Chapter 68 A Foot of Snow, Red Maple, and Bright Radiance: Roots Penetrating Through...
Zhaohua's roots run through the entire Peach Blossom Valley, even reaching the foot of the mountain. It witnessed a massacre in which the villagers, who had lived here for generations, were not summoned by the imperial court, but instead were cruelly murdered by the hypocritical people of the cultivation world.
Four flags fluttered in the sky, their imposing and unreasonable force seemingly threatening to block out the sunlight. The people who arrived, though dressed in white, were shrouded in evil aura, their eyes unfocused and devoid of reason, yet possessed immense strength, as if they had an inexhaustible supply of demonic forces to enhance their cultivation. After the villagers were brutally murdered, their souls were unable to enter the cycle of reincarnation and were imprisoned within the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, serving as nourishment for their own cultivation.
In just one night, blood flowed like a river at the foot of the mountain, and all living beings vanished without a trace. That small village, hidden in the mortal world, was forcibly occupied by evil demons and heretics, becoming their base of cultivation.
They searched for the entrance to Peach Blossom Valley every day. The entrance was not hard to find at all. Villagers often went up the mountain to gather herbs. However, since the villagers died, Zhao Hua had used his cultivation to hide the entire mountain. It had been growing on the Zhaoyao Continent for more than five thousand years. Its cultivation should be unparalleled in this world, but it could not take form for a long time. Shi Wenzhe saw that its tree crown was shrinking and getting shorter day by day, and he was very anxious.
For a great tree, its canopy that blocks out the sun represents its profound cultivation. But Peach Blossom Valley stretches for thousands of miles; how could it possibly protect this place with its own strength?
Therefore, it was inevitable that they would be found by evil spirits. There are many demons in Peach Blossom Valley, but most of them are simple and kind. In fact, they themselves invited the wolf into the house, bringing disaster to Peach Blossom Valley.
The sun that day was bright red, large and close, as if one could reach out and touch it. Its blood-red light illuminated the entire valley. Birds chirped and crows cackled, and arthropods crawled haphazardly on the ground, as if it were an ominous sign before an earthquake.
Linglong disappeared for five months, but finally returned to Zhaohua's side a quarter of an hour before the war began. He didn't say a word, but conjured a purple lotus flower in his hand and took Zhaohua's soul into it, leaving only the lonely peach tree.
Shi Wen, who was frantic and desperate, cried out, "Take me away, take me away, take me away!" His desire was incredibly strong. Linglong seemed to have heard him. She really did see Linglong again. The young man in front of her was very pale, thin and angular, exhausted, and his eyes had lost their luster.
The feathers behind his ears were still very new, and they seemed to be shaking incessantly, reflecting their owner's anxious mood.
Shi Wenzhe still remembers this feather. It was the 520th year since Linglong came to Peach Blossom Valley. Why does she remember it so accurately? Of course, it's because modern people have an inexplicable fondness for the number 520. She can't forget it even if she wants to.
That day, Linglong was in a low mood, and the whole bird looked dejected. He didn't go out to catch insects or look for fruit to eat. He just lay in the nest, sullen and unhappy. Zhaohua shook the branch and coaxed him, "What's wrong? Why are you unhappy?"
Linglong said that he left home when he was young and thought he would be able to go back soon. He did not say goodbye properly to his elders and friends. But yesterday he received a letter from a crane: "I have a friend, a sparrow, who has died."
The demon race's lifespan must be very long. He never expected to receive news of his friend's death so soon. Helplessness and anxiety filled his heart, making him feel like he was dying from the pain.
He felt a pang of regret and muttered, "If I had known I was never coming back, I should have hugged them properly on the day I left." He said, "Zhaohua, are our lives so fragile? We can die just like that, disappear just like that. I don't even know where to look for him if I want to see him again."
Zhao Hua said, "Human beings live for only a hundred years, experiencing birth, aging, sickness, death, joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. Compared to them, our lives are long, which is already a gift from heaven. We should learn to be content."
"Don't be sad, I'm still here."
Linglong suddenly asked, "Will you die one day too?"
Zhao Hua: "We will all die."
Linglong was even more annoyed and said in a tantrum, "Then you must die after me too."
Shi Wenzhe didn't quite remember how that day ended. This ghost was unreliable; she wasn't even serious about eavesdropping and was in a daze all day. She seemed to be getting weaker and weaker, and even her soul was almost unable to solidify. Perhaps one day she would dissipate.
But she remembered that a few days ago, Zhao Hua quietly focused her mind and saw a handsome man standing quietly under the peach tree. He was really handsome. Shi Wenzhe's dozing eyes suddenly opened wide and she let out a strange scream.
Zhao Hua was already an adult, but he had not yet cultivated into human form. He had only condensed his divine soul. Standing under the tree, he picked a lot of peach blossoms. The peach blossoms changed and changed at his fingertips, and actually turned into long, colorful threads. Shi Wenzhe watched in horror, wondering how he could turn decay into magic and even cross species.
Zhaohua darted around on top of the peach tree. Damn, it was really high. Shi Wen's head ached and his eyes were blurry. Finally, he saw Zhaohua pull out a few colorful feathers from the very center of the canopy.
It seemed to be a treasure he had hidden away, in an extremely secluded place. Shi Wenzhe was always amazed, thinking how good his memory was, that he could even remember where he had put it. This peach tree was also quite roguish; it had grown so big that it seemed to outshine all the other flowers, plants, and trees in Peach Blossom Valley. Only his peach tree stood out, its blossoms dazzlingly beautiful.
Zhao Hua gently stroked the feathers, his peach blossom eyes full of affection and tenderness. His figure was originally ethereal, leaning against the top of the peach tree, his clothes fluttering like clouds and mist, like a butterfly about to ride the wind away.
