Transmigrated as the Villain’s Sword - Chapter 13

As their eyes met, Ling Chenyan had already guessed that he was the spirit of the Deceptive God Zither.

The original novel recorded: “During the great war of the ancient era, the Divine Demon Heavenly Sword split into four fragments that fell into the mortal world. The spirits of the Heaven-Prison Cage, the Heart-Querying Mirror, and the Evil-Smiting Heavenly Book remained intact. Only the spirit of the Deceptive God Zither sacrificed itself for a former master during the ensuing struggles, losing its sentience. After ten thousand years of circulation, the spirit finally remanifested within the Lingxiao Immortal Sect, becoming a treasure of the sect.”

In other words, this little zither spirit had only existed for a short time and hadn’t even been discovered by the Lingxiao Sect yet. It wouldn’t be until it recognized the female lead as its master in the future that people would realize the artifact was complete.

Ling Chenyan’s eyes rolled. She immediately emerged from the sword, facing the little spirit in her soul form.

“Hey there, little friend. What’s your name?”

The spirit blinked its large eyes, looking at the girl before him with curiosity and shyness. He bashfully turned his back to her and said, “I don’t have a name.”

“No name?” Ling Chenyan repeated. She was about to say, “Why don’t I give you one,” when she caught sight of the child’s short, small back. She asked in confusion, “Why are you turning away from me?”

The little guy fidgeted. “No pants to wear. It’s embarrassing.”

Ling Chenyan found it quite funny. She had almost forgotten that although the child before her was a zither spirit, he was far more intelligent and possessed a greater sense of shame than an ordinary toddler. With a flick of her finger, she manifested a tiger-patterned outfit for him. “There we go. You can turn around and look at me now.”

Looking at the tiger suit on his body, the spirit’s eyes went wide. He turned around and stared at the woman. “What pretty clothes!”

The little spirit was already carved like pink jade; seeing him look at her with such sparkling eyes made her heart melt. Ling Chenyan grinned and said, “Little friend, since you don’t have a name, how about I give you one?”

“Okay!” The spirit seemed quite happy. He had been awake for several years, but every day he faced nothing but this pitch-black cave, unable to hear a single sound. Now that someone could talk to him, he was genuinely thrilled, so he agreed to her request.

Ling Chenyan thought for a moment. Looking at his dark pupils and the golden light surrounding him, she said, “How about I call you Jinjin? What do you think?”

“Jinjin?” (Goldy/Gold-Gold) The spirit pondered for a bit before happily accepting the name. “Okay! From now on, I’m Jinjin. What’s your name?”

Ling Chenyan coughed and said, “My name is Ling Chenyan, but you can call me by my nickname, Yinye.”

System: […Since when is that your nickname?]

Ling Chenyan ignored it, focusing on the gold-shimmering Jinjin, thinking about how to trick him into coming with her.

Having learned her name, Jinjin spun happily in the air before stopping to ask curiously, “Sister Yinye, why are you with a person from the Demon Race?”

Ling Chenyan’s heart skipped a beat. Her disguise had fooled all the elders of the Lingxiao Sect, yet this little zither spirit had recognized it in a single glance.

No wonder the female lead in the past life noticed something was wrong so quickly after obtaining the zither. It seemed the spirit, having lived through the ancient war, was extremely sensitive to demonic energy.

Ling Chenyan’s brain whirled, and she immediately began her “education” session. “What’s wrong with Demon Race people? There are good and bad people among them too. Look at the cultivators in this world—they all call themselves ‘righteous,’ yet aren’t there many who do bad things for selfish gain every year? If there are bad people among the righteous, why can’t there be good people among the demons?”

Jinjin pouted, thinking for a moment. “You have a point, but it seems this sect doesn’t allow demons in. So why did she come here?”

Ling Chenyan thought: This is my time to shine. She let out a deep, dramatic sigh and said to the puzzled Jinjin, “Jinjin, you have to realize that not everyone is like you—someone who can distinguish right from wrong and knows there are good demons.”

Rule number one: Always give the kid a “high hat” (flattery) first.

“This sect is not as wise as our Jinjin,” Ling Chenyan sighed. “They believe all demons are evil. Because of this, they kidnapped all the little demon children practicing outside and brought them here. Those children were told by their parents to come home quickly before they left. They just wanted to see the world and hadn’t done anything wrong, but they were snatched away just for being demons. Their parents are waiting and waiting, crying until their tears run dry, but the children never return. How pitiful.”

She watched Jinjin’s expression as she spoke. The pure little spirit was already growing angry at the Lingxiao Sect’s behavior. “How can they be so mean!”

