Panda Cub – Chapter 74

Settled

Both sides were at a standoff, yet one side seemed to have the upper hand.

He Ying’s eyes gradually reddened as she stared at the person opposite her. “I don’t understand. Mom wasn’t there at the time, so how did you manage to project your soul onto her?”

And after lurking for so many years, not a single person among them had noticed.

“Haha.” ‘He Yuan’ burst into laughter, looking somewhat smug as he glanced at He Ying. “So what if your mom was a genius in the clan? But after all, she isn’t the clan leader. What she knows is only what we wanted her to know!”

As the clan leader, how could he possibly not have made any preparations for his child to marry the most talented person in the clan? There were some clan secrets that wouldn’t be taught so early on.

He Ying trembled all over as she looked at the body belonging to He Yuan in front of her, yet it seemed as if she could see the person inside through the body, and it was so hideous.

“Where’s my mom?” she asked with a trembling voice.

Where was Lady He now? How was she doing?

“She? Probably still asleep.” The indifferent tone even kindly added, “Until my physical body is fully recovered, she can’t die. If she dies, her physical body will die with her, and then I will also cease to exist.”

“Of course, if her physical body dies, the two of us will naturally die together.”

The smile was eerie and sinister, almost certain that He Ying and her group wouldn’t dare to act.

Once they made a move, it would be a mutual destruction.

He Ying’s body slightly bent, her gaze fixed on the opponent but unable to strike. She didn’t dare to gamble.

“Hey, your current strength, it’s probably not that great, right?” Jing Dan understood a bit of his previous words, and thinking about his inability to enter the lake, it might be similar to when she projected her soul onto He Ying’s body before. The difference was that his soul could suppress He Yuan from taking over her body. And coincidentally, during that battle back then, he probably emitted too much murderous intent when he died, which they couldn’t sense, but this original soul could, so he couldn’t get close at all, hence he used them to drag up the corpse!

‘He Yuan’ looked at her with a dark expression, indicating that he also believed that the only threat to him now was Jing Dan. But now he had a shield, and he didn’t believe they would dare to attack him regardless of He Yuan’s life or death!

“Ugh—ugh!” His face suddenly contorted in pain, raising his hand to clutch his head, his expression twisted. Through gritted teeth, he muttered, “Despicable! Despicable!”

“They’re fighting for control of the body,” He Ying forced herself to stay calm, though she felt utterly powerless in the face of the situation. Seeing Lady He in such agony, she couldn’t offer any assistance.

Jing Dan tugged at her sleeve and whispered softly, “Since we can’t harm mom’s physical body, and his soul is also inside mom’s body, do you think I can also project my soul into mom’s body and then directly confront his soul?”

He Ying turned to look at her, her expression somewhat grave. “But I don’t know that secret technique, how to enter the body without being instinctively rejected by mom.”

After all, this time, the soul was definitely not just a small strand like it was when it was placed on her. If the entire soul entered, there was no guarantee that He Yuan wouldn’t instinctively resist, and the situation might worsen.

Moreover, with the three souls in one body, it’s uncertain whether Lady He can withstand this impact.

Jing Dan frowned, feeling troubled. If this won’t work and that won’t work, what other options are there? She couldn’t just stand idly by and watch that bastard arrogantly occupy He Yuan’s body, could she?

“Jing Dan!”

Suddenly, a voice, almost squeezed out from between clenched teeth, came from across.

Jing Dan’s eyes lit up, keenly aware that this time the voice was indeed coming from He Yuan.

“Enter my soul sea, quickly!” He Yuan’s face was pale, gritting her teeth as she struggled against the soul’s backlash within her body, temporarily regaining control.

Seeing this situation, Jing Dan didn’t even have time to say a word to He Ying. A mass of black and white, almost tangible, rushed towards He Yuan in an instant, disappearing as it approached her head.

He Ying quickly caught Jing Dan’s suddenly limp body, holding her tightly. Then she nervously looked in the direction of He Yuan. Her expression grew even more pained, indicating the torment she must be enduring.

Her gaze fell on the pile of bones nearby. Using her spiritual power, she dragged them over to her side. With anger burning in her eyes, she suddenly smirked coldly. “You want these bones, don’t you? Well, I’ll make sure you never have another chance!”

Her spiritual power turned into flames, enveloping the entire pile of bones. Slowly, she burned them to ashes, bit by bit!

“No!” came a furious roar. ‘He Yuan’ charged towards her rapidly, but halfway there, his expression suddenly changed. He twisted his body and fell to the ground, clutching his head in extreme pain.

He Ying took a deep breath, increasing her spiritual power output, thoroughly incinerating the pile of bones into ashes. She said to him coldly, “Not only will I reduce you to ashes, but I’ll also feed your ashes to the fish!”

