After Switching Bodies with the Villainous Demon Lord - Chapter 12

Duan Ze hadn’t expected Xiao Wuchen to actually agree. His brows furrowed slightly, a flicker of suspicion rising in his heart.

You’re already the Demon Lord—what could you possibly be lacking?

But since breaking character would be a problem, he couldn’t just blurt out what he was thinking. So he pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes slightly. “What are you going to the ruins for?”

Xiao Wuchen stared at the man in front of him, who looked all lofty and otherworldly, untouched by the mundane. Yet the image that flashed in his mind was the shameless way Duan Ze had acted while borrowing his body. He tapped his fingers on the table and said in a low voice, “I’ve got business.”

…Why did that sound so familiar?

Duan Ze glanced at the sky and once again held back his urge to punch someone. Time was ticking, and he really didn’t have the energy to argue. He nodded, “Fine, I’ll take you. Hand over the ring.”

Xiao Wuchen got what he wanted and returned the ring without hesitation. “I’m going to change.”

With that, he turned and walked back to his room.

Duan Ze, seeing his chance, spun around to leave. But he only managed a few steps before he bumped into an invisible wall in front of him.

He reached out to touch it—and realized Xiao Wuchen had thrown up a barrier before leaving, preventing him from escaping.

Their cultivation levels were about the same, so breaking the barrier without drawing attention would be pretty much impossible.

So Duan Ze turned around and sat back down.

Xiao Wuchen didn’t take long. Before Duan Ze had even warmed the seat, a stranger walked out of the room.

The man wore a light brown robe, looked completely average, had a mole on the left side of his face, a thin build, and a pale, sickly complexion.

Duan Ze stood up and gave him a quick once-over. The moment he caught sight of that familiar, faintly annoyed gaze, he cautiously asked, “Xiao Wuchen?”

“Mn,” the man replied and walked over, pulling out two teleportation talismans. He clearly had no intention of chatting.

Duan Ze examined the talisman with his divine sense. The teleportation array led directly to the ancient god’s ruin entrance—no wonder the guy was so chill. He’d already made arrangements.

Although Duan Ze had wasted quite a bit of time with Xiao Wuchen, the teleportation talisman was incredibly fast. And since Xie Qingyu had flown over on his sword, when the two of them arrived, Xie Qingyu had just appeared in the distance.

The boy froze when he saw Duan Ze, then smiled. “Shifu, you’re done?”

“Mn. This is Zhu, just call him Brother Zhu. He’ll be coming with us,” Duan Ze said with a completely straight face as he introduced the disguised Xiao Wuchen.

A flicker of annoyance passed through Xiao Wuchen’s eyes, though his expression didn’t change. He hunched slightly, his face looking even paler with illness. He lifted his eyes to glance at Xie Qingyu and nodded.

Xie Qingyu gave him a once-over too, and nodded back. “I’m Xie Qingyu.”

“Got it,” Xiao Wuchen replied dryly.

After a few casual pleasantries, the trio stepped into the ancient god’s ruin.

This ruin opened once every five hundred years, and each time it remained active for around half a month—plenty of time to look for what they needed.

The moment they entered, a damp, moldy scent filled the air. They were standing among crumbling ruins covered in moss and vines. The spiritual energy was rich, but some parts had clearly been damaged. Footprints littered the ground—it seemed others had arrived ahead of them.

Not far ahead was a forest. The heart of the ruin lay just beyond it.

Duan Ze led the way, with Xiao Wuchen walking beside him.

Xie Qingyu trailed behind, looking a little dazed. He distinctly remembered that at this point, Duan Ze was supposed to be heavily injured and in seclusion. He hadn’t come with him to explore the ruin. As for this sickly-looking guy? He didn’t remember him at all.

Something here… didn’t match his memory.

He’d grown up in the alleys, living among heaps of rotting trash. For a long time, he thought the stench had soaked into him too. He bathed every day, even in the icy rivers of winter, just to get it off. Sometimes he even risked catching cold—once nearly dying one winter because of it. After that, he eased up a little.

He had no parents. In the village, he was treated like a cursed child, despised and scorned wherever he went. He’d grown up surrounded by blatant, unfiltered malice.

By the time he was old enough to do basic labor, Xie Qingyu ran away from that place he’d lived in for years without the slightest attachment.

But the outside world wasn’t any kinder.

He was tricked and sold into slavery at a mining site. Back then, he was skinny, malnourished, hair dry and yellow—nothing like the graceful youth he was now. Maybe that was why no one bothered trying to break him—they just made him work.

Years passed, digging day and night, scars covering his body. He constantly dreamed of escape. Eventually, he figured out the shift schedule and planned a route. But just when he was ready, something happened.

It was scorching hot that day. People were collapsing before noon. The ground cracked under the sun, the ore radiated heat, and the air shimmered with waves. Sweat poured from his body just standing still, his ragged clothes clinging to his skin.

He raised his pickaxe and slammed it into the rock—then with a loud thump, the boy next to him collapsed, smacking his head against a chunk of ore. Blood gushed out, pooling at Xie Qingyu’s feet.

Everyone nearby heard the sound, but even those who’d joked with the boy yesterday just gave a glance and kept working.

The sight of that blood stung Xie Qingyu’s eyes. His stomach churned.

“Slacking off? Get up!” A supervisor nearby saw someone collapse and lashed out with his whip. A bloody stripe immediately bloomed across the boy’s back. Xie Qingyu’s eyes went wide.

And then—several cultivators descended from the sky on flying swords.

