that matters is that he’s happy. We didn’t know who you were today, young miss. Please forgive us.”

I waved it off.

He had someone take me away for healing.

As I left, I heard him speak coldly to the fat boy’s guard. “You injured our young miss’s hand. Remove one of your own arms today. For Changting Sect’s sake, Yunyan will consider the matter settled.”

He got off lightly.

If I had used Blood Sacrifice earlier, he would have lost at least an arm and a leg.

Still, I had been rash. I hadn’t expected Fu Chen to appear. Using it right under his nose might not have exposed me as Yan Beibei, but it would certainly have exposed me as a demonic cultivator.

That would have ended badly.

The man in blue-green came while I was being treated. He told me his name was Zhang Wu.

“Uncle Zhang Wu, let me ask you something.” I put on a gossipy air. “Who’s the prettiest female cultivator among all the sects these days?”

“Well…” He considered. “Opinions vary. Last year it was Fairy Qinmei. This year, Fairy Wanqiu. There’s also Fairy Feixia, Fairy Chenlu…”

Apparently, he followed this subject closely. I interrupted.

“Have you heard of Fairy Ziyan?”

He looked surprised. “I didn’t expect you to know about her, young miss.”

He thought back. “You’ve asked the right person. Most people have probably forgotten Fairy Ziyan by now. But I remember. More than fifty years ago, she really did stand out among all those rather plain female cultivators.”

“Forgotten?” I didn’t understand. “Why would they forget?”

“You only know part of the story, it seems. Fairy Ziyan passed away. It’s been almost fifty years now, I believe.”

I went still.

Yue Lingyan was dead.

“How did she die? I heard she was beautiful,” I asked.

“Suicide, apparently.” He leaned closer and lowered his voice mysteriously. “But I don’t think so. Lots of people back then suspected murder.”

“I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of…”

“What?”

“That great demon from fifty years ago. Yan Beibei?”

“…?”

His voice dropped further. “People thought she’d come back after death to take revenge on Fairy Ziyan.”