After Death, I Became My Shijie’s Palm-Sized Birdie – Chapter 33
by Little PandaEntering the Dream
The Ten Thousand Souls Demon Lord’s pet looked about as bizarre as its master. From a distance, it resembled a giant mass of sludge that could move on its own, but anyone who drew close would see that it was, in fact, a monster formed from countless soul bodies packed together.
That pet carried the resentment of millions of departed souls. To elevate its power, the Ten Thousand Souls Demon Lord had deliberately tortured those souls over and over again — the more resentment they produced, the stronger the pet became.
An ordinary cultivator’s will could hardly withstand the malice of millions of departed souls. Those with even slightly weaker soul force would fall into madness just by approaching. So when the reinforcements arrived and saw the carnage before them, they couldn’t help but inhale sharply.
Fortunately, the pet hadn’t moved — not because it didn’t want to, but because a long sword the size of a mountain had pierced clean through its body and pinned it firmly in place. Its influence had been contained within its current radius.
“The Jinfeng Sect Master nearly sacrificed half his cultivation to suppress it, but the time he bought is limited. I beg the Immortal Venerable to strike down this fiend.” After Yun Heng arrived, cultivators from the other immortal sects felt their spines straighten with relief.
Whether it was the Ten Thousand Souls Demon Lord or some soul-devouring fiend, none of them could make waves before Immortal Venerable Yun Heng.
The fiend seemed to sense danger. Two clusters of crimson flame ignited in the center of its body, which was formed from countless soul bodies — these were presumably its eyes.
Roar! The fiend let out a roar and, incredibly, began to drag itself slowly forward, still impaled on the great sword. Its “eyes” wept crimson “tears.” When those tear-like drops fell, they didn’t seep into the ground — instead, they spread into the surrounding space like something dissolving into water, even sending ripples through the fabric of space itself.
A flash of red light swept past. Everyone who had seen this light, whether willingly or not, immediately felt searing pain erupt deep within their minds. Frantic whispers rose from the depths of their consciousness, and many clutched their heads and collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony.
Yun Heng’s face paled slightly, and a hint of blood color seeped into the depths of her eyes — but those fragmented whispers couldn’t match the murmur of her Heart Demon.
Hum!
A strand of Sword Intent pierced through heaven and earth. Extreme frost and snow spread outward along the Sword Intent, and in mere moments, the area where the fiend stood was buried in ice and snow.
The fiend was cleaved in two. Ice sealed the cleaved surfaces, preventing the filth inside its body from leaking out.
While the fiend was rampaging, several furtive figures slipped into Wenshen Sect. They skirted past the populated peaks with clear purpose and headed toward the desolate Yunwu Mountain.
The weather on Yunwu Mountain had grown extremely harsh over the years, so few were willing to approach. This suited those with ulterior motives perfectly — as long as they lured Yun Heng away, they could climb this side of the mountain without worrying about being discovered.
“The Ten Thousand Souls Demon Lord is imprisoned here? A grand Demon Lord of his generation, reduced to such a state. Tsk tsk, how pitiful.” The speaker’s tone carried both sighing sentiment and mockery — they hadn’t come to rescue anyone, but to kick him while he was down.
“Isn’t that perfect? With Yun Heng keeping him suppressed, we can seize his treasure all the more easily.” Even though the Ten Thousand Souls Demon Lord had barely clawed his way to the Pseudo True Immortal Realm through external force, even with that “pseudo” qualifier, he could still effortlessly crush any Golden Immortal Realm cultivator. The higher one climbed in cultivation, the greater the gap between each major realm — the chasm between the Pseudo True Immortal Realm and the Golden Immortal Realm might be wider than the distance between heaven and earth.
So even though many coveted his treasure, no one had dared to seize it before. But things were different now. The Ten Thousand Souls Demon Lord had become Immortal Venerable Yun Heng’s prisoner, and word was she had already subjected him to a thousand cuts. His strength was surely a shadow of its former self, and Immortal Venerable Yun Heng must have placed restrictions on him. Now, perhaps even an ordinary person could kill him.
As long as they obtained the Ten Thousand Souls Demon Lord’s treasure, it would be equivalent to gaining a stepping stone to the True Immortal Realm. How could the other two Demon Lords and the various Demon Realm factions not be tempted?
And so, after decades of silence, someone finally couldn’t resist making their move. The treasure was one of a kind — if they didn’t strike first and let someone else beat them to it, they’d regret it for the rest of their lives.
They didn’t share the Ten Thousand Souls Demon Lord’s grand ambition of refining all of Wenshen Sect. Even if they had such ambition, they lacked the ability. Including the other two Demon Lords, they all just wanted to grab the treasure and run.
Rumble!
A bolt of lightning suddenly flashed across the sky outside. Inside the birdcage, Wen Qiwu shuddered. Ever since her shijie1 had left, she had felt a lingering sense of unease.
Crack…
Did she hear footsteps outside the door?
Rumble!
Another bolt of lightning split the sky. This time, she clearly saw several furtive silhouettes reflected on the window.
Demonic qi!
Wen Qiwu recalled the scene of demon cultivators slaughtering the sect all those years ago, and her heart clenched instantly.
Was her shijie no longer in the sect? If she were here, these people would never have made it this far. Unless… her shijie had done this deliberately.
Swoosh!
Suddenly, the sound of a blade piercing flesh rang out. Blood splattered across the window.
Boom! Someone unleashed a technique, and the detonation made Wen Qiwu’s ears ring. Fortunately, wardings encircled the quarters — no matter how fierce the battle outside, it wouldn’t affect the interior.
In less than a moment, the sounds of combat outside ceased.
