Under the small stone at the Immortal Lord's house
The little demon didn't understand what the person in front of him was thinking, but that didn't stop him from knowing from Xie Zhuo's last sentence that Xie Zhuo wouldn't force him to cultivate anymore. Before Xie Zhuo's face was far away, he eagerly pressed himself against him and rubbed against him.
"The Immortal Lord is so kind."
His chubby cheeks brushed against hers haphazardly, and an indescribable emotion quietly spread in Xie Zhuo's heart, like a drifting duckweed stopped by a stone in a river, allowing him, who had neither a past nor a future, to begin imagining what the future held for the first time—
What will Xiaobao look like in the future?
Will she still act coquettishly towards him like she does now?
Or will they quarrel like Xin Xuan did with Xin Yi?
Or... something else entirely, something he couldn't even imagine.
He had never looked forward to that future that had yet to arrive so much.
—
After that day, the little demon's daily routine returned to lazily following behind the immortal. When he got tired, he would ask to be carried. When the immortal was busy and didn't have time to pay attention to him, he would snuggle in the immortal's arms and take a nap, or go and play with the flowers and plants in the immortal realm...
He didn't find this kind of life boring at all, but after the immortal finished his work, he would always show him a look of pity and guilt. It didn't take him long to understand the meaning of that expression; it meant that he would receive a gift from the immortal. The immortal was also the one who taught him the word "gift."
Sometimes he would receive flowers, herbs, fruits and vegetables brought back by the immortals from the outside world. Although they looked the same as those in the immortal realm, when he ate them, they were different from the fruits and vegetables in the immortal realm, which only contained spiritual energy. They also contained... something he wanted to share with the immortals.
At these times, the immortal would once again show that same expression, and he would receive a hug or a pat on the head as a gift from the immortal.
And sometimes...
The little demon, who was lying on the wooden floor of the veranda where the sunlight could shine, was picked up by a pair of hands. Then, one hand supported his bottom and held him in its arms, while the other hand took the plum that he had taken two bites out of his hand.
"Don't eat while lying down."
The sweet aroma of plums vanished into the air, and the sticky feeling on his hands returned as if washed clean by water. A large hand gently pressed against his slightly protruding belly, and the immortal's helpless sigh rang out above his head: "Do not overeat."
The little demon's eyelids, still heavy with sleep from the sun, fluttered slightly. She remained lazily slumped in the immortal's arms. Xie Zhuo knew he was listening, and reached out to brush away the bangs that were sliding down her forehead with the demon's movement, his voice thick with helplessness: "I haven't stopped feeding you..."
"Because the Immortal Lord was always busy, I could only eat his portion as well." The little demon's eyes were full of reproach.
Knowing he was in the wrong, Xie Zhuo didn't dwell on it. He raised his hand to rub the little demon's swollen belly and strode towards the spacious courtyard.
"I need to go out for a while."
The little demon, being held and fiddling with something, quickly replied upon hearing his words, "I'll go with the Immortal Lord."
"I can't take you this time, but your uncle will take care of you." Xie Zhuo put the child down in the center of the spacious courtyard.
The little demon tugged at Xie Zhuo's robe, looking unwilling. He didn't dislike Xin Xuan, but he wanted to stay with the Immortal Lord even more.
Xie Zhuo squatted down, gazed into the little demon's eyes, and coaxed her tenderly, "...I'll teach you a sword technique, and I'll come back when you've learned it."
The little demon buried his face in the immortal's chest and said, "I won't learn it, and I don't have a sword, so I can't learn it." He was looking for reasons to try to delay their separation.
Xie Zhu put one arm around Xiao Yao and took out a small wooden sword that he had already carved in his storage space. It looked like a miniature version of his natal sword: "Xiao Bao, look, it's the same as mine."
The little demon glanced at him quickly out of the corner of her eye, then buried her face back in her spot and mumbled, "It's different."
The little wooden sword was the same length as the little demon's arm. Although it was coated with wax, its color was far inferior to that of metal due to the nature of the wood. Because of its size, it looked tiny and cute, more like a toy than a weapon.
