Phoenix's Requiem

Some among the crowd recognized the spiritual master.

“Isn’t this a famed demon hunter? Why is he here today?”

“Judging from his appearance, he doesn’t look like one of the guests that Official Yun invited. Is he crashing the banquet?”

“Don’t speak nonsense! There’s only ever been one reason that demon hunters would show up unannounced: to catch demons! But where would a demon in the Yun manor have come from?”

As the crowd watched on, the spiritual master walked to the center of the great hall. Yun Lan’s face was unpleasant: the spiritual master’s interruption had delayed the ritualistic ceremony beyond its opportune time, and the ceremony couldn’t be continued as it was.

“Yun Lan, who’s this Daoist?” The Yun matriarch was naturally also upset by the interruption.

“A rather famous demon hunter within the capital, Mother. Please, let me try to understand the circumstances on your behalf,” Yun Lan walked over as he replied.

On the other hand, Yun Ruoyan’s gaze had turned to Madam An. Although she was trying to remain severe, the corners of her lips began curling up in a smile. Clearly, this demon hunter’s target was Yun Ruoyan.

“Mistress, qiu, Mistress!” Suddenly, Qiuqiu spoke up in a hurry. 

“What’s the matter, Qiuqiu?”

“I suddenly felt a curiously strong presence. Did someone just approach you?”

“A Daoist, it seems.” Yun Ruoyan frowned. It seemed that Madam An had found a true demon hunter, but how could such a talented individual not realize that she wasn’t, in fact, a demon? Something was going on; she had to be careful!

“Daoist, do you have business at my Yun manor?” Yun Lan began, not impolitely. Although he was dissatisfied with his sudden interruption, a man as strong as this demon hunter wasn’t to be treated lightly.

“Naturally, I’m here to hunt a demon.”

“A demon?! The Yun manor has been a quiet abode for centuries, without a single link to the mystic or occult. Daoist, you must be mistaken!”

“Whether I’m mistaken or not, we shall soon see.” The spiritual master’s head swiveled toward Yun Ruoyan.

“You mean to claim that there’s a demon present here?” Yun Lan frowned.

It wasn’t as if demon hunters were all that common to begin with, and this particular one was famous enough to lend his words credibility.

“Naturally. Official Yun, if you’ll excuse me.” He moved around Yun Lan and headed directly for Yun Ruoyan.

“Mistress, this person’s cultivation is really strange. He has an unusual depth of spiritual energy, so much so that I suspect he might be a deviant cultivator. Mistress, be careful!”

The spiritual master’s gaze was sharp and cold, but it didn’t contain a shred of killing intent. Perhaps the other party wasn’t just here to hunt a demon, and perhaps he knew full well that she wasn’t one! In that case, what did he plan on doing?!

She was a peak seventh-rank cultivator, but before her spiritual vortex could expand, the bracelet’s power wouldn’t do much for her. Clearly, she wouldn’t be a match for this old Daoist. Given the number of people gathered here today, she didn’t dare to use the Feilai Blade either. As such, Yun Ruoyan couldn’t help but begin to panic.

“Grandmother!” Faced with the spiritual master’s overwhelming presence, Yun Ruoyan began to retreat behind her grandmother. “This old Daoist’s so frightening! Grandmother, I’m scared…”

The Yun matriarch held Yun Ruoyan’s hand as she looked toward the Daoist priest, her words brimming with anger. “Daoist, my granddaughter’s easily frightened. Please, rein in your aura.”

“Old Madam, I apologize for the interruption,” the spiritual master replied coolly, his gaze unflinching. “Miss Yun, if you don’t want to be hurt, then please leave with me.”

“Daoist, what do you mean by this?” Yun Lan asked from behind.

The crowd erupted into murmurs. Wherever a demon hunter appeared, there surely were demons. Could there be a demon hiding in the Yun household?!

“Master, can’t you tell?” Finally, Madam An walked out and pointed at Yun Ruoyan. “She’s been possessed by a demon! The real Yun Ruoyan has long since been killed!”

“What?!” Yun Lan and the Yun matriarch shouted as one.

The crowd was likewise in shock. Even Li Qianxiao and Li Qianyuan, who were standing by the side as they observed the ceremony, were dazed for a moment.

“Master, Ruoyan has changed so much in just a few months. Didn’t you find it strange?” Madam An began, before turning to the Yun matriarch. “Mother, would the past Ruoyan have spent so much time with you making you happy? How could such a girl have undergone such a dramatic change in so short a time?”

“Grandmother, father,” Yun Ruoyao and Yun Ruoyu stood out with Madam An and added, pointing to Yun Ruoyan, “the Yun Ruoyan in front of your eyes must be a demon! Otherwise, how could she have gone from a third-rank blademaster to a seventh-rank blademaster in a matter of months? This isn’t something that a human would be capable of!”

“A seventh-rank blademaster?!” Yun Lan and the Yun matriarch were both shocked. “Ruoyan, you’re already a seventh-rank…?”

Every month, the Yun family academy would track the scions’ improvement in their cultivation in order to understand their development. Because Yun Ruoyan had been expelled from the academy, she was naturally excluded from this tracking. Although Yun Ruoyao and the others had suspicions as to her cultivation, without actual evidence, they could hardly report anything to their father.

