Liu Tanghuan’s words abruptly stopped. The smug smile on her face froze, and the hand she had extended remained suspended in midair as she watched her parents walk right past her.
Liu’s father and mother hurried toward Xiaoman without even looking at Liu Tanghuan once.
Liu’s mother looked at Xiaoman, carefully not daring to touch her.
“Xiaoman… what’s wrong?”
“Mom!” Liu Tanghuan cried out in disbelief. “She’s a demon! She’s a demon! And you’re still asking if she’s okay! Are you crazy?!”
Liu’s mother completely ignored Liu Tanghuan’s accusations, as though she were invisible.
But Shen Linchuan did not give Liu’s parents any more time to look at Xiaoman. Holding Xiaoman in his arms, he tried to run outside, but his footsteps suddenly stopped as though he had been immobilized.
Xi Yu pulled Lu Zhixing down from the windowsill and transformed into human form.
“There’s no need to look for me. I’m right here.”
The sudden appearance of someone made Liu Tanghuan scream, but she suddenly remembered that she had seen Xi Yu in Qingliang Village.
At that time, she had been in a daze, but she remembered Xi Yu saying that she would be able to come back.
Sure enough, she had returned now.
“Master! Master!” Liu Tanghuan hurried toward Xi Yu. “My parents have both been bewitched by this demon! Hurry and subdue this demon! Hurry and subdue him!”
Xi Yu frowned and flicked out a talisman, immobilizing Liu Tanghuan.
“So noisy.”
Immediately afterward, he flicked out a strand of spiritual energy that shot straight toward Xiaoman.
Xiaoman instantly broke free from Shen Linchuan’s arms, landed on the ground, and transformed into human form.
She did not look like Liu Tanghuan.
Instead, she looked exactly as Xi Yu had seen her that day.
Shen Linchuan looked at Xi Yu.
“You said you would save her!”
Xi Yu sat down on the sofa and took out a spiritual fruit.
“I never said that. I can’t save her. She still has…”
Xi Yu glanced at the clock.
“Thirty hours left.”
Shen Linchuan was about to say something more, but Xiaoman tugged at him and shook her head.
Shen Linchuan was unwilling to give up, but he did not say anything else.
“You…”
Liu’s mother had only just begun speaking when she stopped, as though she did not know what to say.
Xiaoman looked at Liu’s mother, her eyes filled with guilt and remorse. She waved her hand and transformed herself into Liu Tanghuan’s appearance, but soon changed back.
Only after making sure Liu’s parents had seen it clearly did she speak hoarsely.
“I’m sorry. Actually, for these past five years, I’ve been staying by your side disguised as Liu Tanghuan. Because of my own selfish desires, I took your daughter’s identity for five years. Now I’m being punished by the Heavenly Dao, and I don’t have much time left to live. I don’t ask for your forgiveness. I only want to say I’m sorry.”
Xiaoman smiled, tears slipping from her eyes.
“And thank you. If Mom hadn’t saved me, I probably would have died a long time ago.”
“I was too greedy. I couldn’t bear to leave, so I used your daughter’s identity and kept occupying the life that should have belonged to her.”
“I repaid your kindness with evil. It was my fault. I was greedy.”
Xiaoman told them everything that had happened during those five years, including what happened to Liu Tanghuan and Qian Xiaohu’s eventual fate.
She even told them about Liu Tanghuan being abused and beaten.
But she did not mention a single word about saving Liu’s parents’ lives.
Xi Yu had heard Shen Linchuan say that after Liu’s parents had been poisoned, Xiaoman had saved them and then found an excuse, saying that they had been poisoned by mushrooms.
What they had seen of Liu Tanghuan saying those vicious things had also been an illusion.
Liu’s parents had always believed that.
Therefore, after Xiaoman once again replaced Liu Tanghuan, there had been no estrangement between her and Liu’s parents.
Xiaoman had not dared reveal that she was a demon. Exchanging one life for another was something beyond ordinary people’s understanding.
Xi Yu chewed on his spiritual fruit while Lu Zhixing stared at it longingly.
Seeing how pathetic Lu Zhixing looked, Xi Yu tossed one to him.
Lu Zhixing pursed his lips and stared at the one at Xi Yu’s lips, looking somewhat unhappy.
Xi Yu did not notice him. He simply watched the Liu family with great interest.
Xiaoman had finished speaking. She lowered her eyes, looking like a criminal waiting to be judged.
Seeing this, Shen Linchuan prepared himself to pull Xiaoman behind him at any moment.
He knew why Xiaoman had not mentioned Liu Tanghuan poisoning them and had instead kept talking about the suffering Liu Tanghuan had endured.
His Xiaoman was the kindest of demons. She did not want Liu’s parents to become disappointed in Liu Tanghuan before she died.
She wanted to leave Liu Tanghuan some room to turn things around. She even believed that Liu Tanghuan had already regretted her actions, and that after Xiaoman died, this family could still live together happily.
Shen Linchuan looked numbly at Liu’s parents.
“It wasn’t her fault. I threatened her. I forced her. She always wanted to return the identity to Liu Tanghuan. I was the one who deceived her into staying. If you’re angry, take it out on me.”
…………………
Shen Linchuan looked lifeless, as though he had lost all his vitality.
He was simply protecting Xiaoman instinctively.
At this point, all he wanted was for Xiaoman to spend her final thirty hours without having to endure anyone else’s anger.
Xiaoman shook her head, tears falling one after another. She did not stand behind Shen Linchuan. Instead, she stepped forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with him.
“I’m a demon. If I didn’t want to do it, he couldn’t force me. It has nothing to do with him.”
Xiaoman wiped away her tears and raised a smile.
