Chapter 127 River Maple and Fishing Lights Facing Sorrowful Sleep and New Sprouts.
Meow Meow was temporarily placed at Ji Yinxiu's residence.
Feng Feng originally insisted on taking care of the body herself, but after Feng Mian woke up, she stayed by the bedside and never left. So Ji Yinxiu took the initiative to bring Miao Miao's body back to her room.
When Xia Zhu knocked on his door, he was still awake. He seemed to have guessed why she had come in the middle of the night, and let her into the room without asking any questions.
A soft blanket is enough to wrap the cat up completely.
It looked like it was just asleep, its fur still glossy, its big ears drooping, somewhat like when Xia Zhu first saw it at the pet store.
"Do you need me to go out and wait for you?" Ji Yinxiu asked her.
Xia Zhu shook her head. "You can stay here."
For some reason, she felt a little nervous.
Ji Yinxiu moved a chair for her to sit down, took Miaomiao out of the blanket, and gently placed it on her lap. Xia Zhu never tried any methods or incantations when using her power. As before, she placed her hand on the puppy's head, closed her eyes, and tried to mobilize the power in her body.
Then I prayed silently in my heart.
Don't die.
I woke up.
This time, it seems much more difficult than saving flowers, grass, and birds.
She clearly felt a peculiar energy surge through every meridian in her body, like a torrent flowing into a parched riverbed. She could even see a golden vein in the darkness coursing through her body, eventually reaching Meow Meow through her fingertips.
A gentle breeze rose from the earth, blowing aside the long hair that had been obscuring her eyes. A warmth gradually spread from her palms, and she faintly heard the stirrings of life.
Ji Yinxiu stood to the side, barely daring to breathe. The scene he had witnessed in Mount Taibai was repeating itself. Golden patterns appeared on Xia Zhu's skin, and a warm breeze swirled around them from below. When Miao Miao opened her eyes from her lap, he felt his heart stop for a moment.
To bring someone back to life.
It's like a power that belongs only to God.
Meow meowed twice at Xia Zhu, rested on her lap for a few seconds, and finally returned to its usual state. It shook its head and jumped to the ground, circling the room a few times as if looking for something. Finally, it found that there was no one else here except Xia Zhu and Ji Yinxiu, so it began to raise its head and let out a piercing scream, like an air raid siren.
Xia Zhu was so shocked by the powerful life force it unleashed that she couldn't stand up. She remained seated in the chair, her fingertips slightly numb, and the continuous meowing of the cat in her ears. She looked down at her palms and felt that something inside her had changed.
She looked up to find Ji Yinxiu, just as she was about to say something to him, when the door was suddenly pounded on violently. Xia Zhu couldn't help but clutch her chest, her heartbeat strangely synchronized with the sound of the pounding.
Ji Yinxiu went to open the door, and she also stood up from the chair. Miaomiao was still meowing, its voice seemed to have changed from excitement to some kind of anxiety. Xia Zhu was confused, and when she opened the door, she saw Ying Ya's flustered face.
His face was deathly pale, and when he saw Xia Zhu behind Ji Yinxiu, he began to shout something at her with his mouth open.
She wondered if she had misheard. The tinnitus she had felt before returned, accompanied by meowing. She heard Ying Ya say that Feng Mian was dead.
He died.
Xia Zhu thought he was joking. Ying Ya was different from ordinary teenagers. Maybe he didn't understand what death meant? Death is the cessation of breathing and heartbeat. It means never opening your eyes again to speak or smile.
But she clearly saved Feng Mian, and he was just leaning against the headboard talking about Feng Feng's childhood.
How could he have died?
Ying Ya squeezed in from outside the door, trying to grab Xia Zhu by pushing past Ji Yinxiu, but was stopped by Ying Huo who arrived just in time. The howling of meows seemed to have woken many people. When Xia Zhu came to the courtyard, she saw many Yun family members dressed in black and red Miao costumes gathered under the stilted house of Feng Mian. She saw Yun Jiu in the crowd, staring in her direction without saying a word. She always had a detached look, ethereal and aloof, yet it seemed as if she had seen through everything. At this moment, there seemed to be something in her lifeless eyes.
