Wayfarer

Chapter 690: A Mother's Love

The woman who was hung up in the air stopped short upon hearing Xiao Nanfeng's voice. She looked toward Xiao Nanfeng with swollen, bloodshot eyes.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" the woman exclaimed.

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes turned cold. "I'm the Heaven division leader of the Taiqing Immortal Sect, Xiao Nanfeng. What do you think I'm doing here? Traitor, did you betray the sect just to end up like this?"

"You, you—" The woman began to panic.

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes shone with killing intent. "You were once a Taiqing disciple yourself. How does it feel to live the life you do now?"

The woman paused, then began to sob anew. "Division Leader Xiao, I would be more than happy to die to atone for my sins, but please, save my son! Let me take all responsibility. When my son was captured, he kept calling out for me to find you. Please, Division Leader Xiao, save my son's life!"

Xiao Nanfeng was somewhat perplexed. He continued coldly, "We can speak of your son later. As for you, why do you have to say for yourself for betraying the sect in the past?"

"I was once Li Qianjun's disciple. When my master betrayed the sect, I had no choice but to join him. I did want to save my fellow disciples, but I couldn't do it. I was powerless to help them."

"Powerless, or unwilling?" Xiao Nanfeng demanded.

The woman's eyes turned wet with tears. She bit her lip. "By the time the calamity struck the sect, I was already pregnant with Master's child. He told me not to worry about what was going on, that he would handle everything. I didn't realize what was going on until it was too late—until the sect was ruined, and an Immortal Emperor was leading his troops to exterminate the last of us. I tried to help out then, to the point of ending up with a miscarriage. I was so weak that I passed out—and when I next awoke, the Taiqing Immortal Sect had already turned into ruins. I was unable to do anything."

Xiao Nanfeng would have to verify this claim independently, but given the circumstances and his own intuition, he would give her the benefit of the doubt for the time being. His face softened.

"How did you end up pregnant with Li Qianjun? Wasn't he your master? But—" Xiao Nanfeng cut himself off as the woman continued to sob.

Xiao Nanfeng sighed. It was obvious, wasn't it? Li Qianjun was a bastard who eyed even his own disciples.

"How did you end up with the Demon Child?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

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"I was unable to stop the destruction of the Taiqing Immortal Sect. Master advised me not to think about it. When I became pregnant once more, perhaps because of retribution, I suffered another miscarriage—then several more times in a row. It's all retribution for what I failed to do, I'm sure of it!" The woman continued to weep.

Xiao Nanfeng gave her a dubious look. Retribution? He didn't believe in such a thing. Li Qianjun certainly had the power and wealth to ensure that a pregnancy was carried to term. How could there have been a problem?

"Are you Li Qianjun's only wife?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"I wasn't initially his wife," the woman replied. "Master has his own wife, who has several children with him, but she's currently in the Hongyue capital."

"Is his wife someone powerful?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"She's part of Empress Hongyue's clan."

Xiao Nanfeng grimaced. "Isn't it obvious that she was responsible for your miscarriages?"

The woman sobbed quietly. She knew. Of course she knew, but this wasn't something she could say or admit to.

"Li Qianjun truly is a bastard. Even if he's not willing to name you his wife, the fact that he even turned a blind eye while his wife poisoned you—how much more shameless can he get? No, if that's the case, how did you end up with the Demon Child?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"Twelve years ago, Sage Green Lotus came to find my master intending to gain the power of the Taiqing burial pagoda. It was only then that Master sent his wife and children into the capital of Hongyue and agreed to take me as a proper wife. He forced me to bear the demonic corpse aura of the Taiqing burial pagoda."

"The Taiqing burial pagoda? You mean the black pagoda we're trapped in?"

The woman nodded. "The Taiqing burial pagoda was one of the treasures left behind by the Taiqing Grandmaster ten thousand years ago. All the Taiqing disciples since have agreed to be buried within the pagoda. It was once a mass grave, but Sage Green Lotus convinced Master to seize it for himself and convert it into a relic."

"How did you end up with the Demon Child? And why were you finally made his wife?"

"Ten thousand years' worth of Taiqing disciples buried in the mound gestated an incredible concentration of demonic corpse aura, and trying to claim it as a relic would cause backlash from it all. Sage Green Lotus provided a suggestion: he would use his seventh-grade lotus to filter that aura and allow Master to claim the pagoda for himself.

"Oh?"

"The resulting demonic corpse aura was imbued with the remnant impressions of the Taiqing dead. After the seventh-grade lotus filtered it all out, a Taiqing disciple would be needed to nurture and pacify all the remnant impressions. I was the disciple that was chosen, and Master made me his wife then. He infused all the demonic corpse aura into my body in the form of a fetus."

"And that's what the Demon Child is? The offspring of countless Taiqing ancestors' demonic corpse aura?!" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

"Yes," the woman said weakly.

