Chapter 3: The Demon Tree

At this moment, Ren Jie felt as if the world had plunged into utter darkness. His body grew colder and colder, as if invisible giant hands were dragging him deeper into the abyss...

Whispers reached his ears, like the murmurs of a demon.

Am I about to die?

Death... Is this what it feels like? Ren Jie thought.

Finally, I can rest... Years of part-time jobs, endless struggles to make money, sometimes sleeping only two or three hours a day...

I'm really exhausted. At last, I can have a good sleep.

But with this sleep, perhaps I will never wake up again.

What about Aunt Anning? She’s taking care of Yao Yao alone—can she hold on?

Without my income, how much longer can Yao Yao’s demonic scar illness be managed?

She’ll cry when she finds out something happened to me, won’t she?

Ah... I really don’t want to die...

So regretful...

Ren Jie’s consciousness struggled fiercely, but he had completely lost control of his body, powerless to change his fate.

The doctor solemnly announced, “At 11:44 PM, the patient's heart stopped. Brain death confirmed. No vital signs...”

“Where are the family? The morgue is full. Just send him straight to the crematorium. No need to make things complicated...”

Wei Pingsheng wiped away a tear. “Burn him. Let everyone send him off one last time...”

Better not let Anning see Ren Jie’s tragic corpse. It would only deepen her pain.

Notify her tomorrow, then...

But Wei Pingsheng didn’t know how to break the news to Anning...

Suddenly, Ren Jie was stunned. He clearly heard the conversation between the doctor and Uncle Wei!

Send him straight to the crematorium? Burn him?

Damn! So careless?

I’m not fully dead yet—I'm still conscious! Just burn me like that?

Wouldn’t that hurt like hell?

You can’t treat a hero this way!

Yet Ren Jie could do nothing. Amidst the crying, they pushed his body toward the crematorium.

Though his consciousness felt as if it was falling endlessly, it never completely faded. He didn’t understand what was happening.

Dead, but not fully dead?

Ren Jie panicked. Rescue me!

I think I can still be saved!

But instead, he lay as still as... well, a corpse.

...

Inside the crematorium, the massive furnace door opened. Ren Jie had been changed into clean clothes, his appearance neatly arranged...

Xiao Ming was still crying, and his mother wept while holding him tightly. After all, Ren Jie had heroically sacrificed himself to save her child.

Tian Yu and the others wiped their tears. Though they didn’t particularly like Ren Jie, they had trained together in the youth squad for almost a month and had grown somewhat attached.

Never imagined... the first field mission, and he’s just gone...

Wei Pingsheng squatted on the ground, chain-smoking with a desolate expression.

A staff member tilted her head. “Well, I’ll start the cremation then...”

No one spoke. The atmosphere was heavy and sorrowful. Wei Pingsheng silently nodded.

At that moment, hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor.

All eyes turned toward the sound as a girl brandishing a long sword rushed into the crematorium.

It was Jiang Jiuli, the young woman who had fought demons at the site of the disaster.

Without the concealment of starlight, everyone finally saw her clearly.

Her long black hair cascaded down to her waist like a waterfall, her bright eyes and white teeth radiant, skin as fair as snow, a high nose bridge, and features so perfect they seemed painted.

Like a celestial maiden cast down to earth, her arrival seemed to brighten the entire crematorium.

Yet, Jiang Jiuli appeared somewhat disheveled. Her white tracksuit was stained with black ash, and her fair arms were wrapped in bandages.

Everyone stared in shock at this ethereal girl...

Her large eyes immediately fixed on Ren Jie. Her gaze dimmed, then flicked to Wei Pingsheng, hesitating to speak but ultimately silent.

Instead, she leaned against the wall, clutching her arm, bowing her head, fists clenched tightly.

Though she didn’t know him personally, he was the one she had accidentally struck to death. Ultimately, it was due to her insufficient power...

She was deeply sorrowful, so as soon as the other matters were settled, she had rushed over...

At least... let me send him off properly...

The staff merely glanced at Jiang Jiuli. Seeing she made no move to approach, they pushed Ren Jie into the cremation furnace.

The door shut, and the cremation began.

Ren Jie cursed inwardly.

Damn it! I’m not fully dead yet. Don’t burn me yet! What kind of incompetent doctors are these?

They’re putting me through the entire cremation process straight away?

His consciousness continued to fall, but this time it seemed to have reached a bottom.

To his surprise, Ren Jie found himself standing on a vast, mirror-like lake. Looking down, he could see his reflection rippling with the spreading waves.

Around the lake stretched boundless darkness, with wisps of thin white mist drifting across the surface...

Ren Jie was stunned.

“Where is this? The afterlife?”

Soon he realized he wasn’t alone in this mirrored world. Floating in the darkness nearby was a black shard, like a piece of coal, covered with dense double-helix patterns...

Ren Jie’s eyes widened in shock.

“That... that’s my pendant!”

Ten years ago, a Class-A demonic disaster struck Jincheng. His parents and younger brother perished in the calamity, and Ren Jie was desperately rescued by a Shiyao officer named Tao Ran.

Tao Ran sacrificed himself to save Ren Jie, leaving behind his wife Anning and their five-year-old daughter, Tao Yao Yao...

Ren Jie was adopted by Anning and brought to live in Jincheng.

Wei Pingsheng was Tao Ran’s comrade and had also participated in the rescue, which explained his deep care for Ren Jie.

Ren Jie clearly remembered how he had accidentally unearthed this shard years ago while digging through the rubble, trying to find his brother...

He had worn it ever since as a protective charm—a keepsake of his family.

Could this thing be a treasure?

Ren Jie recalled the burning sensation in his chest when he was struck—was it caused by the shard?

Ordinary people would have died from such a severe injury, yet his consciousness remained.

As he pondered his situation, the black shard suddenly dropped straight into the mirror lake.

At once, the entire mirrored space began to tremble.

A colossal black tree burst through the lake’s surface and grew vigorously. Its trunk twisted like a dragon, spiraling upward, quickly becoming a towering giant.

Countless thick branches extended like demonic claws from the trunk, nearly filling the entire lake space.

The branches were dense but leafless, like a charred, withered tree...

Compared to a sacred tree, it resembled more a tree of demons.

Ren Jie was utterly stunned. What he saw far exceeded his understanding.

Instinctively, he reached out to touch the trunk, and inexplicably, their auras intertwined...

In the next instant, the largest lower branch of the demon tree glowed a fiery red and burst into flames.

A radiant, sun-like fiery fruit formed on the burning branch, emanating intense heat.

Inside the fiery fruit, shadowy demonic shapes flickered.

At that moment, a demonic whisper echoed in Ren Jie’s ears:

“The demonic contract is complete! Contracted demon: Flame Demon!”

“Price of demonization: causing others to weep.”

“Price paid.”

“Flame Demon genes injected.”

“Spirit of the Flame Demon born. Initial contract demonization begins.”

Ren Jie: ???

Almost instantly, the white mist above the lake was absorbed by the demon tree.

Flames surged down the fiery branch, violently pouring into the mirror lake.

They transformed into an endless sea of fire, engulfing Ren Jie’s consciousness.

Simultaneously, the cremation furnace was ignited!