Chapter 1238

Before long, Zhao Mama led Tian Tian over.

"Greetings, Lady." Tian Tian bowed to Tian Mu.

"Sit down quickly."

Tian Mu beckoned Tian Tian to sit and asked kindly,

"Why didn't you come home all night?

Your father was frantic as a mad dog, searching everywhere for you."

"I…"

Tian Tian opened her mouth, then hesitated.

Tian Mu sensed something and pressed,

"Miss Tian Tian, are you hiding something from your mother?"

"Sigh…" Tian Tian lowered her eyes and sighed.

Tian Mu's face darkened, and she said with anger,

"Did Liu Haoyu bully you?"

Tian Tian shook her head. "It has nothing to do with Brother Haoyu."

"Then what is it?" Tian Mu pressed aggressively. "If you don't tell the truth, your mother will beat you to death right now!"

Tian Tian's face scrunched up. She said softly, "Mother, I… I'm pregnant."

"What?" Tian Mu was shocked.

"It's true." Tian Tian looked up, eyes full of hope as she gazed at Tian Mu. "I… I want to keep the baby in my belly.

I've already decided—no more cultivation. I'll focus on carrying the child.

After the baby is born, the four of us will leave Yangcheng."

Tian Mu froze for a moment, then tears welled up at once.

She grabbed Tian Tian's arms and sobbed as she scolded,

"How could you do such a foolish thing!

Have you forgotten how your mother raised you?

For cultivators, the greatest taboo is getting pregnant out of wedlock!

You actually want to give birth to that bastard child!"

Tian Tian shrank her neck and argued,

"It's not a bastard! Brother Haoyu and I are completely innocent."

"You still talk back!"

Tian Mu scolded, frustrated by her stubbornness. "You're already carrying a bastard, and you still have the nerve to argue!"

Tian Tian: "…"

She said helplessly, "I already told you, nothing happened between Brother Haoyu and me.

And the little baby in my belly isn't Brother Haoyu's either!

Don't get the wrong idea, Mother—Brother Haoyu doesn't even like women!"

Hearing this, the anger in Tian Mu's eyes faded somewhat.

She studied Tian Tian carefully. "Are you really sure nothing happened between you and Liu Haoyu?"

Tian Tian said solemnly, "I'm sure! I swear it to the heavens!"

"Then the little thing in your belly…"

Tian Mu said hesitantly, "Could it be some stray you picked up somewhere?"

Tian Tian didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Mother, who in our village would dare take in a stray I picked up!"

Only then did Tian Mu feel a little relieved.

"Then what on earth happened?"

"Sigh…"

Tian Tian sighed and briefly recounted how she and Liu Haoyu had eloped, then were framed by someone, and the two of them fell off a cliff together, nearly losing their lives.

After hearing it, Tian Mu pounded her chest in fury,

"I told you long ago not to elope with him, but you just wouldn't listen!

Now look—tried to steal a chicken and lost the rice instead, lost your chastity!"

Tian Tian bit her lip and lowered her head in guilt.

"Forget it, what's done is done, there's nothing to be done."

Chapter 1049: Gathering Medicinal Herbs

Tian Mu patted Tian Tian's shoulder comfortingly,

"No matter what, you're still young.

As long as you're willing to mend your ways, your mother believes you'll find a good man to marry in the future."

Tian Tian was deeply moved. She threw herself into Tian Mu's arms and sobbed, "Mother, you're so good to me.

From now on, I'll rely on you and Father to support me."

Tian Mu smiled and held her, replying gently, "Of course. Your mother has been longing day and night, hoping for a sweet, well-behaved daughter."

Tian Tian sniffed. "Mother, don't worry.

From now on, I'll definitely be filial to you."

She said silently in her heart: Mother, you don't know.

From today on, Tian Tian is your daughter, Tian Tian's mother.

Therefore, she had to protect her mother, to shield her mother.

Tian Tian tugged at Tian Mu's hand and said coquettishly, "Mother, tomorrow I need to go to town."

Tian Mu nodded. "Go ahead, but remember to take care of your health."

Tian Tian nodded.

The next day, Tian Tian shouldered a basket and headed up the nearby mountain to gather medicinal herbs.

She had bought a great many body-nourishing herbs at the town's apothecary.

Once home, she boiled the herbs down into a medicinal soup.

After drinking the soup, she sat cross-legged on the bed and circulated her qi to cultivate.

Spiritual power coursed along her meridians for a full circuit, then gathered once more within her dantian.

"Mm…"

A wave of searing pain shot through her, and her eyes flew open.

Only then did she realize that, without knowing it, she had advanced to the peak of the fifth layer of Qi Refining.

This speed was truly far too slow!

Tian Tian was utterly glum. If things kept going at this pace, by the time she advanced to Foundation Establishment, it would be some monkey year, horse month for all anyone knew.

Tian Tian sighed inwardly.

She prepared to go into her space to pick some herbs and take them together with the space's water.

But just as Tian Tian was about to head out, her gaze suddenly caught on a tree by the courtyard wall.

She wondered to herself—why on earth did this tree look so strange?

Tian Tian couldn't help walking over and examining the tree closely.

The tree was pitch-black all over, with luxuriant branches and leaves.

The tips of its branches were laden with bright red fruits.

Tian Tian reached out and touched a fruit—soft and squishy, slick and slippery.

She asked in puzzlement, "System, what's going on with this tree?

How is it growing in the soil and still bearing fruit?"

【Host, please look!】 The System's voice rang out, and a transparent orb the size of a fist drifted over to Tian Tian.

Tian Tian held the transparent orb, turning it this way and that. "How did it grow on this tree?"

【Ding! Because the Host is the inheritor of the Plane God.

This black tree is called the Demon Tree, a spiritual wood imbued with demonic nature.