C863 Mother

"Jin Rourou!"

Upon hearing this name, many herbalists and herb slaves of Sacred Hands furrowed their brows.

Clearly, they were familiar with Yu Yuan's mother.

"Jin Rourou..."

Yu Yuan, standing outside the halls of Sacred Hands, was taken aback. This was the first time he had learned his birth mother's name in this life, and it felt both novel and peculiar.

With little memory of his past, he only knew that his parents had gone to great lengths to heal him.

And they had faced many hardships because of it.

Even with the knowledge from his past life as Hong Qi, the thought of someone sacrificing everything for him was deeply moving.

Especially since those people were his parents in this life.

Whoosh!

Yan Qiling held a Glazed Lamp in his palm, within which the slender phantom was becoming more distinct.

The three souls of heaven, earth, and man had reunited, manifesting a delicate and picturesque female figure.

The woman, not yet fully restored in her spiritual wisdom, lay curled within the lampshade, her phantom trembling slightly as if in fear.

It seemed she was afraid of something.

A glance was all it took for Yu Yuan to feel a profound stirring in the most vulnerable part of his heart.

"My mother... her name is Jin Rourou. What is she afraid of? What has happened to her?"

A strong urge to uncover the truth and protect her surged within Yu Yuan. He was desperate to find out what had transpired to leave his mother in such a state.

Aside from Lee Tihai and Yun Hao, who else had harmed his mother?

"Her body should be in the care of Shi Yuxuan from Sacred Hands," Yan Qiling said, paying no mind to the surrounding herbalists. "Don't worry. Once her soul is reunited with her body and has some time to acclimate, she'll awaken on her own. Leave it to me; there will be no issues."

With that, Yan Qiling glanced at a stone door, her eyes narrowing with impatience. "Mr. Shi, must I ask you to come out?"

"Squeak!"

The firmly closed stone door suddenly swung open.

Shi Yuxuan, dressed in the garb of a herbalist, stepped out with a look of deep sorrow. He peered into the lamp in Yan Qiling's hands and after a moment of scrutiny, asked, "Sir, is this truly Rourou's phantom?"

Regret and grief flickered in Shi Yuxuan's eyes as he spoke, but he quickly composed himself.

"Sect Master!"

"Greetings, Sect Master!"

Numerous members of the Sacred Hands called out in greeting.

"Yu Yuan!"

Bai Shenshen, who had dealt with Yu Yuan on several occasions, emerged from a building brimming with medicinal herbs. "Is it really you?"

Initially, Bai Shenshen thought someone was playing a prank when she heard Yan Qiling's voice. Upon realizing that Yu Yuan had indeed arrived, she was astonished.

She then caught sight of the phantom within the Glazed Lamp in Yan Qiling's palm. "It's truly Sister Jin Rourou!"

Yu Yuan strode forward, instantly reaching Shi Yuxuan, his expression turning grave as he demanded, "Mr. Shi, what exactly is the relationship between my mother and your Sacred Hands?"

With enmity brewing within him, he summoned his sword sheath.

Even without invoking a sword spell, the sheer sword's will emanating from the sheath was enough to make the sect master of the Sacred Hands feel as though his soul was on the verge of being shredded.

Had he become this powerful already?

Shi Yuxuan silently mused to himself.

Having previously encountered Yu Yuan in the Serpent Spine Mountains, Shi Yuxuan was still only in the late period of the Lunar Spirit realm, and his rank as a herbalist was heavenly.

Immersed in the art of alchemy for years, his cultivation had stagnated. Now, merely being pointed at by Yu Yuan with the sword sheath made him feel uneasy.

What realm was Yu Yuan in back in Gloomhollow?

How many years had passed since then?

Could it be that the son of Jin Rourou possessed such astonishing talent and power?

He was deeply moved, and then, recalling Yan Qiling's earlier remarks, he exclaimed in surprise, "Yu Yuan, is he the heir to the God of Medicine, Hong Qi?"

"Indeed, he received his legacy from Gloomhollow," Yan Qiling said with a gentle smile, adding, "Furthermore, the Yu family from Asvetaesi are descendants of the Evil King Yu Xi, the former sect master of the Skyblight Cult. Mr. Shi, I've gleaned some fragmented memories from her soul..."

