Devilish Disciple [Transmigration] 86

Chapter 86: “This Place…Was Once Your Home.”

The boundless resentment intertwined with the starlight.

Black flames consumed everything in sight, threatening to obliterate the world.

She saw a fleeting glimpse of a snowy night, unfamiliar, then it vanished,

Leaving only a river of stars, stretching towards the darkness.

She wondered, would there be a world of white after the stars faded?

But she didn’t see any white.

Only darkness.

The night wind howled, carrying swirling snow.

She felt like she was in a dream.

A dream of eternal night, of endless snow.

No starlight, only a solitary moon.

The gentle moonlight bathed the world in a soft, silvery glow.

She was just a little wolf demon, unable to transform, walking through the snow with her master, their destination unknown.

Her master, a faint smile in her eyes, sometimes walked ahead, sometimes let her run circles around her, wagging her tail, wanting to be held.

She couldn’t speak, couldn’t hear her master’s voice, but just being near her brought a sense of peace.

But where were they going?

She didn’t know, couldn’t know.

She had heard that dreams reflected one’s desires.

Perhaps she simply wanted to be with her master, walking an endless path, no need for scenery, no need for other companions, just…not being alone.

But something felt…missing.

Like a hollowness in her heart.

But what it was, she couldn’t say, just instinctively following her master through the seemingly endless, snowy night.

As they walked, she realized that the path wasn’t as long as she had imagined.

They walked for a long, long time, out of the long night, into a world of snow.

Her master seemed tired, yet she didn’t stop.

Why?

She suddenly wanted to ask, where were they going?

But her master’s figure, and the path behind them, began to fade…

…

A heavy weight pressed against her chest, a suffocating feeling.

The howling wind, like whispers of ghosts, cold and gloomy.

Mu Tao’s eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes.

Endless darkness, a seemingly frozen sea beneath her.

The ice extended into the darkness, its boundaries unseen.

The distant sound of waves, a noisy silence in this empty world.

A soft, snow-like light illuminated a small area.

She saw a familiar figure sitting nearby, dressed in black, a darkness deeper than the night.

Mu Tao’s heart clenched, and she sat up, instinctively trying to summon her spiritual energy.

But although she wasn’t physically bound, a spell suppressed her meridians, preventing her from accessing her power.

“You’re awake,” Weisheng Xuanzhu said softly.

His voice was gentler than she remembered, gentler than those distant echoes from the past.

This gentleness made her pause.

Then she sensed the presence of the Upper Spirit Lamp, so close.

Her master had said that this person wanted the Demon Bone within her to revive the Heavenly Demon.

She frowned, her eyes wary. “Where am I?”

This wasn’t the Demon Realm; the Demon Realm wasn’t this cold.

“This is the North Sea.”

“The North Sea…” Mu Tao clenched her fists.

The legendary lightless sea, where the Heavenly Demon perished four thousand years ago.

Now, powerless, was she destined to become its vessel…?

Weisheng Xuanzhu: “Don’t you recognize it?”

Mu Tao: “…”

Weisheng Xuanzhu: “This place…was once your home.”

“What are you talking about?” Mu Tao stared at him, as if he was insane.

The madman stood up, walked over to her, crouched down, and stared into her eyes, his gaze dark and intense.

She couldn’t meet his gaze, a strange unease settling within her.

An oppressive silence, the weight of a lonely, endless night, enveloped her.

She looked away.

After a moment, she heard a soft sigh.

Weisheng Xuanzhu: “You don’t even recognize me.”

His voice was flat, like still water, or the frozen sea of the North Sea,

Yet, beneath the surface, turbulent currents swirled.

Mu Tao didn’t know why, but she felt compelled to respond to his strange words.

She wanted him to know that she did recognize him.

But what was the point?

Before the seal on her Demon Bone was broken, she was just an insignificant little wolf demon on Mount Chao Yao, unworthy of even meeting him.

Why did his calm gaze make her feel so…sad?

“Lingyao Revered One…” she whispered, her voice softening, a hint of…comfort in her tone. “I recognize you.”

Her voice was so soft it was almost inaudible.

