She Was Sentenced to Life Imprisonment [Unlimited] - Chapter 34

Chapter 34: Beauty Porcelain (16)

The End

“Give it to me,” Mother Ci reached out anxiously, her brows furrowed as she looked at the item in Jiang Nan’s hand. She spoke again.

“Those are her ashes.”

The ashes were in a cloth bag, not very large, only about the size of Jiang Nan’s hand.

Jiang Nan wasn’t surprised by Mother Ci’s appearance. She had already guessed that the other person was nearby when the townspeople became terrified and stopped advancing.

She looked at the cloth bag in her hand. Since she had no intention of keeping it, she handed it over.

However, Mother Ci’s outstretched hand was blocked by something, and she couldn’t catch the cloth bag. It fell directly to the ground.

Jiang Nan: …

Jiang Nan thought it was just a shaky hand, so she tried again. The result was still the same—it fell to the ground.

Seeing this, Mother Ci seemed to suddenly understand something. A clap of thunder in the rainy night and a pale flash of light showed the tragic smile on her lips.

“Of course… of course…”

She fell to the ground in despair, still trying to grasp the ashes that were so close, but it was all in vain.

She had waited for over a hundred years. She knew the person’s ashes were at the altar, but she couldn’t get close because of the fire that had created her. Now that they were so close, she still couldn’t touch them.

Jiang Nan squatted down and silently picked up the ashes for her.

“Why? Why do the people here love me so much, yet they can’t tolerate the person who created me with their own hands?”

Her hand grabbed Jiang Nan’s arm, her voice hoarse. Jiang Nan couldn’t give her a perfect answer to her questions.

Because it was Beauty Porcelain. They only loved the Beauty Porcelain.

“The Lin family has been monopolizing Beauty Porcelain for generations. You couldn’t have helped her in that situation, and you shouldn’t blame yourself so much,” Jiang Nan said, comforting her.

As her porcelain, she was powerless and couldn’t even defend her creator.

“They stole me, changed my name, and wanted me to accept them, but I killed them all.”

As if remembering the madness and screams of that night, Mother Ci couldn’t contain her smile. But the expression mixed with pain looked especially strange.

“Do you want this place to completely disappear?”

The porcelain mother grabbed her own hair in agony, laughing maniacally.

“Yes! Why wouldn’t I! They all deserve to die with her!”

Jiang Nan was about to say something else, but someone lightly poked her back.

She turned around in alert and was met with a pale face with a friendly smile.

The person gestured and pointed at “Mother Ci.”

Jiang Nan naturally didn’t understand, but she probably knew that the person wanted her to call out to “Mother Ci.”

“It’s here for you,” Jiang Nan said to “Mother Ci.”

“Mother Ci’s” strange expression froze when she heard her words. She looked up in a daze and, like Jiang Nan, was met with that pale face.

The little mute was much more lucid than Jiang Nan had seen her before, but she could only make “e-e-e” sounds from her throat. Her hands anxiously gestured.

“Mother Ci” recognized her creator the moment she saw her. She didn’t need any more confirmation.

“I saw you today,” she opened her mouth. Countless grievances wanted to come out, but in the end, she could only choke out one sentence.

I saw you today. I’ve never seen you before.

An invisible barrier separated them. A thousand words couldn’t compare to a single look at each other.

The mute person also knew that she couldn’t convey anything through gestures. She looked left and right, then had Jiang Nan hand her the ashes.

Jiang Nan was afraid she wouldn’t be able to hold them like “Mother Ci,” so she placed them in front of her.

The mute person opened the cloth bag in two or three moves and poured the ashes onto the ground.

After all, they were her own ashes, so Jiang Nan didn’t stop her.

The entire ancient town had been turned into porcelain, and even the ground was smooth. The only way to write on it was with a small bag of ashes.

The ashes were just poured out when they were dampened by the rain.

The mute person had already bent down and was concentrating on writing. Jiang Nan walked over with the paper parasol to shield them. When she looked down, the mute person had already finished the first sentence.

