Chapter Fifty-Three: Motherly Love

  "What's wrong? What happened?"

  Ning Feng's expression changed and he hastily asked.

  He also wanted to calm it down with quietness, but couldn't.

  Yesterday and now, the decision made by him is his own doing, and the consequences should also fall on him, not someone else's business.

  Shu Bailin panted heavily and said, "Mu Li went to the yamen early this morning, entered the prison, met with Captain Xu, and had a secret conversation for a whole day. When he came out, his expression was dazed, and he bumped into several people in a row without feeling anything. He even got knocked down several times, but just patted his butt and stood up again."

  "He has been wandering outside for a whole day and still hasn't come back."

  Hearing this, Ning Feng let out a slight sigh of relief, it's okay, it's okay.

  At the same time, he also understood why Shu Bairong took it as a matter of course.

  "Judging from this situation, Mu Li is probably already convinced by Xu's words and knows that his own person is not human."

  "In that case, Madam Mu's plan may not work. As long as he makes up his mind to go back and both sides show their cards, the outcome will be hard to predict."

  "I have to be there."

  Ning Feng's hand was secretly clenched in his sleeve, with a corner of the golden token exposed on top.

  "Also..."

  Shu Bailin's breath finally passed smoothly, and a look of shock appeared on his face.

  "What else?"

  Suddenly a gust of wind blew up, and he didn't even have time to catch his breath before speaking.

  "The wooden house has a problem." Shu Bailin heard that something was wrong and hastily said it out loud.

  In the wooden house, because the hostess was kind-hearted, she couldn't bear to kill the chickens and ducks she raised. When they wanted to eat, they always bought ones that had already been slaughtered outside. As a result, there were many chickens and ducks at home, each one being raised to be plump and strong, almost becoming spirits.

  Every day, chickens cluck and ducks quack, a noisy scene.

  Today, Shu Bailin followed Mu Li to see him wandering around without a head, and he was really impatient in his heart. He hurried to the Mu Mansion to prepare for a squat point. Can monks run away? Can't they still run away from the temple?

  He didn't believe Mu Li would never come back for his whole life.

  Unexpectedly, after arriving at the Mu residence, Shu Bailin immediately discovered that something was amiss. The entire Mu residence was eerily quiet, and the usual noisy chickens and ducks were nowhere to be heard.

  Shu Bailin's curiosity got the better of her as she entered the mansion to snoop around, and whether a part of it was to see yesterday's scene again, only heaven knows.

  He went in and took a look, and what he saw even scared this old hand.

  In a backyard, dead chickens and ducks were found, nowhere else but near where they climbed over the wall yesterday.

  These chickens and ducks all had their necks twisted off, but strangely there wasn't much blood on the ground. The only signs of violence were tooth marks at the break point and the muscles were twisted in an eerie way.

  Seeing the tooth marks and the broken necks of the chickens and ducks, two words immediately flashed into Shu Bailings mind: sucking.

  It's clear that someone is sucking blood.

  This is Mu Fu, who else could be so bold?

  The cold wind has completely calmed down like still water.

  If a vampire can suck the blood of chickens and ducks, why can't he suck human blood? The problem has become serious, no more hesitation is allowed.

  Shu Bailin gulped down a whole jug of water on the table, wiped his mouth and said: "Fortunately, those chickens and ducks all died in the backyard. Mrs. Li was with that monster all day and didn't go to the backyard. If she had seen it, she would have been scared half to death."

  "It seems like that monster has been crying all day, heaven knows if it's because it ate too much and got a stomachache."

  Shu Bailin thought he was being humorous, and after finishing, he couldn't stop chuckling. It wasn't until no one responded that he realized something was off. He looked up to see Ning Feng's face had turned iron-gray.

  "Can't wait anymore."

  Ning Feng squeezed out all the golden tokens from his sleeve, took a step forward and pushed open the door, "Go to Mu Fu."

  "Wait for me."

  Shu Bailin hastily followed up, and the two of them made their way through the streets, arriving at Mu Fu's residence just as the lanterns were first lit.

