Chapter 10: Why did your mother know it was demonic energy?

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Su Wan settled Cang Ye in for the stay.

Inside the bedchamber, Su Wan was still supervising the maids as they arranged the bedding.

Cang Ye sat by the wooden table in the bedroom, holding a cup of tea and drinking.

Cang Ye suddenly beckoned and said, “Come here.”

“Hm?”

Su Wan was puzzled and kept his guard up, frowning at Cang Ye.

But Cang Ye said, “It’s about your mother. If you want me to make it public…”

Cang Ye cast a smiling glance at the two or three maids tidying the room.

“I’m coming!”

Su Wan rushed to Cang Ye’s side, covering his own rear, and said, “Speak, what is it?”

A smile spread across Cang Ye’s face.

He glanced at Su Wan’s hand gesture, then leaned in close to whisper, “Guess how your mother, a mere mortal, managed to find and keep the Tree Demon’s treasure? And how did she know it was the Tree Demon’s treasure? That thing held the very root of the Tree Demon’s Demonic Energy?”

“This!”

Su Wan’s pupils dilated.

‘Could it be?!’

Cang Ye continued teasingly, adding, “I’m a Demon Hunter, so I naturally know which objects carry Demonic Energy. That monk knew it too. But your mother… be careful yourself.”

Having finished his whisper, Cang Ye burst into laughter again, shaking his head alone without sparing Su Wan another glance.

He simply savored his tea with delight, leaving Su Wan’s inner world to rapidly crumble and reshape itself.

“Could it be…”

Su Wan murmured softly, lowering his gaze, then gently closing his eyes.

…

The next day.

Su Wan deliberately avoided the nighttime and did not go to see Cang Ye after dark, worried that he might be enjoying himself freely.

And during the previous night, Su Wan hadn’t slept well.

His father had again brought another woman over to his mother’s side to fool around, robbing him of a good night’s sleep.

“Morning… haah~”

Su Wan greeted Cang Ye while letting out a yawn.

Cang Ye raised his teacup and asked with a smile, “Didn’t sleep well last night?”

“Yeah,” Su Wan explained weakly, “Same old story. When the adults do… do their thing, the kids suffer.”

Su Wan added, “Once I grow up and move out, I’ll have my own courtyard and won’t have to endure this torment.”

“Torment?”

Cang Ye looked at Su Wan’s expression and then recalled that his mother was a wanton Fox Demon.

A smile crept onto his face as he said, “Fox Demons differ from one another. Yun Ci would never be like that.”

“Yun Ci?” Su Wan asked curiously.

Cang Ye’s expression turned slightly somber. He nodded and said, “Yes, my… late wife. She died a few hundred years ago.”

“A few…?! How old are you? Are you even human? Are you an immortal or a demon?”

Su Wan immediately asked out of curiosity, overlooking the name Yun Ci.

Cang Ye glanced at Su Wan and chuckled, saying, “Not that old. You could say…”

“A demon?”

Cang Ye suddenly leaned close to Su Wan’s cheek and whispered.

Then he pulled back with a smile, watching Su Wan’s face fall into a daze.

Cang Ye said, “Just kidding. I’m a Demon Hunter, a cultivator, so I live a bit longer. You could call me… a human immortal?”

“Phew!”

Su Wan let out a relieved breath.

A smile appeared on his face. Whether he truly believed it or not was unclear, but he smiled at Cang Ye and said, “A human immortal? Are you strong? What immortal arts do you have? Can you teach me?”

“Teach you?”

Cang Ye smiled, glancing at Su Wan, and said, “Isn’t there a Cat Demon in the manor? When we encounter it, you’ll get to see my immortal arts in action.”

“Cat Demon?”

Su Wan murmured, doubt stirring in his heart.

Was it because his task was merely to find and exterminate the Cat Demon, or because…

My mother is the Fox Demon, and the Tree Demon… was it him?

And that’s why…

He only said he was after the Cat Demon?

But if he were the Tree Demon, wouldn’t the Old Monk have seen through him?

He said his late wife died a few hundred years ago, so at minimum he’d be a thousand-year-old great demon?

And if he’s a thousand-year-old great demon, the Old Monk is at most seventy or eighty years old.

Or perhaps the Old Monk just looks young, add another twenty years to his age, and he’d still only be about a hundred.

With merely a hundred years of cultivation, so…

It’d be normal if he couldn’t see through it?

Or even if he did see through it, he might not dare to say it, might not dare to expose the whole truth?

Su Wan lowered his gaze, quickly reining in his thoughts so Cang Ye couldn’t possibly read his mind.

He looked up again and asked, “Then what do you want to teach me? Can it make me stronger? Can it let me live for a few hundred years? Can you teach my mother too?”

“Teach your mother? Heh~”

Cang Ye chuckled lightly and said, “What a filial child. It can make you stronger, and it can let you live for… a few hundred years. But getting stronger comes at a price.”

“What price? I can pay it, depending on what it is. Like, it can’t be the lives of my whole family.”

Su Wan said.

“Hm?”

Cang Ye was puzzled. He looked at Su Wan’s face and asked with a smile, “The things in that little head of yours, they really are plentiful.”

Cang Ye shook his head and said, “Naturally, it’s not the lives of your whole family. Do you care a lot about your family?”

Su Wan shook his head and said, “I only care about my mother. Oh, and Sister Xiao Liu.”

“Sister Xiao Liu? Who is she? Is she the one…”

Cang Ye recalled someone.

“Yeah, right. She’s the… maid servant by my mother’s side.”

Su Wan only introduced her briefly, leaving out the half of her being a Bedroom Maid.

“Hm. Simple household, few people you care about. That’s nice. Later, when we travel far, we can bring your Sister Xiao Liu along, so you won’t feel lonely.”

Cang Ye said.

“Travel far? Not bringing Mother?”

Su Wan asked.

Cang Ye said, “Your mother has your father.”

Cang Ye brushed it off casually and added, “Or, you leave your Sister Xiao Liu with your mother and just roam the world with me. That works too. You can’t inherit the family estate anyway, so wouldn’t it be good to go out and make your own way?”

Su Wan frowned and said, “If I leave, I won’t have Mother around, and coming back for a visit would take a long time. And Sister Xiao Liu too. I really care about my family.”

“Is that so~”

Cang Ye frowned and said, “Then I guess we’ll have to take everyone along. But if your mother ever abandons you…”

“How could that possibly happen?!”

Su Wan refuted loudly.

Cang Ye chuckled softly and said, “If your mother…” is a Fox Demon.

‘Fox Demons have long lifespans that mortals can’t match. She’ll leave eventually. Even before her appearance should age, she’d fake an illness and pass away, leaving on her own. That’s the common trick ordinary female demons use when playing in the mortal world.’

Cang Ye thought inwardly.

‘Female demons can’t stand becoming ugly. Being stuck as an old hag every day, unable to enjoy themselves anywhere, would be pure torment. Even male demons need to change their residences and identities frequently.’

“What about Mother?”

Su Wan asked.

Cang Ye shook his head with a smile and said, “Nothing. Let’s stop talking. What’s there to chat about with a kid like you? Come on, let’s go hunt demons with me, or else I’ll be a freeloader.”

“Huh?!”

Su Wan felt slighted, but the moment he heard about demon hunting, his interest was piqued again. “Okay!”

Su Wan quickly caught up with Cang Ye, and the two of them dashed around the Su Family estate, stumbling upon some utterly disgraceful and absurd scenes.