Married the Second Generation Fox Demon with a Baby in a Flash Marriage - Chapter 52

“It’s Grandpa. Why did Sister go into the car, and why are all the windows closed? There’s even a spiritual shield isolating the car! And it’s driving so fast!” Hu Mengmeng watched Ye Xinyu enter the vehicle with growing concern. She had an uneasy feeling in her gut.

“Probably just business to discuss. Don’t worry about it. Xinyu has her own ride now; let’s head back. Without Xinyu here, the two of us are a bit out of our depth,” Gu Yiying said. She had been afraid of Ye Shoutian since she was a child. He was an “ice block” even colder than Ye Xinyu, and he rarely spoke.

“This is bad!” Hu Mengmeng listened to Gu Yiying, paused for a moment, and suddenly slapped her own forehead.

“What’s bad? What could possibly be bad about Xinyu being with her own grandfather?” Gu Yiying frowned.

“We came here to catch Hu Qingqing. If Grandpa came here, was it also to catch her? Has she already been captured by him?!” Hu Mengmeng murmured.

“Tsk, surely not? The old man has been in a state of retirement ever since his leg injury. Can he still move well enough to catch Hu Qingqing? Even if he did, that wouldn’t exactly be a ‘bad’ thing, would it?”

“It’s bad, very bad! Miss Gu, please, help me chase Sister’s car!” Hu Mengmeng said urgently.

That bad feeling from earlier forced Hu Mengmeng to think deeper. She remembered that when she was stunned by Lin Yuanya, her consciousness had been hazy. She had heard Ye Xinyu’s voice calling her to wake up, but she had also heard Hu Qingqing’s voice. Hu Qingqing had been saying things like “hybrid half-demon” and “extremely nourishing.” It was only after hearing Ye Xinyu’s voice that she had struggled to wake up.

Hu Qingqing had physical contact with Ye Xinyu; she likely knew Ye Xinyu was pregnant! If Grandpa Ye caught Hu Qingqing, there was a high chance he now knew about the pregnancy too.

Ye Xinyu had kept it a secret because she feared her grandfather wouldn’t be able to accept it, so she hadn’t told him yet. If Grandpa Ye truly knew, he would be absolutely furious.

“Hey, what’s the rush? It’s not like anything is going to happen to Xinyu!” Gu Yiying complained.

“Sister Gu, I beg of you! Please!” Hu Mengmeng pleaded.

“Fine, fine. What a pain,” Gu Yiying muttered, but she accelerated to chase the car carrying Ye Xinyu.

Inside the car where Ye Xinyu and Ye Shoutian sat, the driver sped forward. The atmosphere in the cabin was suffocatingly heavy.

Ye Shoutian sat upright in his seat. Beside him was a massive tortoise, appearing as though it were asleep, lying there motionless.

Ye Xinyu touched the cheek where Ye Shoutian had struck her. Her grandfather was in poor health, and although he had struck her with force, it didn’t hurt much physically. However, it made Ye Xinyu’s heart sink into an abyss.

“Grandpa, you already know. Please don’t be angry; it’s bad for your health,” Ye Xinyu said. Her expression shifted as her gaze cooled, speaking to the furious old man with a haunting calmness.

“So, you’ve learned how to lie to me now. You found a little girl to hoodwink me. Tell me, who is that fox demon? Even if I have to exhaust these old bones, I will hack it to pieces,” Ye Shoutian said coldly.

“Grandpa, it was an accident. I don’t know who it was. I didn’t want to hide it from you; I just didn’t know how to tell you,” Ye Xinyu said, her voice dropping an octave.

“You don’t know who it was? And yet you’re still protecting that demon?! Still lying to me! Have all the years I spent teaching you been in vain?! Demons are sinister, baleful, and evil—their nature is immutable! Did your father, your mother, and your aunt all die for nothing?” Angered, Ye Shoutian raised his hand to strike her again, but seeing the look in her eyes, he ultimately couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“Grandpa, I have never forgotten what you taught me. But demons, like people, are divided into good and bad,” Ye Xinyu said, her voice choking up.

How could she not know the tragedy of her relatives’ deaths? Those stories had been carved into her very bones by Ye Shoutian. Through years of bitter training, she had gone from a girl who showed mercy to ants to someone who had slain countless demons—almost every one of them killed out of that inherited hatred.

The only exception was the little fox she met when she was a child.

“Have you actually developed feelings for it? How tragic! For dozens of generations, the Ye family has hunted demons, and now it ends with you having a child with one. You won’t speak, fine. A six-tailed fox… I don’t believe I won’t be able to find it. My old bones and your Grandpa Turtle will risk our lives to kill it!”

“Grandpa, don’t. She’s a good demon. She’s never done anything wrong,” Ye Xinyu pleaded.

Ye Shoutian hadn’t recognized Hu Mengmeng as the fox yet. Ye Xinyu didn’t know if she should reveal that secret; she feared that the moment she did, her grandfather would move to kill Hu Mengmeng instantly. Her grandfather’s health was poor, and he hadn’t used techniques in a long time. But if he truly chose to risk his life, Ye Xinyu sensed he would be stronger than Hu Mengmeng.

His contracted demon, that tortoise, was a demon of a higher rank than even Hu Mengmeng. It had lived for so long that even the creature itself didn’t know its own age.

