2026-08-08 04:30:33While leaning against the tree, the girl tried to prop herself up, her eyes never leaving An Mo’s faintly glowing figure on the ground several meters ahead of her.
She slowly recovered from the shock of what had just happened, but none of that diminished the greed in her heart. However, her gaze now held a hint of suspicion as she stared at this strange creature in front of her.
‘What species of Demonic Beast is this? None of the books I’ve read ever mentioned such a beast living in the Demonic Realm. No, rather, I’ve seen tortoise Demonic Beasts, but none with such bizarre abilities. It even seems like the beasts in this great forest were avoiding it. But why is that? Judging from its aura, its cultivation should only be in the early stages of the Foundation Establishment Realm. How strange…’
After a moment of thought, the girl pushed all the questions to the back of her mind. Looking at the vigilant creature in front of it, she gave a sweet smile before softly saying.
“It seems I was impolite. My name is Xai Lin. Do you have a name?”
An Mo paused upon hearing that.
Staring at the girl’s face, which seemed to become even more beautiful with her smile, he became even more cautious. However, he still chose to introduce himself. After all, he was just too curious.
“My name is An Mo. Who are you? Are you human? Where did you come from? How did you come here? Why do you have such a strange appearance? Could you actually be a Spirit fox trying to fool me? Heh, let me tell you, I won’t be fooled by your despicable schemes again!”
An Mo’s reasonable questions suddenly shifted into a strange territory as memories of past events popped into his mind.
But that was just how he was, jumping from one thing to another, following his thoughts and heart in the truest sense. However, this made him seem somewhat scatterbrained to others.
“I…”
Xai Lin was momentarily at a loss for how to respond to An Mo’s rapid-fire questions.
However, An Mo didn’t wait for her to respond as he repeated one of his questions.
“Hey, why is your appearance so strange?”
It was obvious this question was what puzzled him the most.
At this point in their meeting, Xai Lin felt like she had stumbled upon something extremely troublesome for some inexplicable reason.
Looking at the creature who was staring at her in confusion, she ignored the faint headache that was coming on and responded while climbing up from the ground.
“I’m not sure what you mean. Have you never seen a human before?”
“No, I have not.”
As if his previous cautiousness had never happened, An Mo swaddled forward to stop in front of Xai Lin.
Xai Lin used the back of her hand to wipe away the blood at the corner of her mouth. Then, looking down at the suddenly friendly creature at her feet, she rubbed her still aching chest and said somewhat sarcastically.
“Oh, is that so. Then you should be grateful since my appearance can be considered exceptional in the Human Realm. So, for the first human you laid eyes on to be me, it can be considered a blessing of a lifetime for you.”
An Mo snorted upon hearing this claim and immediately retorted.
“I may have never seen a human before, and I admit your appearance is even more remarkable than those spirit foxes, but such an appearance does not match your soul at all.”
Xai Lin, who was brushing off the dirt on her clothes, snapped her head toward An Mo while her pupils constricted in shock.
She took several unsteady steps back and stared at An Mo with slightly wide eyes as she asked.
“W-What are you talking about?”
An Mo was confused by Xai Lin's exaggerated reaction, but he honestly answered.
“As I said, your appearance doesn’t match your soul!”
After saying that, An Mo’s eyes focused on Xai Lin. At the same time, starting from the edge of his eyes, his body began to transform. The leather-like skin of a tortoise and black shell was replaced by pitch-black feathers, a pair of wings, and three crow feet.
The only resemblance to his previous appearance of a tortoise was those golden eyes. However, perhaps because he transformed into the original form those golden eyes belong to, those eyes now glowed with an even brighter luster of gold.
The transformation took time to describe, but the process happened within the blink of an eye.
Now that he had transformed into his crow form, those golden eyes’ ability to see through falsehood and the essence of nature carefully examined Xai Lin’s soul.
Before Xai Lin could even be shocked by An Mo’s sudden transformation, his voice, which sounded so casual, entered her ear like a demon’s whisper.
