Chapter 14 Do You Have Someone You Like?

Chapter 14: Is Your Heart Elsewhere?

The remaining half of Cang Ling’s face, still recognizably human, twisted in extreme agony.

“They… they took advantage of my distraction while digesting the demonic energy… severely wounded me and escaped,” Cang Ling struggled to articulate.

Yuan Qichen granted him a brief reprieve. “Which direction?”

Yuan Qichen didn’t believe Cang Ling had the audacity to lie now, but the man’s actions disgusted him, so he had no intention of letting him off easily.

“How does it feel to become a demon? Is it more exhilarating than being a city lord?”

The demonic energy within Cang Ling was steadily being assimilated, and his inhuman half gradually reverted. Soon, he would possess strength nearing the Deity Transformation Stage.

Leaping two cultivation levels so effortlessly was far more advantageous than arduous training.

“Heh heh heh…” Cang Ling let out a grating laugh. “Of course it’s enjoyable, but what does it matter?”

Devouring a demon stronger than himself had been a desperate gamble. Yet, even so, in the face of true power, all his ruthless efforts seemed like a joke.

To Yuan Qichen, killing Cang Ling was as simple as crushing an ant.

“You sit on high, Demon Lord—how could you understand the arduousness of cultivation for lowly individuals like us, without the protection of a clan or sect?” Cang Ling’s human eye was even redder than Yuan Qichen’s demonic pupils. “I stumbled onto the path of cultivation at eight years old, striving relentlessly for over thirty years, only to be surpassed by a mere teenager. How could I accept that?”

Yuan Qichen raised an eyebrow slightly. “So, the one Tang Lin encountered that night wasn’t a demon but you. And the rogue cultivators weren’t killed by that unfortunate demon you devoured—it was you, seeking unearned gains.”

Initially unaware of their identities, Cang Ling had mistaken them for ordinary rogue cultivators and, as was his habit, targeted them one by one.

Unfortunately, his luck ran out when he targeted Tang Lin, who was already at the Nascent Soul stage.

Failing to kill him in one strike, Cang Ling feigned being a demon, shifting the blame.

Of course, the unlucky demon he framed was no saint either.

Guan Rong’s assumptions weren’t entirely wrong—Cang Ling wasn’t feeding the demon but competing with it for sustenance.

How much one could consume depended on their own ability.

As they spoke, Cang Ling had mostly regained his human form. Knowing his limits, he made no attempt to break free from Yuan Qichen’s restraint. Instead, he wisely tried to flatter and probe: “Demon Lord, I never harmed those two children—in fact, they injured me. Given that we are now fellow half-demons, could you… spare my life?”

He didn’t know why Yuan Qichen was traveling with disciples of Tianshu Palace, but he assumed it was for deception and exploitation.

If they knew Yuan Qichen’s true identity, they would treat him the same way they treated Cang Ling today.

After all, rumors of the Demon Lord’s past upheavals among the Various Immortal Sects still lingered.

Would he really help Tianshu Palace against his own kind?

Cang Ling thought it was only natural, but then he saw Yuan Qichen sneer coldly. “Why would I spare you? Because you kidnapped my son and made him disappear?”

Without even moving, Yuan Qichen made it impossible for Cang Ling to breathe.

In that life-or-death moment, a sudden realization struck Cang Ling.

The child named Yuan Xiao, though he never fought, was filled with pure spiritual energy. How could the Demon Lord’s child be…

Cang Ling couldn’t understand, nor did he have time to ponder.

Yuan Qichen suddenly raised his hand, flooding Cang Ling’s body with a massive surge of demonic energy. The human form he had painstakingly regained once again twisted grotesquely.

“Ahhh…” Cang Ling shrieked in agony.

Yuan Qichen watched coldly, continuing to pour in demonic energy. “If becoming a demon brings you such joy, being half-demon is hardly enough.”

Birds in the forest scattered in panic at Cang Ling’s piercing cries, flapping their wings as they fled into the sky.

At that very moment, Que Zizhen arrived.

“A Chen!”

Yuan Qichen froze for a moment.

The last time he heard Que Zizhen call him with such urgency was after the night the Tang family was annihilated.

Que Zizhen probably wanted him to stop again.

But Yuan Qichen would have none of it.

Que Zizhen likely never expected that his cry of “A Chen” would hasten Cang Ling’s death.

An overwhelming amount of demonic energy, far beyond what his body could handle, flooded into Cang Ling, causing his abdomen to swell rapidly, larger than a full-term pregnancy.

Finally, with nowhere else to go, the excess energy exploded, tearing his body apart.

