Chapter 96

This sentence clearly follows after Shen Qingli's dream. Gentle, but firm!

The voice is exactly the same as Zhao Yue's, but that tenacity is completely different.

Mother...

Shen Qingli blurted out a call.

Shen Kuo was slightly startled, "A Li?"

Shen Qingli looked around, but there was no "person".

But she was certain she had heard her mother's voice.

The scene from the dream surfaced again before her eyes, as if a replay.

But aside from that sentence she just heard, the picture did not continue with anything new.

However, this is enough to show that Zhong Minglan knows her own fate and clearly understands Zhao Yue's plan!

"A Li, what's wrong?" Shen Kuo was a little worried.

Shen Qinghuang had already finished checking the surroundings, "Qi Shu, little sis, come take a look."

Shen Qingli immediately stepped forward and discovered a series of, "Divine script?"

"Exactly, when arranged they look like a formation." Shen Qinghuang said while recording it, "Let's go ask the clan's formation master."

"A Li." Jiu Li also shouted and grabbed a cloth bundle for Shen Qingli.

Shen Qingli was startled, "Where did this come from?"

"From inside the stone." Jiu Li pointed at the stone slab that it had dug a hole in.

Shen Kuo examined closely, "It's built very tightly, Jiu Li, how did you discover it?"

"It has A Li's aura." Jiu Li took it for granted.

Shen Qingli opened it and saw a letter, as well as an ancient beast-skin notebook.

"Is this letter for little sis?" Shen Qinghuang looked at the four characters "A Li, personal opening" in great surprise.

Shen Qingli, however, asked, "Father, my name wasn't given by you, was it?"

"Your mother." Shen Kuo already roughly understood where this place was.

Everything now makes sense……

Shen Qingli opened the letter and read on.

"My child A Li, seeing this letter is like seeing me; when you see this letter, it means I have already passed away, ……"

This is Zhong Minglan's final letter to Shen Qingli, just as Shen Qingli had expected; she had guessed her own fate.

But she could no longer reverse it, except by abortion, which still offered a slim chance; yet she could not bear to.

"Every time I make a move, you keep moving. You must know Mother doesn't want you. I can't bear it. My master said, the sect doctrine holds that to love all beings, one must not bear children, for people become selfish; if there is flesh and blood, partiality arises, making it impossible to love all spirits equally."

"I thought she was wrong. But now I think she is right. I cannot help but love you; killing you would allow me to enter the next realm."

Seeing this, Shen Qingli immediately thought of the Holy Mother Sect's technique, whose core principle is to love all beings; in short, when killing one can save a hundred, one must kill that one.

But the recorded technique only contains the secret of cultivating to the eighth level; the ninth level is blank, likely also the secret of becoming a deity, belonging to oral transmission and cannot be written down.

From the meaning of this letter, the Holy Mother Sect seeks to become a deity by actually killing a daughter to prove the Dao?

"Is this the Path of Love?" Shen Qingli could not agree.

"I've heard of cultivating the Ruthless Path and killing one's wife to prove the Dao, but I've never heard of cultivating the Loving Path and killing one's daughter to prove the Dao."

"Such secrecy is too contrary to Heaven's Way; the Su Nv Sect certainly would not dare to spread it." Shen Kuo looked at these words, feeling quite moved.

"A Li, if my tribulation is you, I would rather fall into reincarnation, merely unable to watch you grow up, and you have such an aunt, likely to suffer greatly."

"It is also cruel to you. I am sorry; I cannot bring myself to kill you, yet I let you suffer. You need not forgive me; I only hope your suffering ends in sweetness."

The signature is Zhong Minglan.

There is no prefix "Mother".

In Zhong Minglan's view, she is unworthy to be a mother, for she could only give birth to Shen Qingli and could not protect her.

There are water stains on the paper, likely tear marks.

"I don't blame you."

Shen Qingli touched that tear stain.

She admitted that in her previous life, during the hardest times, she had often resented, wondering why she was given birth to her, only to be so abusively tormented and killed?

But all of this dissipated once she learned Zhao Yue was not her birth mother.

She never understood why there would be a mother who so despised her daughter.

If Zhao Yue were naturally like that toward everyone, she would still not be unable to understand.

But Zhao Yue is not; she is so good to Su Chacha! To others she is also pleasant and almost does her utmost to help, only toward her does she seem like an enemy.

"Let's look at the notebook." Shen Qinghuang reminded.

He always felt that since Seventh Aunt had already noticed the signs, it was impossible to be completely unprepared and just wait for death.

But the notebook is recorded in divine script, obscure and hard to understand; Shen Qingli looked at it for a while and only managed to read one page.

"Let's look at it later; first let's search for Zhao Yue's remains." Shen Qingli actually had the same speculation as Shen Qinghuang.

"Do you think she's buried here?" Shen Kuo looked at Jiu Li.

Shen Qingli also looked at Jiu Li, "Li Li, sniff around, any remains?"

"I'm not a dog." Jiu Li wrinkled her nose but still answered, "None."

Shen Qingli had actually sensed it too; indeed there was none, but she just wouldn't give up.

Zhao Yue's corpse, being blood-related to her, should in theory be detectable by her.

"But there is a place that's strange, huh." Jiu Li jumped to the place it said was strange.

Shen Qinghuang immediately had the attendants dig the soil, and indeed they turned up something.

There's a Jade Pendant!

「Yue？」

Shen Qingli looked at the engraving on it.

「Zhao Yue's Jade Pendant, is she buried here? 」

「The soil here is relatively loose; if we were to bury someone, in the whole cave, only this spot could be used. 」

Shen Qingli grasped the Jade Pendant—does this mean! Her mother might not be dead; Zhao Yue took over her mother's body, yet her mother was reborn on Zhao Yue's corpse?

「Where is the person? 」 Shen Qinghuang asked.

No one could answer; Shen Qingli looked at the handwritten notes, perhaps she would have to study them to understand, then she would know.

There is another possibility: Zhao Yue destroyed her own corpse.

But this possibility is small; most likely, Zhao Yue herself does not know whether Zhong Minglan is alive or dead.

「Did I kill her too early? 」 Shen Kuo asked, we should have taken her back to the clan to search her soul.

「She's too lively; killing her early saves trouble. 」 Shen Qingli put away the notes and felt the fate tablet.

She had a feeling that Zhong Minglan should still be alive!

In fact——

In an unknown place.

Indeed, the still-alive Zhong Minglan sat cross-legged in the void.

Around her was an ocean-like flame, as if refining her.

The tailored palace robes, the intricate and luxurious embroidery, the faintly emanating divine aura—compared to Zhao Yue and the original Zhong Minglan, their bearing was utterly different.

Suddenly, a three-legged Jin Wu flew before her.

Zhong Minglan opened her eyes, the proud gaze in them spreading slowly.

「Her Majesty the Empress, your letter. 」 the three-legged Jin Wu spoke.

A golden letter fell into Zhong Minglan's hands, yet she did not open it.

「Her Majesty the Empress, you still refuse to see them? 」

Zhong Minglan remained silent; after reviving, she always felt her memory was missing, yet upon reflection it seemed to connect? No, not right……