Chapter 198: I Am the One Who Wronged You

After exchanging a few more words with Zhou Qing, Xuanwu spoke again.

“Brother Zhou, I don’t know what brings you to this body of water, and I won’t pry, but years ago you killed the Golden-Clad Venerable. Now his uncle, the Water-Offering True Lord, has returned to these waters. You’d better be careful from now on.”

From this remark, it was clear that Xuanwu was quite kind-hearted. Also, from his words, it was apparent that the Water-Offering True Lord was currently in this area, which spared Zhou Qing a great deal of trouble.

“Thank you for the warning, Brother Xuanwu. I still have some matters to attend to, so I won’t disturb you and your little turtle son any longer. Farewell.”

With that, Zhou Qing’s figure flickered and swiftly drifted along the river. Within moments, his red silhouette vanished from the eyes of Xuanwu and his son.

“Turtle Daddy, who was that guy in red just now? Some kind of fluke?” asked the little black turtle after Zhou Qing disappeared.

“That red-clothed fellow is different from us. He’s not a fluke; he’s a human. Do you understand? If I were to explain what humans are, it would take a long time. In general, humans are...”

As the old turtle began explaining humans to his son, a hefty black loach swam swiftly towards them, flicking its short tail with sharp, darting movements, quickly reaching between the turtle and the little turtle.

“Ghost, didn’t I tell you to take the little one for a walk and then come home for dinner?”

“I was just about to bring him back. We stopped to chat with Brother Zhou Qing for a moment.”

“What Brother Zhou Qing? Stop bullshitting me and hurry up, let’s eat.”

With a flick of its short tail, the black loach slapped Xuanwu’s shell. The three of them then swam along the river for a while before slipping into an underwater earthen burrow.

Following the direction etched in his memory, shortly after bidding farewell to Xuanwu and his family, Zhou Qing appeared in Little Mirror Lake.

The lake looked exactly as it had all those years ago, unchanged. A pillar of water spouted from its center, surrounded by dense aquatic plants.

Drifting along the stream to the lake’s edge, Zhou Qing glanced over the unchanged scene of Little Mirror Lake, then his figure moved, appearing beside the central water spout.

Seeing this column of water erupting from the bottomless cave beneath, memories flooded him. If he hadn’t captured Xuanwu back then, with his cultivation level, he would never have been able to enter the Water-Avoidance Palace beneath the cave.

But now things were different. Zhou Qing’s water spirit root had grown immeasurably stronger since then.

With a thought, Zhou Qing’s figure slipped into the water pillar and dove straight downward.

Whereas before he could only dive twenty zhang deep before losing strength, today he swam from the lake down to the exterior of the Water-Avoidance Palace without feeling any pressure.

Floating inside a water bubble near the palace, Zhou Qing’s mind conjured the image of Lin Yunxi.

Standing alone before the Water-Avoidance Palace, he felt a pang of melancholy. After a moment, with a thought, his red figure drifted ghostlike into the water bubble.

The palace looked exactly as it had years ago. After entering the bubble, Zhou Qing followed a stone slab path for a few steps until he arrived at the grand entrance.

Pushing open the slightly ajar door, Zhou Qing stepped inside.

The courtyard beyond still featured the same stone path, flanked by lotus ponds, as if no change had occurred in the past decade.

“Brother, who are you?”

As Zhou Qing’s figure appeared before a pavilion at the end of the path, a golden-haired, gold-robed child sitting inside looked up and asked.

The child’s golden hair and robes immediately reminded him of the Water-Offering True Lord from years ago.

Shortly after the child spoke, a woman emerged briskly from a corridor at the back of the hall.

She wore a white dress and carried a bowl filled with some rather bloody live aquatic creatures.

“It’s you.” The woman’s face registered surprise the moment she saw Zhou Qing, and the bowl in her hands slipped to the ground.

“Do you know me?” Zhou Qing asked in return.

“I—” The woman hesitated, then stood frozen for a moment before stepping forward and clutching Zhou Qing’s leg, pleading, “Please, save me.”

Even now, Zhou Qing couldn’t recall who she was exactly; she seemed familiar, yet no clear memory came to mind.

“Mother!”

As the woman grasped Zhou Qing’s leg, the golden-haired child moved beside him and embraced her tightly.

From the current situation, Zhou Qing sensed no trace of demon energy or any strange aura from the woman, so it was clear she was just an ordinary human.

The golden-haired child, however, radiated strong demon energy, indicating he was a little demon.

Combining the child’s peculiar aura with what Xuanwu had told him about this Water-Avoidance Palace in the future, Zhou Qing deduced the woman’s identity.

When he had first arrived here years ago, the Water-Offering True Lord had gone north to seek fortune. Only his nephew, the Golden-Clad Venerable, lived here. Now, suddenly, this woman had appeared.

This suggested she had been forcibly brought here, a situation similar to the ‘Pei’ kind.

“I just feel you look familiar. Have we met somewhere before?”

“Over ten years ago, on the beach near Beitan Town, we had a brief encounter. At that time...”

After hearing the woman’s explanation, Zhou Qing recalled the past. Looking at the pitiful woman kneeling before him in tears, a deep guilt welled within him.

If he hadn’t led the Water-Offering True Lord to that small town back then, the town wouldn’t have suffered, and this woman wouldn’t have been dragged here by the fish demon as a ‘Pei’ kind.

Remembering her now, Zhou Qing helped her up and asked, “I recall when I came ashore, I met you and your lover. What happened to him afterward?”

“He... he was crushed to death by that monster.”

Her face filled with sorrow, and Zhou Qing saw tears trembling on the edge of her eyes.

“It’s my fault. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to rescue you.”

After comforting her, Zhou Qing turned his gaze to the golden-haired little fish demon who clung tightly to the woman’s clothes.

As he looked at the little fish demon, the child gripped her garment even tighter and fearfully whispered, “Mother.”