Chapter 176 He left something for you, waiting for you to come and collect it.
Finally, the fox disappeared from sight, the black mist gradually faded, and the scene before us became distorted and blurry.
Achan's gaze was hard to look away from. The number of a fox demon's tails was closely related to its cultivation level, so there weren't many nine-tailed foxes in the world.
Besides her grandmother on Qingyu Mountain, there was only... her father.
The high priest's voice then rang out: "Each time this altar is awakened, it will display a different scene."
"Are they all manifestations of the Netherworld and Hell?" Bai Xiuming, unusually interested in the altar, took the initiative to ask.
The high priest sighed softly: "Yes."
What's next?
"Nothing needs to be done."
A warm wind began to blow around the altar, and it felt like an unseen being brushing against you with its tail as it passed by.
The sound of wind disappeared, and a huge, phantom-like corpse appeared from the altar, coming into Achan's sight.
Those were the remains of a nine-tailed fox demon. At this moment, he lay quietly on the ground, his time frozen many, many years ago. The hustle and bustle and desolation of this world were no longer relevant to him.
Achan's vision gradually blurred. It turned out that her father had never left; he had buried her here.
At this moment, Achan's mind was blank. Her impression of her father was actually very faint, but she knew that her father was very powerful and could live a long time, longer than her.
She always thought that they didn't like her, so they didn't care whether she lived or died, but she never thought that her father was already gone.
Was it that many, many years ago, when she was on Qingyu Mountain deceiving herself and Ah Mian, saying that her father would definitely come to find them, her father was already buried deep in this land?
The answer she had been searching for finally came to an end.
Tears silently streamed down her face, and Achan's chest heaved with difficulty, almost unable to breathe.
Bai Xiuming noticed Achan's abnormality immediately. He reached out to support the swaying Achan and let her lean against him: "What's wrong? Where do you feel uncomfortable?"
Achan clutched Bai Xiuming's sleeve, breathing through her mouth, and whispered, "Bai Xiuming, my heart hurts."
Bai Xiuming looked up at the High Priest, his eyes turning cold, his tone carrying a hint of hostility: "High Priest?"
The high priest stepped forward and, under Bai Xiuming's gaze, gently pressed on Achan's wrists and the back of her neck for a while. Achan smelled the faint bitter scent of herbs on the other person's body, and her emotions were gradually suppressed.
Seeing that Achan had improved, Bai Xiuming finally asked, "What's wrong with her?"
The high priest smiled reassuringly at Achan, stroked her soft hair, and said, "It's nothing serious. Achan is weak and her mind was affected by the residual demonic aura in the altar. She'll be fine after a short rest."
With the high priest's explanation, Achan's unusual behavior seemed much more normal.
Bai Xiuming did not doubt the other party's words. He looked at A Chan and coaxed her softly, "Shall I take you out first?"
Achan shook her head: "I want to stay here."
"obedient."
Achan simply shook her head, silently watching him. Her eyelashes were still wet, and her eyes were red. She looked at him pleadingly, her gaze soft and sorrowful.
Under such gazes, Bai Xiuming couldn't bear to refuse her no matter what she wanted to do.
Finally, he had no choice but to compromise: "Okay, you can stay here. If you feel unwell anywhere, be sure to tell me."
"Okay." Achan nodded obediently.
While Bai Xiuming's attention was entirely focused on A Chan, the enormous phantom of the corpse gradually shrank, eventually appearing only in the center of the altar.
The high priest said to Bai Xiuming, "Now we can go and pay our respects to Lord Xijing. Hand Achan over to me."
Bai Xiuming hesitated slightly before letting go of Achan's hand, allowing the High Priest to support her.
The high priest held Achan's slender wrist; her hand was slightly rough, but very warm.
Bai Xiuming stepped forward, came to the edge of the altar, and then took out a wine pot and two wine cups.
The wine glasses were placed on the ground, one on each side. He picked up the wine pot, poured out the wine, and filled the glasses. The rich aroma of the wine wafted out.
Bai Xiuming picked up the wine glass on his right, tilted it slightly, and spilled the wine onto the ground.
"This junior, Bai Xiuming, has come on behalf of my father, Bai Yu, to see you off, senior."
He offered three toasts before placing the empty glass back in its original position. In the other glass, the wine swayed gently, reflecting the sky.
Achan watched Bai Xiuming's retreating figure. She had known all along that Bai Xiuming was there to pay respects to a friend on behalf of the Ming King, but she never imagined that the Ming King's friend would be related to her.
It turned out that on that day in the capital, everyone said that the thunder that had been heard for most of the night was because of her father. She thought that the five fallen beings, who had nothing to do with her, were her father.
She was asleep at that time and heard nothing.
Ah Chan couldn't help but think that she and her father probably truly weren't meant to be. When he passed away, did he think of her and Ah Mian? Did he ever consider telling his daughters about him?
I think so. If I hadn't come looking for them myself, I might never have known this news.
If Father is gone, then what about Mother? Is she... still alive?
Achan was lost in her own consciousness until Bai Xiuming finished the simple ceremony and got up to walk towards her, at which point her eyes regained some liveliness.
Bai Xiuming took Achan back from the High Priest's hands, picked her up with one hand, and let her sit in the crook of his arm.
Achan wrapped her arms around his neck and turned to look in the direction of the altar.
The phantom of the corpse had become very faint; it would soon be buried deep underground again, never to see the light of day again.
"Shall we go back?" Bai Xiuming tilted his head slightly and looked at A Chan.
