Why does the cave want to harm my husband?

It's extremely rare for an adoptive mother to take in a daughter only to have the adopted daughter betray her, and even if it happens, it's seldom this blatant.

So much so that the snake demon rumor that circulated for a day and a night was not as eye-catching as the Liu family's wedding, which violated human ethics and morality.

Even though it wasn't a large banquet, but just a celebration with a few close friends and relatives, it still attracted a lot of stares from the neighbors, both men and women, who whispered among themselves.

Those who were a little further away, in order to show their knowledge of the matter, all argued loudly and urgently about the details.

That adopted daughter has never been well-behaved since she was a child. She looks seductive and alluring, and it's something you could have predicted she would do at the age of seven.

She talked about how her adoptive mother had worked so hard to raise her, but then she talked about how she flirted with her adoptive father with her eyes at the dinner table one day.

They all spoke with absolute certainty, their eyes filled with unwavering conviction, and their words were spoken with absolute certainty.

It was as if he himself had been there that day, but in order not to disrupt the harmony of their family, he had suffered the torment of his conscience until today, and finally revealed the secret in his heart to the world.

As the neighbors were chatting animatedly by the roadside, suddenly, under the gray-white sky where it had just rained, Liu Laowu's wife, accompanied by several burly men carrying knives, turned from the moss-covered entrance of the old street and menacingly charged towards them.

"Whoa!"

Someone, always eager for excitement, let out a loud exclamation, and the crowd immediately felt a surge of exhilarating joy.

Look, look, that heartless adopted daughter is going to be punished. Sure enough, a group of people rushed into the Liu family home and made a scene, cursing the Liu family relatives and friends who were eating and drinking in the courtyard until they didn't dare to utter a sound. They hadn't thought this was going well in the first place, and if it weren't for Liu Laowu insisting on inviting them, none of them would have wanted to come at all.

Even Liu Laowu, with a knife to his brother-in-law's neck, kept trying to rekindle their old friendship in a gentle and polite manner, not daring to utter a single harsh word.

Xia, along with several of her brothers, rushed into the bridal chamber, intending to drag the bride out, strip her clothes off, and throw her into the street.

But once they entered the room that originally belonged to them and their husband, they saw the elaborate and gorgeous wedding dress and shoes embroidered by the woman beside the wedding bed.

Then she looked at the gold hairpin and jade cap that Liu Laowu would never have bought for her in the past, which were covered with red paper on the dressing table, and then at the brand-new curtains and fresh flowers in the room.

Ah Xia's eyes suddenly turned bloodshot, and jealousy and hatred exploded in her heart and mind like firecrackers during the New Year.

She rushed to the wedding bed, grabbed the woman off the bed, and was about to give her a good beating.

But as soon as the woman landed, the red veil embroidered with mandarin ducks playing in the water rolled up around the head inside the veil and spun halfway around Ah Xia's feet.

"ah!!!"

The wedding dress, which had been full and flowing on the ground, suddenly collapsed, revealing a pale, gleaming spine through the open collar.

"ah!"

The people inside the room fled, their legs trembling, and stammered in the courtyard, "Someone's dead..."

Liu Laowu was pressed against the knife, and only paused for a moment.

The Liu family relatives and friends in the courtyard were shocked to hear this, but they could also understand why Xia had impulsively killed her adopted daughter.

One of the burly men who followed them into the room said tremblingly, "She...she was sitting there perfectly fine, and in the blink of an eye, she turned into bones..."

"Huh? What nonsense are you talking about!"

Those who had been standing outside the courtyard could hardly believe such an outrageous thing, and they all got up to go to the new house to check.

Sure enough, a skeleton was found hidden under the large wedding dress, which startled everyone once again.

How can anyone believe that a living person could turn into bones in such a short time?

An elder from the Liu family stepped forward and said, "This is too strange. We all saw the greeting just now, but now it's suddenly turned into this. It's probably haunted by evil spirits. We should send someone to Tianqing City to inform the Zhou family and request that they come..."

