My Mother Has a System but Won't Use It

154  I had expected him to be a Demon but appears not.

Yue Li was inside the underground cavern, Little Ruo calmly sleeping on her lap. She gently combed the girl's white hair with her hand, her motherly instincts overflowing her. While on the other hand, she was worried about Han Li, too.

'Only about ten or twenty minutes before sunset…' she thought, 'and then, I should be teleported to the place where the trials will happen. Xiao Li told me not to stand out among the crowd when I reached there, so there must be many people there.'

She closed her eyes slightly. 'Xiao Li will be there, what have I got to worry about? I wonder how Liyue and Li Yao are doing…'

In the darkness of the cave, her mind kept wandering. There were many children whom her Xiao Li, or she herself, could have probably saved, but they didn't… she wondered how many children died here today. She took a deep breath.

In her mind, Han Li was beside her, gently comforting her. That made her heart calm down; as long as her son was there, everything would be fine, one way or the other; nothing could go wrong. Suddenly, she heard the sound of footsteps. Her mind woke up from the grogginess. Did Xiao Li return?

Even though the cavern was dark, she could see rather well with her eyesight, and in the distance, she saw a figure. The person appeared rather blurry, but she focused, and her heart skipped a beat; it was not Xiao Li. But he said we should be safe here…

Her heart started to thud as the image of the person grew clear. It was a wide man; he appeared almost like a mountain, and soon, he was close to them. The old man had a bald head and long white beard. He wore the clothes of a monk. In his hand was a prayer bead, and in his gaze was something unfathomable. As he reached near them, he looked down at them, especially at Ruo.

They were about three meters apart. The monk squatted down in the distance to Yue Li's eye level. His gaze was calmly on Ruo, who was sleeping on Yue Li's lap.

Yue Li was fearful; all of Han Li's teachings and all of his words came to her, and her heart thumped in fear. She instinctively hid Ruo close to her side and looked at the old man with a gaze that spoke volumes of her fear. Her hands trembled slightly. Her face was pale.

Knife, yes, a knife… she thought, but somehow, she couldn't move her hand to take the knife Han Li had handed her. It was hidden beside them, but with one glance of the man, her hands paused. It was as if she was looking at a mountain.

His gaze held the weight of a mountain.

The man looked at Yue Li calmly, his pond-like gaze unstirred and calm. "The pitiful child of the Fang Family, huh? Hmmm... do you know her name?" the Monk asked.

Yue Li stuttered slightly but replied, "Ruo… she is Ruo."

"Where is your son?" he asked.

"..Ou…out," Yue Li replied, horrified. The old man nodded. "He might be able to save this girl in this world, but not if she returns to the seven continents. The Fang Family, if she returns there, she is done for…" The Monk sighed. "I had the feeling that your son was no different from other demons, but seeing you, he seems to be a true demon instead (A demon who still cares for others). Are you his obsession for him to have such a ruthless demonic heart at such a young age, or is it something else?"

Yue Li felt cold sweat streaming down her forehead. The monk saw her expression and laughed, his voice reverberating across the cave. "It seems correct. Only with an obsession as strong as the heavens can one have the unflinching heart of a demon, yet seeing you, the youth certainly does care for you. So his obsession can only be you!"

Yue Li looked at the old man, feeling paranoid still, she asked, "Ca… can you move a bit away from us?"

The monk raised an eyebrow. "Hmm? As expected of a demon's mother, even paranoid of a monk? How disrespectful." The monk shook his head and walked ten steps back.

"What do… you want?" Yue Li questioned.

"Just answer this monk's curiosity," The Monk suddenly paused. "Ah, I am Hen Shin, Monk Hen Shin of the Demon Restraining Temple. I had forgotten to introduce myself." n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

A silence hung for a second.

"My…My son is not a Demon like you said," she said, "And he killed only the people who attacked him!"

Monk Hen Shin was briefly surprised and closed his eyes. Remembering what he had seen from a distance in hiding, indeed, as far as he had seen, that youth had only killed those who attacked him. As far as he had seen, that is.

"Do not worry, mother of a son who is not a demon," The Monk smiled. "I am not here to trouble him either way. If I wanted to kill him, he would have already been dead. I am here for the child currently sleeping in your lap, as she is someone I had vowed to save from the grasp of evil, and what better chance than now?"

Yue Li frowned. But deep down, she was scheming something. There were barely about ten minutes more till sunset, old man. You jabber on like this, and we'll be teleported in a second. Hahaha, you, sonavabich!

"I cannot give you the girl, Monk. I just adopted her as my child some time ago…" she replied, her throat slightly dry from the earlier scare. She didn't want to talk about her son's unknown connection with the girl since that didn't seem like something she should discuss with a stranger.

Monk Hen Shin grew thoughtful. "But there is no way you could bring her out of here. If she comes with you, she will just be teleported back to her abusive family. If you really care for her as her mother, you should let her come with me since I have a way to take her away with me."