Chapter 138 Seeds and Fertilizer for the Deception
Before Ji Mingran could even respond, the ethereal figure had already vanished like mist with a smile.
She had assumed that Chu Rangyue would revert to the state she had just appeared in front of her.
But this time, she disappeared from Yu Tianxing's sight, and also from his own.
Ji Mingran's eyes flashed with thought. The memory character who had already awakened a slight consciousness, when the memory scene flowed to this point, as a character in this memory, after completing the things she did and said in the memory, her existence scene would end, and she could only exist until this moment.
She would reappear in the next memory loop and face Yu Tianxing again, who had come to the same memory point once more.
This trap gradually wears down those trapped within, eroding the memories and consciousness that arise from it.
The heavy wooden door opened silently, and a swaying shadow flashed past Ji Mingran's eyes.
While he was deep in thought, Yu Tianxing had already stepped inside.
Passing through the lotus pond in front courtyard, you will arrive directly at the inner room of Wusi Courtyard.
Wusi Academy was divided into two parts: the front half served as a gathering place for disciples of the Nameless Sect to receive instruction, and the back half was the residence of the sect leader and his wife.
The former inner courtyard, once filled with young disciples, is now empty. Yu Tianxing walked in step by step with his head down, circling the lotus pond.
The path paved with bluestone slabs meanders inward, and a still pond adorned with lotus leaves reflects the starlight in the sky. The air is filled with the fragrance of lotus leaves and water vapor clings to clothes and hair.
The courtyard remains as it was before, with its subtle fragrance and sparse shadows, quiet and elegant, just like the owner who decorated and arranged it, a secluded valley orchid and a clear moonlit landscape.
Although they have lived in seclusion for many years, all spiritual practitioners know that Yu Mingting, the leader of the Nameless Sect, and his wife Pan Zhiruo are truly a divine couple.
A beautiful couple stood under the eaves of xx's house, talking softly. Noticing a faint noise, they turned their heads in unison and saw the newcomer. A gentle smile appeared on their equally beautiful faces.
“Tianxing, you’ve returned from your travels and you’ve already reached the Mahayana stage. Very good, very good.” Yu Mingting said with a gratified tone, “Zhiruo, look, our child has finally come here.”
Upon hearing this, Pan Zhiruo's slightly downturned eyes paused, a complex and unreadable emotion flashing within them. She still raised her hand and said softly to Yu Tianxing, "Child, let your mother see how you are. You've suffered so much on this journey."
Yu Tianxing stopped and looked at the two from afar. His indifferent voice pierced through the quiet night and reached their ears: "This time, what will it be your turn to tell me?" His drooping eyelashes cast light shadows on his eyes. "Father, Mother."
Yu Mingting smiled faintly, his handsome face like a god's, as he raised his arm and lightly lifted his fingertips. Pan Zhiruo's expression changed slightly; the arm that was originally reaching for Yu Tianxing turned to grab the collar of the person beside her.
Yu Mingting glanced at her and said softly, "By now, he must know eight or nine tenths of the truth, and he should know the rest as well." Pan Zhiruo looked dazed, and the fingertips that she was holding twitched slightly.
The night view of the lotus pond was instantly shattered. Ji Mingran felt her feet sink into the ground, and in the next instant, she fell into endless white light. Countless memories flashed by rapidly, some of which she had experienced, and some she had not. She tried to make out the images, but after just a glance, she felt extremely dizzy.
Suddenly, a memory image, imbued with powerful spiritual energy, burst forth from the tightly connected memory fragments and crashed down. Ji Mingran's gaze had barely caught a fleeting glimpse of the snow-covered county town when a vast suction force erupted, lifting his body off the ground and drawing him irresistibly into it.
***
Yu Tianxing had his own memory, so he kowtowed at the street corner.
Sometimes, if he was too slow to knock, the old man would bring down his large hand and press down hard, causing his head to slam into the bluestone pavement with a thud.
A dark bruise immediately appeared on his forehead, with blood seeping out. But the child, his forehead pounding on the ground, had a blank look in his eyes, as if he felt no pain.
He was handsome and cute, and kneeling on a busy street corner attracted a lot of attention.
Therefore, with each bow, a few more words would appear on the broken bowl in front of him. The wrinkled face of the old man beside him would also develop more wrinkles from the smiles.
