Transmigrating as the Heart Demon of the Ruthless Sword Venerable – Chapter 52
by Little PandaShattered Sound (Part 2)
Different Fortunes
Tang Wenchun bit her lower lip, her heart seething with indignation as she walked head-down through the small garden.
The cultivators of this world came and went, fighting and risking their lives for cultivation. Though their lifespans were long, they lived in constant busyness. Like at this wedding banquet—cultivators would never pass up the chance to seek guidance from or curry favor with great cultivators in the main hall. The garden saw hardly anyone, quiet and still. Tang Wenchun found it much more relaxing.
She strolled at a leisurely pace. The courtyard was newly built, the flowers and plants still fresh, the flooring beneath her feet smooth and polished. Walking on it reminded Tang Wenchun of her own world—the half-baked faux-antique buildings in tourist scenic spots. She circled round and round until her thoughts finally settled, then headed toward the front hall.
“I told you long ago! Our wedding shouldn’t be a grand affair! How did you answer me back then?”
A woman’s voice drifted over, carrying a hint of familiarity. It was Nüluo.
Tang Wenchun froze. She shifted her steps, unsure whether she should leave.
Just then, she heard Shen Feng’s voice: “Not a grand affair? Without a grand affair, how would my Shenfeng Sect have today’s glory? Nüluo, you’re about to enter my Shenfeng Sect and become my wife. I know you’ve always looked down on me, but after today, you’ll be my woman. Naturally, you should plan wholeheartedly for my sake. When will your shimei arrive…”
“My shimei won’t come…”
“Didn’t I have you send her an invitation? Her only shijie’s wedding—she wouldn’t come? If she doesn’t come, you’ll make me a laughingstock before all these people! Every single person out there is someone of name and reputation! They—they all came for Yunzhongjun!” Shen Feng’s voice rose, then immediately turned wheedling. “Luo’er, you’re already my wife. We rise and fall together1. You must help your husband.”
Tang Wenchun’s brow furrowed tightly as she listened.
Nüluo’s reply was firm: “I won’t.”
Shen Feng pleaded bitterly, but Nüluo had made up her mind and yielded nothing.
Shen Feng finally lost his temper and raised his voice: “What are you afraid of! I haven’t even minded that you and your shimei were rolling in the sheets2 together, cuckolding me3. You’re already married to me, and you’re still thinking of your shimei? You really think your shimei is that fond of you? Your entire cultivation was built up by your shimei. Your shimei—a grand Mahayana cultivator—could truly fancy someone like you? She just used you as a plaything! Isn’t that exactly why you knew it, and married me?”
“You—you stop spouting nonsense!!”
Nüluo’s voice dropped sharply. She was gentle by nature, and that single “nonsense”—it was unclear which part she was refuting.
Shen Feng snorted coldly, then softened his voice to coax her: “She’s a Mahayana cultivator with a long lifespan. But you? You have barely a hundred years, and you’ll soon be dead. Since that’s the case, isn’t it better for the two of us to work together and coax some benefits from your shimei? My Shizun promised your Shizun that after you married over, you’d be treated well and never suffer the slightest grievance. I naturally share the same thought. But since you’ve married me, we’re one. If you’re well, I’m well too, no?”
Nüluo stayed silent. Seeing that she was immune to both soft and hard tactics, Shen Feng lost interest and only frowned. “Either way, I’ve said my piece. This ugly husband of yours will meet your shimei one day, won’t he. Think it over.”
Shen Feng walked away quickly. The guests outside had all been invited by him, so naturally he couldn’t be gone too long.
Tang Wenchun didn’t dare move. She cautiously peeked out and saw Nüluo standing there quietly, silent. Tang Wenchun felt guilty. Though she thought Nüluo was somewhat pitiful, she was an outsider—and moreover, she felt indignant on Yunzhongjun’s behalf. She had no intention of comforting Nüluo and planned to slip away quietly.
Fortunately, she was already Nascent Soul. Even if she wanted to leave, Nüluo wouldn’t detect her.
Just then, Yu Zhaoming’s voice came from behind her: “Why haven’t you gone back.”
Talk about the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind4… Tang Wenchun turned around and looked at Yu Zhaoming silently. She heard Nüluo’s voice: “Who’s there.”
Too late. She was about to face another mortifying social death scenario.
Thank goodness for Yu Zhaoming. Her Ice Spirit Root plus Emotionless Dao made her completely immune to even a sliver of social death in situations like this. She looked up, saw that Nüluo had already come before them, and calmly nodded. “Senior Nüluo.”
