Xiao Tao felt as if her head was being forcibly split open.
She even gained a sudden clarity, realizing that numbness wasn’t the ultimate stage of pain; beyond it lay a pain that was stupefying.
In this stupor, she seemed to see herself as a child, when her father hadn’t disappeared yet, and her mother was still young and beautiful.
The family of three would always travel around the city during holidays, with her father driving and carrying things, her mother preparing various delicious foods, and all she had to do was happily eat and play under her parents’ doting attention.
But who would have thought that these happy days could come to an abrupt end?
Her mother suddenly contracted a disease of rapid aging, which no major hospital could diagnose. For this, her father sold the family’s traditional Chinese medicine clinic and used the money to seek medical treatment everywhere, until he went out one time and never returned.
The life afterwards was like hell.
It was as if she was trapped in a pitch-black whirlpool, struggling to look up, yet unable to catch a glimpse of light, only to be dragged down by the undercurrents below...
Falling asleep seemed not too bad!
Just as this thought flashed through her mind, Wu Jue, sitting by the bed, sensed the person’s inclination to give up on life, his expression suddenly turning solemn.
No, living was exhausting, even more so living without hope; she didn’t want to hold on anymore!
Seeing his voice, even laced with calming tones, was ineffective, Wu Jue gritted his teeth, hurriedly speaking again, "Think of your parents, just find that person hiding behind the scenes, and there’s hope to cure your mother. Right, I haven’t told you yet, your parents’ palace positions are still bright, meaning your father is only missing, not dead. Don’t you want to find your father and have a family reunion?"
"Huff..." It was as if she had finally breathed in fresh air after being drowned for a long while, and Xiao Tao took a deep breath, almost fainting again, but a pat on the back helped her exhale, and she finally caught her breath.
Seeing her , Wu Jue also relaxed a bit, "Finally, she is coming around."
He had never held an innocent person’s life in his hands; this girl almost made him break his vow.
The bedroom door opened, and Shen Yunqing, sitting right across in the living room, lifted his gaze sharply upon hearing the sound.
He first glanced at Xiao Tao, whose face was still terribly pale, then looked towards Wu Jue.
Wu Jue nodded slightly to him, though his brows were furrowed, causing Shen Yunqing’s heart to clench as well.
Xiao Tao emerged from the bedroom to find that night had already fallen.
What she thought hadn’t been long was actually several hours.
"I apologize, Mr. Shen, for keeping you waiting." The rightful source is ɴovelfire.net
"It’s alright, the food just arrived not long ago, let’s eat first."
Xiao Tao truly had no appetite, but she knew full well that her body wouldn’t hold up if she didn’t eat, so she moved to the dining table and forced herself to eat a bowl of rice.
After the meal, the three of them sat in a triangular formation in the living room.
"Apologies," Xiao Tao said once more, "I seem not to have cooperated well with Master Wu Jue."
She had insisted on breaking the hypnosis, yet she became unable to endure halfway through and wanted to give up.
If it weren’t for those words she heard before she completely sank into the darkness, she probably wouldn’t have been able to wake up again.
Wu Jue nodded back at Shen Yunqing’s glance, "The hypnosis couldn’t be completely broken; I only opened a small fissure. Whatever Xiao Tao can remember is purely up to luck."
Seeing the girl showing even more guilt on her face, Shen Yunqing didn’t directly question her; instead, he gently comforted her: "Don’t feel sorry, you’re already very brave."
These words made Xiao Tao’s eyes redden, "Please, Mr. Shen, give me a little time."
Although the hypnosis wasn’t completely successfully broken, now when she tried to think about what happened after Mei Shuiqing took her away, although she still felt a headache, it wasn’t as excruciatingly unbearable as before.
Shen Yunqing nodded to her, "No rush, you can take this and think slowly."
Xiao Tao accepted the embroidered sachet he handed over, sniffing it close to her nose, her mind instantly cleared, "It smells similar to the incense in that burner."
"Yes, it serves a similar purpose. It’s called Soul Calming Incense. You can carry this sachet with you; it might help somewhat."
"Thank you, Mr. Shen." Xiao Tao held the sachet preciously in her hands; whenever her head throbbed unbearably, she brought it up to her nose for a whiff to ease the pain, then continued trying to recall.
"I, I think I remember, Mei Shuiqing wanted to take me because she needed my blood." Fearing she remembered incorrectly, Xiao Tao felt a hint of pain seemingly etched deep in her mind, touching her right wrist with her left hand, "Yes, that’s right, it’s my blood."
She turned over her wrist, stretching it forward, "She slashed my wrist, collecting blood when needed and sealing the wound when not. I don’t know what method she used, but nobody else could see the wound on my wrist. It healed only after she no longer needed my blood and applied medicine on the wound."
As she spoke, Xiao Tao couldn’t help but tremble; the headache took a backseat compared to the fear she recalled from those days following Mei Shuiqing.
A wound, invisible to others and seemingly perpetual, from which she needed to bleed frequently; as the blood filled a container, she could even keenly feel her own life slipping away alongside.
This didn’t last for just a day or two, but for several consecutive days!
Wu Jue: "...I also know how to temporarily seal a wound. As for needing fresh blood frequently..."
His expression turned somewhat grim; utilizing the vivid, youthful blood of a young girl could accomplish much for a mage who reaps benefits at the expense of others, especially one who had recently suffered a backlash.
"She needed to heal."
Xiao Tao and Wu Jue almost simultaneously uttered these four words.
"I accidentally overheard her once, mumbling that my blood wasn’t enough, only capable of suppressing the injuries from the backlash. I was still useful, so I couldn’t die for now. I didn’t know what was still useful about me that prevented me from dying due to drained blood."
Wu Jue, seeing the confusion on Xiao Tao’s face, had a slight look of pity in his eyes, "I know what it is."
Xiao Tao’s eyes lit up, "What is it?"
"But I’ve been hesitant to tell you, worrying that you couldn’t bear it."
Xiao Tao paused upon hearing this, then let out a bitter laugh, "Master Wu Jue, go ahead, I’m already ; what else could I not bear?"
"I’ve seen photographs of you and your mother from the past." Noting the puzzled expression Xiao Tao showed again, he added, "The ones you uploaded to your account a few years back. At that time, the appearances of you and your mother indicated she was blessed with good fortune, benefiting both husband and children, and your Divine Palace was bright, promising a bright future. Your family was meant to live a harmonious and blissful life, happier than most, but that clearly isn’t the case now because your family’s original fate was taken away."