"You can't lift mine." Xie Zhuo's actions were to pull the child away, but his tone was indulgent.
The little demon reluctantly gripped the small wooden sword and swung it twice in the air:
"Now that you've learned it, the Immortal Lord won't leave."
Xie Zhuo sighed as he watched the spoiled little demon act, and drew his longsword from his storage space:
"Xiao Bao, watch carefully."
Xie Zhuo, gripping his longsword, was different from usual. His aura was imposing. Although he was still wearing the same clothes, he made Xiao Yao, who had originally decided not to look at him, secretly cast her gaze and couldn't take her eyes off him.
The sword shadows swept past the immortal in the middle like a dragon, and a petal that flew up with the sword wind landed on the last blade of the sword, standing like a newly grown flower bud on a branch. The next moment, without moving the sword, the petal disappeared like dust.
The immortal's figure appeared before them like a ghost: "Want to learn?"
The little demon's gaze swept from the immortal's face to her own reflection on the longsword, and she hummed softly, "Just learn a little bit."
Seeing his rare enthusiasm, Xie Zhuo felt a surge of satisfaction: "Okay, I'll come back once Xiao Bao has learned it."
Relying on her memory, the little demon danced a few sword moves with a certain flair. Her short arms and legs caught Xie Zhuo's eye, dispelling some of his lingering sorrow. He stepped forward to help adjust the little demon's somewhat improper posture.
...
"Immortal Lord, what is this sword technique called?" The little demon sheathed her sword, squeezed between Xie Zhuo's legs who was sitting on the steps, and asked with her head tilted back.
Xie Zhuo's expression went blank for a moment. He had learned this sword technique in the mortal realm, but had long forgotten its name. His actions, however, were habitual as he embraced the child in his arms, and he said frankly:
"I don't remember, but Xiao Bao can think of a new name for it and tell me when I get back."
Xie Zhuo has never been stingy when it comes to encouraging lesser demons to cultivate.
—
When Xin Xuan found the two, he saw a young man sitting on the steps of the veranda and a little demon fast asleep on the young man's lap.
The setting sun in the Jade Palace shone on the young man, like a lone peak covered in snow for thousands of years melting into a tranquil golden light.
Xin Yi, who had barged in, did not have his usual calm expression. Instead, he was filled with anger and walked straight toward the two of them, his anger spreading across the snow-capped mountain.
"Senior brother!..."
"Keep your voice down." But Xie Zhuo interrupted him as soon as he uttered the word.
The young man, as if carved from jade, stretched out his two hands to cover the little demon's ears, spiritual energy flowing through his fingertips, leaving a protective barrier that blocked out sound.
Once the anger that has been building up is interrupted, it will not be as strong as before when it is restored.
Xin Xuan took a deep breath, glanced at the sleeping little demon, and tried to make his voice sound calm: "Senior brother, you knew all along that this child would be the variable in your tribulation?"
"sit."
Xie Zhuo didn't answer immediately. It wasn't until Xin Xuan angrily lifted the chair and sat down next to him that he asked, "Did you go to see Li Dai?"
"If I haven't gone to see him, are you planning to keep it a secret from everyone, Senior Brother?" Upon hearing Xie Zhuo's calm and collected voice, Xin Xuan's anger, which had just subsided, flared up again.
His gaze towards the figure in the immortal's arms gradually became complicated. He quite liked this junior disciple, but if it really came down to a choice between the two, he ultimately couldn't overcome the years of friendship he had with his senior brother.
"Anyway, he's not my senior brother's bloodline. My senior brother only spent a few decades with him, and he treated him quite well..."
"Xin Xuan, that's enough."
The snow on the solitary peak melts, revealing its sharp yet resilient interior:
"This is my destiny, my path. I have been supported by this world, but in the end, I must return to heaven and earth."
The ethereal immortal lowered his eyes, revealing a hint of human softness.
Without Li Dai's divination or Xin Xuan's reminder, how could Xie Zhuo, as the person involved, not have realized at all that Xiao Bao's existence was the only variable in his unchanging life of a thousand years?
