After listening, Su Cha actually gave it some serious thought before finally saying, “No rush. Revealing the truth is actually the least important part.”
That final straw should only be placed on the camel’s back at the very last moment.
He turned the TV back on and replayed yesterday’s evening news.
Watching the formally dressed news anchor, Su Cha felt a strange sense of time’s passage—when he’d left this world, it was still mostly devoid of advanced technology.
“The election for the new director of the Demon Realm Administration is currently underway. Unlike previous years, one of the top contenders, the Flower Demon Clan’s leader, is advocating for peaceful coexistence between humans and demons, proposing to abolish territorial boundaries. This proposal has stirred heated public debate, with violent clashes breaking out between supporters and opponents during protests…”
With every word the anchor spoke, the amusement in Su Cha’s eyes deepened.
What a noble idea—no more territorial boundaries.
Humans who could deal with demons were still in the minority. Even with a slew of strict laws in place, such a policy would inevitably lead to bloodshed.
The news showed a few clips. Opponents had plenty of reasons; supporters, on the other hand, were spouting flowery talk about love and peace, citing several examples. In recent years, some humans and demons had broken through societal barriers and successfully been together, even appearing in documentaries.
Demon clans were naturally good-looking, with a commanding presence. When they softened up, they became even more alluring—fueling the fantasy of many young people who dreamed of starring in their own love stories.
And coupling with a demon often came with perks—rare resources, longer lifespan… A swirl of romanticized dreams had sucked supporters into false expectations.
Ji Tianjin’s gaze lingered on the screen, focused on one of the candidates. “Is it him?”
Su Yeling shared some facial features with Su Cha, though his eyes deliberately projected a cold, detached air. The moment the photo appeared, Su Cha unconsciously started giving off killing intent.
“That’s him,” Su Cha nodded with a cold sneer. “Actually clawed his way to clan leader.”
He gave a brief explanation: “The Flower Demon Clan is split into the main bloodline and the branch families. The main line mostly descends from camellias, while the branches are more mixed. He and I are both from the main line.”
A few simple words also revealed his own identity.
But Ji Tianjin’s curiosity, as always, veered in an unexpected direction. Instead of asking about the Flower Demons, he asked, “Isn’t your true form from the magnolia family?”
“Spirit form and physical form aren’t the same.” Su Cha gave a wry chuckle.
His soul had suffered too much, and subconsciously, he wanted nothing more to do with the Flower Demon Clan beyond revenge—so he instinctively rejected the camellia. As a result, his spiritual form had never taken on its intended shape.
Still, the lotus-magnolia was different from ordinary spirit forms. Its thinking was far more independent. The fact that it could speak but chose to play dumb was proof enough.
Su Cha tried linking the hotel’s Wi-Fi with his communicator. It worked. He shrugged. “Saved me the cost of a phone.”
Su Yeling was someone who always liked to take the initiative. No doubt he’d be making his move soon.
Su Cha browsed the net, searching his own name. As expected, the Flower Demon Clan had issued a bounty notice. The string of zeros was eye-catching, and that wasn’t even the full reward—there was a whole list of rare spiritual treasures included as well.
Su Cha commented with meaning, “Looks like the Flower Demon Clan has more money than they know what to do with.”
After a pause, he added, “I should help them spend it.”
…
Completely unaware that someone had crossed billions of light-years just to stand beneath the same sky again, Su Yeling underestimated the rage Su Cha had been suppressing all this time. Used to being above others, in his mind Su Cha would always be a pitiful weakling.
Small, and useless.
Even if he’d grown thorns, he could still be crushed barehanded.
“Su Cha escaped. They say he has a helper and a divine beast with him.” The elder frowned, regretting not finishing the job back then. The harsh punishment they had administered was meant to appease the clan, but they hadn’t expected it would come back to haunt them like this.
