My Mother Has a System but Won't Use It

"Oi Liyue! Did you see your Big Brother Han around?"

Early in the morning, the Temple had a sense of peace. In the huge training ground, a place at the top of the mountain with cobblestones dotting the ground and traditional temple buildings surrounding it, Liyue was training her spear. Bald monks sat here and there; their eyes closed in deep meditation as the rising sun bathed their orange-brown robes.

Hearing Yue Li's shout from one of the Temple Buildings, Liyue stopped her spear and looked at her mother-in-law. There was some distance between them, so she shouted back, "No, didn't he sleep with you? He didn't come here!"

Yue Li paced back and forth for a while before waving and running into the temples. She was having a bad feeling in her gut from the moment she woke up. Han Li was supposed to be by her side since he had slept beside her, but where was he?

She stumbled into many monks walking around with peaceful faces, but that sense of unease wouldn't go away. Soon enough, she stumbled into Hua Yu and Hua Feilan. They were sitting under the shadow of the roof, listening to an old woman's sermon about life with a bunch of monks surrounding them.

Poking the Power Born on the shoulder, she asked hushedly, "Hua Yu, Hua Yu, did you see my son?"

Hua Yu shooed her away, an irritated expression on her face. "I lost all of my Magical Resources to him this morning. He was around here, but I don't know; he seemed to be having some trouble with the monks earlier. Don't trouble us. I was on the cusp of an enlightenment."

Yue Li smiled sheepishly and blinked at some kids who were looking at her in irritation for breaking their concentration in the class. Then, she jumped on her heels and ran to one of the rooms littering the huge building. Opening the door abruptly, she was stunned for a moment.

Her voice hesitant, she questioned, "Li Yao… what is this getup?"

Li Yao's beautiful figure was now wrapped under monk robes, her lustrous black hair tied on her back in a humble bun. She was also in the position of meditation. At Yue Li's sound, she opened her eyes with a slight blush.

"Your son forced this one on me the first thing in the morning. Ask him what he wants yourself. I have no idea what that guy wants. Like, ever."

"Eh…" Yue Li scratched her cheek slightly. "Maybe it is a method of training for you? I don't know. You look beautiful in monk robes, though; maybe it's his kink?"

"Stop sexualizing everything. He is not that shallow."

"Oh? Li Yao…" Yue Li scoffed, "You know my son more than me?"

Li Yao chuckled. "I wonder."

Squinting, Yue Li scoffed once more and asked, "Anyway. Did you see him? I have been searching for him for a while, but he is nowhere to be found."

"Hmm? Han Li was here about an hour ago, and Monk Hen Shin took him away for something."

"Monk Hen Shin?" Yue Li deflated like a balloon. Her son had told her to stay away from that particular monk as much as possible. That monk had the Magical Power of Lie Detection, thus, their secrets slipping out was a genuine possibility—as her Xiao Li,said. Careful, has to be careful.

Sighing, she walked out of the room, leaving Li Yao to meditate, she bet the woman was as ignorant of such a thing as she was and looked at the orange sky. She stretched and all the bones inside her shivered in excitement as cool breath entered inside her.

She was already getting used to this. It had been four days since they arrived here and the monks had given them great housing arrangements. They even visited the waterfall once every day for bathing, even though Han Li had rarely followed.

Living here was becoming a new norm, and since Han Li had been rough on the bed for a while, he had given her a rest from training.

Looking sideways, Yue Li was suddenly surprised.

Under the shade of the oak tree, a woman sat, bored out of her mind, and she was looking at her while picking her nose. Wei Yuanfeng!

Smiling, her shoulder unknowingly a bit haughty, Yue Li walked towards her son's disciple and asked, "Yunfeng, where is your master?"

Wei Yuanfeng snorted slightly. She could see the similarity in the way Yue Li carried herself and how her son carried himself. "He tricked me. He woke me up early in the morning and threw me into cold water for no reason. Then drowned me every time I tried to escape."

Contrary to her belief, Yue Li laughed. "Ah, cold water throwing. Liyue and I also got that at the start; his training hardly ever makes sense, but It works. Believe me, if I wanted, I could beat you to a pulp."

That was not even a lie.

Wei Yuanfen was interested in that, but she sighed, "But that girl has a Spear and all that… while I am just being thrown around. I have learned absolutely nothing new in three days."

"Patience, my girl, patience. Did you see him?"

"Yes. He was kicked down the Temple steps some minutes ago."

"What?!"

"Yeah, literally kicked down from this big mountain. I'd think one or two of his bones would break, but he seemed unharmed…"

"Elaborate!" Yue Li said panickedly.

"He tried to bet with Monk Hen Shin with something and then lost, apparently. But he was unwilling to lose and cheated on the bet. The Monk found out and kicked him from the top of the flight of stairs, and he rolled to the bottom of the mountain due to the momentum. And yeah, the Power Born, Hua Yu, was also there."

"Elaborate more!"

"He also bet with Hua Yu and seemed to have won easily. She lost a lot of Magical Resources to him. All that she had, apparently."

"Where did he go after being thrown down the mountain?"

"I dunno, he yelled something along the lines of, 'Ah, my good brother, you are here!' before running towards the area of the waterfall. Hua Yu was startled when she saw it and immediately went into that sermon area where they spoke jibberish all day long."

Yue Li's mind spun and she remembered something. "The challenge with that Yang Wei kid…!" Her face became bloodless immediately, and she began running towards Hua Yu, but for all she wished, she couldn't move an inch from her position.

Hua Yu looked at her from the top of the roof, having bound Yue Li with her soul sense. Like solid mud, Yue Li had no hope of moving when it surrounded her. Calmly, Hua Yu said, "So he did tell you about the challenge. I thought he didn't."