His tone softened, his fingers lovingly stroking the soft hair of the child in his arms, and his gaze, gazing at the endless sky, revealed certainty:
"He should have a world much larger than the Jade Palace."
—
Xiao Yao gradually woke up from his dream, his nose twitching incessantly. The familiar scent around him was no longer there. He raised his hand to rub his eyes and first saw Xin Xuan's face. Before the melancholy could spread, he caught a glimpse of familiar clothes out of the corner of his eye.
He twisted his body and opened his arms to the figure: "Immortal Lord, embrace me."
The little demon was hanging halfway out of the window. Xie Zhuo stepped forward, but did not reach out as usual. Xin Xuan quickly tightened his arms and held the restless little demon in his arms.
A fleeting hint of reluctance flashed in the immortal's cool eyes, but he couldn't bear it any longer and raised his hand to gently stroke the little demon's slightly disheveled hair.
"Xiao Bao..."
He paused for a moment, looking at the young face in front of him, speechless for once. He wanted to say that there would be a day when they would meet again, but it seemed inappropriate, sounding like empty words.
The little demon's clear pupils reflected his evasive gaze. After a long while, Xie Zhuo put his index and middle fingers together and gently touched the little demon's brow. A small red mole appeared, and the Jade Echo Palace gradually established a connection with the little demon. If he were to die and his cultivation were to dissipate, the Jade Echo Palace would only become an open grotto-heaven. It would be better to leave it to Xiao Bao, so that he could be spared some of the hardships on his path of cultivation.
But he didn't say anything, only that:
"Come back if you miss home."
The little demon's understanding of the word "home" was still somewhat vague. He tilted his head and looked at the immortal he relied on, and said in a daze, "I'll go home with my father then."
Bitterness and happiness spread together; I wonder which one outweighed the other?
Xin Xuan adjusted her grip on the baby, her lips taut as she said, "I'm taking Xiao Bao with me now."
Just as the two turned to leave, Xie Zhuo suddenly spoke up: "Wait."
Xin Xuan turned around, thinking his senior brother had hesitated, but saw the immaculate immortal stride up and stand before the little demon:
"Xiao Bao, have you decided on a name yet?"
A hint of guilt flashed across the little demon's still-childish face. He had thought about the name for a while but then put it out of his mind. The Left and Right Immortal Lords had already given him a nickname. He said dejectedly, "No, I can't think of one."
Xie Zhuo's tone seemed impatient, his eyes resolute yet tender: "Then I'll name you Xie Qiong, how about that?"
He stared intently at the little demon's face, only to see that the childish face was scrunched up in distress: "But the Immortal Lord used to call me Little Treasure."
Xiao Yao's thoughts were simple: he didn't know if the name was good or bad, but he didn't hear the same pronunciation as his nickname in the new name.
Xie Zhuo paused for a moment. There has never been a custom of giving children overly grand names. In the common world, some parents even give their children lowly names because they are worried that their children will lose their good fortune and not grow up properly.
He looked intently at the child in front of him, yet felt that the child was capable of handling all the good qualities.
"Okay, then let's add another treasure in the middle."
...
—
In a grove of phoenix trees in the mortal realm, a little demon held a green leaf on his head, covering his entire head like a hat.
Xie Baoqiong looked up and gazed into the dense foliage: "Xuan, when will the Immortal Lord return?"
He brandished the small wooden sword in his hand, making a standard sword move. The sycamore leaves above his head swayed slightly, but did not fall.
The large bird in the tree, its feathers disheveled and looking listless, replied wearily, "My senior brother will be back once you've mastered the sword." He didn't tell the little demon the truth.
"I've practiced very well now." Xie Baoqiong plucked a leaf from her head and poked at the fallen leaves on the ground with her small wooden sword.
Xin Xuan stared at the sword in his hand, his thoughts drifting away, as if he saw another figure wielding a sword. He replied perfunctorily, "He'll come back when you're as skilled as your senior brother."
The deliberately blunt wooden sword failed to pierce the fallen leaves on the ground. Xie Baoqiong complained softly, "Does he think I'm not cultivating properly and won't come back?"