“See! I wasn’t mistaken! Your soul is that of a boy, but you have the appearance of a girl. Isn’t that strange? Or is this perhaps common in the Human Realm?”
An Mo’s crow head tilted to the side as he looked up at Xai Lin.
Meanwhile, Xai Lin’s face had turned ashen as he met those eerie golden eyes.
An Mo didn’t seem to realize Xai Lin’s abnormality, or perhaps he saw it but simply ignored it.
“Also, your soul seems even stranger. It’s older than your body… Oh my god, could you be some old monster that took over this body?! Wait, no, that’s not it either!”
An Mo’s golden eyes flickered; meanwhile, Xai Lin had already closed his eyes, as if closing his eyes could block An Mo’s voice. Unfortunately, this guy’s voice continued to spill his secrets.
“Ah, so that’s it!”
An Mo cried out in realization.
Xai Lin couldn’t take it anymore and lunged at him to shut him up, but An Mo reacted instantly. With a flap of his wings, he distanced himself from Xai Lin.
Missing his target, Xai Lin fell face-first on the ground.
Meanwhile, An Mo flapped his wings to stabilize himself in the air before looking down at Xai Lin and continuing where he left off.
“If I’m not mistaken, that soul of yours should only be a few years older than that body, which means you’re not some old monster. Also, there’s no rejection or dissonance between your soul and body, so your soul has been in that body from the very beginning of its conception. In conclusion your… uh…”
An Mo, upon reaching here, paused, and the joy he was feeling of satisfying his curiosity abruptly came to a stop.
“Eh? What exactly does this mean? Strange… This is so strange.”
An Mo flapped his wings and started circling around Xai Lin, who remained unmoving on the ground.
“How strange… truly strange…”
His muttering entered Xai Lin’s ears, causing his fists to clench a handful of dirt.
To think the secret of his soul had been discovered so easily by this strange thing.
Xai Lin lifted his head from the ground to glance at An Mo circling above his head.
‘Just what is this thing? How can he have the bloodline of a three-legged Divine Crow? And now that I think about it, isn’t his tortoise appearance that of a Divine Tortoise from legends? Heh, heh-heh…’
Xai Lin chuckled sinisterly in his mind.
‘So what if he figured out my soul is reincarnated into this body? Now that he’s appeared before me, such treasured bloodlines should naturally be taken to be used by me… Heh-heh-heh…’
Xai Lin quickly regained his composure, and that intense greed reappeared in his eyes, as he quietly watched An Mo’s noisy figure fluttering about in the air.
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Chapter 54- Hand-In-Hand in the Future
After the three youths left the hot-spring room, they headed back to Su Jin’s room first.In the changing room, An Mo had insisted that Su Jin leave half soaked with only a towel covering him. It wasn’t until he reached his room that Su Jin found out why.After asking him to take out a change of clothes from his storage bracelet, An Mo placed the towel he had brought from the changing room over Su Jin’s head and began rubbing his hair dry.“B-Big brother An Mo, I can do it myself.”Su Jin managed to say, but his voice was slightly muffled from An Mo using the edge of the towel to wipe his face.“Nonsense! As a fa-cough-cough… I mean, as an older brother, can’t I help my little brother with such a simple matter?”Upon hearing An Mo’s tongue slip, Su Jin’s already red face turned even redder. Now with solid evidence, he had confirmed that An Mo was truly treating him like a son.However, judging by An Mo’s current actions, it seemed as if he wanted to reverse time to when Su Jin was a b
Chapter 53- Marriage and Children
“Xai-xai, when you said we’ll get married, I felt extremely happy. But after thinking about what that meant to you humans, and hearing you say that we might even have children in the future. I suddenly realize that I might not have seriously thought about our relationship. I—”An Mo choked up for a moment, but he managed to finish his sentence after a moment.“—I just think I might not be all that great. After all, I’ve only been thinking about myself and how exciting it will be to travel the Human Realm with you, while you’re thinking about serious stuff like getting married and spending a lifetime with me. Compared to you… I feel a bit childish, is all.”After saying that, An Mo lowered his head dejectedly, not daring to look at Xai Lin.Having silently listened to An Mo’s explanation, Xai Lin realized she might have frightened this usually childish brat with real world responsibilities.Xai Lin couldn’t help but let out an amused chuckle. Then, before An Mo could react, she got up
