Today, The Villain Couple is Settling Scores Again

The sensation of nearing death was far from pleasant.

Jian Huan first felt a chilling cold that emanated from the depths of her heart, spreading through her limbs and bones, as if she had turned into an ice sculpture.

In her modern life, there was once a bitterly cold winter night when she was caught in a sudden downpour without an umbrella.

The rain soaked her down jacket, and on that freezing winter night, the cold was unbearable.

But Jian Huan felt that the chill she was experiencing now was tens of thousands of times worse than that winter night.

Just as she was about to reach her limit, a warm and gentle presence enveloped her.

Her limbs gradually regained warmth, and her consciousness began to clear, though still hazy.

Before she could open her eyes, she heard a sound...

Uh.

Pig noises?

"Oink oink~ oink~ oink~"

But before she died, wasn’t she in the Demon Palace of the Dark Abyss?

Where was she now? Heaven or hell?

Why were there pig noises?

Wait...

Hold on!

Had she been reincarnated into a pigpen in this life?!

Jian Huan was stunned, her mind filled with disbelief. She abruptly opened her eyes, only to see a surreal, kaleidoscopic world.

It seemed to be late autumn or early winter, with only a few withered yellow leaves clinging to the ginkgo tree branches outside the gates of the Jade Clarity Sect.

The light and shadows of this world were different from reality, with colors that were intensely vivid.

The green leaves were an extreme shade of green, and the yellow leaves were a deep, rich gold.

A male disciple ran toward a young man arguing with his spirit pig at the gate: "Yang Ye, you’ve returned from the Lotus Square Secret Realm! How was it? Did you find anything good?"

Yang Ye sighed with an air of maturity, tugging at the hem of his robe that the hungry spirit pig was nibbling on: "Not great."

"What? Was there no treasure trove left by some great cultivator in the Lotus Square Secret Realm?" the other asked curiously.

Yang Ye shook his head, picking up the oinking pig and scratching its head: "No, but there were plenty of Xuan Wolves. Unfortunately, there were three brothers in the secret realm who were particularly aggressive and troublesome. We couldn’t handle them, so we avoided them and didn’t find much."

"That’s too bad," the other disciple sighed regretfully.

Yang Ye made small talk: "Where are you heading, senior brother?"

"Me?" the male disciple replied, "I need to go to the Garrison Office in Qinglong Town."

Yang Ye: "What for?"

The male disciple glanced around, then leaned in and whispered: "There’s a senior brother from Medicine King Peak named Yin Yusheng. He and Ran Mu'er from the Harmony Union Sect are siblings, children of the Mu Family, descendants of the demon race!"

Yang Ye: "What? How did that happen?"

"I’m not entirely sure myself. I’m heading over now to find out more," the male disciple said. "Apparently, a Madame Jiang from Yujiang City discovered it, captured Yin Yusheng, and sent him to the Garrison Office in Qinglong Town. What a mess... I need to hurry, so I won’t chat any longer..."

Jian Huan stood in a corner of this surreal world, her expression shifting from shock to contemplation, then to silence.

So... this was the hidden truth behind the story?

If she hadn’t transmigrated into the book, and the world had followed its original course, Shen Jizhi wouldn’t have gone to Yujiang City to save Chu Chu. Instead, he would have gone to a high-level secret realm with Jiang Qiaoqiao and Jing Chi for training.

The secrets hidden in Qi Wan’s mansion in Yujiang City wouldn’t have been uncovered, and the undercover agent Yin Yusheng would have been exposed, fed the Demon King’s Powder, and sent to the Garrison Office.

Why weren’t Yin Yusheng and Ran Mu'er mentioned in the book?

Jian Huan had initially thought it was because they were just minor characters, but now she understood.

The real reason was that, three years before the events of the book, these siblings had already died.

And the Fang Quan's Treasure Hall in the Lotus Square Secret Realm, a secluded paradise where friends gathered once a year a thousand years ago, remained hidden in the small secret realm, undiscovered.

The lingering consciousness of Dao Master Fang Quan was still trapped there, waiting year after year, day after day, for the successor of the talisman sword.

Jian Huan blinked, looking around, wondering why she could see these scenes.

As she looked around, the world before her cracked like a mirror.

A soft green light flowed past, and new images formed, quickly sharpening and sliding past her eyes.

She saw the misty docks of Ningzhang City, and on the Xie Family Merchant Ship, a girl in black following a young man in black, calling out repeatedly: "Senior Brother Shen, Senior Brother Shen... Senior Brother..."

The young man in the book was identical to the Shen Jizhi Jian Huan had met three years ago.

His face was as cold and distant as the moon, his voice laced with suppressed impatience: "Jiang Qiaoqiao, how many times do I have to tell you? Stop following me, stop bothering me. Yes, I saved you, but I don’t need your so-called gratitude!"

The girl, tears in her eyes, picked up her skirt and ran back to the cabin.

Jing Chi gave Shen Jizhi a deep look before following the girl, softly comforting her.

The look in his eyes as he gazed at Jiang Qiaoqiao was one of fervent devotion.

Others might mistake it for love, but Jian Huan now saw the madness hidden within.

The same madness that burned in the eyes of every demon.

Jiang Qiaoqiao was likely the vessel chosen by the Demon God.

And Jing Chi, who had grown up by her side, guarding this vessel of the Demon God, was utterly devoted to her.

The three of them, along with Gu Shan, who was still disguised as a Maoshan Taoist priest, traveled through the Ghost Fish King to the Dark Palace, where they encountered Mei Yi, repelled City Lord Ning Hui, left the Dark Palace, and went to Gu Shan’s shabby little house in Ningzhang City.

