Chapter 886: Parents, Stop Quarreling

Chapter 886: Mom and Dad, Stop Fighting

When the epoch collapsed, the Night Palace remained largely intact, save for a few minor fragments breaking away at the edges.

Thus Zhao Changhe witnessed what it meant to be the wealthiest woman in the Three Realms.

Every single brick and tile was a refining treasure, even the floor tiles beneath his feet. Wherever he walked, he felt an intensely rich energy emanating... In theory, Xia Chichi possessed wealth across the four seas, but when it came to ancient rarities, the entire mortal realm combined couldn't even touch the heel of the Night Palace.

The same went for the plants. Like the small corner of the flower garden he had once seen at Ying Wu's place, the complete garden here was vast, filled with countless precious herbs, all frozen in time like that little corner Ying Wu had obtained, never withering.

Zhao Changhe followed behind Ye Wuming in a daze, occasionally reaching out to grab the Star River Sword, which was seeing stars.

He felt the little girl couldn't control herself, dashing toward the garden... Thinking of the shoddy pills her master usually gave her, Zhao Changhe's heart ached. No matter what, you can't let the child suffer. If she were to face some immortal second-generation heir, would she be easily lured away?

Then he thought, no wonder the Netherworld hates you. The living environments of you sisters are worlds apart. It's like those female-centric web novels where the legitimate daughter is abandoned in the countryside, lonely and destitute, while the mistress's child grows up at home as a pampered young lady. The legitimate daughter's return for revenge could fill a book or make a drama.

So it made sense that seeing the Netherworld's life moved him, making him want to cherish her, while seeing the Blind B*tch only made him want to beat her up.

But now, the Night Palace had no one else. Such a vast palace, and Ye Wuming lived in it alone—it felt empty and dead silent.

He followed in silence to a familiar place—the pool where he and Piaomiao had stolen the lotus platform.

Back then, he had only glanced briefly, his impression of the poolside limited to the tall stargazing platform. In reality, there were many pavilions around the pool, and sitting in one, drinking wine and admiring flowers, was the epitome of bourgeois charm.

Ye Wuming walked to a stone table in a pavilion and sat down. With a conjurer's flourish, she produced a set of wine cups, poured a glass for Zhao Changhe, and finally spoke her first word: "Please."

Zhao Changhe sat across from her, watching her pour wine, momentarily lost in thought, not responding.

Ye Wuming glanced at him: "What are you thinking?"

Zhao Changhe finally replied: "This is the first time you've faced me and spoken as a normal person, not a shadow in a dream, not a sudden guide for a walkthrough. I feel both familiar and strange."

Now it was Ye Wuming's turn to fall silent.

In fact, discounting Longque, Ye Wuming was the person who had spent the most time with Zhao Changhe in this world—three whole years. Even excluding the later period when they lost contact, it was still two and a half years.

Yet she had become the most unfamiliar, because their interactions had never been normal.

She was a system, a cheat, a walkthrough, a game guide—anything but a person.

In other words, it wasn't until today's battle that they had the right to face each other and communicate as equals.

Zhao Changhe raised his glass: "Though I've always been angry that you made me leave my homeland and endure endless slaughter without asking my opinion, I also have to thank you for letting me experience such a brilliant life and for giving me so many beloved companions who will stay with me for life. To you."

Ye Wuming glanced at him again, clinked glasses, and said with a hint of sarcasm: "I never imagined that after coming here, with your life on the line and such immense survival pressure, you'd still have time to chase women. When you first arrived, you claimed women only slow down your sword-drawing speed, and you even wished Xia Chichi were a man to save trouble."

"With a sword, wine, and poetry, with enemies, friends, and women—that's the complete martial world."

They both drank in one gulp.

Ye Wuming refilled the glasses: "You accuse me of being distant because I refuse to speak plainly—I admit that. But if I had clearly told you, 'I want you to leave your peaceful modern life, leave your parents and friends, and transmigrate into a world where you risk death at every turn'... Even though you all read transmigration novels every day, few would actually agree if it happened to them. If I had tried to negotiate this, it would never have worked. Of course, that is exploitation, and it's normal for you to hate me."

Zhao Changhe said: "I can understand that... But later, when we got to know each other and my strength was sufficient, you should have come clean. It would have made things much easier. Even if I held a grudge against you, you should have known I'd finish dealing with external matters first before settling scores with you."

Ye Wuming said: "No matter what attribute you assign to me in your heart, I was once an emperor. You won't find any emperor who tells everyone everything, especially when you're in an environment where you can never fully trust anyone—that makes it even more pronounced."

"You should know my character. How could I ever collude with the Heavenly Dao?"

"Because I killed Piaomiao, I couldn't trust you."

Zhao Changhe sipped his wine in silence, his gaze unconsciously drifting to the pool water, to where the lotus platform had once been.

"In my view, all primordial gods must die—whether the Four Symbols, Piaomiao, the Netherworld, or myself." Ye Wuming said calmly: "I kill even myself, let alone Piaomiao."