[You are beautiful…]

[My most satisfying porcelain piece…]

There were bruises on her hands, and the words she wrote were shaky and difficult to read. But “Mother Ci” looked at them with reddened eyes, confirming every stroke so as not to miss a single one.

The raindrops couldn’t land on her. The weak light from a lantern on the ground fell on her. Her hair was illuminated, making her look like a god who had fallen into a dark alley.

She tilted her head, smiled at Jiang Nan, and then wrote four words on the ground, which were for Jiang Nan. Despite her face being distorted from her last breath, she was still incredibly gentle.

[Thank you.]

Jiang Nan squatted down and said softly.

“It’s nothing.”

After that, the mute person’s gaze fell back on “Mother Ci.” Her eyes were gentle. Her long, lingering gaze was like she was carefully examining her own work, with a hint of guilt. She then began to write again. This time, her words made “Mother Ci” unable to calm down.

[I don’t deserve you to do this.]

Her words were understated, putting herself down, and hoping the other person would let go.

The moment she finished writing, “Mother Ci” looked up and stared at her. She spoke, her voice choked like a child who had suffered many grievances.

“I’m the porcelain you nurtured with your bl00d. You can’t abandon me!” Even if you die, your ashes should be with me.

The mute person had hurt her hands when she was making the porcelain. Her bl00d had melted into the porcelain, and it had gained a spirit from then on.

Seeing her state, the mute person was visibly flustered. She wasn’t good at comforting people. She could only shake her head frantically, trying to explain that she didn’t mean to abandon her.

Jiang Nan was afraid she would shake her head off, so she reached out to stop her.

The mute person’s hand was cold, making Jiang Nan, who was so afraid of the cold, flinch her fingers, but she didn’t let go.

“Do you hate this place?” Jiang Nan asked her.

Hearing that, her eyes dimmed for a moment, then filled with a smile again. She wrote on the ground stroke by stroke.

[I don’t hate this place, but you all need to leave.]

She was overly kind, thinking of others even to her death.

Watching her disappear, Jiang Nan silently put the wet ashes back into the cloth bag. She said to the distraught “Mother Ci.”

“Wait. They won’t live through tonight.”

In the small courtyard, the door was wide open. The sound of a heated argument came from inside.

When Luo Ning came back, she didn’t take the normal path. She lightly leaped onto the roof, watching their every move below.

In front of the huge kiln, someone had opened it. The sparks from the burning flames singed a person’s skin, changing their expression. But more than that, it was the suffocating feeling of being threatened by the person behind them.

“Li, let’s talk this out.”

Yi Fei hid the darkness in his eyes and smiled ingratiatingly at the person behind him.

But Li Feng was no longer so easy to fool. The cold arm around the other person’s neck tightened even more, and his expression was malicious.

“Don’t lie to me. I already heard you.”

The piece of porcelain in his hand was held against Yi Fei’s carotid artery. The sharp edge sliced his skin, making it bleed.

The stinging pain made Yi Fei, who always thought he was in control, panic. But he didn’t dare to struggle. He could only say in a weak voice.

“I can find a way to restore you. I can also let you clear the dungeon.”

“No need,” Li Feng said with a sinister smile. He continued.

“I’m not an idiot. I’ll make good use of your ashes.”

With that, he dragged Yi Fei and tried to throw him into the kiln.

The scorching heat made Yi Fei unable to stay calm. He stammered and begged for mercy.

“Don’t, don’t…”

Looking at his terrified state, Li Feng felt a sense of relief. But a sound from the sky startled them both.

[Player Shi Hui has violated the first law and is now declared dead.]

Shi Hui was dead…

Yi Fei regained his composure first. His survival instincts gave him a burst of strength from somewhere. He broke free from the other person’s grasp. When the other person came to his senses and tried to grab him again, Yi Fei panicked and pushed him into the kiln.

The flames instantly devoured the person who had fallen in. Under the scorching heat, a sharp scream pierced the sky. Yi Fei listened to the sound, his face pale, gasping for breath, unable to calm his fear.

When he had recovered slightly, he looked at the figure struggling in the kiln. The sparks landed on his body, and the pain made him bare his teeth.