Liu Laowu objected, saying, "Uncle... this matter must not be publicized too much. What will we say if it gets to the Zhou family? Since she is already dead, we should just say that she committed suicide and bury her quickly."

Uncle Liu said angrily, "Since you know you shouldn't make a fuss, why do you have to go to such extremes? There have been rumors in town lately about a snake demon. Be careful you don't get targeted without even knowing it!"

Liu Laowu said with a fawning smile, "Uncle, I'll take care of everything. Speaking of which, this person suddenly turning into skeletons, who knows if it's just a trick that damned girl played to escape her arranged marriage? It's really bad luck..."

Uncle Liu recalled hearing stories from his younger days about people faking their deaths to escape debts and returning to their hometowns many years later, and he felt that such a possibility was not uncommon.

The burly men who had followed Ah Xia into the bridal chamber were about to speak, but they were too far away to tell whether the woman had suddenly turned into a skeleton or had always been a skeleton.

So someone asked the panicked Ah Xia, "Sister, what did you just see?"

After hearing what Liu Laowu said, Xia's memory was momentarily confused.

She blinked, recalling, "It seems... she suddenly turned into bones, and it also seems, she was always a bit thin..."

Upon seeing this, the middle-aged man who was leading the group from the bride's family spoke up:

"Alright, since Fifth Brother has said so, let's just say she ran away. Bury her tonight. From now on, you two should raise a son well and make sure you don't raise any more shameless ingrates in your home."

The leaders on both sides nodded and began directing their men to clean up the mess.

Such shameless and ungrateful people don't need proper coffins.

The bones were packed in several food boxes and walked out of the main gate openly.

Both families said that the little slut couldn't live with herself, and when she heard that her mother was coming back, she ran away through the back door.

The neighbors were all listening to the commotion, hoping for a good show of the wife disciplining her dissolute adopted daughter.

As was customary, the neighbors would usually come to the door to ask for their opinions and witnesses. Everyone was prepared to give their opinion and hurl insults at the adopted daughter. But who would have thought that she would escape in the end?

Everyone immediately felt bored.

A great show, just like that, it's over. Like a firecracker that's been doused with water, it was expected to explode, but instead it suddenly became so weak that it made you want to rage.

The remaining relatives and friends all felt it was bad luck, but the fact that a person could turn into a skeleton out of thin air was clearly arranged by someone. The adopted daughter must have felt ashamed and had no face to see anyone, so she ran away in advance.

They all found excuses to leave, and before leaving, they tried to persuade Liu Laowu and Axia to put aside their past grievances and live a good life together.

Liu Laowu seemed to have understood things immediately after being struck by his brother-in-law's knife. He agreed repeatedly and arranged for A-Xia's family to stay in town.

As night fell, it started raining again.

In a small side room in the backyard of the Liu family, Liu Laowu kowtowed and paid homage to a large, clean black lacquered table.

On the large table was a statue that resembled both a ghost and a demon. The statue had a bizarre appearance and a ferocious face. It stood on a man whose abdomen had been cut open, and held a heart stained with cinnabar in its hand, as if it was about to put it into its mouth.

Xia knelt beside her husband, her face beaming with joy.

After respectfully reciting the prayer and offering three bowls of pig's blood as the final sacrificial rites, Liu Laowu pulled Ah Xia out of the room.

"Honey, it's done, isn't it?"

A light rain drifted into the eaves, and Liu Laowu wiped the raindrops from his face and nodded.

Xia asked excitedly, like a girl full of anticipation, "So, we'll have our own child soon?"

Liu Laowu said, "That's what they say: sacrificing a lawfully wedded wife will allow you to have a child with your subsequent wife, so you have to divorce her first. But I don't know if it will work..."

Xia said, "It should be possible..."

But seeing her husband's worried expression, she comforted him, "What are you afraid of? Get rid of that statue as soon as possible. Even if it doesn't work after one try, at least we've ruined one of hers and it didn't cost us much money."