Outstanding appearance can attract attention, but it can also bring trouble.
"How much? I'll buy it." The greasy, fat middle-aged man's eyes were filled with lust, and his disgusting, sticky gaze licked over the child's skin exposed through the holes in his tattered clothes.
The old man's expression shifted slightly; he wasn't unmoved. But he hesitated, still wanting to gain a longer-term benefit, and thus refused one deal after another.
Those with wicked intentions weren't unwilling to rob, but none of them could defeat this emaciated, frail old man.
With just a flick of his long, withered finger, the villain would feel as if his throat was being choked, his face turning bluish-purple, and the veins in his neck bulging as if they were about to explode.
“Cultivator…” each of the villains subdued by the old man said in a mixture of shock and fear.
This was a cultivator. That's when Yu Tianxing learned of the existence of cultivators.
Yu Tianxing was unaware of the old man's identity, and the latter personally told him that he was not related to him by blood. Since he had his own memories, he was led here to beg for food.
If you beg for money, you can eat a dry biscuit that's about to go moldy; if you get nothing, you'll get a beating.
After being beaten so many times, he kowtowed louder and louder at the city gate.
The old man was stingy with the food he gave him, but was willing to spend money to send him to school.
So he learned to read, so he got to know children his own age, and so when he kowtowed, the children in his class recognized him.
"Yu Tianxing, what are you doing here?"
"Yu Tianxing, are you really a beggar?"
More and more children gathered around him.
Whenever this scene occurred, the old, withered man would laugh hoarsely. Yu Tianxing would only kowtow silently, kowtowing to passersby and to his peers who came to amuse him.
Until one day, his forehead fell, and a graceful figure carrying the fragrance of lotus entered his field of vision.
The old man beside him screamed, and at the same time he heard the woman crying, so he looked up in confusion.
"Tianxing," the beautiful woman sobbed uncontrollably, "Your mother has come to take you back."
The lean and handsome man beside her sighed and squatted down, his cool fingers gently wiping her swollen, dark forehead. "If you are still willing to acknowledge us as your father and mother, kowtow three times, and we will renew our parent-child bond and take you home."
The old man was subdued by them; they were cultivators.
Yu Tianxing also wanted to become a cultivator.
He only kowtows three times, and he does this every day.
The bluestone slabs thudded heavily. The child kowtowed quickly and loudly.
The days spent at the Nameless Sect were the happiest days of Yu Tianxing's life.
His parents cared for him deeply and taught him a great deal of skills.
His newly acquainted fellow disciples were curious about him and friendly towards him. The eldest senior sister taught him to read and write every day, the second senior brother happily shared sweets with him, the third senior sister would play pranks on him to scare him and then stuff his arms full of precious gold and jade, the fourth and fifth senior brothers argued about magic and he had to make the judgment, the sixth senior sister measured his new clothes, and the last senior brother, Jiang Chaoxing, was about the same age as him, his senior brother and also his friend.
Until they all advanced to the Golden Core stage.
On the night of his promotion, whether by feigning a chance encounter or making no attempt to conceal it, they all came to see him.
Fear, surprise, and hatred flashed in his eyes as he looked at himself, his expression thoughtful.
However, they quickly returned to normal.
Occasionally, when the eldest senior sister was looking after his studies, she would fall into deep thought; when the second senior brother handed him sweets, he would simultaneously press on his pulse; when the third senior sister jokingly pinched his neck; when the fourth and fifth senior brothers looked at him with a lost and forlorn expression; and when the sixth senior sister brought him new clothes and silver needles, he had not yet put them away.
Jiang Chaoxing was fine, but he was just seeing more and more junior disciples being bullied in the sect, and when he tried to help them, he was stopped by the former.
Although he showed no outward signs of it, Yu Tianxing knew that he had returned to the days when he was wandering alone, without any companions.
None of the sect's disciples wanted to become beggars again, and neither did Yu Tianxing.
All he can do is keep practicing and making himself stronger.
Since the sect has accepted him and he gets along well with his fellow disciples on the surface, he will stay in this only place that can be called "home". He will complete the sect's tasks diligently and cooperate well with his fellow disciples when needed.
He decided to keep these subtle signs that had emerged in recent days to himself and pretend he didn't see them.
