Chapter 4 He Is the Protagonist.

Chapter 4: He Is the Protagonist.

"Whether he's handsome or ugly, he deserves to die?"

Jun Xueyi slowly calmed his breathing, sheathed his sword, and asked directly, "Do you have a grudge against Jun Xueyi?"

Chu Ji was currently regretting one thing: since the monster was dead, Jun Xueyi must have been saved. What a pity he didn't suffer more.

Hearing this, he replied indifferently, "Not at the moment."

Jun Xueyi was silent for a moment, then looked at him and asked with utmost patience, "If there's no grudge, why kill him?"

He truly couldn't fathom what went through such a person's mind.

Chu Ji looked at Xiong Qun, who was hardly clean, covered in blood. He found it disgusting. He was thinking of finding a place to wash Xiong Qun, who was too dirty. Hearing Jun Xueyi's question, he answered casually, "Once I kill him, then there will be a grudge."

Jun Xueyi was speechless.

Chu Ji remembered hearing the sound of a stream while walking last night. He took out the Thousand-Li Map from his storage ring, intending to take Xiong Qun for a wash. "Hey, you're Jia Ming, right? If you see Jun Xueyi, tie him up for me. The reward is negotiable; name your price."

Under normal circumstances, Jun Xueyi would have turned and left upon encountering such a person. But for some reason, looking at the other's face and the pile of discarded spirit stones nearby, he inexplicably wanted to ask one more question.

"No grudge, yet you still want to kill?"

Chu Ji grew impatient. "Does killing someone require a grudge?"

"I dislike him—no, I hate him."

A prodigy who always outshone him, and ultimately defeated him with a single sword stroke. They say he's the villain—who else should the villain hate if not the protagonist? It's just convenient.

Hearing this, Jun Xueyi suddenly laughed. He was standing right here, yet the other didn't recognize him. Dislike? Hate?

"Alright," he said agreeably. "I'll help you. How should I deliver him to you once I catch him?"

Chu Ji paused the spiritual energy he was channeling into the Thousand-Li Map and actually gave the question some serious thought.

He was a demon; he couldn't just have someone bring Jun Xueyi to the demon palace.

Although immortals and demons had ceased hostilities twenty years ago and declared a truce, demons, apart from his mother, only tolerated demon cultivators. Immortal cultivators, on the other hand, despised all who practiced demonic arts.

The other party wouldn't fare well if they went there.

He searched through his storage ring and found only two bells tied with red threads that could be used. His mother had given them to him, calling them some kind of bells—he hadn't remembered the name. All he recalled was that as long as two people wore them simultaneously, they could sense each other's location.

He threw the other bell to Jun Xueyi.

Jun Xueyi caught the object thrown his way. It was an artifact, the red thread on it somewhat familiar, though he couldn't recall where he'd seen it before. The artifact was of very special quality, rare in the world.

He looked up at Chu Ji.

Separated by the monster's corpse and a bloody patch of ground, Chu Ji tied the bell around his fourth finger. He'd seen his mother tie it on that finger. Demons didn't bother with such customs, and he'd never seen how others wore it.

Once done, he looked over and saw the other still standing there. "You tie it too," he urged.

Jun Xueyi held the bell, with no intention of tying it. "I help you find him—what can you give me in return?"

Chu Ji raised an eyebrow. "Of course, I won't shortchange you. Name your demands; whatever I can do, I'll do for you. Killing, arson, anything. If there's someone you dislike, I'll kill them for you. If you have enemies, I'll wipe out their entire family. Spirit stones, artifacts—whatever you want, as long as I have it. If I don't, I'll have someone grab it for you."

The Little Demon King was true to his word.

Jun Xueyi was stunned for a moment.

Chu Ji clicked his tongue. "Tch."

So slow, so annoying. He was in a hurry to wash up—didn't this person feel uncomfortable covered in blood? Channeling spiritual energy into the Thousand-Li Map, he instantly appeared next to him, disgustedly grabbed the other's relatively clean hand, and swiftly tied the bell around his finger. "You're too slow. Were you knocked stupid by the monster?"

At this, his tying slowed as he seriously scrutinized the person before him, wondering if he truly had been messed up.

His face was filthy with blood, but not unattractive. The thread needed only one more knot. Hesitating briefly, he asked, "Tell me, which hurts more when hitting the head—iron or stone?"

Jun Xueyi snapped back and looked at him with exasperation, as if he were a child playing. "The head hurts more."

Chu Ji's eyes curved into a smile. "Seems he's not foolish—he can still be my spy."

Jun Xueyi pulled his hand back. "Don't touch me."

One end of the red thread was held by Chu Ji, the other end attached to the bell. Jun Xueyi's sudden movement caused the knot to tighten instantly. The red thread vanished from their hands, and a small red bell tattoo appeared on the side of each of their fingers.

