Douluo Continent: Copying Ya Li, the Carefree King of the Sun and Moon

Their steps faltered on the spot.

There was no bed, no dressing table, and not a single thing you'd expect from a lady of high society.

There is only one altar.

On the altar stood a wooden statue of a deity, exquisitely crafted, with clearly visible features and flowing robes.

That was Xu Wangshu.

It wasn't dressed as a princess, but rather as someone standing on a divine throne.

His mother had three pairs of wings spread behind her, and she held a staff of the sun, moon and stars pointing to the sky, her eyes both compassionate and dignified.

But now?

All three pairs of wings were broken.

His face was slashed several times by a sharp weapon, leaving hideous scars.

He was wearing an old battle robe, clearly a style from the Star Luo Empire army many years ago.

At the foot of the statue, there was a large pile of incense and candle ashes.

Some have long since died out and are covered in dust, while others are still new.

Xu Yanli stood outside the window, his eyes revealing a hint of anger, but also a sense of understanding.

No wonder Tang San took action.

His own mother wanted to revive the position of the angel.

Even statues of gods have appeared.

Xu Yanli laughed mockingly to himself several times, then sighed regretfully.

His gaze passed over the broken statue and landed on the person kneeling before the altar.

She was a woman.

The woman was wearing a luxurious nightgown, her long hair loose, and she was kneeling upright with her back to the window.

She didn't turn around.

But she spoke, as if she had already sensed its presence, which is quite normal.

The moment Xu Yan entered, he stopped trying to conceal his presence, and even deliberately made two footsteps as he walked in.

If you want to kill someone, how can you do it silently?

If we resolve this quietly, how can we face our mother who died in despair in the Sun Moon Empire's palace?

The Duchess of White Tiger's voice was hoarse, like sand being ground together.

"You've arrived."

Xu Yanli remained silent.

The woman slowly got up and turned around.

She has a well-maintained face; she must have been a beauty when she was young.

But her eyes were frighteningly empty, like two bottomless dry wells.

She stared at the boy outside the window, at his face that was almost identical to the statue, and suddenly laughed.

His smile looked worse than his tears.

Do you know how long I've been kneeling here?

She asked.

Xu Yanli remained silent.

The woman didn't wait for his reply and continued speaking on her own.

"Twelve years."

“From the day she died, I have been offering incense for her here every morning and evening.”

She walked up to the statue, reached out and gently touched the face that was slashed beyond recognition, her movements as tender as if she were touching her beloved.

"I first met her at the late emperor's birthday banquet. I was twelve years old that year, and she was twenty-two."

"She was dressed in silver armor and went straight from the drill ground to the palace. The smell of blood on her body had not yet dissipated. Not a single official in the court dared to say that she was improper."

"You know what? Before that, I always thought that my life was destined to be marriage, childbirth, and a life of fighting in the inner quarters of the house. I had no choice."

Xu Yanli paused for a moment.

“But she’s different. She stands there as if to say: What you men can do, I can do better.”

"At that moment, I knew that she was not human; she was our goddess."

The woman's voice grew softer and softer, almost like she was talking in her sleep, but a light seemed to suddenly appear in her eyes, a glimmer that was quickly extinguished.

"Later... she died."

"No, not dead, shattered."

“I saw with my own eyes that streak of light fall from the sky and hit her. Her wings fell off one by one, and her blood stained the ground red. She lay in a pool of blood, like a bird with broken wings.”

“I was standing in the crowd, watching it all happen.”

Do you know what I was thinking at that time?

She suddenly turned her head and stared intently at Xu Yanli.

Suddenly, a fire ignited in those empty eyes—a fire of madness and delusion.

"I was thinking, so even gods can break."

“I knelt before her for twelve years. From the age of twelve to twenty-four, I offered incense every morning and evening, begging her to bless me and to bless me so that I could live like her... as a human being.”

"But she just died like that. She died so tragically, so unjustly."

"Then what have these twelve years meant? What have I been kneeling before?"

Her voice rose higher and higher, becoming increasingly shrill, until it was almost a shout.

"you tell me!"

"What am I kneeling on?!"

Xu Yanli remained silent.

He just watched her quietly.

Looking at this woman who once regarded her mother as a god.

See her kneeling there day after day for twelve years.

See how she personally slashed the face of the idol.

Look at her kneeling in this pile of ruins, guarding a dream that can never be relived.

Humans always like to create a perfect god, but in the end, they all want to destroy that god in their own hands.

"So you sent someone to kill me."

He finally spoke.

The voice was unusually calm.

The woman paused for a moment, then smiled.

His smile looked worse than his tears.

"Kill you?"

"Do I need to?"

"Those useless bastards I sent out didn't even touch a hair on your head before you caught them. You think I don't know that?"

She walked to the window and stared intently into his eyes through the window frame.

I won't kill you.

"If I really wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have sent those trash, I would have sent a Title Douluo."

"I just wanted to take a look."

"Let's see how the children she left behind turn out."

She suddenly reached out, through the window, as if wanting to gently touch Xu Yanli's face.

But it still didn't touch, instead it touched from a distance in the air, and finally slowly fell down.

Xu Yanli felt a chill run down his spine, and a vague, indescribable emotion flashed in his eyes.

At this point, he had absolutely no idea how to face the person in front of him.

He came with the intention of killing, so why does he feel an inexplicable sadness now?

"You know what? You look just like her."

"It looks so similar that it scares me."

“Every time I see your face, I think of that woman standing on the training ground back then. I think of her wearing silver armor, drinking with the soldiers, and standing in the court, scolding those old nobles until they were bloodied and bruised.”

"But do you know..."

Her hands suddenly began to tremble.

"I hate her."

"I hate that she showed me that there is such a way of life in this world."

"I hate that she made me believe that women can live so dazzlingly."

"I hate her more..."

Her voice lowered, becoming almost inaudible.

"After she died, I realized I could never go back."

"All those years of kneeling before her statue, all those years of imagining the future in her image, have become a joke."

“I have to live. I have to get married, have children, and fight with those women in the inner quarters for the rest of my life. I killed Huo Yun’er, who resembled her. He only looked somewhat like your mother, but his personality was completely different. So, I became the person I hated the most.”