The Tale Never Ends Chapter 117 Another Godmother

The demoness tossed me my scabbard quietly. There was a distinct change to her expression. She appeared to feel more relaxed to know that I was not born by Mother. I caught the sheath and slid my sword slowly back into it and hung it over my back. The demoness, her eyes still fixed upon the sight of me and Edelweiss, lamented with envy. "Look at you! Kind and adoring towards each other! Look at your father! A block-headed fool!"

"Where is the son of the block-headed fool? Let us all have a look!" A yell came from outside just then. A group of people entered the cave, all wielding arms. The old crone leaped before us, blocking their way. "They are my playthings! Mine! Why should I allow you a glimpse of them?" She barked furiously. Behind her, I scowled, so I am now a plaything! I threw my gaze over the band of newcomers; a group of men and women that looked ordinary, until I recognized one of them! A woman whom I encountered when I was very young!

The woman looked simple and plain; hardly ugly nor gorgeous, but there was something about the profile her chin that I could not forget. A distinct trait about her that I had an indescribable dislike for! It was when I was a very small child. I was living with my parents somewhere in a little hamlet far away from Wu Zhong County.

It happened on one day, just before dinner. Mother bade me to go to buy a bottle of sauce. The market was merely a stone's throw away from my home. The little me scampered as quick as I could towards the market, gripping tightly the money Mother had given me. I saw a woman pus.h.i.+ng her bicycle. Over the rear wheel of her bicycle was a small wooden plank which laid bottles of sauce. I ran over and handed her the money, squealing loudly, "I'd like a bottle of sauce!" The woman gave me one of her bottles and returned me 5 yuan in change. I noticed that the 5-yuan note was a very new banknote and was pleased, thinking, "Mother will be happy and praise me for getting a new note in return!" I dashed all the way home and gave Mother the bottle of sauce and the money. She peered at the banknote. Hold on, she gasped, "It is a fake!" Unscrupulous traders these days, she complained, to think that they would even prey on innocent kids! The woman who sold me the bottle of sauce and gave me the fake note in change, was none other than the woman I recognized now!

Father and Mother made no sign of wis.h.i.+ng to look for the vendor. But deep inside me, my anger was boiling! How dare the woman cheated me! Angrily, I swooped down on the fake note, took it, and bolted back to the market. There, I found the woman! She was already packing her wares back onto her bicycle and was beginning to leave. I ran to her and she started to push her bicycle out of the market. Chasing behind her, I screamed at her, "Hey you! Cheater! Give me back my money!" Strangely, the woman did not ride and pedal away; she merely continued pus.h.i.+ng her bicycle, even though she maintained her pace that I had to keep on running to catch up. Slowly, we wended out of the little town and still, I failed to take after her! We finally came to a junction on the path where she stopped her bicycle under a tree which sat beside a patch of cornfield. Turning back to me, she shouted, "What money are you talking about, little boy? Come, let's go to my home, I return the money to you!" She lunged at me suddenly!

Crack! A hand came from nowhere and landed a huge slap on the woman's face that she nearly stumbled! It was Mother! Mother stood in front of me, s.h.i.+elding me from her and jabbed a finger at the woman. "You worthless wench! How dare you try to abduct my son?" The woman snickered derisively. "I did not ask him to come with me. He followed me all the way himself!" "You outrageous b*tch! You were prodding him to follow you by maintaining your speed! How dare you deny!" "Enough talk! Let's do this!" With her signal, a man appeared from the furrows of the cornfield. He was wearing a strange cap, which I remembered and now recognized, a Taoist headdress commonly worn by Taoist priests. The woman walked up to the man and greeted him reverently. Mother hugged me tightly in her arms. "Who are you, Taoist priest, and state your intentions!"

An evil grin broke wide on the priest's face. "Why, your son, of course!" He bellowed maliciously. A bolt of lightning-like shot down from the sky with cold fury and drove mercilessly into the man's skull from above, leaving only its hilt visible over his head. It was a sword; a sword from the sky! The blade of the sword was slightly narrower in comparison with the s.h.i.+yan Blade, although it was intricately damasked with feather-like motifs that lend it a divine ambiance.

