Chapter Fifty-eight: Today Begins, Bestowing You Royal Authority
In the restaurant, on the long table with a peach-colored surface, a silver plate held a cooked king crab, red and blushing, like it was shy or angry. The flickering candlelight swayed softly, while the record player in the corner played the song “OURFAREWELL.”
“I CAN HEAR YOU SAY MY NAME~♪ (Spreading Hands, Still Seeing Memories)
I CAN ALMOST SEE YOUR SMILE~♪ (I Hear You Calling My Name)
FEEL THE WARMTH OF YOUR EMBRACE~♪ (I Can Still See Your Smile)
…”
The music echoed in her ears.
Luxianbei glanced at the record player in the corner, then looked back at the woman sitting across from her, frowning, and said, “Hey, can you turn off the music?”
You really don’t need to try so hard to please me… Luxianbei thought.
Wang Meili paused and looked at Luxianbei, “Isn’t this the background music used in ‘Love and Magical Girls’? I thought you’d like it.”
“…” Luxianbei opened her mouth as if to say something but ultimately sighed silently and said, “Do you know when this background music was played? It was when Bai Xiaohua found her childhood friend’s body in the enemy’s laboratory.”
“Ah.” Wang Meili’s expression dimmed a bit, and she got up to turn off the record player, then returned to her seat, smiling at Luxianbei, “Shall we eat then?”
“Mm.” Luxianbei nodded expressionlessly, silently picking up a crab leg and the seafood scissors by her side.
Time quietly passed. The two of them silently enjoyed the absurdly large king crab on the table, with only the sounds of cracking shells and clinking utensils breaking the silence in the restaurant.
Both knew what was about to happen next, yet they tacitly refrained from mentioning it.
Though they were sitting very close, separated only by a table, it felt as if an invisible wall stood between them, keeping them far apart.
Luxianbei didn’t expect that her first candlelit dinner in this lifetime would be with her own mother, and that it would be so devoid of interaction—more silent than two strangers sharing a table.
After a long while, she could no longer bear the strange atmosphere, set down the seafood scissors in her hand, and looked up at the woman across from her, who was savoring her food.
“Honestly, I don’t know what constitutes a good father. After all, I’ve never been one until now, but I think my old man at least qualifies as a responsible father.”
Wang Meili looked up, with a sweet smile, “Right? I think I have good taste.”
After speaking, seeing Luxianbei’s lack of response, she fell silent again. After a moment, Luxianbei continued to speak.
“For a single father, raising a child is a challenging task. He bathes his son, feeds him, plays both father and mother, always going out alone but getting used to bringing a little kid everywhere, rummaging through the family recipe book that has long been abandoned in a corner, starting from scratch to practice cooking…”
Luxianbei had thought that if she ever saw Wang Meili again, she would feel excited and angry. But now, her heart was surprisingly calm.
“He clumsily tries to be a not-so-bad father, working hard to make me grow up like a child from a normal family. While many lessons other kids learn directly from their mothers, I had to learn through a fall, but I didn’t disappoint him. I barely grew up to be the person he expected.”
You were never part of this, just imitating it… Luxianbei added in her heart.
As she entered this small room, the haze that had shrouded her memories began to dissipate entirely, and her recollections of her father became clearer.
Only at this moment did Luxianbei suddenly realize that everything in this special space was truly a projection of Huacheng—even the experiences she shared with her mother were replicated based on her past with her father, just with a delicate decoration.
She even realized that this core figure might just be a projection carrying the true memories and emotions of Wang Meili.
“I first noticed I was different from others in elementary school during a parent-child event organized by the school when my parents were two big men. From then on, even though the teachers and classmates didn’t say it out loud, the way they looked at me became strange.”
“However, back then, I only vaguely felt that I was somewhat different. I hadn’t truly realized I was different until the eighth grade, on Mother’s Day, when the school organized a movie screening…”
“It was an old movie, the name is… I’m sorry, it’s been too long, I forgot. Anyway, it was pretty boring, nearly a ninety-minute film, and I couldn’t even get through ten minutes.”
“I don’t know if that movie was really moving or if the tragic atmosphere affected everyone and created a herd mentality. When the climax hit, nearly everyone in the auditorium had tears in their eyes, except for me…”
At this point, Luxianbei’s mind flashed back to her experience that day in the school auditorium.
In the dimly lit hall, she watched the big screen, with the faint sounds of sobbing around her. She couldn’t relate to her classmates’ emotions at all.
