Chapter 252: [My Mother] Instance Concluded
Han Yingying held Han Hongmei tightly, mother and daughter nestling together.
Bai Cha remained silent.
It wasn’t that she insisted on shattering this emotional moment.
At her core, Han Hongmei simply couldn’t let go of her obsession; she merely refused to allow her daughter to endure that agony any longer, thus willingly choosing to harm herself instead.
Therefore, her power wouldn’t dissipate on its own.
In that case, utilizing the Dodder Vines remained the only option.
One couldn’t blame her for hesitating—outside of life-or-death emergencies, no one actively sought out suffering, did they?
Mother Han’s power was undeniably formidable; securing it meant she wouldn’t need to worry about power deficits for a short period.
However…
She found it truly hard to tell whether this power would prove excruciatingly painful.
Letting out a sigh, Bai Cha extended her hand nonetheless, awakening the Dodder Vine planted inside Han Hongmei’s body.
Looking at the daughter in her arms, Han Hongmei chose to sacrifice herself.
She sacrificed herself for her daughter’s sake out of complete willingness.
She understood the words Bai Cha had spoken and felt deeply moved by the gifts offered to her.
If another Han Hongmei existed in this world, she hoped that woman could make a different choice.
Regrettably, as far as she was concerned, she was merely a single thread of obsession to begin with.
What was more, no one had ever taught her across her entire life how to choose for herself.
Her arrival in this world hadn’t been her own choice; becoming someone’s daughter was a choice made by her parents, not her selecting her parents.
Getting married was driven by the general environment—everyone did it, so she followed suit.
And so, upon giving birth to a child, she naturally set about pleasing her child—just as she pleased her parents, her husband, and everyone else.
Throughout her life, only through this approach could she secure pity and affection from others.
She recognized that she was deeply flawed; thus, she hoped her child could change—whether through the college entrance exams or within the dreamscape woven in her mind.
Her child served as the sole sustenance of her life.
She wasn’t unintelligent; she comprehended those principles and understood that acting like this would merely inflict pressure and pain on her child, and that love of this nature held deep issues.
Yet no one had ever taught her how to love correctly.
Whether it was loving herself or loving others.
She had been starved of love her entire life—this was her obsession, one she couldn’t let go of, nor wished to let go of.
She was incapable of letting go with effortless grace, incapable of coming to a sudden, miraculous realization. She knew only that the moment she let go, every single persistence of her past would be rendered entirely meaningless.
Yet those past persistences had indeed carried her through all the way here.
Whether it was right or wrong no longer mattered.
She refused to allow her daughter to suffer agony in her final moments—this was her child, and she hoped she could live well.
Ending all of this meant her daughter would no longer need to worry about her either.
Han Yingying held her in a tight embrace.
At this exact moment, happiness belonged to them, while agony belonged to Bai Cha.
Bai Cha was coughing up blood in violent, massive mouthfuls.
Mother Han’s power was terrifyingly strong—strong beyond her wildest imagination.
This power would likely prove sufficient to sustain her through at least three instances without a single care.
If she conserved it slightly, five instances wouldn’t pose a problem either.
Yet it felt so miserable.
Her body was growing stronger while simultaneously growing weaker.
Worst of all, she held zero ability to refuse this sacrificed power.
Her understanding of her own skills had never been particularly extensive, and today added yet another piece to her knowledge.
She couldn’t tell whether it stemmed from Han Hongmei sacrificing herself to her out of willingness purely for her daughter’s sake rather than for Bai Cha herself, or if the fault lay squarely with the problematic nature of Han Hongmei’s own power.
After all, she was a demon.
Prior to this, Bai Cha had never absorbed a demon’s power before.
During her earlier battle with the Demon Butterfly, she had indeed sensed that such power was far from pleasant.
Perhaps both factors played a role.
At any rate, she had truly paid a blood-soaked price this time—the sheer volume of blood she was coughing up right now could practically render her anemic on the spot.
Just as Bai Cha was on the absolute brink of collapsing, this massive sacrifice drew to a close at long last.
