"Mother!"
Hua Lu's eyes widened, looking at the person before him who had completely transformed.
This was his first time witnessing someone tear off a layer of skin to change their disguise.
A man turning into a woman, a strong person becoming thin, a tall person turning short, and a flat figure suddenly becoming full and graceful. How did she manage to transform into a robust man without any awkwardness? It was all thanks to the fake skin and flesh that clung to her body like clothing.
In fact, this was alchemy. Most of the skills Gu Junshi had honed were for combat, rarely delving into practical everyday spells. Her only notable proficiency was alchemy.
This skin and flesh was called "Nang Rou" (囊肉). When "Nang Rou" shrunk, it became a soft, jelly-like substance. Once it came into contact with a person, it would automatically adhere and change, forming external organs, skin, and hair that were indistinguishable from the real thing.
"Nang Rou" could transform into anyone, as long as one's acting skills were sufficient. It could create men, children, and was capable of anything. Compared to disguises altered by illusions, it was simpler and easier to operate, and it did not possess the possibility of being seen through by someone with high cultivation using their spiritual sense.
She peeled off the "Nang Rou" and stood by the stream bathed in sunlight. Brilliant light shone on her back like scattered starlight. She narrowed her eyes, her expression lazy and indifferent.
A patch of lush green swayed in the breeze like ripples of cyan smoke. Pure white flower petals falling from the eaves brushed past her eyes. She wore a black-and-red gauze dress, deeper and more profound than the abyss. Suddenly, the wind rose, but she remained as calm as still water.
At that moment, Hua Lu's heartbeat felt like it was being battered by a hurricane. If he didn't suppress it with all his might, it might just run away and leap into the boundless sea.
He stood there, his eyes reddened, his nose beginning to sting. But he desperately suppressed his tears and rushed forward, throwing himself into her arms.
His arms were short, unable to embrace her waist, so he tightly hugged her legs.
Gu Junshi was slightly stunned upon hearing the cry of "Mother": "What did you just... call me?"
"Mother—"
Gu Junshi placed her hands on his shoulders with a slight force and crouched down.
"How old are you?"
"I... I am five years and six months old." His eyes, face, and the tip of his nose were all red, like a pitifully fragile porcelain doll.
Over five years old?
If she had successfully given birth to the child, it would be almost seven years old now.
So, he wasn't...
Her complex expression instantly softened.
Motherhood was innate. She had been a mother, albeit briefly. She couldn't forget that at that time, she had considered sacrificing all her cultivation and merit points to make a deal with heaven to save the child in her womb.
But in the end, she still lost him.
Hua Lu thought she would be very happy to acknowledge him, but looking at her unfathomable eyes, he realized her expression was not as he had expected.
Hua Lu had been wandering since childhood, seeing all sorts of faces and understanding the thoughts and intentions in people's hearts and eyes.
His heart gradually grew cold, his small face instantly turning pale. He suddenly realized something.
Mother might not want to acknowledge him.
She had abandoned his father and child to leave, likely never intending to acknowledge him from the start. Now, with him eagerly coming forward to claim her, would she... drive him away?
No, he had finally found her. This time, he absolutely would not leave her side.
Hua Lu could pretend not to know her. He could also, as before, quickly said, "I... I thought you were an uncle before, so I wanted to acknowledge you as my father. But you lied to me, so you can't be a father. But as it happens, I still need a mother, and I want to acknowledge you as my mother!"
So, that "Mother" just now had this meaning.
Gu Junshi released him and stood up.
Seeing the child looking at her with longing eyes, Gu Junshi still refused him.
She said seriously, "Hua Lu, I will only be the mother of my child. You may acknowledge me as your master if you wish."
The role of a mother was unique and something she wanted to reserve for her child. If anyone could replace it, then the search would have no meaning.
Although she wasn't sure if her child was still alive, if Liu Jiang Fusheng had unearthed the unborn child and buried it to let her live, she would still find its soul.
Sooner or later, she would restart the underworld, reconstruct its soul into a new body, and let it reincarnate.
Hua Lu heard her words, tears falling like raindrops, feeling incredibly sad.
He really wanted to say, I am your son.