Jun Xueyi stared in surprise at his own hand and the other's.

"Is this the Red Thread of Fate?"

Chu Ji, meanwhile, shook his finger, and the sound of a bell came from Jun Xueyi's finger.

Not bad.

Was this the Red Thread of Fate? If it was, then so be it.

He wanted to pat the other's shoulder but, seeing the blood-soaked clothing, redirected his hand mid-air to the Thousand-Li Map instead. Returning to Xiong Qun's side—once washed, Xiong Qun would still be good-looking. For now, unwashed, he was ugly.

"Remember to find me." With that, he decisively left with Xiong Qun.

Right now, washing up was the priority.

Though he hadn't been stained by blood, he felt contaminated nonetheless.

According to those texts, the silver spider's frost could only be collected at dawn. He'd take Xiong Qun to get cleaned up first and return tomorrow at dawn. Covering multiple angles, he refused to believe he couldn't find Jun Xueyi.

Jun Xueyi remained where he was, staring at the empty space and rubbing his temples, feeling he might indeed have been messed up by the monster.

What was he doing talking to such a person?

He repeatedly glanced at the mark on his hand, took a deep breath. Was the other foolish or doing this on purpose?

The Red Thread of Fate—once tied, it couldn't be undone.

Sensing someone approaching, he summoned water to drench himself thoroughly, washing away the blood. He took out a cloak to wear and put on his mask.

His eyebrows drooped. How annoying.

He hated these messy affairs the most.

Meanwhile, in the clear, shallow stream, Xiong Qun rolled around three times before finally washing off the blood.

He watched the Young Master playing in the water and noticed the bell mark on his finger.

He remembered the Red Thread of Fate was meant to bind lovers.

Demons didn't bother with such things—they didn't reverence the Heavenly Way. The Red Thread of Fate was useless to them; whether tied or not didn't matter. However, the red thread the Young Master had produced had been altered by Immortal Venerable Linxun into an artifact that could detect the other's location.

The Young Master isn't short of artifacts—it's just an artifact, so he used it.

Xiong Qun walked further upstream, caught a fish, scaled and cleaned it before tossing it ashore. He asked, puzzled, "Young Master, why didn’t you kill that person?"

Chu Ji splashed in the water, sending sprays as high as he was tall. He delighted in it and kept stomping for a while, the artifacts hanging from him clinking together pleasantly.

After he'd played and cleaned up, Chu Ji said good-naturedly, "He’s not Jun Xueyi. Why kill him?"

Xiong Qun looked confused. Since when did they care whether someone was Jun Xueyi before killing them? But the Young Master calls the shots. Catching another fish, he asked, "Young Master, have you ever seen Jun Xueyi?"

Chu Ji, done playing around, came ashore. "No, but Jun Xueyi should be dressed in black, wearing a mask, jade-like and cold as ice."

Xiong Qun followed ashore, drying his clothes with spiritual energy. He stared at his waist jade for a good while. "A cold jade spirit?"

Chu Ji was uncertain too, but the floating text described him that way. He hadn’t seen a frost jade spirit before. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Probably."

The protagonist's different, tsk.

He hadn’t seen any messages about Jun Xueyi’s current situation all morning. It seemed that after Jun Xueyi lured the demon beast away, even whoever was writing couldn't see what he was doing.

All the text was waiting for someone called the Mysterious Old Man to appear and rescue Jun Xueyi to Buluo Town, but the Mysterious Old Man never showed up even after the demon beast died.

He guessed they'd killed it too fast, so the Mysterious Old Man never showed up.

This gave Chu Ji an idea. After the Mysterious Old Man appeared, he admired Jun Xueyi’s courage and gave him a cultivation method that allowed him to refine demon cores to quickly restore spiritual energy.

This was also the key foundation for later, when Ji Ling from Jun Xueyi’s team was poisoned, and Jun Xueyi forcibly devoured Cloud Snow Flower to break through to a higher realm and lead them to safety.

He took out the demon core.

Now the demon core was in his hands.

Chu Ji instantly changed his mind. What’s the point of just killing someone with a sword?

He wanted Jun Xueyi to be poisoned first, then steal Cloud Snow Flower to make soup and feed it to fish, and only then kill him.

Wasn’t it said that he always fell slightly short compared to Jun Xueyi? Now it was Jun Xueyi’s turn to be a step behind in everything.

Chances, treasures—he'd end up with nothing.

Feeling pleased, he sat waiting for Xiong Qun to roast the fish.

Xiong Qun started a fire and grilled the fish while remembering that morning's sword formation. It was really impressive—he really wanted to battle him.

But the Young Master didn’t kill him.

He stared at the fish, thinking it over, and finally had an idea. "Young Master, what if the person we saved today was actually Jun Xueyi?"

Chu Ji tilted his head. That hadn't occurred to him because no one had ever dared to deceive him before.