The large bird on the tree trembled at the tips of its feathers, pretending not to hear the little demon's words.
—
"Crack!"
The small wooden sword that had been used to cut the giant tree broke in two.
Xin Xuan tried to avoid the look on Xiao Yao's face as the wooden sword shattered. If he had known it would turn out like this, he wouldn't have suggested that Xiao Yao find something to test the power of her current sword techniques.
He walked over to the little demon and coughed twice: "Ahem, Xiao Bao, your uncle will help you..."
Before he could even offer words of comfort, his legs were grabbed. The little demon pouted, her eyes red-rimmed, and she looked up at him without saying a word or shedding a tear.
Although Xin Xuan was unwilling to take on the responsibility of raising the little demon, he had raised it for quite some time and couldn't help but feel sorry for it.
While inwardly cursing the little demon for being too good at transforming and having the face of his senior brother, he nimbly picked up the little demon beside his legs and skillfully patted its back and coaxed it gently.
"Your martial uncle will help you fix it..."
After much coaxing, the little demon reluctantly agreed, standing beside him and watching him repair the broken sword without blinking.
The repaired broken sword had a small crack, and the little demon couldn't bear to use it anymore. Every day, she would hug the small wooden sword and nestle in the big bird's nest.
Having no other choice, Xin Xuan had to carve a new one based on the small wooden sword.
However, his carpentry skills were poor, and one side of the blade was too wide. After many modifications, it eventually became a small wooden knife.
Fortunately, the little demon wasn't picky and practiced what Xie Zhuo had taught her for the past few days, swinging her little wooden sword in a rather awkward way.
Another half month passed, and the green of the sycamore grove gradually turned yellow.
Xin Xuan preened his feathers, completely unaware that the little demon who had crawled out of the nest was carrying a small wooden sword and walking further and further away.
By the time he realized that the little demon's aura had disappeared, the little demon's figure had already vanished into the parasol tree forest.
The freshly groomed feathers bristled instantly, unleashing a powerful aura that forced demon cultivators from all directions to prostrate themselves on the ground.
—
The vanished demon, with a thought, returned to the Jade Melody Palace, completely unaware of the commotion its disappearance had caused.
He went to all the places Xie Zhuo often frequented, but he still couldn't find the figure he longed for.
Finally, he sat cross-legged on the futon where Xie Zhuo usually sat and fell asleep without realizing it.
When he woke up, it was still bright outside. Xie Baoqiong could clearly see every corner of the empty hall. He straightened his face, but when he realized that no one was there to comfort him, his expression returned to calm, with only the corners of his mouth drooping.
After sitting in the hall for a while, he suddenly remembered something, hurriedly stood up and ran to the storeroom of the Jade Sound Hall.
After searching for a while, he found a compass-shaped artifact for finding people in one hand and a ribbon in the other, an artifact that allowed him to fly without needing much spiritual power.
He wrapped the ribbon around himself and headed towards his destination with unwavering determination.
—
Thunder rumbled and hovered atop the head of the immortal standing against the wind.
Xie Zhuo was somewhat disheveled, but his eyes shone exceptionally brightly.
He looked up at the tribulation clouds in the sky, his eyes slightly surprised. Was the final tribulation actually a lightning tribulation?
He calmed himself down, not daring to be careless, and carefully put away the hair ribbon on his head.
Almost the instant his hairband was put away, a bolt of purple lightning as thick as a bucket shattered the barrier around him and pierced through his body.
One after another, the power of the heavenly lightning increased exponentially. Xie Zhuo's consciousness became somewhat dazed. After counting to eighty-one in his mind, his remaining sanity relaxed slightly. Before the joy of surviving the calamity could even emerge, the tribulation clouds above his head grew thicker and thicker, gathering together in a dark and heavy manner, accumulating an even more powerful force.
Xie Zhuo no longer had the energy to think. The barrier surrounding him was dilapidated and eventually could not be maintained, dissipating into tiny specks of spiritual energy.
