Chapter 89: Mom and Dad Actually Went Their Separate Ways?

Ten years ago...

Ye Zhiqiu's eyes flashed with anger instantly: "It's all because your uncle Ning Hai wanted to seize the family inheritance, so he hired someone to kill me and your father."

"Your father drove the car to escape with me, the assassins pursued relentlessly, and they smashed our car on a river in the suburbs, causing both us and the vehicle to plunge into the river."

"We thought we were surely dead, but suddenly a white light shone around us, and the next second we found ourselves in another place."

"Later we discovered that we had actually crossed over to ancient times over two thousand years ago."

Although ten years have passed, recalling that heart-pounding day, Ye Zhiqiu still feels a chill down her spine.

If it weren't for the miracle, she and her husband would surely be dead.

"As expected, it's him..." Ning Jinli heard that the mastermind behind the car accident was Ning Hai, feeling no surprise at all, she tightly gripped Ye Zhiqiu's hand: "Mom, I will settle this score with Ning Hai sooner or later!"

Ye Zhiqiu's eyes reddened: "Xiao Li, you've suffered these years; I think of you constantly day and night, fearing something might happen to you... Seeing you safe now, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. I only wish you live peacefully from now on, and don't provoke Ning Hai."

She knew her daughter's nature was pure and kind.

How could she possibly contend with the ruthless and vicious Ning Hai?

Even though she hated Ning Hai to the bone, she herself could not return to the modern world now, so she absolutely could not let her daughter go on a dangerous quest for revenge.

"Xiao Li..." Ye Zhiqiu saw her daughter press her lips shut without a word, her eyes full of hatred, then continued to persuade gently: "At least your father and I are still alive, and you can come here through the spacetime portal—doesn't that count as our family of three being reunited?"

Ning Jinli's nose tingled, she changed the subject: "Mom, what about Dad? He also came over with you through the time travel, right? Where is he now?"

"Your father..." Ye Zhiqiu's expression grew complex.

Ning Jinli's heart gave a sudden jolt: "Could something have happened to Dad?"

Ye Zhiqiu showed a bitter smile, shook her head: "No, that guy is doing just fine."

Ning Jinli relaxed a little, but felt even more stifled.

This situation is clearly off.

"Mom, you and Dad... could it be that you've developed marital problems?" Ning Jinli asked tentatively.

Actually, even she didn't believe that question herself.

In her memory, her parents had always been loving, never argued, a model couple.

"No, that's not it," Ye Zhiqiu laughed through tears, "Your father ran off to Xuan Guo Royal City and is now an official in the court; we're basically going our separate ways due to differing paths."

Ning Jinli looked bewildered: "Mom, haven't you and Dad always been of one heart as a couple? How did you end up going separate ways? And since you both came to this world together, shouldn't you be cooperating more?"

Ye Zhiqiu said helplessly: "I would like to, but on some matter we have a major disagreement; neither of us can convince the other, so we can only go our own ways."

Ning Jinli hurriedly asked: "What matter?"

Ye Zhiqiu gazed at her daughter's big, doubtful eyes: "I want to travel back, but your father disagrees."

Ning Jinli blinked, "I understand even less now..."

"Here's how it is." Ye Zhiqiu pondered and then explained: "If we want to go back, we can't wait for the same miracle to happen again; we have to figure it out ourselves."

"After our research and analysis, the only feasible way is to use our modern scientific knowledge to find or create a spacetime portal."

"Sounds pretty far-fetched, right?"

"After all, even the highly developed modern world lacks the capability to do this."

"But... aside from striving in this direction, there really is no other option."

"Even though I know it's a fantasy, I don't want to give up; otherwise I wouldn't know what belief to rely on to keep going."

"No matter the cost, returning to your side has become my sole hope to keep living."

As she said this, Ye Zhiqiu's eyes welled up with tears and her voice choked a little.

Ning Jinli, however, felt an even greater doubt arise in her heart.

Could it be that Dad doesn't want to return to my side... This is impossible...

Ye Zhiqiu collected herself and continued: "To achieve that method, we must use all our modern knowledge to accelerate this era's development, and that's where the problem arises."

"Your father believes that if we do this, it will surely have a huge impact on this era, triggering a chain reaction that will cause all future events to deviate from the original historical course."

"He feels that this consequence would be very serious..."

After hearing this, Ning Jinli roughly understood.

