After Marrying the Disabled Demon Lord as a Substitute, I Ran Away with His Child - Chapter 46

Chapter 46

After Bi Zhian departed, her mind was in a state of chaos.

She had barely left the vicinity of the Xuan Cloud Sect when Zhu Jiechou intercepted her. “What happened? Why are you out so soon? Weren’t you supposed to seduce Xuan Mo?”

Bi Zhian knew that her mission was to charm Xuan Mo, obtain the treasures from the secret realm to save her father, and secure her own future. But the moment she saw her Little Junior Sister, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of heartache, and ultimately, she botched the plan.

She lowered her gaze. “I failed. Xuan Mo was not moved by me, nor does he intend to divorce Little Junior Sister.”

“How can you be so useless?” Zhu Jiechou was furious. If this failed, how could his plans proceed? He paced in circles before glaring back at her. “No matter what, you must marry Xuan Mo. As for Zuo Siqiu, I will find another way.”

…

Zhu Jiechou once again braved the dangers of the Demon Realm to find the man amidst the sea of corpses. He informed him of Bi Zhian’s failure.

The man was displeased. “You people truly are trash. If things had gone smoothly, I would already have the pill primer. Now, nothing is done, and your master is dead.”

Zhu Jiechou bowed his head. “Xuan Mo’s cultivation is too high; we cannot force him. Moreover, his physical body has been fully restored. He can move freely now, making us even less of a match for him.”

The man’s eyes snapped open. “You say his body is restored? He can walk?”

Upon receiving confirmation, the man’s face twisted into a hideous mask. “How is that possible? How could his body be mended?”

Xuan Mo was this man’s son. After the child was born, the man had discovered the recipe for the Ascension Pill. By chance, he obtained a vital ingredient and used it to forge Xuan Mo’s Ice Spirit Root into a “Supreme” grade. From that moment on, Xuan Mo’s physical body could not withstand the sheer power of his spirit root. He was confined to a wheelchair, constantly teetering on the edge of death.

Fortunately, this son was resilient; he struggled back to life every time he faced the brink.

Not long ago, Xuan Mo fell into danger again—a part of the man’s plan. Bi Mu, who was in league with the man, offered a life-saving pill in exchange for Xuan Mo’s promise to marry Bi Zhian. The original plan was for Xuan Mo and Bi Zhian to dual-cultivate, allowing their bodies and souls to transform into the perfect pill primers for the man and Bi Mu respectively.

But the plan had stalled because of the “substitute marriage,” and Bi Mu had lost his life. Now, hearing that his son had stood up, the man felt only rage. They were so close, yet the plan was regressing.

After a long silence, the man said to Zhu Jiechou, “I will make Xuan Mo come to me. Since he doesn’t want to die, let his child die in his place.”

Zhu Jiechou’s heart raced. If the news of Zuo Siqiu’s pregnancy reached them, would the child be mistaken for Xuan Mo’s? Of course it would, since she was the one married to him.

Though panicked, Zhu Jiechou stayed calm and waited for an opportunity. Sure enough, two days later, Xuan Mo appeared at the sea of corpses.

The man opened his eyes and cackled at his son. “I didn’t expect you to find a spirit medicine capable of repairing your body.”

Xuan Mo looked at the man with a gaze full of mockery. “I’ve disappointed you. This body can no longer serve as your pill primer. I wonder what you’ll do next? Will you have the luck to find another treasure to destroy my body again?”

The man didn’t collapse as Xuan Mo expected. Instead, he spoke words that were less than human. “Since you have such fortune, I can spare your life. But you are my son. I gave you life; I gave you that Supreme Ice Spirit Root. You owe me. Since your body is no longer useful, let your child repay the debt.”

“Bearing a child is not difficult. You only need to dual-cultivate with a Fire-Root user a few times. Once she is pregnant, you can use the child to pay your dues. From then on, father and son will have no further connection.”

Xuan Mo burst into a wild laugh, his eyes filled with surging hatred. “Do you think I am like you? That I would do something so subhuman?”

The man cackled again. “Xuan Mo, you are too naive. Do you think a recovered body means you’ve escaped my control? Since I forged your spirit root, I can ensure that while you have peerless talent, you also suffer a fate worse than death. One day, you will bring your child here and beg me for mercy.”

