Capítulo 182: Legacy of Moonlight (II)
"What?"
"Wow!"
Jasmine didn't believe the voice but before she could ask any more questions, an excited Lin Qingcheng enveloped her in a hug, spinning her around.
"Ooooh, isn't this absolutely amazing?" Lin Qingcheng squealed, "Jasmine, you found your mom!"
"Hey, get off me… get!" Jasmine growled and forcibly extracted herself from the gullible airhead and kept her at arm's length with her spiritual force.
Jasmine wasn't about to trust the words of a strange spirit. She decided to test it once more, focusing her divine power into a ray of deadly light and attacking the white gem still in her palm. There was a flash as the moonlight energy slammed into the gem and was perfectly absorbed just like before.
"Baby, don't be silly," The voice said, "The Tear of Chang Xi is able to absorb massive quantities of moonlight. You are still growing and your powers right now are weak and ineffective."
Jasmine couldn't do anything to the spirit so she could only ask it more questions. "These crazy worshippers also call it that. How do they know about it?"
"I placed that name in their heads and influenced their minds so they would worship me. I needed their devotion to keep powering the spiritual imprint in the gem. This is only a fragment of will that my original self left behind and it will eventually dissipate altogether. I only resorted to such measures to extend the time I have left. But baby, aren't you curious what mommy's name is?"
Jasmine sighed in annoyance, "Fine… what's your name?"
"Hehe, that's more like it. My name is Zhiyue Lingdan, former member of the Purple Moon Clan of the Great Western Fox Sanctuary. And you my daughter, I named you Zhiyue Mengyu."
"No thanks, my name is Jasmine."
"Ohhh, that's a wonderful name! My baby is growing up so quickly… Yes, yes, Zhiyue Moli sounds so beautiful!"
Jasmine furrowed her brow, seriously confused by her supposed mother's weird personality. It seemed like a mix between melancholy, excitable playfulness, and overbearing annoyance. Perhaps it was due to it being a spiritual imprint and not the original self or perhaps she was like that to begin with. Jasmine found the whole thing curious and continued to patiently ask questions until the full story came together piece of by piece…
Zhiyue Lingdan had been an ordinary member of the Purple Moon Clan, a clan of Nine Tailed Moonlight Foxes. The Great Western Fox Sanctuary was a secret region in the far, far west. It was so far from Dragon Flower Province that Zhiyue Lingdan could not even describe in words the distance.
The sanctuary was the home for many Nine Tailed Fox clans and other lesser fox species for an untold number of years. They generally supported each other peacefully while fighting against other divine beasts. Beasts were naturally competitive and conflicts always rose up along the borders but they were all minor conflicts that did not affect the Purple Moon Clan.
The sanctuary was a safe haven until a mysterious incident occurred. Zhiyue Lingdan refused to say exactly what happened, only that her clan turned on her. She had to escape and carrying her unborn child away to safety. She went east, fleeing her pursuers constantly until she eventually had to give birth.
She created a secret underground temple in a desolate wilderness to protect the newly born Jasmine. She also enslaved some random beasts with her divine strength to serve as guardians as Jasmine grew up.
"I left the Tear of Chang Xi in the temple along with a spiritual imprint to guide you. I knew I didn't have long and that those bastards would find me sooner or later. I only wanted you to escape and have a free life." Zhiyue Lingdan said.
"What happened to your real body after that?" Jasmine asked.
"I don't know. If I was able to escape from their pursuit permanently, I would have come back for you. Since I haven't in over five hundred years, I can only assume that I was captured…" Zhiyue Lingdan's voice fell silent, contemplating her own fate.
Jasmine took the time to digest the information… until a certain fact jarred her memory. She dug into her clothes and pulled out a round stone plate, the very same which Chen Wentian stole from He Zicheng and the Beast God Sanctum.
"Ah! My control plate, what happened to it?" Zhiyue Lingdan cried in alarm.
"… I don't know, I found it like this."
Zhiyue Lingdan's white energy emerged from the gem once more as a thin strand and pointed at the surface of the plate, "Look here, the runic array I laid down to enslave the six beasts is cracked and broken. How could this have happened?"
"Wait, you enslaved the six beasts? What else did you do to them?"
"I gave them each a large amount of blessing, called the Legacy of Moonlight. They were merely ordinary beasts but with the blessing they would be able to rapidly progress. Only then could they act as your guardians. What happened to them?"
Jasmine slapped her forehead as the pieces fell into place. She described the story of the three beast kings of the eastern wilderness; the monkey, toad, and praying mantis. She also repeated the story that Chen Wentian told her about the origin of the Beast God Sanctum and how the Snake Lord, Lion Lord, and Eagle Lord each obtained a mysterious legacy as well as baby Jasmine.
"So that's what happened…" Zhiyue Lingdan said. "After giving birth, I was incredibly weak. I was also in a rush as my pursuers were catching up quickly. The control plate as well as the spiritual imprint in the gem weren't my best work. I wasn't sure but it looks like they were much less effective than I had originally thought."
"My memory inside the gem is spotty but I remember a large conflict between human mortals and the guardian beasts within the temple soon after you were born. The beasts didn't have enough time to cultivate and were still trash and as a result, suffered a huge loss. I can only assume that the three human lords you speak of killed three of the beasts and consumed their flesh to steal the blessing for themselves."
"The gem passed between different people in the human world for many years until I eventually ended up as the patron goddess of the Bright Moon Kingdom. Jasmine, baby, I'm sorry it turned out this way. I'm sorry for putting you through this."
"It's fine, mom… I think I turned out okay." Jasmine muttered. She finally accepted Zhiyue Lingdan's words after the truth about the stone plate was revealed. It was so coincidental yet everything fit together perfectly. Her birth as well as how Zhuge Kang took her in made total sense now.
"Oh… baby… you finally called me mom…" Zhiyue Lingdan began to sob, "It's not okay… you're so skinny and small… Mom is sorry, wuuuu…"
Jasmine couldn't do anything to console the wailing spirit and simply held the gem to her chest. She sighed and looked at Lin Qingcheng who was still held at bay by her spiritual energy. She quickly apologized and removed the barrier, only for Lin Qingcheng to tackle her once more in a tight hug. Jasmine hugged her back this time, a small smile emerging from her lips.
"Thank you, Qingcheng. You're the best." She said, happy and grateful that Lin Qingcheng was able to uncover the secret to her origin.
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