Deducing Godhood from the Fetal Stage

Chapter 112 Prayer

The room was so quiet that you could hear the faint hissing sound of the tea cooling down.

Qiu Mian sat back on the sofa, rubbing his fingers back and forth on the briefcase handle a few times before speaking again: "Ms. Ling, I understand your concerns."

His tone was calm and deliberate, with a frankness that laid all the paths open and clear: "This matter is indeed difficult. The rules of the Divine Ruins are rigid, and the phrase 'stay behind' is a strict constraint."

He pulled out another, smaller, encrypted terminal from his pocket and pressed it lightly on the table. A holographic projection appeared, showing the star orbit layout of the capital city and surrounding satellite cities of the Imperial Star.

"The currently active entrance to the Divine Ruins is located in Qingmiao City on the Imperial Star."

Qiu Mian tapped his finger on the light map, and a red dot lit up.

"Qingmiao City belongs to the Barbarian Autonomous Region in the Southern Hemisphere of the Imperial Star. It is separated from our Minghui District by two administrative districts, with a straight-line distance of about 40,000 kilometers. At full speed, the spacecraft can reach it in three days."

He raised his head and looked at the little dumpling in Ling Jiu's arms, who had been listening quietly the whole time.

"In the best-case scenario, if little A-Yun stays in Qingmiao City for a full month, the entrance to the Divine Ruins will automatically sense his presence and open the passage."

Qiu Mian paused, then lowered his voice, "At the very least—it might take one to two years. The key isn't the time, but whether the child's longing for his mother reaches the threshold that the Divine Ruins can accept."

Jiang Ren couldn't help but interrupt: "—Two years? Ah Yun must be missing him terribly."

Qiu Mian smiled wryly: "That makes sense. But what it wants is that pain of separation; the more real it is, the stronger the pool of resentment's willingness to accept it becomes."

Ling Jiu's fingertips unconsciously caressed the hem of Jiang Yun's clothes.

One to two years. Her child will be in another city, waiting for a door that may never open. And she can't even watch from afar.

"Who will take him?" Her voice was a little dry.

"Ms. Jiang Ren would be a perfect match for Ah Yun's aunt."

Qiu Mian looked at Jiang Ren, "Ms. Jiang Ren is Jiang Yun's direct relative, with sufficient blood ties, but she is not his direct parent, which fits the relaxed definition of staying behind. The Empire will arrange accommodation and all expenses in Qingmiao City, so she is absolutely safe."

Jiang Ren opened his mouth, looked at Jiang Yun, then at Ling Jiu, and breathed a sigh of relief.

She nodded emphatically: "Okay! I'll take them! At worst, I'll just treat it as a long vacation in Qingmiao City!"

Qiu Mian breathed a sigh of relief and then said, "There's one more thing. Before we set off, we need to bring Jiang Yun to the Capital Genius Testing Center. I will teach him a Dao Lord rune."

"Once Jiang Yun enters the Divine Ruins, when he faces the Ghost Mother, he only needs to draw her. Any method of drawing will be effective. The moment the runes take shape, the Dao Lord will descend to subdue the Ghost Mother."

After speaking, Qiu Mian stood up and bowed deeply to Ling Jiu again: "Ms. Ling, I respect all your and the Ling family's considerations. If you ultimately decide not to go, I will have no objections. If you do go—I, Qiu Mian, guarantee on the honor of the Fuhua lineage that little A-Yun will not suffer the slightest harm."

He picked up his briefcase, stepped back to the door, paused, and glanced back at Jiang Yun. His gaze was complex, containing expectation, guilt, and a hint of indescribable respect.

"I'll wait for your message."

The door opened and closed again. The living room fell silent once more.

Jiang Ren hugged Hao Jiajia, her eyes a little red: "Sister Jiu, you—"

Ling Jiu didn't speak, but looked down at Jiang Yun in her arms. Jiang Yun also raised her little face to look at her, her dark eyes reflecting the light from the window, so calm that she didn't look like a three-month-old baby.

After Qiu Mian left, it felt like half the air had been sucked out of the living room.

Jiang Ren held Hao Jiajia tightly, barely daring to breathe, only glancing at Ling Jiu out of the corner of her eye. Ling Jiu placed Jiang Yun on the floor mat, her back to them, her shoulder blades taut in a stiff arc.

