Lin Yue POV
We exploded from the ground like a black arrow.
I gasped as the smoke solidified back into my body. We were outside—real air, real sky, real ground beneath my feet. But everything felt wrong. Too bright. Too loud. My senses were screaming.
"Breathe, little host." Hei Long's voice echoed in my skull. "Your body is adjusting to demonic cultivation. It will hurt for a while."
"Hurt?" I doubled over, clutching my stomach. "It feels like my insides are on fire!"
"Because they are. Your human meridians are burning away. Demonic ones are growing in their place. Consider it an upgrade."
I fell to my knees, pressing my forehead against the dirt. Every heartbeat sent waves of agony through my chest. My skin felt too tight. My bones felt too heavy. And underneath it all, something dark and hungry stirred in my belly—Hei Long's power, waiting to be used.
"How long?" I gasped. "How long until it stops?"
"Hours. Maybe days. Depends on how strong your will is." Hei Long sounded almost amused. "Most humans die during the transformation. Their minds break. Their bodies reject the change. But you? You're angry enough to survive anything."
He was right. I was angry. Furious. The memory of Father's cold face, Lin Xian's triumphant smile, Zhao Ming's disgust—it all burned hotter than the pain.
I forced myself to stand, wobbling on shaky legs. Where was I? I looked around and froze.
The Lin family estate. I was standing in the back gardens, hidden by trees. Close enough to see the celebration hall through the windows. The party was still going. Music played. People laughed. Like nothing had happened. Like I hadn't almost died in their basement.
"Perfect," Hei Long purred. "Shall we crash their party?"
"Not yet." My voice came out strange—deeper, with an echo underneath. "I need to see something first."
I crept closer to the estate, staying in the shadows. The black scales on my hand had spread to my shoulder now. I pulled my torn sleeve down to cover them, but it didn't matter. Everyone would see what I'd become eventually.
Through a window, I spotted them. Lin Xian and Zhao Ming stood together, his arm around her waist. She was laughing at something he said, touching his chest playfully. They looked so happy. So perfect.
My chest felt hollow watching them. That should be me. Zhao Ming should be holding me like that. Lin Xian should be alone and jealous, not stealing my life.
"Want me to kill them?" Hei Long asked casually. "I could tear through that wall right now. Paint the celebration hall with their blood. It would be satisfying."
"No." The word surprised even me. "Not like this. Not quick. They need to suffer first. They need to feel what they did to me."
"Ah, you're learning. Revenge is best served slow and painful." Hei Long's approval radiated through our bond. "So what's the plan, little host?"
Before I could answer, I heard Father's voice from around the corner. He was talking to someone outside, away from the party.
"—completely collapsed. The cave entrance is buried under tons of rock."
"And the body?" That was Elder Liu's raspy voice.
"Crushed, most likely. Even if the girl somehow survived the cave-in, she'd die from her injuries within hours. The spiritual root extraction was nearly complete—her foundation is shattered. She's done."
"Good." Elder Liu sounded satisfied. "And the transplant?"
"Successful. Lin Xian now possesses the Pure Yin root. She's already showing increased cultivation speed. By tomorrow, she'll begin proper training with it."
My sister had my root. She was walking around with a piece of me stolen and planted inside her. The thought made me sick and furious at the same time.
"Oh, this is delicious," Hei Long whispered. "They think you're dead. They think they won. Let's show them how wrong they are."
My hand moved on its own—or maybe I moved it; I couldn't tell where I ended and Hei Long began anymore. Black smoke curled from my clawed fingers, reaching toward Father's voice.
"One touch," Hei Long said. "That's all it takes. My poison will enter his meridians. Slow. Painful. Incurable. He'll be dead in three days, suffering every second."
I could do it. Father was just around the corner. I could kill him right now, and he'd never see it coming.
But then Lin Xian's laugh drifted from the celebration hall, and I hesitated.
Killing Father first would alert everyone. They'd know I survived. They'd protect themselves. No—I needed to be smarter. I needed to come back when they felt safe. When they thought they'd gotten away with everything.
I pulled my hand back. The smoke dissipated.
"Restraint? From you?" Hei Long sounded surprised. "Impressive. You're thinking like a true predator now."
"I learned from the best," I muttered. "My family taught me how to betray someone perfectly. Now I'll use those lessons against them."
Father and Elder Liu finished their conversation and went back inside. I watched through the window as Father rejoined the party, smiling and accepting congratulations. For what? Successfully murdering his daughter?
My reflection stared back at me from the dark glass. I barely recognized myself. My eyes glowed faint red in the shadows. Black veins traced patterns across my neck. My hair, once pure black, now had streaks of dark purple running through it.
I looked like a demon. I looked like a nightmare.
Good.
"So what now?" Hei Long asked. "We can't stay here. Your transformation needs time to stabilize. You need to learn demonic cultivation. You need to get stronger before you face them."
"I know." I turned away from the estate, from the life that was stolen from me. "We disappear. Train. Get powerful enough that when I come back, they can't stop me."
"And then?"
"And then I take everything from them. Their reputation. Their power. Their lives. Everything they took from me, I'll take back a hundred times worse."
I started walking away from the Lin estate, into the darkness beyond the gardens. Each step hurt less than the last. My body was adapting. The pain was fading into something else—power.
"I like you, little host," Hei Long said. "We're going to do terrible, wonderful things together."
"Just help me survive long enough to destroy them."
"Oh, I'll do better than that. I'll help you become the monster they fear in their nightmares."
I walked for what felt like hours, putting distance between myself and my old life. My old weakness. My old stupidity of believing in love and family.
Finally, exhausted, I collapsed in a forest clearing. My body still ached from the transformation. I needed rest. Needed to let the changes finish.
I closed my eyes, drifting toward sleep—
And woke to someone standing over me.
A woman in white robes, elegant and powerful. Her eyes were sharp as she studied my demonic features with an expression I couldn't read.
"Interesting," she said calmly. "I was searching for rare spirit herbs when I sensed unusual energy. I expected to find a demonic beast. Instead, I find a girl undergoing human-demon fusion." She tilted her head. "Tell me, child—did you choose this transformation, or were you forced into it?"
My heart raced. She was a cultivator. Strong enough that I could feel her power pressing against me like a heavy weight. One wrong word, and she'd kill me.
"Careful," Hei Long warned. "She's at least Golden Core level. We can't fight her yet."
The woman waited for my answer, and I realized: this was the moment that would decide everything.
Tell the truth and risk being killed as a demon?
Or lie and possibly lose my only chance at survival?