“Pick a suitable venue,” Su Yeling said after a pause, thinking back to Su Cha’s last appearance on Pingxu Mountain. “Let’s do it in Tang City. I’m holding a charity auction there at the end of the month.”
The elder was momentarily thrown off by the abrupt topic shift. “An auction?”
“The highlight item will be a demon bead.”
The elder froze for a moment, then understood. “Su Cha’s demon bead?”
Su Yeling elegantly lifted his teacup. “Humans have always been fascinated by demon beads. Demons, too, can absorb the energy in them to grow stronger. I imagine there’ll be plenty of interest.”
After sipping his tea, he added, “Some of the auction proceeds can go to a few human politicians to strengthen ties. The rest we donate. Don’t we have media people on our side? Let them spin the story—it’ll help with my election campaign.”
If Su Cha took the bait and showed up, they could trap and eliminate him. If not, at least it would be a psychological blow. For cultivators, their inner resolve was easily shaken.
The elder applauded three times in a row. “Brilliant plans. I’ll get on it right away.”
He handled these kinds of things with ease. To improve their image among humans, the Flower Demon Clan had even launched an official website where they regularly posted cute photos. Plant-based demons were generally viewed as gentle and peaceful, so they had quite a human fanbase.
The elder first sent out invites to some familiar allies, then posted about the auction on the site. The news was immediately reposted by a wave of fans. Seeing the traffic, the elder nodded in satisfaction.
If Su Cha was even slightly tuned in to clan affairs, word of the auction would definitely reach him soon.
…
In reality, Su Cha learned of it even earlier than the elder expected.
He’d spent the second half of the night combing through intelligence on the Flower Demon Clan’s current territory. There was no way he’d miss that phony official website.
Ji Tianjin had gone out for supplies. When he returned, he made Su Cha some honey water to help with the hangover and happened to see the communicator’s screen.
“They’re trying to lure me out with a demon bead,” Su Cha said with a lazy smile, clicking his tongue at the screen. “Being born human—I apologize.”
Honestly, the demon bead didn’t mean much to him anymore.
Ji Tianjin, however, couldn’t smile at all.
It wasn’t hard to figure out that the auctioned item was Su Cha’s demon bead. He might not know everything about demons, but one thing was clear: someone had ripped that bead out of him while he was still alive.
And now that person was sitting on the bed, smiling while scrolling on his phone. Ji Tianjin stared at him in silence for a long moment, then finally sighed. He reached out and gently pressed Su Cha’s head against his waist.
“If you’re not okay, just cry.”
Even through the shirt, he could feel Su Cha’s body heat. Su Cha stiffened slightly, the smile on his lips fading. In the end, he just closed his eyes and said, “I’m okay. It’s all in the past.”
Not long after, he returned to his usual carefree demeanor. “Since they want to hold an auction,” Su Cha said with a smirk, “I’ll make sure it’s one they’ll never forget.”
He voiced a bold idea: “I want to pay a visit to the Flower Demon Clan’s treasure vault.”
“…Don’t you think it’ll be exciting for them to watch someone dumping clan treasures like they’re worthless?”
Unlike humans, demons had different living habits—most preferred to live in mountains.
These locations weren’t exactly secret. A quick search could tell you which factions were settled where. Human textbooks even listed them in case someone accidentally wandered into the wrong place.
The Flower Demon Clan’s territory was located in a region called Danhe Realm, beautiful and vast.
That part hadn’t changed since the old days—they had never migrated. Su Cha figured the treasure vault hadn’t been moved either; after all, the ancestral formation that guarded it couldn’t exactly be relocated, and it guaranteed security.
“Back then, a friend helped me out and dug a secret tunnel. I don’t know if it’s still there, but it’s worth checking.”
Even if it wasn’t, he could rely on the Fog Star people’s spatial talent to bypass most of the barriers.
Ji Tianjin listened seriously, then pulled out something the size of a fingernail. “No need to go through all that.”
Su Cha leaned in for a look. “What’s that?”
