Chapter 604: Epilogue: I Will Strive Alongside You

As Liu Junyan said, in the Three Realms and Six Paths, I don't know how many pairs of eyes are watching me.

Over these years, the Feng Clan has faced one obstacle after another, internal troubles and external threats, myriad problems that have never ceased.

Even the Feng Lord doesn't know how many generations have already changed.

Perhaps at the very beginning, they also extended a helping hand, both openly and secretly.

But after experiencing so much, they have become numb.

Now what they need is a leader who can, by his own strength, shield the entire Feng Clan from wind and rain.

If I cannot achieve that level, I will not be truly recognized.

My child, even if the next Feng Lord descends, it would not change the current situation.

I must pave the way for the future Feng Clan; that is what I will do next.

Before that, I must first secure the Feng Clan's territory and firmly grasp the right to speak in my own hands.

Liu Junyan said with relief: "Xiao Jiu, the entire Feng Clan will be proud of you; you are a born leader."

Liu Junyan praised naturally, and I no longer acted shy as before, but was filled with heroic ambition.

My mother, the Feng Clan elders, the Wutong grandmother, and even the Snow Phoenix have placed their hopes on me; how could I let them down?

I put away the Cangwu Dark Seal and declared firmly: "No matter Wang Fuchen's identity, whether this is a scheme they masterminded, I must win, Āyàn—I must strive."

Liu Junyan hugged me and said: "I will accompany you in striving."

At that moment, outside suddenly came Li Qingying's startled cry: "Mom!"

I and Liu Junyan immediately ran out and saw Li Qingying standing at the pawnshop door, both hands covering her mouth, her back slightly trembling.

"Sister Qingying, what's wrong?"

As I spoke, I had already stood beside her, my eyes following her gaze, and I too was instantly stunned.

At the bottom of the pawnshop's steps stood a woman.

She was … Lin Mei, who had just left the pawnshop not long ago.

At this moment, Lin Mei looked even more disheveled than when she left; her face was an uncomfortable ashen gray, the entire lower half of her face, especially around her lips, covered in blood.

Her neck and chest were the same.

She was slightly hunched, with her dying husband slumped on her back.

The man's shirt collar hung down on his right shoulder, while his left shoulder was missing…

Fresh blood stained half his body red; he was in a semi-moribund state.

He wanted to die but couldn't, wanted to live but couldn't.

"Save him…"

Lin Mei opened her mouth and weakly uttered those two words, her body staggering as if about to collapse.

Li Qingying instinctively stepped forward to support her, but upon seeing Lin Mei's mouth full of overlapping rows of sharp teeth, she immediately recoiled.

The man crashed to the ground with a boom, and Lin Mei knelt down beside him.

From that fall, the man seemed to regain a bit of consciousness, but upon meeting Lin Mei's gaze, he screamed in terror.

He desperately tried to move his body away from Lin Mei.

Lin Mei looked at him in pain, constantly apologizing: "Sorry, Liang Bo, I… I didn't want to, but I can't control myself, I…"

"Don't say it!"

Liang Bo dared not look at Lin Mei's mouth; he continued to struggle, trembling as he stood up, then collapsed again from lack of strength.

He strained to crawl toward us, shouting as he went: "Save me, please save me, don't put me together with her, she'll eat me, she really will eat me…"

For a moment, we also didn't know what to do.

Bai Shulan had said that if we could remove what was inside Lin Mei's belly before midnight tonight, we could still save their lives.

But this at least requires Lin Mei's cooperation.

Just as Liang Bo was desperately crawling up the pawnshop steps, Lin Mei's gaze changed.

From the initial pain and remorse, it suddenly became bewildered, and then I saw her place her right hand on her belly, her blood-stained tongue licking her lips.

She suddenly lifted her foot, took a few steps forward, grabbed Liang Bo's right leg, and pulled him back.

A pig-slaughtering howl echoed through the alley; Liang Bo struggled desperately, pleading for help.

Liu Junyan struck Lin Mei away with a palm from midair; Liang Bo fell back to the ground, I rushed over and chopped with a palm knife at the back of Lin Mei's neck, and she slumped down softly.

I immediately said: "Sister Qingying, go fetch Sister Shulan."

Li Qingying went at once.

I had just thought to help Lin Mei up and take her inside the pawnshop.

No matter what, saving lives is urgent.

But before my hand could touch Lin Mei, her body sprang upright from the ground.

When she rose, her eyes were closed.

Then she slowly opened her eyes, locking directly onto Liang Bo; he turned his head, their gazes met, and I felt Liang Bo's soul was about to be frightened out of him.

I struck again with a palm knife at the back of Lin Mei's neck.

The back of Lin Mei's neck was bruised purple by my blows, yet she seemed to feel no pain at all, her head not turning, only staring fixedly at Liang Bo.

Bad, Lin Mei's consciousness is now no longer under her own control.

It can only be forcibly controlled.

Liu Junyan grabbed Liang Bo and pulled him up, while I kicked Lin Mei from behind, knocking her prone, and then pressed her firmly to the ground.

Liang Bo sat slumped there, ignoring the severe pain in his left shoulder, clutching Liu Junyan's legs with both hands, refusing to let go.

Not long after, Li Qingying returned with Bai Shulan.

Upon seeing Bai Shulan, Liang Bo exclaimed as if seeing a lifeline: "Doctor Bai, we don't want the child anymore—no, we don't want that bubble of blood water, remove it! Remove it now!"

Some people really won't shed tears until they see the coffin.

Bái Sōnglán ignored him, instead going straight to Lin Mei's side; a long silver needle was inserted into the top of Lin Mei's head, and she twisted the needle tip between her fingers.

Lin Mei, who had been struggling like a newborn calf just moments before, finally calmed down.

"Xiao Jiu, turn her over, belly up."

I immediately did as told.

Several silver needles were inserted from head to toe; finally, Bái Sōnglán held a silver needle, looked at Liang Bo, and asked: "Have you really made up your minds? With this needle, the child beneath you will be gone."

Liang Bo said without hesitation: "No more! It's all fake! We've been deceived."

Bái Sōnglán nodded, about to insert the needle, but I reached out to stop her: "Wait a moment."

I crouched in front of Liang Bo, looking at him, and said: "If you agree to two things, we can help you."

Liang Bo immediately declared: "Don't talk about two things—I'll agree to twenty."

"Good," I said. "First, write a written pledge, you husband and wife voluntarily give up the fetus in your womb, bearing all consequences yourselves; second, the mandarin duck heart‑lock you enshrine in the Sānshēng Diàn, pawn it to the pawn shop, and from now on it belongs to the pawn shop."

Liang Bo did as instructed.

He pressed his fingerprints separately on the written pledge and the pawn ticket, then moved to Lin Mei's side, took her hand, and pressed her fingerprint as well.

I collected the written pledge and the pawn ticket; only then did Bái Sōnglán's final needle sink deep into Lin Mei's belly…