"Sister Lexuan, can the fruits on the tree be eaten? Pick one for me."
"Okay."
The scene shattered.
"Sister Lexuan, you are so beautiful. Will you marry me when I grow up?"
"Okay..."
The scene shattered.
"Sister Lexuan, I'm tired of walking."
"Sister will carry you."
The scene shattered again—
"Sister Lexuan, I'm hungry."
"Sister will make something delicious for you."
The scene smashed into pieces!
"Sister Lexuan..."
...
Everything was an illusion, an out-and-out lie.
Zhang Lexuan smiled self-deprecatingly. She was already dead anyway.
After layers of scenes shattered, Zhang Lexuan only felt that she had arrived at a gloomy place. Only endless darkness remained here; there was nothing else.
Is this the world after death? It turns out that after people die, there is no so-called heaven or hell, nor is there the Bridge of Helplessness or Meng Po's Soup.
Zhang Lexuan walked alone, walking...
She didn't know how long she had been walking aimlessly. Only boundless darkness remained here, and there seemed to be nothing ahead.
She didn't know where she would go next, sometimes stepping forward, sometimes stopping to rest.
Just as her consciousness was gradually becoming numb, she quietly discovered that not far ahead in the dark space, a firelight could be faintly seen.
Someone is here?
Zhang Lexuan immediately spread her feet and ran forward. As she ran, she suddenly found that her body was constantly shrinking, returning to her appearance as a child.
What is going on? Could it be that she would turn into a baby and be reincarnated?
Just as her imagination ran wild, the firelight grew closer, and there seemed to be a figure sitting in front of a bonfire.
Seeming to sense someone approaching, that person slowly turned around. The bright firelight illuminated the side of the person's face.
Zhang Lexuan suddenly stopped, the expression on her face abruptly freezing.
Once, in countless midnight dreams that tugged at her soul, she would inevitably dream of this person, wearing a kind smile, slowly opening her arms to her—
"Lexuan?"
"Mom—"
Zhang Lexuan suddenly felt a sourness in her nose and immediately burst into loud crying, calling out that long-lost title. She could no longer control the emotions suppressed deep in her heart for so long, stumbling towards her mother who had long passed away, and threw herself fiercely into that long-lost embrace.
She had finally returned to her mother's embrace, crying bitterly, tears streaming down.
"Mom, Lexuan misses you so much..." Zhang Lexuan seemed to have returned to her childhood, acting coquettishly in her mother's arms, greedily breathing in the scent of her mother's body.
In this world, what is warmer than a mother's embrace?
After more than twenty years, she saw her mother again. Is there anything happier than this?
At this moment, Zhang Lexuan finally confirmed her death. Only by dying could she see her deceased mother again.
Fortunately, their mother and daughter were reunited.
"Lexuan, how have you been all these years?" Zhang Lexuan's mother gently stroked her daughter's long hair with her hand, just like all mothers in the world, caring about whether her child was doing well.
"Mom, Lexuan's life has been so bitter—" Zhang Lexuan choked with sobs. She gripped her mother's clothes tightly, afraid that her mother would leave her again.
"Lexuan, don't cry. Come, tell Mom about your experiences over the years..." Mother Zhang's voice was very gentle, as if soothing all the grievances her daughter had suffered over the years.
"Mom... I, I found the murderers from back then, and successfully took revenge on them..." Zhang Lexuan's body twitched as she narrated how those nobles hired the Tang Sect to massacre their family.
"Lexuan was found and saved by people from Shrek Academy... Back then, in order to get revenge, Lexuan agreed... to be the child bride of the great-grandson of the person in power at Shrek Academy at that time, the contemporary Sea God Pavilion Master, Dragon God Douluo Mu En..."
"But, but... Beibei actually fell in love with the Sect Master of the declined Tang Sect, Tang Ya, and no longer hovered around me... Later, that Tang Ya became an evil soul master and disappeared. I hardened my heart and decided to go out to help him find her, and thereby learned the truth of that year..."
"My poor daughter..." Mother Zhang patted Zhang Lexuan's back with pity, trying to calm her mood down.
