Du Xinghe’s sword strike was deliberate.
According to Xiang Zheng, this creature had not committed any heinous acts in Yunshan Township, nor had it harmed humans. It only caused unrest among the people through repeated thefts. Unwilling to recklessly take a life, Du Xinghe intended to test its strength with this strike, incapacitate it, and then engage in a proper discussion.
“Ah!”
Sword energy erupted abruptly. Though the creature reacted swiftly, twisting slightly to the side, its thigh was still struck. A sharp cry pierced the air as it collapsed to the ground. In the pitch-black village night, Xiang Zheng only heard the dull thud of a heavy fall, unable to discern its exact location.
With a flick of her fingers, Du Xinghe gathered the scattered moonlight, illuminating the creature’s true form.
“It’s actually human?” Xiang Zheng exclaimed in surprise.
Bathed in the focused moonlight, a woman in resplendent robes lay on the ground, blood seeping from her skirt and staining the begonia patterns crimson. This was Xiang Zheng’s first glimpse of the Lu Family’s beloved concubine—her beauty was indeed breathtaking, undiminished even by the pallor of fear.
But he had no time to admire her delicate distress. “This is disastrous! Injuring Master Lu’s favorite concubine like this… How am I to explain this to him?”
“This humble one merely wished to take a nighttime stroll for fresh air. What do you two intend?” the Lu Family Concubine whimpered, tears welling in her eyes.
Noting Xiang Zheng was a man, she clutched her skirt tighter in fear.
“Apprehending a thief,” Du Xinghe replied coolly, disregarding the tears as she stepped forward and used her sword to lift the hem of the robe the creature desperately tried to use to conceal its thigh.
“Immortal, she is still a woman…” Xiang Zheng attempted to intervene.
The next moment, his words caught in his throat.
As Du Xinghe exposed the concubine’s leg, thick brown fur was revealed, matted and tangled with blood, starkly contrasting with the other pristine, snow-white limb. Beauty and beast merged into one grotesque form.
Narrowing its eyes, the creature lunged in a desperate counterattack. Du Xinghe, prepared, engaged it immediately. The monster’s fingers elongated into sharp claws, swiping at her, while she wielded her sword and formed hand seals. A streak of light shot into the skin on its outer thigh, instantly freezing the wound with frost and disrupting its balance.
During her attempts to heal A Qi, Du Xinghe had realized one thing: healing was not her forte—it was simply not in her nature.
The “Rainbow Skirt Sword Sutra” described using spiritual power to mend wounds, but in her hands, it caused necrosis. Following this logic, she reasoned, wouldn’t it become a lethal technique?
Put to the test in combat, it proved remarkably effective.
Seizing the moment as the creature faltered, Du Xinghe pressed her sword tip against its throat.
Victory was decided in the blink of an eye.
“…Spare me, honored one! I have never taken a life, nor am I a man-eating monster! If you do not believe me…” the creature pleaded, frozen in place.
“If I don’t believe you, will you cut open your stomach to prove it?” Du Xinghe asked indifferently.
“Allow me to demonstrate.”
It took a step back, raising its hands under Du Xinghe’s watchful gaze to show it had no intention of resisting or fleeing. Its shoulders heaved violently twice before it retched, vomiting a torrent onto the ground.
The color and flow resembled a waterfall plunging from the heavens.
Xiang Zheng found it truly unimaginable how the Lu Family Concubine’s slender waist could contain such an enormous amount of food, as a peculiar odor began permeating the surroundings.
The demon loudly clarified: “Your Honor, please observe—not only have I never consumed human flesh, I don’t even eat animal meat!”
On the ground lay numerous partially digested remnants, their original forms faintly recognizable.
They were bananas.
Countless banana fragments.
Du Xinghe discreetly held her breath.
“Let’s continue this conversation elsewhere.”
…
Ignoring Xiang Zheng’s protests, Du Xinghe brought the monkey demon back to his residence.
After interrogation, the dejected monkey demon confessed to multiple theft cases in Yunshan Township.
“What happened to the original Lu Family Concubine? Did you kill her or hide her somewhere?” Xiang Zheng urgently inquired.
“The original concubine?” The monkey demon gave him a strange look. “I am Master Lu’s concubine! There’s no one else. That day when I took human form and descended the mountain, it was he who insisted on bringing me to his manor. We monkey demons have advantages in human transformation—even with low cultivation, we can maintain some disguise. But the immortal’s sword strike was so painful I couldn’t help reverting to my true form.”
All this time, Master Lu had actually been sharing his bed with a monkey demon.
When Master Lu arrived at Xiang Zheng’s residence and learned the truth, he calmly bowed with clasped hands: “I’ve known it wasn’t human all along. But since it harbored no ill will toward humans and was the purest, most genuine woman I’ve ever encountered, I pretended not to notice. I never thought the truth would eventually surface… I will compensate everyone for their losses, and beg the immortal to spare its life so I may send it away.”
Xiang Zheng was deeply moved.
This turned out to be a forbidden romance between human and demon.
Du Xinghe interjected:
“Woman? It’s a male monkey.”
Master Lu: ?
The monkey demon guiltily averted its gaze.
Moments later, Master Lu’s face flushed crimson, veins bulging at his temples: “Since ancient times, humans and demons have been incompatible! I beg the immortal to slay this demonic monkey!”
Though Master Lu had withdrawn his plea for mercy, Du Xinghe no longer felt inclined to kill the demon. Her cold glance silenced him immediately.
Then the monkey demon cried out in grievance: “Your Merciful Honor, my family of sixteen was truly starving with no other options. I only came down the mountain seeking food when this Lu fellow promised I’d never go hungry if I stayed with him. But what good is feeding just one monkey? It’s not enough, far from enough…”
Tears as large as beans fell as it spoke of its sorrows.
Master Lu grunted, nearly fainting: “You’ve been supporting an entire family behind my back!”
Being a concubine was merely employment—providing for its family was real life.
According to the monkey demon, it had long resided in Yunshan Township without ever disturbing the villagers. Somehow, over the past year, mountain creatures had been dying mysteriously while trees ceased bearing fruit. As omnivores preferring fruit—which also contained spiritual energy to prolong their lives—the monkeys found both sources cut off. Watching its family approach starvation-induced madness, it resolved to seek food downhill.
Submitting to Master Lu was simply a business transaction for the monkey demon.
After hearing this, Du Xinghe frowned:
“The theft cases in Yunshan Township are trivial matters. The abnormal deaths of mountain creatures and the failure to bear fruit are far more suspicious.”
Seeing this, the monkey demon knelt with a thud: “I beg Your Honor to investigate the truth.”
“No need to kneel before me.”
The monkey demon wept with gratitude: “Your Honor is truly compassionate!”
“I’ll go take a look, but not to help you, nor am I going there specifically to solve the problem,” Du Xinghe said leisurely as she sheathed her sword. “Unusual occurrences always hide opportunities. I’m going to see what benefits I can gain. If the problem proves too difficult, or if there’s no profit to be made, I’ll leave immediately.”
She turned to Xiang Zheng: “By the way, the cause of the theft has been identified. Time to pay up.”
Small business, no credit allowed.
In the previous chapter, some readers asked why Sister Du wants Xiaoqi to be the healer instead of doing it herself. To put it simply, she’s not an all-rounder – she’s the sharpest blade. Any skill unrelated to combat that falls into her hands turns into pure aggression – just fight and get it done (.)