Even though the old woman knew the girl couldn't see her, her eyes still filled with tears as she nodded over and over.
Yes.
That child really did grow into a fine man, so exceptional that her heart swelled with pride.
Yu Songnian stared blankly at his mother's image, his eyes turning red. So many years had passed. Her face, once clear in his memory, had long since faded with time. He'd often feared that one day, after too many years, he'd forget the faces of his loved ones completely. But the moment he saw his mother's projection, every memory they'd shared surged back like a rising tide.
He realized then that he'd never forgotten her, not even for a single moment.
"Songnian, this is your grandmother," the woman said gently. "I've mentioned her to you before. I never thought you'd actually get the chance to meet her face-to-face. Go on, greet her properly."
The old woman's frail body trembled. She looked at him with tearful anticipation.
Yu Songnian hesitated for a moment, then softly called out, "Grandmother."
"Ah," the old woman responded with a shaky voice, and tears streamed down her wrinkled cheeks.
"Mother," the woman said tenderly, "I suppose by now you already know what Zhi Yue did. After she framed me and nearly killed me, I thought about going back to expose her, to make her pay for what she did."
She sighed quietly. "But in the end, I chose to give up. Zhi Yue and I are twins. She said that if I didn't exist, the King Stone would've been hers alone. That all the love and honor should've belonged to her, that she was the true fated ruler of the Shi Tribe."
The woman's voice softened with sorrow. "I can still remember how mad she looked when she said those words. I knew that if I returned, she wouldn't live. The Shi Tribe would never forgive her, and neither could I."
Zhi Yin gave a faint, bitter smile. "If I'd gone back, our story would've only ended with one of us dying. I asked myself which mattered more, the future throne or the bond between sisters."
She paused for a breath, then continued softly, "I don't know if my choice was right or wrong. I chose to leave. On the road, Zhi Yue sent people after me again. To escape them, I was forced into the Savage Beast Mountains and ended up in the human world.
She poisoned me before, and those assassins nearly finished me off. My spiritual power was so badly damaged that I could never return to my former strength. During one close call, Songnian's father saved me. He wasn't a strong cultivator, but he was righteous, and he treated me with nothing but kindness." A shy smile appeared on her lips. "So I married him and gave birth to Songnian.
Because of the poison and my injuries, I couldn't cultivate anymore and could barely maintain my Unity-stage power."
Zhi Yin's voice grew soft again. "After Songnian was born, he kept falling between life and death because of his bloodline. I didn't know that children born from a union between our race and humans would suffer this much. I was tormented by guilt and pain, and during those days, I tried every possible way to keep him alive.
Eventually, I discovered that the King Stone's energy could suppress the chaos in his bloodline.
For years, I used the King Stone to keep his bloodline stable. As time went by, I noticed something strange, a resonance forming between Songnian and the stone.
He probably doesn't remember it now, but when he was little, his favorite thing to do was sit at the door hugging the King Stone in a daze. A few times when I took it away, he cried his lungs out."
Her eyes were full of warmth as she spoke.
Yu Songnian looked stunned. He vaguely remembered something like that. That stone... was the King Stone all along?
"When I saw how close he was to it, I had a wild idea," Zhi Yin said with a faint smile.
"The King Stone already holds immense power. Every generation of Shi Tribe rulers has only ever drawn upon the strength already within it. I wondered, what if I could leave the stone behind, bound to our bloodline for generations? Then, when Songnian grew up, he'd have an extra trump card. And maybe, with the King Stone's help, his bloodline conflict could be completely resolved.
I spent countless days researching, and I actually found a way. I used Songnian's blood to reforge the King Stone, performing a secret ritual to bind them tightly together.
I don't know if it was coincidence or destiny, but it worked."
As she said that, Zhi Yin suddenly started coughing violently.
Yu Songnian flinched, instinctively reaching out—only to stop himself when he remembered this was only a recording.
"Just a moment ago, I successfully separated the King Stone from myself," Zhi Yin said weakly. "Even after leaving me, it remained stable and still connected to Songnian. I'll seal it inside a Bloodline Casket. When he's grown strong enough, he'll open it himself and merge with it. He'll become the first person ever to inherit the King Stone after birth.
Mother, I didn't tell Songnian about the Shi Tribe. I only wanted him to live safely and peacefully. But when a child grows up, he'll eventually want to know where he came from.
If he never discovers the truth, let him live a quiet life.
If he does find the truth and comes to you, that means he's already strong.
If my sister takes the throne, I fear she won't have the strength or presence to keep the clan stable. Internal chaos might follow. Songnian may be half-human, but he carries the King Stone. If you approve of him, and if he's willing, he can become the next King of the Shi Tribe. With the King Stone's power, the clan will rise again."
Zhi Yin looked straight ahead. "But if he doesn't wish to, don't force him. If the royal line can only exist by clinging to a stone, then maybe it's time for the Shi Tribe to have a new kind of ruler."
There was a long pause.
Then Zhi Yin whispered, "Mother, I'm sorry."
The old woman's eyes were filled with tears as she shook her head again and again.
Zhi Yin smiled softly. "Songnian, it's a pity I won't see you grow up. The world is vast, my child. May you travel far and see every mountain and sea beneath the heavens."
Her lips trembled as if she wanted to say more, but no more words came out. Her image slowly faded from the air.
Only the sound of the old woman's quiet sobbing remained.
Yu Songnian took a deep breath, forcing his emotions back under control. After a moment, he stepped forward and gently patted the old woman's back.
She, too, had once been a king. Soon, she gathered herself, her gaze filled with warmth and pride as she looked at him.
"Child, you heard your mother's words. You carry the King Stone. You were born to be the Shi Tribe's King. Would you be willing to stay here and become our next ruler?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly with hope.
She truly believed Yu Songnian would accept.
After all, being King of the Shi Tribe meant standing at the peak, commanding countless clansmen, wielding power enough to stir the winds and clouds across the Southern Lan Continent.
But to her surprise, Yu Songnian didn't hesitate even for a second.
He simply said, calm and steady, "I'm sorry. I can't stay."