Childhood Sweetheart Turns into a Demon

It was true!

Grandpa was a demon!

"Creak, creak, creak..."

The sound kept coming from inside the room, making his scalp prickle. It sounded as though sharp fingernails were scraping against a skull, continually shaving off splinters of bone, like heavy hammers pounding against Lu Jun's heart.

Lu Jun now knew where the sound came from. It was made by the hideous demon on the bed as it ground its teeth.

No wonder Grandpa had been decocting medicine for him every night lately.

He had been trying to drug him unconscious!

No wonder Grandpa had always refused to let him enter his room.

So this was where the whole truth lay!

Kill him or not?

Lu Jun was torn between Heaven and man.

After thinking for less than half a stick of incense, Lu Jun reached a decision.

Kill!!!

You're a demon!

Why the hell should I still talk to you?

You're a demon!

You raised me this big, so you must have ulterior motives!

If I don't kill you, my Dao heart will never be at peace!

After hesitating for a moment, Lu Jun quickly went to the kitchen and picked up a woodcutter's knife.

"Perfect. Grandpa sharpened it after killing a chicken this afternoon. It's nice and sharp!"

When Lu Jun returned to Grandpa's door, he suddenly stopped.

Grandpa's demonic form had vanished without a trace.

Only a rotten old man remained on the bed, snoring away.

Lu Jun looked at the knife in his hand, then at the old man on the bed.

Memories from the past eighteen years surged through his mind. They were familiar, yet carried a strange sense of unfamiliarity.

Lu Jun stayed awake all night, but did not strike.

He was worried he might have seen wrong.

Even if the possibility was extremely slight.

He still did not dare to gamble.

Lu Jun waited, waiting for Grandpa to reveal his true form before him with his own eyes.

Then he could kill him without the slightest pressure.

The next morning, Grandpa once again ambled out of his room, acting as though nothing had happened.

Looking at the Grandpa before him, Lu Jun felt an absurd sense of unfamiliarity, as though he were meeting him for the first time.

"What's wrong? Why are you so listless first thing in the morning?" Grandpa walked over and asked Lu Jun.

"Nothing..." Lu Jun's gaze drifted. "I had a nightmare last night and didn't sleep well..."

"Tsk." Grandpa curled his lips. Then realization dawned on him, and a familiar, shameless grin appeared on his face. "I see..."

"The boy's grown up... That's right, you're just about old enough to get married."

"Huazi's daughter seems to like you quite a bit. After a while, I'll take you over to propose."

Looking at the old man's familiar mannerisms, Lu Jun wore a complicated expression.

The Huang Pi Dao Master's shrine stood in the center of the village. It was said to have been built many years ago with the manpower and resources of the entire village. Even the materials had been transported from the town, or perhaps from a prefecture even farther away.

It could be called the grandest building in this remote mountain village.

By the time Lu Jun and the old man from his household arrived, the inside of the Huang Pi Dao Master's shrine was already packed with people.

The old man carried a live chicken, its entire body tightly bound. It was meant to be offered in sacrifice to the Huang Pi Dao Master.

Basically, every household had to bring some kind of offering.

Absentmindedly, Lu Jun followed the old man into the shrine and sat down in a suitable spot.

However, Lu Jun might not have noticed that after he passed each villager, that villager would twitch their nose, turn around, and stare fixedly at Lu Jun's back. Their throats would bob as they swallowed saliva, and their eyes would roil with a strange desire.

Then they whispered among themselves.

"That boy from Fourth Master Huang's house is damn handsome!"

"Yeah, and he smells so good... I'm really afraid I won't be able to control myself..."

"What? You've been affected too?"

"Of course. How many people in the whole village haven't been affected? I have to chain myself up every night when I sleep, in case something bad happens."

"..."

The villagers gathered together and discussed in hushed voices, occasionally glancing at Lu Jun, who sat in the distant corner.

