I Was Called A Demon

“Did I do something wrong?” Bianca asked, noticing Min Yu keeping her distance while providing her with food. She had been further away than she needed to be a few times before, but it was generally just a matter of random positioning, not something that seemed so deliberate.

“N-No, it…” Min Yu handed over the plate and took another step back, struggling to look Bianca in the eyes, “It’s nothing, honey.”

“I doubt that. Could you please be honest? If it’s something I can fix, then-”

“That aura around you… it’s hard to breathe when you’re around, for some reason,” she replied, taking half a step back again, “I hear that it’s the effect of your cultivation technique, so… Sorry, again, but I just…”

Bianca sighed, “Okay, I understand. I’ll head out for now, and I’m trying to figure this issue out anyway, so… Have a good day.”

She headed out reluctantly and found a place to sit and eat, though she could hardly focus on it. Since the Calm Skies Sect departed, she had been noticing more and more villagers being very distant – physically and otherwise – and being reluctant to interact with her, as if she had been branded as some kind of outcast and… well, demon.

It wasn’t as bad as Lin Shuming’s treatment of her, fortunately enough, but it was highly unpleasant.

Half of it was obviously thanks to her cultivation, as she knew first-hand from Song Ming’s responses to her energy. The more she used it and the more accumulated within her dantian, the more the people around her seemed afraid of it, and her by extension, even if she wasn’t actively circulating or channelling it. Weirdly enough, Song Ming seemed exempt from this, as she hadn’t really changed how she’d react to Bianca’s presence, whether they were simply training together or making out.

Had it been something obvious to either of them, she would have certainly shared that benefit with the other people of the village – unless it required making out or have sex, in which case she couldn’t even bring herself to think of doing it with Lin Shuming or any of the men.

She was a lesbian, and one with standards, so she wouldn’t just trade her body like that.

“Bianca, here you are,” Song Ming’s pleasant voice immediately lifted her spirits a little, “Is everyone still…”

“Yeah.”

“Then, this might not sound like good news, but there’s an issue at the village’s farms. Some water-type planar beast has been draining the moisture from the soil, so I and Kong Xi will go to take it down. It will take a few days, but I believe that Lin Shuming won’t use that opportunity to attack you,” she explained quickly, looking around at her fellow villagers that occasionally glanced in their direction, “Liu Min should have had a word with him.”

“… Why doesn’t Lin Shuming go with you? Or, better yet, in your place? He’s supposed to be stronger, right?”

“It’s not that simple, unfortunately. His skills are focused on fighting other people, and the skill you saw him use against me was meant to blind an opponent. Half the planar beasts out there don’t rely on sight, if they have that sense to begin with, so his Light archetype is mostly useless.”

“Like his- no, I’m not falling to his level.”

“His what?”

“Ignore that,” Bianca refused to answer, ‘I have to be better than Lin Shuming, and slandering his size without even knowing it is just too low. Most men already believe themselves to be smaller than average, and if word of this gets out to him, he might become even more insecure and more intent on silencing me… I sure am glad people can’t read minds. Nothing I think makes me seem like a decent person.’

“Um, so… Kong Xi and I have the more suitable fighting abilities. The planar beast should be a second, third realm one at most, and most planar beasts that have appeared in similar circumstances have been rather passive and weak for their realm. So, it shouldn’t be dangerous for either of us.”

“As long as my energy doesn’t decide to do anything weird again, that is,” Bianca sighed.

“Do you plan on finding any more manuals to read? If not, it should be just fine, right? You’re not going to do anything bad, and Lin Shuming should have enough sense not to push his luck either.”

It sounded reasonable enough, but it certainly didn’t feel that way. Every moment without Song Ming would be terrible, not because Bianca was so madly in love that her heart would stop – she still wasn’t sure if she was feeling any love towards her, or if she was just very attracted to her – but because Song Ming was the only reliable source of information about this strange world, while also being a guardian against its threats.

Combining that with the village slowly becoming fearful of her, she was placed in a dangerous location with no way of getting out, and she had to hope that the natural predators (read: Lin Shuming) didn’t decide that she looked especially tasty (read: demonic) today.

