Transmigrated as the Villain’s Sword - Chapter 46

The Demon Race was shrouded in the “Nightmare” curse. This technique wasn’t particularly visible when a person was awake—at most, they were surrounded by darkness—but once they fell asleep, the nightmare clung to them like maggots on a bone. It dragged the sleeper back to the most painful moments of their memory, making them relive the trauma repeatedly until their emotions spiraled. Ultimately, they would become obsessed with the dream and never wake up again.

Because of this, several demons had already died the previous night. Their faces bore expressions of liberation as they passed, as if they had finally pulled themselves out of the mire of pain and sunk into eternal slumber.

The Old Demon Emperor and the core members of the clan consulted for an entire day, flipping through ancient demon records and various archives from the cultivation world. They found only three solutions:

The caster voluntarily dispels it.

Use the ancient Divine Artifact, the Heart-Seeking Mirror, to break the nightmare.

A person with an exceptionally strong will enters the nightmare with their demonic sense to confront the caster; if they win, the nightmare unravels.

However, the caster was dead, making the first and third options impossible. The only viable path was to borrow the Heart-Seeking Mirror.

As a result, a heated debate broke out within the clan. The Heart-Seeking Mirror was currently held by the Monster Race, and while the demons and monsters harbored no explicit hatred, they had historically never associated with one another. Like the demons, the monsters were a proud and powerful race that believed only in strength; they looked down upon the human style of social etiquette and diplomacy.

Consequently, there was a disagreement over who should be sent to the Monster Race.

Finally, Guan Luowei stood up and said, “I will go.”

The people in the Demon Hall fell silent. After much deliberation, they realized Guan Luowei was indeed the most suitable candidate, but no one had dared to suggest it. Now that she had volunteered, no one opposed, and the matter was settled.

Once everyone else had left, the Old Emperor looked at her with concern. “Weiwei, how are your injuries?”

Guan Luowei shook her head. “It is no great matter.”

The Old Emperor walked slowly to her side. Looking at her thin shoulders, his heart couldn’t help but ache. He patted her shoulder and said, “Weiwei, if your wounds aren’t healed, I will hand this task over to someone else.”

He knew his granddaughter; she had been resilient since childhood and never cried out when hurt, always enduring in silence. Because her shoulders carried so much weight, she felt she couldn’t be weak.

A thousand words turned into a long, low sigh. The Old Emperor looked at her pure profile with paternal love. “Weiwei, take care of everything. If something happens, tell your grandfather. I will wait for you to return to the Demon Realm.”

Guan Luowei turned her head, suddenly realizing that the Old Emperor’s sideburns had turned white at some unknown point. After a silence, she said, “Alright. Grandfather, you take care as well.”

The Old Emperor laughed. “I will certainly take care. I’m still waiting to hold my great-granddaughter, hahahaha! When you return this time, you can’t push it off anymore.”

Guan Luowei shook her head helplessly. “Fine.”

The Old Emperor watched his granddaughter’s receding back, a trace of sadness slowly appearing in his eyes before he let out a low sigh. Finally, in the vast Demon Hall, only he remained.

The mission to the Monster Race was urgent. Guan Luowei packed simply and prepared to leave with Ling Chenyan. Just as they were exiting the Demon domain, two voices called out to her simultaneously.

Guan Luowei paused and turned to see Zong Xian and Tong Di rushing over with travel bags. Both were sweating profusely, but their eyes were incredibly bright. “Highness, take us with you!”

Guan Luowei looked at their bags and said flatly, “Is this His Majesty’s intent?”

The two looked at each other, one looking left and the other right, stammering, “Uhh… more or less.”

“More or less?” Guan Luowei looked at them playfully and pulled out her communicator. “Perhaps I should ask His Majesty right now.”

“Wait!”

“Highness…”

Guan Luowei narrowed her eyes at them, her gaze shifting to Tong Di. “Speak.”

Tong Di scratched his head, looking at the sky and the ground, and finally at his toes. “No, we didn’t sneak out without His Majesty knowing, nor did we plan to follow you secretly if you said no, and we definitely didn’t—mmph mmph mmph!”

