Chapter 150

Pei Ji stepped forward and spoke for her: “Where are Xu Ye and Qiao Yan?”

“Young Taoist Xu saw through the truth and escaped with Xiao Yan.”

She took a deep breath and continued weakly, “I’m dying, but I have an urgent request… Would you two be willing to help?”

A demon youth, severely injured by the sword energy, seemed to guess her intention and roared in fury, “You’re insane!”

Qin Niang ignored him.

“After the great battle years ago, the demon clan suffered heavy losses. Many of my kin died here, but the demonic energy within the secret realm couldn’t escape. It lingered and corrupted the surviving Spirit Fox Clan members into half-demons, continuously consuming their spiritual energy and lives. They can’t hold on much longer.”

She clenched her fists in apparent pain and continued, “To break the Water Mirror formation, the only solution is to find and destroy the hidden formation core. Only Demon Lord Qi Han knows its location… If we are to save the Spirit Foxes on the other side of the Water Mirror, we must find it before the secret realm closes.”

Ning Ning paused and hesitated before asking, “Why are you helping us?”

The ethereal woman closed her eyes briefly, and after a moment, a barely noticeable, self-mocking smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.

“…Who knows?”

“You’ve done so many evil deeds; why pretend to be virtuous now! If we die, Qiao Yan will find out everything!”

The young man sneered coldly, his eyes filled with a web of bloodshot veins. “She will know you are one of the murderers who slaughtered her entire clan; she will know that you’ve been living a lie all these years, pretending to be her mother. She will only hate you; she will never be grateful!”

His words grew increasingly frantic, and his laughter intermingled with a harsh, grating voice that sent chills down one’s spine.

“Qiao Yan will never know who you truly are, your name, your appearance, or even that you died protecting her… In her eyes, you’ll always be a substitute for her mother, an unforgivable demon!”

He spoke with indignation, but Qin Niang merely curled her lips indifferently, her tone calm and unperturbed.

“Yes.”

She was a demon, always had been, and her sins could never be washed away.

The past felt so distant and blurred, like another person’s dream.

She had grown up in poverty and loneliness, falling into the demon clan to survive and thereafter committing countless atrocities, which had become almost a habit.

After the great defeat in the secret realm, she had to hide within the Water Mirror with other demon cultivators. Needing the spiritual herbs Qiao Yan collected, she had to impersonate one of her former clan members.

Her strength was second only to that of the Demon Lord, so she naturally took on the role of mother. At first, she found the little girl extremely annoying, not wanting to deal with her at all.

She clumsily learned to be a mother, gradually concealing all her ferocity and sharpness. For the first time, she realized that besides endless slaughter and fighting for survival, she could have a completely different life—

Cooking smoke, family, smiles, and the little stories Qiao Yan made up for her every night.

That child talked about the secrets of the Fox Clan, many childish fables and jokes, and stories from books about the southern city’s water town and fireworks, vowing that one day she would take her out to see them.

That was really a long, long time ago.

But for some reason, only after meeting that annoying Fox Clan girl did her memories turn from black and white to color.

Yet, there was an unbridgeable gap between them, not just the unerasable clan feud. From the very beginning, their bond was built on lies and manipulation.

She could barely remember her original name.

Sometimes, in the dead of night, she would momentarily believe she really was Qin Niang.

These feelings were timid and hidden, lightly scattered in the night, unknown to anyone.

“Qiao Yan,” Ning Ning’s voice was very low.

“Doesn’t she know that you stalled the demon clan’s pursuit of her?”

“I only revealed myself after they left. It’s better that she doesn’t know. Please don’t tell her.”

Qin Niang actually chuckled softly, her pupils gradually clouding and losing color.

“Good and evil always have their rewards… Someone as sinful as me doesn’t deserve such a noble sacrifice. Saying it out loud would just be laughable—this charade needs to end.”

She had gone through so much killing and danger in her life, but as she neared death, the last thing that came to mind was a girl’s gentle and shy smile.

At that time, Qiao Yan had said she wanted to give her mother the best fireworks display so that everyone could see.

Qin Niang raised her head slightly, silently gazing at the serene and quiet sky.

The night sky was empty, with nothing there.

…How sad.

In fact, she had never seen fireworks in her entire life.