When the Cannon Fodder Male Supporting Role Picks Up the Script - Chapter 10

After Ji Chen leaves, Jiang Zhibai does not forget to ask Yun Zhuoran what happens inside. After Yun Zhuoran explains, Jiang Zhibai repeatedly tells him not to go out for the time being and then sends him back to Baiyun Residence.

As expected, the barrier hasn’t been tampered with. After sending off Jiang Zhibai, Yun Zhuoran opens the barrier and has just stepped inside when a small black bundle floats toward him. Even though it clearly sees him, it still bumps straight into his arms.

“Brother! You’re back!”

Fortunately, the barrier behind him closes just in time, preventing anyone else from noticing. Yun Zhuoran raises an eyebrow and grabs the heart demon by its head. The small creature rubs against his palm and pitifully says, “Where did you go, Brother? Little Weiran wakes up and doesn’t see you. I am locked in here and almost cry from fright.”

This is the first time the little thing calls him by his new name, and in such a clingy, whining tone… Yun Zhuoran’s expression freezes for a moment. He then lifts the heart demon by its tail and turns him toward the flower bushes. “Just woke up?”

The flower bushes, which Yun Zhuoran has only recently restored, are once again a chaotic mess, as if they have been ravaged. It isn’t hard to imagine that the demon comes out to play and cause trouble while he is away.

The heart demon’s black eyes gleam, and his soft voice becomes even sweeter, “Brother.”

“Looks like you didn’t eat enough last night and woke up so soon. Well, since you’re awake, we won’t be going down the mountain tonight. We’ll just stay here and lie in wait,” Yun Zhuoran says as he unlocks the Mingguang Chain and slowly walks into the building.

The heart demon giggles and floats behind him, asking, “Brother, are we eating rabbits tonight?”

Yun Zhuoran sighs. “We’ll head out after dark.”

The heart demon has no idea Yun Zhuoran looks down on him for being stupid. If not for the fact that feeding him helps Yun Zhuoran increase his cultivation, Yun Zhuoran has countless reasons to abandon him.

Since Yun Zhuoran has returned, he hasn’t gone to wreak havoc with the Huohuo Flower Vine again. Instead, he simply stands by, watching Yun Zhuoran practice, with the tip of his tail wagging.

Once night falls, Yun Zhuoran switches the Mingguang Chain to his puppet substitute. To be safe, he seals the barrier of Baiyun Residence, then tucks the heart demon into his arms and heads out to the back mountain.

Several peak masters, along with Shen Lingshu, go to reinforce the mountain’s defense formation, determined to prevent monsters from coming and going. As a result, they are tied up, leaving only disciples below the Nascent Soul stage to search the mountain.

As long as the peak masters are absent, Yun Zhuoran feels confident he won’t be caught by anyone.

He pulls down the brim of his cloak, covering most of his face, and flies off from the main peak on his sword.

The heart demon blinks its small black eyes and burrows into Yun Zhuoran’s collar, pretending to be obedient.

Before long, Yun Zhuoran finds his target at Qingyang Peak—Ji Chen is healing in a spirit spring, surrounded by a barrier set up by Qingyang Peak’s master. Yun Zhuoran is well-versed in barrier formations, but the Qingyang Peak master is a stage higher than him at the Integration stage. To avoid drawing attention, Yun Zhuoran doesn’t get too close.

From a hundred zhang away, Yun Zhuoran conceals himself in a bamboo grove.

Seeing that Yun Zhuoran is only watching Ji Chen from a distance, the heart demon grows curious. “Brother, aren’t we here to eat rabbits?” Although it isn’t sure if it can eat rabbits, it would try if Brother told it to.

Yun Zhuoran glances at the heart demon. “No rush.”

The prey hasn’t arrived yet.

Yun Zhuoran refocuses his gaze on Ji Chen, who is meditating in the distance.

Even from a distance, Yun Zhuoran can see the increasingly dense aura of death surrounding Ji Chen. There is probably no one in the entire Tiandao Sect more unlucky than him.

Yun Zhuoran speculates that if the demonic creature hiding in the sect makes a move, Ji Chen will undoubtedly be the first to die as cannon fodder.

That creature must be a demon of at least the Nascent Soul stage, Yun Zhuoran thinks. If he can capture it and feed it to the heart demon, his cultivation will surely increase more than it did last night.

The heart demon lets out a confused sound, not understanding anything but still staring intently at Ji Chen because, in its mind, everything its brother says is correct. Even if its brother makes a mistake, it wouldn’t be its fault!

At that moment, Ji Chen, who is in the middle of healing, suddenly shivers, and his spiritual energy comes to a halt. He opens his eyes and rubs the goosebumps on his arms. For some reason, his bad luck has been especially awful since last night. Besides being ambushed on the road, he almost loses his life today and embarrassingly rolls down the stone steps in front of Yun Zhuoran and Jiang Zhibai…

He is utterly unlucky.

