Chapter 211: The Background of the Jiang Sisters
"Huodou... an exotic beast born of ultimate Yang." Sect Leader Mei Fu's voice trembled slightly, her gaze distant as she recalled the ancient records. "Its hexagram resides in the Li Fire. It swallows flames and breathes pure destruction. Wherever it treads, the earth is scorched, and everything is reduced to fine, white ash."
She let out a heavy, ragged sigh, her shoulders slumping under the weight of the sect's history. "Every single strike from Huodou carries the [Power of Ultimate Yang]. If a martial artist is even grazed by its flames, the fiery poison seeps into their meridians. I fear it is an affliction that remains impossible to heal for the rest of one's natural life."
Rovel slowly rubbed his chin, his mind racing as he pieced the puzzle together. The Honkai beast factor spliced into Red Kite's DNA was [Garuda], and its core element was also [Fire]. Could it be that Huodou's [Power of Ultimate Yang] possessed the exact properties needed to suppress the [Garuda] genes lying dormant inside Red Kite's body?
If Red Kite took a direct hit from Huodou to save Su Mei, Rovel thought, his eyes narrowing slightly, the [Power of Ultimate Yang] would have embedded itself deep within her system. That would forcefully throttle her strength and cause her combat power to plummet. Is that the real reason the battle on the mountain was so bitterly difficult?
He furrowed his brows. Speculation could only take him so far. Ultimately, only Su Mei and Red Kite knew the exact sequence of events that had unfolded on Wang Mountain.
"How could such a terrifying, world-ending monster exist on Wang Mountain in the first place?" Rovel pressed, his tone sharp and unyielding. "And more... what exactly is your relationship with Yan Shiluo?"
Mei Fu flinched. Her eyes darted away, refusing to meet his gaze. "...This is a private matter. It is not convenient for me to disclose."
Rovel didn't miss a beat. "You once gave birth to twin daughters, didn't you?"
The color instantly drained from Mei Fu's face. She shot up from her chair, her elegant composure shattering into a million pieces. She whipped her head around in a blind panic, scanning the empty hall to ensure no wandering disciples lurked near the doors.
"How could you possibly know about this?!"
Shock and fury warred on her aging features. This was her deepest, darkest secret. She was the dignified, untouchable Sect Leader of the Lotus Sect. The mere rumor of her bearing the offspring of a man who had fallen into devilry—it was an absurdity that threatened to destroy everything she had built.
"So it really is like this..." Rovel murmured, a frown creasing his forehead. It all clicked into place. No wonder Jiang Wanru, despite diligently practicing Taixu Sword Qi, would inexplicably suffer from Honkai Energy erosion in the future.
Taixu Sword Qi did not cultivate traditional True Qi. Under normal circumstances, suffering from Qi Deviation was practically impossible for its practitioners.
But if she was the biological daughter of Yan Shiluo—a literal Pseudo-Herrscher—then her inherent susceptibility to Honkai Energy made perfect sense.
Yet, a few glaring holes remained in the timeline. Why did the two girls eventually become the [Saintesses] of the [Holy Fire Cult]? Why did they carry a completely different surname?
, neither Jiang Wanxi nor Jiang Wanru had any idea who their true parents were.
"You've seen those two wretched girls!" Mei Fu's expression twisted into something frantic, her breathing turning shallow as she instantly connected the dots.
Yan Shiluo would never breathe a word of this to outsiders. Despite being universally feared as the [Cult Master of the Demonic Sect], the man possessed a bizarre, twisted sense of pride regarding his own reputation.
"Impossible... That's absolutely impossible! I clearly abandoned them deep in the frozen snowfields. How could two helpless infants have survived?!"
Her legs gave out, and she collapsed back into her chair. "Sister, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
Mei Fu clutched her head, her voice cracking as she alternated between bitter weeping and hollow, breathless laughter. The dignified sect leader now looked like nothing more than a raving madwoman.
Rovel remained perfectly silent, offering neither comfort nor judgment. He simply waited.
After a long, agonizing while, Mei Fu slumped onto the cold stone floor and finally confessed everything that had transpired a decade ago.
The twin infants were never hers. They were the flesh and blood of her younger sister, Mei Qianqian, and the demonic cult master, Yan Shiluo.
Ten years ago, Mei Qianqian had stood beside Mei Fu as a prime candidate to inherit the Lotus Sect's leadership. Although she was seven years younger, Qianqian possessed a terrifyingly high aptitude for martial arts, eventually surpassing even her older sister. She was the undisputed favorite to take the mantle of Sect Leader.
