Fellow Daoist Entrusts His Child: Immortality Begins with Nurturing a Demoness

Chapter 3 Heavenly Demon Puppet
"Ouch...it hurts."

The next day, when Ling Moxue woke up, the sun had already set.

Her face was blank as she mechanically moved her numb arm. When she accidentally touched the red mark, the expected excruciating pain did not come.

The girl blinked her eyes, looking rather adorable. She felt the soft, fragrant mattress beneath her, as if it could draw her in.

The bedding around her was as soft as goose down. When she wrapped herself up a little tighter, it seemed to lessen the stinging pain of the blisters on her feet, which she found quite endearing.

"Am I dead?"

Ling Moxue pursed her lips and murmured, only regaining her senses after seeing the gold ropes on her wrists and knees. Her hazy almond eyes immediately dimmed.

"You're awake? Eat something first, I have something to ask you."

The candlelight cast a soft glow. Luo Fanchen, having practiced breathing exercises all night, slowly opened his eyes to find porridge and rice prepared on the jade table before him.

The fragrant spiritual porridge, mixed with spiritual grains that he himself was reluctant to eat, was used to replenish Ling Moxue's depleted blood and energy. At the same time, if the subsequent lecture didn't go well, it would also serve as the little demoness's last meal.

"Humph--"

Ling Moxue pouted, her pupils contracted slightly, and she glared angrily with her almond-shaped eyes, but her heart was filled with sorrow and bitterness. She had just escaped one wolf's den only to fall into another.

The girl curled up, burying her face in her knees. Having learned her lesson before, she didn't even dare to express hostility in front of Luo Fanchen.

“My name is Luo Fanchen. I was entrusted by your father, Ling Leng, to teach you cultivation.”

Ling Moxue didn't answer, and Luo Fanchen didn't care. He poured out a bowl of spiritual porridge and drank it by himself to make sure that the spiritual energy in the porridge was within Ling Moxue's tolerance level.

After a long while, Ling Moxue clenched her teeth, her shoulders trembling slightly, and finally managed to raise her head.

Her sharp chin was held high; if she weren't afraid, she would have pounced on Luo Fanchen and bitten him fiercely.

"Kill me or torture me, it's up to you. Is it fun to toy with a weak woman like me?"

"Entrusted by others, loyal to others."

Luo Fanchen spoke calmly, gently pulling on the golden rope in his hand, forcibly dragging Ling Moxue to his front.

"Have some porridge first."

Luo Fanchen pushed the bowl and chopsticks in front of the girl, and the spirit porridge rose with white mist, the aroma of rice wafting over her face.

Even the stubborn Ling Moxue couldn't help but secretly swallow.

Her throat bobbed, and she stubbornly pouted, forcing herself to turn her head to look out the window, while her lower abdomen throbbed like a drum.

Including today, she has not eaten or drunk anything for three days. She is starving and her mouth feels sour.

After hesitating for a moment, Ling Moxue's ears turned slightly red. She thought to herself that she would rather die eating her fill than die like this, and snatched the spirit porridge and wolfed it down.

As the hot porridge enters the stomach, the aroma of rice mixed with the sweetness of honey transforms into a gentle, warm current that lingers on the tip of the tongue.

A burning sensation gradually rose in my esophagus, and my internal organs gradually warmed up. My hands, feet, and soles of my feet regained some color.

Her eyebrows relaxed, and she almost swallowed her tongue. After drinking most of it, she licked her lips and took small sips.

Even after the jade bowl was emptied, Ling Moxue still couldn't resist licking the surface of the bowl carefully. Only after there was no taste left did she blush, lower her eyes, and hand back the empty bowl.

Luo Fanchen's eyes twitched slightly as he poured the remaining spiritual porridge from the small bowl in his hand into the girl's hands.

Ling Moxue was slightly taken aback, her almond-shaped eyes timidly observing Luo Fanchen, as if wondering if she was worthy of enjoying such a delicacy.
She pursed her lips as if trying to be reserved, but saliva almost spilled from the corner of her mouth. After a long struggle, she finally dared to snatch the jade bowl from the table and savor each grain of rice, her eyes slightly narrowed in enjoyment.

This demonic cultivator seems to be more friendly than the previous two?
One grain of spirit dust equals one pound of spirit grain.
Luo Fanchen's expression remained unchanged, but he secretly felt a pang of heartache, for ten spirit dusts were equivalent to one spirit stone.

The path of a wandering cultivator is arduous; one spirit stone is enough for his daily needs for more than half a year.

After the girl finished licking the last grain of rice, Luo Fanchen disgustedly wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and said leisurely.

“I have been entrusted by your father to ask you questions. If we are compatible, I will accept you as my disciple today.”

"Goo killed me."

Ling Moxue covered her mouth in embarrassment and let out a soft hiccup, secretly stroking her swollen belly under the table.

Her small face still showed no weakness, and her voice was cold, but she could already communicate. Moreover, Luo Fanchen noticed that her admiration level seemed to have increased slightly, but the threshold was too much above -5, so he couldn't see any specific change.

"You were entrusted by my father, so you must be his friend and also a demonic cultivator, right?"

The voice lacked strength, but Luo Fanchen could clearly hear the hatred in it.

As he lightly tapped his knuckles on the table, he slowly shook his head and said, "I am neither your father's friend nor a demonic cultivator."

"Ha, you really don't want to admit it. I know you've come for my father's heirloom."

"You don't seem to understand your own situation. I ask, you answer."

Luo Fanchen's face remained calm as he lightly twirled the golden rope in his hand, allowing a trace of his true essence to seep into Ling Moxue's meridians through his wrist.

The girl's face immediately turned pale, and her thin arms trembled like leaves.

Why did you kill your mother?