Shi Yuxuan's face registered his profound reaction. "The legacy of the God of Medicine, the descendant of the Evil King, the Yu family... they have such a background?"

Witnessing his reaction, many of the Sacred Hands' elders were taken aback, internally sighing with a mix of surprise and regret.

Wasn't it you who once dismissed the Yu family, that young man named Yu Jue?

"Mr. Yan?" Yu Yuan called out sternly.

"Your mother, she should refer to him as uncle," Yan Qiling huffed, pointing at Shi Yuxuan of the Sacred Hands. "After your father's trials in the Moonfall Sanctuary, he ventured into the Serpent Spine Mountains in search of spiritual herbs and met your mother. They quickly grew close during their search for herbs, but Mr. Shi looked down on the Yu family for being too weak and tried to break them apart."

"Ultimately, your mother renounced her ties to the Sacred Hands, concealed everything, and didn't even reveal she was a herbalist before marrying into the Yu family of Asvetaesi."

"From that point on, Mr. Shi refused to acknowledge any relationship with your mother and prohibited anyone in the sect from disclosing her identity."

He succinctly laid out the circumstances.

After a brief pause, he conveyed another piece of information to Yu Yuan using the Soul Echo. Since Yu Yuan's heaven and earthly souls were not yet restored, his parents had sought medicine from the Sacred Hands, only to be scornfully rejected by Shi Yuxuan.

Subsequently, they ventured to the Frozen Hellscape, but to no avail. Shortly after leaving there, they were ambushed by Lee Tihai, but the Colddeath intervened. As a result, Jin Rourou's soul was imprisoned by Lee Tihai, while her father, Yu Jue, was taken by Dragon Lake. The Colddeath, limited by their own power, only managed to seize Jin Rourou's physical body.

Later, he personally traveled to the Serpent Spine Mountains and presented Jin Rourou's corporeal remains to Shi Yuxuan.

This account was pieced together by Yan Qiling from the jumbled memories he accessed while assisting in the unification of Jin Rourou's three souls.

After hearing this, Yu Yuan fell into a long silence. When he looked again at Shi Yuxuan, his gaze was cold and unforgiving.

Shi Yuxuan, aware of his fault, hung his head and admitted, "Back then, I underestimated Yu Jue. Rourou had a remarkable talent for medicine, and it was only a matter of time before the Order of Healing would have taken her in. She had the potential to surpass me and become an influential figure within the Order of Healing on the Land of Quiescence. She fell for him early on, married him against all advice, and even bore you..."

He left his sentence unfinished as his chest and garments were shredded to pieces.

Beneath his clothes, a silver armor etched with images of a dragon, a vermillion bird, a black phoenix, a Kylin, and a white tiger shone with a dazzling display of spiritual energy. It intercepted the crimson sword light that had burst uncontrollably from the sheath.

Shi Yuxuan, ill-suited for combat, paled and quickly stepped aside.

"Yu Yuan, he's not worth your wrath," Yan Qiling counseled, his voice grave. "Mr. Shi, if you would, lead the way."

"Oh, right, of course!"

Shi Yuxuan bobbed his head in agreement, foregoing any further chatter, and made haste toward the building.

Before long, in a chamber constructed of cool white jade, Yu Yuan beheld the slender silhouette of his mother.

She lay upon a jade bed, her eyes sealed shut, her eyelashes remarkably long.

A rich scent of herbs wafted from her pale skin, permeating the entire hidden chamber.

Inhaling the medicinal aroma, Yu Yuan's anger subsided somewhat. He recognized that Shi Yuxuan had exerted every effort in preserving his mother's corporeal form, employing only the finest pills.

"My disdain for the Yu family, my contempt for Yu Jue, stems from my deep affection for her," Shi Yuxuan confessed, his expression pained. "She is my niece, the sole daughter of my sister, and as I am childless, I regard her as my own. Her innate gift for medicine was exceptional. I believed that even the position of sect master of the Sacred Hands Sect was beneath her, so I did everything in my power to support her, hoping she would join the Order of Healing!"

"Yu Jue, at that time, was in no way her equal. He simply didn't deserve her."

Shi Yuxuan vented, baring his innermost feelings.

Meanwhile, Yan Qiling had lifted the Glazed Lamp's cover, gently cradling Jin Rourou's soul, and carefully placed it at the center of her brow.

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