The Enigmatic Past of True Monarch You Qing

Dan Fusheng wanted to wander around the Qianyu Gate, but he was stopped by the sentries after only a few steps.

“It wasn’t like this before,” Dan Fusheng declared, forcefully wrapping his arm around Si Chen’s. “Back then, I could go anywhere, and you would always be with me.”

Si Chen had no idea how to respond. He couldn’t break free, and he found Dan Fusheng’s behavior utterly abnormal.

Dan Fusheng led Si Chen back to their small courtyard. The Qianyu Gate disciples attempted to reach out and retrieve their Sect Master, but Dan Fusheng was too quick; they couldn’t get a hand on Si Chen.

After leading Si Chen into the main room, Dan Fusheng sighed helplessly. “I can’t even get out,” he lamented.

“Do you even need to go out?” Chen Gui countered.

“How can I investigate if I don’t go out?” Dan Fusheng released Si Chen. “How else can I clear my name as a murderer?”

“Clear your name? Are you saying you’re not a murderer?” Si Chen rubbed his arm, feeling that Dan Fusheng had gripped him with considerable force.

“Well, it’s true I’ve killed many people, but I definitely didn’t kill that child,” Dan Fusheng flopped onto a chair, his upper body slumping onto the table. “Suddenly, a headless corpse collapses right in front of me. I was terrified, alright?”

“You…” Si Chen suddenly became agitated. “You’re being utterly disrespectful!”

Dan Fusheng propped himself up slightly. “What about me? I didn’t even know the kid.”

“You’re too flippant! That child is dead!” Si Chen gritted his teeth, remembering that the deceased was a disciple of the Qianyu Gate.

Dan Fusheng understood. He made a zipping motion across his lips, signaling that he would keep quiet from then on. Yet, his gesture still lacked any sense of gravity, and Si Chen’s breathing grew heavy with frustration.

Chen Gui tried to soothe Si Chen. “You don’t need to mind him. He’s not being intentionally disrespectful; his view on life and death is simply… unique.”

Bai Yu produced the files obtained from the Special Affairs Bureau. The bureau was investigating the murder but had made little progress so far.

“This child is named Duan Quan, forty-six years old this year,” Bai Yu said, showing the photo to Dan Fusheng. “Does he look familiar to you?”

Dan Fusheng shook his head. This person was likely not an old acquaintance from his previous life. Still, the person in the photo was truly striking.

Dan Fusheng began communicating with Bai Yu using sign language. Bai Yu stared, puzzled.

Dan Fusheng realized that he was using a form of sign language that didn’t exist in this era. He pulled out his phone, typed a message, and showed it to Bai Yu.

[Does this child have demon blood?]

“Yes, though it’s very diluted. This child had a demonic ancestor five generations back,” Bai Yu confirmed, nodding. The Special Affairs Bureau had thoroughly investigated the victim.

‘Could he tell that just from a photo?’ Bai Yu wondered.

Dan Fusheng knew what Bai Yu was pondering. He typed again: [I was merely guessing.]

“Was he killed because of his demonic bloodline?” Bai Yu inquired.

[It’s possible. That person despises mixed-bloods.] Dan Fusheng noticed Si Chen’s somber expression and began to “defend” himself. [Of course, I personally love mixed-blood children. I have friends from all three races. Mixed-blood children are particularly interesting; my martial arts team friends are all mixed-bloods, and I often embrace them.]

“Are you referring to that elderly martial arts team?” Si Chen had also investigated Dan Fusheng and knew he mingled with the seniors in the park.

Dan Fusheng nodded.

“Are there any children in that team?”

[Everyone in it is a child, except for me.] The oldest member of their martial arts team wasn’t even ninety, while Dan Fusheng was over two thousand seven hundred years old.

As Dan Fusheng “spoke” through his phone, he suddenly recalled something he had read in a web novel recently. He extended his hand and, with lightning speed, flicked Si Chen’s nose. His movement was swift and light.

Si Chen’s back tingled, and immediately afterward, a deep, AI-generated male voice spoke from Dan Fusheng’s phone: “You’re a good child, too~”

The voice was so unnervingly deep that Si Chen felt an electric current pass through him; his hair practically stood on end.

“You were once my little darling, too~” the AI voice spoke again. Dan Fusheng smiled and winked at Si Chen.

Then, Chen Gui promptly rolled him up into a “Demon Lord burrito” once more.

Relocated to the corner, Dan Fusheng protested from within his quilt, “You wouldn’t have even gotten in here without my acting! Junior Brother, you just use and discard me!”

“I didn’t discard you!” Chen Gui said, still monitoring him. “It’s just that your behavior is far too outrageous!”

“You only got in because I acted that way!” Dan Fusheng continued to argue.

Chen Gui fell silent, realizing Dan Fusheng was right. Dan Fusheng waited for Chen Gui to argue back, but when his junior brother said nothing, the Demon Lord suddenly had a bad feeling. ‘Could this simple-minded boy have achieved enlightenment again? What has he realized this time?’

He soon found out as Chen Gui scooped him up, blanket and all, into his arms. Chen Gui patted the top of the burrito. “Does this make you feel more valued?”

Dan Fusheng remained silent.

Chen Gui took his silence as agreement. While patting the Dan Fusheng burrito, he discussed the murder and the absurd “reincarnation” with Bai Yu.

Cultivators of Chen Gui and Dan Fusheng’s caliber didn’t need to physically explore the Qianyu Gate. They merely needed to extend their divine senses. They could detect how many people there were, their cultivation levels, the layout of the sect, and where any problematic auras originated.

Dan Fusheng listened to Chen Gui’s analysis and yawned inside his quilt.

