Chapter 49: Rebirth (Part 3) Where you can’t see, Chi Xingji…
Only when she finally reached the other side did Lian Qiang realize how huge this Netherworld Spirit Tree had grown.
The tree roots are firmly rooted in the ground, and it would take more than ten people to hug the trunk. The golden branches and leaves cast an impenetrable shadow on the ground.
Several ghosts who arrived with them had already started to move, trying to climb the branches, trying to find their own names among them.
Lian Qiang also approached a lower branch and gently plucked a leaf. Sure enough, it contained a person's name and the date of birth and death. She tried to examine it more closely, but a memory that didn't belong to her suddenly intruded upon her. Startled, Lian Qiang quickly let go of the leaf, and the memory faded.
During this period, countless leaves fell and dissipated into the air before reaching the ground. Countless leaves also sprouted tiny buds.
Lian Qiang carefully touched a few more leaves and found that on some leaves, the dates of death were constantly changing. She was quite surprised and hurried to show them to Chi Xingji.
Chi Xingji glanced over and said, "Maybe he did something to change his fate."
Lian Qiang gently loosened the branch and let it return to its original position: "I used to think that everyone's fate was predetermined from the beginning."
"No, man can conquer nature." Chi Xingji answered naturally.
Lian Qiang smiled: "I didn't expect that the immortal king in heaven would also believe such words." "Before ascending to heaven, I was a human with seven emotions and six desires." Chi Xingji answered her teasing seriously.
This was difficult to answer. Lian Qiang looked up at the lush tree, her smile turning bitter. "With so many leaves, it's not easy to find mine..."
At this time, Chi Xingji said, "It seems that people born around the same time are more likely to be on the same branch. Let's keep searching. We'll eventually find it."
His words unconsciously gave her a sense of security. Lian Qiang curled her lips and said, "Okay, we don't lack time anyway. It's just that the longer we look, the less time we have left."
"There is no day or night in the underworld, and it's hard for you to keep track of the time." Chi Xingji had long been indifferent to her "difficulties" and could even retort with ease.
After being tricked by him, Lian Qiang glared at him, then lowered her head, lifted up her skirt and tied it into a knot, rolled up her cumbersome sleeves, and pretended to climb up the tree.
"Dang..." Before Chi Xingji could finish his concerned words, Lian Qiang had already climbed up the tree trunk neatly, climbing the thick branches with ease, stabilizing her body. She still had enough energy to turn around and look at him: "What's wrong?"
There was an unconcealable excitement in her eyes, like a child given permission to unleash its true nature. The golden light around her fell on her eyes and face, making it difficult to look away.
Chi Xingji's breathing stagnated, and he opened his mouth to answer, but something like a long-forgotten memory was opened and suddenly appeared in his mind.
——Under the darkness of the night, he quietly looked up at the girl in the tree. The girl seemed frightened by him, patted her chest and said angrily: "Why are you so..."
The memories that followed passed quickly. After the two of them talked for a while, Chi Xingji bent down and carried her steadily on his back.
It was exactly the same scene as Lian Qiang described.
That was... their past. After realizing this fact, Chi Xingji felt as if his heart was being squeezed. He wanted to breathe, but a heavier emotion enveloped him, making it difficult for him to breathe.
"...Chi Xingji, what's wrong with you?"
Lian Qiang called him repeatedly, and after not getting a response, she panicked, jumped down from the tree, walked quickly to Chi Xingji, and approached her with concern.
What responded to her was a huge force. Chi Xingji covered his forehead with one hand and held her wrist tightly with the other. He had tried his best to restrain his strength, but the cold sweat sliding down his cheeks and the blue veins on the back of his hand revealed his pain.
He held Lian Qiang like a drowning man holding a piece of driftwood. After a long moment, Chi Xingji raised his head, but without letting go of her hand, he weakly pursed his lips towards her and said, "...I remember now."
Lian Qiang was stunned by his words. Chi Xingji added, "But, just a little."
... Fortunately, it was only a little. After helping him sit down against the tree trunk, Lian Qiang asked with difficulty, "What did you remember?"
"I remembered what you said, that you ran out alone, so I went to find you. It turns out you are very good at climbing trees, I was worrying too much." Chi Xingji was still a little weak, and he seemed to smile very lightly, not knowing if it was Lian Qiang's illusion.
Lian Qiang was silent for a while, then laughed along with him: "Yes, I'm good at climbing trees."
...I practiced it just to meet you. Lian Qiang didn't say this.
Only she herself knew the various emotions that surged in her heart when Chi Xingji said that, as well as the countless possibilities she imagined.
There was no need to dwell on this anymore. Lian Qiang calmed herself down and thought of this as just an insignificant episode. There were more important things to do right now. She stood up to leave and realized that Chi Xingji was still holding her hand.
She struggled slightly, and Chi Xingji let her go. It wasn't until she stepped onto the branch that he spoke calmly, "I'm actually very happy."
Facing his back for a moment, Chi Xingji pretended not to hear: "Being able to recall the real past bit by bit, whether it is good or bad, it really cheers me up."
