“A’Jie… do you know… I am your mother?”

As she spoke, Siling had already begun to cry.

Succubi are heartless and cannot be moved by emotion. But if they develop hearts, every tear they shed is heart’s blood – a spiritual elixir that drives the world mad and preserves eternal youth.

Wei Jie watched his mother’s pale cheeks streaked with blood-red tear tracks. He held back again and again, finally raising his hand to wipe them away: “Mother, don’t cry anymore. These are heart’s blood – crying like this will damage your primordial spirit…”

This single word, “Mother,” made Siling’s tears flow even more uncontrollably.

Wei Jie silently sighed and reached out to press the Fengchi acupoint on the side of his mother’s neck: “This is the method you taught me when I was small. If you cannot control yourself, just press here, and you can guard your original spirit. I’ve always remembered… please don’t cry anymore.”

With this pressure, Siling truly stopped her tears, though her excited emotions still couldn’t be suppressed.

She gazed at her son reluctantly, reaching out to touch his handsome face, finally restraining her emotions and saying softly, “I’ve always feared you wouldn’t be welcomed by the Wei family. But now seeing you’ve taken a teacher and joined the Talismonger Sect, with both a master to care for you and fellow disciples to help, I can be at peace. If there’s nothing else, you should leave this place quickly – it’s not a blessed land for you…”

As she said this, she looked at the whip coiled around Wei Jie’s waist, where the handle bore the bright demon-subduing seal of the Wei family.

Such seals were honors that could only be obtained by adult children recognized by the Wei family.

It seemed the Wei family treated A’Jie well and didn’t slight him because of his bloodline.

With this, Siling was completely reassured. As Xiaoxiao had said, A’Jie’s future was boundless – how could she, as his mother, block his path and force him into the abyss of revenge with her?

As for the blood feud of the Four Great Sects forcing her husband to death, she alone would bear it.

She had painstakingly operated in Luoyi City for a long time. Now, Lord Can had become her devoted servant, allowing her to take whatever she wanted.

As long as she controlled Lord Can and the extraordinary people he recruited, bringing down the Four Great Sects wouldn’t be difficult.

As for A’Jie, the farther he stayed from these sordid affairs, the better. That’s why she wanted the Talismonger Sect master and disciple to leave Luoyi City quickly.

However, hearing his mother say this, Wei Jie remained unmoved, only carefully examining his mother’s eyes before saying: “This city is also no blessed land for you. You need to leave Luoyi City immediately!”

Siling shook her head, as if looking at a child who didn’t understand, still persuading: “You go quickly. I really won’t have any trouble…”

Before his mother could finish speaking, Wei Jie suddenly removed two silver rings from his whip handle and placed them on his mother Siling’s arms.

These silver rings were forged from silver mines near the Underworld, naturally extremely yin. Combined with the Wei family’s blessing, they could reveal demonic forms and sense evil objects.

Wei family members all wore silver armor and helmets – besides being wealthy, it was because silver repelled evil.

As soon as the silver rings encircled Siling’s wrists, she felt burning pain in her skin, as if something in her body was being attracted by the silver rings, surging forth with qi and blood.

If it were someone else, Siling would probably have fought back by now. But knowing her son must have deep meaning for this, she endured it.

The silver rings automatically spun rapidly on her wrists. Between the two rings, the meridians and blood vessels began to bulge slightly, as if something was wriggling inside… Just then, the silver rings suddenly contracted, tightening around that section of meridians.

Wei Jie took out a silver dagger and deftly extracted a parasitic worm from his mother’s skin.

When Wei Jie dropped it on the ground, the entirely black insect was still writhing.

Wei Jie casually drew the precious sword from Xiaoxiao’s waist and cleaved the insect into pulp with one stroke.

Siling had never noticed she’d been infected with a parasite. Looking at her still-bleeding wrist, she was greatly shocked.

Wei Jie looked at the insect pulp and said slowly: “This parasite is no ordinary thing – it’s a Puppet Parasite from the Underworld, born from insects in the muddy swamps at the bottom of the Wangchuan River. It’s said that many who refuse reincarnation throw themselves into the Wangchuan River, so the riverbed is heavy with resentment. The insects that grow there feed on this resentment. When nourished with fierce beast blood to become parasites, they can control ghosts and spirits.”