The scene of flying flesh and blood was brutally gruesome. Yuan Qichen saw the complex shift in Que Zizhen’s expression—a clear disapproval of his methods.

“I’ve always been like this. If you have a problem with it, feel free to fight me. I’ll gladly oblige,” Yuan Qichen said casually, waving a hand to bury the scattered remains of the scum.

He had brought this upon himself by targeting the wrong person.

Yuan Qichen brushed off nonexistent dust from his sleeves, as if afraid of contamination. “I still need to find my son. Do as you please, Immortal Lord.”

At this point, even if Que Zizhen wanted to intervene, it was futile.

According to Tianshu Palace’s protocols, capturing the culprit alive and bringing them back for judgment by the Disciplinary Court was standard procedure.

Yuan Qichen’s method was brutal, but the culprit had met a fitting end—it just skipped many intermediate steps.

Ultimately, Que Zizhen didn’t think Yuan Qichen was wrong, but he couldn’t bring himself to agree aloud.

So, as Yuan Qichen headed southwest to search, Que Zizhen followed silently behind like an accessory.

Just like every time before.

After more than a decade, this man was still as infuriatingly stubborn as ever.

Yuan Qichen was almost amused by his anger.

To avoid missing any trace of Yuan Xiao, Yuan Qichen had to slow his pace. Que Zizhen, experienced at tailing him, maintained a careful distance—close enough to respond immediately if called, yet far enough to remain unseen.

Given the two youngsters’ speed, they couldn’t have gone far. Yuan Qichen soon came to a halt.

But there was no sign of Yuan Xiao or that Tang kid—only a distorted spatial portal.

“Hey.” Yuan Qichen didn’t turn around. “What is that?”

Que Zizhen also noticed the unusual circumstances here and stepped forward to take a look, his eyes showing surprise.

Yuan Qichen knew that although this man of few words hadn’t lived long, he had spent his childhood immersed in the Tianshu Palace’s library and was quite knowledgeable. For him to look surprised, it must be something extraordinary.

“What is it?” Yuan Qichen asked impatiently.

Que Zizhen: “The Karma Realm.”

When ancient deities perished, their bodies transformed into all things, returning to heaven and earth. When cultivators who reached a certain level died, if their karma remained unresolved, it could form an independent space based on their will before death.

It might remain hidden in the gaps of time and space forever, or it might manifest in the world at some point.

If one could obtain its legacy, their cultivation would advance by leaps and bounds, no less effective than a direct spiritual energy infusion.

This was the Karma Realm.

The secret technique Cang Ling practiced had severe side effects; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been unable to resist risking devouring a Nascent Soul stage demon.

The legacy of a Karma Realm, however, was different.

But such opportunities were once-in-a-century rare, especially in Zhongzhou, where spiritual energy was thin.

Hence, even Que Zizhen was surprised by this.

Yuan Xiao’s aura had indeed vanished here. In all likelihood, he must have accidentally entered the Karma Realm along with Tang Lin.

However—

“It’s true that the Karma Realm holds a legacy, but it’s equally dangerous. Whether it brings fortune or disaster remains unknown.”

Yuan Qichen immediately grew anxious: “I’m going in to find him.”

“Wait.” Que Zizhen grabbed him.

Yuan Qichen narrowed his eyes, his tone unfriendly: “Trying to stop me?”

“Not exactly.” Que Zizhen shook his head and explained, “While we’ve reached the Great Perfection Stage, inside the Karma Realm, we’ll be limited to at most the Void Refinement stage. We might not be the only ones who found this realm, A Chen. Once inside, you must keep your temper in check. Our goal is only to find someone. If we clash with others, it’ll just cause trouble.”

Since entering Zhongzhou, Que Zizhen had never spoken such a long speech in one breath, leaving Yuan Qichen stunned.

He even asked uneasily, double-checking: “A Chen, do you understand?”

“Un… understood.” Yuan Qichen nodded dumbly, his gaze toward Que Zizhen filled with scrutiny.

Was that really spoken by Que Zizhen just now?

-

So they wouldn't get separated after entering the Karma Realm, Yuan Qichen let him tightly grip his wrist. A flash of white light later, their surroundings instantly transformed.

He immediately pulled his hand away, testing Que Zizhen’s claim.

Sure enough, it was true.

His cultivation level hadn’t dropped, but the power he could mobilize was limited, likely due to the distortion of time and space.

Que Zizhen’s palm suddenly felt empty, and he absentmindedly rubbed his fingers before surveying their surroundings.

Yuan Qichen recognized the place before he did: “Demon territory?”

