Witch God Abyss (Lily) - Chapter 20

Right, struggling under Shen Yuan’s grip, choked out, “Fourth Aunt.”

Shen Yuan saw the thin woman followed by Xiaofu, Xiaoxi, and a dozen short-robed servants.

“And what deity are you?”

The thin woman, called Fourth Aunt by Right, said, “This old one is the acting head of the Lin family, Fajie.”

Shen Yuan didn’t release Right’s neck.

Right’s face was red, nearly suffocating.

Fajie sighed, stretched out her hand, slowly clenching it in the air toward Shen Yuan.

The stabbing pain in Shen Yuan’s back, already present, surged sharply, leaving her gasping for breath.

She had to let go of Right.

Right collapsed, coughing and panting heavily.

Shen Yuan chanted, sending dozens of water blades at Fajie.

“I knew something was off downstairs. It’s a black shop!”

A water wall rose before Fajie.

As the water blades neared, about to dissolve, they turned to ice blades, piercing through.

But the ice blades froze halfway in an ice wall.

Fajie, calm, said, “What you know, I know. Can we talk properly?”

Shen Yuan, already hungry, had used much energy turning hot water into ice blades.

Fajie was skilled but didn’t attack.

The pain in Shen Yuan’s back worsened.

She released her spell, sat cross-legged to meditate, easing the pain.

Fajie released her spell, scolding Right.

“What did I tell you two?” Though only Right was present, she said “you two.”

Right said, “If we meet the family head and she attacks, we defend ourselves…”

Fajie snapped, “If I came later, were you planning to let her strangle you?”

Right said, “Couldn’t fight back…”

Fajie said, “Useless!”

The pain in Shen Yuan’s back eased.

She opened her eyes, frowning at them.

“Will someone explain what’s going on?”

Fajie, with the dozen servants, knelt on one knee, saluting.

“We welcome the family head.”

Right knelt too. “We welcome the family head.”

Shen Yuan asked, “Family head? What family head are you talking about?”

Fajie said, “I don’t know what that demon Taoist Wen Li told you. Your true identity is Lin Yuan, sixth head of the Xiajiang Lin family.”

Shen Yuan stood.

“I was born and raised in Wubei, the Divine Sect leader’s personal disciple, Shen Yuan! Not your so-called Lin family head. Farewell!”

Fajie raised a hand to stop her.

“Do you have childhood memories?”

Shen Yuan was blank.

Fajie asked, “Then, memories of parents? Siblings? Clan members?”

Shen Yuan’s head throbbed, her back stinging like needles, her face pale.

Right stood quickly, approaching.

“Abuchi sister, is your old injury unhealed? Let me check.”

Shen Yuan glanced at her. Right’s concern seemed genuine.

“You call me sister? How old are you?”

“Twenty-eight.”

Shen Yuan, initially hostile, laughed.

“Which eye sees me as the older sister?!”

“Yes. The family head… you’ve looked fifteen or sixteen for a century. I can’t compare.”

“A century? You’ve got the wrong person.”

Right, anxious, looked to Fajie.

“Fourth Aunt, say something.”

Fajie stood, the servants rising behind her.

Fajie bowed politely.

“The mansion has prepared food and wine. Would you come and hear me explain?”

Shen Yuan glanced at the sky—still early to gather news, and she was hungry.

“No need for the mansion. Left went to the kitchen, so I’ll eat here. Say what you must here. I have business after eating and will leave. If you stop me again…”

Fajie gestured.

“Upstairs, please. Right, tell the kitchen to make more meat dishes.”

Right ran downstairs.

“Yes.”

Fajie said, “You lot, wait downstairs.”

Fajie led the way, leaving the bath area, climbing stairs.

Unlike the second and third floors of baths, the fourth had tea tables and low couches, separated by screens, a place for rest and tea.

Shen Yuan sat at a tea table by the window.

Fajie said, “Since you only have time for a meal, I’ll be brief.”

Hurried footsteps came up the stairs—Left and Right rushing up.

Fajie said, “Tch, why run? Be steady. Go brew tea.”

Right said, “Yes,” turning to prepare tea.

Left approached Shen Yuan, eyes teary.

“Abuchi sister, you really forgot me?”

Fajie saw four purple-red bruises on Left’s wrist, then glanced at Right’s neck, also marked with four finger prints, scolding, “Useless pair.”

Left held back tears.

“I’ll fetch dew—early spring dew from March this year. I save it every year, sixteen years, sixteen jars, hoping to see Abuchi sister again and brew tea for you.”

Left turned to leave, then paused.

“I had the kitchen make your favorites—fried bamboo shoots and river shrimp. There’s river crab, but it’s not September, so they’re lean. I also…”

Left’s sobs nearly broke through.

Fajie said softly, “Got it. Get the water.”

