Chu Lingwei looked at Lan Xingyi with disbelief. Her father had never told her anything about her mother, making it difficult for her to discern the truth in his words.
"Weiwei, I am truly your maternal uncle," Lan Xingyi said again, seeing Chu Lingwei's skepticism. "The blood of our Feng clan's Lan family possesses self-healing properties."
Chu Lingwei was shocked to hear this. The fact that her blood could heal itself was a secret known to very few.
"If I'm not mistaken, you should possess the Innate Sacred Body," Lan Xingyi stated with certainty. Not all Feng clan blood could self-heal; only daughters born into their Lan family had this potential.
"Are you really my maternal uncle?" Chu Lingwei's heart still harbored doubts.
"Yes, I am truly your maternal uncle." Lan Xingyi's face broke into a relieved smile as he saw a hint of belief in Chu Lingwei's eyes, his gaze filled with paternal affection. "I never imagined Weiwei would grow up so much."
"How can you prove you are my uncle?" Chu Lingwei was not about to be convinced by a few words from Lan Xingyi. She knew nothing about the Feng clan, so anything they said could be true or false.
Lan Xingyi paused for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Weiwei, step forward."
"What do you want to do?" Huan Mao blocked Chu Lingwei, glaring at Lan Xingyi with a warning. This person gave her a sense of danger.
"Weiwei is my niece and also the Saintess of our Feng clan. I would never harm her," Lan Xingyi said, unoffended by Huan Mao's warning. Loyal spirit beasts deserved respect, not anger.
Saintess again! Chu Lingwei had heard others mention that she was the Feng clan's Saintess more than once.
"Mao Mao, come back." Chu Lingwei called Huan Mao back. She desperately wanted to understand everything about the Feng clan, including her own background.
Chu Lingwei walked to Lan Xingyi, stopping two steps away from him.
Lan Xingyi reached out and took Chu Lingwei's hand, his voice gentle. "Close your eyes and feel carefully."
Chu Lingwei closed her eyes. Suddenly, an image appeared in her mind: she was a baby, held by a beautiful woman who was weeping softly. The tears fell onto her face, and Chu Lingwei felt an inexplicable pang in her heart. She bore a striking resemblance to this woman, who must be her mother.
"Xixi, have you truly made up your mind?" A man in black appeared behind the woman. Chu Lingwei was very familiar with this man; he had been the one to constantly urge her to improve her cultivation, guide her to the Cangshan secret realm, and bring her to Xiushui Bank.
"Elder Brother, I have. This is my responsibility as the Feng clan's Saintess."
The woman placed the infant in her arms onto a bed, gave her a final, reluctant look, and disappeared from the room with the man in black. The scene shifted, showing the woman who had left with the man in black appearing again.
"Second Brother, where are you going?" The woman stood within a barrier, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"I am going to do what I must. You stay home and be good." The man turned around, revealing himself to be Lan Xingyi.
"Second Brother, take me with you. I want to go with you." The woman tried to step forward, but the barrier blocked her.
"Xixi, stay home and cultivate well. Only by improving your cultivation can you leave." Lan Xingyi spoke and then strode away.
Chu Lingwei opened her eyes. Lan Xingyi was now five steps away. The dirt on her body had been cleaned. Her clothes were still tattered, but her face was clean, looking almost identical to the woman in Chu Lingwei's mind.
"Weiwei, do you believe I am your uncle now?" Lan Xingyi's eyes held anticipation. "I am your second maternal uncle, Lan Xingyi. You have an elder maternal uncle as well."
"He is the Feng clan leader?" Chu Lingwei was surprised to learn that the Feng clan leader, who had always appeared before her, had such a relationship with her.
"You have already met him?" Lan Xingyi had not seen his elder brother for fifty years. "Is he well?"
"Why did he send me here?" Chu Lingwei knew that everything she now understood about the Feng clan was what the Feng clan leader wanted her to know. He had guided her here step by step, likely with a purpose.
Lan Xingyi opened his mouth, a flicker of sadness in his eyes. He looked at Chu Lingwei with a mixture of heartache, reluctance, and guilt.
Chu Lingwei approached the barrier and reached out to touch it. She could see the spiritual energy fluctuations on the barrier but could not hear any sound. "Why is it like this?" When Lan Xingyi had touched the barrier earlier, she could hear the sounds within it. Now, when she touched it, there was no sound at all.
"Weiwei, let go. If you continue like this, you will cause pain to the person inside." Lan Xingyi sent a surge of spiritual energy, gently pulling Chu Lingwei's hand away. The spiritual energy on the barrier dissipated, and everything returned to its original state.
"Why can't I hear any sound from inside now?" Chu Lingwei wondered. The sounds inside seemed to have vanished into thin air.
"Because the person inside does not want you to hear. Your mother does not want you to hear her current suffering." Lan Xingyi's eyes reddened. Xixi must know her daughter is here; she wouldn't want her daughter to worry about her.
Hearing this, Chu Lingwei felt a heavy blow to her heart. Her birth mother. She knew she was here.
"Chu Ze must never have told you anything about your mother," Lan Xingyi stared at the barrier, his voice ethereal. "Our Feng clan was ambushed by the Leng family thousands of years ago. The clan leader exhausted his cultivation to send a small portion of our clan members away, thus preserving the Feng clan's bloodline."
The Leng family! Chu Lingwei believed her senior brother had not lied to her; he was definitely not a member of the Leng family.
"When our Feng clan members perish, their souls return to the Sacred Tree," Lan Xingyi looked at Chu Lingwei. "The Sacred Tree is the life of our Feng clan." Chu Lingwei knew of the Sacred Tree and had seen it in her dreams.
"Only the blood of the Feng clan's Saintess can revive the Sacred Tree and bring hope to our Feng clan," Lan Xingyi's eyes held both pain and hope. "Your mother, Lan Yuexi, is the Saintess of our Feng clan." This was the first time Chu Lingwei had officially learned her mother's name.
"After she entered the Rongtian realm, she went out to gain experience and met your father." Lan Xingyi sighed. "Matters concerning our Feng clan cannot be disclosed to outsiders. This is why Father did not tell you anything about your mother."
"However, it is likely that your father did not know much about your mother either." Xixi, although pure-hearted, would not endanger the Feng clan. She certainly wouldn't have revealed her true identity to Chu Ze.
Thinking of her father, Chu Lingwei recalled that he had never mentioned her mother's real name. Perhaps he knew that the name his mother had given him was false.