Chapter 28: The Han Family’s Pest

Shaking the folding fan in his hand, Han Boya maintained a dignified smile and said no more, careful not to provoke Bu Xiwei further.

His gaze lingered on her face.

The Demon Lord’s complexion was deathly pale, the hair around her forehead and temples slightly disheveled. Even the blue-gold enamel peony hairpin on her head sat askew. She looked unusually haggard… and unusually alluring.

The supreme ruler of the demonic world—normally proud and untouchable—now appeared so rare and fragile, so helpless. Like a bodhisattva bathed in divine light, suddenly dragged into the mud, sullied with filth.

That kind of contrast—profoundly forbidden, deeply blasphemous—was far too arousing.
It made Han Boya’s heart race.

He quickly lowered his gaze, hiding the excitement burning in his eyes.

The Demon Lord’s beauty was unmatched—something the entire demonic world acknowledged.

Bu Xiwei possessed not only a face that could topple nations, but a body sculpted to perfection. Full where she should be full, slender where she should be slender. Just one glance was enough to stir the darkest corners of imagination.

Over the years, Han Boya had fantasized more than once about what it would be like to claim this unparalleled woman as his own.

And he knew he wasn’t the only one. In both the demonic and immortal realms, countless people harbored such thoughts.

But Bu Xiwei’s notoriety ran even deeper than her beauty.

No matter how enchanting the flower, if it was known for devouring flesh and crunching bones, few dared reach out and pluck it.

The pace of Han Boya’s fan slowed slightly.

Not even the master of the Hehuan Palace—most famed for their skills in charm and seduction—had been able to win Bu Xiwei over all these years.

At times, Han Boya suspected that Bu Xiwei simply didn’t understand love at all.

After all, this Demon Lord had a well-known flaw throughout the demonic world.

—

Bu Xiwei, of course, had no idea what kind of filthy fantasies were running through the head of the Han family’s master before her.

Or rather, she no longer cared.

Han Boya’s gaze wasn’t particularly blatant, but with Bu Xiwei’s level of perception, it was impossible not to notice.

She simply chose to ignore it.

Every time she dealt with the major powers of the demonic world, she could sense the same kinds of hidden desires and prying gazes. Over time, she had grown used to them.

That didn’t mean she wasn’t disgusted. In fact, she would’ve loved nothing more than to gouge out their dog eyes.

But after hundreds of years as the Demon Lord, she had experienced such things far too often.

She had, in fact, dug out a few particularly bold offenders’ eyes—shattering their skulls in public to teach the rest some much-needed restraint.

This time, Bu Xiwei didn’t even bother acknowledging Han Boya’s unspoken thoughts. She simply looked at him coldly and sneered.

“If I were you,” she said, “and learned that the little stink bug under my command had been crushed to death by me, I would’ve immediately rallied those other rats from the Youluo Sect and the Hehuan Palace. Maybe then, you’d still have a chance of killing me.”

Her tone was proud and lofty—justifiably so.

In the demonic world, corresponding to the three righteous sects of the immortal realm—Five Elements Sect, Xiaoyou Sect, and Mingwu Ancient Tower—stood the four demonic giants: the Seven Souls Sect (where Bu Xiwei hailed from), the Han family, the Youluo Sect, and the Hehuan Palace.

If not for the joint efforts of the Han family, Youluo Sect, and Hehuan Palace, even two of them combined wouldn’t have stood a chance of taking down Bu Xiwei.

And even then, the price would’ve been devastating.

“Yet now, you come here alone to be an eyesore in front of me,” Bu Xiwei said, her tone half-mocking. “What, tired of living? Looking to beg for a quick death, so you can join that little stink bug?”

The Han family specialized in cultivating Gu worms. To Bu Xiwei, they were nothing more than a clan of stinking insects.

The “little stink bug” she referred to was the middle-aged Golden Core cultivator she’d killed during her first meeting with Yu Xiu.

She had casually told Yu Xiu that the man was from the Han family. But she hadn’t revealed the full truth:

That this man had followed her all the way from the demonic realm into the immortal realm.

—

After being reborn, Bu Xiwei had only taken a brief moment to assess the current state of things before immediately fleeing the Seven Souls Sect.

She’d left the demonic world without hesitation.

Of course, the news that she had vanished would eventually reach the four major demonic powers.

But she had counted on a delay.

Her plan had been simple: use the time lag to reach Yu Xiu as soon as possible—then return before the others caught on, slipping away unnoticed.

After that, she could keep repeating this pattern.

Constant movement.
Minimal exposure.
Avoid unnecessary trouble.

But reality, as always, had other ideas.

On the very same day she fled the demonic world—despite taking great care to avoid detection—she overlooked one thing.

The Han family had sent an envoy to the Seven Souls Sect.

There was no helping it. In her previous life, the Youluo Sect, Han family, and Hehuan Palace had formed a three-way alliance that routinely sent people to “observe” her.

Officially, it was to monitor her.

In truth, it was surveillance.

That long-standing arrangement had already worn her down to the bone—shackling her, stripping away her freedom little by little.

To Bu Xiwei, all of this was nothing more than a matter of centuries past—something she had nearly forgotten.

Her only concern now was to quickly find Yu Xiu or uncover any clues left behind by his parents and ancestors. But just as she was attempting to do so, she was unfortunately discovered by an evil cultivator from the Han family.

The only silver lining was that the Han family was infamous for being cunning and unscrupulous. Upon discovering Bu Xiwei’s escape, the Golden Core–stage cultivator didn’t report it to anyone. Instead, he chose to follow her in secret.

His intention was to discreetly investigate her strange actions and use whatever he uncovered as leverage against the Demon Lord—something he could exploit for his own benefit.

Such a valuable opportunity naturally had to be kept to himself. He wasn’t about to let anyone else share in the spoils.

But how could a mere Golden Core cultivator tail Bu Xiwei for even half a day without her noticing? She had sensed his presence before she even left the demonic realm.

She hadn’t acted right away because she knew exactly what sort of people the Han family were. Killing him wouldn’t alert too many others—and since she had already resolved to leave, she wouldn’t waste time turning back. More than that, Bu Xiwei wanted to set a counter-trap to see if anything—or anyone—might be drawn out from behind this little stink bug.

Later, after arriving in the immortal realm, she confirmed that the Han family cultivator was indeed acting alone, hoping to hoard the information for himself. So, Bu Xiwei struck—seriously wounding him and forcing him, under threat of death, to attempt contact with any possible reinforcements.

But even then, the Han cultivator refused to give up. Gravely injured, he chose to hide himself in a mountain cave, never sending out the message. When Bu Xiwei finally confirmed that there was nothing more to extract from him, she ended his life without hesitation.

To her, this was her business alone. There was no need to trouble Yu Xiu with it. And after formally meeting him, Bu Xiwei also realized that Yu Xiu—at this point in time—would surely disapprove of such ruthless methods.

So she never brought it up.

Before Yu Xiu, and before anyone else, Bu Xiwei’s entire demeanor was different in every way.