Jiang Yun sat there, clutching a building block in his little hand, without saying a word. He knew that his mother's heart was churning with anxiety again.

After a while, Lingjiu turned around, her tear tracks dried, leaving only slightly red eyes. "Aren, take Jiajia upstairs to play for a while."

The voice was calm, leaving no room for negotiation.

"I need to see the Grand Elder."

Ling Jiu gently stroked Jiang Yun's soft baby hair with her fingers.

Jiang Ren was taken aback, nodded, picked up Hao Jiajia, and whispered as he passed Ling Jiu, "Sister, don't be afraid. If anything happens, my brother, my family, and I are all here."

Ling Jiu hummed in agreement. After the mother and daughter's footsteps disappeared at the top of the stairs, she bent down, pulled Jiang Yun into her arms, and turned to walk deeper into the house.

She walked through an inconspicuous side corridor and stopped at the end in front of a wooden panel that looked like a wall.

When a fingertip touches a spot, a faint glow of spiritual energy spreads out, and the wooden plank slides open silently, revealing a narrow entrance that can only accommodate one person at a time.

A scent of aged sandalwood mixed with old paper wafted towards me.

This is a secret room deep within the Ling family's main residence, accessible only to direct descendants. Ling Jiu only gained access after her bloodline was activated during her pregnancy.

The room was dimly lit, with only a painting displayed in the center.

The canvas was enormous, covering an entire wall, yet it only sketched the outline of a man in an ancient-style long robe in the hazy light and shadow, his face blurred, as if covered by a layer of flowing starlight.

In front of the painting is a low table with a plain bronze incense burner on it and a box of unopened incense sticks next to it.

Ling Jiu placed Jiang Yun on the soft cushion beside her and knelt down on the prayer mat herself. She moved slowly, taking out three incense sticks and lighting them with the flame from an ever-burning lamp on the table.

The wisps of smoke rose straight up, then suddenly dispersed as they approached the frame, rippling like water.

She closed her eyes, held incense sticks to her forehead with both hands, and spoke in a very low voice, each word like a recitation of some ancient incantation: "I respectfully invite the Supreme Venerable One who understands all things and interprets the mysteries of the Dharma, your unworthy descendant Ling Jiu, along with Jiang Yun, the firstborn unicorn of the Ling clan, to respectfully inform our ancestors."

"Old impurities have reappeared in the world, and resentment devours infant spirits. The nation is in dire straits, and demons covet its territory. Now, there is a ruin where a ghost mother devours spirits, and a rule has been established to guard its gates."

o

"My granddaughter's son is less than half a year old, but he is exceptionally intelligent and naturally gifted. I would like to offer my humble assistance, but I fear my granddaughter is dull-witted and unable to predict good or bad fortune."

"Our ancestors, with their divine wisdom, have humbly requested this auspicious news to discern good fortune and misfortune for their descendants on this journey."

The incense burned extremely quickly, and the wisps of smoke condensed into a small vortex above her head. Starlight churned on the painting, and the blurred outline seemed to move slightly.

Jiang Yun sat on the cushion, his little face serious. He could feel the connection between mother and son; his mother's heart was pounding like a drum.

At the same time, his own hidden senses passively detected that the structure of the secret room was undergoing some kind of deep tremor, not an attack, but more like the opening of a passage.

The next instant, the fragrant mist suddenly thickened, completely engulfing Ling Jiu's figure.

Jiang Yun blinked, and when her vision cleared again, the scene had changed.

It was no longer a cramped, secret room, but a spacious, somewhat desolate hall.

The dome is extremely high, painted with a slowly flowing star map. Light pours down from an unknown source, casting intersecting star trails on the smooth, mirror-like ground.

A very faint smell, similar to a mixture of pine resin and metal, floated in the air.

In the center of the main hall was a huge bronze table.

On the table, countless tiny stars, rays of light, and runes formed a three-dimensional star track, so complex that it made one dizzy.

A man sat idly on a jeweled bench, resting his chin on his hand and fiddling with the stars. Each time he moved his finger, the star tracker changed, shimmering with light.

He looked to be in his early twenties, with short, silver-white hair that had natural curls and was loosely draped over his forehead and the back of his neck.

He was casually wearing a dark gray, wide-sleeved shirt with the collar slightly open.

Just from a glimpse of his back, you can tell that his proportions are excellent, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, yet his posture exudes a lazy and casual air.

>