The woman held the golden-eyed baby and cried softly on the bed.
Zanxing realized that the newborn must be Gui Yansheng.
Gu Baiying frowned slightly, clearly disturbed by the scene before him. He turned to Zanxing and asked, “Where is your father?”
Zanxing was taken aback. “What?”
“This baby is Gui Yansheng. His mother appears to be just an ordinary mortal. Where is the Demon King?” he said. “Aren’t the demon clans very concerned about the Demon King’s bloodline? Did they just abandon it outside?” He glanced again at the weak woman. “Even his own woman has been cruelly abandoned.”
“I—” Zanxing was at a loss for words.
Gui Yansheng had killed Ziluo, framed her, and thrown her into the Abyss of Extreme Ice, repeatedly putting her in life-threatening situations. She harbored deep hatred for Gui Yansheng. Yet, witnessing this scene, she had to admit that the Demon King Gui Diaotang’s abandonment of his wife and child was as bad as, if not worse than, Gui Yansheng’s actions.
A human woman giving birth to a child with demonic blood, with those golden eyes that couldn’t be hidden, clearly faced immense difficulties in surviving in the world. Gui Yansheng’s mother must have known this, which is why she didn’t even invite a midwife. She trusted no one and chose to give birth to the Demon King’s child alone on such a stormy night.
“Indeed,” Gu Baiying said coldly, looking at Zanxing. “Demons are all heartless and frivolous, indulging in their pleasures.”
Zanxing rebutted seriously, “You can’t generalize and condemn everyone. The Demon King is one thing, and the demon clans are another.”
Gu Baiying sneered, his tone dismissive. “There’s no need for excuses. Don’t you also have seven male lovers in your palace?”
Zanxing: “…” She had forgotten about that. Well, nowadays her reputation for being flirtatious and indulging in nightly affairs with men was probably well-known throughout the cultivation world. There was no way to clear it now.
She decided to face it head-on. “Even though I have seven male lovers, I would never abandon my partner and child.”
At these words, Gu Baiying’s disdain deepened, and he suddenly recalled Meng Ying’s words: “You had deep feelings for her, feelings as deep as the sea.” He retorted angrily, “How could I…” His words faltered abruptly.
Zanxing was curious. “How could you what?”
He snorted, “Nothing!”
Zanxing didn’t press further. However, she pondered in her heart that this was the past of Gui Yansheng’s birth, yet only the past Gui Yansheng was present here, with no sign of the future Gui Yansheng. Could it be that the place where the Two-Life Buddha Wheel’s rotation stops is not here? Maybe the past Gui Yansheng wanted to change is not the one that’s happening now?
As she was contemplating, the daylight outside the room began to brighten.
Gui Yansheng had settled in this village.
This woman—the mother of Gui Yansheng—was named Jiang Yiru. She was once a wealthy young lady, known for her beauty and gentleness, but after marrying, she was soon discovered by her husband for infidelity. After being expelled from the family estate, she moved to this remote village to give birth.
The villagers felt pity for her plight, but they also whispered behind her back about her scandalous past. Despite this, Jiang Yiru, with her striking beauty and gentle demeanor, managed to live in relative peace with the villagers over time.
Not long after arriving in the village, she gave birth to a son named Yansheng. The name Yansheng, meaning “to be hated,” was unusual for a mother to give her child, leading the villagers to speculate that the child’s father must be a heartless and unfaithful man, causing Jiang Yiru to harbor hatred even towards her own son. Furthermore, the child was born blind, unable to see colors. He was bound with white cloth to cover his eyes, and despite his beautiful appearance, he was physically impaired.
Jiang Yiru publicly claimed that Yansheng was born blind.
She used white cloth to cover Yansheng’s eyes, hiding his golden irises and his true identity from the villagers. In reality, she did not hate her son as much as others believed. More often than not, she was indifferent towards Yansheng. Her maternal instinct compelled her to care for and protect him, but she also resented the fear and trouble that his existence brought her.
Yansheng grew day by day.
Jiang Yiru’s worry and anxiety only deepened over time.
She was always terrified, living in constant fear. She worried that one day, Yansheng’s true identity would be discovered. Mortals had a natural aversion to those who were different, and she feared the hatred and violence that would follow.
Jiang Yiru’s health had always been poor, and with her worries and emotional burdens, she passed away from illness in the fifth year of Gui Yansheng’s life. Before she died, she held Gui Yansheng’s hand tightly and repeatedly admonished him, “Don’t remove the cloth, don’t let anyone see your eyes, don’t let them discover your identity. Live on like this.” She looked up, her eyes glowing with a terrifying intensity. “Yansheng, will you remember?”
The five-year-old Gui Yansheng knelt by his mother’s bed, silently listening to her last words. He replied obediently, “I will remember, Mother.”
Jiang Yiru passed away.
Gui Yansheng lived alone in the village.
The villagers, moved by his youth and plight, helped arrange Jiang Yiru’s funeral and gave him a small job in a carpenter’s workshop, providing him just enough to get by.
Gui Yansheng accepted the help silently.
Contrary to his beautiful appearance, his personality was extremely quiet. He worked diligently and conscientiously, seemingly unaware of how to slack off. The tasks assigned to him by the carpenter were often more than what was required, but he accepted them without complaint, completing even the tasks that were not his responsibility. Though blind, his hands were skillful, and the woodworking he did was flawless, leaving the villagers unable to find any faults.
Zanxing watched with a complex mood. The obedient and honest Gui Yansheng before her seemed like a different person from the frenzied Gui Yansheng she knew later. She couldn’t help but wonder what had happened.
Soon, Zanxing would find out what had occurred.
In the tenth year of Gui Yansheng’s life, one night after finishing his work, it was already very late. He decided to go to the edge of the village’s rice field to catch some loaches. It was autumn, and the hot weather after the harvest was perfect for catching loaches. With his modest monthly wages, it was hard to afford meat, so catching loaches himself would improve his diet.
The pond by the rice field was bathed in the cold light of the moon. The oppressive heat of summer had just passed, and the cicadas were still singing. In the midst of the buzzing sounds of the wild, he heard a muffled noise, as if someone was silently struggling.
Gui Yansheng paused and looked towards the source of the sound.
Though his eyes were covered with white cloth, he could still see clearly, perhaps due to the advantages of his golden eyes. In the dim moonlight, he easily found a girl being held down and struggling desperately in the field.
The person in the field noticed him and immediately crouched down, covering the girl’s mouth and nose with a large hand, trying to silence her.
Gui Yansheng was a ‘blind boy’.
He shouldn’t have been able to see.