After Marrying the Disabled Demon Lord as a Substitute, I Ran Away with His Child - Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Although Bi Zhian found Zhu Jiechou’s words difficult to accept, she knew she had come to save her Little Junior Sister. Zuo Siqiu had entered this den of monsters and endured suffering because of her; no matter how much she grieved now, she had to put her sister first. With this in mind, she raised her natal dharma treasure and charged toward the cultists.

At the mountain gate of the Xuan Cloud Sect, thick black smoke billowed, filled with snarling and roaring Soul Puppets. Carrying the ultimate resentment from the moments before their deaths, they treated every demonic disciple as the person responsible for their demise, pouncing forward in a desperate struggle of tearing and biting. Pitiful shrieks echoed through the haze, and many disciples began to feel true terror. The Xuan Cloud disciples were desperate enough, but they were no match for these mindless, soul-bound puppets.

The mountain gate was breached. The Left and Right Protectors arrived with their weapons, barely managing to hold the line. However, the Soul Puppets maintained the upper hand, leaving the Protectors exhausted.

This scene fell upon the eyes of Zuo Mudong, who was hiding in the distance. She watched Zhu Jiechou in disbelief, never imagining he would use such a method to create an opportunity for Zuo Siqiu.

“If I had known he would do this, Siqiu and I would never have agreed!”

She was thinking of a way to signal Zhu Jiechou to stop being so “active” and preparing to tell her sister never to contact this man who was clearly falling into demonic madness again. But at that moment, her gaze landed on a pair of Soul Puppets.

Her pupils dilated instantly. Zuo Mudong could not believe her eyes. Amidst that rolling black smoke, the two middle-aged figures with distorted, snarling faces… were they not her parents?

She took two steps forward, her entire body trembling. She raised her arm and bit down hard on her own flesh to keep from screaming out loud. The people she had searched for so long had been turned into someone else’s Soul Puppets! They had no reason, were driven by others, and were forced to commit atrocities. Such souls, even if they entered the cycle of reincarnation, would be barred from humanity for eternity.

Zhu Jiechou is such a cruel, terrifying person!

Zuo Mudong’s thoughts spun wildly. She wasn’t willing to let this go! But if she stepped forward now, what would happen to her sister? Her parents were already gone, turned into mindless puppets, but her sister was still alive and carrying a small life in her womb.

She bit so hard her mouth filled with blood. Swallowing the blood along with her agony, she knelt on the ground. She had failed her parents; not only could she not collect their bodies, she couldn’t even reclaim their souls. She slammed her forehead against the ground, a sob escaping her throat as tears mingled with blood.

“I’m sorry! Your daughter is unfilial. I cannot take you away, I cannot find someone to perform the rites for you! I was powerless to save you! But now I must protect Siqiu. Once she no longer needs me, I will come back to atone to you, Father and Mother!”

As her voice fell, Zuo Siqiu’s voice came from behind her. “Sister, what are you talking about?”

Zuo Siqiu had heard the commotion at the gate and followed the pre-planned escape route. The path was empty, and even the sect’s defensive arrays were flickering. She was confused—how had Zhu Jiechou caused such a massive disturbance? Did he bring an army? She hoped there wouldn’t be too many casualties.

But when she stepped outside the gate and saw the black smoke, her heart began to ache sharply. Was it guilt over the battle caused by her escape? No, it was a different kind of pain indescribable and profound.

She reached the meeting point and saw her sister kneeling in a pathetic state, kowtowing toward the black smoke. The thud of her head hitting the ground made Zuo Siqiu even more anxious. Then she heard her sister’s words.

Zuo Mudong turned back in panic, her forehead bleeding and her eyes bloodshot. She grabbed Zuo Siqiu’s hand so tightly it felt like it might snap. Her voice was hoarse and helpless. “Siqiu, Sister is taking you away. Fast, follow me.”

Zuo Siqiu gripped her back. “Tell me what you saw first. If you don’t tell me and I find out later, what if I regret leaving?”

Zuo Mudong shook her head frantically. How could she tell her? Zuo Siqiu gripped her shoulders with unprecedented ferocity. “Say it! Sister, say it! Don’t make me live with regret!”

Zuo Mudong’s body went limp. “It’s Father and Mother. They are among the Soul Puppets.”

Zuo Siqiu’s gaze instantly locked onto the black mist. Memories of the original host flooded her mind. Unlike Zuo Siqiu’s previous life, the host had parents and a sister who adored her. Even as cultivators, they gave her the best of everything. Tears fell uncontrollably; her chest felt as if a knife were being twisted in her heart.

She made an instant decision. “Sister, we can’t leave like this. We have to save them.”

“But what about you? What about the child?” Mudong protested.

Zuo Siqiu looked at her. “There’s no time to waste on useless arguments. Ask yourself: if you leave with me now, will you regret it? Will you live in guilt?” Without waiting, she answered for her. “You will. And so will I. We cannot wait. We must save them.”