Suddenly remembering the gold and silver ornaments in the bridal chamber, dissatisfaction welled up in her heart again.

But then he thought that everything would be his own, and a sense of pride and satisfaction welled up inside him, overcoming the slight discomfort.

Liu Laowu didn't care much. He wasn't very interested in women, and the doctor had diagnosed him as infertile.

However, because of his good looks, his wife was his wife who had been with him since before he became successful, and she was devoted to him. If he could have a child with her, it wouldn't be impossible.

Anyway, the adopted daughter they found was only raised by the couple to avoid having her adopted by their in-laws' child.

Having eaten their food for so many years, it's perfectly reasonable to be traded for one's own child.

Now that the statue of the deity has been worshipped and has received the offerings, it seems that the matter is likely to succeed.

They made a reasonable fuss about the wedding, which was easily brushed aside, and the matter was settled without anyone really discovering the core issue hidden within.

The two found the main room unlucky, so they secretly moved to a side room to sleep in the dark.

As soon as I entered the room, the lights suddenly came on.

Their adopted daughter, dressed in a red wedding gown, hung suspended from the roof beam, her face deathly pale, her long tongue lolling out, her bulging eyes staring straight at them.

The two were so frightened that they froze on the spot, unable to even gasp in surprise. Their eyes rolled back, and they collapsed outside the door.

Liu Zhao'er rolled her eyes and looked up. A corner of a misty pink gauze dress covered a snow-white hem, hanging down at the end of the roof beam. They chased and entangled in the night wind, rippling in layers.

Liu Zhao'er kicked her legs in mid-air, her neck looped in a rope, and said urgently, "Young master, my parents have fainted from fright. It's enough that they know they were wrong. Please put me down quickly."

As the rope slowly descended, Liu Zhao'er, disregarding the rope around her neck, rushed to her adoptive parents' side to check their breathing.

Fortunately, he was still breathing and didn't die of fright.

Behind her, Pei Xuanzhi, stepping on a yellow talisman and carrying the sleeping Yan Huanyue, floated down from the roof beam.

In the dim candlelight, the sleeves of the two figures fluttered, like a double-petaled lotus flower with white petals fluttering in the air.

He stood quietly in the shadows behind Liu Zhao'er, watching her hurriedly drag her adoptive parents into the house to avoid the night rain from getting in.

He asked calmly, "Aren't you going to run? Don't you hate me?"

Liu Zhao'er wiped the rain off her foster mother's face with her sleeve, then raised her sleeve to wipe away her own tears.

"I never had a home to begin with, so where else could I go? Besides... the news of me turning into bones will eventually get out. If I leave, wouldn't I be bringing trouble to my parents?"

Pei Xuanzhi remained silent for a while.

He never expected that someone in a similar situation to his childhood could actually endure it, and even not extinguish the hope and longing in their heart.

However, he rarely goes against the wishes of others. He has no interest in changing which path others choose. He only came to see what was going on because he heard many contradictions in their conversations.

He can only help those who are willing to be helped. For those who are stubbornly ignorant, he can only wait for them to wake up on their own. Otherwise, helping them will be in vain.

"If you want to leave here, I can help you find a way out."

Liu Zhao'er wiped away her tears and said through gritted teeth, "This is my home, and my parents will always be my parents."

Pei Xuanzhi remained silent for a moment. Perhaps apart from this incident, the couple treated the woman fairly well.

In the worst-case scenario, one might be driven to the point of wanting to escape, but if one has received some care or concern, it is easy to struggle within it and find it difficult to break free.

The night rain, accompanied by wind, blew in through the wide-open door, and he couldn't stand it for a while, coughing for quite some time.

He casually took out the wooden wheelchair that had been sealed away in his treasure pouch, bent down and placed Yan Huanyue on it, took out a pill and ate it, then supported himself with one hand on the wheelchair and covered his mouth with the other to cough.

