"Pull myself together?"
Yuanen Tiandang, his hair disheveled, heard these two words and showed a pained expression. His voice was hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing against stone.
"Father, how do you expect me to pull myself together?"
His wife had been eroded by the Demon Plane, opened the Demon Gate, harmed his clansmen, been rejected by them, and ultimately left a letter almost like a suicide note, suspected to have committed suicide after leaving the family.
He understood his clansmen's feelings. No one wanted to keep someone who could not control themselves and might go berserk and harm others at any moment around.
But understanding his clansmen, seeing the scrutinizing, complex gazes they gave his daughter, as if she were a Calamity, and thinking of his wife, whose body had never been found, how was he supposed to handle himself?
Were they to blame for being born with the Fallen Angel martial soul?
They were both good people. The blame lay with the Demon Plane.
But with his strength, he could not solve the root of the problem.
So he could only think of other ways. He had thought of taking Yuanen Yehui away from their family. When his wife was still around, he had also thought of taking her away.
But because of the danger of the Fallen Angel martial soul, Yuanen Zhentian would not allow it, and had even directly sealed his cultivation for it.
Did he not understand his father's thinking?
Yuanen Tiandang could also understand. Whether it was his wife or their daughter, they were ultimately part of their Yuanen family. If they left the family and lost control outside, no one knew the consequences. From the perspective of all living beings on the Douluo Continent, his father's actions were to prevent a greater disaster.
He understood.
He understood everything.
But even understanding, how could he reconcile with himself, who had Super Douluo strength yet could do nothing?
Hearing Yuanen Tiandang's hoarse voice, Yuanen Zhentian raised an eyebrow and sighed. "At least Ye Hui is luckier than her mother. She is not yet a Titled Douluo. There is still hope. And she has already joined the Dark Department. Perhaps those Dark Department members who have studied evil martial souls in depth will have better methods."
Before a Fallen Angel broke through to Titled Douluo, it could still be restricted. The Fallen Angel martial soul could even be crippled. But if it broke through to Titled Douluo, it could no longer be restricted. At least, that was what Atlas Douluo had once said.
At that point, the soul master themselves had become a coordinate and a passage for the Demon Plane. Whether the passage could be closed was no longer so simple, and it also depended on whether the Demon Plane side agreed.
This was also one of the reasons they had thought Ye Hui was dead even though they had never seen her body. After all, if Ye Hui had broken through to Titled Douluo, the Demon Gate's opening should have been unavoidable. The fact that there had been no news of a Demon Gate opening for so many years meant she could only be dead.
Yuanen Tiandang was silent upon hearing this, but he said no more. He simply took out his soul communicator and began contacting Yuanen Yehui.
If Yuanen Zhentian contacted her, Yehui would definitely not obediently come out of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
The two waited for a while, and then saw Yuanen Yehui walk out of the academy.
Yuanen Yehui's expression was still relatively gentle upon seeing her father. But when she noticed Yuanen Zhentian, her face turned cold.
Yuanen Zhentian did not mind this.
Back then, when Yuanen Yehui's mother had opened the Demon Gate and been rejected by the family, Yuanen Yehui had been young, but she obviously had memories. Perhaps in her eyes, they had driven her mother away.
Yuanen Yehui approached. Her gaze lingered on Yuanen Zhentian's face for a moment before turning away, as if looking at him any longer was torture.
She turned to Yuanen Tiandang, her tone much softer. "Dad, what is it? Why did you come out of the house?"
"I came with your grandfather." Yuanen Tiandang's tone was complex. "We want to talk to you about your mother."
Yuanen Yehui's delicate brows furrowed. She looked coldly at Yuanen Zhentian. "He crippled you, and he drove my mother away just because her martial soul was an evil martial soul. I have nothing to say to him."
Yuanen Tiandang looked at his daughter. His Adam's apple moved several times, but he did not know where to begin.
"Yehui." Yuanen Zhentian suddenly spoke, his voice low. "If that is how you feel, that is fine. But I still hope you will listen carefully to what I am about to say."
Yuanen Yehui did not respond, only casting him a cold, sidelong glance.
Seeing that she did not turn and leave, Yuanen Zhentian did not mind. He led the two toward a corner while using his spirit power to set up a barrier, and began to recount what had happened back then.
"At that time, your father went out to train and met your mother. They fell in love, and your father brought her back. At first, I did not notice anything wrong. Even though your mother's martial soul had some evil characteristics, I thought it was fine. After all, within the Federation, most evil martial soul possessors were under the jurisdiction of the Federation and the Spirit Transmission Tower. The fact that your mother could cultivate to Soul Douluo already proved she was fine."
With spirit souls and land spirit beasts protected by the Spirit Transmission Tower, for an evil martial soul possessor to cultivate to Soul Douluo, either they had someone backing them, or they had passed the Federation's and Spirit Transmission Tower's review. Otherwise, ordinary soul masters did not have the ability to go to the sea and hunt powerful spirit beasts.
