CHAPTER 527
Leaf Rice
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Her mother's pleas were faint, yet under his divine sense, they sounded as if she were screaming at the top of her lungs, her pain piercing his heart.
It was not a plea for life, but for death.
Even if it meant only brief companionship, even if Dongfang Jue had never regarded them as family.
Yet at this moment, Dongfang Jue felt sorrow for this mother.
Dongfang Jue's feelings were false, but this mother's love for her was not.
Even gravely ill, the love in her eyes was undeniable.
No coffin, no tombstone. Her two brothers dug a pit and buried her hastily.
By the end, Dongfang Jue couldn't tell if her tears were real or fake, but at first, they were definitely fake.
Though moved, she felt no real connection—this was not her mother. Dongfang Jue even suspected her own coldness, or perhaps the path of immortality was inherently devoid of emotion.
Yet now, as if the fake tears had turned real, she felt overwhelmed. Was she remembering her own mother?
They were both mothers. Even with different backgrounds, Dongfang Jue felt their gazes should have been the same, shouldn't they?
Even her grief was rushed. What could she possibly take from a home that was already destitute?
Without a storage pouch or the jade pendant bestowed by her master, she could only select a few valuable items or some dry provisions to carry.
Even if one travels light, in reality, four people could carry very little.
From the savior's perspective, these displaced people were no different from bandits.
Along the way, leaves and bark were stripped clean; not even grass roots remained.
Dongfang Jue had long since mastered fasting; eating was merely a physical craving, a ritual activity for the Lingxian Hall disciples. Even if her master didn't cook, she wouldn't starve to death.
But her father and two brothers couldn't go without eating. People die without food.
Without a doubt, Dongfang Jue once again deeply experienced the so-called distinction between immortals and mortals, the fragility of ordinary people.
Yet, to fulfill her role as a sister, she had no choice but to accept the food her brothers offered, taking from their mouths what little sustenance they had.
And she had to eat in secret. If caught, it could mean certain death.
Most of the dead had been murdered; the rest were those who had fallen asleep and never awakened again.
Though utterly incomprehensible, this was the tragic reality: her brother fed on human flesh—the flesh of the dead.
She didn't think her brother was a bad person. To survive, to keep all four of them alive, he had to eat.
"I know you don't like it, but eat this."
Blood dripped from the stone slab onto the fire below, sizzling as it fell, yet somehow making the flames burn brighter.
The eldest brother handed over a dumpling wrapped in an unknown leaf, emitting a faint, foul odor.
The Human Emperor was blind, unable to see the suffering of his people. Within the gilded palaces, beasts and monsters devoured humans; beyond the city walls, the common folk ate flesh.
If you don't eat people, you'll end up like her—eating shit.
Even without looking, Dongfang Jue knew what lay within the leaves. He merely held it in his hand, with no intention of eating it.
It was animal excrement—the combined waste of multiple creatures.
"If you don't want this, then eat some of this instead." Her brother pointed to the sizzling meat still cooking on the stone slab…
In this world, there will always be murderers. But was her elder brother guilty?
He only wanted them to survive. What crime was that?
Dongfang Jue ultimately shook her head and didn't approach the stone slab.
It wasn't that she was afraid, but she hoped her brothers could live a little longer.
The road now teemed not with refugees, but with a mob—and Dongfang Jue was among them.
Dongfang Jue witnessed with her own eyes as crowds of people surged forward, overwhelming soldiers clad in leather armor. They killed and devoured them, even tearing apart the leather armor to throw into cooking pots.
Equally, she witnessed warhorses trampling through the bodies of civilians blocking their path. In an instant, hooves crushed bones, transforming the obstructing mob into fresh sustenance.
The practice of exchanging children for food was no longer mere text, but a bloody reality.
Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs, yet humans devour their own children.
Dongfang Jue and his three companions were hardly fortunate souls; they had merely strayed from the main road.
The eldest brother had gone "to find food," only to return with his arm severed.
Dongfang Jue didn't know if he was cold-blooded, but at this moment, he understood the purpose of their journey. This training would be far more arduous than any before.
Indeed, for Dongfang Jue now, growing up was far more urgent than growing strong.
At this moment, the title she had always prided herself on—the daughter of the Human Emperor—only filled her with shame. The Nine Radiance Heavenly Seal, the Heaven-Slaying Tower, the Immortal Emperor's Robe of the Wandering Dragon…
She had always believed she performed admirably, and her master had never doubted her. Yet only now did she understand his indulgence.
She was nothing but a wet-behind-the-ears brat. Even though she prided herself on having seen the treacherous depths of human hearts, having witnessed so much…
Now she realized it must have seemed to her master like a child's silly daydreams—equally laughable!
What nonsense about being the daughter of the Human Emperor? What nonsense about Heaven being powerless against her? It was all just a laughable game played under the protection of others.
Ye Qinghan knew it, Li Shiyao knew it, Su Muchan knew it, Miaomiao knew it, Chu Youwei knew it—yet she alone remained oblivious, blustering on day after day with her foolish boasts. Behind her back, those senior and junior sisters must have been laughing at her rotten…
This so-called "world peace," this ideal of an equal, happy, and beautiful world for all—it was nothing but her own one-sided, naive fantasy, born of ignorance.
Even the Six Rites bestowed by her Master now felt suffocating. Just hearing the names of those treasures revealed their profound significance, and now she doubted whether she truly deserved them.
All along, she had interpreted this as her master's trust, a sign that he recognized her potential.
But now, even she doubted herself. Could she truly accomplish this?
Perhaps the Master was merely playing along with a child. After all, among all the disciples, she alone had yet to receive the Master's affirmation.
But now, no matter how much she overthought it, it was pointless. Though she could send messages to her master, he never replied.
After a while, she stopped doing such pointless things. It only made her Master think she was a weakling.
No matter how much she overthought things, her journey must continue, for the Master had yet to send word for her return.
But this journey didn't last too long.
It was an ordinary day, everything proceeding as usual. She followed her two older brothers, hiding at a distance neither too close nor too far from the crowd.
Now that her father was dead too, she still couldn't do anything.
Because this was precisely what her master wanted her to witness.
Her second brother suggested a way for her to survive—sending her to a wealthy household as a maid. At least she'd have food to eat, right?
In truth, Dongfang Jue had already agreed. To be honest, when she heard it was to be a bedwarmer, she felt a wave of disgust wash over her.
Her honor and dignity had been trampled underfoot by her master—no, ground into the filth of a dung pit.
She wasn't even worthy of being a bed companion—merely a lowly maid to warm the bed and feet of that wealthy young master.
But Second Brother phrased it delicately—promising full meals and no dirty or exhausting labor. Hmph. Dongfang Jue found that arrangement filthy enough.
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