Chapter 494
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Chapter 494: The Lost Princess
In Qingyang City, it was raining.
The blue rainwater was made of Bi Fang’s fire, but it had a different nature.
From life to death, from light to darkness.
The flickering dark fire, like fireflies, showered down like rain, turning the burning city into ash.
Nalan Qingshu walked at a steady pace for ten miles on the road.
When ordinary demons entered, it would quickly alert the restless spirits. The undead spirits would embrace them with resentment and give them a fiery embrace, turning them into their own kind or reducing them to a handful of sand on the ground.
The drifting dark fire was the same. Even a powerful demon would be burned, losing a layer of skin upon contact. As she walked through it, Nalan Qingshu’s body ignited with a layer of blue Bi Fang fire. With each step closer to the city, she could feel a stronger presence of death and resentment.
The realm of the undead was once her home.
I spent the first ten years of my life in this city.
Nalan Qingshu is actually older than she looks. She is already eighteen years old.
She kept growing like a normal person until she was fourteen. But when her magical powers awakened, she was forced to revert back to being a little girl.
Physically, she is still a young girl, far from being an adult. But mentally, she is already a grown-up. She can make decisions on her own and take responsibility for her own life.
As part of her mother’s final wish, she brought her ashes to Qingyang City.
Nalan Jinghuai’s last wish was for his ashes to be scattered outside of Qingyang City.
She told a lie.
Nalan Jinghuai never allowed her to enter the city because she knew very well that the hundreds of thousands of demons in Qingyang City could not be dealt with by her alone. Even the royal court or the nobles together would find it difficult to send these souls to rest and erase their traces.
Nalan Qingshu insisted on going into the city because it was her own wish.
Holding a cold urn of ashes in her hands, there was a blue and white porcelain made in the Jiangnan kiln.
Nalan Jinghuai was a woman from Jiangnan who should have been in the misty Jiangnan, where she would have met a handsome man, sewn her own wedding gown, and lived a peaceful life in a small house.
But she floated to this distant place, married Bi Fang, gave birth to a daughter, and became a wise assistant to the lords of the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom.
Each generation of the Zongheng family had their own reasons for venturing into the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom.
Yuan Tianjian sought revenge and used his knowledge and skills, just like a dragon returning to the sea and a tiger returning to the mountains.
Wang Ran held deep hatred, despising the demon race, wishing to wipe them out completely. Even though he knew that his personal hatred should not be transferred onto the entire race, he still followed this path relentlessly.
Nalan Jinghuai was different. In the vast Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom, hardly anyone knew why she came here. Was it to claim the title of the first female Ghost Valley Master?
If she truly had that thought, she shouldn’t have married or had a daughter. She should have focused all her energy on developing her own abilities.
The comment Yuan Tianjian gave Nalan Jinghuai was "too smart for her own good". She had fragile health from birth, destined to have a short life. She wasn’t someone who fought for power and shouldn’t have come to this place, let alone learn the skills of manipulation.
Nalan Qingshu once heard her mother say some things, but they were not profound truths, they were just trivial matters.
Now looking back, the reason why Nalan Mirror decided to go to the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom was among these occasional memories of the past.
Mother longed for the Jiangnan to be her hometown, a place not harsh and cold, a place where her hidden illness wouldn’t flare up in the winter. Jiangnan always had a bit of snow, but it was a pleasant light snow, not like the bitter cold of the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom in the north, where a gust of wind could send chills to the bones.
Nalan Qingshu’s ears seemed to hear her mother’s nostalgic words once again.
Mother, who always enforced strict discipline, only revealed a bit of tenderness at times like this, willing to tell her about scenery she had never seen before, traditions she had never known. Is it an expectation for her to carry on, or simply a desire for her not to forget her own inner Jiangnan?
And this tenderness had disappeared completely after the country fell apart.
She walked past the broken city gates and looked at this once bustling main road. She had a deeper understanding of the words her mother had spoken, and gained a more profound understanding of the unfamiliar yet familiar Nalan Mirror.