  Outside the wooden house, I don't know what's going on, but the gate is ajar, not even closed, and the doorway is eerily quiet, like a huge mouth waiting to swallow someone.

  "Didn't I come too late?"

  Ning Feng's expression changed, and he didn't dare to delay any longer playing tricks like climbing walls. He led Shu Baili straight in through the door.

  Enter by the door and go through the hall.

  The two of them walked quickly and easily until they reached the outer room of the master's house in the courtyard.

  They were still several zhang away when they heard a commotion inside, accompanied by a sharp and mournful cry.

  Ning Feng's face changed color, and he didn't care about Shu Bailin behind him. He took a swift step and ran to the nearest window.

  "Hmm..."

  Ning Feng, who had been prepared for the worst and was ready to strike at any moment, stood there in a daze, his face suddenly turning bright red as if he were about to bleed.

  "What's going on?"

  Shu Bailin grasped a handful of talismans in each hand, cautiously approaching Ning Feng, who remained motionless. Only then did he peek out from behind Ning's back to spy on the people inside the house.

  "I'm going..."

  It was just a glance, and Shu Bailin's face turned as pale as Ning Feng's. The talismans in his hand scattered all over the ground as his heart panicked.

  "Bad luck, spit, spit, spit."

  The difference between Shuboling's reaction and entering ** is huge, excitedly going up, but touching a bald head, taking a closer look it's still a monk, the difference is negligible.

  Ning Feng didn't roll his eyes this time, he was thinking similarly himself.

  What's going on inside the house?

  Mrs. Mu lay on her back on the mat, her legs bent and spread apart in an "eight" shape, her whole body drenched with sweat, her face deathly pale, taking deep breaths one after another.

  Mu Li squatted down beside her, holding his wife's hand, his eyes vacant and tearful.

  Mrs. Li had a basin of hot water beside her, with a towel on top, and she was helping Mrs. Mu between her legs, constantly lending a hand and urging her on.

  Those words "use force", "make an effort" and "come out quickly..." were heard by the two people at the window, who blushed and wished there was a hole in the ground for them to crawl into.

  What's going on here?

  Are they rushing over in a flurry to watch someone give birth?

  This is even more despicable than watching someone's private life, if it gets out, this person will be finished.

  Ning Feng and Shu Bailin were like thieves with guilty consciences, first exchanging nervous glances, then looking around left and right, afraid that someone would suddenly appear and shout "Catch the pervert!"

  Fortunately, there is no such person.

  The two of them let out a sigh of relief, and at the same time, their hearts skipped a beat as they thought of the same thing.

  "Huh? Mrs. Mu's clothes have all fallen off, doesn't that mean......"

  Because of a fleeting glance, both immediately turned red and looked away, didn't notice at that time, now all remembered.

  The wooden wife is being produced all over her body, with no scraps left, and from their perspective, there is nothing to see.

  This is not the key point, the key point is that Mrs. Mu's body was under her, and fresh blood kept flowing out, the whole mat became a deep red color.

  "Doesn't this expose everything?"

  "How could Mu Li be this way?"

  Ning Feng thought about this matter and couldn't help but turn his head towards the window.

  "Madam...... Madam......"

  Mu Li wept without making a sound, and helped Mrs. Mu to turn over.

  He wiped his wife's back with a large piece of cloth in his hand, and in just one wipe, the entire cloth was thoroughly stained red.

  One piece, two pieces, wooden strips beside the body form a pile.

  It's hard to say whether an ordinary person can bleed so much or not.

  Taking advantage of Mu Li's panic, he hastily threw away the bloody cloth in his hand and turned to pick up other clean cloths. Ning Feng caught a glimpse of it with one glance.

  The wound on Mrs. Mu's back was even deeper and longer than what I saw yesterday, as if the wound was growing, deepening, and becoming more and more terrifying.

  "It's no use, husband, it's no use, don't bother wiping."

  Mrs. Mu's weak voice came over, and Mu didn't care about anything else, hurriedly leaning down, bending down to Mrs. Mu's ear, just wanting her to save some energy.