Although this body is still not in good condition, it is much better than before. In the past, it would have already started to have a splitting headache by now.

Liu Zhao'er turned around upon hearing the sound, and this was the first time she had seen his full appearance.

In the dim light, his fair face was bathed in a soft glow as he coughed with a furrowed brow. She felt that although he looked sickly, he inexplicably possessed a captivating charm that momentarily made her lose her composure.

She glanced at the woman in the wheelchair with her eyes gently closed, paused for a moment in surprise, feeling a mixture of fear and inexplicable expectation, and asked softly:

"You suddenly came here to help me, and you want to repay me by bringing me here like this?"

Pei Xuanzhi draped the cloak over Yan Huanyue, pushed the wheelchair towards the door, and casually said into the cool breeze:

"Don't worry, I won't take anyone with me. Whether you run away or stay is entirely up to you."

As he spoke, he walked out of the room and into the side room in the backyard. A talisman was placed overhead, blocking out the rain and mist.

Standing in front of the statue, Pei Xuanzhi took out a piece of red paper, dipped it in wax, and sealed the statue's face. He then pasted several yellow talismans onto the statue.

He held a copper coin between two fingers and pressed it on the statue's head. With one hand forming a hand seal, a burst of fire shot through the square hole in the coin and up to the roof beam, covering the tall wooden rafters with sticky black soot.

He held the copper coin and looked up for a moment, only to see the soot dry instantly and drift downwards.

He slightly raised his hand, and eight yellow talismans flew out from his sleeve, occupying the eight directions and floating in the air, gathering all the smoke and dust together.

Pei Xuanzhi collected the cigarette butts, put the statue into his treasure pouch, turned around, and pushed his wheelchair out the door.

The rain was drizzling, and he pushed Yan Huanyue in a stroll in the cool rain. The night was deep, and there were hardly any pedestrians on the road.

When he reached the outskirts of the town, he hung the masked statue on a locust tree, leaving a piece of cloth fluttering in the wind and rain.

The inscription reads, "This is a demonic possession; those who worship it will perish. If you possess any, present it to the Zhou family."

Before they had even stepped out of the town, a patch of light shone behind them, and they heard the sound of a sharp blade piercing through the rain.

Pei Xuanzhi continued pushing his wheelchair forward when someone called out from behind, "Fellow Daoist, please wait!"

Pei Xuanzhi stopped, gripped the back of the wheelchair with one hand, and turned around abruptly, the fine rain splashing continuously three inches away from him.

Lu Shenchu ​​raised the floating lamp in his palm, and upon seeing him, he was somewhat surprised, "Pei... Fellow Daoist Pei?"

Pei Xuanzhi's gaze swept over him and the Zhou family, landing on Liu Zhao'er, whom he had just met.

His eyes and brows always held a hint of aloofness and coldness that made him unapproachable, but his tone was extremely polite: "Fellow Daoist Lu, it's been a long time."

Lu Shenchu ​​explained to the Zhou family, "That was no stranger, but the son of Sect Leader Pei. He shouldn't have done the murder."

Liu Zhao'er said indignantly, "But my mother is dead! She was scared to death by him, and you're going to protect him?!"

Pei Xuanzhi said unhurriedly, "Miss, you came up with all the ideas. I was just trying to help you. You wanted to evoke pity from others by dying, wasn't that what you were thinking?"

Liu Zhao'er cried out, "But I never intended to kill my mother!"

Pei Xuanzhi said, "They deserved to die. Your father needed to sacrifice one of his wives to have his own child. Did they think that the matter of sacrifice could be replaced so easily?"

Liu Zhao'er angrily retorted, "Impossible... It was you! You're the wicked devil who pretended to be a good person! You're the one who killed my mother!"

Pei Xuanzhi found this rambling pointless and pointed, saying:

"On the way here, there was a locust tree with a demonic image hanging on it, which was taken from her house. It contains traces of demons. You will know once you go and take a look."

