Volume Five: Return from the Other Shore - Chapter 430: A Warning

I am kneeling right now.

His upper body was bound hand and foot.

The area below my knees is like a washboard; it's so uncomfortable.

Several heavy bluestone bricks were pressing on my thighs.

The men with their cold, sinister faces stood before me like executioners about to carry out an execution.

Wait, something's not right? I think I just underwent a super evolution and my strength increased significantly, right? Why am I being treated like a heretic being interrogated by a bunch of guys who are weaker than me?

Where's my sweet daughter? Why isn't she coming to rescue her mother?

"Sister Givinia, Sister Givinia, what are they doing... Mom looks so uncomfortable!"

"Don't go over there, Little Butterfly. This is actually a form of cultivation."

"Cultivation?"

"That's right! Maintaining a clear mind under unpleasant external conditions is a very demanding training program, so please don't disturb it."

"Understood, Little Butterfly, I promise I won't bother Mommy!"

"Mmm, so good~~"

Get out of here, I don't have a stupid daughter like you.

"Cough cough cough! Court is in session!" Little Ying, sitting at a table, made a banging sound—since she didn't have a gavel, she used small bubbles to create the sound. "Now, the matter of Xiao Ye's shameless private life and chaotic, decadent sexual relationships must be investigated in court!"

"What kind of opening is that? It's all jumbled up..."

"No shouting in court!"

"Isn't this a courtroom?"

"It's all the same! Anyway, anyway, anyway! Xiao Ye, when did you get two more daughters?! Tell me honestly!"

Yeah... When I reunited with her, Little Butterfly was still in her cocoon state, so she didn't even know Little Butterfly existed before. And now there's another little spider... Oh dear, this circle is really messy.

Even if you ask me that... well, you have two daughters, right?

"Could it be that they were adopted? That's good--"

"But they are my own children."

"--What a horrible thing! When did you become such a wanton woman!"

Does having a child out of wedlock mean being promiscuous?

"That's not what I meant—but who's the child's father?! Could it be that he attended one of those infamous, chaotic parties and doesn't even know who the father is?!"

"So you know about orgy parties? That's impressive. Clap clap."

"Hehehe, thanks--no, no! What exactly are you--"

"It's not that complicated, actually. I had two one-night stands with a man whose last name was Zuo Zhe, and that's how I got two kids."

"Who is that bastard?! I'm going to kill him!!!"

"Idiot, Qipao Woman, don't go berserk! -- Hey Ye, you too, I've never heard of these children having a father. Didn't you say you conceived them asexually?"

"You believe such nonsense? Of course, it only happens after having sex with a man."

"You damned, despicable woman, don't stop me! Don't stop me! Don't stop me!!!! I'll dig three feet into the ground to find that scumbag and tear him to pieces!!! If I can't find him, I'll just kill every man in the world!!!!"

"I told you not to act impulsively—Hey Ye! You're not kidding me! I knew you were a scumbag, but I didn't expect you to be so casual!"

... Nonsense, that's obviously a joke.

I just wanted to tease them, so I went along with what they were saying.

It seems... we've gone a bit too far?

Let me apologize.

"I'm sorry, I was just joking."

""""""...""""""

"I just wanted to see you guys get so angry and jump up and down like idiots, sorry, hahaha."

BOOM!!!!!

When I regained consciousness, I found a bump on my head.

"The court is now in session! Defendant Xiao Ye, tell us! What is the specific background of these two children?"

The foam in Little Ying's hands made a crackling sound, like popping firecrackers. By the way, you seem to enjoy the judge's game.

"Built up by massive construction."

"Clam?"

"Taken from the winter fishing."

"Clam!?"

"Yeah, right. I gave birth to them, but they... how should I put it? Rather than creating new life, I'd say I provided bodies for things that already existed. And their bodies were all made from my blood, so when I say 'gave birth' to them, I mean in a broad sense, not in the sense of a difficult ten-month pregnancy or a cesarean section."

"Oh... I see... you should have said so earlier, Xiao Ye, you rascal!"

Little Ying and Haoyue breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed weakly. Xiao Wu looked at us with eyes that said Sin Annihilation. Yun Can shook her head helplessly. Givania was still smiling on the side. Zuimei-chan was fiddling with the tablet I brought back.

I glanced furtively at the Sick Spider... or should I call her Little Spider?

She was being held innocently in Little Butterfly's arms when she noticed me glancing at her. Her brow furrowed slightly, but then instantly returned to normal.

So... in order to avoid being exposed, she has to always pretend to be an innocent young girl in front of others.

So, does that mean I can't fight back no matter what I do to her?

Thinking about this--

I avoided everyone else's gaze and gave her a cool middle finger.

Her eyes widened instantly, but she forced them back, her pale face flushing red.

Oh no, this is so much fun!

I then opened and closed my lips, making mouth shapes towards her.

(You, a, [beep--], [beep--], of, little, [beep--])

"--!!!"

Oh dear, oh dear, your little fists clenched suddenly, as if you really want to kill me? Tsk tsk tsk, you're so naive, Spider-chan. Haoyue and Xiao Wu are here, even without me lifting a finger, I can beat you to a pulp, let alone the fact that you're still a little girl.

"What are you doing, A Ye?" Givinia asked.

"Just kidding—trying to make my second daughter happy!"

"Oh? Is that so?"

Yes, that's right.

Givinia looked at me with a subtle expression, then sighed softly.

"Although I don't know what you're hiding, it doesn't matter... I'm only here to give you a heads-up."

"Remind?"

"About the lady."

"... Speak quickly."

Givinia's expression turned serious.

"Remember, the lady is the strongest indirect interference-type ability user on this planet. She can do so much in terms of mental interference— Word Spirit, brainwashing, hallucinations, hypnosis... almost everything you can think of, and she's at the pinnacle of it; in addition, there's the transmission, extraction, and storage of sound, the empathy and visualization of sound... These are irrelevant to combat, so don't worry about them."

"I do know these things. It's written in Ling Ye's notebook... 'Don't try to defeat Madam on a mental level. Try to drag the battle down to pure violence. That way, you'll have a better chance of winning.'"

"That's right, but that's precisely why I need to remind you—while the lady rarely engages in direct violent conflict, her physical attacks, such as sonic attacks, are extremely powerful, ridiculously so. What's more troublesome is that she can imbue sounds with 'meaning,' giving the sounds themselves properties related to the assigned meaning..."

"Koichi's Stand in its second form? Or is it the Sand Man?"

What's that?

"Jojo... don't worry about that detail, so what?"

"Then there's the lady's 'weakness'... to be precise, it's not really a weakness, just something she dislikes—she hates 'sex,' 'marriage,' and 'babies.' I don't know if it'll be useful, but you'd better remember it."

"You've found out really well."

"... This is related to her dark past. Besides her, I'm probably the only one in the world who knows about her dark past."

"...?"

I suddenly felt something was off.

"Hey, Givinia-- "

"I can't stay here any longer, Madam will notice. Goodbye, A Ye."

Before I could finish speaking, she vanished into thin air, as if a projector had been suddenly turned off.

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Statistical physics makes me want to die...