Chapter 48 - Mother and Daughter Reunion
Just as Red Flame found Ouyang Zhong, Linghu Xian, Xuan Mo, and Tuoba Cheng, Yu Sun fought to the death. Counting down, the two sides quickly launched their attacks.
Xuan Mo could smell Yu Sun but couldn't sense her trail because Yu Sun had waited underground for an ambush early on. Right at the moment when the black wolf was standing in front of the gate of the camp with Linghu Xian on his back, Yu Sun mobilized thousands of spiders of all sizes. They densely crawled all over every corner of the underground cavern, and when Yu Sun gave the order, countless spiders quickly came out of the earth in large numbers, but in the blink of an eye, they crawled all over the black wolf's limbs. They began to gnaw on the black wolf's flesh and skin unceremoniously and injected a large amount of spider toxin into the black wolf's body.
Xuan Mo was greatly shocked. He was seldom afraid, but at this moment, not only could he not violate the heavenly rules to cast spells in front of human beings, but also, because he was now a beast, he could not use his martial arts and was unexpectedly held by the spider swarm just like this, the most worrying thing for him was, how could he still protect Linghu Xian's safety in this condition. Xuan Mo said to Linghu Xian, "Cang Cang! You run and deal with Tuoba Cheng. I'll figure out how to get rid of these annoying bugs!"
Linghu Xian was also sickened by these dense spiders in her heart. She realized that she and Xuan Mo could not become tied to each other but should focus on facing the enemy. She barked, "Teacher, be careful!" Then she jumped with vigor and rushed straight at Tuoba Cheng with her sword.
Tuoba Cheng was still holding the severed human head, and he unexpectedly used it as a weapon and threw it at Linghu Xian. Seeing this, Linghu Xian hurriedly dodged with a sideways movement, but she didn't expect this guy to keep throwing several human heads as weapons toward her. If this were an ordinary stone, arrow, or something like that, Linghu Xian would not hesitate to use her sword that cuts iron-like mud to slash at her face, but this is a human head ah! She couldn't compare them to inanimate rocks yet, so she had to dodge left and right, slowing down the speed and momentum of her attack.
Tuoba Cheng had finished throwing the human heads. Then he grabbed one of the people around him and compared his dagger, which was sharpened from a human thigh bone to this person's throat. He shouted to Linghu Xian, "Linghu Xian! Come and see if you recognize this man!"
That person was so scared that her body was shaking like sifting chaff, she was disheveled, her messy hair covered her face, her clothes were ragged, and she had broken a leg. Tuoba Cheng mercilessly cut off a large part of her hair, finally allowing Linghu Xian to see this person's facial features.
Linghu Xian slowed down as she stared blankly at this person, this tortured, old, worn, dirty woman. Linghu Xian's eyes widened in horror and sadness - this was her mother in this life, the foster mother who took in and raised her until she was six years old and was even willing to lay down her life for her.
After Linghu's sister-in-law had her memory erased by Linghu Xian's spirit bead in the first place, she took her son, Linghu Jian, with her and fled northward for a year or two, and they went around doing jobs and odd jobs for people, barely making ends meet. A few years later, when her son grew up and joined the army, Linghu's sister-in-law moved to a village near Beiwang City to guard her son. The Linghu family can finally settle down; the son of the Linghu Jian is also married, and the Linghu sister-in-law's body is weak. He no longer washes clothes for others to do odd jobs, stays at home sewing, and helps his daughter-in-law plant two acres of thin fields; the day finally settled down for a year or two.
She has always had the same dream these years: there is a little girl about six years old in the dream; Mrs. Linghu, very much like the child, always feels close, but who is the child? But who was the child? She couldn't remember. One day, she saw in Beiwang city from the barracks out of the office of the Linghu Xian that appearance is a deep memory of the appearance, only the dream of the girl has grown up, how a good girl dressed in a military uniform, but also dressed as a boy's appearance.
Mother and daughter, even this thing, sometimes may not need blood. Since she saw Linghu Xian in Beiwang City, Mrs. Linghu recognized the daughter she had longed for for many years. Sister-in-law Linghu's son, Linghu Jian, also served in North Hope City's military camp, so she asked her son to pay more attention to Linghu Xian. She didn't tell her son that this was his long-lost sister, but just sighed and said: "She is only 13 or 4 years old, but she has to go to the battlefield at such a young age, so she has to make her family worry a lot. You take care of this little brother for my mother."
