"Father, she's a demon!"
"You wretch! Though Yun Niang is your stepmother, she raised you through bitter hardship day after day, year after year. Never mind that you do not repay her—you even slander her as a demon? I think you've truly gone mad!"
At the dinner table, Ji Qing and his father were locked in yet another argument.
This was not the first time.
Yun Niang said nothing and did not even defend herself, merely shedding silent tears at the side.
At that moment, Yun Niang's daughter, Ji Qing's six-year-old younger sister Ji Yao, glared furiously at him and shouted, "Brother, Mother isn't a demon! I won't allow you to call Mother a demon!"
Ji Qing glanced at his father and sister, then looked coldly at Yun Niang. "You may deceive others, but you can't deceive me. One day, I'll drag you out into the light!"
"You wretch, you utter wretch! Get out! Get out of here!"
His father trembled all over with rage.
Ji Qing said nothing more and turned to leave.
"Master, don't be angry. Qing'er simply has a prejudice against me; it isn't as though you haven't known that these past years. They say being a stepmother is difficult. All these years, I have tried so hard to be a good mother, yet Qing'er... It is all because I failed to bear you a son. If I had borne a son..."
Yun Niang lowered her head and wept.
"Yun Niang, it isn't your fault. This wretch has gone too far. Instead of studying properly all day, he reads those strange tales and miscellaneous books until his mind has become muddled. Don't worry. As long as I am here, this household will not be ruled by that wretch!"
"Someone, confine this wretch to his courtyard. No one is allowed to let him out!"
Master Ji comforted Yun Niang at length, then directly placed Ji Qing under house arrest.
He had once held great hopes for this son, hoping Ji Qing would earn his name on the golden list and obtain an official degree.
Yet after taking several examinations without success, he had become nothing more than a xiucai.
For an ordinary household, becoming a xiucai was not bad at all. But for the Ji Family, a family that had passed down poetry and scholarship through the generations, a mere xiucai degree was far from enough.
A few months ago, Ji Qing had suddenly gone mad for some unknown reason and claimed that his stepmother Yun Niang was a demon, throwing the entire Ji Family into such turmoil that neither chickens nor dogs knew peace and the household could not rest easy.
Ji Qing returned to his room.
He was confined and could go nowhere.
At that moment, the maid Fuqin entered.
"Young Master, you should stop arguing with Master. And do not say such nonsense as calling Madam a demon again. Otherwise, not only will your monthly allowance be withheld, you will also be confined..."
Fuqin carried in a bowl of food.
It was her own meal. Ji Qing had not only been confined today; he had not even been given food.
Ji Qing ate half and left the other half for Fuqin.
Only Ji Qing remained in the room.
A scene from several months ago surfaced in his mind.
At that time, he had only just "transmigrated" into Ji Qing's body. Then one night, he saw his stepmother Yun Niang tear open the flesh and skin of her face and put on another exquisite visage.
In his terror, Ji Qing made a sound and alerted Yun Niang.
Clearly, the real Yun Niang had died long ago. The Yun Niang before him now... was a demon!
Sensing the danger, Ji Qing did not dare pretend that nothing had happened. Otherwise, Yun Niang might very well kill him without a sound.
Thus, Ji Qing made the matter as big as possible.
He proclaimed everywhere that Yun Niang was a demon.
He even invited eminent monks and Daoist priests from within a hundred li to come slay the demon.
Whether those eminent monks and Daoist priests were all frauds with empty reputations, or Yun Niang had hidden herself too deeply, he did not know.
In the end, not a single monk or priest could see that Yun Niang was a demon.
Although Ji Qing's constant commotion enraged his father, it did have an effect. At the very least, Yun Niang did not dare make a move against him lightly.
But as time passed, Ji Qing knew this method could only delay things for a while. He did not have much time left.
If he did not deal with Yun Niang soon, she might truly make a move against him.
Would it not be easy for a demon to make him die suddenly and silently?
Therefore, Ji Qing decided to strike first.
Ji Qing was a scholar, too weak to truss even a chicken.
Though he had practiced martial arts these past few months, the master at the martial arts school he found was mediocre. A few months could not possibly yield much progress.
After weighing his options, Ji Qing decided to use poison!
He knew of an extremely lethal poison—a compound poison that posed no problem when its ingredients were consumed separately.
But once several were mixed together, they became a vicious poison even deadlier than crane's crest red.
Still, poisoning someone required careful planning. Not a single link in the chain could go wrong.
Three days later, Master Ji leaned on his cane and stared coldly at Ji Qing.
"You wretch, hurry up and serve tea to your stepmother."