Her eyes grew determined as she looked at the smoke. “And it won’t be hard. Since Zhu Jiechou ate that pill, he’s been obsessed with getting me out. I just have to find him and tell him that if he doesn’t give me our parents’ souls, I won’t leave. He’ll give them up instantly. Then we take the souls, disguise ourselves, and vanish.”

Zuo Mudong hesitated for only a second before nodding. “Fine. Let’s find him.”

However, things were not as smooth as they hoped. They avoided the sect members’ sight but couldn’t find Zhu Jiechou.

“He must be inside the smoke!” Zuo Siqiu told her sister. “Protect me as we go in, my cultivation isn’t enough!” She pulled out the defensive treasure Xuan Mo had given her and draped its protection over both of them. “This should hold!”

Zuo Mudong felt a bit more at ease seeing the high-grade treasure. She knew her sister was a genius at alchemy but unskilled in combat. She tucked her sister under her arm and flew into the black smoke.

Inside, the horror of the Soul Puppets was absolute. They knew no pain or fear. They attacked indiscriminately. If not for Xuan Mo’s treasure, they would have been shredded before finding their target.

They finally spotted Zhu Jiechou, but he was unrecognizable. His eyes were crimson, his sanity gone, influenced by the resentment of the puppets.

“He can’t control this many,” Zuo Mudong whispered. “The resentment has consumed him. He won’t recognize you.”

Zuo Siqiu gritted her teeth, staring at the small furnace in his hand. She wouldn’t give up. She remembered a passage from the original book Bi Mu had used these puppets in a major battle, and the author had described the mechanism in detail. To control them, she needed that furnace.

“Sister, we split up. I’ll distract him, you snatch the furnace. As soon as you have it, throw it to me. I’ll pull the puppets in and we leave!”

Zuo Siqiu didn’t wait for an answer. She threw two Exploding Pig Pills directly at Zhu Jiechou’s face! The blast left his ears ringing, and in his madness, he roared, “Who is it! Kill them! Kill them all!”

She followed up with a Freezing Pill, aiming for his wrists. As he froze for a split second, Zuo Mudong swept in from behind, snatched the furnace, and tossed it to Zuo Siqiu.

Zuo Siqiu caught it and began pouring her spiritual energy into the furnace according to the book’s description. But the furnace was like a bottomless pit, greedily sucking her dry! She realized why Zhu Jiechou had gone mad; neither of them had the cultivation to command this thing.

Sensing the weak grip of the new controller, the Soul Puppets began to rebel. They surged toward Zuo Siqiu! Zuo Mudong, risking death from the maddened Zhu Jiechou, tried to rush back to shield her sister.

At that moment, the middle-aged couple and their parents blocked the path of the other puppets with crimson eyes. They weren’t the strongest, but their aura was terrifying, as if they would devour any soul that touched them.

Zuo Mudong wept again as she turned to block Zhu Jiechou’s strike. She thought her parents were mindless, but they were still protecting their daughter. Zuo Siqiu was equally shaken. Even in death, even as puppets, their love remained.

“I have to win!” Zuo Siqiu thought.

She pulled out a handful of Qi-Replenishing Pills and shoved them into her mouth. Even then, she felt hollowed out. She forced the furnace to activate even before it was full. Her experience with refining allowed her to drive the furnace with spiritual energy, and though she coughed up blood, she kept her sanity.

The black smoke began to be sucked back into the furnace along with the puppets. No, she thought, if the smoke goes, we’ll be exposed! She adjusted her control, filtering the souls in while leaving the smoke as cover.

As the last puppet entered, she spat out another mouthful of blood and went limp, falling from the sky. Zuo Mudong caught her and, using the remaining smoke as cover, vanished from the mountain gate.

With the puppets gone, the battle ended instantly. The Xuan Cloud Sect captured the heavily injured Zhu Jiechou and Bi Zhian, throwing them into the demon cells. The Protectors breathed a sigh of relief.

It took time to repair the gate and interrogate the prisoners. Finally, as things settled, Yan Jiaojiao realized something. “I haven’t seen Madam in a long time.”

She found the Right Protector. “Why don’t you go to the Venerable One’s seclusion grounds and see what she’s doing?”

“You go,” the Blood Demon replied. “She’s been in there for long periods before. What are you worried about?”

“I keep thinking I heard an Exploding Pig Pill during the fight,” Yan Jiaojiao muttered. They looked at each other, realizing they hadn’t seen her during the battlefield cleanup. They convinced themselves she was just still refining…

Until Xuan Mo emerged from seclusion. He had reached the Tribulation Transcendence stage, just one step away from becoming a Demon Immortal. The sect cheered, but Xuan Mo’s eyes swept the crowd and found a void.

“Where is Zuo Siqiu?” he asked, his voice low and terrifying. He entered the refining room for a split second and returned, his face as dark as a thundercloud. “She is not here.”