"An illegitimate child, pretending to be chaste! Bring it to me!"
Before she was fully awake, Bai Siyao was shoved to the ground with great force, the item in her hand snatched away in an instant.
She rubbed her ears, thinking to herself, Who dares act so insolent in front of me? If I don't destroy your entire family, I would be unworthy of my title as the demon lord, cursed by the world for over a thousand years!
Her gaze lifted and met the eyes of a young man filled with malice. She paused, her expression turning odd.
"Big brother?"
The young man, busy inspecting the spiritual talisman, responded without even looking up. "Big brother? Do you think you're worthy of calling me that? Look in a mirror first!"
"Exactly," echoed one of his lackeys, emboldened by his master's arrogance. "Address him as 'Young Master'!"
The lackey then gently reminded the young man, "Young Master, 'chaste and virtuous' doesn't really apply here. She's just a girl, not some village woman being abducted."
"Is that so?" The young man pondered for a moment, "Then should I say 'pure as jade'?"
"Not quite..." The lackey gave up correcting him. Fine, let him say whatever he wants. As long as he's happy.
Bai Siyao was momentarily speechless, her gaze sweeping around the room. The familiar yet strange surroundings caught her eye.
A wide hall, rows of orderly desks, and at the center, three flamboyant words written on a plaque: Wen Dao Xin.
Though a thousand years had passed, she recognized it instantly. This was the Bai family's academy, where she had once studied Daoist arts until she left home at fourteen. And the young man before her was none other than her cousin, Bai Mengxing, who had always enjoyed bullying her.
So, what happened? Had she been pulled into an illusion of her youth by the Reincarnation Mirror?
No, that didn't make sense. Illusions usually targeted one's inner weaknesses. The Bai family had long since turned to ashes; she no longer had any attachment to it.
As her thoughts wandered, Bai Mengxing finished rifling through her things, stuffed the spiritual talismans into his pocket, and beckoned his lackeys. "Let's go!"
But before leaving, he didn't forget to warn her, "If you dare tell the teacher, you're finished!"
Bai Siyao: "..."
She remembered now. This was something that had happened in her final year with the Bai family.
Because her parents had passed away when she was young, she was often bullied, especially by her cousin, Bai Mengxing, who would steal her work whenever he couldn't complete his own.
Those spiritual talismans were due for class the next day, and every part of the process—from crafting the talisman paper to preparing the ink—had to be done by hand. It was time-consuming and laborious, and now that Bai Mengxing had taken hers, there was no way she could redo them in time overnight.
A thousand years had blurred her memory, but she faintly recalled what happened next. Oh, that's right. She had left a mark on the talismans, and during the teacher's inspection, Bai Mengxing had made a fool of himself, much to the displeasure of his father.
Her uncle, Bai Dingchang, was a hypocrite—righteous on the surface but a conniving schemer underneath. He had remained outwardly calm, but secretly manipulated events so that when the emissaries from Danxia Palace came to recruit disciples, she had made a fool of herself in front of them, missing her chance to enter the prestigious sect. It was that incident that had forced her to risk her life on the Treacherous Road to Heaven.
As these memories surfaced, Bai Siyao sighed.
Her retaliation had been clever, but she had been too young to realize the most important truth: it didn't matter whether someone had evidence to accuse her. Malice between people didn't need proof, nor did it need reason.
The world claimed she had razed her family to the ground over a minor grievance. Most of those rumors were false, but one thing was true: she had endured plenty of injustice within the Bai family. But in the real world, she had already endured enough. This was just an illusion—there was no reason to continue suffering. After being a demon lord for over a thousand years, Bai Siyao had long forgotten what it felt like to endure.
Bai Mengxing, now carrying a pocket full of spiritual talismans, whistled happily.
He knew Bai Siyao would have finished her work, and now he didn't have to worry about tomorrow's assignment. That wretched girl! No parents, no background—who knew if she was even a real member of the Bai family. She always acted so arrogant, as if butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. What was there to be proud of? It's not like being the teacher's pet would get her anywhere. When it came to real Daoist abilities, he was the one with true talent!
As Bai Mengxing was lost in thought, he suddenly stumbled, falling face-first into the ground with a loud thud.
"Young Master!" His lackey hurried to help him up.
The fall wasn't light—Bai Mengxing had landed hard on his knees, which immediately turned blue, and his nose, smashed against the floor, began bleeding profusely.
He touched his face, panicking. "Blood… blood…!"
The lackey quickly pinched his nose, "Don't move, Young Master, it'll stop soon."
Although Bai Mengxing was inept, he had already reached the stage of drawing Qi into his body. A bit of nosebleed was nothing serious, and it quickly stopped.
He wiped his face carelessly and then turned angrily toward Bai Siyao, shouting, "You wretched girl, did you do this? Oh, you dared to trick your elder brother! I'll tell the teacher right away!"
Bai Mengxing was always like this. Whenever he felt embarrassed, he would shift the blame onto someone else. Normally, Bai Siyao would deny it, they'd argue, and it would end when he had vented his frustration.
But this time, Bai Siyao calmly admitted, "Yes, I did. So what?"
She added thoughtfully, "By the way, you mixed up your words again. It's not 'chaste and virtuous,' it's 'respect for elders.' If you can't even get these terms right, what will happen when you practice Daoist techniques? You might end up reversing your meridians by mistake. You'd better go back and read more, instead of causing trouble. Otherwise, it'll be dangerous if you practice the wrong technique."
Bai Mengxing hadn't expected her to be so bold. He froze, then his anger flared. "How dare you! You're just an illegitimate child! If it weren't for the family's charity, you would have died outside long ago. Now you dare lay hands on me? If I don't teach you a lesson, you won't understand why the flowers bloom! Catch her!"
His lackeys, fueled by an unspoken excitement, charged toward Bai Siyao like feral dogs.
But Bai Siyao stood still. As they reached her, one by one, they tripped and crashed into the surrounding tables and chairs.
The lackeys, thinking they had been tripped by each other, blamed one another before getting back up and trying again, only to tumble into a heap once more.
Even the most foolish could tell something was wrong.
Bai Mengxing shouted, "You wretched girl, what have you done?"
Bai Siyao innocently spread her hands. "I'm just standing here, minding my own business. How can you accuse me of anything, big brother?"
Bai Mengxing wouldn't believe it. His earlier fall was proof enough! "You—" He took two steps forward, only to stumble again and nearly knock out his teeth.
Realizing that his lackeys were useless, Bai Siyao smiled and walked toward him step by step. Bai Mengxing finally felt a pang of fear and, trying to sound fierce, warned her, "If you dare touch me, I'll tell my father! Someone! Help!"
But since he had already sent everyone away to steal her things, no one was coming.
"Stop! Don't hit me! You wretched girl! You illegitimate child! Ugh... it hurts... I'm sorry, stop… please!"
Fifteen minutes later, Bai Siyao walked out of the academy, feeling refreshed.
She suddenly realized the Reincarnation Mirror was rather thoughtful. It had placed her in this illusion just so she could vent her frustrations. Quite considerate, really.