Chapter 1226: Chapter 1226: Heart Like Ashes
Qin Sisi signaled to Xiao Meng to stay calm, then retrieved the Fairy Snow Zither from her storage ring. Her fingers moved swiftly, playing the Heartbreak Melody that could dispel illusions.
The magic power of the Music Attribute gathered at her fingertips, her slender fingers glimmering with a faint purple light. The light danced and gracefully leapt across the strings, spreading outward in all directions.
Eight identical little houses and eight open doors. Under the magic light of the Heartbreak Melody, seven of the houses quickly began to blur, eventually shattering and disappearing.
The dense forest reappeared before Qin Sisi and Xiao Meng.
Only one house and one door remained. Qin Sisi, with a determined look, stepped forward, with Xiao Meng following closely behind.
From the outside, the room seemed dark, but upon entering, it felt spacious and open. The room was brightly lit, and the people and items inside were clearly visible.
Lian Yue in white was sitting in front of a table, fiddling with some herbs. She plucked the fresh leaves one by one and discarded the stalks onto the floor.
Two pink long-haired begonias rabbits lay at her feet, eagerly munching on the discarded stalks.
Huan, dressed in green, stood obediently behind Lian Yue. When Qin Sisi and the others entered, she looked up at them and then lowered her eyes again.
Qin Sisi took a step forward and gently called, "Miss Lian Yue."
Lian Yue glanced at her and asked, "Why do you still call me ’Miss’? Do I look like one to you?"
From her appearance alone, Lian Yue indeed looked haggard and aged, unbefitting of the title "Miss."
In reality, Lian Yue’s "darling" was not entirely honest with Yu Sha. He did sneak away while Lian Yue was supposedly asleep, but Lian Yue wasn’t fully asleep at the time. She awoke just a hundred meters after he escaped.
Her sensitive nature prevented her from chasing after him with loud cries. Instead, she quietly followed him, disguised along the way.
While tracking her darling, Lian Yue discovered that her Magic Source was not completely destroyed. Perhaps due to intense emotions, the strike on her palm was not precise enough to completely ruin the core of the Magic Source.
However, that single strike did severely injure her Magic Source. Originally, she had activated five basic attributes and two variation attributes. But now, except for the Crystal Core of Illusion Attribute, all others were destroyed, beyond repair or reconstruction. This meant she could only practice illusion technique magic from now on.
Enduring the pain in her heart, Lian Yue tracked her darling for two days and nights, revealing herself only when she was sure he wouldn’t return to her, questioning him.
Her darling, thinking Lian Yue had lost all her magic power, showed no fear toward her. He candidly revealed the conspiracy of Lianfu Lianli, admitting he was merely a pawn for hire, telling Lian Yue not to bother him anymore.
For Lian Yue, this was adding insult to injury—she almost couldn’t stand. She screamed, "How can you do this? If you never liked me, why pursue me? Why make me pregnant?"
He impatiently replied, "I never forced you. Weren’t you willing? Now, it’s easy for me to kill you. Seeing you so pitiful, and pregnant with my child, I’ll let it go. Don’t follow me, or I won’t be nice."
With that, the once gentle darling left without looking back. Lian Yue, severely wounded and heartbroken, collapsed by the roadside.
Fortunately, a kind elderly couple living nearby found and rescued her, taking her home and caring for her. The village’s barefoot doctor diagnosed Lian Yue’s pregnancy.
Upon regaining consciousness, Lian Yue initially wished to die. However, the old wife said to her, having spent a lifetime childless and lonely, hoping Lian Yue would cherish the child within her.
In the quiet of the night, touching her slightly swollen abdomen, Lian Yue finally decided to live. She had nothing left but this child.
However, the pain of love remained irreparable. She ruined her face and vowed never to marry. Her once long, black, silky hair turned snowy white within days. The beautiful young girl quickly became an ugly figure.
Six months later, after learning of her parents’ passing, Lian Yue, her face covered with a black veil, secretly attended the funeral procession outside the mansion of the Chief of Phantom Spirit Family, bowed a few times, and tearfully left.
She knew she could never return to the Phantom Spirit family.
Later, Lian Yue gave birth to a daughter, naming her Huan, hoping she would achieve great things in illusion technique magic in the future.
When Huan turned one, Lian Yue left the elderly couple, moving into the Dream Forest to live.
Since she wanted to continue practicing illusion technique magic and planned to teach it to her daughter, living in an ordinary village was inconvenient.
Initially, they lived on the forest’s edge, but as Lian Yue’s magic power in illusion technique strengthened, their residence gradually moved deeper into the forest.
To date, she and her daughter Huan have lived in the Dream Forest for nine years.
In Lian Yue’s mind, she was no longer a "miss." That title no longer belonged to her, and others shouldn’t call her by it.
Qin Sisi sensed a certain resignation in Lian Yue’s heart and calmly said, "We’re about the same age; calling you ’Miss’ isn’t inappropriate."
Lian Yue became pregnant in her teens, and now her child was around ten, their ages were indeed similar.
Lian Yue was slightly taken aback, sighed, and said, "Yes, we’re the same age. You are still in bloom, while I have withered."
The atmosphere suddenly turned melancholic, and thinking of Lian Yue’s experiences, Qin Sisi felt a pang in her heart, momentarily at a loss for words.
After pausing, Lian Yue proactively asked, "I previously knew Thunder magic could break illusions, but I didn’t know Music magic had this effect. Who taught you this melody?"
There was no need to hide this matter; Qin Sisi truthfully said, "My Music Magic teacher is named Yi Rou."
Lian Yue recalled and sneered, "Oh, so it’s the eldest young lady of the Meilan Family. Back then, my so-called naturally beautiful sister used an illusion technique to lure her fiancé."
These events caused quite a stir at the time. Lian Yue was very young then, and the maids and guards in the mansion didn’t deliberately avoid discussing it in front of her, thinking she was too young to understand.
However, she had a good memory, and after hearing it many times, the affair left a mark on her, though she couldn’t comprehend its meaning at the time. It wasn’t until many years later, when she matured, that she understood its implications.