Before he could finish, Zong Xian shoved a piece of fruit into his mouth with a cold face. She looked at Guan Luowei with a flickering gaze. “Highness, please let us come. The Demon Realm has other Division Chiefs, but we truly don’t feel at ease letting you go to the Monster Race alone.”

She spoke sincerely, and Tong Di, his mouth blocked, nodded along vigorously. Guan Luowei thought for a moment, then turned her gaze to the girl beside her.

“What do you think?”

The two pair of eyes immediately landed on Ling Chenyan, so bright it seemed they would start crying on the spot if she refused.

Ling Chenyan’s brow twitched. she ground her teeth and shot a glance at Guan Luowei. She really knows how to handle things—tossing the difficult question to me.

Besides, didn’t Guan Luowei realize these two were technically her love rivals?

Love rivals?

Ling Chenyan paused, a realization flashing in her eyes. Wait, is this woman doing this on purpose?

Ling Chenyan looked at the two waiting expectantly, then at the composed Guan Luowei. After a moment of thought, she said, “Fine. Let’s go together. We can look out for each other on the road.”

Ling Chenyan didn’t make the decision out of spite; she genuinely felt that since these two had decent cultivation, they could handle matters that she and Guan Luowei might find inconvenient. Moreover, if they were to meet the Monster King, wouldn’t it look poor for the Demon Princess to arrive alone, as if the Demon Race had no people?

As soon as the words fell, Tong Di struck an excited pose and winked at Ling Chenyan. “I knew I didn’t misjudge you!”

Zong Xian also felt a bit more favorable toward this “useless little sword spirit.” Although they were rivals, she admired the girl’s inclusiveness. She cupped her hands and said, “My thanks.”

Guan Luowei didn’t comment on the decision. She just glanced at the girl and said to the other two, “Find time to explain this to His Majesty yourselves on the way.”

With that, she summoned the Wind-Riding Ship and stepped aboard first.

The fastest way to the Monster Race was via teleportation arrays, with the nearest one in Jinghe City. Traveling there together on foot would be exhausting, so the ship saved them some demonic energy.

They reached Jinghe City in less than half a day. Upon disembarking, Tong Di and Zong Xian intended to head straight for the teleportation point, but Guan Luowei said, “Let’s rest for a moment before continuing.”

The two stopped, assuming the Princess was tired, and agreed without a second thought. Guan Luowei stood in the city, squinting at her surroundings. After a moment, she turned to Ling Chenyan. “What do you want to eat?”

Ling Chenyan had nearly fainted on the ship; now that she was on land, she had no appetite. She shook her head with a pale face. “Can’t eat.”

Guan Luowei looked at her complexion, froze for a second, then said, “Transform into a sword.”

Ling Chenyan was confused but complied. In the next instant, she felt light as she was placed in someone’s palm. Guan Luowei looked at the “wilting” sword and whispered, “Would you like some tea?”

Once transformed, Ling Chenyan didn’t have to walk anymore. She lay flat lazily and said, “Anything is fine.”

Guan Luowei nodded. She looked at the two behind her, who wore varied expressions, and said, “To the teahouse.”

Tong Di reacted quickly, nudging Zong Xian who was staring dazed at Guan Luowei. “Right!”

Zong Xian snapped out of it, her gaze darkening as she replied, “Yes.”

The teahouse Guan Luowei chose was the same one as before. The three sat by the window in their bamboo hats, ordered a pot of premium tea, and quietly listened to the local news.

Two people at the next table happened to be talking about the Lingxiao Immortal Sect. The three listened in unison.

“Hey, brother, heard about the Lingxiao and Zither Sects?”

“You mean…” the man lowered his voice, “…their ancestral graves being bombed?”

Tong Di nearly spat out his tea. He swallowed hard, coughed a few times, and said with a flushed face, “Which badass did that? That is way too intense!”

Guan Luowei looked up at Tong Di, a trace of a smile appearing on her lips as she actually replied to him: “It must have been someone quite extraordinary.”

