The Demon Sect members were famous for being afraid of death, taking the stance that ‘everyone has a part to play in treasuring life’.
So ever since Jiang Zhan came out from seclusion, the Demon Sect trended towards a whole new style. As the former Sect Master, the sect members still listened to Jiang Zhan, but this meant that they both couldn’t eat meat and had to fix the road regardless.
“You guys turned coat for a few pieces of meat?! Where’s your dignity?!” Jiang Zhan was so angry, he felt like he was going to burst.
“On the day we entered the Demon Sect, didn’t you tell us that dignity couldn’t fill our stomachs? That real men had to be flexible? We’re lying low and waiting for our chance ah!” A sect member retorted.
Jiang Zhan, “...” ‘Since when did I say something as dumb as that?! Wait, that’s not the point.’Jiang Zhan beckoned the sect members closer. “You guys drug her tonight. I(lz) want to take back my position!”
“Sect Master...” ‘Are you an idiot?’ “It’s not realistic to drug Ms Wu Zheng.”
The man spoke euphemistically and gave Jiang Zhan a sincere look.
Jiang Zhan, “...” ‘Even if you spoke euphemistically and look at me sincerely, I still feel like I’ve been looked down on.’
Jiang Zhan smacked his hand towards the sect member who had spoken. The latter hurriedly pulled his head back, successfully dodging the slap.
“Still dare to dodge! Come here!” Jiang Zhan pointed at him.
The sect member weakly stretched his head out and closed his eyes in resignation.“What else can you do, besides bully them?” A melodious voice spoke from behind him.
Jiang Zhan’s hand stopped in mid-air. He turned around to look at the woman who had appeared behind him at some point, rage instantly filling his heart. “So what if I discipline my own people?! Huh?!”
Shi Sheng shook her head. ‘This idiot.’
“Is the road fixed yet? Seeing as you guys are gathered here chatting... You don’t want to eat meat anymore?”
Those people shot Jiang Zhan a gaze that said “good luck”, before grabbing their tools and running down the mountain.
“You— You—” ‘This lunatic is simply my nemesis!’
“Be a good, useless former Sect Master and don’t cause any trouble. Otherwise, I’ll mince you.” Shi Sheng made a throat-slitting gesture, a malicious smile on her face.
Jiang Zhan’s breathing quickened as his face reddened. ‘Is it my fault that I can’t beat this woman?! I don’t believe it!’
......
In the dark and gloomy night, the moon made for a cold crescent in the sky.
The woman on the bed appeared to be asleep, her chest barely rising and falling.
Jiang Zhan jumped in through the window and cautiously approached the bedside.
He checked to make sure that the person on the bed was sleeping deeply, before revealing a wicked grin.
He took a small paper pouch from his sleeve and opened it. A strong wind suddenly blew from the front towards him, causing the pouch to upturn its powdered contents all over his face.
He subconsciously shut his eyes. But the next second, he felt something off and retreated a few paces.
Crash!
He didn’t know if he’d knocked into a table or a cupboard. But whatever it was, he was stopped in his tracks. Not having felt any killing intent, he used his sleeves to scrub furiously at his face.
When his eyes could open once more, he saw that the woman on the bed had sat up at some point. The moonlight streaming in through the window reflected off a pair of cold, gleaming eyes that were really quite terrifying.
Jiang Zhan’s scalp tingled and his body froze. He gulped. ‘C’mon, I’m a demon that people fear, right? How could I be scared of a woman?’
The next day, when the Demon Sect members woke up, they found their former Sect Master hanging from a pillar that had been erected in an empty spot.
He also had rashes all over his face.
Ting Feng raised his head to look at his dumb Sect Master. ‘I already told you not to oppose that person, but you didn’t believe me. Got your comeuppance, eh? You brought it on yourself!’
Gu Yu expressionlessly folded his arms and left to absorb natural energies.
“Ting Feng! Gu Yu! Get me(lz) down from here!” Jiang Zhan’s voice was a bit hoarse from the treatment he’d received last night.
Ting Feng sent people to get his dumb Sect Master down and bring him into a room.
