54. Xixi is home!
Xi Xi took down three ginseng leaves, and Meng Zhiyao helped to crush them and feed them to Pei Yiyan.
Her ginseng leaves can soothe the mind, replenish energy, and relieve pain.
Xi Xi stared intently at the black threads on Pei Yiyan's legs, hoping they would recede like the tide. The initial effect was indeed as she expected, but soon the black threads returned, only this time with a slightly sparser density.
The pain level dropped from level ten to level five. Pei Yiyan felt like a drowning person who had found a piece of driftwood in the ocean. Even if he couldn't escape, it was enough for him to survive for a while.
Pei Yiyan felt like a drowning person, his body floating up and down in the seawater, with the boundless blue sky above him, and his consciousness gradually drifting off to sleep amidst the clear chirping of birds.
“Ginseng leaves are useless,” Xi Xi muttered blankly to herself.
The child seemed to have suffered a huge blow and was completely flustered.
Meng Zhiyao quickly hugged the child tightly and comforted her: "Don't be sad, Xixi. At least the situation is much better now than before. The color of those silk threads has faded a lot."
Xi Xi looked up: "Mom, you saw the black lines too?"
“I saw it.” Meng Zhi shook her little round head. “Ever since I ate the third ginseng root you gave me, Mommy can see many things that others can’t, such as the color of a person’s soul.”
Gold represents a person who is pure and kind, blessed with good fortune, and enjoys a healthy and smooth life. White is the color of most ordinary people, who have no major merits or demerits and can die a natural death. Red usually represents a vicious and wicked person. Blue represents a cunning and treacherous person. Green represents a dark and treacherous person who bullies the weak and fears the strong, and enjoys abusing small animals.
These are all things that Meng Zhiyao spent more than half a year figuring out.
Pei Yiyan's soul color is somewhat special; it is white overall, with a faint layer of light gold gleaming at the edges.
Xi Xi was surprised by this unexpected joy: "Then Mom, have you regained your magic powers? Can you fly around everywhere now?"
"Magic power? No, how could I possibly have that?"
Meng Zhiyao was granted the opening of her third eye by the little girl's blessing, but she dared not even think of such miraculous powers on herself.
"Oh, okay, don't be sad, Mom."
The little girl gripped Meng Zhi's wrist tightly, then changed the subject: "Mommy, Xixi wants to go back to the mountains to find Aunt Huahua and Sister Mushroom. Can you stay and take care of Daddy?"
"You're going up the mountain alone?"
"Yes, yes! I know the mountain roads very well."
Meng Zhi glanced at the torrential rain outside the window and calmly asked:
"Xixi, did you go up the mountain to find a way to cure your father's old injury?"
A child's behavior doesn't lie. Meng Zhiyao had never seen such a serious expression on a child's face before, so she guessed that even Xixi's ginseng rootlets probably couldn't completely cure Pei Yiyan's old ailment.
Xi Xi could only alleviate and suppress the symptoms to the greatest extent possible, as Pei Yiyan could have another attack at any time.
As expected, the little girl lowered her head and spoke slowly: "Xixi's beard medicine is not strong enough to save her father."
If only she were a thousand-year-old ginseng.
Meng Zhiyao had an idea in mind, so she stood up decisively and then squatted down in front of Xiao Hei:
"Xiao Hei, I'm going up the mountain with Xi Xi. Could you please stay home and take care of Xi Xi's father for a while?"
The sudden magnification of her beauty caused Xiao Hei's face to flush red.
Little Black stammered, "Ah, oh, okay, madam."
"Thank you, I'll bring you something delicious when I come back."
"Don't worry, Madam, Xiao Hei will definitely take good care of Grandpa Tree Spirit!"
Meng Zhi smiled and turned to Xi Xi, saying, "Sweetie, it's raining too hard outside. Let's wait until it gets a little lighter before we go out. Mommy will go downstairs now to buy raincoats and rain boots."
With such heavy rain, the road up the mountain must be incredibly muddy. Baicao Mountain is more than ten kilometers away, and even though Xixi is a little monster, she wouldn't feel comfortable letting Xixi go alone.
Xiao Hei's ability to burrow underground is limited, so it cannot carry an adult along with Xi Xi.
They returned from Meng's house in the rain.
"Okay, Mom."
