Chapter 13: The Fractured Harem

I. The Saint's Gambit

The campfire crackled, its embers hissing like a living thing.

Lin Ya's golden eyes never left Xiao Chen's face, even as Xiao'er thrashed in his grip, its tiny claws drawing black blood from his demon-arm.

"Let me go, Daddy!" the child wailed, its voice splintering the air like breaking glass. "She's lying! She wants to hurt us!"

Leng Xueyi stepped forward, her black-veined frost serpent coiling around her shoulders. Her gaze flickered between Lin Ya and Xiao Chen, her lips pressed into a thin, bloodless line.

"If she's immune to the Fiend's corruption," Leng Xueyi said slowly, "then she's the only one who hasn't been altered."

Mei Ling giggled, her venom-dilated pupils swallowing the firelight. "Or she's just better at hiding it." She licked her lips, her fingers twitching toward the bone dagger at her hip. "Let me taste her, husband. I'll know if she's lying."

Xiao Chen ignored them, his focus locked on Lin Ya.

"Explain," he growled. "Now."

The Hollow Saint didn't flinch.

"The Fiend God is not one," she said, her voice soft but unyielding. "It is many. A thousand fragmented wills, each clawing for dominance. That child—" She nodded at Xiao'er, still writhing in Xiao Chen's grip. "—is just a vessel. A doorway for something older."

Xiao'er screeched, its body distorting, its bones elongating under its skin like writhing snakes.

"Daddy, please!"

Lin Ya took a step closer, her golden eyes burning. "It's using you, Xiao Chen. It feeds on your affection, your rage, your humanity—because that's what anchors it to this world."

A chill crawled down Xiao Chen's spine.

He remembered the way Xiao'er had clung to him after nightmares, the way it whispered secrets against his skin, the way it looked at him like he was the only thing that mattered.

Had it all been a lie?

The Heavenly Demon's laughter echoed in his skull, mocking and raw.

"OF COURSE IT WAS," it sneered. "YOU THINK A GOD NEEDS A FATHER? IT NEEDS A HOST."

Xiao Chen's grip tightened.

Xiao'er whimpered, its void-eyes filling with black tears.

"Daddy…"

II. The Harem's Divide

The camp erupted.

Leng Xueyi moved first, her frost serpent striking at Lin Ya—

—only for Shā to intercept, her blade-fingers locking around the serpent's throat.

"No," the assassin hissed. "We listen."

Luo Ying laughed, her crimson phoenix spreading its wings. "Since when do you give orders?"

Mei Ling darted forward, her venom-tipped nails aimed at Lin Ya's eyes—

—but High Priestess Lian caught her wrist, her brand pulsing violently.

"She speaks truth," Lian rasped, her voice layered with whispers. "The earth sings it."

Xiao Chen watched, his demon-arm throbbing, as his harem fractured before him.

Leng Xueyi and Luo Ying—wavering but still his.

Shā and Lian—drawn to Lin Ya's purity.

And Mei Ling—

She giggled, her black-veined eyes locking onto Xiao'er.

"I'll gut the little monster," she whispered. "Just say the word, husband."

Xiao'er shrieked, its body convulsing, its bones snapping and reforming.

"DADDY, HELP ME!"

III. The Heavenly Demon's Offer

Xiao Chen retreated into his inner space, the ruined temple now half-submerged in black water.

The Heavenly Demon waited, its blade-fingers tapping against its throne of skulls.

"YOU SEE NOW," it said, its voice echoing with the weight of dead worlds. "THE CHILD IS A WEAPON. AND IT IS AIMED AT YOU."

Xiao Chen clenched his fists. "Then why does it call me father?"

The Demon laughed, the sound like a landslide of bones.

"BECAUSE YOU BIRTHED IT," it sneered. "YOUR BLOOD OPENED THE DOOR. YOUR RAGE FILLED IT. YOU ARE BOTH ITS CREATOR AND ITS PREY."

It leaned forward, its horned visor inches from Xiao Chen's face.

"KILL IT," it whispered. "AND I WILL GIVE YOU EVERYTHING."

Xiao Chen closed his eyes.

"What's the price?"

The Demon's smile stretched, its teeth glinting like shattered mirrors.

"40%."

IV. The Choice

When Xiao Chen returned to the waking world, the camp was in ruins.

Leng Xueyi and Luo Ying stood back-to-back, their Genomes snarling at Shā and Lian.

Mei Ling crouched atop a boulder, her venom dripping onto the stones below, her gaze locked on Xiao'er.

And Lin Ya—

She stood between them all, her golden eyes burning, her hands raised in supplication.

"Xiao Chen," she said, her voice cutting through the chaos. "You must choose."

Xiao'er whimpered, its tiny fingers clutching his robes.

"Daddy…"

Xiao Chen looked down at the child—the thing—that had called him father.

He remembered the way it had curled against him in the dark, the way it had laughed at his jokes, the way it had looked at him like he was its entire world.

Had any of it been real?

The Heavenly Demon's voice slithered through his mind.

"DO YOU REALLY NEED TO ASK?"

Xiao Chen closed his eyes.

And made his choice.

Chapter 13 End