Fates Parallel Chapter 332 - Mother

“Where is she? What’s happening?!”

Yoshika swept into the room like a storm, only for Lin Xiulan to block her way. She barely suppressed the urge to bowl right past her as Xiulan gave her a reproving glare.

“Restrain yourself, Yoshika—your domain is far too powerful to let your emotions run unchecked in the presence of mortals!”

Chastened, Yoshika retracted her domain as much as possible while occupying her avatar and took a steadying breath. She took in her surroundings to ground herself.

They were in Xiulan’s wing of the temple, within a room that strongly resembled the workshop of the old doctor Luo Huang—albeit much tidier and better equipped. Formations kept the room well lit from every direction, and a wide array of magical and mundane tools were neatly sorted onto racks and shelves.

In the center of the room, Jung lay on a soft cot, undressed down to her undergarments and breathing heavily. Nearby, Luo Mingyu—the son of that same doctor—was carefully placing enchanted acupuncture needles into Jung’s skin.

Only the four of them were present. Narae had been made to wait back at the house, and Yoshika sent Li Meili to keep her little sister company.

“What happened? Jung was fine last time we saw her! I thought you said she had around a year?”

Xiulan sighed.

“Nothing we weren’t prepared for, dear. You know that was just an estimate, and your sister is a stubborn woman. She’s been pushing herself constantly since well before her condition became critical.”

“That wasn’t an answer!”

“I know. Mingyu, let me take over there—you explain.”

The alchemist stopped what he was doing and bowed immediately.

“Yes mistress.”

Xiulan smoothly switched places with her apprentice and Luo Mingyu bowed in greeting.

“Hello Yoshika. I know you must be worried, so I’ll get straight to the point. The unsteady balance between Lee Jung’s corruption sickness and the elixir I gave her to stave it off has tipped. This is in part because she pushed herself too hard, as Mistress Lin indicated, but also a result of the treatments we’ve given her.”

Yoshika barely restrained the urge to slap the man.

“You caused this?!”

“Please let me finish! It was a necessary process, in order to prepare for exactly this scenario. Letting Lee Jung’s condition run its course was never a real option—we were always going to have to induce an episode like this to proceed, it just happened a little sooner than expected.”

“What does that mean?”

Lin Xiulan glided across the room, snatching things off the racks with speed and precision before dumping them unceremoniously into Luo’s hands and shooing him further back into the room.

“That should hold her for now—get to work preparing the elixir bases, I’ll join you to finish them in just a moment.”

Yoshika crossed her arms and glared up at Lin Xiulan, awaiting her explanation. The grandmistress swept a stray lock of hair behind her ear—that tiny imperfection in her otherwise immaculate facade the only thing to suggest she might not be as calm as she appeared.

“It means, young lady, that this is it. By the time we are finished here, your sister’s condition will be resolved—one way or another. I believe we can cure her, but I will not lie and make you any promises. We are not as prepared as I would like, and it will be a narrow thing.”

From a small work table where he was mixing the things Xiulan handed him, Luo Mingyu called out.

“The good news is that thanks to our treatments, we’ve managed to control it so that the balance has shifted in favor of the elixir, rather than the corruption.”

Yoshika gave him a flat stare.

“The elixir that’s also killing her.”

“W-well, yes, but it’s also the key to curing her.”

Xiulan snapped her finger loudly.

“Mingyu, focus! This is not a game—if you have the wherewithal to chat, then you are not taking this seriously enough!”

“Yes mistress.”

“Yoshika, I’m telling you this only because it is the most expedient way to get you out of the way—anyone else, I’d just send away. Mingyu’s elixir was based on his previous specialty—the awakening pill he created to open his own meridians while he was still a mortal.

“It’s excellent work. I couldn’t have created it myself. I didn’t take him as my apprentice on a whim, Yoshika—the boy is a genius. I don’t have nearly the time to give you a complete explanation, but in short the plan is to redirect that energy to its original purpose.”

She sighed and shook her head.

“Unfortunately, that’s more complex than it sounds. The uncontrolled Yang essence will burn out Jung’s pure Yin physique, and even if we successfully awaken her soul, that still leaves the heart of corruption ravaging her from the inside out—which will only get stronger with her cultivation.”

Yoshika frowned. She wasn’t nearly the expert that Luo Mingyu was—much less Xiulan—but she wasn’t clueless as a qi healer, and she’d spent plenty of time learning more about Jung’s illness since they’d arrived at the sect. She considered the problem Xiulan was presenting.

“The Yang essence needs to be directed through her soul to cut out the heart of corruption entirely, then safely expelled before it can overstrain her meridians. No amount of alchemy or formation magic can do that—only Jung herself. Except she can’t do that without awakening first, which would mean expelling the Yang essence without cutting out the corruption, and empowering the heart of corruption in the process.”

Xiulan nodded.

“Good, you understand better than I thought. Our treatments so far have weakened both enough that it should be possible to work with, but I’m going to need to direct Jung’s qi myself. This is where most of the problems lie.”

Yoshika remembered back to Jia and Eui’s first awakenings, and what Elder Qin Zhao had taught them about trying to forcibly awaken someone else’s soul.

“You’re too strong. Your qi would burst Jung’s meridians in an instant.”

“Partly true. I’ve done operations like this before, but not usually on completely unawakened mortals. I have far better precision than most cultivators at my level, and plenty of experience dual-cultivating with those that are weaker than me. Still—it’s going to test me.”

