Chapter 298: [Sisheng Peak] A Man Is Not as Good as The Heavens

The rain drummed on the eaves. In the silence, Shi Mei took a sip of tea and, as if he had made some sort of decision, said, "Let me show you something."

He took out a rusted copper mirror from his Qiankun bag. The edge of the mirror was carved with a flying phoenix, a roaming dragon, and the universe was carved with the sun, moon, and universe.

"This mirror is called the Mirror of the Day before. It is a relic of my father. My father's surname is Mu… Shizun should have guessed it already. Mu Yanli and I are half-siblings."

As he finished speaking, he bit his finger and dripped blood onto the mirror. The mirror began to foggy, and when the fog dissipated, a hazy image appeared on the mirror. The illusions gradually formed, forming a clear scene and face…

It was the pavilion of the Tianyin Pavilion. In the picture, it was a scorching summer day. Under the pavilion, there were lotus blossoms blooming in the lotus pond, and red dragonflies were flying low.

A noblewoman dressed in luxurious clothing stood next to the rail-board, a cinnabar mark on her finger. She was currently feeding a plate of pastries to the fishes and the pool was filled with light because of that. This woman was very delicate and elegant, but she was also very cold.

When she turned around to speak to the attendant, he could see that she had a pair of phoenix-like eyes. She looked beautiful but had an arrogant fierce face.

Chu Wanning frowned, looked at her, and then looked up at Shi Mei.

"She's not my mother." Shi Mei seemed to see through Chu Wanning's doubts and smiled, "she is Sister Mu's biological mother, from the Lin family."

Not long after, a young woman dressed in a silk dress and a Tianyin Pavilion maid entered the picture through the bronze mirror. She was only around seventeen or eighteen years old, with a gentle and virtuous face. Shi Mei gently stroked the mirror and said: "This is my mother… She was the descendant of the Lord of Huabi, Song Xingyi. Guyue'ye had raised her like an animal and hadn't given her a name. After she escaped, she wanted to give herself a name, but Song is the surname of the Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feast, so she didn't dare to take it. So she used Huabi's homonym, and since then called herself Hua Gui.

"To return home means that after my mother found out that the Butterfly-Boned Clan could return to the Demon World, she hoped to bring all of her clan members home."

She was speaking respectfully and gently to Madam Lin. Chu Wanning noticed that the Lin Family had always been cold on the screen, and the other maids were all in fear. Only Hua Gui had a sweet smile on her face as she gave her utmost sincerity to her mistress.

Chu Wanning looked up, "How did she enter the Tianyin Pavilion?"

"It was that high-level disciple from the Tianyin Pavilion who helped her. Actually, what was written in the book was not the truth. After escaping from Guyue'ye, my mother didn't leave his side. They were so passionate that my mother begged him to find a way to release her people. That disciple listened to everything she said, and thus stole the Heaven's Note Pavilion's fire tribulation, helping her."

Chu Wanning felt a small crease in his forehead and thought to himself, So that's it.

The records in the history books were not always correct. Some truths would slowly be eroded by the flow of time. When the people of that era were old and no longer fresh, no one would know the true appearance of the past.

"After two years, the cultivation world has gradually forgotten about the incident with Guyue'ye's fire tribulation. It just so happened that Madam Lin of the Tianyin Pavilion gave birth to a daughter, and Madam Lin was eccentric and was not good at taking care of children. Therefore, she needed the help of a few quick-witted young ladies. That disciple took this opportunity to bring my mother into the pavilion. From then on, my mother became the Madam Lin's maid."

Hearing this, Chu Wanning looked back at the bronze mirror. It was unknown when the mirror's surface had changed. Madam Lin was reading by the window, and Hua Gui was standing by her side, holding a baby in her arms and coaxing it wholeheartedly.

At first glance, the scene looked very gentle. The mistress was graceful, the servant girl was loyal, and the child was delicate and innocent.

However, after careful consideration, he felt a surge of emotions.

"… She later took over from Madam Lin."

"… Right. After staying in the Tianyin Pavilion for a long time, my mother has seen through this sect's transcendent status in the cultivation world. At that time, she was still somewhat naive and came up with a plan that she thought was better than returning to the demon realm."

"What?"

"Become the Madam of the Tianyin Pavilion. A descendant of the gods, their words are worth a thousand gold. She thinks that as long as the Pavilion master can open his mouth, no one in the cultivation realm will harm her anymore — at least no one will blatantly harm the Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feast."

The light and shadows changed, the bronze rust on the mirror retorted darkly. It was still the original viewing platform, but it was already an unknown year of winter.

