Chapter 8 - Passing Away

Chapter 8 - Passing Away.

Hearing Li Lianyu's voice, Su Qing looked at her.

Li Lianyu gave her a slight bow and said, "Thank you for taking care of me all these years."

Hearing this, Su Qing just shook her head.

It was clearly she who had been cared for by her all these years.

If she hadn't come to chat with me so often... perhaps I would have completely forgotten my humanity by now.

Afterward, Li Lianyu didn't continue to chat idly with Su Qing.

Instead, she turned to speak to her granddaughter...

She was clearly planning to have her granddaughter leave this place.

She said to her granddaughter.

She told her to remember Su Qing, to keep the scale safe, not to lose it, and to carry it with her at all times. Then she added many of the caring words that elders often say.

It was as if she were arranging her final affairs...

"Alright, girl, go home now! Take these things with you!"

"What about you, Grandma? Aren't you coming back?"

Li Lianyu shook her head.

"Grandma's legs aren't good, and I walk slowly. I'll head back tomorrow morning. You go on ahead, don't make your parents worry."

"Grandma..."

Liu Huaiya wasn't foolish. She had clearly realized something. She shook her head and said:

"No, I'll stay with Grandma. Mom and Dad won't say anything if I don't come home for one night."

"Be good, listen to me."

Li Lianyu gently stroked her granddaughter's head.

"Grandma will be very safe here with Lady Willow Immortal, so hurry back."

Watching this scene, Su Qing silently closed her eyes...

She felt that Liu Huaiya had sensed Li Lianyu was dying, which was why she had insisted on coming along.

Wanting to see her was most likely just an excuse...

She had probably come along just to accompany her grandmother on her final journey.

Children are also very clever; sometimes they can notice things that adults miss.

However, Li Lianyu didn't want her granddaughter to watch her leave this world.

She believed it would be too heavy a burden for a child.

She hoped her granddaughter would grow up happily...

In the end. Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

Liu Huaiya still couldn't win the argument against her grandmother...

With a dejected expression, she took the shed snake skin and the snake scale, and left the ruined temple in the afterglow of the setting sun.

On her way out, Liu Huaiya hugged the shed skin tightly and clutched the scale, not bothering to wipe away the tears that streamed down her face.

She just wanted to get home as quickly as possible...

To tell her family about her grandmother.

She knew that her grandmother would most likely not survive the night.

After Liu Huaiya left, Li Lianyu slumped weakly against the side of the divine altar, as if her bones had been removed.

She mumbled something, her body continuously sliding downward.

Su Qing extended her tail to support her, listening calmly to her words...

Gradually, Li Lianyu's voice faded away.

She closed her eyes peacefully.

And what disappeared along with it...

Was her breath.

It was as if she had fallen asleep... very peacefully.

Li Lianyu was dead.

She had died just like that, right in front of Su Qing...

One moment she was speaking, and the next, she was completely silent.

"Life... is so fragile. Will I, too, die like this one day?"

Su Qing didn't know, but she felt she certainly didn't want to die just like that...

Su Qing flicked her tongue, feeling a slight weariness in her heart.

Unknowingly...

She had seen off another old friend...

And this time, that old friend had fallen before her very eyes.

To Su Qing, these few decades might have passed in the blink of an eye, but for an ordinary person, it was a lifetime.

Su Qing placed Li Lianyu on the ground and used her tail to simply straighten her clothes.

Making Li Lianyu look even more like she was just asleep.

Su Qing had originally planned to bury her old friend herself.

But on second thought, it was more appropriate to leave such a matter to her children.

If her children were unwilling to come... then she would do it herself.

However, she felt that Li Lianyu's children would definitely come. Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

Su Qing averted her gaze from Li Lianyu's body... the more she looked, the heavier her heart felt.

Finally, she shook her head, coiled up on the divine altar, and closed her eyes.

Late at night.

Under the moonlight, the old woman's soul reverted to its appearance as a young girl.

She looked at the green snake coiled on the divine altar...

And revealed a relieved smile.

Then, she followed the ghost messenger wearing a white hat and left the temple...

"Do you want to go back and see your children and granddaughter?"

"There's no need... Going back to look would only add to the sadness. It's not like I can come back to life..."

"You are quite clear-headed about this. Let's go! You have lived a life of kindness; King Yama will arrange a good reincarnation for you."

"Mm..."

The faint voices disappeared into the forest...

And no one knew of any of this.

The next day.

Early in the morning, the rustling sound of crushed dry leaves came from outside the door. Clearly, someone else had arrived.

Su Qing looked up.

The newcomers were two middle-aged people she had never seen before.

However, Su Qing knew who they were.

They were probably Li Lianyu's son and daughter-in-law.

Their steps were somewhat heavy as they slowly walked into the temple...

Although they were already mentally prepared, when they saw the lifeless Li Lianyu, they collapsed to the ground as if their bones had been removed.

Both of them wept uncontrollably...

And Su Qing was right there, doing nothing, merely watching.

She knew they needed some time to accept what had happened.

After crying for a short while, they gradually stopped...

Then, they stood up and bowed respectfully to Su Qing.

They said many words of thanks...

Su Qing was in no mood to listen to this and just shook her head.

She waved her tail, gesturing for them to take their mother and leave quickly.

It wasn't that Su Qing disliked the two of them... Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

She just didn't want to keep looking at her old friend's body lying in front of her.

She hoped Li Lianyu could be laid to rest soon.

The two naturally understood Su Qing's meaning.

Soon, they used the straw mat they had brought to wrap their mother's body.

After performing some rituals...

They finally carried Li Lianyu away.

Before leaving, they bowed to Su Qing again...

Su Qing watched the two of them leave with Li Lianyu and closed her eyes.

For the next few days, no one else came to the temple. Only Su Qing, a single green snake, remained...

At this, Su Qing also breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed the funeral arrangements had gone quite smoothly.

The matter of Li Lianyu had come to a close...

And it was time for her to think about where to go next.

Su Qing coiled on the divine altar, her mind wandering.

To cultivate into a great demon.

Besides the fundamental elements of favorable timing, geographical advantage, and opportunity, a cultivation method was also indispensable.

If Su Qing only wanted a cultivation method...

Without caring about its quality or her own status.

Then there were very many places she could go.

But wanting to both maintain her freedom, not become some sect's pet, and also obtain a suitable cultivation method, she felt there were very few places she could go.

Because this ruled out almost all cultivation sects.

One could even say it ruled out all worldly cultivation sects.

Although Su Qing didn't know how cultivators in this world treated demons.

But judging from the novels and films in her past memories.

Human cultivators mostly held animosity towards demons.

Even if they didn't, and were willing to accept them.

They would most likely only become someone's spirit pet or mount.

The best outcome would probably be becoming a so-called sect-protecting divine beast...

But these were not what Su Qing wanted.

What she wanted was to be free and unrestrained, just an ordinary great demon. Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

Therefore, there were very few places Su Qing could think of to go.

After thinking it over and over, she could only think of two destinations.

One was Patriarch Bodhi, who taught Sun Wukong, and the other was Li Shan Lao Mu, who taught Bai Suzhen.