Lin Xirou said, “That woman from Xingbazi Village – you ate her, didn’t you?”
Gouya’s entire body trembled, falling silent as a cicada in winter.
“I asked Xiao Tuo about it later. You didn’t tell him the truth – not only did you not tell him, you deliberately concealed it. He told me you lost an eye because when you were taking away Sun Zhou, a woman saw you and drew your picture. He scolded you for being careless, and you were upset. He said you tried to climb through her window at midnight to cause trouble and got your eye pierced by a wire. Is that right?”
Gouya’s voice quivered, “Yes… yes…”
Lin Xirou thundered, “You’re still lying! After eating human flesh, it becomes like a drug addiction – you constantly crave fresh blood and meat. You weren’t going to cause trouble, you were going to eat her!”
She bent down, meeting Gouya’s gaze, “You dare mention the Bloodline to me? The descendants of Kua Fu, the Sun-Pursuing Bloodline – I’ve worked tirelessly all these years, couldn’t even care for my son who was lost because of this. And what for? Certainly not for waste like you!”
“You wasted the blood sac I chose for you, wasted all the effort I spent on you. We are few and haven’t grown strong yet. You knew this, yet you still broke the rules, nearly dragging everyone else into danger and destroying opportunities for those who come after.”
“Xiong Hei even pleaded for you, saying we need people now…”
Xiong Hei, hearing his name mentioned, swallowed hard, not daring to make a sound.
“Yes, I need people, but not waste. Waste is never worth using, at any time. At midnight tonight, I’ll send you on your way – you don’t deserve to see the sun again.”
Gouya’s entire body shook violently. Knowing there was no room for mercy when he looked up again, his face was distorted with a fierce light in his eyes, and a bright red tongue had already extended from his mouth.
Lin Xirou remained calm, leaning back against her chair: “See? And you wanted me to keep him – such a cornered beast!”
As Xiong Hei cursed Gouya for seeking his death and moved to restrain him, Feng Mi suddenly pulled out her hairpin and viciously stabbed it through Gouya’s extended tongue.
Feng Mi and Yang Zheng had been standing beside Lin Xirou the whole time without saying a word. Gouya had considered them mere decorations and hadn’t thought to guard against them, never expecting this seemingly delicate young girl would attack so ruthlessly.
Feng Mi’s strike didn’t stop at just piercing the tongue – she dropped to one knee and drove the pin into the ground. The cultivation room’s floor was mostly soil, and the hairpin went straight in. With his tongue pinned, Gouya’s head was forced to follow down, his chin slamming into the ground. It looked as if he had suddenly kowtowed to Lin Xirou. He began screaming in agony, but with his tongue pinned outside his mouth, the sounds were muffled inside, both extremely miserable and unclear.
Xiong Hei’s eyes widened, taking a moment to react before shouting at Feng Mi, “What the fuck are you doing!”
Feng Mi giggled, “He’s going to die anyway, I’m just giving him a taste of something. What, even after what he just did, you’re still protecting him?”
She snorted, pulled out the hairpin, and casually wiped it clean on her ripped jeans before unhurriedly putting her hair back up.
As soon as the pin was removed, Gouya immediately rolled on the ground in pain, his tongue spasming continuously as blood foam began seeping from his mouth.
Lin Xirou frowned slightly.
Yang Zheng’s usually droopy expression finally changed: “No matter what, he’s still your kind. Is it necessary to torment him like this? You know how important the oral apparatus is.”
Feng Mi found this jarring: “How strange – protecting such waste, and now turning against me? I follow all the rules strictly, doing everything Aunt Lin says, right, Aunt Lin?”
Her tone turned coy at the end.
Lin Xirou said flatly, “I still wanted to question him, but now look – how can he even speak?”
Feng Mi widened her eyes: “Aunt Lin, he showed his tongue to you – how could you tolerate that? If someone showed their tongue to me like that, I’d rip it out alive and chop it to pieces to feed to dogs. What’s left to question? Why listen to his nonsense?”
Crude words but true meaning – once the tongue was shown, there was nothing left to say. Lin Xirou rose from her seat and instructed Xiong Hei: “Clean this up. Midnight will be good for handling matters. Everyone who can make it should be present.”
She walked straight out, but at the door, when she pressed the handle, something felt off – the door opened far too easily.
Lin Xirou turned back to ask, “Who was the last to close the door?”
Feng Mi immediately answered, “Me, is there a problem?”
Lin Xirou pointed at the lock: “You’re so careless – you didn’t even lock it.”
“Really?” Feng Mi peered over: “Aunt Lin, isn’t it just that your door’s gotten old and not working properly?”
***
When Yan Tuo heard Lin Xirou say “Clean this up,” he immediately kicked away that piece of plastic casing, then strode over, bending to pick it up and slip it into his pocket along the way.