"...Is that so?" Lian Qiang climbed up the tree again and said, "Rest well and continue looking."
It wasn't that she couldn't see that Chi Xingji was trying to impress her, but the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. She didn't even know who she would become tomorrow, whether she would succeed, or whether the two of them would go their separate ways. So why should she feel unnecessary joy?
She compared her birth date many times and finally saw her name on a cluster of higher branches.
Lian Qiang was excited and tried to pluck the leaves, but it wouldn't budge. After several unsuccessful attempts, Lian Qiang figured this might not be as easy as she had imagined.
Ghosts gathered in groups of three or four, plucking their own leaves and leaving. Upon closer inspection, her leaves were even darker than those around her. Was it because she had escaped the demonic realm, and her leaves no longer recognized her, or was it because she was still alive?
If that's the case, it would be difficult... She can't die right now just to pick it, that would be putting the cart before the horse.
As Lian Qiang hesitated, Chi Xingji came up and immediately saw the crux of the matter. He also wanted to reach out and try to pick the fruit, but Lian Qiang slapped his hand away without hesitation: "Don't touch it!"
Her blow wasn't heavy, but it made Chi Xingji's eyes dim. Lian Qiang was taken aback, realizing that her reaction was indeed a bit too much.
"...I'll try it myself." She didn't want Chi Xingji to see her life story, but she couldn't find a suitable and decent excuse.
Lian Qiang tried again, but it was still useless, so she made up her mind and cut her fingertips.
Strangely enough, the leaves miraculously absorbed her blood, becoming radiant and brighter, as if recognizing her. Though still pale compared to the others, they were still considerably less vibrant. Lian Qiang continued to pour blood into the leaves until they turned pale, and only then did they stop absorbing.
"Maybe your situation is special and you need the master's blood and essence to nourish you." Chi Xingji said thoughtfully while using his spiritual power to stop her bleeding.
Lian Qiang carefully picked it off and put it away. Suddenly, she remembered something: "I suddenly want to find some leaves from my family..."
As soon as she said that, she realized she had spoken out of turn. Souls that had sunk into the underworld would have their leaves wither; souls that had successfully reincarnated would have their leaves naturally depart with them. In either case, she would never be able to find them there.
There is plenty of time to kill during this period, but how can it be a hundred years?
Chi Xingji understood, but did not point it out. He just said considerately: "Okay, tell me their birthdays, and I will look for them with you."
Lian Qiang hurriedly reported a bunch of gratitude, and the two of them started to move again, but Lian Qiang suddenly realized something was wrong.
——Her leaves are still on the tree. So whose sapling did Chi Xingji bring back that day?
She knew Chi Xingji's nature very well and knew that he would never harm others, but her own leaves were still pressed against her heart and felt faintly hot. With the facts before her, she had to doubt a possibility.
Lian Qiang hurriedly searched for branches and leaves close to Chi Xingji's birthdate, but found nothing. It was no wonder; if he hadn't gone to cultivate immortality, he would have left long ago. Her fingers began to tremble uncontrollably, and she didn't know why.
Chi Xingji quickly searched but found nothing, so he went down first.
Lian Qiang arrived at the tree a while after him. Her face looked very bad. Chi Xingji looked at her several times before asking with concern, "I didn't find any leaves from your family among them. What about you? Why do you look so bad?"
"...I'm fine. How could I be in trouble?" Lian Qiang cast a complicated glance at him and decided not to say anything. "This is the best possible outcome."
Seeing that she didn't want to talk, Chi Xingji didn't force her. He half squatted down again, let Lian Qiang lie on him, and took her across the river.
Lian Qiang did as she was told, but she was worried.
Chi Xingji's fate, like hers, was not bound by the underworld, so his leaves should also remain here, not disappear. Since he was still here, there was only one possibility.
——That year, Chi Xingji picked his own leaves and took them back.
But how could this be possible? Lian Qiang bit his lip. Didn't he know the consequences of not having leaves? When the leaves grew into a tree, his name would disappear from it, which would be equivalent to destroying his chance of reincarnation.
Chi Xingji had a good chance of ascending to the Immortal Realm, but why would he dare to gamble his life like that? To gamble... on the possibility of purifying the demonic energy within her? Was he, at that time, also shedding his blood to irrigate his own leaves?
...Chi Xingji, Chi Xingji, what were you thinking at that time?
Lian Qiang wanted to cry, but she bit her lower lip tightly to hold back the tears. Perhaps, she just looked too roughly and didn't find it?
"Chi Xingji," she couldn't help but call him softly, "Did you see your name just now?"
"No," Chi Xingji looked intently at the water in front of him, "I didn't pay attention and didn't see it."
"Is that so..." Lian Qiang almost talked to herself. She thought that maybe the immortal's situation was special, and the leaves disappeared as well.
But there was a voice in her heart that told her without hesitation: In places you can't see, Chi Xingji really did a lot for you. Whether it was the Chi Xingji now or the Chi Xingji a hundred years ago.
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