Li Huang immediately crossed his arms and took two steps back. He let Yu Ningyun pick up the small stick she usually used to spank him. Seeing that Yu Ningyun had gone this far, what else could Li Huang say? Gritting his teeth, he walked to the large iron pot, took off his pants, and obediently jumped into the not-yet-hot water.
"Mother Sister, I know I’ve been a bit naughty and disobedient lately, but my meat isn’t tasty. Our family isn’t so poor that we need to eat our children. Why are you trying to eat me?"
Li Huang looked at the medicinal herbs floating around him, his mood plummeting from the heavens to the ground. Just moments ago, he thought he was the one enjoying the meal, but in the blink of an eye, he had become the one to be eaten.
The thought of Yu Ningyun feasting on his flesh later brought a look of grievance to Li Huang’s young face. He watched wistfully as Yu Ningyun picked up a small porcelain bowl, walked over to the bear, and cut open its wrist. Li Huang swallowed.
"Mother Sister, no! I am your son!"
"I do not have a son like you!"
"I am your own flesh and blood. You couldn’t bear to eat your own child, could you?"
"Then I can take him to the marketplace and trade him for someone else to eat?"
Yu Ningyun gently placed a bowl of blood from the bear’s wrist near her nose and sniffed it. She stood up and poured the small bowl of blood into the iron pot. Instantly, the clear water in the pot turned a faint red. Li Huang, looking wronged at the various herbs floating around him, couldn’t help but swallow.
"Are you boiling soup with this? It doesn’t have to be this elaborate, does it? I still have some undigested waste inside me, Mother Sister. How about you let me…"
"Shut up and sit quietly!"
Yu Ningyun coldly glared back at Li Huang. Then, she placed a small bowl of blood from each of the bear's four limbs into the iron pot. Yu Ningyun brought over a small wooden stool and began to stoke the fire.
"Mother Sister, I know I haven’t been listening to you lately, and I know my temper is wild, causing you so much worry. I truly know my mistakes. Please, Mother Sister, show mercy and spare my life. Don’t boil me!"
Li Huang felt the iron pot beneath him getting hotter and couldn’t help but shift. However, the heat from the other side was even worse. Li Huang swallowed, feeling the heat beneath his buttocks increase. Yu Ningyun kept adding fuel. Li Huang couldn’t stand it any longer and stood up in the water, splashing water all over Yu Ningyun.
"Sit down!"
"It’s hot!"
"Sit down!!"
"It hurts!"
Li Huang tucked his legs together, feeling the increasingly hot iron pot. He dared not jump out, but it was becoming unbearable. He couldn't help but pace within the pot, causing Yu Ningyun to grab the wooden stick and bring it down on him.
Bang!!!
"Get back in!"
"It’s too hot! Mother Sister, isn’t this enough? If I lie down, I’ll really be boiled alive!"
"Are you going to lie down or not? If not, I’m leaving now!"
"Hey, wait, don’t go! I’ll lie down, I’ll lie down, okay!"
Seeing Yu Ningyun turn to leave, Li Huang quickly lay down in the large iron pot. The scorching hot water made Li Huang grit his teeth. He gasped for air in the large iron pot, his young face instantly turning red.
"Mother Sister, this is so uncomfortable. Can you reduce the heat a little?"
"Endure it. Stay like this until this time tomorrow!"
"Ah! Twelve hours? I can’t even last one incense stick!"
"Then die!"
Yu Ningyun frowned and glared at Li Huang. She glanced back at Da Huang, who was watching the spectacle and sticking out its tongue. The dog was immediately startled and quickly picked up a piece of firewood and placed it beside Yu Ningyun. Yu Ningyun was ruthless; as soon as the fire weakened slightly, she would add more firewood, causing Li Huang to cry out in pain as the bloody water in the pot bubbled.
"Don’t blame me for only using this mere Blood Movement Realm beast blood to wash your marrow and cleanse your tendons. I cannot… I… cannot!"
Yu Ningyun stared at the fire beneath the iron pot and muttered to herself. Li Huang was engulfed in pain, feeling as if his entire body was being boiled by the bloody water from the inside out. His muscles and bones trembled, with a faint urge to burst outwards, but Li Huang instinctively suppressed it back within his flesh and blood.
"Mother, why are you doing this to me? Mother, why?"
Li Huang felt the agony erupting within him, the struggle between life and death making him grit his teeth and unable to extricate himself. He kept gasping for air, unable to control his body. Lying in the iron pot, he felt as if he were floating on the bloody water, his body numb.
"Mother, why? I can change if I’m wrong. I can change. Please let me out! Huang’er doesn’t want to die, doesn’t want to die!"
Li Huang continuously begged Yu Ningyun for mercy, but the more he pleaded, the faster Yu Ningyun added fuel. Finally, unable to bear the pain of his bones trembling, Li Huang let out a muffled groan in the iron pot and completely closed his eyes.
Whoosh!!!
"Why care about this bastard? Wouldn’t it be better to just cast him into the Great Wilderness to fend for himself?"
Less than a breath after Li Huang lost consciousness, an old woman leaning on a cane suddenly appeared in the valley. Her attire was extraordinary, and the hairpins and other ornaments she wore were far more exquisite and opulent than those sold in the marketplace. She had an air of dignity as she slowly walked to the iron pot, frowning slightly as she looked at Li Huang floating in the pot.
At this moment, Yu Ningyun's eyes turned red, and tears welled up. She stared blankly at Li Huang in the iron pot, seemingly heartbroken. She reached out and touched Li Huang’s face, then, as if driven mad, sat on the ground and frantically added firewood to the pot.
"He is my son. He has the bloodline of the Yu family. He is sixteen this year. It is time someone held his coming-of-age ceremony!"
Yu Ningyun's eyes were red as she sobbed, tears uncontrollably streaming down her cheeks. The old woman beside her frowned slightly and raised her cane as if to strike Li Huang on the head. Yu Ningyun immediately grabbed her leg and cried with a choked voice.
"No, this child is still young. Everything is my own doing; I deserve this. He is still a child; he knows nothing!"
"But he is a stain. A stain on you and him. If this stain is not removed now, then in the future…"
"I promise you, this child is just an ordinary person. He has no great abilities, no grand ambitions. Please, venerable elder, be merciful and spare his life. I guarantee that he will live his entire life in the Great Wilderness. He will not go to Da Qian Dao Prefecture, and he will not appear before anyone!"
Yu Ningyun tightly held the old woman’s leg, her eyes overflowing with tears. The latter coldly glanced at Li Huang in the iron pot, her brows furrowing slightly in contemplation. She then let out a cold snort, pushed Yu Ningyun aside, and sent her tumbling onto the ground covered in gravel.
"Remember what you said. Also, I hope that beast is truly as you say, nearing its end? The Yu family is benevolent; it wouldn’t hurt to grant this bastard a dog’s life. But if he dares to cause trouble before the Yu family in the future, do you know what his fate will be?"