WBICDPH Chapter 108

Chapter 108: Bamboo Horse and Childhood Cart

Xiao Lanqi was the most outstanding heavenly demon the demon race had ever produced—at least, that’s what everyone in Mingzhu Heaven said.

His mother was a once-in-a-generation prodigy among the heavenly demons, a Demon Sovereign who carried the legacy of the Six-Headed Flood Dragon—Xiao Lanyue.

As for his father… he had never met him. His father had died in battle at Ghost Wail Cliff before he was even born, fighting for his mother.

Among demons, bloodline was everything. Only those with pure lineage and a strong trace of ancient demonic heritage could earn the favor of their ancestors and inherit greater power. And because demons were naturally cold and detached—unlike humans, who were bound by complicated emotions—their way of reproduction was simple: during mating season, they would find a compatible partner whose bloodline or inheritance matched their own. After producing a child, they would raise it together through early childhood. Once that stage was over, their responsibility was considered fulfilled, and the temporary “family” would part ways, each going their own separate path, with no further ties.

As a result, most demons lived solitary lives. It was difficult for them to form emotional attachments—even to their own flesh and blood. Once a child passed early childhood, parents would often begin to see them as future rivals.

But Xiao Lanqi was an exception.

Though he had never met his father, Shen Chongming, he knew what he looked like. His mother kept a portrait of him hanging in her chamber.

The man in the painting was tall and handsome. Whenever she had time, his mother would stand before that portrait, lost in thought. She often held Xiao Lanqi in her arms and told him stories about his father.

In her stories, his father was mature, steady, and flawless in every way. To her, Shen Chongming was the best man in the world.

But to others, he was nothing more than an unworthy schemer who had bewitched his lord and didn’t deserve Xiao Lanyue.

Those wrinkled old elders of the demon race would say that Shen Chongming only carried the Chongming Bird inheritance. In terms of bloodline and legacy, he simply didn’t measure up to Xiao Lanyue. They claimed she must have been deceived during her mating season to have chosen him as her partner.

They said that Xiao Lanyue had been wise all her life, except for this one grave mistake. With her noble bloodline, she should have chosen a worthy mate—like she had centuries ago—and given birth to another exceptional child like her eldest son, Xiao Lancheng, who possessed the ancient Hundred-Faced Heartbinding Fiend inheritance.

Instead, this time, she chose an ordinary Chongming Bird. She had wasted her lineage—and the child she bore would surely be ordinary as well.

But Xiao Lanyue didn’t care. She calmly continued her pregnancy, awaiting the arrival of new life.

Everything should have gone smoothly—aside from the rumors—but fate had other plans. During her pregnancy, a demon faction from outside Mingzhu Heaven launched a sudden attack. Xiao Lanyue, still carrying her child, went to war, leading her people to defend their homeland.

They won that battle.

But Shen Chongming died beneath the blade of the enemy’s leader while protecting her.

Holding his lifeless body, Xiao Lanyue was overwhelmed with grief—and went into premature labor.

A demon pregnancy lasted three years, requiring both parents to nourish the child with their essence and blood. Now that Shen Chongming was dead and the child was born more than half a year early, everyone believed the outcome was certain: the child’s bloodline had already been less than pure, and after such upheaval, even if it survived, it would likely be weak and unremarkable, unworthy of any great inheritance.

But what happened next stunned everyone.

On the night Xiao Lanyue gave birth, storm clouds churned across the skies of Mingzhu Heaven. Every demon felt an ancient, primordial presence descend upon the world.

When the baby’s first cry echoed from within the palace, a streak of azure lightning split the heavens. A beast-like phantom emerged from the swirling clouds, its aura so overwhelming that every demon within ten thousand miles fell to their knees.

No one knew what kind of inheritance could cause such a phenomenon—except for one elder, whose voice trembled as he spoke a single name:

“Taowu… the Ancestor.”

One of the four great ancient fiends of legend—Taowu, Taotie, Hundun, and Qiongqi—the progenitors of the demon race.

They were said to exist only in legend because they had long since fallen in ancient times. Since then, they had never descended again, nor chosen any successor to pass on their inheritance.

Some said that after tens of thousands of years, the demon bloodlines had become too diluted, and no one remained worthy of inheriting the power of the ancestors.

And yet now, Taowu had descended—not only choosing the child no one had expected, but even bestowing upon him a name.

Ancient demonic script merged with the inheritance mark and sank into the infant’s brow. When the child opened his eyes, they gleamed with the same brilliant azure as Taowu—and as the “Crashing Cloud Azure Flame” created by that ancestor.

“Qi.”

The beginning of all things. The meaning of creation.

Several high-ranking elders pored over that single character, writing pages upon pages of interpretations and praise.

These were the same people who had mocked and dismissed Xiao Lanyue’s unborn child just the day before. Now, they were eager to place him upon the throne and have all demons bow before him.

And so, Xiao Lanqi grew up surrounded by praise and adoration. They said he was the chosen inheritor of Taowu, the young sovereign of Mingzhu Heaven. Everything about him was noble, and his life seemed destined from the start to follow a smooth and glorious path. Everyone believed he would lead the demon race to new heights.

