Chapter 75 |
“Boss, haven’t you noticed how dead your shop is lately?” Tang Shi asked while Yuan Yuanyuan was cracking sunflower seeds and deep into reading her manga.
“Oh… oh.” Yuan absentmindedly responded, too focused on her comic to really register what Tang Shi was saying.
She was completely absorbed in the latest pages of Demon Chronicles. There was a panel where Yuan (the character, not herself) glanced over the surrounding demons—his deep black eyes like hooks, pulling people in.
Yuan Yuanyuan stared in disbelief.
Did I ever have that expression…?
It had been a while, and a lot of her memories were fuzzy—especially when it came to how things looked from an outsider’s perspective. Only by referencing the placement of other demons in the scene could she vaguely recall, Ah, right… that moment.
When she had been cursing someone as a dumbass in her head.
Yuan glanced again at the intense, condescending gaze drawn in the panel and shivered.
That natural air of superiority… so sharp and compelling, it was almost addictive.
WTF, am I getting seduced by… me?
How is it that a bit of dominance stripped away all that sissy energy I used to hate so much?
She’d originally crafted her disguise based on a cold, stoic pretty boy—yet now, the subtle feminine touches in the face markings felt off-brand.
Yuan wasn’t into “feminine guys”… She liked cold, aloof jerks. The colder, the better.
That’s why she’d always low-key disliked her own disguise.
And yet… now she was suddenly—unreasonably—attracted to her own damn face?
She honestly hadn’t realized how she looked in others’ eyes. After all, she’d used up all her spiritual energy during that incident—any normal demon would be like a dying fish afterward.
She remembered herself just barely standing, completely limp and drained, thinking only about running. She didn’t care what she looked like.
Who knew that, seen from another person’s eyes, she actually didn’t look that bad?
No one reading the comic would guess that the imposing demon on the page was actually a terrified coward desperately planning her escape.
Back then, the whole thing had been a blur. She’d purposely erased it from memory. But now, months later, it was being brought back from another perspective—on full display.
Yuan tossed her phone aside, finally noticing Tang Shi. “Sorry, I wasn’t listening. What did you say?”
“…I said, have you noticed your store’s completely empty?” Tang Shi replied.
“Yeah, I’ve been wanting to rant about that. Why’s no one coming in? I was counting on this place for some side income. I’m about to starve,” Yuan immediately switched to an indignant face.
“…It’s because everyone thinks you’re creepy,” Tang Shi said flatly. “Your demon aura is weird as hell. Other demons get uncomfortable just being near you. That’s why no one comes.”
“…”
“They say you eat children.”
“…I don’t eat children.”
“They also say you drain women’s yin energy to boost your powers.”
“…Is my demon aura really that sketchy?”
“Kinda.” Tang Shi sprawled across the table, tracing circles on it with her finger. “My dad’s a scary demon too, but even he doesn’t have your level of weird. You’re good-looking, boss, but no girl’s gonna pay for that aura.”
Yuan slumped onto the table too. A demon’s aura was often a reflection of their heart. That’s why some demons had warm, comfortable auras—they just gave off “good vibes.”
Her aura… was more like: hello, please exorcise me ASAP.
Totally unjust, really. She knew why—because she trained using blood techniques.
Poor her. After all this time, the only piece of clothing she’d sold was a month ago—and it had been bought by humans.
The manga wasn’t done updating, but the real world continued to move.
In another city, a man in a tracksuit was walking through the streets. When he left the mountain, he hadn’t brought much.
Well, he did sneak out. After the chaos at the Sanqing Daoist Temple, no one had really been monitoring him.
For him, this was a rare experience. On the mountain, everything was provided. Maybe not luxurious, but never lacking.
Now, he needed to figure out how to make money.
The problem was, he’d barely had any formal education. Other than slaying demons, he had no marketable skills. Plus, there weren’t many demons in the area—the one from earlier had already bled out, and his scent had dispersed. It would be a while before another showed up.
He wandered for a bit, then suddenly spotted a torn snakeskin bag near a construction site.
He paused, picked it up, and took out a small box of cinnabar and a brush from his backpack. Slowly, he wrote two characters on the bag:
—“Fortune Teller.”
Well, he was a Daoist. If nothing else, he could do this.
…
“Bro, can’t you at least dress up before coming to work?” someone shouted at his stall. “You look shady as hell. You sure you’re not scamming people?”
“…Sorry, my bad.”
Damn it. If I ever get rich, I’m throwing gold bars at people.
…
“Hey cutie, can you read my bones?”
“Sorry, little Daoists do fortune-telling, not body sales.”
Why do these cheesy TV drama lines keep slipping out so naturally?
…
“Mister! Are you really accurate? Can you do star signs? My birthday’s November 12th.”
“Of course~ Not just star signs—blood types, tarot cards, I do it all~ How much money you got?”
“Three yuan fifty.”
…FML.
…
After a day of this, he learned a valuable truth.
You can’t survive on honest work alone. Time to be a bandit.
Not long after, rumors began to spread in that city—
There was a particularly savage Daoist who loved robbing demons—especially rich ones. He specifically targeted wealthy demons and mugged them.
His most notorious feat: taking down seven demons in one night, stripping them of their money and clothes.
As a rising star from a legit Daoist sect, he was on a whole different level from the amateurs outside. And since this was just a small third-tier city… he pretty much ruled the place.
Yuan Yuanyuan, of course, knew none of this. At that moment, she was quietly facing off with a demon under the moonlight.
The silver glow lit the two figures, casting long shadows through the trees.
“…Didn’t expect it to be you,” the demon panted. “I can’t believe you’re the one they sent.”
Yuan wasn’t using any disguise at the moment—she had on her full “Yuan” face, no illusions at all. So the guy recognized her instantly.
“I didn’t think C City would send you to be the enforcer… And to think, it was you who’s been taking out all the outsiders lately.”
Yuan didn’t reply—mostly because the guy in front of her was a total weakling.
Lately, she’d been going out at night to clean up some of the riff-raff. Sometimes she ran into real threats. Other times… just losers like this.
For the dangerous types, she transformed instantly and dealt with them head-on.
Like this guy.
Yuan’s mind was spinning. Chief among her thoughts was one bold sentence flashing in her head:
“What if this gets drawn in the manga months from now?!”
She carefully stepped forward with her left foot, then paused, suddenly unsure. Then cautiously stepped with her right.
Does this movement make me look cool?
…Yeah, maybe?
She stared at the guy in front of her. And suddenly got cocky.
Hell yeah. Watch this!
Ever since she saw herself show up in the comic, her confidence had shot up. She’d just learned a new move—the Earth Fiend Free Step, a technique to vanish into thin air—and had never tried it before.
Now, looking at the weakling demon, she decided: time to test it out.
She stared at his neck and began chanting silently.
A burst of energy—she vanished without a trace. In an instant, she was right in front of him.
She raised her blade, aiming for his artery… but then—
She missed.
She couldn’t brake in time. Her blade didn’t cut his neck. Instead, she slashed his face.
The poor guy felt a cold sting across his cheek and a trail of blood—nearly pissed himself.
What the hell kind of demonic art is this?! I’ve never even heard of it!
Under the moonlight, she stood tall.
“You should leave,” she said coldly. “You’re too weak. C City isn’t for you.”
The guy’s legs wobbled for a second before he screamed and bolted.
Yuan, still facing away, wiped her face.
Two long streams of nosebleed dripped from her nostrils.
Caused by that earlier somersault.
It’s fine. Totally badass.
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