Zhao Changhe: "..."

Her actions proved this point. Whether it was right or wrong was another matter, but at least it wasn't false.

Ye Wuming continued: "In fact, I knew back then that it was difficult for me to completely kill a god of Piaomiao's level. She would eventually awaken one day, so I used a special method when I killed her..."

"The Way of Life and Death..."

"Exactly. I encompassed the Four Symbols, so naturally I had the essence of the Vermilion Bird." Ye Wuming said: "That's why others revived as remnant souls, but Piaomiao was reincarnated. At the time, I thought: if she could cultivate anew as a human, could we avoid her nature as a primordial god? I also prepared another plan: if reincarnation failed, or if she still wanted a godly body after reincarnation, I would use a postnatally cultivated treasure to shape a new body, to see if that could also avoid the primordial nature."

Zhao Changhe's heart stirred: "That lotus platform..."

"Yes, that lotus platform was originally prepared for Piaomiao." Ye Wuming replied calmly: "Of course, my calculations had many deviations. I originally thought the lotus platform would be sealed in the Night Palace, and I would personally hand it to her... Not to say it would end our enmity, but at least it might ease her anger a little... But I never expected that you would travel back to ancient times and steal the lotus platform yourselves..."

Zhao Changhe suddenly let out a sigh.

Ye Wuming asked curiously: "What does that mean?"

Zhao Changhe said: "I once wondered if you killed Piaomiao because you found out she stole the lotus platform. If that were the case, the cause and effect would become a tangled mess... Fortunately, it wasn't like that."

"So you've always been wary of traveling back to ancient times to act?"

"Yes, I was afraid of interfering with cause and effect, leading to such inexplicable changes, or even splitting into parallel timelines... Better not to ask for trouble." Zhao Changhe paused, then suddenly asked: "Did you know back then that the other person was me?"

"Yes."

"...You certainly didn't know when you brought me to this world. When did you find out?"

"Come on, my eyes were on you. I watched you and Piaomiao travel back."

Zhao Changhe held his forehead.

"Of course, I actually knew even earlier." Ye Wuming said: "At the time, I calculated that the man came from the future, but what puzzled me most was that his intent was too similar to mine—it was really strange. Later, as you gradually took over the legacy of the Night Emperor, I began to suspect that man was you. When Cui Yuanyang was revealed to be Piaomiao's reincarnation, it was naturally confirmed."

Zhao Changhe said: "So that's when you lost contact?"

Ye Wuming said indifferently: "Of course. Your relationship with Cui Yuanyang meant Piaomiao was inescapable... Since you would eventually break into the Night Palace with Piaomiao and fight me, how could I still trust you?"

Zhao Changhe: "..."

Ye Wuming lowered her head to sip her wine. This excuse was too perfect—it neatly sidestepped the key point of avoiding his desire for her...

Zhao Changhe seemed to have wanted to ask about that, but was blocked by her words. At this point, asking if she was avoiding feelings would be too cringe...

They drank two more cups in silence before Zhao Changhe resumed the topic: "What exactly is the situation with the Heavenly Dao's cultivation and yours?"

Ye Wuming spoke with confusion: "As you guessed, the Netherworld and I seem to have broken through the barrier, but we haven't. Logically, the Netherworld might be a bit more lacking—her understanding of the outside world is only secondhand from you—while I have truly experienced everything, with no gaps. I should be able to break through, but for some reason, I'm still one step short."

"So the Heavenly Dao is eager to fight again, precisely because it fears that if you break through that line, it will truly have no hope of obtaining this world..."

"Obviously." Ye Wuming said: "Now I have taken control of this world from the Heavenly Dao, easily hiding it in the endless void. It can't find it, and even if it roughly locates it, it can't act immediately. So it wants to use the Star River to break through from within."

Zhao Changhe's voice suddenly rose: "Since you haven't reached the same level as it even now, what made you think thirty years ago that you could destroy it along with yourself?"

"Why are you shouting!" Ye Wuming slammed the table: "Because I used the power of the realm itself—the power of the Heavenly Book. As long as I was willing to self-destruct my primordial spirit, it couldn't withstand it! It can't withstand its own artifact, just like you can't withstand the Star River or Longque chopping off your head!"

Zhao Changhe slammed the table: "You knew your cultivation was one step short, yet you didn't come to cooperate with us. What would you have done if it came again? If I hadn't come to you, would you have always just thought about blowing yourself up with it?"

Ye Wuming slammed the table: "What business is it of yours! Your wives all want me dead!"

"How is it none of my business? That life of yours was saved by me. Without my permission, how dare you die?"

"Have you been reading too many CEO novels?!"

"Mom and Dad, stop fighting..." came the weak voice of the Star River from the table.

Both of them immediately fell silent.

The Star River said weakly: "Every time you slammed the table, I jumped on it. My heart's about to be pounded out of me..."

