Thirty-Four

Zhao Ling was rendered speechless for a longer amount of seconds. He had no words to describe how shocked he was. All he did was stare at the woman before him. In his mind, he began to think back to how his mother was to him. He was never mistreated or abused in any form. There were no signs of hate or bias now that she revealed the truth, making him feel a dull feeling of sadness.

"Surprised?" She taunted. "The truth was bound to come out anyway but I made sure to take it to my grave or a severe scandal would break out. But when years went by, I realized that the only worthy heir to the throne was Zhao Feng."

His mother strolled back to the recliner and sat on it. She crossed her legs and smiled up at him.

"I had to start favoring the true royal blood even more. Zhao Feng was a very intelligent man and figured out the truth. I had to tell him the truth and he opened my eyes. He helped me take out your father who could not keep his mouth shut. That lowlife was only a means for me to be satisfied but he tried to cross his limits. Your brother made sure to kill him to hide the truth… from there on, I made a promise to Zhao Feng that he would become king."

Zhao Ling looked away. He thought about who his father was while thinking of how much the emperor had loved him, taken care of him, and made him happy. What his mother had just revealed added to the pain and hatred he had for his brother and even his mother. The hate burned in his heart, flowing through his chi and extending to the sash around his waist.

"Don't look like that. I desperately wanted you to know the truth but you were always with Zhao Feng's father, trying to act like the good son while your half-brother was in the dark, wallowing in the neglect you and his father gave him. He deserved to be noticed and I was the only one who cared about him."

"Is that why you dared to kill Father?! All because some useless son could not do his duties instead of getting jealous?!" Zhao Ling yelled, his body shaking and eyes blazing. "I spent months, even years away from home to care about some throne! All I cared about was protecting the people! I never cared about becoming king because the last thing I wanted was to become king and die on the battlefield!"

His mother shrugged as if she did not understand or care to understand what he had said. She looked at her fingernails before wiggling her fingers.

"Whether you were away or not, you always entertained the talks surrounding your coronation. All in all, Zhao Feng suffered in silence and I was glad the day you died with the emperor. After your death, I enjoyed being the empress while my son became emperor. We had everything; power, wealth, and the control we always wanted… everything!"

In anger, Zhao Ling shot his arm out and sent tendrils of black and red smoke at his mother. It hit her, making her fall off the recliner with a groan. His mother hissed and three large purple tails floated out of her hair. The tails shot at him, but he dodged and summoned his sword which was knocked out of his hand. A tail wrapped around his neck and lifted him in the air. He struggled to unwrap the tail from his neck while kicking the air.

When the tail glowed a bright purple, he felt his energy moving out of his chi. He watched as the golden energy flowed out of his mouth.

"I have returned to find my son… He will be born soon or already exists. I will find him and reunite with him. We will continue to rule and you will not stop us… I know of the prophecy and I will not let you have your way, not in this life… not ever!"

As the energy continued to flow out, hurried footsteps could be heard and the flaps of the tent ruffled. Zhao Ling was dropped immediately, and his energy went back inside. He watched as his mother sat down on the recliner and acted as if nothing happened. Lin Wei walked into the room with eyes wide and panic on his face.

"Are you okay? I heard struggles."

Wang Lifen walked in, having the same expression as Lin Wei. She looked around the room with narrowed eyes and Zhao Ling had a feeling she was sensing his mother's dark energy since she revealed that she can feel their presence.

"I'm fine. I was searching for something. You need to stop worrying about me, you two. You're making me feel guilty… I don't want to ruin this trip. You know what?" Li Yuxi rose to her feet. "A lot has happened and I think I should go home. I don't want to have any more issues."

"I think that's a good idea. I'll call for the boat to come to pick you up." Wang Lifen left afterward.

Lin Wei took a step forward while Zhao Ling rose to his feet. He was suddenly worried about the boy when he noticed the interest in Li Yuxi's eyes. He suspected that she would harm him as she had stated that she needed to kill fifty people.

"Are you certain you're okay? You know you can tell me anything." Lin Wei stayed silent for a few seconds. "I know I'm not supposed to be meddling but… if this is about your husband, you can tell me. I feel as if he hurts you."

Zhao Ling glanced at his mother, waiting to see what she would say.

"No, it's not that. I'll just head home to rest. You can go back to your work."

Lin Wei was hesitant before he nodded and walked out of the tent. Zhao Ling frowned and stood in front of the woman.

"You will not leave zhaotian," he said and she smiled.

"I need to because I need to head to the city to get sacrifices. The people here aren't enough."

Zhao Ling scoffed. "Do you think you can easily leave? Or did you not notice that I am attached to this body?"

He raised his chained hand and his mother looked down at the copper rope wrapped around her wrist. She kissed her teeth, held the rope, and yanked it, causing it to snap off her wrist. Zhao Ling gasped in shock and stared at the way his side fell off his wrist.

"That is not possible."

"Everything is possible when there's a power difference. Now, get out of my way or the people here die first."

The cold threat made Zhao Ling stand firm to prove that he did not care. Instead, he took a step forward only for the woman to vanish, leaving behind her purple smoke. Zhao Ling shut his eyes and waved his right hand from his right to the left. His spirit eyes allowed him to see everything around, him whilst trying to sense his mother's spirit in the environment. He furrowed his eyebrows at the number of lost and trapped souls of his people, which made him open his eyes. He could hear their cries for help and the cries of forgiveness from them to him.

The overwhelming feeling of seeing them made him lose focus. He opened his eyes and frantically looked around. He could still hear their whispered voices, making him so angry he couldn't help but close his ears with his hands.

"Forgive us, Prince Zhao Ling."

"We wronged you. Please, save us."

"Our souls are trapped."

"Deliver us from our misery."

Zhao Ling growled out, making a burst of energy shoot out of his body, stretching out of the tent. The voices died down and he fell to his knees.

"You all deserve your misery. You deserve to wallow in the choices you all made. Suffer for it and leave me out of this. If I had the chance, I would make sure to kill and destroy every one of you all over again, you ungrateful beings." His voice and tone were full of hate and malice that he felt heating in his chi.

Zhao Ling got up and left the tent. He began to look around for Li Yuxi. He cursed under his breath for not being able to ask anyone about her whereabouts. It made him feel restless and useless. He shut his eyes and tried to search for her emotions amongst the people walking around but was met with blankness. He opened his eyes and did a double take at Lin Wei who was standing in the distance.

Zhao Ling willed his body to disappear and appear behind Lin Wei. As soon as he walked close to him, Lin Wei backed up and turned around, then walked through him. At that moment, a flashing memory that wasn't his filled his mind.

"Where is my son?!"

Zhao Ling found himself standing between two people. One being his mother and the other being Lin Wei but in a soldier's armor.

"Your son? You do not deserve to be called his father. Leave or I will raise an alarm."

"I cannot stand it any longer. Zhao Ling is my son. He has the right to know!"

Zhao Ling froze at the discovery. He blinked, causing the memory to wash away. He looked at Lin Wei in shock.

"Father?"