Chapter 154: Mother and Daughter Turn Against Each Other

Qiu Yichen's hands and feet were bound, his wrists and ankles locked by rusted iron chains thicker than a bowl's mouth, and an even thicker iron chain around his waist held him sideways.

He lowered his head, long hair hanging from both cheeks, covering his rather handsome face.

His whole body was covered in blood, his black clothes full of whip lashes torn open, clearly showing marks where flesh had been turned out.

After such torture, he could still sleep—this must be Qiu Yichen.

The Palace Master entered this narrow, sealed space, slowly walking to stand before Qiu Yichen. She raised a finger and pointed at his lower abdomen.

"Clang!" The iron chain bound around his waist was shattered, the crisp sound awakening the sleeping Qiu Yichen.

Qiu Yichen shook his head; when he lifted his head, he saw through the gaps in his hair before him that strange yet familiar figure. "Heh heh..."

The Palace Master wore a stern face; even though her beautiful, nation‑toppling, ageless face was veiled by a thin red gauze. Though it was just the start of autumn, it was as cold as winter wherever she went, the temperature dropping horribly low.

"Heh heh..." Qiu Yichen kept sneering, laughing until his face was almost distorted. "Heh heh heh heh..."

"Had you laughed enough?" the Palace Master finally spoke, after Qiu Yichen had laughed for a full half‑hour.

The sneering stopped abruptly.

"Mother..."

"Don't call me that," the Palace Master said coldly, her tone devoid of any feeling.

If an outsider heard this "Mother," they'd be shocked enough to drop their jaw. This would be the biggest scandal in the martial world! If this "Mother" were proven true.

"Then how should I address you?"

"Palace Master of the Five Absolutes Palace."

"Hahaha! Hahaha! Palace Master of the Five Absolutes Palace!? Hahaha!" Qiu Yichen laughed to the heavens, blood and saliva from his mouth stringing out and spraying as he laughed—a pitiful sight. When he laughed again, he lowered his head, glared at the Palace Master, and asked, "So, am I, from, a, stone, head, inside, popping, out, of?"

Qiu Yichen's gaze and the Palace Master's gaze were exactly alike, as if carved from the same mold.

If we covered their faces, leaving only their eyes for comparison, the similarity would be so striking that one couldn't help doubting their relationship.

Even the other parts of their faces were very similar.

Only that icy, frost‑like demeanor, Qiu Yichen did not possess.

"I don't know where you popped out from, but I only want to tell you, the Five Absolutes Palace is no place for you to come," the Palace Master said to Qiu Yichen, "I can give you one chance to leave, but you must swear that in this life alone you will never set foot in the Five Absolutes Palace!"

"Just this one life, never to step into the Five Absolutes Palace?" Qiu Yichen asked sorrowfully. This Five Absolutes Palace should have been the place he was meant to come to, for it was where his mother lived. He didn't know why, but his mother now seemed like a stranger, or was feigning ignorance; he had summoned great courage to come here, only to face such an outcome—how could he accept it?

The one standing before him was, after all, the person closest to him in this world!

"Hmm."

"Then I will forever be an orphan without parents!" Qiu Yichen roared. If it weren't for this cramped space being sufficiently sealed, this desperate roar would surely echo throughout the Five Absolutes Palace.

"I only give you this one chance; you had better think now, don't let yourself regret it." The Palace Master extended one hand; her slender fingers were jade‑smooth, with tiny sparks of lightning crackling over her five fingers, encircling them, making a "zizzi" sound.

"Do you want me to be clearer? I don't want to be an orphan without parents. If you let me leave alive, I will surely spread this news across the entire martial world, scattering it wherever I go!" Qiu Yichen said without hesitation, having already steeled himself—better die than yield.

It's also better than being a wandering ghost or monster.

"If you won't drink the toast, you'll drink the penalty..." The Palace Master hesitated no more, her five fingers wrapped in lightning seizing Qiu Yichen's throat.

Qiu Yichen instantly felt excruciating pain! A heart‑rending, soul‑tearing agony burst from his depths, pulling at his skin, his bones, his meridians! Lightning flooded his entire body.

"Never set foot in the Five Absolutes Palace! I demand you say it!" The Palace Master, rarely roused, now needed only to add about ten percent more of her power, and Qiu Yichen would surely die.

Qiu Yichen not only refused to say it, but kept shouting, "Mother… mother… mother…"

The more Qiu Yichen shouted, the angrier the Palace Master grew! The force in her hand intensified.

"Mother… mother… mother…" The more Qiu Yichen shouted, the greater his suffering became; before the Palace Master he had no power to resist.

"If you insist on this, then don't blame me for being ruthless!" The Palace Master finally grew enraged, she held back nothing, gave Qiu Yichen no chance.

In her world, there is no feeling, only self.

Qiu Yichen would be obliterated by the Palace Master in an instant.

"Clang!" The Young Palace Master kicked open the iron door and stormed in, shouting, "Mother!" Behind her followed Ruan Shu.

The Palace Master was startled by the sudden appearance of the two, involuntarily loosening her grip. She turned, looked at the Young Palace Master and Ruan Shu, and asked, "Is this where you ought to be?"

Qiu Yichen fainted, his head drooping again.

The Palace Master, for a moment, had her judgment clouded by anger, which is why she failed to notice the two people stealthily approaching this realm.

"Mother, who is he?" the Young Palace Master asked the Palace Master. Evidently she had heard Qiu Yichen's shout outside; as she spoke, her tone held not doubt but an incredulous terror.

"Someone who dared to barge into the Five Absolutes Palace," the Palace Master replied, without a doubt, "This is not where you should be; hurry out."

"Mother, you must answer me—why did he call you Mother?" the Young Palace Master pressed.

"Smack!" The Palace Master slapped the Young Palace Master across the face. Sharp and clean.

"Palace Master!" Ruan Shu hurried to support the Young Palace Master.

"Take her away!" the Palace Master ordered Ruan Shu.

The Young Palace Master covered her flushed face and shouted, "I won't leave! You must explain this to me!"

"Explain to you?" the Palace Master said coldly, "Has the young lady grown up? Dare you speak to your mother like this? Truly I have spoiled you too much!"

This was the first argument between the Young Palace Master and the Palace Master in the nearly twenty years that had passed. Before this, the Young Palace Master had been utterly obedient, like a tamed beast locked in a cage; for some unknown reason, now the sleeping heart of that beast has been awakened.