Two people in distress
When Tian Baozhu came down from the cloud ladder, in addition to seeing the accountant, she also saw Meng Po greeting them below.
"Meng Po, why are you here on the roof? Are you feeling better now?"
"Sister, are you guys looking for golden nanmu saplings? My employee told the accountant, and he came back to me. I then realized you didn't mention it so I could get over it first."
"Yes, actually, when I was helping you find pearls, I saw a golden nanmu seedling. I was so eager to get close to it that I didn't notice my feet falling into the water. I want to ask for your help and take us to the unknown area we visited last time. But you need to be quiet, so I haven't told you yet..."
"You stopped working and helped me, and I'm very grateful. Now that you need me, of course I have no choice but to help you. How can I let my emotions delay? I'll take you to find him."
"I also want to take my puppy with me. He has a keen sense of smell. The characteristic of golden nanmu is its unique fragrance. If he can smell it, he will definitely discover it faster than us."
The accountant returned to the King of Hell's Palace, and the three of them went to the flower field on the Yellow Springs Road, taking the vicious dog with them to look for the mysterious golden nanmu seedling.
In the flower fields, the damaged flowers and grass have been cleared. Since all the flower bulbs had been dug up and destroyed, Meng Po returned the new bulbs Tian Baozhu had given her, allowing the fields of red spider lilies to be repaired and replanted. Tian Baozhu, having once doubted herself after being rebuked by the Emperor of Heaven, now has the support of Meng Po and her staff, deeply moved and inspired.
She also wants to bring back the golden nanmu seedlings.
Meng Po opened a teleportation gate next to the field of red spider lilies.
The door that had experienced emotional fluctuations was different from before. The shape of the door was like quicksand, twisted and tilted, reflecting that Meng Po's heart was still not stable enough.
Tian Baozhu was worried about her and suggested that they wait for a while until she recovered before going. Meng Po insisted that she had adjusted her condition now and she could do it.
"This time, I will learn to forget the negative things, just like before."
Meng Po gathered her strength once again, and the "door" returned to its previous stable state.
They passed through the gate and came to the place where there was indeed a valley with a stream.
Tian Baozhu took Hei Wuchang and Meng Po to the location where she discovered the golden nanmu seedlings.
"It's right here. There's a difference in height. Be careful when you come here. I smelled a strange fragrance last time and found it all the way here. I remember seeing it here..."
Tian Baozhu pointed to the place she remembered, but there was no fragrance and no trace of saplings. There were only stones and fallen leaves, and moss growing by the water because there was no light.
If she hadn't been so impressed by the height difference and slope that caused her to fall into the water, she would have almost thought that she had remembered the wrong location.
We can only ask an expert with a keen sense of smell to come out. Tian Baozhu patted the vicious dog and said:
"Little dog, it's your turn."
The vicious dog jumped nimbly from one plot of land to another, sniffing with its head down, searching in circles like a carpet.
The result was still nothing.
"Strange..." Tian Baozhu muttered to herself, and she and Hei Wuchang were busy looking for it.
"Did I bring you to the wrong place?"
Meng Po lost her composure and began to doubt herself. She thought it was because she was not focused enough that she was teleported to a "similar" place instead of the unknown area they had been to.
"Calm down, it's okay." Tian Baozhu comforted.
Hei Wuchang also said: "When in an unknown area, you must first calm your mind, otherwise the magnetic field will be easily disturbed."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Meng Po grabbed her own black robe and just kept apologizing. It was too late for the two people to remind her, and she could no longer hear their words of comfort.
Meng Po's mood was once again greatly fluctuating, and the teleportation "door" suddenly appeared around her, sucking Meng Po and the evil dog away and away they disappeared.
When Tian Baozhu and Hei Wuchang ran over and wanted to enter the door together, the closed door suddenly bounced them open.
Only two people were left there.
"They disappeared...what should we do?"
Tian Baozhu and Hei Wuchang looked at each other.