Still, she wasn’t going to prevent Xi Village from keepings its farms safe, as that would be rather unreasonable. Instead, she just made sure to move over to Song Ming and cling to her as much as possible without going overboard. She avoided groping or touching her inappropriately, but nothing would stop Bianca from huddling up to her and hugging her, which would ensure that Song Ming would want to return as soon as possible, and thus do the best job possible.

“B-Bianca, you don’t have to-”

“Shush. I just want to be close to you,” she interrupted her, tightening her grip and leaning in to whisper in her ear, “Let’s have some time alone when you come back, okay? I’ll make sure to give you a good time, I promise.”

That made the not-so-innocent maiden blush, though the smile that blossomed on her face was the true prize.

“You’re making it difficult for me to leave… Alright, let’s do that…” Song Ming nodded, worriedly looking about to make sure that the villagers weren’t giving them strange looks, “I’ll make sure to work hard and return as soon as I can, so you stay safe as well. Don’t give Lin Shuming any ammunition, and, um… I’ll come straight to you once I’m done, okay?”

“Then that’s a promise from you as well. We’ll get through this together.”

 

Saying such a thing was easy, especially with all the practise she’d had of late in saying anything and everything in a believable way. She wasn’t lying, of course, and she certainly wished for this to be true, but it was absurdly hard to keep her calm.

Getting through the good things first, Bianca was relatively sure that she’d experienced her latest period at some point, but likely thanks to the energy that she had been channelling down there it passed by with no significant effect. It was so effective that she couldn’t be sure of when it happened, as there wasn’t any blood or anything at all.

It was a relief, but this had never been that big of an issue for her. Hence, it couldn’t outweigh the current situation.

Without Song Ming, there was nobody in the village that could withstand her intimidating aura, not even Old Man Song. He remained kind enough to her, and appeared extremely happy that she was still getting along with his daughter, but when she tried to speak with him only a day after Song Ming departed, he made the very deliberate effort to stay on the other side of the room at all times. It was… unpleasant, to say the least.

She knew that it wasn’t his fault, that he wasn’t doing it on purpose, that he hadn’t begun to hate her within a single day, but…

‘Fuck, this is really unpleasant,’ Bianca complained inwardly, ‘The others are even worse, seeming to whisper about me all the time… And apparently, stress is an aggravating factor for my kleptomania. It’s so hard not to steal stuff… There isn’t even anything good to take. Back in college, I could at least steal something from my roommate and toss it in the bin to make myself feel better…’

“Bianca. Should you be in this part of town?” Lin Shuming’s irritating voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts, coming from her side, “What are you doing here?”

“Why do you care? I’m just wandering about. Haven’t you caused me and Song Ming enough stress?”

At least the jerk had the decency not to seem smug about his actions, though he didn’t look especially apologetic either, “I am simply attempting to ensure public security. You must understand that you are causing a great deal of worry for the village’s people, so this isn’t just about you and your feelings.”

“I’ve done nothing wrong, as far as I can tell. I’ve not hurt anyone, I’ve not touched anything I shouldn’t have, and I’ve even made the effort to stay away from everyone that feels uncomfortable. What more do you want?” Bianca asked, ‘No, really, what does he want? Does he secretly hate women with big boobs or something? He started disliking me before I began to cultivate, so it shouldn’t have been the Demonic Tyrant’s fault.’

“If everyone expresses concern, I will naturally look into it. However, since you claim to have done nothing wrong, I see no reasons that observation should worry you.”

‘That’s not how that works! Privacy is one my rights, damn it! Well… it might be in Antania, but I doubt they have a proper bill of rights in this village, if there is a single nation in this world that has thought to do such a thing,’ Bianca conveyed her disagreement with a glare and said, “Do you want someone to be watching over you constantly? Would you be happy if I follow you around all the time?”

