The Unconcerned Demonic Ancestor

“Dan Fusheng, you killed my Master!” Si Fenglang’s voice trembled with rage.

Dan Fusheng ignored the accusation, carefully picking up his trampled tomato seedlings. He pulled out thin bamboo stakes and twine from his storage device, attempting to straighten them.

While propping up the plants, he muttered to himself, “The main stems aren’t broken, so they should be fine. The wind is so strong tonight… I should probably wrap the bruised parts with plastic wrap.” He truly felt unlucky.

“Dan Fusheng!!” Si Fenglang gritted his teeth. “Are you even listening to me?!”

“Huh?!” Dan Fusheng straightened his back. “I hear you! I hear you!”

“I said you killed my Master!” Si Fenglang repeated.

“Ah? Right! It was me!” Dan Fusheng nodded perfunctorily, then went back to rescuing his vegetables.

The night wind blew against Si Fenglang, fanning his anger into a raging inferno. “You don’t deserve my love at all!”

“Exactly! Completely undeserving!” Dan Fusheng continued to agree.

Si Fenglang: “…You scoundrel!!”

Dan Fusheng echoed, “Scoundrel! What a scoundrel!”

Si Fenglang was utterly bewildered by the lack of pushback. “You…” He lifted his foot, about to stomp into the vegetable garden in a fit of pique.

Dan Fusheng pointed a finger at him. “Wait! Don’t move!”

Si Fenglang froze instantly. It wasn’t because he was being obedient, but because Dan Fusheng had immobilized him with a binding spell.

Si Fenglang looked at Dan Fusheng’s focused face and let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh. “Have you finally revealed your true colors?”

Watching Dan Fusheng approach, Si Fenglang closed his eyes, expecting a strike. Yet, he felt no pain. Instead, something soft brushed against his feet.

Si Fenglang snapped his eyes open only to find Dan Fusheng wiping the soles of his shoes with a rag. After finishing, Dan Fusheng even slipped disposable shoe covers over them.

“Sweeping and mopping are a hassle. You just walked through the dirt, and now you’re stepping on my floor tiles; that’s not good.” Dan Fusheng, ever the forgiving senior, added, “Next time you’re a guest at someone else’s house, remember your manners.” He stood up and patted Si Fenglang’s head.

Si Fenglang: “…This is my home.”

Dan Fusheng paused, then a look of realization dawned on him. “Oh, right, right! This is still your home; I forgot. Haha.”

What did he mean by ‘still’ your home?

Si Fenglang forcibly suppressed the urge to scream, then sneered. “Do you even want to know where I disappeared to?”

“If you don’t mind, you can tell me.” Dan Fusheng had already finished propping up the seedlings.

Si Fenglang let out another strange laugh. “How can you have the gall to look so unconcerned… Ah!”

Dan Fusheng didn’t wait for him to finish. He heard footsteps; the disciples of the Qianyu Sect were approaching. Dan Fusheng urgently scooped Si Fenglang up and rushed inside. He shoved Si Fenglang into the wardrobe, then reached out and ripped the jade pendant from Si Fenglang’s waist.

Si Fenglang tried to demand what he was doing, but he was already under a silence seal.

The wardrobe door clicked shut, but Si Fenglang could still hear Dan Fusheng’s voice outside.

His eldest disciple, Meng Lei, entered and asked, “Senior Dan, have you seen our Master? I just sensed his aura nearby.”

Dan Fusheng replied in a weak, weary voice, “He did come by just now. After attacking me, he fled, leaving only this jade pendant behind…”

Si Fenglang: ‘!!!! When did I ever hit him?! He’s lying! He’s lying through his teeth!’

Dan Fusheng continued, “There are so many mysteries surrounding him; I might not be able to figure them out anytime soon. I tried to communicate with him, but he wasn’t very lucid. He just kept saying, ‘You don’t deserve my love,’ while ambushing me.” Dan Fusheng managed a strained, “sorrowful” smile.

“Don’t worry. Si Chen is an old friend of mine. Although Si Fenglang and I have our differences, he’s still an old acquaintance.” Dan Fusheng looked at Meng Lei, appearing the picture of a gentle, concerned elder. “You’ve all been so good to me; I will definitely help you bring both of them back.”

Meng Lei’s initial suspicion of Dan Fusheng had long since evaporated. Dan Fusheng was such a mild-tempered, helpful person; losing one’s composure at him felt undignified. He was nothing like the terrifying Demon Lord from the legends.

Meng Lei cupped his fist respectfully. “Thank you, Senior.”

“Since you call me Senior, I must fulfill my responsibilities,” Dan Fusheng smiled. “I won’t leave until I resolve your Master’s and Martial Uncle’s issues, rest assured.”

Meng Lei was deeply moved and thanked him once more before departing.

Hidden in the wardrobe, Si Fenglang tried to struggle, but he couldn’t move a finger. ‘This guy has no intention of uncovering secrets! He’s just squatting! He wants to steal my house! He wants to steal my land!!’

Once Meng Lei was gone, the wardrobe door opened.

Dan Fusheng glanced at Si Fenglang and sighed in relief. “Apologies, I can’t let you speak for now. I’ll release the restraint on your right hand; just write down whatever you want to say.”

Without waiting for an answer, Dan Fusheng shoved a pen into his hand.

[Bastard!] Si Fenglang wrote furiously. [What! Are! You! Doing!] The final exclamation point pierced through the paper.

He had originally come there intending for Dan Fusheng to kill him and end the cycle. Instead, he was being treated like seasonal clothing.

