msmithbooks Chapter 115 This is not magic, this is cultivation.
Chapter 115 This is not magic, this is cultivation.
The scene in the mirror reversed again. She became Jiang Jianping standing on the steps, while the person who pushed her became a grotesque phantom of Jiang Jianping.
"You've left me in a vegetative state; it's time to pay this debt!"
The phantom shoved her hard, and Jiang Manli staggered backward, her head slamming against the cold stone.
A sharp pain shot through her, and everything went black. Before she could recover, she was pushed by the phantom again.
Time and again, the back of his head slammed against the stone, the dizzying pain and the feeling of his skull cracking were exactly the same as what Jiang Jianping had endured.
Immediately afterwards, the ground beneath her feet suddenly cracked open, turning into a pool of boiling, scalding blood.
Countless pale hands reached out from the blood, grabbed her ankles, and dragged her down.
The demons in the blood gnawed at her flesh and drank her blood. Each sip corresponded to a drop of blood shed by Jiang Jianping, and to the suffering he endured while lying in the hospital bed.
"I was wrong! I was really wrong!" Jiang Manli struggled desperately in the pool of blood, letting out a piercing scream. "I shouldn't have spread rumors! I shouldn't have hurt Uncle Jiang! Please forgive me! I'll never do it again!"
But no one answered her. Only the cold blood and the demons gnawing at her flesh kept her company in this endless torment.
Their screams woke up the other inmates in the cell.
A female prisoner nearby kicked them impatiently: "What are you yelling about in the middle of the night! Are you pretending to be crazy? Trying to escape your sentence?"
"Exactly! Pretending to be mentally ill won't help after doing so many bad things!"
The guard came over when he heard the commotion, shone his flashlight on them, and frowned as he said:
"Stop pretending. If you dare to disrupt the rules again, I'll put you in solitary confinement."
No one believed they were truly suffering; everyone thought they were faking madness to try and escape legal punishment.
They wanted to explain, but the excruciating pain in their souls prevented them from uttering a single complete sentence.
He could only watch helplessly as his soul repeatedly endured those tortures in the Mirror of Retribution, while his body remained unharmed, and he was ridiculed as a madman.
At this moment, the Jiang family's old house was brightly lit.
Shen Yu stood on the second-floor terrace, looking towards the detention center, his mind clearly seeing everything that was happening in the cells.
He nodded slightly, satisfied with the result.
This curse of karma was personally cast by him based on their karma.
They stole 26 years of Jiang Xinlan's life, and they must repay it with 26 years of soul torture.
For the past twenty-six years, day or night, whenever they closed their eyes, their souls would be pulled into the Mirror of Retribution, where they would suffer the hellish punishments corresponding to their sins.
Even if they die of illness or old age in prison, their souls will remain in the Mirror of Retribution until they have endured twenty-six years.
If they retain even a trace of their soul after the twenty-six-year term, they will be reborn as animals in their next life and will never be able to be human again.
If one cannot survive, one's soul will be scattered, and there will be no chance of reincarnation.
No instrument could detect the existence of this curse, and they would forever be regarded as madmen, spending the rest of their lives in endless pain and misunderstanding.
Shen Yu slowly withdrew his divine sense, the last trace of coldness in his eyes dissipating, replaced by an unyielding tenderness.
He turned and walked into the living room, where warm yellow light filled the entire room, making everything inside feel exceptionally cozy.
Jiang Zhenbang was sitting on the sofa, clumsily peeling an orange for Niannian. The orange peel was uneven and there were still many white fibers stuck to the flesh, but Niannian ate it with a satisfied look on her face, her little mouth stuffed full.
Gui Gui lay on Jiang Jianping's lap, listening to him tell embarrassing stories about Jiang Xinlan when she was a child, laughing so hard she almost fell over.
Su Hui and Jiang Xinlan were busy in the kitchen. The crisp sound of bowls and plates clattering together, mixed with their laughter, was like the most beautiful ballad.
This is the everyday life he tried his best to protect.
Compared to the endless torment of the mother and daughter in the detention center, the warmth before them seemed especially precious.
Shen Yu leaned against the door frame, quietly watching all of this, a smile unconsciously creeping onto his lips.
The vortex of spiritual energy within his dantian spun even more rapidly, causing faint ripples to spread across the surrounding air. The perfection of his state of mind meant he was only one step away from the Foundation Establishment Realm.
"Shen Yu is back? Come and sit down!" Jiang Jianping was the first to see him and waved with a smile.
"Daddy!" Niannian and Guigui immediately jumped off the sofa and rushed into his arms like two little cannonballs, hugging his neck on either side. "Grandpa peeled oranges for us, they're so sweet! Daddy, you have some too!"
Gui Gui held up a peeled orange segment and offered it to Shen Yu's lips. Shen Yu opened his mouth and took it; the sweet juice melted on his tongue, sweetening his heart.
"Slow down, don't fall." Shen Yu carried one child in each arm and sat down on the sofa.
Jiang Zhenbang handed him another segment of orange he had just peeled, his face full of a kind smile: "I saw you standing on the balcony for a while earlier, were you thinking about something?"
Shen Yu put the child down and glanced at everyone present. Jiang Xinlan came out of the kitchen carrying a plate of sliced fruit, met his gaze, and smiled gently.
Jiang Jianping and Su Hui also looked at him, their eyes full of concern.
These people are the closest people to him in this world.
Having experienced so much, they had long witnessed his extraordinary abilities.
Destroy poison with a flick of the finger, kill people from afar, and foresee fortune and misfortune.
Although they didn't say it, they must have already guessed it in their hearts.
He is now about to achieve Foundation Establishment and needs to go into seclusion for a period of time. Moreover, he no longer wants to hide anything from his family. Family members should be honest with each other.
"Actually, there's something I've been keeping from everyone." Shen Yu's voice was calm yet clear, echoing throughout the living room.
The once lively living room instantly fell silent. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Shen Yu.
Jiang Xinlan sat down beside him and gently took his hand: "No matter what it is, we can accept it."
"Hmm." Shen Yu nodded and pointed lightly at the empty glass on the coffee table.
A pale golden spiritual energy flew from his fingertip and landed on the glass.
The next second, half a cup of clear water appeared out of thin air in the empty cup, with a few crystal-clear ice flowers condensed on the surface.
Immediately afterwards, the ice flowers melted, and the water boiled again, emitting wisps of steam, but the glass remained completely intact, without even a trace of heat.
Everyone was stunned, their eyes wide open, and they even held their breath.
Niannian and Guigui clapped their hands excitedly, exclaiming, "Wow! Daddy's amazing! Is it magic?"
"This isn't magic." Shen Yu smiled and withdrew his hand. "This is cultivation."
"Cultivating immortality?" Jiang Zhenbang was the first to react, his voice tinged with disbelief. "You mean the legendary kind of cultivation where you can fly, escape into the earth, and live forever?"