She nodded: "So Dad doesn't want to affect historical development, which is why you two have diverged?"

"Xiao Li..." Ye Zhiqiu gently stroked her daughter's cheek and said softly: "Your father thinks that once a change occurs, it will cause the era we are in to cease to exist; affecting so-called historical development is secondary, and most importantly, it could lead to... you not existing."

"If we exert influence in this era, it might create a historical paradox; we, in this era, would be like a bug in spacetime, ultimately destined to be erased by some spacetime force we cannot yet comprehend."

"According to the original historical development, what the world will be like two thousand years later is unknown; it's even possible that we, who would have appeared in that era, might not appear at all, or we might appear but never meet, never marry, never be together—any of those could happen."

"In short, among countless possibilities, there is a high probability that you, Xiao Li, would not be able to exist, and thus could not become our daughter."

"Your father fears such a scenario; he does not want to risk losing you."

"Therefore he strongly opposes me taking any action."

"As for me, I am skeptical of his theory; I firmly believe those scenarios won't happen, because if they did, we couldn't have crossed over in the first place. This also involves a paradox he cannot resolve."

"In the end, I couldn't convince him, and he couldn't convince me."

"And so your father and I have gone our separate ways..."

"Afterward, I strove toward my goal and joined the Tian Shu Sect, which focuses on studying mechanical techniques, to expand my power and more easily find usable resources to make what I need."

"Your father, fearing I would affect historical progress, has continually obstructed my actions; for this he entered the court, using governmental power to hinder me."

"Whenever I produce something that doesn't fit this era, if he finds out he sends people to destroy it—basically he won't let my influence spread."

"Putting it mildly, it's hard to describe; we went from a loving couple to adversaries."

After hearing Ye Zhiqiu's account, Ning Jinli found herself unknowingly shedding tears all over her face.

Actually, the fundamental reason for Mom and Dad parting ways and even ending up on opposing sides lies in her herself.

One is to do everything possible to return to her side.

The other is fearing that altering history would cause them to lose her.

No matter which viewpoint, it's all because of her.

"Silly child, why are you crying?" Ye Zhiqiu clearly wanted to tear up herself, yet she still showed a smile, gently wiping Ning Jinli's tears.

"Wuu…" Ning Jinli cried, saying, "I don't want you and Dad to end up like this; I want you two to always be fine, always loving each other."

Ye Zhiqiu burst into a smile through tears, saying, "Then you don't need to cry anymore; look, you can come over now. Although I and your dad still can't return to modern times, the three of us can still gather together. I no longer need to obsess over going back, and your dad doesn't need to keep opposing me—our differences have already been resolved, right?"

Ning Jinli, feeling upset, went away; hearing her mother's analysis, she suddenly realized and beamed, "Then… then you should contact him quickly."

Ye Zhiqiu muttered, "Hmph, I don't want to deal with him anymore. If it weren't for his years of desperate interference, who knows—maybe this place would already have leapt into the steam age."

"Mom… my dear mom, calm down. Later I'll talk to him for you." Ning Jinli took her arm, giggling and acting coquettish.

Ye Zhiqiu chuckled, "It's got to be our mother‑daughter heart‑to‑heart. All right, rest a bit longer—I'll contact your dad right now."

Ning Jinli hurriedly asked, "After you two went your separate ways, have you kept in touch all this time?"

Ye Zhiqiu laughed, "No, not really. But many times, once I tinker up something new or make an impact in public, he quickly dispatches a secret action team to settle it—guess why."

Ning Jinli pondered, "Is he secretly watching you?"

Ye Zhiqiu lightly poked Ning Jinli's nose, "About right—he's planted spies near Yuqi Mountain. He thinks I don't know! So as long as I say a word to his spies, he'll surely come rushing over himself to see his precious daughter."

Having said that, Ye Zhiqiu was about to get up and leave.

"Mom!" Ning Jinli called out again, "Xiao Qidi is hurt—can you help…"

Ye Zhiqiu said with a smile, "Don't worry, don't worry—I've already arranged for the sect's doctors to treat him before you woke up. Hey? Speaking of which, you and him…"

Although Ning Jinli told Ye Zhiqiu some of what she'd discovered after finding the spacetime portal, she didn't go into detail because there was too much, and to keep her mother from worrying, she also concealed everything about Xi Tun Guan and Lin Xian Village.

As for being captured together and falling into Zhuiyingjian, she said it was pure coincidence.

