My Mother Has a System but Won't Use It

175  The nosy old crone, Hua Yu

The woman looked at him, her green eyes full of serenity. Then, her gaze moved to Yue Li. Wearing servant robes, full of blood smattering its surface. A long silence stretched between them. "Han Li?" Hua Yu asked.

"I am," Han Li replied.

Her gaze lingered on the blood spots and very visible hickeys on Yue Li's body. There were a lot of details on her body that showed strain, a sexual experience that happened recently, and tiredness. She saw even more details with a Soul Sense as powerful as hers: Yue Li was feverish, tired, and completely spent. "You… forced yourself on her?" She asked, her face becoming a picture of disgust. They looked similar. So this must be his mother.

Han Li's heart skipped a beat. "Of course not. She is my Mother. We have a very unique relationship."

She didn't have much of a reaction to that other than a loosening of her brows. That was fine, then. Her eyes moved to Han Li. He had blood spots too, but now that she looked closely, both of them seemed to have made a half-assed attempt at cleaning themselves, but they were obviously still unclean and filthy. Just that they had wet hair. She had indeed been hinted before that Han Li had a special relationship with his Mother by Hua Feilan. Liyue had told it to her. "Where were you till now?" she asked. She was curious.

Han Li's gaze turned cold as if he didn't know the person before him was a Power Born who could kill him without much trouble. He didn't want to be scraped inside out for his secrets.

Yet. No matter whether Hua Yu was an Ethereal or Transformation Type Power Born, he would be easy prey. He wouldn't be able to react to Medium Tier Magic Spells or even an Average Power Born Physique. He would die before he blinked.

He calmly asked, "Who are you to ask that? Why should I answer you?"

In other words, mind your own business. He knew she wouldn't fight another Power Born for a stranger like him anyway. Not that he couldn't use her presence in other ways. Maybe no, she might even fight for him. His thoughts spun.

She blinked. "Hua Yu. Friend of your hired mercenary, Hua Feilan. She had far outworked her pay because of your disappearance. Thus you owe us an explanation."

Han Li chuckled. Coldly.

"Outworked? Spending time with my hardworking Liyue and my mother-in-law is not much hard work, I believe. And have you never learned of any manners? You are supposed to knock before entering."

"I could tell you the same. Entering this house like a burglar," She frowned at the crass words. And this had been her room for a while since there were only two rooms in this house.

Should she awe him with her power?

She added, not wanting to be seen as a cultureless person even by a youth not even a quarter her age. "And I also waited till you stopped cultivating whatever you were cultivating. I even waited for you to wake up after losing consciousness before I entered." She had just become a bit worried when she noticed that Yue Li had woken up and quickly fallen asleep. Or she would have watched from outside a bit longer to see if something interesting was happening inside.

Han Li's heart skipped another beat. Bone Forging completing had made a faint red aura appear around the area. She must have seen it. That was not that big of an issue. Did she see his Mother's System working? Did she see how one of the Water Resources had vanished?

That could be an issue. He hoped she thought it was just put into the Empty Space. He thankfully had an explanation for that since his mother's Empty Space could hold it now. He said calmly, "I do not have to knock since this is my home. Ask either Liyue or Li Yao, and they won't say this isn't a norm. I am not on to knock, and they do not mind it." While speaking, he calmly covered his mom's body under a blanket. He had to bathe her, but she had to sleep for now.

"I see. You have quite a tongue for a junior," she said with a lot of irritation. Han Li felt a weight press down on him. "I have been hearing a lot about you and was curious what kind of man you were. Liyue's boasts and Li Yao's silent approval seemed to have been ill-placed. An arrogant young man, nothing more."

Arrogant?

Bitch, you entered my house. My room. Checked on me with your soul sense. Yet I am arrogant for telling you to mind your business?

But he knew, if he was more powerful, he wouldn't mind such things either. Manners and societal rules were just flimsy barriers for the strong.

15:52

The pressure vanished, and Han Li stood up. A wry smile on his face.

He was rather lucky. She had noticed the knife's uniqueness and how sharp it was, but she didn't care for it, or at least it seemed so for now. Had she wanted it, he was ready to give it away.

Adding to the luck, she couldn't read the Demonic Lust Sutra without one of the seven Sacred Eyes. And she wouldn't have realized the book's specialty by peeping. His Life Sword seemed like any other normal sword. She would deign to lower herself to steal his Water-type resources. He had been unnecessarily cautious.

This was no longer the Demon World, where the world had suddenly split into two parts: kindness and greed. Here, people were tamer and more held back. Even if she was a greedy woman—which he doubted she was—she wouldn't so blatantly snatch things from him. Unless, of course, she planned to kill him. Or she had a quirky personality. Which was often the case with these old women.

"Junior?" Han Li was 'stunned.' Why would a young-looking woman like the person before him call him a junior?

She looked younger than even his mother.

A silence passed.

Then, he grew contemplative and sighed. But he didn't grovel. Powerful people didn't hate arrogant people, but they did have a dislike for those who groveled. As far as he could judge, this woman was like that. Judging could be wrong for sure, but he could take his chances.

