Reborn as a succubus - Chapter 7

“…!”

Xi Che suddenly opened his eyes. The dark ceiling replaced the magnificent palace, and finally, the face of Chu Yan was no longer before him.

He hurriedly climbed out of bed, unconsciously moving backward until his back rested against the headboard. His heart was pounding fiercely, blood boiling like a pot of soup. No matter how many deep breaths he took, he couldn’t calm down.

The dream just now was too real. Even now, recalling it still made him shudder.

“You carry a scent I don’t like.”

The black little kitten sitting beside him suddenly spoke without warning, startling him. He turned his head to look at it. “What?”

The white tiger jumped from the bedside table onto Xi Che’s shoulder, pacing around and then sniffing near his face, emitting an unfriendly growl from its throat. “It’s the smell on you—I don’t like it.”

Xi Che was puzzled by what it meant. He lifted his hand and put the white tiger down. His mouth was dry, and his body still showed some awkward physiological reactions. The tiger’s reaction was strange—he hadn’t mocked his dream like before. When did it become so kind?

Hesitating, he asked, “You didn’t see anything just now?”

The white tiger shook its head. “No, weren’t you asleep?”

Xi Che was a bit surprised—strange. Normally, if he was dreaming, the tiger should sense something, so how come it saw nothing?

…Well, never mind. It’s better if it saw nothing, otherwise, it’d definitely ridicule him.

Xi Che got out of bed, wrapping the bedsheet around his waist, and headed out.

The white tiger called after him, “Where are you going?”

“To the bathroom.”

The white tiger stood at the bedside quietly watching his back until he was about to leave the room. Then suddenly it asked, “Are you going to… relieve yourself?”

“Bang!”

The door slammed shut, clearly embarrassed and angry.

At the same time, the white tiger’s face showed a very human-like knowing expression—looks like it’s best not to follow him now.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, becoming a succubus really means getting closer to the demon race.

At least in terms of desires.

Meanwhile, atop Crane Cry Mountain in the Jade Capital Palace, thunder roared.

Thick bolts of lightning struck the ground, churning earth and stones, whipping up flying sand and dust. Then a fierce wind blew, accompanied by drought thunder—truly terrifying. The storm lasted a while, then hail began to fall, pounding trees and vegetation until they bent low. But after just a few minutes, the hail turned into blazing sunlight. The sun fiercely emitted heat, drying the earth to cracks.

After this violent disaster, a figure in a white robe with flowing ethereal hair emerged from the dust.

It was Chu Yan.

He walked down slowly from the mountaintop, his cold face the only thing calming the chaotic weather around the Jade Capital Palace.

The Dream Master nervously waited in the main hall. Seeing Chu Yan enter, he hurried to greet him. “Honored God, please heed my advice. That Dream Stone has already affected your mood. You should return it to me quickly.”

In the Dream Master’s impression, the God of light(Ming Zhao) was very competent, emotionally stable, seldom losing his temper. Aside from being a bit taciturn and cold, he had no other faults. But now, whether lightning or storm, no one knew what had angered him… Even though Crane Cry Mountain was his own backyard, he shouldn’t be so careless with it.

Chu Yan didn’t even glance at the Dream Master and walked past him into the hall, clutching the purplish-red gem in his palm tighter.

The Dream Master couldn’t understand. Chu Yan’s mood hadn’t actually changed; he was just venting excess energy.

Xi Che had been human and knew how to handle physiological needs after a spring dream, but Chu Yan didn’t even understand this.

This pure divine figure had unknowingly developed desires he should never have.

The Dream Master hurried after him, “Honored God! Honored God… Alas! The Dream Stone can only create the simplest dreams. Even if it successfully constructs the person you want to see, it is but a mirage, a mere illusion. The person in your dream who spoke may well be a demon! Don’t be deceived!”

If not for seeing him look so despondent before, even seeking a successor and planning divine demise, the Dream Master wouldn’t have dared to bring out the Dream Stone.

The Dream Stone was a demon artifact, and the Dream Master wasn’t sure what side effects it might have on the gods.

He wasn’t acting out of loyalty but because he served at the light Palace. If the God of light fell, so would he. From demon cultivation to becoming an immortal and then a divine attendant, he had suffered much. He didn’t want to give up his position so easily.

Chu Yan finally stopped and looked at him. “What kind of demon dares to enter my dream?”

The Dream Master choked—true, under stress he babbled nonsense. Which demon would dare disturb a god of light nowadays?

Still, in these two days, Chu Yan’s visible agitation was frightening.

The Dream Master tried to stop Chu Yan from leaving. “Will you continue accepting alternate successors this year?”

“Yes.”

The Dream Master agreed, though inwardly shaking his head. He didn’t understand the meaning of this. Every year there was a succession ritual, but no one was ever chosen. What was he holding onto?

But gods’ affairs weren’t for him to meddle in. He just followed orders.

Chu Yan intended to leave but remembered something and stopped. He sat down at the table. The Dream Master was puzzled but couldn’t leave when his leader was seated, so he stayed.

Chu Yan didn’t speak, just stared at the Dream Master, making him uneasy.

“Is there something troubling you? Speak out, and I shall help you bear the burden.”

