Dust

Yu Wei raised his hand, tapped the bluestone with his wooden staff, and said in a softer voice than before: "No need, you guys eat."

The feel of the wooden staff gripping her fingertips became increasingly clear, and the cane's body pressed against her palm, sending a subtle warmth. She could sense it—it was a pair of young hands, with distinct knuckles and a light callus at the base of the palm, clearly the mark of long-term gripping of the cane.

Her wrist was wrapped with the same blue-patterned ribbon as the one on her eyes, and at the end of the ribbon was a small silver bell, but the bell seemed to be stuck and made no sound.

"Ah, it's strange," the tall and thin immortal sighed, his eyes still fixed on the mountaintop. "The light on the mountaintop used to be so bright that it could illuminate the middle of the mountain clearly even at night. Now, there's only this little halo of light left."

Yunxiu followed his gaze, channeling his power toward the mountaintop. The stagnant white light slowly spread, and the closer he got to the summit, the clearer he could "see" the halo. Its edges were cracked with fine lines, like the surface of a frozen lake. Tiny specks of light drifted down along these lines, landing at the foot of the mountain like dandelions scattered by the wind.

Her heart suddenly skipped a beat. A slight pain, like a needle prick.

"Our immortal power comes from Him." Yu Wei's voice lowered unconsciously.

"His power is dwindling. I'm afraid we... won't be able to hold out for much longer."

The atmosphere in the stone pavilion suddenly darkened. The round-faced immortal stopped smiling, and the tall, thin immortal stopped talking. Only the sound of wind blowing through the leaves could be heard, a somewhat desolate sound.

Yunxiu felt even more confused.

The emotions were too real now: worry, melancholy, even a subtle hint of panic, washing over her like a tide. Yunxiu couldn't tell which were her own feelings and which were the instincts of this body's original owner.

The days flow by like flowing water in a dreamland, or in memories whose truth or falsehood is unknown. There is no alternation of day and night, and the passage of time can only be judged by the withering and flourishing of plants.

Yunxiu gradually got used to the perception of this body.

When using a wooden stick to explore the way, the crystal on the top of the stick will vibrate slightly when encountering steps; when using immortal power to "see" things, the white light will emit a warm glow when touching living things, and will become cold and hard when touching rocks; you can even "smell" the scent of different plants - the crispness of pine needles, the moisture of moss, and the sweetness of wild fruits, which are more real than smelling with your nose.

"Junior apprentice brother Yuwei, look!" The round-faced immortal walked over slowly, holding a feather in his hand and pointing at a bird on a tree not far away.

"This gray bird wants to transform. It has been practicing for three months and still hasn't succeeded."

Yunxiu watched as Yu Wei took the feather and gently wrapped it with his magical power.

The feathers were grayish white, with a faint aura, but far from enough to support transformation - she could "see" the gray bird jumping on a branch not far away, its eyes full of eagerness, but it could only flap its wings, and could not even condense the outline of a human figure.

"The power of the mountaintop is growing weaker and weaker." The voice of the tall and thin immortal came from behind. "Even the most spiritual birds can't transform. In a few days, I'm afraid that our Yaoxi Mountain..."

Yu Wei said nothing, but simply gripped the staff tightly. The crystal on the top of the staff pressed against his palm, giving him a slightly cool touch.

She could feel that Yu Wei was exploring his power deeper into the mountain top. This time, she "saw" a few more cracks in the halo, and the tiny spots of light were floating faster, as if they were anxiously looking for a home.

The worry in my heart grew heavier, even more so than when I faced Zhi Huan in real life - this emotion was too unfamiliar, yet too real, as if it was engraved in the bones of this body.

That afternoon, sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the bluestone steps. Yunxiu and Yuwei leaned against the pillars of the stone pavilion to rest, their wooden staffs resting at their feet. The wind blew, and the shadows of the leaves swayed, falling precisely on the crescent-shaped mark on the staff, making the shallow mark particularly clear.

Yunxiu was suddenly stunned.

The memories before the transformation are too long ago, and I don't remember much. But...

In the bamboo forest of Yaoxi Mountain, when she was still a little white bird that could not transform, her wings were injured by branches broken by the wind, and she was in so much pain that she could not move.

A young man in a plain fairy robe squatted down and gently pushed aside the weeds around her, speaking in a gentle voice:

"Don't be afraid, I'll take you to Yingtang for treatment."

She was in so much pain at the time that she only remembered a crescent-shaped mark on the wooden stick in the boy's hand, which sparkled in the sunlight...

Yunxiu finally remembered. The wooden staff wasn't a "blind stick," but a tree near Yuwei's original form. After Yuwei transformed, the tree had died for unknown reasons. Yuwei had taken its best branch and fashioned it into a wooden staff, which he used as a weapon.

"It turns out to be Senior Brother Yu Wei..."

It turns out that Senior Brother Yu Wei and her had such a fate so early...

His eyes were fine at that time, and he smiled and joked:

"Xiao Que'er, you flutter like this every day, could you be my junior sister?"

The little bird nestled in his palm without making a sound, and Yu Wei muttered to himself, "Is it my junior brother or my junior sister?"

