The Grand Performance

Dan Fusheng applied the pet hair dye to Jade Mastiff’s fur. He had purchased over a dozen colors, determined to transform Jade Mastiff into the most dazzling dog on the street.

Chen Gui felt Dan Fusheng was spoiling Jade Mastiff excessively. However, Dan Fusheng believed that since Jade Mastiff was still so “young” in spirit, a little pampering wouldn’t hurt.

Having already taught countless students and experienced a profound love in his past, Jade Mastiff readily accepted the Demon Lord’s indulgence.

As Dan Fusheng, in a high-pitched voice, asked, “Who’s the smartest doggy in the world?”, Jade Mastiff wagged his tail excitedly, barking back incessantly.

Chen Gui couldn’t comprehend it. He simply thought this demon had gone mad.

He had reviewed the documents Bai Yu provided, which confirmed Jade Mastiff was a reliable and responsible teacher. After watching Jade Mastiff’s teaching videos, Chen Gui even began to suspect that Jade Mastiff might have suffered some deep emotional trauma to act this way.

“We once discussed the topic of transcending Love Tribulations,” Chen Gui began proactively.

Dan Fusheng, who was in the midst of dyeing Jade Mastiff’s fur, turned to look at Chen Gui.

Chen Gui continued, “Would you mind telling us how you transcended yours?”

‘How blunt,’ Dan Fusheng mused, his eyebrows rising slightly.

“Why are you asking this, sir?” Jade Mastiff asked, wagging his large tail.

“Uh, to prepare for my own future Love Tribulation,” Chen Gui confessed, completely incapable of lying.

“You’ll have a Love Tribulation?” Jade Mastiff felt the words ‘Love Tribulation’ didn’t suit Chen Gui at all.

“You never know,” Chen Gui replied, maintaining a facade of calm.

Jade Mastiff glanced at Dan Fusheng.

Dan Fusheng leaned back slightly. “Perhaps… perhaps he will have one?” he said, despite his skepticism.

Jade Mastiff remained suspicious, yet he didn’t mind bringing up the topic. “Mine wasn’t a Love Tribulation, and we didn’t break up. It’s just that the other person died.”

Dan Fusheng paused his dyeing. “Oh?”

“Died an unnatural death,” Jade Mastiff explained. “I killed the culprit—an old relic from a bygone era, an idiot who misunderstood his own identity.”

“How so?” Dan Fusheng wrapped Jade Mastiff in a large plastic bag, waiting for the dye to set.

“He believed himself to be a descendant of the Yu Kingdom’s imperial family,” Jade Mastiff elaborated. “He thought I was a subordinate of the Demon Lord, and since the Demon Lord had slaughtered the Yu Kingdom’s imperial family, he sought revenge against me.”

“He couldn’t kill me, but my beloved’s cultivation wasn’t particularly high,” Jade Mastiff said, lowering his gaze.

Chen Gui interjected, “Impossible. The Yu Kingdom’s imperial family wasn’t sustained by bloodlines; their power was passed down through specific cultivation techniques.”

“He believed he was. Comically, he even possessed a faint trace of demonic blood,” Jade Mastiff continued. The Demon Race and the Yu Kingdom’s imperial family shared a blood feud; for someone with demonic blood to claim descent from the Yu Kingdom’s imperial family was both absurd and laughable. Yet, he managed to convince himself—to convince himself to hate me, a stranger of the demon race.

“There should still be a distant branch of the Yu Kingdom’s imperial family,” Bai Yu stated. “They’ve been trying to restore the Yu Kingdom’s cultivation techniques.”

“The Yu Kingdom’s imperial family cultivated the Path of Slaughter; they won’t be able to restore it,” Dan Fusheng said, rising. “But that explains it.”

He smiled. “I was wondering where that half-baked, bloodless cultivation aura came from.”

“Huh?” Bai Yu didn’t understand.

“The first day I returned, there was an aura resembling the Yu Kingdom’s imperial family’s cultivation techniques outside Holy City,” Dan Fusheng explained with a smile. “It was present in all eight directions, and recently, they’ve entered the city.”

Bai Yu was astonished. “I’ll inform my superiors immediately to investigate thoroughly.”