He had gained sentience at a very young age, so he could remember everything clearly from when he was over two years old.
Back then, he had accidentally wandered into a very dark cave. This cave was usually locked. Coincidentally, that sickly person had fallen ill that day, and in his haste, he had forgotten to seal it.
He entered the cave and saw a very tall and wide wall.
That wall was as flat as if it had been planed, but the flat stone surface was so covered in knife marks that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it had been carved by a thousand knives. Countless sword marks, deep and shallow, long and short, crisscrossed it. Although these seemingly chaotic sword marks were made during sword practice to vent anger, from a distance, one could see that these sword marks ultimately formed the carving of a woman's face.
That face was deeply imprinted on his young, innocent mind.
Who was she?
At first, he didn't know.
But later, as he grew older, he guessed that the woman who could make that person both hate and forget her was likely the "unfaithful one" he spoke of.
"I am not called Hua Lu, I am called..." The name Hua Lu was given by Hua Jie, and he had never acknowledged it. When he ran away from home, he also abandoned his original name. For a while, he didn't know what to call himself. In his confusion, he blurted out, "My name is Si Jun!"
From the first moment Gu Junshi saw Hua Lu, she felt that this child unexpectedly appealed to her. Otherwise, she wouldn't have chosen to oppose the Mu family at that time, attracting their unwarranted suspicion and speculation, which went against her usual meticulous and strict planning.
But she did it anyway.
"What a coincidence, my name also has 'Jun' in it. I am called Jun Shi."
When Si Jun heard her name, he clenched his small fists, pretended not to be very happy, and continued to ask her, "Then... what is your surname?"
"Gu."
His eyes lit up, twinkling like the stars in the sky. He said, "My surname is also Gu! My name is Gu Si Jun."
"Heh, child, changing to the same surname and using similar names, deliberately trying to get closer? Do you really think we're fools?" The Human Emperor tapped his forehead. His narrow eyes, while calm, hid a chilling probing intent.
This child's overly intimate actions towards Gu Junshi made him feel deeply uneasy.
He didn't want this child to remain by her side any longer.
Hua Lu rubbed his forehead, his small face changing quickly. He straightened his face and retorted with mock seriousness.
"My surname is indeed Gu, and my name is Si Jun. You say I'm lying. I didn't know her name or appearance before. Could I have fabricated my name in advance?!"
As soon as he finished speaking, without waiting for a response, he hugged Gu Junshi's leg with a look of wronged sadness. "Mother, who is this ugly uncle? Why is he deliberately bullying Si Jun?"
"Tsk tsk, this speed of changing faces... so proficient and adept at such a young age. Could it be a family trait?" The Human Emperor clicked his tongue in amazement. "Impressive."
Gu Junshi looked at the Human Emperor and said, "Let's get back to business. Stop bickering with a child. He's young, are you young too?"
The Human Emperor paused, staring at Gu Junshi with a sinister, sarcastic tone. "I am merely a child who has lived for five or six hundred years, why can't I bicker with a child?" Why was his "A Miao" being monopolized by this little brat? He cast a malevolent glance at Si Jun. "Be careful, if you're not watching and someone loses you one day, don't blame me for not warning you."
He became more and more animated. Gu Junshi gently patted the back of Hua Lu, no, little Si Jun, and told him to stand up straight.
"Human Emperor, have you seen those mixed-blood, low-quality demons outside?"
As soon as they spoke of business, the previous banter and anger were put aside.
"Naturally, I have. You're quite daring. Others polish a sword for ten years, you've spent seven years polishing this group of demons. They didn't know my relationship with you at first, but they vehemently recounted your deeds in front of me. This piqued all my curiosity. Can the possibility you mentioned truly come true?"
Gu Junshi said, "Tonight, you will be able to verify it." As she spoke, she asked with ulterior motives, "Do you know about the Blood Slaves of Fengdu City?"
The Human Emperor had been traveling outside for several years and was indeed unaware of what had happened in Fengdu over the years. He was eager to regain his strength, otherwise, he would always be suppressed by Gu Junshi with no room to fight back, his family status in jeopardy.