"What about me and him…?" Ning Jinli's cheeks unconsciously flushed.

Ye Zhiqiu's eyes held a deep meaning, "You know what kind of person that boy will become—don't get too close to him. Since ancient times, emperors have been fickle, let alone the first emperor of Huaxia history."

Ning Jinli lowered her gaze, not knowing how to answer.

Just as Ye Zhiqiu was about to leave.

Suddenly, a bolt from the blue flashed through Ning Jinli's mind.

No!

Don't let Mom contact Dad!

At least now isn't the time!

Dad is single‑minded about not wanting history to change, yet I'm doing exactly that!

If he finds out, I've already been remodeling Lin Xian Village and Xi Tun Guan—he'll surely block me or even revert everything to how it was!

Then how am I supposed to change Xiao Qidi's fate?!

"Mom! Wait!" Ning Jinli tumbled out of bed and lunged to grab Ye Zhiqiu.

Ye Zhiqiu asked doubtfully, "What's wrong, all startled?"

Ning Jinli hurriedly said, "Let's wait a bit longer to contact my dad—we haven't seen each other in ten years, I… I want to make preparations."

"Xiao Li…" Ye Zhiqiu started to speak but stopped.

She saw that her daughter was just making up an excuse.

There must be another reason behind it—just not something easy to say right now.

"All right, tell me when you plan to see him." Ye Zhiqiu didn't press further and softly agreed.

"Hehe, thanks, Mom, Mommy kiss." Ning Jinli hugged Ye Zhiqiu and planted a firm kiss on her cheek.

Ye Zhiqiu grinned so wide her mouth couldn't close, "Since we're not calling your dad over for now, I'll go nap a bit—later Mom will give you a gift."

"What gift?" Ning Jinli's eyes shone with anticipation.

"Keep it secret for now." Ye Zhiqiu said mysteriously.

——

Soon it was noon.

After Ning Jinli finished lunch, Ye Zhiqiu came over.

Under Ye Zhiqiu's guidance, Ning Jinli followed her to the Sect Leader's exclusive training chamber.

"Mom, your gift to me wouldn't be—teaching me martial arts, would it?" Ning Jinli felt a bit nervous.

As for training, she was indeed somewhat interested.

But if she really had to train, she felt she'd definitely fail.

It wasn't that she feared hardship; rather, she'd had almost no athletic ability since childhood, and her PE grades from elementary school through university were always at the bottom.

"Correct, I'm going to teach you martial arts." Ye Zhiqiu laughed, "After all, I'm the Sect Leader of the Tian Shu Sect, holding the sect's most powerful art—how could I not pass it on to my own daughter?"

Ning Jinli's face showed difficulty, but she still curiously asked, "What kind of art is it?"

"It's called… the Tian Xuan Heart Method," Ye Zhiqiu tapped her forehead, thinking as she spoke, "Legend says it's the sole super art surviving from antiquity, stronger than any sect's martial arts today. Only the successive Sect Leaders of the Tian Shu Sect are qualified to learn it."

Ning Jinli doubted, "Really? Have you mastered it?"

Ye Zhiqiu shook her head, "If I had mastered it, could I still let Lu Xingfeng run wild like that?"

"Hehe, that's right," Ning Jinli giggled, "My dad used to say my athletic ability perfectly inherited yours—so you can imagine—"

"Do you want to feel your mom's love?" Ye Zhiqiu made a motion to raise her palm.

Ning Jinli wasn't scared at all, linking arms with her and saying, "Mom loves me most—she never hit me when I was little, and she definitely won't now."

Ye Zhiqiu chuckled, "All right, let me tell you—this is a heart method, not martial arts; you don't need much athletic ability."

Ning Jinli exclaimed, "Ah? Then why haven't you mastered it? You haven't, so I'm even less capable."

"Sit properly," Ye Zhiqiu pressed her daughter onto a meditation cushion, "Don't say I haven't mastered it—not even a single past Sect Leader has; achieving three or four tenths is already impressive."

Ning Jinli asked, "Mom, how much have you mastered?"

"Cough, that's not important." Ye Zhiqiu placed both hands on Ning Jinli's shoulders, earnestly saying, "The more powerful the art, the more energy it needs—I'll explain the principle later. Moreover, I've uncovered a key secret of the Tian Xuan Heart Method, so I can be certain: in this world, only you can fully master it."