Dan Fusheng seemed unconcerned. He led Jade Mastiff into the bathroom.

“They want to kill you?” Jade Mastiff asked him.

“Can they kill me?” Dan Fusheng replied, rinsing Jade Mastiff with the showerhead.

The people behind this simply wanted him to know he couldn’t live a leisurely life, that he couldn’t remain aloof. Could he not know? If he could remain aloof, he wouldn’t have returned to this world.

“This won’t do; they might target ordinary people you’ve come into contact with,” Chen Gui said, frowning. “I’ll go and apprehend them all.”

“No need. I left a spell on those children.” Dan Fusheng was confident those half-wits wouldn’t be able to break it.

“They still need to be arrested.”

“You have no evidence, so how will you arrest them? This is a society governed by law,” Dan Fusheng said, still smiling. “However, I have a good idea, but I’ll need to go out. Also, Jade Mastiff will have to cooperate with me.” Dan Fusheng tossed a towel onto Jade Mastiff, instructing him to dry himself.

“Me?!” Jade Mastiff was incredulous.

“No choice, my junior brother here can’t act to save his life,” Dan Fusheng shrugged.

Bai Yu had a bad premonition. “What you’re planning isn’t illegal, is it?”

“Absolutely reasonable and legal, rest assured.”

‘Has Dan Fusheng truly returned?’

The man driving frowned deeply. He was confirming with his junior brother via sound transmission. “Confirm that the person is Dan Fusheng?”

“Confirmed, but he didn’t do anything,” his junior brother’s voice was rapid. “Or rather, he didn’t do anything overtly.”

Dan Fusheng had already begun targeting their people. Thinking this, the man tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

Suddenly, with a bang, his car seemed to hit something. The vehicle then jolted, as if it had driven over a speed bump.

He slammed on the brakes.

A demon with multicolored hair ran towards him, but the demon wasn’t looking at him; he was looking beneath the car.

‘This is bad!’

The man quickly pushed open the car door. A person lay beneath his car, someone he knew well.

“Dan Fusheng?!” The man’s eyes widened, and he gritted his teeth.

“Ah!!!” The multicolored-haired demon’s voice grew louder. He began to wail and sob. “Cousin?! Cousin!! Cousin, wake up!”

Passersby peered curiously in their direction.

“Waaahhh! You can’t die! Cousin! Cousin, you can’t just abandon Auntie and Uncle like this!” The multicolored demon clutched his chest, crying heartbrokenly.

“What… what are you doing?!” The man found it incredible. Had Dan Fusheng already discovered them?

As he spoke, Dan Fusheng—actually a Blood Puppet—held in Jade Mastiff’s arms, suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Jade Mastiff’s voice grew even louder. “Aaaahhhh! Don’t die! Please! Don’t die!”

After crying, he glared at the man with reddened eyes. “What are we doing?! I should be asking what you’re doing! The pedestrian light was green! You just ran right over him! You ran my brother over!”

‘How could that be?!’ The man looked up at the traffic light. He was a cultivator, and though he had only cultivated for a decade or so, he could certainly multitask. ‘It was clearly a green light…’

As the man looked up again, his mind inexplicably spun. After the dizziness subsided, the scene before his eyes subtly changed. It was indeed a red light, and pedestrians had ‘magically’ appeared on the crosswalk.

‘An illusion?! When did I fall victim to an illusion?’

The surrounding crowd couldn’t hold back.

“We all saw it! This young man was bending down to tie his shoelace, and you just plowed into him!” a righteous elderly man declared, his voice strong. “Don’t try to shirk responsibility!”

“You…” The man clenched his fists. “You’re staging an accident!”

Dan Fusheng continued to spit blood, and Jade Mastiff let out another shrill cry.

“Are they using their lives to stage an accident?” a young girl spoke up. “I’ve called emergency services, don’t worry, little brother.”

“Thank you, thank you!” Jade Mastiff choked out. “Yes, yes… I completely forgot about that, I need to call the police!”

Eventually, the police and ambulance arrived together. Dan Fusheng was loaded onto the ambulance, with Jade Mastiff accompanying him.

The man, meanwhile, was taken away by the police in a patrol car for questioning.

The man was bewildered throughout, but the police surveillance footage showed his car indeed hitting Dan Fusheng.

