Former Sweetheart

Chapter 12: “The Leader without make-up was his white moonlight.”

The Sect Leader of the Profound Sect, Fu Hongye. A hundred and twenty eight years ago, he was adopted by a hunting family living in Danxin Town, which was located on the outskirts of Chang’an City. 

The identities of his parents were unknown while his origins were unclear. The first time he appeared in the world of cultivation was when he was sixteen years old. This was the year he had worshipped the Profound Sect, becoming an outer-sect disciple.

When he was eighteen, Fu Hongye left his sect to train before ultimately dying in a conspiracy at the Zhu family. The youth became an Injured Soul Bird after death and hovered in the area for ten years. Only after he encountered the former Protector of the demonic way, Bi Qianren, did he return to the Profound Sect.

The turning point in Fu Hongye’s life came right after this, and the Profound Sect’s Sword Lord, He Ku, accepted him as his last disciple. 

After reconstructing his body, Fu Hongye entered closed-door seclusion to cultivate purely for a few decades. The first battle after he left seclusion was precisely the one where he had repelled the armies of the demonic way. 

From henceforth, Fu Hongye had become unrivalled in the entire world.

After being enemies with Fu Hongye for so long, You Jiang had long investigated everything about him. Regardless of anything, he appeared just like a standard Profound Sect disciple who courted death since his youth. Fu Hongye ought to have no intersections with Jiang Fengzhi.

The only weird part about his history was how Fu Hongye claimed his body had been offered by the common people to demonic cultivators after his death. However, the Sword Lord had uprooted the entire demonic sect colluding with the Zhu family later on, but everyone there all said they had never received his corpse. 

The demonic sect leader had even been weeping bitter tears, vowing that in the first place, insignificant cultivators like them absolutely didn’t dare touch the disciples of the Profound Sect. So even if they did receive Fu Hongye’s corpse, they would have obediently sent it back to the Profound Sect.

Since the Sword Lord couldn’t find his disciple’s corpse, he could only search for spiritual materials to help him reconstruct a new body. Just like this, Fu Hongye’s former body became such a mystery. Nobody knew where it had gone.

In the past, You Jiang had never cared about this matter. After all, the mouths of demonic cultivators were the same as lying ghosts. In order to save their lives, demonic cultivators like them could tell any lies. Thus, it was mostly likely that they had long refined Fu Hongye’s body into medicine, but were just unwilling to admit it.

But now that he recalled this, he suddenly found it a bit dubious. You Jiang still remembered how that year, in his past, there had been fifteen corpses surrounding him. 

However, when the Heavenly Book Pavilion ordered Jiang Fengzhi’s arrest, there were only fourteen victims listed on the announcement. The youth who had appeared from the maple forest and stayed by his side was never mentioned.

At that time, You Jiang merely thought that nobody had claimed the youth’s body, since that boy had just been a wandering cultivator. Because of this, he had even been depressed for a long time and stopped recalling matters of the past.

With the same unclear origins, missing corpses, and Fu Hongye’s strong obsession toward Jiang Fengzhi……after so many years, it was the first time You Jiang became doubtful. 

Did that person really die?　　

At this moment, the gaze You Jiang used to look at Fu Hongye was full of suspicion. However, their current circumstances didn’t give him any more time to continue pondering this matter. 

When the two of them fought, they had used their full strength. Such a big battle naturally couldn’t be hidden from the eyes and ears of the Azure Sky Mansion. After You Jiang sat down and adjusted his aura for only a short while, Du Huo approached to report, “Leader, people from the Azure Sky Mansion have come. What should we do?”

“Isn’t the Alliance Leader of the Heavenly Alliance right there? Go ask him.”

Since You Jiang had made a move, attracting the Azure Sky Mansion’s attention was part of his expectations. Beside him, Fu Hongye’s condition was better than he had expected. So naturally, the matters of the Heavenly Alliance should be handled by the righteous way themselves. Demonic cultivators like them didn’t have the hobby of helping others.