Until his senior sisters and brothers took him away, they all fought to kill him.
He broke through to the Mahayana stage in a desperate situation and finally returned to his sect, only to find it in ruins.
At this moment, the words of his father and mother echoed in his mind, their voices ethereal, as if they came from a far more distant past.
Several images were projected into his field of vision.
Under the stars, his father remained silent in thought, while his mother sighed with sorrow.
“Since spiritual cultivation is destined to perish, and there is nothing we can do to reverse it, then at least we should be the ones who can choose, and choose who should end spiritual cultivation.” His father said, “The celestial phenomenon is about to occur, and you and I must hurry to Dingsheng Sect to avoid missing out on the power from beyond the heavens.”
The scene shifts, and the dim sky is split in two. Countless cultivators rush towards the gap in the sky. Below, the five peaks and two rivers collapse and disintegrate. Cultivators in blue, green, black, gray and yellow robes shuttle back and forth, casting spells to support the sect that is about to collapse.
The earth shook violently, as if the sky were about to collapse. Amidst the howling wind and the splitting sky, a baby was born, crying loudly.
Pan Zhiruo, pale-faced, held her newborn child and cried, "I can't bear to part with him."
Yu Mingting: "Let them choose whether they become evil because of poverty or because of despair."
Pan Zhiruo chose the former.
So when the baby turned three, he was given to the old man.
He kowtowed at the city gate every day, and Pan Zhiruo watched from the shadows. Day after day, with red eyes, she found Yu Mingting and spoke again: "I can't bear to see him live such a miserable life. If one day he really becomes a living hell, at least he had some good times. I choose the latter."
Yu Mingting said, "Alright, to nurture a seed into a useful person, it needs more nutrients. Now that we have enough, let's bring him back to the sect."
His personal disciples competed fiercely for their spots. They would then continue to fight among themselves for survival.
So Yu Tianxing was taken back to the sect.
Yu Mingting cast a spell, and his exceptionally talented disciples then glimpsed the celestial phenomena he had fabricated.
He took Pan Zhiruo into seclusion, and ordered Mao Qingyun, the most obedient disciple, to follow his will and continue to instigate infighting among his disciples.
Nutrients. Yu Mingting planted the seed of evil, which required sufficient nutrients to nurture despair, betrayal, and hatred, allowing the seed of evil to fully grow.
Everyone in the Nameless Sect is nourishment for Yu Tianxing.
He was brought out of poverty and given hope, but then his hopes were shattered one by one.
His parents were the ones who caused his predicament, gave him hope, and then shattered it.
***
Fragmented images kept overlapping and flashing, and a chaotic flood of memories filled her brain. Ji Mingran felt dizzy and her consciousness was clouded. It took her a while to recover.
The fragrance of lotus blossoms filled her nostrils; she was back. She returned to the place where her memories had erupted.
The two people under the eaves remained in their original positions. Just as she regained consciousness and looked up, the two of them lowered their arms.
Everything that had just happened was but a fleeting moment for the two of them.
They showed Yu Tianxing the scenes from the past and told him everything.
Meanwhile, she was in Yu Tianxing's memory, and the two overlapped. She actually reviewed everything that happened from Yu Tianxing's childhood to the present from his perspective, and saw everything that Yu Mingting projected to Yu Tianxing.
She turned her head, and Yu Tianxing, like her, had regained his senses. His eyes were cold as he stared ahead, a tear welling up in his eye, sliding down his face, and dripping onto the stone slab.
Without the slightest hesitation, Yu Mingting was direct; he finally understood the truth hidden behind everything.
Taking him back was a scam.
Parental love and harmonious relationships with classmates are a deception.
The illusion of parental love and harmonious relationships among classmates is also a deception.
The truth that the deceased senior brothers and sisters believed was not the truth at all. They exhausted all means and struggled to survive, but in the end, they were nothing more than qualified nourishment in Yu Mingting's eyes.
From beginning to end, everything about Yu Tianxing's past was an absurd deception created by Yu Mingting and Pan Zhiruo.
Among them, Ji Mingran's expression turned slightly serious.
At the very beginning, the birthplace that Yu Mingting and Pan Zhiruo carefully chose for Yu Tianxing was the Dingsheng Sect, which was facing annihilation three hundred years ago.
The author says: Be strong! You will get through this difficult time.
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