“What makes you say that?”

The place looked like an ordinary valley, with a babbling stream, utter silence, and a conspicuously ordinary house.

Yuan Qichen snorted quite proudly: “We and the demon tribe both reside in the Nine Nether Realm, though separated. Who knows the demon tribe’s territory better than me?”

That was true.

However, the valley was empty, with only the two of them. Forget finding Yuan Xiao, figuring out how to leave was another problem.

Yuan Qichen circled the valley floor but didn’t even see a bird. His irritation became visibly obvious.

“What a wretched place!”

…

“What a damn place!”

Meanwhile, Yuan Xiao was swearing up a storm somewhere else.

Tang Lin was in bad shape.

Cang Ling’s casual remark, “He was severely injured and escaped,” had come at great cost to Tang Lin.

Fortunately, the Tianshu Palace was generous to its disciples, well-supplied with pills and medicinal herbs. Though they couldn’t fully heal him, at least they kept him alive.

This proved Tang Lin’s earlier words true: “He probably won’t die for a while.”

They were in a corridor that seemed to stretch forever, with a dead end behind them. The only way out was to move forward.

But Tang Lin’s condition was not looking good.

The path ahead was unpredictable, there was no help in sight, and his father wasn’t around.

For the first time since he could remember, Yuan Xiao felt utterly helpless.

Tang Lin relied on his support to barely walk. Instead of offering comfort, he made things worse: “I’m just a burden. You’d do better to go on alone.”

“Shut up!”

Yuan Xiao, shedding his usual obedient demeanor, showed a temper that seemed a chip off the old block.

Tang Lin remarked, “This attitude suits you better than usual.”

No sooner had he spoken than Yuan Xiao’s act collapsed, pouting as he complained, “Can’t you say something nicer?”

Tang Lin: “…”

He chose to stay silent.

In a situation where heaven wouldn’t answer and earth wouldn’t respond, any comfort would ring hollow.

As the only one capable of action, Yuan Xiao decided to do something—anything was better than sitting around waiting.

He turned his back to Tang Lin, crouched down, and patted his own shoulder: “Hop on.”

The young boy, not yet fully grown, still had a childish face. Even Yu Xinchen, the youngest among them, babied him.

And Yuan Xiao, true to form, was natural at being adorable and winning people over.

Yet now, the lanky teenager grumbled complaints while generously offering his slender, not particularly sturdy back to him.

Being at the Golden Core stage at least meant that, though he looked frail, carrying someone wasn't too strenuous.

Yuan Xiao cursed under his breath while grumbling, blaming him for acting too impulsively and insisting they should have consulted Senior Brother Ke first. Yet his footsteps stayed sure as he pressed forward.

"Tang Lin? Tang Lin! Say something, will you?" Yuan Xiao’s anger came out sounding like a whine. "I’m scared."

"...If you’re scared, save your breath and stop talking."

Yuan Xiao snapped: "Don’t make me drop you!"

...

While the road ahead was unclear for them, Yuan Qichen also turned up no useful clues on his end.

Even without leads, he’d take anyone with a pulse whom he could take it out on.

Yuan Qichen mused gloomily.

"Hey, found anything?"

He called out to Que Zizhen, who was carefully searching the room for clues.

He hadn’t held out much hope, but unexpectedly, Que Zizhen came up with an unexpected answer: "The people who lived here were likely a cultivator couple."

"What?"

This answer seemed entirely out of character for Que Zizhen to voice.

He wasn't the type to have any connection to romantic matters.

Yet, just by observing traces of daily life in the room, he stated confidently that the occupants were a couple.

This was even more shocking than if Que Zizhen had strung together a hundred words in one breath.

"How do you know?"

"Everything in the room is in duplicates, yet there’s only one bedroom."

Not to mention the clothes of different sizes mixed together, or the annotations in books with different handwriting responding to each other in the same spots...

It made perfect sense.

Yuan Qichen looked at him with a complicated expression and ventured a guess: "Que Zizhen, do you have someone you like?"

Que Zizhen’s breath hitched. He neither admitted nor denied it.

It seemed like a tacit confirmation.

Yuan Qichen was at a loss for words too.

At this point, pushing further would mean asking who that person was.

Yuan Qichen didn't feel close enough for that.

Just then, Que Zizhen suddenly called out: "A Chen."

Yuan Qichen started, his mind blank, unsure how to respond.

But Que Zizhen looked up to outside the room and said calmly, "Someone’s coming."

Author’s Note:

----------------------

As for Yuan Xiao and Tang Lin's relationship, there's no romance in the main story—read into it what you will.