Aying stared at the bracelet inlaid with two golden conch shell beads handed to her, trembled, took it, and stared intently at Jiang Si. After a long while, her lips trembled: "Master, you already know that Lingyan is about to die, right?"
Jiang Si nodded slightly and corrected him: "Yes, I know he's dying, but I won't let him die. Aying, he doesn't want me to know he's dying, so I won't know he's dying. Please keep it a secret. If anything happens to him, you must let me know."
Ah Ying tightly gripped the conch shell and gold bead bracelet, her eyes brimming with tears: "Alright, alright, Lingyan believes in Master, and I believe in Master too. If Master says he won't die, then he won't die."
"I will keep it a secret. I will keep a close eye on him. If anything happens to him, I will be the first to inform you, Master. Please rest assured, Master."
"Don't cry, don't be sad. I won't let him die, and I won't let you drift away like smoke in the wind!" Jiang Si comforted and persuaded A Ying: "There are two conch shell beads in your hand. Since Ling Yan is now a tree in the plant pod, he can't hold these two conch shell beads. When you lean against him, stick the conch shell beads to his tree trunk."
"The Conch Golden Pearl is a treasure of the Merfolk. It can cure all poisons, nourish and stabilize spiritual power. You must keep the Conch Golden Pearl close to him when he turns into a tree, and put it on his wrist when he turns into a human. Do you understand?"
As long as Lingyan can be saved, as long as Lingyan doesn't die, Ah Ying would not hesitate to die in Lingyan's place, let alone remember these things.
"Understood, Master, thank you!" Ah Ying held the Conch Golden Pearl tightly and promised Jiang Si, "I will make sure he carries the Conch Golden Pearl with him at all times and never let it leave his side."
"Go quickly!" Jiang Si said to him with a smile, "Hurry up and go!"
Ah Ying pressed the button twice, stood up, bowed twice to Jiang Si, and then left her room.
She left her room, closed the door, spread her wings, and flew swiftly towards the plant pod.
Jiang Si glanced at Agares, who was not far from her, and using the light brain as cover, took out a glass bottle from her space, pulled out a willow branch, broke off one, and stabbed it into her wrist.
Agares instantly knelt on one knee in front of her, not stopping her, but instead gathering his spiritual power to envelop her, nourishing her with his spiritual energy.
Jiang Si didn't cut her wrist; she just pricked it with a willow branch. Fresh blood dripped down the willow branch into the glass bottle, a deep crimson color with the scent of herbs.
Jiang Si seemed oblivious to the pain, simply raising her eyelids to look at Agares, who was kneeling before her and channeling his mental energy into her: "Marshal Agares, don't you really have any questions for me? Aren't you curious about my identity?"
Agares' eyes were as dark as an abyss, and his voice was low as he spoke: "I have nothing to ask you, I'm not curious about your identity. I promised you before that if you don't tell me, I won't ask. What you do or don't do is your freedom."
"I am your husband, and it is my duty to support you wholeheartedly..."
"Stop!" Jiang Si interrupted him before he could finish speaking, stopping him and correcting him: "Marshal Agares, let me remind you, we two have nothing to do with each other anymore. You are not my husband, and I am not your wife."
“I’m keeping you here now only because the child needs you, not because I need you. In three and a half to four months at most, you can get as far away as possible.”
Jiang Dandan: "!!!!!"
A man who mistreats his wife is not self-respecting, and a man who is not self-respecting is like rotten cabbage.
Who would like rotten cabbage? Nobody would like it!
Auntie, she has beauty, figure, talent, money, social status, and most importantly, she has a top-notch dragon egg.
Such an excellent aunt really doesn't need to care about anyone's opinion, much less go back to her old ways. Uncle Dog is such a straight man, the only reason he had a wife was because he was infertile.
If it were now, even if he had fertility value, in his aunt's eyes he would be nothing but a worthless piece of trash, the kind of person she wouldn't even glance at.
However, we should thank him, because with him and the little ones, as long as it hatches late enough, it won't need to inherit the Troia Empire and can freely be a sea dragon king without going bald.
Agares' dark eyes flickered, filled with deep regret and remorse. Looking at Jiang Si, he spoke slowly in a low voice: "The children are important, but you are more important. Your blood can feed the Spirit Eye, but can mine?"
