Yun Jin hadn't walked more than a few steps when she was suddenly grabbed.
A Di Sha demon pulled her hard into her room. She kept her voice low and trembling.
"It's not even break time yet. Are you crazy, wandering outside like that?"
Yun Jin glanced around.
The Di Sha demon was focused on using her horns to grind weapon after weapon. Their horns were born razor sharp and were meant to defend themselves. But here, their greatest use was polishing weapons. Every Di Sha demon worked day and night, always polishing, always refining.
"Don't wander anymore. Get back to your room." The demon's voice dropped even further.
"If you can't finish your quota, the entire Di Sha tribe will be punished." She kept talking while still grinding away without stopping.
Yun Jin watched for a moment and then said calmly. "I just came back to the island. I don't have a room and I haven't been assigned any task."
The Di Sha demon froze.
"You just came back to the island?"
After a moment, shock lit in her eyes.
"You're one of the group that escaped fifty years ago?"
Yun Jin nodded.
"I am."
She had chosen this one on purpose. She had seen a related mission in the Mission Hall.
Fifty years ago, a group of young Di Sha demons had organized an escape. The island was remote, no one guarded it. They had slipped away without trouble.
But this was the Nine Heavens Nether Demon Domain. Every island had its owner. Once they left the Di Sha island, no other island would take them.
The escapees became wanderers.
Their lives.
Their deaths.
Their whereabouts.
All became a secret.
The entire island became more strictly governed after that.
Fifty years ago, they could still breathe some air. Now, they could only work from dawn until night. All of this, in the end, came from those escapees. But when the Di Sha demon looked at Yun Jin, there was no hatred. Instead, she looked almost envious.
"You really went outside? I can't even imagine what the world beyond this island is like."
Yun Jin answered calmly.
"Life is precious, but freedom is worth even more. The outside world isn't that great, but we're free."
"Life is precious, freedom is worth even more."
The Di Sha demon whispered the phrase as a faint shine stirred in her eyes. Such a beautiful sentence. She admired the courage of those who left. But she knew she didn't have it. She wanted to live.
"Then why did you come back?" She studied Yun Jin curiously.
Yun Jin gave a small smile. "I have something to discuss with the Patriarch. Has her residence stayed the same since fifty years ago?"
The demon shook her head. "Later, to tighten control, they redesigned the entire island. Only the Patriarch has a separate residence now. It's on that little hill about a hundred miles away."
"I see." Yun Jin stood.
"Then I'll take my leave."
The Di Sha demon hurried to add.
"The island guardians will come collect weapons in seven days. If you don't want to be caught and dragged back, you should leave the island within those days."
There were no higher demons guarding this island. They didn't fear people escaping. The world was too big. There was nowhere a low demon could actually belong. Here they were enslaved.
Anywhere else, they would still be enslaved. At least on this island, if they finished their tasks, they weren't in danger. Once they stepped off, every place was a lethal threat. Most Di Sha demons wanted to live. Only once each month did outsiders come.
The island guardians came to collect their polished weapons.
Seven days later, it would be collection day.
"Thank you." Yun Jin answered politely.
"Try to hide your movements. Don't act too boldly." The demon reminded her again.
When Yun Jin promised she would, the demon went back to polishing, unable to say more.
Yun Jin didn't push. She left quietly. She masked her presence and soon reached the hill where the Patriarch lived.
The Patriarch of the Di Sha, though she had a separate dwelling, still lived in a simple wooden hut.
Yun Jin pushed open the door. Inside, the Patriarch was bent over her work. She didn't look up until the sound came.
When she saw Yun Jin, her expression changed.
"Patriarch, I'm back."
In Yun Jin's mind, the mission details resurfaced clearly.
A rank A mission.
Laura, Patriarch of the Di Sha, held a secret. Someone from a super race, the Tian Qi Demon Race, was secretly living on this island.
The Tian Qi Demon God ascended more than five hundred thirty thousand years ago. After his ascension, the other Demon Gods carved up the Tian Qi Domain. The Tian Qi Demon Race was slaughtered. Only a handful escaped. They became fugitives hunted for eternity. One of those survivors hid here.
A thousand years ago, that survivor died. Before dying, he confessed despair. He was the last of his kind. When he died, the Tian Qi Demon Race would disappear forever. As a former Demon God race, they had plundered countless treasures.
Among them, there was one treasure hidden deeper than all others. It still had not been found.
In gratitude to the Di Sha leaders who sheltered him, he gave Laura a map.
To find the treasure.
To escape fate.
Laura planned for years.
She organized an escape. The young Di Sha carried the weight of destiny on their backs.
Laura prayed every day for their return. When they came back, maybe the Di Sha would rise.
[Mission objective: Help Laura find news of the escapees.]
Yun Jin hadn't taken the mission. But the information was very useful. She had also seen what became of those escapees. They were slaughtered by a higher demon not long after they fled.
Laura's thousand year plan was nothing more than a tragic joke.
Now.
Yun Jin could finally make use of this identity.