“A space folder,” Ji Tianjin replied. “After Shen Ningze died, you inherited his sticker packs. I inherited this.”
“……” Su Cha had indeed gone through a phase of spamming Shen Ningze’s starry-eyed emojis, but it was just for fun. He held back from blurting out “What the h*ll” and instead asked, “How did you even get this?”
“Instructor Li gave it to me. That night, after everything happened, I had my dad make a call. Later, Instructor Li publicly announced the device was destroyed—but he actually passed it to me.”
Ji Tianjin said calmly, “I never asked how my dad convinced him.”
He’d been too busy swiping his card to buy Su Cha a spaceship.
“You really are…”
A model son.
Ji Tianjin reminded him not to get too reliant. “The space folder is unstable—better to use it sparingly.”
Su Cha nodded and promised to be cautious.
They were both action-oriented types. The auction was at the end of the month—whatever they planned had to happen before then. Su Cha decided to head to the Flower Demon Clan’s territory that very night.
Without IDs, they had to check out of the hotel and hire an unlicensed car to Danhe Realm.
After nearly two full days on the road, Su Cha felt like his bones had fused to the seat.
Seeing his dead-eyed expression, Ji Tianjin chuckled. “Try to get some sleep.”
Su Cha shut his eyes, head swaying with the bumps, eventually nodding off and collapsing onto Ji Tianjin’s shoulder.
By noon on the third day, the driver’s “We’re here” sounded like divine music. Su Cha sat up and looked out the window. The sky was overcast and the streets felt eerily lifeless.
Danhe Realm was in Dahe Province.
The driver didn’t dare go any further. He took the fare and quickly left.
Cities bordering demon territories were sparsely populated. Those who roamed freely here tended to be capable. Since it was still daylight—not ideal for shady work—Ji Tianjin found a homestay so they could rest and wait for nightfall.
Su Cha took a quick shower and felt almost fully recharged.
When he came out, he saw Ji Tianjin sitting on the floor assembling components. Midway through drying his hair, he stopped in surprise. “A sniper?”
Ji Tianjin had stashed quite a few weapons inside the space folder, and it seemed he thought the current one lacked enough firepower—so he was upgrading it.
It was a heavy-duty sniper rifle, large-caliber, with devastating potential.
After assembling it, he laid on the ground and chambered a round with a crisp click, aiming at a table leg nearby. But he didn’t pull the trigger—seemed like he was just getting a feel for it.
After a while, he stood up and stowed the weapon. “We’ll split up. You handle the vault. I’ll take care of the rest.”
That’s when Su Cha finally realized—when Ji Tianjin said “casually kill someone,” he really meant it.
“Killing demons isn’t easy,” Su Cha pointed out. “That elder has hundreds of years of cultivation. One sniper shot won’t take him down.”
“It’s fine,” Ji Tianjin brushed some dust off his sleeve. “I know what I’m doing.”
He paused, then changed the subject. “It’s a shame—you’re just too softhearted.”
Su Cha was baffled by the sudden comment. “I’m no saint.”
“Then give me some time,” Ji Tianjin looked at him steadily. “Give me some time—I’ll build a missile.”
“……”
Su Cha opened his mouth but couldn’t say anything for a long while. Finally, he choked out: “I don’t think this world is lacking missile tech. The demon clans probably have countermeasures.”
“Missile defense systems need time and distance to work,” Ji Tianjin said. “Use the space folder right, and they won’t even have time to react.”
Shen Ningze had used a similar tactic effectively—until the system had intervened. Still, Su Cha shook his head. He knew every Flower Demon Clan member was now trying to kill him, but most were just following the clan leader’s orders. Unless they came directly at him, he couldn’t bring himself to retaliate indiscriminately.
Ji Tianjin seemed to know his answer already. “That’s why I said you’re too soft. Even after being hurt, you still want to protect them.”
Su Cha forced a smile. You really are a logic genius.
