The Supporting Male Characters Who Died Alone All Those Years Later

The Fox Demon sneered, thinking humans were foolish, and only it was the smartest being in the world!

While reveling in its triumph, it was suddenly picked up by a large hand and found itself immobilized. The Fox Demon was stunned!

It had been cultivating for six hundred years! What mortal could control it?

The Fox Demon turned its head to look at the person holding it. At the same time, the townsfolk were confused by the sudden appearance of He Dongchen and Bai Ling. Why were they picking up the child?

“Who are you?” someone asked.

He Dongchen smiled, gently patting the Fox Demon’s back. In a soft tone, he said, “I’m his father. The child was playing and wandered off. Sorry for causing everyone concern.”

Bai Ling widened her eyes slightly, quickly lowering her head to hide her smile. He Dongchen looked so serious and upright; she hadn’t expected this side of him.

The Fox Demon was furious! A mere mortal dared to call himself my father!

As the Fox Demon fumed and found itself unable to move, it tried to use the fox clan’s illusion techniques to incite the townspeople against He Dongchen and Bai Ling.

He Dongchen glanced at it, covering the Fox Demon’s eyes with his hand and shaking it slightly. He addressed the crowd, “It’s getting late. I’ll be taking the child home now.”

The Fox Demon, whose illusion had failed, cursed inwardly; Damn it! How dare you bully demons so much!

“Wait a minute, how do we know if you’re really the child’s father?” a suspicious villager asked. Others soon followed suit, blocking He Dongchen’s path.

The Fox Demon was oddly touched. Oh, these foolish mortals are finally being smart for once!

Facing the doubts, He Dongchen remained calm. He raised his hand, gripping the Fox Demon’s neck. His spiritual energy seeped into the Fox Demon’s skin, spreading through every vein, and finally converged on the Fox Demon’s demon core.

The Fox Demon was horrified. The demon core was far more important than its life! It instinctively resisted, but with a crack, a fissure appeared on the demon core. The Fox Demon was filled with fear and spat out a mouthful of blood, which He Dongchen quickly covered with his hand, forcing it to swallow.

He Dongchen leaned slightly forward and spoke softly, “Quickly tell them, am I your father?”

The Fox Demon reddened its eyes. The crack in its demon core had cost it a hundred years of cultivation! This was too much! This was too much!

It wanted to devour this person in anger but had to bow to the stronger force. Through gritted teeth, it squeezed out the words, “He’s my father.”

The crowd looked at each other, puzzled.

The expression and tone didn’t seem like those of a father, but more like that of an enemy.

A burly man said gruffly, “Kid, if he’s threatening you, don’t be afraid. We’ll support you!”

“Yeah, yeah!” the crowd agreed.

The Fox Demon thought; … They’re still so stupid!

It took a deep breath, forced a sweet smile, and cozied up to He Dongchen’s shoulder. “He’s my father. I’m just upset with him. Father, let’s go home!”

“Alright, my good son.” He Dongchen released his grip and patted the Fox Demon’s head affectionately, taking on a fatherly demeanor.

With the situation framed this way, although others felt the father-son duo seemed off, they couldn’t stop them and had to clear the way, watching them leave.

***

Bai Ling followed behind He Dongchen and overheard someone muttering if she was the child’s mother.

She stumbled slightly, nearly dropping her flute.

Once outside the town, He Dongchen, somewhat disdainful, threw the Fox Demon onto the ground and used a cleansing spell to remove the fox’s smell from himself.

Bai Ling’s eyes lit up at the sight. “What a clever spell!” It’s perfect for girls!

Hearing that, He Dongchen flicked a light orb towards her forehead. Bai Ling was moved to tears, quickly closing her eyes to learn the spell.

Seeing that, the Fox Demon was furious, revealing its true form and baring its teeth at He Dongchen. “How dare you, audacious demon slayer, disdain the scent of my fox clan!”