The conversation ended in a bitter stalemate. The man then turned to Zhu Jiechou, who was paralyzed with shock. “Wait. He will regret it one day. In the meantime, focus on your cultivation. You are still far from being able to refine a pill for me.”

Zhu Jiechou left in a daze. He knew that even the lowest cultivators mocked the “wheelchair-bound Demon Venerable” behind his back. He knew Xuan Mo’s soul was under constant torture. Xuan Mo wasn’t a saint; he had agreed to marry Bi Zhian just to stay alive. One day, to escape new torments, he might actually hand over the child in Zuo Siqiu’s belly.

Xuan Mo didn’t know that the child wasn’t his, but Zhu Jiechou’s. Zhu Jiechou would never allow his child to be used as a bargaining chip by that terrifying man.

…

Zuo Siqiu had been spending her days in the Xuan Cloud Sect’s library, focused on two things:

Finding the natural enemy of the Nine-Tailed Fox to create an antidote for the Passion Pill.

Finding records of cultivator pregnancies and, ideally, a method for “paternity testing.”

She wanted to know whose child she was carrying more than anyone. She suspected it was Xuan Mo’s through some mystical, mythical means of long-term proximity, even if they hadn’t “done it.” She needed to know the father’s attitude before deciding whether to go public.

But the library was a den of unorthodox and chaotic techniques; there was nothing “normal” about pregnancy or family.

Just then, she received a jade slip from her “sister,” inviting her to the Bixia Sect. After informing Xuan Mo, she set off with her rooster.

However, she was intercepted halfway not by her sister, but by Zhu Jiechou.

“Little Junior Sister, don’t go to the Minghuang Sect. I sent that slip,” Zhu Jiechou said.

Zuo Siqiu was annoyed at being tricked, but Zhu Jiechou’s next words were earth-shattering: “I came to arrange your escape. You cannot stay. If you do, our child will be given by Xuan Mo to his father to be refined into a pill!”

Zuo Siqiu processed the information. “Are you making this up to drive a wedge between me and Xuan Mo?”

“How could you think that of me?” Zhu Jiechou pleaded. “What ‘relationship’ do you even have with him? You’re just a fake couple. Are you saying this because you’re mad I haven’t rescued you yet?”

“Forget the drama,” Zuo Siqiu snapped. “What do you mean ‘refined into a pill’?”

Zhu Jiechou explained the man’s plan: how the father had destroyed Xuan Mo’s body to make a primer, and how he now wanted Xuan Mo’s child as a replacement. “A man like him only cares about survival. He can just find a woman to have a child with; he won’t have deep feelings for it. One day, he will sacrifice the child to save himself. And he will mistake the child in your belly for his own.”

Zuo Siqiu’s head spun. She finally understood why the plot always pushed the leads together. There was another big villain behind the scenes.

“I need to think. Go now,” she told him.

“I want to take you with me,” he insisted.

She shook her head. “If you take me now, Xuan Mo will hunt you down and kill you in an hour.” She didn’t care about Zhu Jiechou’s life, but if Xuan Mo found out about the child, what would its fate be? She had grown up in an unhappy home; she knew how much that destroyed a person. She wanted a “perfect” plan.

Seeing her resolve, Zhu Jiechou left, promising to return for her.

…

Zuo Siqiu returned to Xuan Mo’s cave dwelling. He was standing under a massive tree, lost in thought. Hearing her, he turned. “Weren’t you at your sister’s?”

Zuo Siqiu stood a meter away, faking a smile. “I went, but I came back to refine a pill for someone in her sect.” She hesitated, then added, “Do you know what happened? It’s unbelievable. A disciple there got pregnant with my master’s child. She doesn’t want it and asked me for a pill to let the child go painlessly.”

Xuan Mo frowned. Zuo Siqiu continued, “The poor kid. Don’t you think so, Venerable One?”

A flash of violence crossed Xuan Mo’s features. Zuo Siqiu’s heart sank. “Venerable One… Do you not like children?”

Xuan Mo replied coldly, “I do not.”