Chapter 466: White Lingmiao

Li Huowang ran his sensitive fingers over the pen marks he'd made on the paper, methodically searching for solutions.

"First, I need to get Bai Lingmiao new eyes. Her eyesight is getting worse, and this can't be delayed. Since Liu Zongyuan mentioned there are some in the capital's Imperial Astronomer's Bureau, I definitely need to check it out."

"Also, I've done a lot of work for the Imperial Astronomer's Bureau and earned a good amount. But apart from the bribe I gave to the Loan Blade owner, Hong Da, to kill the Heart Demon, most of what I've accumulated has remained unused in my gourd. This is a good opportunity to exchange it all."

"As for her short lifespan, I don't know if the Longevity Pills will have any effect on her."

"Oh, speaking of Bai Lingmiao, where did she go? I haven't seen her all night."

"Li Sui, where's your mother?"

"She went to the room with all the black wooden plaques on the walls."

Hearing this, Li Huowang's expression subtly dimmed, and he didn't ask further. Bai Lingmiao had gone to the ancestral hall.

"It's nothing. It's late; you should go to sleep too."

Li Sui nodded at Li Huowang's words and turned to leave the house.

Once she was outside the Bai family compound, dressed in a straw cape and conical hat, she turned and headed towards the stable. That's where she was currently staying.

Besides a few horses used for pulling carriages, there weren't many horses there, making the stable quite empty.

Li Sui walked into the deepest stall, which was now filled with a thick layer of dry straw.

Li Sui burrowed her entire body into the hay, stretched contentedly, and then curled her monstrous body into a disc shape, head meeting tail.

However, she didn't stay still for long. Li Sui soon re-emerged, tilted her head, looked towards the ancestral hall, and then walked towards it on her reverse-jointed feet.

She quickly reached the ancestral hall. The hidden door in the wall wasn't closed. After a moment's thought, Li Sui bent slightly and entered.

Upon seeing the spacious White Lotus Sect hall, Li Sui appeared very curious about the unfamiliar new environment. She occasionally sniffed the white lotus banners hanging from the ceiling and ran her claws across the wall murals.

After a full circuit, Li Sui stopped and looked towards a side door in the wall. A familiar scent emanated from there.

After a moment of hesitation, she finally entered. It was dark inside, but the scent grew stronger – it was her mother's smell.

Soon, Li Sui heard muffled sobs coming from the direction of the scent. Her mother seemed to be crying.

"We've been together for so long, and I know how Senior Brother Li feels about me. I don't want to make him sad, but..."

"But I truly don't know what to do. Whenever I'm with him, every night when I close my eyes, my parents appear in my dreams. They curse me, calling me ungrateful and heartless. I'm so, so tired of living..."

"Do I really have to leave Senior Brother Li? But... I truly can't bear to..."

"This constant struggle between the two sides makes me wish I could die, but because of the Immortals, I can't even die."

"Oh, Wusheng Laomu, everything I do now feels wrong. What should I do?"

The voice from the direction of the scent stopped. Li Sui thought for a moment and was about to move closer when a red figure blocked her path.

"Mother?" Li Sui softly asked the Second God in front of her. "Mother, it's so late. Aren't you going to sleep? Father told me to go to bed."

The Second God extended a pale right hand with sharp nails and took Li Sui's right forepaw, which exposed bone and bore black tentacles, then slowly walked deeper into the dimly lit tunnel.

As Li Sui was led by the Second God through a hidden door, she saw a fragile, white-clad woman kneeling before a lotus. That was her other mother.

Bai Lingmiao held three incense sticks, tears in her eyes, as she looked up at the Twin Lotus on the wall. "Oh, Wusheng Laomu... are you truly real, just as the books say? Are you omnipotent?"

"But if you truly exist, and the Bai family believed in you, why did you not appear to save them when Senior Brother Li killed them?"

Li Sui simply stood there, listening to her mother kneeling and speaking.

It wasn't until Li Sui felt a little sleepy that she saw her mother, her eyes red and swollen, stand up and respectfully bow three times towards the Twin Lotus on the wall.

"Oh, Wusheng Laomu, if you are truly as compassionate as the books say, please help me escape this predicament."

"If you can grant this humble girl's wish, then I, Bai Lingmiao, will surely cast a golden statue for you, believe in the White Lotus Sect for my entire life, and serve you forever."

Bai Lingmiao lifted her head and looked at the Twin Lotus on the wall once more, but there wasn't the slightest change.

This outcome seemed predestined, yet deep disappointment still clouded Bai Lingmiao's face.

When she turned around, despondent, she saw Li Sui and the Second God standing there.

Bai Lingmiao showed no further reaction. She wiped away the tears from her eyes and walked out.

She walked ahead, while the Second God silently followed behind, holding Li Sui's hand.

At the entrance of the ancestral hall, Bai Lingmiao stopped. Without turning her head, she said with a choke in her voice, "Do you particularly look down on me? To worship something so undeniably fake?"

"If you feel tired, I can take over..." A chilling voice emerged from beneath the red bridal veil.

Bai Lingmiao bit her lower lip and vigorously shook her head. "No, if malevolent energy enters my body again, Senior Brother Li would be even more heartbroken."

The Second God stretched out her pale hands and covered Li Sui's mutilated dog-ears. "You can barely keep living yourself, why do you care what he thinks? You're more like his dog than Mantou is..."

"You!!"

The red bridal veil slipped, revealing the hideous beast-face beneath.

"Someone shows you a little kindness, and you're ready to tear out your heart for them. You deserve what you get."

"By jianghu rules, he's your father's killer. If you want to be a dutiful daughter, you should find a chance to kill Li Huowang. But you don't dare, and you don't want to."

"If you think a living Li Huowang is better than the dead Bai family, then you should marry him peacefully and quickly. But you can't get over that emotional hurdle."

"When something goes wrong, instead of thinking about how to solve the problem, you place your hope in the ethereal Wusheng Laomu, praying for a divine manifestation. You are weak."

"So wake up. No matter what you pray for, no one can help you. Only you can help yourself. You need to fully understand this."

Bai Lingmiao had no retort for the Second God, nor did she wish to say anything. Choking back tears, she turned around.

The Second God's hand dropped from Li Sui's ear. "Stop revolving around Li Huowang all day. Our own lives are more important than his. Think carefully about how to save your own life. Your eyes are almost blind."

Choking back sobs, Bai Lingmiao clasped her hands to her chest and walked disconsolately towards the Bai family compound. "I just... I just wanted to spend my life with the person I love. Is that wrong...?"