It was only until the spiritual master determined her exact cultivation that Yun Ruoyao and Yun Ruoyu dared to announce it in front of the crowd, and it was only then that Yun Lan and the Yun matriarch found out about the matter.

Met with her father and grandmother’s gaze, Yun Ruoyan was quickly able to come up with a reasonable explanation. “Part of the reason that I was able to break through so rapidly was because I consumed a miraculous high-grade pill given to me by my grandfather,” Yun Ruoyan began.

“This, along with my recent singular emphasis on cultivation, led to this unbelievable result. Ever since I was little, I’ve possessed an extreme talent for cultivation, and I became a third-rank blademaster before I was six. Now that I’m thirteen, based on my original talent, if not for my sluggish cultivation in the past three years, wouldn’t it seem reasonable that I should already be a seventh-rank blademaster?”

When she put it that way, Yun Ruoyan’s accomplishment didn’t seem too unbelievable. She evaded the idea of rising through four ranks in rapid succession and instead moved the emphasis to her original talent. Based on that talent, if she were a third-rank blademaster at six, it didn’t seem unlikely that she would be a seventh-rank blademaster at thirteen.

“Father, Grandmother, I’m certainly not a demon,” Yun Ruoyan emphasized. When she saw the Yun matriarch and Yun Lan’s expressions relax, she continued, “Demons all have a demonic aura. Grandmother, I’ve been with you all this time, but have you ever found me suspicious?”

“Your demonic cultivation must be high enough that you can hide that aura! Even when I had you drink realgar wine, I couldn’t force you to take on your demonic form!” Madam An exclaimed.

“Mother, you fed me realgar wine? When was this?” Yun Ruoyan pretended not to know about the situation.

“Mother tasked one of your servants with putting it in your food secretly, so you naturally wouldn’t have known,” Yun Ruoyu crowed.

“What?” Yun Ruoyan turned to Madam An with faux shock. “Mother, I’ve always respected you! How could you plot against me like that?!”

“I didn’t—”

“Mother, you don’t have to explain anything,” Yun Ruoyan interrupted her as Madam An tried to defend herself. “Grandmother, I know that you’re the only one who truly cares for me in this household. I lost my mother at an early age, and no one liked me because of my looks. Finally, after I lost my talent for cultivation, I was expelled from the family academy.”

Yun Ruoyan looked toward the Yun matriarch, a pitiful expression on her face. “But I’ve never given up! I bore with everyone’s taunting and bullying, cultivating on my own. What I dreamt of was to regain my talent, then to astound one and all with my accomplishments.”

She turned back to Madam An. “And now that I’ve done it, my mother denounces me as a demon! Is there to be no place for me in the Yun family?!”

Madam An knew that Yun Ruoyan wasn’t a demon, and she couldn’t help but look guilty upon hearing Yun Ruoyan’s accusations.

“Mother,” Yun Ruoyan continued interrogating Madam An, “are you claiming that I’m a demon just because I’m not as useless, as ugly and stupid, as before? Surely all mothers wish the best for their children, but why are you denouncing my abilities instead?”

As Yun Ruoyan’s leading questions filtered through the crowd, they naturally began to guess at Madam An’s intentions. Yun Ruoyan was the sole wife-born daughter of the Yun family, but she wasn’t Madam An’s birth daughter. The gathered crowd was well aware of the politics that went on in noble households. As a mother, wanting your birth children to succeed was a natural instinct, and they’d seen countless such stories play out in the past.

Struck dumb by Yun Ruoyan’s words, Madam An could only open her mouth and close it again. Even Yun Ruoyao and Yun Ruoyu had no refutation to her words.

“Ruoyan, I believe you. You’re my dear granddaughter, not a demon,” the Yun matriarch declared. Then, she turned to the spiritual master. “Refrain from inciting disharmony in my household! Daoist, please leave.”

The Yun matriarch wanted to ease the conflict between Ruoyan and the rest of the family, so she directed the blame at the spiritual master instead.

“Daoist, leave us!”

“Leave! There aren’t any demons in the Yun household, and we don’t welcome your presence.”

The Yun matriarch’s concubine-born children began to holler. As members of the Yun family, they were clearly aware of Madam An’s treatment of Yun Ruoyan in the past, so they were quite confident that this was another of her ploys.

Madam An was very anxious. The spiritual master had revealed to her that he could turn Yun Ruoyan into a demon, but it was only a temporary illusion. Just like the fox spirit that had apparently been stowed in his sleeves, this illusion was conjured out of spiritual energy.

The spiritual master would have to conjure up a grand illusion on this occasion, one that could mystify and befuddle the minds of everyone present. This would naturally take a considerable amount of time, and Madam An’s objective was to stall for time. But Yun Ruoyan’s glib tongue had caught Madam An off-guard once again, and she had only one recourse. “Spiritual Master, quick, perform your sorcery!”

The spiritual master, who had been standing still, suddenly spread his arms wide open and sketched out the arc of a great circle in mid-air. The prayer beads in his hand began to emit a faint aura, not particularly bright, but one that spread through the entire hall...