“Bah, who do you think you are?! Still trying to threaten me!”

Shi Hui’s death made Yi Fei have no time to think about anything else. He turned to go somewhere else, but he didn’t know someone was standing behind him.

A vengeful spirit in red…

He only saw the red clothes. In horror, he took out a talisman and threw it at the other person, landing it squarely on their face.

Luo Ning smirked and reached up to take the talisman off her head.

“I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed. I’m not a ghost.”

As her words fell, the talisman ignited in her hand, turning to ashes.

Yi Fei came to his senses and saw it was Luo Ning. He was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but unsure of how much she had seen, he could only step forward and force a flattering smile.

“So it was…”

Before he could finish, a stone under his foot startled him again. This time, he wasn’t so lucky and fell straight backward.

He saw that he was about to fall into the kiln. A vicious look flashed in his eyes as he looked at the woman in front of him. He reached out, trying to pull her in with him.

But before he could get a hold of her, Luo Ning’s kick hastened his fall.

“Scheming against me? You’re a little too slow,” she said with a smile.

Li Feng inside was in a porcelain state, so his death was slow. When he saw that the liar Yi Fei had also come in, he immediately began to fight him, not letting him escape until he was burned to death.

[Player Yi Fei, declared dead.]

[Player Li Feng, declared dead.]

As the two system announcements fell, a person entered the gate.

Under the pouring rain, the paper parasol couldn’t completely keep a person from getting wet. When Luo Ning looked over, she saw the other person’s wet dress.

The smile in Luo Ning’s eyes deepened as she walked toward the other person.

“Little Jiang Nan.”

She still called her that, smiling affectionately.

Jiang Nan held the soaking wet cloth bag in her hand. She shook the water off, accidentally shaking it onto the approaching Luo Ning.

“What happened to them?” Jiang Nan looked at the kiln and asked Luo Ning.

Luo Ning frowned and said as if it had nothing to do with her.

“You wouldn’t believe it. They were arguing so fiercely just now, and then they started fighting and just fell in. I’m not sure, but they probably wanted to perish together.”

Jiang Nan naturally didn’t have the mood to care about the two people who had just died. She looked at the item in her hand and said.

“Call it out.”

Luo Ning followed Jiang Nan’s gaze. After looking at the cloth bag for a moment, she understood the other person’s intention. But she didn’t do as Jiang Nan said. Instead, she took the cloth bag, her smile bright and radiant.

“I’ll do it. It won’t come out.”

Even if Luo Ning could control ghosts, that one couldn’t appear to make porcelain at this moment.

“You…”

Her hand was empty. Jiang Nan looked at the other person with some hesitation, but she was dazzled by her smile. The next second, her eyes were filled with doubt.

How could a non-professional make a Beauty Porcelain that the townspeople would be convinced of?

Luo Ning didn’t care about Jiang Nan’s doubt. She just led the other person to the pottery room. After taking out a coat and putting it on her, she said with a soft laugh next to her ear.

“All I need is one look to learn.”

She might have sounded arrogant, but everything that came next made Jiang Nan completely believe her arrogance.

Luo Ning was like an apprentice with a photographic memory and immense talent. She replicated “Mother Ci’s” steps one by one while incorporating the mute person’s spirit, yet she seemed so meticulous that there wasn’t a single difference.

A cold wind blew by. Jiang Nan pulled the coat around her. Looking at Luo Ning’s movements and demeanor, she felt a chill down her spine. The hand holding her knife unconsciously tightened.

In front of the kiln, the raging fire and screams lingered in their ears, as if aiding in the porcelain’s success and making people uneasy.

When the porcelain was finally fired and pushed out, it made a clear sound like a wind chime in the silent night as the screams disappeared. They knew then that the Beauty Porcelain was a success.

It was a porcelain piece that was exactly the same as the one on the display shelf. If they were placed together, they would be like twin lotuses. This made Jiang Nan understand the purpose of Luo Ning having the mute person come out to make porcelain.

Jiang Nan was silent for a long time. When Luo Ning took the newly fired Beauty Porcelain in her hands, she finally spoke, her emotions unclear.

