Duck Emperor Chronicles – Chapter 3

DEMONIC TRANSLATIONS

[Author – Blurry]

[Proofreader – Samael]

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Chapter 3: I Have A Family?!

The wing that aimed to chop off a hand paused in mid-air.

‘This girl…’

Ya Jiao’s brows furrowed.

‘Is her head broken? To think a duck is her family when she is a human. . .’

The Duck Lord dismissed the notion of harming the brazen lass. How pitiful must it be, for someone to become deranged enough to recognize a duck as their own family? Sigh. Hitting a mentally handicapped individual was too much even for the Mad Duck.

A pretty head that housed no candles was useless in his eyes.

Ya Jiao sprung out of her grasp in an instant with a technique, and continued on his merry way.

“Brother Ya Jing! Where are you going?”

Hm. Ya Jing? Is that what people call this body? What an odd name.

[Ya Jing = duck neck, Ya Jiao = duck feet]

As he trudged onwards, the white-feathered duck could hear the unmistakable sounds of footsteps, chasing him. It would seem that trouble wanted to follow him a little while longer. ‘Ugh…’

Ya Jiao was tempted to just flee the scene, but something in his gut said otherwise…

An odd feeling had emerged upon hearing that odd name.

Ya Jing. 

Not just the name, but also the tone of the voice calling out that name. It was of a familiar timbre and sound, one he could almost reimagine and recreate in his head, as if the duck had heard it all throughout his life. The Duck Lord shook his feathery head.

This was not the time for such errant thoughts.

He needed to pay the Huai Family a visit.

He needed more information.

He needed resources for cultivation.

He needed- why were his feet not moving?

It was true indeed. His webbed duck feet had stopped their excruciatingly slow waddle. An inaction he had not intended, and had not even thought of. This was insanity.

His new body, going against his will? 

Preposterous.

Ya Jiao’s eyes flashed red for a moment.

Boom!

Murderous intent abruptly flooded the scene. A cold, chilling sort of pressure, imperceptible to the naked eye, but terrifying nonetheless. He needed to root out this disease. Now.

Control was the one thing Ya Jiao had never relinquished to anyone.

Thankfully, the angered duck quickly calmed himself before anything… messy happened.

Killing someone in broad daylight meant he could no longer hide in this village. An unnecessary and foolish risk. Furthermore, this body clearly possessed lingering attachments, so who knew if this girl was the only individual it had imprinted on or not. Maybe there were more. Tens. Hundreds.

Perhaps burning this entire village to the ground would be the best option.

The Mad Duck was not self-righteously above such damning acts, after all.

However, the time for answers was now. That Huai Dan’s information was weak and left out a lot. He would remedy this with the girl’s answers, as well as the answers of those that backed her.

She would lead him straight to the den of these useless emotions.

He would obtain useful information and the resources he required.

And then cull all the weeds in one fell swoop.

Ya Jiao turned around and scrutinized the young lady. She looked quite sensible, with a clear face and thoughtful eyes. Her figure was not too bad either, being close to an 80 in his book, which was shockingly high considering the rural nature of this village.

The young lass furrowed her brows in a familiar manner as she caught him staring.

“Brother. Mom is really worried about you, we should hurry back soon.”

This spiel again. Ya Jiao opened his beak, unable to help his curiosity:

“Brother? Why are you, a human, siblings with a duck like me? Do you think that makes sense?”

Surprisingly, the girl took it as if the rebuttal was expected, and replied:

“Brother Ya Jing, we’ve talked about this already. No matter what people think of you, mom and I will always take your side. There’s no need to beat yourself up over what cannot be changed—”

A meaningful pause.

The Duck Lord felt a sudden rush of impending doom, but it was too late to stop her from completing her sentence.

“—Even if you can’t morph into a human like the rest of us, the Ya Family will still welcome you.”

As she spoke, the girl gazed at the white-feathered duck as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. . . only to see Ya Jiao wobble, and then face-plant into the hard soil before going still.

“Eek! Brother! What happened to you?!”

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Did those bullies hurt you again?”

“Where are my medicinal pills, I need to find—”

The sounds of her concern faded away as the Duck Lord continued his—frankly rather faithful—re-enactment of a frightened ostrich. 

Incoherent mumbling could be heard from the pile of feathers laying on the ground. 

‘Wow. The sky is a very nice shade of blue. The brownish soil is nice too. Everything is nice. I wonder what these colours taste like. Munch, munch, munch.’

Ya Jiao groaned. 

Today suddenly became both the best and worst day of his life.

Strike after strike to his heart and mind. At this point, he was getting worried that he might develop a heart condition. Reincarnating sure was some tricky business. What a headache!