Nüluo looked at Tang Wenchun, then at Yu Zhaoming. Tang Wenchun hastily pulled Yu Zhaoming close. “Ah, we’re leaving right now, we didn’t hear anything, don’t worry.”
Nüluo sighed deeply. “It’s fine. It doesn’t matter if you heard.” Her gaze fell on Tang Wenchun’s face, carrying an emotion hard to define—something like jealousy, yet also something like relief. “I’ve heard my shimei mention your name many times. You must be very close to her, right?”
Tang Wenchun blinked, then realized Nüluo was talking about Yunzhongjun. She sensed Yu Zhaoming’s gaze turning toward her as well, landing on her like burning fire. For no reason at all, she felt a wave of guilt. The moment she opened her mouth, her voice cracked: “Nothing like that! We’re completely innocent.”
Tang Wenchun coughed, flushed red, and said with utmost sincerity: “Really! We absolutely don’t have that kind of relationship.”
Saying so, she tugged hard at Yu Zhaoming, signaling her to help defuse the situation. Yu Zhaoming nodded, equally sincere: “Correct. My shimei will become my Dao companion…”
“Okay, shut up!” Tang Wenchun whipped around and glared at Yu Zhaoming.
Yu Zhaoming was baffled. She didn’t want Nüluo to misunderstand—so what was wrong with saying that? Still, Yu Zhaoming shut her mouth cleanly enough, though the way she pressed her lips together looked more than a little wronged.
Nüluo looked at Yu Zhaoming, then at Tang Wenchun, and couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright, I haven’t misunderstood.” After a pause, she sighed again. “The two of you as shijie and shimei share such a close bond, and your cultivation has always advanced side by side. That’s wonderful.”
Hearing this, Tang Wenchun couldn’t help but say: “I don’t think that Shen Feng is a good match. The Sound Sect has no need to ally with the Shenfeng Sect through marriage. Senior Nüluo, why lower yourself to marry into that?”
Nüluo shook her head and said nothing.
Tang Wenchun bit her lip. Seeing this, Yu Zhaoming frowned slightly and tugged at her sleeve. But Tang Wenchun shook free with a single pull. “Senior Nüluo, Yunzhongjun’s heart is wholly devoted to you. I think you see that clear as a mirror. Why give up on Yunzhongjun and turn to choose Shen Feng instead? I can see Shen Feng has no respect for you. You won’t be happy together.”
Nüluo heard this and sighed deeply. “My Golden Core cultivation was merely piled up by my shimei using heavenly treasures and earthly materials. In this world, strength is respect. Though Shen Feng disdains my artificially built-up cultivation, the Sound Sect stands behind me, so he wouldn’t dare treat me with disrespect.”
Tang Wenchun knew Nüluo was telling the truth. Shen Feng’s words hadn’t been polite, but he’d restrained himself from laying a hand on her—clearly wary of the Sound Sect behind Nüluo. But Tang Wenchun’s heart still burned with indignation. She knew Yunzhongjun was wholly devoted to Nüluo, and didn’t care in the slightest that Nüluo’s cultivation was modest. Yet Nüluo had ignored Yunzhongjun and chosen a man who treated her poorly.
If she actually liked him, that would be one thing. But Nüluo clearly didn’t like Shen Feng either.
“Senior Nüluo, you know full well that Yunzhongjun’s feelings for you are genuine. And I don’t think you’re entirely without those feelings for her either. Why won’t you accept Yunzhongjun?” Tang Wenchun couldn’t help asking.
Yu Zhaoming turned to look at Tang Wenchun, whose face was full of righteous indignation on Yunzhongjun’s behalf. Since when had her relationship with Yunzhongjun grown so excessively close? Whatever was on her mind, Yunzhongjun would come running to tell Tang Wenchun…
Yunzhongjun was a Mahayana cultivator—why would she repeatedly show special regard for her heart demon?
Yu Zhaoming lowered her eyes, finally settling her gaze on Nüluo. She frowned deeply. Could it be that the woman’s tastes were flawed—she simply fancied cultivators of low cultivation?
Nüluo shook her head. She didn’t speak at first. Her expression wavered, caught between joy and sorrow. After a long while, she finally answered: “We knew each other from childhood, but our fortunes were vastly different. The town I was born in suffered a famine. If I hadn’t chanced upon Shizun, I’d probably have starved to death. For the grace of that one meal, my life was saved. But I wasn’t satisfied—I knelt for ten days at Shizun’s temporary dwelling until my legs nearly crippled me. Shizun took me in out of pity.
But my shimei was different.
Her talent was extraordinary. She was the Sound Sect’s future hope, Shizun’s pride. After meeting her, Shizun never intended to take a third disciple. She and I were never the same.
