Transmigrating as the Heart Demon of the Ruthless Sword Venerable – Chapter 6
by Little PandaWhat Is Your Name?
Tang Wenchun
“Folks, who even gets it… Pranks can literally kill you…”
Tang Wenchun opened her eyes once more from the dark abyss, lying flat on the green grass with all desire to live drained out of her, staring up at the sky. The Sea of Consciousness was still the same Sea of Consciousness, its soft blades of grass swaying gently to cradle her body.
Tang Wenchun whimpered softly and turned over, intending to offer a few words of self-mourning. Instead, her eyes landed on a pair of tall cyan boots standing right beside her.
In a place like this, the only person who could be here besides Tang Wenchun was…
“Yu Zhaoming!!” Tang Wenchun shot up like a coiled spring, staring at Yu Zhaoming in full defensiveness.
Yu Zhaoming merely stood there in silence, saying nothing.
Tang Wenchun’s head filled with question marks. Yu Zhaoming didn’t look like she was about to kill her—her expression was remarkably serene, and her hand wasn’t holding a sword. Standing quietly face-to-face like this, Tang Wenchun didn’t know if Yu Zhaoming felt awkward, but she certainly did.
Help! Silence like this was the absolute worst; it made her desperately want to blurt out whatever nonsense came to mind.
“Ah… so… today, um, you came pretty early, huh?”
Yu Zhaoming nodded. “I felt you appear.”
“Oh…”
And so, the two fell back into silence. Yu Zhaoming wasn’t the talkative type, making Tang Wenchun suddenly miss how she used to attack on sight. No words, just swinging her sword until Tang Wenchun ran around holding her head—even that was better than this awkward silence.
Tang Wenchun forced her stiff lips into a twitch. “What about the Scorching Fire Phoenix Bird?”
Yu Zhaoming glanced up at her. “Still following.”
Tang Wenchun pulled a long face. “Still following, huh? Well, makes sense—you did kill its wife…”
“How do you know the dead one was female?”
Tang Wenchun waved her hand dismissively. “Just a wild guess.” The gesture was far too casual, almost as if they were good friends.
Fearing she might offend Yu Zhaoming, Tang Wenchun stole a cautious glance at her and quickly pulled her hand back.
Yu Zhaoming simply gazed silently at the pond nearby, seemingly oblivious to Tang Wenchun’s little movement. Tang Wenchun followed her gaze over to the water. The Sea of Consciousness remained unchanged, showing no signs of transformation. It appeared that killing her this time hadn’t boosted Yu Zhaoming’s cultivation at all.
A Heart Demon wasn’t something you could just kill casually to reap benefits, after all.
Tang Wenchun recalled what the original novel had stated: Heart Demons were a branch of the Demon Race, born with the instinct to supplant their main body and take their place. A Heart Demon possessed the same abilities as its host along with the host’s consciousness, meaning that once it replaced the original, hardly anyone would ever notice.
However, Heart Demons were exceedingly rare. Even in the original book, they were mentioned only sparsely, through the mouths of other characters concerning a mere handful of individuals.
Reflecting on it now, Tang Wenchun didn’t possess Yu Zhaoming’s memories, and she had only learned techniques during her desperate scrambles with Yu Zhaoming. Her proficiency wasn’t even on the same level.
She really felt like a completely unqualified Heart Demon…
“You don’t need to worry about the Scorching Fire Phoenix Bird,” Yu Zhaoming spoke up suddenly.
Startled, Tang Wenchun looked over and met Yu Zhaoming’s earnest eyes. Yu Zhaoming’s bangs hung down, her cyan Gold-Traced Forehead Band peeking through her hair. Though her robes were neat, she appeared somewhat more disheveled than before—a sign that her recent days had been far from peaceful.
Yet her gaze was sharp and focused, carrying an unshakeable certainty that whatever she promised, she would fulfill.
It inspired a strange, inexplicable trust.
All at once, the lingering fear of being killed on a whim vanished.
“You… don’t plan to kill me anymore?” Tang Wenchun asked hesitantly.
Yu Zhaoming lowered her eyes. “I never wanted to kill you originally.”
Making it sound like she was courting her own death… Well, okay, she had been asking for it a bit…
Tang Wenchun suddenly offered a smile. “Then I’m placing my life in your hands. I really don’t want to die.”
Yu Zhaoming looked at Tang Wenchun once more before nodding. She turned to leave, then paused abruptly and looked back. “What is your name?”
“Huh?” Tang Wenchun blinked in surprise, meeting Yu Zhaoming’s serious gaze.
“You seem different from the Heart Demons described in books, and you repeatedly insist you are not me,” Yu Zhaoming said. “So, do you have a name?”
Tang Wenchun realized that when Yu Zhaoming spoke calmly, her voice was remarkably pleasant—like jade pearls clinking together, tinged with a cool detachment, as if she were a little immortal maiden untouched by worldly affairs.
Well, makes sense—she was the future Emotionless Dao Sword Venerable, after all…
“Hmm?” Receiving no answer after a long pause, Yu Zhaoming let out a soft hum. The chilly detachment suddenly carried a hint of laziness, as if a kitten were softly scratching at one’s ear, setting off a tingling itch.
Tang Wenchun’s eyes lit up. She suddenly realized that not only was she obsessed with good looks, she was obsessed with good voices too! She patted the corner of her mouth, wiping away imaginary drool. “My name is Tang Wenchun.”
“Tang Wenchun.”