Zhou Qian of the Zhou family ordered someone to fly back on a sword to find the evil statue, and then asked, "So, fellow Daoist, you knew that the evil statue was being worshipped, yet you did not stop it from sucking human lives?"

Upon hearing this, Pei Xuanzhi smiled and said, "It's not that I didn't try to stop it, but my cultivation is too shallow, and I didn't know how to handle it. Please forgive my ignorance."

Zhou Qian asked, "Then why didn't you send that portrait to the Zhou family?"

Pei Xuanzhi simply replied, "I'm busy."

"you!"

Lu Shenchu ​​softened the tone, saying, "Zhou Qian, isn't your cousin also in the Tianyan Sect? Alright, alright, we're all on the same side."

Zhou Qian sneered, "What? Lu Shenchu, are you saying that people like Sect Leader Pei and Fellow Daoist Pei are the kind of people who would make things difficult for others because of personal grudges?"

Before Pei Xuanzhi could react, Lu Shenchu ​​suppressed his smile and said to Zhou Qian with a stern face:

"Why are you talking so much nonsense! It's already annoying enough to be around you. You have the worst temper of everyone else, acting like a spoiled brat. Don't you understand when I'm trying to smooth things over? Go back and tell Zhou Pingyi that I'm quitting!"

Without paying attention to anyone, he turned and walked back. Halfway there, he heard the person who had gone to find the evil statue returning in the drizzle on a sword, calling out from afar:

"Sixth Young Master, seize him quickly! There's no evil sign on that locust tree!"

The Zhou family members immediately drew their longswords and stood ready for battle, and Lu Shenchu ​​also stopped in his tracks.

Pei Xuanzhi raised his eyes and looked at the dimly lit city in the distance, his expression calm and composed.

The Zhou family's sword formation unleashed several sword energies that hurtled towards him.

He quickly flipped through the talismans in his sleeve, found the one he needed, and was about to unleash it when the sword energy that had already reached him was swept away by a sharp and swift blade of wind.

Zhou Qian looked up and saw a person suddenly fly up from behind Pei Xuanzhi and hover in the air above him, holding a horizontal sword and making a hand seal with one hand, like an unexpected guardian, quietly looking down at everyone.

Her long hair and clothes were fluttering in the wind and rain, carried by the spiritual energy flowing around her.

Yan Huanyue tiptoed in the wind, still half-asleep, and said in a muffled voice with the tone of someone just waking up from a dream, "Why do you all want to harm my husband?"

Pei Xuanzhi couldn't help but smirk, and no matter what he did, he couldn't calm down. He subtly raised his sleeve to cover his mouth and coughed softly for a while.

Zhou Qian stared at her blankly for a while, then, realizing she looked like she had just woken up, he asked, "Are you Yan Huanyue?"

Yan Huanyue made a hand seal to greet him.

Zhou Qian also returned the greeting with a hand seal, a completely different attitude from when he had treated Pei Xuanzhi, who had half demon blood.

"Since you were with him, why were you completely unaware of this matter? Were you drugged so that he could attack people?"

Yan Huanyue frowned upon hearing this and asked, "Why would you target someone like that?"

Zhou Qian said, "Someone has accused Pei Xuanzhi of killing an innocent person."

Yan Huanyue gracefully landed in front of Pei Xuanzhi, looked at him and asked, "What happened?"

Pei Xuanzhi, completely oblivious to being suspected, helplessly shrugged and said:

"I was just meddling in other people's business, but I ended up being blamed instead. I heard that my adoptive father was marrying my adoptive daughter and that my adoptive mother was causing trouble, so I went to join in the fun. But the adoptive parents wanted to sacrifice my adoptive mother in exchange for their biological child. I took their evil image and hung it on the locust tree. Now I don't know who took it, and this matter is being pinned on me."

Yan Huanyue turned to look at Zhou Qian and said, "If that's the case, is it enough to just find that evil statue?"