He didn’t return to the restroom – hurrying back would be too conspicuous. Instead, he began a stroll. This way, when Lin Xirou came across him, he could explain he’d found it stuffy in the restroom and come out to stretch his legs.
The layout of the second underground floor was rather complex with many intersecting passages. As he was about to turn at one junction, suddenly a low, muffled sinister laugh drifted over.
Yan Tuo’s heart jumped as he abruptly stopped.
After the sinister laugh came suppressed, elderly coughing.
Yan Tuo steadied himself and carefully peered around the corner.
He saw a small, thin woman with graying hair, one hand braced against the wall while the other held a handkerchief to her mouth as she coughed incessantly. Her coughing was so violent that her entire body shook like the last leaf on a winter branch, seeming ready to fall at any moment.
Yan Tuo vaguely guessed who this woman was.
One of the three Earth Owls who had come to the farm, the oldest one – Li Yueying, Number 004, ranked right after Xiong Hei.
How strange – up until now, all the Earth Owls Yan Tuo had seen, even if not powerful, were at least full of vigor. Only this one seemed weak, not just compared to other Owls, but even compared to normal people.
Li Yueying coughed for a while, caught her breath, and wiped the corner of her mouth with her handkerchief, muttering, “Why…”
Her tone was sinister and vicious, with a hint of hoarseness that sent chills down one’s spine.
After speaking, she supported herself against the wall and shuffled away sideways.
Only then did Yan Tuo notice there was a door not far from where Li Yueying had been leaning?
This door wasn’t unfamiliar to him. During his first infiltration of the second underground floor, it was behind this door that he encountered the lost Lin Ling. At that time, the surrounding area wasn’t fully built, and the door was just an ordinary wooden one. Now everything had changed – the security at this entrance was more stringent than anywhere else, and since then, he had never managed to get in again.
Inside, was it still the same as years ago, with miniature plastic greenhouses and those bizarre things that seemed to grow from the soil… were they human?
As he pondered this, someone lightly patted his shoulder.
Yan Tuo was greatly startled, his back going rigid with cold. After a moment, he turned his head, and seeing who it was, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
It was Feng Mi and only Feng Mi.
Feng Mi’s gaze flickered: “You’re quite interesting, aren’t you slow to react? Shouldn’t you turn around immediately when someone taps you?”
Yan Tuo said, “Oh, you know me?”
“Aunt Lin mentioned you,” Feng Mi said, leaning in as well. “What are you looking at?”
Whether it was his imagination or not, Yan Tuo felt that when Feng Mi saw that door, her expression became somewhat peculiar.
He replied casually, “An old lady just passed by, someone I haven’t seen before. She was coughing badly. Did she come with you?”
Feng Mi made an “oh” sound: “Her.”
Then her lips curved downward disdainfully as she muttered, “Coming to look again, but looking is useless… life is heaven’s gift, you have to accept what you’re given.”
Yan Tuo sensed something cryptic in her words: “What do you mean?”
Feng Mi smiled alluringly, stepping forward and hooking her finger into the fold of Yan Tuo’s sleeve at his elbow, deftly changing the subject: “It’s so boring out here in the countryside. Why don’t we go out drinking together sometime? I can sing for you too. You don’t know this, but I sing especially well when I’m drunk.”
Yan Tuo smiled: “I don’t even know your name yet.”
Feng Mi’s smile grew sweeter: “Feng Mi, Mi as in honey.”
Yan Tuo nodded: “Well, no time like the present – how about tonight?”
Feng Mi’s eyes lit up, then quickly dimmed with regret: “I can’t tonight, I have something to do.”
Yan Tuo’s expression turned cold as he withdrew his elbow, shaking off her hand: “If you’re not sincere, why even bother saying anything?”
He turned and left, leaving Feng Mi standing there.
The sudden change in his demeanor left Feng Mi stunned. She was used to frequenting nightclubs, surrounded by admirers, and often used the “face-changing” trick on men herself – welcoming them with smiles when pleased, then coldly walking away when displeased, and those men wouldn’t dare get angry, instead treating her like a treasure to be coaxed.
She never expected to be on the receiving end today. Feng Mi twirled one of her braids, feeling strange inside. But surprisingly, she wasn’t angry, instead feeling somewhat…
Glancing up, she suddenly saw Lin Xirou and Yang Zheng standing nearby, watching her.
Feng Mi tossed her braid and giggled: “Aunt Lin, I didn’t provoke him, don’t worry, I’ll behave properly.”
She blew a kiss to Lin Xirou before walking away with light steps.
***
Yang Zheng watched Feng Mi’s departing figure expressionlessly and said, “Sister Lin, you need to control her.”
Lin Xirou replied, “She hasn’t broken any rules, what’s there to control?”
Yang Zheng: “I’ve heard that at the nightclubs where she plays, two men became idiots after going to bed with her.”
