Chapter 5: Half-Demon

Lin Chunhua’s footsteps faded into the distance before Qin Zhijun snapped back from his daze, realizing how absurd the whole situation was.

If it really was that girl he met the other day, he could agree to this even less. Setting aside the fact that his current disability would only burden her, she looked quite young—likely eight or nine years younger than him. Marrying her under these circumstances felt like doing her a terrible disservice.

When Qin Dayou and Lin Chunhua entered his room beaming, eager to consult him on what betrothal gifts to send the Gu family, Qin Zhijun firmly voiced his opposition to the match.

Before Lin Chunhua could finish proposing to buy Xiao Wan a sewing machine and a bicycle, he cut her off.

“Mom, the Gu family is kind, so we can’t be dishonorable. Their daughter is much younger than me. When I left for the military, she was still a child. If my legs weren’t injured, that would be one thing, but marrying her in my current state would just be ruining her life.”

Lin Chunhua’s eyes welled with tears at his words. Swatting his hand, her voice trembled with a choke.

“Why do you have to be so stubborn? Xiao Wan is such a wonderful girl, and she’s willing herself! Once she marries in, I’ll treat her well—better than my own daughter and sons. I won’t let her suffer a single bit of grievance, alright?”

With that, she quickly wiped away a stray tear with the back of her hand, showing a rare moment of firmness: “This isn’t up to you. Since ancient times, marriage has been decided by parents and matchmakers. You just wait to be the groom. Do you have any coupons left? Your father and I are heading to the county town tomorrow to buy the betrothal gifts.”

Looking at his parents, who seemed to have aged years in less than a month, Qin Zhijun felt a deep pang of guilt.

His parents were decent people who had never done a dishonest thing in their lives, yet here they were in their old age, harboring such a selfish motive for his sake.

The words firmly refusing to marry Gu Wan stuck in his throat. After a moment, he softened his stance: “Give me half a year, and give the Gu family half a year too. If she’s still willing to marry me after six months, I’ll marry her.”

Qin Dayou, who had been sitting with his head bowed, patted his wife’s hand to calm her down.

Looking at his son, he said, “Fine, six months it is. If the Gu family is still willing to give their daughter away, and Gu Wan is still willing, then you marry her properly. If you feel she’s taking a loss, just do everything in your power to treat her well for the rest of your life.”

Lin Chunhua started to protest, but Qin Dayou gave her a subtle shake of his head. Telling Qin Zhijun to rest well, the couple stepped out.

“What’s the point of waiting half a year? If the Gu family was going to regret it, they wouldn’t have come over to propose it in the first place. You know they didn’t even care that it was Zhijun instead of Zhihua—they just wanted to repay the kindness from back then. They’re entirely sincere,” Lin Chunhua complained in a low voice once they were back in their own room.

Qin Dayou shook his head. “Taking a step back is for the best. Zhijun isn’t wrong. The Gu family is righteous, so we shouldn’t take advantage of them. Giving it half a year without a formal engagement lets Zhijun heal his legs and allows the two kids to get to know each other. If they get along, then we talk about marriage.”

Seeing his wife still frowning, he added, “You know Old Gu’s character. Since he offered his daughter now, he won’t go back on his word in six months.”

Lin Chunhua conceded, though the matter of Qin Zhijun’s future remained a heavy weight on her mind, wiping away the joy she had felt earlier.

After dark, Qin Dayou went over to the Gu house to discuss the arrangement with Gu Jinsheng. Gu Jinsheng praised Qin Zhijun endlessly for his integrity and honesty, readily agreeing that waiting half a year for the two to get acquainted before finalizing the marriage was a fine idea.

Since the Gu family’s sincerity had already been made clear, he was more than happy that the Qin family appreciated the gesture.

Rural houses lacked good soundproofing, so Gu Wan heard the entire conversation from her room, letting out a quiet sigh of relief.

She was terrified of Qin Zhijun—not just because of her body’s embarrassing reactions, but also out of fear of the unknown.