But Xia Zhu didn't have time to think. She pushed open Feng Mian's door and saw him lying on the bed, the blanket covering his shoulders, his face calm, as if he were asleep.
If it weren't for the fact that Feng Feng looked like he was about to faint at any moment, she would have thought that Feng Mian was indeed sleeping very well, just as he had said.
Feng Feng held Feng Mian's hand tightly. Her face was deathly pale. In Xia Zhu's eyes, she looked more like a dying person than her brother.
Her face was expressionless, and her eyes seemed somewhat unfocused. But the moment she looked up and saw Xia Zhu, her gaze returned. She released Feng Mian's hand, stood up from the chair, ran across the room to Xia Zhu, and grasped her hand, pleading, "Xia Zhu, please save Feng Mian, please save him..."
Then she saw Miaomiao emerge from Xia Zhu's feet, and her tone immediately became joyful.
“Meow Meow came back to life, so Feng Mian should too. She was perfectly fine before, I don’t know why she suddenly became like this… No heartbeat, no breathing. When I left, Feng Mian was still asking me what I wanted to eat tomorrow morning…” Feng Feng suddenly realized that she seemed to have said too much. She stopped her delirious ramblings and gripped Xia Zhu’s hand tightly. “A-Zhu, thank goodness for you, thank goodness for your life-saving power. Quickly, please wake Feng Mian up, okay?”
Xia Zhu nodded blankly and was led to the bedside by Feng Feng.
For some reason, she was hesitant to touch Feng Mian's hand.
With so many people surrounding Feng Mian, it was like watching a sleeping person. For a second, she even felt a little amused, and the corners of her mouth involuntarily twitched. She thought to herself that Feng Mian would feel embarrassed if she woke up later, since the Yun family members were also crowding around the door, men, women, young and old, making it inexplicably lively.
She raised her eyes and saw Yun Jiu again, seemingly lost in the crowd.
Alright, let's not worry about whether Feng Mian will feel awkward later, that's his own business. What she needs to do now is to wake Feng Mian up, just like she woke up Miao Miao.
Thinking this, Xia Zhu took Feng Mian's hand out from under the covers and then held it tightly.
His hands were indeed very cold, and she was startled when she touched them.
But it's okay, it will warm up soon.
Xia Zhu adjusted her breathing and tried to close her eyes, but she suddenly noticed that Miao Miao had jumped onto the bed with great effort and a comical gesture, rubbing her fluffy head against Feng Mian and nudging his face with her wet nose again and again.
Her attention was somewhat distracted, so she forced herself not to look at anything else, but simply to find the energy within her body and concentrate it in her palm.
But no matter how many times she inhaled and exhaled, she couldn't grasp any force.
She reopened her eyes and looked down at her hands clasped with Feng Mian's. She didn't understand why this was happening.
My body feels completely empty.
It was as if they had never possessed any divine power.
A layer of cold sweat broke out on the skin that had touched Feng Mian. Xia Zhu trembled as she withdrew one hand and wiped it on her clothes. She didn't dare turn her head, but stared intently at the two people's hands. She was afraid that Feng Feng, who was closest to her, would notice something amiss, and she was also afraid that Yun Jiu, who was standing at the door, would ask something.
Fengmian.
She quietly raised her eyes and looked at Feng Mian's face.
She resembles Feng Feng in some ways, except her skin is always so fair.
Fengmian.
She heard herself calling his name in her mind, trying to wake him up in this ridiculous way.
Fengmian, I don't know what to do.
Fengmian, it seems I've lost my power.
Fengmian, are you really gone?
Xia Zhu has always had this problem: when she gets nervous, her thoughts drift away from her body and fly to faraway places. She can't concentrate and can't even perceive the emotions she should be experiencing in the moment.