Ji Qing obediently picked up the teacup from the table and respectfully offered it to Yun Niang with both hands.
On the surface, his father had forcibly "suppressed" him, leaving him no choice but to swallow his grievance and apologize to Yun Niang.
But in truth... this was his chance!
A smile touched Yun Niang's lips as she calmly looked at Ji Qing. She accepted the teacup, took a light sip, and only then set it down.
"Master, Qing'er only spoke nonsense because he is immature. Please lift his confinement. Recently, many of his classmates have invited him to go on spring outings. After refusing several times, Qing'er has lost face before his classmates as well."
Yun Niang spoke up to plead for Ji Qing.
"You wretch, since Yun Niang has pleaded for you, your confinement is lifted. Remember well: you are not to speak such nonsense again!"
Master Ji warned sternly.
Yet Ji Qing did not answer. He merely stared fixedly at Yun Niang.
He silently counted the time in his heart.
He had already secretly made Yun Niang consume the first two poisons.
Now only the final poison remained—the one in the teacup just now.
Separated, the three deadly poisons caused no problems.
But once mixed together, they would take effect in moments and kill her.
"You wretch, what are you staring at Yun Niang for?"
Master Ji frowned, just about to rebuke Ji Qing.
Suddenly, Yun Niang clutched her stomach. Her brows and eyes twisted into a knot, and a pained expression appeared on her face.
"It hurts, Master, my stomach hurts..."
Yun Niang writhed on the ground in agony.
Soon afterward, she vomited a large mouthful of blood.
"Poison... There's poison..."
How could Yun Niang not understand what had happened?
Her eyes locked fiercely onto Ji Qing.
Master Ji also seemed to understand. His eyes widened as though he could not believe it.
"You wretch, you..."
"That's right. I poisoned her. Father, once Yun Niang dies today, she will surely reveal her true form. Then you will know she is a demon!"
Ji Qing admitted it in public.
After all, as long as anyone wished to investigate, discovering that he had poisoned her would not be difficult at all. Denying it outright would serve no purpose.
"You wretch, a true wretch! You actually tried to poison your stepmother to death. This is matricide..."
Master Ji's voice trembled with rage.
He knew Ji Qing held a grudge against Yun Niang, but he had never imagined that Ji Qing had become so utterly heartless and insane that he would murder his mother.
This was an unforgivable capital crime, one of the ten abominations!
Ji Qing said nothing. Things had come to this, and saying more would be useless.
Ji Qing had only one concern now: could these poisons kill a demon?
The facts proved that they could!
Yun Niang ultimately died.
She died vomiting blood.
The instant Yun Niang breathed her last, a rumble erupted in Ji Qing's mind.
Immediately afterward, a mysterious ancient book shining with golden light appeared within his mind.
Three large words were written upon it: Demon Record.
Killed a Skin-Peeling Demon avatar. Obtained one Origin Point.
Ji Qing was startled.
His golden finger had arrived?
For the past few months, Ji Qing had wondered why he had not received a golden finger.
Now it seemed that this golden finger would only activate after he killed demons.
However, Ji Qing had no time to inspect the Demon Record.
He crouched before Yun Niang's corpse and felt around her face, trying to "peel away" the skin she wore.
Yet no matter how he tried, he could not peel off the skin.
That meant he could not prove that Yun Niang was a demon.
"You wretch, a true wretch! You actually dared commit matricide? What misfortune for this family! Someone, bind this unfilial son and send him to the Government Authorities!"
Master Ji's heart twisted as though it were being cut apart.
Ji Qing had publicly poisoned his stepmother to death. Even if Master Ji wanted to cover it up, he could not.
After all, a life had been lost—and it was such a shocking, unforgivable crime.
How could he possibly cover it up?
"Mother... What happened to you? Mother..."
Ji Yao lay over Yun Niang's corpse, weeping as though she were dead and brought back to life again.
"What a fine Skin-Peeling Demon... Is this how you intended to get rid of me?"
"The demon is not dead. Only an avatar has died. You must still be hiding in Ji Manor!"
Ji Qing's sharp gaze swept across everyone present one by one.
Suddenly, the Demon Record in Ji Qing's mind shook violently and blazed with light.
Ji Qing abruptly fixed his eyes on a rough maidservant.
He could even seem to see the mocking amusement in the maidservant's eyes.
"You..."
Ji Qing tried to pounce on the maidservant, but several household guards seized and pinned him down.
"Young Master, forgive us."
The household guards tied Ji Qing up and, following Master Ji's orders, directly escorted him to the Government Authorities.
P.S. New book launch—please bookmark and keep reading!