"Apologies, Senior." He bowed slightly. "I don't know who you were. I am just too tired after what I have gone through, especially after seeing my mom so hurt... As you can see, if you use Soul Sense, she is healing; her hand had been chopped off by someone of my own clan. "He could also arrive here at any time to remove grass from its roots. I am very worked up even now. So, you can't blame me. Please show mercy."

He already saw her as a tool that could help him get through his current predicament more easily than his first plan—She didn't really have to help him. He could use her in many ways. Hua Yu squinted. Her Soul Sense traveled around Yue Li for a second, searching her hand for such wounds, and her eyes widened. "The aura of the Life Dao! She ate a Life Dao Resource!"

A brief flicker appeared in Han Li's eyes. There was no greed in this woman's eyes. Not a bit. What was she? A log of wood? Or was she that good at hiding her emotions?

Greedy would have been easier to manipulate. Yet, he sighed with a tired expression.

"Heaven Rising," he groaned in pain. His own shoulder was a work of wreck. Her quick soul-sense sweep also told her that this time. "We were risen to the heavens and then forced into the Demon World. Supposedly, the Sacred Demon's Empty Space. Then forced into ridiculous trials of murder and bloodshed. That was where I was till now, with my mother. I won the resource as one of the trials."

Hua Yu came closer and checked Yue Li's forehead for heat. She also began muttering strange verses, and a green light spread from her hand, slowly worming through Yue Li's body. Han Li didn't stop her.

[Medium Level Magic Power of the Moss Dao—Parasite Healing.]

Yue Li had been temporarily turned into a parasite sucking off Hua Yu's health, like a moss to a tree. So, she was healed a bit. Even though that was unnecessary. Han Li was not familiar with the power, but he knew what kind it was by her verses. He could have been better at the language of those verses, but he was quite proficient in understanding the meaning. He knew it would heal and not harm. Not that he would have been able to fight against her if she wished to harm.

"Very many gratitudes, Senior." He bowed down even more. "This junior has sinned by not giving proper respect."

Hua Yu looked at him and cupped her jaws. "I wouldn't have helped after that, honestly. I would have just left. But Liyue's 'teacher' had left a big impression on me. You taught her the spear?" n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Han Li took a deep breath, his cogs spinning. "I did."

She had a lot of intrusive questions she would like to ask of this arrogant and rather mystifying youngster, but she decided to go slow. She could see it was growing confusing for him.

"What Dao do you cultivate? I can sense that you are an Evolved…" She wondered if he was 18 for truth or whether that was a lie, "but people around seemed to have considered you a Spark-Less."

Han Li himself had chosen to show her his cultivation by not hiding it using his Heart Qi, or she wouldn't have sensed it. That would be way too obvious once Li Shuanwei comes back. Chaos was sure on the way; he might as well reduce the impact by hiding as much of his powers as possible. He might as well try to use this woman to his advantage somehow.

But Han Li couldn't help but curse inside. She really was an invasive person. Had it been the old him, he would have yelled: Fuck, mind your own business, bitch! And he felt exactly like shouting that.

Then he also thought of Monk Hen Shin, who had promised him to arrive here within three months to see Little Ruo's well-being. All sorts of mess was going to disturb his cultivation.

He sighed, "This junior very much dislikes violence. I am a very ascetic person. Me and my family of four usually stay in our home without disturbing—"

She waved her hand. "I asked what Dao your Dao Soul has, not all that."

"The Dao of Lust."

"… Life Type Dao regarding Lust? No wonder. Ethereal or Transformation?"

What is this woman?

His nerves bulged inside.

"I… am a Sacred Talent Transformation Type cultivator. But for some reason, my Spark cannot help me transform, so I do not have a Beast Transformation." He knew such a disease did exist. Where Transformation type Cultivators lose their power to Transform.

Since he didn't want to tell this woman he had a body as good as his while being an Ethereal, that was the best choice.

"Ah, I have heard about that disease before." The woman nodded, a profound expression on her face. She herself was nearly 300 years old, she had quite a lot of experience. She took out a Water-Type resource from her Empty Space. "I can't heal internal bleeding. Eat this; it will reverse the blood flow inside you, and I will use my powers to heal you then."

Han Li looked at the fruit. A very sour expression behind his passive face. That was the fruit that he had traded for using Luck Trade earlier. He humbly took it and ate it. His internal bleeding did reverse, and she used the healing power on him. Even as he healed, he couldn't help but scheme.

He had never had to be questioned like this, and he knew this spelled a bit of trouble. Curiosity could easily turn into greed, and greed could turn into more.

He was not getting a chance to complete his own little schemes either. This was a Power Born. A well and truly dangerous one. He knew if he tried to use petty schemes like the one he used on Saintess Moon Fairy, he would end up mossed to death. There was no doubt. But he could tell she wasn't a completely insensible Power Born by his rather probing attitude of arrogance earlier. Maybe she might help him through this predicament by just asking honestly?

He knew what was on the way. And this woman could either be a foe or an extremely useful ally. He first had to gouge a bit more. But he became much more casual.

Indeed, chaos was the best place of opportunity. He had many ways to go with this. He shifted the conversation to another topic, "We entered the Demon World. That was a world of its own…"

That sparked her curiosity. He gave her an in-depth explanation of the trials and that place in general and what kind of chaos had happened there. She listened curiously.

A meeting of geniuses arranged in heaven by the Sacred Demon? How novel.