Transmigrating as the Heart Demon of the Ruthless Sword Venerable – Chapter 41
by Little PandaDemon Shadows Flickering (Part 3)
The Fish Has Taken the Bait
Xunyang City was vast to mortals, but to cultivators it was far too small.
In the span of a single day, the story had already spread through every cultivator’s ear in Xunyang City: the Sword Sect’s Eldest Senior Sister, unable to break into the Nascent Soul realm, had been humiliated by the Young Pavilion Master of Treasure Gathering Pavilion. People do love to embellish — four years without a breakthrough had, in no time at all, become forty.
It fit the imagination of ordinary cultivators rather well, actually.
When Zhan Lun first heard the gossip, he stole a glance at Yu Zhaoming’s expressionless face, for fear she would lose her temper and go cut down every gossip-monger downstairs. A cultivator’s regard for their own cultivation is nothing to take lightly. After all, cultivation represented lifespan, power — everything.
Yu Zhaoming simply sat at the table, as if quietly waiting for something.
Before long, Zhan Lun found out what.
The door swung open and Tang Wenchun strode in, indignation still written across her face. “Don’t these guys have any locks on their mouths?! Dignified cultivators, no less, and they start spinning tales right to a person’s face.”
Yu Zhaoming looked up at her, unmoved by either joy or anger. It was Zhan Lun who managed a wry smile. “Cultivators live long, long lives. Apart from cultivation, there’s really not much else to do. A taste for gossip is only human.”
Tang Wenchun exhaled gloomily, flicked her hand, and tossed out several storage bags. Zhan Lun had not yet worked out what she was doing when she scurried to Yu Zhaoming’s side, complaining in a whine that was half a sulk. “They were all a bunch of paupers.”
The corner of Yu Zhaoming’s mouth curved. She upended the storage bags one by one, counting out the usable items as she spoke. “And the people I marked that night at the ghost market?”
“Found two. The other three have vanished without a trace — they’re the biggest suspects,” Tang Wenchun said.
Yu Zhaoming gave a small hum and pushed the usable supplies toward Zhan Lun, her expression utterly sincere. “Buying?”
Zhan Lun blinked blankly. “Buying what?” He swept his eyes over the pile she’d pushed over. There was honestly nothing good in it. He had been raised in Treasure Gathering Pavilion’s lap, every expense and indulgence refined to perfection, so at the sight of this heap he instinctively filed it under junk.
Tang Wenchun reached out and plucked a pill bottle from the pile. “Origin-Restoring Pills. Effective for anyone below Golden Core. Medicine Valley sells them at 10 low-grade spirit stones, but once you count transport and labor, Treasure Gathering Pavilion sells them at 15. We’ll let them go to you at 8 — at a loss. They’re no use to great cultivators, granted, but they move in volume. Easy to sell. You won’t lose money on this.”
Zhan Lun: … He understood now. But you two know our pavilion’s pricing this well — people will think you’re commercial rivals!
“Aren’t you doing business with zero overhead? And you’re still selling to me at a loss… wait, no—” Zhan Lun was stunned. “Is your Sword Sect really this poor?”
Tang Wenchun: “…Don’t you already know?”
Knowing was one thing. He simply hadn’t imagined they could be poor to this degree! The corner of Zhan Lun’s eye twitched. For someone raised in gold and jade, even the reach of the imagination fell a full tier short.
Yu Zhaoming rose to her feet. “Then I’m heading out.”
Zhan Lun sighed, stirred the pile of junk with his folding fan, and shook his head.
Standing to one side, Tang Wenchun watched the calm in Yu Zhaoming’s eyes. She knew the other girl was off to play the tragic victim — but remembering what Zhan Lun had said earlier, she finally let out a heavy sigh. “Be careful out there.”
“I know.”
With that, Yu Zhaoming picked a storage bag at random, turned, and walked out the door.
Tang Wenchun stared blankly at the door as it swung shut, then groaned and slumped her entire body across the table. She knew how deep Yu Zhaoming’s obsession with her cultivation ran — and yet she still could not bring herself to say it: that all Yu Zhaoming had to do was kill her, and the breakthrough would come.
“…Am I being a little selfish…?” Tang Wenchun said in a small voice.
The tabletop was tapped lightly. Tang Wenchun looked up at Zhan Lun. The young master was all smiles. “I don’t know what’s troubling you, but in this world, every man looks out for himself, or heaven and earth will destroy him1. What matters most is yourself.”
