Everyone in the room was waiting anxiously. Loraine Locke led Rufina Howard into the downstairs room on the second floor. I glanced at John Chou, who stood off to the side, still uncertain about the cryptic words he had just spoken to Loraine Locke.
Things were clearly complicated. Loraine Locke herself was shrouded in mystery. The last time Ethan Zhang went looking for her, her behavior raised a lot of suspicions.
Back then, it was to save Rufina Howard. Ethan Zhang had to travel into the past, using the power of the Thought Ghost to retrieve fragments of Rufina Howard's memories and piece them together. Only then did he barely manage to save her from death, though the cost was heartbreaking.
Now, the Thought Ghost resides within my body. I know full well how powerful it is—able to twist a person's thoughts with the slightest carelessness, a truly dangerous spirit. Although it's currently sealed, I asked the Thought Ghost through instinct if the same method could be used to bring Ethan Zhang back to life. The answer was painful: whether in the past or the future, everything about Ethan Zhang had already been shredded by the overwhelming force poured into the Six Paths.
The Rufina Howard who had gone through countless cycles of reincarnation had disappeared at the banks of the Sanzu River, sacrificed so that the current Rufina Howard could survive. I couldn't help but look at Redmond; this blow seemed to hit him hard. Some time ago, during a casual conversation, I asked John Chou about it, but he didn't tell me.
In the past, Redmond seemed to owe Rufina Howard a great debt and harbored other feelings. He used to look at her with admiration, but now that emotion had vanished. This was something I sensed through the fragmented memories left behind by Ethan Zhang's remaining power.
What made me so suspicious of Loraine Locke was how she managed to suppress the Thought Ghost. That was truly incredible. Just then, Dean Ding couldn't help but start rambling again.
"I really can't stand the atmosphere in this room. Seriously, you all don't need to look so grim. Now that we've found someone who can save the girl, just go do what you need to do!"
Jerry Li smiled and shook his head helplessly.
"Let's go drink."
"Is there anything else, little sister?"
"Just... stay a few more days, please. In case something happens..."
At this moment, Redmond stepped over and blocked the doorway.
"You should stay a few more days, Loraine Locke. We're old acquaintances, after all."
In the end, Loraine Locke agreed to stay. Everyone could see what Rufina Howard was thinking. It seemed that when they went to the room below to collect the blood, there hadn't been any communication. Rufina Howard lowered her head, looking troubled. I smiled, walked over, and ruffled her hair.
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"Come on, let's go rest."
It was clear that Rufina Howard still wanted to say something to her birth mother. After all, she’d been raised by spirits since childhood and had never met her real mother before—this was the first time.
Afterwards, only Rufina Howard and Yixue Han remained in the small building. The rest of us went to the village, planning to sit down and drink. When we arrived, Dean Ding and the others had already had quite a bit. I glanced at John Chou—he knew I had questions and led me straight to the mountaintop.
"What's wrong, Earthly Soul?"
John Chou smiled, walked over to me, patted my shoulder, and pulled me aside.
"Don't worry, Earthly Soul. There's no way she could be involved with the Immortality Society. They'd need to be far more capable to even try."
I looked at John Chou in confusion, realizing he meant Loraine Locke was even stronger than the Immortality Society. That made it even harder for me to believe.
A drop of blood fell into Rachel Lan's mouth, and we immediately noticed the black spots on her arm beginning to fade. Loraine Locke capped the vial and handed it to Rufina Howard.
"Feed her one drop a day. Any more, and this little girl will be poisoned by your blood."
Rufina Howard nodded with a soft "oh," her eyes showing a trace of emotion as she looked at Loraine Locke. Loraine Locke stood up, ready to leave.
"I've already extracted the Prime Ancestor's Pure Blood from the Nuwa lineage. Whether it works depends on the girl herself. If this blood has no effect, there's nothing more I can do. I'm leaving now."
With that, Loraine Locke began to walk away. Ronan Wu smiled and opened the door for her, indicating he'd make sure she got home safely.
"Wait..."
Suddenly, Rufina Howard called out to Loraine Locke. She turned back.
"What exactly is going on with Loraine Locke? What you just said confused me."
John Chou remained silent.
"It's just my guess, but for a woman—especially one who seems so fragile—to have lived for so many years, the Immortality Society should have tried to find her. Why haven't they taken this living immortal back for research? Even if they couldn't do it alone, they could've used Tan Tian's power. Yet they've never made a move against her."
I stared in astonishment and nodded.
"So she's not just powerful. But why did she become Rufina Howard's mother and give birth to her? I don't think it was simply to stop the Ghost Ancestor's resurrection—maybe there was another reason."
"Let's set that aside for now. Maybe there's nothing we can do."
I widened my eyes and looked at John Chou.
"Didn't the black spots on Rachel Lan's body fade away?"
John Chou shook his head.
"If the Prime Ancestor's Pure Blood really worked, the skeleton below should've reacted. The soul and body have been separated for too long—their connection is broken. If we truly wanted to reunite them, the skeleton should be growing flesh."
As John Chou and I went downstairs, we saw that, just as he said, the Prime Ancestor's Pure Blood could only slow Rachel Lan's symptoms. The skeleton had already begun to blacken, looking as if it was about to shatter.
"I brought Jade Yun's remains here because time barely interferes in this place. It's not completely stopped, but it does flow, just more slowly. Over time, Rachel Lan's condition will worsen. Now, all we can do is wait. After all, the Ethan Zhang from the future surely wouldn't let Rachel Lan die."
I nodded. That Ethan Zhang was unbelievably strong, but his power carried a sense of hopeless destruction. Would it really help?
I walked slowly up to Rachel Lan's remains, crouched down, and examined them carefully. The cracks were much worse than before.
"I've already notified Yunmei. She should arrive tomorrow."
After a while, we returned to the village. Loraine Locke joined us, casually eating and drinking. Rufina Howard sat nearby, with the Bloodbane Zombie following her. That zombie had been with Rufina Howard for a long time.
No one knew what she really wanted, but she took good care of Rufina Howard, completely replacing Purple Maple's role. Purple Maple used to be the one who protected Rufina Howard closely.
Rufina Howard still looked at Loraine Locke with longing. I couldn't bear to watch, so I sat down and raised my bowl of wine.
"You two haven't seen each other in so long. Maybe you should find a quiet place and talk?"
I smiled as I spoke. Rufina Howard glanced nervously at Loraine Locke and shook her head slightly.
"I'm not her mother. I only gave birth to her. My children died long ago."
I swallowed. Rufina Howard hung her head, clearly upset. At that moment, Redmond walked over.
"If you gave birth to her, that makes you her mother. That's how people define motherhood in this world."