HPDBC 237. The Ling Sisters
237. The Ling Sisters
As they moved through the city, Jin Shu began to notice the strange looks he was receiving from the young divine beasts.Which made him wonder two things:
Why were there so many of them?
And why were they all looking at him like that?
“Why did so many of you come here?” he asked Long Ling.
“We’re rejoining the world,” she replied casually. “Great fortune is descending in this era, so it’s the perfect time for our four clans to emerge again. Or so the elders say.”
“Huh… I don’t really get it, but I guess that’s good news for me.”
“Why’s that?”
“It means I don’t have to figure out where to search for the Azure Dragon Clan anymore.”
“If it’s only that, I can tell you,” she said. “We live on a secluded island in the Endless Sea. So do the other three clans.”
Jin Shu considered that.
The Endless Sea was the boundless ocean surrounding their continent. It housed countless oceanic spirit beast tribes and was rumored to be the birthplace of the ancient dragon race. Aside from that—and some rare resources hidden in its depths—it held little interest for most cultivators.
No wonder he’d never heard of the four Divine Beast clans. They’d been hiding out there all along.
The realization lifted a weight from his shoulders.
So he turned to his mother and asked the second question nagging at him.
“Hu Fang mentioned I have a lot of enemies here. I assumed that was because of Yin’er. But judging by the way these guys are staring at me… it doesn’t seem that simple. What’s going on?”
Sun Mei’er smiled sweetly. Far too sweetly.
“Oh, nothing much. You’ve just managed to offend every male divine beast in the city by stealing their goddesses.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose.
“What did you do?”
“I might have spread a small rumor,” she said with a light laugh. “About you being the husband of not only the four most beautiful human women in the city… but also the four most beautiful beast women.”
He exhaled slowly.
“And who, exactly, are the four most beautiful beast women?”
He already had a suspicion. But he needed to hear it.
“You’ve heard of them,” she said brightly. “They go by the title: Ling Sisters.”
If Sun Mei’er weren’t his mother—and considerably stronger than him despite being in the same cultivation realm—he might have seriously considered fighting her.
Long Ling blinked, looking between them.
“…Am I going to marry my ancestor?” she asked.
“No!”
“Yes!”
Jin Shu and Sun Mei’er answered simultaneously.
Jin Shu shot his mother a glare. She returned it with an innocent smile that fooled absolutely no one.
“You—”
“Oh look! We’ve arrived,” Sun Mei’er cut in brightly, pointing toward a floating pavilion in the middle of a picturesque lake.
Jin Shu followed her gesture across the crystal-clear water—and momentarily forgot what he’d been about to say.
Three women sat within the pavilion, chatting playfully.
He had to admit… they were stunning.
Each bore distinct features that clearly revealed their clan origins.
The woman in a voluminous pitch-black robe, long dark hair veiling her eyes so that only her nose and soft pink lips were visible, had a snake draped over her shoulder. A Black Tortoise, most likely. The snake was probably her tail—since Black Tortoises possessed serpentine tails. Two creatures in one body.
The second woman had white-and-black tiger ears and a long tiger striped tail of the same colors—just like Yin’er’s, except the silver was replaced with white. She wore a modified hanfu with the midsection removed, revealing impressively defined abdominal muscles. She radiated physical strength at a glance. A White Tiger without question.
The third could only be a Vermilion Bird. Flames wreathed her from head to toe. Her hair and wings were formed entirely of vermilion-red fire, matching the gauze-thin robe that shimmered around her figure.
Jin Shu nodded faintly to himself.
They’re certainly… unique.
“Sisters!” Long Ling called excitedly as she skimmed across the lake’s surface toward the pavilion.
She embraced each of them in turn, laughter and cheerful greetings mingling in the air.
Jin Shu and Sun Mei’er gave them a moment before approaching.
The three sisters bowed lightly to Sun Mei’er.
“Big Sister Mei’er!”
Hu Ling—the White Tiger—then bowed toward Yin’er in Jin Shu’s arms.
“Little Ancestor.”
Only after that did the three of them turn curious gazes toward Jin Shu.
“Who…?” Hu Ling asked.
Long Ling quickly introduced him.
“This is my ancestor…’s reincarnation—Jin Shu.”
All three sisters’ expressions shifted subtly, as though the same strange thought had occurred to them.
“That Jin Shu?” the Vermilion Bird sister asked.
“Jin Shu is your ancestor’s reincarnation?” the Black Tortoise sister asked shyly in a soft, meek voice. “You didn’t agree to that, did you?”
Jin Shu blinked in surprise when he realized the voice had come from the snake on her shoulder.
The other two sisters stared.
“…Eh? We’re not going to become your ancestor’s reincarnation’s wives, are we?” Hu Ling asked incredulously.
Before the conversation could spiral further into absurdity, Jin Shu interjected.
“There will be no marriages,” he said firmly. “I actually came with a question for Hu Ling.”
“A question for me?” Hu Ling pointed at herself, her tiger ears twitching.
“Mm. About my daughter.” He nodded toward Yin’er.