Yu Wei and the little white ball in his hand looked at each other and made a final decision: "Junior sister is better... None of these brothers are worry-free."

"Would you like to be my sister? Little Sparrow, little Sparrow."

Yunxiu knew the outcome. She looked at Yu Wei through her pre-transformed self, and then looked at her pre-transformed self through Yu Wei's present self.

"Okay." She said in her heart.

Yunxiu is now experiencing the darkness of Senior Brother Yuwei firsthand.

But his eyes...why did he go blind?

In her memory, Senior Brother Yu Wei was clearly a bright-eyed young man. How could he need to blindfold himself with a ribbon and use a wooden stick to find his way at this time?

Rheumatism, it's night.

As usual, Yu Wei went to the top of the mountain to meditate.

The wind at the top of the mountain was colder than halfway up, bringing a slight chill to his face. He sat cross-legged and slowly directed the white light from his fingertips toward the halo. But the light was too weak, and as soon as it touched the edge of the halo, most of it was absorbed by the light points that floated out from the cracks.

At this moment, an unfamiliar force suddenly attacked from behind her - it was not any kind of divine power she was familiar with. It carried the heat of volcanic magma, but was also wrapped in biting cold, as if two extreme forces were forcibly twisted together, revealing an indescribable weirdness.

Yu Wei immediately became alert and turned around with his staff in hand. He saw a dark figure standing not far away, wearing a loose robe and surrounded by golden light.

"who?"

The black shadow did not answer, but slowly raised his hand, and a force attacked Yu Wei's chest like a poisonous snake.

Yunxiu instinctively wanted to dodge, but the power of this body was too sluggish. Just as he was about to mobilize it, he was entangled by the hot and cold power and could not move.

"Bang--"

The black divine power slammed fiercely into her chest, sending a wave of excruciating pain through her body. Yunxiu could clearly feel the already feeble strength within her body flowing out through the wound in her chest like water being drained from a stream, so fast that she had no time to react.

Yu Wei fell to the ground, the wooden staff slipped from his hand, and the crystal on the top of the staff fell on the bluestone, making a crisp sound.

Even her barely perceptible "sight" began to blur, but she still tried her best, sending the last ounce of her divine power in the direction of the shadow. But before she could see more clearly, her consciousness, like a fallen leaf swept away by a strong wind, quickly fell into darkness.

“Senior Brother!”

Yunxiu suddenly opened his eyes, but the world before him had already been turned upside down.

The perspective switches again, this time there are no more human joys and sorrows, no more immortal struggles, only lightness and freedom.

Yunxiu looked down and saw that his claws had turned into gray-brown bird claws, his body covered with soft feathers, and with a flap of his wings, he could fly to the high branches.

She became a little lark—her original self.

She shuttled between the branches of Yaoxi Mountain, pecking at the sweet fruits.

Senior Sister Yingtang always liked to hang out with the little animals in the mountains. Occasionally, she would gently rub her feathers with the soft branches of a tree and poke her with a smile:

"Little Bird, slow down. You're going to become a little fat white boy."

The little bird got angry and flew away.

She flew to the statue on the top of the mountain and built a nest on its shoulder. The statue would emit a faint warmth, protecting her from the wind and rain, allowing her to sleep soundly even on cold nights.

She had experienced a minor earthquake while hiding in a tree hole. The ground was shaking violently and the hole was about to collapse. Suddenly, a warm power surged from her body, protecting the entire tree hole and, by the way, a few frightened little insects nearby.

She didn't know what kind of power it was, she just felt it was very familiar, like an innate instinct.

Yes, she had seen her master before he transformed into a human form - at that time, her master had already transformed into a human form, wearing a stone-colored robe, standing on the top of the mountain and looking into the distance.

Ancient God, my master looked like a real human when he was young.

She stopped on a branch next to the Master. Seeing her, the Master gently touched her head with his fingertips: "Didn't you bring any fruit today?"

She didn't understand what her master said. She only knew to rub her master's fingertips, then fly away to chase the clouds in the sky and peck at the morning dew.

From this perspective, there is no figure of Zhihuan, and no cruelty of disaster.

Yunxiu's consciousness stayed in the little skylark's body for a long time, so long that she almost thought she had really turned back into a carefree little white bird.

But she suddenly realized a problem - whose memories are these?

Not Zhihuan's. Zhihuan's memories should contain killing, fanaticism for the ancient gods, and greed for divine power, but these memories only show the struggle, protection, and tenderness of living beings, without a trace of Zhihuan.

Was it from an ancient god? But the perspective of an ancient god should be one that overlooks all living things, one that is grand. Yet, in these memories, there are the subtle emotions of the villagers, Yu Wei's perceptions, and the trivial daily life of Little Skylark. They are so specific, so vivid, that they don't seem like the perspective of a god.

Whose would that be?

Yunxiu's consciousness began to stir. She wanted to break free from the cage of memories and wanted to know the answer.

At this moment, a familiar, cold voice suddenly came from the distance. It seemed to come from a very far distance, but it clearly penetrated her ears:

The memories before my eyes began to distort and shatter. The feathers of the gray sparrow, the tree whiskers in the hall, and the warmth of the statue all gradually disappeared like smoke blown away by the wind.