Shi Chan was originally confronting Zhi Mo when, accompanied by the sound of chanting, a golden light flashed before his eyes, and suddenly the scene changed.

This was a dense forest, where the midsummer sun shone through the gaps in the branches and leaves, illuminating the thick layer of fallen leaves. As he looked around blankly, he suddenly heard footsteps carefully making their way through the fallen leaves. He turned to look in the direction from which the footsteps came and saw two men in black walking one after the other, placing the swaddled baby they were carrying on the ground.

Looking at the swaddling clothes from afar, Shi Chan could vaguely see a chubby little face of a child. A soft gurgling sound came from his throat, and he made babbling noises from his slightly open mouth. His bright and piercing eyes were curiously looking around, and there was a hint of wisdom and vicissitude in his eyes that was completely inappropriate for his age.

Then, Liuli appeared. She was dressed in white, the clothes so thin that they didn't even cover half of her arms and legs. Her face held a mischievous and sly smile, just like when he first met her.

Shi Chan's eyes flickered, filled with a look of remembrance.

He didn't move, watching from afar through the dense forest as Liuli rescued the infant from the jaws of a hungry wolf. She was looking down at the child, her face full of tenderness.

At that moment, a chubby little hand reached out from the swaddling clothes and grabbed a strand of Liuli's hair.

Shi Chan gazed at the scene from afar, his eyebrows curving into a silent smile. He murmured to himself, "Is this... an illusion? Or somewhere else?"

No matter where it is, it's always good to see Liuli again. So he walked over slowly, smiling as he watched Liuli take the child away. She even pondered for a moment and named him Bailing, just like the lark in the tree.

Zen Master Shi didn't know where he was; he was merely an observer, watching the scenes flash before his eyes—

Liuli sat cross-legged under a tree with a child, patiently teaching him to call her name again and again: "My name is Liuli. Come on, say it with me, it's Liuli..."

Until the child finally learned it, calling out in a tender and unclear voice: "Liuli, Liuli..."

Later, the child was taken away by an old monk. It was still in this forest. Shi Chan watched as Liuli frantically searched every corner of the dense forest, calling his name loudly, frantically searching for him, saying, "Bailing, Bailing..."

As dusk fell, she finally gave up, leaning against a large tree and weeping uncontrollably.

Upon seeing this scene, Shi Chan's expression changed, and his face was filled with tenderness.

Scenes flashed by, showing Bai Ling returning to the dense forest after growing up. He had become a tall, thin monk in gray robes, who had come down the mountain with his senior brother to track down the demons and eliminate them.

That was his first meeting with her after he grew up. She suddenly appeared in front of him and gently blew a breath on his cheek. He vaguely remembered that her breath was as fragrant as orchids.

Then, the scene before them finally left the dense forest and changed to the scenes of their repeated chance encounters.

On the cloud platform, in Yingyang City, in the man-eating demon palace.

In that perilous demon palace, he once held her hand and depended on her for survival. He was injured while saving her, and she asked him to eat a pill made from the blood of a living person. He refused to eat it, so she forced him to eat it by mouth.

Even now, I still remember the warmth of her lips, a warmth that reached the deepest part of my heart, sending a shiver down my spine.

Shi Chan stood in the Demon Palace of Man-Eating, watching a gray-robed monk sitting with his back against the Demon Wall, while a white-robed woman squatted in front of him, stroking his cheeks with her small hands to keep him from moving, and forcibly putting a pill into his mouth by kissing his lips.

Looking at this scene from afar, Shi Chan smiled gently.