"Tsk! What kind of person is he! You old geezer, how dare you get him?" Ma Hehua cursed and added insult to injury.

"Alright, alright, stop talking."

Ma Linghua remained calm.

When the fish was served, the four of them began to eat.

"If you need any additional dishes, just let us know," the proprietress said somewhat apologetically.

"By the way, where's your dad?" Ma Linghua put down her chopsticks and asked her.

"I don't know, I've never seen him since I was a child."

"Alright, you can go ahead and get busy!"

"Mom, why are you asking about her father?" Ma Hehua asked curiously.

"It's not ready yet! Eat quickly, so you can get back to work."

"What kind of work?"

Li Zhongguo asked.

"Don't worry about it. Just eat and wait for us at the door with Pear Blossom."

Li Zhongguo pursed his lips. "He doesn't tell me anything about his family. He's so secretive."

When the four of them finished eating, it was exactly noon. The sky looked exceptionally gloomy, and there was a hint of wind and rain.

"Smack!"

The old fish restaurant was suddenly shut by Ma Hehua. There were still fish bones left on the table, and steam rising from the pot.

"I came to kill that beast at the request of the Fish Maiden, didn't I?"

“I know, my grandma left me a letter, but I never expected you to come today. I thought I would never see you again.”

The proprietress looked a little pale. Her mother had been watching her closely by her bedside lately, afraid that she wouldn't be able to wait for the close friend her grandmother had mentioned. But unexpectedly, they arrived.

"bump!"

The old woman who had just been led inside by the proprietress suddenly pushed open the door with great force, her face dark and gloomy as she stared at the proprietress.

"Jinling, tell me, where are the things your grandmother left you back then?"

The old woman now had a fierce and menacing expression, and was making low growls like a wild beast; she was not human at all.

“Mother, Grandma knew this day would come, she even foresaw it. After all, as a koi spirit, she does have some abilities. But you have let Grandma down; you ate people.”

"Shut up! I'm not human, so what if I eat people? Isn't that normal?"

"Normal? You ate my father, my man, my man's parents, and my father's relatives. You are too cruel. You are a devil."

Jinling was on the verge of a breakdown.

The old woman's already distorted face became even more ferocious in her madness, with bulging veins on her forehead like winding venomous snakes.

Her eyes flashed with an eerie red light, like two burning hellfires, devoid of any human warmth, containing only endless madness and resentment.

"They all deserve to die!" the old woman roared, her voice echoing in the small room like the howl of a demon.

Her withered fingers clenched and unclenched like eagle claws, each movement carrying a neurotic rhythm.

“Your father, that heartless man, did he think he could hide it from me? I gave him so much, but he cheated on me with that widow Huang behind my back. He threw away the love I gave him like trash.”

Jinling was in tears, her body trembling. She couldn't accept that the mother she once knew had become so strange and terrifying: "But you can't kill him because of this, he's my father!"

The old woman laughed as if she had heard the most ridiculous joke in the world, letting out a sharp laugh: "Father? He doesn't deserve it! From the moment he betrayed me, he was just a shell that I could destroy. And your man, that hypocrite, he planned from the beginning to take everything from our family. He and his childhood sweetheart laugh at you, you fool, behind your back, and yet you are still devoted to him."

As she spoke, the old woman swayed slightly, as if recalling the scenes of slaughter excited her.

“I saw the terror in your father’s eyes, and when I revealed my true colors, his pleas for mercy were so ridiculous. His blood, warm and sweet, is the punishment a traitor deserves. And my son-in-law and his family, they thought they could get away with it, but I won’t let them have their way.”

Jinling slumped to the ground, her eyes filled with despair: "Those are human lives! How could you do this? Grandma knew you would become like this, that's why she didn't give you the inner core."

A flash of resentment crossed the old woman's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a stronger madness: "My mother? She's dead. I never wanted to follow her rules again. I'm a demon; I shouldn't be bound by human morality. Their suffering, their deaths, were all their own doing."

At this moment, the room was filled with a strong sense of blood and evil.

The old woman's figure appeared even more eerie in the dim light; every movement she made seemed like a dance from the abyss of darkness, filled with destructive power.

Jinling knew that her mother had been completely consumed by hatred and desire and could not be brought back to life, and she herself was also trapped in this endless nightmare.

The air around them seemed to tremble with the tragedy, and the paintings on the wall swayed slightly because of the old woman's menacing aura.

"Alright, alright, let's stop with the talk of life and death. Fish Lady said her biggest regret was giving birth to you against her will. But... I support you. Good for you. That kind of man deserves to have his throat slit. And your son-in-law, I also completely agree with what you did. But... now it's time for you to go."

Ma Linghua admired her; she had guts. It was a pity she was a bastard. If she wasn't killed, there would be big trouble.

The old woman had no time to pay attention to Ma Linghua's attitude; her mind was filled with the inner elixir left by her mother, and her eyes were filled with a mixture of greed and eagerness.

"Jinling, the inner core! Give it to me quickly, with it I can..." Her voice grew louder and louder, echoing incessantly in Jinling's ears, like a spell, trying to bewitch Jinling.

Jinling looked pained, her eyes darting between her mother and Ma Linghua, her mind in turmoil.

Ma Linghua then turned to Ma Hehua and calmly instructed, "Hehua, go! Kill the corpse fish."

Ma Hehua looked bewildered: "Mom, what's a corpse fish?"

The expression on his face was as if he had heard a phrase from a fairy tale.

Ma Linghua was taken aback at first, then seemed to remember something, her lips twitched slightly, and she thought to herself, "That brat, didn't she tell her?"

However, he patiently explained, "It's the child born from a fish demon and a living dead. Since it didn't have a name, I just named it Corpse Fish."

Ma Hehua suddenly realized, muttering, "I knew it! I'd never heard of it before. So it was you who chose the name, Mother." There was a hint of resentment in her tone, but also a hint of curiosity.

"Hurry up and go, we're taking your dad to climb the Great Wall later!"

"Okay, Mom!"

Ma Hehua didn't dare to delay. She jumped up and drew her broadsword from behind, slashing at the attacker.

The old woman flipped over backwards, her eyes filled with astonishment.

"What a powerful knife."

If she had reacted any slower, she would have been cleaved in two.