“You would hardly be doing so for the village’s security. You may not know, but most sects have various security and observational arrays looking over their territory, so you would be under more scrutiny there than here,” Lin Shuming said, “Still, I know the truth, and you know my intentions, so I doubt that you care for what I have to say. Senior Liu Min made sure to tell me not to attack you without provocation, and I will follow that instruction, even if I believe her to be wrong.”

“And I don’t attack people at random to begin with.”

“I’m sure you don’t. Incidentally, have you seen anything to do with the recent thefts?”

“What thefts? Did someone take another onion from Min Yu’s storage?” Bianca asked, completely honestly, as she kept good track of the things she took and tried to quietly return those things whenever possible.

“You don’t know?”

“Should I? Really, what is it?”

He looked at her with disapproval, “I am disappointed with you, Bianca. If you claim to be a good, honest person, you should have told me the truth.”

That confused her all the more, “No, really, what are you talking about? I can promise you that I have done nothing wrong lately, so I’m not sure what you’re trying to imply. If this is some attempt to make me seem worse in the eyes of others, it just makes you seem like more of an asshole than anything, especially once the true culprit is found.”

“Your wording is enough to suggest wrongdoing, albeit at some other time or place. Still, since you’re doing such a good job at lying, I shall explain,” Lin Shuming continued being a total asshole, prompting Bianca to mentally block out most of his crap, “A technique manual was taken from my home, another from Old Man Song’s home, and a prized blade was taken from Min Yu’s home. Given that there are only three cultivators currently within the village – at least those that would possibly have the time to study them, or the ability to… skip that.”

“… You had those? Why didn’t Song Ming just show that manual to me back then?” Bianca muttered, frowning in confusion, “Anyway, I had no idea that any of those even existed. I’ve never even stepped into your home – you should know that very well, since I’m sure you’d be able to notice even the faintest hint of me if I had.”

“You clearly have unknown means, so that isn’t guaranteed. Furthermore, do you think that I can believe you after you’ve lied to me so far?”

“Are you kidding me? Do I look like I have those manuals in my pockets? In my shack, maybe?”

“As if you know of no places to hide a few small items. It’s a blatant act of preparation for the massacre you will commit soon, and I have no qualms in letting you know this,” he took a step closer, staring her right in the eyes, “I will not allow you to perform your demonic acts while I still live.”

Bianca couldn’t help but glare back, “Fuck off already. You don’t care what I say.”

 

“Kong Xi, what does the situation seem like so far?” Song Ming asked, glancing about at the oddly dry trees around her, “Second or third realm?”

“We’re still some way, so the beast is strong. High second realm, low third realm,” the hunter estimated, carefully examining the ground while channelling his energy into his nose, “Not sure what entity it is, but it may be dangerous. Watch out.”

“I know, I’m careful. I need to return to Xi Village safely, after all,” she replied, “I promised it.”

Kong Xi didn’t seem to notice, as he continued looking about and examining his surroundings. Given his role as a hunter in the village, he had a lot more knowledge about the wildlife in the region than Song Ming could have acquired in her brief life, as she didn’t usually stray far from the village and the regions that she used for training.

With their cultivation realms matching, he was undoubtedly the more capable of the two in this field, so she was just there for backup. If things went well, then Kong Xi would be able to handle things on his own, and she could help him bring back valuable or useful components of the defeated planar beast back to Xi Village. If it turned out to be stronger than expected, Song Ming could contribute her general fighting skills, and then defeat the planar beast together.

Song Ming wasn’t too worried either way. With the three sects surrounding Xi Village lands, most strong planar beasts are captured or slain by the sect disciples, so the only threats that would generally show up are various rogue cultivators seeking their fortune out in the wild, or planar beasts that have recently attained a new realm and hadn’t been caught by the sects yet.

The latter of the two wasn’t especially dangerous, as it would imply a planar beast that had yet to get used to its power. The former was riskier, but getting into outright battles with strong and clever rogue cultivators was rare. More often, the worst they could expect was a bandit in the second or third realm that would be happy with getting a few items of value. Thus, there was no chance of getting into true danger on this excursion.