Since returning to Qingyang Peak, Ji Chen hasn’t been able to shake off a feeling of unease and constantly glances around.

In a daze, he thinks he sees a pair of blood-red eyes watching him from the dark bamboo forest.

Ji Chen quickly shakes his head and is about to get up.

“Brother, he’s leaving!” the heart demon excitedly reports, squirming in Yun Zhuoran’s robes.

Yun Zhuoran looks up toward the sky.

Just then, clouds cover the moon, and the last sliver of silver light is swallowed by the dark clouds.

It is already midnight.

The light reflecting off the spirit spring dims.

Ji Chen’s uneasiness grows stronger, and he is about to head back to his quarters when a voice comes from outside the bamboo grove. “Senior Brother Ji, Master wants you to come to Yaoguang Hall.”

The voice comes from the direction where Yun Zhuoran is hiding. Ji Chen glances over, causing Yun Zhuoran to instinctively turn his back and hide behind a bamboo stalk. His cloak is also a type of invisibility garment, so he isn’t too worried about being spotted by Ji Chen. However, he is surprised when he sees a figure in white standing vaguely where the voice comes from.

Yun Zhuoran’s eyes glint slightly. He has been here the whole time, yet only after the person speaks does he notice their presence. This means that the person’s strength is definitely above his own.

There is an eighty percent chance that this person is the demon.

But Ji Chen, hearing that his master is calling for him, immediately heads out. Muttering to himself about why no sound transmission talisman has been used, he still doesn’t stop walking and soon steps through the last barrier surrounding Qingyang Peak Master’s residence.

Once Ji Chen and the white-robed disciple have gone far enough, Yun Zhuoran slowly follows.

The heart demon pokes its head out and whispers, “Such a delicious smell, it seems to be coming from up ahead…”

Hearing this, Yun Zhuoran’s remaining uncertainty vanishes.

He reassures the heart demon, “Don’t worry, when we get to a safer place, I’ll make sure you get a full meal.”

The heart demon’s black eyes immediately sparkle with excitement.

Meanwhile, Ji Chen and the white-robed figure in front quicken their pace, but instead of heading toward the main peak, they veer off toward the deserted back mountain. Judging by the way Ji Chen flies on his sword, he seems completely unaware of this deviation.

Noticing their increasing speed, Yun Zhuoran almost loses track of them in the blink of an eye, so he speeds up as well. When they enter the dark back mountain, the two figures ahead suddenly disappear. Yun Zhuoran freezes for a moment, then closes his eyes, and a golden-red light flashes in them.

Soon, Yun Zhuoran spots Ji Chen, whose death aura has grown particularly strong. Concealing his presence, Yun Zhuoran watches as Ji Chen walks forward with his eyes closed. Ahead of him is a shadowy, steep mountain wall, and below it, a dark, sinister pool. The person who has been with him is long gone, leaving only a thick black evil aura swirling in the pool.

Ji Chen is just a few steps away from walking into the black pool, teeming with evil spirits. Whether due to some unnatural attraction, the death aura on his body begins to drift out, mingling with the evil energy in the pool, intertwining and then merging.

The heart demon sniffs eagerly, “Brother, it smells so good!”

Yun Zhuoran knows it isn’t his “brother” that smells good, but the overpowering evil spirit ahead. When he looks up again, Ji Chen has already stepped into the pool.

The back mountain is exceptionally dark, but Yun Zhuoran can clearly see the demonic energy around the pool bewitching Ji Chen. He thinks Ji Chen is doomed, but just as the demonic energy closes in on him, a golden light flares up from Ji Chen’s body, scattering the black energy in all directions. Ji Chen himself is thrown back from the recoil.

Yun Zhuoran understands instantly.

It is the spiritual power of the master of Qingyang Peak that saves Ji Chen at the last moment. No wonder Ji Chen has been able to surpass his own level and defeat the Yuanying wolf demon the previous night.

Ji Chen regains consciousness after his fall, and when he looks up, he realizes the figure before him isn’t his master, but a demon, overflowing with evil energy! The master who pressed his neck to pass on an inheritance in the illusion earlier has been a fake!

Panicking, Ji Chen scrambles to his feet, covering his neck and gasping for air. A black mark appears on his neck, with tendrils of demonic energy leaking from it.

“Damn it!” he curses.

The protective spiritual power that has saved Ji Chen has also injured the demon in the pool. The opportunity is lost, and the demon’s rage is palpable. Its furious shout, an eerie mixture of voices—men, women, old, and young—echoes ominously. Ji Chen, now terrified, stumbles over some rocks and falls again.

The surrounding black mist condenses in the pool, eventually coalescing into a massive dark figure. A pair of blood-red eyes, as large as lanterns, lock onto Ji Chen. Suddenly, the whole forest grows cold.

“D-Demon… Monster!” Ji Chen stammers, eyes wide, as he frantically crawls backward.

The sound of the heart demon slurping in anticipation grows louder and louder—slurp, slurp…

Yun Zhuoran picks up the heart demon with a resigned expression. “Go, it’s your turn to eat.”

