Chapter Eleven: The Mystery of One's Life

  In a small thatched hut, the fine sunlight sprinkled on the wooden table and bed, adding a few degrees of warmth to these simple furnishings.

  "Zzz!" Lying in bed, Mu Shan, who was feeling extremely bored, suddenly heard the faint humming of insects ringing in his ears, a feeling that was both strange and dizzying.

  Mu Shan closed his eyes and listened carefully, the chirping of insects became clearer, as if coming from beneath him, from the depths of the mud underground.

  "Thud! Thud!" The footsteps of passersby, one after another, appeared in Mu Shan's ears, accompanied by bursts of chaotic chatter.

  "Qin big sister, I want to ask you about Mu Shan's identity. He shouldn't be your biological son, right?"

  "They're talking about me!" Mu Shan's eyes widened in surprise, saying: "This voice is that of Ren Qianbei, they said I...I'm not my mother's biological son, what nonsense!"

  "You... I don't know what you're talking about. Jixiang is the only descendant of the Mu family, how could he not be my biological son!"

  For some reason, Mu Shan clearly heard the weakness and faint fear in Qin Mei's words.

  "Qin big sister, the Holy Spirit Stone never lies. Feng Xian is indeed your biological daughter, but she only has mortal bloodline, whereas Mu Shan... his bloodline power is the most terrifying I've ever seen in my life!"

  "Feng Xian..." Mu Shan listened to Qing Long's voice and suddenly remembered that whether it was Ying Fu or Qing Long, when they pointed the Holy Spirit Stone at Feng Xian, the Holy Spirit Stone did not change in the slightest.

  "No, I won't, I'm not mother's son, then what am I? Am I really a monster?"

  In an instant, Mu Shan suddenly felt a kind of fear, like the coldest seawater, surrounding him from all sides and drowning his entire heart!

  "Qin big sister, we don't have any malicious intentions, we just want to figure out Mu Shan's identity."

  The low and melancholic voice, at this moment, sounded particularly jarring in Mu Shan's ears.

  " Auspicious, he, he……” Qin Mei's voice, soft and gentle, came from afar and entered Mu Shan's ears, like an invisible big hand, tightly grasping Mu Shan's heart: "He is the one I brought back from the foot of the mountain!"

  "Born to...". The three simple words, each one heavily striking Mu Shan's heart, his face turned pale in an instant, and his hands unconsciously clenched into fists: "Shan Xia, that is a place where demons roam, how could I possibly live there safely without being eaten by the demons..."

  "You might think I'm making this up, but at the time, I was cooking at home when I suddenly heard a phoenix's cry. I thought I must have misheard it, so I went out to take a look with curiosity. Who would have thought that I really saw a phoenix hovering above my house? At that moment, I started worshiping it. But strangely, none of the people passing by saw the phoenix. Later, the phoenix circled around me twice and took me flying to the foot of that mountain. As soon as we arrived, I almost got scared to death...”

  Qin Mei's voice still trembled with fear, coming in fits and starts: "There was a gigantic white tiger guarding the place, surrounded by countless enormous creatures that I had never heard of before, all kneeling down. Under the white tiger, there was a auspicious creature being held in its mouth. The giant tiger dropped the auspicious creature into my arms, then disappeared along with the phoenix. After that, those huge monsters also returned to the mountain without harming us."

  "Phoenix, White Tiger..." Mu Shan smiled dazedly, his voice tinged with desolation: "So I really was just picked up by my mother! So I really am a monster!"

  "Two great heroes, you must keep this matter a secret for me. Jixiang is usually very well-behaved and sensible, although he's not my biological son, I've always treated him like one, as if he were my own flesh and blood. Moreover, what he hates the most are monsters, if he finds out about his true origins, I'm afraid he'll be driven mad with grief!"

  "Mother..." Qin Mei's words, transmitted to Mu Shan's ears without a single mistake, were like a ball of fire on a winter day, warm and scorching, turning into two streams of hot tears that flowed silently down the corners of his eyes.

  "Monster? Are there still monsters around your village? Qin sister, please tell me, and I'll take care of this trouble for you!"

  The sound of the Azure Dragon's mighty energy pierced through the clouds, directly entering Mu Shan's heart, as if it had overturned a bottle of five flavors, with sourness, sweetness, bitterness, spiciness and saltiness all surging up at once.

  "Our village, Tianyin Village, has two forbidden areas. One is the back mountain, where for some reason, all the wild beasts have mutated and become extremely ferocious and violent. It's said that there are also some mountain spirits and tree monsters on the mountain that often come down to grab people and eat them. The other one is the big river outside the village. A water demon lives in it, which occasionally comes ashore to hunt and kill nearby villagers. Old Man Jixiang was eaten by the water demon!"

  Qin Mei's words, filled with sorrow and regret, stirred up a stormy sea in Mu Shan's heart, especially after learning that he might be the son of a demon, he began to hate himself.

  "The mountain spirits and tree demons are easy to deal with, I can go up the mountain and sweep them away in no time. But as for the water demon, I'm not familiar with its aquatic nature, and under the vast river, it's so vague and obscure, how am I supposed to find it?"

  Mu Shan's eyes were wide open, his teeth clenched tightly, and his fists were clenched as he said with hatred: "Water demon! I will personally avenge my father!"

  Qin Mei's conversation gradually came to a halt, apparently Qing Long and Ren Yue had obtained the information they wanted.

  Half a moment later, Qin Mei walked in with a bowl of steaming hot soup, her face full of smiles: "Ji Xiang, look what mom brought you, this is your favorite sour plum carp soup, hurry up and drink it while it's hot, to nourish your body."

  Mu Shan looked at the kind and gentle woman, but suddenly felt that there were a few more wrinkles on her face.

  Remembering his identity, remembering the woman in front of him who took care of him meticulously day and night, Mu Shan's heart was suddenly filled with guilt and gratitude, and he trembled as he opened his mouth: "Mother..."

  "What's wrong, did you feel wronged?" Qin Mei sat down beside the bed and comforted him in a soft voice: "Jixiang, don't think too much about it. They didn't want to take you as their apprentice, maybe it's just not your fate, and forcing it won't work. Your mother hasn't read many books and doesn't understand big principles. But I do know that there's nothing more important than a happy family being together, and the happiness we have is precious and blessed. I don't expect you to become someone great or live a life of luxury. I just want to see you and your sister grow up safely and peacefully, then find a good wife who can support you, and a good husband for your sister who will love her, that's all I wish for."

  Mushan felt some resentment and grievance in his heart for being rejected by those high-ranking officials with elegant excuses, while he himself was able to pay homage to them. However, most of his thoughts were focused on his relationship with Qin Mei.

  Qin Mei's husband, her nominal father, died at the hands of a monster, and she... Apparently Qin Mei had already known that she was not an ordinary human being. However, over the past decade or so, she had never shown any disgust or hatred towards herself, but instead treated herself as if she were her own biological son. This magnanimity and the selfless devotion she had shown over the years, without seeking anything in return, was something that he might not be able to repay for his entire life.

  "All right, good luck. I'll go and ask that senior again to see if he can take you with him, even if it's not as a disciple, at least as his attendant, so you can follow him around and learn some martial arts skills by stealth, and in the future, you might have some prospects and achieve something."

  "Mother..." Mu Shan felt a warm current surging in his heart, and he threw away all thoughts of becoming a marquis or leaving a name that would last for thousands of years. He tightly hugged Qin Mei's waist, without any reserve, and cried out loud: "Mother, I won't leave, I'll stay by your side forever, never to part!"