A flicker of something appeared in his eyes, then vanished, only a faint, self-deprecating smile remaining.

He was silent for a long moment, then looked up at the empty night sky.

“There used to be an island here, and a moon in the sky, a moon that was always full, always hanging above the island… For a long time, it lit up the North Sea.”

“The snow rarely stopped falling, the island covered in a thick blanket of white, a moonlit world, like the human realm just before dawn. You were more lively then, always running around in the snow.”

“One day, you dug someone out of the snow, badly injured, their wounds frozen. You came to me, frantic, barking and howling, and when I didn’t understand, you tugged at my sleeve, wanting me to follow you…”

“That person…appeared so suddenly, but you were so fond of her, clinging to her constantly, ignoring even me. Such a fickle little creature…”

His gaze became distant, lost in memories, a past so close, yet so far away.

“I tried to teach you how to write, just your own name, but you became frustrated with the complex characters, biting and scratching at the snow.” A faint smile touched his lips. “…If I didn’t…scare you a little, you wouldn’t listen.”

Mu Tao stared at him, her heart aching, her breath catching in her throat.

She had always been on Mount Chao Yao, for as long as she could remember.

Why was he telling her these strange stories, making it sound like she had truly lived in this cold, dark place?

Was he seeing someone else through her?

But if so, why did these stories make her feel so sad, a hollowness in her heart?

He continued, “After that day, you refused to let me teach you anymore, insisting on learning from that outsider. I didn’t mind, but much later I realized…she taught you many things…incorrectly.”

“Incorrectly…?”

“She couldn’t even write her own name correctly. When I told her she was wrong, she insisted that was how it was written in her world, and I almost believed her. If it weren’t for visiting the West Sea later, I would have been fooled.” He said calmly. “She’s always like that, her lies so convincing, you couldn’t see a hint of deception in her eyes.”

“The West Sea…”

Mu Tao’s mind reeled.

She had forced her master to write, and the handwriting had been messy, filled with errors, even her name misspelled.

But her master had insisted it was correct…

Weisheng Xuanzhu: “I wanted to…teach both of you before entering hibernation, but…I couldn’t wait any longer.”

Mu Tao: “…”

Weisheng Xuanzhu: “I remember…the reluctance in your eyes before I left.”

Mu Tao: “…”

Weisheng Xuanzhu: “You asked how long I would sleep, and I couldn’t tell you for sure, only that when I woke up, you would surely have transformed, and I might not recognize you.”

Mu Tao: “…”

“But I never imagined…when I woke up…you would be gone.” He seemed lost in thought. “For a while, I thought…you were like everything else from that year, lost to the North Sea, never to grow up.”

“But you didn’t.” He looked away from the empty sky and at Mu Tao. “You truly have…grown up. You’ve changed so much, I almost didn’t recognize you.”

The white spiritual light reflecting off her tears made them shimmer.

He instinctively reached out, as if wanting to pat her head, but her flinch made him pause.

He lowered his hand, his eyes dimming slightly.

“You probably don’t know, and even if you did, you wouldn’t remember, but the moon, the island, they were brought here by Qing Nü… The North Sea originally had nothing, just like now.” He paused, then continued, “Actually, she was the one who brought you here too.”

“…Qing Nü?”

“The fallen god, the Heavenly Demon slain here by the gods and immortals four thousand years ago.” He said. “Isn’t her Demon Bone…within you now?”

Mu Tao stared at him, her eyes wide with shock, a fleeting thought, a sudden realization, quickly suppressed.

He looked at her, at the confusion and pain in her eyes, then sighed softly. “Si Qinglan’s Unasking Flower…it truly makes one forget everything.”

“The Unasking Flower?” Mu Tao couldn’t understand, couldn’t believe it. “What you’re saying…it happened four thousand years ago, how could it be related to me?!”

“Your master, Li Yu, was here four thousand years ago.” His voice turned cold. “I don’t know how she did it, but she took you away, took your Demon Bone, and, along with Si Qinglan, hid you on Mount Chao Yao, keeping it a secret from everyone.”

“Impossible… That’s impossible!”

