Chapter 13

"Demon girl! She's a demon girl!"

"The demon girl has brought chaos to the human realm. Her crime deserves death!"

"Kill! Whoever takes the demon girl's head today will receive an earth-rank cultivation technique! Kill her!"

Song Zhizhi froze for a moment. She remembered now—her name was Song Zhizhi. She was on the battlefield of the Human-Demon War, a half-demon whose mother had been killed by human cultivators. Before dying, her mother had told her to seek refuge with her father.

But on her way there, her identity had been discovered. Cultivators regarded demons as floods and savage beasts, showing no mercy when dealing with them, even though she was only a half-demon.

Song Zhizhi's face turned deathly pale. She spun around and ran deeper into the dense forest, while those behind her pursued relentlessly, as if they would catch her the very next second.

Thinking of her Demon Race companions being skinned, stripped of sinew, and picked to the bone while still alive by humans, Song Zhizhi did not dare pause for even a moment. Though she was half-demon, she still had demon bones.

A fierce desire to survive erupted within Song Zhizhi: She could not let them catch her! She did not want to die!

Wind rose beneath her feet, and her speed became three parts faster than before. Gradually, she shook off her pursuers.

Song Zhizhi sighed in relief. Only then did she feel every tendon and vein in her body throbbing with pain. She had run too fast just now, exhausting the spiritual power within her.

Using the last of her strength, Song Zhizhi found a concealed cave, then lost consciousness.

When she woke again, she found herself lying in a crude room. Her wounds had clearly been treated.

Movement sounded outside the room. Song Zhizhi clutched the blanket with both hands and watched the doorway warily.

The door was pushed open a crack. Golden evening sunlight spilled in, laying a warm halo over the person entering.

The newcomer was a young man dressed in coarse cloth. His features were ordinary, but he possessed a pair of gleaming phoenix eyes. Carrying a bowl of bitter-smelling medicine, he walked in. When he saw that Song Zhizhi was awake, his brows curved with delight. His shining phoenix eyes made his originally average appearance far more striking. "Miss, you're awake? That's wonderful!"

Song Zhizhi looked into his eyes. A blurred face seemed to flash through her mind, but it passed too quickly for her to grasp.

Song Zhizhi remained silent, watching the unfamiliar man guardedly. "Who are you? Why am I here?"

The man's face reddened slightly. "Miss, I am Zhu Nanjia. Yesterday, while gathering herbs in the mountains, I happened to find you unconscious there, so I brought you back to my home."

"M-Miss's injuries... I invited a female physician to bandage them."

Looking at his crimson ears and his stammering from embarrassment, Song Zhizhi found him strangely familiar. At the same time, she felt an inexplicable sense of guilt.

Song Zhizhi: How strange.

"Have we met before?" Song Zhizhi asked in confusion.

"Ah? N-No..."

The man's face grew even redder.

Song Zhizhi's sense that she had seen him before became stronger. For some reason, seeing his faintly flushed face gave her an inexplicable sense of peace and trust.

"My name is Song Zhizhi," she told him.

Song Zhizhi settled down in Zhu Nanjia's village. Half a year passed, and her injuries fully healed.

The quiet life in the mountain village nearly made Song Zhizhi forget what had happened before, until one day, a group of cultivators found the place and saw through her identity.

"She is an abomination born of a human and a demon, intolerable to the Heavenly Dao. She should be executed!"

"This man sheltered a half-demon. He must be in league with her. Take him to the Heavenly Punishment Platform for judgment!"

"Enough talk. Kill this abomination!"

The cultivators rushed forward all at once. Song Zhizhi had no strength to resist. A sharp sword pierced through her chest, and she fell into a pool of blood, watching helplessly as Zhu Nanjia was taken away.

"No, don't..."

Anyone who entered the judgment platform, whether cultivator or mortal, would suffer the cruelest punishments. Death was certain; survival was impossible.

Another sharp sword stabbed toward her glabella. Song Zhizhi wanted to dodge, but her body was too weak. No matter what she did, she could not evade it.

If this strike landed, she would undoubtedly die.

But she did not want to die...

Why?

A fierce unwillingness and resentment suddenly surged up from the depths of Song Zhizhi's heart: She had done nothing wrong. She had never hurt anyone. Why did they have to shatter her peaceful life? Why did they have to take Zhu Nanjia away? Why did they have to kill her?

"Because our birth is original sin." A misty voice sounded in her mind, neither male nor female. As the sword tip pierced her glabella, it seemed as though the world before Song Zhizhi had been paused. Fallen leaves hung motionless in midair. The cultivator holding the sword stared wide-eyed, as though bound by something, unable to move.

Song Zhizhi's pupils contracted. She looked around warily, her lips pale as she said, "Who?!"

"Who I am is not important. What matters is whether you want to live." The voice continued to tempt her within her mind. "I can help you."

Song Zhizhi said nothing. Then, suddenly, she felt a sword appear in her hand out of thin air.

"This sword is called Slaying Immortals. As its name suggests, it can slay True Immortals. With this sword, none beneath the heavens or upon the earth will be your match."

"But this sword was sealed because it is inauspicious. It must be offered the resentful souls of a hundred people before it can unleash its greatest power."

By coincidence, the village where Song Zhizhi stood contained exactly one hundred people, including the villagers and those cultivators.

Song Zhizhi held the sword and could feel the immense power within it. Her gaze seemed bewitched as it swept across one terrified face after another.

The voice cackled within her mind. "Kill them, and you will be free. From then on, no one in this world will be your match. No one will dare look down on you again..."

"Are you done?" Song Zhizhi interrupted calmly. She released her grip, letting the sword tip plunge straight into the dirt. With clear eyes, she said, "If you're done, then get lost. I'm in a hurry. There's really no point in making this kind of illusion."

"This scene is very realistic, but throwing in such a melodramatic plot makes it a little abrupt. Even TV dramas from ten years ago didn't pull this kind of nonsense. Kill a few people and your power skyrockets? Who are you trying to fool, children? And your voice has no sincerity at all. If I had to score it, I could only give your acting a five."

Rankings

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Transmigrated into a Novel

Sweet Romance

Reincarnation Romance

Tu Yanyan

Amnesia Trope