Devilish Disciple [Transmigration] 82

Chapter 82: Illuminating the Human Realm for Four Thousand Years

The little wolf demon couldn’t understand why someone would demand repayment in the form of daily meals for a single act of kindness.

But considering its future meals depended on the person before it, the little wolf reluctantly nodded.

“Good boy.” Li Yu patted its fluffy head, rolled up her sleeves, and started cleaning the messy kitchen.

It had been a long time since she had done any chores.

Since arriving in this world, she had been well taken care of.

When Mu Tao was around, Mu Tao did these things.

When Mu Tao wasn’t, the mountain disciples took care of everything.

Even now, away from Mu Tao and Mount Chao Yao, alone in the North Sea four thousand years ago, chores like cooking and cleaning weren’t her responsibility.

She could use spiritual energy for these tasks, but with her limited reserves, and the chores not being that difficult, she decided to conserve her energy.

Life continued its peaceful rhythm.

With Weisheng Xuanzhu asleep, Li Yu, not wanting to mislead the little wolf with her simplified characters, handed over the teaching duties to Qing Nü.

So, every morning, like sending a child to kindergarten, she would take the little wolf to Qing Nü’s house.

And after the lesson, she would take it to the kitchen, cooking and eating, then cleaning up.

Because of the little wolf’s lessons, Li Yu saw Qing Nü more often.

They would chat, but always about trivial matters, nothing related to the Heavenly Demon.

The only noticeable change was that more and more stars appeared in the night sky above the North Sea, which previously only had a single moon.

The little wolf, having never seen such a sight, looked up at the sky, its eyes filled with curiosity.

It wagged its tail and wrote its question in the snow.

—What are those?

“Stars,” Li Yu replied softly.

She thought, that was the formation Qing Nü was creating, the formation to slay the Heavenly Demon, and also…the formation for her own demise.

—They’re beautiful!

The little wolf wrote again in the snow.

The little wolf demon, unaware of their significance, looked up at the stars, its eyes shining with joy.

Li Yu: “One day, when you leave the North Sea, you’ll see a sky full of stars.”

The little wolf asked—When Xuanzhu wakes up, can we go to the human realm?

Li Yu replied, “It won’t take that long.”

This answer clearly pleased the little wolf.

It wagged its tail excitedly, its paw prints like plum blossoms in the snow.

Lost in its joy, it didn’t notice the hidden sadness in Li Yu’s eyes as she looked at the stars and the moon.

Li Yu no longer seemed as afraid of the North Sea.

She would sometimes go to the edge of the island, gazing at the dark abyss below.

She knew this was just the past, a fixed point in time, and even her arrival was just a part of this past.

Like a predetermined destiny, she couldn’t change anything, shouldn’t change anything.

But she couldn’t help but wonder, why couldn’t that being, slumbering in the deep sea, just be pretending, like four thousand years later, waiting for the right moment to wake up?

But such thoughts were meaningless.

The stars in the night sky gradually formed a massive, unfamiliar pattern.

Li Yu knew that everything was about to begin, and everything was about to end.

That day, she took the little wolf to Qing Nü’s house as usual.

As soon as they entered, a snow-white light enveloped the little wolf.

The little wolf looked confused for a moment, then lay down by the door and fell asleep.

Although she had expected this, Li Yu still felt a pang of unease.

“Qing Nü…”

“Come and sit for a while,” Qing Nü said calmly, pouring her a cup of hot tea as usual.

The steam from the tea obscured her deep blue eyes.

Qing Nü was as serene as always, but Li Yu couldn’t suppress her anxiety.

She sat down beside Qing Nü, her fingers tracing the rim of the teacup, feeling its warmth.

Qing Nü asked, “Even knowing all of this, it’s still…difficult to accept?”

Li Yu lowered her gaze and asked softly, “Are you…ready?”

Qing Nü: “Yes.”

Li Yu: “Today?”

Qing Nü: “Yes.”

Li Yu: “If you do this…for millennia, people will only remember you as a fallen god, the Heavenly Demon who tried to destroy the world…”

“My conscience is clear, what else matters?” she asked in return.

“But…”

“Very few even know my true name. The ‘ancient god Qing Nü’ they speak of…is just a title, a burden.” Qing Nü smiled nonchalantly. “Let them say what they will, it doesn’t matter to me.”

Li Yu paused, then asked, “Will you…tell me your true name?”

Qing Nü was silent for a moment.

“Call me Shuangyan,” she whispered, her eyes downcast. “Weisheng Shuangyan.”

“…I…I’ll remember that.”

And so would another person, someone who would never forget…

Qing Nü nodded, a smile in her eyes. “Are you…leaving?”

Li Yu: “…”

Qing Nü: “You promised me…you would take Mu Tao away from here.”

Li Yu: “I…I might not be able to…take good care of her. If she comes with me, she’ll suffer.”

Qing Nü: “But you will try your best, won’t you?”

She said “will try your best,” not “will definitely try…”

Li Yu felt a pang in her heart.

She looked at Qing Nü, whose gaze was gentle, her expression serene, and was momentarily speechless.

Qing Nü looked back at her, a gentle curiosity in her eyes. “Why…why are you here?”

“…”

“Carrying such injuries, such burdens…it can’t have been easy…” Qing Nü gently stroked Li Yu’s hair. “If there are things you can’t say…you can tell me… After today, they will be scattered to the winds, no one will ever hear them.”

Li Yu gripped her teacup, her nose twitching, tears threatening to spill.

“Would you like to tell me?” Qing Nü asked again softly. “Why did you come here?”

