When the Cannon Fodder Male Supporting Role Picks Up the Script - Chapter 112

The red-robed youth with the same face as Yun Zhuoran pauses for a moment—perhaps because he has been exposed—then takes a panicked half-step back. But he quickly masks it, lifting his face into a bright, innocent smile.

“What are you talking about, brother?”

Yun Zhuoran’s attitude isn’t cold. He always treats his heart demon differently from others. Even though he knows the heart demon is hiding something from him, he doesn’t get angry but simply looks at him patiently.

“Weiran, I just want to know what happened back then. Not long after you asked me last time, you found the genealogy record in the City Lord’s Mansion. Now that Yun Duo has appeared, I’m sure you know.”

The heart demon’s face darkens. “Yun Duo again!”

Yun Zhuoran can’t help but laugh, and the tense atmosphere from before dissipates. He sighs and says, “I don’t blame you for hiding something from me. I just want to remember what I forgot back then. Or answer me—was Yun Peiran’s younger brother you or me?”

“Of course it was you, Brother!” the heart demon blurts out, looking distressed as if he doesn’t understand why Yun Zhuoran is asking.

Yun Zhuoran says nothing but stares at the heart demon, pondering for a moment. Then he leans against the railing in front of the pond behind him and looks up at the high wall. “I want to know why you’re hiding it from me. Weiran, you can’t deceive me. And I didn’t want to press you in front of others, so I brought you out of the new city lord’s manor.”

So today, Yun Zhuoran brings the heart demon here to ask about what he is hiding.

The heart demon looks a little surprised. He stares at Yun Zhuoran in disbelief, seeming aggrieved. His brows furrow tightly, then he lowers his head and says in a muffled voice, “Since brother wants to know, then Weiran will tell you. Yes, I do know something about what happened back then. That genealogy record—I deliberately looked for it.”

Yun Zhuoran nods, turns his head, pats the railing beside him, and motions for the heart demon to come over. His calm face shows no blame. “I had wondered why I couldn’t find it myself.”

The heart demon purses his lips, lowers his head, and pinches his fingers. “The genealogy record was found in the yard the night I met Yun Shaowei. Maybe Brother Yun Peiran hid it. Brother said he wanted to know, so I found an opportunity to pretend that I found it in the old city lord’s mansion…”

He looks up at Yun Zhuoran, carefully sits down next to him, and anxiously asks while secretly observing Yun Zhuoran’s reaction, “Brother, are you really not angry?”

Yun Zhuoran replies with a question of his own: “Would you ever harm me?”

The heart demon quickly shakes his head. “I was born for Brother. I would only protect you.”

Yun Zhuoran whispers, “I know. If you wanted to hurt me, I wouldn’t be here today.”

If the heart demon truly wants to hurt Yun Zhuoran, then back at Tiandao Sect, all he has to do is reveal his identity. Yun Zhuoran would be immediately detained by the various peak masters, and he would never have had the chance to leave the sect, nor would he have followed Gu Shenshu’s resentful incarnation to uncover the truth behind Gu Shenshu’s fall.

During this time, Yun Zhuoran depends on the heart demon. He confides in him, trusts him, even entrusts his back to him. In the twenty years he has lived burdened with infamy, he has never experienced this before. And he knows, if it were anyone else, he couldn’t trust them the way he trusts Weiran—nor would he ever share the kind of defensive artifact that only Dao partners have the right to wear together with him.

Because the heart demon is Yun Zhuoran’s heart demon, he is the only one Yun Zhuoran is willing to open his heart to.

For this reason, Yun Zhuoran can still speak calmly to the heart demon even though he knows he is being deceived.

“Why didn’t you tell me directly? You must have existed for a long time now,” Yun Zhuoran says firmly as he calmly looks into the heart demon’s faintly blood-glowing eyes. “Can you tell me now?”

He isn’t angry, doesn’t drive him away—only asks calmly, with respect.

The heart demon purses his lips and says nothing. His face is no longer as ignorant as before. Against the blood-red background in his eyes, the lines on his face sharpen, making him seem much more mature.

“Brother is right. I first appeared 28 years ago.” A flash of blood flickers in the heart demon’s eyes. The heaviness on his face is replaced by obvious uneasiness. His ten fingers clutch at his sleeves, wrinkling the fabric. “The reason I didn’t tell you directly is because everything here… is tied to you.”

The heart demon looks at Yun Zhuoran evasively. After hesitating for a long time, he grits his teeth and says, “The source of that strange fire—it came from you.”

This unexpected answer stuns Yun Zhuoran. “Me?”

The heart demon fears he might overthink, so he hurriedly adds, “Brother was still very young at that time. I only know what happened before and after the strange fire appeared, and only because you personally saw it. The clues from the high priest’s bamboo slips provided by the tung leaves are probably true. That woman Yun Duo… half of what she said is likely true, too. Before the fire appeared, Yun Peiran mentioned to brother that he wanted to leave Yun City, and later he was indeed locked up by Yun Tianfeng. It was Yun Duo who brought brother to the high priest…”

Mentioning Yun Duo, the heart demon’s eyes fill with anger. His annoyance with her is beyond words, and now his tone carries a trace of fury. “She said she was taking you to find Brother Peiran, but in the end she handed you over to the High Priest. Even then, you didn’t believe she would abandon you. You even begged her for help. But all she said was a single ‘sorry’—then immediately left with the High Priest’s people.”

