The Guide to Capturing a Black Lotus - Chapter 100: City Of Mist (14)

Chapter 100: City Of Mist (14)

“Me?”

Mu Yao had drunk a few more cups than usual today so her face was covered with a thin layer of redness. Her reactions were slower than normal and even her words seemed to have degraded a little. She was just a little embarrassed as she slowly opened her lips: “When I was young, my life was very boring.”

“Before the sun had even come up, I would go out and train my skills. I would have to draw at least 10 talismans every day. Every month I would have to out and gain practical experience out in the world.”

Mu Sheng lowered his eyes, not refuting nor flaring up. He merely listened calmly and it seemed like he was listening with all of his attention. Ling Miaomiao slowly turned her head to look at him.

“When I was young, my father was extremely strict. If I couldn’t achieve his standards, I would be locked in a dark room for a while.” She took a sip of her wine and lowered her eyelashes. She recalled the memories with a wisp of a smile: “Without my father’s commands, no one could let me out. I was both cold and hungry and only she…”

Advertisements

Perhaps it was due to the effects of the alcohol, she didn’t feel the urge to talk so urgently anymore. She paused for a moment before continuing with a complex expression: “She would curse at the people at the door, carrying food into the room and bringing them to me.”

Her mental state seemed to loosen all of a sudden. It was as if she had suddenly smelled the scent of her youth. The fragrances of slow cooked pork chop congee and boiled eggs.

When that woman watched her eat the food, she would hug her while crying up a storm. It was almost like her crying could cause a natural phenomenon in the form of a rainstorm, drenching and messing up her clothes: “Who wants to be the clan leader of a demon hunter clan huh!? Yao’er won’t be one! Why can’t she just be married to a good man and that’s it? She can live a nice, comfortable life that way…”

Nkdt Ykysxkys vawzu nswze dsv pwrralpp bla nwakspkvu, vwadkdt bla blye cynj yaswde vs ypj psqvzu: “Ebs oyp pbl?”

Yw Fbldt rywple qsa y xsxldv clqsal alrzukdt vs bla: “Jyk Zkasdt.”

Nkdt Ykysxkys oyp ypvsdkpble: “Yyeyx Ssdt?”

Mbkp obszl vkxl, Yw Zys bye yhskele vbkp vsrkn nswdvzlpp vkxlp yp kq pbl oyp vaukdt vs yhske y vlaakczl pnswatl. Fbl oypd’v lhld okzzkdt vs ekhwztl y dyxl, sdzu wpkdt vbl rasdswd ‘bla’ vs alqla vs bla. Zlv, kd vbl lde, vbkp rlapsd oyp bla ckavb xsvbla.

“Ybx.” Yw Zys blyae bla yde pxkzle. Mbl nsxrzlm lxsvksdp nsdvkdwswpzu alhszhle okvbkd bla xkde yp pbl vbswtbv sq vbl dyxl pbl bye nshlale wr qsa ps xydu ulyap: “Yyeyx Ssdt.”

“Yyeyx Ssdt oyp clvasvble vs xu qyvbla yv vbl ytl sq 18.”

Mbyv ulya vblu tsv xyaakle, vbl Yw qyxkzu ryvakyanb Yw Twykfkydt yde bkp okql Jyk Kkd bye clld xyaakle qsa pkm ulyap. Zlv, vblu olal pvkzz nbkzezlpp.

Gp vbl alpwzv sq vos talyv nzydp nsddlnvkdt vstlvbla kd xyaakytl, Jyk Kkd oyp vbl lzelpv qkapvcsad eywtbvla sq vbl sqqknkyz okql. Tla yrrlyaydnl oyp ycshl vbl xypplp, bla rlapsdyzkvu tldvzl yde xytdydkxswp. Tla pjkzzp okvb prlzzp oyp yzps yxygkdt, xyjkdt bla y dlya rlaqlnv xyvnb okvb Yw Twykfkydt.

