"Love the world?"

The junior sister seemed to have heard a very funny joke, and kept giggling.

"She loves the world, but do the people she loves love her?"

When the junior sister recalled that she had just arrived at Siyue Sect, An Zhengzheng was indeed a legend in the cultivation world.

Among the female cultivators in the Siyue Sect, everyone admires An Zhengzheng. Outside the sect, some praise her, while others slander her.

The junior sister said, "Those men mocked her, and some women also criticized her... She did so many things with all her might, yet she still received no shortage of infamy and slander. It's clear that her path has never been right."

Too kind, and too foolish.

“I am right... People shouldn’t have thoughts.”

Once these thoughts take hold, these men will find opportunities to pull women down again. They are like venomous snakes circling around, ready to bite and kill any woman they get the chance.

Once they have their own thoughts, those women will act foolishly. A few sweet words are enough to make them kneel down and submit, displaying their servility and constantly being weak, subservient, and finding pleasure in being dogs.

Senior Sister Wen Yu sat quietly to the side, watching her expressionless junior sister with great interest.

I'm really looking forward to seeing her face off against An Zhengzheng.

One is a ghost formed from the condensation of countless wronged souls over thousands of years. It is powerful but resentful of everything in the world and wants to control everything it can.

One is a mortal who has lived two lives, whose abilities are insignificant in the face of ghosts and gods, yet he insists on loving everything in the world, seeking only fairness in all things, and giving people the freedom to choose.

It's getting more and more interesting.

\/\/

As An Zhengzheng traveled towards the center of the cultivation world, the unease in her heart grew stronger.

A quick calculation revealed it to be an extremely ominous sign.

After lowering her eyes slightly for a moment, she decided to settle down in Qingyang Village.

Most of those people from a hundred years ago have already passed away. Many of the new villagers don't recognize An Zhengzheng, but everyone knows that there is a sage with bamboo tattoos on his face protecting them.

So when they saw someone flying in the sky on bamboo, they reported it to the village headman as soon as possible.

When An Zhengzheng jumped down from the bamboo, the village head had already come to greet her with his men, looking anxious.

"Zhengxian, I didn't know you came here..."

They were both overjoyed and uneasy.

The joy stemmed from the fact that An Zhengzheng's place of residence was largely free from demonic calamities.

The unease stemmed from the fear that something bad was about to happen in the village, which was why the immortal had made a special visit to warn them.

An Zhengzheng nodded slightly and said, "I'm here to visit an old friend, so there's no need to be nervous."

"Old friend...?"

They are a new generation of villagers, and few people remember Zhou Yu'er from a hundred years ago.

An older woman slapped her forehead: "It's the old lady's mother!"

Her mother was close friends with Zhou Yu'er's daughter Shuang'er when they were young, which is why she remembered this incident.

"Grandma Shuang, she's quite a formidable old lady."

They quickly took An Zhengzheng to see her.

Zhou Yu'er's daughter, Pei Rongshuang, is over 100 years old.

The old lady lived her life with great clarity and understanding.

An Zhengzheng heard from the villagers on the road that the two old women had never married and had no daughters or sons.

She did inherit her mother Zhou Yu'er's skill in drawing talismans.

Back then, An Zhengzheng taught Zhou Yu'er how to draw talismans. Whenever there was a wedding in the village, they would ask her to draw talismans to ward off evil spirits. Even people from neighboring villages would come to ask her for help.

The talisman was created by An Zhengzheng herself. Through that talisman, Zhou Yu'er, a mere mortal, could borrow her magical power.

After Zhou Yu'er passed away, his eldest daughter, Pei Rongshuang, took over.

“In our Qingyang Village, the two old ladies always make an appearance for every happy occasion, and people from the neighboring villages also come. As long as the two old ladies are there, no monster dares to steal the bride.”

"It's a pity she's getting old now, but fortunately, with the fairy's help, monsters have been appearing less and less in recent years."

This shows the prestige of Zhou Yu'er and her mother in Qingyang Village.

The old lady is over 100 years old, but she is still sharp-witted, healthy, and has adopted two children who are now teenagers.

The older child was a girl, and the younger child was a boy with a limp.

"Empress Zheng".

Supported by her two children, Pei Rongshuang, leaning on her crutches, went out to meet An Zhengzheng.

A hundred years ago, she was just a little girl who couldn't even speak clearly; now, in the blink of an eye, she's an old woman.

"You look exactly like the one in the painting!"

Pei Rongshuang was overjoyed, because her mother had taught her to worship Zheng Niangniang and offer incense to her since she was a child.

An Zhengzheng was overwhelmed with mixed feelings.

They were led into the house and sat down.

A young girl poured her tea.

"Thanks to Lady Zheng for helping my mother back then," Pei Rongshuang said tremblingly.

An Zhengzheng shook her head and said, "It's your mother who is capable; she is a daughter of the Zhou family."

The Zhou family was in business, and Zhou Yu'er, living under their roof, was influenced by what he saw and heard.

Zhou Yu'er is not stupid; you can tell from the fact that she was able to pass the exam for Siyuemen. In essence, she is no worse than Zhou Xu.

Unfortunately, the Zhou family favored sons over daughters, and Zhou Yu'er was truly lacking in love, so her cleverness was misplaced.

Back then, An Zhengzheng only showed her how to draw talismans and how she used her status as an immortal to gain the villagers' faith.

Zhou Yu'er was able to seize the opportunity and use his talisman-drawing skills to the fullest.

Pei Rongshuang smiled.

Only she knew that if it weren't for Consort Zheng lending her magic power to her mother, her mother would have had no way to exert her own power.

With the skills given to her by Zheng Niangniang, her mother had her own income and won the respect of the villagers. She even insisted on changing her daughter's name from Zhaodi to Rongshuang.

Grandma no longer objected to having a daughter-in-law who could bring honor to the family.

Back when Pei Rongshuang refused to marry and was criticized by her whole family, it was Zhou Yu'er who stood up for her.

"No matter how much dowry they offer, if Shuang'er doesn't want to marry, then she doesn't have to. The dowry is all returned!"

“They’re both young women in their early twenties. If you don’t think about Shuang’er, you should at least think about her younger siblings. What kind of family is it if there’s an old maid who’s never married?”

“I have always taught them to love each other. If they force their eldest sister to marry for the sake of their reputation, then they are not my daughters or sons.”

"Fine, fine, let her go. If Shuang'er can't get married in the future, no one will take her in when she gets old... A daughter's family isn't her own home anymore..."

“Who says otherwise?” Zhou Yu’er said to her children, “Don’t listen to the nonsense outside. You are all your mother’s children.”

She then told Pei Rongshuang, "You must be able to be independent."

"Empress Zheng was like that back then too."

Perhaps it was because he was thinking of his mother, Pei Rong's eyes welled up with tears.

An Zhengzheng sat and chatted with her for a while.

She did not come to see Zhou Yu'er when he passed away.

There's no other reason than that cultivators take a very detached view of life and death.

In An Zhengzheng's eyes, Zhou Yu'er failed to become an immortal; as a mortal, she was merely reincarnated in a different place.

It was similar to my journey from the An family to the Siyue Gate and then back out of the Siyue Gate for training, except that I lost my memories and had a different identity.