However, the matter of "Blood Slaves" had not occurred in recent years. It was a long-standing existence in Fengdu's history. Fengdu had always kept this matter secret. Even though it was rotting and infested with maggots underneath, they hadn't let it spread.
"What, you want to blow this out of proportion?"
Gu Junshi said calmly, "Fengdu will inevitably be unable to conceal this matter, and Ci Bei City will become the catalyst for the war between Fengdu and the righteous cultivation sects."
At the same time, with the plan reaching this stage, "Fengdu" would also become the prelude to her emergence into the world.
The "A Miao" from her memories seemed to be fading further away. Now, in the Human Emperor's eyes, there was only this ambitious woman named "Gu Junshi."
He had always known what she was doing, and she had no intention of hiding it from him.
"Do you want to become the master of these twenty-eight heavens?"
Gu Junshi didn't have this plan at first. Her goal was to reach a higher level. But that was in the beginning.
She looked steadily at the Human Emperor. Her eyes, stripped of humanity, held only a calm, dark, and profound depth, a complete enigma.
"I just want to know if it's demons who are my enemies, or gods who are my foes. The heavens and earth seem to be filled with these hidden beings plotting against all living things. They may have their plans, and I... naturally should also make plans for myself."
The Human Emperor narrowed his eyes, his expression becoming serious. "What do you mean by that?"
What demons, what gods, why would they be her enemies or foes?
Gu Junshi said, "I am telling a secret. Since it is a secret, it must temporarily remain sealed. When the time is right, and the secret is no longer a secret, you will naturally understand."
Gu Junshi's enemies might be very powerful, beyond her current reach, let alone the Human Emperor's. Because she did not intend for him to get any more involved.
Taking Hua Lu, who had been listening to their conversation and pretending not to understand, though in reality, he only half-understood, she led him into the water pavilion. This was a refined secret mansion. When it sensed its master approaching, it did not need to be entered from the main entrance; wherever she wished, every part would automatically open to welcome her.
Seeing that Gu Junshi was leaving, the Human Emperor naturally intended to follow. However, as soon as he reached the entrance, the mansion shut him out with a "pop."
Gu Junshi's voice came from inside.
"You've reminded me. Since you're unwilling to get along with children, let's keep a distance. That way, if you lose him, I won't have to trouble myself to pick him up."
The Human Emperor was thus given a firm closed-door reception.
——
The Thorn Forest also had day and night. For example, when the present emerald green and floating ethereal blue light appeared, it was daytime.
But at night, these orderly "lights" of the day would be summoned by some power, and they would be drawn away in swarms like glowing moths, scattering throughout the poisonous thorn forest.
As the light and shadow flickered wildly, revealing the mixed-blood demons entwined in the thorny vines within the forest, their non-human, green faces in the silent night were unnerving, more chilling than encountering a ghost.
Tap, tap, tap—
Thick boots landed on the jade-green disc. The sound, which should have been faint, was crisp and loud in this eerily silent environment.
The drowsy were all startled awake.
The flowing black robes fluttered in the night wind. A casual glance made people's pupils tremble.
"Having endured for so long, those who survive will inevitably become legends," she said lightly.
Immediately after, a giant disc of light spread out from beneath her feet.
They trembled, and then suddenly a fierce roar and struggle erupted. The poisonous thorns tightened their grip, but they remained as they were.
"Finally, we can come out—"
"Hahaha—"
The poisonous thorns constantly attacked their bodies with poison, while also feeding on their strength to grow. This vast expanse of poisonous thorns had grown entirely from flesh and blood, but now everything was about to be reversed.
"Choose demon, human, or fiend, it depends on your own wishes."
The half-demon finally transformed completely. He discarded half of his mixed bloodline and became pure-blooded. Within him lay the bloodline of ancient beasts. After countless generations of breeding, they had become amorphous. But those inferior genes were abandoned, and he became an ancient beast.
They were evolving, transforming, their aura reaching the heavens.
They had never felt so invigorated. Back then, Gu Junshi had told them that if they could survive her trials, she would give them a new future.
No one believed her at the time. Besides being "raised" by her through various means, their bodies had not been depleted, and they had survived.