Compared to her calmness, everyone else was excited, each of them holding incense sticks and lining up to offer them to the statue.
Nan Shan stood beside them, watching their eager expressions, unable to resist furrowing her brows.
By the time they got home, it was already dark.
Liu Jinhua had prepared some medicinal food again.
Recently, many people had been sending things to their home, and Nan Shan often got to eat meat.
Her life had improved so much compared to before.
Today was no different.
As soon as she entered the door, she smelled the strong scent of meat, but today’s meat had a strange smell, an indescribable fishy odor that made her feel nauseous.
“You’re back!”
Liu Jinhua greeted her eagerly as soon as she saw her.
Under the moonlight, Nan Shan froze when she saw her pale face and hurriedly reached out to support her.
“Mother, why do you look so pale?”
“Me? Do I?”
Liu Jinhua touched her face, not paying much attention.
“Maybe the wind got to me, feeling a bit uncomfortable. Don’t mind it, come quickly and try the porridge I made for you today.”
“Come quickly, it’s very nourishing,” Liu Jinhua insisted, pulling her into the room and placing a bowl of dark meat porridge before her.
The moment Nan Shan saw it, she felt a wave of disgust, but seeing Liu Jinhua’s expectant gaze, she had no choice but to silently take it.
“Come on, eat,” Liu Jinhua urged, pushing the bowl toward her.
“Eat, it’s a great tonic.”
Nan Shan nodded, and as she brought the bowl to her lips, she suddenly groaned.
“What’s wrong?”
Liu Jinhua quickly asked.
Nan Shan frowned.
“It feels like something’s biting me.”
“Oh no, that can’t be right. Let me get some herbs for you,” Liu Jinhua said as she hurried out of the room.
By the time she returned with the herbs, Nan Shan had already sat down in the main hall, and an empty bowl was sitting on the nearby table.
Liu Jinhua paused for a moment before exclaiming in surprise, “Did you finish it all?”
Nan Shan nodded.
“I finished it all.”
“Such a good daughter of mine,” Liu Jinhua smiled, her pale face showing a grin that made her eyes squint.
“This was a recipe given to me by your uncle. He said it could cure all sorts of ailments and help with your cultivation. If you like it, I’ll make it for you again tomorrow.”
Nan Shan quickly waved her hand.
“No, no, such an effective recipe, one time is enough. Don’t trouble yourself, Mother.”
“A mother giving nourishment to her child—how could that be a trouble?”
Liu Jinhua gave her a playful look.
Looking at her affectionate mother, Nan Shan felt a sense of confusion for the first time.
***
Her own temple had been completed, and people from the surrounding villages came to burn incense and pray for blessings.
Nan Shan had advised them several times, telling them that she wasn’t a deity and couldn’t bless them, but unfortunately, they seemed obsessed, kneeling in the temple every day without rising.
Nan Shan had no choice but to use her spiritual energy to try to grant their wishes as best as she could.
But no matter how hard she tried, her spiritual power was limited, especially since she lacked a spiritual bone.
One noon, she suddenly felt dizzy, and by the time she regained her senses, she realized she desperately needed to rest.
She said goodbye to the eager worshippers and returned home alone.
This was her first time returning home at dawn.
She had intended to rest and talk with her mother, but as soon as she entered the yard, with the exceptional hearing of a cultivator, she could hear Liu Jinhua’s soft groans of pain from the kitchen.
“Just bear with it a little longer, it’ll be over soon,” Sun Jin whispered.
Liu Jinhua gritted her teeth.
“It’s not your flesh being cut, it’s easy for you to say.”
“I’m not refusing to do it, today is the last time. Tomorrow, it’ll be my turn. We’ll work together to strengthen Nan Shan’s body,” Sun Jin said seriously.
Liu Jinhua sighed.
“I hope it’s really useful.”
“It will be. I’ve noticed her face looks much better these days,” Sun Jin replied.
Their conversation sounded strange, and when Liu Jinhua groaned again in pain, Nan Shan couldn’t hold back and rushed into the kitchen, only to witness a scene she would never forget.
Her mother, with her sleeves pulled up to her armpits, had placed her already wounded arm on the chopping board.
Her father was holding a kitchen knife, the blade already plunged into her mother’s arm and slowly twisting to carve out a piece of flesh.
Blood poured out between the meat and the knife tip, flooding the chopping board.
Her mother’s face was as pale as a ghost, but she remained still, though surprised when she saw Nan Shan.
“What are you doing?!”
Nan Shan shouted angrily.
Sun Jin seemed to wake up from a trance and quickly put down the knife.
“Nan Shan, let me explain. It’s not what you think…”
Nan Shan shoved him away with such force that he crashed into the door, falling to the ground and lying there for a long time without moving.
Nan Shan, however, paid him no mind and rushed to her mother, forcing her spiritual power into her to merge the flesh and close the wounds.
Once the bleeding stopped, her mother began to tremble.
“W-Why…?”
“Don’t be scared, Nan Shan. Your mother and father just want to help strengthen your body,” Liu Jinhua said gently, her pale face full of love.
Nan Shan’s eyes filled with anger.
“This is how you help me strengthen my body? Huh? By using your own flesh?!”
Liu Jinhua tried to explain, “This is a… remedy…”
“No more of this in the future,” Nan Shan interrupted firmly.
Liu Jinhua moved her lips, and seeing Nan Shan’s red eyes, she reluctantly nodded.
That night was sleepless.
Nan Shan lay in bed, tossing and turning, constantly thinking of the meat porridge she had secretly discarded during the past few days, and again and again the image of her mother’s arm on the chopping board came to mind.
When she remembered her mother’s sad eyes, something in her heart stirred—a strong sense of guilt, one that almost drove her mad.