“Dan Fusheng cast an illusion on me!” The man couldn’t admit fault.

“You know him?” The policeman’s expression grew more serious.

The name Dan Fusheng was very popular among the Demon Race; it was the Demon Lord’s revered name, representing unparalleled power to them.

“I… I don’t know him,” the man shook his head.

The police, however, didn’t believe him. They immediately called their colleagues accompanying the victim to the hospital, learning that the victim’s name was indeed Dan Fusheng and that the victim’s cousin had received a critical condition notice. The cousin was emotionally shattered, barely able to speak coherently.

“Tell the truth!” the police officer slammed the table.

“He cast an illusion on me. You’re not special personnel from the Security Administration; you can’t interrogate me,” the man said, unwilling to delve deeper into the topic. “I demand that officers from the Special Security Bureau be called, and I want to contact my master!”

“Your master has already gone to the hospital,” the police officer stated. “He’s waiting outside the operating room with the family.”

At the hospital, a man with long silver hair extended his hand to Jade Mastiff. “Professor Yu.”

Jade Mastiff ignored him, continuing to cry to himself.

“Professor Yu, I’ve attended your lectures; have you forgotten?” The man wasn’t embarrassed. He withdrew his hand, staring at the multicolored hair of Jade Mastiff.

Jade Mastiff’s original hair color was the same silvery white as the man’s, giving off a cold and detached aura. Now, Jade Mastiff wailed while looking at the man’s long hair, then reached out to ruffle his own hair, which shimmered with dazzling, vibrant colors. He felt he had truly won this round.

“Must you continue the act, Professor?” the man frowned slightly.

Jade Mastiff clutched his chest, his body twitching dramatically.

“Very well then, sir.” The man tugged at his jacket. “My disciple was reckless. To show our sincerity, I will personally care for this gentleman once he awakens. How does that sound?”

He wanted to know what kind of mischief Dan Fusheng was up to. “I will personally attend to him, what do you say?”

“Ah? Good,” Jade Mastiff agreed quickly. After agreeing, he started crying again.

Jade Mastiff actually remembered this student; he was a child with a decent personality. ‘He’s in for a huge loss, though.’

The “surgery” lasted several hours, and Dan Fusheng was finally ‘resuscitated.’

The one who was injured and spitting blood was Dan Fusheng’s Blood Puppet. After three days in the ICU, the Blood Puppet was transferred to a regular ward, and the man, Si Chen, arrived as promised.

“Who are you?” Dan Fusheng asked him.

The silver-haired man cupped his fist towards Dan Fusheng. “This junior, Si Chen, greets Senior.”

After bowing, Si Chen subtly raised his head to observe Dan Fusheng.

Dan Fusheng was also appraising him, his gaze open and direct.

“My disciple…”

“Then who am I?” Dan Fusheng interrupted Si Chen.

Si Chen was bewildered.

Dan Fusheng also gasped. “Did I interrupt you? I’m sorry! Please continue.”

Si Chen couldn’t quite grasp what kind of tactic this was.

At that moment, Chen Gui entered, carrying an insulated lunchbox, and sat directly by Dan Fusheng’s bedside.

“Who are you?!” Dan Fusheng looked at Chen Gui in alarm.

“The one supervising you,” Chen Gui replied, not lying.

“Ah?!” Dan Fusheng hugged his arms. “Then I… then I…” He shivered. “Am I imprisoned?”

“You could say that,” Chen Gui nodded solemnly.

“Does he hate me?” Dan Fusheng pointed at Si Chen.

“He hates you.” After all, this group had come specifically to target Dan Fusheng.

“I understand,” Dan Fusheng lowered his head. “You were just talking about your disciple, so your disciple loves me, and you love your disciple. You can’t bear that the child you raised ran off with me, so you want to lock me up!”

Dan Fusheng concluded dramatically, “You want me to never see him again?”

Outside the ward, Jade Mastiff, who was ‘unable to bear witnessing his cousin’s current state,’ was utterly stunned. He muttered a soft curse. Dan Fusheng hadn’t read all those melodramatic novels for nothing.

Dan Fusheng’s eyes welled with tears. He cursed, “Demon!”

Si Chen exclaimed, “No, wait! Huh?!”