Linghu Jian was a filial son who usually obeyed his mother's words as if they were holy orders. But this time, he had an extra heart. He had observed this Linghu Xian many times, and the more he looked at her, the more envious he felt. The same is surnamed Linghu; how can she get the left guard general and hussar general's repeated praise and generous treatment? She can even stand in the general's tent and participate in the discussion of critical military affairs! Linghu Jian is now just an ordinary soldier, responsible for guarding the city, patrolling, and other trivial things.
Linghu Jian's heart became more and more unbalanced, and the result of rest time, with a few brothers drinking a few glasses of wine, will be the heart of the depression and dissatisfaction shaking out. Beiwang City has long been mixed with the Dingling spies, which coincidentally, Linghu Jian said Linghu Xian things, where the spies heard a clear.
Linghu Jian said with a big tongue: "Her Linghu Xian surname is Linghu, and my surname is also Linghu; why is she the military engaged, but I am still a small pawn? Also, does she need to do more than dance a sword and blow a whistle? Look at her. She's been asked to serve in the general's tent. My mother asked me to care for her, but how could I do it? I don't know if my mother is crazy about my lost sister. She sees someone named "Linghu," who is about the same age, and thinks she looks like my sister. I don't remember having a sister. She Linghu distinctly is a man, day after day the mother of a woman to stand in the side of General Ouyang, really shameless ...".
But if Linghu Jian were drunk after splashing and playing crazy a few drunken words, other people would listen and laugh just, at most, with him to curse each other a bit; this thing will also turn over the past. But the Dingling spies quickly returned this information to Tuoba Cheng and Yu Sun. They heard a plan.
The Dingling spies tracked down Linghu Jian, found his home outside the city, and captured his mother and wife back to the Dingling vanguard battalion, leaving only a note naming Linghu Xian to replace him. And by no coincidence, on the day that Linghu's sister-in-law's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were captured, Ouyang Ming also ran to the general's tent in Beiwang City to make a fuss, and before the evening of that day, a body pretending to be that of Linghu Xian was hung over the wall of Beiwang City for public display.
Linghu Jian thought that Linghu Xian was dead, and he was slightly happy. He sneaked home but saw that the house was empty. His mother and wife were gone, and he was dumbfounded. Linghu Jian ran to the general's tent with a note, crying and cursing; Wei Kongji, after interrogation, took this opportunity to uncover the spy. Unfortunately, Linghu Jian was not only unable to get his family back but was also sentenced to 50 lashes and placed in the prison barracks to wait for his release because of his backhanded remarks about the superior general.
Wei Kongji didn't tell Linghu Xian about this. He couldn't bear to let this girl suffer significant blows again and again. But unexpectedly, at this moment, Linghu Xian stood alone in the Dingling military camp, facing the threat of the enemy Tuoba Cheng, and reunited with her mother again in such a situation.
Tuoba Cheng viciously grabbed Linghu's sister-in-law's head and made her look at her daughter in front of her. At the same time, he said to Linghu Xian: "You recognize this person, don't you? She always said she didn't recognize you, but once she heard that you died and were hung on the wall of Northwatch, she cried her heart out. Linghu Xian! If you want this person to live, submit to me, be my concubine, and be my Dingling Clan's sorcerer, or else, I will let her die in front of you!"
Linghu Xian's heart was swept by multiple emotions such as anger, panic, sadness, nervousness, etc... She couldn't help but tremble, and the short sword she held in her hand almost fell off. She clutched the right hand that was holding the sword with her left hand, forcing herself not to break down at this time, and even more so, not to be defeated by her enemy's mind-attacking scheme at this time, and letting this disgusting and evil Tuoba Cheng have his way.
But a girl is still a girl in the end; her tears surged like a flood breaking through the dike. She trembled her lips, wanting to scream softly, but she couldn't make a sound; she could only open her mouth in an empty and mechanical manner. Sister-in-law Linghu looked at her daughter, who had grown much taller and was finally not as terrified as she was just now. She knew that her daughter was calling her. She nodded gently and blinked, telling her daughter she knew. Then she also opened her mouth and said to her daughter with her lips, "Fresh child is good, there is mother, not afraid!"
Linghu Xian clearly remembered how much mother's favor she had received as a young child. Whenever she fell because she was too young to stand still, got hurt, or was bullied by her brother, her mother would always hold her in her arms and gently soothe her while whispering, "Fresh child is good. There is a mother; not afraid!"
Linghu Xian knelt to her adoptive mother, crying uncontrollably. Her heart shouted, "Mother--! I miss you every day." But she couldn't say it out loud; she still had to force herself to come up with a plan to deal with it quickly; how to save sister-in-law Linghu and the remaining few enslaved people from Tuoba Cheng's hands? And how do you capture Tuoba Cheng alive? This was what she and Wei Kongji had planned before. She had to capture Tuoba Cheng alive as a hostage to have a chance to coerce Dingling's army to retreat and save Beiwang City and Zhongming Kingdom.
