Volume 1, Chapter 139: The Mother of Longing

Qin Yu let out a cold snort. She had a premonition the second these threads appeared for the second time.

Now, observing them at such close range, she was certain. "They are strands of hair."

"??? Hair? No way, right? Hair is so brittle; these must be some kind of new-age steel wire."
"To the person above, I advise you not to be a smart-aleck. Just follow the streamer’s lead; it’ll do you good."
"I refuse to believe it! What are you going to do about it?"
"Sigh! (A sigh from someone who has seen it all before.)"
"You weigh a hundred pounds, but you have a hundred and eight pounds of rebellious spirit! But it doesn't matter; my lady here specializes in curing a hundred and eight types of stubbornness."

"Clap, clap, clap."

The sound of applause came from the speaker, followed by unmasked admiration. "You really do have some skill."

"However, that answer is not quite complete." The voice from the speaker paused. "Have you ever heard of 'Women's Silk'?"

Qin Yu had never seen "Women's Silk," but she had read descriptions of it in her master's books.

"In early wars, men answered the call of their country to join the army and fight. They left their women at home to wait for their victorious return. But the horns of war never ceased, and the women died without ever seeing their loved ones again. After they passed, their bodies turned to dust, but their hair remained. All their longing for their kin was condensed into that hair, transforming into Women's Silk."

What the Women's Silk carried was the most primal, original waiting of mothers and wives...

If one wished to obtain this Women's Silk, one had to...

Qin Yu’s voice rose two octaves, laced with indignation. "They suffered enough while they were alive! Can they not even find peace after death?"

"Hehehehe!"

The piercing laughter grated against her eardrums, causing intense discomfort.

"Don't be in such a hurry to get angry~ Do you see the person in front of you? She dug the graves, she severed the heads, and she was the one who harvested the silk! Every debt has a debtor. If you want to settle the score, go find her."

Qin Yu didn't buy his nonsense. "Do you take me for a three-year-old? She is clearly nothing more than a puppet..."

Halfway through her sentence, Qin Yu stopped, stunned. "Could she be...?"

"It seems you aren't entirely slow. That’s right, just as you thought. She is the Silk Mother."

Silk Mother, Silk Mother—the mother of longing.

They were merely the lowest form of ghosts condensed from yearning, possessing no consciousness or thoughts of their own.

They were so insignificant that even as they drifted through the streets, ghost hunters wouldn't bother to give them a second glance. Even other ghosts wouldn't use them as sustenance, as they had no value in boosting ghostly energy.

Yet, such a trivial, pathetic ghost had managed to kill two other ghosts.

Qin Yu watched the Silk Mother on the livestream, clutching the speaker, her head dangling precariously. Her black pupils gradually expanded, soon occupying half of her eye sockets.

Beneath the ash-gray darkness, she saw traces of red markings.

They were the marks of a talisman.

Specifically, a talisman for controlling ghosts.

Once cast, this charm forced the ghost to follow the caster's commands with total devotion. Naturally, this spell only worked on low-level ghosts, and the Silk Mother fit the criteria perfectly.

Qin Yu’s pupils slowly returned to normal.

This spell was easy to break!

Qin Yu snapped her fingers and casually formed a hand seal. As she chanted the incantation, a golden light flew from her fingertips, heading straight toward the other end of the livestream.

"Sigh!"

For a fleeting moment, Qin Yu was caught off guard. She felt as though she had heard a soft sigh emanating from the speaker. The tone, strangely enough, felt incredibly familiar.

Before she could dwell on it, she suddenly realized something was wrong!

The Silk Mother struggled in agony, and in the end, she began to claw at her own throat, gripping it with a deathly hold...

This scene was hauntingly familiar...

"My son!"
"Dayong!"
"Daddy!"
"Come home!"
"Come... home..."

Before she vanished into thin air, the Silk Mother wailed, her voice filled with such sorrow it was heart-wrenching. Each cry contained the expectations and longing of a family for their loved ones...

However, no matter how they wailed, it was all in vain.

They disappeared just like the fading sparks of a firework—brief and fleeting.

The viewers in the livestream had yet to react to what had transpired, and already, the Silk Mother was gone.

"The Annihilation Curse!"

Qin Yu gasped.

This was one of the most vicious curses in existence. It was the ultimate ghost-control technique used by high-level practitioners in the metaphysical world, designed specifically to prevent subordinates from defying their master's commands.

It was considered vicious because those struck by the Annihilation Curse were utterly erased from existence.

Qin Yu had not expected that beneath such a simple spell, there lay a technique of such profound and dark depth.

Thinking of the Silk Mother’s agonizing final moments, Qin Yu felt a jolt in her chest.