Xie Qingyu couldn’t remember what they looked like, only that they all wore white. On that stifling day, they brought a gust of bone-deep coolness.

After handling the situation, the cultivators left. The slaves were freed.

That was the first time Xie Qingyu had ever seen cultivators up close. They weren’t even that muscular, yet with just a wave of their hands, they could make people—people who’d beaten him bloody—drop to their knees and beg for forgiveness.

They could control the wind, ride swords across the world.

The seed of cultivation was planted deep in his heart that day.

After some digging, he learned those cultivators had come from Cangyu Sect, one of the four great sects. So he asked his way across the land and traveled for months to reach it—just in time for their outer disciple recruitment.

He’d even cleaned himself up before going. But once he got there, he couldn’t even afford the two copper coins for registration. He stood in line for three days and nights, about to be turned away—when Duan Ze appeared.

Like a ray of light piercing his bleak, grey world.

He had never seen anyone so ethereal, so dazzling. Dressed in the same white robes as those other cultivators, but with a cool elegance and effortless grace. His fingers, slender and fair, held out two copper coins to him.

If the cultivators who rescued him had planted the seed of cultivation, Duan Ze was the one who watered it and made it grow.

If only Duan Ze hadn’t torn off that fake mask later, none of what followed would’ve happened.

Xie Qingyu looked up at Duan Ze’s back, unable to stop the trace of hatred that rose in his eyes.

Brother Zhu, walking beside Duan Ze, paused for a second—as if sensing something—and turned to glance at him. Their eyes met.

And right then, the ground beneath them started to shake violently, like a stampede of spirit beasts was charging their way.

Duan Ze froze, his divine sense spreading out like a net. When he saw what was coming, his expression shifted. “It’s a swarm of Stinkwater Lizards.”

The moment the type of spirit beast was named, the other two quickly returned their gazes and moved up beside Duan Ze.

Xiao Wuchen also sent his divine sense outward. Seeing the same thing, he instantly raised a protective barrier around himself.

There wasn’t much time to prepare—the Stinkwater Lizards had already arrived.

These lizards weren’t big, and their attacks weren’t strong. The problem was the layer of transparent goo covering their bodies. Fast and slippery, they’d rub that slime on anything they saw as an enemy.

The slime was colorless and odorless on the lizard, but once it got on someone or another beast—it exploded with a stench so foul it’d last for a whole month. Worse, it acted like a signal to every other Stinkwater Lizard in the area.

No amount of water or purification techniques could wash it off.

Duan Ze cast a barrier on himself, then lifted a hand. His fingertip condensed spiritual power into a sharp blade, slicing several incoming lizards clean in half. Their corpses, carried by momentum, tumbled into the grass and lay still.

He barely moved. His white robes remained spotless, a solitary figure untouched by the mess and filth.

Xie Qingyu, on the other hand, was clearly struggling more. His current cultivation level wasn’t high enough to form a barrier in time.

And although the lizards were weak individually, there were a lot of them. He also had to constantly avoid the slime. After just a few rounds, he was already looking disheveled. One lizard lunged at him, about to land a hit—

A gust of wind whooshed past his ear. The lizard was blasted away, and a barrier immediately enveloped him, keeping the rest at bay.

Stunned, Xie Qingyu looked up at Duan Ze’s position. The man waved his hand again—another wave of dead lizards. His calm and elegant demeanor was a stark contrast to Xie Qingyu’s chaos.

Xie Qingyu’s chest tightened. He suddenly remembered—he’d once been as powerless as these lizards, crushed with the same casual ease.

Seeing Duan Ze glance his way, Xie Qingyu shoved down the emotions welling up inside and forced a grateful smile while fending off the beasts. “Thanks for saving me, Shifu.”

Duan Ze nodded lightly. “Be careful.”

This fake kindness—it was just like in his memories. The hatred bubbling inside Xie Qingyu surged again. He found the gesture disgusting. But what he hated more… was his own weakness.

He had to get stronger. He had to take back what was his. Maybe—just maybe—he could even find that hidden treasure buried deep within the ruin this time, and finally crush Duan Ze underfoot.

Xiao Wuchen stood to the side, watching this “warm moment.” Xie Qingyu wore a smile full of respect and gratitude, but his eyes were a storm of cold hatred.

So fake.

He let out a small scoff, drowned out by the noise of the lizards—but Xie Qingyu noticed. Like he’d been pricked, his gaze snapped toward him.

Xiao Wuchen didn’t look away, letting all his mocking contempt shine in his eyes. Around him, the number of lizard corpses wasn’t any fewer than Duan Ze’s.

Soon, the swarm dispersed on its own, veering around them and fleeing deeper into the forest.

Only after they were completely gone did Duan Ze lower his barrier.

He glanced at the two standing beside him—the tension between them was definitely worse than before.

Probably because one was the original male lead, the other the original villain. Natural enemies.

Duan Ze didn’t bother trying to smooth things over. He expanded his divine sense as far as the ruins allowed.

Here, his range was limited—about a tenth of what it usually was. Some places were protected by the original master’s divine sense and couldn’t be scanned at all.

But it was good enough to navigate.

Now that everything had calmed down, his rationality slowly returned. After confirming the path ahead, he looked toward the forest and said, “So many Stinkwater Lizards coming out at once… there must’ve been a big disturbance deeper in the woods.”

He’d come here to help Xie Qingyu retrieve his life-bound artifact and strengthen their bond. But clearly, someone had reached the core of the forest before them. Who knew if the artifact had already been taken?

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Author’s Note:

Duan Ze, “Why is everything so hard for me??”