Chapter 3 The Past Has Gone and There Is a Demon in Front

The tea on the wooden table had gone cold and the teenage storyteller had left a while ago. However, Yan Yu was still in his seat, sitting by the table as he thought about the last sentence the teenager had said.

“Since it is fate that you and I met today, we can just talk our hearts out but I am not hoping to gain your sympathy through this nor am I proving my talent as a young successor of cultivation so that you can bring me along the path of cultivation. It is just that I have been staying at this place alone for so long, and to meet an outsider by coincidence, I can’t help but to recall my past. I felt a hint of regret not being able to enter the Confucian Temple at that time but now I am not that willing to try my luck anymore.”

Those last words from Li Fuyao before he left seemed prosaic but Yan Yu could vaguely feel that there was a sense of pride behind his words.

He turned his head to look at the autumn rain outside and his mind drifted. This teenager was indeed interesting.

Nevertheless, this teenager now had the opportunity to take back what he should have had previously but how was he able to resist such a temptation and pass up this chance of being able to return to the Confucian Temple?

Yan Yu could not wrap his head around it and mumbled to himself, “Li Fuyao, are you really going to pass up this opportunity?”

Nonetheless, he was shocked by the talents this teenager had.

Although he already had a gifted scholar as his last disciple by his side.

It wasn’t a bad thing if he could have more quality disciples.

The young lady smirked when she noticed the man daydreaming but she was already used to this.

Yan Yu came back to his senses and he just stroked her head gently without saying anything.

　　……

The teenager beneath the umbrella was composed but his other hand which was vacant had curled into a tight fist. He had a faint self-deprecating smirk on his face and regretted having his chat with Yan Yu today. However, he had bottled up his feelings for so long and just wanted to spill his heart out to someone; moreover, the man could understand him.

Li Fuyao let out a sigh.

The pitter-patter of raindrops which splashed on the surface of the umbrella made Li Fuyao even more frustrated.

Li Fuyao raised his head and glanced at the dark skies in the distance. He shook his head and turned into a narrow alley. After walking a few steps and just when he was about to exit the alley, his back suddenly felt cold. He could feel something was leaning on his back and his hair stood on end. He stopped in his tracks and did not dare to move a single muscle.

。

He did not even dare to turn his head to take a look.

Could it be Mr. Yan who was about to kill him because he had rejected him just now?

If this was the case, that Yanling Confucian Temple wasn’t really such a good place after all.

It did not mean that he was going to be fine if he did not turn his head as soon, a cold voice came from behind, “Carry me.”

It was a girl’s voice.

As soon as the cold voice resonated, the ice-cold body leaned completely against Li Fuyao’s back. Li Fuyao’s hands then subconsciously reached behind and carried the girl up.

Just when Li Fuyao relaxed his grip, the oil-paper umbrella began falling to the ground of the alley but a fair-skinned arm swiftly appeared in Li Fuyao’s line of sight, reaching out over his shoulder to grab onto the handle of the umbrella.

The oil-paper umbrella hovered over the both of them once again.

Li Fuyao was standing at the junction of the alley but he did not dare to take a step forward because he had felt the girl fixing her eyes at him since the start like a venomous snake.

It was as if a thorn was stuck on his back.

That feeling was familiar in his memories that had been sealed away a long time ago and it was after this moment he was certain that the girl behind him was a cultivator.

Li Fuyao could hardly maintain his composure when he met Yan Yu who was from the Yanling Confucian Temple while this time, he did not even have the courage to make sudden movements when facing this girl because he was not even sure of her identity.

After a brief moment of silence, the girl spoke again, “Go to your house.”

Li Fuyao did not hesitate and quickly started walking. He had met those human cultivators before and although his memories of them were vague, he knew that those cultivators who seemed harmless didn’t care about the common people. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the cultivators treated them like dirt.

Having to carry someone behind his back in the rain, he could only walk so fast but in no time, Li Fuyao had arrived and pushed open the door to his yard. After they got under the roof, the girl behind his back naturally put the umbrella away. Li Fuyao then waited for her next instruction after he pushed his door open and entered his house.

“Let me down.”

Li Fuyao let the girl down and as he slowly turned around, he hid his fists behind his back. All those days of surviving by himself were urging him to do what was best for him to keep his life.

However, Li Fuyao was distracted as soon as he saw the look of the girl for the first time. She had a pair of slender eyes and her thin lips made her look emotionless. If the youthful look on her face had faded, she would look fancier but even so, she still looked beautiful. Her suit of green clothes was drenched, exposing her physique completely to Li Fuyao but with a piercing stare, Li Fuyao did not dare to look at her anymore.

The young girl in the green clothes then asked calmly, “What’s your name?”

This was the second time in one day he was asked for his name. He kept quiet for a second and uttered two words.

