In the Demon Realm, at the border of the Qianchi Clan’s territory, there were no demonic cultivators truly loyal to the demons—nearly all had been wiped out by Lin Mo. Just like at the boundary between the Demon Realm and the Human Realm, Lin Mo had once again become the ‘Sword Demon’ feared by all demonic cultivators. Anyone who saw him would avoid him entirely. No one dared to provoke him again.

As the number one little brother by Lin Mo’s side in the Demon Realm, Mo Pao’er had truly begun to admire Lin Mo’s strength. But at the same time, he had many questions in his heart.
“Brother Mo, can I ask you a question?”
“Ask.”
“Brother Mo, you’re clearly this strong, so why do you act weak here just to take down stronger enemies…”
Mo Pao’er was truly curious. After following Lin Mo for so long, he too had noticed a few things. Lin Mo never killed others on his own initiative; he only ever killed those who actively came looking for trouble.

And the questions that concerned him all stemmed from this. He noticed that Lin Mo had always been deliberately showing weakness, even intentionally revealing his wealth. Even more so, after word of his deeds spread and everyone began avoiding him, he deliberately disguised himself to keep luring those demonic cultivators who sought to rob and kill. He still remembered that the first time he met Lin Mo, the other party asked him one particular question:
“Why were you able to recognize me?”
From this small detail, it was easy to see that everything Lin Mo did was intentional.

If Lin Mo simply hated demonic cultivators and wanted to kill them, wouldn’t he have just done it? Why go through so much trouble?
“What, you’ve got a problem with it?” Lin Mo looked at him. Did he really need to explain to his little brother that he was collecting Regret Points?
“No, no, no, how would I dare…”
Mo Pao’er shuddered all over, then forced a smile and said, “Let’s just say this lord has… unique tastes.”
Seeing the fearful looks from the surrounding demonic cultivators, Lin Mo knew there was no longer any point in staying at the border of the Qianchi Clan’s territory.
“Let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“Let’s go mess around at the borders of another demon clan.”
After hearing that, Mo Pao’er immediately took the lead.

The Qianchi Clan was closest to the Meiyan Clan, so upon arriving at the Meiyan Clan’s border, Lin Mo began harvesting Regret Points just like usual. A few days later, atop a pavilion, a pair of eyes was intently watching Lin Mo.
‘Maybe… he could help Mother…’
Meanwhile, Lin Mo had just finished dealing with a few Soul Splitting-stage cultivators who came to cause trouble.

These few people seemed to be well-known local tyrants in this part of the territory.
Mo Pao’er excitedly exclaimed beside him, “Brother Mo, you’re amazing!”
Lin Mo corrected him, “It’s not ‘amazing,’ it’s ‘too cool la’.”
Though he didn’t understand the meaning of the term, Mo Pao’er immediately repeated, “Brother Mo, too cool la.”
After that, he began, as usual, helping Lin Mo loot the corpses. He thought to himself excitedly: “Following Brother Mo is like eating a year’s worth in a single day.”

Lin Mo sensed someone rushing toward him from behind again and sneered, “There really are a lot of reckless demonic cultivators around here.”
He had been about to retract his Liuli Sword, but in an instant, it shifted into an attacking position.
Just as he was about to strike and decapitate the approaching figure, he glanced down—then froze.

The person was no taller than 1.3 meters, with jet-black hair cascading over her shoulders and skin as smooth as fine mutton fat jade. Her chubby cheeks made anyone feel like going up to give them a good pinch.

What was he seeing? A little girl?

The little girl also seemed frightened by Lin Mo’s sword and stood frozen for several seconds. Then, she suddenly rushed forward and tightly hugged Lin Mo, calling out in a childish voice, “Daddy!”

Lin Mo was so stunned he didn’t respond. Mo Pao’er looked at the girl, then at Lin Mo, and exclaimed in shock, “Brother Mo, you have a daughter?!”

Lin Mo hurriedly shook his head. “I don’t.”

At that moment, the little girl was still hugging him quietly. Without hesitation, Lin Mo grabbed the back of her collar and lifted her up. Looking her in the eye, he said helplessly, “Take a good look—I’m not your dad.”

“You are my daddy,” she insisted.

Her pitch-black eyes shimmered with a soft glow. A tall nose bridge and sweetly upturned lips adorned her face, along with a pair of faint rose-colored dimples. She looked adorable, but not particularly refined.

But based on her clothing and demeanor, Lin Mo could immediately tell she came from a wealthy or prestigious background. More surprisingly, her cultivation had already reached the Golden Core stage.

Her only flaw was that her brain didn’t seem to work quite right—she couldn’t even recognize her own father.

After gently setting her down, Lin Mo said, “You’ve got the wrong person. I’m not your dad.”

As he spoke, Lin Mo prepared to leave. But the little girl suddenly rushed up again, hugged him tightly once more, and this time her voice quivered with sobs: “Wuwu, Daddy, you can’t abandon Baby.”

Even demonic cultivators still had a shred of emotion. Around them, many demonic cultivators were giving Lin Mo strange looks—like he was some kind of degenerate scumbag.

Lin Mo noticed this and glared fiercely at them. They immediately lowered their heads and pretended not to have seen anything—changing expressions faster than flipping a page.

Mo Pao’er took the opportunity to study the little girl and then looked back at Lin Mo. “Brother Mo, this little girl really looks like you. Are you sure she’s not your kid?”

Hearing that, Lin Mo also took a careful look at the girl’s face. There really was a bit of resemblance.

