Flirting with the Villain's Mother - Chapter 17

Hearing Shen Su apologize, combined with the scene she had just witnessed, Wei Nanyi surmised that Shen Su must have gained some of Mirror Quilt’s memories along with her power.

Thinking of her deceased friend, Wei Nanyi’s eyes gradually welled up with tears. She gazed silently at Shen Su, unable to speak for a long moment.

Shen Su leaned against the Stone Coffin and slowly sat down on the ground. Her fingertips gently traced the stone floor beneath her feet. The long-abandoned stones, now tinged with gray, instantly darkened, revealing the marks of flowing water.

Her injured hand had completely transformed into flowing water. Drop after drop coalesced, leaving the entire hand glistening with moisture and emitting a faint, luminous glow. A subtle itching sensation spread up her arm.

Shen Su lifted her sleeve to examine it, her gaze momentarily dazed. She suddenly turned to Wei Nanyi. “Madam, do you think I’m a Lake Demon or a fox demon?”

Wei Nanyi was taken aback. She hadn’t expected such a strange question. “Miss Shen, what are you talking about?”

Shen Su raised her hand, allowing Wei Nanyi to better see her fingers dissolving into mist. Under Wei Nanyi’s gaze, she gently lifted her sleeve, revealing fine, soft red hairs growing on her jade-white arm. She tugged at the corners of her lips, forcing a smile. “Madam, you see, my ancestor was a Mirror Lake Demon, but later merged with a fox demon’s body. Logically, I should have some fox demon bloodline too. If I were to transform, would my upper body be flowing water, with a tail and ears… How strange would that be?”

Shen Su was smiling, but Wei Nanyi’s eyes instantly reddened further.

Wei Nanyi sighed deeply and reached out, slowly pulling Shen Su’s sleeve back down. “Miss Shen is a half-demon. It’s unlikely she’ll fully transform into a demon form. And no matter what changes her body undergoes, Miss Shen will always remain Miss Shen.”

Unlike Mirror Quilt, Wei Nanyi couldn’t read minds, but she was keenly observant. She sensed the unease hidden beneath Shen Su’s smile.

Indeed, Shen Su was skilled at maintaining her composure. Yet accepting one’s body transforming into a monster was a daunting prospect—a struggle Wei Nanyi could empathize with.

Shen Su lowered her gaze. Although Wei Nanyi had assured her she wouldn’t fully transform into a demon, Shen Su could feel her body gradually becoming damp.

Her skin felt clammy, as if it might melt away at any moment, yet patches of fox fur were beginning to sprout across her skin.

Shen Su disliked this sensation, but she felt a deeper empathy for Wei Nanyi’s predicament.

Finally, she lifted her eyes. In her clear pupils, she saw Wei Nanyi’s face etched with concern. She couldn’t help but ask, “Madam, will you despise me?”

Wei Nanyi replied swiftly, “Never.”

Shen Su had known the answer even as she asked.

Wei Nanyi was a kind-hearted person, exceptionally soft-hearted. How could she bear to abandon a pitiful creature being forced into demonic transformation?

A flicker of light returned to Shen Su’s downcast eyes. “Then, Madam, please let me accompany you. I must repay you for my ancestor’s sake.”

“Miss Shen, you are you, and Miss Guiyan is Miss Guiyan.”

Wei Nanyi, determined to conceal the truth, had no intention of revealing her past connection with Shen Su’s ancestor. She wanted Shen Su to remain simply Shen Su, and their interactions to be purely between them.

Shen Su would always be her benefactor, while she would remain only a fleeting traveler in Shen Su’s life.

The deceased within the Stone Coffin had long since turned to ash, and all karmic debts should have been settled.

Shen Su gazed silently at Wei Nanyi’s tear-glazed eyes. Her voice softened as she said, “This is an ancestral decree etched into my bloodline. Madam wouldn’t want me to bear the stigma of filial impiety, would she?”

Shen Su had never liked having her fate dictated, but the restriction Mirror Quilt had placed within her bloodline did give her an additional reason to follow Wei Nanyi.

As expected, the mention of filial impiety made Wei Nanyi hesitate.

She finally relented. “I’ll have to ask Xu’er.”

Though Jiang Xu was mad, irrational, and extreme, he still listened to Wei Nanyi. If she set her mind to it, she would find a way to persuade him.

Shen Su’s lips curved into a smile, and even the worries brought on by her body’s strange transformation seemed to fade slightly.

She reached out to steady herself against the Stone Coffin as she tried to stand. But her legs, which should have straightened, felt as weak as water, utterly unable to support her weight.

Lifting her skirt, Shen Su saw that her calves, usually slender and straight beneath her trousers, were now marked by damp patches. The fabric even bore faint ripples, as if something were trembling beneath it.

Her eyelashes trembled, her breath hitched, and a suffocating panic gripped her chest.

Before Shen Su could speak, Wei Nanyi gently tugged her skirt hem, drawing her back. “Miss Shen,” she murmured softly, “you’ve absorbed Miss Guiyan’s power. These reactions are perfectly normal.”

Shen Su desperately wanted Wei Nanyi to lift her pant leg, touch the skin that was dissolving into water, feel the dampness beneath, and then ask, “Madam, are you truly certain this is normal?”

But Wei Nanyi’s unwavering certainty made it impossible for Shen Su to voice her doubts.

Now completely immobilized, Shen Su found it unbearable to constantly dwell on her body’s transformation. She focused all her attention on Wei Nanyi, watching her grieve for her, watching delicate tears cling to her soft eyelashes.

She’s too good, Shen Su thought, so good she can empathize with my pain.

And we’ve only known each other for such a short time.

Shen Su took a deep breath before finally asking the question that had been tormenting her: “Madam, have you truly never resented my ancestors?”

Wei Nanyi: “Are you referring to the soul exchange, Miss Shen?”

Shen Su: “Yes.”

The tears in Wei Nanyi’s eyes trembled slightly, like pale moonlight in the cold night. “Soul-swapping sounds dangerous, but I wasn’t harmed that time. Miss Guiyan, on the other hand, suffered a severe backlash. How could I blame her? Master always said that as the Eldest Senior Sister of the Sect, I must not only be strong myself but also protect the disciples under my care and earn the respect of my Junior Brothers and Sisters. Miss Guiyan’s words also held some truth. Since we opened the mountain to demons and invited them into the sect, yet failed to provide cultivation techniques from the Heavenly Tome suitable for their practice, it was indeed unfair.”

From what she said, Shen Yinxue seemed to be a good person as well.

Wei Nanyi’s kindness and magnanimity stemmed partly from her own nature and partly from Shen Yinxue’s teachings.

However, in this Xianxia Tragic Novel, being too kind was hardly a virtue. If Wei Nanyi had been more cunning, with her strength, she would never have ended up in her current predicament.

The Purple Transformation Jade Condensation Art was likely Wei Nanyi’s attempt to create fairness for Mirror Quilt, but Mirror Quilt never had the chance to see it. In the story, the technique instead became a cheat for the male lead, Jiang An, a testament to his supposed innate talent.

Possessing two Nascent Souls, the Path of Ruthlessness, and the Purple Transformation Jade Condensation Art, Jiang An rightfully became the First Elder of Approaching Immortals Mountain in the later chapters.

Wait a minute… After Jiang An became the First Elder, what happened to Jiang Ruiping, the strongest Elder of her generation?!