The white-feathered duck soon stood upright again, a bit paler than usual.

He stared straight at the girl, who was currently crouched and fussing over him, with a deadpan look of sheer exhaustion and a newly strengthened resignation towards life.

“Take me there.”

“Huh- Brother?”

“I said take me there… please.”

“Ah, alright. Thankfully, you don’t seem hurt.”

The Duck Lord covered his face with his pair of wings, trying to massage his temples to no avail. 

‘I should throw around more people to relieve my stress later. . .’

At that exact moment, it could be said that the entire Jiang River Village’s populace felt a collective shiver creep down their spines.

————

[Two hundred million miles away, in an unknown realm]

A beating was taking place. 

Savage beasts ran in packs, intimidating as can be. Their blood and Qi running rampant, filling the air with a dense, permeating scent. All sorts of scary and mythical monsters were present, from twin-headed serpents to five-horned bulls, and even a soaring dragon.

However, these awe-inspiring beasts were running not to hunt or kill, but running to flee from the grasp of ‘something’ that was chasing them.  

Crash!

Countless meteors befell the poor beastly souls as a heavenly formation churned behind the scenes. The condensed Qi punched craters onto the gritty rocks below, killing many divine beasts in the process. It looked as simple as killing hapless chicks.

A pale, jade-like hand reached out and snapped off the horn of a deceased gigantic bull, inspecting it, before closing into a tight fist. The diamond horn was effortlessly reduced to a fine powder.

“364750th day. Materials are lacklustre. Beast number has decreased to just over ten thousand.”

An indifferent, almost apathetic voice rang out. A mist-shrouded figure emerged from empty space.

Frost crawled over the jungles and ravines, following the hooded wanderer’s path as they walked deeper and deeper into the reaches of the Demon Swamp Forest.

The statue-like individual sat upon a flat, round rock in the centre of countless demonic trees. From within the tiny yet comfortable clearing, lay a golden field that glimmered softly under the minute sunlight.

The figure took off its hood, revealing a peerless face beneath the thick cloth. Flawlessly pale skin. A small, dainty mouth like a blossoming rose. Slender eyebrows and large doe eyes. The meagre light refracted off her silken, ruffled black hair, scattering into a thousand pinpricks across the woodland.

A breath-taking beauty. 

Based on appearance alone, she was the prime example of a perfect, welcoming wife.

Unfortunately, the expression of this beauty was anything but welcoming. To look upon her features was to be dropped into an icy hell where no redemption exists. Shockingly cold and indifferent, t’was like being in the presence of an all-seeing goddess, standing above the mortal realm.

A pair of bored eyes that could see through the essence of everything that is.

The silent lady tapped on that flattop rock. Ten fingers rapping on smoothened edges, worn through by constant contact. Today, very much like yesterday, or the day before yesterday, this cool beauty seated atop a crude piece of stone tapped on the same rock with the same repeated whisper.

“Show me what I seek.”

The breath of the natural world hitched. Her surroundings went dark.

“Show me what I seek.”

Colour drained from the world. 

“Show me what I seek.”

The woman’s head snapped backwards. A monochrome void replaced the sounds of the world as beads of sweat dripped past her brow. The ice was melting.

364750 days. Every day she tried. Every day she failed.

“Show me. . .”

Her voice cracked. She pressed on.

“Show me.”

A faint crackling within her vision. The same vision she has had ever since a week ago. A vision she had still not yet succeeded in witnessing. It was clearer now, more substantial. She had to see.

“Show me.”

Blood leaked out of her bloodless lips. Her tapping fingers trembled. She could not believe it.

The ice broke.

“Show me!”

Raised tone and high inflections. He was not dead. He could not be. He promised—

She saw it then.

The image of a lone, white-feathered duck, swimming in an empty pond. 

And reflected within the waters were faces she could not see, sounds she could not hear. However, it also reflected the image of a tiny town. The entrance plaque of said town.

‘Jiang River Village.’

That was enough. Colours and noises cascaded as the world returned to its original state. The young lady rubbed her eyes, finding herself now on the grassy woodland floor as she lightly gasped for air.

That indifferent expression of hers had returned, albeit with the addition of an interested gleam, hid in the corner of her eyes. A kind of interest that would make the people who knew her run away.

A kind of interest that might result in a massive, bloody massacre. 

Young Lady Kong Xuan righted herself.

‘I wonder how he is doing? Foolish husband of mine.’

It did not matter where he was.

It did not matter who stood in her way.

He was alive, and nothing in the world could escape her sight.

It was time to break out of her confinement.

‘Now that I’ve seen you, you stupid duck, I will never let you go again. . .’

The woman threw on her hood, as her hazy silhouette vanished like smoke. 

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