Chapter 52- Sudden Worries
Su Jin was conflicted, but it was only for a brief moment. After all, he had always wanted to be pampered by his family, so such an outcome was a happy event. However, he did feel it was inexplicable that he had suddenly gained another mother and father.Speaking of his mother and father, he should probably send another message to them to let them know he was safe.Meanwhile, Su Jin was changing, An Mo, who had turned his head away, turn back slightly and peeked at him.After fulfilling his curiosity with that single glance, An Mo looked away contentedly.After taking off his clothes, Su Jin took the towel from An Mo, and after wrapping it around his waist haphazardly, he pulled An Mo towards the nearest room.“Xai-xai, take your time changing. Little Jin and I, will go in first.”An Mo managed to say before he was dragged into the room by Su Jin.Xai Lin smiled before she took her time changing her clothes.With a larger towel wrapped around her chest, all the way down to just above
Chapter 51- Belated Realization
After reaching the hot spring, An Mo rushed in while dragging Su Jin with him.“Come on Little Jin, let’s see what this hot spring is like!... Eh?”However, what came into An Mo’s sight was not a hot spring but a slightly spacious area. On the left wall of this area was a shelf that was divided into grid-like spaces, while directly opposite it were doorways that were covered with silk-like white curtains.“This is…?”An Mo looked around at the shelf and the curtains with a bit of confusion. He was wondering why instead of a hot spring here, it was this strange room. Could Xai Lin had led them to the wrong room by accident?Just when An Mo wanted to turn around and asked Xai Lin who had just entered, Su Jin noticed his confusion and spoke up.“Big Brother An Mo, this is just the changing room. I think the curtains there lead to the hot spring.”“Changing room?”An Mo muttered in bewilderment, as he was suddenly led to the shelf by a somewhat impatient Su Jin.Reaching the shelf, An Mo
Chapter 50- A Family of Three
Su Jin obediently parted his lips and ate the medicinal pill.After watching Su Jin swallow the pill, An Mo place his palm on his back to help him absorb it a bit faster.Under the effects of the medicinal pill, Su Jin felt the persistent migraine he had been feeling slowly disappear. The ache in the back of neck also faded away, allowing him to stand straight from his slouched posture.An Mo observed Su Jin’s pale complexion recovered to a normal color; however, the dark circles were still under his eyes and would take a while to disappear.Frowning, An Mo asked.“How are you now? Are you feeling better?”Su Jin looked up at An Mo, and even though the other person was frowning, he could still detect the relief in his eyes.Su Jin didn’t know why, but his eyes became a little moist. He hurriedly lowered his head to hide the fact that he was about to cry. However, his slightly choked up voice had already given him away.“I—I’m better now. Thank you Elder Brother An Mo, and Elder Sister
Chapter 49- More Intimidating than an Older Brother
Thud!An audible sound echoed from behind the bedroom door, which sounded like something falling to the ground.After a moment, An Mo and Xai Lin heard chaotic sounds of things falling on the ground, followed by a hoarse voice.“Co-Coming!”Not long after, the sliding door was slid open revealing Su Jin’s figure. He was shirtless, only wearing a white undergarment below. Standing at the doorway, he was slightly hunched over with his dishevel hair sticking out in several directions. His eyes were extremely bloodshot as well, and dark circles were prominent under his eyes. Set against his pale face, he looked like a corpse that had just been resurrected.Xai Lin’s eyes couldn’t help but widen at the sight of Su Jin’s appearance, while An Mo’s brows furrowed.“Elder Sister Xai Lin, Elder Brother An Mo, is there something you need?”Su Jin dazedly asked upon seeing the two at his door.An Mo, who still had a frown on his face, open his mouth about to speak, but Su Jin seemed to have remem
