The Black Lotus Stole The White Moonlight [Rebirth] - Chapter 8

Bai An’an’s words seemed reasonable on the surface, but upon closer examination, every part of them was wrong.

Mu Tianyin had never encountered anyone who could twist logic and argue so unreasonably. For a moment, she was rendered speechless.

She stared at Bai An’an for a long moment, her lashes lifting slightly as clear light flowed through her tea-colored eyes. “Then how were you able to enter my dreams?”

Bai An’an’s gaze flickered, and she turned her head to prevent Mu Tianyin from seeing it.

A moment later, she turned back with a trace of bewilderment on her face and stammered, “I—I don’t know either.”

She blinked, seemingly revealing an important secret by accident. “Mother said I’m different, so I must never tell anyone else.”

After pausing, she continued, “An’an didn’t mean to hide it from Senior Sister. But Mother said that if I told anyone about my ability, they would hate me.”

She tilted up her snow-white little face and looked at Mu Tianyin with confused unease. “Senior Sister, will you hate me?”

The Dream Tapir was one of the divine beasts of ancient times and delighted in feeding upon dreams.

By the present day, however, the yao race had declined. The hostility between humans and yao was nowhere near the irreconcilable enmity between humans and demons.

When human cultivators mentioned the yao race, they generally felt contempt and disdain rather than fear.

Most yao concealed themselves in secluded lands. The few who wandered into the human world were often captured by human cultivators, either refined or kept as spirit pets.

Bai An’an possessed the ability to enter and create dreams, which clearly indicated that she belonged to the Dream Tapir bloodline.

Mu Tianyin stared at her solemnly, countless possibilities turning through her mind.

She possessed a human body yet had inherited the abilities of the yao race, so she was clearly of mixed blood.

Mixed-bloods occupied a position even lower than that of the yao. The yao race refused to accept them, while humans despised them.

But all of this was based solely upon Bai An’an’s claims.

As though perceiving Mu Tianyin’s concerns, Bai An’an climbed down from the bed and stood properly before her.

She raised her head and looked at Mu Tianyin with complete trust and sincerity. “If Senior Sister doesn’t believe me, you can use that Heart-Testing Stone!”

“Mother said most men beneath the heavens are heartless, so An’an hates men too.”

“But Senior Sister is a woman, and you saved An’an without asking for anything in return. I’m glad that Senior Sister is suspicious of me.” As she spoke, Bai An’an suddenly stepped closer. Her fluffy bangs brushed against Mu Tianyin’s smooth chin, tickling her slightly.

Mu Tianyin stared at her in a daze. Her eyelashes trembled gently, but she said nothing. Only the sudden redness spreading across her ears betrayed the unrest in her heart.

Bai An’an had never expected the solemn and proper Mu Tianyin to be so shy. She secretly found it amusing.

Not only did she refuse to retreat, but she took another step forward, pressing even closer. Entirely unafraid of the cold air surrounding Mu Tianyin, she continued sweetly, “Fortunately, Senior Sister has something as useful as the Heart-Testing Stone. Otherwise, An’an wouldn’t know how to prove her sincerity!”

She wrapped both hands around Mu Tianyin’s arm and shook it coquettishly. “Senior Sister, Senior Sister! Hurry and take it out! One test will prove everything!”

Mu Tianyin’s indifferent gaze swept across Bai An’an’s face. She lowered her eyes and stared at the arm Bai An’an had entwined herself around, then frowned.

Bai An’an acted as though she could not see Mu Tianyin’s cold expression and continued urging her without the slightest awareness of restraint.

Mu Tianyin raised her hand and freed herself from Bai An’an’s grasp before opening her pale palm.

A translucent Heart-Testing Stone appeared in her hand moments later.

Bai An’an tentatively reached out, took the Heart-Testing Stone from Mu Tianyin’s palm, and lowered her head to examine it curiously.

The stone was approximately half the size of her fist. It was clear and crystalline, with a shape resembling a smooth pebble.

Bai An’an raised it and peered through it at Mu Tianyin.

All she could see through the stone was a hazy expanse of white.

Only after Bai An’an had finished examining it did Mu Tianyin part her thin lips and say, “Hold the Heart-Testing Stone and answer my questions.”

Bai An’an casually closed her hand around it, then gazed at Mu Tianyin with her large, watery almond-shaped eyes, looking entirely innocent.

“All right. Ask away, Senior Sister! I promise to tell you everything I know without concealing a single detail!”

Mu Tianyin’s eyelashes fluttered as she looked at her.

Bai An’an remembered that Mu Tianyin’s true form possessed translucent tea-colored eyes. They resembled precious gemstones and filled her with the urge to add them to her collection.

The eyes belonging to Mu Tianyin’s current disguise were pitch-black. Just now, however, Bai An’an seemed to have glimpsed their original tea-colored hue.

She compared the two in her mind and decided that each color possessed its own distinct charm. Even so, Mu Tianyin’s natural eye color was more beautiful.

The more dangerous and tense the situation became, the calmer Bai An’an grew. Not a trace of nervousness appeared on her face.

She looked at Mu Tianyin with another radiant smile. “Senior Sister, why aren’t you asking anything?”

“If you won’t ask, then I’ll tell you myself!”

As long as she held the Heart-Testing Stone, it made little difference whether Mu Tianyin actively questioned her.

Thus, Mu Tianyin merely watched her without speaking.

Knowing Mu Tianyin had tacitly agreed, Bai An’an cleared her throat and began fabricating—no, recounting her unremarkably tragic past.