Yu Zhaoming spoke the name syllable by syllable, drawing out the sound slightly. Hearing her favorite character speak her name in such an earnest tone filled Tang Wenchun with a mix of shyness and excitement, her eyes shining bright. “That’s right!”
Yu Zhaoming nodded and replied, “I am Yu Zhaoming.”
With those words, her figure vanished from before Tang Wenchun. Staring at the empty spot where Yu Zhaoming had been standing, Tang Wenchun let out another sigh and sat back down on the grass. “That’s the first time we’ve actually talked like that.”
Perhaps from now on, the two of them wouldn’t have to cross blades anymore?
Lost in these thoughts, it took a good while before Tang Wenchun remembered to check on the outside world.
Yet as soon as the white fog parted, the tranquil scene was gone. Flames flew wildly in all directions, water arrows shot up into the sky, the Scorching Fire Phoenix Bird screeched piercingly, and the roars of another beast echoed across the ground.
Yu Zhaoming moved cautiously through the chaos. As she turned her head slightly, Tang Wenchun caught sight of a fierce battle between bird and beast.
Ancient trees that had grown for countless centuries collapsed under the impact of the demon beasts, bursting into raging flames only to be quickly doused by torrents of water. Amid the shifting light and shadow, Tang Wenchun saw a giant black ape clutching the Scorching Fire Phoenix Bird’s wings with both hands, while the bird’s razor-sharp talons dug deep into the ape’s shoulders as both creatures let out furious roars.
All around them, the clash between the two beasts had withered the vegetation and dried up the ponds, laying bare vast stretches of ruined walls and broken pillars. This place seemed to have once been someone’s residence, but as time flowed past, it had ultimately reverted to a desolate forest.
Tang Wenchun understood then. Yu Zhaoming must have used some clever scheme to pit the two beasts against each other so she could make her escape. No wonder she had been fleeing toward the depths of the Secret Realm.
“So… so smart!” Tang Wenchun couldn’t help but shout, “Yu-jiejie! I want to be your simp!!”
Mid-evasion, Yu Zhaoming stumbled. She uncomfortably balled her hand into a fist and pressed it to her lips, pressing down on Cangfeng, which seemed ready to twirl in proud delight. “Cangfeng, keep quiet,” she whispered softly. “Do not let them spot us. We must pass through.”
Tang Wenchun immediately clamped her hands over her mouth. Cangfeng swayed in confusion, but both quickly fell silent.
Stepping onto Cangfeng, Yu Zhaoming glided silently around the clash of the titan beasts. The oppressive aura lingering in the depths of the Desolate Heaven Secret Realm pressed heavily against her as a Golden Core cultivator. She could not venture any deeper. Now that the Scorching Fire Phoenix Bird was occupied, she needed to head back as quickly as possible.
Yu Zhaoming’s eyes swept over the ruins on the ground. The ancient wooden structures had long since decayed into dust, leaving behind only stone pillars and walls that still retained golden script, inscriptions, and intricate decorative murals. After so many years, their brilliant splendor remained undimmed.
Though curious about who had once lived here and what glorious past had transpired, Yu Zhaoming did not indulge her curiosity. In a place like this, a single misstep meant death and the end of her Dao path.
She thought of Tang Wenchun. Though her Heart Demon was nothing like her in any aspect, the unwillingness to die easily was something they shared ten out of ten.
“Huh? That pattern… This… this place is…” Tang Wenchun suddenly spoke, her eyes fixed intently on a stone wall not far away.
The wall was half-buried in the earth, but set at its top was a pitch-black orb. The orb flickered, white streaks occasionally flashing across its surface, making it appear at first glance as though it were merely catching the light from the battle between the two beasts.
But Tang Wenchun knew that wasn’t the case. The flashing light followed a distinct rhythm, and right beneath the wall were murals resembling a domed ceiling. Tang Wenchun burst into excitement. “By the orb! Over there! That’s the entrance to the Divine Tomb!!”
Yu Zhaoming’s movement faltered for a fraction of a second as she rode her sword. She cast a swift glance toward the stone wall, but she did not pause, intending to stick to her original path.
She was merely at the Golden Core stage, with a long journey remaining to reach the summit of the Great Dao. Risking her life for treasure without regard for her own strength would be genuinely gambling with her existence. Furthermore, Yu Zhaoming reasoned, Tang Wenchun was a Heart Demon. Perhaps she was deliberately baiting her into a trap so she could take over her body.
Right at that moment, the skin on Yu Zhaoming’s back tightened. She rolled across the ground and looked up, only to find the battered Scorching Fire Phoenix Bird glaring straight at her. Not good, Yu Zhaoming thought. The bird had pursued her for over ten days, its heart filled with vengeance. Catching sight of her now, it paid no heed to the giant ape right behind it—it pulled its wings tight and opened its beak, fire swirling into formation.
Seeing this, Yu Zhaoming hesitated no longer. She pivoted and charged straight toward the stone wall. The instant she took off, several ice walls materialized with sharp crackling sounds to block the rear.
At a moment like this, facing death either way, one naturally chose the path that delayed death longer!
Tang Wenchun watched as the swirling flame stream surged forward. Meeting the ice walls, it paused only briefly before shattering through them one after another, lunging straight for Yu Zhaoming’s back.
And right at that moment, Yu Zhaoming reached out and touched the orb.
A flash of dark light erupted. Tang Wenchun felt her vision plunge into pitch black, and she lost consciousness.
The author has something to say:
Yu Zhaoming: “…Killed her again. Feeling a bit guilty.”
Tang Wenchun: sob sob sob
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