Li Yu thought for a moment, then said hesitantly, “Someone…misses you very much. I came…to see you on his behalf.”

Qing Nü’s eyes dimmed slightly. “He must have…done something wrong.”

Li Yu: “…”

Qing Nü: “You’ve suffered for him.”

Li Yu: “…”

After a long silence, Qing Nü asked, “Do you…hate him?”

Li Yu frowned and shook her head, then whispered, “He hurt…many, many people.”

Qing Nü: “He strayed from the right path after all.”

Li Yu: “…”

Qing Nü stood up and walked to the window, gazing at the stars, a silent sigh escaping her lips.

She looked so frail, seemingly unable to bear such a heavy burden, yet that moonlight, that was her inescapable responsibility.

Li Yu followed her to the window, looking up at the bright, starry sky, a rare sight in the North Sea, through the swirling snow.

“You once asked me if there was anything I couldn’t let go of…” Qing Nü looked at the moon, her gaze distant. “Everything I cherished…is lost to time, and whatever remains…I will let go…at the end.”

She raised her hands, her palms glowing with a pure white light, as if holding a piece of the moon.

The moonlight gradually faded, until only the dreamlike formation of stars remained.

As the light in her hands dissipated, a silver mirror appeared.

Qing Nü turned around and placed the mirror in Li Yu’s hand, her expression solemn. “Take this back with you.”

“Qing Nü…”

“He’ll see it, and he’ll understand.” She said softly, her voice comforting, “You’re kind, but…there’s no need to forgive him for anyone… Actions have consequences.”

Li Yu stared at the Heavenly Mirror in her hand, her mind reeling.

A sliver of spiritual light entered her forehead, and she looked at Qing Nü, surprised.

Qing Nü: “This is the method to activate the Heavenly Mirror. I’m entrusting it only to you. Whether you pass it on to someone else…is your decision.”

Li Yu: “Qing Nü, I…”

Qing Nü: “If you don’t want this burden, you can give it to someone else. There’s no need to force yourself.”

Li Yu: “…”

A blue light flickered on the Heavenly Mirror in her hand.

It floated up, then landed in Qing Nü’s palm, transforming into an icy blue lotus lamp.

An eternal blue flame burned on its wick,

The flame flickering, occasionally flashing a dark red.

Qing Nü looked at the Lamp, her expression calm, unreadable.

“Li Yu,” she said, “There’s…one more thing I need you to do.”

Li Yu quickly replied, “What is it? What can I do for you?”

The lotus lamp in her hand disappeared, replaced by a small bone fragment, tinged with resentment.

A pure, snow-white light, intertwined with dark red resentment, swirled around it.

So even gods…could harbor resentment…

“Qing Nü, this is…?”

“Just a lingering…obsession.” Qing Nü’s smile was faint, her voice calm. “I can’t take it with me; it would make me…lose myself.”

It was a bone fragment, an obsession, a weakness the ancient god couldn’t let go of.

She couldn’t face the Heavenly Demon Soul Seed with this weakness.

So, she tore it from her body.

It was connected to her soul, her very being, she couldn’t destroy it yet, not before activating the formation.

“After I enter the formation, all the resentment in the world will converge upon the North Sea, I will try my best to absorb it…” Qing Nü looked at Li Yu. “And it…will also be affected.”

“…”

“When that happens…destroy it for me.”

“Me?” Li Yu was stunned, a wave of panic rising within her. “I…I might not be able to…”

“When the other gods arrive, and the formation is fully activated, my power…will be at its weakest, and so will it, since it’s connected to me.” Qing Nü said seriously, “You can do it.”

“But…”

“Destroying it…isn’t the same as killing me.” Qing Nü smiled nonchalantly. “My soul will dissipate within the formation. What you will be destroying is just a…demon bone, tainted by the Heavenly Demon’s power.”

Li Yu stared at the Heavenly Mirror and the demon bone fragment in her hands, her gaze unfocused, lost.

So this was the origin of the Demon Bone?

Qing Nü abandoning it, like abandoning her last attachment to this world,

So she could face her fate, her final battle against the Heavenly Demon, without hesitation, without regret.

But Qing Nü didn’t know that it would end up in Mu Tao…

A sudden wave of confusion washed over Li Yu.

Should she follow Qing Nü’s instructions and destroy the Demon Bone when the Heavenly Demon was at its weakest?

What consequences would it bring?

Without the Demon Bone, Mu Tao wouldn’t suffer those two hundred years of hardship, wouldn’t be ostracized.

But without it, none of this would have happened; how could she have arrived here with the Jinxu Gui?

Being here now meant that the future, her future, had already happened.

She couldn’t change this crucial detail.

As Li Yu hesitated, a pure white light enveloped her.

Her depleted spiritual energy was replenished, not fully, but enough to ease her weakness.

“Qing Nü, why…?”

Why was she still expending her divine power on her?

Qing Nü smiled gently. “I’m afraid you won’t have the strength to leave this place.”

Li Yu opened her mouth, but her throat was dry, the words wouldn’t come.

Qing Nü didn’t say anything more, just turned and walked into the swirling snow.

Without the moonlight, even with the stars, the North Sea was still dark and dim.

Her steps were slow and light, like a final farewell to this world.

Li Yu watched as the frail figure gradually disappeared into the darkness, swallowed by the endless night and the falling snow.

She stood there, staring at the distant stars, her heart empty.

The countless stars, shining brightly, falling silently onto the quiet, dark world.

The eternal night of the North Sea, for a brief moment, as bright as day.

This light, she thought, would illuminate the human realm for four thousand years.

—And perhaps…even longer.