At that moment, numerous Gu Masters from the Earth Family Fortress closed in from all directions, completely surrounding all the Mushroommen and Huang Wan's mother and son within the encirclement.
The Mushroommen found themselves surrounded in turn, and panic immediately broke out.
Huang Xiaomi bellowed: "Don't panic! I've already sent word to the tribe for reinforcements. They'll arrive soon. Until then, we must hold our ground!"
The Mushroomman Gu Masters forced themselves to calm down.
However, the Earth Family Fortress Lord did not launch a direct attack. Instead, he stepped forward a few paces and stared at Huang Wan with a complicated expression: "Wan'er, so it really is you."
Huang Wan let out a cold snort: "What do you want?"
The moment those words left her mouth, the bald young man recognized the voice. His mind and body shook violently, and he cried out involuntarily: "Mother?!"
With her identity now exposed, Huang Wan dropped all pretense and reverted to her true appearance.
"Since things have come to this, I can't hide it from you any longer, you brat." Huang Wan looked at the bald young man and let out a deep, desolate sigh.
The Mushroomman Gu Masters were stunned.
"Is that… the former Witch Priestess?"
"How could the former Witch Priestess have saved a human Gu Master named Qing Shou?"
"From what they're saying, it sounds like they're mother and son?"
"So the reason Huang Wan was exiled from the tribe was that she had an affair with the Earth Family Fortress Lord and even bore him a son!!"
The truth was laid bare before everyone's eyes, and in short order the full story was pieced together from the murmurs of the crowd.
"Mother! Are you really my mother?! Is what they're saying true?!" The bald young man's mind and body shook uncontrollably, overcome with emotion.
All his life, he had identified himself as a pure-blooded human. Never had he imagined that he was in fact a half-breed — half Mushroomman, half human.
Huang Wan let out a long sigh: "Everything they said is true. Your mother has wronged you — I kept this from you for so long!"
The bald young man drew a sharp breath and stumbled back several steps, staring wide-eyed at Huang Wan.
He had never seen his mother in Mushroomman form, and with the secret of his origins suddenly torn open, he could not come to terms with it in the moment.
The Earth Family Fortress Lord looked deeply at the bald young man, then shifted his gaze back to Huang Wan: "Wan'er, is he really our son? I never imagined that after you left me back then, you didn't actually leave at all — you secretly stayed behind in the Earth Family Fortress. You raised our son with your own hands. All these years, you've truly suffered."
Huang Wan let out another cold snort: "You are the Lord of the Earth Family Fortress, and I am the Witch Priestess of the Mushroomman tribe. We were never meant to be together. But the child is innocent. The reason I stayed in the Earth Family Fortress was for one reason alone — my son. He is a half-breed, and the tribe would not accept him. So over the years, I thought to let him grow up here in the Earth Family Fortress, and eventually reveal the truth to you so that you would take him in."
At this point, Huang Wan gazed at the bald young man once more and spoke gently: "When you were young, didn't you always ask me who your father was? Now you know. Your mother had her own plans, but man proposes and Heaven disposes — what's happening today is not what I ever envisioned. My child, no matter how this ends, no matter how much you hate me or your father, I want you to remember one thing: whether you're human, Mushroomman, or a half-breed, you must live happily in this world. Don't get caught up in hatred — only with an open heart can you see the vastness of the world. That is why I named you Le Tu."
Meng Qiuzhen's heart lurched violently upon hearing this.
"What? 'Qing Shou' is actually Immortal Le Tu? He's a half-breed? But how can a half-breed become one of the Ten Great Venerables of Humanity?!"
"No wonder when I played the role of Huang Wan before and killed Le Tu, the surge of emotion overwhelmed me and caused my exploration to fail."
"So my earlier calculations were wrong — they really are mother and son!"
"Mother, please stop." Le Tu shook his head and retreated once more, looking at Huang Wan with disbelief. "How… how can you be a Mushroomman?"
Huang Wan's heart trembled: "Ah Le, you've lived among humans since you were small. I know you can't accept this right now, but—"
Boom!
The ground behind Huang Wan suddenly erupted open, and an Earth Family Elder at the Fourth Transformation burst from the earth, striking Huang Wan hard in the back.
Huang Wan, caught completely off guard, was sent flying. Even before she hit the ground, she vomited a mouthful of blood.
This Earth Family Elder, having unleashed his strike, was too spent to give chase. His face twisted with ferocity: "Huang Wan! It was you who rescued Huang Xiaomi all those years ago — my own brother died at your hands. I spent years bitterly cultivating this Earth-Shattering Life-Breaker move for this very day. How does it feel? Hahaha."
"Mother!" Le Tu instinctively rushed toward Huang Wan.
"It was Lady Huang Wan who cured our Mushroomman tribe's plague — save her quickly!" Meng Qiuzhen also shouted.
"It's too late! Sons of the Earth Family Fortress, slaughter them all!" The Earth Family Fortress Lord suddenly roared, launching a full-scale assault.
The Mushroomman Gu Masters scrambled to meet the enemy, barely able to protect themselves.
"My Lord!" Le Tu in his urgency still could not bring himself to call the man "Father." He shielded Huang Wan and stared in disbelief at the Earth Family Fortress Lord.
Le Tu was no three-year-old child. He had weathered countless battles and understood the ways of men. The sudden turn of events had been orchestrated by the Earth Family Fortress Lord — using words to distract Huang Wan, using Le Tu himself to draw her attention, and thereby providing cover for the Earth Family Elder to land a devastating sneak attack.
"So you still made this choice!" Huang Wan stared fixedly at the Earth Family Fortress Lord, her former lover, her expression utterly cold.
The situation was dire, and there was no time for treatment. She forcibly suppressed her injuries and quickly rose to her feet.
"I am the Lord of the Earth Family Fortress. I must bear responsibility for every member of this fortress. Besides — the extermination of alien races is the righteous cause of our humanity!" The Earth Family Fortress Lord snorted coldly and charged straight at her.
"You heartless fiend!" Huang Wan shrieked, shoving Le Tu aside as she engaged the Earth Family Fortress Lord in combat.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The two clashed with tremendous force, shockwaves rippling outward. Gu Masters who failed to dodge in time suffered consecutive casualties.
The surrounding Gu Masters immediately gave the pair a wide berth, clearing a massive arena for their battle.
"Stop fighting!" Le Tu was frantic beyond measure, roaring again and again in desperation.
His own condition had plummeted to rock bottom — he was in no state to intervene.