Achan reluctantly withdrew her gaze from the illusory figure. The High Priest walked ahead, with Bai Xiuming carrying her behind.
Even after walking a distance, Achan couldn't help but look back.
The phantom of the corpses from before was no longer visible; only the empty altar remained, exuding a sense of desolation.
That place holds the memories of bygone days.
On the way back, Achan was listless and couldn't muster any energy.
She leaned against Bai Xiuming's chest and actually fell asleep amidst the jolts.
She slept soundly and when she woke up, she found herself not in the room where she had rested the day before, but lying on a round wooden bed with curtains hanging around her that had a distinct witch-like style.
She sat up in bed and noticed that the bed beneath her was covered with black animal hide, just like the one she had seen at the high priest's place.
"You're awake?" The voice rang out, and footsteps followed.
The high priest came up from downstairs, carrying a bowl of medicinal soup.
She walked to the bedside and handed the medicine to Achan: "Your emotions are fluctuating too much, which is not good for your health. This is a calming medicine, drink it while it's hot."
Achan took the bowl of medicine; the soup must have cooled down a bit, as the temperature was just right. She tilted her head back, held her breath, and drank the entire bowl of medicine.
After drinking the medicine, he returned the bowl to the high priest and received a green fruit in return.
The high priest said to her, "Whenever our witch children fall ill, the elders in the family will find fruit for them to eat. Try it, it's very sweet."
Achan picked up the fruit and took a bite; it was indeed very sweet.
The fruit was small and was eaten in a few bites, and the bitter taste of the medicine in my mouth disappeared.
Only then did Achan speak up and ask, "High Priest, where is Bai Xiuming?"
The high priest smiled and said, "On the way back, you didn't look well, so he carried you here. He was originally staying by your side, but I found him in the way, so I had Liejiang take him to help set up the altar."
Bai Xiuming originally didn't want to leave Achan, but the high priest said that he needed to pray for Achan's well-being and that no one should disturb her. He said that after the prayer, Achan's health would be even better than before.
He had always been concerned about Achan's health. Although she seemed to be getting better recently, her appearance today still worried him.
Although many of the witch clan's methods are mysterious, they are also very effective. Perhaps they can really improve Achan's health, so he compromised.
This was the first time Achan had ever heard anyone say that Bai Xiuming was an eyesore; their disdain was crystal clear.
Now that Bai Xiuming was gone, Achan finally asked the question that had been bothering her: "High Priest, did you... already know about me?"
She still remembered that yesterday, when the high priest saw her, he said that the name Achan was better, not Ji Chan, even though she had said that her name was Ji Chan.
And today at the altar, she covered up Bai Xiuming's emotional breakdown by making excuses for herself.
Achan felt that her intuition was correct; the High Priest was indeed more gentle towards her than others.
The high priest laughed: "Yes, I knew you also had the name A-Mian a long time ago."
Achan's eyes instantly welled up with tears: "Did Father tell you this?"
The person in front of her knows where her father is buried, so she must know her father and mother, right?
The high priest seemed lost in memories, his voice light and airy: "Your father often told us that he had two well-behaved and lovely daughters. The elder daughter looked more like him and was named Achan. He also said that if his daughter grew up, she would definitely be the most beautiful little fox in the world."
Achan's body trembled slightly, her voice choked with sobs: "But I'm no longer a fox, so how can you still find me?"
She thought of Hui Xue's letter, which had been delivered to her within two days of the chains breaking. She had seen bone pages at the High Priest's place; if Hui Xue were writing to her, she wouldn't have used this special type of letter paper.
Therefore, the letter that returned to Xue was probably written under the urging of the high priest, or it may have been delivered to her in time using a special method.
"It wasn't me who found you, it was your father who found you." The high priest gently patted Achan's back. "Didn't you ever think that the altar had been there for a hundred years, how could it suddenly reveal your father's aura?"
Achan was stunned. That day in the inner realm, the six chains that had bound her soul had completely broken.
She thought nothing had happened, but it turned out nothing had.
“Your father knew you would come looking for him, so he left something for you to collect.”
"What is that?"
The high priest shook his head: "I don't know either, but that thing is still under that altar, and only you can retrieve it."
Achan asked eagerly, "When are we going to pick it up?"
She wanted to know what her father had left her.
"Now is fine."
Achan immediately got up from the bed and was about to walk out when she was grabbed by the wrist and led upstairs by the high priest.
The third floor was still spacious, with intricate arrays carved in witchcraft patterns on the ground. The surrounding walls were inlaid with stones of different sizes and colors. Achan had a guess in her mind and asked, "Is this an array of the witch clan?"
The high priest nodded: "This is a teleportation array. We should go and come back quickly, before that kid finds out."
"Okay." A rare smile appeared on Achan's face.
The high priest held Achan's hand, and the two stood in the center of the formation. As the high priest chanted, the stones soon emitted a soft light, and their figures disappeared.
But in the blink of an eye, they arrived at the grove where the altar was located.
The two walked straight toward the altar. When they reached the altar, the high priest said to her, "Stand in the altar and call upon your father."
Asan thought there would be very complicated steps, but she didn't expect it to be so simple.
"Is that all?" she asked again.
"That's enough. Trust me, even with a different body, your father will still recognize you."
Achan walked to the center of the altar and softly called out, "Father."
Then she called out again, "Father..."
As he called out "Father" again and again, it seemed as if all the grievances in his heart were being poured out.
With a hum, a beam of light suddenly rose from the altar. The light gradually faded, and a round, golden bead floated in front of Achan.
This is the inner elixir.
Her father left his inner core to her.
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