The heart demon snorts coldly. “Originally, Brother Peiran had hidden you away, but if not for Yun Duo, the High Priest would never have found you. You wouldn’t have been locked up and had the blood drained from your body, wouldn’t have had your spine forcibly extracted—just because you tried to escape… Brother, in the High Priest’s underground chamber, you suffer worse than death for seven whole days. Not a single person comes to save you. That was all thanks to Yun Duo!”

Hearing the words ‘blood drained’ and ‘spine extracted’, Yun Zhuoran’s fingers tighten unconsciously. His eyes go slightly blank, and a chilling bloodlust rises within him, even as a freezing darkness engulfs his whole body.

He knows then—it is all true.

The cold tone of the heart demon still rings in his ears.

“When you were about to be brought to the altar, the High Priest showed you the image crystal—footage of Brother Peiran and Yun Duo escaping from Yun City. He told you that no one cared about you, that your brother and sister had abandoned you to save their own lives…”

The heart demon’s eyes grow colder. Although he hasn’t experienced those things personally, he doesn’t want to say more. The more he thinks about it, the more he hates it. He wishes he could go back and kill Yun Duo right now.

In the heart demon’s eyes, if Yun Duo hadn’t betrayed little Weiran, if she had turned back to save him while he was being tortured by the High Priest, then he wouldn’t have suffered so much. But Yun Duo had been too decisive in her abandonment back then.

The heart demon hides the murderous intent in his eyes, raises his hand, and gently covers the back of Yun Zhuoran’s hand. “That’s why I came into being. I was born to protect brother. On that altar, I killed the people who bullied you.”

Feeling the coldness on the back of his hand, Yun Zhuoran’s dark eyes regain some spirit, though he doesn’t know when cold sweat has broken out on his skin.

He frowns and asks, “Then, the fire that destroyed Yun City…”
The heart demon quickly shakes his head. “I don’t know why the strange fire was inside you either. I only knew that the sacrificial formation set by the High Priest was unusual. Not long after the formation activated, people around the City Lord’s manor began turning into demons. They lost all sense and only knew how to kill. That High Priest was very powerful—I wasn’t his match. But in the final moment, that strange fire suddenly appeared from within you! The High Priest seemed overjoyed when he saw it. The fire completely took over your body. When I regained consciousness again, you were already undergoing your heavenly tribulation. I sensed the proximity of that storybook and couldn’t resist appearing before you.”

From the irritation in Xinmo’s voice, it’s clear he is still unwilling to accept being overpowered by the High Priest. But when he looks up and sees Yun Zhuoran’s face drained of all color, only worry remains in his heart. “Brother, you…”

Pain spreads again deep inside Yun Zhuoran’s head, as though a blade is slowly grinding against his skull. He grits through the dull agony, his gaze unfocused. “After the strange fire appeared… you lost consciousness?”

Through the blood pact and the spiritual resonance artifact, the heart demon can sense Yun Zhuoran’s distress. He can’t share the pain, but he can feel the unease. He carefully supports Yun Zhuoran and answers every question he asks.

“The strange fire completely controlled brother’s body. When I woke up, many years had passed. At first, I couldn’t leave my brother’s body or consume any demons. The abilities I have now only manifested after I woke up fully. I’m not like a normal heart demon. By the way, while I was dormant those twenty-some years, I retained most of your memories. When you awoke, you’d already lost them, perhaps because the pain was too great. Even Brother Yun Peiran never mentioned it again.”

Yun Zhuoran waves the heart demon’s hand away, shakes his head to indicate he is fine. When he raises a hand to press his forehead, he feels cold sweat and stops immediately. The heart demon must have already seen his weakness.

The heart demon looks at him eagerly. “I can feel the strange fire is still in brother’s body. It doesn’t hurt you, but brother never used it or even realized it existed. It wasn’t until the floating city, when Gu Shenshu’s resentment incarnation seemed to unlock the restrictions in brother’s body, that the strange fire appeared again.”

Yun Zhuoran has already guessed as much, but hearing the heart demon confirm it still leaves him shaken.

“The fire inside me… destroyed Yun City…”

The heart demon comforts him, “The strange fire comes from brother and almost destroys Yun City. It has been Tongye’s obsession for many years, but brother doesn’t have to blame himself. Before the fire appears, the high priest and Yun Tianfeng use an evil array to turn Yun City’s people into monsters. Compared to that, dying in the strange fire is the best ending.”

Yun Zhuoran freezes for a moment, then shakes his head.

The heart demon whispers, “I don’t know what happens later, but Tongye says neither the high priest nor Yun Tianfeng survives the strange fire. Tongye wants to find the source of the strange fire.”

