The Supporting Male Characters Who Died Alone All Those Years Later

As soon as He Dongchen opened his eyes, he discovered that this world was filled with spiritual energy, mixed with the aura of demons.

He moved his eyes and observed his surroundings, finding himself sitting cross-legged in an antique-style quiet room. He was dressed in a green robe, and a green long sword lay across his knees, exuding a powerful spiritual aura, clearly not an ordinary item.

In front of him was a simple spirit hall, with countless tablets standing, and many ancient ritual instruments beside them, their spiritual energy so restrained that one wouldn’t notice they were magical tools unless they looked closely.

He Dongchen closed his eyes and received the memories.

This place was divided into the human realm and the demon realm. A thousand years ago, the two realms were connected, and humans and demons coexisted, causing chaos in the world. Compared to demons with various divine abilities, humans were defenseless and extremely fragile, only able to lie down and take the blows. The imperial court was also controlled by demons, leading to widespread suffering.

Seeing the imminent extinction of humans, the Heavenly Dao could not bear it and bestowed a gift, granting certain humans the ability to cultivate. This power was passed down through bloodlines, and these people were called demon slayers.

Demon slayers used their bloodlines to absorb spiritual power and turn it into their own. One year of their cultivation was equivalent to 10 years of a demon’s hard practice. Additionally, the blood of demon slayers was extremely harmful to demons. Therefore, in a short time, they eradicated the evil demons and used their blood to draw an array, carving out a piece of land for humans to live and rest, where demons couldn’t set foot. Any demons within the circle would be automatically expelled.

From then on, the world was divided into the Human Realm and the Demon Realm. The Human Realm was enveloped by the Demon Realm, with no communication between the two, bringing peace. As a thousand years passed, humans, with their mere century-long lifespans, gradually forgot the existence of demons, thinking of them only as stories, occasionally using them to scare disobedient children.

But just as the world was at peace, the array loosened, and many demons sneaked into the Human Realm, causing trouble again.

The hidden demon slayers returned to the scene.

The original owner was a demon slayer from the He family lineage, extremely talented, and had been cultivating magic since childhood. However, because several generations of ancestors had never seen a demon, his understanding of their wild and violent nature was very vague.

Every time he dealt with a demon, he couldn’t help but show mercy and patiently persuade them, ultimately sacrificing himself.

According to the original trajectory, after his father passed away, he would take the magical tools down the mountain to slay demons and uphold justice. Later, by chance, he encountered a Peacock Demon who fell in love with a human to repay a favor. Despite repeated warnings, he was moved by the Peacock Demon’s deep affection after a series of events. When the Peacock Demon was punished by the heavens for giving birth to a demon child, he helped save the Peacock Demon and her child.

However, because he was kind to demons, the Heavenly Dao stripped him of his demon slayer bloodline, causing him to lose all his spiritual power and age instantly. During his short remaining life, he was constantly pursued by vengeful demons. Without his bloodline, he couldn’t even enter the protective array of the He family ancestral home and eventually died on a snowy night outside the He residence.

He Dongchen opened his eyes, and the overflowing spiritual energy within him leaked out. The system, which had somehow stopped in front of him, was so frightened that it took a few steps back, exaggeratedly screaming, [Boss, you scared me to death.]

“Mission,” He Dongchen said in a tone as calm as water, reaching out to touch the long sword on his knees.

The patterns on the scabbard faintly glowed with spiritual light, and the sword body lightly trembled, seemingly responding to its master.

The system didn’t dare to procrastinate and immediately released the plot task.

[Previous small world: “After Lying Down, I Won”]

[Basic Mission: Get Married and Have Children (Complete)]

[Mission Merit: 134670]

[Points Gained: 100 + Merit 134670]

[Current World: “The Peacock and the Scholar”]

[Summary: A thousand years ago, the Peacock Demon Bing Lan was just a newly intelligent little demon. When the demon slayers descended, other demons either fled or died. Bing Lan, with low power, was unable to escape but was saved by a scholar. Before she could repay the favor, the demon slayers set up a great array, expelling Bing Lan from the Human Realm.

A thousand years later, the array loosened, and Bing Lan, now a powerful demon, returned to the Human Realm to find the reincarnated scholar, beginning a beautiful love story.]

[Basic Mission: Continue the demon slayer bloodline (Incomplete)]

[Merit Mission: 0]

After reading that, He Dongchen solemnly kowtowed several times in the spirit hall, then picked up his sword and left the room.

The current time was when everything was just beginning.

As He Dongchen stepped out of the He family ancestral home, the house behind him automatically concealed itself. Only a member of the He family bloodline could knock and make the door appear.

In the original story, the original owner had his demon slayer bloodline stripped by the Heavenly Dao. Even if he remembered where his home was, he could never open that door.

The Heavenly Dao maintained balance, fearing that the demon slayers would grow too powerful and become another disaster for the Human Realm. Thus, when bestowing the gift, it also imposed many restrictions. For example, a demon slayer could only have one descendant, passing down the bloodline singly through generations. Their lifespan was the same as ordinary humans. They couldn’t participate in court politics or interfere with mundane affairs.