Lu Jun was very handsome, famous throughout the nearby villages as a beautiful young man.

Today, he wore a simple brown garment made of coarse hemp, along with loose coarse-hemp trousers and straw sandals. His jet-black hair was casually tied back with a grass rope, giving him the quintessential look of a country youth.

Yet his lips were red and his teeth white, his features handsome, and his skin so fair that it was even paler than many of the village girls'. He had none of the roughness or coarseness one would expect from someone raised in the countryside. His especially charming peach-blossom eyes seemed capable of making even a dog look beloved.

He often drew people's attention and discussion.

But today...

The villagers whispering clearly were not merely discussing how handsome Lu Jun was. They were also talking about something else...

Lu Jun sat in the corner of the shrine with those his age, frowning slightly as the smell of burned spirit money and incense drifted constantly into his nose.

The old man, meanwhile, sat with several other village elders, chatting and laughing merrily.

Lu Jun's mind was filled with countless thoughts, yet he stared blankly at the shrine's central altar.

Upon it sat the village's sacrificial deity, the Huang Pi Dao Master, solemn and majestic, its head covered by a black veil.

As for why the Huang Pi Dao Master's head was covered with a black veil, the villagers put it this way: deities possessed innate majesty and could not be looked at directly, coveted, or peeped at...

Since losing his memory, this was the third time he had attended the ancestral shrine's sacrificial ceremony. Today was the month's "Dark Day," the final sacrifice at the end of the month.

"Brother A-Jun, what's wrong? You don't look well."

A light voice came from beside him, and Lu Jun instinctively looked over.

The speaker was a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl dressed in a brown ruqun, with delicate features. Although her skin was not as fair and tender as Lu Jun's, it was exceptionally pale for a girl from a mountain village deep in these mountains.

If Lu Jun was the village's "village hunk," then the girl before him was its "village belle."

The girl was Uncle Huazi's daughter, Huang Ni'er, Lu Jun's childhood sweetheart.

Upon seeing the girl, the tension in Lu Jun's expression eased slightly, and he forced out a faint smile. "Nothing. I just didn't sleep well last night."

Huang Ni'er sat down beside Lu Jun. Her little face flushed as she gazed at his profile, silently thinking, Brother A-Jun is really handsome...

Looking at Huang Ni'er beside him, Lu Jun's thoughts churned.

Lu Jun had some confidence in his own abilities. If she was willing to cooperate and help him use some methods to force Grandpa to reveal his true form...

Then he could kill Grandpa with a clear conscience.

Lu Jun's eyes lit up.

The monthly sacrificial ceremony for the Huang Pi Dao Master, held on the Dark Day at the end of each month, usually lasted an entire day.

In the morning, they worshiped the deity. At noon, the villagers gathered together to prepare a communal meal made from every household's contributions. In the evening, the village held other activities.

By now, the older villagers had begun gathering to prepare the midday meal.

Taking advantage of nobody paying attention, Lu Jun hurriedly dragged Huang Ni'er into a secluded reed bed in the village after the sacrifice to the Huang Pi Dao Master.

"Oh my, Brother A-Jun, what is it? Why are you in such a hurry..."

Huang Ni'er's pretty face was flushed. She tilted her head up at the tall, handsome young man before her, the affection in her eyes spreading like silk.

At the same time, her thoughts were also in turmoil.

The day before yesterday, when Fourth Master Huang came to my house to buy wine, he even told Father that after a while, he would come over to propose to Brother A-Jun...

Could it be that Brother A-Jun came to ask for my opinion?

What opinion could I have...? It would be nothing more than following the orders of our parents and the matchmaker...

As for whether I like him, of course I like him a little...

Brother A-Jun is handsome... and he gives off such a pleasant scent...

"..."

At that thought, Huang Ni'er's face grew even more bashful.

At that moment, Lu Jun spoke, his expression grave as he stared fixedly at Huang Ni'er.

