Chapter 138: Woman? What Is That?
Just as Yu Zimo closed her eyes to attune herself to the precise location of the True Primordial Water, Shi Hao was fidgeting restlessly atop the Nine-Headed Golden Lion.
The lure of rare celestial treasures was too strong—he wanted to bring all the wonders of the world home. His thinking was simple: anything good in this world should belong to his older brother.
There was no deeper logic to it. Just that—when the whole world called Shi Hao a cursed star—only Shi Yi had stood firm and said he wasn't.
Shi Hao always wore a carefree smile, cracking jokes like life was a game. But under that bright surface lived a heart soft as silk and raw with scars. He was sensitive, painfully so.
Even his own mother, Qin Yining, sometimes looked at him with the eyes people reserve for tragedies. As if the deaths of his father and grandfather were somehow his fault.
It wasn't malice on her part. Just grief. Women are more susceptible to emotions than reason, and though she knew better in her heart, she couldn't always stop herself. But Shi Hao felt it—every time.
Only Shi Yi was different.
Shi Hao never understood why Shi Yi believed in him so completely. But he did. And he always had.
Shi Yi never looked at him with pity, fear, or suspicion.
In those eyes, Shi Hao saw only one thing: trust.
Unshakable, unwavering trust.
So even when Shi Hao stopped listening to his mother, even when he built walls around his own heart, he never once disobeyed Shi Yi. In his world, brotherhood reigned above all.
"Woman? What is that?"
"A brother—that's real."
Some might argue that a mother's love is unmatched, that the bond of blood is sacred. But not every mother earns that truth. Shi Hao had come to understand this the hard way.
If he were to die one day—whether in battle or by misfortune—Qin Yining would grieve, yes. But she'd eventually move on. She'd give birth to another son. And life would go on. That was the part that chilled him.
He had seen too much during his journey across the Great Wilderness—his footsteps had spanned realms, and the stories he'd witnessed were both magnificent and monstrous.
He had seen mothers turn monstrous, conspiring with secret lovers to kill their own children just to hide their shame. Sons who, in their final moments, didn't resist, quietly surrendering their lives to the hands that once cradled them.
And he had seen strangers swear oaths of brotherhood and become truer kin than blood could ever forge—willing to fight, die, and live for each other.
Of course, not every mother is a killer, and not every sworn brother is loyal.
That's just how the world is—formless, unpredictable, cruel and kind in equal measure.
So, if you're lucky enough to have a mother who truly loves you—cherish her.
And if you find someone you can trust with your life—don't let go.
Once it's gone, there's no such thing as Regret Medicine.
Shi Hao considered himself lucky—he had someone like that.
Not a blood brother.
But something even deeper.
Time flowed. The years passed like mist.
Eventually, when Shi Hao and the Nine-Headed Golden Lion had finished messing around, Yu Zimo—who had been standing silently beside Shi Yi—finally opened her brilliant, starlit eyes.
"Cousin," she said with quiet pride, "it's there. I've located the True Primordial Water."
Her gaze sparkled like twin stars. Her delicate features were porcelain-perfect, her lips like blooming petals. Her beauty felt otherworldly, as though carved from the dream of a god.
"There?" Shi Yi's voice held doubt.
Yu Zimo pointed—a slender, pale finger extended toward the lake's driest corner. That entire area was barren, stripped of mist and moisture, an odd desert in the heart of a marsh.
"You sure you're not just making it up?" the Fiery Red Bird chimed in sarcastically. "I found several spirit springs in the central zone. Why would the True Primordial Water be hiding in some dry wasteland?"
It wasn't just the bird. Everyone felt the same way. A desert inside a marsh? That wasn't just weird—it was wrong. Where the water-energy was thinnest, how could a divine water source be hiding?
It was like searching for a saint in a brothel. Nonsense. No sane person would say something so ridiculous.
"Watch your mouth," Shi Yi said quietly and pressed his foot lightly on the Fiery Red Bird's back.
It wasn't even a hard step.
But the bird almost collapsed. It felt like half its life had just drained away and that if it pushed its luck any further, it might end up roasted and served.
"I was wrong, I was wrong!" the Fiery Red Bird squawked, groveling. "Auntie Yu, please forgive me! You are a heavenly star, I'm just a speck of dirt! I'm not even worthy to be stepped on!"
Yu Zimo didn't even blink.
She didn't acknowledge the apology, the fear, the flattery—none of it. Her entire attention was on Shi Yi.
The rest didn't matter. The Fiery Red Bird wasn't even worth her breath.
"Cousin," she said, her voice as graceful as wind through bamboo, "some divine treasures are like that. They defy logic. The more improbable the place, the more likely they are to appear there."
Shi Yi touched his chin in thought.
"Is that so…"
He didn't need to deliberate long. With a nod, he summoned Shi Hao over.
"Brother, come here. The True Primordial Water—it's hidden in the desert."
"What?!" Shi Hao stared, stunned. "You're telling me the legendary water that nourishes even divine artifacts is hiding in a dead wasteland?"
He and the Fiery Red Bird locked eyes. They shared a single thought:
Yu Zimo was tricking his simple, trusting Brother.
Shi Hao's eyes burned with suspicion. He glared at Yu Zimo like she'd insulted his ancestors.
"Holy Son," the Nine-Headed Golden Lion said hesitantly, "this seems… unlikely. The True Primordial Water may not rival the Undying Divine Spring, but it still nurtures life. A place where it dwells shouldn't be barren."
It threw a side glance at Yu Zimo.
She couldn't possibly be serious. If she was right, it vowed to bite off one of its own heads and let her kick it around like a ball.
But Shi Yi didn't argue.
"We'll know once we see it for ourselves," he said simply.
He didn't dismiss people without proof. He preferred facts over theories.
And the facts proved one thing:
Shi Yi had not placed his trust in the wrong person.
Because the True Primordial Water… was there.
Not beside the lake.Not within the spirit springs.But deep inside the desert.
From a distance, a clear pool shimmered under the sunlight, no larger than a square meter. It gleamed like crystal, brimming with divine essence. Vapor of fortune curled upward like dragons.
Legend said this water was vital in crafting divine artifacts—used to awaken and nourish the spirit of a treasure. A single drop was priceless. Beyond value.
And here was an entire pool.
If the outside world knew, ancient monsters would claw through dimensions to get here.
"Is that… real?" Shi Hao's voice trembled, wide-eyed.
"I don't believe it!" the Fiery Red Bird cried.
"How could it appear here?!"
The Nine-Headed Golden Lion felt like its skull might crack. This broke every rule of cultivation it knew. Something on par with the Undying Divine Spring had been hiding in a desert?