Below the stage, the lotus flowers were all withered and withered. No dragonflies, no red carp in the pool. Those bright creatures and the cold beauty of the past, Madam Lin, had all disappeared. It was replaced by the flying snow, the faint fragrance of winter plums, and the back of a woman wearing a thick white fox fur coat.

After a while, a man approached, and she looked back at him, her beautiful face caged in the fine, flapping fur of a fox. She smiled at him, the new snow fading.

At this moment, it was unknown what methods Hua Gui used to remove the original owner of the Tianyin Pavilion. Madam Lin died not long after. The disciple who had helped her in the past was also dead.

She finally got what she wanted and became the pavilion Master of the Tianyin Pavilion, the descendant of the gods.

The sky was a leaden gray with heavy snow. Hua Gui walked up to her husband, blessed him, and then, smiling, reached out her hand to stroke the hair of the little girl beside him.

"… It's Mu Yanli?"

Shi Mei laughed: "Yes."

"…"

"Shizun, don't you understand why Elder Sister Mu, as a daughter of the Lin Clan, only cares about my mother and doesn't care about her own mother?"

Chu Wanning ignored the question and continued to observe the situation in the mirror.

At that time, Mu Yanli was at most four or five years old. She was carried by Hua Gui without the slightest resistance. She was even hugging Hua Gui's delicate neck and laughing heartily as if she was having fun with his stepmother.

"Madam Lin was naturally depressed, silent, and had no feelings of admiration for children," Shi Mei replied. "After Mu-jiejie was born, her illness became more and more serious, to the point that she could injure or maim her. Once, when my mother wasn't watching, she took the scissors and stabbed the back of Mu-jiejie's hand four or five times, and when my mother came back, she saved Mu-jiejie, who was crying to the point of tears."

"A mother who would stab her or a mother who would love and take care of her since she was young. Mu-jiejie chose the latter."

The scene changed. There was a thin layer of frost outside the window, sticking to the blessings of longevity. Should be a year after the Spring Festival, Hua Gui sat at a small rosewood table to write.

Beside her sat two children, a boy and a girl. The girl was tall and cold, while the boy had gentle eyes. They were Hua Binan and Mu Yanli from when they were children.

"Alright." Hua Gui smiled as she picked up the piece of paper and blew on it, before smiling, "Look at your mother's drawing of the Medical Sect's elixir manuals. It's not bad, isn't it?"

Mu Yanli still had a childish voice as she said in a high-pitched voice, "Mother, of course it's nice to watch."

Shi Mei was even younger, so he didn't even know how to sound like a child. He could only sit at his original spot and smack his fingers while watching the two of them laughing merrily.

"My father was obsessed with his cultivation, and he was usually neglectful towards me and my sister. The enlightenment that Sister Mu and I had was taught by my mother personally." Looking at the scene in the mirror, Shi Mei recalled, "She taught us how to read and write, as well as some basic spells."

"She can use magic?"

"Just a little." Shi Mei paused for a moment. "A fake move that frightens the common people, I'm afraid that it can't even beat the weakest cultivator."

"…"

"But she's willing to accompany us, to stay with us day and night." Sighing, Shi Mei's gaze became a little stiff, "No matter how she works and plans, how she treats outsiders. But she treats me and Sister Mu with such kindness."

The scene on the surface of the mirror spun faster and faster, as if time had slipped past the gaps between his fingers like a shuttle of water. In many of these situations, Mu Yanli and Shi Mei gradually grew up.

And in the process, almost every step of the brother and sister was guarded by Hua Gui.

On a stormy night, she coaxed Mu Yanli to sleep.

One afternoon in the middle of summer, she fed Shi Mei with red bean and coconut soup.

All of these things happened bit by bit.

"Later on, when I reached the age of enlightenment, my father personally taught me the techniques of the Tianyin Pavilion. However, my talent was lacking and I was unable to learn them. He was very disappointed. At that time, I also thought that I was a useless person. After all, Sister Mu had successfully reached Foundation Establishment when she was eight years old. And even after I put in all my effort, I didn't even feel the slightest bit of Qi."

The little Shi Mei sat by the pond in a daze, a smaller sword resting on his small knees.

Hua Gui dragged the long robes with a frown on her face as she walked over the wooden bridge. She looked around and found the child who was alone and lost in thought. Her anxious expression finally relaxed.

She walked to his side, bent down, and said a few words to him. Then she carried him in her arms and walked back to the end of the garden.

"Because she had once stayed in Guyue'ye for a long time, she had seen many people with weak spiritual energy who could gain a place in the cultivation world through the Medical Sect. She did not overturn everything in one blow just because of Guyue'ye's abuse of Beauties. She persuaded father to let me start cultivating the path of medicine."