Ling Chenyan’s eyes lit up. “Exactly. So, the woman who came with me is here to rescue those kidnapped children. She isn’t a bad person; she just wants to take the children home.”

Jinjin clenched his fists indignantly. “Then let’s take them home! I won’t let the sect find out!”

Ling Chenyan was overjoyed. She patted Jinjin’s head. “Jinjin is so good. I knew you were the most kind and sensible. This will be our little secret, okay?”

Looking at the woman’s smiling face, Jinjin blushed. “Okay! Our little secret!”

Ling Chenyan’s eyes darted around as she continued to lure him. “Since the people in this sect are so bad, if you stay here, you might be forced to do bad things with them. Why not come with me? We can go do good deeds and save all the children in the world together. What do you think?”

She expected Jinjin to be swayed, even if he didn’t agree immediately. Instead, the child looked at her with his dark eyes and said, “But didn’t Sister Yinye just tell me that there are good and bad people everywhere? If there are bad people in the Lingxiao Sect, there must be good people too. Maybe those good people will stop the bad ones from doing mean things.”

“…” Ling Chenyan hadn’t expected the kid to use her own logic against her. She thought for a second, pulled a stick of tanghulu (candied haws) from her storage space, and said, “Jinjin, have this. We can talk while you eat.”

Jinjin took it curiously. “What is this?”

“Tanghulu,” Ling Chenyan said. “It’s sweet and sour, very delicious.”

Jinjin had been here so long he hadn’t even had a drop of water, though as a spirit, he didn’t need to eat. He took a tentative lick of the bright red treat, and his eyes lit up. “It’s yummy!”

Ling Chenyan smiled and patted his head. “Eat as much as you like.”

While Jinjin ate, Ling Chenyan began to strategize. Jinjin clearly didn’t want to leave yet; to him, this was his home, a place he was meant to protect. If she pushed too hard, he might start doubting her. She had plenty of time in the Lingxiao Sect to slowly shake his resolve.

By the time she made up her mind, Jinjin had finished the snack. Seeing his longing expression, she said, “No more for now, or you’ll get cavities. It’s late, and I have to go back or she’ll worry. I’ll come see you again soon, okay?”

Jinjin looked unhappy about her leaving, but he realized that if he didn’t let her go, Yinye couldn’t “go home” either. He nodded reluctantly. “Okay… but when will you come back?”

Ling Chenyan smiled. “Very soon. Maybe tomorrow.”

“Alright. You can go then.”

Jinjin gave her a lingering look and swept his small hand. Golden light enveloped the silver sword.

Ling Chenyan waved at him, then pulled out some more snacks for children and handed them over. “Jinjin, I’ll see you next time!”

“Okay.” Jinjin’s eyes brightened briefly at the food before dimming as he bid her a sad farewell.

The golden light carried Ling Chenyan away. The cave, which had been lively moments ago, felt suddenly empty and terrifyingly quiet.

Before, he could talk to the small stones, touch the moss, watch the ants, or manifest little animals to play with. But now, those things didn’t seem as fun anymore. Jinjin sat there hugging his snacks, tilting his head. She’s so nice to me. Next time she comes, I must be even nicer to her.

But when will Sister Yinye come back?

Jinjin hugged his food and began his wait.

On the other side, when Ling Chenyan opened her eyes, she was back with Guan Luowei.

“Yinye…”

“Search over there, quickly!”

Almost simultaneously, she heard the Big Villain calling her name and the orders of disciples searching outside.

Ling Chenyan looked up in confusion. Guan Luowei was hiding in a tree. Not far ahead was Venerable Chenxu’s cultivation territory, surrounded by disciples carrying torches. There were so many of them, clearly searching for something. It was obvious they were searching for Guan Luowei.

What happened while I was gone?

She looked at Guan Luowei’s face. The woman looked calm, but demonic energy was surging deep within her pupils. Ling Chenyan realized she must have been worried she was lost.

“I’m fine, Master. I was just invited over as a guest by a little friend, and he sent me back after we were done.”

“Mm.” Guan Luowei nodded calmly, but the demonic energy in her eyes didn’t dissipate.

Ling Chenyan looked at the searching disciples and a thought popped into her head: “Master… you didn’t happen to turn this entire mountain peak upside down, did you?”

Otherwise, she couldn’t understand how there was such a massive commotion.

Guan Luowei’s face remained cold. “Not yet. I have yet to search the old man Chenxu’s cave.”

Ling Chenyan: “…” As expected of the Big Villain’s style.

If she had come back any later, the other half of Chenxu’s beard probably wouldn’t have survived.

Author’s Note:

Venerable Chenxu: First of all, I didn’t provoke any of you.