…Her father and mother did this because of her.
They were worried about her, and that’s why they came up with such an extreme method.
And she had thrown away the meat porridge.
It was porridge made with her own mother’s flesh, filled with her parents’ love for her, and she had easily thrown it away, letting the porridge, carrying their hopes, soak into the soil.
If she had drunk it, maybe she would have been able to do something for her parents, right?
As soon as this thought crossed her mind, Nan Shan suddenly sat up, all the sleepiness gone in an instant.
A soft sound came from the yard. She sat quietly for a moment, then decided to go out.
Under the moonlight, Sun Jin was bent over, silently smoking his dry tobacco.
Nan Shan quietly walked up to him and sat beside him.
“Father, when did you start smoking this?”
She asked, initiating a conversation.
Sun Jin looked at her silently, his white hair exposed at his temples.
Nan Shan suddenly realized he seemed to have aged quite a bit recently.
“Father…” Nan Shan said with difficulty, “I’m sorry. No matter what, I shouldn’t have pushed you today.”
Sun Jin smiled faintly.
The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes made him look not in his forties, but like he was in his seventies.
“You were just too anxious. How could I blame you?”
He comforted gently.
Nan Shan, feeling like a trapped beast, scratched her head in frustration.
“I really don’t understand. I don’t know how much stronger my body is compared to before. Why are you and Mother so determined to strengthen me?”
Sun Jin didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he took another drag of his dry tobacco and watched the smoke curl up and disappear.
After a long while, he slowly spoke, “Because my Nan Shan is an extraordinary child.”
Nan Shan’s eyes flickered.
“You’re going to do great things, many great things. The people in these ten miles and eight villages are all relying on you to live well. Your mother and I just want to do more for you, so you can do more for them in the future,” Sun Jin said, reaching up to pat her head.
“Do you understand?”
Nan Shan smiled helplessly.
“Father, others might not know, but you should. I’m not some deity, and I can’t do anything big. I can help the villagers, but it won’t be much. They’ll understand soon enough.”
Sun Jin shook his head, only saying, “You can do it. Everyone says you can, so you will.”
Nan Shan suddenly felt a sense of helplessness and didn’t try to explain further.
The incense in the temple was growing stronger, but Nan Shan’s cultivation was rapidly declining. She couldn’t find the cause or come up with a solution.
After failing once again to heal someone, she decided to retreat back home, ignoring the pleas of her parents and others, and refusing to return to the temple.
“I never knew anything to begin with. I only lucked into learning a few spells. Now, there’s almost nothing left of my cultivation. You all should go back to your own homes,” she called out loudly from behind the door.
Outside, there were more people trying to persuade her.
Their voices, coming from all directions, buzzed in her ears like a well-trained ant army, drilling into her mind.
She nearly went mad from the noise and had no choice but to block it out with her spiritual power.
Finally, the world outside became quiet.
Nan Shan sighed deeply and took the best nap she had since returning to the village.
Perhaps it was because she had given up completely.
Initially, people came every day to persuade her, but gradually, fewer and fewer came.
Her parents stopped bringing strange things to help her regain her strength.
Life seemed to return to normal, which made her breathe a sigh of relief, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.
It felt like something was waiting for her.
Her premonition came true one evening after a light rain.
The ground was dark, damp from the rain.
Liu Jin Hua had gone to the trouble of preparing a large banquet of dishes, even more lavish than during the New Year.
Nan Shan was surprised as she looked at the full table of food.
“What’s the occasion? Why so many delicious dishes today?”
Liu Jin Hua looked a little uncomfortable, quickly pulling her to the table.
“It’s not any special day. Can’t I just make some good food for my precious daughter?”
“Thank you, Mother,” Nan Shan smiled, her eyes squinting with joy.
Ever since she stopped going to the temple to save people, their relationship seemed to have returned to what it once was.
However, every now and then, seeing the scars on Liu Jin Hua’s arm, Nan Shan couldn’t help but feel a pang in her heart.
Liu Jin Hua scolded her lightly and piled more food onto her plate.
“Try the lamb, your father bought it early in the morning. Tell me if it’s good.”
“It’s delicious, not a bit gamey,” Nan Shan nodded as she ate.
“Mother, I’ll go look for a job tomorrow. From now on, if you and Father want anything, I’ll buy it for you.”
Liu Jin Hua laughed.
“You’re going to be a god, how can you go out and work?”
“What did you say?”
Nan Shan didn’t hear clearly.
Liu Jin Hua paused.
“I said…”
“Your mother says that you’re our only precious daughter, how could we bear to let you go work?”
Sun Jin came out of the kitchen, holding a large pig’s knuckle.
“Hurry, make some room for this!”
Nan Shan quickly cleared a space on the table, staring at the glistening pig’s knuckle.
“Father, are you planning to eat all this and not do anything else?”
“Don’t talk nonsense, who do you think we made all this food for?”
Sun Jin shot her a look.
Nan Shan couldn’t help but smile foolishly.
“Thank you, Father and Mother.”
“Quick, eat some of the knuckle skin. It’s good for your health.”
Sun Jin added a large piece to her bowl.
“Ugh, too greasy, too greasy!”
Nan Shan complained, but she still obediently finished it all. Since the incident where her mother had used her own flesh to nourish her, Nan Shan had felt a deep sense of guilt towards her parents.
For this reason, she had been doing whatever they asked, except for going back to the temple.
Even though she no longer liked eating these things, she ate them because they made them for her.Her stomach quickly became full, and she not only felt stuffed but also nauseous.
But when she looked at Liu Jin Hua and Sun Jin, they hadn’t touched a single piece.
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