Yuanen Zhentian had thought this way, which was clearly not a problem.
"But later, I found out I was wrong. Once, when your mother was too emotional and turned into a demon attacking your father, I stopped her. After she calmed down, I learned your mother's true situation."
Yuanen Yehui frowned upon hearing this. In her memory, her mother had always been very gentle. She could not imagine her harming anyone, let alone her father. But since even her father did not deny it, it was clearly true.
Yuanen Zhentian continued, "Your mother told me she had never obtained a spirit soul from the Spirit Transmission Tower. You know the reason as well."
Yuanen Yehui was silent for a moment before saying, "It was self-produced spirit rings."
Unlike other martial souls, the Fallen Angel martial soul could self-produce spirit rings. That was also why she could attach spirit rings to both her martial souls at the same time.
Otherwise, in this era, attaching spirit rings to two martial souls simultaneously would basically mean having one more spirit soul than others of the same level. That would obviously cut off one's future. Spiritual power simply could not support a soul master's growth.
"Yes."
Yuanen Zhentian sighed. "Your mother's Fallen Angel martial soul could also self-produce spirit rings. This meant she lived like a reclusive soul master, with little contact with the Federation and the Spirit Transmission Tower. She was not registered in the relevant records, so she had only a partial understanding of her own martial soul. In her eyes, she would simply show symptoms of demonization when emotionally agitated, unable to control herself."
"At that time, because your father loved her deeply and firmly believed she was not one of those evil soul masters who valued human life lightly, he assured me it would not happen again. And since your mother indeed had no other characteristics of an evil soul master, after much thought, I let her stay."
"Moreover, because our Yuanen family was a reclusive clan with little outside contact, I did not immediately think to contact the Federation or the Spirit Transmission Tower. Now that I think about it, if we had contacted the outside world earlier, what happened later would not have happened."
Yuanen Yehui's breath caught. Yuanen Zhentian's words gave her an ominous feeling.
Yuanen Zhentian recalled, "After that, your mother did work very hard to restrain herself, using meditation and other methods to prevent being controlled by her martial soul when emotional. For three whole years, there were no more problems. I gradually relaxed."
"However, most evil martial souls are as they are used. If used rightly, they are right. If used wrongly, they are wrong. I only learned this later. Your mother herself was not an evil soul master. But her martial soul was not a conventional evil martial soul. How could a martial soul that could control its owner and self-produced spirit rings be ordinary?"
"When she broke through to Titled Douluo, disaster struck. One day, she opened the Demon Gate, which connected to the Demon Plane, an evil plane that survived by invading other planes and devouring life origins. And this was the most dangerous aspect of the Fallen Angel martial soul. It was a seed the Demon Plane had thrown into the Douluo Continent to invade."
Yuanen Yehui's face turned pale. She truly had not expected the Fallen Angel's hidden danger to be so great.
At this point, Yuanen Zhentian's tone became somewhat gentler.
"Fortunately, the Federation and the Spirit Transmission Tower's experience in cultivating evil martial soul possessors gave your mother an idea. She contracted a spirit soul to be her supervisor, always by her side. Her intention was that if she showed signs of demonization, the spirit soul would notify me and the clansmen, to prevent anyone from being hurt."
"With that spirit soul's notification, I learned of your mother's abnormality in time, saved the clansmen who were almost caught up in it, and immediately led the clansmen to block the demons emerging from the Demon Gate. However, that was an entire plane. When the aura of Titled Douluo, and even Limit Douluo, appeared from within, I knew we could not hold them back."
"Fortunately, I had sensed something was wrong earlier and had notified Shrek and the nearby Spirit Transmission Tower branch in advance. Later, multiple experts arrived and managed to quell the disaster."
Notifying Shrek was because their Yuanen family had ties to them. As for notifying the Spirit Transmission Tower branch, that was common sense.
After all, it was well known that the Spirit Transmission Tower's Eighteen Heavenly Pillars were distributed across all directions of the Federation. If something really happened, notifying the Spirit Transmission Tower, as long as they took it seriously, would guarantee at least a Super Douluo to solve the problem, and possibly even a Limit Douluo.
Why not?
As for why Yuanen Zhentian did not notify Er Ming after the incident, the Yuanen family's inheritance was long, and their relationship with Er Ming had weakened. They also had no way to contact him. Naturally, they could not notify him. (Refer to Soul Land IV for Er Ming's relationship with the Yuanen family.)
At this point, Yuanen Zhentian looked at Yuanen Yehui, whose body was trembling slightly. "After the battle, Atlas Douluo told us about the Demon Plane and the Fallen Angel. That was when I finally understood everything."