She began to imagine that Feng Mian was just asleep, and that he would suddenly open his eyes in the next second, look at everyone with a smile, and say that he had come up with an idea to scare them since the journey had been so boring.
He would definitely laugh at Feng Feng's tears and tease Xia Zhu about his nervousness.
After all, he is Feng Mian. Feng Mian will always be standing in one place, and whenever she feels confused or puzzled, she can find his gaze at a glance.
Her palms were sweating more and more, and she could barely hold onto Feng Mian's hand anymore. The more she tried to pull, the heavier it became, and suddenly that pale hand fell from mid-air.
"Why?"
She heard Feng Feng's icy voice.
Why hasn't Feng Mian woken up yet?
Feng Feng grabbed Xia Zhu's hand, which was suspended in mid-air, forcing her to turn and face him.
"A-Zhu?" Her eyes were both burning and unfamiliar, and Xia Zhu felt a huge fear rise from the soles of her feet.
"I'll try again."
She heard herself trying to sound calm as she took Feng Mian's hand again.
Close your eyes and sink into darkness.
There was nothing there.
Not a ray of light could penetrate, let alone any golden veins. The desolate awkwardness threatened to swirl and suck her into an abyss of no return. Xia Zhu prayed she could at least do something, but she didn't even dare open her eyes.
I opened my eyes, and there Fengmian was lying there.
The room was too quiet; she could only hear a shallow breath beside her, which grew heavier and more rapid, like a panic attack. She had heard this sound before; her grandfather had sounded the same way before he died, his chest like a leaky bellows, trying to inhale oxygen but only able to let out dry groans.
She suddenly opened her eyes. Feng Feng was lying beside Feng Mian's bed. Her face was deathly still, and her heavy breathing made her lips tremble. Ying Ya pushed Xia Zhu aside from behind and reached out to tightly grasp Feng Feng's shoulder.
Someone stopped her from retreating.
"How are you?" she heard Ying Huo ask her.
"I have no more power." She simply looked at Feng Feng's back, her voice sounding quite calm.
"No Xiang Power?" Feng Feng, who was by the bedside, suddenly got up. "What do you mean by no Xiang Power? Why is there no Xiang Power?" She rushed to Xia Zhu, grabbed her sleeve, and squeezed her hand into Xia Zhu's palm, trying to feel any abnormality from her skin.
"Why, Azhu? Your self-healing ability is so amazing. You even revived an orange tree in the house before. Just now... just now you even woke up Miaomiao!" She turned her head and pointed to the little dog curled up in a ball next to Fengmian.
"Why? Why can't it work at Fengmian!"
Her voice was strained and hoarse, sounding unlike the voice Feng Feng used to make. Xia Zhu felt a tickle deep in her ears. She lowered her head and wanted to ask herself why she couldn't do it now.
"I'm sorry." But that was all that came out of my mouth.
"I'm sorry, I don't know why either."
The grip on his wrist loosened instantly, and an uncomfortable buzzing sound filled his ears due to the sudden silence.
I know why.
Xia Zhu looked up blankly. Yun Jiu, who had been standing at the door since the beginning, was staring at her without moving. Her expression remained the same, still innocent and naive.
“I know why,” Yun Jiu said again, her gaze passing over Feng Feng and focusing only on Xia Zhu among the crowd, as if the two of them were the only ones in the space.
"Why?" Feng Feng asked first.
“I’ve said before, you and I are the same.” Yun Jiu was still speaking to Xia Zhu, “The same abilities, the same gifts.”
Xia Zhu stared into her eyes without answering.
Yun Jiu raised her hand and touched her face, saying softly, "The golden patterns are the same as mine; they are the patterns of a One-Line Gu."
"From the first glance, I knew that there was also a Gu in your body."
"The divine power of the One-Line Gu is to bring the dead back to life."
"But it can only be used once."