At the last moment, he was somewhat relieved that Xiao Bao wasn't a diligent person, wouldn't practice his swordsmanship properly, and wouldn't know that he was a fraud.
A bolt of lightning crashed down on his head, and he seemed to return to that void. The pain in his body disappeared, the darkness in the world before him dissipated, and the sky cleared.
A soft body nestled into his arms, just like the day they first met.
Xie Zhuo realized something, suddenly came to his senses, and saw the now illusory figure reflected in his clear eyes.
The little demon instinctively rubbed against his chest, pouting as she complained, "Father hasn't come yet. I've already learned all the sword techniques you taught me, so I came to take you home..."
The little demon's figure became transparent, and his voice disappeared into the world in his place.
Xie Zhuo opened his palm in disbelief, and there lay the broken stone in several pieces.
Xin Xuan, who arrived a step too late, stood a step away, his face a mixture of helplessness and shock, before finally going blank: "I'm sorry, Senior Brother, I didn't keep a close eye on him..."
The sounds of the world seemed to penetrate a thin membrane into Xie Zhuo's ears. He turned around, and even his junior brother's figure seemed unfamiliar. His Adam's apple bobbed repeatedly, and his face was eerily calm.
"It's alright, it's just a matter of waiting another hundred years for him to regain his intelligence." He carefully put away the pebbles in his palm, as if they were some rare treasure.
He now has a long time to wait for Xiaobao to come back to him.
In the past, time was short, but now they no longer have to be confined to a mere few decades.
Just like Xiao Bao said, a stone can stay with him for a very long time.
Xie Zhuo lowered his gaze to the pebbles in the center of the brocade box. It was the second year since Xiao Bao left.
The brocade box sat quietly on the corner of the table, where he had placed it before Xiao Bao transformed. After much deliberation, he removed the brocade box and placed a soft mat under the pebbles. The brocade box was too small; what if Xiao Bao was afraid of getting stuck and refused to transform...?
The low couch in the study still held the fallen outer robe, and checking it daily to see if it had bulged out had become a habit for him.
No, there isn't!
The broken stones still lay on the table.
The fallen outer robe remained flat.
Xiao Bao still hasn't returned to his side...
Now, in the second year of a hundred years, Xie Zhuo has never felt time flowing so slowly. The thousand years since he became an immortal have passed in the blink of an eye, and the time he spent with Xiao Bao is still incredibly short.
The quiet of the Jade Palace made him restless, so he began to manipulate the weather inside the palace.
The sound of wind, rain, and even thunder—none of them are right!
Only the sound of the beads clattering in the wind as it blew through the old hairband offered him some solace.
But each collision only fueled the surging longing even more intensely.
This shouldn't be happening!
He clearly didn't care that much about the child. The child said he liked him, and that he clung to him and tried to please him every day, but it was only to absorb the spiritual power that was dissipating from his body due to the impending calamity.
He tried to deny their past in order to escape the overwhelming weight of his longing.
But Xiao Bao's last memories constantly remind him that he had always harbored dirty thoughts and ignored or speculated about this pure and sincere emotion.
Xie Zhuo carefully picked up the broken stones on the table and hurriedly disappeared into the Jade Sound Palace.
He can't wait!
We can't wait a moment longer!
To hell with a century, he wants Xiao Bao back by his side!
—
Xie Zhuo gripped the rubble tightly and rushed into Li Dai's domain.
"Zhuoyu, have you finally gone mad?!" Li Dai stared in astonishment at the figure that suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Resurrect him." Xie Zhuo carefully laid out the rubble.
Li Dai didn't even look at it before dismissing the guest, saying, "It's beyond saving."
"I can give you anything you want."
Li Dai hesitated for a moment, but still refused without mercy: "Although we have become immortals, in the end we are nothing more than His lackeys. The power of life and death has always belonged only to Him."
After saying that, Li Dai ignored Xie Zhuo, who was still refusing to leave, and got up to attend to his own business.
Xie Zhuo's calm voice sounded from behind him: "You've done quite a few things against Him in private, back then that ball of light..."
