Chapter 5: Even a monster won't hurt its child

Chapter 5: Even a monster won't hurt its child

"Puuh..."

Dan Shi, ever so impatient, rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come on! Stop whining already and just help me scan for this baby's father among the crowd."

She was already frustrated enough to be in a fragile shell of a human body after escaping the clutches of that old man, King Yama.

In this life, no longer bound by a god, she will live like it was her last and spend every drop of her life force.

To accomplish that, she had to locate the child's father and return it to him.

For Dan Shi, that was the greatest consolation she could provide this body's child.

Even if she had experienced life as a human only minimally, she couldn't bring herself to harm something that would eventually be a part of her own existence.

Even a monster won't hurt its child.

Regardless, Dan Shi thinks that she is a monster who can't provide warmth to this child. "If he's not around then just kill everyone else. Flay their skin or just devour them to not pollute the air." Dan Shi drawled with a yawn.

"I don't want to inhale disgusting shits in my system," added the girl.

Dan Shi then glanced coldly at the terrified expressions of those people, and shrugged, "These bastards who cheer for another person's death don't deserve to live past this day. Do it," she ordered sharply, "Now."

Not a second later, the black fog transformed into a humanoid form and picked up a shard of the shattered blade. The crowd watched in horror as it advanced towards them, its bloody red eyes filled with a chilling danger.

One by one, the spectators fell, their cheers turning into screams of terror.

The once festive atmosphere for these horrible people turned into a scene of chaos and fear.

Soon, the noble estate of Ming, once a symbol of power and prestige, turned into a battlefield—no—to be precise, a one-sided massacre. 

The accursed maiden in their eyes is now akin to a vengeful spirit who had turned the tables.

The spectators, who once mocked and ridiculed her, were now at her mercy and that includes the mother who held her in contempt.

"M-Ming Shi?! You, you demonic spawn. Get away from me! I raise you and feed you like my own child! Is this how you'll pay me back, you ingrate? I-I'm still your mother, you can't do this to me! I—"

Dan Shi cut her head without remorse not wanting to listen to any more of her crap.

"Why are you people all so noisy? You're raising your voice to me?! Am I your child, huh?" Dan Shi gushed in irritation.

"Who cares about whose daughter is who and who raised whom? Tsk! This grandma is too old to be your daughter," she shook her head unhappily.

"Settle your discord with that girl, Ming Shi, in the afterlife. Don't drag me in. Just because I'm a ghost doesn't mean I should hear the dead talking nonsense, I already have so much on my plate!"

Dan Shi rubbed her swollen belly and scrunched her face when she felt a kick and a sudden jolt of pain, "Aww! Oy, will you calm down? I already avenged your mother. There's no need for your kick anymore. I'm the one you're hurting!" complained Dan Shi who was tearful while being continuously kicked by the baby inside her tummy.

"Why is it so painful each time? Is this a horse's offspring?" she questioned, wanting to cry.

As the sun returned to its normal light, painting the sky with hues of orange and red, the once bustling estate fell silent. 

The only sound that could be heard was the soft whisper of the wind, carrying the scent of carnage. 

***

A sudden fall of a dynasty is no strange occurrence. However, this time, the news that struck the five kingdoms of the Lower Continent was of a different shade—too shady to be exact.

Ming Estate is gone.

Everyone vanished into thin air as though it wasn't even there in the first place. With only a plot of barren land remaining on the spot where it was supposed to be erected.

Those were the statements given by the traveling merchant who arrived at the scene, seeing nothing but wasteland after Dan Shi uprooted the whole earth.

Due to her unwillingness to leave a trace but too lazy to clean up the bloody mess.

Four days later, the Southern border.

"What did you say?" A rather deep and thunderous voice of a man bellowed along the four corners of the general's tent. "Commander Si Chen, I dare you to repeat that again!" He yanked the collar of the reporting commander who was crestfallen by the news of his beloved's passing.

The other man's dull silver eyes reflected his enraged form. Yet, seemingly unperturbed by his superior's outrage.

"I will be leaving the frontlines," Si Chen repeated without batting an eye. 

The young general stared at him incredulously.

"What?" the young general caustically repeated, baffled by what he heard. The taut nerve in his forehead looked as though it was on the verge of bursting.

Si Chen remained indifferent and didn't say more.

Si Tian gritted his teeth and spoke in a heavy tone, "Are you out of your mind? We're in the middle of a war! Do you know what leaving means? Deserting your post in this dire situation will make you a traitor to your country. You will be beheaded!"

He pushed his brother from his grasp with force, trying to put some sense in his thick skull.

"Snap out of it, you bastard," he rasped, "If the news is true and all of the Mings died, just pray for your dead wife and burn joss paper here." He cruelly dismissed as though he too wasn't connected to the lady.

"Forget about leaving," Si Tian spoke with finality, "I won't allow you to take a step outside this camp."

Despite his fuming, it didn't mask his strong and prominent jawline that was carved into a delicate piece of work, that is but a copycat of the man in front of him.

"I will pretend this conversation didn't occur. So, stop being damn stubborn, Ah Chen."

Si Chen eyed him menacingly, "You can stay here to fight your useless war if you insist, but I will find my wife," his lips trembled at the mention of his wife.

The man clenched his jaws and continued with a heavy breath of despair thinking of what happened during his long absence.

"It was my greatest regret to follow you here. I already hate you enough for forcefully enlisting me and making me take an oath of service. If I could, I would never have believed your words of giving my wife the spiritual jade to aid her pregnancy," his voice was low but the deep scars his words carry were heavier than his sword full of resentful cries.

"I don't believe she had passed away. I will never believe it until I recover her body and give her a proper burial. Both Shi Shi and my son."

He turned to Si Tian with bloodshot eyes and grew a pair of murderous fangs.

"You will have to kill me to make me stay. If you dare to stop me, it's either me or you will fall, brother."