Dan Fusheng began to worry. He couldn’t kill Si Fenglang—who knew what was truly inside that body? If he died here, the Qianyu Sect would never let Dan Fusheng stay.

‘Should I hide him in a barrier?’

No, barriers had been opening too frequently lately; someone might notice.

‘What if I hide him in a box and bury him underground?’

No, the number of boxes in his room was fixed. Chen Gui was prone to paranoia and would notice a missing one.

‘So, for now, he stays in the closet.’ Fortunately, Si Fenglang’s cultivation was high enough that he wouldn’t need food or a bathroom.

Dan Fusheng felt a bit better. He closed the wardrobe door, intending to figure out a permanent solution later. He had already used a technique to block the area from Chen Gui’s spiritual perception, otherwise, the gig would have been up immediately.

However, shielding wasn’t foolproof.

The next morning, Dan Fusheng was playing catch with Jade Mastiff in the courtyard.

“Why didn’t I feel anything yesterday?” Chen Gui asked, standing by the porch. He found the lack of sensation unusual.

“Is that so?!” Dan Fusheng acted surprised. “It seems Si Fenglang has something else to shield his aura.”

“Those cultivators from the Qianyu Sect all sensed him, but I didn’t?” Chen Gui was puzzled.

Dan Fusheng tucked the ball into Jade Mastiff’s mouth. “Indeed, Meng Lei came to find me yesterday and said he sensed him. It seems this aura-shielding is specifically targeted at you, Junior Brother.”

Bai Yu walked into the room, carrying his laptop. His eyes were bloodshot; he clearly hadn’t slept. He asked, “Did you sense Si Fenglang’s aura yesterday?”

“I did, but you didn’t react, so I thought I was imagining things,” Bai Yu admitted.

Dan Fusheng’s expression turned serious. “It seems the power behind Si Fenglang is not to be underestimated.”

Jade Mastiff, holding the ball, walked past with his head held high, his paws making soft thud-thud sounds on the floor.

Chen Gui asked Jade Mastiff, “What about you? Did you sense anything?”

Jade Mastiff shook his head.

Dan Fusheng clenched his fist. “It looks like they specifically shielded against those with profound cultivation; they want to ambush me.”

“No, that’s not right. They want to turn you—to make you return to being the Demonic Ancestor.” Chen Gui didn’t believe they wanted to ambush Dan Fusheng. Last time Dan Fusheng had threatened to self-destruct, the hidden influencers had backed off immediately.

Jade Mastiff nudged the ball into Dan Fusheng’s palm, but Dan Fusheng wasn’t in the mood. “Who knows what they want?”

Disappointed, Jade Mastiff looked around until the “kind” Chen Gui extended a hand. He handed the ball to Chen Gui instead.

As Chen Gui threw the ball, he noticed something else. “If he fled after attacking you, why didn’t you come to find me immediately?”

Chen Gui knew his senior brother’s personality. If he had really been attacked, he wouldn’t have just sat there.

“I remembered some past events at the time and felt a bit sentimental.” Dan Fusheng knew Chen Gui wasn’t easily fooled.

“Suddenly your memory got better?” Chen Gui asked. “Didn’t you always say you forgot everything?”

“It didn’t get better, it’s just… never mind…” Dan Fusheng twitched his lips, looking away.

Chen Gui went silent. He didn’t want to press further. ‘Let Dan Fusheng keep his secrets. There’s no one left in this world he truly trusts. I don’t trust him, and he doesn’t trust me. This is just how we are.’

Jade Mastiff retrieved the ball again, and this time, Chen Gui hurled it with some force.

With a loud BANG, the ball missed its mark and struck a wooden panel in the side room. The sound of splintering wood echoed.

Dan Fusheng gasped sharply. Jade Mastiff shrieked.

Chen Gui and Bai Yu rushed forward, pulling aside the curtain. The ball had struck the wardrobe door, cracking the wood.

Dan Fusheng silently stepped forward, calmly trying to block their view while closing the wardrobe door. “You know I’m the Demonic Ancestor, right? I don’t always act the most righteous.”

“If we really can’t find the real Si Fenglang, I plan to use this puppet to temporarily deceive the disciples so we can leave.” Dan Fusheng’s smile was fixed.

Bai Yu squinted. “That’s a puppet?”

“Yes, similar to a Blood Puppet, but refined from spirit herbs.” Dan Fusheng picked up the ball and returned it to Jade Mastiff. “Anyway, let’s go back to what we were talking about.”

Chen Gui refused to budge. “If he’s a puppet, then why is he crying?!”

Through the crack in the door, Si Fenglang’s eyes were visible—red-rimmed and brimming with tears. The moment he had seen Chen Gui, his eyes had lit up with hope. When Dan Fusheng tried to close the door, that hope had visibly turned to despair.

The raw emotion in those eyes was too realistic to be an object.

Dan Fusheng laughed heartily, though it sounded a bit forced. “It’s very realistic, isn’t it? High-quality craftsmanship!”

The crack in the door finally gave way, and a piece of wood fell off. It perfectly framed Si Fenglang’s face as two clear lines of tears streamed down his cheeks.

Dan Fusheng took a wide step, blocking the view.

Chen Gui’s eyes widened, his voice trembling. “What exactly is he?!”

Inside the cabinet, Si Fenglang’s muffled sobs could almost be heard.

Dan Fusheng sighed. “Your Senior Brother just likes to be mischievous sometimes.”

Chen Gui: “Get him out of the wardrobe this instant!”