Struggling, Yue Li asked in rage, "What are you doing?"

"Calm down. Nobody can help your son or he will die—because he went against the rules of his own Heart Qi bindings. This is a duel in all senses of the word. If you think about it, the winner gets everything while the loser becomes nothing. I am indeed curious who this Yang Wei is for your little freak-son to take him seriously."

"He is not a freak, and I know what you mean!" Yue Li struggled and glared at Hua Yu. "My son would win. That Yang Wei guy is nothing good, either. Xiao Li told me about what kind of person that man was once. He is the sort that kills children!"

"Hmm?" A noise of confusion rang out, and the Soul Sense cage around Yue Li vanished. Hen Shin sauntered into the temple hallway and asked, "Kill children? I think your son would do the same."

"No." Yue Li vehemently shook her head. Then, she hesitated, "At least not for no reason."

"Smart of you," Hen Shin sighed. "He would kill anyone but some, I had a talk with him and its obvious you are one of them." He scrutinized Yue Li for a long second. "That makes me wonder why he would be so careless as to leave you here alone when someone as strong as me is here. He doesn't seem to be the type to believe in people's kindness or character when it comes to the safety of his people."

Hua Yu smirked inside and looked at the small necklace hanging around Yue Li's neck. It seemed inconspicuous and simple at a glance, like something given out of pure love. Yet, she had learned what it was from Han Li's mouth itself.

A Walkie Talkie. A power only the Transcendent can use.

That was what all her Magical Resources were used on?

She could see why. Even the all-powerful Hen Shin would hesitate to harm Han Li or his benefits if a 'Transcendent' warned him. The bone in Han Li sure was bold, and she didn't even know if that was all that he had planned in case shit hit the fan and Hen Shin became an enemy.

Yue Li didn't know that the necklace around her neck was a walkie-talkie through which Han Li could see everything here. Even though it was in a dormant state, the moment Yue Li's heart rate quickened beyond a limit, it would snap its eyes open. Doing that was not too hard since there was a piece of soul sense inside it.

It would still vanish though, after some hours.

But of course, if it opened its eyes here, Han Li himself would become unconscious. That, of course, only if Han Li decided to show up himself. He wouldn't be pulled here in between a fight unwillingly. It was more like an alarm. He could choose to come or not.

Transcendental Resources were indeed awesome. Especially when you get the chance to use it as a cultivator below the stage of Transcendence. Yet, now he was empty of any resources. Hua Yu was, too. He had cooked all that they had.

Seeing Yue Li's nervous appearance, Monk Hen Shin sighed. "Your son, did he find a way to heal Ruo?"

"He always had a way…" Yue Li said, cautious not to lie. If Han Li had told her that he had a way and didn't tell her to lie, saying the truth should be better, "He knows how to get rid of the Gu Worms replacing Little Ruo's heart and spine."

The monk nodded.

He had refused to help Ruo because he himself didn't know how. If he tried to barge into the Fang Clan and fight their Power Borns to get his hand on the opposite end of the Gu, replacing Ruo's heart… that would also cause a lot of innocent deaths. To save one Ruo, he was not willing to kill many innocents who would get involved one way or the other.

When gods fought, mortals were the ones most harmed after all. Yet, knowing that Han Li did have a way to save her, he couldn't help but feel some sense of relief. Even a bit of admiration.

"Monk," Hua Yu asked. "Isn't protecting the peace of all lifeforms kind of your thing?"

"Hmm? Indeed."

"I am curious. Yet, Han Li seems to take it for granted that you monks wouldn't interfere in his fight. Why… is it like that? That you won't interrupt a fight in which one party would surely die. Aren't monks supposed to lend a helping hand to all sufferers? Whoever of the duo ends up dying, isn't it your thing to save the loser?"

Monk Hen Shin sighed. "No, death is the greatest way of ending all sufferings of life. Neither our temples nor I are responsible for the actions of people who are clearly of age. As long as there is nothing forcing them to decide so, it is their own decision. He knows we wouldn't bother interfering with unknown duels. He is far too wise for his age."

Hua Yu nodded in enlightenment. She knew that would be the case. She just wanted to make sure. "Monk, who do you think would win?"

"Who do you want to win?" The monk asked.

"Of course, that would be Han Li. He is my partner."

The monk sighed. Then, he walked away.

Leaving Yue Li in a wreck of anxiety and fear.

***

Near a waterfall, Han li and Yang Wei sat against each other. A small bonfire separated them from each other. They both ate meat and drank wine. Their swords were inside their sheaths for a long half an hour before the wild rabbit vanished into their stomachs.

"Yang Wei, do you fear death?" Han Li asked, smiling.

Yang Wei's pale eyes were a sort of deathly calm. He replied in a feminine voice, "Indeed. I fear death."

"Do you have a Life Type Magical Resurce in your hand to place as the bet of whom among us would remain breathing tomorrow?"

"Five of them." Yang Wei put a small cloth bag down.

"Do you have any unimaginable treasure to put as a bet?"

Han Li put down his Life Sword in front of him. "This sword is priceless."

Yang Wei's eyes lit up.

"Do you have anything else?" Han Li asked.

Both of them were wary of each other. Han Li was especially wary of the Spirit. He had some thoughts about what it was but he was afraid of one thing more than anything, even if he won, such an enigmatic thing as the Spirit would surely have some kind of powerful last-ditch attack or something similar. Even your usual Power Borns had those things, not to mention the Spirit...

which he presumed was something far more deadly than a normal Power Born.

Yang Wei himself was also wary. Han Li felt stronger.