The myth begins with the Lotus Lantern

Chapter 190 Reading
This unexpected turn of events left everyone except for the Ziwei Emperor and the Queen Mother, who had already anticipated it and were aware of the situation. Everyone else reacted with varying expressions.

The five fairies were stunned for a moment, then noticed their sister's sadness and reached out to gently stroke the Weaver Girl's back.

Niu Jin and Niu Yin also came over.

The little girl lay on the ground and pressed her head against her mother's wet cheek.

The boy's expression was somewhat complicated. He stretched out his hand halfway, then withdrew it, turned around to meet the cowherd's fierce gaze, and calmly looked back.

“I work diligently every day, going out to work before dawn and coming back early in the evening to cook. I’m still out working when it’s dark. I work from dawn till dusk. Am I doing this for myself?”

The Cowherd shouted, his eyes bulging as he looked at the Weaver Girl.

"She just stays at home all day, does nothing, and teaches you to read useless books at night. She's actually quite attached to you. Without your father, you wouldn't have come into this world, and you wouldn't be this old!"

With the situation resolved, the Cowherd was no longer willing to pretend. After the two dolls made their choices, the matter was settled. At this moment, he was filled with resentment, which temporarily overwhelmed his fear. Or perhaps he deliberately did not want to think about the horror he was about to face, and his eyes seemed to be spitting out a torrent of anger.

Niu Jin remained silent.

“My good children, did someone say something to you? You are still children and cannot distinguish right from wrong. Tell me how your father treated you in the past.”

Perhaps it was Niu Jin's attitude that gave Niu Lang hope again, or perhaps it was the fear that overwhelmed him after his rage that softened his voice, hoping for a glimmer of hope, and looking at Niu Jin with anticipation.

“Father,” Niu Jin finally spoke, looking at Niu Lang with a complex expression that words could not describe, “I am no longer a three-year-old child.”

The Cowherd's pupils suddenly dilated, and for a moment he was lost in thought, remembering what he had once secretly said to the Taurus Star Lord.

"What ability can a child have to distinguish right from wrong? He's very easy to fool. He's only three years old. He'll only start remembering things later. If I treat him well, he'll soon only recognize me as his father..."

“You… heard everything…” the cowherd’s voice was hoarse.

Niu Jin nodded.

“Father. I knew from childhood that I was different from the other children in the village. I could remember things from birth.”

Niu Jin slowly began to speak.

“I didn’t know why before, and I didn’t dare to tell you. After all, you were always impatient with me when I was little. In your words, children don’t remember things, and even if they do, they won’t understand. It’s useless to be good to them. You have to wait until they are older so that your efforts won’t be in vain. Until that day, my aunt came to my door.”

Niu Jin glanced at the Five Fairy Maidens, then turned his gaze to the Golden Ox Star Lord.

"The Star Lord can imprison space, but he cannot imprison thought. From that day on, I realized that I was born extraordinary."

The Cowherd looked at the Golden Bull Star Lord, who was also looking at him with a lingering smile on his lips, enjoying his loss of friends and family.

That scene unfolded right under Taurus's nose; he couldn't possibly have been unaware of it, yet he never told me how things had progressed.

Cowherd had long harbored suspicions about Taurus, but Taurus was his last straw. He didn't want to think further, but now he couldn't even deceive himself anymore. "Brother... I trusted you so much. Why..." Cowherd couldn't believe it; he felt utterly confused, as if his head was about to explode.

“But Father, you are right about one thing. Even if I remembered, I wouldn’t understand. At first, I really didn’t understand, but besides you, Father, I also have a mother,” Niu Jin said. “My mother taught us to read and write and let us study.”

“Reading can enlighten the mind and make people understand the principles. So I understood. I understood your mistakes, your hypocrisy, and your pretense, Father.”

“Reading can teach people to be hypocritical,” the Cowherd gritted his teeth. “How could a child have been impersonating me for so many years, right under my nose, and I didn’t even notice?” The Cowherd then looked at the Weaver Girl, who had calmed down. “No wonder you have such a family tradition of learning; you have truly raised such fine children!”

“You’re wrong, Father,” Niu Jin said. “It wasn’t Mother who taught me to deceive, but you. I saw with my own eyes how you spread rumors throughout the village.”

“I also remember how you slandered my mother in front of me and Xiaoyin.”

“You work hard from dawn till dusk every day, which is touching. You even give us your porridge and rice. But because Xiao Yin and I are still too young, you subconsciously neglected it, or you didn’t even think that we would notice. Every time you come back late at night, you forget to cover up the smell of meat emanating from your body.”

"The Nirvana Sutra says that karma is cyclical and retribution is inevitable. Father, people should always pay the price for their actions."

“Father, you keep saying that you gave birth to me and my sister, but our birth was because you bullied Mother. In the end, our birth was wrong, it was the original sin.”

Niu Jindao.

The Cowherd opened his eyes wide; the usually eloquent man was at a loss for words in front of his son.

"Yes, reading is good. It can make people eloquent and even make a child speechless when refuting his father who raised him. But in fact..."

The cowherd's face showed contempt, but at this point, he became somewhat stubborn and didn't care about anything else.

"It's just a matter of assessing the situation. You see that I'm not doing well anymore. This isn't the time to be in the mortal realm. This heaven is your mother's domain. She's the Queen Mother, the great-grandmother of the princess, and the mother of her granddaughter. Otherwise, why didn't you say these things when we were in the mortal realm? Why are you so talkative now?"

"Cowherd!" The Weaver Girl's face paled in shock. "You can barely protect yourself, do you really intend to ruin the children's reputations?!"

“I was just speaking my mind,” the Cowherd said, glancing at the Weaver Girl. “It’s already come to this; the father is unkind and the daughter unfilial. Why bother with any more pretense?”

The Cowherd looked at the Cowherd again.

"You keep saying that I gave birth to you, raised you, and taught you to understand reason? Does that mean you're trying to put your own father to death?!"

Niu Jin's face turned pale.

“My child…” the Weaver Girl called softly. She straightened up and reached out to hold Niu Jin’s small hand with concern. It was cold and devoid of warmth, as if she were holding a block of ice.

“Father, you’re right.” Niu Jin finally spoke, his voice hoarse and dry. He turned his head and looked at Zhinu with deep remorse. “Mother, you’ve suffered so much all these years. It’s all because I’m an unfilial son.”

“It’s not your fault, child, it’s not your fault…” Weaver Girl shook her head vigorously.

(End of this chapter)