He could only chalk it up to coincidence. Listening to her sobs, he didn’t know what to do.

“All right, stop crying for now. What’s your name?” he asked gently, squatting down and doing his best to sound soft and patient.

“M-my name is Lin Xiang’er,” the little girl choked out.

Lin Mo froze again. She actually had the same surname as him?

Was that really just a coincidence?

Mo Pao’er clearly noticed too. “Brother Mo, she even has the same last name as you! She must be your daughter!”

Lin Mo ignored him. Instead, he reached out and gently wiped the tears from the little girl’s chubby cheeks.

“Xiang’er, where did you come from?” he asked.

“From home.”

“And where’s your home?”

“At home.”

“…,” Lin Mo was speechless.

“How did you get here on your own? Wasn’t anyone with you?” Lin Mo asked, changing his line of questioning.

“Yes, Qiqi was with me,” Lin Xiang’er replied.

Lin Mo’s eyes lit up. “Then where is this Qiqi you mentioned?”

“I lost her!” Lin Xiang’er said brightly.

“…Lin Mo was speechless again.”

“So basically, you’re the one who got lost, right?” he muttered.

But how could that be? Would her family really be so careless?

This wasn’t the modern world he’d come from—cultivators here had divine sense.

How could she have gotten lost?

More importantly, this was the Demon Realm. A little girl like her wandering alone to such a chaotic border—how had nothing happened to her?

Even now, Lin Mo could feel the eyes of many demonic cultivators watching Lin Xiang’er. That she’d managed to walk around unharmed was way too strange.

Perplexed, Lin Mo just asked directly, “During the days you were lost, didn’t any creepy strangers try to talk to you?”

“It wasn’t me who got lost—it was Qiqi that I lost,” Lin Xiang’er puffed her cheeks and emphasized.

“Alright, alright,” Lin Mo relented. “Then during the time since you lost Qiqi, did any creepy strangers come up to talk to you?”

“Nope.”
Lin Xiang’er pointed to the pendant around her neck.
“This was left to me by my mother. She said there are lots of bad people outside. If I’m alone and use this, no one will be able to find me.”

Lin Mo reached out and examined the pendant. It turned out to be a concealment-type magical artifact of extremely high quality.

No wonder—no wonder this little girl had remained safe all this time.

Now Lin Mo was even more convinced that this girl’s background was far from ordinary.

He glanced at Mo Pao’er. “Is there any major demon clan in the Demon Realm that shares my surname?”

Mo Pao’er shook his head. “Nope. I’ve been struggling in the Demon Realm for over a hundred years, and I’ve never heard of any demon clan with the surname Lin.”

Lin Mo looked down at Lin Xiang’er. “Then what’s your mother’s name?”

“Baby doesn’t know…” Lin Xiang’er shook her head.

Lin Mo was at a loss. “Then do you at least remember where you came from?”

“I don’t know. Mommy teleported me away.”
As she said this, Lin Xiang’er’s whole face practically spelled out the word “sad.”

“It’s fine,” Lin Mo said under his breath. “Who would even teleport their kid away alone?”

Clearly, something had gone wrong.

“Something happened at home?” Lin Mo asked.

“Baby doesn’t know either,” she said, “but a lot of people wanted to capture Mommy.”

Lin Xiang’er clutched tightly onto Lin Mo’s sleeve, tears brimming again.
“Daddy, Daddy, you have to save Mommy…”

Lin Mo said nothing.
He didn’t even know this little girl to begin with.

Now she wanted to rescue her mother by himself—yet she couldn’t answer a single proper question.

How was he supposed to save anyone?

Besides, he didn’t even know how dangerous the situation really was.

What if he ended up crossing paths with someone at the Body Integration stage or beyond?

Something with no benefit and countless dangers—Lin Mo definitely wouldn’t do that.

After thinking things through, he decided to take Lin Xiang’er along with him for now.

At most, he could pick up useful items along the way and help her search for her family.

And if that didn’t work out—
once he managed to buy A Dream of a Yellow Millet and gain the ability to extract memories,
he could just look into Lin Xiang’er’s memories.
That would make things much easier to resolve.

“Daddy, my mother is really pretty, and she has lots of good stuff too. As long as you save her, she’ll give you anything,” Lin Xiang’er said.

“Hm?” Lin Mo couldn’t help but laugh.

If his own father knew that he had a daughter who was such a little chatterbox, who knows what he’d think?

Unfortunately, he wasn’t exactly blessed with Prime Minister Cao’s famously good temper—otherwise, who knows, maybe he really would’ve charged into danger for love.

Still, from Lin Mo’s perspective, he was starting to really like this little girl he’d picked up for free.

Might as well treat her as an adopted daughter.

He reached out and gently patted Lin Xiang’er’s little head.

“If I have the ability to save your mother, I will definitely save her.”

That was the most he could promise.

“Daddy, you’re really the best!” Lin Xiang’er chirped.

Then she bounced up and gave him a big kiss on the cheek.

Seeing this, Lin Mo smiled helplessly.

That night, considering Lin Xiang’er needed rest, Lin Mo booked a room at a nearby inn. Although this was the Demon Realm, it wasn’t all that different from the human realm.

Everything that should be there was there—after all, demonic cultivators were still people too.

Lin Mo originally intended to book three separate rooms. But considering safety, he decided to stay in the same room as Lin Xiang’er.

He didn’t need to sleep anyway. Meditating in the corner would suffice.

That night, as Lin Mo was meditating and absorbing demonic energy, a small figure suddenly wriggled over—and burrowed right into his arms.

……