Before Zhou Qian could speak, Pei Xuanzhi said, "No rush. This is a newly refined fragment of a demon taken from the evil statue. You should all be able to identify it. Use this to track down the evil statue that was taken away."

As he spoke, he took out a package wrapped in yellow talisman paper, tossed it gently, and it was caught by the Zhou family members.

Zhou Qian said, "Fellow Daoist Yan, even if there is an evil image, the fact that he was able to refine the demonic creature hidden within it means that he is the one who allowed the evil image to take lives."

Pei Xuanzhi said helplessly, "I've already said that I'm powerless to help with this matter. The only reason I was able to refine the demonic creatures was because of the magic weapon my father gave me. Why are you so persistent and making baseless guesses about me?"

"You're just a demon..."

Zhou Qian clearly felt that the words he blurted out could not be so clearly stated. Now, the human race and the demon race are allies in fighting against demons, but his father died at the hands of demons, which always made him feel uneasy about other races.

Pei Xuanzhi said, "I see. Fellow Daoist, what you care about is something I cannot choose."

Zhou Qian didn't bother to explain; instead, he handed the crumbs to his companions.

Lu Shenchu ​​snatched it away, picked up a copper coin, spun it around in the debris, and then tossed it into the air. The coin tumbled a few times in the air before flying straight toward the town.

A short while later, Lu Shenchu ​​returned carrying a sealed-off evil statue, panting and scolding, "It was clearly hanging on that big locust tree, where are its eyes? Are they under its feet?"

Liu Zhao'er was startled when she saw the outline of the evil statue. She vaguely remembered seeing this statue in the side room of the backyard.

At the time, she didn't know what it was for; it turned out he was telling the truth...

Pei Xuanzhi sneezed in the cool breeze. He stepped forward behind Yan Huanyue and said to the Zhou family members:

"Gentlemen, following the aura of this evil image, we can find traces of worship in the side room of her backyard. Didn't you just say that only her adoptive mother died? Her adoptive father escaped another disaster."

Zhou Qian's expression was not good, but he knew he couldn't make things difficult for him anymore. Otherwise, he would be accused of fabricating a crime, which wouldn't sound good either.

“In that case, let’s go back and find his adoptive father for questioning. If there is any fraud involved, please don’t mind if we send a message to the Tianyan Sect to cause trouble.”

Pei Xuanzhi nodded and said, "Please go ahead."

After saying that, he put away the wheelchair behind him, turned around and left with Yan Huanyue.

Seeing that he was about to leave, Liu Zhao'er took a step forward and asked urgently, "Is it really true that you and I didn't kill my mother together?"

Pei Xuanzhi grabbed Yan Huanyue's hand and said without turning his head, "You didn't kill her, so there's no need to feel guilty."

Yan Huanyue didn't know where he was going. She had just woken up and was still a little dazed about what was happening in front of her when he pulled her away.

Behind him, Zhou Qian belatedly remembered etiquette and said from afar, "Gentlemen, this place isn't far from Tianqing City, why don't you stay at the Zhou family's residence for the time being..."

Pei Xuanzhi replied, "No need, we have important matters to attend to."

.

The night rain was sparse, and the mountain forest was particularly humid and stuffy. Yan Huanyue shook off his hand and said, "Since we've already gone out, why did you have to run up this mountain?"

Pei Xuanzhi turned around and looked at her with a gloomy expression, "Then why did you come with me, sister?"

Yan Huanyue turned and walked out of the woods. "I don't know. I opened my eyes and found myself somewhere else. I'm still a little groggy. I haven't asked you why I fell asleep yet."

Pei Xuanzhi followed behind her, gently placing his hands on her shoulders to hold her down, and whispered, "Don't go..."

This posture suddenly matched the scene in his dream one day where he lured her to a cave.

Yan Huanyue felt a shiver run through her body, and a faint, sweet, cool fragrance lurked in the damp, sultry air around her nose.

"you......"