Fajie looked at Shen Yuan.

“Don’t trouble yourself; the story’s simple, I’ll keep it short. Three hundred years ago, our Xiajiang Lin family was among the top three immortal clans, slaying demons, exorcising ghosts, guarding peace. Sixteen years ago, the then-head, Lin Lanmeng, your mother, received a plea from her friend, the Wuxiang Jian village chief, to subdue a thousand-year tree demon harming the land by consuming people.”

“The head, your mother, took you and thirty-six servants to Wuxiang Jian. The tree demon had two allies—a demon Taoist, Wen Li, and an ink-black mystic leopard, a divine beast sent from heaven, capable of summoning thunder. The village chief’s intelligence was lacking; we didn’t know about the leopard. The thirty-six-person array to subdue the demon couldn’t form, and our servants suffered heavy losses.”

“The tree demon, Taoist, and leopard together shouldn’t have killed your mother, but in the chaos, dodging frequent thunder, you were hit by the Taoist’s palm—right at your vital point, where your back now hurts. Your mother, protecting you, was struck by thunder, shattering her golden core. By the time other clan members arrived, it was too late. You vanished, your mother’s core broken. She held her last breath until I arrived, decreeing you as the next head, saying you were taken by Wen Li, and I must find you to avenge her…”

Shen Yuan stayed silent, thinking, “I don’t know if the story’s true, but my back’s been hurting since this woman appeared.”

“My back pain’s your doing, isn’t it?”

Fajie said, “How could I? Your back is your vital point, where the demon Taoist’s seal lies. Seeing familiar faces stirs your heart, and the seal suppresses your thoughts, causing the pain.”

Food, tea, and fruit were brought up.

“You must be hungry. Eat slowly.”

Shen Yuan, ravenous, ate voraciously.

Fajie continued, “Since three hundred years ago, the Lin family’s first core-formed head was a woman, and later heads were the eldest daughters. As the eldest, your mother raised you as the next head. After her death, she named you successor. Sixteen years ago, I led people chasing Wen Li to retrieve you.”

“The demon Taoist, unyielding, held you to weaken our immortal clan. I was no match for him. Chasing you cost many disciples, crippling the Lin family. Then he sealed your past memories, treating you as his own disciple. Our Lin family, cultivating immortal arts for generations, is beyond a half-human, half-demon Taoist like him! Truly despicable!”

Fajie sighed deeply.

“The golden age of the hundred immortal clans three hundred years ago is gone. Except for the Divine Sect, Wind Sect, and Wood Clan currying favor with the court, other sects were suppressed by the state preceptor, Wen Li, to fewer than a hundred members.”

“I failed to retrieve you or manage the family. Now, besides me, only three Lin disciples have formed cores. We retreated to Xiajiang, buying this riverside bathhouse. We didn’t dare change its name, as you loved this place before you vanished, always choosing the second-floor room with the river view.”

Fajie glanced at Left and Right, standing nearby.

“Left and Right grew up under your watch. They came to the Lin family at four and five, from a poor family unable to support them, sent by their parents to seek immortal fate.”

Left, tears streaming, continued, “You chose us yourself, Abuchi sister. Don’t you remember? We followed you, one on each side, calling ‘Abuchi sister.’ You said, ‘Then you two are Left and Right.’”

“For years, you taught us—reading, writing, talismans, spells, martial arts, arrays. Later, we cared for your daily needs. I was younger, shorter than Right, often bullied by other disciples, so you favored me. When we grew similar in height and build, my skills better, you favored Right, sparing her heavy work.”

“We’re skilled among mortals but never formed cores, so we’re not formal disciples, never took a master, always calling you ‘Abuchi sister.’ You didn’t take us when you left with your mother. Sixteen years ago, you vanished.”

“Fourth Aunt saw us crying at your door, so she sent us to the bathhouse. Last year, Third Aunt Mingjie divined you’d appear in Xiajiang this year, though variables clouded the timing. Fourth Aunt rushed to expand this building to four stories, raising the county’s tallest sign, hoping you’d pass by, see the riverside bathhouse, and come in.”

Fajie’s eyes glistened.

“I mocked Mingjie’s divination skills, but we finally waited for you.”

Shen Yuan looked at Left and Right, a strange feeling stirring.

She’d never met them, yet seeing them at the entrance felt joyful, their tone warm and familiar, their concern genuine.

She was just a wild girl from Wubei, with no rank, no power.

If they wanted her silver, they could’ve taken it during her bath.

She carried no secret manuals, no precious artifacts, and had no reputation in the righteous or demonic realms.

If this story was a lie, why go to such lengths to deceive her?

Yet her master, Wen Li, was loyal and righteous.

In sixteen years, she’d never seen him do anything heinous—not the demon Taoist they described.