The Rise of the Witch

Jin Ci Nian was the name the old gentleman gave to the little golden snake, hoping it would bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new, with each year better than the last.

With the guarantee left by the Demon Suppression Division, the old man was completely at ease and sincerely treated the little golden snake as his disciple, teaching it with great care.

Whether human or demon, once their cultivation reaches a certain level, they all know the method of "enlightenment," transforming wild beasts into demons. However, this kind of enlightenment carries a certain ignorance; although they gain spiritual awareness, they do not develop wisdom and are generally only used to recruit servants.

But Jin Cinian is different. He gained enlightenment on his own through a special opportunity, and now he is being carefully taught by the old master. His wisdom is growing very fast. In a short period of time, his mind is like that of a seven or eight-year-old child.

Its mind has become much clearer; it now knows many things it didn't know before, and it now thinks about things it would never have thought about before.

So when monsters attacked the village, Jin Cinian did not run away, but stayed behind.

Survival is the instinct of all living beings!

Jin Cinian didn't know why it would risk its life to stay, but it still chose to stay, a choice that even it couldn't understand.

It was deathly silent; the village was eerily quiet, without even the chirping of birds or insects.

Jin Cinian huddled in the grass at the village entrance, sensing the alertness transmitted by his life instincts. He kept his breath at a minimum, as if he had returned to hibernation before he gained intelligence, remaining completely still.

After a long while, a black leopard silently walked over from a distance, leaping with the agility of a cat, and stopped at the village entrance, sniffing the air.

Although this leopard was a demon, it was a demon that had been enlightened. Its wild instincts still took the lead, and it sensed danger, lingering at the village entrance for quite a while.

In the end, he couldn't resist the temptation of the village's blood offerings and stepped into the village.

The leopard demon moved with extreme lightness, each step sounding like a leaf falling.

Jin Cinian, huddled in the grass, sensed a faint, fishy, ​​malevolent aura. He had smelled this aura before; it was unique to monsters that had eaten blood.

Jin Cinian was quite pleased with itself. After it gained intelligence, it stopped eating meat and only ate flowers and fruits. Even if other demons sensed its aura, it wouldn't care and would just think it was the aura of plants and fruits.

The faint, fishy smell grew closer, and Jin Cinian remained motionless, huddled in the grass.

Closer and closer, step by step.

As the leopard demon approached, a beam of golden light shot out from the nearby bushes.

  

The leopard demon suddenly sensed a strong sense of danger and was greatly alarmed. Before it could react, it felt a sharp pain in its lower abdomen, like a mosquito bite.

Shocked, he turned around and saw a flash of golden light disappear into the grass. He was terrified and immediately leaped out of the village, as fast as the wind, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Jin Cinian did not chase after it. It knew that while it could outrun the leopard demon in terms of instantaneous leap, it could not catch up with it in terms of running speed.

But it's okay, over the years, no one who has been bitten by it has ever survived.

Seeing the leopard demon escape, Jin Cinian was extremely pleased with himself. As he crawled out of the bushes and swam toward the school, even the tip of his tail wagged proudly.

"Teacher, I chased away a monster..."

"Teacher, I protected the village..."

"Teacher, I..."

Jin Cinian was still planning how to curry favor with his teacher when he suddenly smelled a strong stench of blood. He immediately felt uneasy and quickened his pace.

However, before it could swim to the school, its entire body suddenly lifted into the air and was scooped up by a fair, jade-like hand.

"It's been a long time since I've seen such a pure and ethereal little demon. Oh, it even gained intelligence on its own!"

A crisp sound rang out overhead.

Jin Cinian didn't have time to look. With its body lifted up, its field of vision widened considerably, and it immediately saw the old teacher lying at the school gate.

The aged body lay there, with a large patch of dark red liquid beneath it.

It stared blankly at the lifeless figure, feeling an inexplicable, intense sadness in its heart.

It once asked its teacher what "sadness" meant, and the teacher said, "You feel sad when you lose something you care about."

So this is what heartbreak feels like!

Its body was moved, but Jin Cinian's snake head remained facing the aged body until two slender, white fingers forcibly turned its head away, and only then did it see a beautiful and exquisite face.

A small face that even the snake found beautiful.

But Jin Cinian suddenly felt very ugly, and asked in a shrill voice, "Did you kill these people?"

The owner of the small face was a young girl in a light green dress. Upon hearing this, she tapped her chin with her delicate finger, seemingly deep in thought, and then asked, "If I said yes, what would you do?"

Jin Ci Nian shrank his head, broke free from the girl's finger, and then tilted his head and bit the girl's hand.

Its sharp teeth pierced her flesh, injecting all the venom from its body into her.

"Wow, this little guy has quite a temper."

The girl, however, didn't care. She switched hands and grabbed Jin Cinian, bringing the bite wound to her petal-like lips and sucking lightly. "It tastes pretty good... Little guy, do you hate me?"

The poison, which had never failed before, was dealt with so casually by the other party. Fear welled up in Jin Cinian's heart, but he still said, "I don't hate."

The girl was surprised: "You don't hate me? Then why did you bite me?"

Jin Cinian asked curiously, "What does not hating you have to do with biting you?"

The girl was momentarily speechless, then suddenly burst out laughing and said, "Then why don't you hate me?"

Jin Cinian thought for a moment and said, "My teacher said that if there is hatred in your heart, your mind will no longer be clear, everything will be shrouded in gray, and the world will lose its true color."

The girl asked in surprise, "Who is your teacher?"

Jin Ci Nian turned the snake's head toward the corpse at the school gate.

"An ordinary human?"

The girl seemed to understand something, and whispered, "For an ordinary person to express such insights, the wisdom of humans is truly remarkable... This trip was definitely worthwhile!"

Seeing that the little golden snake was still staring at the corpse, the girl said slowly, "It was like this when I came. I didn't kill the people here."

Jin Cinian said, "I don't believe it."

The girl said, "Believe it or not, I'm too lazy to explain! From now on, you'll follow me... Are you a demon from the Nine Provinces or the Great Wilderness?"

"What is the Nine Provinces? What is the Great Wilderness?"

"This place we are in is Kyushu. The Great Wilderness is another place. I secretly ran away from the Great Wilderness."

Why did you sneak over here?

"I've heard that as long as a demon doesn't eat people, it can live peacefully in Kyushu after it fully transforms into human form, and may even be able to join a cult and cultivate the righteous laws of heaven and earth."

"Who told you that? I've never heard of it before?"

"A fox. I heard that some of her people live in Kyushu, and they even run something like... Oh right, Qingyuefang!"