Chapter 28 People's Hearts Grow Colder Lou Yan felt that he was no longer like a god...
A bright moon appeared on the distant horizon at some unknown time. Its clear light broke through the clouds and shone down, outlining the indistinct corners of the ancestral hall, sharp yet concealing its edge.
As soon as Lou Yan stepped into the courtyard, she sniffed and, sensing something was wrong, reached out to tug at Heng Qichun's sleeve. "Master, this is the smell!"
A strong, fishy smell wafted over, exactly the same as the demonic aura they had encountered recently; it was indeed from the River Goddess.
Heng Qichun remained silent, his deep, unwavering eyes fixed on the ancestral hall door. With a flick of his fingertips, a burst of spiritual energy broke open the bolted door.
By the dim candlelight, they could see the scene inside the ancestral hall.
The memorial tablets were displayed on the shelf, reflecting the dark light of the vermilion blood. You could see that Lady Tan was lying on her back on the ground, her chest no longer rising and falling, her face ashen, as if she had been drained of her life force and died.
Xi Niang knelt to one side of Tan Wangshi, her figure slightly hunched, her disheveled hair all over. When she heard the door open, she turned her head and looked over. The tears that had been accumulating in the corners of her eyes dripped down, condensed into a pearl, and fell onto the floor of the ancestral hall, making a crisp sound.
"Clatter".
No wonder the old servant said it was all too late.
Lou Yan quickly stepped forward and squatted down beside Madam Tan. He reached out and checked her neck; she was no longer breathing and had been dead for some time.
"The Immortal Lord said that human life is precious—" The old servant's voice came at that moment.
Lou Yan and Heng Qichun turned around together and saw him walking in with a slightly hunched back. His gait was old, but every step he took was firm.
The old servant bowed to Heng Qichun, gazed at Tan Wangshi's corpse, and continued his previous words, saying earnestly, "But I think that debts should be repaid, murderers should pay with their lives, and to harm a child is to disregard human ethics."
Heng Qichun, unusually, looked up at him.
His eyes still held the usual pity, but whether it was Lou Yan's imagination or not, he felt that his master had a touch more compassion at this moment.
He seemed to empathize with her.
Heng Qichun sighed softly, "At first you thought Tan Qiqi was still alive and helping Tan Chengyi search for her. Later you overheard Tan Chengyi's conversation with his father, and that's how you learned the truth, right?"
The old servant did not deny it, but looked at Heng Qichun with some surprise, "How did the Immortal Lord know?"
Heng Qichun naturally wouldn't tell him that he had personally experienced this in the illusion, but simply said, "What was your first reaction after you learned the truth?"
The old servant choked for a moment, "Yes..."
“Yes, we found Xi Niang.” Heng Qichun answered for him. “You secretly brought Xi Niang back to the mansion and colluded with her from the inside to try to avenge Tan Qiqi.”
Heng Qichun closed his eyes, and scenes from the illusion flashed before his eyes. "It's a pity that Xu Shengzi sealed Tan Qiqi's soul with a death curse and took Tan Chengyi away, so that Xi Niang was even hampered in taking revenge."
She looked pained, while Xi Niang, kneeling to one side, shed tears the whole time, the sound of pearls splashing onto the ground never ceasing.
Heng Qichun suddenly sighed, looked up and gazed outwards, past the many gates, towards the deep alley.
He put himself in her shoes and, in a daze, thought he was still Xi Niang. "So she gradually lost her mind and became the madwoman in the eyes of the people. She attached her resentment to the night watchman and tried to reverse time to find her daughter."
"Abnormal weather, frequent heat waves, infants crying at night, and widespread panic. One family's misfortune endangers millions of lives." Heng Qichun's face showed unbearable pain. "Do you know how many people have died in this drought?"
This question didn't seem to be directed at the old servant, so naturally the old servant couldn't answer it.
Lou Yan remained silent as well. The Pixiu cub in his arms stirred restlessly, climbed onto Lou Yan's shoulder, and uttered a number in a voice only the two of them could understand, "Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"
The ancient divine beast was intelligent and knew that death and injury in the human world were not uncommon, but Lou Yan was completely shocked when he heard what it said.
In his previous life, he feared nothing more than a peaceful world and led countless demons to slaughter the immortal realm, resulting in countless deaths and injuries.
He never felt those people were innocent, including his master; he even felt they deserved it.
But this time, he felt a genuine sense of regret.
In the silence, Heng Qichun's voice, filled with suppressed pain, came through: "Three thousand seven hundred and twenty people, and countless infants crying in terror at night, all because of this incident."
Seeing him raise his hand to form a hand seal, as if about to attack Xi Niang, the old servant finally couldn't bear it any longer and knelt down in front of Heng Qichun with a "plop".
"Immortal Lord." He gripped Heng Qichun's robe tightly, the muddy sweat staining the fabric. "Madam is only desperate to save her daughter, please have mercy!"
The ancestral hall was deserted, with a chilly autumn wind blowing through it.
Heng Qichun's white hair was all blown up by the wind, and the strands of hair brushed against his cheeks, making the pale skin turn slightly red.
His eyes were crystal clear, but upon closer inspection, one could detect a chilling coldness hidden within them.
For the first time, Lou Yan felt that he was no longer like a god.
