Chapter 578
Chapter 578
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 578
>Chapter Title: Unborn Old Mother
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Chapter 578: Unborn Old Mother
On the white marble steps of Great Liang’s imperial palace, Li Huowang stood with one foot on a higher step and the other on the one below. His gaze, tinged with unease, fixed on Bai Lingmiao before him.
He reached out and yanked the silk ribbon from her face, revealing the colorless white pupils beneath.
White pupils paired with white skin, and crowned with white hair— for a moment, Li Huowang even felt as if a jade statue incapable of breath stood before him.
“I’m fine, Senior Brother Li. I’m doing great. Don’t worry. From now on, I’ll protect you.”
As she spoke, Bai Lingmiao leaned gently into Li Huowang’s arms, a faint smile gracing her face.
Li Huowang pushed her away and stared into her blind eyes, his expression gravely serious.
“Tell me, Miao! When did you leave me? What exactly happened during this time? And who the hell are they?”
His finger jabbed toward the White Lotus believers meditating near the altar in the distance.
Men and women, young and old—they were a motley group, the only commonality their all-white attire and the white lotus painted on their foreheads.
They sat cross-legged on the ground in some pattern incomprehensible to outsiders.
“We are the White Lotus believers. Back when we scattered, we were from another branch, so we use the surname Lian, while the Holy Maiden over there uses Bai.”
Lian Zhibei stepped forward—the same woman who had once fought alongside Li Huowang against the spirit aberration.
Her face now radiated utter devotion, no trace remaining of the chatty middle-aged woman from before.
“White Lotus? Holy Maiden?”
Bai Lingmiao tugged at Li Huowang’s hand from the side, explaining softly,
“Senior Lian took advantage of your episode to carry me away, Senior Brother Li. Do you remember?”
The words had barely left her mouth when Li Huowang recalled Yang Na, carried away by her father, her face streaked with tears.
In his mind, Yang Na’s features gradually morphed into Bai Lingmiao’s, and her father became Lian Zhibei.
“I remember. I remember.”
Li Huowang nodded slowly with a sigh.
“But what’s this about a Holy Maiden?”
“They said the Unborn Old Mother chose me, so they made me the Holy Maiden.”
At this, a spark of excitement lit Bai Lingmiao’s face.
“Senior Brother Li, do you know? The Unborn Old Mother really exists! She’s come back to life.”
Her voice brimmed with longing as she continued,
“The Unborn Old Mother is the ancient Buddha of heaven, unborn and undying. She guides us mortals back to our true vacuity homeland. My parents were White Lotus believers too. They devoted their lives to her, so even though their bodies died, their souls returned to her side.”
Li Huowang opened his mouth to refute her, but the words caught in his throat. Bai Lingmiao had finally escaped her previous torment—did he really have to drag her back by force?
“Senior Brother Li, do you know? Through the Unborn Old Mother, I’ve spoken to my parents. They miss me so much, so very much.”
As he listened to Bai Lingmiao, Li Huowang’s brows knit tightly, his heart wrenching in turmoil. This Bai Lingmiao reminded him of himself before he’d been fed the Black Tai Sui.
If he yanked her out now, she’d likely end up as broken and despairing as he had been.
“Er Jiu, you don’t seem to believe the Holy Maiden? But I tell you, it’s real. Thanks to the upheavals in heaven and earth, the Unborn Old Mother has returned! How else do you explain why us White Lotus mediums have grown so much stronger? How do you explain the techniques the Unborn Old Mother bestowed upon the Holy Maiden?”
“We White Lotus believers are no longer the ants trampled underfoot! The White Lotus descends, and the masses rise!!”
Lian Zhibei grew more fervent with every word, finally shouting aloud, as the other White Lotus believers joined in unison.
Li Huowang stared at this unfamiliar Lian Zhibei. This fervent version was likely her true self; the earlier persona had been a mere facade.
“Senior Brother Li, it’s not what you think. The Unborn Old Mother really has returned. She just wants to return the world to its state before all suffering and torment—the true vacuity homeland.”
With that, Bai Lingmiao reached out and touched Li Huowang’s brow. In an instant, through her as a conduit, his vision filled with countless white celestial flosses floating in the void.
Though something immense as a mountain lurked there, its form was entirely obscured by the entwined floss, not a glimpse revealed.
Even so, Li Huowang could still sense the boundless compassion and care emanating from within.
That was the Unborn Old Mother. He felt her presence, her sentiments. She hid behind the floss out of fear her true visage might harm him.
Emotions akin yet distinct—“compassion,” “tenderness,” “concern”—flowed endlessly from it.
In that sensation, a subtle curiosity stirred deep within Li Huowang. He instinctively yearned to draw closer, to behold her glory.
Whoosh. Li Huowang snapped back to reality amid the palace halls, everything unchanged—as if it had all been a dream.
Bai Lingmiao steadied the returning Li Huowang and said softly,
“Did you feel it, Senior Brother Li? Now do you believe me?”
Snapping out of it, Li Huowang stared at Bai Lingmiao in shock and staggered back half a step.
“So... the Unborn Old Mother now controls a Heavenly Dao of compassion?”
In that brief contact, he’d sensed an emotion of utmost purity, identical to the agony transmitted from Ba Hui.
The Unborn Old Mother existed, and she ruled over compassion as a Si Ming—at least for now.
“What are you talking about, Senior Brother Li? The Unborn Old Mother is the Unborn Old Mother.”
“Nothing, nothing.”
Li Huowang shook his head, easing slightly.
Compared to his own Ba Hui of agony, the Unborn Old Mother of compassion seemed far more benevolent. If Bai Lingmiao was involved with her, it beat entanglement with other Si Mings.
At least Miao seemed safe for the moment. With the dragon vein crisis looming, the dice took priority.
No time for chit-chat with the enemy at the gates, Li Huowang instructed Bai Lingmiao,
“If we fight the dice later, stay back. Don’t get too close.”
Bai Lingmiao shook her head gently.
“Don’t worry, Senior Brother Li. The Unborn Old Mother granted me divine abilities. I can help—just like when you were in danger before, wasn’t it me who saved you?”
“Besides, this is the Unborn Old Mother’s will too. If the dice succeed, Great Liang will be plunged into carnage. We White Lotus believers absolutely cannot allow that.”