He Dongchen glanced at it casually and said, “I do disdain it. What of it?”

The Fox Demon was speechless, its claws grinding on the ground. This demon slayer had just captured it discreetly and easily breached its core, indicating profound strength. It had no chance of winning and would only end up suffering.

It was just a mixed-breed Fox Demon, only able to take on a human form after 500 years of cultivation. Having already lost a hundred years of cultivation, it would be detrimental to be further injured.

Understanding this, the Fox Demon abandoned its ferocity, slowly lying down and exposing its soft belly, adopting a weak and harmless appearance. “Please, masters, show mercy. This little demon hasn’t done any harm; it was just a few harmless jokes. I haven’t hurt anyone.”

He Dongchen didn’t speak, but the Flying Pig Demon and the Rat Demon immediately grew indignant.

“Don’t believe it, Sir. This stinky fox doesn’t tell the truth.”

“Yeah, this stinky fox tricked a fellow of my kind into stealing spirit herbs, but it misled us and stole the herbs itself. My poor kin was devoured by the guardian demon. Wuwuwu.”

Due to the illusion, the Fox Demon couldn’t hear the Flying Pig Demon and the Rat Demon complain and kept rolling on the ground, trying to show its harmlessness.

The Fox Demon was smart and knew humans liked fluffy things.

Unfortunately, He Dongchen showed no signs of being moved.

The Rat Demon’s words reminded him of a story.

In the original plot, a Peacock Demon wanted to have a child with a scholar, but such a child would face divine retribution. The Peacock Demons learned from a mysterious Fox Demon that a formation could be used to deceive the heavens and give birth to the demon child.

The Peacock Demon, desperate to bear a child for the scholar, believed the Fox Demon’s words and used an entire city as the foundation for the formation, ignoring numerous warnings.

Of course, the formation was fake. It wasn’t just fake, but a sinister sacrificial formation intended to sacrifice the lives of the entire city to strengthen a behind-the-scenes figure.

As disaster loomed, divine retribution arrived in time, destroying the formation and the behind-the-scenes figure.

The retribution also struck the Peacock Demon mother and child, leaving them on the brink of death. In the end, the original owner couldn’t stand by and intervened to help.

If nothing unexpected happened, the Fox Demon that had incited and deceived the Peacock Demon would be the one in front of him now.

He Dongchen’s expression darkened slightly, his aura leaking out and whipping up a fierce wind. Bai Ling, who had been learning the cleansing spell, opened her eyes, confused.

The Fox Demon tensed, sensing the change in the atmosphere and preparing to flee. However, before it could even think of escaping, a flash of golden light appeared, blinding it. When it finally opened its eyes, it found a heavy golden demon lock around its neck, and its cultivation was slowly draining away.

It wasn’t recoverable demon power but the remaining 500 years of cultivation, leaking away as if there was a hole. Once its 500 years of cultivation was exhausted, it would completely revert to an ordinary fox.

Thinking of that, the Fox Demon was both shocked and enraged. It desperately tried to scratch at the demon lock on its neck, its hatred surging as its true form was revealed.

“Damn demon slayer! We have no grudges or enmity! You’ve ruined my cultivation! This is an outrageous act of cruelty against demons!”

He Dongchen had already regained his composure and replied coldly, “With the speed at which your cultivation is depleting, you have 3 months left. If you can’t end the Demon Realm invasion within that time, you will remain here forever as an ordinary fox.”

The Flying Pig Demon and the Rat Demon exchanged glances, feeling a sense of despair. They couldn’t be happy at all.

The Fox Demon tried every possible method but couldn’t break the demon lock. Its narrow eyes flashed with a hint of bloodthirstiness as it growled fiercely, “For thousands of years, the Demon Realm has been searching for the entrance to the Human Realm, but to no avail. Recently, however, some demons found a key at the edge of the two realms. With this key, one can enter and exit the realms at will.”