“She was the one who convinced me to sleep. And when I woke up, Qing Nü had become the Heavenly Demon, the North Sea was empty, and she pretended she had never met me.” There was no hatred in his eyes, just a profound confusion, deeper than the eternal night. “And you… I thought you were gone, yet two hundred years ago, you suddenly appeared on Mount Chao Yao.”

He said that four thousand years ago, the last time he saw her, she was a little wolf demon, barely three hundred years old, unable to speak.

And four thousand years later, when he heard her name again, when he saw her from afar, filled with surprise, she was still a little wolf demon, barely three hundred years old, unable to speak.

She had changed, her aura, everything about her was different.

Yet, she had the same name, and Li Yu had taken her in as her only disciple.

He had tried to convince himself that it was just a coincidence.

That perhaps Li Yu missed the little creature that used to cling to her and, finding a similar little wolf demon on Mount Chao Yao, decided to take her in…

But he couldn’t shake his suspicion.

So, in the City of the Undying, he tested her.

As expected, despite having no protective spiritual energy, even at the core of the summoning formation, she wasn’t affected by the resentment.

Only the Heavenly Demon was immune to resentment.

But the Heavenly Demon Soul Seed was sealed within the Upper Spirit Lamp four thousand years ago, so if she wasn’t that little wolf, how could she have the Demon Bone? And why was she taken in by Li Yu, who had also been in the North Sea four thousand years ago?

“She never told you about this, did she?” Weisheng Xuanzhu’s voice was cold. “And she never told me either.”

“…”

“If there’s nothing more to it, why pretend she didn’t know me? If she had nothing to hide, why keep your existence and the Demon Bone a secret from me?”

“…”

“How could Qing Nü, for her own selfish desires, willingly fall into darkness and bring chaos to the world? She protected this world for far longer than a mere ten thousand years; she knew the consequences of the Heavenly Demon’s revival better than anyone…” His voice was filled with conviction. “Something must have happened four thousand years ago. She was already nearing the end of her lifespan; perhaps she was…manipulated.”

He said that the commonly accepted truth was often a lie.

A mere Jie Gou could turn an immortal, a protector of the realm, into a plague-bearing demon in the eyes of the people.

And with a little manipulation, he could turn the immortal sects against a god who had guarded the Upper Spirit Lamp for four thousand years.

Ordinary humans, cultivators, and even the gods and immortals of that time, they were all easily swayed.

He had to know what truly happened, to clear her name.

Even if it meant bearing the weight of all the sins, so be it.

If the human realm saw her as a demon, were they even worthy of her protection?

“Mu Tao, she was the one who raised you. Even if you’ve forgotten, you should…meet her with me, ask her what happened, whether she had…a reason…”

“Stop it!” Mu Tao covered her ears, her voice filled with pain.

Her head suddenly ached, a splitting pain.

Fleeting images, like fading fireworks, flashed through her mind.

A blurry figure, leaning against a door, looking at the moon.

Long silver hair, falling like snow, a gentle hand on her neck.

She couldn’t see her face, and as she reached out, she grasped nothing.

Tears blurred her vision, and she saw an icy blue lotus lamp appearing in Weisheng Xuanzhu’s hand.

She stared at the Lamp, a flicker of sadness in her crimson eyes.

Countless stars suddenly illuminated the North Sea’s night.

A vast formation, its endless expanse of ice reflecting the starlight.

This brilliant light, blooming in this lightless land, would surely alert the entire Three Realms.

A star seemed to fall into her forehead.

She thought, the Unasking Flower was said to leave behind a sliver of obsession, hidden deep within the heart.

And she had indeed lived, clinging to a single obsession.

Everything she had tried to hold onto, everything she thought she would never lose, was gone.

There was so much she didn’t know.

But would she ever have the chance to reclaim her lost past?

The seal on the Upper Spirit Lamp broke.

Resentment gathered in the human realm.

A force pulled at her, threatening to consume her.

Would she become the Heavenly Demon’s vessel?

She didn’t know…

As her consciousness faded, she saw a full moon, hanging above the resentment-filled, star-studded sea,

Beckoning her back to a past she could never return to.