Yuanen Zhentian also recounted some details, including the difference between before and after the Fallen Angel reached level ninety. Then he continued, "After learning that it was basically impossible to sever the connection with the Demon Plane after becoming a Titled Douluo, your mother was almost despairing. If not for the Spirit Transmission Tower being present, and Atlas Douluo suggesting we ask the Spirit Transmission Tower's Execution Department, those evil martial soul experts, for their opinion, your mother might have committed suicide on the spot."
"Although you were still young, you probably remember what happened after that. Because of the Demon Plane issue, the clansmen's attitude toward you was not good. I also watched her with the thought of putting righteousness before family if the Demon Gate opened again. Perhaps unable to bear the atmosphere, or perhaps the news from the Spirit Transmission Tower was not encouraging, that evening, worried she would open the Demon Gate again, she left a letter and left the family."
At this point, Yuanen Zhentian glanced at Yuanen Tiandang. "That was why your mother left. Your father, after learning everything, tried several times to take your mother and you away, even threatening to die. If not for that, your mother could never have slipped away under my nose as a Limit Douluo. And after seeing that letter, which was almost a suicide note, he nearly did something foolish. That was why I sealed his cultivation."
"That is the whole truth." Yuanen Zhentian turned his gaze back to Yuanen Yehui. "If you want to hate me, then hate me. After all, I did have murderous thoughts toward your mother. But since you have joined the Dark Department, you should know these things."
"Heh, Fate Plays Tricks. Because of your mother's example, we did not cling to the reclusive family habit. We asked someone to enter your information into the Federation and Spirit Transmission Tower databases. So a few years ago, when the Holy Spirit Cult was active on the continent, you received the Dark Department's help, joined them, and thus did not join Shrek. Looking at it now, that was a good thing."
Cause and effect, there is destiny.
The thunder had been stepped on by the elders, so the younger generation could enjoy some blessings.
Yuanen Yehui stared at him blankly.
Yuanen Zhentian thought she was stunned by the amount of information in his words. He was about to speak when he suddenly saw Yuanen Yehui's eyes turn red, and tears began to fall.
"Mom, is that you?"
"???"
Yuanen Zhentian was full of question marks.
Had this child, because of what he had said, started having Hallucinations? Why was she looking at him and calling him mom?
Even if she was going to call him something, it should be grandfather.
Just as some ridiculous thoughts flashed through his mind, Yuanen Zhentian suddenly realized something was wrong. He turned his head and saw a figure, ninety-nine percent similar to Yuanen Yehui's mother, Ye Hui, walking toward them from not far away.
No, not ninety-nine percent. That somewhat familiar spirit power aura was Ye Hui.
Yuanen Zhentian's pupils sharply contracted.
Ten years.
This daughter-in-law, whom he had thought should be dead, was once again standing before he was alive.
What was going on? Was he dreaming?
And Yuanen Tiandang, whose cultivation had been sealed and who was a step slower, turned around and saw the figure that had Haunted His Dreams. He stared blankly.
"Ye... Ye Hui?" His voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible, as if afraid that if he spoke any louder, the person before him would dissipate like a bubble.
Ye Hui's gaze fell on her husband and daughter, whom she had not seen for ten years. Tears also glistened in her eyes.
She forced a smile and said, "It is me. I am back."
As she spoke, she came to within three steps of them. But there, she dared not come closer, as if worried about something.
But Yuanen Yehui, upon hearing that voice that only existed in her memories, was overcome with emotion. She moved, wanting to embrace her mother. The words Yuanen Zhentian had said, and the question of why Ye Hui had appeared here, were all thrown to the back of her mind.
And then she froze in place.
Because her father had already beaten her to it. With a single stride, he rushed forward and held her mother tightly in his arms.
"Ye Hui, Ye Hui, you are really still alive." Yuanen Tiandang's voice was choked with sobs. Where was the usual Listless appearance now?
Ye Hui's body stiffened, but seeing Yuanen Tiandang's state, she also held her husband tightly. Her tears soaked his lapel.
"Yes. Someone saved me."
The two embraced, as if no one else existed in the world.
Yuanen Yehui remained standing with her arms open, her expression gradually solidified.
Who am I?
Where am I?
What am I supposed to do?
Immersed in the Three Great Questions of Life, Yuanen Yehui slowly calmed down. She only felt that the scene before her perfectly illustrated what it meant when Parents Are True Love, Children Are Accidents.
Yuanen Yehui silently lowered her arms, which had been frozen in midair, and cleared her throat.
No one paid her any attention.
She cleared her throat again.
Still no one paid her any attention.
Yuanen Zhentian had been immersed in the shock of Ye Hui being alive and was thinking about what to do next. Hearing the sound and noticing Yuanen Yehui's situation, he was both amused and exasperated. He temporarily put aside his wariness of Ye Hui, walked over, patted his granddaughter's shoulder, and said quietly, "Get used to it."
These two had always been like this.
Yuanen Yehui said, "..."
At that moment, the grandfather and granddaughter inexplicitly reached a Reconciliation.
***
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(End of Chapter)