As I am:

Peace. By the time you see this letter, Mother will have gone to a very far away place.

Because it’s too far, in short, I won’t be able to come back in this lifetime.

I… I’m not a good mother.

When I was very young, your grandmother passed away. No one taught me what a mother should be like.

I say these things not to shirk responsibility, but out of regret.

Regret that I experienced such a lonely childhood, yet I cruelly allowed you to experience it as well.

Regret that I gained nothing from my own mother, and when I became a mother, I had nothing to give to my own daughter.

Regret that as a mother, I didn’t teach you anything either.

I didn’t teach you how a girl should protect herself, didn’t teach you right from wrong, didn’t teach you how to love someone… of course, I don’t have the qualifications or the ability to do so.

I think your brother will teach you.

I hope your brother can teach you everything.

He is a very promising child. Living with him will be much better than living with me, this useless mother.

This is the only thing I can use to comfort myself.

An’an, you are a good child.

Do you remember?

That time near the end of the year, all the workers had gone home for the holidays. The medicine shop needed to restock, and I was carrying those medicinal materials back and forth by myself, carrying them dozens of times until I cried.

When I finished crying and turned around, I saw you stumbling and carrying the medicinal materials back to the warehouse, handful by handful.

Many of the medicinal materials were mixed up, but Mother’s heart was so warm.

At that moment, Mother felt无比comforted, but also无比lonely.

Loneliness is a demon that devours human reason, morality, and even humanity. It devours everything.

Mother was devoured by this demon, to the point where she forgot all the wonderful things she possessed. To the point where she lost everything.

I’m sorry.

Mother shouldn’t be telling you these things.

The weather is already cold, are you wearing enough?

Mother sewed you a winter coat and sent it with this letter. There was supposed to be a small hat, but I only finished half of it… never mind.

I’m sorry.

I won’t be able to send you gifts anymore.

I’m sorry.

I’m abandoning you again…

I am a shameful mother. But I have no choice.

The things I seek have disappeared from this world, and I can only follow them, to a very far away place.

Never to return.

I originally wanted to leave quietly, but I felt that I had to say something to you. Whether it’s a mother’s last words or a irresponsible woman’s final self-comfort.

I have to say something.

An’an.

This is the first letter Mother has written specifically for you, and it’s also the last.

I really don’t know what to say that would be most appropriate.

An’an.

You have to take care of yourself.

You have to study hard, and when you grow up, like your brother, you can also get into the Dao Academy, and you can also become a high official or an immortal.

No, Mother shouldn’t demand that of you.

Mother doesn’t have the qualifications to do so.

Cultivation is too tiring, do whatever you want.

You should still eat less sweets, your teeth will rot, and you won’t be pretty.

My An’an, when you grow up, you will definitely be a great beauty. What kind of breathtaking beauty will that be?

Just thinking about it makes me feel like I can close my eyes.

An’an, be good.

Listen to your brother.

Grow up happily and safely.

Useless nonsense.

But Mother has nothing else to give you except these useless words.

I’m sorry.

I don’t know how your studies are going, whether you can recognize all these words.

You can read them later, too.

Or you don’t want to read them, either.

…

Writing this, Mother suddenly remembered the days when your father taught me to write.

I’m sorry.

I miss you.

…

Yongtai, year fourteen, first day of the eleventh month, Song Ruyi.

…

…

When he received the letter from Wangjiang City, Jiang Wang was in a very anxious state. And the letter was addressed to An’an, so since it was sent by Aunt Song, he didn’t presume to open it, but directly gave the letter to Jiang An’an.

An’an happily jumped into the study to read the letter.

Jiang Wang was thinking about his own problems.

The white bone lotus that appeared on his body was very wrong. That strange pattern didn’t look like a product of any orthodox Daoist sect.

Something must have gone wrong. But he had no one to discuss it with.

He didn’t have a completely trustworthy, knowledgeable elder who would definitely support him at all times.

Uncle Dong might be trustworthy, but with his upright character, if he knew that Jiang Wang was involved with unorthodox practices, he might kill him on the spot. Righteousness over family.

As for Ling He and Zhao Rucheng, these two could naturally be completely trusted, but they had also just started cultivating, so there was no need to have high expectations. Zhao Rucheng might have a more mysterious background, but Jiang Wang was unwilling to involve them in anything related to the White Bone Dao, which sounded evil just from the name.

He checked some Daoist texts and secret records, including some event records, but there was no information about the White Bone Dao. Either it had never appeared in Zhuang Country, or its information had been erased.

The only thing Jiang Wang could confirm was that, in his memory, there was no one or anything related to the White Bone Dao.

The hidden connection with the Taiyin Star was also because of the Illusionary Realm of Taixu, not anything else.

Was the “secret” that the black-veiled woman wanted to know the Illusionary Realm of Taixu? What was the connection between that woman and the White Bone Dao?

If she was a member of the White Bone Dao, what was her purpose? If not, if she was really from an orthodox Daoist sect as she said, then why would she mention the White Bone Dao?

He suddenly thought of the black candle in the Tongtian Palace, which he had obtained from the Heart-Swallowing Human Demon. The Zhou Tian Star Array Diagram was passed down from the Illusionary Realm of Taixu, so there shouldn’t be any problems. If there was anything special about his body, it was this black candle.

What was its origin? What secrets did it hold?

While Jiang Wang was thinking, Jiang An’an ran out crying.

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong, An’an?” Jiang Wang squatted down and hugged her.

“Where is a very far away place?” An’an held up the letter in her hand, and large tears rolled down her cheeks: “Is my mother going to heaven like my father?”

Jiang Wang then realized the seriousness of the problem. He picked up An’an and coaxed her, “It’s okay, it’s okay, An’an, don’t cry, brother is here, brother is here. Brother is with you.”

While he was coaxing Jiang An’an, he took the letter and quickly read it.

The letter paper was very thin, but it suddenly seemed very heavy.

This letter was sent through normal channels, and judging from the time it took for letters to travel between Wangjiang City and Maple Forest City, the matter was definitely beyond redemption.

Jiang Wang didn’t have deep feelings for Aunt Song, but she was his father’s wife and An’an’s mother.

She was irreplaceable to Jiang An’an, a very important part of her life.

And now she was gone forever.

Although Jiang An’an was still young, children aren’t ignorant of everything.

Jiang Wang had also gone through that age, he understood children’s sensitivity, children’s fragility. He understood how upset the little one was.

Normally, Jiang Wang would feel heartache when little An’an stumbled and fell.

Not to mention seeing her eyes already swollen from crying, his heart was breaking.

“An’an, be good, An’an, don’t cry. Brother is here, brother is here.”

“Wuwuwu, my mother, she, she…”

“An’an, An’an, brother will definitely give you an explanation.”

Jiang Wang hugged her little head, saying gently and firmly.

No matter who was involved, no matter what the reason.