The White Moonlight Disdained by the Male Protagonist of Redemption - Chapter 19.2

Jie Zhongyi had seen Ran Qing heartbroken before. He never wanted to see his own child suffer like that.

Tu Manxing laughed loudly.
“Old man, you worry too much! Yao Yao doesn’t even have a heart—how could it break?”

She said, “Yao Yao was born when Master was going through the most painful and emotional time. Her ‘heartless’ divine bloodline is even purer than Tangtang’s. She was born without strong feelings for love or romance. If she has no heart, how can it break?”

“You care so much about Yao Yao, but maybe you should worry more about the other two. Don’t be fooled—Chuxiao keeps saying he’ll never fall in love, and Ning Yuzhu acts like no one is good enough for him. But actually, those two are the emotional ones.”

But it’s not the same… Jie Zhongyi stayed quiet.

Tu Manxing kept trying to comfort him.
“Really, Great Grandmaster, you have to believe me. You’re just too soft-hearted, that’s why you don’t get how ‘heartless’ people think. I mean, I don’t have that divine bloodline, but I think I’m a lot like Tangtang and Yao Yao. So I understand them, kind of.”

“For example—you, you’re super emotional. Something like this happens, and to you it’s the end of the world:
‘Oh nooo, I got killed… He forgot me… I’m sooo sad, boo hoo hoo…’”
She snapped her fingers.
“Wake up! That’s you. Yao Yao only cares about ascending. That’s all. I promise you, she will never get all mushy and emotional. But if she does…”

Tu Manxing laughed twice.
“Well then, I don’t care if he’s a god or not. I’ll kill any man who messes with my junior sister but has no future with her. Then I’ll tell her, ‘Forget it. He’s dead. Pick someone else.’ Easy!”

Jie Zhongyi didn’t know what to say. His heart was all over the place.
Sometimes, he wondered… Why were the kids he raised all so weird?
Maybe he wasn’t a very good teacher after all.

He covered his face with both hands.
“Alright, alright, alright… Was this what you came here to tell me?”

Tu Manxing replied, “No, actually I just remembered something. The reason I came back.”

“I was out having fun, and then I noticed something strange. That’s why I returned.”

“What was it?”

“Recently, someone suddenly rose to fame. A genius named Wan Dongze. He used to be just a pampered servant of the Fengxie Dao Sect. But somehow, his cultivation level shot up really fast. A few days before I came back, he passed the heavenly tribulation and ascended.”

Jie Zhongyi knew of Wan Dongze. Ning Yao had mentioned him before. She said he was weird—very strange.
He didn’t expect Wan Dongze to ascend so soon.

Tu Manxing went on,
“What’s strange is—after he ascended, he didn’t go to the god realm. Instead, he stayed in Fengxie Dao Sect. A bunch of people who admire him are calling themselves his ‘divine envoys.’ He even brought several sects together for a secret meeting. He said he wants to take revenge for his wife.”

Jie Zhongyi asked,
“Who is his wife?”

Tu Manxing replied,
“Surprisingly, it’s Murong Lianzhen.”

“And the one he wants to get revenge on?”

“Sadly… it’s our Mountain Lord.”

Jie Zhongyi let out a cold laugh.
He understood now. This guy was coming for them—and pretending it was justice.

“What else do you know?”

“Not much more. Just some silly rumors. Like how Yao Yao was jealous of his wife’s beauty and cruelly killed her or something… All nonsense. Not worth listening to. Too stupid.”

“Oh right,” she added, sitting up straighter.
“I also heard—they’ve found a helper. Someone from the Xuanwu Clan. Apparently, this person committed some huge crime and got kicked out. His name is Yuwen Hui.”

Jie Zhongyi’s face grew serious.
“The Xuanwu family… That’s a strong enemy.”

Tu Manxing didn’t agree.
“Oh come on. Who takes someone named ‘Hui’ seriously? (‘Hui’ means weak or ‘noob’ in slang.)”

Jie Zhongyi gave her a long look and sighed.
“I really don’t get you. Something this big, and you didn’t say anything the moment you got home?”