After returning, she fed Pei Yiyan medicine non-stop, and the two little monsters hadn't even changed their wet clothes yet.
Meng Zhiyao ordered a boys' outfit through a food delivery service and had it delivered by a courier. While waiting, she gave Xixi a hot bath, dried her hair, and changed her into dry, soft clothes.
Xiao Hei is a spirit of Polygonum multiflorum, and it naturally loves water. In winter, it sneaks out to soak in hot springs in the wild.
Upon seeing the large bathtub in the bathroom, Little Black covered its mouth and screamed:
"Xixi, your house actually has a hot spring!"
"Hmm, it's just... it's a bit small. Why not dig it a little bigger?"
"Because we don't have money, sigh, my dad is very poor."
My father used to own an entire mountain, but now he only has a small three-bedroom apartment. Their status is incomparable.
Little Blackie's brows drooped; he looked so pitiful.
It was Xiao Hei's first time using a human bathtub, and Meng Zhiyao patiently taught him to distinguish between shower gel and shampoo. Before long, the small bathtub was filled with bubbles.
The little monster squealed and splashed water, pouting and blowing bubbles, creating a joyful atmosphere in the bathroom.
Xiao Hei decided to retract his previous sympathy. Although Xi Xi's hot spring was small and inconvenient for activities, it had plenty of stationery for underachieving students.
He fell in love with the bottles and jars that could produce fragrant bubbles.
After buying basic rain gear, Meng Zhi went downstairs and bought hand warmers, blankets, bread, and snacks to replenish her energy on the way.
The heavy rain subsided after an hour. Meng Zhi slung her bag over her shoulder, took Xi Xi's hand, and got into the car to Baicaoshan.
The car was parked at the foot of the mountain, a place that is usually sparsely populated, and deserted on rainy days.
The mother and daughter, wearing blue and yellow raincoats respectively, held hands and stepped onto the narrow mountain path, heading straight up the mountain.
Despite having lived in Baicao County for over ten years, Meng Zhiyao still needed Xixi, a local little demon, to guide her. She wasn't even familiar with the roads of Baicao Mountain.
Xi Xi led Meng Zhiyao with practiced ease, walking briskly. The higher they went, the lower the temperature became, but fortunately, Meng Zhiyao had prepared in advance, so she didn't freeze.
The mother and daughter crossed a thorny forest along the way. Strangely, the thorns automatically retreated before they even touched the two of them.
Some of the thorns that were already on the edge had nowhere to retreat, so they simply burrowed into the ground and disappeared.
The scene resembled a bully entering a village, giving Xixi a huge show of power.
Meng Zhiyao calmly withdrew her gaze.
A small hand wrapped around her neck: "Mommy, are you tired?"
"Mommy isn't tired, but how about you, sweetie?"
I'm a little tired.
Meng Zhi gently tugged at the chubby little boy in her arms, winking teasingly, "Mommy gets tired carrying you? What can I do to avoid getting tired?"
The little girl opened her mouth wide: "Ah!"
"Bring the yogurt in quickly."
Meng Zhiyao was both amused and exasperated. She reached into her backpack, pulled out a bottle of peach-flavored yogurt, unscrewed it, and held it to Xixi's lips.
The peach pieces coated in yogurt were soft, sweet, and tender. Xixi finished almost half the bottle, then carefully stuffed it into her pocket, grinning from ear to ear.
"Give the rest to Aunt Flower and Sister Mushroom."
"Sweetie, Mommy has packed several bottles of yogurt in her bag, that's enough for you."
Meng Zhiyao knew that Xixi had many little monster friends on the mountain, and like Xiao Hei, they had never come down the mountain to play.
If she hadn't been pressed for time, she would have prepared much more thoroughly.
The mother and daughter strolled along, stopping frequently, until they finally arrived at a secluded bamboo grove where a quaint bamboo pavilion stood before them.
The plump, white radish jumped out of its mother's arms with a "biu" sound, dashing headfirst into the air, its lush ginseng-like tendrils fluttering in the wind.
"Aunt Hua Hua, Sister Mushroom, Xi Xi is back."
There was no response from the surrounding area.
The ginseng rootlets are concave, forming a large question mark.
Meng Zhi looked around and said, "They might have gone visiting someone. Let's wait and see."
Frustrated (image).
What a coincidence.
