After Marrying the Disabled Demon Lord as a Substitute, I Ran Away with His Child - Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Zuo Siqiu didn’t give much thought to the strange “noble young master” she encountered while buying flatbread. In a world this vast, meeting a few oddballs was par for the course.

She certainly didn’t expect to see him again two days later.

She only noticed him because of the jubilant commotion coming from next door. Listening in, she realized her neighbors were moving out. From what she knew, they were a rural family who had worked hard to buy a house in the city, pouring all their resources into raising their child in the hopes he might become a cultivator. Unless something miraculous had happened, they wouldn’t just up and leave.

Did their kid test positive for a spirit root? He didn’t look like much before, she wondered.

Curious, she opened her door and poked her head out, only to see that same noble young master whose aura completely clashed with the gritty atmosphere of the alley standing there with a cold face. Beside him was a housing agent, beaming with joy at having closed a massive deal, chatting away despite the gentleman’s icy demeanor.

When their eyes met, the man’s aura softened instantly. He nodded to her. “It seems we are neighbors now.”

Zuo Siqiu: “???”

It took her a second to even remember who he was. Once she dug the man out of her “irrelevant memories” folder, she gave a stiff nod. “Oh. Hello.”

To her surprise, he walked right up to her, eyeing the courtyard behind her. “It’s quite noisy in the alley right now. May I come in and sit for a while?”

Zuo Siqiu pulled back her polite smile. “I’m the only one home. It’s not very convenient.”

The young master froze. He looked slightly angry, yet oddly… satisfied?

The satisfaction vanished the moment she slammed the door in his face, leaving only displeasure.

…

This “noble young master” was, of course, Xuan Mo.

He had no intention of approaching her as his true self. Why, he wasn’t entirely sure, but he was firm on it. However, she was carrying his child; he couldn’t stay invisible forever or let her fend for herself.

In his hesitation, he remembered the romance novels Yan Jiaojiao used to read. He disguised his appearance, went to a bookstore, and skimmed several stories about “Noble Lords and Poor Village Girls.” He read them with a head full of question marks. Recalling that Yan Jiaojiao and Zuo Siqiu were close and often shared these books, he decided to give the trope a try.

Now, he realized the plan was absolutely moronic. This was the stupidest moment of his life. He wanted to kick her flimsy wooden door down and drag her back to the Xuan Cloud Sect to be properly “re-educated.”

But the child. In those novels, children of “poor girls” often met tragic ends due to the noble’s family. Xuan Mo was forced to choose this idiotic path out of caution for his bloodline.

Fine, he thought, taking a deep breath. For the sake of the child, I will endure. They say “a pavilion near the water enjoys the moon first.” Now that I’m her neighbor, I’ll win her over eventually.

Except, after that first day, Zuo Siqiu vanished. He even turned invisible and entered her yard no one was there. His fury grew daily. Did she find me out and go into hiding?

One day turned into fifteen. Zuo Siqiu was nowhere to be found.

…

In reality, Zuo Siqiu had no idea her neighbor was Xuan Mo. She just thought he was a weirdo with a brain problem.

The reason she had disappeared was that right after closing the door, she felt a massive disturbance in her Mustard Seed Space. Fearing for her parents, she entered immediately.

She arrived to find her parents and a loyal group of souls in a tense standoff with another group led by the white-bearded elder.

She guessed what was happening instantly. She shouldn’t have trusted them. While pretending to be “assistants” for her sister, they had been plotting.

The loyal souls cried out, “Qiuqiu, you’re here! These ingrates want you to let them go! They’ve been planning this treachery from the start!”

The white-bearded elder spoke with calm arrogance. “We didn’t just leave forcefully because of what you did for us in the past. But be realistic: a Golden Core girl has no business holding so many high-level souls. You found that furnace by luck, but you don’t have the strength to keep this ‘fated opportunity.’ Since you can’t hold us, we are leaving.”