The Bai family was a demon hunter clan that knew when to take a step back. How could they allow Mu Huaijiang to have no future children? However, how could they allow their son-in-law to marry an outsider? How could they feel at ease doing so? Thus, after some discussion, they chose another girl from their family to send over. The one they chose was Bai Yirong, one of Bai Jin’s concubine born cousins.

Advertisements

From head to toe, Bai Yirong could not compare in any way to Bai Jin. It was like the difference between heaven and earth. As one of the concubine’s children, she had no resources given to her to train in spells. In addition, she was just like the average delicate lady raised in her chambers, never taking a single step out the door no matter how wide the door was. Her vision was short, her temperament was brutish, she liked decorating and dressing up and most importantly, she loved to fight for favor. Always jealous and bitter.

If one were to describe her in a nutshell, she would be a simple, secular yet rather stupid woman.

The Bai family’s line of thought was very simple. After many years of cultivation, Bai Jin’s body was left hollowed out. After that, she accompanied Mu Huaijiang traveling the lands to exterminate demons, suffering many serious injuries in the process. Because of that, she lost her ability to get pregnant. So thus, they had to find someone who did not have any skills in their namesake, a completely normal woman. As she’d be locked in her courtyard and act delicate all the time, giving birth to Mu Huaijiang’s children before handing them to Bai Jin to raise. In this way she wouldn’t stain the glory and splendor of the Bai family’s eldest daughter.

Bai Yirong’s life was also similarly simplistic.

After she was born in the residence, she grew up in the residence. The second half of her life was also locked away in a residence. As a result, she’d fight tooth and nail over every little trivial matter all day long. She never grew tired of it: Using her appearance to fight for favor and getting jealous of her older sister who was truly in a different world compared to her. She would berate the servants over little things, insisting on beating and cursing them. She would cause a ruckus with her crying every few days as if she felt like she wouldn’t be at ease without disturbing every granule of sand within the residence.

“I didn’t like her.”

Mu Yao said her verdict and continued in a calm voice: “Her temper was not something many people could endure.” She sucked in a breath of air, as if ready to pour out her mind: “She didn’t… treat Ah Sheng that well either.”

Mu Sheng raised his head. He perused Mu Yao’s half-intoxicated appearance before there was any sign of his freezing, apathetic gaze softening a little: “…. Sis, you don’t need to bring this up.”

“Sister Mu…” Miaomiao asked in doubt, “Could it be because of this?”

Mu Yao shook her head and downed a big gulp of wine. Her gaze gradually became colder until her eyes became akin to a pair of insipid glazed windows, bright enough to shock those who looked at her.

“Six years ago, my Mu family was toppled. Thirty-three people died violent deaths and they were all caused by her.”

“Ah…” Miaomiao felt shock surge in her heart, “She… why though?”

Advertisements

“She was a demon.” Mu Yao’s smile was listless, “Perhaps she was tainted by a demon’s energy, perhaps she was cultivating demon arts or perhaps it could’ve been that she was simply a greater demon pretending to be a human all along, I’m not sure either…”

All she could remember in her vague recollections was the massive, raging fires reaching the sky as smoke rose everywhere, twisting and blurring the scene she saw. A woman standing in the middle of fire storm, dress fluttering wildly. She stepped on a pile of bodies as a stream of fresh blood flowed down her face. Her lips extended into a cold smile as her red lips opened slightly: “Finally, a clean Mu clan.”

Looking into her eyes, you could see no pity nor remorse. There was only disgust and mockery accompanied by an ice-cold killing intent.

Her memory was murky and heavy. She had to use a lot of energy to recall and there was only this short mental image left in her mind.

“It was exactly because I couldn’t understand… couldn’t understand…” Mu Yao lowered her head, tears silently rolling down her cheeks without any warning. She clenched her fingers around the wine cup, wearing an expression a little girl who felt wronged would. As her tears silently rolled down, she continued: “So I hated her. I wanted to find her and ask her that question, why?”

