Chapter 25: Telepathy
"What is Lingxi?" The one who asked was Qi Xiaopang. He listened for a long time with bated breath as if he was listening to a myth, and finally couldn't help asking.
Qing Bai's eyes were bright as he whispered, "I may not have the wings of a phoenix, but our hearts are connected..."
"That's right!" Ai Chan laughed and clapped his hands. "According to ancient records, there's a strange beast among rhinoceroses, with a sheep's head, a turtle's back, a deer's body, a unicorn's tail, and a long horn piercing through its crown. It's called the Tongtian Rhinoceros."
"Tongtianxi?" Fatty Qi exclaimed, "That's a pretty impressive name..."
The awesome thing about this guy is the word "Tian" in the middle. Although I still don't fully understand it, it's not difficult to guess from the previous text that this guy is doing things in the underworld and communicating with ghosts, but he dares to use "Tongtian" as his name!
Ai Chan shook her head. "Tongtian Xi doesn't refer to the beast, but the horn on its head... It's said to possess divine power. If you cut it open, you'll find a long white line running through it. This line is the spiritual rhinoceros."
"Legend has it that the Tongtian Rhino possesses a spirit and divine powers. It can split water and communicate with spirits and gods..." Seeing Qi Xiaopang's astonishment, Ai Chan continued, "Of course, this is an exaggeration. It's probably just able to communicate with spirits and gods, because splitting water is also a form of communication with spirits and gods. The Tongtian Rhino possesses a spirit, and so does water. Once it enters the water, the waves will naturally split and make way."
"Ge Hong's Baopuzi says: 'If you get a true rhinoceros horn that's more than three inches long, carve it into a fish, and carry it in your mouth into the water, the water will open up to a square three feet, and you can breathe air in the water.'"
Qi Xiaopang had a complicated expression. This was already exaggerated enough... He lived up to the name of Tongtian.
Qing Bai remained calm: "The Lingxi you mentioned and the Lingxi in Tongtianxi should not be the same, right?"
"Qing Bai is very clever." Ai Chan smiled. "The Tongtian Rhino is a legendary divine creature. It may have existed thousands of years ago, but now only a few words in books have been passed down. However, the Lingxi Tongshen has only disappeared in the past few decades."
He looked at Qing Bai and said calmly, "Legend has it that there's a city of the dead in the underworld, right next to the Naihe Bridge. It was built by Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva for the souls of those who died unjustly due to unforeseen disasters."
"The City of the Wrongful Dead may be called a city, but in reality it's like a prison in the mortal world. Ghosts who died before their full lifespans, whether due to suicide, accidents, disasters, murder, or injustice, are detained there. There, they can live as they would in the mortal world. Although the city's rules are extremely strict, unlike ordinary ghosts, they can't accept offerings from relatives and friends, and they can't return to the mortal world to enjoy the offerings when the Ghost Gate opens during the Zhongyuan Festival. However, as long as they live out their original lifespans, they can cross the Naihe Bridge and reincarnate..."
Qing Bai always felt that the monk looked at him strangely. Not only did he keep looking at his forehead, but every glance seemed to be filled with satisfaction, just like... just like looking at the crops growing vigorously in the field.
"Unjustly died?" Qing Bai extracted the key words. "So the Soul-Scarred Bird should also enter the city?"
"That's right," said the Sad Cicada. "But the Soul-Scarred Bird is special. It cries every day, but no one in the world can understand it. That's why they have telepathic connection."
"How so?"
Ai Chan continued with a smile, "Wansi City is adjacent to Naihe Bridge, and beneath the bridge is the Naihe River. Long, long ago, on a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, the calm and bottomless Naihe River suddenly became turbulent. The turbulent waters surged, and out emerged a beast, as bright as the snow and moon. Flowers bloomed with every step, and it had a single horn on its forehead. It was born with spiritual power, understanding the language of all things. It was called Lingxi."
Qing Bai's eyelashes trembled, and the vague premonition in his heart finally came true...but his heart was even more confused.
"Emerging from the waves, born with spiritual powers, able to understand the language of all things... Doesn't this rival Tongtianxi's ability to divide water and communicate with ghosts and gods?" Fat Qi didn't realize his brother Qing was being treated like a farmhand. He was already engrossed in the story. "So, which one is more powerful, Lingxi or Tongtianxi?"
Ai Chan actually thought seriously about this childish question for a moment before helplessly saying, "I can only lament that I was born at the wrong time. I've never seen a Tongtian Xi, nor have I seen a true Lingxi, so I really don't know."
Ai Chan glanced at the silent Qing Bai and changed the subject, "Although the Tongtian Rhino is a divine object, it is only a horn after all. Whether it can be burned or carved depends entirely on the control of the person... But the Lingxi is alive."
"That means Lingxi is more powerful!" Qi Xiaopang came to his own conclusion and asked, "With Lingxi, the grievances of those soul-wounding birds will be resolved... But why has Lingxi disappeared now?"
Or maybe it's not that it disappeared, after all, Ai Chan said before, "If the spiritual connection is gone, the wounded soul will not cry." The word "exist", whether it means to survive or to exist, does not look good here.
Ai Chan: "The Soul-Swallowing Ghost Bird is ultimately a human. As long as there are people in the world, there will always be resentment, and where there is resentment, there will be wounded souls. But Lingxi is different. It is transformed by the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. There is no fixed number. In the past thousand years, there have been only a few of them..."
"This is a truly rare species." Qi Xiaopang sighed.
"So this rare species is extinct? That shouldn't be the case. Isn't it a spiritual beast? It should live as long as the heavens."