With that, the bundle of bone ash wrapped in spiritual power suddenly scattered into the lake nearby, attracting some fish to leap in excitement.

‘He Yuan’s’ expression twisted completely, his eyes turning crimson as he shouted, “Since you won’t let me live, then I’ll drag everyone down with me!”

As he spoke, his aura began to swell, signaling an imminent explosion.

‘He Yuan’s’ expression changed slightly. Just as he was about to use his spiritual power to envelop He Yuan’s body, he found that the rapidly swelling aura from before quickly deflated like a punctured balloon!

He Ying’s face brightened, her gaze focused on observing. Seeing Lady He’s complexion gradually calming down, her anxious heart finally settled.

A panda cub suddenly darted out from He Yuan’s head, and at the same time, it held a mass of dark energy in its claws, handing it over to He Ying before returning to the body.

He Ying contained the dark energy and, after confirming that Jing Dan showed no signs of discomfort, she went to check on Lady He’s condition. She saw Lady He weakly opening her eyes and softly saying to He Ying, “I’m fine now, I just need to rest for a while.” Then, she looked at the confined dark energy and said, “He cannot stay!”

Although his soul had been severely damaged by now, they couldn’t allow him any chance of recovery!

“Okay, but I’ll make him wait until you handle it,” He Ying said softly. She knew that what Lady He desired most was to personally end him, so this was her last chance.

A faint smile played at the corner of He Yuan’s lips as she closed her eyes and drifted into slumber.

At this moment, Jing Dan came from behind and hugged He Ying’s waist, comforting her softly, “It’s okay, Mom is just tired. Let’s take her back and let her rest for a while.”

The reason they had been entangled for so long was also because, after entering He Yuan’s soul sea, in order to prevent that bastard from destroying the soul sea and harming He Yuan, she had spent some time enveloping He Yuan’s entire soul sea. His subsequent attempt to self-destruct actually allowed her to be glad that she had made preparations in advance, minimizing harm to He Yuan. It’s just that He Yuan was exhausted from the earlier fight with that bastard and needed rest.

“Okay,” He Ying replied softly. She brought Lady He back home and laid her on the bed, then infused her with her own spiritual power. They were mother and daughter as one, and she wouldn’t reject her own spiritual power.

While He Ying was infusing He Yuan with spiritual power, Jing Dan was playing with the mass of dark energy on the side, pinching and patting it as if it were a toy. Each time she touched it, there would be accompanying screams of agony from the man, making sure he didn’t have a moment of respite.

Listening to the screams, Jing Dan began to feel somewhat bored with her actions. She then transformed her spiritual power into a ball of fire, burning the dark energy but not allowing it to dissipate too quickly, ensuring it endured the pain of being incinerated!

He Ying noticed her approach and couldn’t help but smile faintly. She didn’t see any problem with what Jing Dan was doing. After all, once the person’s soul was extinguished, there would be no hell or anything like that. So, letting him experience the pain of burning while alive wasn’t a big deal.

After finishing infusing He Yuan with spiritual power, He Ying came to Jing Dan’s side, squatting down beside her. She held one of her hands and looked up at her sincerely, saying, “Jing Dan, thank you. Mom didn’t suffer any injuries.”

Considering the situation, Lady He’s soul didn’t suffer any injuries, indicating how much spiritual power Jing Dan had allocated to protecting He Yuan at that time.

Jing Dan lowered her gaze, meeting He Ying’s eyes seriously. “She’s my mother too, so saving her is only natural!” Finally, she leaned down and kissed He Ying on the lips, murmuring, “You don’t need to thank me.”

Since He Ying was her lover now, it was only natural for her to do anything for her!

He Ying chuckled softly, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Jing Dan. She couldn’t help but wonder how much good karma she had accumulated to encounter someone like Jing Dan as her partner.

“Alright, I’ll remember that. I won’t say it again in the future.”

“Jing Dan, I love you.”

Thank you won’t be said again, but ‘I love you’ will never grow old.

Jing Dan smiled lightly, pursing her lips. She raised a finger and said, “Then you owe me a bottle of milk today!”

He Ying laughed, “Alright.”

Forget one bottle, she’d give her ten.

Afterward, the two stayed here to take care of He Yuan. It wasn’t until three days later that Lady He finally woke up from her slumber. She stared blankly at the ceiling, seeming to be unable to grasp what had happened before for a moment.

When He Yuan first woke up, He Ying noticed, but she didn’t call out to her immediately. Now, seeing her staring blankly at the ceiling for a long time without much reaction, she couldn’t help but worry and called out, “Mom?”

He Yuan’s eyes flickered slightly, turning to the source of the voice. Upon seeing He Ying’s worried expression, she suddenly spoke, “Are you worried that I’ve become stupid?”