Xia Zhu held her breath, trying to understand Yun Jiu's words, but every word was so unfamiliar. Feng Feng, however, rushed over excitedly, grabbed Yun Jiu's shoulders, and questioned her.
"You said 'also'? Does that mean you also have a Gu worm in your body? Can you, can you save Feng Mian? Please save Feng Mian! I'll give you anything! The Feng family will promise you everything they can!"
A middle-aged woman dressed similarly to Yun Jiu walked out of the crowd. She was one of the younger members of the Yun family. The woman stepped forward and pulled Feng Feng back, solemnly stopping her anxious behavior.
"The One-Line Gu is a sacred object of our Yun family. How could it be used so casually? It's a magical treasure bestowed upon the Yun family by the gods, and it can only be used on members of the Yun family! It hasn't been used even once in thousands of years. You bunch of outsiders who suddenly barged in won't be able to take it away!"
"That's right!"
"That's right!"
The Yun family members, who had been watching the show from the doorway, began to stir because of Feng Feng's words. They resentfully scolded her and pushed Yun Jiu to leave first, saying that even if the first-line Gu was to be used, it had to be discussed by the Yun family elders.
But Feng Feng couldn't wait that long. She grabbed Yun Jiu and refused to let go, pleading with her to save her brother. Yun Jiu, who was in the eye of the storm, remained motionless and expressionless, as if the chaos before her was not caused by her.
"Wait a minute!" The woman from the Yun family who spoke first suddenly shouted. She looked away from Feng Feng and stared at Yun Jiu's face, seemingly examining the dark red marks closely.
"What did you mean just now? Are those Gu patterns on your face from a first-line Gu?" She seemed to suddenly realize something terrifying, her features all scrunched up, and she unconsciously took a step back, pointing at Yun Jiu.
"Ah Jiu, where is the One-Line Gu?"
As the crowd calmed down, the Yun family members all turned to look at the girl surrounded in the middle, but she still tilted her head, looking bewildered.
Feng Feng ignored the internal conflicts within the Yun family; she only wanted to use the One Line Gu to save Feng Mian. Instead of letting go of Yun Jiu's hand, she gripped it even tighter, her nails seemingly digging into Yun Jiu's delicate flesh, as the girl's face showed a pained expression.
"Please save Feng Mian! Please! Please!"
She continued to shake Yun Jiu frantically. Ying Ya tried to pull her away, but Feng Feng flicked her aside with vines.
Xia Zhu's fingers twitched. She wanted to step forward to comfort Feng Feng, but she saw Yun Jiu's expression change. Her eyes suddenly brightened, and a faint smile slowly crept onto her lips. The next second, she easily broke free from Feng Feng's grasp.
She twisted her neck and even stretched, taking a step back to increase the distance between herself and Feng Feng and the others.
"Why do you always hit me like that? You pinched me so hard it hurts." She rubbed her shoulder and gave Feng Feng a fierce look. "What's the rush? And you..." Yun Jiu turned to look at the woman from the Yun family. "Auntie Ayi, let her finish speaking first."
Yun Yi stared at the junior in front of her in disbelief, as if she were looking at some terrifying monster.
The latter ignored her gaze, instead grinning at Feng Feng with an innocent smile, but his words sent a chill down Xia Zhu's spine.
"The One-Line Gu is indeed with me."
"However, I've already used it."
"You, you..." Yun Yi suddenly took two steps back, swaying from side to side as if she couldn't stand still. She pointed a trembling hand at Yun Jiu, her voice revealing immense fear.
"You are...you are Yun Huan!?"
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Author's Note: I'm exasperated. I suddenly realized that I haven't been using the character "妘" correctly. In the setting, it should be "妘" with the "女" (woman) radical. I used "云" (cloud) instead for typing speed, but it wasn't corrected in the main text. Sorry for affecting the reading experience. I will use "妘" again starting from this chapter. As for the previous ones, I will correct them slowly later.
I apologize again.
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