Chapter 13: I'm a Mom, Really?
"Shameless!"
Suddenly, the girl's angry shouts startled everyone.
She stepped out from behind Jinzha, her face flushed with anger: "You are my flesh and blood, born after ten months of pregnancy. If anything is to be returned, it shouldn't be to him!"
In the process of reproduction, men only provide the sex chromosomes that determine sex, and have no other role. Moreover, most men believe that the blood shed during childbirth symbolizes misfortune, and they are unwilling to even step into the delivery room, claiming that they are "afraid of being tainted by bad luck and ruining their future."
What right does such a person have to say something like "our bodies and hair are given to us by our parents"?
Hearing this, all the biology knowledge she had learned in high school came rushing back to her mind, and Ping Yu was completely blinded by anger. When she was half a step away from Tong'er, she found that her raised foot could not be placed down. No matter what she did, she could not move forward. When she turned around, she saw Nezha's speechless expression.
The boy held her by the back of the neck, like he was lifting a cat.
"Nezha!" Pingyu bristled, her eyes gleaming, and she pleaded with the little deity, "Can you help him?!"
The other party's response was ambiguous, neither agreeing nor disagreeing explicitly, but simply replying, "Don't rush, wait until he finishes speaking."
Tong'er nodded and continued:
Use the handle of the knife to strike downwards, and only after the mother faints can the eggs be retrieved.
“My sister and I were unable to resist his strength and were forced to stand in front of the offering table to have our hearts removed.”
He pulled aside his clothes, then peeled back the skin on his chest. Layer by layer, the innermost layer of skin beneath the outer layer was completely clean. The paper effigy still had glue and a wooden frame, but Tong'er had no flesh, no bones, not even blood.
The fact that they would skin and cut off flesh to brew fine wine further proves that what the boy said was true. "I don't know what kind of sorcery that clay statue used, but it was able to keep my sister and me alive even after our hearts were ripped out. Then, in front of us, Father took out my mother's bones. My sister didn't cry when her heart was ripped out, but my mother cried and begged him not to when her bones were being removed. That's when he got annoyed and cut off Xiao Bei's tongue."
After saying that, Tong'er's head tilted back twice involuntarily, as if Xiao Bei on her scalp was nodding.
They watched as Tong'er turned around and raised the yellow wine vessel on the couch. He spun the vessel, pointing to the crack on it: "Clearly, the wine vessels made from slaves were all intact before, but for some reason, they became defective when they came to my sister and me. It is precisely because of this crack that we were able to come out and talk to the immortals. Otherwise, if they had become finished products, the souls of the vessels would have been connected, and the vessels would have been destroyed and the souls would have vanished. When we were being burned by the blue flames of the clay sculpture and the bones, we heard him pleading with the demon inside the clay sculpture to save my mother's life. Xiao Bei and I don't know what he wants to do, but that person could never have made such a request out of old affection. My mother would only suffer a fate worse than death in his hands!"
At this point, Tong'er knelt down again. He kowtowed nine times to the three people in turn: "I beg you immortals to act on behalf of Heaven, destroy that demon, and save my mother from this fire and water!"
Pingyu also twisted his neck, straining to look at Nezha.
She nodded repeatedly in agreement, practically screaming "You have to agree!" on her face; she was almost a blur. Seeing this, Nezha had no choice but to press Pingyu's head down again to prevent her from hurting her neck if she moved around too much.
He did know why the wine vessel cracked.
After death, the body decays as the soul departs. Without a physical body, the soul is usually blurred and indistinct. Therefore, most people, when appearing in dreams by the deceased, can recognize the person but cannot see their face clearly. These spirits do not have a lifespan; they maintain their strength through the lingering willpower they held before death.
The deeper the obsession and resentment, the closer the ghost's form will be to that of a living person.
Tong'er and Xiao Bei are a typical example.
The two were first sacrificed by their biological father, then imprisoned within their mother's bones. Their blood relation amplified their vengeful resentment, preventing them from maintaining the gruesome state of their deaths. Their flesh was pulverized into a paste, and boundless hatred fused their souls together, shaping them into ordinary human forms. The wine cup, unable to bear the weight of their karma, cracked. Nezha had only bought the wine cup to exorcise demons; now that a minor demon was asking him to eliminate a major one, it suited his purposes.
After thinking it over, the Hun Tian Ling (a magical ribbon) replaced her hands and pressed down on Ping Yu's head. She was turned over and then gently pushed back to Nezha's side.