Liu Fuyi let out a sigh. He pulled the slightly intoxicated Mu Yao into his arms, softly patting her back comfortingly.

Ling Miaomiao thought to herself that this was a part of the plot within the original story that was never revealed.

So the one that almost completely exterminated the Mu family wasn’t some great and powerful demon. It wasn’t some terrifying demon but rather the one least suspicious, Bai Yirong… Miaomiao felt like there was a lump of mud in her brain as she continued to down wine cup after wine cup.

Mu Yao nestled up closely against Liu Fuyi. She looked at the empty plate on the table blankly.

In the past, within that pitch black room, when that woman appeared with a box of food and the warm congee flowed into her stomach. When that woman hugged her and cried exaggeratedly, she would also take off the expensive golden accessories in her hair and place it into Mu Yao’s hair. When she would smile at her while saying ‘Put it on Yao’er’…

She would recall fondly those intimate memories. Back then, when that woman lowered the young man’s pride, she wouldn’t say anything.

However, before she could even grow up properly, that woman was suddenly separated from her by a sea of blood and life debts. It was enough to cause one’s heart to tremble with fear, no longer able to sleep soundly at night.

Advertisements

The ‘mother’ caught in her throat was something that she could no longer truly let out in her lifetime.

“bang bang—-”

“bang bang bang—-”

The sound of fireworks suddenly filled the atmosphere. The night sky outside the window was abruptly lit up with light. For a short while, they could almost hear the rowdy voices, energic atmosphere and noisy racket of the townspeople.

Wufeng Town was a paradise for drinking and making merry. People lit up fires and partied the entire night to celebrate the new season, the arrival of spring.

The mood within the room was, in contrast with the sudden merriment outside, exceedingly sorrowful. The candle’s flame gently dragged a shadow along the wall. Nobody in the room spoke.

Mu Sheng leaned back in his chair. He saw Mu Yao’s shoulders trembling in the silence, remembering the bizarre dream he had before.

In that dream, he had called Bai Yirong mother, treating her as intimately as a mother. That was a truly preposterous dream.

—- Suddenly his temples suffered a terrible, piercing pain. The youth’s face paled immediately as he pressed his fingers against his temples. The pain that flared up out of nowhere seemed to disappear just as quickly as it appeared.

He leaned back in his chair as he blankly twirled the demon restraining circlets with his fingers.

Below Wufeng Town’s calm surface, it felt like there was a malicious peril brewing. He felt as if the moment he pulled the plug, a river would rush out from the ground and completely swallow him up.

Ever since the first day they arrived here, he had been feeling an intensely unsafe and dangerous feeling. Correspondingly, the face of Mu Rongshi in his dreams had become clearer and clearer. However, the unfortunate thing was that in his dreams, she only held a malicious attitude towards him. Even more malicious than Bai Yirong.

Advertisements

“Sis, do you still remember when she gained father’s affection?”

He picked up his wine cup and wet his lips with wine. He talked in a calm tone but his eyes darkened under the shadow of his hair.

When Mu Yao heard his question, she straightened her back. She had a vacant look on her face as she recalled the memories.

That’s right. At the start, her father didn’t really like Bai Yirong. Her snobbishness, shallowness and that complete disparity in values made her almost visible on a different wavelength than everyone else.

However, by the end, there was suddenly a period of time where the two of them were almost as inseparable as glue. She saw her pull her father back to her room many times. They would talk and laugh merrily while Bai Jin stood to the side, watching them sadly while looking like she wanted to say something but would always hold it back in the end.

During that period of time, Bai Yirong was still the same woman: Heavily done up with makeup and gaudily dress, sharp chin, hook like eyes and always revealing half of her silky soft bosom. Yet, she seemed to possess an aloof arrogance every day. The arrogance she possessed mainly made itself visible within her maroon eyes — When she looked at people, she loved to slant her eyes at them. Her eyelashes would flit up and up like hooks in a peculiarly charming manner. At the same time, there was a otherworldliness in her smile while hidden behind it was indifference.