Xiao Nanfeng was astounded. He finally understood why the Demon Child had been able to become a Golden Immortal at eight—at its core, his body had been made of fragments of countless cultivators across the ages, all gathered into one body.

"Don't you know that close contact with such aura would harm you permanently? Let alone the fact that all this demonic aura was formed from the remnants of Taiqing disciples! What were you thinking?" Xiao Nanfeng murmured.

"I know, but I had no choice!" The woman continued to weep.

Xiao Nanfeng fell silent. It was clear that the woman had been brainwashed by Li Qianjun, who had sent his true wife away and allowed this woman to suffer the consequences in her place.

"Does that mean that the Demon Child is unrelated to Li Qianjun?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

The woman nodded.

Xiao Nanfeng sighed. "And you treated it like a real pregnancy? Such intimate contact with demonic corpse aura for a prolonged period of time—I can't even imagine it."

"At the start, when the demonic corpse aura was first infused into my body, I was wracked with pain. One day, however, I could sense a heartbeat in my stomach. I didn't fear the pain thereafter. It was my child, a child I would surely be able to birth safely." Despite the pain, the woman suddenly smiled.

Xiao Nanfeng sighed again. The woman clearly knew that her miscarriages had been because of Li Qianjun, but they had left her with an overwhelming desire to nurture a baby in her own right.

"The demonic corpse aura initially tormented me, but as I talked to the baby, sang to him, and pacified him, he gradually grew very obedient. He stopped making a fuss, and even made sure to rein in all the demonic corpse aura within himself so as not to make me uncomfortable. My dear, sweet child!" the woman sighed.

"You were pregnant for three years?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"Three whole years. The moment the baby was born, demonic corpse aura filled the manor. All the domestic fowl we kept died. Master began calling me his wife then, and he named the baby the Demon Child and acknowledged him as his son." The woman smiled in bliss.

Xiao Nanfeng frowned at her.

"He was mischievous and made such a mess everywhere, but I know he's a good boy. Whenever I told him not to do something, he would always listen to me. He's more obedient than any baby I've ever seen," the woman recollected.

"What happened thereafter? What are they trying to do with the Demon Child now?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

The woman grimaced. "The Taiqing burial pagoda consists of ten layers. Master was only able to extract the first nine layers. They've never been able to do anything about the final layer, the one containing the Taiqing elders and sect masters across the ages. The demonic corpse aura in that final layer is the most concentrated. Apparently, once the Taiqing burial pagoda is fully excavated, Master's strength will be comparable to that of a Boundless Immortal."

"No wonder the Demon Child suddenly had the strength of a Boundless Immortal—he's absorbed that last portion of demonic corpse aura!" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

"Already? Doesn't that mean he's about to be completely controlled?"The woman began to sob again.

"How did you end up being detained here?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"Sage Green Lotus came to us a few days ago with the Demon Child in tow. He was struggling furiously, and the sage could barely contain him. Master told me to tell the boy to be obedient. I initially thought that he was just misbehaving, so I told him not to resist, and he stopped struggling. Then, Sage Green Lotus seized full control of him. Oh, how foolish I was! It's all my fault!" the woman cried out.

"And then?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"I thought that Sage Green Lotus, as the Demon Child's master, would never harm him. It was only later that I found out that he was going to forge my baby into his avatar! I knelt and begged Master for mercy, but he was unwilling to save the baby. I couldn't just watch on—the Demon Child is everything to me. I tried to stop him, and ended up like this."

Xiao Nanfeng frowned. "Li Qianjun beat you up and imprisoned you here?"

"I can't let the Demon Child be harmed, even if I have to die! Division Leader Xiao, I don't know what to do. Please, please save my child!" The woman wept.

Xiao Nanfeng frowned. "There was a blood-colored rune on the Demon Child's forehead, which combined with a seal from Sage Green Lotus's seventh-grade lotus. The Demon Child won't listen to reason anymore, and he's particularly strong. I do want to rescue him, but I can't."

"Won't listen to reason? You mean he hasn't been fully forged into Sage Green Lotus's avatar yet? He's suffering from confusion because of the blood curse. He can still be rescued. Can you take me out of here? Let me save him!" the woman suddenly shouted.

"Can you awaken his consciousness?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"I can. Division Leader Xiao, I can! Can you bring me out? If we don't break that curse, he really will die!" the woman pleaded with renewed hope.

"Very well," Xiao Nanfeng said.

"Thank you, Division Leader Xiao, thank you!"

Xiao Nanfeng cut apart the chains suspending the woman's body, then broke whatever seals remained on her.

"It's somewhat dangerous outside. Hide in the gourd for the time being. I'll let you know and bring you out once it's safe," Xiao Nanfeng said.

"I understand," the woman said.

Xiao Nanfeng sucked the woman into the gourd, then used his candleflame powers and vanished from sight.