He Dongchen pondered thoughtfully. It seemed the Flying Pig Demon indeed had a low status and knew too little. If they followed the previous method to find the entrance, they might search forever without success.

“That key, who has it?” Bai Ling, finally catching up, asked seriously.

The Fox Demon hesitated for a moment, then, seeing the demon lock on its neck, resignedly said, “The Demon Realm fears demon slayers. After discussion, it was decided that a major demon would hold the key and send a few lesser demons to scout the way first.”

“That major demon, is it the 1000-year-old Peacock Demon?” He Dongchen’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The Fox Demon abruptly looked up, eyeing He Dongchen with suspicion, and then sneered, “You knew all along, why bother tricking me!”

It was fortunate it hadn’t lied.

Seeing the Fox Demon misunderstood, He Dongchen didn’t clarify. Instead, he said, “It’s good that you know. I don’t want to hear any more lies from you.”

Bai Ling, observing the exchange between the man and demon, found it quite impressive and said, “So, should we go find the Peacock Demon now and destroy the key?”

He Dongchen nodded, realizing that, despite the detours, the key point was still related to the female lead.

If the key was with the Peacock Demon, it was worth speculating. In the original story, the Peacock Demon came to the Human Realm with a mission but became infatuated, wanting to have a child with the male lead. It even planned to destroy the key to ensure a peaceful life with the scholar. The Fox Demon discovered this intention and, enraged, urged the Peacock Demon to set up a formation, both to increase its own cultivation and to potentially eliminate the Peacock Demon directly.

The Fox Demon was indeed cunning and scheming.

Unfortunately, it didn’t account for the heavens’ favor towards mortals and was reduced to ashes by divine retribution.

He Dongchen cast an illusion on the Fox Demon as well. Now, the Fox Demon saw the Flying Pig Demon and the Rat Demon and furiously shouted, “So, you two little demons! You dared to betray me!”

The Flying Pig Demon and the Rat Demon recoiled in fear, huddling behind He Dongchen.

Ignoring their grievances, He Dongchen and Bai Ling set off again, heading towards Baiyang City, where the Peacock Demon was located.

***

At this time, in the bustling Baiyang City, a lively bridal sedan chair passed through the streets and alleys. The groom, riding a tall horse in front of the sedan chair, was elegant and self-assured, graciously returning the well-wishes and jokes from the crowd with repeated bows.

The procession, accompanied by music and drumming, finally stopped in front of a somewhat secluded courtyard and a crowd of people surged through the gate.

Curious onlookers commented, “Whose daughter is this groom marrying? The display looks quite impressive. Those bridal gifts are dazzling.”

“It’s not from a wealthy family. It seems she’s a distant cousin who came to visit, and they just happened to be a good match.”

“Really? The groom is highly talented and bound to succeed, so why is he marrying an orphan? I heard some nobles were eager to marry their daughters to him.”

“You don’t understand. The groom’s cousin is said to be a fairy descended to the mortal realm, her beauty could cause a fish to drown and flying birds to fall, eclipsing the moon and shaming the flowers. Just one look, and you’d be enchanted. If I were him, I’d marry her too!”

While the outsiders chatted and joked, inside the courtyard, Bing Lan, wearing a red bridal veil, sat in her and Gao Lang’s new home, her heart full of joy. She imagined a future with Gao Lang, growing old together, their lives in harmony.

At that moment, a green bird flew in through the window, chirping around Bing Lan. “Sister, I’ve trapped those two useless demon slayers outside the city. They won’t be able to get out for at least 10 days to half a month! They won’t interrupt your happiness!”

Bing Lan’s gaze softened further, and she replied gently, “Thank you, little sister, for your help. Those demon slayers are so rigid, always talking about the difference between humans and demons. Since Gao Lang and I are together without harming anyone, why can’t we stay together?”

The green bird agreed, “Exactly! They’re just jealous! I’m going to find a lover like that too, and make them envious, hehe.”