A sudden, excruciating pain shot through Zhou Ying's chest, as if a thousand steel needles were piercing her simultaneously. She looked at the person before her, her throat feeling as if gripped tightly by an invisible hand.
Her own flesh and blood...
He actually said such a thing to her...
Bai Ying's figure, holding a sword, appeared particularly distant under the moonlight. In those almond-shaped eyes that were exactly like her own, there was no longer the expectation she had when they first met, only a chilling indifference.
Zhou Ying suddenly realized—Bai Ying was serious. This child was truly prepared to fight against her biological parents.
The most terrifying thing is that, not long ago, when she saw Bai Di die, she did indeed hysterically want to kill Bai Ying to avenge her!
In that instant, she completely forgot that Bai Ying was her own flesh and blood, whom she had carried for ten months and given birth to!
"Ying'er! I'm sorry, Ying'er!"
Zhou Ying lunged forward, but just as she was about to touch Bai Ying's sleeve, she was repelled by an invisible spiritual barrier.
She fell heavily to the ground, her carefully styled hair coming undone, and her hairpins clattering as they hit the ground.
"It was Mother's fault..." She knelt on the ground, tears blurring her vision, her carefully manicured nails scratching mottled bloodstains on the bluestone slab.
"Mother shouldn't have listened to slander...shouldn't have treated you like that...can you...can you forgive your mother?"
Bai Ying was clearly stunned.
She never expected Zhou Ying to say such a thing. The mother who had always ignored her and only treated Bai Di as her own daughter would actually say such a thing.
Seeing this, Bai Ying quickly led the Bai family members forward.
The usually dignified patriarch was now hunched over, his eyes filled with pleading: "Ying'er, the Bai family has indeed wronged you too much. But blood ties are unbreakable!"
His hand trembled as he reached out, wanting to touch his daughter's shoulder: "We can give you the very best of everything... to make up for the eighteen years of missing family..."
Bai Ying's gaze swept over the earnest faces of the crowd, noticing that there was no spiritual power left in their bodies, before settling on Bai Yanfeng's cold corpse.
A bitter smile curved her lips—these people's change in attitude was simply because Bai Di had betrayed them.
If Bai Di hadn't attacked Bai Yanfeng, if Bai Di hadn't revealed his true colors and drained the spiritual energy of this group... they would probably be turning their swords against him by now.
"Too late."
These three words were as light as a sigh, yet as heavy as a thousand pounds.
Bai Ying turned and walked towards the ancestral hall gate. The moonlight stretched her shadow long, making her look as solitary and lonely as a pine tree on a cliff edge.
"I will never go back to the Bai family." Her voice was eerily calm. "That day when I said I was severing ties, every word was sincere."
For Bai Ying, her parents were already dead the moment they agreed to have her spiritual roots removed and given to Bai Di.
She no longer has parents.
"No!" Zhou Ying cried out in anguish, staggering to her feet as she tried to grab her daughter's hand. "You can't leave... You're all I have left..."
Bai Ying dodged to the side, and Zhou Ying missed her target.
She looked down at her empty palms and suddenly felt dizzy—she felt her heart go empty in an instant!
"Take care of yourself."
Bai Ying glanced at her one last time before turning and stepping into the night.
The night wind lifted her clothes, taking away the last bit of warmth from inside the ancestral hall.
"Wait!" Zhou Ying stumbled to the door, but tripped on the threshold. She fell to the ground, crying out hoarsely, "Let your mother make it up to you...please..."
However, the figure never looked back and gradually disappeared into the hazy moonlight.
Bai Ying, supporting his swaying wife, gazed in the direction his daughter had gone and suddenly burst into tears.
This man, who always kept his word, was now hunched over like an ordinary old man.
He finally understood that some mistakes, once made, can never be undone.
Just like those ancestral tablets that were knocked down by the white flute, even if they are re-erected, the cracks will always remain.
Outside the ancestral hall, the crescent moon hangs like a hook.
A drop of night dew fell from the eaves and shattered on the bluestone slab, just like the irreparable bond between mother and daughter.
In the shadows unseen by them, Bai Ying raised her hand to wipe away the last trace of moisture from the corner of her eye.
It just felt utterly absurd.
From now on, she will never shed tears for these people again.
All those expectations for family, all those loved ones I dreamed of seeing, have vanished forever with tonight's wind.
—
After Bai Ying left, Zhou Ying had a dream.
For some reason, she possessed Bai Ying's body.
At this time, Bai Ying was still small and exceptionally cute.
She listened as Bai Ying, looking somewhat forlorn, sat by the stream, talking to the birds beside her: "Today is the day for visiting relatives within the sect. My fellow disciples' parents have all come to see them. I miss my parents so much too. But Master said I'm an orphan, without parents. Do you think they would come looking for me if my parents were here?"
Her gaze swept across the stream to a lively open space not far away.
The parents of the fellow disciples, their faces beaming with loving smiles, handed out various carefully prepared gifts to their children.
Some brought out exquisite pastries, some offered brand-new clothes, and others brought precious ritual implements. Laughter and cheerful voices filled the air, and everyone was immersed in a joyful atmosphere.
When her fellow apprentices skipped and jumped up to Bai Ying to show off their gifts, she immediately flashed a sweet smile and praised them generously: "Wow, this pastry looks so delicious!" "This dress is so pretty, you would look amazing in it!"
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