Lin Xirou was startled: “How is that possible?”
Yang Zheng spoke flatly: “Young people with poor self-control, only thinking about pleasure. When her tongue starts piercing and constricting, how many can withstand that? They’re lucky to be alive.”
Lin Xirou relaxed slightly: “No one noticed, right?”
“No, nightclubs are chaotic places, and she’s careful. But you can’t let her continue like this. With that personality, she’ll cause trouble sooner or later.”
After a pause, Lin Xirou said: “One grain of rice grows a hundred different types of people. With so many who’ve crossed over, you get all sorts of personalities. You can’t expect everyone to be to your liking. As long as they don’t cross the red line like Gouya did, it’s good enough if they’re roughly in line.”
***
Shortly after Yan Tuo entered the restroom, Lin Xirou came in, closing the door behind her – intending to have a proper talk with him.
Yan Tuo got straight to the point: “Aunt Lin, what exactly happened with Gouya? It can’t be so serious that he has to ‘die,’ right?”
Lin Xirou asked in return: “What do you think about this?”
Yan Tuo said: “I think he must have broken your rules, something very serious.”
Then he reached out and took Lin Xirou’s hand: “Aunt Lin.”
It was rare to see him so solemn, and Lin Xirou’s heart skipped a beat: “Go on.”
“All these years, I’ve never asked, and you’ve never told. But you understand, just because I don’t ask doesn’t mean I don’t have thoughts about it, right? I was just waiting for the day you’d tell me yourself.”
Lin Xirou smiled.
Yan Tuo continued: “But that day never came, so I’ll just say it directly today. Aunt Lin, have you never considered helping me… become like you?”
Lin Xirou wasn’t surprised at all. Xiong Hei had once mentioned this to her as a joke, and she too thought this would be Yan Tuo’s most likely desire.
She considered carefully: “It’s impossible, truly impossible. Xiao Tuo, aren’t you happy living a normal life? You don’t lack money, Aunt Lin helps you solve problems, you can pursue any girl you like – you can live more happily than 99% of people in this world. Why seek trouble?”
Yan Tuo said: “But I can be injured by accidents, become disabled, grow old. Aunt Lin, someday when I’m old and toothless, you’ll still be young. You’ve raised me since I was so small – can you bear to… watch me die of old age?”
Lin Xirou smiled bitterly: “Child, you’re in the prime of your life, why are you suddenly thinking about ‘dying of old age’ and worrying about such distant things?”
She continued: “These past few years, I’ve watched you trying to help, and heard from Xiong Hei about your thoughts, so I’ve arranged some trivial matters for you to handle, like playing house – but in my heart, you should never be involved in this. I already regret that you were injured last time.”
She withdrew her hand: “Xiao Tuo, let me be clear with you now: it’s truly impossible, it’s a matter of bloodline. Give up on this idea. From now on, just live your own happy life. The matters on my end have nothing to do with you.”
Yan Tuo slowly withdrew his hand as well: “Aunt Lin, what exactly… are you people?”
Lin Xirou said: “That’s a secret you’ll never know. Later, go see Jiang Baichuan, and once you’ve vented your anger, consider the matter settled.”
With things said so clearly, Yan Tuo couldn’t persist. He leaned back in his chair, his face full of disappointment – one small part genuine, the larger part feigned.
However, he now knew Lin Xirou’s bottom line: “That’s a secret you’ll never know” – it seemed that even with complete loyalty and trust, the truth would remain hidden.
What did “Descendants of Kua Fu, the Sun-Pursuing Bloodline” mean? It couldn’t be referring to the familiar myth of “Kua Fu Chasing the Sun.”
His mother’s diary had mentioned the story of the “Seven-Fingered Kua Fu.”
How did that story go again?
— Kua Fu wanted to bring the sun back for everyone, but later, his strength failed and he collapsed. Yet he wouldn’t give up, using his hands to crawl forward, determined to reach the sun even by crawling. In the end, he wore away three fingers, leaving only seven…
Could Kua Fu be the ancestor of the Earth Owls? But given the Earth Owls’ abilities – they could grow a new head from their neck even if decapitated – what did losing three fingers matter? Why emphasize that specifically?
Lin Xirou noticed Yan Tuo’s distraction: “Xiao Tuo?”
Yan Tuo snapped back to attention, covering with: “Oh right, Aunt Lin, I have good news. I’ve talked with Lin Ling and this girl… she just needed time to process things… Now she thinks Lü Xian is quite good and is willing to get to know him.”
Lin Xirou’s face brightened: “Really?”
Yan Tuo nodded: “It’s just… I know Lü Xian well, he’s quite particular about looks.”
Lin Xirou interrupted with a smile: “Don’t worry, that can all be arranged.”
In truth, things would be arranged one way or another, but she disliked forcing matters and hoped for things to proceed smoothly – that would make her feel better.