Shen Qing's hand was grabbed by Xu Yanxi. She tried to shake it off but couldn't.
So she had to let go of Li Xian's hand first and tried to push Xu Yanxi away forcefully.
"What are you talking nonsense about..." Shen Qing said while struggling, trying to refute, but was interrupted by Xu Yanxi.
"You don't believe it, do you?"
"Look at me. I was originally the most promising disciple in the Five - Elements Dao Sect to ascend, but because of him, I've become this half - human, half - ghost state. It's all because of him!!"
Seeing Xu Yanxi's appearance, Li Xian couldn't help but recall the days of his childhood when he was imprisoned in a small dark room, being scolded and beaten by Xu Yanxi at will.
The only window in that small dark room was nailed shut by Xu Yanxi with wooden boards. In that pitch - black wooden house, he could only know that days were passing by from the sunlight filtering through the cracks in the wooden boards of the small window.
At that time, he was very thin. He hadn't reached the stage of fasting yet and could only eat some small fruits to fill his stomach.
In his memory, his mother was beautiful but seemed like a crazy woman. Sometimes she would hug him and look at his face lovingly, as if missing someone, and sometimes she would suddenly fly into a rage when seeing him and pick up the whip beside her to beat him.
Yu Xuzhi and other elders in the sect wanted to rescue him, but whenever those people got close to the wooden house, Xu Yanxi would go crazy and harm herself, saying that Yu Xuzhi and those people were trying to force her to death.
As time went by, those elders no longer bothered. Only Yu Xuzhi would occasionally come to deal with Xu Yanxi, trying to rescue him.
From hope at the beginning to despair later, he thought he would spend his whole life in such a shadow. Then Xu Yanxi disappeared, and Yu Xuzhi successfully took him out of the small wooden house.
These were all his memories before he was seven years old. When he walked out of the small wooden house, the sunlight shone on his body, but all he could remember were Xu Yanxi's bright eyes that were sometimes dim and sometimes bright in the dark wooden house...
It took him a long time to get out of the shadow Xu Yanxi had cast on him.
A few days after he was taken out by Yu Xuzhi, Xu Yanxi came looking for him again, wanting to take him away.
Yu Xuzhi firmly refused because he never thought that Xu Yanxi had locked Li Xian in the small wooden house not just for confinement but for torture.
So this time, no matter how much Xu Yanxi cried and harmed herself in front of Yu Xuzhi, Yu Xuzhi remained unmoved.
Since then, Xu Yanxi had locked herself in the small wooden house where Li Xian used to be imprisoned and never showed up in front of others again.
Only then did Li Xian manage to live a peaceful and quiet life until he met Shen Qing.
He thought he would never see Xu Yanxi again in his life. He never thought that the second meeting between mother and son would be under such circumstances.
He thought that as time passed, Xu Yanxi would at least be able to talk to him calmly.
But he was wrong. Xu Yanxi was still the same as before. No matter how much time passed, her hatred for him would never decrease.
In Xu Yanxi's eyes, he was the culprit who killed his father.
Li Xian once asked Yu Xuzhi how his father had died.
But Yu Xuzhi kept his mouth shut and refused to tell him. So up to now, Li Xian still didn't know what had happened to his father.
Li Xian was still immersed in his thoughts when he suddenly felt Shen Qing let go of his hand. His first thought was whether Shen Qing believed what Xu Yanxi had said and also thought that he would bring misfortune.
He showed a vulnerable and hurt expression like a child and looked at Shen Qing blankly.
Shen Qing not only cared about Xu Yanxi but also always paid attention to Li Xian's movements.
Seeing the confusion in Li Xian's eyes after she let go of his hand, she channeled her spiritual energy and slapped Xu Yanxi away with one palm, then immediately took Li Xian's hand.
After Li Xian felt his hand being surrounded by warmth again, his eyes gradually cleared up. "Shen Qing... I'm not a jinx. Don't be afraid of me..."
Hearing Li Xian's trembling voice explaining, Shen Qing quickly touched Li Xian's face lovingly and comforted him, "You're not. You definitely aren't. In my heart, you're a great hero who brings hope!"
After comforting Li Xian, Shen Qing turned around, looked at Xu Yanxi with disgust, and said coldly, "As far as I know, when Li Xian's father had an accident, Li Xian was just a baby less than three years old."
"You said that Li Xian not only killed his father but also made your cultivation stagnant. But ask yourself, did all these misfortunes come from Li Xian? Did you ask Li Xian's opinion before you got pregnant with him and gave birth to him on your own?"
"I don't know what happened to Li Xian's father, but I'm sure that his father's departure was not entirely because of Li Xian. You clearly know it has nothing to do with Li Xian, but you still put all this pain on Li Xian. You're just trying to escape the fact of your own incompetence."
"You couldn't protect the person you loved most, so you could only vent your pain and hatred on a little baby who couldn't resist!"
"If Li Xian's father knew that you would treat his son like this after his death, he would surely die with regret!"
Shen Qing stood in front of Li Xian and scolded Xu Yanxi. She didn't have any filters for Xu Yanxi just because she was Li Xian's mother.
On the contrary, because she had hurt Li Xian, Shen Qing was even more dissatisfied.
She was supposed to be the person in the world who should care about Li Xian the most, but she had become the source of Li Xian's pain.
Li Xian's breathing became a bit more steady. He stared blankly at Shen Qing standing in front of him, fighting for him. He only heard Shen Qing's voice in his ears but didn't pay attention to the content.
It wasn't until he saw his mother covering her ears painfully and sitting on the ground that Li Xian thought Shen Qing was the most powerful woman in the world.
And this was the person he liked and respected.
"Shen Qing..." Li Xian called Shen Qing's name emotionally.
Shen Qing thought he was scared by Xu Yanxi and quickly turned to comfort him, "Li Xian, don't worry. No matter what, I won't leave you. I'll drive away all those who hurt you. Don't be afraid!"
Li Xian's nose felt sore, and his tears were about to fall.
This feeling of being truly protected was something he hadn't felt for a long time, except from Yu Xuzhi.
Xu Yanxi was so scared by Shen Qing's words like "incompetence" and "die with regret" that she sat down on the ground. She covered her ears and didn't want to hear Shen Qing's words.
But she knew in her heart that Shen Qing was telling the truth. Li Xian's father's departure couldn't be entirely blamed on Li Xian.
When she suddenly heard the sad news back then, she had nowhere to vent her full - hearted hatred and pain, so she could only vent it on Li Xian.
At first, she would feel guilty and cry while holding Li Xian after venting, but the next time she felt pain, she would repeat the same mistake.
As time went by, even she herself believed that Li Xian's father had left because of Li Xian.