“Luo Ning, you’re amazing.” So amazing that you don’t seem like a person.

Luo Ning didn’t know if she had heard the hidden meaning in her words. She held her slender index finger to her lips and smiled.

“Only Little Jiang Nan knows my secret.”

Jiang Nan’s expression was complex, but she didn’t dwell on it too much. They finally left the room, taking the two Beauty Porcelain pieces to the altar.

Below the altar, the few shriveled porcelain people from the Lin Manor were already waiting, surrounded by the townspeople, enjoying the treatment of emperors.

The appearance of the two Beauty Porcelain pieces instantly caught their attention. Their stiff faces looked eerie and sinister under the firelight.

“Beauty Porcelain.” The respected old man spoke in a hoarse voice, his eyes greedily fixed on the porcelain in their hands.

They placed both Beauty Porcelain pieces on the edge of the altar so that they could be seen clearly.

The details, which were equally perfect, instantly caused them to argue. They weren’t discussing which one was better, but rather, they were arguing over who made the Beauty Porcelain.

Perhaps the reappearance of the Beauty Porcelain after so many years had driven them to madness again. Even the old man couldn’t calm the situation now.

They chattered and babbled, all wanting to claim it for themselves. It seemed that who had actually made the Beauty Porcelain was no longer important.

“I belong to none of you.”

“Mother Ci” suddenly appeared, standing next to a Beauty Porcelain piece. She looked down at the greedy townspeople and spoke coldly.

However, her words were too indistinct under the crowd’s arguing and the pouring rain. No one was willing to listen, just as the people in the Lin Manor had shamelessly claimed her as their own years ago.

Her eyes filled with bl00d. A terrifying aura spread around her. Her gentle face twisted, and faint cracks appeared on her, making her look even more eerie.

A terrifying pressure descended. The townspeople’s heated argument stopped. As if they had seen something terrifying, they widened their eyes in fear, but there wasn’t a single hint of remorse.

The mute person stood up there. This was the second time she had looked down on these hypocritical people from such a high place. But at this moment, she wanted to comfort the person beside her more. Unfortunately, she couldn’t speak. She could only anxiously reach out and grab the other person’s arm.

She thought she would be blocked as before, but this time, she grabbed her hand without any obstruction.

“Mother Ci” was stunned. She looked at her and didn’t even think the other person’s “e-e-e” sounds were annoying.

After a hundred years, she was once again touching her creator’s hand. Although both of them were incredibly cold, the heart in her chest was so hot it felt like it could burn her.

It was that Beauty Porcelain. They made her one of their own, so they could never be separated.

Jiang Nan glanced at the townspeople. Her gaze fell on their terrified, comical faces, and not a single ripple appeared in her eyes. She raised her hand and said.

“For your vile lies and theft, you should go down and repent.”

Her calm voice, however, was accompanied by a powerful pressure. The air began to flow with an abnormal fluctuation, like a judgment that had rewritten the entire dungeon.

“You did great.” The smile in Luo Ning’s eyes was filled with satisfaction.

As Luo Ning’s words fell, the sound of shattering porcelain rang out from all around them. She grabbed her hand and led her away from the crowd.

Jiang Nan didn’t struggle. As they gradually moved away, she looked back.

The two on top had hugged each other tightly as if they could never be separated. The cracks on their bodies gradually grew larger. Soon, they would become a pile of shattered pieces.

She heard a voice in her ear. It was faint but filled with an uncontrollable joy.

“Escape.”

Luo Ning took her to the bridge where they had first entered the dungeon. The moment their feet stepped onto it, the surrounding buildings collapsed. A blinding white light appeared in front of them and enveloped them. Soon, the touch in Jiang Nan’s hand disappeared. The person beside her also vanished. Before Jiang Nan could feel a sense of loss, the system’s voice came to her ears.

[Warning! An anomaly has occurred in the dungeon…]

The system seemed broken, making “shh shh” sounds from time to time, but thankfully, it soon recovered.

[Congratulations to the player for successfully clearing the dungeon. Your reward will be delivered to you shortly.]