The Villain Went Insane

Preorder: The Demon Lord Keeps Trying to Die. Click the author's page to save it.

Preorder blurb:

Shen Pingwu was the only disciple of the ninety-ninth generation of the Xuanzong Sect. In theory, she should have been a heaven-blessed prodigy who trained diligently. But Shen Pingwu was a salted fish who took slacking to the absolute limit.

Just how far could she take it? How about dozing off during the Immortal Sects' sacrificial ceremony and tumbling into the Soul Refining Pagoda?

The Soul Refining Pagoda was a memorial hall, where the spirit tablets of countless deceased sect members were kept. But when Shen Pingwu tumbled inside, she found a dilapidated ancestral shrine instead.

Outside lay a blanket of white snow. Candle flames flickered within. The only thing on the shrine's altar was a wooden tablet. Shen Pingwu walked closer and instinctively read the name aloud: He... Chunshan.

Shen Pingwu: Wait, why does that name sound so familiar?

The candle went out, and the wooden door blew open in the snowstorm. A young man wearing light armor, his cheeks streaked with dried blood, stood amid the snow and wind, radiating a piercing chill.

He Chunshan lifted his eyes to the girl holding his spirit tablet in the shrine, his brows arching slightly. "Who called for me?"

Shen Pingwu's eyelid twitched. Isn't that the name of the great demon who supposedly died long ago?!!!

*

He Chunshan originally had no name. When people called him He Chunshan, he accepted it. A thousand years ago, during the battle at Wuji Cliff, he thought he could finally put an end to his absurd, tedious life.

The Yellow Springs would not let him cross, and the Heavenly Dao would not accept him.

He wandered on foot for thousands of miles, crossing mountains and wading through streams. Just as he had no idea where to go, he happened to hear a voice calling him.

"He... Chunshan?"

So he came.

*

Shen Pingwu: I didn't call you.

He Chunshan: I heard my name.

Shen Pingwu: I didn't call you!!!

[Little Scene]

From that day on, another figure was always by Shen Pingwu's side.

Shen Pingwu practiced swordsmanship while He Chunshan sat nearby, eating grapes and offering critiques. "Your stance is unstable, and so is your Dao heart. Boring."

Shen Pingwu went down the mountain. He Chunshan floated beside her, watching her slay demons with a slightly disdainful look. "Too indecisive. Boring."

When Shen Pingwu was injured, He Chunshan treated her wounds while shaking his head. "Your spells are poor. Boring."

At last, Shen Pingwu couldn't take it anymore. Even a salted fish who wanted to slack off couldn't stand someone constantly heckling her, so she trained with all her might.

She kept at it until she could point her sword at the heavens and slay demons without blinking.

Only then did He Chunshan nod. "You've got a tenth of my former magnificence."

Shen Pingwu couldn't take it anymore and thrust her sword at He Chunshan. But the young man seized her wrist and pulled her into his arms. His eyes were pitch-black, like a long winter night.

Want to kill me? Now that's interesting.

[Reader's Guide]

1. Everyone has both good and evil sides. The male lead is a soul, and he's extremely ill-natured. The female lead loves peace.

2. A story of redemption. Both leads have secret identities. A lighthearted, sweet little romance.

3. This is something the author wrote for fun. If it's not to your taste, please don't flame me. (The inspiration came from a line of poetry in high school: "Where the grassy plains end, spring mountains begin." I wanted to write a story about two wandering souls finding their way to each other.)

Yu Qing transmigrated into a book.

She became the most inconsequential cannon-fodder passerby in the least significant sect in an old-school cultivation novel about a domineering hero. She was the kind of cannon fodder who got only a few lines and whose fate, dead or alive, was never revealed.

Yu Qing shed two tears. It's fine, it's fine! At least I didn't run into a ferocious beast right after arriving!

That night, Yu Qing slipped into the kitchen, just about to fix herself a better meal, when she heard a strange noise from the corner.

She nervously went over to investigate.

A man in a ragged black robe, his hair hanging loose and his body gaunt as a skeleton, was chewing on a piece of uncooked flesh. His face was smeared with blood.

Yu Qing sucked in a breath. This is even scarier than running into a ferocious beast, okay?!

She grabbed her bowl and bolted, but the man reacted faster. The next moment, Yu Qing was pinned against the door.

Yu Qing: I surrender! Please let me go!!

Fortunately, after sniffing the air, the man slowly shifted his gaze to the bowl of plain noodles in Yu Qing's hands.

At this point, if Yu Qing still didn't know what to do, she'd be hopeless.

She dropped to one knee, putting on a fawning expression and speaking with earnest sincerity as she presented the plain noodles she'd made on a whim. "My lord, please accept a bowl of noodles from your humble servant!"

*

There's a long-standing mystery in the Demon Realm: how did the current Demon Lord end up so devoted to his Demon Consort?

During an ancient battle, Wen Qi sealed the ancient Demon Realm on behalf of the Immortal Sects. But he was devoured by his inner demon and driven insane. Every day, he could only survive by eating raw meat and drinking blood. In return for his sacrifice, he wasn't thanked. His sect abandoned him, his fellow disciples framed him, and villains hunted him down.

Wen Qi thought it over carefully. Maybe it was because she didn't run when she saw him insane. Or maybe it was because of that bowl of plain noodles. Either way, she must love me.

Yu Qing: Wrong. My legs had gone weak, and I just happened to have a bowl of noodles in my hands.

You can eat the noodles, but you can't eat me!

*

Little Scene:

Yu Qing had once been engaged to someone else. On her wedding day, as the banquet hall filled with guests and friends and relatives raised their cups in celebration, a bloody mist began to draw near. Countless blood crows swooped at everyone, crying out in grief, as a tall figure emerged from the blood mist.

Yu Qing: Oh no! Didn't we agree that if you ate the noodles, you couldn't eat me?!

As usual, she turned and ran.

But a figure blocked her like a ghost. The red bridal veil that had been pulled off her was picked up by a blood crow and draped back over her head.

A long-fingered hand lifted one corner of the veil. His bloodstained hand gently touched her cheek. "Yu Qing, are you trying to run away from our wedding?"

In the seventy-ninth year of the Yuanzong era, the Goddess married the Lord of the Demon Realm.

*

The male lead is insane and immature at first. Later, he recovers all his memories and remains a bona fide madman who needs the female lead to teach him how to behave!

The female lead grows throughout the story. There's a plot, and they guide each other as lovers.

Theme: Maintaining good relationships in society means sacrificing yourself