Mei Fu had never harbored an ounce of envy toward her. On the contrary, she had felt nothing but fierce pride for her sister's brilliant talent.
However, fate played a cruel hand.
A decade prior, the greatest heroes of the Jianghu had gathered at the Lotus Assembly to forge an alliance and draft a master plan to eradicate the Demonic Sect. Unbeknownst to them, Yan Shiluo had disguised himself and infiltrated the grand gathering. On the very day the assembly commenced, he shed his disguise and systematically crushed the sect leaders of Shaolin, Lotus, and Huashan in single combat. He set the sacred Jade Lotus Platform ablaze and vanished into the wind with a booming, arrogant laugh.
That overwhelming display of power, that dashing arrogance—it had planted a dangerous, intoxicating seed deep within Mei Qianqian's heart.
"If only I had noticed the signs earlier... perhaps the tragedy that followed could have been averted," Mei Fu whispered, her fingernails digging into her palms until they bled.
Mei Qianqian, sheltered and entirely ignorant of the complexities of romance, had fallen madly in love with the enemy. Under the guise of descending the mountain for worldly experience, she had secretly rendezvoused with Yan Shiluo. Their forbidden romance blossomed in the shadows, eventually leading to her carrying his children.
By the time Mei Fu finally tracked her sister down, Qianqian was heavily pregnant and mere days away from giving birth.
The reality of the situation was a death sentence. If the Jianghu discovered that the future leader of the Lotus Sect had willingly laid with the demonic cult master, she wouldn't just lose her succession rights—the righteous sects would hunt her down and execute her without mercy.
Mei Fu couldn't comprehend her sister's foolishness, but she absolutely refused to let Qianqian die for it.
So, on a bitter, howling snowy night, Mei Fu made a ruthless choice. She stole the newborn twins from her sleeping sister and abandoned them in the desolate snowfields, leaving them to the mercy of the elements.
When Mei Qianqian woke and discovered her babies missing, she rushed out into the blizzard in a desperate frenzy. Weakened from childbirth and blinded by the storm, she slipped and plummeted into a deep, jagged valley.
She died alone in the freezing dark.
When their master, the former Sect Leader, learned of the horrific chain of events, the shock proved too much. Her old, lingering internal injuries—inflicted by Yan Shiluo during the Lotus Assembly—flared up violently. She vomited a mouthful of black blood and passed away that very night.
Amidst the ashes of her family, Mei Fu officially ascended as the Sect Leader of the Lotus Sect.
She had lost her beloved sister. She had lost her revered master. And every single tragedy traced back to one man: Yan Shiluo.
What made the pill even harder to swallow was the bitter truth that Yan Shiluo had never truly loved Mei Qianqian. To him, the naive, talented girl was nothing more than a fleeting amusement.
Kneeling before her master's grave, Mei Fu had sworn a blood oath to personally sever Yan Shiluo's head and avenge her fallen family.
As Rovel listened, the missing pieces of the puzzle fell into place. The abandoned infants, Jiang Wanxi and Jiang Wanru, must have been miraculously rescued by passing travelers. After years of wandering the unforgiving Jianghu, fate had ironically guided them back to their biological father's side, where they were raised as the [Saintesses] of the [Holy Fire Cult].
Which meant...
Rovel was the man who had personally slaughtered the father of Jiang Wanxi and Jiang Wanru.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, aggressively massaging his temples. He had only come here looking for clues regarding Su Mei's drastic personality shift. He hadn't expected to unearth the tragic, convoluted origin story of the twin sisters.
And he certainly hadn't expected to realize he was the one who had orphaned them all over again.
Tsk, Rovel thought, his lips twitching in dry amusement despite the grim atmosphere. How the hell did my life turn into such a melodramatic soap opera?
"Wang Mountain..." Mei Fu's hollow voice pulled him back to reality. She stared blankly at the floorboards. "...has been the seal for [Huodou] for who knows how many centuries. The original, sacred purpose behind the founding of our Lotus Sect was precisely to stand guard and prevent Huodou from ever descending upon the mortal world again."
She let out a dry, rattling cough. "And Yan Shiluo... that bastard likely stumbled upon the seal by accident and stole his fire-control techniques directly from Huodou's residual energy."
Having poured out a decade of festering guilt and hatred, Mei Fu looked entirely drained of life.
"...Thank you for your honesty, Sect Leader Mei. I apologize for disturbing your peace."
Rovel offered a crisp, formal bow, cupping his hands respectfully before turning on his heel. Without another word, he stepped out of the grand hall, leaving the Lotus Sect behind.
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