It wasn't on a whim.
He could stay back in the demon realm and enjoy the lavish life of the demon king, Shen Fang.
If he wanted to get his sword back, he could order his men to fetch it for him. If he wanted information, he could get that as well, without even needing to lift a single finger.
He had died under unfortunate circumstances but he was now alive with all odds in his favor.
It was as if he had won a lottery, but at the same time, it seemed that Jie Fu Lian didn't really appreciate this lottery.
Instead of having everything handed to him, he was already well used to working hard for gaining anything he desired.
Currently, he desired to be reunited with his sword 'Changbo' and he didn't want to hand over such an important task to someone else.
He had threatened one of his subordinates to bring over all the information related to the Xu clan's extermination within three hours and that man had compiled and brought him all the information within the first two hours itself.
Currently, Jie Fu Lian was probably the only one who had the most information on the case. He knew the victim's names and their time of deaths. He also knew the name of their killer and the reason behind such a big incident.
If he wanted to, he could simply waltz into the HuiXue sect and take back the sword as a reward for giving them the name of the killer, but that wasn't something that Jie Fu Lian planned on doing.
He planned to stick around a little in order to find out exactly why his sword was with the HuiXue sect.
The day he died, his sword had also fallen down with him, and along with his body, the sword should have also been lost forever.
Now, his sword had made a reappearance and so had he. Even his infamous reputation seemed to have miraculously corrected itself. All of this was clearly not a coincidence...
If he was guessing right then a lot had changed after his death and the circumstances leading up to his death might not have been as easy to comprehend as he had thought it would be.
The matter concerning his death was naturally important to him and hence, it was no shock that he would personally volunteer to dig up the truth.
He had once been a great cultivator with the potential of becoming a true immortal, but now he was stuck in the body of a demon king.
He could feel an abundant amount of demonic Qi surging through his veins but he had no idea on how he was supposed to control it. After struggling for an entire day, he somehow managed to get a hold of it.
He changed his physical features and clothes, completely changing his appearance to that of a normal cultivator from a small nameless sect. He masked away his demon Qi and completely hid all demon traces in his body.
With all the changes done, he no longer looked anything like the overbearing demon king, and instead, he truly looked like a normal man whose face was pleasant to the eye but not eye-catching.
On the way, he found a group of people heading towards the Xu Clan's residence in hopes of joining the investigation. They were a group from a small sect that had reputation but weren't exactly famous.
Jie Fu Lian naturally did not know them and they also did not recognize the disguised man. However, they still let Jie Fu Lian tag along since they felt that the man's manners were far too proper for him to be someone insignificant.
"Brother Fu, why are you travelling alone?" One of the sect disciples approached him with a delighted grin on her face as she questioned.
Jie Fu Lian only threw a side glance at her as he responded, "It's more comfortable."
"Eh?" The girl looked to be even more interested in the man as she heard this, "In that case, Brother Fu must be really strong! It is said that there are too many demons spotted in this area and so, not many people dare to cross through here. Even the ones who do come, always bring company because of their fear to pass this road alone."
"Brother Fu, have you not heard about it?" Another girl joined in as she asked.
"I live far away from here so I am naturally a bit ignorant of the local stories," Jie Fu Lian politely responded.
He was also a demon now, so he would naturally not be afraid of such stories. In fact, even if this had happened back when he was still in his original body, he would still not be afraid of such stories.
"You don't look afraid even after hearing the story. How strong! LingLing wishes to be like you," The girl referred to herself as the third-person and tried to act cute as she giggled.
The other girl clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes as she saw this but didn't say anything.
Jie Fu Lian was more than sure that he had tried his best to change his appearance into one that would not be striking. However, it seemed that his efforts were lacking and his pleasant-to-the-eye face was actually quite handsome and enough to attract the attention of these girls.
"It is said that the Xu Clan was also killed by a demon," The girl called LingLing spoke as she tried to sound a bit scared and worried.
"If they were really killed by a demon, wouldn't there be traces left behind?" The other girl refuted the rumor as she gave her own opinions.
"But if it wasn't the work of a demon, how could anyone be cruel enough to wipe out an entire clan without evening showing mercy on the mere infants of the family?" LingLing questioned with a frown.
"Not every demon is cruel and not every cultivator is good." It looked like the two girl's shared different thoughts on the topic and were more than ready to fight each other.
"Your words have made me respect you," Jie Fu Lian suddenly interrupted their conversation as he spoke, "May I know your name?"
The girl suddenly blushed as she heard this and hesitated a bit before she replied, "This humble one is called Xian Li."
"Sister Xian Li has a good point. Not every demon is cruel and not every cultivator is good, but then, you also need to think why there is a distinction between the two, in the first place itself."
Xian Li frowned a little as she heard this and fell silent.
"The Xu clan might have been exterminated by a demon, or it might have also been exterminated by a cultivator. We are not here to accuse anyone based on our own opinions. We are here to analyze the situation and recover the truth. It doesn't matter who the killer is 'cause in the end, the killer would still be punished no matter his origins."
"I get it!" LingLing excitedly exclaimed, "Brother Fu is telling us to be reserved! We shouldn't let our own judgment cloud our eyes. Justice is served only when the real killer is caught!"
Jie Fu Lian smiled as he heard this but said nothing.
Xian Li opened her mouth to say something to that, but they were suddenly interrupted by another group that blocked their way forward.
"Why must we go around?!"
"Fellow cultivator, we are only saying this for your own good. This road is too dangerous for you and it is filled with quite a number of traps. If you go around, you'll be safer."
"For our own good?? Are you sure you're not just making that up because you want to reserve this road for yourself?!"
"How can you throw such accusations at us...?!" Now, the other cultivator also seemed to be losing his patience.
"Is it not true?! The HuiXue sect always thinks they are above the rest. You people think you can just bully the weak because you are from a much stronger sect!"
The cultivator from the HuiXue sect sneered as he heard this, "I only said it for your own good but it seems that this fellow Daoist can't tell good from the bad."
"If this road is that dangerous then why are you using it too?! It doesn't make sense, does it? Or is it that you aren't afraid of the dangers?"
The man scoffed as he confidently claimed, "Of course, we are unafraid. If we were to be afraid of such things, we would not be deserving of wearing these robes!"
Jie Fu Lian rubbed his forehead as he wondered how unlucky he was.
Of all the people they could run into, they just had to bump into disciples from the HuiXue sect.
"If you're not afraid then why should we be afraid? Are you calling us weak cowards?!"
"Fellow Daoist, you certainly have a way of twisting my words. When did I ever say that?"
"But you implied it!"
Jie Fu Lian thought this argument was going to last an entire day, but thankfully enough, it was soon cut short when the ground beneath them started to shake and cracked.
They all fell down together and before anyone could react, they had already been devoured by the ground.