Although Fu Hongye was also adjusting his state, he was still paying attention to them at all times. Hearing what they were talking about, he advised kindly, “Fengzhi, if we wish to get to the bottom of this matter, it is still better to borrow the strength of the Azure Sky Mansion. How about you change clothes, and then come with me to ask Mansion Master Qiu.”

The two of them were the people with the highest cultivation realms in both the demonic and righteous ways. But even though they had personally visited the Rain Monarch Cave, neither of them were capable of sensing any traces of the demonic thing.

It could be seen that this wasn’t an ordinary opponent, and it was even possible that this thing was a demon from ancient times. It was still better to treat this case cautiously.

Although You Jiang had a bad temper, he was never impulsive when taking charge of the overall situation. Thus, he didn’t continue bickering with Fu Hongye.

Sweeping his gaze over his black clothes, that didn’t look very righteous despite being simpler than his normal attire, You Jiang beckoned Du Huo over with his hand. “Come here, help this lord change his clothes.” 

Disguising himself as a righteous cultivator and needing to feign friendliness with them. When Fu Hongye first suggested this idea, he had already prepared himself to be cursed out. 

But who would have expected You Jiang to really listen to him? Suddenly feeling a bit unaccustomed to this, Fu Hongye said, “You……Why are you suddenly so easy-going?”

The Sect Leader of the Profound Sect used rather tactful words, but Du Huo was much more straightforward. With wide eyes, he asked, “Leader, you’re not going to curse him out?”

Indeed, You Jiang had never given Fu Hongye any friendly words in the past. Seeing their reasonable reactions, You Jiang felt a bit gloomy. With a sneer, he fulfilled their wishes and said, “If this lord wasn’t a bit tired today, I would have definitely let the two of you foolish geese enjoy the insults from the demonic way’s leader.”

Hearing this, Fu Hongye finally felt relieved. Since You Jiang was still so vigorous and lively, it meant he hadn’t been too harsh and injured the other man.

In a rather gentleman-like manner, Fu Hongye took the initiative to retreat from the cave. He only said, “Fengzhi, I’ll go and chat with Mansion Master Fu first. You can change your clothes with no worries.”

This man would avoid his indecency like this now, after they had already kissed and touched. Although You Jiang was snorting coldly in his heart, he still fished out a wooden case to seal his demonic energy. The demonic patterns on his face began retreating line by line, gradually revealing a refined and elegant appearance.  

Although people frequently mocked the way cultivators recognized factions by one’s clothing, in reality, there weren’t that many fools in the jianghu. If he wanted to conceal his identity, he couldn’t reveal even the slightest bit of demonic energy.

Luckily, Du Huo, a medical cultivator with divine skills, was originally an expert in adjusting one’s aura. With him handling the problem with his spells, You Jiang, the demonic leader, actually disguised himself until he appeared slightly righteous and pure. With this appearance, nobody would be able to guess that he was a demonic cultivator. 

The demonic way’s leader personally infiltrating a righteous sect was rather risky. Although Du Huo liked opposing his adoptive father every day, he couldn’t help but ask, “Leader, did he really qi deviate? Could this be a trap ah?”

His worries weren’t unfounded, but You Jiang shook his head. “You don’t understand. For something like a heart demon, as long as you don’t oppose it, you wouldn’t go crazy. In fact, if you comply with it, the experience would even become pleasant.”

You Jiang had studied heart demons for a hundred years, so how could he not know the situation Fu Hongye was in now? 

The deranged state of a cultivator after they qi deviated was actually the cultivator’s resistance against their heart demon. The more intense their fight, the crazier they would become. 

Since Fu Hongye’s behaviour was this serene, it proved that he completely wasn’t resisting his heart demon at all. Perhaps the rotten brat had really been seriously fighting against it when he had lost his reason that first evening, but the current him was completely indulging in his heart demon.

What did this mean?

Not only was the rotten brat not resisting against his urge to sleep the demonic way’s leader, he even wanted to do it a few more times. What a beast!

