Chapter 123: At a Loss

The woman reverted to her gentle, pathetic demeanor. "Please, save my child," she pleaded, waving her hand to teleport someone from outside the hall into its center.

The person wore a colorful, shimmering robe, but the fabric across his chest was shredded, revealing several deep claw marks. As I looked up at his face—dark and handsome, yet tinged with a deathly pallor—my heart stopped. It was Ming Mo! This woman was Jiang Wu!

Ming Mo had clearly been dead for some time; lividity had already set in. My heart sank; my tears could no longer save him.

"What happened to Mo'er?" my Master asked, his voice full of pain.

"Mo'er insisted on being with that girl and wanted to marry her. I despise disobedient, gossiping women! So I struck her, and Mo'er shielded her, dying from a single blow of mine... Please, I beg you, bring him back to life!" Jiang Wu implored me.

A chill ran through me. That girl must have been Ke Ke. Jiang Wu’s power was so immense that a single strike had killed Ming Mo; what, then, of Ke Ke?

"Where is that girl?" I demanded sharply.

"She is dead," Jiang Wu replied.

"You bastard!" I roared.

"I am a bastard. I killed my own son. Save him! Give him a few drops of your tears—take my life if you must," Jiang Wu sobbed.

"Very well. First, release the child in your arms," Master commanded.

"That won't do. He is my only precious son; I cannot let another woman steal him away." Jiang Wu had lost her sanity, mistaking Little White for her own son, and clutched him tightly. "Mother..." Little White cried out before falling unconscious from the crushing force of her grip.

I screamed, "Let him go! I will give you my tears right now!"

Chun Feng lunged at Jiang Wu with his Tiangang Whip. With a mere flick of her sleeve, she sent Chun Feng stumbling back, coughing up blood, with deep claw marks appearing on his chest.

"Chun Feng! Fall back! No one move!" Master shouted. The gathered immortals, seeing Jiang Wu injure Chun Feng with a single gesture, were too terrified to make a sound.

"Cry! Quickly!" Jiang Wu hissed, pinching Little White.

"Do not touch my child!" I felt as if my heart were being twisted and torn apart, and I let out a gut-wrenching roar. I collapsed beside Ming Mo, tears gathering in my eyes but unable to fall, blocked by my artificial face. Even if they could, Ming Mo had been dead too long; my tears could not reverse his fate!

"Ah! Mo'er!" Seeing the body, Jiang Wu went mad, crying out to the heavens. Instantly, a massive black hole opened in the Hall of Yuxu Palace. It seemed to contain the cosmos, with stars swirling in a colorful, kaleidoscopic cycle. Its immense suction began pulling in the tables, seats, artifacts, and even the puppets on the floor. The immortals scrambled to cast immobilization spells on themselves to anchor to the ground; those lacking sufficient power bound themselves to pillars with immortal-binding ropes, while others clung desperately to anything they could find, filling the air with cries for help.

"Mother! Mo'er is here. Why are you holding someone else’s child?" Suddenly, I heard Ming Mo’s voice.

Ming Mo was standing right next to me, alive! Master had transformed into his likeness! I hurriedly cast a spell to push the corpse of Ming Mo aside.

"Mo'er, Mo'er! Come here quickly!" Jiang Wu called out eagerly.

Master walked toward her. I grabbed his arm; Jiang Wu’s power was unfathomable, and I could not let him risk his life.

Master rebuked me, "You shameless wretch! Do not try to bewitch me! In this life, I only serve my mother!"

Jiang Wu was overjoyed to hear this. "Mother does not need your service. I do not like Ke Ke! Find someone sensible and obedient. As long as Mother likes her!" She looked me up and down.

I mimicked the submissiveness Jiang Wu once showed, saying softly, "Mother, I am Mo'er’s new choice. I will listen to you and serve you well."

"That is more like it! Much better than that Ke Ke! Mo'er, hit her!" Jiang Wu laughed, then suddenly turned cold.

*Slap!* A loud, sharp blow landed on my face. I remained silent, maintaining a gentle smile. Master had used his magic to create the illusion of the strike.

Jiang Wu nodded with satisfaction. "Good! Taking a beating without fighting back, not arguing—excellent!"

"Mother, please hand our grandson to Mo'er. You have held him for too long; you should rest," Master said, stepping forward to reach for Little White.

"Make her come here. I want to look at her first," Jiang Wu commanded, beckoning me forward.

"Yes, Mother." I stepped forward, but Master blocked my path.

"Why are you so slow? Mother wants to see you! Mo'er, strike her for me!" Jiang Wu gripped Little White tightly and shouted.

Master waved his hand, delivering another slap, this time drawing blood from the corner of my mouth. "Mother, your daughter-in-law was wrong," I said, bowing respectfully.

"Disobedient women must be beaten!" Jiang Wu scolded.

"Mother is right! I deserve to be beaten!" I continued to comply.

Jiang Wu regained her doting expression, saying to Master, "Mo'er, when you were small, you were just as cute as this child. Mother will sing to you and lull you to sleep."

"Mother, you lull Mo'er to sleep; let me take care of our grandson," Master suggested.

"I must see if she knows how to care for my grandson. Come closer! Let Mother get a good look at you. Come!"