These events were not much different from what Jian Huan had personally experienced.

However, since Jing Chi and Jiang Qiaoqiao were with Shen Jizhi, they naturally learned about the Demon Origin Stone on Shen Jizhi’s body and how Gu Shan had infiltrated the demon race by following City Lord Ning Hui.

On their way to Jiuzhou City to participate in the Jiuzhou Conference, Jing Chi found an excuse to return to the Jiang Family.

In the Jiang Family’s study, so quiet you could hear a pin drop, the candlelight flickered.

Jiang Wei sat at his desk, writing a letter. Hearing Jing Chi’s report, his brush paused, and he suddenly looked up, his eagle-like eyes gleaming: "You’re saying the Demon Origin Stone is on Shen Jizhi?!"

Jing Chi bowed respectfully: "Yes! I heard it with my own ears!"

"Good, good!" Jiang Wei’s heart swelled with excitement. His hand trembled slightly as he set down the brush and stood up, patting Jing Chi on the shoulder. "Well done, you’ve done well. Hahaha, the Demon Origin Stone has been found... The Demon Origin Stone has been found! Heaven blesses the demon race!"

Jiang Wei took a deep breath, pacing around the study for a moment to calm himself before giving orders: "You’re about to participate in the Jiuzhou Conference. If Shen Jizhi were to die now, that old fool Dao Xuan would definitely notice something amiss. That won’t do. Jing Chi, in the coming days, get close to Shen Jizhi, earn his trust, and steal the Bodhi Pagoda. Elder Gao is one of the pagoda guardians. I’ll have him assist you. Once you’ve stolen the Bodhi Pagoda, arrange to meet Shen Jizhi alone. I’ll be there personally to capture him."

"Once we have the Bodhi Pagoda and the Demon Origin Stone, Jiang Qiaoqiao will be taken care of as well." Jiang Wei’s eyes gleamed with excitement as he clenched his fists, as if he could already see the demon race conquering Jiuzhou. "As for Gu Shan... we’ll let him keep investigating! We’ll feed him clues, lure him deeper into the investigation! Once the Demon God awakens, we’ll leave the Dark Abyss and leave the demonized Shen Jizhi behind. I want to see the look on Gu Shan’s face when he leads the leaders of the Jiuzhou sects into the Dark Abyss, only to find that the Demon Lord is his own disciple! And what expression will that old fool Dao Xuan make then!"

Jiang Wei’s voice was low and sinister, his laughter echoing like a ghost’s.

This midnight conversation, hidden within the Jiang Family and known only to the two demons, gradually came true in the book.

During the Jiuzhou Conference, Jing Chi repeatedly risked his life for Shen Jizhi, fighting alongside him.

Not long after the conference ended, Jing Chi, under the pretext of sparring, lured Shen Jizhi—who was being relentlessly pursued by the 'original Jian Huan'—to a duel outside the city.

Almost completely unprepared, Shen Jizhi fell into the hands of Jiang Wei, who had been lying in wait.

Jiang Wei fed Shen Jizhi the Living Death Worm, allowing the Demon Heart Worm King to successfully extract the Demon Origin Stone from his body.

The Demon Heart Worm King awoke within Jiang Qiaoqiao’s body, fulfilling its desire.

'Jiang ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‍Qiaoqiao' and Jiang Wei left after healing Shen Jizhi and feeding him the Demon King’s Powder.

Under the effects of the Demon King’s Powder, in the pitch-black darkness of the Demon Abyss, the once vibrant and gentle young man from Jian Huan’s memories gradually died.

The man who came after.

The man shrouded in demonic energy, his eyes filled with nothing but cold killing intent, the Demon Lord who killed his master, Gu Shan, shocking Jiuzhou and becoming a figure everyone feared and wanted to eliminate—that man was no longer him.

The final battle in the book, where the righteous sects besieged Shen Jizhi.

Jian Huan stood in a corner of an illusory world, gazing at the ethereal figure of Jiang Qiaoqiao, clad in flowing white robes with a strange glint in her eyes. With a single sword strike, she severed Shen Jizhi's head.

The young man's head tumbled down from the second-floor balcony, rolling over stone steps and across the polished jade tiles, finally coming to rest at Jian Huan's feet.

She froze for a moment, then slowly looked down at the face before her.

His brows were like distant mountains, his lashes as dark and long as crow feathers, his nose elegantly arched, and his eyes wide open.

Jian Huan's knees gave way, and she knelt down.

She reached out, her hand trembling, to close his eyes. But the moment her fingers touched him, the scene dissolved into illusion.

It was as if she had touched the surface of a lake reflecting a distant horizon. She grasped at nothing—everything was but a flower in a mirror, the moon in water.

The fragments of the world disintegrated one by one, and in a flash, Jian Huan found herself in a completely different place.

She was inside a pagoda.

The pagoda stood nine stories tall, shaped like a bamboo shoot, narrowing as it rose. The stone staircase spiraled along the edges, while the center of the pagoda was open, allowing a clear view from the base to the top, where a soft green light emanated from a bodhi seed.

At that moment, on the first floor of the pagoda, the jade-green tiles of the floor were alive with a surging tide of darkness.

The green light cast from above intertwined with the black, creating a swirling sea of yin and yang.

Jian Huan saw her own body lying motionless at the center of this sea.

Yes, she saw her body.@@novelbin@@

And she, in her soul form, floated above the swirling yin and yang sea.

"Child..." A gentle, aged voice echoed through the pagoda. "I have been waiting for you for a long time..."

Jian Huan: "??"