She never expected this woman to be so formidable; not only was she skilled at verbal abuse, but she was also incredibly ruthless in her killings, clearly having killed many.
"Wow! Not bad! You can even do a somersault."
The old woman was speechless for a moment. Did she look silly?
"Hmph! Heaven and earth are boundless, and the universe borrows its power; thunder and lightning shall come."
Ma Hehua shouted loudly!
"Boom!"
Thunder rumbled in the sky, followed by a bolt of lightning.
"Snap!"
It was Ma Hehua's first time borrowing lightning, and she didn't know if she could hit it accurately. She stared intently at the old woman.
The old woman looked very nervous. This was quite a big commotion, and she felt like she couldn't escape it.
Um?
She closed her eyes and waited for ages but still didn't win. What happened? She suddenly opened her eyes.
All that could be seen was Ma Linghua, who was standing next to Ma Hehua, twitching, her hair standing on end, and a plume of black smoke rising from her body.
The old woman's eyes widened, and the tension in her heart eased for a moment. She never expected that the seemingly powerful lightning would not be directed at her.
Ma Hehua was also stunned. She stared at the old woman with disbelief on her face. She had been full of confidence and was ready to see the old woman suffer the horrific consequences of being struck by lightning, but things did not go as she expected.
Meanwhile, Ma Linghua, who was standing to the side, became the victim of this accident.
Her body convulsed uncontrollably, each movement feeling as if it were being violently pulled by an invisible force. Her hair stood on end like steel needles, trembling slightly in the air, as if it were alive.
A pungent black smoke billowed continuously from her body, the smoke twisting and swirling in the air like the tentacles of a demon, spreading rapidly.
Ma Hehua turned around in horror, her mind blank as she looked at her mother. "Mother! Mother! What's wrong?" she cried, running frantically toward Ma Linghua.
After a brief moment of astonishment, a hint of relief flashed in the old woman's eyes, but she was quickly drawn back to the bizarre scene before her.
Looking at Ma Linghua's pained expression, she felt a chill run down her spine. This woman, who could so easily decide her life and death, was now so vulnerable under the backlash of the lightning.
Ma Linghua's face turned bluish-purple, her lips trembled slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but could only let out a painful moan.
Jinxiu's lips twitched. This was ridiculous, but she never expected that something so ridiculous would happen to her.
Can she really control her mother like this?
"Lotus, you lousy thing, you can even get the lightning and thunder wrong, what can you do? Every time I ask you to practice, you say you're almost there, almost there, but when it comes to the crucial moment, you're always so far off, you're nothing."
Ma Linghua practically shouted it out; her voice was very loud. Li Zhongguo and Ma Lihua, who were outside the door, were eavesdropping and guessed that Ma Hehua had messed up again.
The old woman stared at Ma Linghua in astonishment. She never imagined that this woman could recover some of her strength so quickly after being struck by such powerful lightning.
Ma Linghua glared angrily and roared at Ma Hehua.
"You were struck by lightning, and you're alright so quickly?"
The old woman was amazed.
Her hair, singed by lightning, and her tattered clothes made Ma Linghua look disheveled yet fierce. "Are you blind?! Can't you see my clothes and hair are deformed?"
Ma Hehua chimed in, "That's right, didn't you see my mother turned into a black lump of coal?"
Before she could finish speaking, Ma Linghua slapped her on the forehead. "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go get her! What are you wasting time for?"
Ma Hehua was startled and immediately replied, "Yes, Mother, I'll go and beat that old hag to death right now. She actually mocked you."
Old woman: "???"
Where is she smiling?
Hearing the conversation between the mother and daughter, the old woman turned red with anger. Before she could react, Ma Hehua had already leaped high into the air and shouted, "Shadowless Kick!"
Immediately following, with a loud "thud!", the old woman took the kick squarely.
The old woman felt no pain at first when she was kicked, but soon, a piercing pain spread from the depths of her soul.
Her brows furrowed, her eyes filled with pain and confusion. "What's going on?" The old woman tried to steady herself, but found her body becoming increasingly heavy.
She focused her mind and looked inward, and was immediately shocked. She saw wisps of yin energy, like treacherous little snakes, moving through her body. Wherever they went, the demonic power melted away as quickly as ice and snow under the scorching sun.
These yin energies seemed to be alive, constantly gnawing away at the demonic power she had painstakingly cultivated. Every bit of demonic power that disappeared caused her soul to ache as if it were being cut by a knife.
The old woman began to panic. She tried to drive away the evil spirits, but they were like a persistent infection, impossible to shake off. For the first time, the shadow of death loomed so clearly over her mind.
Like a mad beast, she pounced on Jinling, her eyes flashing with a mixture of greed and despair. "Jinling, give me the inner core, give it to me!"
Her roar exploded in the air, each word carrying a twisted power, as if it wanted to devour Jinling.
Jinling shook her head frantically, her body taking a step back uncontrollably, her eyes filled with fear and determination. "No, no, I didn't."
Her voice trembled slightly, yet remained incredibly firm.
The old woman seemed to have heard the most absurd lie in the world; her expression grew even more ferocious. "Hmph! No? Impossible! I'm a demon. You couldn't have been human when you were born, but after you turned 18, you lost your demonic aura. Could it be..."
Her words abruptly stopped, and then her pupils dilated sharply, as if she had witnessed some horrifying truth.
"You ate the inner core? You used it..." The old woman's voice became hoarse and low, each word seemingly squeezed out from between her teeth.
Jinling's face turned as pale as paper in an instant, and her heart pounded wildly in her chest, as if it were about to break free of its restraints.
That's right, she used the inner core. It was a precious inner core left by her grandmother, originally meant to be her mother's last protection.
But when she saw that her body was covered in fish scales every full moon, she selfishly chose to use her inner core to save herself from becoming a monster.
At this moment, the air seemed to freeze. Jinling could feel her mother's tangible anger and resentment. She bit her lip in fear, her body trembling slightly.
She knew that her decision might hurt her mother, but she didn't regret it, not even in the face of her mother's current madness.
People are selfish, her mother was, and so was she.
Every night, her mother wanted to eat her. She felt like every night was an eternity. The letter her grandmother wrote was hidden in the wall of the fish restaurant, and she was the one who found it.
It showed her birth date, which shocked her greatly. She was 18 that year and had discovered the inner elixir.
The inner elixir was meant to save her mother's life, but she used it. She was a thief and a selfish person.
"In that case, Jinling, merge with me!" With that, she opened her blood-red maw and bit Jinling.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
