Chapter 39: Unmasked: The Demonic Aura

The study fell into silence.

Or rather, Su Zhuozhi’s mouth hung slightly ajar in disbelief. He was stunned by what he saw, his mind a tangled mess, almost incapable of thought.

Demonic energy. How could Xie Jue have demonic energy?

Was he… a demon cultivator?

Impossible. Was this a joke?

Or was he dreaming?

A cascade of questions flashed through his mind, like a knotted ball of yarn, growing more tangled by the second.

“Young master, what’s wrong?”

A low voice, tinged with confusion.

Su Zhuozhi snapped awake. It was the same familiar voice, pleasant to the ear, but at this moment, it felt like a bucket of cold water poured over his head, chilling him to the bone.

He had stared at Xie Jue for too long without speaking, his expression so strange—like he’d seen a ghost in broad daylight—that it would surely make Xie Jue suspicious. If Xie Jue was truly a demon cultivator, he must not tip him off.

He couldn’t suppress a shudder.

Su Zhuozhi abruptly sobered, his mind racing. He frantically fabricated an excuse.

It was clumsy, but in line with his temperament, and seemed reasonable enough.

“There’s a huge fat bird outside, almost as big as my head. How can it even fly?”

His disbelief, he implied, was because he’d seen something bizarre.

Feigning naturalness, Su Zhuozhi maintained an expression of curiosity and astonishment. He dashed out quickly, craned his neck to stare at the trees above, and peered left and right with great seriousness.

Qingping followed him out, wanting to see the fat bird his young master had mentioned, but no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t find it.

He said regretfully, “It must have flown away. That fat, it’s quite impressive. Young master, did you see how big its wings were?”

Su Zhuozhi was distracted. “…Big, I suppose.”

Qingping found it a bit odd. Why was his young master’s tone so uncertain? Had he not seen it clearly? Regardless, it never occurred to Qingping that no such fat bird existed. After all, in his mind, the young master wouldn’t lie about something so trivial.

Su Zhuozhi appeared to be looking at the branches, but his mind was entirely on Xie Jue.

At that moment, two little figures were arguing and tugging at each other in his head.

One was furious, burning with a strong urge to whirl around, confront Xie Jue, demand the truth, and curse him for his deceit—for being despicable, underhanded, and treacherous. This was betrayal, a sellout, ruining this precious friendship.

The other struggled to maintain reason and calm, analyzing the pros and cons. It insisted he must not let Xie Jue discover that he knew. Xie Jue had concealed his identity to enter the Su residence as a lowly guard, his intentions unknown. Su Zhuozhi had to figure them out first. What if Xie Jue harbored malice? Moreover, he had hidden it so well, even within the Ten Thousand Sword Sect, remaining undetected—his strength was surely not to be underestimated. The Su residence was full of ordinary people, including his most important family. He had to protect them.

In the end, the rational figure barely won out. Su Zhuozhi pondered what to do next, but before he could come up with a plan, he sensed something wrong. His heart suddenly leaped.

Looking down, he saw a wisp of demonic energy approaching him.

Su Zhuozhi’s body instantly tensed, wariness flaring. What did Xie Jue intend to do? Attack him covertly? Take his life?!

Anger surged past fear, accompanied by an indescribable pain.

He remained on guard, ready to summon his life-bound sword and retaliate the moment the demonic energy attacked him…

But watching carefully out of the corner of his eye, he saw the demonic energy cautiously extend a tiny tendril, gently touch his finger hanging by his thigh, and then bounce up excitedly, circling him?

What did this mean?

Su Zhuozhi: “…”

He fell into a dumbfounded silence.

Was he sure this was demonic energy, and not some silly little dog?

It clung affectionately to its master, licked his finger, then enthusiastically ran circles around him, tongue lolling, tail wagging furiously, ecstatic as if gone mad.

Su Zhuozhi couldn’t comprehend it, and was deeply shaken.

At least the demonic energy showed no sign of attacking him, which was barely a good thing. Still, he couldn’t let his guard down.

The demonic energy clung to him like a shadow, following him everywhere.

Su Zhuozhi felt something was off. What did it want by sticking to him? Or rather, what did Xie Jue want?

He tried to act as usual, going about his business as if he couldn’t see the demonic energy or sense its presence, all the while secretly observing and probing.

He turned and walked back into the room, telling Qingping to prepare the meal, saying he was hungry.

As the servants set the dishes on the table one by one, Xie Jue stood by the door with a calm expression. Meanwhile, the wisp of demonic energy stayed close to Su Zhuozhi, almost obediently, like a dog curled up at its master’s feet.

Once the servants withdrew, only Qingping and Xie Jue remained.

Su Zhuozhi picked up his chopsticks, scooped up some food, and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly before swallowing. He ate mechanically, barely tasting anything.

Probably because he was distracted, he actually picked up a piece of cilantro and bit into it. The unpleasant smell hit his nose, and he only then realized his mistake, hurriedly dropping his chopsticks.

At that moment, the demonic energy suddenly drifted up and hovered over the table.

Su Zhuozhi frowned uneasily.

What did it want now?

Then he watched as the demonic energy approached the half-eaten cilantro he had discarded, trembling slightly as if sniffing it.

Curious.

But demonic energy wasn’t human.

Su Zhuozhi averted his gaze, slowly eating the grilled prawns. They were sweet, tender, and smooth, with a great texture, but he had no appetite. In the end, he didn’t even finish his bowl of rice, left the vegetables uneaten, and only took half a bite of the prawn.

The wisp of demonic energy then burrowed into his bowl, poking its head around, and pressed against the grilled prawn—right at the spot he had bitten. It lingered there, unmoving for a long time.

“…?”

What was it doing now?