Zhang Lexuan's eyes were red, her small mouth puckered, and she cried out loudly again. Outside, she was the respected eldest senior sister of the inner courtyard, and she had to learn to pretend to be strong. But in front of her own mother, she was still that little girl from back then, who would seek her mother to cry and complain when she felt wronged.
"Then do you still like that Mu Beibei?" Mother Zhang hugged her daughter tightly and asked softly.
"He doesn't want Lexuan, and Lexuan doesn't want him either!" Zhang Lexuan was like a sulking girl. If the little friends who used to be close to her didn't play with her anymore, she would absolutely not debase herself to go look for them again.
"He is the great-grandson of the generation's Ultimate Douluo, Dragon God Douluo Mu En. His talent should be very good, right?" Mother Zhang tried to joke.
"Bah, he is far worse compared to Huo Yuhao!" Zhang Lexuan couldn't help but think of Huo Yuhao's achievements. Making a slight comparison between the two, the result was obvious. She immediately said with disdain.
"Oh, is this Huo Yuhao that amazing? That Mu Beibei is several years older than him, his cultivation time should be longer." Mother Zhang asked with a half-smile.
"Tch, comparing him with Huo Yuhao is an insult to Huo Yuhao. Huo Yuhao swept the continent before he was fifteen, punching the Sea God Pavilion and stepping on Shrek! At that age, Beibei was still a preparatory team member for the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament." Zhang Lexuan didn't see her mother's expression and spoke to herself.
"Since my family's Lexuan is so outstanding, why not make another choice?" Mother Zhang touched Zhang Lexuan's small face and smiled dotingly.
"Mom, what are you saying? Huo Yuhao is so much younger than me... And he has so many girls around him, he's very much a playboy..." Zhang Lexuan's pretty face blushed, seeming to recall a certain blood oath, and she acted coquettishly.
"Silly girl..." Mother Zhang smiled, cupping her daughter's face, "Since you have let go of the past, why not boldly examine your own heart?"
"But..." Zhang Lexuan was stunned. Looking at her mother's kind smile, she simply couldn't deny her own heart.
Perhaps, during their time together, she had gradually gotten used to that guy Huo Yuhao arranging troops and formations, gotten used to that guy's unruly and untamed nature, gotten used to...
When did her mindset start to change?
Was it after that ruthless blood oath? Or during that short one year of getting along?
Huo Yuhao was too outstanding, so outstanding that she didn't even dare to face her own heart.
She always felt that she, Zhang Lexuan, was just a woman abandoned by Beibei, just an avenger who used her lifelong happiness as a bargaining chip to negotiate with Huo Yuhao...
Now she was dead, and she would never see that guy Huo Yuhao and those partners again.
Those people were all so distinctly characterized one by one. They didn't have the so-called glory of an academy or sect. Everyone seemed to live only for themselves, gathered together because of various friendships, accompanying Huo Yuhao to act wildly...
That night in the Dragon Realm, everyone gathered around the bonfire, holding a grand banquet. Everyone frolicked, sang, and danced...
Zhang Lexuan suddenly became somewhat dejected.
"Lexuan, you shouldn't be here. Go back." Mother Zhang suddenly grabbed Zhang Lexuan's shoulders, making her stand up straight.
"Mom?" Zhang Lexuan opened her beautiful eyes wide, not understanding.
"Return to the world that belongs to you. There, you have your partners, and the kid Huo whom you care about." Mother Zhang patted her shoulder and smiled.
"No, Mom, I want to stay with..."
"Mom is already completely satisfied to be able to see you again. Mom only hopes that you live well, live a good life..." The corners of Mother Zhang's eyes were somewhat glittering, but she never gave up encouraging her daughter.
Zhang Lexuan only felt a daze before her eyes. Her mother's figure gradually faded, leaving only that kind smile and the blessings for her.
"Lexuan, you must live well, live out your wonderful life. You came to this world too early—"
"Lexuan, thank you, thank you for being my daughter—"
"Lexuan, live on for Mom—"
The darkness finally collapsed with a loud crash at a certain moment.
"Mom... goodbye, thank you."