She had this dream or fantasy.
Once upon a time, in the water towns of Jiangnan, the boatmen rowed past, passing through bridge arches. On the bridge, a girl carrying a sachet met a young lord walking through the misty rain with an umbrella. Their faces reflected the beauty of the peach blossoms.
Maybe what Mother misses isn’t just the beauty of the southern region, but also the people and experiences she had there, along with those wonderful memories.
As for whether it’s true or false, she isn’t sure, she just holds on to such fantasies.
Mother doesn’t seem like a power-seeker at all. The techniques she learned were mostly about maintaining balance rather than seeking personal gain by breaking that balance.
But would a smart person like Mother really come to a turbulent country thousands of miles away and devote a lifetime for just one encounter and one heart-pounding moment?
The life of an ordinary woman usually revolves around household chores and raising children, but Mother did so much more in her life, even though she had less than ten years.
In the past, Nalan Qingshu didn’t believe.
But she couldn’t help but make this conjecture, because there was a living example right in front of her. There was a fool from the Ming Country who gave up wealth and glory, tumbling in the mire of the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom, being used and deceived.
And it’s not just him who’s laughable.
Chao Lu is also laughable, as it can’t follow its true desires and leave behind home and country, nor can it sacrifice love and hate for the sake of the nation… It’s a contradiction.
Of course, the most funny is myself.
"Restore the country… " She reached out her hand and touched the warm stone that had been burned and charred. When she touched it lightly, it crumbled away. "Only thinking about restoring the country, but even if the country is restored, where is my home?"
She remembered the team that seemed close but was actually distant, let out a soft sigh, and then chuckled lightly.
Actually, the days spent with them were easy, even though there were some noise and restlessness along the way.
As she got to know them better, she discovered that everyone had hidden thoughts, and it wasn’t as simple as it seemed on the surface. Even the ordinary little snake girl who only ate and slept would occasionally say something surprising, and then pretend to be innocent and clueless.
Well, it doesn’t matter anymore… because the deepest thing hidden is still myself.
Always talking about restoring the country, enough to make one tired of hearing it. After pretending for several years, I almost believed it too.
No matter who sees themselves as the only flag, hope, or even faith, after mother passed away, there was no one to share this pressure. I have to pretend and act smart enough, otherwise, not only will I not be able to maintain my own position, I won’t even have control over life and death. I can only brave it and continue the story, and push forward with the plan.
As for the success rate… I originally thought it wouldn’t exceed thirty percent, but now there’s actually a sixty to seventy percent chance.
Unexpected things kept happening, and at this moment, she realized she could let go.
The plan has already started, and the successor has been found. Nalan Qingshu doesn’t care about the final result anymore.
Failure is either bad luck or fate.
If the restoration of the nation succeeds, then what? What can be done?
Her country has already been destroyed, and she is different from Princess Bai Ze. She has truly lost her country, and what has been lost cannot be rebuilt to its former glory.
She stood at the main road and saw the broken palace shining brightly in the rain of fire. When she looked back, she saw the once prosperous capital city.
Its former grandeur is just as impressive as the May 1st Square.
But those familiar and recognizable things have already gone up in smoke.
They have long been forever left here, as well as in the memories of the past.
She didn’t wish for the country to be restored, it was the people who hadn’t lost everything who longed for it. She could respond to their expectations, but she never wanted to be bound by this wish, becoming a symbol or puppet. So she wanted to break free, just like at this moment.
Nalan Qingshu walked on the warm bricks, heading towards the deepest part amidst the flickering shadows.
Her expression showed childlike joy and ease, finally not needing to pretend anymore in this place.
"I’m back."
"Mother, we have arrived home."
"Father is also here, we can be reunited."
On the palace wall, the ethereal creature Bi Fang spread its wings, blocking the moon and stars, just like a father embracing their child.
…
Ten miles away, with a snap of Bai Wei’s fingers, a grain of sand disappeared into the rain of fire, "Now I understand why she dared to face death."