Chapter 249: Our An'an, She Has Already Grown Into a Big Girl

Tang An's raised hand froze in mid-air.

She had thought her father favored sons over daughters, which was why he didn't want her; she had never imagined he had long since kept a mistress behind her mother's back, and was even wishing for her and her mother to die.

Why?

What exactly had she done wrong? Why did she have to have a father like this?

"Wang Maolin, you bastard!"

"I'll divorce you the moment I give birth!"

"Ah!!!"

Her screams rose and fell, one after another, leaving Tang An's mind in complete chaos.

"Stop talking, please stop talking." Tang An returned to the hospital room, looking at her weak and powerless mother, her eyes filled with fury and sorrow.

"I don't want a single cent of your Wang family's money."

"The daughter, the daughter belongs to, belongs to me!"

"Ah!!!"

How can the pain of childbirth be put into words?

Yet at this moment, she still heard her husband say such chilling words.

"Stop talking, please stop talking."

Tang An did not know what she should do, because she was now effectively standing at the end of the story, watching her mother head toward an inescapable Fate.

How cruel it was for a daughter.

"Don't give birth to me, okay?"

"I beg you, don't give birth to me..."

She was so tired; her birth was not something she could choose.

If she could, she would rather have never appeared in this world.

After all, a so-called Destiny had trapped her and caused her mother's death.

If she could choose, she wouldn't want to be some Destined One; she only wanted to live in an ordinary household, to have a complete family—that was all.

Why was such a small wish her greatest extravagance in this life?

"An'an?"

Tang An jerked her head up; she had heard her mother's call.

And her gaze met Tang Zhenzhu's gaze.

"You... can you..."

Tears welled up in Tang Zhenzhu's eyes; she nodded weakly and raised a gentle smile.

"Mom?"

Tang An called out "Mom" for the first time in her life.

Tang Zhenzhu smiled and nodded, tears streaming down her face. She wanted to hug her daughter, but she couldn't move.

"Come, An'an, let Mom give you a hug."

This one sentence, just this one sentence, made Tang An burst into tears, crying until she was choked up and unable to speak.

She didn't know if the person before her was real or fake, but she still walked slowly toward her mother like a child who had been wronged beyond measure.

Tang Zhenzhu used her hand to stroke Tang An's cheek, but she couldn't make contact.

"An'an has grown so big?"

"Why are you so sad? Did you suffer some grievance outside?"

"It's okay, if you're wronged, you must tell Mom. Later, Mom will beat back everyone who bullied you. We aren't afraid, okay?"

Tang An wanted to grab her mother's hand, but she couldn't grasp it either.

"Mom, don't give birth to me; you will die, please believe me."

Tang Zhenzhu was stunned for a moment, then smiled with relief. "I was wondering who could bully my daughter. So, it's because there was no mother to protect her."

Tang An was already crying so hard she couldn't speak; why did she have to see this scene, why did she have to face this?

"Mom, I'm sorry."

"It was me who harmed you, I'm sorry... really, I'm sorry..."

Tang Zhenzhu reached out to wipe her daughter's tears, but her hand fell powerlessly.

"Silly child, it was Mom who chose to give birth to you, how could I blame you?"

"It is Mom who is sorry to you, for letting you suffer so much."

Tang An shook her head; she wanted to say it wasn't like that. But she discovered with horror that there was so much blood appearing on her mother's bed.

"Mom, Mom!"

Tang Zhenzhu looked at Tang An with a smile, and when she tried hard to reach out again, she finally touched Tang An's cheek.

It was a pair of cold, rough hands, calloused from hard work, yet Tang An felt they were so warm.

"An'an."

"It's so good, you've already grown into a big girl."

"It's Mom's fault, Mom wasn't able to accompany you as you grew up."

She pulled Tang An over and gave her the first, and last, hug of her life.

"No matter what setbacks you encounter, no matter what others say to you."

"An'an, you must remember, Mom will always love you."

"Do you know?"

Her voice was choked and trembling as she held her daughter tightly, fearing that if she loosened her grip even a little, her daughter would disappear from her arms.

Tang An could not speak, she could only nod incessantly.

But before Tang An could linger any longer on that fleeting maternal love, Tang Zhenzhu's hand, which had been holding her, fell limp.

"Mom?"

"Mom!"

When Tang An looked again, her mother had already closed her eyes, devoid of even a shred of life.

In other words, the price for seeing her mother one last time was to watch her mother die in her arms?

"Hehehe..."

"Hehehehehe..."

Tang An laughed and cried, only then realizing that laughing while crying was so painful.

"Why?"

"What exactly did I do wrong? To make you treat me like this, Heavens!"

She accused with a hoarse, desperate cry, but received no response.

"Ah!"

"Ah!!!!"

She was in such agony, she was going insane!

While Tang An was having a hysterical breakdown, the infant version of Tang An behind her grew rapidly, reaching the appearance of a seven or eight-year-old.

Inside Huanghua Temple.

The Jade Emperor appeared, currently investigating Tang An's condition.

His brows were tightly furrowed; he knew Lingshan had played too big a game this time.

"How could there be Demonic Qi? How could she still have such heavy Heart Demon?"

"Her Heart Demon is constantly rising at an extremely rare speed. If her Spiritual Altar is completely occupied by the Heart Demon, then..."

Nezha looked at the Jade Emperor, never letting go of Tang An's hand.

It could be said that without the suppression of Nezha's Immortal Power, Tang An's Heart Demon would only have bred faster.

"Don't keep me in suspense."

The Jade Emperor was already used to the attitude of these three rebels and was not angry.

"She will be replaced by the Heart Demon; although her soul remains, she will never be able to return."

"To put it simply, the Scripture Seeker of the future will still be Tang An, but a puppet controlled by the Heart Demon."

"And if you want to kill the Heart Demon, you will be killing her."

Nezha interrupted the Jade Emperor, "Tell us the solution."

"Sigh~ If she is to wake up, she must rely on herself to resist the Heart Demon. But the weight of her Heart Demon is, I fear..."

Actually, the Jade Emperor spoke very cryptically; anyone with a discerning eye could see that Western Heaven was the one playing tricks.

After all, only if Tang An were controlled by the Heart Demon and became a puppet could she stop doing things that hindered the Journey to the West Calamity.

Only if the Journey to the West Calamity ended smoothly could Lingshan obtain the corresponding Merit.

Who the beneficiary of this matter was, was already very obvious.

"Why is there Demonic Qi in Lingshan, and how dare they play this hand so blatantly? Does the Heavenly Court not care?" Yang Jian grasped the point of the matter.

The Jade Emperor sighed and sat down, "First of all, the Destined One was only severely injured and tainted with Demonic Qi because of the centipede spirit's desperate counterattack before death."

"You say it has to do with Lingshan, but where is the evidence?"

"This matter is of great importance; it is not like the tricks you played before, where you could justify a nameless act into a righteous cause."

"It can be said that if the Destined One is truly controlled by the Heart Demon, the worst and most foolish method is to forcibly compel Lingshan to exorcise the demon after the Eighty-One Tribulations, only then could the real her be saved."

Yang Jian and Nezha looked at Tang An; although she had her eyes closed, from the way she was shedding tears and her expression, they both knew how much Tang An needed their help at this moment.

"Is there a way to intervene by force?"

Nezha and Yang Jian asked almost in unison.