After hearing it enough times, Xiao Lanqi began to believe it too.

But Xiao Lanyue told him otherwise.

There was no such thing as being born with responsibility or obligation. A’Qi was simply A’Qi. What kind of life he wanted, what kind of demon he chose to be—that was entirely up to him. No one else had the right to decide.

Everyone else wanted Xiao Lanqi to become a great ruler.

Only Xiao Lanyue wanted him to be free.

Her way of raising him was different from that of other demon mothers.

Others whispered behind her back, saying that the Demon Sovereign Xiao Lanyue had gone against her nature. Ever since taking Shen Chongming as her partner, she had begun to resemble those overly sentimental, pretentious humans.

Because after Xiao Lanqi survived his fragile early childhood, she did not drive him away like other mothers would. Instead of forcing a barely self-sufficient child into the world alone, she defied public opinion and kept him by her side, teaching him how to fight and survive—because he was her and Shen Chongming’s child. She loved Shen Chongming, and she loved Xiao Lanqi.

To avoid gossip, however, she maintained a stern, cold demeanor in public. But in private, she called him “A’Qi,” allowed him small moments of affection, and even sang him demon lullabies.

Xiao Lanqi didn’t understand what love was.

But he knew his mother treated him well.

So he wanted to treat her well, too.

Still, after he passed early childhood, even though Xiao Lanyue kept him by her side, most of the time he was alone in the vast, empty palace of Mingzhu Heaven.

She was always busy—defending their territory, waging war. During her absences, Xiao Lanqi trained on his own. He wanted to grow stronger, to become a powerful heavenly demon like his mother, to fight alongside her.

Occasionally, when she returned from battle, she would smile, pick him up, spend some time with him, singing, telling him stories of her campaigns. Xiao Lanqi loved those moments.

But she never stayed long. After just a few days, she would leave again.

Before one such departure, Xiao Lanqi stood in her path and looked up at her, asking if he could come along.

As always, she patted his head and said, “When you’re a little older,” then donned her armor and left with her guards.

Watching her back disappear, Xiao Lanqi felt unhappy.

She always said, “When you’re older.”

He didn’t quite understand what “older” meant, so he had asked her how much he needed to grow before he could fight beside her.

Her answer was:

“When the day comes that you no longer have to look up at me—when you have to lower your gaze to look at me—then you’ll be grown.”

But demons matured slowly. Counting on his fingers, Xiao Lanqi realized it might take decades before he grew taller than her.

Did that mean he had to stay alone in the palace all that time?

No way.

So after Xiao Lanyue left for war again, Xiao Lanqi slung his small wooden sword over his back and decided to go out on his own.

His mother had warned him not to go out alone. The demon world was chaotic and lawless—even within Mingzhu Heaven, it wasn’t entirely safe. Without the ability to protect himself, he could easily become a target.

She had also said that one of the reasons demons were so few in number was that many young demons, forced to live alone too early, died before reaching adulthood. At least seventy percent didn’t survive.

But Xiao Lanqi was too bored.

So he decided to sneak out—just for a short while, staying within Mingzhu Heaven.

Evading the watchful eyes of the Twelve Guardians his mother had left behind, he slipped out through the back gate and made his way to a mysterious black grassland near the border. Beneath the grass lay soil glittering with silver flecks from nearby star-silver veins.

He loved shiny things.

When he was younger, before his mother became so busy, she used to bring him here often. She would sit on the grass reading ancient texts while he played beside her, digging up sparkling soil with a little wooden shovel she had made for him.

It had been a long time since he last came.

Seeing the familiar place again filled him with excitement. He took off his wooden sword and started digging like before.

But after only a few strokes, he suddenly caught the scent of another demon.

While humans couldn’t sense a demonic aura, demons were extremely sensitive to each other’s presence.

Following that faint trace, Xiao Lanqi looked up—and saw a thin young man approaching from a distance.

The man looked unusually frail for a demon—so much so that Xiao Lanqi almost mistook him for a human who had wandered in by accident. But the aura around him was unmistakably demonic.

Xiao Lanqi studied him with wide, bright azure eyes.

The man didn’t seem threatening. He looked somewhat sickly, with deep violet eyes and a dark red tint at their corners.

“You…” Xiao Lanqi instinctively tightened his grip on his wooden sword as the man drew closer.

He stammered, trying to sound fierce:

“Y-you! Who are you? State your name!”

“Oh?” The man seemed amused by his aggressive little act.

As he approached, he knelt on one knee to meet Xiao Lanqi at eye level and said gently:

“Shouldn’t you introduce yourself before asking someone else’s name?”

Xiao Lanqi thought that made sense.

He lifted his chin.

“Qi!”

After a pause, he added:

“Xiao Lanqi!”

The man froze for a moment upon hearing the name.

Then he carefully looked Xiao Lanqi over again and smiled.

“My name is quite similar to yours.”

“Hm?”

“Cheng.”

He mimicked Xiao Lanqi’s tone, emphasizing the name slightly.

“Xiao Lancheng.”