Chapter 87 Ling Shu, no one doesn't love you.

"Keep your voice down... What if it's not true and they hear it? Aunt Tao will say I'm spreading false information again."

The person clinging to the vine aimed at the ground, leaped lightly, and casually picked a clematis flower from the vine. Landing steadily, her slender legs were revealed with each step, shapely and white. Ling Shu pinched the calyx, twirled the flower in her hand, and said casually, "What's there to be afraid of? It's just a few scoldings."

Shuzhu put his hands on his hips and said, "Of course you're not afraid of being scolded. You're the Demon King, so of course Aunt Tao will treat you well."

Ling Shu bent down and leaned closer: "What's wrong?"

Shuzhu felt her breath suddenly approach, and a stunningly beautiful face loomed closer. He couldn't help but feel his breath catch in his throat: "It's about your mother and your mother."

"I see." Ling Shu gently stroked the flower to Shu Zhu's ear, tucking the clematis into her hair. She smiled and said, "Thank you."

Everyone had gone far away, but Shuzhu was still standing there in a daze. Then she came to her senses, grabbed the flower, and turned to say, "Don't think that I'll forgive you for making me get chased by wasps!"

Ling Shu didn't turn around, but waved his hand, "It's an honor to be resented by a beauty."

Shuzhu tucked the flower back into her hair, lowered her head shyly and happily, and gazed in the direction she had gone.

Like Ling Shu, she came to Taoyao Village from outside. Shu Zhu's elders had passed away, and she was taken back by the clan elders. Most of the demons here are like this; none of them have complete family relationships, and there will always be... a few missing.

A few days after Shuzhu arrived, Lingshu arrived as well.

Upon first meeting her, Shuzhu knew that this girl with the air of a free-spirited Taoist was different from ordinary demons like them. Later, after learning her identity and the story of how she once stormed the Heavenly Court to coerce the Emperor and Empress into becoming a god, Shuzhu silently regarded her as the new Demon King even before she was recognized and appointed as the Demon King by her clan.

Ling Shu is very approachable, and everyone likes her.

Especially after learning that the clan elders were urging her to find a lover and quickly bear the next generation of little demonesses, even more people harbored such hopes. However, she was a flirtatious woman who, despite her lack of romantic interest, stirred the hearts of many young women in the clan, who eagerly awaited the Demon King's favor.

Shuzhu was one of them. As someone who had been friends with Lingshu before he became the Demon King, Shuzhu noticed that Lingshu often stared blankly at a yellow jade carving of a Qilin.

When asked what kind of jade it was, she said it was sound jade, a type of jade protected by the Qilin. Shuzhu praised the carving, saying it was really good. She replied, "Really? My carving is crude. I've seen better Qilin jade carvings before, but this one is not even one ten-thousandth as good as this one."

When pressed to tell her where she had seen her before, she chuckled and said nothing more.

Shuzhu felt that she had someone in her heart.

I had no choice but to keep my thoughts to myself.

Taozhai.

"Aunt Tao, is there something you need from me?" Ling Shu pushed open the door and entered.

Tao Song, who had been pouring tea and spilling it, snapped out of her daze and hurriedly wiped the water off the table. "You're here."

After much deliberation, she finally decided to tell him: "There's something I've been thinking about for a long time, and I think it's time to tell you."

Ling Shu casually used a cleansing spell to clear the table, then sat down and poured herself some tea: "You're being so mysterious. You're not thinking I have some kind of twin sister or something, that's kind of scary."

Tao Song chuckled: "No, you're their only son."

Ling Shu took a sip of tea and put down the teacup: "What is it?"

Tao Song frowned, composed himself, and said, "That happened a long time ago."

She changed the subject, saying, "Actually, your mother Wen Ji, Sect Leader Wang, Immortal Venerable Qingxi, and Cang Luo are sworn sisters. They are old acquaintances who, in order to protect the lives of demons, agreed to fabricate a colossal lie together."

Ling Shu was stunned. The smile Wang Lifu gave her before he saw her off kept replaying in her mind. It was the first time Wang Lifu had shown her a mother's loving smile.