The heart demon wiggles its tail, cheers, and shoots forward like a tiny cannonball.

Yun Zhuoran doesn’t remain idle either. He can’t let anyone discover that he is secretly raising the heart demon. He raises a finger, gathering golden-red spiritual power, his lips barely moving as he sets up a barrier spanning several miles.

Just as the barrier seals off this corner of the mountain, a piercing roar echoes from the deep pool. The sound is already grating, a cacophony of voices—men, women, young, and old—blending into a single, harsh wail.

Yun Zhuoran frowns, then weaves a large spiritual net in front of Ji Chen. As his spell takes form, Ji Chen, who has only heard the monster’s roar but hasn’t yet seen the small demon gnawing at its back, is once again wrapped in black mist. He struggles instinctively, but the immobilization spell catches up to him before he can escape.

Having dealt with Ji Chen, Yun Zhuoran turns his attention to the heart demon. The little creature hasn’t grown much yet, but it uses its small size to sneak in and take a bite out of the larger demon, gulping down most of its demonic energy in one go. The demon recoils, but by the time it reacts, the heart demon has already floated several feet away. The enraged demon roars and lunges at the tiny creature, bloodshot eyes blazing.

The difference in size between the two is too vast. Even though Yun Zhuoran has once witnessed the heart demon swallow a little ghost king whole, he can’t help but tense up inwardly.

The heart demon, however, lets out a cheeky laugh and suddenly begins to swell, its body inflating like a balloon. Within a single breath, it grows to the same enormous size as the demon. Then it opens its mouth wide, waiting for the demon, which charges at it to swallow it alive, to dive right in—its confidence almost excessive.

Yun Zhuoran thinks the demon can’t be that stupid and would surely have a countermeasure, but to his surprise, the demon doesn’t even try to turn or stop—it either doesn’t realize or can’t halt its momentum—and actually dives straight into the heart demon’s mouth!

Yun Zhuoran: “…”

However, the demon is too large for the heart demon to swallow in one bite. It wobbles in midair, stuck with the lower half of the demon still hanging out of its mouth. The entire black mass becomes round and bloated, and the heart demon’s little black eyes are now stretched wide.

Yun Zhuoran involuntarily sighs in relief. “Don’t eat the whole thing—leave some of its spirit…”

But just as he finishes speaking, there is a gulping sound, and the heart demon swallows the last bit of the demon.

Yun Zhuoran is a step too late. He wants to keep the demon alive to question it about why it has come to the mountain, but now he can only give up. The heart demon, having just heard Yun Zhuoran’s words, freezes midair, looking dumbfounded.

“…It’s fine,” Yun Zhuoran sighs softly.

The heart demon makes a gurgling sound, and the entire black mass suddenly tenses. At the same moment, Yun Zhuoran senses the approach of a cultivator with considerable power.

“Let’s go back immediately.”

With a wave of his hand, the heart demon shrinks back down, reverting to a small, cute, sesame-sized ball, before darting into Yun Zhuoran’s clothes. Yun Zhuoran is about to leave with the heart demon in his pocket, but after a brief hesitation, he turns back toward Ji Chen again.

Ji Chen trembles uncontrollably. The sharp pain from the black mark on his neck radiates through his entire body, rendering him incapable of coherent thought.

But as the noise around him suddenly quiets down, Ji Chen slowly regains his senses. A familiar realization dawns on him. “It’s you!” The same black fog that obscures his vision, the immobilization spell, and the strange battle ending—all remind him of the person who robbed him the night before.

Yun Zhuoran says nothing. His pale fingers gather spiritual energy, and his gaze turns cold. But when he sees the black mark under the fog, he pauses. This mark seems like a curse he has read about in ancient texts—those afflicted with it suffer extreme bad luck for a time and also attract demons and evil spirits.

A glint flashes in Yun Zhuoran’s eyes. He withdraws his spiritual energy, gently pats the heart demon’s little head, and pulls out a teleportation talisman. He thinks to himself, fine, I’ll spare Ji Chen’s life for now—he can serve as a temporary food source for the heart demon.

Ji Chen hears footsteps approaching, and as they come closer, he thinks this time he is truly about to die. But to his surprise, the person leaves again, only parting with a remark that sounds more like a taunt.

“Until we meet again.”

Ji Chen: “…!!”

While he is still in shock, alternating between terror and rage, Yun Zhuoran casually crushes the teleportation talisman. In an instant, he and the heart demon disappear from the secluded black pool. The black fog surrounding Ji Chen disperses as well, just as a few streaks of spiritual light arrive. The Qingyang Peak Master, looking anxious, spots Ji Chen and hurries over with relief.

“Chen’er, are you alright? Where’s the demon?”

Ji Chen snaps back to reality and quickly complains, “Master, an evil cultivator sneaks into the sect and places a curse on me…” His voice chokes as he speaks. But then he realizes—when had the curse on him been broken?