It look a long time for Lin Mu to wake up from the trance that long, yet short, memory left him in.
He looked around the room and found that Di Xiu had closed the album and placed it back where it was. He was embracing the fruit, pressing his head against it, immersed in the little yellow light.
It seemed like he had no intention of using this fruit to heal himself.
Lin Mu didn’t bother his father. He didn’t know what happened after that peaceful and sweet moment in the memory, but comparing the vibrant and bright beauty in that memory just now with his mother who always spoke gently and peacefully, who carried some pain with her, Lin Mu felt that what happened must have been very bad.
He got up and quietly left the room.
Lin Mu closed the door, and Di Xiu, who was lying on the black fruit in his embrace nudged it slightly. The night breeze blew in from the window, bringing with the sound of a cry.
The room he prepared for his father probably wouldn’t work.
Lin Mu really didn’t expect that Dad would come back home in such a shape. It would be a little too lonely to leave him alone in his mother’s bedroom.
After all, just the size of the bed alone was enough for the little wooden man to run around in circles and exercise.
Thinking about it, Lin Mu walked downstairs and wondered what he needed to prepare for his father.
As a result, as soon as he went downstairs, he saw Milky lying in a dog bed, and a white, tender and plump ginseng pressed under his paw.
The Ginseng laid under his paws and pretended to be dead. Even the bunch of red ginseng seeds on his head had drooped down, looking extremely pitiful.
Milky laid there, with his head down, and occasionally nudged the drooping Ginseng.
Lin Mu looked closely, and realised that the drooping Ginseng was Lin Ginseng, the little tattletale.
It was probably because he had noticed Lin Mu’s arrival, so the Ginseng that was pretending to be dead suddenly struggled, and whined, “Lin Mu, Lin Mu! Milky’s bad! Milky bullied me.”
Milky raised his head and looked at Lin Mu, and his paws didn’t loosen at all.
Lin Mu looked at the little Ginseng, then looked at the well-behaved Milky; Yan Xuanjing. And under their gaze, he lifted his feet and mercilessly stepped over the struggling little Ginseng and turned towards the storeroom to search for something.
Let the little tattletale and Milky harm each other.
What did their fight have to do with him, this innocent little sapling that always unintentionally got involved?
Lin Mu thought so, and started rummaging for tools. He took out a lot of tools and some graphite pens, then went to the yard to turn on the lights.
The entire small courtyard turned as bright as day.
Lin Mu picked up some scraps from the pile of building materials in the yard, and prepared to make a small bed for his father.
He knew woodworking, and the one who had taught him was his mother.
The first work that they had collaborated on was the swing in the yard. Over the years, apart from the paint coming off and the rope breaking twice, it was still going strong.
From the perspective of ordinary people, his mother was indeed an extremely awesome person.
It was as if she could do anything — and if she met something she didn’t know how to, she would go online to learn, and after, she would know how to do it.
It’s just that Lin Mu was a precocious little child, and after seeing his mother work hard once or twice, he took the initiative to learn. Afterwards, his mother handed over all the things that had to be done at home to him.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Thinking about it this way, his mother had never shown any unusual reactions when his mind and strength were very different from other children.
Vtf rffwfv ab ajxf jii bo la obg ugjcafv, jcv tlr wbatfg fnfc jikjsr qgjlrfv tlw.
Pc Olc Ze’r wfwbglfr, tlr wbatfg jikjsr ilxfv ab mjii tlw ‘Zew’r Olaaif Oemxs Vajg’, jcv batfg rlwlijg clmxcjwfr.
Pc atf qjra, Olc Ze tjv cfnfg ofia atja tf kjr tlr wbatfg’r iemxs rajg. Po tf kjr tlr wbatfg’r iemxs rajg, atfc tlr wbatfg kbeivc’a tjnf ojiifc lii joafg ulnlcu ylgat ab tlw. Rba bcis vlv rtf yfmbwf kfjxfg, yea tfg iluta jirb fzalcuelrtfv jr rtf gfaegcfv ab atf ijcv.
After seeing that memory, he probably understood some parts.
It’s just that Lin Mu couldn’t really understand his mother’s feelings.
— She obviously could have chosen not to give birth to him.
Lin Mu looked down and drew a line on the wood, took a deep breath, then picked up a saw to follow along that line.
Yan Xuanjing walked into the yard with a struggling little Ginseng in his mouth, glanced at Lin Mu who was working hard, and figured that he probably couldn’t help with this. So, he simply laid on the steps, maneuvered the ginseng, and silently accompanied the busy half-monster under the night light.
For non-humans like them, it wouldn’t be an issue to not sleep for a couple of days. .