Tao Song continued, "They made the demons in the human world hide their tracks. The four of them joined forces to create a small world that was only for demons to pass through. The demons returned to live here. Wen Ji took you and stayed in the human world alone. Immortal Venerable Qingxi announced to the world that only you and your mother were left as demons in the world."

"Wen Ji single-handedly drew away all the firepower aimed at the demons, and led you to escape to various places in the human world."

Following the above, and considering everything that had happened before, why Zhuang Jinfu saved her, and why so many people were chasing after her and her daughter... all these things together made sense, and Ling Shu had guessed this.

"Your arrival was an accident. She originally wanted to save you and send you to Peach Blossom Village after giving birth to you. However, her relationship with Wang Lifu attracted too much attention. On her way back to Peach Blossom Village to give birth, she was surrounded by people who wanted to take advantage of her weakness to seize the thousand-year-old demon core. She had no choice but to give birth to you in the wilderness in the dead of winter. The demon king gave birth to a daughter, and from then on, the whole world knew that she could never return to Peach Blossom Village."

"She was prepared to die from the very beginning, intending to vanish into nothingness along with her demon core. She knew that as long as she lived, the cultivators' pursuit of demons would not stop. But what would you do if she died?"

Ling Shu listened quietly, as if she had returned to the time when her mother faced overwhelming danger alone, in the bitter cold of winter snow, how she endured the days of postpartum weakness and fleeing for her life with her child.

The mother and daughter were of one heart, and tears welled up in their eyes.

"She raised you until you were nineteen, and when the time was right, she gave you the thousand-year-old demon core to ensure your safety."

Ling Shu felt a sharp pain in her chest, and a tear slid down her cheek. She questioned, "What about Wang Lifu? Didn't she make the slightest effort?"

“Wang Lifu is the kind of person who, when faced with a choice between righteousness and the life or death of another, will always choose righteousness. This is also the reason why Wen Ji chose her. Wen Ji used the attention brought by her identity to make her and her love affair known to everyone, in order to attract everyone’s attention. When it came time to make a decisive decision, she believed that Wang Lifu would definitely choose to sacrifice her.”

“There is only one exception, and that is you. Wenji entrusted you to her long ago. Wang Lifu is the other half of your bloodline. If she did not love you, she would have killed you in your infancy long ago, instead of letting you grow up to nineteen years old and then sending you to Taoyao Village when disaster struck.”

"Wenji's death may have truly shaken her rock-solid heart. Later, she repeated that choice with you: choosing the greater good or choosing to save one person. Now you know, she chose you. Like many mothers in this world, when danger comes, a mother chooses to save her daughter."

Ling Shu rubbed the teacup, her fingertips trembling, and she lowered her head, tears streaming down her face: "Back then, she really wanted me dead."

Tao Song sighed deeply: "Wang Lifu cannot allow the secret of the demon race's continued existence to be discovered, nor can he allow the firepower used to attack Wen Ji to fall on you again. Of course, this is just my guess. I don't really understand Wang Lifu's thoughts. This sister is quiet and doesn't like to talk, but I think what I'm thinking is probably right."

"Given Wang Lifu's status, once she becomes the first person in the world to want to kill you, no one else will dare to rush up and snatch her head. Qingxi wants to take you as a disciple because he is afraid that if someone tries to curry favor with Wang Lifu, they might kill you and offer your head as a gift. With Qingxi's help, the two of you can play the good cop and the bad cop. As long as you don't leave the mountain, you can live well in the Shangqing Sect."

Tao Song handed her a handkerchief: "Sigh, this master and disciple pair are the least likely to fall in love with demons, yet they both fell for you two."

Ling Shu composed herself, tilted her head back and drank the tea in one gulp, saying with a hint of resentment, "Zhuang Jinfu doesn't like me."

Tao Song stroked her head, smoothed Ling Shu's hair, and said gently with a smile, "Ling Shu, no one doesn't love you."

There was a series of thumping and clanging sounds outside the door, which must have been Shuzhu returning and continuing to fiddle with her water pump. Suddenly, there was a whooshing sound, followed by an annoyed "Ouch!" It was probably because Shuzhu had bumped into the water bucket.