“Where I used to live, there were many beautiful sisters. They all loved dressing themselves in bright, elaborate clothes, applying perfumed powder, and making themselves look as dazzling as flowers…” Bai An’an spoke slowly, assuming an expression of reminiscence. “Some of the sisters treated me very well, while others were cruel. But I never hated them.”

“They were all pitiful women.” Bai An’an lowered her eyes and continued softly, “I knew that most of the sisters didn’t want to receive customers. But the madam said…if a woman had no other abilities, she could only use her body to repay what she owed.”

She lowered her head and nervously twisted her small hands together, biting her lip. “We didn’t have any useful skills, so receiving customers was our only choice.”

Mu Tianyin’s gaze immediately fell upon Bai An’an’s head.

She had yet to reach her full height, yet it was already obvious that she would grow into an extraordinary beauty.

With an appearance like hers, could she have already—

At the thought, Mu Tianyin’s heart felt as though something had lightly pricked it.

“But I was much luckier than the other sisters!” Seemingly unaware of Mu Tianyin’s complicated thoughts, Bai An’an raised her head with a bright smile untouched by darkness. “After all, Mother and I lived there together. We had each other for company, so we were never lonely.”

“The other sisters were all pitiful. Their families had sold them there. When some of them died, they were wrapped in a torn straw mat and casually dumped in an unmarked burial ground. There wasn’t even anyone willing to collect their bodies.”

“But fortunately, when Mother died, I was the one who took care of her body.” As Bai An’an spoke, her eyes gradually turned red.

Seemingly unable to endure the pain any longer, she suddenly opened her arms and embraced Mu Tianyin’s waist, resting her little head against her chest.

Mu Tianyin’s entire body stiffened, but she did not pull free from Bai An’an’s embrace.

After a long moment, Bai An’an raised her head and showed Mu Tianyin her tears without attempting to hide them. Her round eyes were filled with glistening droplets, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall.

“Before Mother died, she said she didn’t want me to spend my entire life being looked down upon like she was. So she entrusted me to someone and had them bring me here.”

Bai An’an rubbed her eyes, her voice thick with tears as she choked out, “Mother told me to learn useful skills and then find Father.”

“I don’t understand. If Mother said men couldn’t be trusted, why did she still tell me to find Father?”

She tilted up her little head, her face filled with confusion. “Senior Sister, did Father never come looking for us because he deliberately abandoned Mother and me?”

Mu Tianyin’s stiff body gradually relaxed. The hand hanging by her side slowly rose and gently settled atop Bai An’an’s head.

Bai An’an blinked and looked up into Mu Tianyin’s eyes. Seeing Mu Tianyin merely resting her hand motionlessly upon her head, she secretly began to feel nervous.

She knew that even righteous cultivators possessed sinister techniques capable of examining another person’s memories.

Mu Tianyin couldn’t possibly know one of them too, could she?

After hesitating, Bai An’an rose onto her toes and deliberately rubbed her head against Mu Tianyin’s palm.

Her fluffy hair tickled Mu Tianyin’s hand.

Mu Tianyin’s eyelashes trembled, but she did not withdraw the hand resting upon Bai An’an’s head.

Tentatively, she stroked Bai An’an’s hair and slowly said, “He wouldn’t.”

He wouldn’t what?

Bai An’an had nearly forgotten what she had asked and widened her eyes slightly.

After a moment, she realized Mu Tianyin was answering her question. She hurriedly lowered her head to conceal the peculiar expression on her face.

Good heavens. Was Mu Tianyin actually comforting her?

This cold and distant leader of the righteous path cultivated the Way of Indifference, yet she was comforting someone?

Bai An’an blinked, struggling to digest this shocking discovery.

Still, the fact that Mu Tianyin was not as coldhearted as she appeared could only benefit Bai An’an.

She glanced at Mu Tianyin from the corner of her eye, then raised her face and looked at her pitifully. “Senior Sister, do you really mean that? Father truly didn’t abandon Mother and me?”

A radiant smile resembling a white lotus suddenly bloomed across her face. Though rooted in the mud, it remained noble, immaculate, and untouched by even a speck of dust.

“That’s wonderful! If Father didn’t abandon Mother and An’an, then once An’an learns enough skills, I can go and find him!”

After speaking, she seemed to remember something. Her head suddenly drooped, and her expression darkened.

“But I don’t know who Father is or what he looks like. The world is so vast. Where should An’an even begin looking for him?”

“You don’t remember who your father is?” Mu Tianyin asked casually.

Bai An’an subtly narrowed her eyes before assuming a troubled expression. “When An’an was little, I think I vaguely saw what Father looked like. These abilities of mine must have been passed down to me by him.”

She nodded approvingly to herself.

Excellent, excellent. Now even the origin of her dream-entering ability had been perfectly explained!

She had not expected Mu Tianyin’s next words to make her freeze completely.

“If that is the case, I can enter your memories and find your father.”

Mu Tianyin looked at her calmly, her expression undisturbed. “The only question is whether you are willing.”

Bai An’an: “…”

Why did her good predictions never come true while the bad ones always did?

She had truly lifted a stone only to drop it on her own foot!

Never had she imagined that Mu Tianyin would be this cautious.

They had already used the Heart-Testing Stone, yet Mu Tianyin was shamelessly preparing to inspect her memories too!

What could Bai An’an do?

Could she indignantly and firmly refuse?

Would the Bai An’an who innocently and sincerely adored Mu Tianyin ever refuse her?

Of course she would agree!

After a moment of silence, Bai An’an abruptly raised her head with a brilliant smile.

“Of course! That won’t be a problem at all!”