“Li Fuyao.”

Li Fuyao did not beg for mercy nor did he say anything else. Based on his memories, those who could become cultivators had a persistent mindset and that was why he did not bother to elaborate further, because it would be pointless if the young girl had already made up her mind to kill him.

However, come to think about it, the girl looked pallid and she was obviously seriously injured. Only a cultivator could hurt another cultivator and he could not help but to recall the conversation between him and Mr. Yan from the Yanling Confucian Temple.

Li Fuyao’s face started to turn pale.

He seemed to have remembered something.

The young girl gave him a taunting look and said coldly, “I know you have met the scholar from the Yanling Confucian Temple and it looks like that guy just can’t keep any secrets. You already know my identity.”

Li Fuyao licked his dry lips and questioned her tentatively, “So you’re the snake demon?”

Whoever was accused of being a snake demon might not be very pleased to hear that, even if she was really the snake demon.

Nonetheless, the young girl in green clothes just chuckled. She did not deny nor admit it.

Judging from her manner, Li Fuyao felt that his inference was pretty accurate.

He had been forced to leave Luoyang City when he was little and although he had only lived in Luoyang City for a few years, he was more familiar with this world than most of the people. For example, he knew there were three religious sects in this world and the cultivators of these three religious sects were the rulers of this world. He even knew there was a Demonic Land in the North where countless demons lived and some of those big demons could be at the same par with the sage of this world. Although there were many mountain fairies and beasts in this world, regardless of their talent, bloodline or the other orthodoxies, none of them could beat those demons in the Demonic Land. From the information Li Fuyao had now, not only was this young girl a snake demon from the Demonic Land, she was also a Fundamental Stage cultivator.

Every cultivator would have to go through nine stages of cultivation. There would be some differences in the first three stages but after the third stage came the Fundamental Stage and from that point onward, the same condition applied to all of the demon cultivators in the Demonic Land. There had never been any changes.

It wasn’t difficult if the Fundamental Stage demon cultivator wanted to kill him, even if it was heavily injured.

Li Fuyao had never dealt with a demon before and according to his knowledge, he knew that these demons were not easy to handle.

The young girl in green clothes stared at him for a long time before saying to him softly, “Shall we make a deal?”

Li Fuyao was quiet for some time before replying to her, “Sure, what’s your name?”

This question was often an opening remark often used by boys and girls who didn’t know each other.

“Qing Huai.”

Qing Huai looked like an easy-going person and she was straightforward.

Li Fuyao dragged over a wooden bench to the young girl’s side while staring at her and asked, “What kind of a deal?”

Qing Huai answered in a calm manner, “You are not a threat to me, so as long as you don’t have any intention to harm me, I will not hurt you either. Just let me recuperate here and act as if nothing has happened.”

“Then what will I benefit from this?”

“Isn’t being alive your benefit?”

“Technically, no.”

Qing Huai stared coldly into Li Fuyao’s eyes and was not in a hurry to give him a reply.

Li Fuyao continued, “My talent should be quite decent.”

Li Fuyao had his reasons for refusing to enter the Confucian Temple but those reasons did not include not wanting to go on the path of cultivation anymore.

Qing Huai shook her head and she knew what Li Fuyao had on his mind. “Demon cultivators and human cultivators have different types of cultivation. If you practice the cultivation methods of the demon race, your body may just explode and you’ll die.”

There was a moment of silence between them.

Li Fuyao was left speechless. His body might explode and he would die?

“Although I can’t lead you in the path of cultivation, I will give you a demon core before I leave, only if you truly don’t have any intention of hurting me. It will help you progress faster while you are on the path of cultivation.”

Li Fuyao furrowed his brows and quickly nodded his head. “Deal.”

He had been thinking of going on the path of cultivation ever since leaving Luoyang City until now. Although that opportunity of getting back to the path had been presented right before his eyes by Yan Yu previously, he could only shake his head and reject the offer.

He could not go to the Confucian Temple.

However, he had wanted to take back what he had lost.

After the two of them exchanged gazes for some time, Li Fuyao suddenly asked, “What are you doing here in Yanling?”

She glanced into the distance and a smile appeared on her pallid face. “It will be Liangxi’s Daoist Assembly during spring next year. It is held once every ten years so how could that gifted Dao cultivator not show up at that time? By then, I will challenge her during the Daoist Assembly.”

Huh?

Li Fuyao turned his head to look at Qing Huai; he wanted to ask who the gifted Dao cultivator was. Although he knew a lot of things, he did not have a clear understanding about human cultivators. As he turned his head, he saw there was a look of confidence on Qing Huai’s face.

Challenging the gifted Dao cultivator must have made her so excited.

Hence, Li Fuyao had kept these three words, ‘gifted Dao cultivator’ firmly in his mind.