After Switching Bodies with the Villainous Demon Lord - Chapter 13

“Let’s go,” Duan Ze reminded the two who were still busy glaring daggers at each other, then stepped forward, following the path he’d chosen.

The deeper they went, the more Duan Ze realized this forest was filled with countless hidden mechanisms. It looked like it had grown wild and free, but after walking about a hundred meters, he found that he’d unknowingly stepped into a formation—an illusion barrier, likely left by the original owner to screen out those with weak cultivation or fragile willpower.

For the three of them, it shouldn’t pose much of a problem.

Duan Ze walked for about the time it took to burn a stick of incense, just nearing the edge of the formation, when suddenly he felt a burst of murderous intent from behind. He instinctively dodged to the side.

A slash of sword aura grazed the hem of his robe and left a deep gouge in the ground where he had just stood.

Turning back, he saw Xie Qingyu holding his sword, eyes full of hatred and pain, his expression twisted. One attack missed, and he immediately swung again, stabbing fiercely at Duan Ze. “Go to hell!”

Duan Ze dodged again, shock flickering across his face. Given Xie Qingyu’s current cultivation and mental strength, he shouldn’t have been affected by a formation of this level.

So how did he fall in so easily?

“Xie Qingyu, snap out of it!” Duan Ze shouted.

But Xie Qingyu had completely lost control, blindly swinging his sword at him. Each strike carried a sharp sword qi aimed straight at vital points. “I’m going to kill you!”

Duan Ze summoned the Nine Nether Exquisite Treasure Fan from his ring and used it to block the attacks. He began to suspect he’d underestimated just how deeply Xie Qingyu’s childhood traumas had affected him.

Apparently, the boy still held onto those past experiences.

Most likely, Xie Qingyu saw him as one of the people who used to hurt him. “I’m your Shifu, Duan Ze!”

Xiao Wuchen stood off to the side, watching with amusement. Hearing Duan Ze say that made him want to laugh—this guy just couldn’t drop that hypocritical tone no matter where he went. Yelling something like that was probably just going to make Xie Qingyu go even more berserk.

And sure enough, Xie Qingyu’s attacks only grew fiercer.

Duan Ze dodged another wild blow, so frustrated his head was spinning. Was this brat trying to commit Shizun-slaying and ancestor-betraying crimes?!

Seeing that Xie Qingyu was slipping deeper into the illusion, Duan Ze stopped holding back. He grabbed the boy’s arm mid-swing, yanked him forward to unbalance him, and pressed his free hand to his forehead.

A surge of spiritual power surged into Xie Qingyu’s consciousness. A cool sensation flooded his sea of awareness, and the distorted grimace on his face slowly softened. His eyes began to clear. The moment he saw Duan Ze’s face, he shoved him away in panic, face deathly pale.

Duan Ze stumbled slightly and blinked, confused. “What’s wrong?”

“He seems really scared of you,” Xiao Wuchen said casually from the sidelines. He hadn’t lifted a finger to help the entire time, and now suddenly dropped that comment just to stir the pot.

Duan Ze turned and looked at the boy who had fled to the side. Xie Qingyu was trembling all over, frantically wiping his forehead, even dry heaving.

Duan Ze looked down at his own hand, his usually composed expression cracking a little. “…That dirty?”

He hadn’t expected that to be the takeaway.

Xiao Wuchen raised an eyebrow. He didn’t mind adding fuel to the fire. “Yeah. Dirty.”

“…” Fine. When this is over, I’m definitely throwing hands with Xiao Wuchen.

Duan Ze clenched his fists silently.

Xie Qingyu took a long moment to recover, then finally stood up, forcing himself to steady his breathing. He cupped his fists awkwardly at Duan Ze. “I was careless, shifu. I was affected by an illusion and mistook you for someone else. Please don’t take it to heart.”

Duan Ze rubbed his fingers together, pretending he hadn’t heard the part where the kid had tried to kill him. “It’s fine.”

By the time they made it out of the formation, Xie Qingyu still looked dazed and off-balance. He vaguely remembered attacking someone while under the illusion—and maybe he’d even said something he shouldn’t have. He couldn’t help wondering if Duan Ze would start suspecting him.