Siling had never noticed she’d been infected with a Puppet Parasite. Suddenly, having Wei Jie expose this, she was shocked into silence for a long time, seemingly recalling when she might have been infected.

However, Wei Jie provided the answer: “Mother, you only recently entered the prince’s mansion, didn’t you? That night, you went to Wanghai Tavern to sing for Lord Can, and I was actually on the rooftop… After you sang, didn’t Lord Can have a maid bring you a cup of wine?”

Xiaoxiao was also startled. She remembered – it was exactly the night she nearly fell from the building.

At that time, Wei Jie had given his room to her, saying he would return to share a room with Tang Youshu. But Yu Ling’er had said Wei Jie never went to Tang Youshu’s room at all.

So that day, he had recognized Siling but spent the night prowling around the eaves of Wanghai Tavern.

His lightness skills were exceptional – he could lurk there silently without anyone discovering him, thus witnessing the secrets inside the building.

Lord Can had asked the maid who brought the wine when it would take effect.

The woman replied: “When the Puppet Parasite is in seed form, it’s colorless, tasteless, and completely transparent, hard to detect. But after seven days, when it follows the meridians to the heart, it becomes impossible to remove.”

Hearing this, Lord Can said nothing more. However, that parasite-cultivating maid seemed to want to show her merit and added, “Your subordinate’s newly cultivated parasites are nearly ready. These parasites can not only control human hearts but also command various strange beasts. It’s just a pity those hunters seem to have failed in their mission, or Your Highness’s rare collection would have several more specimens…”

Hearing this, Lord Can only stood up and said lightly to the parasite-cultivating woman: “Zhu’er, you talk too much.”

The parasite-cultivating woman called Zhu’er immediately closed her mouth and stood behind Lord Can, following him out of the tavern.

If Wei Jie hadn’t stayed for a while after his mother finished singing and left, hearing the conversation between Lord Can and the parasite-laying maid, he wouldn’t have known the hidden truth.

According to that deeply concealed parasite-cultivating woman, once this Puppet Parasite entered the stomach, it could travel along the bloodstream. Once it reached the heart, the parasite would mature and could control the infected ghosts and spirits.

Knowing his mother was infected but not knowing how to solve it, Wei Jie contacted the Wei family’s secret agents in the city and wrote to his grandmother, finally obtaining these silver rings that could dispel the parasitic worms.

However, this method only worked on those infected for a short time. Fortunately, it arrived in time and finally removed Siling’s parasite.

Siling frowned in thought, still unable to believe Lord Can would parasite her: “How is that possible? Lord Can has always obeyed my every word and never made excessive demands…”

As a succubus with natural charm, she could always manipulate men. Those men would even sacrifice everything for a chance to get close to her.

Siling was most skilled at controlling men’s hearts, so naturally she couldn’t imagine that a man who seemed submissive to her would secretly scheme against her.

If this parasite was truly planted by Lord Can, why had he never opposed her requests? Was his obsessive devotion to her fake?

Siling had always thought she was the lurking hunter, having captured Lord Can as her chess piece.

But now she realized that the man who seemed deeply infatuated with her was the real hunter.

She frowned and muttered to herself: “Did he discover I’m a succubus and act accordingly?”

Wei Jie said lightly, “This person has deep thoughts and loves collecting various strange beasts. Those infected with Puppet Parasites probably aren’t limited to just Mother.”

Xiaoxiao listened silently from the side, suddenly remembering yesterday’s banquet when Wei Jie kept preventing her from eating and drinking.

At that time, even when Lord Can offered her toasts, Wei Jie had intercepted them and drained them himself.

Although Wei Jie had jokingly said afterward that he feared Xiaoxiao’s eating manner would be unseemly, now thinking about it, could he have been afraid Lord Can had tampered with the wine and food?

When had he discovered his mother was in Luoyi City?

After Wei Jie’s brief reunion with his mother, he had the Wei family’s secret guards escort her out of the city.

If it were just ordinary persuasion, Siling naturally wouldn’t leave. But being infected with a Puppet Parasite without knowing it meant she had already become someone else’s chess piece.