Han Hongmei vanished.
Han Yingying remained behind.
[System Notice: Key NPC’s death detected. Game over. You will be teleported to the settlement interface in 30 seconds.]
Han Yingying walked over.
“I’m sorry.” She felt truly apologetic.
She unfolded her hands.
Two items rested in her palms.
One was a pink shard—identical to the mystery shard in her backpack that required 999 pieces to unlock a grand mystery gift.
The other was a tiny butterfly—originally a crimson butterfly, its body now sprouted golden patterns.
The gold was expanding still.
Because that was the power injected into it by Han Yingying.
Once planted, a soul flower held zero possibility of being retracted.
Han Yingying injected every last drop of her remaining power into this butterfly.
A layer of gold dust coated the butterfly’s frame; the moment it achieved complete coverage, every color vanished entirely, leaving behind a single white butterfly.
“Sister, if your family is still out there, it will lead you to find them.”
Having finished her words, Han Yingying dissipated completely as well.
Bai Cha’s pupils dilated slightly.
Extending her hand, she caught the butterfly.
Fluttering its wings gently, the butterfly landed atop her head, transforming into a hair clip.
[System Notice: You have obtained an unidentified-tier prop: Dream Butterfly. Zhuangzi woke from his dream uncertain if he was a butterfly. Perhaps inside a dream, it will yield unexpected effects.]
[System Notice: Teleportation successful!]
Bai Cha returned to the settlement interface, yet the physical frailty of her body failed to dissipate.
Sure enough, this was an unavoidable side effect of acquiring power—falling outside the scope of the game’s healing parameters. If the game healed it, it would likely strip away her acquired power alongside it.
Just as the thought crossed her mind, a large face pressed flush right before her eyes.
The pixelated ghost face currently displayed an angry red expression.
[Sweetie, you destroyed another instance!]
Bai Cha offered it an innocent stare.
“You can’t blame me for this—she was willing herself!”
She rarely killed NPCs to destroy instances by force!
Usually, it happened only when backed into a corner without a choice.
[…]
[Forget it, anyway this instance… Alright sweetie, we will now proceed with your settlement.]
[System Notice: Congratulations on successfully clearing the instance “My Mother”! Your evaluation for this run is S-tier! Yes—even though Mother Han claimed she refused to acknowledge you, prior to her death, she still provided feedback to the game stating that you were the best daughter in the entire world! It’s just that she wasn’t your mother.]
Bai Cha paused in surprise.
[System Notice: Your current cumulative points have reached 10,000, ranking you up to a B4 player!]
[System Notice: Congratulations! Your “Ghouls’ Bane” title has leveled up once more to LV7! Are you truly not going to consider equipping this title?]
[System Notice: Your current “Demon Hunter” title has undergone an alteration, updated to: Demon Hunter LV8 [Beguiler] [Torn into Ten Thousand Pieces] [Target Marked for Death].]
[System Notice: You have received a blessing from Han Hongmei: My life was devoid of choices; may you make unshakeable choices for everything you desire.]
[System Notice: Settlement concluded! May I ask if you have any other questions?]
[System Notice: Alright, I know you don’t. May I ask if you wish to head to the Game Hall or your personal real estate property?]
Bai Cha: “…”
“Real estate.”
[System Notice: Very well!]
Bai Cha was delivered into her dilapidated building.
Lying on the floor for a brief while, she felt so miserable that she chose to return to reality first.
Upon returning, the intense discomfort persisted all the same.
Bai Cha narrowed her eyes slightly.
Running a fever, seemingly? Yet the heavy numbness and pain in her body felt almost identical to the aftermath of a severe high fever.
Feeling her forehead, however, it didn’t feel that hot.
Checking the time, it was barely five in the morning right now.
Bai Cha sat up with considerable struggle, her complexion looking far from great.
Was this an effect stemming from the game?
So benefits acquired in the game couldn’t be brought into reality, yet lingering side effects suffered in the game would impact reality instead?