“I am not a judge of the government, and I cannot judge injustices.” Heng Qichun stared at Xi Niang, who was still crying, and said in a calm voice, “But the Eighteen Realms have the responsibility to cleanse the Six Realms, and I must take Xi Niang with me.”
"She's gone mad!" The old servant rushed forward, unable to contain himself, and grabbed the hem of Heng Qichun's robe tightly. When he looked up again, his eyes were already glistening with tears.
He choked back tears and said, "This was all my idea, please, Immortal Lord, spare her..."
At this point, Heng Qichun finally narrowed his eyes and exchanged a glance with Lou Yan without making a sound.
Lou Yan raised an eyebrow, equally alert.
Something's not right.
If they were just ordinary servants used by the Tan family, how could they be so loyal to their mistress?
A bold guess suddenly popped into Lou Yan's mind. He took two steps forward, pushed aside the old servant's hand, pulled the man up, and asked scrutinizingly, "What is your relationship with Xi Niang?"
The old servant's eyes were filled with tears. He quickly covered his face with trembling hands, pleading, "I beg you, Immortal Lord, take this old servant away and don't ask any more questions..."
The mournful cries echoed through the ancestral hall, reverberating sadly across the corpse of Lady Tan, the maddened Xi Niang, and the two immortal lords who took it upon themselves to restore order to the world.
Xi Niang finally moved.
She looked toward the old servant at the sound, the last tear falling from her eye, and the blood-stained pearls scattered on the ground.
She had recently drained Tan Wangshi's life force, and her body was covered in demonic energy. Suddenly, she crawled on her knees to the old servant and revealed her beautiful almond-shaped eyes when she looked up.
Lou Yan cautiously gathered a wisp of spiritual energy, waiting for Xi Niang to make the slightest move so that she could be reduced to ashes.
He waited.
The night wind blew through, and the flickering candlelight cast the shadows of the old servant and Xi Niang.
Suddenly, Xi Niang reached out and grabbed the old servant's sleeve, trembling as she uttered her first word of the day—"Father..."
"Ouch?" Lou Yan was startled. His hand trembled, and a burst of spiritual energy scorched the scales of the Pixiu cub, causing the little beast to let out an untimely scream.
"What did you call him?" Lou Yan covered Pixiu's mouth with one hand, looking at Xi Niang with a shocked expression.
The next moment, the old servant removed his hand from his face, revealing a handful of pearls in his palm.
He was actually Xi Niang's father.
The old servant knelt down, his body hunched over, and reached out to brush aside Xi Niang's disheveled hair. He then embraced the disoriented woman and gently patted her, just as he had when she was a child, saying, "Don't be afraid, Father is here."
Xi Niang's trembling body quickly calmed down, and another drop of blood condensed in the corner of her eye.
Her gaze was still somewhat unfocused, and when she nestled in the old servant's arms, she actually displayed a genuine girlish demeanor.
“Father, I was wrong…” Xi Niang said.
Lou Yan was already dizzy from the intricate interpersonal relationships between the human and demon realms.
He looked up at Heng Qichun and saw that his master had turned his back at some point, staring intently at the dark alley outside, his face once again showing his usual pity and reluctance.
It seems that his insistence on taking Xi Niang back was merely an act.
Lou Yan frowned, then withdrew the spiritual power from her fingertips. She gently coaxed the little beast in her arms, just like the old servant, and then walked over to them and sat down cross-legged without any hesitation. "What exactly is going on?"
The old servant put one arm around Xi Niang, raised the other hand to wipe away the tears from the corner of his eyes, and said sadly, "I misjudged her."
“My daughter and I were originally clam spirits at the bottom of the Floating Pearl River. Later, when the mountain floods occurred, Xi Niang took advantage of the rising water and ran away to the river beach. There, she met Tan Chengyi, who was still a boy, and fell in love with that beast at first sight.”
"After returning, she became restless and desperately wanted to cultivate into a human. To this end, she even swore an oath before the clan chief that she would never return to the Floating Pearl River in her life as long as she could transform into human form."
"Later, she did indeed marry Tan Chengyi as she wished. Naturally, I was worried, so I stayed by Xi Niang's side as a servant until Xi Niang gave birth to Qi Qi for him. I thought... she had finally married a good man..."
Having said that, the rest is self-evident.
Lou Yan finally figured out the cause and effect, and suddenly felt a pain in his heart, as if something sour and astringent was constantly hitting him. After a while, he finally couldn't bear it anymore and it turned into a pool of sour and bitter water.
It filled his entire heart.
It is indescribable.
He himself was a demon, and he knew how much suffering it would take to transform into human form. He also knew how loyal a demon would be once he developed feelings for someone.
pity……
The man she loved so dearly cruelly banished her from the mansion because she was a demon. Her family, whom she had served for many years, killed her ten-year-old daughter without regard for kinship. In the end, she was left all alone, reflecting on her mistakes day and night.
She made a mistake by misjudging people.
She was wrong to insist on her own way.
She was wrong to implicate the young girl.
“It’s not your fault.” Heng Qichun suddenly turned around, tucked his sleeves into his sleeves, and looked at her straight. His voice was like the light, scattered snowflakes clinging to the winter plum blossoms.
"It is because people's hearts are cold and indifferent; those who protect themselves are heartless, while those who cherish old friendships value themselves."
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Author's Note: See you tomorrow! [Sparkling eyes]
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