"Cough." Zhao Changhe drank to cover his embarrassment: "This table is pretty sturdy..."

Ye Wuming kept a straight face, expressionless: "I'm not your mother, don't call me that."

The Star River said aggrievedly: "But you are my mother..."

Zhao Changhe said, "She's nothing but a heartless woman—bore a child and wouldn't raise it. Yuer, we don't need her."

"..." Ye Wuming stared at a sword, utterly unwilling to discuss such a matter. What parents could give birth to a sword? Raise your sister, indeed. Unable to hold back, she asked, "So where is little Ruoyu? Why has she turned back into the Xinghe Sword? Zhao Changhe, what have you done!"

Zhao Changhe simply vanished in a flash: "I'll make myself scarce, and then you'll see."

Ye Wuming watched, dumbfounded, as a young girl was "pulled out" from the sword, naked, hugging her arms and crouching on the table, looking pitiful.

Ye Wuming swiftly produced a set of clothes to wrap around Ling Ruoyu, cradling the little girl down like a mother hen protecting her nest: "What happened? What happened? What did that pervert do to you?"

"It's not Father's doing..." Ling Ruoyu explained briefly, but in her heart, she finally understood why Shigong had insisted she call Ye Wuming "Mother" in her presence. When she became Ling Ruoyu, Ye Wuming's reaction was fundamentally different from when she faced a sword.

In theory, someone like Ye Wuming, whose gaze had long pierced through essence, should not be bound by form. Yet when a living, breathing little girl and a sword both called her "Mother," she still inevitably experienced a profound sensory dissonance.

The little girl's features—though not as strikingly similar as her own and Jiuyou's twin-like resemblance—clearly bore the mold of a mother-daughter inheritance. Seeing her stirred feelings beyond words.

Facing a sword, one could say it was merely forging; how could forging a sword make one a parent? Wouldn't that make craftsmen more prolific than sows?

But facing a little girl so alike in appearance, aura, and martial intent, who called her "Mother" with such a sweet voice—those words were truly hard to utter.

Ye Wuming knew that when she had written the Chaos World List, guided by the Heavenly Book's observations, and saw this little girl wielding her sword through the martial world, her gaze had clung to her like glue—more absurd than when she had followed Zhao Changhe back then.

Who dares compete with my daughter for the Hidden Dragon's top spot? All of you, get lost!

What "First He chui"? Get lost too. Ever since Ling Ruoyu emerged in the martial world, the Chaos World List had become the first "Yu chui."

Ye Wuming, however, felt she hadn't pulled any strings. Ruoyu was born of the Xinghe—of course she had the greatest potential. What doubt could there be? Hmm.

After hearing the little girl's account, Ye Wuming spoke naturally: "This is simple. Your current state is merely a spirit that has leaped beyond the realm. You can have your own physical body, or return to your original world. The reason you can't bring external things is that you haven't fully developed the Xinghe realm. It's too simple. Mother... I'll teach you. Just do this and that... Oh, and I'll give you a treasure that will help with..."

"I... I don't want your things." Ling Ruoyu lowered her head, pushing away the fruit she offered, stepping back half a pace with a hint of resistance.

Ye Wuming recalled again the moment above Tiger Hill, when she had grabbed her—the girl's eyes, filled with defiance and a touch of melancholy, and her firm shout: "I won't go!"

Ye Wuming let go. Ling Ruoyu lowered her head and stepped back again. Mother and daughter stood in silent stillness.

Zhao Changhe appeared on the seat with a "whoosh," his eyes darting between their expressions. After a long moment, he said, "What's this? Trying to grab her again?"

Ling Ruoyu naturally moved closer to him, murmuring, "No. Mother taught me something."

Ye Wuming watched her defend her with words while drawing ever nearer to Zhao Changhe, her heart a tangled mess beyond description.

Zhao Changhe pressed on: "I say, Xia Xia, what do you want the Xinghe for? Trying to take on some parenting duties?"

Ye Wuming wanted the Xinghe for only two reasons: first, to prevent the Heavenly Dao from stirring trouble; second, to avoid today's scene—Zhao Changhe coming to her doorstep. Both were essentially the same: keeping everything under her control.

Taking on parenting duties had never crossed her mind.

But at this moment, looking at Ling Ruoyu's expression, she couldn't bring herself to say that. Instead, she had to say, "Yes."

Zhao Changhe sighed: "That's too much, Xia Xia. I raised Xinghe when she was little. Later, Hongling nurtured and taught Ruoyu. You did nothing except drop a seed—no, shape a fetus—and now you want to take her from us? Have you no shame? I can't beat you now, but go ahead and try—see if Ruoyu doesn't hate you!"

Ye Wuming fell silent.

She could indeed take her now if she wanted... but thinking of Ling Ruoyu's furious resistance, the Night Emperor, who always disregarded others' feelings and manipulated everyone's fate on her own terms, for once could no longer have her way.