She told me she hoped to one day climb to the mountain’s peak and behold the view of the Great Dao… At that time she was only Nascent Soul. Words like that, spoken aloud, would invite mockery from anyone. But a seventeen-year-old Nascent Soul—how could she not look down upon the world and survey all beneath the heavens?”
A Nascent Soul at seventeen, her talent staggering—far surpassing even Yu Zhaoming. And Yu Zhaoming was the future Sword Venerable.
Tang Wenchun glanced at Yu Zhaoming. Yu Zhaoming’s lips were pressed tight, her hand gripping her sword. Her eyes shone bright—with the light of battle spirit and competitive fire.
Clearly, Yu Zhaoming wouldn’t feel jealousy—only the urge to rise to the challenge.
Tang Wenchun couldn’t help but show a hint of a smile. But her attention was quickly drawn back to Nüluo’s words.
“That radiance… I’ve always remembered it…” Nüluo’s voice gradually fell.
“The her of now… is no longer her.”
After saying this, Nüluo wiped the corner of her eye and looked at Tang Wenchun and Yu Zhaoming with a strained smile. “Let’s not speak of those things. My shimei and I won’t be together. After today, I’ll remain at the Shenfeng Sect and won’t go back to the Sound Sect. I’m glad you could come.”
Tang Wenchun opened her mouth, but Yu Zhaoming’s expression was complicated and she said nothing either. But what churned in Tang Wenchun’s heart was different from what stirred in Yu Zhaoming’s. Nüluo’s words—”she is no longer her”—startled Tang Wenchun. She wanted to ask if Nüluo had noticed something, but her gaze fell on Nüluo’s clothing.
The Jiaoxiao Gauze that Yunzhongjun had bought at great expense—Nüluo had taken it off. As if she had set down her feelings for Yunzhongjun along with it, ready to embrace a future entirely without Yunzhongjun in it.
Tang Wenchun sighed long and said no more.
Nüluo smiled and bowed to the two of them. “The front hall can’t do without me. I’ll head over first…”
“Wait.” Yu Zhaoming spoke abruptly. She stepped forward, placing herself in front of Tang Wenchun and Nüluo, her gaze heavy as she looked toward the main hall. “There’s danger.”
Nüluo was still confused, but Tang Wenchun had already realized. She stepped forward to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Yu Zhaoming, sword light pulsing in her palm. “Such powerful oppressive pressure.”
The sky ahead had at some point amassed a canopy of dark clouds, pressing heavily over the Shenfeng Sect’s gates. The oppressive pressure of a Mahayana cultivator bore down on everyone, making each person feel extraordinary agony.
Yunzhongjun’s calm voice spread through the entire Shenfeng Sect: “Hand over my shijie.”
Nüluo’s face changed drastically. She could no longer attend to anything else, bid a hasty farewell, and rushed toward the front hall.
The author has something to say:
Alright, Yunzhongjun has appeared.
Yu Zhaoming: She wants me to help her out of an awkward situation, yet she won’t let me say we’re Dao companions.
Tang Wenchun: Shut up shut up shut up!!
This is the reason why Nüluo’s Shizun, despite being the former Sect Master, had such a gap between Nüluo and Yunzhongjun. Normally, as Sect Master, resources would be prioritized for her own disciples—she shouldn’t have taken in a disciple of mediocre talent… Hehe, seems nobody saw this foreshadowing coming.
Actually, this is a pseudo-pair, true triangle relationship: Yunzhongjun (true), Nüluo, and Yunzhongjun (heart demon). So it works from every angle.
Footnotes
- 一荣俱荣，一损俱损 | yi rong ju rong, yi sun ju sun | Classical idiom meaning 'when one prospers, all prosper; when one suffers, all suffer'—describing shared destiny within a family or alliance, here weaponized by Shen Feng to pressure Nüluo into compliance.
- 颠鸾倒凤 | dian luan dao feng | Classical idiom literally 'overturning the phoenix and inverting the dragon'—a euphemism for passionate sexual union; here used crudely by Shen Feng to mock Nüluo's past intimacy with Yunzhongjun.
- 戴绿帽 | dai lü mao | Traditional Chinese slang literally 'wearing a green hat,' meaning to be cuckolded by one's wife; green headgear was historically associated with brothel keepers and their families, evolving into a symbol of a husband whose wife is unfaithful.
- 螳螂捕蝉黄雀在后 | tang lang bu chan, huang que zai hou | Classical Chinese fable: 'the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it'—describes someone so focused on their target that they overlook their own predator; here Tang Wenchun realizes she was eavesdropping on Nüluo only to be caught by Yu Zhaoming.
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