Transmigrated as the Villain’s Sword - Chapter 15

When Ling Chenyan said that, Li Xiu’s sword spirit happened to be nearby. He let out a snort of derision and said to Ling Chenyan, “Coward.”

Ling Chenyan blinked and shot back, “But my master is willing to protect me.”

The sword spirit sneered. “We are born to be swords; we exist to protect our masters. To actually need your master to protect you… you’re a disgrace to all sword spirits.”

Ling Chenyan: “Born to be a sword, I’m sorry. But there’s nothing I can do about it—my master is willing.”

Sword Spirit: “…” Damn it.

“What’s so great about that? My master even hand-made a sword tassel for me!” Li Xiu’s sword spirit shook the slightly crude tassel on his hilt, showing off.

Ling Chenyan really wanted to say that she had even given Guan Luowei a dowry, but she didn’t dare. Instead, she looked at Guan Luowei with pitiful eyes and said coquettishly, “Master, I want one too~”

Guan Luowei, who had listened to the entire real-time broadcast of the two swords’ conversation: “…”

She glanced at Ling Chenyan but didn’t say a word.

Li Xiu’s sword spirit left with a triumphant air, swaggering off to find his master.

Although Ling Chenyan huffed to show she was unhappy, she didn’t take it to heart. She had only mentioned it on a whim; Guan Luowei not agreeing was expected. After all, the idea of the Great Villain making a sword tassel for her was simply too far-fetched.

The small town was now completely shrouded in thick fog. Even the buildings were reduced to mere sharp silhouettes, as if foreshadowing a major event tonight.

Guan Luowei and the others had split into two groups. Senior Sister Liu Su and Zhang Cheng went out to scout, while the task of protecting the inn was left to Guan Luowei, Li Xiu, and the others.

Compared to going out to scout, staying here was clearly more dangerous.

The three remaining disciples guarded the outside of the inn, each responsible for one direction. Aside from Guan Luowei, the other two looked quite solemn. The fog was so heavy it felt as if it were pressing the air out of their lungs.

The night grew darker, like a clump of thick ink that couldn’t be thinned, squeezing together until it almost dripped.

Ling Chenyan hid behind Guan Luowei, her blade shivering. “Master, it’s a bit too cold, isn’t it?”

Guan Luowei glanced at her, then condensed some “spiritual energy” onto her fingertips and pressed them against the hilt. “Endure it; it will be better in a moment.”

With that “energy,” Ling Chenyan felt much warmer. Seeing that the monster still hadn’t appeared, she felt both nervous and afraid. Just as she was about to wander into the inn to take a look, she heard Guan Luowei whisper, “It’s here.”

The fog suddenly intensified. The previously lively air went dead silent, as if something terrifying was slowly emerging from the depths of the darkness.

Guan Luowei was the first to realize it had arrived. Through the thick mist, she saw the monster.

Pitch-black, cold, and vile—like a moving mass of viscous sludge. She couldn’t sense a single spark of life from it, only endless silence and sinister evil. Under the cover of the fog, it approached them slowly and quietly—or more accurately, it approached the inn. Just like the rumors said, this thing didn’t seem to want to harm them; it only intended to drag away two pregnant women.

Guan Luowei didn’t shout a warning. However, when it was only a few steps away from the inn, Li Xiu finally discovered its presence.

“It’s there!” Li Xiu shouted coldly and was the first to fly out with his sword.

Li Si and Guan Luowei stayed behind, watching Li Xiu engage the monster.

Upon seeing the monster’s true form, Li Si couldn’t help but feel a wave of dizziness. He grit his teeth, trying to hold his position, but in that instant, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted.

Ling Chenyan looked at the person who had suddenly collapsed, startled. “Why did he go down? It wasn’t even his turn to fight yet!”

“Too weak,” Guan Luowei said. “Looking at this monster’s true form for too long will cause inner demons to surface. Those with insufficient cultivation will end up like him.”

There was one sentence Guan Luowei didn’t say aloud: this was based on the premise that the monster didn’t want to hurt them. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have just fainted.

The battle between Li Xiu and the monster grew fierce. The people inside the inn seemed to realize something was happening outside; the previously noisy building went silent in an instant.

Wang Er stared nervously at the two figures fighting outside the window, his heart in his throat. He hoped these cultivators could hold on.

Ling Chenyan watched Li Xiu strike at the monster. Every time the blade went out and returned, it was coated in a thick, black, viscous substance. She didn’t know what it was, but she felt that being stuck with that stuff would be miserable.

“Master, later… I mean, if Li Xiu can’t beat that monster, how are you going to fight it?” Ling Chenyan thought weakly. Surely she won’t have to use me to hack at that sludge like Li Xiu is doing.

However, Guan Luowei merely let out a soft chuckle. “If a Senior Brother at the Gold Core stage can’t win, how could I?”

After all, she was currently just a Junior Sister in the middle stage of Foundation Building.

Ling Chenyan was stunned. “Then… then you’re just going to ignore those pregnant women?”

Guan Luowei gazed at the two figures in the distance and didn’t answer, only saying, “Li Xiu is about to lose.”

Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, Li Xiu was sent flying backward, spitting blood. His sword flew out and embedded itself in a building. He forced himself to stand up and sent a transmission to Guan Luowei: “Junior Sister, go back and bring reinforcements quickly. I’ll hold them here.”

With that, he charged back in. The result was obvious: Li Xiu was sent flying again. This time, the viscous, cold mass lost its patience. It met Li Xiu’s eyes with its own red pupils, giving him no chance to charge again.

