The olddy was livid. How dare she call her dead parents selfish? "You have no right to call your parents selfish. Do you even know how many things have they sacrificed for you? Is this how you are going to repay them?"


    Indirectly, the olddy was calling her ungrateful.


    Alcina chuckled bitterly. Did she ask them to make great sacrifices for her? No, she never did. Would she have med them if they hadn''t? Absolutely no. Was she an unfilial daughter? She didn''t know. All she knew was that she needed to create a world where she could keep her own daughter safe. Away from all the dangers and shadows of her past. Well, it was exactly not her past which was harmful to her daughter.


    Why did she and her child have to pay for something they never did? Was it the price she had to pay just to be her ''parents'' daughter?


    "I was not even eight when they left the world, leaving me alone to navigate my own path to survive. I was left in the wilderness with more animals than humans in my sight," Alcina said, recalling the memories of her early childhood. A sad smile was seen on her lips.


    She paused for a moment to gather her scattered emotions. It had been an overly emotional day."I never me anyone for my misfortunes. I epted my destiny. I didn''t go back to that family when I should have. If that woman hadn''t found me, perhaps I wouldn''t have understood a thing that had happened with my parents. When I was old enough to differentiate between right and wrong, I realized many things. Until this day, I never med my parents for all the problems in my life." She looked up at the olddy, her eyes oozing with allegations. "But my daughter? What had she done to deserve this? She is five. She can''t even talk. My Faye doesn''t even know that a sword is hanging on her head all the time."


    "Alcina, you are letting your emotions and fears cloud your judgment," the olddy told her in a low voice.


    "Emotions?" Alcina sneered. "Am I really? I''m just trying to give a life to my daughter that my parents forgot to give me. You know, Mrs. He, I love them with every fiber of my being, but it doesn''t mean that I''ll stand with every decision they have made in this life."


    Now Alcina knew better than anyone else who it felt to be med for someone else''s problems. Take Feng Siyan for an example. He hated her for what she did to Lord Tang. He forgot his rationality when someone proved a threat to his master. However, not for a single second did he try to see the big picture.


    They could hate her or question her decisions and choices all they want, but they were no one to tell her what she should and shouldn''t do. If today she was here to get answers from the olddy, she would get them. No sermon of sacrifices and parental love could change it.


    "Sweet Ali, both of them were good people," the olddy said to Alcina. "They never meant to leave you alone. But death is inevitable. Your mother has a heart made up of gold. Your father never cursed his family for all the things they had done to him. How can you not understand whatever they did was good for you?"


    Good for her? Maybe, in their eyes, it was good for them. But how did they know such problems would arise three decades from then? They knew nothing and so their method was all wrong. If that''s how they thought they could protect their child.


    "They are good people, surely," Alcina said. "However, the people they are trying to protect will be the reason for my daughter''s demise." She decided toe clean to the olddy. " She has the blood of Tangs in her veins. Isn''t it enough for you to tell me the reason behind Grandfather''s hatred for big families?"


    The olddy''s eyes widened. "Tangs? Are you crazy, Alcina? What have you done? Your kid..? Is she even normal? Oh, Lord. Can your luck get any worse than this?"


    "What do you mean by normal?" Alcina felt as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water. Her daughter''s bizarre disease…


    The olddy appeared frightened as if Alcina hadmitted sphemy. "Elder Zhang will never let your child live… You made a mistake. No. No. Youmitted a blunder. Your child is born defective, isn''t she?"


    "Mrs. He--"


    "You have created a monster, Alcina."


    From her reaction, it was certain that the olddy knew more than enough, and whatever it was, it was no good for Alcina.


    "You can''t call my child a monster. She is not even five yet. I came here looking for answersnot to be called my child names by you."


    The old woman pressed the bell and a momentter her granddaughter came running. "Everything is alright, granny?"


    "Child, do you remember the things I asked you to keep safe?"


    The woman nodded.


    "Go, get them for me." The olddy said to her granddaughter. When she returned, she asked her to ce the box before Alcina.


    "These are your mother''s things. If you are intelligent enough, you will get the answers," the olddy said dismissing her.


    Alcina immediately took the box and stood up to leave. She didn''t want to stay here. She came to get answers but she didn''t get any of them. However, she did get some clues and it was enough for her. When she was at the door, she heard the olddy say,"Kill your child, Alcina before she gets you killed. Zhangs and Tangs only make monsters together."


    Although Alcina had never known what her little Faye looked like, still she couldn''t bear someone calling her daughter a monster, least of all killing her.


    Alcina turned back onest time to look at the woman who her mother had called her benefactor.


    Because she would never see her again.