As Ting Feng helped Jiang Zhan apply ointment to the affected areas, he tried to make Jiang Zhan see reason. “Sect Master, Ms Wu Zheng is doing a pretty good job of being Sect Master. You see, our whole sect gets warm clothes and enough food. And back then—”
“Did I not provide for you guys?” Jiang Zhan was unwilling to admit defeat. “I regret it now, okay?”
Ting Feng, “...” ‘Now that you mention it...no. I suddenly find Sect Master Wu Zheng much better than this dumb Sect Master of mine...’
Jiang Zhan relentlessly caused trouble—though it always resulted in him being severely punished by Shi Sheng.
After this persisted for a long time, even Ting Feng no longer bothered with him.
Because Jiang Zhan was very upset, he ran away from home.
Not too long after, news of Jiang Zhan massacring people could be heard. However, everyone in the sect was calm, as if not interested in the slightest.
Noticing Shi Sheng’s curiosity, Ting Feng filled her in on the details.
Jiang Zhan had never killed anyone. He had taken over the Demon Sect when he was but 15. His father had transferred all the inner energy he had to him, but Jiang Zhan’s sword technique was too lacklustre, and he didn’t have any talent in stewardship, so he wasn’t a good Sect Master by any stretch of the imagination.
All those rumours had been made up by them. That way, Jiang Zhan would seem stronger in the eyes of others, discouraging them from provoking the Demon Sect.
Shi Sheng silently gave Ting Feng a big thumbs-up. ‘This show-off, I give 101 points. Not even afraid that the extra 1 point will go to your head!’
“Apart from Sect Master...Jiang, everyone else in the Demon Sect is pretty capable.” Ting Feng scratched his head.
For the sake of differentiating between Shi Sheng and Jiang Zhan, they called the former “Sect Master” and the latter “Sect Master Jiang”. Though they still called Jiang Zhan “Sect Master” in private.
Since Shi Sheng showed no reaction to this on the occasional moments when she bumped into them doing so, they treated it as silent consent.
Shi Sheng nodded. ‘Very capable alright! ...At ganging up on someone! Yet you guys run even faster than rabbits when you have to 1v1! Please accept my deepest respects!’
“Actually, our sect didn’t always use to be here...” A hint of nostalgia appeared in Ting Feng’s eyes. “And we weren’t always so poor either.”
They had only fallen to this state after Jiang Zhan took over from his predecessor. After all, with a Sect Master that didn’t bother with proper management and only knew how to give random orders, what would one expect?
“If not here, then where did it use to be?” Shi Sheng’s curiosity was piqued. ‘I was wondering why a Demon Sect was so poor. This is simply not the jianghu I’m used to!’
Ting Feng looked to the east. “Mt. Di. It’s the peak closest to the sea. The Demon Sect used to live there for generations...but it was burnt to ashes.”
Towards the end, Ting Feng’s tone turned downcast.
5 years ago, the righteous sects of the pugilistic world gathered to exterminate the Demon Sect, causing the deaths and injuries of many of its members. The only ones who’d escaped had ended up in the camp they were in now.
Ting Feng and Gu Yu hadn’t been Sentinels at the time, merely Jiang Zhan’s bodyguards.
The responsibility of bringing the younger generation of the Demon Sect to escape fell on Jiang Zhan. In the end, they had set up camp on this spot. That was how Ting Feng and Gu Yu somehow got their positions as Sentinels.
“Did I have any enmity with Jiang Zhan?” Shi Sheng had wanted to ask this for a long time.
‘For fuck’s sakes, maybe I’d overlook it if it was just Jiang Zhan’s “you-owe-me” expression, but everyone else in the Demon Sect acts really familiar with me!’
Ting Feng blanked out for a while before speaking, “Sect Master may have already forgotten. While the previous Sect Master was still alive, he once brought Sect Master Jiang to Medicine Granny. Sect Master Jiang was pranked by you and has never forgotten about it. He’d always talk about this in his spare time, so everyone knows about you.”
Shi Sheng fell silent. There was nothing in Wu Zheng’s memories about this, probably because she was still too young then. ‘But he actually remembered being pranked for this long? Really now!’
