The cool mountain breeze flowed through the forest, leaves rustling in tandem. The moon glowed softly, illuminating the cliffside.

There, nestled between the trees, was a hut. Or perhaps a house. It had seen its time of riches,and fallen to disrepair over the years. One could tell that it was, once upon a time, recently treated; but now, it was only part of the forest.

Maybe because he wished to not be seen, or because Gong Yinghui was not paying attention, there was man leaning against the door.

"Master!" He yelped, quickly recognising the familiar face, and surging forwards to help.

But it was clear to anyone who could see, that there was no hope of survival. Blood ebbed down from a flesh wound which cut deep; straight from the heart, to the lower dantian.

What had just been Gong Yinghui reminiscing of the past, was now much more serious.

His master was the great Yan Qingshan, of the Linglian sect. While he was not known across the jianghu in his early years, he was later known as the master of a demon as well.

He Xiaotong.

Gong Yinghui quickly knelt next to his master; and Yan Qingshan grunted.

After all, escaping from the demon lord as a despised prisoner was no small feat.

When Gong Yinghui was still a disciple, his master was always kind; to him, and all his juniors and seniors. He always had a great many admirers, and was famed as a master of the four arts.

But once upon a time, He Xiaotong was his shixiong too.

When he rose as a demon lord, rumors flew across the jianghu; that the great Yan Qingshan, was an abuser. And He Xiaotong only sook revenge.

The dark blood oozing from his shifu's torso, was perhaps one of the many tortures inflicted by that...beast.

He flinched as his master gripped his shoulder with one hand. His other hand was holding his own heart, from where the blood was flowing the most.

"Be quiet. I don't have much long, and I know that. Hopefully I'll be dead before Tong-er finds me," he says in a low whisper.

Ah, Gong Yinghui realises, He always called He-shixiong Tong-er when the sect was still...

He Qingshan continues, "If he finds you, don't take revenge on my behalf for him. I know of the Huayue incident. He floated way too much about it."

Gong Yinghui feels a little embarrassed at the reminder. He had a couple organised at the time, with the other sects.

They had been crushed mercilessly.

"In this house, somewhere, my...records are kept. I want you to burn them, if they aren't destroyed already."

Gong Yinghui freezes for a moment. Which notes was his master referring to???

Yan Qingshan sighs, as if he knew what his disciple was thinking. "Just destroy all of them. Burn the house, and me with it. Or just kill me with Qingling."

Gong Yinghui protested,"But master...!"

He was quickly interrupted. "That, or I die by He Xiaotong's hand as a coward. Which is better?"

"Master, I really can't! I cannot forego filial piety!"

Yan Qingshan sighed deeply again. And let go of Gong Yinghui's arm. "Fine. Just set fire to the house. And hand me a dagger. You do have one, right?"

Gong Yinghui nodded and quickly handed Yan Qingshan his dagger. It was a beautiful one, made by craftsman of great skill. Yan Qingshan has given it to him himself, one of his many last memories of his master.

"Now," Yan Qingshan said, his eyes not looking at Gong Yinghui anymore, and instead at the forest."Set fire to the house, and run away. Do not stay to bury me. The fire will take care of that. Go."

Gong Yinghui got up. He cast one last look at his master, before climbing his sword. He threw a fire talisman behind him. And left, lest he be tempted to try, once more to save a man who was better dead.

____________________

He heard that He Xiaotong was driven mad with anger at losing his prisoner. He floated and cried in equal measure.

____________________

It is necessary, for you to understand, so I will lay down some information for you.

Yan Qingshan, was one of the three masters of Linglian sect. The sect master was soft on him, and he was well known enough across the jianghu to be respected and revered by others.

He Xiaotong was one of his many disciples, with cultivation potential.

He was also the protagonist of The path of the demon lord. A cliche, D grade novel, with many similar summaries to be read everywhere; it would not stand out in a pile, nor would it strike anyone exemplary.

But- Yan Minhui was an avid reader. Something about the novel struck him; whenever he read it at first,it would only bring out praises from him. He would hold it to the heavens!

But then he read more books; he found better ones, and at some point, the author stopped updating.

He never learnt why.

It just became one of the things he had read a long time ago. He forgot about it, and went on with his life.

But somehow, when his untimely death arrived, it was the novel he was transmigrated into; too late to make any difference. The wrongs has already been written into stone by the scum, and he had arrived just in time for the verdict.

This is unfair!, he had screamed at the system, because there was very literally no way to save his skin, Why would you give me a second chance at life, if the only way for me to live even a little while was to be tortured!

[There is nothing this SYSTEM can do to change the outcome. ] , was it's cold, and harsh reprimand. [All user 004 can do is to act his role as the villain. There is no other alternative.]

Not even death?, he asked in the chilled silence.

The continued silence was answer enough.

He wasn't even middle aged when he died. And he wouldn't even reach half the years most cultivators got to live.

At least he got to meet the protagonist? Wrong.

He did get to meet the protagonist. But only to continue the punishment the original goods had inflicted upon the young man. And throw him to the wolves, when the invasion happened. And so many worse things that made his skin crawl if he remembered -

But it wasn't even the worst of the crimes the villain had committed. The one that brought upon revenge was already done a long time ago. All he had to do was wait for the heavens to dole out punishment.

And dole out punishment they did.

But before he died, at least he could give the younger students a better memory than the original goods would have given. That was his only saving grace. So he died, burning along with the house, and the dagger nestled in his flesh, he felt that he had done enough.

Because of that, he very nearly misses the system's merry chime, and the satisfaction of death disappeared, when he once again found himself in the cold dark surroundings he had when he had first died.

"System?", he called out, not knowing what to do.

[Loading assets.....]

Huh?

....

[User verification complete! Welcome, user 004 , to The path of the demon lord! ]

"I've already been through this," he reminded the system. "Remember? As Yan Qingshan?"

The green glowing screen glitched and sparked, and Yan Minhui flinched away, a little.

[This- This SYSTEM WISHES- system wishes to pro- provide the best transmigration experience to the user]

What's - What's happening?!,he screamed internally, as the screen began to disintegrate into pixels, and slow light began to enter within the dreamscape.

"I- System, what's going on?!" He finally asked, as the surroundings began to change into one he had grown familiar with; the Xue house of Xueshang, one of the mountains of Linglian sect- the home of Yan Qingshan!

Quiet static was his only answer as he began to feel faint, and his consciousness faded...