This bizarre way of thinking was truly hard for people who hadn’t qi deviated to understand. After hearing his explanation, Du Huo hadn’t understood either. “Then why are cultivators so scared of heart demons?”

“Because a heart demon is a desire that shouldn’t exist. The moment one indulges in it, it will destroy everything they once believed in.”

When he said this, You Jiang’s voice had deepened very much. What heart demons depended on was precisely the things one may beg for but never get. Only by letting their wish go, could a person pass this block in their path.

And this so-called ‘letting go’ wasn’t a pleasant matter. But You Jiang also knew this—no matter how much the joy given by the heart demon would make one lose themselves, in the end, Fu Hongye would still let go of everything to return to his righteous way. 

No matter who exactly Jiang Fengzhi was to Fu Hongye, the Sect Leader of the Profound Sect had already let go of him. The current You Jiang was merely Fu Hongye’s last calamity before his ascension. After he passed it, nothing else would happen.

Thus, You Jiang wouldn’t retrieve his past self for this. He was getting older now. If he had to repeat everything again, perhaps he wouldn’t have the same will to survive by himself as he did in his youth.

A jade crown bound his hair, while white robes wrapped around his body. With a serene, upright appearance, while shining like a jade tree facing the wind, he appeared like an unreachable gentleman high up in the clouds. 

The white-robed youth reflected upon the water had an appearance even You Jiang had long become unfamiliar with. This was Jiang Fengzhi, the Painting Saint of the Heavenly Book Pavilion. Once, he had been a young genius entrusted to surpass Bu Qingyun, with great expectations placed on his shoulders.

Unfortunately, in the end, he hadn’t grown into the appearance everyone had been hoping to see.

This was the first time Du Huo had seen such a serene Leader. Although he had been so shocked his eyes had widened into round circles, he subconsciously lowered his voice to not offend him. “Lead……Leader, you originally looked like this?”

What demonic cultivators liked to do the most was to sully pure things. An appearance like this had brought You Jiang countless problems in those first years.

At that time, the still small and puny You Jiang had exhausted all his skills to kill everyone who had coveted him. Thousands of demonic cultivators hadn’t been able to assault him.

But now that he had already become the strongest person in the demonic way, he actually let the rotten brat Fu Hongye pick up such a cheap deal. Just thinking about it truly made him angry.

When all was said and done, he was no longer the Jiang Fengzhi who hadn’t even known he had been schemed against by other people. After You Jiang confirmed there were no problems with his disguise, he pulled over a veil to cover his face. He only told his Right Protector, who was still stuck in a daze, “Take advantage of how Qiu Yuebai hasn’t discovered you yet and quickly scram.”

This tone immediately made Du Huo return to reality. Sure enough, even if his appearance looked like an immortal, their Leader was still an old demon. Shaking his head in disillusionment, the teenager said, “Alright then. But before I scram, I want to ask something. Only after the two of you broke the floor during your fight did I realize that there was another layer under this cave. Should we investigate it?”

There was actually another layer under the Rain Monarch Cave, this was rather unexpected news.

But although You Jiang found this matter rather strange, when he thought about how Du Huo’s cultivation realm wasn’t very high, he only ordered, “Meet up with Cun Jie first and wait for this lord’s news.”

Du Huo wasn’t a very diligent person, so not being required to complete any missions was of course a good thing to him. Casually nodding in reply, he was about to leave.

However, before he turned around, he couldn’t help but take another look at the seldom attractive Leader. Du Huo asked a question he had been curious about since he was young. “Leader, when I was a child, you told me that all demonic cultivators were bastards, and that I shouldn’t ever pity them. Then why did you enter the demonic way ah?”

Many people had asked You Jiang the same question before, but he had never replied. Today, perhaps because he had recalled too many past matters, You Jiang lowered his gaze to look at his seemingly, incomparably clean fingers. 

He finally said the answer in a light tone: “This lord killed a person.”

“Who?”

“A person who was willing to use his own life to let me live.”