“Tongye believes the strange fire is the source of the disaster in Yun City.” Yun Zhuoran’s pale face forces a smile, and his dimming eyes flicker. “Don’t worry, I don’t blame myself for them.”

The heart demon remains worried. He knows Yun Zhuoran doesn’t admit it on the surface but carries guilt inside, shaped by Gu Shenshu’s and Yun Peiran’s teachings. Knowing nearly 10,000 people die in Yun City because of him, Yun Zhuoran denies blame but can’t help feeling guilty. Even though those people have been transformed by the evil array and are living a fate worse than death, their souls scatter and disappear under the burning strange fire.

Yun Zhuoran takes the initiative to say, “I’m fine.”

But the more he says it, the more Weiran knows he isn’t.

The heart demon looks sad, stretches out two fingers, and gently pinches Yun Zhuoran’s sleeve. “Will my brother drive me away?”

Hearing this sudden question, the heaviness in Yun Zhuoran’s heart turns to confusion.

“Why?”

“I didn’t tell my brother about these things.” The heart demon feels wronged and scared, like a child who has done wrong. He lowers his head and quietly points to Yun Zhuoran’s hair. “Brother, I know I was wrong.”

After this moment of relief, Yun Zhuoran’s headache gradually subsides, and his overly pale face eases. If the heart demon looks closely, he sees Yun Zhuoran’s attitude toward him hasn’t changed from beginning to end—gentle and patient.

Yun Zhuoran treats no one else this way—only Weiran.

Looking at Weiran’s lowered head and pressed hair, Yun Zhuoran suddenly lets out a soft laugh. “For a moment, I thought I had possessed your body—that you were Yun Peiran’s brother, and I was just some demon from who knows where.”

The heart demon suddenly raises his head, eyes wide in disbelief. “Why would my brother think that?”

“After all, according to Yun Duo, Yun Weiran was so similar to you when he was a child.”

Now that he hears the heart demon’s words, Yun Zhuoran relaxes a lot, though it still sounds as if he doesn’t fully believe what the heart demon says.

The heart demon is so anxious that he grabs Yun Zhuoran’s wrist and says, “Isn’t it natural that I look like you? I exist for the sole purpose of protecting little Weiran. Brother, believe me—you are Yun Weiran!”

“Really?” Seeing the heart demon’s seriousness, Yun Zhuoran smiles.

The heart demon’s face remains serious. “Really!”

Yun Zhuoran laughs again, raises his hand, and rubs the heart demon’s hair. “So nervous?”

The heart demon doesn’t care about the messy hair but rubs Yun Zhuoran’s palm affectionately. His fair and beautiful face is still very nervous. “Brother, don’t be angry, don’t drive me away, okay?”

Yun Zhuoran usually falls for the heart demon’s soft tricks. Hearing that the heart demon knows he’s unhappy and deliberately changes the subject to act coquettishly, Yun Zhuoran’s eyes light up slightly. He stretches out his hand to him and sighs with a smile, “As long as Weiran is willing, you will always be brother’s little Weiran.”

The heart demon means to comfort Yun Zhuoran, but he is indeed uneasy inside. Hearing Yun Zhuoran’s gentle tone, his black eyes, slightly flashing with blood, suddenly burst with surprise. Without thinking, he rushes straight at Yun Zhuoran.

Yun Zhuoran’s body shakes from the pounce. If it weren’t for his good cultivation, he would be thrown into the pond behind him by the heart demon.

Yun Zhuoran breathes a sigh of relief. Before he can say anything, the heart demon shouts happily in his arms, “Brother, brother, brother!”

Yun Zhuoran is amused by the repeated shouting.

He has just recovered from his headache and is sweating coldly. His hands and feet are still a little weak. He pats the heart demon on the back and reminds him, “I believe what you just said is true. But the most important thing now is to find what Yun Peiran left here. Do you know what Yun Peiran left behind?”

The heart demon is overwhelmed with joy. When he looks up, he sees that Yun Zhuoran’s face is still pale. He hurriedly supports Yun Zhuoran, his excessive caution making Yun Zhuoran look like fragile porcelain.

“I don’t know. I haven’t sensed any trace of Brother Peiran’s aura here.” But as he says this, the heart demon feels he has to tell Yun Zhuoran something. “Brother, the storybook I picked up has Brother Peiran’s aura on it. It was faint, but by the time you saw it, only the slightest trace remained.”

Yun Zhuoran doesn’t have much hope at first, but the heart demon gives him a surprise.

“Really?”

Seeing Yun Zhuoran’s concern, the heart demon says, “But there’s something else. That book also has a very strange power. I don’t really know how to describe it.” He tilts his head, struggling to find the words. “That power draws close to you just as you are undergoing your tribulation. That’s when I finally wake up.”

How could something like that be mere coincidence?

Could it be that the storybook is also connected to Yun Peiran?

And thinking about it more carefully, with Yun Peiran’s personality, it isn’t impossible that he has written the book himself.

A sudden thought arises in Yun Zhuoran’s heart.

‘Could he have been by my side all along?’