He deliberately didn't finish his sentence. Although threatening people is immoral, he even dared to think about things like reversing life and death, which goes against the natural order.
Just as the two were locked in a stalemate, a child dressed as a Taoist acolyte ran over carrying tea.
His expression was somewhat blank, but his aura felt somewhat familiar to Xie Zhuo. Just as he was recalling, the boy suddenly placed the tray of tea on the table where the gravel was.
Xie Zhuo's attention was diverted, and he gathered up the pebbles to prevent them from being splashed by the tea that was spreading out in ripples.
"Immortal Lord, is this...my younger brother?" The dazed child suddenly asked Xie Zhuo.
"Li Yi." This was followed by Li Dai's warning voice.
Xie Zhuo finally remembered where the familiar feeling on the child in front of him came from. The child's aura was clearly the same as that of the ball of light from back then.
Li Yi frowned and glanced at Li Dai, then asked without any restraint, "How did my brother become like this?"
Neither of the two adults answered him, so Xie Zhuo asked in return, "Do you know how to cure him?"
Li Yi remained silent and looked at Li Dai again.
This time, Li Dai grabbed his wrist and pulled him backward.
"Zhuoyu, stop dreaming about being resurrected."
The two had barely taken a step when Xie Zhuo's cold mockery rang out: "You can directly steal a wisp of the Heavenly Dao's rules, so my desire to resurrect a stone is just wishful thinking." They were evenly matched.
Li Dai abruptly stopped, his gaze turning sharp as he looked back: "You're just an ordinary stone. Jade carving, huh? I never knew you had the ability to lie through your teeth." He didn't believe Xie Zhuo hadn't noticed that the stone's origin was somewhat similar to Li Yi, whom he was holding in his hand.
Xie Zhuo continued to lie through his teeth, just as he had said: "Xiao Bao only stayed in the Void Realm, and that's how he picked up a trace of its aura." His gaze slid to Li Yi: "I took Xiao Bao to the outside world. Do you dare let this child leave your domain?"
Upon hearing the word "outside," Li Yi's eyes lit up, his head bowed.
Li Dai pressed down on the child's head with an inscrutable expression: "I'm not letting him leave this realm for his own good."
The two parted on bad terms.
As Xie Zhuo was leaving with the rubble, a short figure blocked his way:
"Immortal Lord, wait."
Li Yi took out a jade slip: "This contains what the Immortal Lord wants." As he said this, he did not hand over the jade slip in his hand.
Xie Zhuo understood immediately and asked, "What do you want?"
“I want to…” The child lowered his head, paused, and then raised his eyes again, his eyes filled with determination: “I want to go to the outside world.”
Even though what he wanted was within reach, Xie Zhuo hesitated for a moment. Li Dai was right. Not letting Li Yi leave this region was indeed for his own good. Although he wanted to revive Xiao Bao, he did not want to harm others.
"Li Dai's decision not to let you leave this realm is indeed for your own good..."
Seeing his hesitation, Li Yi made up his mind and handed over the jade slip in his hand: "Immortal Lord, you can look at the contents inside before making a decision."
Xie Zhuo took the jade slip, spiritual energy swirling at his fingertips and flowing into the jade slip, a stream of light entering his brow.
The technique of resurrection in the jade slip is less a technique of resurrection and more a technique of reincarnation. It requires creating a body for the deceased and then casting him into the cycle of reincarnation...
"Immortal Lord, all you need to do is conceal my aura and let me fall into reincarnation when he is reborn. I don't need to create a body. At that time, I will be born as a mortal, and he will not be able to integrate me." The blank look on the child's face faded, and his eyes became earnest.
"Can."
—
"Senior brother, do you really intend to descend to the mortal realm with him?"
Xie Zhuo manipulated his spiritual power to shape the body before him, gently sending the pebbles in his hand into the abdomen of the shell. After that, he only needed to split off a wisp of his soul and send it into the shell...
Hearing the noisy sounds around me, I felt a sense of joy:
"Xiao Bao used to call me Daddy, so what's wrong with fulfilling his wish?"