“Maybe we can help? When Eui awakened, we did it together. Elder Qin taught us. We’re not nearly as strong as you and we’ve got a closer relationship to Jung. It requires absolute trust, right?”

Xiulan raised an eyebrow and regarded them with an unreadable expression.

“Qin Zhao tricked you into discovering dual cultivation? Why?”

She shook her head.

“Nevermind. No—you’re stronger than you think, and while the bond will help, it can’t compare to centuries of experience. If you want to help, stay quiet, stay out of the way, and stay close to your sister. She needs your support right now—not your power.”

With that, Xiulan turned away and barked more orders at Luo Mingyu as the two of them got to work assembling whatever it was they needed for their procedure.

Yoshika wanted to argue, but Xiulan was far more specialized than Elder Qin had been, and her experience eclipsed that of Yoshika’s by orders of magnitude. There was no winning. She hated the feeling of powerlessness—having to just wait and hope while others handled things.

Following Xiulan’s advice, Yoshika stepped into the room and knelt down next to Jung. She kept her domain as restrained as possible so as not to disrupt anything the healers were doing, but she could sense the way Jung’s flow of qi had been slowed by the acupuncture.

Jung’s normally weak aura practically glowed with the power surging within her, eating away at her from the inside. She was sweating heavily, and her breathing was labored, but to Yoshika’s surprise, Jung was still conscious.

“J-Jia? Is that you?”

Yoshika took her sister’s hand and nodded, not bothering to correct her.

“I’m here big sis—you’re going to be okay.”

“Is Narae alright?”

“Meili is with her right now.”

Jung let out a shuddering sigh of relief.

“Thank—thank the ancestors. I love Yumi, but I’m not—not sure she’s suited to handling...a stressed child.”

Yoshika could just imagine her mentor in full armor, awkwardly trying to comfort a crying little girl—it was an entertaining mental image, but she could also remember the times that Master Ienaga had been there for her when she was lost and confused.

“Don’t underestimate my master. She’s more versatile than you might think.”

“I look...forward to finding out.”

Jung’s soft smile belied the stress and fear exuding from her soul. Yoshika squeezed her hand—not too tightly.

“You will. I know it. You’re so strong, big sis—stronger than I could ever hope to be. I know you’ll survive this. You can survive anything.”

“I’m—I’m not so sure, sweetheart...”

Her smile slipped, and she squeezed Yoshika’s hand tightly as she suffered a twinge of pain.

“I want you to know...how proud—ngh—proud I am of you. You and Narae both. My—my strong little girls.”

Yoshika tried in vain to wipe the tears from her eyes.

“I know, big sis. You don’t have to—”

Jung shook her head.

“I do. I might not get—get another chance.”

“You will! Don’t say that! I know you will.”

“Please, Jia—just let me have this?”

Yoshika bowed her head and clutched her sister’s hand tightly to her chest.

“Okay...”

“Thank you, sweetheart.”

Jung took a moment to catch her breath and gather her thoughts before continuing.

“When I first met you, I was just a child and you were still a baby. But even then I knew—you were different. Special in a way I couldn’t put my finger on. There was something about your eyes—you’ve always had such striking eyes—and the way they seemed to pierce through everything.

“At first, I was just being selfish. I thought that by protecting you, I could secure a place for myself in whatever grand fate destiny had in store for you. It was just—just a child’s fantasy. But as I played the role of your older sister, and watched you grow up into a bright-eyed young girl with too much curiosity—that role became reality.”

She had to pause again, but Yoshika didn’t dare interrupt.

“When they took me away from the orphanage, I was devastated. I don’t think I even understood it at the time. I just knew that it felt as though a piece of myself had been torn out. Those were the darkest years of my life—nothing to care about, nothing to live for, just existing from one day to the next, doing whatever I was told.

“And then I got pregnant. I was terrified—I didn’t know who the father was, I didn’t know how I was going to take care of the child or if I was going to be able to keep working. For nine long months I couldn’t stop fretting, but when she was born...it was as though that void had been filled—that missing piece restored.”

Jung smiled and reached up to cup Yoshika’s cheek.

“I understood, then. Narae was my daughter—my real reason for being—but she wasn’t my first. But in a moment of weakness, that child’s fantasy returned. I remembered my bright-eyed and curious daughter, meant for great things, and I hoped that perhaps my youngest could have a place in her sister’s destiny, even if I didn’t.”

Tears ran down her face as she shook her head.

“I’m so sorry, Jia. I should never have done that to you. I will never be able to apologize enough for trying to make you shoulder so much at such a young age. When you ran, I felt no resentment or disappointment—only heartbreak.

“I thought that I had killed you—my own daughter—by pushing you too far. That, in my selfishness, I had sent you over a precipice from which there was no return. But then you did return. My childish fantasy came true beyond even my wildest dreams.

“I want you to know, Jia, that I love you—that I have always loved you. Whatever happens today, I’m not afraid. I know that my daughters will take care of each other, even if I am gone.”

Yoshika sobbed and pressed her forehead against Jung’s—wishing the acupuncture needles didn’t get in the way of hugging her.

“I love you too, big sis—mom. I love you, mom. Please don’t die.”

Jung chuckled weakly.

“I’ll do my best, sweetheart.”

From behind Yoshika, Lin Xiulan softly cleared her throat. Yoshika looked up to meet her icy gaze—not a hint of emotion betraying Xiulan’s professional demeanor.

“Sorry to interrupt, but it’s time.”