“More than extraordinary—they did a great job!” Tong Di felt a surge of satisfaction and continued listening.

“According to the Lingxiao Sect, it was the work of the demons.”

“What? The demons? That’s too arrogant! Who could endure their ancestral graves being bombed?”

“They have to endure it. Don’t you know? Three of their Ancestors have already fallen to the demons. Sigh, the demons act too recklessly; the world will fall into chaos because of them sooner or later!”

Tong Di stopped listening to the rest. Hearing that it was blamed on the demons, he let out a cold snort. “Seems like every bucket of sh*t gets dumped on our heads. Even if the Lingxiao Sect loses a single turd, it’s because the demons stole it.”

Guan Luowei glanced at him but said nothing. Zong Xian, however, frowned. “Indeed. Furthermore, people everywhere are now mimicking the demons’ actions and leaving demonic energy behind. This matter is certainly not simple.”

The three were silent for a moment when the voices from the next table returned.

“Who says it isn’t? I heard news a few days ago—across the eastern continent, many sects have had incidents of supposed ‘demons’ entering and killing people. Many sects are joining together to demand an explanation.”

“Are the demons really that arrogant? Have they forgotten that a hundred years ago, they were nearly exterminated because they provoked the wrath of the cultivation world?”

“They are a different race; their hearts are bound to be different. I reckon if the demons don’t restrain themselves and things keep escalating, the tragedy of a century ago might repeat itself.”

“Bam!” Tong Di slammed his tea cup onto the table. Just as he was about to argue with the two, a cold voice stopped him.

“Tong Di.” Guan Luowei looked up from the white veil of her hat, her cold phoenix eyes revealed.

Tong Di’s standing body froze. Under the startled gaze of the crowd, he didn’t know whether to move or sit. Finally, he just shouted, “Waiter! The tea is gone! Bring more!”

Then he plopped back down, looking quite “anti-climactic.” The crowd looked away in confusion. The two speakers gave him a look, said “He’s crazy,” and continued their hushed conversation.

Tong Di was gnashing his teeth in rage, but there was nothing he could do.

Once the three (and the sword) were rested, they left the teahouse and headed for the teleportation array. Tong Di was still indignant about the man’s words. By the time they entered the array, Ling Chenyan had a headache from the noise.

“Tong Di, at this rate, I should have only agreed to let Chief Zong come along,” she said.

“Hey! I don’t like the sound of that!” Just as Tong Di was about to defend himself, Guan Luowei gave him a cool look and said, “I agree.”

Tong Di: “…”

The air finally fell quiet. Guan Luowei focused on the journey. Tong Di made a face and whispered to Zong Xian, “Highness really knows how to be partial to the little swordy.”

Zong Xian had been out of it for a while. Hearing this, she looked at Guan Luowei. Seeing her speaking softly and gently to the silver sword in her hand, her eyes dimmed once more.

The group traveled via teleportation arrays for nearly ten days before they finally neared the Monster Domain. By now, Ling Chenyan had recovered and stood in human form beside Guan Luowei. Tong Di stretched and complained, “Finally almost there. My bones are turning soft.”

Zong Xian glanced at him but didn’t respond. Over the past few days, the more she saw Guan Luowei’s kindness toward the girl, the more bitter she felt. Ten days later, she had even lost weight. Now that they were near the Monster Domain, she finally relaxed.

But as it turns out, when traveling, one can never let their guard down.

Just as everyone relaxed, the teleportation array suddenly shook violently. Guan Luowei reacted almost instantly, reaching out to grab Ling Chenyan. At that same moment, a very faint wisp of demonic energy pushed against the girl.

Guan Luowei’s fair fingertips brushed against the girl’s sleeve. She watched helplessly as Ling Chenyan vanished into the array. After a dizzying rotation, Guan Luowei was also thrown out of the array.

On the other side, as Ling Chenyan fell out of the array, she unfortunately hit her head on the ground and fainted. Before losing consciousness, she vaguely saw a figure in a bright red dress walking slowly toward her.