Xin Xuan leaned closer to examine the body in front of him and muttered, "So, Senior Brother, you like this kind of thing."
Xie Zhuo glanced at him sideways: "Appearance doesn't matter. I'm still myself, so how could I not like myself?"
He looked at the gradually forming body, a flicker of joy passing through his lifeless eyes. Soon, Xiao Bao would truly be born as his child.
He wouldn't ask anything of the child; he just wanted a peaceful and simple life, even if it was only for one lifetime.
...
“When I wasn’t around, there was no one to help you reconcile with Xin Yi…”
"Since you're leaving, don't mention him. I don't want to hear his nagging. Anyway, I don't plan to become an immortal. You'll go to the mortal realm, and I'll stay here to watch over Xiaobao..."
Before parting, Xin Xuan asked that question again: "You really don't want to be an immortal anymore?"
"Didn't you always hate becoming an immortal?"
Xie Zhuo's face was pale; the damage from the split soul needed to heal slowly, but to appease the person before him, a long-lost smile appeared on his face, revealing a hint of spiritedness:
"Besides, since I was able to become an immortal in the past, why can't I be reborn?" Even if he couldn't become an immortal, he still felt happy at the thought of having a mortal life.
—
Decades later, on a certain official road in the Great Sheng Dynasty, a horse-drawn carriage swayed and staggered, heading towards its predetermined fate...
The world politely declined the birth of that child.
The purple lightning that had taken his life struck again, determined to annihilate him here.
The phoenix, secretly following and escorting, rode the wind through the lightning.
The aftershocks of the tribulation lightning splashed onto his dissipating soul. Xie Zhuo was filled with resentment: "Although heaven and earth are ruthless, the way of heaven is fair. Why won't they even give him a sliver of hope?"
The terrifying clouds of calamity dissipated, leaving behind only a solitary grave.
In the silent world, a faint aura quietly emanated from the tombstone.
With only a fleeting afterimage remaining, Xie Zhuo's soul murmured, "So that's how it is."
He glanced up at the charred phoenix not far away and said apologetically, "I'll have to trouble you again in the future."
The phoenix transformed into human form, its hair still curled at the ends, and pretended to be nonchalant as it faced its final farewell: "Xiao Bao is my only nephew, and I will take good care of him without you having to tell me."
With half of Xie Zhuo's soul dissipated, his chances of becoming an immortal became even slimmer. If the remaining half of his soul could not become an immortal before it was completely dissipated in the endless cycle of reincarnation, then Xie Zhuo would not exist.
"I'm already very satisfied with things as they are now," Xie Zhuo said.
He turned back and looked at the low tombstone again. The newly awakened child was curiously extending his spiritual tentacles to explore this new world.
Xie Zhuo infused his last bit of primordial power into the little demon who was always unable to endure hardship, hoping to protect him from the suffering of cultivation.
His illusory image gradually dissipated, leaving only a single sentence and a large amount of spiritual energy that dispersed into the mountain with the wind:
"Xiao Bao, see you another day."
—Prequel complete—
-----------------------
The author's note: In fact, Xie Zhuo and Xie Baoqiong in the main text, and Xie Baoqiong and Xie Zhuo in the epilogue, are just small ripples in the long journey of life. But as time goes by, the ripples continue to expand. When they come to their senses, the lake of their hearts is filled with the shadow of another person.
As an aside, in the prequel, Xie Zhuo's initial attitude towards Xiao Bao was truly that of raising a small pet.
But once you start paying attention to someone, it's hard not to develop feelings for them.
The final chapter of this side story is finished. I also missed out on making the rankings this week, so it will be marked as complete in the next couple of days. Thank you all for your continued support! [Sprinkling flowers]
Finally, Xiao Bao's story will continue to be written, and we'll meet again in the next book if fate allows.
And just between you and me, Li Yi is the protagonist of the novel "I've Already Said I'm Not Your Junior Brother" on the homepage (I'm planning to revise the synopsis, so I won't post it here). Both books share the same world view, and since Li Yi is in this one, he'll likely be in the other one too... (Stay tuned!)
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