Tang Wenchun stared at him, then asked abruptly, “Are you buying this stuff or not?”
Zhan Lun answered through gritted teeth. “Buying! Even a mosquito’s leg is meat2.”
Truly worthy of Treasure Gathering Pavilion’s future successor. A certified capitalist.
Yu Zhaoming was gone the entire day. Tang Wenchun grew antsy — she stood up several times only to sit right back down, resorting to pouring water down her throat in sheer desperation. Once in a while she would catch a report filtering back from the Treasure Gathering Pavilion people: Yu Zhaoming had gone to the pavilion to sell her goods, and per the Young Pavilion Master’s orders, had been thrown out.
Tang Wenchun turned her head and glared at Zhan Lun. He hastily threw up both hands. “I’m innocent! Wasn’t this all part of the plan?!”
She knew it was part of the plan. She was still furious enough to want to thrash him. Zhan Lun took a sip of tea and clicked his tongue a few times. “Look at you, mind a thousand miles away. Your whole heart really is set on your shijie, isn’t it?”
“…You wouldn’t understand,” Tang Wenchun said glumly.
Since transmigrating here, this was the first time Yu Zhaoming had been away from her side for so long. She remembered how desperately she had once wanted to get away from Yu Zhaoming — how she’d have chosen to walk alone, even into an unknown world.
But somewhere along the way, without her noticing, she had grown used to Yu Zhaoming’s presence. Used to that cold fragrance that never made a sound, yet always lingered at her side.
Looking back, Yu Zhaoming had always been there — when she was howling under the Sword Sect’s study pressure, when she snuck down the mountain with her fellow disciples, when she watched the sunrise and sunset from lonely Taoli Peak. Yu Zhaoming’s figure had been at her side through all of it.
It’s habit, Tang Wenchun thought. And beyond habit — guilt.
Because Yu Zhaoming had already been more than generous with her, more than she could ever repay, and Tang Wenchun still couldn’t bring herself to try. She was still afraid of dying. Afraid of pain. Afraid that once Yu Zhaoming learned the truth about the heart demon, the two of them could never return to their old peace.
But if this went on, how would it end for them?
Every advancement demanded a sea of spiritual qi. Could someone of Yu Zhaoming’s dazzling talent truly endure her progress slowing, step by step, while the geniuses of her generation overtook her? While even ordinary cultivators overtook her?
Tang Wenchun pinched her own fingers.
She didn’t dare think about it.
Zhan Lun narrowed his eyes and gave her a look, and said nothing.
At nightfall, Yu Zhaoming returned. She shook her head at the two of them. “Nothing today. But someone was following me. Watching from the shadows, most likely.”
They exchanged a glance, and all of them knew: the fish had taken the bait.
Tang Wenchun gathered herself, deliberately cracking her knuckles and rubbing her palms with eager relish. “So they want to rob you?”
Yu Zhaoming: “No. Don’t do anything reckless. Too many robberies and people will get the wrong idea.”
Zhan Lun: “…Doesn’t your Sword Sect swear never to point blades at the human race, unless someone is a great and terrible villain?”
Tang Wenchun lifted her chin. “Nobody said anything about not pointing sabers, spears, staves, and cudgels at the human race. Our Sect Master finds that reasoning quite sound as well.”
Zhan Lun: “…Pretty sure that rule only came into being after you joined the Sword Sect.”
Tang Wenchun nodded demurely, and earned a thumbs-up from Zhan Lun. “Genius. Fellow Daoist, have you considered a change of course? Come to my Treasure Gathering Pavilion. Together we’d be two swords joined as one3…”
Before the words were out, Yu Zhaoming had already pulled Tang Wenchun to her side, her gaze landing on Zhan Lun. Pierced by that ice-cold look, Zhan Lun hastily hunched his shoulders.
Only then did Yu Zhaoming turn her head toward Tang Wenchun.
The very first time Tang Wenchun had met her Shizun, the woman had schemed every which way to pull her into the sect. Later, Yunzhongjun too had seemed to look on her with favor. And now Zhan Lun — even Treasure Gathering Pavilion had designs.
Yu Zhaoming pressed her lips into a thin line. “Philandering4.”
Tang Wenchun: “…Huh??”