Hence, Song Ming was able to focus on her ultimate goal – returning to Bianca.

She couldn’t be sure what exactly she felt towards her, since she’d never felt anything like it before, but she knew that she wanted to be with her. It was pleasant to spend time with her, to be near her, even when the unpleasant aura around her grew.

It was vital for her to return as soon as possible to make sure that she could maintain this relationship, and she was starting to think that advancing her cultivation as quickly as possible would help that immensely. Bianca wasn’t one to care about cultivation realm, especially now that she had some attainment of her own, but having some strength would ensure that the likes of Lin Shuming would never dare to threaten her. Keeping the village safe would also be a positive, but so far, there didn’t seem to be much to protect the village from.

Having some additional strength might also permit her to get more help for Bianca’s strange cultivation state, earn the attention of sects that would assist with the intention of recruiting her, and perhaps-

“Song Ming, what is your relationship with Bianca?” Kong Xi’s question shocked her out of her train of thought.

“W-What? We’re just friends, o-obviously…” she replied hurriedly, and likely entirely unconvincingly.

It wasn’t the question itself that shocked her, as she had gotten similar inquiries from others in the village. Rather, it was the fact that Kong Xi asked it, as he rarely showed much interest in the complexities of life, even the matters of relationships. He behaved as a simple man so often it was hard to forget that he wasn’t one.

“You’re very close to her. I could tell that you care for her back when you fought Lin Shuming for her safety.”

“That… I couldn’t let her be attacked for no reason. It’s unfair and unreasonable.”

“If you wish not to talk about it, that’s fine. I won’t pry,” Kong Xi said, looking away and in the direction he suspected the planar beast to be, “I do recognise the looks you’ve given one another.”

“What do you… Oh…” Song Ming realised, her cheeks flushing with crimson, “We… no, we haven’t… um… please don’t tell anyone yet…”

Kong Xi shrugged, “Don’t know why I would. Relationships are complicated, and I have always done my best to stay away from it. It’s hard enough to do that as a simple hunter, while I stay away from people during the day, so if I got involved with that kind of drama… Just make sure that you’re happy. Your mother only wished that for you.”

“… Do you know exactly why she died?” she asked suddenly.

“A particular weakness that she couldn’t overcome. None of us could identify it then, and you don’t seem to have the same problem… yet.”

“Yet? Is it something that could be inherited?”

“We don’t know, but it is possible. Had the Sacred Rivers Sect accepted you, they would have taken a closer look, but they’ve unfortunately chosen not to do so,” he said, “Perhaps Bianca’s peculiarity will offer a solution of some kind, but I would prefer to stay out of this.”

“Her… right. You don’t believe Lin Shuming’s nonsense, right?”

“All I know is that he attacked her, and you. So far, she has yet to commit such a wrong. If she does, I will fight her just like I fought him,” Kong Xi stated, “Otherwise, I would rather have no part in this. Now, let’s move. We shouldn’t give the planar beast a chance to spot us.”

She nodded silently, and they left the spot, heading further into the mountainous woods.

 

Another day, and another unfortunate encounter for Bianca, though this time it was due to a rather unexpected person.

In the early afternoon, Old Man Song came to her, a few people from the village quietly following him from a distance, as if they were trying to hide from his attention and sneak up on him. She wasn’t sure why they’d do that, but she was sure that they weren’t attempting to escape her attention, as they were doing the worst job of it imaginable.

“Bianca, do you mind if I speak with you for a while?”

“Sure, if you’d like. Want to come in- no, never mind that. Can I help you?”

He took a moment to think, glancing back at the villagers – making her very confused about the reason for their odd behaviour – then looked at her with a serious expression, “I apologise, but I have to ask this question.”

‘Oh no, has he also… no, it’s probably the rest of the village that is encouraging him, and he would want to calm things down, so… ugh, I hate it anyway,’ Bianca thought, trying to keep her expression calm, “I might know what you what to ask, but… go ahead anyway. I don’t think there’s much I can add, though.”

“You have heard about the recent thefts, I believe. Did you have anything to do with them?”

