Chapter 592: Father-Daughter And Father-Son

There was an issue with cultivation. She had died once. It was a complete understatement, but Li Xiaofei could sense an earth-shattering weight in those calm words.

He held the girl in his arms tightly. Even though she had become half-human and half-ghost, he still wanted to use his chest to give her warmth.

Tan Qingying looked exceedingly strange. The right side of her body was unchanged, but the left side of her body was onyx black. It was like the darkest inks in the world had soaked through every cell of her body.

Moreover, her obsidian half had grown a thick, leathery layer of keratin scales. Even her palms were no exception. Her fingernails had elongated to become as sharp as blades. They were now half black and half white. It almost seemed like a chaotic form of inverted yin and yang. When she smiled, even the teeth on her left side were black.

Li Xiaofei soon understood how it had happened. After the Yiggs had invaded, Xiajing City had not taken long to reach the verge of collapse. The city's soldiers and manpower were under heavy strain as the star beast hordes assaulted the city waves like a relentless tide. In less than a month, Xiajing City’s defensive forces were on the brink of collapse. Tan Qingying had no choice but to defy the world's moral standards and use her bloodline abilities.

She used the corpse-controlling technique to summon fallen soldiers, martial artists, and star beasts to hold back the relentless hordes of star beasts. This had significantly alleviated the pressure on Xiajing City. However, the Yiggs came up with a countermeasure.

Somehow, the star beasts that died could no longer be controlled by the corpse-controlling technique, which weakened Tan Qingying’s advantage. To make matters worse, a sudden wave of public criticism arose within the city. The method of using the corpses of fallen martial artists for battle was criticized by some self-proclaimed moralists within the city.

Rumors spread like wildfire among the people, labeling her a witch, a demoness, a calamity, and the root of all disaster. Some even petitioned the government to expel this corpse controller.

Since the dead star beasts could no longer be controlled, and the number of corpses could not keep pace with the rate of their consumption, Xiajing City faced mounting pressure once again.

So Tan Qingying decided to risk it all by venturing beyond the city walls to subdue the Corpse Emperor. Using the Corpse Emperor’s lair as a base, she controlled zombies, collected the bodies of fallen warriors from both sides, and continuously expanded her undead army.

But as the number of controlled corpses grew, it exceeded the limits of her corpse-controlling technique. Tan Qingying suffered a backlash from the corpse energy, and transformed into something that was half-human and half-corpse.

Her near-death experience had occurred during her battle with the Corpse Emperor. If it hadn’t been for the explosive activation of her bloodline inheritance at a critical moment, she might have truly perished in the Corpse Emperor’s lair.

Tan Qingying hid nothing from Li Xiaofei. At this moment, she was no longer the fearsome Corpse Whisper Queen, whose very name struck terror wherever she went. She was merely a lonely young girl pouring out her grievances.

“Don’t worry.” Li Xiaofei held the young lady tightly in his arms, kissed her forehead, and said, “I will find a way to cure you, no matter what.”

“Mm.” The young lady nodded.

In truth, she had always known that Li Xiaofei would never despise her. But she just didn’t want him to see her current appearance. Yet, this stubborn man insisted on coming. Of course, how could she truly refuse him?

Li Xiaofei sat down beside her, wrapped her in his arms, and said, “I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?”

“Let’s start with the good news,” Tan Qingying replied, a faint smile appearing on her lips.

She had heard too much bad news in the past few days. She didn’t want to hear any more.

Li Xiaofei’s heart softened as he said, “Old Tan is still alive.”

Tan Qingying’s body trembled. “What... what did you say?”

Her mismatched black and white eyes shone with a blazing light as she looked up at Li Xiaofei.

“I said, Old Tan is alive, and I’ve already found him,” Li Xiaofei replied.

“Where is he?” Tan Qingying grabbed Li Xiaofei’s arm tightly.

“If you want to see him, you can see him anytime,” Li Xiaofei said. “But Old Tan’s condition is a bit... unusual. He’s lost his memory.”

“Lost his memory?” Tan Qingying repeated. Then, after a brief moment, she smiled faintly and said, “As long as he’s alive, that’s all that matters.”

Li Xiaofei thought for a moment and summoned Old Tan from the Secret Time Pavilion. Light shimmered briefly as Old Tan appeared on the stone platform of the Corpse Emperor’s Abyssal Tower.