Ai Chan shook his head and replied to Qi Xiaopang, but his eyes were still looking at Qing Bai.
"It's not extinction, it's being... annihilated by others."
"Exterminate the entire clan? Holy shit! Who would be so audacious as to dare to do such a heinous crime... That's not right!" Fat Qi finally realized, "You said the Soul-Wounding Bird disappeared sometime in the past, and no one hears its soul-wounding sound anymore... Is that true or not?"
Ai Chan nodded: "Yes."
Qi Xiaopang had a strange expression on his face and continued, "And now, only Lingxi can hear and understand the wail of the Soul-Swallowing Bird?"
Ai Chan still nodded: "Yes."
Qi Xiaopang swallowed hard, turned his head slowly, and said with difficulty: "Brother, you said before that you...you heard birds singing?"
Qing Bai nodded absentmindedly without saying anything.
Fat Qi instantly squatted down with his head in his hands, screaming silently for a long time. When his face was wrinkled and painful, he raised his head with the last glimmer of hope: "Master Aichan, do you think this... is it possible that I am hallucinating?"
Even if Zhiliao is replaced by the professional-sounding Master Aichan, it cannot change the fact that his brother Qing's race seems to be a little wrong.
Ai Chan shook his head, his eyes unable to tell whether they were compassionate or pitiful: "He has already freed the two soul-wrenching ghost birds."
Qi Xiaopang realized belatedly: "...The little princess is a soul-wounding bird?"
"But we... me, Li Canglan, and that Jiu Nian can all have a normal conversation with her?"
"Is this really a normal conversation?" Ai Chan whispered, "This is what 'telepathy' looks like."
So this 'Telepathy' is also a range skill?
Can all teammates within the skill range gain hearing buff?
Qi Xiaopang's gaze darted wildly back and forth between the sighing cicada and the silent Qing Bai, just like his wavering thoughts.
Finally, his gaze still stopped at Qing Bai. He looked at Qing Bai with a serious face and said in a deep voice: "Brother Qing, do you know that you were not a human being before?"
Qing Bai: “…”
Qing Bai had a blank expression on his face: "I only know that I am a human being now."
If he knew he wasn't human, he would have already...
Qi Xiaopang immediately put on a mask of pain: "But brother, you... you seem to have grown... horns on your forehead!!!"
Qing Bai subconsciously raised his hand and touched it. It felt warm, like ice and jade... Although the touch was not right, it could not be said that he had horns. At least his forehead was flat, without any mysterious bulge.
Qing Bai suddenly realized when the pain and itchiness on his forehead started and when it disappeared?
Seeing his brother Qing looking dazed, Qi Xiaopang quickly turned on the front camera of his phone and stood in front of him: "Brother, look!"
Qing Bai moved the phone in front of him a little further away, looked up, and saw a glaring red streak in the middle of his fair and flat forehead... The red was as bright as blood, as if the blood had just been cut through the pale skin.
But when I touched it with my fingers, it felt like jade...
"It is said that newborn Lingxi cubs do not have horns. After that, they accumulate a little spiritual power every time they free a soul-wounded bird. When the spiritual power is accumulated enough, horns will slowly grow on their foreheads." Ai Chan gave timely scientific popularization.
Qing Bai didn't appreciate it: "It's said again?"
Ai Chan gave a bitter laugh. "It can't be helped. I was born at the wrong time... I've studied Buddhism for so many years, recited sutras for so many years, and studied all the way from nine years of compulsory education to a master's degree. I haven't learned anything serious, just a wealth of theoretical knowledge."
After being amazed, Qi Xiaopang looked at the red mark, and he became more and more panicked. Although the red color was not hideous and ugly, it should be said that it was just the opposite - Qing Bai was originally white, and he became even whiter in the past few years because he stayed out at night and stayed at home during the day. When he was lying quietly, he was like a piece of cold jade. His clothes were always black and white. Except for the ink color of his hair, eyebrows and eyes, his whole body seemed to have no other colors. Although he was calm and cold and had a noble temperament and was loved and sought after by young girls, he inevitably lost his vitality.
Qi Xiaopang originally thought that his brother Qing was suitable for this kind of aloof and cool guy style, but unexpectedly, the slight flaw on his white jade makes him even more dazzling, alluring, fascinating and attractive... What if those girls see this!
How can someone look so good even if they grow horns a second time?
This is a direct evolution from top-grade white jade to 'top-grade white jade with red'!
It was just quiet and cold before, but now it is cold yet bright, like white plum blossoms stained with blood!
…But no matter how stunning and beautiful it is, it’s just horns growing on the forehead!
Now this can still be called a birthmark, or makeup, what if the isometrics grow out completely? Is it cosplay with makeup on every day?
Help! Brother Qing wasn't being captured and sliced up for research!
Qi Xiaopang's face was filled with worry as he was already thinking about which cosplay costume to buy for his brother Qing... He also had to buy an extra XXL set. To increase his credibility, and to ensure that his brother Qing wouldn't be the only one outlier in the crowd, drowned in the strange and inquiring gazes of others, he was willing to risk his life to accompany the gentleman...
"Brother Qing, don't worry! I'll be with you—" After an intense and nonsensical ideological struggle and brainstorming, Qi Xiaopang had already made up his mind to help Brother Qing with his head and was about to express his determination. However, as soon as he looked up, his resolve was shattered by the impact. "Brother, you... you're green on the forehead!!!"
“Authentic white jade with emerald green!!!”
Qing Bai: “???”
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