Greedy? Did demonic energy need to eat? This demonic energy was too strange, unlike anything he had seen before.

Su Zhuozhi couldn’t help glancing at Xie Jue, and happened to meet his gaze. Those calm, unruffled eyes didn’t seem like the kind that would make demonic energy behave this way.

Xie Jue took a step forward and asked, “Young master, what would you like me to do?”

Su Zhuozhi pointed at the dishes on the table, pretending nonchalance. “I don’t want any more. Do you want to eat?”

Xie Jue nodded, a faint smile appearing. “Thank you, young master.”

Then he actually sat down and finished all of Su Zhuozhi’s leftovers, every last bit—including the half bowl he had just eaten from and the prawn he had bitten.

He showed no sign of aversion; it didn’t seem like an act at all.

Besides, back in the Ten Thousand Sword Sect, Xie Jue had often sat at the same table and eaten with him. When Su Zhuozhi couldn’t finish, Xie Jue would always finish the rest, never wasting anything.

But Su Zhuozhi remembered that when Xie Jue first entered the Su residence, he had been unwilling to eat anything Su Zhuozhi had touched.

When had that changed?

And now even the demonic energy…

Su Zhuozhi grew more confused and agitated. He couldn’t understand why Xie Jue, instead of using his demonic energy to attack and kill, let it hang around him. What was he up to? What were his intentions?

To find out, Su Zhuozhi made an excuse to send Xie Jue away, ordering him to go to the candied fruit shop and buy some new varieties. That trip would take at least half an hour. He planned to search Xie Jue’s quarters for clues.

As soon as Xie Jue left, Su Zhuozhi hurried to the guest room, pushed open the door, and went in.

The room was simply furnished, with little sign of habitation. On the table were talisman paper, ink, and a communication mirror. He first picked up the mirror and activated it to see if Xie Jue had been in contact with anyone recently.

At the top was someone called “All-Knowing Sage.” Xie Jue had been chatting with him about the latest developments in the “true and false heiress” story, spending spirit stones to buy inside information. Below that was the cultivation world forum, sharing gossip more dramatic than any storybook. Further down, someone praised his fox form as cute and wanted to steal him home to raise him. Xie Jue asked who the person was and where they lived.

Aside from learning that Xie Jue also loved gossip, there was no useful clue.

Su Zhuozhi sighed, put down the mirror, and continued searching. He even felt around the hidden compartment beside the bed, opened it, and found something inside. He quickly pulled it out—a rolled-up sheet of white paper.

He unrolled it. It was a painting: a fox-eared youth lying amid a patch of flowers. The strokes were delicate, so lifelike that it seemed the youth would open his eyes at any moment.

Wasn’t this himself?

Su Zhuozhi frowned in confusion. Why had Xie Jue painted him? Time was running short, so he put the paper back into the compartment and decided to leave.

He stepped out, gently closed the door, and was about to turn and walk away nonchalantly.

“What is the young master doing?”

A voice suddenly came from behind, startling him so much that he pressed himself against the wall, eyes wide like a cat with its fur bristled.

“Is the young master so eager for the candied fruit that he came looking for me?”

Su Zhuozhi’s breathing quickened, his gaze flustered. His fingertips trembled unconsciously, terrified of giving himself away. Hearing Xie Jue’s words, he went along and nodded. “Ye-yeah.”

He stammered.

“Of course it’s fine.” Xie Jue nodded, handing over a bag of candied fruit. A sweet aroma wafted out.

Su Zhuozhi immediately grabbed a few and stuffed them into his mouth to prove how much he wanted them, his cheeks bulging like a squirrel’s.

Xie Jue smiled.

Su Zhuozhi complained, “Wha are you smiling at?”

Hearing the cute, muffled voice, Xie Jue’s smile deepened. “Nothing.”

Su Zhuozhi shot him a glare, then walked quickly ahead, leaving him far behind.

After observing him all day, Su Zhuozhi found almost no flaw in Xie Jue. If he hadn’t seen the demonic energy, he might have been duped forever.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

If it were a stranger, being tricked would just mean a punch at most; it wouldn’t affect his mood. But Xie Jue had been with him for so long, even followed him when he went alone to the Ten Thousand Sword Sect. That had made him so happy, made him trust and rely on Xie Jue more and more, sincerely seeing him as a friend second only to family, even closer than Jiang Yangyu and the others.

But Xie Jue had lied to him! All his kindness was pretended, with ulterior motives!

Su Zhuozhi pounded his pillow, each blow heavier than the last. His face flushed red with anger, his eyes also red, as if he were about to cry.

Just pounding the pillow wasn’t enough to vent his emotions. In a fit of rage, he swept his hand and threw the pillow to the ground, panting heavily, his nose stinging, feeling utterly wronged.

A thought flashed through his mind: not all demon cultivators were evil, like Yan Ruishi. What if Xie Jue also had his reasons? If Xie Jue voluntarily confessed and sincerely apologized, perhaps it wasn’t unforgivable, and they could still be friends…

As he thought this, a wisp of black mist entered his room again, climbed onto his back, and gently smoothed down, as if trying to soothe his emotions.

That cold, familiar touch made Su Zhuozhi tremble all over. He instantly remembered.

That ghost!

No wonder it always appeared when Xie Jue was around. There had never been any ghost; it had always been Xie Jue’s demonic energy, Xie Jue scaring him!

Su Zhuozhi grew even angrier. He flung himself onto the quilt, kicked his legs, and yelled “Aaaaah!”

Forgive him, my ass! He would never forgive him! He wanted to beat that bastard Xie Jue to death!

The demonic energy paused, not understanding what was wrong with Su Zhuozhi. It circled him helplessly,

Just like a stupid dog that had made a mistake and was trying to please its master.

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