175: Chapter 175: The Choice of Destiny Always Comes at a Cost 175: Chapter 175: The Choice of Destiny Always Comes at a Cost “Mu Qingqing, or Li Lingling, these are her future names, each corresponding to the destiny lines before and after the Disturbance.”
Li Ya answered Li Mumu’s question calmly.
Why must you use tautonyms?
Don’t you find it disgusting?
Li Mumu glanced sideways at Li Ya, her right eye dark as ink.
If she wanted, she could now invoke the Divine Arts granted by the Guiding Bodhisattva to strangle this yet-to-be-born life within its mother’s womb.
But there was no need to do so.
The reason Li Ya appeared so composed before her was because she had anticipated that Li Mumu would not resort to violence.
To deal with a witch able to foresee the future and warp reality, conventional means couldn’t be used.
Just as company bosses like to instill the concept of ‘wolf culture’ in their employees, while in reality, even wolves don’t know what ‘wolf culture’ is.
Hollywood screenwriters also often enjoy depicting protagonists as quixotic, charging at windmills in a completely futile manner.
Throwing open their arms and shouting “Mother Doma, I’ve come to negotiate!” ten thousand times.
It looks so fearlessly heroic, so full of swagger, so adrenalizing.
But in reality, a true prophet doesn’t need to choose the most difficult and thorny path, making life miserable for oneself.
Li Ya had perfectly avoided the destiny line that would cause conflict with Li Mumu.
“Actually, I quite like the way you are now, so how about we stop changing back and forth?”
Li Ya shook the medicine bottle carelessly, saying, “You know, no matter what you become, I can still acknowledge you as my daughter.
But the one thing I cannot tolerate is your stupidity.”
“The biggest difference between humans and other animals is our higher intelligence; conversely, those who are ignorant are no different from animals.”
“For a witch, ignorance is the ultimate disgrace.”
“I think the way you are now is quite good; at least we can communicate normally and peacefully without worrying about you spouting more…
mind-numbingly absurd theories.”
Li Mumu shook her head and said, “First, you return what you took from me, then we can talk about other things.”
Li Ya spread her hands and said, “Do you mean the amulet?
I’m sorry; mother has already thrown it away for you.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
Li Mumu raised her hand and the agile red string quickly wove between her fingertips, instantly creating another concentric knot hanging on her wrist.
“Causal links cannot be severed; as long as the Guiding Bodhisattva’s favor towards me doesn’t fade, I can have as many of these red strings as I’d like.”
“You just said you wanted to have a normal and calm conversation with me, there’s no point in playing dumb now.
You know what I want is Wendy.”
Li Ya sighed and said, “I haven’t lied to you; Wendy is not a living person.
Continuing to be with her does you no good.
I thought that by leaving Saifu, you could break free from her entanglement, but you still brought her on board.”
“You’ve also said that all things are illusion, all things are falsehood; why are you now asking me to distinguish between truth and lies?”
Li Mumu looked straight into Li Ya’s eyes and said earnestly, “I made a promise to Wendy, to bring her back to this world.
That is the causal debt I owe her.
Since you said that doing so is not good for me, then why not just tell me straightforwardly, what exactly are the disadvantages?”
“Is it because you cannot say, or are you worried that foreshadowing my future would lead to changes in the future?”
“Or you can tell me, what exactly is the future you have seen for me?”
After toying with the medicine bottle in her hand and falling silent for a long while, Li Ya tossed the bottle overboard with a flick of her wrist.
“Alright, you win.
I’ll give Wendy back to you.”
“Please don’t use the word ‘give back’ to imply anything.
I believe Wendy could have returned on her own, without your meddling.”
Li Ya took Li Mumu to her room, reached into her suitcase, and pulled out a crystal ball.
Raising an eyebrow, she asked softly, “Are you sure you don’t want to stay the way you are now?
I think you’re really super cool!”
“That’s just what you think.”
Just as Li Ya had not divulged information about the future to herself, Li Mumu also had no intention of telling Li Ya about the flaws of her temporary backup personality.
Even between mother and daughter, one needed to keep a little privacy and secret.
Li Ya grasped the crystal ball, muttered a spell under her breath, and the room where the mother and daughter were began to twist and blur.
This was the first time Li Mumu consciously traveled to the Outer Dimension with Li Ya while awake.
There was no familiar line appearing in her mind.
This time, she knew explicitly who she was and where she was, without the need for any external force to help solidify her recognition.
So this is what the Outer Dimension is like…
“Welcome to the Olympus,”
Li Ya put down the crystal ball, looked at her daughter before her, but noticed that her daughter’s eyes were dim and lifeless, as if her soul had left her body.
Although it took less than two seconds for Li Mumu’s eyes to sparkle again, the calm and rational feeling from before was gone, replaced by clarity and foolishness.
She was back.
Li Ya sighed, “I beg you, please change back.
Just looking at you being so silly gives me a headache.”
“Am I not well-behaved?
If I’m not, would you dare to feed me medicine?”
While curiously surveying her surroundings, Li Mumu started to talk back to her mother.
Li Ya, puzzled, said, “What you’re saying is, you knew I was deceiving you, but you still took the medicine I gave you.
How is that any different from being foolish?”
“I have to figure out to what extent my beloved mommy would betray me, so I can decide what kind of relationship we should have from now on,”
Li Mumu turned her head and spread her five fingers.
“I had originally made three plans, but after you came to me, I made up two more on the fly.”
“Only an unknown enemy is a threat.
If you keep hiding your real intent, I can’t grasp the details, and I have no way to deal with you.
But you chose to reveal yourself to me…”
Li Mumu left something unsaid.
She had played games for many years but had never seen a Magistrate cast powerful spells so openly in someone’s face before.
Dry Tofu dares to engage in close combat with the Flame Demon because he himself is of demigod lineage.
What about you?
If it weren’t for the fact that you’re my biological mother, by now your corpse would have been eaten by sharks.
Of course, it’s also possible that Li Ya approached her knowing she wouldn’t make a move, and that’s why she dared show up directly.
Li Mumu was already tired of these games that were akin to ‘I’ve guessed that you’ve guessed that I’ve guessed what you’re thinking.’
The medicine Li Ya had given her filled in the final piece of the puzzle in all her hypothetical conjectures.
Li Mumu turned back to Li Ya and smiled faintly, “Thanks to you, I have now completely mastered the game rules of this world.”