Zuo Siqiu was genuinely impressed by their mental gymnastics. Her father had been humble, telling everyone it was “luck” that she saved them, and these people had actually believed it. They were using her father’s modesty as an excuse to betray her.

The loyalists cursed them. “Shameless! You’re just selfish cowards making up excuses!”

Zuo Siqiu’s lips curled into a sharp, mocking smile. “Actually, I think you have a point.”

The loyalists gasped, while the traitors smirked. They thought she was backing down. One traitor even mocked the loyalists: “See? She can’t even stand up for herself. Why are you bothering to support her?”

Zuo Siqiu interrupted. “Finish listening before you start your ‘taunt’ skill, otherwise you’re going to look like a complete idiot in a minute.”

She continued, “You said this was my ‘fated opportunity.’ Since it’s mine, it should benefit me. If it doesn’t benefit me, it’s not an opportunity. Right?”

She pulled out the soul-refining furnace. “If you aren’t my ‘opportunity’ anymore, why did I save you? Wouldn’t it be better to just turn you back into mindless puppets and exploit you like my cruel Master did?”

The traitors flinched. Trauma-induced stress kicked in as she casually tossed the furnace up and down.

The elder sneered, masking his fear. “Don’t think that the furnace scares us. You’re just a Golden Core. You think you can set restrictions like Bi Mu did? You got lucky breaking them, that’s all. Besides, we’ve contacted the Long Family, the number one clan in the cultivation world. They are coming to fetch us today. If you delay us and they have to come looking, you’ll be an enemy of the Long Family.”

A few more souls, hearing about the Long Family, sheepishly moved to join the traitors. They wanted bodies and status, not farming. In minutes, the traitor group grew by thirty.

The elder laughed. “See? We have the numbers. Do you really want to fight?”

Zuo Siqiu’s father stepped forward, ready to fight for his daughter, but she held him back. “Let me handle it.”

The loyalists watched, terrified. This girl didn’t know the heights of the heavens!

Zuo Siqiu moved fast. She knew the “Villain dies because they talk too much” rule. She wasn’t at full strength, but she was better than when she arrived. And these people had no idea what kind of pills she had.

When she pulled out several Exploding Pig Pills, the elder laughed. “You think spirit pills can bridge the gap in our power? Naive!”

Zuo Siqiu threw them at his feet. “You’re the naive one. Who said I was going to eat them? And who said pills are only for eating?”

BOOM!

The massive explosion rocked the space. Exploding Pig Pills didn’t just hurt the body; they damaged the soul and primordial spirit. As they tried to flee the smoke, she threw out Freezing Pills.

It was a devastating combo that required zero spiritual energy from her. But she wasn’t done.

Her hands blurred as she formed complex hand seals. A terrifying light began to glow around her. She felt her Dantian being drained, even the “little brat” inside kicked uncomfortably at the sudden loss of energy but the process was smoother than she expected.

When 90% of her energy was gone, the Puppet Restrictions were complete.

The soul cultivators finally broke free from the ice, only to have the restrictions slam down onto their heads like a mountain.

“NO!” “HELP!” “Master Siqiu, please forgive us!”

Regret and pleas for mercy filled the air. They couldn’t believe it. A Golden Core shouldn’t be able to pull this off! They didn’t realize that in terms of refining talent, she was a god compared to them.

Zuo Siqiu spat out a mouthful of blood, having used her last bit of energy to shield her child. She quickly swallowed a few Qi-Replenishing pills to stabilize herself.

She looked at the traitors now her literal puppets. They couldn’t even move without her permission. But the most shocking part was yet to come.

She pulled out a bundle of Exquisite Lotus Roots from the Immortal Lotus Island. Her face was pale, but her eyes shone. “Father, Mother… I had my sister get these. We’re going to use them as the primary material to reconstruct your physical bodies.”

Everyone stared in shock. No one had ever heard of making a body out of a lotus root.

Zuo Siqiu thought: If Nezha can do it, so can you.