But Yu Zhaoming said nothing more. She simply tidied herself up. “We continue tomorrow.”
“Fine, fine.” Zhan Lun grumbled his way toward the door. At the threshold he suddenly spun around, flashing a grin. “Eldest Senior Sister, your Little Junior Sister was worried sick about you. She’s been pacing and fidgeting this whole time. You’d better comfort her properly.”
“Wh-what?! Zhan Lun! Just you wait — I’ll tear that mouth right off your face!”
Tang Wenchun was shouting, but Zhan Lun was already laughing as he shut the door behind him. Tang Wenchun turned her head away — and found Yu Zhaoming’s gaze resting on her face, for who knew how long. But that gaze was soft. Yu Zhaoming always looked ice-cold, yet her eyes always seemed to speak.
They made you want to search them — to find, through those eyes, what she was truly thinking.
But right now, Tang Wenchun didn’t dare meet them.
“…What are you looking at!” Tang Wenchun looked away and said in a low voice, “Don’t get the wrong idea. I just… don’t want you dying on me.”
“Mm.” Yu Zhaoming’s voice was gentle. “Don’t worry. I won’t die. And neither will you.”
Tang Wenchun pressed her lips tight. She still kept her head down, refusing to look at Yu Zhaoming, her voice stiff as a board. “I’m certainly not worried about myself.”
This time, Yu Zhaoming gave no answer.
The next day, Yu Zhaoming went out once more. When she returned that night, she carried the dust of the road on her.
“I was ambushed.” Yu Zhaoming flung several storage bags onto the table without so much as a blink. “I taught them a small lesson. Will your Treasure Gathering Pavilion buy?”
Zhan Lun waved a limp hand. “Buying, buying… your Sword Sect really has it good. All profit, no overhead. I want to go robbing too.”
“You’re a capitalist — you can just take money outright. Why would you need to learn robbery from us?” Tang Wenchun snorted coldly, and caught the look in Zhan Lun’s lifted eyes, poised to elaborate.
Yu Zhaoming rapped the table. “Their patience is running short. They’ll move soon.”
Zhan Lun looked from Yu Zhaoming to Tang Wenchun, let out a single laugh, and said nothing more.
The next day, Yu Zhaoming took the storage bags out to dispose of as usual. She stood quietly before the great doors of Treasure Gathering Pavilion for a while, then turned and walked toward the ghost market.
It was already dusk, but the ghost market’s entrance was still nearly deserted — though as the city lockdown dragged on, people had gradually begun to trickle back in.
Yu Zhaoming made a slow, unhurried circuit of the ghost market, storage bag clutched in her hand, her head bowed slightly, looking for all the world like someone lonely.
“You’re still trying to sell this stuff? Not buying, not buying.”
The stall keeper waved her off. Yu Zhaoming withdrew her hand and turned to leave. As she passed a corner, someone called out to her.
“Fellow Daoist Yu, please wait a moment.”
Yu Zhaoming lifted her eyes. She knew — the fish had taken the bait.
The author has something to say:
Zhan Lun: I am merely an unremarkable wingman5
Tang Wenchun: Oh, thanks SO much!
Yu Zhaoming: Thank you.
Tang Wenchun: Hey!!
The toxic ranking6 really isn’t a good list to be on, but a story needs exposure before anyone will read it, so here I am… so miserable
Footnotes
- 人不为己天诛地灭 | ren bu wei ji tian zhu di mie | A widely cited Chinese proverb: one who does not look out for themselves will be condemned by heaven and earth; commonly invoked to justify self-interest.
- 蚊子腿也是肉 | wenzi tui ye shi rou | Common Chinese saying: even a mosquito's leg counts as meat; no profit is too small to take.
- 双剑合璧 | shuangjian hebi | Wuxia trope of two sword wielders combining their arts into a single unstoppable technique; used figuratively for a flawless partnership.
- 沾花惹草 | zhanhua recao | Classical Chinese idiom, literally 'brushing against flowers, trailing through grass,' for flirting or attracting romantic attention wherever one goes.
- 助攻 | zhugong | Internet slang borrowed from sports, an 'assist' — someone who helps a romantic couple get together.
- 毒榜 | du bang | 'Toxic ranking' — a reader-voted leaderboard on Jinjiang Literature City for novels so frustrating they become addictive; ranking on it still boosts a story's exposure.
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