"I didn't intentionally hide it from you, it's just that I haven't figured out how to explain it properly yet."
After Yu Lumin leaped out of the dry well, his expression was even more nervous than Yan Shouyi's, as if Yu Lumin himself had made a mistake, not Yan Shouyi and the others.
Yan Shouyi frowned and asked, "Was the woman at the bottom of the well really your mother? What in the world is going on?"
"Sigh."
Yu Lumin let out a long sigh. He organized his thoughts before finally speaking slowly,
"Seven days ago, I secretly went down the mountain to see the State Preceptor."
As expected...
Yan Shouyi and Liu Yiren exchanged glances.
Yan Shouyi's guess was correct, Yu Lumin did have contact with the State Preceptor. But he couldn't understand why, since the State Preceptor had forced the old Celestial Master to his death, Yu Lumin should have hated him to the bone.
"You should also know that I'm an orphan, raised by my master after he found me. But seven days ago, I went down the mountain and met the State Preceptor, and he told me that he was my biological father."
Upon hearing this, all three present were stunned.
The State Preceptor was Yu Lumin's father?
This...
Yan Shouyi's first instinct was to deny it, but he found he had no proof. Moreover, even the utterly wicked State Preceptor wasn't entirely impossible as Yu Lumin's father.
"This matter needs to be considered carefully!" Zhang Shantong rubbed his temples. Even though he had seen much of the world, he found it difficult to accept Yu Lumin's words.
"I know you don't believe me, and frankly, I don't believe it myself, but the State Preceptor presented a lot of evidence," Yu Lumin said with his head bowed. "He knew my birth date and time, and the location of the birthmark on my body. But most importantly, he brought my birth mother."
Everyone instinctively looked towards the dry well, realizing how the woman at the bottom had come to be there.
Yu Lumin continued, "My mother was just an ordinary village woman back then. When the State Preceptor visited my mother's village, they spent some time together, and that's how I came to be. After the State Preceptor left, my mother was pregnant out of wedlock and was ridiculed by the villagers. So, she left the village, wandered around, and after giving birth to me, she wandered for a few more years before abandoning me at the foot of Longhu Mountain and leaving on her own."
Yu Lumin had come to the foot of Longhu Mountain when he was six years old. He had faint memories of his mother, and she seemed to be the woman at the bottom of the well.
"The State Preceptor brought my mother to acknowledge me. I was in turmoil. On one hand, my biological parents; on the other, my master who had shown me immense kindness. I didn't know how to choose. Later, the State Preceptor asked me to provide him with a place to stay. I couldn't agree, so I snatched my mother back from him and drove him away."
"I swear to you, I have never yielded to the State Preceptor, and I haven't seen him since that day."
Even as Yu Lumin, who had been the Celestial Master for half a year, he knew he could make mistakes. He understood how much damage his association with the State Preceptor at this time would bring to Yan Shouyi and the entire Xuanmen sect.
However, having no relatives since childhood, the lonely Yu Lumin greatly yearned for the presence of family.
Although he hadn't taken the State Preceptor in, their identities had planted a seed of doubt in Yu Lumin's heart, which was why Yan Shouyi had always sensed malice within Yu Lumin.
Liu Yiren sighed softly, "If you had confessed this earlier, we wouldn't have had to investigate secretly. If the woman at the bottom of the well is indeed your birth mother, she should be living openly on Longhu Mountain, not in the dark depths of a well."
Yu Lumin shook his head silently. As he had said, he himself was not ready to confess everything, especially the father-son relationship between him and the State Preceptor.
Liu Yiren comforted Yu Lumin, her eyes involuntarily drifting to Yan Shouyi, as if asking for his opinion.
Yan Shouyi was seen frowning, seemingly making a difficult decision.
Finally, he walked forward and said to Yu Lumin, "Do you have any other evidence to prove she is your birth mother?"
Yu Lumin gritted his teeth, "I remember, I remember my mother looking like this..."
"Are you sure? Then let me ask you, when you were six years old, living at the foot of Longhu Mountain, can you remember the appearance of every villager? If you were to see them again now, would you still recognize them?"
Yan Shouyi's words were pointed, leaving Yu Lumin speechless.
The reality was cruel; Yu Lumin's memories of his life before the age of six were already very hazy. He couldn't recall his mother's appearance at all.
Not to mention, how much a woman's appearance could change over more than ten years. Even if Yu Lumin remembered his mother's appearance at six, he might not recognize her after more than a decade.
"I'm sure!" Yu Lumin said in a low voice. "I am the Celestial Master, and I have many means. I can confirm she is not lying."
"Look."
Yan Shouyi pointed to his own black sarira fake eye and said, "This eye of mine is the Black Sarira left to me by the former abbess of the Emei Sect, Master Miaohui. Through it, I can see the seven emotions and six desires in everyone's heart. Ever since you met the State Preceptor, a seed of malice has been planted in your heart, and this seed has been continuously catalyzed over the past seven days. Do you know who is catalyzing this seed of malice? It's the woman at the bottom of the well!"
"Just now, at the bottom of the well, I clearly saw that the woman's heart also harbored malice. Whether she is real or fake, she has been secretly cultivating your malice!"
"Even if you are the Celestial Master, you can still be deceived, but my Black Sarira will not make a mistake, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to find the woman at the bottom of the well today!"
Yan Shouyi knew the State Preceptor very well. Before the State Preceptor came to find Yu Lumin, he must have known that Yu Lumin would refuse him.
Therefore, his purpose in coming to Yu Lumin was not to have Yu Lumin shelter him, but to use the opportunity to "deliver" the woman at the bottom of the well into Yu Lumin's hands.
The State Preceptor's chosen leader of the Civil Teaching, Yan Shouyi, was no longer under his control. His next target was Yu Lumin, the head of the Taoist lineage.
He planted the seed of malice in Yu Lumin's heart and then had the woman at the bottom of the well catalyze it. If Yan Shouyi hadn't seen through the deception, Yu Lumin would have been consumed by malice bit by bit.
Perhaps by the final battle, Yu Lumin would have been controlled by the State Preceptor and would have backstabbed Yan Shouyi!
Thinking of this, Yan Shouyi felt a chill run down his spine.
"Real or fake, it will be known with a single question!"
With things having come to this point, Zhang Shantong decided to drag the woman from the bottom of the well out for confrontation.
However, just as Zhang Shantong was preparing to go down the well, Yan Shouyi noticed the malice in Yu Lumin's heart growing rapidly!
His expression changed, and he rushed towards Zhang Shantong, shouting, "Grandfather, be careful!"
*Boom!!*
A Divine Thunder Strike was unleashed, hitting directly in front of Zhang Shantong. If Yan Shouyi hadn't warned him, he would have been ambushed.
Zhang Shantong slowly turned his head and looked at Yu Lumin, who had made the move.
He asked coldly, "Celestial Master, what is the meaning of this? As your elder, I advise you, do not bring ruin upon yourself!"