Chapter 75 Cause and Effect and the Blood Battle
A day before, under the moonlight.
A frail girl clad in coarse cloth was still tirelessly washing clothes with a laundry stick.
Her hands were wrinkled and bleached from the blisters caused by the water.
Her name was Yang Yuyan, the eldest daughter of the fortress lord of the Yang family manor.
As the eldest daughter of the fortress lord of the Yang family manor, how did she end up in such a plight? Naturally, it was because she had a wicked stepmother.
For a child who lost her mother early, having a malicious stepmother was very tragic.
Even more tragic than having a stepmother was that the stepmother then bore a son.
The two combined was a deathblow.
Since she could remember, she had never eaten a decent meal.
In the morning, she ate sweet potatoes, at noon it was regular potatoes, and in the evening, more potatoes.
Such a diet would make even dogs shake their heads, yet it was her daily routine for three meals.
As the young mistress of the manor, she lived a life worse than that of a servant.
However, not a single person in the entire manor dared to speak up for her. Instead, to curry favor with her stepmother, they intensified their bullying of her.
Why?
Simply because her stepmother used to be the wet nurse of a certain young master from the eminent Mingguang Prefecture.
Eighteen years ago, her father went to the city for business. Because he was handsome and stood tall, he caught the eye of her future stepmother. After seeking the favor of the Cui family, she left the estate and married her father.
Oh, the irony.
Two days before marrying her father, her own mother drowned by accident, clearing the way for her to become the official wife – and Yang Yuyan's stepmother.
From that day onwards, her disaster began.
It was also from that day that the originally poor Yang family manor started to flourish.
Thanks to her stepmother's connection to the Cui family's young master's wet nurse, the manor's iron tool business skyrocketed, and everything else fell into place seamlessly.
Everyone's face was smiling, except for hers.
Because she had lost her mother.
A child with a mother is treasured like a gem, while one without is worthless as grass.
And that was her.
Later, from the whispers of others, she learned the truth about the past and understood why her stepmother disliked her so much.
Her mother was drowned by the elders of the Yang family, not due to an accident. It was to make room for her stepmother.
Her father was a 'filial son', spineless and incompetent, who reluctantly accepted the reality once the deed had been done.
Ha, she knew her father, that cowardly man, still held her mother in his heart.
This was also the main reason she had always been targeted by her stepmother.
Who would have expected that as time went by, she would grow to resemble her beautiful mother ever more?
Her very birth carried the original sin.
Latter, her stepmother bore her a little brother, and the whole manor celebrated as if it were New Year's, except for her.
Sure enough, after her brother was born, her life got even worse. Even her father no longer cared for her in secret, shifting most of his attention to her little brother.
With each strike of the laundry stick against the clothes before her, each followed by a string of sparkling water droplets, Yang Yuyan's gaze became blurred with tears as she looked back on the past.
Why?
Why was she bullied by everyone in the Yang family manor?
Why could someone enter her room at will?
Why was it that the third young miss from the Cui family who visited today was showered with love and affection?
Why did she have to eat those damned, disgusting potatoes every single day?
Why?
Under the moonlight, Yang Yuyan could no longer hold back, and tears streamed down her face.
She threw down the laundry stick and sat beside the well, hugging her knees.
At this moment, she desperately wished for a celestial being to descend from the clouds as described in storybooks to take her away from this sea of suffering.
If not, she would rather die.
Endless potatoes to eat, endless clothes to wash; she had had enough of this life.
Life burning the midnight oil was far less satisfying than turning to dust and being scattered to the winds!!!
Ha ha ha.
She stood up and went back to her room, putting on the white dress that she was only allowed to wear when outsiders were present.
This was her best piece of clothing, and she treasured it dearly.
After all, which young girl doesn't dream of spring? She too loved to look beautiful.
She wanted to wear her prettiest dress to leave with dignity.
She moved toward the edge of the well.
The mouth of the well was pitch black, like a great maw sprouted from the earth, ready to swallow anyone at any moment.
At this moment, she was feeling a bit scared, a little shaken.
Then, she remembered the big yellow dog that used to accompany her in her childhood, deliberately smashed to death in front of her.
She remembered her stepmother's arrogant, wild cackle.
She remembered the person who entered her room.
She remembered that tomorrow would be another meal of the potato, sweet potato, and yam trilogy.
Especially potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes.
Her eyes regained their determination.
Let it be destroyed!
Just as she was ready to leap forward, suddenly, a blood-red meteor streaked directly from the sky towards her location.
When she was a child, an old grandma in the fortress once told her that, when people die, they become stars in the sky.
That was the only grandma in the fortress who was kinder to her, but of course, she has passed away now.
"Yes, mother."
"Has mother come down to see me?"
Yang Yuyan smiled.
Let it end!
She tidied up her hair, tried to put herself together, then extended her arms, welcoming the direction of the falling blood-red meteor.
No!
That's not a meteor!
It's a red token, engraved with a strange symbol!
That is, power!!!
The red light merged into her bosom, and endless knowledge, endless transformations appeared in her mind.
Ha ha ha.
The heavens have eyes, the heavens truly do!
So what if I offered up my soul?
Living a life burning the midnight oil, how could it be as swift and decisive as crushing bones to dust!
Die! Let them all die!
"In this Yang family fortress, those unslain shall fill the ditches and valleys!"
A hint of red flashed in Yang Yuyan's eyes. She quietly entered the third lady's room and, after coming out, belched contently, the red in her eyes even more intense as she turned to enter another person's room.
She, was growing up fast.
An hour later, she watched two troops riding fast horses leaving the Yang family fortress, her gaze crimson, bloodthirsty.
"What a pity."
"However, it's time for it to end."
"Let this filthy place be destroyed."
…
…
"Taoist master, you're hurting me, it hurts so much."
"Will you stay with me too, can all of you stay?"
"If I eat you, I will surely become even stronger."
Yang Yuyan spread her arms wide, her figure suddenly grew larger, and she let out a long howl to the sky. Behind her, the heads of many transformed villagers exploded, spurting blood fountains that eventually gathered around her.
Under the influence of the blood fountains, her body began to rise, two meters, three meters, four meters.
No, this was not the end.
The surplus blood covered her body, forming a magnificent and enchanting armor of blood, a bewitching blood-red long sword.
"Let us become one, Taoist master."
A nearly three-meter-long blood-red sword cleaved down towards Yi Chen.
Yi Chen looked at the monster before him, and for a moment, he too felt his scalp tingle. His muscles bulged, and he raised his Dragon-Slaying Sword to meet the incoming attack.
Boom!
As soon as they made contact, a huge shockwave sent the transformed villagers nearby tumbling and stumbling.
Yi Chen staggered back five steps before he could steady his stance.
"Miss Yang, not bad at all."
"Pure Yang Transformation!"
With an inner roar, Yi Chen's body suddenly grew taller, his muscles abruptly swelled even more, covering him like armor, his heart beating more fiercely, pumping tremendous energy throughout his body, his Pure Yang Inner Qi burning even more intensely.
This was the first time he had gone all out since reaching the Strength-Breaking Realm.
He stomped on the ground with a single foot, and a ring of deep purple Qi spread out from him, stirring the surrounding grass and rocks into the air.