Chu Yan fixed him with a blank stare for a moment. “I’m going down to the mortal realm.”

“…Ah?!”

“I’ll be back soon.”

“Wait… Honored God, the Jade Capital Palace cannot do without you!”

Despite the Dream Master’s desperate pleas, Chu Yan’s figure disappeared from the palace. The Dream Master stood stunned, pounding his chest and seething with anger. He suddenly developed a strong hatred for the instigator of the God-Demon War—before the war, the Nine Nether Divine Realm was solemn and strict. All three thousand Heavenly Laws were strictly enforced, and gods never casually descended to the mortal realm.

During the God-Demon War, the Lang Feng Pavilion, which stored the Heavenly Laws, was destroyed, and all three thousand laws were lost. Since then, gods have fallen, palaces collapsed, and the remaining gods no longer obey those now obsolete laws.

However, reality was not as severe as the Dream Master imagined. Gods like Chu Yan would still restrain themselves out of habit. This trip to the mortal realm was only for a minor personal matter.

Last night’s dream left Chu Yan uneasy.

Having stayed so long in the Nine Nether, he didn’t know what feelings were. Gods had no need to reproduce and lacked biological instincts… So he was shocked and angry about being kissed forcefully in the dream.

He would never bring this up to the Dream Master and could only process it himself.

But he keenly sensed that, in front of “Asa,” he was like a child.

This was unacceptable. Even in a dream, Chu Yan would never allow this situation.

He decided to seek a solution in the mortal realm.

But was the “Asa” in the dream really just an illusion created by the Dream Stone? Could such a real illusion exist in the world…?

“Brother, are you really okay? That whip was so scary, look at you now, all wrapped up like a dumpling!”

At the weekend’s end, as Xi Che prepared to leave home and return to the academy, he received his younger sister’s worried words.

“Why don’t you take a few more days off and rest properly at home?”

Her worry was not unfounded. When Xi Che was first injured, he was in a frightening state, unconscious. Xi Luan thought he might not survive. Now he had finally woken, though his complexion was still pale, as if the poison was not fully cleared.

When Yuan Ting and Zhan Yujin took Xi Che away, they worried about alarming others, so they drugged Xi Luan. In her mind, her brother was still poisoned.

Xi Che smiled at her and shook his head. “No need. I’m much better now. If I don’t attend classes, how will the household expenses be covered?”

He was telling the truth. All their income came from him working as a “human practice student” at the academy. Ordinary families like theirs couldn’t afford to miss work over a minor injury.

Still, he had to pretend to be hurt. He couldn’t let others know about his deal with Yuan Ting and Zhan Yujin. So externally, he still appeared poisoned, with his arm bandaged and looking weak.

Fortunately, he had just possessed the original body, who had lost much blood and looked genuinely weak and pale, so it was easy to pretend.

Since his rebirth, this was the first time Xi Che seriously looked at the academy’s timetable. Most courses revolved around the entire world system. In this world, the boundaries between the Divine Realm, Demon Realm, and Mortal Realm were not so strict. Humans often encountered demons, spirits, or even miracles in daily life.

So even subjects unrelated to the mortal realm appeared in textbooks.

For example, the God-Demon War years ago.

Xi Che was taking a course called Divine History, which recorded the history of the gods. When he first saw his own name in the textbook, he felt very strange, but the evaluation was not friendly.

“225 years before the Divine Era, to seize control of the Nine Nether Divine Realm, Chu Yan led the demon army to start the God-Demon War. The gods united and slew him. Since then, demons were leaderless and retreated to the Demon Realm, but this also marked the start of large-scale demon hunts on humans.”

Xi Che stared blankly at the page. The memories he desperately wanted to seal away surged back into his mind.

But it was also the first time he learned that the demon-human war had fully broken out in this era. He could understand: Although demons had mostly retreated and the strong ones were mostly dead, there might still be a few incorrigible demons sneaking to catch humans…

Before the war, gods and Buddhas were as numerous as cattle and horses, highly competitive. Demons were not as rampant.

He also learned that humans gave him the nickname “Demon Slayer.”

Pretty cool.

He was daydreaming when he suddenly heard someone call his name. Instinctively, he looked up and saw the bespectacled old professor staring at him from the podium.

Looks like he was being called on.

He hurriedly stood up.

Other students obviously noticed his zoning out and gave unfriendly looks—probably because the original body was weak and timid, often bullied, and most classmates grouped together against him.

People fear the weak—human nature’s flaw.

Xi Che showed no expression and scanned the room. When his gaze landed on a brown-haired handsome boy, the boy smiled slightly, looking concerned.

Is there really someone who cares in this class? But who was that?

“Xi Che, please answer this question.”

The old professor tapped the blackboard with his pointer, trying to get Xi Che’s attention. Xi Che hurriedly focused and saw the question:

“By which god and what weapon did the Demon Slayer finally die?”

…

Damn, this question really hits hard.

Xi Che didn’t want to answer.

But facing the many unkind, waiting-to-see-him-fail gazes, he didn’t want to give up.

He took a deep breath, controlling his emotions.

“…He died… he died by the Staff of the Law God.