Tuoba Cheng looked at Linghu Xian and kneeled with great joy, thinking she was deciding to surrender. He laughed maniacally, "Linghu Xian! I know all about your soft underbelly. You are mine; you will never be able to escape from me!"
Just as he laughed maniacally, Sister-in-law Linghu violently pushed Tuoba Cheng away and tried to snatch the dagger from his hand. Tuoba Cheng indeed did not expect this disabled enslaved person in his hands to be able to act in such a manner, and not only was the dagger in his hand knocked off the ground, but he was also accidentally pushed away and fell to the ground. Linghu Xian seized the opportunity to launch her attack in this close call. The anger and hatred in her heart coalesced on the sword in her hand, and she was about to point the blade straight at Tuoba Cheng.
However, Linghu's sister-in-law is just a weak, broken leg, tortured middle-aged woman; although Tuoba Cheng fell quickly, a flip will capture her again. However, everything is too fast. Linghu Xian's sword rushed straight out and was about to hit Tuoba Cheng, but Tuoba Cheng blocked Linghu's sister-in-law in front of his body as a human shield. Linghu Xian had to rush to dodge, or the sword would pierce her mother's body. Time seems to stop instantly; mother smiles kindly, looks at Linghu Xian, and says: "My baby Xian, not afraid, there is mother. We will meet again in the next life." Linghu Xian watched as his sword was inserted into his body by his foster mother, with one hand tightly grasping it, while the other hand was also tightly grasping Tuoba Cheng so that the sword could also be pierced into his chest.
"Mother--! No--!" Linghu Xian screamed like crazy. Tuoba Cheng was indeed stabbed, but not enough to be fatal; he pushed and shoved Sister-in-law Linghu in front of him, but she just clutched tightly and refused to let go. Tuoba Cheng slapped her skull with a palm, took that human bone dagger, and stabbed her furiously several times.
Linghu Xian was furious, so he pulled out his short sword and rushed to slash at Tuoba Cheng. Tuoba Cheng rushed to escape. He asked the guards around him to block Linghu Xian, but how could they? Linghu Xian doesn't want to kill and can't kill, just as Tuoba Cheng said. If she kills someone, from now on, she will always be a demon and can never become a human being again, but now she has already been overwhelmed by anger; she doesn't want to become a so-called "human being" to become a cold, heartless, emotionless and unsympathetic demon.
As the saying goes, hell is empty, and the devil is on earth. For Linghu Xian, whether she can still be a human being or not, whether she can only be a demon forever, is completely unimportant. To cut down the demons, get rid of the demons, and defend the way. What is a demon? What is a demon? That is not determined by bloodline but by the heart. Tuoba Cheng can no longer be considered a human; he is a demon and devil. Linghu Xian must kill him!
Tuoba Cheng covered his wounds and quickly fled to his tent. He had to find the demonic poison that Yu Sun had given him. If Linghu Xian refused to submit obediently, she had to be destroyed. Tuoba Cheng sprinkled the demonic poison on the human bone dagger stained with human blood. This was the best weapon for dealing with Linghu Xian.
Linghu Xian gradually began to fall into an angry mania. She relentlessly killed her enemies on sight in the Dingling military camp. As long as they were holding weapons to put her to death or to harm other old, weak women, children, and enslaved people, she would rise with her hands and cut down those bad guys. Linghu Xian's eyes had now turned scarlet, and a layer of fox fur gradually appeared on her body. The spirit bead in her chest was constantly and violently rolling over, ready to spurt out at any moment. She could feel her bestiality gradually increasing while her humanity was dying out.
She found Tuoba Cheng, and she wanted to kill him! Although Tuoba Cheng was one of the top warrior masters of the Dingling Clan, he knew very well that he was not a match for Linghu Xian. Yet he still waited for Linghu Xian inside the tent with his curved sword and dagger, which had been extracted with demonic poison. They must fight to the death.
Linghu Xian will not say one more word to him, and the enemies will see each other red. Linghu Xian wants to avenge his mother and the innocent people who were killed! Linghu Xian's sword skills are out of this world, and now that the demonic nature of his body is gradually awakening, his physical ability and strength have also far exceeded that of an ordinary human being. But in two or three rounds, Tuoba Cheng was beaten into retreat. He loudly summoned Yu Sun to help him but didn't know that Yu Sun and Xuan Mo were also engaged in a fierce battle.