While he was spiraling in his thoughts, Duan Ze pulled out a recovery pill from his ring and passed it over. These types of illusion arrays could really drain someone’s stamina if they got caught too deep. Seeing Xie Qingyu’s sickly complexion, Duan Ze felt sure he’d guessed correctly.

Xie Qingyu stared at the pill like it was a live snake. His blood ran cold, hands and feet freezing. He instinctively shook his head. “N-no, it’s okay…”

“Recover your strength.” Duan Ze raised the open hand slightly when the boy didn’t take it. He had plenty more in his ring anyway.

Xie Qingyu’s pupils contracted. He wanted to run, but rationality held him in place. After a long, shaky breath, he knew now wasn’t the time to fall out with Duan Ze. So he steadied himself, pressed down on the nausea, and forced himself to take the pill. “Thank you, shifu.”

For a second after he swallowed it, his face actually looked worse.

Duan Ze glanced at him again to make sure he was okay. “Keep your guard up. This place isn’t simple.”

“…Okay.” Xie Qingyu nodded stiffly, clearly not in the mood for conversation.

Before the sun completely set, the three of them moved forward again.

Xie Qingyu kept to the back of the group. Once the others weren’t looking, he spit the pill out and used spiritual power to destroy it.

Xiao Wuchen withdrew the divine sense he’d been secretly keeping on Xie Qingyu and thought to himself, This pair looks peaceful on the surface, but deep down they’re each playing their own game. What a great show.

He was now even more convinced that following Duan Ze to the ruins had been the right call.

Xie Qingyu ran his fingers across the storage ring on his hand, eyes dark and cold.

There probably wasn’t anyone who knew this ruin better than he did. In his past life, he had inherited a portion of the original owner’s divine sense. He knew where everything was, what places were dangerous or safe. That’s how he’d found his life-bound weapon.

Originally, he hadn’t expected Duan Ze to come with him. He’d planned to grab the weapon and leave. But now that the man was here—this place had officially become the perfect setting for payback.

Maybe he couldn’t kill him. But a few injuries? That should be manageable.

As they got closer to the forest’s heart, the traps grew more complex. Scattered along the way were corpses left by previous explorers—some rotted into skeletons, some looking like they’d only died a few days ago.

Spirit beasts became more frequent too. Some shouldn’t even have been in a forest like this at all.

They weren’t strong enough to be real threats, but the frequency of the encounters and the constant traps and ambushes slowed their progress. By the time the sky turned dark, they still hadn’t gotten out of the forest.

“Shifu, some of these beasts feel like they were raised here on purpose,” Xie Qingyu said, kicking away a leopard-like beast. Creatures like this usually lived on wide open plains, not dense forests.

Duan Ze nodded. He’d noticed too. Normally, the deeper into a forest one went, the stronger and rarer the beasts would become, but their numbers would decrease—most high-level beasts were territorial and solitary.

But here? It was chaos. Every kind of beast, predator and prey alike, coming out in groups and even fighting side by side. “It’s getting late. We need to get out of here.”

Xiao Wuchen wielded a plain sword without even infusing it with demonic energy, yet used it with flawless precision.

Most beasts couldn’t even get close to him.

Still, after constant fighting, even his blade had chipped and cracked. When he went to stab a charging bear, the sword struck a patch of hardened black armor under its fur and snapped.

Unfazed, he pulled out another from his ring and continued.

At that moment, a vine suddenly lashed out from the distance—and then a flash of white zipped past in front of him.

“Shifu, save me!”

The voice trailed off as the figure vanished.

“…Your disciple’s really weak,” Xiao Wuchen muttered, frowning. He figured the kid was probably up to some shady trick again. Just wasting everyone’s time.

Duan Ze didn’t answer. Lips pressed tight, he immediately ran after him.

This part was in the book. The protagonist was about to enter a solo quest. As the shifu, he should be close by.

…

Once Xie Qingyu confirmed he was beyond Duan Ze’s divine sense range, he used his sword to anchor himself to a tree and easily cut through the vine with a specially made dagger.

Somewhere in the distance came a faint scream. The vine that had been cut began twitching violently, the severed end quickly turning black and rotting. Within moments, it was still.