He was quiet for a moment, then moved his fingers, sensing that Jia Ming was currently to the west, most likely in Buluo Town.

If that person really was Jun Xueyi...

"If he is Jun Xueyi," Chu Ji said, staring at the fish, "we kill him."

He could now track his location anytime, though the other could track his too. The bell was attached and couldn't be removed unless the finger was cut off.

He didn’t mind others knowing his whereabouts—they couldn't touch him anyway.

No one could outrun the Thousand-Li Map.

Xiong Qun handed over the grilled fish, hoping secretly it was Jun Xueyi. He wanted to fight him. The Demon Lord said both he and the Young Master were rare geniuses. He'd been with the Young Master since age three. The Young Master didn't care for cultivation, only sword training, so he never fought him. But the person they met at dawn was different—he could fight.

If that person was Jun Xueyi, he could defeat him and tie him up for the Young Master.

Xiong Qun fantasized happily and handed over the fish with a grin. "Young Master, the fish is ready."

Chu Ji took it and took a bite. The moment the flavor touched his tongue, he spat it out. He stared at the fish in disbelief.

Xiong Qun, seeing this, also took a bite. He couldn’t even bite through it. Wide-eyed, he forced a piece off, and his face immediately scrunched up. So salty, so tough, so bitter.

Chu Ji quickly threw the fish back into the fire. Just burn it.

This fish died for nothing.

Xiong Qun stared blankly at Chu Ji. He’d seen people in the demon palace grill fish like this. What was different about this fish compared to the ones they ate there?

-

"Different," said a youth shrouded in a cloak, pointing to the cultivation method. "My cultivation method can purify the turbid energy within a demon core into spiritual energy that humans can absorb. The demon beast I lured away last night self-destructed without leaving a core, and the one in Buluo Town didn’t have one either. The only demon core must be from the one you killed. I’m giving you this cultivation method as thanks for saving Buluo Town last night."

Jun Xueyi looked at the cultivation method, surprised that this person was the grandson of Buluo Town’s mayor.

The other had appeared and lured away another demon beast, giving the Ji brothers a chance to catch their breath.

Buluo Town had a long history, with many merchants, though many of them weren’t highly cultivated.

Not all parts of the Buluo Mountains were dangerous. Many demon beasts stayed within their territories, and avoiding them usually ensured a safe return. Some sect disciples came here for training, along with lower-level treasure-hunting teams. If they hadn’t held out last night, these people wouldn’t have escaped.

He lowered his gaze to the cultivation method, his expression unchanging beneath the mask.

Since childhood, he had experienced too many situations like this.

He would always go through some hardship, then receive a "reward," even if the reward made little sense.

Buluo Town had stood for many years thanks to its well-trained cultivator teams, yet not a single one showed up last night. Various reasons kept them from coming to help, leaving everyone to struggle and save themselves.

This cultivation method was likely the secret behind Buluo Town’s ability to continuously recruit cultivators.

Before this, he only knew demon cores could be used for alchemy or forging weapons. This secret method, however, could turn even the lowest-grade demon core into a spirit stone abundant with energy—one spirit stone could buy hundreds of low-grade demon cores.

Such a trump card, and this person was giving it to him so easily.

Just like all the previous times.

The only difference was that his rescuer should have been this youth or someone the youth sent, making it more natural for him to gift the cultivation method.

But last night, the person who saved him had wanted to kill him.

Without that person, he would have had to hold on until he was on the brink of death before help arrived.

That was the precondition for every "reward" he received—no near-death experience, no miracle.

Not that it made much difference.

He had almost died at that person’s hands too.

Shaking off his thoughts, Jun Xueyi accepted the cultivation method. "I heard you’re offering a high price for the poisonous flower from the silver spider’s nest. I’ll bring it back. Consider the cultivation method the payment. I won’t spread it."

He disliked owing favors.

It would be best to be indebted to no one in this world.

Moreover, this matter started because of him.

As for the goodwill expressed by the person in front of him, such inexplicable affection and hatred were far too common—he had long ceased to care.

The youth was astonished by Jun Xueyi's words and couldn't help but exclaim, "Young Hero Jun has an impressive mindset."

Jun Xueyi responded indifferently, pulled on his cloak, and headed out. His intervention this time was only because this disaster had been brought about by his idiotic, pig-like martial brothers, all in their attempt to kill him.

Most importantly, he knew that if he didn’t act, everyone except him would die.

This kind of opportunity to become a so-called hero.

Truly annoying.

He stared at the bell tattoo on his ring finger, his mind involuntarily recalling that person—bright, clear eyes and exquisite swordsmanship.

Yet, just like the others, that person harbored an inexplicable dislike for him, didn’t he?

He truly wanted to ask why: can unfounded hatred exist without ever having met or known each other?