In that period of time, the number of times she nagged at her dwindled greatly. Similarly, the times she made a commotion shrunk to almost nothing.

In other words, that was the period of time where Mu Huaijiang finally started to look at this concubine of his differently. He lifted her onto such a high pedestal that she surpassed his official wife. It was almost a little… debauched, indulging in beauty.

However, how could this be possible? Thinking back upon it, Mu Yao felt like that situation was completely preposterous. With the temperament and personality Bai Yirong had…. she was willing to believe if it was Su Daji ¹ [1] Su Daji was the favorite consort of King Zhou of Shang… and in short, her story is that of one of causing the downfall of kings. A woman so beautiful and skilled at seducing men that no one can resist her. Also, she was apparently possessed by a fox spirit. One with lots of tails. that hooked her father, however she couldn’t possibly believe Bai Yirong as being the person to shake his willpower and mentality.

“The year I was fourteen years old.” She furrowed her brows, a little doubtful: “There was one time she didn’t close her door firmly and when I passed by in the hallway, I heard…. I heard my father inside her room.”

She had never thought about it before, that the strict, overbearing and dignified iron plate of a father of hers could have a time where he could be that impetuous and rash. Through that small slit, she could barely see Bai Yirong’s arm wrapped around his neck, leaning away from his body. Her voice had been just like the song of birds, both soft and charming as she acted coquettish: “Master, call me Lady Rong.”

“…. Lady Rong.”

“Mhm, Master…”

She smiled and then delicately tilted her head into the direction of the gap in the door, a mocking smile decorating her eyes that were surprisingly filled with a provocative light.

In that moment, she felt her heart suddenly miss a beat. She felt as if she had been caught red-handed peeking on others as a cold sweat covered her limps. She ran away at that moment.

She pursed her lips: “She made my father call her Lady Rong.”

Ever since that moment, Mu Huaijiang started to spoil and dote on her. He wouldn’t shy away from calling her Lady Rong even in front of Bai Jin.

Bai Yirong’s days continued on like that for a period of time, at least until the night of the extermination of the Mu family.

Mu Sheng spun his wine cup with his fingers as he spoke up in a low voice: “She wanted… to be call Lady Rong is that so?”

He picked up the wine pot and refilled his cup. No one knew what he was thinking as there was a heavy anxiousness filling the air.

Suddenly, an empty cup appeared in front of his eyes. Ling Miaomiao’s cheeks were already strikingly red. She peered at him through narrowed eyes, clearly a little drunk already. Her voice was velvety soft: “I want some as well.”

When he turned around to look, he discovered a skill she had displayed while had been listening to them talk: She had silently managed to finish an entire pot of wine. Now, she was coming for his.

They sat closely together so if were to slightly raise his hand he could easily reach her face. The heightened temperature of her body caused her body’s fragrance to waft into the air, intermingling with the strong scent of wine. It was an experience that truly created ripples within their minds and as such, the gloomy and heavy thoughts all seemed to burst and disappear with a ‘pop’.

His lashes moved slightly as he dodged her hand, pouring another cup for himself. He tried to calm down his erratic heartbeat: “You… you already finished an entire pot of wine.

Ling Miaomiao’s ability to hold alcohol could not be considered great. Back in Jingyang Slope, a single pot of Flaming Blade rice wine ² [2] Flaming Blade rice wine is a brand of rice wine that was famous in the Tang Dynasty. was enough to make her drunk to the point of slurring her words. If she were to continue downing cups like that, what kind of mess would she end up in?

“It’s, it’s not enough. One pot.” Miaomiao’s words came out unclear as she clutched his arm with her right hand. Half of her body unintentionally fell onto his lap as she felt impatient enough to sound aggrieved: “I just need one more cup to get drunk. Hurry and help me fill my cup. I’ll drink it.”

Her warm breath was right on the side of his neck.