Pei Xuanzhi embraced her from behind, pressing her against a thick tree trunk, and whispered in her ear with a sigh, "Ever since my sister protected me and stood up for me, I couldn't help myself..."

Uncontrollably, Yan Huanyue inhaled the delicate fragrance, feeling waves of heat coursing through her lower abdomen and chest.

Looking at the open, windswept forest before her, she said, slightly out of breath, "No, this is a desolate wilderness. If anyone passes by, I will definitely kill you... Can you bear with it?"

Pei Xuanzhi felt as if he were being burned by wildfire, his will on the verge of collapse, constantly crowding around her. The golden mist behind him was completely released, excitedly squeezing into the gaps in her clothes, clinging to her intimately.

Yan Huanyue felt weak all over from his alluring fragrance, her cheeks flushed red from the warmth of his affection, and her eyes gradually became hazy.

She couldn't help but turn back and kiss his chin, desperately trying to smell the sweet fragrance emanating from under his clothes. Beneath her skin, a strange impulse and desire swelled, tormenting her to the point where she only wanted to find relief.

Pei Xuanzhi picked her up and, controlling the now unruly golden mist, ran towards the cave.

In the night rain, Yan Huanyue wrapped her arms around his waist, held his head close, and rubbed her nose against his cheek, murmuring, "Xuanzhi, you smell so good..."

Pei Xuanzhi practically fell into that cave. The deep, dark vertical cave didn't even have time to light a lamp before he was completely set ablaze by her.

Before his tongue could even draw blood, she had already taken it and was sucking and biting it, thoroughly exhausting his remaining rationality.

Pei Xuanzhi was restless as she pinned him down, a chill ran down his chest as she ripped open his clothes.

Her warm breath, falling from the tip of her nose, gradually slid down his neck, across his chest, and lingered in his heart, tormenting him to the point of wishing he were dead.

"Your heart is beating so fast."

As she objectively recounted the events, Jin Wu, having somehow managed to probe the location, suddenly trembled and collapsed against his chest, breathing heavily.

Pei Xuanzhi pulled her into a tight embrace, gripping her neck and holding her waist in the darkness. He kissed her cheek impatiently, asking with longing, "You like me now, don't you?"

There was no answer to him except for incoherent murmurs and a burning embrace.

A gust of cold wind swept through the mountains and forests, and the lingering rain outside the cave finally poured down in a torrent...

.

"Madam, do you know that person from earlier?"

Three women dressed in black veils and with their faces covered by black veils stood under the old locust tree.

The woman at the head of the group had exceptionally bright eyes and brows that were visible through her black veil, as radiant as a lustrous pearl hidden beneath the veil.

She listened to the maid's question behind her but did not answer.

The mother recognized her son's aura, which was quite common among the succubus clan. However, she had been avoiding the northern lands and Chang'an for many years, and she never expected to meet him so unexpectedly.

Seeing that she remained silent, another maid said, "Madam merely took that ugly statue to play with because she saw someone of her own clan and felt homesick. Madam, it's getting late; let's continue our journey. If we return late, Prince Hengyu might blame you for being so late for the funeral..."

Then, after a moment's thought, he said, "No, no, no... it's my fault for taking you home so late."

The woman addressed as "Madam" shifted her bright eyes, chuckled softly, and spoke in a gentle, soft voice that carried a hint of coldness and indifference.

"Hengyu's mother is dead, not my mother. I arrived late, so does that mean there won't be a funeral?"

The maid exclaimed in shock, "According to human custom, the Queen Consort is your mother-in-law! The Queen Consort is revered among the demons. You are merely overwhelmed with grief. Please refrain from saying such frightening things in the future!"

The lady smiled disdainfully, her soft tone carrying a chilling undercurrent.

"What mother-in-law? Does Hengyu even deserve her? By the way, I'm heartbroken today. If this gets out, you two demons should think about how you're willing to die."

-----------------------

Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2024-05-22 23:46:30 and 2024-05-26 23:55:21!

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