Chapter 321 143: A Third Lifetime as a Human

This left his father and mother utterly shocked.

"What just happened?"

"That beam... did it pause in mid-air for a moment? Or was I just seeing things?"

Neither of them could make sense of it.

But with the chaos all around them, they had no time to dwell on it and quickly ran outside.

'I've used up a little more Magical Power,' Xu Lei thought to himself.

Still, it was to save his parents. Repaying them for raising him with a little Magical Power was a small price to pay.

Besides, in this life, Xu Lei could continue to advance from the foundation he had built in his last one.

There was no real rush.

He only had three Great Realms left to go, after all.

And his aptitude in this life was even better than in his last one.

He had a real chance of attaining the Dao in this life!

Even if he used up some Magical Power along the way, it wouldn't matter at all.

His chances of attaining the Dao would still be very high!

After they ran out into an open area, carrying Xu Lei...

"What we saw just now... it had to be real. It wasn't a hallucination."

His mother added, "It must have been the Divine Nun protecting us again."

"The Divine Nun's Divine Power is truly immense."

His father chimed in, "To think those Buddhist Beads could have such power, enough to stop a beam that huge!"

Listening to them, Xu Lei was speechless.

「In the blink of an eye, another three years passed.」

Xu Lei was now four years old.

He was still a bit too young, however.

After all, if a four-year-old child were to go out alone, passersby would find it very strange.

To say nothing of making a long journey to retrieve his Treasure.

Without his Locust Leaf Flying Ship, relying solely on his Magical Power to travel such a great distance would be far too wasteful.

So, Xu Lei still hadn't left home.

Fortunately, the past three years had been quite peaceful.

He never expected, however, that on this particular day, he would suddenly overhear a flurry of discussion from both the streets outside and the servants within the manor.

It turned out that war had broken out again in the western region of the Dynasty.

A Vassal Prince had rebelled.

The Emperor had dispatched troops to attack and suppress the rebellion.

The two sides were locked in a fierce battle.

Xu Lei worried that his peaceful life would be affected.

But after ten-odd days, Xu Lei found that it didn't seem to have any effect on them.

Xu Lei's family was located in the Jiangnan region, where life remained peaceful and prosperous.

"Hello, I've come to take shelter with my cousin. I am your master's cousin—" Unexpectedly, on this day, a young woman came knocking at the door.

When the servants heard this, they quickly welcomed her inside.

"Cousin, what brings you here!" When Xu Lei's father saw her, he hurried out to greet her.

As it turned out, this woman was a distant cousin of Xu Lei's father.

"War is truly a terrible thing."

Seeing this, Xu Lei's mother couldn't help but say, "Cousin, since you're here, you should stay with us."

"So this must be my nephew?"

The cousin smiled at Xu Lei and said, "I'm your auntie, you know?"

She even tried to step forward and pinch Xu Lei's cheek, but he took two steps back to avoid her.

Xu Lei's first instinct told him this woman was bad news.

Furthermore, in those times, distant cousins were eligible to marry.

Sure enough.

Some time later...

This woman tried to seduce Xu Lei's father.

But to Xu Lei's surprise, his father refused!

He was truly devoted to Xu Lei's mother!

"Sister-in-law, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I was just..." The distant cousin feigned embarrassment after being caught by Xu Lei's mother.

Xu Lei's mother didn't say anything.

Later, in private...

Xu Lei overheard his mother tell his father, "If you truly like your cousin, you can let her stay in the family as a Concubine Ping!

But we'll have to observe her character for a while longer!

After all, you two have been apart for so many years!

Who knows what kind of person she's become over the years.

I'm pregnant now, and I can't be with you!

It would be good to have someone else to take care of you."

That's right, Xu Lei's mother was pregnant again.

It was another son.

Xu Lei had already used his Magical Power to check while his mother was asleep.

Since Xu Lei's mother had been married before, she still felt somewhat indebted to his father.

She had suggested his father take a concubine in the past, but he had refused.

Now, with the arrival of this cousin,

his mother was once again showing her magnanimity.

She was acting with the grace expected of a principal wife in a feudal society.

Xu Lei didn't interfere in these matters.

'If Father really wants to take a concubine, Mother can truly accept it, and this Miss Xiaowei can be a proper second mother,'

'and help the family flourish with more children, then I won't object.'

'After all, my father is possibly one of my own descendants.'

'If he has more children, it just adds another layer of security for my future reincarnations.'

'Granted, once the bloodline passes ten generations, I can't be sure if I'll be reborn as a man or a woman,'

'But they'd be my descendants all the same.'

However, this Miss Xiaowei's character failed to withstand scrutiny.

In fact, one might even call it vile.

Because on this particular day, she actually tried to poison Xu Lei's mother!

However, a servant whom Xu Lei's mother had assigned to keep an eye on her discovered the plot.

Xu Lei was stunned.

He had thought it would be, at most, some common drama born of jealousy. He never imagined it would escalate to an attempt at poisoning!

His mother's face was livid.

But his father pleaded on her behalf, so they didn't hand her over to the authorities, merely told her to get lost.

But not only did this Miss Xiaowei feel no shame,

she instead hurled insults at Xu Lei's father.

She said Xu Lei's father had married "damaged goods."

She claimed that Xu Lei's family had framed her!

She claimed there was no proof!

That she had never tried to poison Xu Lei's mother at all!

In response, Xu Lei's mother slapped her across the face.

Hatred flashed in Miss Xiaowei's eyes.

Of course, seeing the household servants surrounding Xu Lei's mother, not to mention his father protecting her,

Miss Xiaowei knew better than to do anything more. She sensibly made a quick retreat.

Watching Miss Xiaowei leave, Xu Lei frowned.