In times of peace, they had to remain hidden, only appearing when demons caused trouble. Those who violated these rules would face heavenly punishment without exception.

Over the past thousand years, the world had changed greatly. The original three thousand demon slayer bloodlines, after losing more than three hundred in the initial demon eradication, had been reduced by half over time, leaving only fifteen hundred bloodlines.

Various desires, whether for power, love, or immortality, drove demon slayers with extraordinary abilities towards their doom.

The original owner failed because of his mercy towards demons. Simply put, he sided with the wrong beings. A child born of a human and a demon wasn’t tolerated by the Heavenly Dao, and the original owner openly defied it. This outcome was the Heavenly Dao showing leniency.

The He family bloodline ended with the original owner, and the He family name disappeared among the fellow demon slayers, just like the thousand others before it.

***

Returning to the present, He Dongchen glanced back at the hidden He family ancestral home. There stood only a locust tree in full bloom. As the breeze blew, white petals fluttered, seeming to bid farewell.

He Dongchen nodded slightly, turned, and left. With each step spanning 10 meters, his slender figure in green soon disappeared down the path. Gradually, the trees on either side of the path extended their branches, covering the path, making it seem as if no one had ever walked there.

After descending the mountain, He Dongchen casually chose a direction to proceed.

Along the way, He Dongchen moved like the wind, covering 10 meters with each step. It was often a long time before people reacted, dropping their jaws in shock, “Did someone just run past?!”

“No, you were seeing things,” the companion insisted firmly. “It was just a gust of wind. Who could run that fast? Unless it’s a demon?”

The other person grumbled, “Why couldn’t it be a demon slayer? The storybooks say demon slayers can travel through heaven and earth, doing anything and everything. They can defeat demons in no time…”

“Nonsense, demons are stronger. Every time a demon slayer deals with a demon, they barely manage to succeed,” the companion retorted.

As the two argued, faces flushed with anger, He Dongchen suddenly appeared before them, bringing a gentle breeze. He raised his right hand and touched his forehead, a flash of spiritual light signaling the traditional ceremony of a demon slayer revealing his identity to ordinary people. Then he asked, “Where is the nearest city?”

The two were stunned, unable to utter a word. Finally, they pointed east.

“Thank you,” He Dongchen smiled, drawing a spiritual symbol on their faces, embedding it into their bodies. He then advised, “There have been demon disturbances recently. Stay away from water, remember that.”

After saying this, He Dongchen turned and left, disappearing quickly.

The two watched in astonishment as He Dongchen came and went lightly. After a moment of stunned silence, they started jumping around excitedly.

“Oh my god! Was that a demon slayer?!”

“There really are demon slayers! That move, touching the forehead, was exactly like in the storybooks! Ahhhh, I saw a demon slayer!”

In their excitement, they forgot that the storybooks also mentioned that the appearance of demon slayers heralded great chaos in the world.

Meanwhile, He Dongchen had traded some herbs he had picked along the way for a few copper coins. He paid two coins to enter the city. Passersby noticed his strange attire; an ancient green robe that looked more like the garb of a hero from a storybook than a scholar’s coat, especially with the ancient long sword on his back. As he walked by, people couldn’t help but steal glances, murmuring to themselves.

In this time of peace and prosperity, with a stable government and people living in harmony, the sudden appearance of such a strange person naturally drew attention.

He Dongchen seemed oblivious to their reactions, strolling unhurriedly down the street. Passing a tavern, he paused, drawn by the enticing aroma, and turned to enter.

The waiter greeted him enthusiastically but was momentarily stunned by He Dongchen’s unusual attire. Quickly recovering, the waiter welcomed him warmly.

Though his outfit was peculiar, his demeanor suggested he wasn’t short of money.

Inside, He Dongchen’s gaze swept over the crowded dining hall, pausing briefly at one spot, his eyes becoming thoughtful.

The waiter led him to an empty seat by the window.

At that moment, a diner slammed his chopsticks down and shouted, “Where’s my pork knuckle?! There were three just now, and now there’s only one left! Who stole my pork knuckle?!”

The diners at the surrounding tables shook their heads, indicating it wasn’t them.

“Then where did my pork knuckle go? It must have been stolen by one of you!”

“Hey, watch your mouth. Do we look like people who need to steal a pork knuckle?”

“Exactly, you probably ate it yourself and forgot.”

Several tables began arguing, spittle flying, and they were rolling up their sleeves, ready to fight. The manager quickly came out to mediate, offering a plate of pork knuckle to each table to barely calm them down.

The manager smiled apologetically but looked troubled, saying, “I don’t know what’s been happening these past few days. The dishes prepared in the kitchen disappear in the blink of an eye. Many customers have complained about the portions being smaller. Heaven knows, our Delicious Tavern has been open for over ten years, and we’ve never shorted anyone.”

Hearing this, the diners chimed in with their own experiences.

“I thought my dish was smaller once, a roasted chicken missing a leg.”

“And me, I bent down to pick up a chopstick, and when I looked up, my whole egg was gone, just the shell left.”

Everyone started talking at once, making the dining hall noisy. Someone suggested the manager should hire an expert to perform a ritual.