Shi Wenzhe was terrified and couldn't help but want to reach out and stop this person.
But the next second, Zhao Hua jumped down from the tree, sat down against the roots of the peach tree, relaxed and carefree, and began to braid hair ties with a dashing and debonair air.
It wasn't a hair tie. When Zhaohua finished braiding it and held it up in front of her eyes, Shi Wenzhe realized that it was actually a colorful feather.
She was all too familiar with that feather. Zhao Hua smiled, gentle and content, and murmured, "I wonder if he'll like this birthday present." Shi Wenzhe felt a pang in his heart, his eyes welling up with tears, filled with regret and sorrow.
She remembered that the feathers were shed when Linglong was molting. The downy feathers of young birds are always soft and lovely, even with an inherent charm that makes people want to rub them. Shi Wenzhe didn't know that Zhaohua had carefully hidden the downy feathers that Linglong shed, nor did she know that they would become a gift, eventually ending up with Linglong and becoming a comforting surprise.
Linglong was very sad. He was only fifteen or sixteen years old at the time, the same age Shi Wenzhe first met. He was simple and easy to guess, and had a soft temper. He would cry when he was sad and laugh when he was happy. He was also very easy to amuse. So that day, he was sitting on the tree trunk and crying loudly. The birdsong should have been clear and crisp, but he cried until his voice was hoarse. Shi Wenzhe even heard pigs squealing.
She felt the same anxiety as Linglong, but inevitably burst out laughing at the pig's squeal.
Zhao Hua suddenly appeared at that time, and for the first time, he focused his attention on Linglong. He even dared not look directly at her. Linglong was shocked for a moment and forgot to cry. She saw the right hand that the other party stretched out. In the right hand, there was a hair ribbon lying quietly. That feather was later worn on his head. Linglong showed it off all day long, from one end of Peach Blossom Valley to the other. No one in the Peach Blossom Valley knew about it.
The mountain god they revered on the summit, taking pity on the believer, gifted him a unique headband.
Hehe, they are not jealous at all, really not jealous at all. They just look at the mountain peak every day with eyes full of awe, fear and envy.
When Shi Wenzhe recalled this moment, she suddenly felt that time had passed too quickly. She had actually lived for a thousand years inside the Zhaohua Tree. Time had almost become just a number to her.
The nine-layered purple lotus in Linglong's hand awakened her distant memories. It seemed that everything in the world had a cause and effect. Chang Hong and Qin Wenxue, Ming Shu and Yun Jin—there weren't many people in her life who could bring her such intense emotions. Apart from Linglong, there were basically only a few others. Yet, in the long river of time, she had almost forgotten how intense those emotions were at the beginning. How could she forget them?
She knew the power of the Nine-Layered Purple Lotus; each time a petal opened, it could protect someone once, regardless of how powerful the other person was. It was a domineering conceptual artifact.
No one knows how he obtained the lotus flower, Linglong, but his return, covered in dust and wounds, ultimately did not disappoint his perilous solo journey.
Zhao Hua was well protected, while Ling Long was extremely exhausted and fell asleep in the cave where Shi Wenzhe and Qin Wenxue had once lived.
He was sleeping soundly, which was not in line with his sensitive and vigilant nature. Zhao Hua kept watch over him attentively, but her mind was wandering to the valley.
Although he was forcibly given the title of mountain god by the creatures of the valley, as more people called upon him and prayed to him, even plants and trees would have feelings, let alone a spirit born of heaven and earth. It seems that the heavens also recognized his identity as a mountain god and endowed him with the abilities of a mountain god.
The grass and trees were his eyes, the river was his chest, and the soil was his limbs. Now, the grass and trees are withered, the river has dried up, the soil is cracked, and the valley is full of devastation. Peach Blossom Valley is no longer the peaceful and serene place it once was. It has been turned into a hell riddled with holes by evil spirits and heretics.
Living beings prayed to him, and the earth wailed.
Zhao Hua released her spiritual power, quietly enveloping the scattered little demons and hiding them inside the incredibly wide trunk of the peach tree, which could even be carved out into a three-room-and-a-living-room space.
But his small peach tree could not save everyone. Zhao Hua struggled to maintain his human form, but his soul was almost dissipating. He watched helplessly as life slipped away and blood flowed like a river in Peach Blossom Valley.
He only learned from Linglong later that many powerful demons had not been killed. They had been taken away by evil spirits and made into contracts, becoming their spirit beasts and being raised. Zhaohua breathed a sigh of relief and finally showed a smile that he hadn't seen for many days.
Everything seemed to be back on track. As long as he was still there in Peach Blossom Valley, any wound could slowly heal with time.
Until the village at the foot of the mountain once again reeked of overwhelming bloodshed.
Linglong, with a solemn expression, told him that the four great immortal sects of the cultivation world had gathered to exterminate their defecting disciples.
Those evil heretics came from the four great immortal sects. They practiced evil arts and initially used the names of their sects to deceive and swindle people, keeping them ignorant and taking advantage of their fame to kill and plunder, thus boosting their cultivation.
Behind him is Danfeng, the chief disciple of the Sword Sect's One Foot Snow. During the sect's trial, he accidentally discovered a demon clan member who had infiltrated the sect. He forcibly read the demon's memories and discovered the traitor within the sect.
That was a massive massacre that could shake the status of the four great immortal sects in the cultivation world.
Yi Chi Xue took the lead, followed closely by Wu Liang Si Gu. Dan Feng and Hua Cang Lan became famous in one battle, and even Sui Yuan, the shimmering snake that was wrapped around Hua Cang Lan's waist, rose to fame along with them.
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