To look good in front of Ling Shu, Shu Zhu wore a new dress with a long hem. During her movements, she stepped on the hem of the dress, fell onto a bucket of water, knocked it over, and soaked most of the hem of her dress. She was furious and embarrassed.

Unsure whether to stay or leave, she didn't know the purification and drying techniques of cultivators. If she went back to change her clothes, she might not see Ling Shu again when she came back.

Tao Song got up to "tidy up" the bamboo, and said something hastily before leaving.

"According to the message from Canglu, the Heavenly Court has not blamed you, and the public resentment towards you has gradually subsided. It has been three years, and you can go down the mountain now."

Tao Song opened the door and left, his voice coming from outside, "Little ancestor, what happened? The whole place is wet."

Shuzhu got up from the ground in a disheveled state, her clothes soaked, and crept into the doorway to look at Lingshu inside: "Lingshu, are you leaving?"

This call brought Ling Shu back from her reverie. She responded in a muffled voice, "Yes, I'll go down the mountain today."

Ling Shu got up and walked towards the door, casually using a drying spell to dry Shu Zhu's skirt. As she left, she said to Shu Zhu, "Next time you're doing these things, remember not to wear a long skirt, so you don't fall."

Down the mountain, at the market.

Ling Shu descended the mountain wearing a cloak, and the first thing she did was go to a clothing shop to buy a dress that human girls wear. The demon race has an open culture, and they mostly wear cool dresses that expose their shoulders and legs, so wearing one of these would inevitably attract attention.

After changing her clothes, she successfully blended into the crowd. However, her striking appearance still drew attention, but she ignored it, preoccupied with the whereabouts of her demon core and Wang Lifu.

She had to find both, but she had a stronger connection to the demon core, so she decided to look for it first.

The demon core possessed immense demonic power, and its transformed clones were so realistic that they could perfectly deceive heavenly soldiers and generals. Ordinary cultivators would be even less likely to suspect that the maimed corpse was a thousand-year-old demon core. Who would willingly seek out trouble? It's probably currently lurking in some corner of a mass grave.

Ling Shu made a compass gesture in his palm, pointing towards the direction of Southwest City, searching for the demon core.

Goodness, it's the same old place. I wonder what the rebuilt Southwest City looks like. Let's go take a look.

Traveling by sword took very little time.

Upon arriving in Nanxi City, she didn't rush to find the demon core, but instead inquired about the whereabouts of Zhang and her daughter. Coincidentally, Zhang and her daughter lived in Ma Lane, North Street, Nanxi City.

Thankfully, I'm still alive.

Ling Shu went to the street to buy gifts, preparing to visit the family.

Since Ling Shu's death, Zhuang Jinfu rarely returned to Qingxi Mountain. Instead, she traveled to various cities, distributing porridge, providing relief to refugees, or teaching in schools. She explained the truth about the great natural disaster three years ago to the world, even when her reputation was ruined and she was driven out of her home. She persisted in her efforts. After three years, the people in various places gradually accepted the idea that people should not believe in the existence of saviors, but should believe in their own power.

The people who had experienced the natural disaster also knew that a powerful magic force had pulled them out of the danger zone. With the blessing of that power, they struggled to climb out of the ruins and were fortunate enough to survive. People were willing to believe that Ling Shu was not a world-destroying demoness, but a heroine who saved the disaster. Later, everyone called her Chi Jiu Tian Xian and even built a temple to worship her.

Various legends and strange tales about her gradually spread. Most of these legends and strange tales were written by a person named "Zou Yi". It was said that some people had seen this story writer. She was dressed in black, tall and thin. Some fans were so excited when they saw her that they fainted. She revived them. Some sharp-eyed people recognized her as a famous Taoist priest who practiced medicine and alchemy, and whose Taoist name was Yuan Nian.

Zhuang Jinfu arrived at Nanxi City today.

She had just finished a class and was during her break when she went out to buy some snacks for the children.

In front of the pastry shop, she ordered a few items and asked the owner to wrap them up. While waiting, she heard shouts from the tea shop next door.

"A basket of crystal shrimp dumplings is here!"