A sharp, acrid smell of urine filled the air, spreading across the entire stone platform. There was no helping it. Old Tan’s body was covered in the saliva and urine of the Black Emperor to ensure that he stayed alive.

“Father!” exclaimed Tan Qingying as she immediately recognized the middle-aged man before her.

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

She rushed forward and threw her arms around him. Tears burst forth like a flood breaking through a dam. What in this world could be more joyful than regaining someone you thought you had lost forever?

Old Tan stood still, letting his daughter hug him tightly. There was a hint of confusion in his eyes. He glanced toward Li Xiaofei, as if silently asking for help.

Li Xiaofei realized that Old Tan didn’t recognize the girl crying in his arms.

Even his own daughter? It isn’t surprising, though. The current Tan Qingying has changed far too much.

“She’s my girlfriend,” Li Xiaofei explained.

Old Tan suddenly had an expression of realization and said, “Ah, so she’s my daughter-in-law!”

Li Xiaofei was speechless.

Good grief. He remembered he had a son, but somehow managed to forget everything else. Well, at least he remembered that much.

In some strange way, this unexpected turn of events created a chaotic yet oddly harmonious dynamic. Li Xiaofei had initially hoped that this reunion might trigger something in Old Tan’s memory. But it seemed that hope had been in vain.

“You’ve done well, kid,” Old Tan said, winking mischievously at Li Xiaofei. “Managing to woo such a pure and beautiful girl. She’s much better than that one you found back in Jiepeng...”

“Shh!” Li Xiaofei hurriedly covered his father-in-law’s mouth.

Why did this man have to spill every little secret?

And yet, Li Xiaofei couldn’t understand why Old Tan would describe the current Tan Qingying, in her half-human, half-corpse state, as pure and beautiful.

Could this be what they called unconditional affection? Love extending to everything connected?

“I don’t know why, but when I see this girl, I feel an inexplicable closeness,” Old Tan said, nodding earnestly. “It seems I was destined to have a daughter-in-law like her. Kid, you’d better treat my daughter-in-law well.”

Li Xiaofei sighed inwardly, wondering just how much stranger this situation could get, as he pressed his hand against his forehead.

“Your father’s condition isn’t stable,” Tan Qingying said softly. “He needs time to recover, and the environment here will be beneficial for his healing. I want to spend more time with him.”

Li Xiaofei nodded in agreement. It would be good for father and daughter to have time together. As they spoke, a sudden tremor shook the entire Corpse Emperor’s Abyssal Tower.

Tan Qingying’s expression changed slightly. There were intruders. Her eyes gleamed with a cold, murderous intent.

“What’s going on?” Li Xiaofei asked hurriedly.

“We have a few uninvited guests,” Tan Qingying said, her voice calm but laced with tension. “The White Tiger troops are struggling to hold them off...”

“Yiggs?” Li Xiaofei asked instinctively.

Tan Qingying paused to sense the intruders carefully. After a moment, she shook her head.

“No,” she replied. “The ones who broke in are from the Great Xia martial lineage.”

“Hm?” Li Xiaofei was surprised.

The Great Xia martial lineage invading this place? Great Xia and the Corpse Emperor are supposed to have a covert cooperative relationship. Why would they launch an attack here?

“I’ll go handle it,” Tan Qingying said softly as she stood up. Her steps wavered slightly.

Li Xiaofei reached out and held her hand.

“Leave it to me.” He gently stroked his girlfriend’s long hair and said affectionately, “I’ll take care of those bastards. You shouldn’t make a move again.”

In truth, Li Xiaofei had already noticed something was wrong with Tan Qingying’s condition. Her forced overextension of the corpse-controlling technique had allowed corpse energy to infiltrate her body and cause her partial transformation into a corpse.

The physical changes she was undergoing were clear signs of this process. If she were to make another move, any instability in her inner qi could lead to a corpse energy eruption that could have disastrous consequences.

She had been gritting her teeth and enduring for the sake of Great Xia and Xiajing City. But she was at her limit. There was no way he would let her risk herself any further.

Li Xiaofei strode toward the crimson wooden door. If anyone wanted to harm the young lady, they would first have to answer to his fists, his sword, his blade, and his spear. They would have to see if any of them agreed to let it happen.