He wanted to take her place, to bleed her in her place.
He didn't want her to bleed; the glass jar in front of her was almost full.
Her rosy, chubby face turned pale from blood loss.
Jiang Si removed the willow branch from her wrist, screwed on the glass cover, and looked at Agares, who was kneeling before her: "Marshal Agares, you can't help me with anything except your mental power, otherwise I would have bled you out long ago."
She's not some kind of saint; if other people's blood were usable, why would she give her own? Ultimately, it's because other people's blood is unusable and cannot be used.
However… that old, immortal vampire zombie, his flesh and blood might be of some use. We can pluck some from his heart later and make use of it.
“He is a tree. When a tree dies, it rots from the inside out, right?” Agares asked his young wife. “You didn’t know he was going to die before. It was Lady Fu Huan who told you, right?”
Jiang Si held the glass jar she had just picked up, her brows furrowed as she stared at Agares, who was scrutinizing the details. After a long while, she nodded and said, "Yes, you're right. His inner self has begun to decay. So, do you have any insights?"
Agares' dark eyes deepened slightly. "I wouldn't call it insight, but I'm reminded of a botanical encyclopedia I once read, which detailed the habits of various plants."
Jiang Si frowned more and more, staring at Agares impatiently and urging, "Just say what you have to say, don't beat around the bush."
Agares pursed his lips and remained silent. He picked up her wrist, found an ointment, scooped out some medicine, and applied it to her wrist to treat her wound.
Ginger shreds: "!!!!"
What does this mean?
Trying to threaten her into not talking?
Jiang Dandan: "!!!!"
Uncle Dog said that leaving half the story untold would get him killed.
What exactly is written in the complete encyclopedia of plants?
Is there any hope for the old tea trees?
The old tea tree tea is a tea, but that's because Uncle Gou was in the wrong first. The tea itself is not a big deal. Of course, that's not the most important thing. The most important thing is that Auntie likes it.
If he kicks the bucket and dies, won't Auntie be heartbroken?
If Auntie gets upset and it affects the baby, wouldn't the little ones in her belly be in danger?
If anything happens to the little ones, wouldn't it be in danger of inheriting the empire?
So... in short, old tea trees must never be in danger!
The cool ointment was applied to my wrist, and the wound stopped bleeding and slowly healed, accompanied by a tolerable, tingling pain, like being pricked by needles.
Jiang Si pulled her hand back, angrily saying, "Are you going to talk or not? If you don't, get out of my room!"
Agares paused slightly, his kneeling position unchanged, gazing at his little wife. He raised his hand and patted her head, saying, "You're puffing up like a little frog."
Ginger shreds: "???"
Shrimp?
Who's... puffing up like a little frog?
Jiang Dandan: "???"
Was Uncle Dog flirting with Auntie?
They say she's like a little frog?
A four-legged toad or frog?
“Agares…”
“The Encyclopedia of Plants says,” Agares said at just the right moment, covering up his wife’s teeth grinding and deliberately capturing her full attention: “The Encyclopedia of Plants says that the death of a plant begins from within, or is caused by human intervention.”
"But... research shows that plants don't actually die!"
Jiang Si's brows furrowed into a deep frown as he caught her eye and attention, prompting her to ask, "What do you mean?"
Agares said in a low, unhurried voice, “Research shows that plants don’t really die; it’s just that after a tree matures, there are always saplings under its roots.”
There are small trees under its roots, and branches growing out from its roots.
Jiang Si inexplicably thought of Ling Hong beside Ling Yan, the one who had once disguised herself as Ling Yan to kill her and eat her. Ling Hong was a tree that grew from the roots of Ling Yan, a branch that always wanted to eat Ling Yan and take her place.
"A small tree grows from the roots of a large tree, absorbing nutrients from it. Strictly speaking, it is a tree. Another type is grafting!"
"Grafting?" Jiang Si's eyes widened suddenly. "Grafting?"
Agares nodded slightly: "Yes, grafting. In the encyclopedia of botany, grafting is when you place a branch from one tree onto the trunk of another tree. The fruit and flowers that grow from it belong to the branch, not the trunk."
"Grafting is the process of grafting one tree onto another, so that the two trees become one. It can replace the decay of the other tree and use the trunk of the other tree to rejuvenate."