“No. I know nothing about the thefts. Lin Shuming said something about some manuals and a treasured blade, but I’ve never seen or even heard of those before he told me about it.”

“Do you know who could have taken these items, then?”

“How would I?” Bianca’s exasperation spilled out a little, “I had no idea what cultivation was until you told me about it, and you should know from what your daughter might have told you that I don’t exactly have any particular skills when it comes to sneaking about. Most likely, I’d have been spotted by everyone I supposedly stole from before I even left the house… Lin Shuming probably wouldn’t wait for even that to happen, the jerk.”

“I… I believe you, but there is no other suspect, no other person that could have done it. If one of these things vanished, then it could have been an error on their part, but with at least four different items-”

“Surely it could have been literally anyone else, maybe from outside the village?” she cut him off, “Depending on how higher realms of cultivation work, some random guy could have run through and grabbed some things that looked interesting! Maybe even Lin Shuming decided to stage the incident to make me seem like the thief!”

“Don’t pin your wrongdoings on others!” a villager from the small group behind Old Man Song called out, “Return the items!”

“What does this have anything to do with you? Did someone steal from you as well? No? Then… please don’t get involved,” Bianca made the effort to calm herself towards the end, as she knew that giving others more ammunition to scream at her wouldn’t end well.

Social media was a thing back on Orbis, and she had experienced a few people bothering her for plenty of time due to some disagreement or misunderstanding. In this world, such an unfortunate technology had not yet been invented, if it could exist at all – she had no clue how planar energy influenced electricity, physics or computing – but in a small village like this, news spread all the same, and it seemed like some of the same phenomena occurred, albeit on a smaller scale.

“Ah Ming did mention something. Could you confirm whether you have taken some items of minimal value for yourself before this?”

‘Why did she have to… she’s too honest sometimes,’ Bianca tried to maintain a neutral expression, “That is true. I have taken – and in all but one instance, returned – a few items, like onions and whatever else. It’s a problem I have observed about myself, and I am admitting it to you without holding anything back. Just note that I have not stolen the manuals or blade I was told about. I couldn’t have taken them because I didn’t know they exist, and I wouldn’t have taken them. I would suggest looking around, since they may have been misplaced or hidden away by someone else.”

“Just tell us where you’ve hidden them!” another villager shouted at her.

Bianca felt her hands clench into fists as she shouted back, “I haven’t done a thing! I haven’t taken them, and I have no idea where they are! Just leave me alone!”

She hadn’t realised it at first, but something about that drove her energy, causing her darkness to channel throughout her body, releasing a vast vicious aura that even she could feel, to a certain, incredibly limited extent.

Those before her were mortal men and women all, and it looked as if someone dropped a truck on each one of them, as they nearly fell to the ground, their knees buckling. If the ground beneath them cracked and split apart, it wouldn’t have surprised her, though it appeared that this was an impact of a purely mental form, and when she forced herself and her energy to calm down, the impact lessened as well.

“I’m… I’m sorry, I can’t control this very well… Just let me live my life, and I won’t bother anyone either… please…”

While she may not have made the best case for herself, she certainly scared the villagers. The fear in their eyes, expressions and body language was as obvious to her as her aura seemed to be to others, and for the moment none of them had the courage to deny her.

They left quickly, with even Old Man Song departing without a single further word to her. If it had been the last time they ever spoke again, Bianca would still be frustrated with the situation, and with herself, but she knew that it would not end just like that. She had no other place to live, and she did not wish to flee this place, even if she could get Song Ming to leave with her.

No, she would speak with the villagers again, and she knew for certain that Lin Shuming would come over eventually to pester her again, perhaps with a bunch of other villagers so that, in the event of her losing her temper again, he would have all the more ammunition to use against her, and more people that would side with him. It was terrible, but it was something that she was partially responsible for, as it was her rash temper and her building anxiety that had led her into this, so she had to accept that fact.

Eventually, Bianca sighed. Things were already complicated, and she had just helped make them even more complicated.

‘Fuck my life… Song Ming, please come back soon.’