A piercing wail escaped Zhou Ying's throat, as if her heart and lungs had been ripped apart.
She clutched her hair tightly, strands of hair mixed with tears sticking to her face, and curled up on the ground.
"No...no! How could I do this! How could I do this to her!"
She finally saw it clearly.
It turns out she wasn't unaware that she was being biased, but rather that she never felt there was anything wrong with it.
She held the white flute in her arms, coaxed her to sleep, gave her the best elixirs and the most precious magical artifacts, and even combed her hair and sewed clothes for her herself.
But what about her biological daughter, Bai Ying?
She never even gave her a decent room!
When Bai Ying first returned to the sect, the Grand Elder frowned and said, "This child has suffered a lot outside. You, as her parents, should cherish her more."
But how did she do it?
She said to the elder, "These rooms are all for Bai Di's use. She needs to decorate them and read books. Xiao Di is very familiar with the layout and atmosphere of the study. If we change the place, she won't be able to stand it."
In the end, she even only arranged a woodshed for Bai Ying.
What's even more ridiculous is that she actually believed Bai Ying's achievements today were entirely due to the "talent" she and Bai Ying had given her. She even harbored countless dark thoughts in her heart—
"If only this spiritual root were in Xiao Di..."
She finally understood why Bai Ying's gaze towards her had changed from initial anticipation to disappointment, and finally... only coldness remained.
That stubborn child would rather dig out his own spiritual root than sever all ties with them!
"Aaaaaah—!"
Zhou Ying frantically pounded her chest, her nails digging deep into her flesh, drawing blood.
She suddenly remembered the days after Bai Ying's "death." She had indeed cried, but that sorrow was so fleeting. When Bai Di's cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, she even smiled with relief, completely forgetting...
Bai Di's so-called rise was clearly forged with Bai Ying's blood and flesh. What others perceived as talent and brilliance were actually gifts from his daughter, painstakingly given.
"Xiaoying...my daughter...Mother was wrong...Mother was really wrong..."
She cried her heart out, but this time, no one would expect to return to her side.
Zhou Ying slumped to the ground, as if her soul had been ripped away.
The further the images appeared, the more her fingers trembled, her nails digging deep into the ground, her knuckles turning white, yet she seemed to feel no pain.
—Because no one knows better than her what she did to Bai Ying.
She saw herself personally affixing a restrictive talisman to Bai Ying's back before Bai Di participated in the trial competition. That talisman would suppress Bai Ying's spiritual power, preventing her from exerting her full strength during the competition.
But at that time, all she could think about was—
"Little Flute must win."
She even personally accused Bai Ying of cheating, even though she knew that cheaters would be severely punished in such a competition.
The scene in the illusion shifted, and Bai Ying exposed her plot, to which she surprisingly said:
"Why did you have to come back?! I should have strangled you the moment I gave birth to you!"
She heard herself roaring hysterically, like a madwoman.
Now, looking at her grotesque self in the illusion, she finally broke down.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
She kowtowed desperately, her forehead slamming heavily to the ground, blood streaming down her cheeks, mingling with her tears as it splashed into the dust.
But she knew—
Regret that comes too late is worth less than grass.
She once had the opportunity to be a good mother.
When Bai Ying first returned, she looked at her with the same expectant gaze.
However, she only focused on Bai Di and didn't pay any attention to Bai Ying.
Now, she's finally getting her comeuppance.
Her daughter will never come back.
—
Zhou Ying suddenly opened her eyes, her chest heaving violently, and a lingering, excruciating pain in her throat.
She was drenched in cold sweat, her fingertips trembling uncontrollably, as if she were still trapped in that heart-wrenching illusion.
Moonlight seeped in through the window lattice, casting dappled shadows on the bed, but it couldn't illuminate the despair in her eyes.
"What's wrong?" Bai Ying was awakened by her movement. He sat up, but was stunned when he saw his wife's pale face.
Zhou Ying's tears suddenly burst forth.
She gripped the corner of the blanket tightly, her knuckles turning white, and a suppressed sob escaped her throat.
Those images—the way young Bai Ying longed to see her parents...the way she was hated and betrayed by the entire sect...the way she wore her wedding dress, only to be mocked and ridiculed by the one she loved...the way he neglected her after she finally found him again...
Those images were like venomous snakes coiling around her heart.
"I saw it..." Her voice was hoarse and barely audible. "I just had a dream. I saw Xiaoying as a child. I saw her back then, missing us so much. She was suffering so much... I... I didn't know anything. She finally found us, and we treated her like that... Baiying... I was wrong. Baiying is our daughter! How could I do those things? How could I say such vicious things to her?"
Zhou Ying had just had a dream, but in the dream, it seemed as if she had spent more than ten years with Bai Ying.
That long period of time allowed her feelings for Bai Ying to penetrate to the bone.
She was rambling incoherently about what had just happened in her dream, but she couldn't summarize it in just a sentence or two. She didn't even know what she was saying.
However, the way she spoke so hastily caused Bai Ying's body to stiffen noticeably.
Under the moonlight, Zhou Ying saw her husband's pupils contract sharply, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
"You...saw it too?"
Her voice suddenly became dry.
This question made Zhou Ying tremble all over.
She grabbed Bai Ying's arm suddenly, her nails digging deep into his flesh: "You had that dream too? You saw it too, didn't you? Was that dream real?"
White Eagle did not answer.
But in her silence, Zhou Ying already knew the answer.
A terrifying realization spread between the two—it wasn't a dream, but a memory that had actually happened.
Some force made them see clearly what they had done in the past.
"I need to go find her..." Zhou Ying suddenly threw back the covers, her bare feet stepping onto the cold floor. "I need to go now, I can't..."
"Don't be silly!" Bai Ying grabbed her, his voice trembling. "You know perfectly well that she will never forgive us."
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