“Si Fenglang wants to recover all the memories belonging to the Crown Prince of the Yu Kingdom,” Chen Gui said, frowning. “There’s a soul-summoning formation in his courtyard.” Si Fenglang was Si Chen’s senior martial brother and the reincarnation of the Yu Crown Prince.

As Chen Gui uttered that name, his expression darkened. Bai Yu noticed this and asked if he had any grievances with the former Crown Prince.

Dan Fusheng, who had been on the verge of sleep, instantly perked up. “Yes! Why wouldn’t he!” He poked his head out of the burrito roll. “That scoundrel Si Fenglang almost made our True Monarch Yaoling lose his most important senior martial brother.”

Jade Mastiff, who had been crying to his tragic fox music, stopped and sniffled. “Are you saying he almost killed you?”

Dan Fusheng nodded. “That was our first meeting.”

At that time, Dan Fusheng wasn’t even a hundred years old, and Chen Gui was only in his teens. Si Fenglang, as the representative of the Yu Kingdom, had come to visit their sect. Dan Fusheng and Si Fenglang met halfway up the mountain. Dan Fusheng’s cultivation wasn’t particularly high then, while Si Fenglang was several hundred years older than him.

If not for their Master and Senior Sister arriving in time, Dan Fusheng might truly have been eliminated then and there.

Chen Gui had been by Dan Fusheng’s side at the time. He was even younger and couldn’t break the barrier, nor could he drag his senior brother away. Chen Gui could only continuously yell for Si Fenglang to stop.

“Oh, if he had killed me then, perhaps there wouldn’t have been a Demon Lord,” Dan Fusheng said casually.

“No, you did nothing wrong then,” Chen Gui disagreed firmly.

Dan Fusheng chuckled. “This kid hated Si Fenglang so much he gnashed his teeth. For a while, his cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds because he wanted to challenge Si Fenglang head-on. But he never got to, because Si Fenglang died—killed by me,” Dan Fusheng added, looking at Chen Gui. “And I remember Si Fenglang later had a rather ‘good’ relationship with you.”

“Indeed. Not drawing his sword to kill a demon on sight was considered quite decent for him,” Dan Fusheng said, stroking his chin.

“Before you killed him, you didn’t seem to have avenged your first encounter,” Chen Gui noted. He didn’t understand why Dan Fusheng would let that slight go.

“Ah! There’s something you don’t know, Junior Brother!” Dan Fusheng slapped his forehead. “I actually went and beat him up!”

“When?” Chen Gui didn’t recall such an event.

“The day he went down the mountain, Master and Senior Sister ambushed him with a sack and gave him a thrashing. They brought me along, and I kicked him quite a few times,” Dan Fusheng laughed heartily. “Si Fenglang never knew who did it. He didn’t suspect my Master; he thought it was some evil cultivator. He had quite a few enemies, after all.”

A sudden silence fell over the room.

Bai Yu inquired tentatively, “Uh, who was your Master again?”

“True Monarch You Qing.”

Si Chen exclaimed, “Impossible! Absolutely impossible!”

Bai Yu added, “True Monarch You Qing shouldn’t have that kind of personality. He was known to act openly and honorably; how could he put a sack over a junior’s head?”

Jade Mastiff chimed in, “Huh? Shouldn’t True Monarch You Qing have a personality like True Monarch Yaoling?”

Chen Gui reacted even more strongly. “You’re slandering Master!”

“Believe it or not,” Dan Fusheng shrugged. “And it wasn’t just that one time. We didn’t bring you along when we did bad things because you were too righteous; we were afraid you’d lecture us.”

Chen Gui fell into a dazed silence.

Dan Fusheng continued, “Master said you were the most upright child in our sect, and we shouldn’t lead you astray.”

“Master actually… hit juniors?” Chen Gui felt somewhat disillusioned.

“Otherwise, what kind of magnanimous elder did you think he was?” Dan Fusheng had also been dragged off by his Master for “cultivation enhancement” (beatings) as a child.

True Monarch You Qing didn’t hit Chen Gui because Chen Gui was too stubborn. He couldn’t handle such a rigid child. Chen Gui respected him immensely and never provoked him, so True Monarch You Qing could only maintain his facade as an ethereal, perfect expert.

The entire room fell into silence once more. Dan Fusheng looked around and realized he’d struck a nerve. “Did I shatter your illusions? You imagined True Monarch You Qing to be noble and selfless? So, the True Monarch You Qing in your minds wouldn’t act condescendingly or snatch food from his disciples?”

“Stop talking! Please, just stop!” Si Chen couldn’t bear it anymore. “If True Monarch You Qing wasn’t proper, how could True Monarch Yaoling be so normal? The only abnormal one is the Demon Lord Dan Fusheng; he’s just slandering him!”

Dan Fusheng didn’t continue speaking. He made the zipping motion across his lips again.

The group discussed the investigation for the rest of the day, with Si Chen occasionally glaring at Dan Fusheng for “spreading rumors.”

During dinner, Dan Fusheng was eating while scrolling through videos when his eyes slowly widened.

The audio from a video played: “—A guide to internet memes: Meet the ‘Cyber Dean,’ a playful nickname for the netizen Chen Gui.”

Everyone at the table stopped, turning to look at Dan Fusheng’s phone.

Dan Fusheng stared at the familiar selfie avatar. Chen Gui used his real name as his online handle. The video explained how “Chen Gui” had expanded his arguing groups from three waves to over a thousand.

‘Wait… over a thousand?’

Dan Fusheng propped his forehead with his hand. The others looked at Chen Gui.

‘Normal? Can this guy even be considered normal?’

Chen Gui silently put down his chopsticks. “Send me the link. I need to leave a comment; his description of my debate tactics is biased.”