  Apart from the two of them, Mrs. Li was sobbing uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face.

  "Husband, listen to me."

  I don't know what's going on, but at this moment, Mrs. Mu's voice sounds unusually calm and determined.

  "Husband, I will definitely hold on, I cannot die."

  "Baby, you have to hold on too, Mom will definitely give birth to you."

  "Baby, Mom has been pregnant for eight months already, do you know that? On the day I found out about you, how happy was Mom? Mom wanted to make Dad just as happy, so she rushed back home in a hurry, wanting to give him a surprise?"

  "Who knows, in the broken temple..."

  "But it's okay, Mom can bear with anything, having borne for eight months already, Mom will definitely be able to bear a little longer, until you are born..."

  "Born... Born... Born..."

  In the end, Mrs. Mu's consciousness seemed to blur, her voice also weakened, and it was hard to hear clearly, only faintly heard a persistent voice, a longing voice, a voice that belonged to the mother's last wish.

  "It's actually..."

  Ning Feng's hand holding the golden token was trembling, and his lips were also trembling, unable to speak out the words that followed.

  "...like that." Shu Bailin stepped out from behind him, staring blankly at the room, his expression changed from usual, revealing a clear admiration.

  A few short sentences were enough to sketch a clear picture in their minds and know what had happened.

  On that day, Mrs. Mu went home to visit her relatives and then found out she was pregnant, overjoyed and hurried back, wanting to let her husband know the good news as soon as possible.

  Who would have known that the sky has unpredictable winds and clouds, encountering a storm blocking the road, taking shelter in a broken temple, and then running into a local tyrant, leading to the scene previously mentioned by Captain Xu.

  Different from others, Mrs. Mu didn't die, she couldn't die, she wouldn't die, she was unwilling to let the baby in her belly not see the beauty of the world, daddy and mommy...

  She struggled to hold on, she forced a smile, she concealed everything, until today.

  "It shouldn't be time for production yet."

  The wind whispers to itself, and for some reason, this idea floats up, and involuntarily, it redirects its gaze back into the house.

  The Shu Bairong next door is also like this.

  Mrs. Mu was too weak to continue what she had insisted on for eight months, the wound behind her back grew deeper and longer, and could no longer be closed.

  The fresh blood no longer flows, as if it had been drained clean, without a single drop left.

  Surprisingly, the scars on Ning Feng and Shu Baili's faces didn't look ugly at all; instead, they seemed like a smiling face, gentle, kind, and full of maternal warmth, as if they had just given birth to a child.

  Mù Lí put Mù Fūrén back in bed, wailing as he grasped her hand and wiped away the sweat that could never be completely wiped away.

  "Honey, I want to give birth to the baby, give birth to it..."

  The woman's voice was vague and faint, with a hint of crying, gradually becoming weaker.

  She was now completely exposed from head to toe, without any cover or concealment, and yet at this moment, they didn't have a hint of shyness or anything impure.

  Mrs. Mu's whole body was shining with a holy light that belongs to every mother under the sky.

  "Is motherly love as far as this?"

  Shu Bailin murmured to herself, and immediately a look of unbearable pain flashed across her face. She looked at Ning Feng and said, "What a pity..."

  Two words were spat out, and with his usual fearlessness, he was left speechless.

  Not mentioning Ning Feng and the other two, even Mu Li and Old Lady Li in the house could see that Madame Mu was no longer able to make it, her lamp had burned out, she would not be able to give birth to the child.

  The old lady's breathing was getting weaker and weaker, her chest rising and falling irregularly, as if she was about to lose the strength to breathe.

  "What a pity... what a great pity... such motherly love has been persistent until now..."

  Shu Bailin couldn't bear to look at the result, turned her head away, and happened to see Ning Feng's face reveal a resolute expression, his hands holding onto nothing, slowly lifting up.

  Far away, Ning Feng's hands formed a tiger's mouth, staring straight at Mrs. Mu who was about to take her last breath.

  "What does he want to do?"