Lin Mu made a smaller version of the big bed in his mother’s room, covered it with paint, and left it to dry in a cool and ventilated place.
He placed his tools down , took off his gloves and went into the house again to get a new set of items. Then, he placed it on the doorstep and sat down beside Milky.
Yan Xuanjing thought that Lin Mu wouldn’t come out after he had entered the house. When he saw that Lin Mu had sat down beside him, he turned his head, a little surprised.
Lin Mu took out a needle and felt Yan Xuanjing’s gaze on him. He turned to look at him.
“What’s the matter?”
Yan Xuanjing pushed away the little Ginseng, watched as he ran away into the ground, then turned to look at the big bag of fur that Lin Mu had brought out.
These were all combed from him before.
The nine-tailed fox pondered for a moment, and asked, “do you still need more fur?”
“No need.” Lin Mu shook his head, took a few lumps of fur out of the bag and combed them. Then, as if he had thought of something, he asked, “when you lose fur like this, do you lose hair in human form?”
Yan Xuanjing replied quite simply, “no.”
“Oh, that’s good.” Lin Mu said.
It seemed that most human males would show their bright foreheads when they turned middle age.
But that didn’t matter, he was no longer a human; he’s a half-monster.
He probably didn’t need to worry about balding anymore.
Lin Mu raised his hand to touch his hair; the little seedling had popped up when he hadn’t noticed.
“What are you doing? Not accompanying Elder Di Xiu?” Yan Xuanjing asked.
“It’s better for him to be alone now, I’ll make a blanket for my father first.” Lin Mu replied as he combed the hairs neatly, folded them up, and placed them on the workmat before starting to poke with a needle.
Yan Xuanjing listened to the scattered sounds, and didn’t have much interest in such handicrafts. He gave a lazy yawn, bathed in the moon essence beside the little Relaxed Emperor and closed his eyes. Just as he was planning to take a nap, he heard Lin Mu’s voice again.
Lin Mu asked, “do you think my mother can be found?”
Yan Xuanjing heard his words, opened his eyes and looked at Lin Mu.
“I heard from Da Hei that even before the first seven days are over, human beings have already completed the process of trial and reincarnation. Because the netherworld government is very busy, the efficiency is extremely high.” Lin Mu said, sighed, then answered his own question as he muttered, “my mother…… probably isn’t coming back.”
Yan Xuanjing didn’t say anything, silently giving an answer.
Reincarnation, for such matters, even monsters and humans who had attained immortality wouldn’t be able to get involved.
The efficiency of the netherworld had always been the highest amongst the different words. Especially as the population increased, the netherworld below became more and more unemotional, and it purely followed according to absolute rules.
Just like the matter of Di Wu’s karma. In the past, when the population was lower, the Judge of the Netherworld, the one in charge of the trials would hear the grievances of the dead, would appropriately reduce the punishment for those who were ignorant, and record it against the instigators.
But now, there wasn’t any time.
If someone wanted to get involved in reincarnation, they would have to do what Da Hei did. Just after the person left, when their body was still warm, follow them into the underworld and meddle in the matter. But Da Hei also paid a price for this, and the punishments in hell weren’t some simple stuff that could be just talked about.
Mountains of knives, seas of fire, baths of boiling oil; all of these were literal expressions.
Ghosts who had already been sent to hell, or sent into reincarnation, couldn’t be retrieved. Otherwise, the entire world would become extremely chaotic.
Lin Mu looked at the silent Yan Xuanjing and pursed his lips. He knew that the little bit of hope in his heart was dead. He breathed out a sigh, and became silent.
They couldn’t chase after those who had left.
Yan Xuanjing looked at him, sat up and turned into his human form, rolled up his sleeves and took a few balls of his own fur, and said, “teach me?”
Lin Mu looked up at Yan Xuanjing.
Yan Xuanjing seemed to look better under the lights at night.
Lin Mu gave a slight snort, pulled out some new fur, and started to teach Yan Xuanjing how to make felt.
Although this fox spirit’s brain circuit seemed to go straight from head to toe without even knowing that a turn was, but he was undoubtedly very intelligent.
Yan Xuanjing quickly became adept at this simple manual work, and the two sat face to face across a small table, and made felt amidst the rustling sounds.
Lin Mu was silent for a long while, then the needle in his hand paused for two seconds, and he asked, “do you know why my father came to Central Plains?”
Yan Xuanjing had heard this from Yan Gui, so he gave a brief reply, “he wanted to come out and have a look by himself. The spiritual energy of the Central Plains had faded, the humans became weaker, and they decided that he would return every thirty years. If he didn’t return, then his friends would come out to look for him, so my father and the rest didn’t stop him.”