Tu Manxing looked innocent.
“I mean, I was going to, but then that awkward moment happened when I walked in… and I just totally forgot.”

Why did she have to flirt with every man she met? Jie Zhongyi was about to scold her again, but just then—

There was a soft knock at the door.

A quiet voice came from outside.

“Senior Jie… may I come in?”

It was Feng Jingzhuo.

“Come in,” Jie Zhongyi answered, then waved at Tu Manxing. “You can leave now. You’re annoying. I don’t feel like talking to you anymore.”

Tu Manxing didn’t care. She strolled out lazily, but when she opened the door and saw Feng Jingzhuo, she froze.

“Jingzhuo… why do you look so pale?”

Jie Zhongyi was clearing things off his desk, trying to hide them in less noticeable spots. When he heard her, he quickly threw a cloth over everything and rushed over.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Feng Jingzhuo looked very pale.
“Senior Jie, I want to tell you something.”

***

Ning Yao pulled out an old red robe—her parents’ wedding clothes.

She had never seen them before, only heard about them. This was the only red outfit in her father’s belongings, so it had to be the one.

But now that she saw it… it wasn’t fancy at all. Just two plain red outfits, stitched with lucky patterns to look festive.

The red wasn’t bright anymore. Time had faded it into something old and worn.

Her father died when she was still very young. She didn’t understand much back then—but she was never a silly child. She was the smart, quiet type.

Her eldest sister used to coax her:
“Mom and Dad really loved each other. Mom didn’t want to kill Dad because she couldn’t bear to.”

But Ning Yao would answer, “No, big sis. She didn’t kill him because she didn’t feel like it.”

Her sister would laugh, like talking to a child. “That’s not true. Mom loved Dad very much.”

Ning Yao would sigh, worried for her sister.
“Big sis, I know the truth is a little sad. But you should accept it. Mom didn’t love Dad at all.”

“…Well, whatever,” her sister would say. “Their relationship was okay. Just… okay.”

Their parents were nothing alike.
Her father was deeply emotional, but her mother was distant and cold.

Ning Yao never saw her father cry, or even look sad.
He would always ask her about her studies, play with her, and comfort her when she missed her mom. He used to tell her: “Your mother is a goddess, with divine duties in the heavens. That’s why she can’t be with us often.”

But in the end, he died from sadness. He didn’t say anything—but by then, his eyesight had already started to fail.

Ning Yao gently smoothed the wrinkles in the robe. She tried to imagine what her parents looked like when they wore it.

She couldn’t picture her mother—she had never seen her.

But her father? He had the face of a noble gentleman. In bright red like this, he must’ve looked so elegant and handsome.

She missed him again.

Ning Yao folded the clothes and set them aside. Then she walked into the small ancestral room behind her house.

The real ancestral tablets for past Mountain Lords were kept far away, deep in the mountain. But that was too far for two young girls. So when they were little, she and her sister secretly set up a small tablet for their father in a corner of their room and made it into a tiny shrine.

She knelt down in front of her father, Ning Ranqing’s, tablet and bowed respectfully.

Like chatting with family, she said:
“Dad, you must be able to see everything from up there, right? I think… I’m going to be the first person in our Bodhi clan to ascend.”

She smiled, dimples showing.
“I’m really happy. I can keep Great Grandmaster here with us. I can keep all our siblings together too.”

“No matter what kind of life everyone chooses… we’re all gods now. At least no one will ever die again from sadness.”

She softly ran her fingers over the tablet.
“Our Bodhi clan… if there are kids born in the future, they won’t have to go through what I did. And none of our people will suffer like you did.”

Outside, the sunset glowed like bl00d.

The sun was about to set.

Ning Yao turned back, her face serious.
“Dad, I once swore—even though I was born heartless, I would never let anyone suffer because of me.”

“But now… Jingzhuo has cut open his heart and taken out his soul scales to suppress his killing urges—for me. So I broke my word.”

“I won’t let him suffer anymore.”

Her father’s tablet stood quietly, like it was gently watching over her.

Ning Yao bowed three times, carefully cleaned the shrine, then stepped out of the room.