A venomous snake slithered down Changqing’s body, finally reaching his waist, coiling around the black token engraved with the four characters “Lingyu Changqing,” and presented it to Liu Lu’s hand.
“Lingyu…” Liu Lu’s withered fingers gently caressed the engravings on the token, a complex expression appearing in her eyes.
“Good Child, your surname is Lingyu, isn't it? What is Lingyu Wenyong’s relationship with you?”
Liu Lu’s question left Changqing speechless for a Moment. Why did she know his surname was Lingyu?
Did she recognize the characters on the token?
Or was it more than that? Had Luo Hongyan deceived him? Did Liu Lu know more characters than he thought? Had she always known his translation was wrong?
Seeing that Changqing did not answer, Liu Lu was not in a hurry; she merely spoke to herself.
“Perhaps that person is already dead. How many years have passed? Thirty years? Fifty years? It must be close to a Hundred years now… ”
“Back then, there was no Hehuan Sect, and I was certainly not a Sect Master. I followed my master, cultivating wholeheartedly, carefree.”
“I remember back then, you were still my maid, Rose.”
At this Moment, she did not refer to herself as “this venerable one.” Her voice was faint and full of resentment, as if she had transformed from a high-ranking Sect Master into an old woman in her twilight years.
Rose, kneeling on the ground, was stunned, not knowing why Liu Lu suddenly brought this up, but she still answered honestly.
“Yes, Master. Later, it was also you who opened my acupoints, taught me Cultivation Technique, and guided me in cultivation, leading to who Rose is today.”
“Hmm…”
Liu Lu sighed, “You are also a Child of misfortune. Your talent is exceptional. If I hadn't deliberately suppressed you all these years, your cultivation might have long since reached the Instant stage, putting you on equal footing with me. You must have hated me a lot all these years.”
“Master, if you hadn't guided me in cultivation, I would have long since become a pile of dry bones by now. How could I dare to hate you?”
Rose hastily pledged her loyalty.
Liu Lu waved her hand, seeming very tired and unwilling to argue with her.
“You hate me. I have hated you all these years, so how could you not hate me?”
“Back then, Lingyu Wenyong accidentally entered Hundred Flowers Cave. He was so perfect, so outstanding. Whether it was his cultivation, appearance, or demeanor, he was captivating.”
Liu Lu clutched Changqing’s token in her hand, with such force that a crack appeared on the token.
“But I was clearly the most dazzling existence in the entire Hundred Flowers Cave, and I loved him so much. I even personally killed my master for him, just because he told me that as long as I obtained the Hundred Flowers Token, he would take me away to live a new life.”
“Hehe, in his words, the outside world was so beautiful, so magnificent. There were high mountains, oceans, forests, deserts, boundless Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, and endless cultivation resources.”
“Compared to the outside world, Hundred Flowers Cave was like a cage.”
“I once asked myself why our race was destined to live a wretched life in this dark cage.”
“It wasn't until Lingyu Wenyong told me the meaning of cultivation that I suddenly understood.”
“He said, the world is full of suffering, like a cage. Only by cultivating the Dao and achieving Immortal Ascension can one attain eternal bliss and overcome difficulties.”
“So, cultivation was for Immortal Ascension.”
“At that time, to me, he truly seemed like an Immortal who had fallen into the mortal world.”
“So, when he told me that if I could steal the Hundred Flowers Token and give it to him, he would take me away from here, I agreed without hesitation.”
“I ambushed my master, killed her, and dug the Hundred Flowers Token out of her body.”
Liu Lu calmly recounted the story of that year. Her voice seemed to Transmigration through the river of time, pulling people’s thoughts back to the past.
“At that time, I only had the cultivation of the Instant stage. Even if I luckily succeeded, I was covered in wounds and on the verge of death.”
“But when I, covered in blood, handed the token to him, he did not keep his promise to take me away. Instead, he wanted to take you, Rose, just because you were younger, prettier, and more charming than me, and he liked you more.”
“Only then did I realize that in his eyes, my talent, my cultivation, my efforts, and even my true feelings were all worthless.”
“In his eyes, we were all lowly bugs, merely objects for his pleasure. Aside from beauty, everything else was meaningless.”
She sighed softly, looking at Rose, but there was no hatred in her eyes, only a trace of helplessness and sympathy.
“Perhaps the meaning of our race’s existence is simply this.”
“Hahahahaha…”
“Fortunately, he couldn't take you away.”
“Because that Hundred Flowers Token could only be used by a pure Human Race Bloodline. Only a Human Race could leave this Hundred Flowers Cave. Neither I nor you could get out. We were destined to be imprisoned for life in this dark cave.”
Liu Lu walked to Rose’s side, gently stroked her head, and asked softly.
“Child, are you willing?”
She turned to look at Changqing, who was entangled by the venomous snake, and suddenly her expression became ferocious, gritting her teeth.
“Only then did I understand that for us, they were Immortals, and that beautiful world outside was the Immortal Realm. We were just crawling insects. No matter how high our cultivation, staying in this cave forever was meaningless!”
“We are just crawling insects!”
She suddenly reached out like a madwoman and pulled Changqing towards her, frantically shaking him, who was tightly wrapped by the snake coil.
“Why are you humans, and we are demons! Why are you Immortals, and we are mortals!”
“I am unwilling! I want to be Heaven-Defying! I want to change my fate! I want to be reborn! I want to Ascend to become an Immortal!”
After Liu Lu finished speaking, she subconsciously grabbed a handful of medicinal powder from her bosom and inhaled it through her nose and mouth. Then, she no longer concealed her frenzied aura and held Changqing up in front of Rose.
“Child, look, if you were also a human, you could leave this Hundred Flowers Cave with me. We would go find that man, and we would get revenge!”
“His surname is Lingyu, there's no mistake. The two characters ‘Lingyu’ are what I learned from Luo Hongyan on the first day. I wouldn't forget them even if they turned to ash.”
“All these years, I suppressed you, humiliated you, and made your cultivation path difficult, but you shouldn't hate me. The person you should hate is Lingyu Wenyong!”
“Why was it you that he wanted to take away!”
“He deceived me, he deceived you, he deceived everyone! He is a heartless man, abandoning us and leaving here alone to go to the Immortal Realm!”
“This boy is his Bloodline. Now, I want you to take over his body and leave here with me, and together we shall achieve Dao and Ascension.”
“Lingyu Wenyong, when we find him, I want you to kill him with your own hands! Let him watch his own descendants kill him with their own hands. That is the greatest retribution for him!”
As if she had already seen the day her great revenge would be exacted, or perhaps the medicinal powder she inhaled had taken effect, Liu Lu laughed maniacally, and then took out a Mind Transmission Spirit and sent it into Rose’s mind.