Previously, when Shi Mei told him about the intimate relationships between men and women, Chu Wanning knew that Hua Gui had some tricks up her sleeve. However, he did not know how strong she was, so he was unable to say.

And when he heard that, he could suddenly feel the sharpness of this woman…

To her, Guyue'ye was just like a hellish nightmare, devouring the first half of her life. If it were any other person, even if they didn't hate the Medical Sect to the bone, they would still dislike the Medical Sect. However, she was very clear about what the Medical Sect was, what she needed, and how she was supposed to do it.

She had a pair of extremely calm eyes. Even if her hatred was as deep as the sea, she would not act rashly.

"Her plans have always been methodical. One step at a time, she might have already thought of the next hundred steps. So apart from taking care of me and big sister Mu, she still has the energy to go around gathering the whereabouts of her family members.

However, it was obvious that the status of the Butterfly-Boned Beauty remained unchanged. Moreover, Chu Wanning remembered that this Madam Hua had passed away a long time ago. There must be a hidden meaning behind this.

Chu Wanning had a vague conjecture in mind as to what was going on with the Butterfly-Boned clan and the descendant of the god race. He asked, "Later on, Madam Hua's identity… It was exposed?"

Shi Mei didn't immediately reply. His eyes shined with an overly bright light. At first glance, it looked extremely sharp, like a deep hatred. But on closer look, it was like the sadness of the tide.

"It shouldn't have been exposed." He said, "Father has no brains at all, and couldn't tell what's wrong with Mother at all. But no matter what, he was still a descendant of the gods. Even though the God race's blood in his body is minuscule, he still had some innate ability to sense it."

He lowered his eyes and looked at his mirror. The scene had already shifted to the Pavilion Master's room, where a man with slight spots on his temples was lying in bed.

"When I was nine years old, this man had a very strange illness. Even the best doctors could not find out the cause of the illness."

Shi Mei sneered: "Actually, after knowing the inside information, you should know very well. He is a descendant of the Divine Queen, and my mother is a descendant of the Infernal Queen. After the war between the gods and devils, the Demon Lord had laid down a curse — from today onwards, for generations to come, gods and devils cannot join hands. Those who break this curse will die for sure."

"Father's strange illness was caused by this ancient curse, but it was unknown to him. As for the God Realm, perhaps it was due to pity, or perhaps it was because it wanted to embarrass the Demon Lord. Anyway, one night, in a dream, a god spoke to my father and told him exactly what had happened. Furthermore… he said that if he wants to survive, he needs to sever all ties with the witch."

Chu Wanning looked at Shi Mei's ferocious face, waiting for him to continue.

He knew that things were definitely not as simple as cutting it in two.

"After he woke up from his dream, my father was furious," said Shi Mei. "The Tianyin Pavilion had always wanted everything to go their way, but his status in the cultivation world was extraordinary. Everyone treated him as a god and respected him. But this woman… This piece of rotten meat that looks like a pig or dog to be butchered, and is a dual cultivation furnace, to think that she would actually scheme against him and deceive him."

"…"

"She even almost killed him. How vicious. So…"

He took in a deep breath. No matter how well he had suppressed his emotions, his voice was still hoarse.

He held the teacup tightly. The tea was already cold, so he did not finish it. With a thought, he exerted too much force and the porcelain cup exploded with a bang.

The tea juice splattered everywhere…

The surface of the mirror had also been splashed with tea. The image was blurred by the amber color of the tea juice. One could vaguely see that the man on the sickbed had summoned Hua Gui.

He walked barefoot out of bed, pretended to have nothing to do with her, and walked to the door with a smile. With his back to Hua Gui, he closed and locked the door.

The man turned to his wife. In the distorted mirror light and water stains, a face that looked like a leopard surfaced.

Shi Mei suddenly trembled. He abruptly reversed the mirror and turned his back on the mirror, no longer looking at the mirror.

The veins on the back of his hand bulged like tree roots of a coiled dragon. Fear and hatred surged through every blood vessel.

After a long moment, he buried his face in his hands. His voice sounded extremely exhausted.

"He…"

He only said one word before stopping.

"This beast…" It was as if there was a monstrous flood of hatred that was about to be vented. It seemed as if there were thousands of words it wanted to spit out. However, once the ten thousand horses and thousand armies reached its throat, it didn't know which words it should say first.

He should have seen this mirror many times before, but after all this time, even after all these years, he still hated it.

Slowly he stopped shaking. In the end, the hatred turned into a seemingly ordinary sentence.

"On that day, my father, descendant of god, ate my mother alive."