Chapter 275: Buried in the Serpent’s Maw
This chapter is translated and hosted on BCatranslation.
The towering Nine-Headed Serpent, with its grotesque forms, suddenly lowered its massive heads.
A foul stench filled the air as thick saliva dripped onto Lu Jing Yao’s body, sizzling upon contact.
The beast’s gluttonous eyes gleamed with hunger as it fixated on her, as if savoring a feast yet to be devoured.
“A mere child, yet you dare to lie?” Nan Mu Bai sneered.
With a casual flick of his wrist, he scattered a handful of copper coins, their metallic clinks echoing across the stone pavement.
A chill crept over Lu Jing Yao’s heart. Instinctively, she took a step back, hiding behind Madam Pei.
“How amusing. Had I not been patrolling today, you would have continued growing in power. A two-year-old’s body—yet within it lurks the soul of an adult.”
“What kind of abomination is this?” Nan Mu Bai’s words sent Lu Yuan Ze’s gaze snapping toward her.
“Y-you mean… she has an adult’s soul?” Lu Yuan Ze stared at Lu Jing Yao in horror.
“Father, I am not a monster. I am Jing Yao!” Fear gripped her heart.
Her reincarnation had always been her greatest advantage. How could this man see through her so easily?
“A demon! She’s a demon! No wonder our Lu Clan has been in constant turmoil, no wonder we’ve stumbled at every turn—it was all because of you!”
“She’s a monster! Kill her! Kill the demon!!” Lu Yuan Ze suddenly roared.
His gaze, once filled with affection, was now warped with fear and disgust.
Even Madam Pei shuddered violently, her grip on Lu Jing Yao’s hand loosening.
The moment she recoiled, Lu Jing Yao’s skin prickled with icy dread.
Madam Pei had always known her daughter was different. But under the assumption that Master Shi Kong had deemed her a noble child, she had accepted it. Now, knowing that an unknown soul resided in that tiny body, nausea churned within her. She gagged.
“Mother!” Lu Jing Yao stared at Madam Pei’s retreating figure in shock.
“Don’t call me that! Who knows how old you truly are?! What have you done to my daughter?! Where is my child?!”
Madam Pei staggered backward, horror evident in her wide eyes.
Lu Jing Yao’s eyes welled with tears, her nails digging into her palms. “I am your daughter, Mother.”
A tremor ran through Madam Pei.
Once, she had entertained the thought that Jing Yao’s intelligence meant she was a celestial spirit. But now, knowing the truth—that she was but a wandering ghost—she felt only terror.
“You are not! You stole my daughter’s life! You are a demon!”
The city gate was lined with onlookers. Murmurs and gasps rippled through the crowd.
“Heavens! Lord Lu’s daughter is a monster!”
“She may look like a child, but inside, she’s a wandering ghost! A jinx, no wonder the Marquis Zhongyong’s Manor fell into ruin!”
The onlookers whispered among themselves, their fear of the Nine-Headed Serpent momentarily forgotten.
Nan Mu Bai frowned, puzzled.
He had been away from North Zhao for only a few years, yet its people had grown strangely bold.
They feared not even a Nine-Headed Serpent?
Among the four great nations—Southern Kingdom, North Zhao, Eastern Ling, and Western Yue—North Zhao’s people had always been the most cowardly.
Once, when an envoy from Southern Kingdom rode into North Zhao on a Golden Qilin Beast, the entire nation had fallen to its knees, groveling in terror. Even their emperor had trembled before them.
Yet now…
Nan Mu Bai glanced at the city wall, where countless heads peeked out in curiosity.
As he turned his gaze, his eyes landed on a chubby little girl sitting by the riverbank.
She had her milk bottle cradled in her hands, her twin buns slightly askew. Her big round eyes blinked as she watched him, utterly unperturbed.
When she realized she had been noticed, she grinned foolishly, drool glistening on her lips.
She seemed… rather dim-witted.
Meanwhile, Lu Jing Yao’s smile had long since vanished. Her face turned cold as she locked eyes with Madam Pei, making the woman shudder.
“Who are you pretending for? You think yourself innocent?”
“You knowingly became a concubine, despite him having a wife. You even took her money to plot against her! What right do you have to fear me?! I fought for your favor! I schemed for you! You can fear anyone—but not me!!” Lu Jing Yao’s voice was sharp and crazed.
“Fool! Hopeless fool!”
“Curse my wretched fate, to be born as your daughter!” Her expression twisted further, the contrast between her childish face and her venomous glare sending chills through those who witnessed it.
Even Lu Yuan Xi, who had always disliked his younger sister, was shaken.
Though he rarely interacted with her, he had always felt an inexplicable unease around her. Now, he understood why.
Lu Jing Yao turned to Nan Mu Bai, eyes gleaming madly. “You’re Southern Kingdom’s royalty, aren’t you? I am an otherworldly soul… Take me in, and I will aid you in conquering the Four Nations! With my knowledge of five thousand years—”
Before she could finish, Nan Mu Bai’s eyes flashed cold.
The Nine-Headed Serpent’s central head, adorned with a sinister horn, opened its maw wide, revealing dagger-like fangs.
Saliva dripped from its fangs, sizzling upon contact with the earth, corroding deep holes in the stone.
The Lu Clan members scrambled back in terror.
Fear seized Lu Jing Yao’s heart. “I possess knowledge spanning millennia! Do not kill me, I—”
The beast’s fangs sank into her tiny form, piercing her effortlessly.
Her eyes widened in disbelief as she stared down at her impaled body.
[No… I was chosen by fate. How… How could it end like this?]
Blood bubbled from her lips. And in that fleeting moment, memories not her own surged forth.
Memories of Lu Chao Chao—of her being drowned at birth.
Of herself being taken in by Madam Xu, pampered and beloved as her dearest daughter.
Of Lu Yan Shu crippled, forced to drink filth by his former betrothed. Of her other brothers’ tragic deaths.
Of how she had betrayed the Xu Clan, exposing their treason, ensuring their total annihilation.
Of how her mother had gloriously entered Marquis Zhongyong’s Manor, basking in prestige.
Of a Dragon-Patterned Pendant, gifted by Madam Xu, which she had unknowingly blood-bound, triggering an upheaval of heaven and earth.
Of how, because of that, the Southern Kingdom’s Emperor had acknowledged her as kin.
“No… No… something’s wrong…” she murmured weakly.
Nan Mu Bai chuckled. “You dared impersonate Southern Royalty? Laughable.”
“Our royal bloodline is divine, chosen by the gods themselves. A mere wandering spirit like you? Unworthy.”
“A few copper coins and a money pouch, and you thought you could claim royal lineage? Absurd!”
“Besides… if you truly were of our bloodline, your fate would be far worse.” His laughter was laced with cruel amusement.
A flicker of realization dawned in Lu Jing Yao’s dying eyes.
[They weren’t acknowledging me… they were hunting me!]
She turned toward Lu Chao Chao, barely able to lift a trembling finger.
“She…”
“She… might be—”
Before the words could leave her lips, the Nine-Headed Serpent’s jaws snapped shut, grinding her to dust.
Not a single bone remained.
Nan Mu Bai followed her gaze—to where Lu Chao Chao sat, still nursing her milk bottle.