She watched the same movie as everyone else but utterly failed to understand why a mundane art film made them so emotional.
It was as if she were an outsider.
“…” Wang Meili remained silent for quite a while, looking into Luxianbei’s eyes, and softly said, “I’m sorry.”
Luxianbei shook her head, “You have nothing to be sorry for. Bringing me into this world is something I thank you for. I just want to tell you, you don’t need to imitate my father; it’s unnecessary.”
I just want to feel it once, the first and the last time, the warmth of a true mother… Luxianbei seemed to silently tell Wang Meili.
Wang Meili vaguely sensed Luxianbei’s thoughts but merely shook her head gently.
She wanted to respond to Luxianbei, but she wasn’t a mother from the moment she was born; this was her first time being a mother, and she didn’t know how to bring warmth to Luxianbei in such moments.
“No… I’m not apologizing for that.” Wang Meili replied calmly.
What is that? Luxianbei opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but her vision suddenly blurred, as if the images before her were reflections in water, rippling outward.
A numbness surged from her abdomen, spreading throughout her body like an electric shock.
Following that, a powerful drowsiness flooded into her brain, like an invisible hand dragging her consciousness away.
“You’re in the dish…”
Luxianbei suddenly realized something, looked up at Wang Meili, watching the woman’s figure distort in her view, as if it would be blown away by the wind at any moment.
d*mn it, is Mom really drugging her own child’s food? How could you do this?!
Luxianbei thought, desperately channeling all her spirit energy to resist the drowsiness that was engulfing her consciousness, raising her hand, attempting to grasp that silhouette.
Wang Meili lightly pressed down on Luxianbei’s hand, calmly saying, “Don’t waste your effort, my child. I added ‘Tears of Brahma’ to the dish, a powerful sleeping alchemical potion I learned from a man from India…”
Watching her mother vanish before her eyes, even if it were just a projection, it felt too cruel for you. Wang Meili thought.
“Sleep now, my child. When you wake up…” This was the last thing Luxianbei heard Wang Meili say to her; after that, she could no longer hear what else was said.
She widened her eyes, gathering all her spirit energy into her eyes.
Like magma, light pulsed within her gaze, tears streamed down the corners of her eyes—not sure if it was due to the impending farewell from Wang Meili or the intense pain in her eyes.
Finally, just as her consciousness sank into silence, her vision achieved a brief clarity, and she fixed her gaze on the woman across the table, etching her silhouette into her memory for three seconds.
“Thud—!”
Luxianbei fell into a deep sleep, her body slumping on the table with a soft thud.
Seeing this, Wang Meili stood up and walked over, gently caressing Luxianbei’s face. Then, as if farewell, she leaned down, brushed aside her hair, and kissed her forehead.
What felt like a century passed, yet also seemed like an instant, as Wang Meili’s lips left Luxianbei’s forehead.
She straightened up, a look of resolution flashing in her eyes, then closed them, her thin lips parting to softly chant a declaration of authority.
“Born as a deity, naming oneself, praised in ink, singing ‘Nine Shao’… All that the sun and moon shine upon, wherever the wind and rain reach, none shall resist…”
————
As Wang Meili chanted the declaration, “Luxianbei” suddenly trembled slightly.
And then…
She slowly opened her eyes a crack, gazing deeply at Wang Meili, then closed them again, a faint smile flickering at the corners of her mouth.
I’ve seen her! How wonderful… “she” thought.
————
With the softly spoken chant, countless tiny cracking sounds erupted from her body, her fair skin shattering like glass as grotesque cracks rapidly spread.
Brilliant light burst forth from the fissures in her skin, radiating outwards, causing everything within sight to tremble. Countless fragmented tremors merged into a deep rumbling that shook the world.
Numerous beautiful bubbles appeared around her body.
Floods ravaged, causing terror among people; years of migration and hardship; an elder blew into a clay flute; ancient, solemn palaces rose from the hands of artisans; farmers worked according to seasonal cycles; amidst cheers, the ancient emperor sat upon the throne…
Flowing light drew scenes from distant eras, merging together, forming a dazzling crown upon Wang Meili.
“Today begins, I bestow you royal authority; your life is short, but your glory lasts long.”
She softly said, gently placing the crown upon Luxianbei’s head, releasing her hands.
In an instant, everything around them shattered into crystalline fragments, gathering into flowing light that surged like rivers, merging into Luxianbei’s body, engulfing her figure.
Thus, the fusion began.