“It was me who wanted to replace Liu Tanghuan. I envied her. I was jealous of her. That’s why I developed evil intentions.”
Liu Tanghuan could neither move nor speak, but her eyes flashed with an enormous light filled with delight and satisfaction.
This demon was actually about to die.
That was wonderful!
Did she think apologizing now would help?
Her parents loved her so much. They would definitely kill her with their own hands.
This demon actually had no sense and had delivered herself right into their hands!
That bitch had stolen her identity.
She deserved to die!
And then there was Shen Linchuan.
Liu Tanghuan watched as Shen Linchuan tried to argue but was stopped by Xiaoman, and a crazed look suddenly emerged in her eyes.
Shen Linchuan loved this demon so much.
How could Shen Linchuan love someone else?!
Her parents’ love and Shen Linchuan’s love should all belong to her!
If Qian Xiaohu had not deceived her, and if this demon had not taken her identity, all of these things would have been hers!
This cat demon had stolen everything from her.
It deserved to die!
It deserved to die!
Liu Tanghuan’s resentment was far too heavy.
Xi Yu clicked his tongue and maliciously released her restriction.
The moment Liu Tanghuan realized she could move, she hurried over to Liu’s mother and said in a voice filled with such hatred that she seemed ready to tear Xiaoman apart,
“Mom! Did you hear her? She’s the one who ruined me! She caused me to be abused. She abandoned me in some broken-down village and used demonic magic to turn me into a madwoman! Hurry and kill her and avenge me!”
“Dad!”
At this point, Liu Tanghuan was already somewhat deranged. She ran to Liu’s father as well, her expression twisted.
“What are you waiting for?! Hurry and avenge me! Maybe Qian Xiaohu was someone they found! Maybe they used Qian Xiaohu specifically to drive a wedge between our family!”
Liu Tanghuan knew perfectly well that Xiaoman was going to die, but she could not wait even one more minute.
The moment she saw this demon, she was reminded of all those years when she had been reduced to such a miserable state.
Neither human nor ghost.
It was all this demon’s fault.
It was Shen Linchuan’s fault!
Even now, Liu Tanghuan had not reflected on the mistakes she had made. She simply attributed all the suffering in her life to Xiaoman and Shen Linchuan.
She desperately wanted to see Xiaoman die.
Liu Tanghuan grabbed her father and pulled him toward her mother.
“Mom, she made me suffer so much! She deserves to die! She deserves to die! What are you waiting for? Hurry and kill her! Skin her alive, tear out her tendons, and…”
Smack!
The sound of a slap striking a face rang out.
It was fast and heavy, without showing the slightest mercy.
“Shut your mouth!”
Liu’s mother’s palm throbbed with pain from the force of the slap. She looked at Liu Tanghuan with disgust.
Liu Tanghuan covered the side of her face that had been slapped aside. A trace of confusion flashed through her eyes, but it quickly turned into anger.
“Mom! Are you crazy?!”
Liu’s mother’s hand trembled.
She did not look at Liu Tanghuan again. Instead, she turned back toward Xiaoman.
Her hands stopped a few inches away from Xiaoman, trembling violently, as though she wanted to touch her but did not dare.
“You’re lying to me, aren’t you? You’re lying to me, right?”
Liu Tanghuan was so furious she almost spat up blood.
Even now, her mother was still asking that demon questions!
She was obviously her biological daughter!
Xiaoman’s heart ached terribly. She shook her head and choked back a sob.
“I really am not your daughter… I’m sor—”
“That’s not what I’m asking!”
Liu’s mother sharply interrupted Xiaoman.
“You’re going to… die. You’re lying to me, right?”
Liu’s mother seemed terrified of the word death. She forced the word out in an extremely low voice, yet the rest of the sentence was crystal clear.
“You’re lying to me, right?”
Liu’s mother desperately tried to make herself look calm, but even the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes were filled with pain.
“You’re lying to Mommy, right? You can save your father and me. How could you die? Don’t joke with me like this, okay?”
As soon as Liu’s mother finished speaking, Shen Linchuan and Xiaoman’s expressions changed drastically.
Liu Tanghuan took a moment to react before she finally understood.
Only Liu’s father, just like Liu’s mother, had an expectant look in his eyes, as though waiting for Xiaoman to say that her impending death was all a lie.
At this moment, Xi Yu’s speculation was finally confirmed.
Liu’s parents had known for a long time that Xiaoman was a demon.
They had not believed Shen Linchuan’s explanation that Liu Tanghuan poisoning them had merely been an illusion caused by mushroom poisoning, either.
When a person underwent such a drastic, earth-shattering change, it was impossible for their family members to remain completely unaware.
They had known long ago whether the person beside them was their biological daughter.
From the way Liu’s parents had lost their composure when the butler brought Xiaoman in just now, it was enough to see that they even knew the one who had been accompanying them all this time was Xiaoman.
The one who had been with them day and night was a cat.
Xi Yu casually swept his gaze across everyone present, but his body had already relaxed.
A sliver of hope was still a sliver of hope.
Whether she lived or died depended entirely on whether this thread could be grasped.
Xi Yu spoke at just the right moment.
“As a demon, she occupied a mortal’s identity and was punished by the Heavenly Dao. Cats have nine lives. She could have survived, but she used three of those lives to save you and your wife, as well as Shen Linchuan. Now her demon core has shattered, and she is almost certain to die.”
Xi Yu looked toward the clock.
“She has twenty-nine hours left to live.”
Shen Linchuan’s nerves were stretched too tightly. With his meticulous personality, he actually failed to notice the two words almost certain.
His mind was filled entirely with one thing.
Twenty-nine hours.
It was far too short.
There was so little they could do.