Lin Mu muttered, “but monsters didn’t seem to like being close to human beings, so why did my father……”
“Because Elder Di Xiu hadn’t left the valley for thousands of years,” Yan Xuanjing said.
And those monsters who had always been with Di Xiu all these time didn’t have any temper. As when the were around him, the power of a Relaxed Emperor made things very peaceful.
Even Yan Gui would hold back a lot, let alone those little monsters that Di Xiu would meet after he arrived in the Central Plains, that couldn’t resist the power of a Relaxed Emperor at all.
For Di Xiu, Lin Mu’s mother should be the equivalent of a stone suddenly falling into a calm lake, breaking the calm and stirring the first ripples.
The feeling of a cage being suddenly broken, with a sudden sense of openness. It was enough for a monster who had lived a peaceful life for thousands of years to give up something willingly.
It’s just that Di Xiu was raised in an extremely simple manner, and directly delivered his true heart out.
Fortunately, he didn’t deliver it to the wrong person.
It was such a pity that the ending wasn’t as beautiful.
Lin Mu’s life experience was still very short, and couldn’t really understand these emotions very well. After knowing the reason behind what was written in the record in the reference room, about Yan Gui and the rest blocking the news of the valley, the last doubts in his mind were resolved.
He felt relieved.
And was happy that his father had such friends.
Lin Mu thought about what Yan Xuanjing had said about him not having any money, and turned to find a card from the box.
That was the card that Di Wu had given him. Before, when Di Wu had threatened him by saying that he would come and find him in the middle of the night if he didn’t spend any, he didn’t take it to heart.
— He wasn’t frightened, not to mention there was the Morning Dusk.
So until now, Lin Mu hadn’t touched a single cent on the card.
However, since Yan Gui had given Di Wu so much spiritual medication before, Lin Mu felt that it was right to give Di Wu’s money to Yan Gui’s son.
After all, judging from the time that Yan Xuanjing changed into Milky and stayed at his place, the poor nine-tailed fox probably didn’t have anywhere to stay.
Lin Mu gave the card to Yan Xuanjing, “this is Di Wu’s card, there’s no password. I’m not clear about how much money there is inside, but if there’s anything that you want to buy, just swipe it.”
As for Lin Mu, he had his own money.
Yan Xuanjing didn’t refuse, and he simply accepted the card.
Great monsters of their rank and status had no concept about money, as even less about politeness.
Yan Xuanjing looked down at the felt that had been made into a twisted shape by him, looked at Lin Mu’s felt which was arranged neatly and beautifully and was even getting it’s second layer of felt. He thought for a bit, placed down the needle in his hand and went out holding the card.
Lin Mu watched him walk out of the yard, and after a while, he took back his gaze and continued to poke at the felt.
In the room upstairs, Di Xiu, who had jumped down the table holding the fruit, was planning to go and find his son. He looked up at the round door handle, then at his two smooth wooden arms that didn’t have hands, and couldn’t help but start to think.
The translator has this to add:
“Mountains of knives, seas of fire, baths of boiling oil.”
Click here for slight explanation about Chinese folk underworld + the tortures for sinners, for folks who are interested
Diyu (地狱) is the realm of the dead or underworld in Chinese mythology. Typically depicted with various levels and chambers, where the souls are taken to specific chambers depending on the sins they committed when they were alive. Exact number of levels or chambers different from source to source.
The sins committed by the person when they were alive will influence the punishments they receive. Hurt animals? Get trampled to death by oxen/other animals. Death (although they’re already dead) isn’t a release here. Their souls would be restored to its original form, and the process will repeat until the soul is purified for reincarnation. Then, they’ll head to the River of Forgetfulness and drink Meng Po’s soup and hop their way into a new body (human or animal, depends on the sins and karma they accumulated).
The three tortures mentioned above are: Mountains of knives, seas of fire, and baths of boiling oil.
Mountain of knives means forcing the sinner to climb across mountains made of out of sharp blades, stabbing into them with each step. Baths of boiling oil will be used to cook a person alive, or dead, in this case. Seas (or mountain, or pit, depending on the source) of fire is literal. The souls are thrown in to suffer the pain of being burnt… alive (?). Some versions include flowing lava instead of fire.
Hm hm, I wonder what Milky is gonna go buy! 🧐
Also, poor Di Xiu 😭 That man has got no thumbs whatsoever
Thanks for the chapter!!
Using your sons boyfriends hair as a blanket, very usual indeed 🗿🗿🗿
Tysm for the new chapters ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
ooo thanks for including more info on the underworld!! …those are some brutal punishments;;