He Ying’s face stiffened for a moment, then she replied somewhat nervously, “No, don’t talk nonsense!”

She felt embarrassed because she had actually entertained that thought for a moment just now.

Seeing her expression, He Yuan said softly, “Have you been with Jing Dan for so long that you can’t even tell a lie anymore?”

He Ying: “…”

Feeling even more embarrassed.

A faint smile appeared on He Yuan’s face. She didn’t dwell on what happened just now. After looking around the room, she asked somewhat curiously, “Where’s Jing Dan?”

Wasn’t that guy always clinging to He Ying? How could she leave her alone here?

“Oh, she went to experience life with that mass of dark energy,” she didn’t want to call him “dad.”

“Experience life?” He Yuan furrowed her brows slightly, unable to understand what she meant for a moment.

He Ying cleared her throat awkwardly. According to Jing Dan’s words, experiencing “life” meant enduring trials. So, there was still the trial of the Mountain of Blades left for him to experience. Originally, she wanted to stay here and accompany He Yuan and to watch the trial of the Mountain of Blades together, but the dark energy was too noisy, and she was afraid it would disturb He Yuan’s rest, so she took the dark energy to the first floor to let him experience it there. (LP: Unlimited blade works :3)

He Ying helped He Yuan up and asked softly, “Do you still feel any discomfort in your body now?”

He Yuan shook her head and smiled lightly, “No, aside from feeling a bit weak, I surprisingly feel better than before.”

Perhaps when that soul was hidden in her body, it was secretly draining her energy. She always felt particularly tired, and her vitality was not very strong.

Hearing her say this, He Ying smiled reassuringly and supported her as they went out to see Jing Dan.

As soon as the two of them stepped out of the room, they could hear screams coming from downstairs. Upon approaching downstairs, they saw Jing Dan converting her spiritual power into sharp blades. It was like a wall of blades closing in from all sides towards the center, repeating endlessly.

The dark energy was enveloped within. Although it was dark energy, the blades were not ordinary iron blades. They were formed from Jing Dan’s spiritual power, possessing great lethality against the dark energy.

Jing Dan saw them coming down and immediately presented her creation of the Mountain of Blades to them, smiling with her lips pursed, looking particularly obedient, as if she was waiting for praise.

He Yuan watched the dark energy screaming incessantly in the Mountain of Blades and suddenly felt her nose tingling. She rubbed Jing Dan’s head and praised softly, “What a great idea.”

The tingling in her nose made her words sound slightly choked up, causing He Ying and the others to look at her with some concern.

She shook her head, choking back tears. “I just can’t help but think of the past, those clanspeople, my parents, my sister. Did they also scream in agony like this, while he showed no remorse?”

They were so innocent, yet their lives were sacrificed due to his selfish desires.

He Ying stepped forward and gently embraced Lady He, patting her back softly. Her voice sounded somewhat subdued as she said, “We’ve avenged them now. In their next life, they will surely be much happier.”

He Yuan closed her eyes. Just the thought of the scenes she witnessed when she returned to the clan territory made her ache, especially the sight of her sister, who couldn’t even fly yet, and now would never get to experience it. How could she not feel hatred?

Jing Dan also came forward to hug He Yuan, softly comforting her, “Mom, don’t cry, don’t cry. I’ll let you play with him, and you can return to him a hundred or a thousand times over!”

He Yuan chuckled bitterly, how could he ever repay what he owed!

Due to her overwhelming emotions, He Yuan fainted. He Ying held her frail body, feeling a sudden pang in her nose. It seemed that this was the first time she had held He Yuan since she could remember. She was surprisingly thin, so thin that she could hardly feel any flesh.

Jing Dan clearly noticed too. She said with concern, “We need to fatten Mom up in the future! Being so thin isn’t good.”

He Ying gently agreed. After carrying He Yuan back to the room, she went downstairs to see Jing Dan starting the fire again. She stepped forward, wrapped her arms around her waist, and affectionately buried her face in Jing Dan’s neck, whispering softly, “Once Mom takes care of him and gets better, should we have our engagement and wedding? What do you think?”

Her Jing Xiaodan was so good to her, so much so that she wanted to tie them together as soon as possible and see how Jing Dan looked in a wedding dress.

Jing Dan’s eyes lit up, “We can finally have our engagement and wedding!”

She seemed even more eager than He Ying. After turning around, she kissed He Ying’s lips many times, then took out her phone and started calling her family one by one.

“Auntie! I’m getting engaged! And there will be a wedding, so get ready!”

“Mom, I’m going to get engaged to He Ying. We’ll expect big red envelopes!”

“Hu Tu, Hu Tu, I’m getting engaged!”

She was filled with joy, eager to share this good news with others. After notifying everyone, she turned back to He Ying, her eyes sparkling, and said, “Everyone knows now, you can’t back out!”