From Wei Jie’s words, she learned the Wei family had detected Luoyi’s undercurrents and made corresponding arrangements. If she stayed, she would inevitably disrupt the Wei family’s plans. For her son’s sake, she was willing to temporarily set aside her hatred for the Four Great Sects and seek opportunities later.

That day when Wei Jie sent his mother away, Xiaoxiao watched silently from the side, but her heart truly felt relieved.

Regardless, with Siling leaving the city, perhaps she could avoid the fate of being forced to death by the Four Great Sects, and Wei Jie wouldn’t need to fall into inescapable inner demons from witnessing his mother’s tragic death, then kill the Four Great Sects’ elders.

Xiaoxiao hadn’t expected the matter she’d been constantly worrying about to be resolved so easily.

She suddenly realized that even though she spent day and night with Wei Jie, she didn’t really understand this man.

He seemed to hide many things from her.

Of course, she also hid much from him. So their master-disciple relationship was quite hypocritical indeed!

Perhaps to compensate for the master-disciple relationship damaged by concealment, on the way back to the city, Wei Jie did explain things to Xiaoxiao.

It turned out that the letter from his Wei family grandmother had informed him about his mother, Siling, being in Luoyi City.

However, Grandmother hadn’t written to let her grandson reunite with his mother, but to notify him to assist the Wei family’s secret agents in investigating Luoyi City’s lord, Lord Can.

When the Corpse-eating Beast escaped from the Underworld, Grandmother suspected it wasn’t accidental.

After careful investigation, they discovered that a Wei family guard watching the Underworld had been infected with this Puppet Parasite.

These Puppet Parasite seeds had been brought out from the Underworld by a Wei family traitor. Now, suddenly discovering this, the Wei family grandmother immediately sealed the information and began secret investigations.

That guard had been infected for a long time – the Puppet Parasite had grown to fist size and couldn’t be removed. Before dying, he spat blood and revealed the hidden truth.

It was under someone’s control that he had secretly released the Corpse-eating Beast.

At that time, many beast hunters had come around Qilao Mountain, as if they knew strange beasts would escape from the Underworld.

Such elaborate arrangements were not just a noble’s special hunting hobby. Grandmother suspected the person behind this had other purposes and began secret investigations.

Fortunately, there weren’t many people in the world who could cultivate these Puppet Parasites. Following clues from the escaped traitor, the Wei family quickly traced his daughter, who had become a guest at Luoyi City’s prince’s mansion, and unexpectedly discovered the succubus Siling was also in the city.

Knowing her grandson Wei Jie was also coming to Luoyi City, Grandmother wrote that letter and returned the Wei family heir’s coming-of-age gift – that blessed whip – to Wei Jie.

Hearing Wei Jie’s explanation, Xiaoxiao felt much emotion.

So that was it – no wonder Wei Jie had hesitated so long when first entering the city.

He had been separated from his mother since childhood. Even after growing up and understanding his mother’s hardships, he would still have unresolved feelings. His hesitation then was whether he was also uncertain about whether to meet his mother.

That Wei family’s old grandmother was a cunning old walnut with many twists and turns in her mind.

Xiaoxiao guessed that besides preventing her grandson from being caught off guard meeting Siling, Wei family grandmother’s real purpose was another test for Wei Jie – to see whether he would follow his father’s path and how he would handle his relationship with his demon mother.

Perhaps in the original trajectory two hundred years ago, the Wei family had also arranged secret guards in the city.

However, in the original trajectory, Wei Jie had a bad reputation, and with the Zhongyuan Festival medical disaster, he was utterly notorious. The Wei family’s secret sentries in the city probably wouldn’t have passed good words back to the Wei family.

With the Wei family bearing heavy responsibilities, they naturally wouldn’t let morally corrupt descendants return, let alone have further contact with Wei Jie.

If it was truly as she thought, how desolate and helpless was Wei Jie in his previous life?

At least until now, Xiaoxiao felt that the Wei Jie in the original trajectory had borne far too much blame that shouldn’t have been his.

Even if he might become a demon later, Xiaoxiao now felt he wasn’t an utterly irredeemable person.

How angry and resentful must Wei Jie have been, bearing false accusations and watching his long-separated mother die tragically before his eyes, with nowhere to vent?

Thinking of this, Xiaoxiao also sighed silently. Amitabha, she had the thought that the Four Great Sects deserved their deaths at Wei Jie’s hands in the previous life.