"Ni'er, I have something extremely important to tell you!"

"At the same time, I hope you can keep it secret and help me!"

Huang Ni'er nodded, her face flushed.

Lu Jun arched his brows.

No, girl, why are you blushing like a kettle of bubbling tea?

My amnesia's acting up again. Weird phrases are popping into my head.

Lu Jun organized his thoughts, then said, "Ni'er, have you ever heard of demons?"

"Huh?" Huang Ni'er froze. She looked somewhat disappointed, but still replied, "I've heard Father mention them before. Demons are monsters with strange supernatural abilities, and they treat the Human Race as food. They're very frightening."

Lu Jun nodded, his expression turning solemn. "Ni'er, what I'm about to say is important. You absolutely cannot tell anyone else."

Huang Ni'er nodded resolutely.

Lu Jun said gravely, "Actually, I suspect the old man in my household is a demon."

"Huh?" Huang Ni'er froze again, then burst into laughter. "Brother A-Jun, stop joking around..."

"It's true!" Lu Jun's voice rose a little. "I saw it with my own eyes last night."

Huang Ni'er's expression instantly grew tense. "Brother A-Jun, you... don't scare me!"

"How could Fourth Master Huang be a demon..."

Lu Jun briefly recounted what had happened the previous night.

The fear on Huang Ni'er's face deepened, and she pressed her body against Lu Jun's shoulder.

"Could you have been having a nightmare..."

Huang Ni'er spoke timidly.

"Impossible..." Lu Jun said with certainty.

The image of Grandpa's demonic form had been etched clearly into his mind the previous night.

He had guarded Grandpa's door all night without sleeping!

Unfortunately, Grandpa had not transformed into a demon in the latter half of the night. Otherwise, he would have charged in and hacked him to death.

"Brother A-Jun, didn't you say you saw Fourth Master Huang turn into a demon...?" Huang Ni'er asked curiously. "So what did the demon he turned into look like?"

Lu Jun began recalling the appearance of the demon on the bed in his house the previous night. "Well, how should I put it? Its entire body was covered in fine yellow fur, and it had a very long yellow-brown tail. Its claws were extremely sharp... Especially its face."

"Its face jutted forward, a little like a yellow weasel... That's right, a yellow weasel. It was practically a humanoid yellow weasel."

Huang Ni'er listened to Lu Jun's description, then lowered her head and fell silent.

Lu Jun grew anxious and hurriedly said, "Ni'er, you don't believe me?"

Huang Ni'er gently shook her lowered head. "No, Brother A-Jun. I believe you."

Suddenly, Huang Ni'er raised her head, revealing a pure and radiant smile.

Yet Lu Jun suddenly felt a pang of discomfort.

No matter how he looked at it, that smile was far too standard. The upward curve of the corners of her mouth and the precisely displayed eight teeth were all perfectly measured.

Such a flawless smile made Lu Jun feel that something about it was false.

It resembled the smile of some animal pretending to be human in order to curry favor with the Human Race.

It was disgusting, loathsome, and physically unsettling.

Lu Jun looked away.

"Brother A-Jun, I believe you."

Upon seeing Lu Jun avert his gaze, Huang Ni'er's smile grew even brighter, and the opening of her mouth widened further.

"Because I'm like this too..."

Lu Jun's heart suddenly skipped a beat. He instinctively snapped his gaze toward Huang Ni'er.

"Huh? Ni'er, what did you just say..." Lu Jun thought he had misheard.

"Brother A-Jun, I said that I'm like this too..."

The corners of Huang Ni'er's mouth continued to rise, stretching almost to the back of her head. Her originally pure and pretty face began to jut forward.

Her body kept growing taller, quickly surpassing Lu Jun's height of nearly six chi—almost six feet, or about 1.88 meters, by Song measurements. She even rose a full head above him.

The Huang Ni'er before him had completely transformed into a gigantic yellow-weasel demon, standing stark naked before him.