Father's figure materialized suddenly. With a swing of his arm, the sword withdrew from the man's head on its own and flew into his hand. The corpse vanished instantly, with only a puddle of blood as the merest reminder of the brief battle that had taken place. The woman crumbled to the ground, prostrating herself before Father with her head knocking on the ground like bobbing corks. "Please, Your Holiness, Dear Immortal! Forgive me! Please give me one more chance to do good!" Father walked towards her coolly, the sword still in his grasp. I ran to the woman and gave her a kick. "Bad Auntie! Give me back my money!" The panicky woman rummaged anxiously in her bag and pulled a handful of money that fell on the ground in her panic. I peered at Mother who gave me an encouraging nod and I took a 5-yuan note and left her the fake note. Father and Mother shared a knowing glance and Mother lifted me in her arms, praising me, "Good boy! Wise and smart too!" and she snarled angrily at the woman, "Look at you! Even a child knows better than you!" But she spoke to Father, "She has labored long to achieve her current powers. We'll just let her go this time!" After a harsh rebuke by Father, they allowed her to leave. But I would never forget the unusual profile of her chin; a trait of hers that I remembered to this day.

"So, the bad auntie who once tried to cheat me of 5 yuan, are you here today to abduct me again?" I jeered with a mocking grin. The woman was stunned to hear this although she quickly recovered her composure and spat. "It's true! This is the son of Murong Hai! It was his father who had killed Teacher!" Hearing this, the rest of her companions began looking at us with furious and angry stares.

But I merely giggled. I drew my sword and began muttering incantations. The woman yelped with fright, "Drat! Run!" She spun on her heels and ran for her life with the rest of her companions on her heels, just in time before my sword plunged into the ground where they once stood. I walked slowly over and pulled my sword from the ground. The whole pack of them had reverted back to their original b.e.s.t.i.a.l form and scampered into the undergrowth.

I went back into the cave. "Just a pack of rabid dogs," I hissed with contempt to Edelweiss and said, "They've fled so fast before I could skin them for a fur scarf for you! Humph!"

The demoness was clearly unhappy to hear me saying the words "rabid dogs". "Where do you live now?" She snapped at once. "Wu Zhong County!" "But why Wu Zhong? Why not Inner Mongolia!?" She muttered with evident surprise, before she knocked on her own head and began murmuring to herself, "But of course! I'm such a fool!" Her head raised instinctively again. "What's your mother's name?" "My mother is Murong Jinghong." I revealed truthfully. "Jinghong..." The woman repeated softly after me. It was a name Father gave Mother only for the purpose of the official papers when I was born. In truth, Mother had another name; an actual name which was given also by Father, although it was not used for it did not seem suitable to be used during the registration of their identification.

The demoness' knees buckled as she collapsed to the ground, defeated and dejected. Despite her youthful appearance, she was after all an aged demoness. For centuries she had fallen for Father and had waited for nothing; a pain that she had endured far longer than Aunt Ulan! Feeling sorry for her, I walked over to her. "There's no need to be sad actually. Before I came, Mother had just spoken to me. Their marriage and love are only a facade of a happy family for my sake." The demoness' eyes gleamed with hope. "D-do you mean, you mean that I still have a chance..."

"Be that as it may, think about it yourself. How good are your chances when after centuries of being together, still, Mother has yet to make Father truly fall for her?" The demoness immediately became crestfallen all again. I patted on her shoulder again. "Well, nevertheless, if you don't mind, I am willing to become your G.o.dson. How does that sound? You will be my G.o.dmother from this day onwards." The demoness looked up at me for a few seconds, her expression lost and perplexed until she leaped up to hug me, crumbling into tearful sobs.

"So, here am I, Father," I grimaced to myself, "Your son is doing his utmost to undo all the twisted tangles of your romance! First Aunt Ulan, now another G.o.dmother!"

For minutes, G.o.dmother continued weeping hard, until she released me suddenly. She tugged at my hand and reached for Edelweiss' wrist. "Good, good! My good son, Mother will now prepare a bridal chamber for you both..." I put a hand on hers at once to stop her. Edelweiss' cheeks were nearly purple with embarra.s.sment. "Hold your horses, G.o.dmother! This is hardly the time for this! You're jumping the gun! There are more pressing matters than this!" I immediately steered away from the subject, frowning at the shenanigans of my new G.o.dmother.

Being a demon evolved from a beast, G.o.dmother was hardly as sharp as humans. Luckily for us, her attention was easily diverted and she halted. "There are only the three of us here?" I said again, now scratching the back of my head. "Have you seen my two companions and the rest of the girls who were with them?"