Li Xiu’s sword spirit was also frantic, calling out to Ling Chenyan, “Take your master and go! This thing is too dangerous! Go back for help!”

The unconscious Li Xiu and his sword spirit were both telling them to run. Clearly, they believed the current situation was beyond their control. But seeing the mass of sludge getting closer and closer to the inn’s door, Ling Chenyan looked at Guan Luowei anxiously.

Guan Luowei turned around, preparing to leave.

“Master!” Ling Chenyan called to her. “Aren’t we going to save them?”

Guan Luowei paused. “Senior Brother told me to go back for reinforcements.”

That meant she wasn’t going to save them.

Ling Chenyan didn’t know why Guan Luowei was acting this way, but she couldn’t just leave those women to their deaths.

Fine, I’m a sword anyway. Hacking at this thing shouldn’t hurt, right?

Just as Guan Luowei was about to walk away, the “silly sword” beside her vanished with a whoosh. Her expression changed, and she turned to see the silver sword already plunged into the back of the mass, causing black sludge to spray out.

It was wounded.

The next second, a cold and evil aura suddenly enveloped Ling Chenyan. The freezing, suffocating air felt like a skeletal hand gripping her throat.

Clearly, it had been provoked by Ling Chenyan.

Just as the monster was about to furiously crush the silver sword, an aura so powerful it made the creature tremble snatched the sword from its grasp and delivered a fatal blow.

The sword was retrieved, and the monster’s body flew uncontrollably into the sky, exploding with a bang like a firework.

The thick mist dissipated, revealing a corner of the gray-blue sky. The sky was filled with black viscous matter, drifting down like dark rain.

Guan Luowei raised a barrier. She looked at the sword in her hand, about to speak, when she heard the silver sword let out a “Wow.”

“Wow, it exploded! It looked like a firework, just a bit smelly.”

Guan Luowei stared at the sword, dazed. For the first time, she began to wonder what the soul inside the sword actually looked like.

Before she could snap out of it, the girl’s crisp laughter rang in her ear again: “Master, I knew you would come save me.”

She knew all along?

Guan Luowei regained her composure and narrowed her eyes at her. “So, you intentionally put yourself in danger?”

Ling Chenyan: “…” Cuiguo, slap my mouth.

“How could that be?” Ling Chenyan said guiltily. “I was just a bit anxious and didn’t think too much. You didn’t want to bother with them because, to a cultivator, human lives are like grass. I can understand you, Master, but I can’t do it.”

She was a good youth of the 21st century; she couldn’t stand by and watch people die when she had the power to help. But she knew that Guan Luowei would definitely save her.

Guan Luowei listened intently to every word the girl said. After she finished, the woman let out a helpless sigh. “Who said I wasn’t going to help them?”

Now it was Ling Chenyan’s turn to be stunned. “But didn’t you say you were going back for reinforcements?”

Guan Luowei’s gaze flickered, seemingly finding it a bit hard to explain. After a long while, she said, “The explosion would be smelly and poisonous. I wanted to lure it out before finishing it.”

Ling Chenyan: “…?”

“But it was almost inside the inn. How were you going to lure it out?”

“I strengthened the array. It would have been heavily injured.”

“But how did you know it would definitely chase you?”

“I didn’t,” Guan Luowei glanced at Ling Chenyan and said softly. “I would have chased it.”

Ling Chenyan: “…So, you don’t actually view human lives like grass? You weren’t going to ignore them? You only didn’t strike here because the smelly sludge would affect the townspeople?”

Ling Chenyan’s mood soared. “Master, you’re so good!”

Guan Luowei felt a bit uncomfortable at the praise. She masked her smile with a fist. Just as she was about to speak, she spotted a sneaky-looking sword out of the corner of her eye.

She narrowed her eyes, reached out, and snatched the sword into her hand, her expression clearing. “So it was you.”

Ling Chenyan looked over and saw Li Xiu’s sword spirit.

Right now, it was shivering and giving Ling Chenyan a “thumbs up,” with a miserable smile. “Sword brother, you’re… so… so brave.”

Ling Chenyan ignored its flattery. “Did you see everything?”

She was referring to Guan Luowei’s true strength and the demonic energy she used. Sentient artifacts were most sensitive to such things.

“No, no, no!” Li Xiu’s sword spirit shook its hilt like a rattle. “I can also pretend I saw nothing.”

It stole a glance at Guan Luowei and said to Ling Chenyan, “Sword brother, I… uh… I have things to do. I’ll head off first!”

Guan Luowei silently tightened her grip. Just as the sword spirit was about to be crushed, Ling Chenyan suddenly said, “How about this? Swear an oath to the Heavens and call me ‘Big Brother,’ and we’ll spare your life.”

Guan Luowei’s hand paused. The sword spirit said quickly, “That… isn’t that a bit inappropriate?”

If it called her “Big Brother,” it would mean they were in the same boat. If it told on her, it would be implicated too.

“Oh, forget it then,” Ling Chenyan said. “Master, go ahead.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” The sword spirit was practically crying. “I’ll do it! I’ll do it, okay?!”

A moment later, Ling Chenyan watched the sword spirit go back to its unconscious master in tears. She turned and offered Guan Luowei a smile. It was then she realized that Guan Luowei’s gaze had been fixed on her for some time.

The dark rain had stopped falling, but Guan Luowei still held the barrier over the two of them. It was like a small, solitary world in the midst of a storm—no matter how hard the wind blew or the rain fell outside, the place she was in was a safe harbor.

Author’s Note:

Monster: You’re so noble, you’re so pure. You used my corpse as a firework to make your wife happy.