I took a step toward Jiang Wu, and Master moved with me, staying by my side. He was preparing to summon the Longyuan Sword.

"Oh, how beautiful... Why are you even prettier than the child I bore?" Jiang Wu said, lifting my chin with a look of intoxication before suddenly scratching a long, bloody mark across my face. I smiled through the pain, one hand firmly pressing down on Master’s to stop him from summoning his sword. Little White was, after all, Ming Zhong’s son; he could not sacrifice the child for my sake. He remained silent, gritting his teeth.

"Good, an obedient woman. Take my grandson to sleep!" Jiang Wu handed Little White to me. Suddenly, a voice shouted from the hall: "They are not your son and daughter-in-law! Your son has long been—mph!" Chun Feng sealed the mouth of Tian De with a spell.

In the panic, I had forgotten about that shameless wretch!

I snatched Little White from Jiang Wu’s hands. Her palm struck out, but I turned, using my body to shield the child as I threw him to Chun Feng. A deafening boom shook the heavens and the earth; Jiang Wu’s strike was blocked by a shield formed by the Longyuan Sword. The collision of two divine forces was cataclysmic. I was thrown to the ground by the shockwave, my heart burning, blood rising to my throat. Her power was overwhelming!

"Is Little White okay?" I asked anxiously.

"He's fine! Tough as nails!" Chun Feng replied, healing Little White while simultaneously resisting the suction of the black hole.

Master stood before me with his sword drawn, having reverted to his true form. A trickle of blood ran from his lip!

"Fei'er! Are you all right?" Master asked.

"I am fine! What about you?" I summoned the Xuanjing Sword and stood side-by-side with him.

"I am unscathed!"

Jiang Wu searched frantically for Ming Mo. Seeing his corpse lying in the distance, her expression twisted into a savage mask. "You lied to me! Mo'er! Mo'er! Come back!" She lunged toward the body, wailing at the sky. Her dark red, curly hair surged like molten lava, and the black hole in the hall expanded, instantly consuming the weaker immortals and spirits, turning them into nothingness. Master and I attacked her together. The Longyuan Sword shone with brilliant light, while the Xuanjing Sword burned with intense flames. Jiang Wu was wreathed in dark red spiritual light, her hands like ten sharp blades, meeting our strikes head-on. The collision felt as if the world were splitting apart, yet her palms remained unscathed!

Master summoned the Jade Dragon Vessel to drain her soul, but it was quickly overwhelmed by the countless greedy spirits clinging to her, rendering it useless.

The black hole grew ever larger, and the stars within spun faster. Chun Feng held Little White in one hand while using the other to cast spells, anchoring the weaker immortals. The Holy Mother of Danxia sat in meditation, guarding the Canghai Bow, while Princess Changyang used her magic to hold down the "maggots" Lei Ci and Lu Xue, and Tian Sheng restrained Tian De.

"Hurry and finish this woman!" Chun Feng cried out, his hand slipping; he could barely hold onto Little White, who was on the verge of being sucked into the void.

"Mother..." Little White woke up, reaching out for me. Chun Feng prepared to let go of the other immortals to save him. Suddenly, someone caught Little White—it was Bi You, who had manifested from the Canghai Bow!

Jiang Wu, heartbroken, began to sing a sorrowful lullaby to Ming Mo's corpse. Her voice was haunting and melancholic, like a path leading to the abyss, or hands reaching out from the molten sea of the underworld, desperate to grasp at light, hope, and everything lost. The black hole in the air split into two, doubling its suction. Many immortals were lifted off their feet. Seeing this, Master and I transformed our swords into chains, anchoring one end to the earth and letting the immortals grab the other. Chun Feng did the same with his maces.

The two black holes continued to expand, and Yuxu Palace began to crumble and be devoured.

Watching the home I had lived in for two thousand years vanish, I was filled with rage. I channeled the lightning fire of my own star to strike her crown. To my shock, the celestial tribulation I had summoned with all my might only singed her hair! The fallen strands turned into countless tiny, dark red figures that rushed toward the immobilized immortals, biting into their divine essence. Those bitten seemed to lose their resolve, as if lost in a dream of power or pleasure; some, distracted by the sensation, let their guard down and were swept into the black hole.

"She is covered in greedy spirits! We must seal her!" Master shouted.

"Agreed!" I replied.

Master summoned the Heaven-Binding Chains to restrain her. Together, we cast six layers of seals, trapping her within a six-fold barrier.

With Jiang Wu contained and the tiny spirits stopped, Master used his star's lightning to incinerate the creatures clinging to the immortals, while I burned those scattered across the floor.

Jiang Wu, dazed, ignored her captivity and continued to murmur to Ming Mo, "Sleep, Mo'er. Mother has lived under others' roofs for so many years, suffering every hardship. Though the Underworld King was a protector, you know he was cruel and heartless! I endured all this humiliation just so you could eat well and sleep well..."

"Master! How is she so powerful?" I asked, struggling to incinerate the remaining spirits.

"Fei'er, it seems she is the Star of Red Flame—the manifestation of all the world's greed. She cannot be destroyed," Master said while clearing the spirits.

"If we only trap her and cannot destroy her, the black hole won't vanish! Is there any way to end her? There are too many of these spirits!" I cried out in desperation.