Chapter 69: You Are So Naive and Innocent

“Come now! Draw out the fragments you’ve seen; before your master appears, perhaps I can give you some guidance.”
The old priest was silent.
A century ago, he had already known what kind of person Wen Jinge was. This woman possessed a proud spirit, yet was astonishingly lazy. If she had no interest in a person or matter, she wouldn’t lift a finger—she might even destroy it for being in her way. But if it was something she liked...
Like right now, she would never resort to trickery.
“Immortal Master...”
“Don’t call me Immortal Master, call me Chief Eunuch. When you call me Immortal Master, it feels as though I’m already dead.” Suddenly realizing something, she covered her mouth. “Right, I am dead. Call me whatever you like!”
“You must know the Six-Fingered Demon Lute.” While sketching the fragment, the old priest asked, feeling obliged to offer something since Wen Jinge was willing to instruct him. “To be honest, I was entrusted this time to find him.”
“Oh? And what’s your relationship?”
She nearly blurted out that she herself was the person in question.
“Saintess Bei Moling of the Demon Clan—perhaps you don’t know—suffered a huge defeat last time at Xuanyun Sect.”
“Did she? Does such a person exist?” Wen Jinge glanced at her two disciples. At that time, Lu Wei had not yet been placed into Qiao Yu’s body, and Qiao Yu had long since disappeared.
Who could prove that the Six-Fingered Demon Lute was none other than Wen Jinge, the master of Wanzhang Peak?
The old priest ignored her. “In the past, I owed someone a favor—a favor, a task.”
“And then?”
“One task was to bring the Six-Fingered Demon Lute to see the Saintess; the other, to take your disciple to search for traces of the Demon Lord’s avatar. Either one would suffice.”
“Mm.” Wen Jinge was an attentive listener, nodding, waiting for him to continue.
“And then...” The old priest’s face twisted with self-mockery. “And now, your so-called disciple already has a demon within.”
Lu Wei shot him a glare but remained vigilant at Wen Jinge’s side.
“Seems you already know.”
“Yes, I put it there myself.” Wen Jinge patted his shoulder and smiled faintly. “There was another one, meant for myself, but it got scared, so I destroyed it.”
Lu Wei glared at her again.
“Don’t glare. You’re supposed to be aloof, cool, with a faint air of distance—only such a persona is attractive.”
Lu Wei rolled his eyes: This woman is spouting nonsense again!
“If you act out of character again, I’ll shove you into the body of a dying old man.”

“That little one has returned,” the old priest said, closing his eyes, hoping to unsettle Wen Jinge.
Yet she was entirely unbothered. “I know. We’ve signed a peace treaty—unless something major happens, it won’t appear. Next time, unless I die, it won’t come out to clean up the mess.”
Lu Wei was speechless, recalling how she borrowed thunder last time, silently lighting a stick of incense for the “nonexistent.”
“And now?”
“Dying men speak kindly.”
Lu Wei opened his eyes. The old priest, who had been drawing, was motionless. Only Liang Si stepped forward, unsurprised, collecting the finished drawings into his storage pouch. “Old man, my master is a good person, but lacks something when it comes to being human, so...”
He bowed to the old priest. “On behalf of my master, I thank you.”
Lu Wei nudged Wen Jinge. “What’s this about?”
“He’s a demon! And I need demons!” Wen Jinge, seeing his confusion, clicked her tongue. “Villains always talk the most before they die. Now that he’s done, shouldn’t he be on his way? Ten thousand years ago, how did you become the God of War? Where’s your brain?”
“Slept too long?” Lu Wei scratched his head.
As the Demon Lute Sword flew toward them, the old priest was baffled. “You’re... the Immortal Master...”
“Aren’t you looking for the Six-Fingered Demon Lute?” She pointed at Qiao Yu, who was in Lu Wei’s state, took his hand, and drew the purple-black sword. “My disciple is right here! Isn’t this the Demon Lute Sword? He was a great demon ten thousand years ago!”
“Wen Jinge!” Lu Wei, like a dog whose tail had been stepped on, leapt up to bite her, but the Demon Lute, heeding Wen Jinge, thrust him at the old priest.
The old priest didn’t even have time to react before dying under the Demon Lute.
What perished was not only his body but his escaping soul, which was shattered as well.
“Wen Jinge!” Lu Wei grabbed her collar, feeling tricked, used as a weapon. “What did you just do!”
“Scared?” Her gaze grew cold, her eyes as venomous as a scorpion—she suddenly resembled the Wen Jinge from the earlier illusion. Lu Wei silently let go and stepped back.
He turned to Liang Si, whose eyes never left his master, as if convinced she could never do wrong.
“This one is beyond saving.” Wen Jinge rifled through the old priest’s robe, picked out a few valuables, and handed them to Liang Si. “Didn’t you hear him? Two tasks.”
“So what?”
“Nothing really. I fulfilled his wish.”
“Hmm?”
“To be honest, when you first appeared in Qiao Yu’s body, I was very afraid of you, Master.”
Lu Wei: ...

Liang Si looked awkward, even pitying. “But not anymore. I understand now why Master trusts you so much.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re very naive and innocent—certainly not someone who would turn into a demon.”
Lu Wei: He felt insulted.
“Master, you must have been affected too, right?” Liang Si asked. “Did you see anything?”
“Nothing at all.” Lu Wei couldn’t be bothered.
Wen Jinge was a great villain, and Liang Si was a little villain—neither of them were good people.
“Master, she really was offering him a release. He was a demon-cultivating monster, true, but the one he truly owed was Master.”
“How so?”
“He was hurt by demon cultivators, then Master called him a beast. If you were him, would you try to complete the task, even at the cost of your life, knowing it was impossible?”
“That’s just foolish. Unless I was about to die anyway, then I’d do someone a favor on my way out.”
Lu Wei said it casually, then suddenly froze. “I...”
Lately, had he been influenced too much by Wen Jinge? Even when judging others, he was full of ill will.
“Would you give a precious fragment to an enemy you resented?”
“Of course not...” Wen Jinge, seeing his lost expression, almost laughed. “If not, then not! Why look so forlorn? I wonder how the great Sword God slaughtered his enemies ten thousand years ago, even wiped out a clan. I think you’ve been hypnotized—”
Her laughter abruptly ceased, her face turning cold, as if this was her truest self.
“Hm?” Lu Wei didn’t understand what she meant by hypnotized, but Wen Jinge’s expression told him it was likely true.
“Never mind.” She lowered her voice, pointing to the old priest’s remains, not even dust left behind. “Respected Sword God, is there anything else you don’t understand?”
Lu Wei shook his head, then suddenly said, “I’ve thought of a place—”