“That lowly maid is not my mother.”

Ling Moxue's lips trembled, her eyes reddened, yet she still timidly met Luo Fanchen's gaze. Truly a gifted individual, she remained unaffected by the intense hatred that fueled her true energy.

"Appreciate further details."

Luo Fanchen poured himself half a cup of fragrant tea, loosened the golden rope in his hand, and Ling Moxue felt as if she had been granted a pardon, her forehead already soaked with cold sweat.

Hesitation was evident in her eyes, and it took her a long time to calm her breathing. Luo Fanchen was happy to keep her company until half an hour later, when the girl finally began to stammer out her story.

"I haven't seen my father for many years. I only know from my mother that he is a demonic cultivator who hides from the world all day long. Eventually, he found me. This fiend killed my birth mother and kidnapped me here, ostensibly to take care of me, but in reality to monitor me."

Ling Moxue spoke slowly, her small face scrunched up in a pained expression, clearly finding the memories of the past quite painful.

Her mother was someone Ling Leng took advantage of when he was robbing cultivators in the mortal realm, and unexpectedly lost his soul in one fell swoop.

Ling Leng returned after many years and realized that Ling Moxue had spiritual roots, but he also disliked her mother for being old and faded.

After killing the mother and keeping the daughter, he took her to the clan's residence, where she was cared for by several of the family's mortal wives.

After that, he ignored her for several years. Ling Moxue was born out of wedlock and was an illegitimate child born to a servant. She was cautious and careful, but she still suffered a lot of harsh treatment.

During that time, only her half-sister took good care of her.

Did your mother have any arguments with your father before she died?

Luo Fanchen, adopting the mindset of a demonic cultivator, always felt that things were not so simple.

After Ling Moxue pondered for a long time with a pained expression, and nodded slightly, he directly took the girl's wrist and examined her with a furrowed brow.

As his spiritual energy probed into his meridians, Luo Fanchen's expression darkened slightly.

As expected of a demonic cultivator, this woman's Ren, Du, and Chong meridians, her three main energy channels, were covered with blood-red array patterns inscribed with spiritual energy—one of the most insidious methods among demonic cultivators: the [Heavenly Demon Spirit Puppet].

Demonic cultivators are adept at killing and refining treasures, which makes them many enemies, and it is common for them to die and be possessed.

This method is one of the secret techniques of possession. It requires a close relative with a higher spiritual root than oneself as a sacrifice. When the child is young, he is made to live in strong negative emotions. When the child turns eighteen, the sacrifice can be performed to seize his mind and take over his body.

After possession, the original owner's spiritual root will drop by one level, and they will be unable to possess another body.

This method violates moral principles and is extremely ruthless; it is a method that everyone among cultivators condemns.

After possessing a body with dual spiritual roots, the body will come into direct contact and absorb the turbid spiritual energy wandering between heaven and earth, deteriorating into a body with three spiritual roots.

However, it is still much stronger than Ling Leng's four spiritual roots.

“If your father hadn’t died, you probably wouldn’t be alive today.”

Luo Fanchen sighed softly, and the murderous intent in his eyes lessened as he looked at the girl.

It is estimated that Ling Leng stole the clues to the Foundation Establishment spiritual object through some means. He originally intended to obtain the spiritual object, return to his hometown, possess Ling Moxue's body, and break through the Foundation Establishment barrier in one fell swoop by sublimating his spiritual root.

Who could have foreseen the unpredictable nature of life? Ling Leng, insatiable in his greed, perished and his spirit vanished.

As he lay dying, Ling Leng became concerned about his clan and wanted Ling Moxue to embark on the path of immortality, thus reviving the Ling family's lineage of cultivation.

Unexpectedly, this little killer turned around and wiped out the entire Ling family, truly reaping what he sowed.

"Did you kill more than twenty members of the Ling family?"

"Ridiculous! I'm so weak I can't even kill a chicken. How could I possibly hold down twenty pigs?"

Ling Moxue scoffed, her almond-shaped eyes filled with disdain, and continued, "A demonic cultivator is a demonic cultivator; he knows perfectly well what he's doing, yet he pretends not to."

Luo Fanchen wasn't annoyed. He hooked his index finger and gave Ling Moxue a sharp rap on the forehead.

The girl winced in pain, lowered her eyes pitifully, and dared not challenge Luo Fanchen again.

Forced by Luo Fanchen's tyranny, Ling Moxue finally spoke up, repeating the story she had told at least three times.

"You're not the first demonic cultivator to come to me."

Luo Fanchen, under the pretext of entrusting Ling Leng with his orphanage, is the fourth person to approach Ling Moxue.

The first three were all close friends of Ling Leng before his death. They coveted the treasures he left behind and used special methods to trace his bloodline, eventually finding their way here. One of them was the county magistrate of Yanyun City.

The county magistrate was also a member of the Ling family and had a long-standing affair with Ling Leng's wife. He was the first to learn of Ling Leng's death.

After examining Ling Moxue's spiritual root and physique, his greed grew. He lied and reported that more than twenty members of the Ling family had been slaughtered. In reality, he captured members of the Ling family, refined their essence and blood to purify his own bloodline, and prepared to possess Ling Moxue's body.

At that time, Ling Moxue was still a few days shy of eighteen, and two other demonic cultivators were also pursuing her using secret techniques.

The county magistrate, fearing the two would join forces, feigned an agreement to divide Ling Moxue among themselves, luring them into the county government office. There has been no news of them since.

During this time, the girl was detained deep in the prison, where the resentment she felt there continued to fuel her negative emotions.

"Three demonic cultivators?"

Luo Fanchen's pupils dilated slightly, and a bead of cold sweat slid down his forehead.

Is it too late to run away now?

(End of this chapter)