He Ying was softened and touched by her enthusiasm, finding it amusing. “Why would I regret? I’m entering into this bond with you, not with anyone else.”

With a faint smile, Jing Dan lifted He Ying’s face with her hand and hugged her tightly, softly saying, “You’re so sweet~”

He Ying lowered her head and gently rubbed her lips against Jing Dan’s cheek, whispering, “You’re the sweet one.”

“Yes! I’m sweet too!” Jing Dan enthusiastically echoed, very serious about it.

He Ying chuckled softly, hugging her tighter. What to do? With each passing moment, her love for her grew stronger than the previous one.

This time, Lady He’s sleep didn’t last long. By evening, she woke up. He Ying didn’t immediately let her see the dark energy, but instead brought a pot of lean pork and mustard green congee to her and handed her a small bowl, saying, “Jing Dan said you’re too thin. You must replenish yourself properly. Have something light this time you’ve just woken up, and later on, you can eat more of other things.”

“Oh, and Jing Dan cut both the mustard greens and the meat this time. Can you see how much her knife skills have improved?”

He Yuan looked at He Ying, who kept chatting away, then lowered her head to look at the congee in her hand. Suddenly, her nose felt sour. “I’ve treated you so badly before, but you’re still willing to take care of me.”

Even the wife she found is good to her.

“Bad? Who was it that, whenever I tried to fly and fell, used their spiritual power to protect me every time? And who was it that, when I entered human school, worried that I wouldn’t get along with others, secretly followed me to school and back every day? There’s a lot more I know.”

He Ying smiled gently, her gaze becoming softer. Though her mother’s attitude towards her had always been very cold, she was never an unworthy mother. She had protected her more than once from behind. Yet, even though she knew her mother loved her, she had harbored grievances. Why was her mother so indifferent to her? Why was her mother’s love so different from others’?

Moreover, even knowing that she loved her, such coldness could still hurt.

He Yuan’s eyes widened slightly upon hearing her words, her ears starting to turn red. She couldn’t bear to look at He Ying and quickly averted her gaze, feeling the embarrassment rising within her, threatening to overwhelm her.

Sensing her discomfort, He Ying didn’t linger to expose her further. She got up and said, “Take your time with the congee. I’ll go downstairs to accompany Jing Dan. I’ll come back up later to collect the dishes.”

He Yuan nodded slowly, still trying to recover from the embarrassment of being seen through by her daughter.

He Ying chuckled and turned away.

As she descended the stairs, she found Jing Dan sitting obediently at the dining table without touching her chopsticks. Her eyes lit up when she saw He Ying, waving at her and saying, “Come on, I’m so hungry!”

He Ying approached with a smile. “If you’re hungry, just eat first.”

“No, I want to wait for you!” Jing Dan refused decisively. Eating together was non-negotiable for her.

He Ying’s gaze softened as she picked up a bite of food for Jing Dan. “Then let’s eat now.”

Jing Dan pursed her lips, smiling sweetly as she reciprocally picked some food for He Ying.

For some reason, whenever they were together, they couldn’t help but laugh endlessly. Everything felt exciting, and they never got bored. Previously, she couldn’t understand why couples were so affectionate with each other, but now she realized it was an instinctive desire to be close, even to the point of wanting to be even more affectionate.

After finishing their meal, they cleaned up together before bringing the dark energy up to He Yuan’s room.

He Yuan had finished eating by the time they arrived. Jing Dan, with a serious expression, checked the remaining porridge. Seeing that there was none left, she breathed a sigh of relief and gave He Yuan an admiring look. “Mom, keep it up. You’ll gain weight in no time!”

He Yuan: “…”

Her expression stiffened, unsure how to respond to Jing Dan’s words. It felt like she was being talked to in the same tone one would use to coax a child.

He Ying tried to suppress her amusement. Only Jing Dan could deflate He Yuan like this.

“Um, how do you plan to deal with this?” He Ying handed the dark energy over to He Yuan.

By now, the dark energy had stopped its wailing, but it had become entirely depleted, appearing quite listless.

He Yuan’s gaze fell on the dark energy, her eyes growing cold. She took it from He Ying’s hand and looked at the dark energy, asking, “Have you ever thought that you’d also have a day like this?”

The dark energy emitted weak gasping sounds, clearly enraged.

He Yuan suddenly burst into laughter, tears almost coming out.

“Did your father teach you all his secrets? Did he ever think he’d raise such a monstrous son?”

“Back then, after killing your father, did you gain the most power?”

The author has something to say:

Zaizai: I’ve already told everyone about our marriage! You have no chance to back out now!

LP: Sorry for the no upload yesterday, my work schedule changed so I’m adjusting right now. I used to translate before work in the morning, but now I’m translating after work. Thank you for your understanding~