Chapter 206 - 200: Past of the Parents

[Host, don’t just stand there, the time’s almost up—less than three minutes left!]

The system’s shrill reminder snapped Shen Tang back to her senses. She no longer cared about the man’s identity; she just took out the Sealing Talisman from her space, hurried over, and pressed it to little Jia Lan’s body.

As for the blonde man who had appeared out of nowhere, Shen Tang didn’t give him a second thought.

After all, everything in this Spiritual Illusion Realm was fake; everyone here was just a figment constructed by the master—mere NPCs. No need to pay them any mind.

The blonde man lowered his golden eyes to the Sealing Talisman in Shen Tang’s hand. A hint of surprise flickered through his dignified, restrained gaze.

Then he turned and looked at her, his voice low, "Are you the Female Master that Jia Lan is to marry in the future?"

Shen Tang’s mind jolted. She whipped her head around, astonished, to stare at the man—wasn’t he just an NPC? Why was he asking questions outside of the script?

"You... You’re not a real person, are you?"

Shen Tang had learned last time she entered Xue Yinzhou’s Spiritual Illusion Realm that the NPCs there only followed the set plot.

When something unscripted happened, the NPCs’ brains would lag out—either they’d start spouting nonsense, or they’d freeze up and say nothing at all. It was impossible for them to ask her identity.

Last time, Shen Tang had even worn the shell of the original host. This time, she hadn’t put on any disguise at all.

By rights, the NPCs shouldn’t interact with someone outside the narrative—unless this man was real, too!

The blonde man nodded, his gaze dropping to the sleeping child in his arms, a flash of unreadable emotion crossing his eyes.

He was silent for a moment, then said quietly, "I am his father."

Now Shen Tang noticed how much the man resembled the grown Jia Lan; only their temperaments set them apart, so she hadn’t caught it at first.

"You—you’re still alive?"

The man’s features were noble and striking, with an air of natural authority. Hearing her halting question, he couldn’t help but laugh softly. "If I wasn’t alive, you wouldn’t be seeing me today."

He said, "I came like you did—in spirit body."

Shen Tang was even more shocked. As far as she’d ever heard, only Beastman females with A-level Spiritual Power could enter a beastman’s Spiritual Illusion Realm—never had she heard of a male with that ability.

Of course, the Mermaid Clan also had Spiritual System abilities, but their spiritual power differed from the females’, leaning more toward the Attack system.

Unless... this man’s spiritual power was so strong he could break into the Spiritual Illusion Realm by force.

Just who the hell was Jia Lan’s real father?

The resemblance between the two was real; Shen Tang didn’t doubt their father-son bond.

But if his father was alive, why had Jia Lan never met him, and why had no one ever mentioned his existence?

And how did he even find this place?

"Just what is going on here? You, and the curse in Jia Lan’s body..." Shen Tang’s thoughts were all tangled; she didn’t know how to begin.

The blonde man seemed to see her confusion and made no move to speak immediately.

He moved forward, raised a slender, jade-like finger, and touched the spot between her brows.

Immediately, a memory surfaced in Shen Tang’s mind, unraveling slowly as if she were watching a film.

...

The story began twenty years ago.

In the Sea Country, the grandest festival was the worship ceremony for blessings.

During the ceremony, Beastmen performed magnificent dances and rituals. The nation rejoiced, giving thanks for the sea’s gifts, for the abundance of food given by the ocean, and praying to the fabled Sea God for Harmony and lasting peace in their sea area.

The worship ceremony was held once every ten years.

Not long after ascending to the throne, Empress Jialouluo encountered the legendary Sea Race High Priest at the ceremony and fell in love at first sight.

It was said the High Priest possessed mysterious and formidable powers.

That was the High Priest’s first appearance before the world—wearing an ornate, exquisite Platinum Divine Robe, flowing golden hair, and a countenance veiled by a mask, he was still dazzling—captivating even Jialouluo.

The High Priest Lunus was the only golden-tailed merfolk in the deep sea. The Empress, who had seen every kind of beauty, was instantly drawn to that dazzling radiance which should never have belonged beneath the waves, as brilliant as the sun.

She immediately ordered that he remove his mask.

Imperial command—no one dared defy it.

The Sea Race High Priest, Lunus, removed his mask.

Beneath the mask was a face even more stunning—a beauty that took Jialouluo’s breath away and captured the Empress’s heart completely.

Jialouluo fell madly in love with Lunus and began to pursue him relentlessly.

Yet Priests dedicated their lives to the Sea Clan—they could not marry, nor bear children.

But how could the burning passion in the Empress’s heart be so easily extinguished?

One fateful night, under the influence of wine, Jialouluo used her position to force herself on the High Priest, and the two spent the night together.

Afterward, Lunus returned to the Priest Temple, shutting himself away from all, sworn never to set foot outside again.

Their relationship was utterly broken, shattered beyond mending.

Jialouluo returned to the palace, dejected—only to discover she was with child.

She threatened Lunus with their child, demanding he enter her harem, but Lunus, already wracked with regret over that night, only grew more disgusted with the Empress’s tactics.

His clan had served as Priests for generations—how could he become another concubine in her palace?

Besides, among the Priest Clan, childbirth was exceedingly difficult; Lunus didn’t even believe her claim. He refused and retreated into seclusion for cultivation, ignoring all her commands from then on.

This was a clean break—never to meet again, not even in life and death.

Furious and humiliated, Jialouluo abandoned the child in the Cold Palace, caring nothing for his fate.

What’s more, in the Empress’s vast harem, there were countless children; with time, she completely forgot the one she’d left behind in the Cold Palace.

Three years later, Lunus left seclusion.

He suddenly felt a pull—a summons by blood. He found himself at the Imperial Palace and there, in the Cold Palace, he saw the pitiful child—a tiny, golden-haired merboy, so much like himself as a child.

He recognized him immediately—his son.

Lunus was utterly shaken.

He saw the child abandoned in the Cold Palace, starved and abused—on the verge of dying from hunger.

Without hesitation, he took his son and went straight to the Empress, demanding to take the child away.

Of course, Jialouluo refused.

This was her own child—so long as she refused, even the Sea Race High Priest had no claim to him.

No one knew what passed between the two in their discussion.

In the end, they struck a deal.

Lunus agreed to return to the palace once a year until the child came of age.

But on the condition that Jialouluo must care for the child herself, ensuring his safety and health as he grew.

Jialouluo was displeased at not getting her way, but since she’d finally drawn Lunus out, she reluctantly agreed, bringing the child to her side to raise personally.

As Jia Lan grew, he looked more and more like his father—golden hair, exquisitely beautiful features, and a pair of sapphire eyes just like the Empress’s. Jialouluo’s affection for him only increased, until she even forgot the terms of that old agreement, loving him more and more from the heart.

The Cold Palace incident was known only to a few, and word never spread beyond their circles.

Even those who knew gradually forgot as time went on.

Jia Lan became known among the people as the Empress’s most favored prince.

Jia Lan had been too young to remember the Cold Palace well.

But that didn’t mean he had no memory of it at all.

Perhaps, as a self-protection, he buried those unbearable memories deep within, "forgetting" them in the recesses of his mind.

That’s why this scene emerged in the Spiritual Illusion Realm.