A small, inconspicuous flower by the roadside swayed back and forth, shaking, and silently grew taller and taller, transforming from a tiny flower less than ten centimeters long into a magnificent and towering trumpet-shaped flower.
The little flower bursts forth from the ground, causing the earth to tremble and rumble.
Meng Zhiyao turned around abruptly.
*Smack*
A girl pops out from the pale yellow flower stamen, and the thick, curled petals are the girl's red sofa.
The girl wore a flowing red dress, her long black hair was simply tied up, and her exposed, snow-white arms were slender and long. A little girl wearing a small bib floated in her palm.
Meng Zhi was slightly taken aback; this was like a walking, million-dollar special effects effect.
"Auntie Huahua!"
"elder sister!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the momentum of the impact caused Meng Zhi to stagger back two large steps. Instantly, her nostrils were filled with a rich floral fragrance that made her head spin.
Xi Xi, who came up empty-handed:
Meng Zhiyao: 0.0
The girl who was sitting peacefully on the flower petals a second ago suddenly jumped into her arms, raising her big, watery eyes and speaking in a sweet, coquettish voice.
"Sister, sister, sister, I miss you so much!"
Having not seen her sister for twenty years, the once aloof and powerful trumpet flower magically transforms into a little crybaby.
The little flower fairy in her arms, whom she was meeting for the first time, looked pitiful, delicate, and adorable, and Meng Zhiyao's calm heartbeat suddenly accelerated.
"Have we met before?"
"Sister, I am your most beloved younger sister, the younger sister you raised with your own hands."
The little flower spirit, who looked only seventeen or eighteen years old, was as happy as a child: "My dear sister, I am Little Flower. It doesn't matter if you don't remember me. It's not too late to get to know me now."
It turns out that she had such a cute younger sister in her past life. A wonderful feeling filled Meng Zhiyao's heart.
“Aunt Huahua, I’m here for you, I’m here for you.”
The little ginseng spirit at my feet, not wanting to be left out, jumped three feet high, its ginseng whiskers spinning in circles.
A little girl wearing a red bib ran over and hugged Xixi, the little mushroom on her head swaying back and forth, and asked with great joy:
"Xixi, how is Grandpa Tree Spirit?"
Little Flower and Little Mushroom were both curious about why the two of them had suddenly returned.
With a long face, Xi Xi told them about Pei Yiyan's illness, her hopeful gaze fixed on Xiao Hua:
"Aunt Huahua, you've lived in the mountains for so long, you must know other ways to save Dad, right?"
Xiao Hua looked troubled, and several small trumpet flowers sprouted from her fingertips, projecting the scene of the mountain burning by the spirit fire back then.
“Xi Xi, the tree spirit was burned in the fire back then. The spirit fire can devour everything in the world and is difficult to extinguish. We have no way to heal the tree spirit’s wound.”
No one mentioned this to Xixi.
Everything makes sense now; no wonder her ginseng leaves had such a negligible effect.
Xi Xi, who was once so spirited, was now visibly listless and disappointed.
"Hey, don't cry."
Xiao Hua had a flash of inspiration: "It's not entirely hopeless. A single ginseng root from a thousand-year-old ginseng spirit can replenish the soul. If we can find the thousand-year-old ginseng spirit tree spirit, there might be hope."
Meng Zhiyao subconsciously looked at Xixi: "My darling is a ginseng baby, perhaps she can make contact with her kind?"
Fat Radish pointed to himself blankly.
"From the time Xixi can remember, I've been the only ginseng spirit on Hundred Herbs Mountain. I've never seen any other ginseng spirits, and I don't know how to contact them."
Xiao Hua sighed: "Ginseng spirits are different from ordinary flower and grass spirits. Ginseng spirits are rare creatures that are only seen once every thousand years. They are naturally quiet and never associate with other lesser demons. Even if they send out a signal, such powerful demons would probably not bother to pay attention to it."
Furthermore, since the founding of the People's Republic of China, it is forbidden for demons to become spirits. Those great demons who became spirits before the founding of the People's Republic of China have long since disappeared without a trace, living in seclusion. Even if you search heaven and earth, you may not be able to find them.
Without the thousand-year-old ginseng root, Pei Yiyan could not mend his soul, and he would be a crippled person in his remaining two lifetimes.
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