“Never done anything wrong? How do you know? The greatest sin it committed was leaving you with this ‘vile seed’ and bewitching you! You won’t reveal its location? Then come back with me. Abort the child, recover your health, clear your mind, and then kill that fox with your own hands. Then you will still be my granddaughter and the next Sect Leader of the Sword Gate,” Ye Shoutian declared.

“Grandpa, the child is innocent. She carries the demon bloodline, but she also carries the blood of the Ye family!” Ye Xinyu said quickly, her eyes full of entreaty.

She had always known he wouldn’t accept this, but she hadn’t expected him to be so adamant about her terminating the pregnancy immediately.

“Demon blood is a stain, born with baleful energy. It will only grow into a demonic scourge!” Ye Shoutian said hatefully.

“Grandpa, please, don’t. I beg of you. Think about it—this child is also your relative,” Ye Xinyu’s voice trembled.

“Do you want the Ye family, or this vile seed?” Ye Shoutian’s veins bulged on the hand gripping the armrest, and strands of black energy flickered around him.

Seeing that her grandfather would not yield an inch, Ye Xinyu felt as though her heart were being pierced by a thousand needles. She had never been in such a difficult position. Her grandfather was her only living relative, the one who raised her. Yet the little life in her belly and Hu Mengmeng, though they hadn’t been together long, were already her dearest kin.

She truly understood the meaning of a “dilemma” now.

“Grandpa, since I have protected this child until now, I will not abort it. You can punish me however you wish, but I will live or die with this child.” Ye Xinyu looked at him with steady eyes, though her face was filled with sorrow.

“You!” Ye Shoutian’s rage flared again. His mouth twitched, and the black energy intensified until he began to convulse in his seat, a trickle of black blood escaping the corner of his mouth.

“Grandpa! Grandpa, what’s happening?!” Ye Xinyu gasped in terror. she quickly channeled a stream of golden spiritual energy into his body.

Black markings appeared on Ye Shoutian’s skin, as if the blood in his veins had turned black. These patterns spread across the back of his hands and up his neck. Despite Ye Xinyu’s golden energy, he collapsed into unconsciousness.

Ye Xinyu’s tears fell, consumed by guilt. If she hadn’t angered him, this wouldn’t have happened. Her grandfather had been poisoned long ago; the toxin was incurable and had been suppressed in his legs, which was why he couldn’t walk. Now, she could feel the poison spreading up from his legs.

“Little Ye…” Amidst her panic, she heard a raspy, aged voice.

“Grandpa Turtle!” Ye Xinyu looked at the tortoise, which had finally moved.

This tortoise was mysterious. Ye Xinyu rarely heard it speak, and she had never seen it take a human form. It was always slow in movement and slow in speech. When she was a child, it would let her ride on its back, but because it spent most of its time sleeping, she hadn’t interacted with it much. Still, she cared for it deeply.

“Grandpa Turtle, what should I do? Can you help Grandpa?”

“His body is failing. The poison is spreading; he is not far from death. We must protect his heart first; that can buy him a few more days.” The tortoise shook its head. It extended a front claw, and a stream of black energy flowed into Ye Shoutian.

As the tortoise infused the black energy, it seemed more effective than Ye Xinyu’s golden light. His convulsions stopped, and he settled into a deep, coma-like sleep.

“How can this be? The Taoist doctor said before that as long as he didn’t use techniques, he still had several years,” Ye Xinyu choked out.

“He only said that. Do you think your grandfather was comfortable leaving you to handle the Ye family alone? He stayed vigilant for any Great Demons entering Fengcheng. This time, when the Shuo Rat—the contracted demon of the Ou family—arrived with centuries of cultivation, he couldn’t sit by. He wanted to intimidate the Ou family, so he came. The Shuo Rat was powerful and escaped; it likely won’t return soon. But your grandfather’s body failed because of the effort,” the tortoise explained.

“Grandpa…” Ye Xinyu’s heart grew heavier.

He had always been strict. From a young age, he required her to hunt demons alone. Thinking back, the demons she hunted were always perfectly matched to her level. Most demons in Fengcheng were ones she could handle. Only Hu Mengmeng, the half-demon, had been an exception.

She realized now that all these years, her grandfather hadn’t been the cold, indifferent man he appeared to be. He hadn’t simply left her to be a “one-woman army.” He had been protecting her all along. Even knowing that using his power would unleash the poison, he had done it anyway.

Tears blurred her vision, and the emotional turmoil caused the little one in her belly to stir.

“Little Ye, are you still stubbornly insisting on keeping that child?” The tortoise looked at her, its wrinkled eyelids opening to reveal a swirl of black energy within.

“Grandpa Turtle, I… it’s my child. How can I hurt it?” Ye Xinyu said in agony.

“Little Ye, the baleful energy of a demon is more dangerous than you think. Look at me now; you cannot begin to guess my thoughts. Deep down, I have an overwhelming urge to devour you—and the half-demon in your womb. Do you know what a hybrid fetus represents to a demon? For an old demon like me whose years are numbered, refining one could advance my cultivation and extend my life. I have been influenced by your grandfather for decades, and most of my malice was suppressed by him. But the darkness in my heart remains. I do not want to die with him,” the tortoise spoke slowly, its voice calm but piercing.

“Grandpa Turtle, you…” Ye Xinyu gasped, immediately becoming defensive.

“If my cultivation advances, I could naturally cure your grandfather’s poison. It is only an unformed infant; is it worth losing your grandfather over? Do you want to save this child and let your grandfather die, or abort it and give it to me?”

The aged voice continued, steady and emotionless, but every word was a strike to her heart.