There were some things that the Zhu family would keep under wraps forever; secrets they’d protect with their lives.
Yao Ming had, as a child, been very fond of his uncle. The man was a cultivator and his absolute idol. He wanted to be like him when he grew up - powerful and unbending.
When the man vanished for several years after a demonic beast subjugation, the family was devastated.
They never expected him to return but when he did, only very few people knew about it.
As his favourite nephew, Yao Ming had been dragged into the situation.
He very well remembered the discomfort at seeing the boy who was supposed to be his cousin. It wasn’t the red eyes, it was the aura he held.
The boy was creepy and Yao Ming did not like him but for his uncle, he tried his best to get along with the creepy child and that elusive wife his uncle had brought home.
Until that one day.
He hadn’t liked his servant but it was his servant after all, so he had asked his family to help search for him when he appeared to have vanished into thin air.
They found him.
They preferred they hadn’t.
The sight of a young boy, barely in his teens, happily crunching down his distorted teeth on the servant’s arm had caused Yao Ming to retch.
The blank eyes of the man were turned to the door, face filled with horror - and below his head was nothing until the separated legs lying a bit farther away.
The bloody child kept on eating, disregarding the intruders, and the woman was caressing his head.
Yao Ming’s uncle stepped out from the side, blocking their path.
“Sorry you had to see that”, he laughed, like it was nothing.
Yao Ming’s grandfather turned pale.
“You… You married a demonic beast!”
Yao Ming couldn’t understand the full truth of it until years later.
Humans could not endure engaging in sexual acts with humanoid demonic beasts due to the difference in their energies, but demonic cultivators could. That his uncle had taken the path of a demonic cultivator for survival was nothing he thought of as bad, but what followed was.
The demon spawn that was born of the two was a monster. Inhuman and violent, they lived off human flesh.
However, they were good at concealing themselves.
The boy cried heartbreakingly when his mother and father lay slain at his feet, the Grandmaster of the Zhu family holding him up by the collar. He begged and promised not to do it again with the most innocent face, then tried to bite the man’s throat a second later.
Yao Ming was locked up for a week to make sure he understood he could never breathe a word of it.
Demon spawns were a carefully kept, dirty secret. He was not supposed to be able to know of them.
If it got out, their whole family would be exterminated as a safety measure.
Yao Ming kept his mouth shut.
He had never seen his uncle again since the man vanished in that subjugation years ago…
He knew nothing of what happened to his uncle, who had been solitary for all his life...
And then, in the sect, that child appeared.
Alive with a cracked core that shouldn’t be possible. Innocent and unusual, with red eyes.
It could be a coincidence, he told himself. Demon spawns weren’t common.
He hated the boy for being Shi Yue’s disciple, but he could teach him his place easily enough.
But then he fought.
There was no way for a street-rat to fight like that and suspicion came crashing down again.
The looks he always gave Yao Ming when Shi Yue wasn’t around - not that of a child. Not that of a human. He held no care for the dead beast in front of him.
Too abnormal.
Aah. Actually, couldn’t he get rid of that thing? He’d be a hero. So far, that thing kept itself under control so he had time…
Once it was dead, he could tell the sect that it had threatened him from the start and he had only retaliated. ‘Foolishly’ believed he could take care of it himself. Alas, he would apologize for not reporting it to the sect, but the most important would be that it was dead, no?
The thought lodged itself in his head.
He could be a hero. He could get rid of a pest at Shi Yue’s side. He could kill one of the things that had caused his uncle’s death…
If it hadn’t been for those things, his uncle would still be alive.
They shouldn’t exist.
That Xie Yi… would be his prey.
. Lol, but yeah XY is super shady. A bit arrogant of YM to think he’s the only one who’d notice if XY was one, but I’ll give him a pass since he’s young and traumatized. Still, why are XY’s eyes red, I guess red eyes doesn’t automatically mean demonic spawn, but I can see why it would seem that way. 
I'm looking forward to how you will end up resolving this complicated mess. And a happy new year author-sama!!
Okay, Yao Ming has his reasons *nods understandably* I get it. Now if Yao Ming would please hold still while I introduce him to my sword? It's nice and sharp
Me: "Look, my villain has reasons!! He is not just stupidly and randomly trying to kill someone!"
Everyone else: "Okay. So, when can we kill him?"
@Owl yes he has reasons, good reasons even! But I still want to hurt him- you did manage to make me go from wanting to kill him to only maiming him.
@Owl, there is no 'good' or 'evil' in my eyes there is only the OTP of Shi Yue & Xie Yi.
Off with Yao Ming's head!
@Owl your villain has reasons, good reasons even just not that well though out reasons. Btw I'm talking about the character not you, your a great writer
For one the fact that he refuses to report that he knows about demon spawns in the first place and that his suspicious that XY is one show that his not willing to ruin his family's reputation, because how else could he have come into contact with a demon Spawn in the first place. Its not like his elders would send him on missions that have a high likelihood of in countering one.
He wants to be avenge his uncle who he loves, but XY isn't that specific demon Spawn and unless the species itself is purely evil then using race as a basis of judgment just shows poor critical thinking skills, granted he is traumatized and a kid still but no matter how suspicious XY is SY and his masters are all high level cultivators it would have saved everyone a lot of hurt is he just told them if they didn't know, they would have kept his family's secret SY honestly doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would use such sensitive topics against his fellow sect member. So while he clearly respects SY he does not trust him or his authority or his skill. Because SY is a grandmaster for f*cks sake didn't it come to mind that a cultivator much stronger than himself had already checked XY's trustworthness?
Like all cultivators he clearly wants to make a name for himself and it just makes me so angry that he would put fame over checking if the one he was targeting was an actual demon spawn or not, high level cultivators would actually be able to do that for him If he'd just swallowed his prejudice and asked for help... This world actually has therapists and reliable elders. Sure his hurt, but he doesn't have to hurt everyone else that's not an excuse. ? XY isn't even a demon Spawn his just a demonic cultivator who was reborn as his past self..... So XY is suspicious as hell... But judging his trustworthness isn't YM's job.
I'm sorry but I just don't like his arrogance and general inflexibility sure he lost someone he loved deeply but if you excuse villains because they have a moving sob story than what about all the people they hurt and all the sob stories he basically became a part of ?
@Killjoy Some notes to that, I think it comes better out in the next chapter:
From a human point of view, demon spawns are actually all evil by default. There is no such a thing as a kind demon spawn. Moreover, Yao Ming is not wrong in worrying about what might happen to his family. If there was any hint that his family had ever hidden the fact that there was one born in their family, there is an actual high chance that they will all be killed. SY, too, because this isn't on the level of keeping a small secret but rather ensuring the safety of a whole lot of people.
Anyway, it becomes a bit clearer in the next chapter at least xD
I'm not trying to excuse him, but for me, the circumstances of a crime are always very important to judge the criminal and I find it funny how everyone is running around protecting our lil MC while disregarding anything else xD As I said, in my eyes, Yao Ming is not a bad person, but he is not truly evil
@Owl Oh, so is it like those baby vampires in some novels? They just feel hunger and go around massacring people whenever they feel hungry without feeling that there's anything wrong with it? Demon spawns would inherently have evil means in their genes sorta? Like knowing deception, manipulation, etc?