Xie Qingyu stood up, pulled a small pouch of red liquid from his sleeve, and tossed it aside. Another vine slithered out, eagerly curling around the pouch and dragging it away.

After cleansing himself with a purification technique, the boy headed in a specific direction. With his careful maneuvering, they were finally nearing the Blood Candle Vine’s hunting ground.

Everything here felt so familiar. The trees, the grass, all pulling him back into memory.

Last time, he had almost died here. If not for pure luck, he wouldn’t have made it out alive. Even in that moment, he remembered thinking about how he hadn’t yet repaid Duan Ze’s kindness.

Back then, Xie Qingyu had used those two copper coins Duan Ze gave him to register and became a nameless outer disciple of Cangyu Sect, tossed into the outer peaks with over a hundred others. Most of the time was spent doing chores—more a servant than a cultivator.

No one was actively hostile, but he didn’t try to make friends either. He did everything alone.

Many outer disciples left within a few years. Xie Qingyu used every spare second to train and finally entered the Qi Refining stage six months later.

That was when Duan Ze came to find him again, this time bringing food. “What, haven’t eaten today?”

Duan Ze was the first person who ever showed him real kindness.

Xie Qingyu was instinctively wary, but still replied, “I eat a lot. Never enough.”

“I’ll bring you more next time,” Duan Ze said, glowing in his white robes.

He began teaching him cultivation techniques, shared resources, took him to train in secluded, energy-rich spots. Sometimes he even completed the boy’s chores behind the scenes.

Xie Qingyu was moved. After that, he always finished his work before cultivating.

He feared one day Duan Ze’s kindness might have ulterior motives. But years passed. Nothing ever happened.

His trust grew. He reached Foundation Establishment. No more starving. Occasionally, he could even treat himself to some roast chicken from that stall five miles outside the sect.

Duan Ze became his everything—family, teacher, savior. A simple gift or kind word was enough to make him giddy at night.

When he reached Core Formation, Duan Ze began taking him out to fight spirit beasts, giving him medicinal herbs to heal or recover.

They’d known each other for nearly sixty years—though they only met every week or so.

In the first decade, trust grew. In the next five, he began taking Duan Ze’s pills.

Even after he became Li Qingyuan’s disciple, he still took them now and then.

He trusted Duan Ze more than anyone. If Duan Ze said to do something, he did it.

Then, decades later, came the Immortal Ascension Ceremony. All inner disciples participated. Xie Qingyu stood in the crowd and saw the man who used to secretly give him pastries now standing above the viewing platform, announcing the ceremony as Cangyu Sect’s Shizu.

His whole world shattered. He’d thought Duan Ze was just some Shixiong from a mountain peak.

He felt like maybe all his misfortunes as a child had happened just so he could meet this person.

By the time he reached Nascent Soul, he and Duan Ze shared everything—well, mostly him doing the sharing. He even revealed his childhood trauma.

Then one night, Duan Ze took him out under the pretense of training. They left Li Qingyuan’s protection.

That night marked the peak of his admiration and trust.

And then… he blacked out.

When he woke up, he was trapped in a dark cauldron—head and arm exposed, the rest of his body submerged. Duan Ze stood before him, dressed in white, eyes cold.

“Shizu, what are you doing?” Xie Qingyu’s heart sank. He tried to move, but couldn’t.

That calm, soft face he’d known showed no emotion at all. He was just… a tool. A thing.

Duan Ze pressed a spell seal to his forehead—activating every bit of medicine that had accumulated in his body over nearly a hundred years.

The herbs and poisons inside the cauldron reacted violently with the awakened drugs in his body. It felt like a thousand bugs gnawing at his bones, a hundred blades carving his flesh. Blood streamed from every orifice. His vision turned crimson.

Duan Ze ignored the screams and calmly drew a knife from his ring, slicing open his arm.

The pain intensified. Xie Qingyu wanted to faint, but another spell kept him awake.

The boy who once trusted him most now realized the truth—he was nothing but a walking medicinal host. A living pill furnace.

Family? Affection?

It had all been a lie.

⸻

Author’s Note:

Xiao Wuchen, “Yes. Fight. FIGHT.”