Hu Ling’s brow furrowed.
“Am I going to become my little ancestor’s mother…?” she muttered under her breath.
Unfortunately, she did not mutter quietly enough and everyone in the pavilion heard her clearly.
Jin Shu chose—for the sake of his sanity—to ignore that and press on.
“I want to know why everyone keeps calling Yin’er ‘Little Ancestor.’ And whether it has anything to do with her being the reincarnation of the White Tiger Divine Beast.”
Hu Ling shook her head.
“She isn’t the reincarnation of the White Tiger Divine Beast,” she said. “She is the White Tiger.”
She hesitated.
“Except… she seems to have mutated into one of the Four Perils. The Qiongqi.”
Jin Shu froze.
The term “Four Perils” stirred an unpleasant memory. His face paled as he remembered where he’d read it.
The same book that had mentioned the Ill-Omened Dread Beast.
In that text, the Four Perils were listed as the four greatest extinction-level calamity beasts.
Hundun — the Beast of Chaos.
Taotie — the Beast of Gluttony.
Taowu — the Beast of Cruelty.
Qiongqi — the Beast of Deviousness.
The illustration of Qiongqi surfaced unbidden in his mind.
A colossal winged tiger whose vast wings blotted out the sun.
Its jaws gaped wide.
Blood dripped from its fangs.
And beneath it lay devoured remains of all manner of once living creatures.
“Um… the elders aren’t completely certain about that,” Hu Ling admitted. “Which is why they want to bring her back to our clan…”
She hesitated again and glanced at Sun Mei’er.
“Only… my elders can’t defeat your mother, so…”
Jin Shu barely registered the rest.
He was staring blankly at Yin’er.
Wondering how his sweet little daughter had somehow become an ancient calamity beast capable of slaughtering entire civilizations on a whim.
Yin’er looked up at him, eyes shining innocently. She smiled, revealing two tiny white fangs.
He shook his head.
“They’re wrong.”
Hu Ling tilted her head slightly. “I think you may be misunderstanding something. You’ve probably heard stories about the Four Perils, but they aren’t quite as horrifying as those tales suggest.”
“According to what I read, they were ancient beasts who slaughtered entire races—spirit beasts, demonic beasts, humans alike,” he replied evenly. “Extinction-level threats. Truly evil creatures. Nothing like my Yin’er.”
“See? That’s the misconception.” Hu Ling shook her head wryly. “In our clan’s records, the original Qiongqi was the progenitor of the tiger races. The massacre you mentioned happened during a massive war. The four strongest beasts of that era were targeted first—because everyone feared their power.”
Hmm…
As someone who had once lived as a soldier and seen his share of battlefields, Jin Shu could understand that perspective.
Fear led to preemptive strikes.
Preemptive strikes led to bloodshed.
And in the fog of war… even monsters could be victims.
“Fine,” he said after a moment. “Let’s assume she really is Qiongqi. What does that mean for her?”
“I can’t say with certainty,” Hu Ling admitted. “But the elders believe that if she returns to our clan, she may gradually recover her memories as her cultivation advances.”
“Do they honestly think I brainwashed her?”
Hu Ling shook her head immediately.
“No. We’ve confirmed her memory loss is natural. Those elders are just… somewhat radical in their thinking.”
“So she doesn’t have to return to your clan?”
Hu Ling hesitated—then shook her head again.
“She still needs to come with us.”
“Why? Can’t she remain with me and recover naturally?”
“It isn’t that simple. You must have noticed her cultivation has stagnated.”
He had.
“That’s because,” Hu Ling continued, “there is only one cultivation technique in this world suitable for her constitution. And we are the only ones who possess it.”
Yin’er suddenly twisted around in Jin Shu’s arms and stared at Hu Ling with surprising seriousness.
“I’m really important, right?” she asked. “So you have to listen to me?”
The sisters blinked, startled by her unexpectedly solemn tone.
“…Yes,” Hu Ling said slowly. “You are. And… I suppose I do.”
“Because I’m chunky?” Yin’er asked, mispronouncing Qiongqi.
Hu Ling pressed her lips together to suppress a laugh and nodded.
“Yes. Because you’re… chunky.”
Yin’er nodded gravely.
“Okay. Then make Daddy the leader and listen to everything he says. If you do that, I’ll go with you.”
Hu Ling’s smile stiffened.
“I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way. He’s an outsider. And I don’t have that much authority in the clan… at least not yet.”
Yin’er tapped her chin thoughtfully.
Then her face brightened.
“Oh! I know.”
She leaned forward excitedly.
“You become my mommy. Then you’ll be the leader, and everyone will listen to you. Then you can make Daddy the leader, and everyone will listen to him.”
She nodded decisively, clearly pleased with her flawless logic.
A brief silence followed.
Then laughter erupted throughout the pavilion.
Everyone laughed.
Except Jin Shu.
He stared ahead, expression dark.
I knew letting Yin’er spend so much time with my mother was a mistake.
And now look.
She’s been completely corrupted!