That night, she managed to fall asleep earlier than usual, but it led into a strange, dreamlike state.

It was an ancient realm where immortals, demons, gods, and spirits coexisted. The fox clan was divided into two factions: the divine lineage in the Celestial Realm and the demon lineage in Qingqiu.

Fox maidens were deeply affectionate. Those who ventured out from Qingqiu to experience the world fell in love with mortals, bound themselves to cultivators, and one ancestress who reached eighty thousand years of age even pursued a Buddhist cultivator for forty thousand years.

These legendary tales flashed through her dream like fleeting memories. Then, she saw the offspring born from the union of the fox clan with humans, cultivators, and other demon tribes. Unaccepted by the fox clan and shunned by other races, they were known as half-demons.

As the ages progressed into the medieval and modern eras, spiritual energy gradually dried up. The ancient deities vanished, and the demon, devil, and immortal races left this realm in search of other planes suitable for cultivation.

The descendants born of the fox clan and other races saw their bloodlines dilute with every passing generation, making half-demons increasingly rare.

A few born with monstrous forms were directly abandoned or slain. Others were born looking no different from ordinary humans, but as they aged, the demon bloodline within them awakened, bringing strange physical anomalies.

Upon awakening the demon bloodline, a faint, light-red fox birthmark identical to the one on Gu Wan would appear. As the bloodline grew stronger, the birthmark would darken. At the highest level of awakening known in the heritage, the birthmark would turn blood-red before shrinking into a vivid red mole.

In ancient times, those with high awakening levels could cultivate to become immortals or powerful demons. After the exhaustion of spiritual veins, those with high awakening retained the natural talents of the fox clan while maintaining human form.

However, those with low awakening levels or failed awakenings suffered terrible fates: some had human bodies with fox heads, others fox bodies with human faces; some grew fox tails and ears, while others turned into low-level beasts craving human blood and hearts. Neither human nor demon, nor ghost—they became terrifying monstrosities.

Gu Wan awoke from the dream drenched in cold sweat, her heavy gasps ringing loudly in the dark.

In her mind’s eye, she could still see that monster with a human body and a fox face, tearing at half a heart, its sharp fangs dripping with blood.

She curled into a ball, burying her face in her hands as her teeth chattering uncontrollably.

In the dark, that terrifying creature felt as if it were standing right beside her—or as if she herself would turn into such a monster in the next moment.

Her nerves were stretched to the limit, gripped by a primal fear. The darkness felt full of unseen hands ready to drag her into the abyss.

She didn’t dare move, cry, or open her eyes.

After what felt like a fleeting moment—or perhaps an eternity—the tension in Gu Wan’s mind snapped. She frantically reached out and tugged the light cord hanging by the headboard.

Click.

The light switched on.

The imagined horrors receded. This was her room. There were no demons, no foxes, and no half-human monsters.

Gu Wan buried her head in her knees, sobbing quietly.

After a while, as if remembering something, she sat up and pulled down the loose white undershirt she wore to sleep. She hadn’t wrapped her chest in cloth tonight, exposing the faint, cherry-pink fox birthmark over her left breast.

Previously terrified whenever she thought the color had darkened, Gu Wan now desperately wished the mark would instantly turn into a striking blood-red.

She didn’t want a failed awakening. She didn’t want to become a monster.

Releasing her shirt, she sat hugging her knees beneath the thin quilt. Though the dream had been brief, a flood of scattered ancestral memories had been dumped into her mind. As she carefully sorted through them with half-lidded eyes, a sudden realization struck her, making her eyes snap wide open.

The cultivators favored by fox spirits almost always possessed extraordinary talent. Even fox spirits in the mortal realm sought partners with spiritual roots or special physiques.

Gu Wan’s fingertips trembled slightly. Could Qin Zhijun… be one of those people?

Last time she fell on him, the color of her birthmark seemed to have changed ever so slightly when she got back. But she couldn’t be entirely sure.

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