After hearing this, Jiang Si fell silent, her mind racing as she tried to recall the books she had read. She must have read about plants when she visited a library.
She thought and thought, and finally came up with an idea: the most common grafting methods for ginkgo trees are branch grafting and bud grafting.
Grafting methods include cleft grafting, whip grafting, side grafting, weft grafting, tongue grafting, bark grafting, and bark-tongue grafting. Budding methods include chip budding, T-budding, and square budding.
In other words, she found a young, strong, and vibrant ginkgo tree, cut it in half, and grafted the Spirit Eye onto it, so the Spirit Eye wouldn't have to die.
Ling Hong looks very young, has consciousness, but no companion spirit yet.
No, Ling Hong has a rebellious streak and a spirit. He is now just a bare tree trunk. If the Spirit Eye is grafted onto him, there will be two spirits on one tree. They will fight each other and compete for the original body. Once they start fighting, it will be extremely detrimental to the Spirit Eye.
The other ginkgo trees in the plant pod were even less suitable; they either possessed sentience or already had companion spirits. Using them for grafting would certainly be something the kind-hearted Spirit Eye would refuse.
So... she could only nurture a new tree, a strong, vibrant, young tree, nourished by her blood and her spirit.
Jiang Si acted immediately, jumping up from the ground. However, due to the loss of a vial of blood and the sudden movement, she felt dizzy and swayed.
Agares helped her up, his heart aching with worry: "Slow down, what do you need to do? Tell me, I'll do it."
Jiang Si shook her head and pushed away Agares, who was supporting her: "I'm going to the restroom. Can you keep an eye on the eggs for me?"
After Jiang Si finished speaking, she pulled Jiang Dandan off her shoulder, put her in Agares's hand, and turned to quickly head towards the bathroom.
Inside the plant pod, the companion spirits each resided on their respective trees, accompanying their trees and telling them everything they had seen, heard, and experienced among the merfolk.
Their branches are lush and their trunks are thick; when they hear their voices, they respond with a rustling sound.
Before Ah Ying could fly back to the plant cabin with the conch shell and golden pearl, she was blocked by Ling Hong, who was dressed in a red robe.
Ling Hong didn't use Ling Yan's face, but his own face was about 60% similar to Ling Yan's. He was more sinister, especially when he wore a red robe, making him look as sinister as if he had been soaked in blood.
Aying landed, flapping her wings, and looked at Linghong warily: "Linghong, when did you transform into a human after being cut in half?"
He was cut in half at the waist, and it would take him at least a year or two to transform back into a human. But now he has transformed into a human and is blocking his way.
Ling Hong's eyes were filled with gloom. She stuck out her scarlet tongue and licked her lips: "When did I transform into a human? I've always been able to transform into a human, I just haven't told you."
“Ah Ying, you’re so beautiful. Following that dying Spirit Eye will only result in your soul being scattered and not even a trace left. Why not become my companion spirit? I’m very young. I’m only 2,000 years old.”
"The ginkgo tree has a lifespan of 10,000 years, and I can live for another 8,000 years. I can stay with you for 8,000 years. How about it? Be my companion spirit and leave that spirit eye that can't protect you and is about to rot away!"
Ah Ying's beautiful face and resolute eyes revealed a hint of sarcasm: "Ling Hong, what kind of pipe dream are you having? I am the companion spirit of Ling Yan. If he dies, I will die with him; if he lives, I will live with him."
"He is rotting all over, he has lost all his leaves, his trunk has turned to dust, he is also my tree, and you are nothing but a filthy thing that sucks his nutrients."
Ling Hong's expression darkened, and she immediately attacked A Ying.
The dilapidated state of Lingyan's body resulted in Ah Ying having weak spiritual power and a frail body.
Even though Linghong, the 2000-year-old ginkgo tree, was cut in half, he was still in his prime. He grabbed Aying and snatched the golden conch pearl from her hand.
Ah Ying's expression changed drastically, and she reached out to snatch it.
Ling Hong slapped him across the neck, slammed him to the ground, and stepped on A Ying's neck. Holding the golden conch shell, she looked down at him and threatened, "You're so nervous about this thing with its immense spiritual power, you must be giving it to the Spirit Eye to repair its spiritual power. I'll crush it right now and make sure the Spirit Eye has no hope of survival!"
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