She was also someone with a Demon Pearl attached – having such wicked thoughts was truly inappropriate! Xiaoxiao quickly recited the Heart-Clearing Mantra to drive away evil thoughts.

However, looking at it this way, that unassuming Lord Can from the previous life was quite a character!

There were very few men in the world who couldn’t be bewitched by succubi, and this Lord Can was one of them.

When a man couldn’t be swayed by feminine beauty, it generally fell into two categories: one was castrated eunuchs, the other was having needs more intoxicating than feminine beauty that they couldn’t extricate themselves from.

She wondered what type this Lord Can was.

But remembering Lord Can’s meaningful gaze when looking at Wei Jie, Xiaoxiao suspected it was probably the latter.

Could this Lord prefer men?

Hearing his master’s unreliable speculation, Wei Jie looked at her sideways and asked with a cold smile: “Are you saying I’m effeminate, like someone who would submit beneath others?”

Hmm… Xiaoxiao grimaced, tactfully suggesting that maybe Lord Can liked being on the bottom.

Wei Jie continued his cold smile, saying that Yu Ling’er was right – Cui Xiaoxiao was indeed very suitable for leading the Hehuan Sect.

“You think not being seduced by succubi means liking men? In this world, there are things more heart-stirring than beauty.” Wei Jie said slowly.

Seeing Xiaoxiao still didn’t understand, Wei Jie explained lightly: “If ambition is sufficiently inflated, even the most beautiful succubus cannot stop their forward path.”

Xiaoxiao understood: If Lord Can didn’t prefer men, then he was someone with tremendous ambition and aspirations.

Thinking again of his refined, gentle manner in dealing with people, it was chilling.

Demons in this world were easy to identify – you just needed a demon-subduing divine sword. But discerning human hearts was extremely difficult.

Sometimes people were always more complex and terrifying than demons…

When they returned to the inn, the spicy and vinegary braised food Wei Jie had bought for Xiaoxiao had been mostly eaten by the little fox.

Yu Ling’er had now discovered that there were too many delicious things in the human world. A life limited to chicken innards and breast meat was too boring.

When lovesickness was hard to resolve, eating human delicacies was truly healing!

Fortunately, Tang Youshu was filial and thought of his master and grandmaster, who hadn’t eaten yet, desperately protecting two bowls, so Xiaoxiao could still have breakfast.

While eating the braised food, Xiaoxiao suddenly remembered that during yesterday’s banquet, Lord Can had mentioned he was about to hold his thirtieth birthday feast, planning a lakeside wine banquet at Autumn Water Pond on the city outskirts, treating guests to the local specialty, fine-scaled fish. It was said Lord Can loved fishing and had been personally leading people to catch fish these past days to entertain distinguished guests.

At that time, the Wumu Peak elder had cleverly catered to him, saying he also loved fishing, and chatting enthusiastically.

All the major sects present at the prince’s mansion were on the invitation list.

While gnawing on braised chicken feet and asking Wei Jie about this, Wei Jie said: “If Lord Can sends an invitation, we naturally must attend the banquet to see what tricks are at the feast.”

As he said this, he was cracking his whip. The whip precisely coiled around empty wine jars stacked on the ground, as flexible as an extended arm.

After practicing for a while, he casually removed a silver ring from the whip and placed it on Xiaoxiao’s wrist.

Xiaoxiao looked at the silver ring – the pattern on it was precisely the Wei family’s demon-subduing charm.

When placed on Xiaoxiao’s hand, the silver ring vibrated several times, as if adapting, before finally slowly settling down.

Wei Jie explained: “Because you have a Demon Pearl inside you, the silver ring vibrates. Wearing it, if evil objects approach again, it will warn you.”

Xiaoxiao shook her wrist. She was naturally slender-boned, so this ring fit perfectly as a bracelet. Xiaoxiao reminded herself to just wear it and never touch it with her fingers, lest she turn it to ash again.

Those Puppet Parasites were hard to guard against. Wearing this bracelet, if parasite seeds approached, she could know in advance.

After talking with Xiaoxiao for a while, Wei Jie went out on business.

Xiaoxiao noticed several tall men in cloaks standing at the inn entrance. Though they were wrapped tightly, Xiaoxiao’s eyesight was exceptional, and she could still see the silver-inlaid demon-subduing seals on their armor through the cloaks.