The door creaked open. Wen Qiwu stared toward the doorway. If it was an enemy, they’d have to open the birdcage first to kill her — and once the cage’s restraints were released, it would be hard to say who’d be killing whom.
The killing intent and hostility radiating from her vanished without a trace the moment she saw who stood in the doorway.
Shijie!
Though the fiend rampaged in Dongzhao Domain, it was still some distance from Wenshen Sect. The round trip would take time. The demon cultivators had chosen this location deliberately — it ensured that Yun Heng would be the one to respond, while also guaranteeing she couldn’t return quickly.
They thought they had planned flawlessly. But just as they prepared to search the quarters room by room, an unexpected figure appeared.
The Demon Realm had already used the stratagem of Luring the Tiger from the Mountain once before. Yun Heng had paid a devastating price for falling into that trap once — a price she still couldn’t bear to face. Now, facing a similar situation, how could she not pay extra attention to the Demon Realm’s movements?
Yun Heng walked in covered in blood — all of it her enemies’. She was carrying a body, battered and broken, but still able to talk.
Wen Qiwu didn’t even have time to feel relieved. The next instant, she noticed that her shijie’s eyes were wrong. At some point, a blood-red tint had crept into Yun Heng’s eyes. Those once-ink-dark pupils had already turned a dark crimson.
When Yun Heng’s crimson eyes fell on the little one in the cage, she froze for an instant. She probably wanted to smile, to reassure the possibly frightened little dumpling. Unfortunately, the upward curve of her lips was too faint — her smile was invisible.
Chirp chirp!
The crisp birdsong seemed to carry a calming power. Yun Heng struggled out of her blood-red haze and surfaced to slightly clearer awareness.
She glanced at the body in her hand and the blood on her clothes. To avoid frightening the little one in the cage, Yun Heng took a step back and stood outside the doorway.
Having overdrawn her immortal power to rush back, she no longer had the strength to interrogate this demon cultivator. So Yun Heng summoned the Discipline Hall Master and handed the prisoner over.
“He’s the Bone-Eroding Demon Lord’s confidant. Interrogate him carefully.” Yun Heng forced herself to stay conscious as she gave the reminder.
“Yes.” The Discipline Hall Master acknowledged the order, but after taking custody of the prisoner, her gaze toward Yun Heng carried deep concern. “Sect Master, are you all right? Let me fetch the Medical Immortal.”
Yun Heng shook her head. But her body couldn’t be pushed any further. Over these hundred years, she had drained herself to the dregs. The Soul Demon’s influence on her was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. She swayed, and before she had taken two steps, she collapsed.
Fortunately, the Medical Immortal had anticipated this. Knowing Yun Heng had gone out, she had stayed nearby, waiting. Sure enough, less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick after Yun Heng’s return, she was summoned.
“She was already… and now the Soul Demon’s influence on top of that. That Ten Thousand Li Divine Stride consumed too much of her immortal power. If she keeps going like this, I don’t even want to treat her anymore!” The Medical Immortal hadn’t examined Yun Heng’s condition in several days. Seeing her now, she was furious enough to grind her teeth. “Wasn’t her shimei2 raised by her own hand? How can the difference be so vast!”
The Medical Immortal adored obedient patients like Wen Qiwu, who followed medical advice to the letter. Whereas this one gave her a headache just looking at her.
“Medical Immortal, the Sect Master bears heavy responsibilities. The Soul Demon must have caused countless casualties. The Sect Master must have…” The Discipline Hall Master had just started to put in a good word for the Sect Master when the Medical Immortal’s icy glare shut her down.
“Responsibilities? Hmph. She knows perfectly well how she ended up like this. Sect Master Yun’s illness cannot be cured. Unless…” Unless the one who had died of Spirit-Dispersing Syndrome could be brought back to life.
Yun Heng’s illness had never been of the body — it was of the heart. She had to find her own way past this threshold. No one could help her. But the Medical Immortal had also witnessed the changes in Yun Heng over the past century. She had seen too many people like this. She thought that this Immortal Venerable’s time might also be running out.
She sighed, then withdrew a pure white jade Peace Buckle from her sleeve and placed it beside Yun Heng’s pillow. This item was meant to suppress Heart Demons. She hoped it would have some effect.
“I’ve already dispersed the Soul Demon’s influence on her. Let her rest now.” The Medical Immortal rose and left. The Discipline Hall Master followed on tiptoe and closed the door behind her.
The room fell silent once more, leaving only the sleeping figure and the little white dumpling shedding tiny tears.
Crack.
Wen Qiwu heard a faint sound. She followed it with tear-filled eyes and discovered that the Peace Buckle the Medical Immortal had left beside her shijie had shattered!
A wisp of dark qi still clung to the broken amulet — as though something had left it behind as a taunt. That Heart Demon was exceedingly cunning. It had even deceived the Medical Immortal!
Medical Immortal, come back quickly!
But she was already long gone.
Wen Qiwu tried to bite through the birdcage’s lock, but even if she broke her little beak, it wouldn’t do any good.
The dark qi shrouding her shijie grew thicker and thicker. It spread outward while devouring her shijie’s vitality — only, that dark qi bypassed Wen Qiwu entirely, like filth encountering a treasure that could purify it. Unwilling to be cleansed, it could only skirt around.
【Do you want to wake her?】
Wen Qiwu’s shaking of the lock froze. A gentle female voice had appeared in her mind.
“Yes! Can you help me?”
Wen Qiwu didn’t know who she was, but instinctively wanted to draw close to her.
But before she could make sense of it, Wen Qiwu’s vision went black. She instinctively activated the secret technique and extracted her consciousness. Then a warm, unfamiliar power enveloped her, and together with it, she merged into the dark qi.
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