“….. you can’t.” He paused for a moment before forcing himself to spit out those two words with difficulty. He softly lowered her arm and it wasn’t clear whether or not he was trying to obstruct her or restrain himself, “If you want to drink I’ll pour you some water.”

He held onto the pot of wine without letting go as if afraid that she’d find an opportunity to exploit. He rose from his seat and just so happened to see Liu Fuyi as he turned his head moving his own pot of wine over and heroically filling up her cup. “What do you pour water… it’s the New Years! let’s drink wine!”

Mu Sheng clenched his teeth: “Young Noble Liu…”

“Thank you, Big Brother Liu.” Before he even retrieved his hand, Ling Miaomiao dumped the entire contents of the wine down her throat.

Immediately after, she was still left wanting. She picked up the cup Mu Sheng had left at the table and also downed the contents of that cup. Despite doing that, she still licked the edge of his cup as if her thirst had been far from sated, just like a little gluttonous kitty.

Then, she started to play with the two empty cups happily. For a while the cups collided with one another, for another while they balanced precariously on top of one another. It felt like she couldn’t sense two young man’s eyes on her turning burning red. Just like a wild beast eyeing a healthy, lively and jumpy white rabbit.

She still continued playing with the two cups when she suddenly raised her eyes randomly, noticing his foolish looking smile: “Happy New Years, Ziqi.”

Suddenly, countless fireworks shot into the sky, lighting up the world outside the window. The sky was lit up with countless bright and vibrant color, just like a starry sky of glimmering, scattering points of light.

[1] Su Daji was the favorite consort of King Zhou of Shang… and in short, her story is that of one of causing the downfall of kings. A woman so beautiful and skilled at seducing men that no one can resist her. Also, she was apparently possessed by a fox spirit. One with lots of tails.

[2] Flaming Blade rice wine is a brand of rice wine that was famous in the Tang Dynasty.

“Me?”

“Before the sun had even come up, I would go out and train my skills. I would have to draw at least 10 talismans every day. Every month I would have to out and gain practical experience once.”

Mu Sheng lowered his eyes, not refuting nor flaring up. He merely listened calmly and it seemed like he was listening carefully. Ling Miaomiao carefully turned her head to look at him.

Her mental state seemed to loosen all of a sudden. It was as if she had suddenly smelled the scent of her youth. The fragrances of slow cooked pork chop congee and boiled eggs.

Ling Miaomiao truly could not suppress her curiosity, turning her head back around to ask softly: “Who was she?”

Mu Sheng paused for a moment before replying to her: “Bai Yirong.”

Ling Miaomiao was astonished: “Madam Rong?”

This whole time, Mu Yao had avoided this topic countless times as if she was trying to avoid a terrible scourge. She wasn’t even willing to divulge a name, only using the pronoun ‘her’ to refer to her. Yet, in the end, this person was her birth mother.

“Mhm.” Mu Yao heard her and smiled. The complex emotions continuously revolved within her mind as she thought of the name she had covered up for so many years: “Madam Rong.”

“Madam Rong was betrothed to my father at the age of 18.”

That year they got married, the Mu family patriarch Mu Huaijiang and his wife Bai Jin had been married for six years. Yet, they were still childless.

As the result of two great clans connecting together in marriage, Bai Jin was the eldest firstborn daughter of the official wife. Her appearance was above the masses, her personality gentle and magnanimous. Her skills with spells was also amazing, making her a near perfect match with Mu Huaijiang.

From head to toe, Bai Yirong could not compare in any way to Bai Jin. It was like the difference between heaven and earth. As one of the concubine’s children, she had no resources to train in spells. In addition, she was just like the average delicate lady raised in her chambers, never taking a single step out the door no matter how wide the door was. Her vision was short, her temperament was brutish, she liked decorating and dressing up and most importantly, she loved to fight for favor. Always jealous and bitter.

If one were to describe her in a nutshell, she would be an simple, secular yet rather stupid woman.