These were all Wei family people. Wei Jie spoke with them quietly for a while, then left with them. There must be business that would take some time.

Seeing Wei Jie leave, Xiaoxiao lost interest in the braised food and quietly contemplated where she should go.

The matter she’d been most worried about – Wei Jie’s mother-son life-and-death separation – seemed resolved. Siling had also removed the Puppet Parasite, eliminating future troubles.

Being so, staying in Luoyi City seemed meaningless. As for whether the Four Great Sects were infected with Puppet Parasites, Xiaoxiao admitted she couldn’t care for them.

If Lord Can truly harbored evil intentions, in the previous trajectory, the Four Great Sects, who also appeared at Lord Can’s birthday banquet, would still fall victim.

After the Nineteenth Lane encounter, Xiaoxiao had experienced how her unintentional actions could bring changes to people in this life. She could only be cautious in word and deed, trying not to interfere with these people and events anymore.

Just then, the prince’s mansion guards came to deliver invitations.

Having made up her mind, Cui Xiaoxiao smiled at the messenger: “Thank you for Lord Can’s kind intention, but we are people of the mountains and wilds. Having finished our business in the city, we won’t disturb His Highness further. We’re about to leave the city.”

Hearing this, the messenger was greatly displeased, drawling: “Although you are all cultivators seeking the Dao, before becoming immortal, you must still struggle in the mortal world for some time. Lord Can is the current emperor’s most beloved brother, supremely noble. Your refusal like this is probably inappropriate.”

His words were a warning to Xiaoxiao for not knowing what’s good for her, but Xiaoxiao pretended not to understand and smilingly sent the messenger away.

Tang Youshu, listening from the side, worried: “Grand-master, won’t this offend Lord Can and make him retaliate against us?”

Xiaoxiao sighed slightly. If it were just a prince’s invitation, someone like her who loved freeloading at feasts would have no reason to refuse.

But the host happened to be Lord Can. Though Lord Can appeared refined, elegant, and approachable, Cui Xiaoxiao had no desire to deal with him.

Since learning that Wei Jie’s mother, Siling, was infected with Puppet Parasites, Xiaoxiao had been pondering this question – was Lord Can going to such lengths to collect these fierce, strange beasts merely a personal hobby?

You must know that the Kaiming Beast guarded the Kunlun Heavenly Gate. If it were captured by that Qiandong hunter king, the Heavenly Gate would lack its guardian divine beast. Once evil demons entered the Heavenly Gate, it would surely provoke the gods’ wrath with unimaginable consequences.

In the previous trajectory, the strange beasts those hunters risked their lives to capture – whether Kaiming Beast or Corpse-eating Beast – were all taken by Lord Can.

Then Lord Can turned around and presented the Kaiming Beast to the current emperor under the pretext that auspicious beasts appearing in the world would protect the country and guard the gates for His Majesty. At that time, all court officials congratulated His Majesty together, praising the emperor’s brotherly love and virtue. Even if there were a few opposing voices, they were drowned in the praise.

She remembered her master writing in the secret texts that after he accompanied his master away from Luoyi City, Great Qi suffered three years of great drought, followed by three years of heavy rain.

During this period, countless refugees cursed the Great Qi emperor for incompetent governance. After this, the changes in mortal imperial power – even without reading her master’s secret texts, Xiaoxiao knew what happened.

After all, Great Qi had lasted over two hundred years. By Xiaoxiao’s time, the ruler was already Lord Can’s fourth-generation descendant.

However, this Lord could never succeed his imperial brother to the throne, but supported his young son to power while hiding behind the scenes. It was said he had achieved enlightenment and immortality, entering the Great Vehicle early.

Where would common people know such imperial secrets? So Xiaoxiao wasn’t very clear about the later immortal fate.

Generally speaking, this Lord Can had smooth sailing and success in his previous life!

Unfortunately, now, with Xiaoxiao’s appearance as a variable, affairs in Luoyi City had begun to change.

Now, both the Qiandong and Cangbei beast hunters had failed and returned, dying miserably in the ghost alley, so no rare exotic beasts would be presented.

It seemed Lord Can’s birthday gifts this time would be greatly diminished.