It wasn't in the middle; it was far away from Jinzha.
Nezha said to Tong'er, who was kneeling on the ground, "Okay."
Those two simple words made Tong'er jump up instantly. He then revealed his childlike nature, excitedly touching his hair along with his younger sister Xiao Bei: "Xiao Bei, the immortals have agreed! Our mother is saved!"
Pingyu was also very happy.
Ignoring the fact that the other person was a ghost, she rushed up and grabbed Tong'er's hand, spinning around with him.
Jinzha was a little surprised. He turned his head and asked, "You believe me?"
“It makes no difference.” The boy looked at Ping Yu, who was smiling, and slowly withdrew his gaze. Nezha’s tone was flat: “It’s the difference between killing one and killing two.”
"So what do you plan to do? Just charge in?" Jinzha rubbed his temples, somewhat troubled, and reminded him, "The other side is a mortal, not a cultivator who has fallen into the demonic path. Although you have 1,700 killing tribulations to bear, you won't suffer karmic retribution from the Heavenly Dao until you've killed that many. But if you make too much noise, it will inevitably attract attention."
"Besides, the rumors about you within the pass are already..."
Jinzha hesitated, but Nezha understood what he meant.
As the elder brother, Jinzha didn't know how those rumors started. The claim that Nezha loved killing monsters was because he was originally a powerful demon who increased his power by consuming demons. That's why Yin Shi was pregnant for three years and six months before he developed his ball-like body.
Nezha said nonchalantly, "Who cares what they say?"
"Are you really not going to care?" Jinzha didn't call him out on it.
When his younger brother was little, he cried in his mother's arms because of rumors circulating outside!
Pingyu appeared to be playing with Tong'er, but in reality, she was eavesdropping on the brothers' conversation. She had spent ten years at the family temple before being placed in the Li family mansion. Pingyu was unaware of the rumors surrounding Nezha within the pass. She only knew that before buying the wine cup, the peddler had been wary of Nezha, his face constantly showing fear. At first, Pingyu had thought it was just the instinctive fear of commoners towards the son of an official, but now, hearing this, she suspected there were other reasons.
Her eyes lit up, and an idea came to her.
"Or, how about we pretend to be refugees?"
The girl's voice caught their attention.
"Pretend to be refugees?" Jinzha repeated doubtfully. He realized Pingyu's meaning and shook his head in rejection: "I'm afraid that won't work. Go look at the beggars on the street and the slaves in the brokerage firm. They are completely different from us."
"I mean, don't you have the means to transform people?"
Pingyu cupped his face in his hands, nodding at Nezha and Jinzha like a bird pecking at rice: "That wine man, isn't he looking for young boys and girls to be human sacrifices? Nezha and I are the perfect age! We can use magic to change our appearances, and as long as we look pitiful enough, he won't suspect anything. Besides, in this war-torn world, someone who is high-ranking today might be trampled into the mud tomorrow. These two children who have been out of town may have once been of great status; aren't they perfect offerings for the gods?"
The girl spoke with great conviction, seemingly particularly excited about being used as a sacrifice. She went on and on, saying, "Then Nezha and I will pretend to be lost and beg the wine seller for a drink of water. Then, we'll seize the opportunity to break into his house. Just before we're about to be sacrificed, Nezha will beat him up, and I'll take the chance to run away while shouting. Then Nezha will reveal his true form in the crowd, and that way we can rightfully slay the demon!"
"It's so numb..."
Before Nezha could even utter the word "annoying," Jinzha interrupted him with approval: "Good, good, good, let's use this plan!"
This would not only allow him to rightfully eliminate demons and evildoers, but also give Nezha a good reputation to clear up the rumors.
Since he approved of Pingyu's plan, he naturally had to help with the details.
Jinzha quickly discovered the flaw.
He pointed out, "But to make the offering, we need to sacrifice the mother and her two children. Having twins alone isn't enough; we also need the mother. Where are we going to find someone to play the mother?"
The moment the words left his mouth, two... no, including Tong'er, a total of three gazes simultaneously fell on Jinzha. Looking at their expressions, even the most obtuse person should have realized what was going on.
Jinzha was exceptionally intelligent; he looked around, took a half-step back, and pointed at himself.
The young man hesitated and said:
"Me...me?"
A note from the author:
Nezha & Pingyu: The eldest brother is like a mother
Jinzha: I'm going to be a mom, really?.jpg
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