My Core is the Boss

Someone played the flute from the heavens, and jade blossoms scattered across the world below. Across the northern and southern lands, the Xi River lay buried in ten thousand li of drifting snow.

Everywhere, everyone had their heads tilted back as they stared at the fearsome silhouette in the sky.

"Did the Red Staff Demon Butcher just wipe out the Xi River demons?"

"He actually wiped them out!"

Even though they knew this battle was inevitable, no one expected it to begin so suddenly and end so quickly.

In just a few dozen breaths, twenty thousand demon soldiers and the Fish Girl were killed. The Red Staff Demon Butcher remained completely unruffled. The once-fearsome demon army of the Xi River had dissolved like snowflakes beneath a blazing sun.

Meanwhile, Qi Yuan stood suspended in the heavens like a god. Every eye in the land was fixed on him. Many wore expressions of awe. Cries of astonishment rang out.

"If the Red Staff Demon Butcher wants this land, it would be his!"

"With such a power, not even a hundred thousand elite imperial soldiers can slow him down!"

"He is practically an uncrowned king!"

Every last doubt dissolved in that moment. Those who had harbored dark schemes quickly crushed them. It was the sheer weight of Qi Yuan's power that convinced them.

Then, Qi Yuan touched down on a hillside a thousand li away. The crimson armor vanished, and his blood-red figure stood in stark contrast against the snow.

Without even sparing anyone a glance, he turned and left. "Mushi. Let's go. Time to leave."

His retreating back grew smaller and smaller amid the vast landscape of white. Huo Mushi hurried to gather the ropes and haul along the two captives. Everyone in the tavern could only watch as he left, not daring to follow.

Green Pearl's expression wavered. In the end, she mustered her courage. "Master! Are you leaving just like that?"

She had a feeling that once the Red Staff Demon Butcher left, she would never see him again.

Qi Yuan still did not turn around. He was quietly consuming the tremendous amount of demon essence blood he had harvested. Just then, he recalled Moon Maiden and paused. "Mhm. Did you manage to learn anything?"

Am I getting old? Why do I keep thinking about people from before? he pondered.

Green Pearl hesitated. "I... Zero percent."

"In that case, if fate wills it, we'll meet again."

In this world, he had always been a passing player moving through a game. His gaze dropped to the blood-red staff in his hand. Without warning, he hurled it into the Xi River.

A bright smile crossed Qi Yuan's face as he muttered, "It would be interesting if some monkey picked you up."

With nearly all the demons in this world dead, it was time to complete his mission and depart. He had made a tremendous profit here. In less than a year, he had reached the Martial Spirit realm, which was equivalent to the Nascent Soul realm. All the White Moonlights had spoiled him terribly.

Then, he turned and walked alone into the white, vanishing from sight.

***

Half a day later, on a small, solitary boat, Qi Yuan lay sprawled across the hull like a young nobleman out for a leisurely trip. At the other end of the boat sat two black sacks.

Those black sacks had been the subject of endless speculation. Some said they held peerless beauties, kept hidden by the Red Staff Demon Butcher. Others said they were supreme treasures and the secret source of his monstrous power.

Now, for the first time, the mysterious sacks were opened. Qi Yuan had his back to Manluo and Tong Youwei. He didn't bother sparing either of them a glance.

The once-arrogant flower demon felt a mixture of joy and shock, but remained silent. When she had first been abducted, she had assumed her captor was some fool without eyes. But everything she had witnessed on the road since then had left her trembling.

To avoid provoking Qi Yuan, she chose her words carefully. "My lord...."

She still didn’t know why she was abducted.

Qi Yuan shifted lazily into a new position, still not looking at her. His unhurried voice drifted across the water. "Tell me what happened between Flower Demon Manluo and Tong Youwei."

He wanted to hear the final act of this drama before he left this place. It was not quite a treasure land anymore. With the demon races destroyed, the value was gone.

Confused as to why he would ask such a thing, Manluo frowned. Nevertheless, she answered truthfully anyway, a glimmer of hatred visible in her eyes, "It all started at the Wangshan Temple. A young nobleman was taking shelter in the temple from the heavy downpour. He found a flower battered by the storm and brought it under the leaves.

"Kept in his arms, it remembered his scent. Ten years later, that flower cultivated to human form. She sought him out, and the two met again at the Wangshan Temple. Feelings grew over time. On one rainy night, they crossed that forbidden line together..."

What followed was messy and convoluted, as these things tend to be.

The young gentleman turned out to be the sole male heir of the Tong family across seven generations. He never knew hardship as he was raised with a silver spoon from birth. When the old master discovered that his son was involved with a demon, he refused to accept it and placed the young man under house arrest. After all, if his son married a demon, the Tong family's reputation would be ruined.

Besides, no good would come from the consummation between a human and a demon. Because of their bloodline, the Tong family had passed their line down through a single male heir for generations. If a demon gave birth to a creature not fully human, that would end the Tong line entirely.

Thus, the old master summoned the flower demon and told her that the Tong bloodline cannot be broken. Once Tong Youwei has married a proper wife and sired a child, only then could the two of them meet again. What he did not know was that the flower demon was already carrying a child.

To ensure the child would not be born a monster, she alone braved the ten-thousand-zhang thorns of Shuyao Mountain. The flower demon was torn to shreds, bleeding everywhere. Nevertheless, she achieved her goal, which was to retrieve the Tuiyuan Fruit. The fruit could protect her unborn child, and sure enough, her child was born whole and healthy. However, she had to pay with her own life.

On the flower demon's young face sat a hatred carved bone-deep. "When I was born, Tong Youwei had already married a new wife."

Her voice curled with bitter laughter. "And here's the funniest part. Tong Youwei's wife couldn't conceive. He panicked and was terrified of being mocked for being unable to father a child. To secure an heir, he brought his wife to Wangshan Temple to... hehehe, seek a monk’s aid."

She let out a sharp laugh. "That's how Tong Tianyou was born. Fearing scandal, he killed his wife after Tong Tianyou was born. He acted like such a devoted father and a filial son, too. On the outside, it appeared like a fine life.

"But then, I poisoned Tong Tianyou. I deceived the old master, telling him that only Tong Youwei’s heart could save the boy, since he was the child’s closest blood relative. They were always saying they loved their grandson and that they would pluck the stars from the sky for him.

"Ultimately, they decided that Tong Youwei can't father any more sons, but Tong Tianyou still can. So they personally drugged Tong Youwei and delivered him into my hands, begging me to save their precious grandson. When I took his heart, he wept so pitifully, repenting over and over.

"The old lady was a sobbing wreck, having been the one who fed Tong Youwei the drugged soup. Her hair turned white overnight. Everyone would mistake them for a tender, loving family, but it was all a lie. What love? They only love themselves and the feeling of love itself."

The flower demon's voice had gone unhinged, hysterical.