Volume One, Chapter 122: The Truth (3)

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The middle-aged doctor felt his scalp prickle beneath her stare.

“Hold her down! The baby’s in the wrong position!”

He did his best to remain calm.

Smack!

A dripping-wet cotton coat flew straight into his face. Qianqian stood there with a cold expression, pointing toward the gate of the ruined temple. Her face was so dark with fury it seemed rainwater might drip from it.

The doctor, having been struck across the head, grew somewhat angry. But when he saw the madwoman’s breathing grow weaker and weaker, he still forced himself to be patient.

“Your mad mother is running out of strength! If you don’t let me deliver the baby now, she’ll suffocate to death!”

Boom!

Lightning crashed down, splitting half the sky.

Its glare lent the girl’s young face a frightening cast.

“Get out!”

Killing intent surged in the girl’s eyes. The middle-aged doctor stumbled back in terror, leaving even his medicine chest behind as he turned and fled.

Because for one brief moment, he had truly, unmistakably felt that the little beggar would kill him.

“Wait!”

He had just run out of the ruined temple when the girl called after him.

His legs felt as though they had been filled with lead. He could not move.

“Take your filthy things and never show your face before us again. Otherwise, I will kill you!”

The girl’s voice carried a murderous chill.

Bang!

Clatter, clatter, crash!

Something struck the ground behind him.

Only after he sensed that scorching gaze disappear did the middle-aged doctor dare to turn around.

Lying on the ground were a coat soaked in filthy water and his precious medicine chest.

Without bothering to gather the expensive medicines scattered across the ground, he snatched up a few things and ran.

Qianqian returned to the ruined temple.

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The madwoman was already on the verge of death.

Yet whenever she saw Qianqian’s face, she would force a smile.

At that moment, the smile was pale and feeble.

“Mother…”

Qianqian choked on her tears.

The madwoman probably knew that her end had come. She fumbled for Qianqian’s hand.

“Qianqian doesn’t sound nice,” the madwoman said in her usual foolish tone. But Qianqian felt that her mother was not foolish at all.

“Baby sounds nice!”

“You are my baby.”

“Hee-hee-hee, what a lovely name…”

Qianqian desperately held back her tears. With the last trace of demonic power remaining in her body, she tried to cling to the madwoman’s final breath.

That night, the rain fell until dawn.

That night, thunder shook the heavens and deafened the ears.

That night, the century-old tree at the village entrance was split in two by lightning.

That night, the village’s most famous middle-aged doctor suddenly went mad.

That night, the madwoman of the little beggar at the Goddess Temple disappeared, while a wailing infant appeared beside the little beggar.

That night, the villagers began to realize that the Goddess Temple no longer possessed any gold.

…

“What Goddess-bestowed gold? I know that little beggar from the Goddess Temple! She’s Fu Minghui’s daughter!”

“The Fu Minghui who died so tragically?”

“That’s right! I’ve seen his daughter a few times. She looks exactly like the little beggar from the Goddess Temple!”

“But what does that have to do with the Goddess no longer giving out gold?”

“Do you know how Fu Minghui suddenly became rich?”

“You mean…?”

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The two people looked in unison toward Qianqian on the steps, holding the infant in her arms like a walking corpse.

…

Qianqian was taken in.

By two old midwives.

The two old women treated her very well, giving her plenty of good food and drink. They also took excellent care of the child in her arms.

For a while, she had nowhere to go, and even less idea how to raise a child.

So she simply stayed at the two women’s home.

At last, one day, the two old women’s true intentions revealed themselves.

“Qianqian, look at how we’ve cared for you all these days. You and your little sister eat quite a lot, too. Couldn’t you conjure up some gold for us?” Auntie Shen smiled until her eyes curved shut, deep wrinkles covering her entire face.

Beside her, Auntie Zeng nodded eagerly in agreement. “That’s right, that’s right. If you give us some gold, we can buy even more delicious food for you and your little sister, can’t we? You’re both growing children, after all. You must eat something nourishing.”

Qianqian had known this day would come. Her delicate features were eerily calm. She did not look like a child, but rather an old woman who had endured the vicissitudes of life.

She glanced at them lightly.

“I have none.”

The smiles on the two old women’s faces froze at once.

“None? What do you mean?”

“Qianqian, you’re joking with us, aren’t you? How could you possibly have no gold?” Auntie Zeng thought Qianqian was playing a joke and spoke with a bitter smile.

Qianqian had not lied. On the night her mad mother died, she had exhausted her demonic essence in an attempt to save her mother’s life. But her mother had given that life to the child in her womb.

That night, Qianqian lost all her demonic essence. She could never cultivate demonic arts again. From then on, she could only remain a demon with a somewhat longer lifespan.

Qianqian shifted her gaze away from the two old women. She said nothing, merely patting the infant in her arms.

The baby knew nothing of any of it. She slept soundly and peacefully, as though lost in a beautiful dream, and even broke into a sweet smile.

Qianqian felt a little jealous of the infant’s serenity. She pinched the baby’s cheek hard, and only when the child began to cry did she feel somewhat better.

In her ears, besides the baby’s wails, there was also the sound of the two old women quarreling…

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