Chapter 606: Chapter 552: Merits Offset Demerits_2

Sparse and scattered leaves snipped the moonlight into countless fine specks of light.

Ning Feiyan perceived the hatred in the woman’s eyes through that faint glow.

A hint of helplessness seemed to fleet across the depths of her eyes, gone in an instant, “I never believed that all I did stemmed from resentment. Mother said it was your partiality that twisted me with jealousy.

But I knew jealousy and resentment were irrational. You and father owed me the grace of birth and the affection of adoption, even if you viewed me as ominous, yet you kept me till today. This affection has always lingered in my heart.”

“I said I would not harm my own kin without cause.”

“People incline towards evil, inherently selfish,” Ning Feiyan said indifferently, “If not for that Yan Family boy provoking me, how could it have come to this?”

Her gaze swept towards Ning Guiying, void of any humor, “When grandfather entrusted me with the Demon Poison Stone, father knew and treated all our captured kin. Why then, did he uniquely forget me?”

Ning Guiying’s pupils suddenly contracted in shock, staring at her bewildered and inarticulate, “You mean… you mean…”

Ning Feiyan calmly stated, “Bearing the Poison Stone, how could I remain unscathed? You can never imagine how agonizing those days were for me.”

Her tone was placid, indifferent, yet her lifted gaze was profoundly intense.

“Blood bones burning, tendons painfully snapping, these were still bearable. The true despair was my fear to touch a single drop of water, to eat a morsel of food, for the reckless consequences would have burned me from within, making life worse than death.”

“But Mother, you…”

Ning Feiyan paused slightly, her eyes curving, yet devoid of any smile, “The pancake you gave me that night was indeed delicious.”

The human heart is not made of iron, even Mrs. Ning couldn’t help but widen her eyes, lost for words.

Ning Feiyan composed her expression, then continued, “Father, you were right. I grew up in the Southern Wilderness, learned how to protect myself, not afraid of pain or wounds. But that doesn’t mean I lack temper.

If not for that Yan Family boy trying to strangle me by the well, how would he have come into contact with my blood, contract the Demon Poison? As the host of the Poison Stone, my symptoms were naturally different from others.”

“When he bullied me, his family and elders coldly watched as if watching him slaughter an animal. Father, you blame me for harming our kin, but how could you know? It was our kin who first harmed me.

I merely followed their example, watching coldly and silently as the Demon Poison ravaged his body, spreading fiercely, eventually sealed by their own selfish and vile actions for fear of contamination.

Thus when the Demon Emperor emerged, nobody cared about those confined, and those who had wronged me were trapped with no escape, perished in a sea of fire. Wasn’t that a fate they brought upon themselves?”

Ning Feiyan sighed, “In father’s eyes, their deaths were heart-wrenching, but in my eyes, just like their past intentions, they were no better than domestic beasts or stray dogs, unworthy of anyone’s rage. Doesn’t this prove I am more promising than that worthless bunch?”

Under Ning Feiyan’s straightforward words, she cleared herself completely.

More terrifyingly, Ning Guiying’s stance began to waver, looking at her hesitantly, “But ultimately, the Beiyuan Forest was destroyed, our clan suffered heavily, and our Enchanting Demon clan won’t rise again easily. What you did was still too much…”

“Too much?” Ning Feiyan’s eyebrows slightly raised, she spread her palm, immediately revealing a Great Emperor’s tusk and two gemstone-like red beads.

Seeing this, Ning Guiying was instantly shocked, stumbling forward two steps, looking longingly at the objects in her hand, “This is really… this is really…”

Ning Feiyan said indifferently, “The Great Emperor’s tusk, and the Water God’s Divine Origin.”

“Sealed within the tusk was a thousand five hundred years of the Great Emperor’s cultivation. Before entering the Si He Royal Hall, I had already assimilated five hundred years of cultivation. As for this Divine Origin, isn’t it the very thing father always desired? The Water God’s Divine Origin was a holy object bestowed by the Immortal Venerable to the Emperor.

Back then, our whole clan of Enchanting Demons emerged, and only then did we manage to extract it from the Emperor’s body, blessing the Wanling Forest. However, later it was devoured by the sealed air of the Demon Emperor.

He found no use for the Divine Origin, yet demanded our clan annually sacrifice a thousand Enchanting Demons in exchange for his Divine Origin Power. On the eve of his emergence, I exchanged the lives of those hundred thousand domestic beasts and stray dogs for this object. Father, do you still think I was wrong?”

Ning Guiying had never thought the Enchanting Demon clan could completely control the legendary Divine Origin Power, how could this not thrill him.

Not to mention a hundred thousand Enchanting Demons, initially, to heal the Emperor, their ancestors had sacrificed three hundred thousand of their kinfolk’s vital essence, all for a chance at a future.

He could barely control his emotions, “Very good, very good! My dear daughter, you did this very thoughtfully.”

His face wildly excited, he even rushed to Mrs. Ning’s side, struck her to the ground with a palm, angrily scolding, “As a mother, to turn a weapon against your own child, what kind of example are you setting?”

The shift in situation made Mrs. Ning fumblingly put away the Longbow.

In Ning Feiyan’s memory, Ning Guiying had always been a composed and dignified man, yet today he lost his composure as much as any common ruffian.

Indeed, in the face of real benefits, everyone’s true nature is just so.

Since born in this crucible of a world, why bother to forsake this hypocrisy and seek a fleeting truth?

Ning Feiyan smiled indifferently, today she realized, the forest that raised her was such an uninteresting place.