※※※
What should they do, choose to move or wait where they are?
The two of them thought silently for a long time, and finally compromised. While waiting for Meng Po to come back to find them, they continued to look for traces of golden nanmu nearby.
Tian Baozhu once again stood on the edge, observing every tiny detail. However, the result was the same as at the beginning. She no longer saw the fragrant golden nanmu sapling.
This made her feel a little shaken. Could it be that the golden nanmu tree she saw that time was just an illusion?
Or is it like Meng Po said, that they came to similar but different places?
She also went to check the traces left by the moss on the big stone that she had chiseled with the Ring of Awakening, confirming that they had come to the place they had visited last time.
She once again stood on the riverside slope where she had seen the golden nanmu seedlings.
Everything was the same, except for the golden nanmu seedlings that she had seen, which seemed to exist only in her imagination.
That's not right. It can't be an illusion or a fantasy, because she clearly showed the leaves to Hei Wuchang...
She searched the hidden space, but couldn't find the leaf she had brought back.
Gone? Her heart sank, but she saw the insect-shaped gold coin that she had also placed in the hidden space and that the Emperor of Heaven had rewarded her with vibrated and flew up when the space opened up.
????
Tian Baozhu no longer cared about why the insect-shaped gold coin flew up. She only had one thing on her mind now -
We can’t let the only clue to finding the golden nanmu tree be lost!
Come back! She reached out to grab it.
Then--
She was on the edge again and fell.
Why do people always fall in the same place?
※※※
"How are you? Can you still move your feet?"
Hei Wuchang asked Tian Baozhu, they had just experienced the danger of being washed all the way downstream by the current, and they were not out of danger until they were brought to a flat place in the underground river in the cave.
"No, at least for now it's heavy. I want it to move, but it won't move at all." When Tian Baozhu fell, Hei Wuchang also grabbed her at the same time, but she fell too fast and he couldn't pull her up. Instead, he fell into the water with her. Hei Wuchang was lucky enough to not be hit in the water, but Tian Baozhu was worse off. She was scraped several times along the way, so now her feet can't move.
This was really serious. Her body felt so heavy now, as if it didn't belong to her, and so stiff as if she had turned into a piece of immovable wood. Only her mind was still thinking.
"Senior, please help me ring the bell, and then see if you can hypnotize me through the sound of the bell and make me move on my own."
Black Wuchang was shocked by Tian Baozhu's idea. First, he didn't know whether the magic weapon used by others to manipulate Bai Wuchang would be effective; second, he didn't know whether using the soul-calling bell on Tian Baozhu would have any adverse side effects on her.
However, his concerns were immediately dispelled. He took the soul-summoning bell in his hand, but it did not move at all. It seemed that only those who were recognized as the next generation of Bai Wuchang could use it, just like when he was dragged to inherit the position of the ninety-ninth generation of Hei Wuchang.
"This won't do... I can only wait for my body to recover on its own..." Tian Baozhu lay flat on the gravel beach in the cave. Now her legs could not move, her hands were still numb, and only her mouth could speak. She looked at Hei Wuchang's condition next to her, and it was not much better than hers.
"I don't know how the puppy is doing. I hope it's not in danger with Meng Po."
They are also unable to protect themselves at this time. If they were in good physical condition, it would be fine, but now they are all injured and it will take time to recover.
She looked at her hand again. Fortunately, even though her hand was stiff, the worm-shaped gold coin was still tightly held in her hand.
"They should be fine. Your condition is the most serious right now. You should not think too much about other things and just rest and recover."
Tian Baozhu felt that Hei Wuchang had also laid down beside her. Half of the sky could be seen outside the cave, and it was already completely dark.
"I don't know when I can recover. This is a huge waste of time and a burden to you, Senior."
"You're just too impatient. You're always the first to rush into things and try to pave the way for us. You could take it slow."
"Because before, I really was charging forward alone. It seems like this has become a stigma, a habit that I can't change."
"Actually, you can also rely on me. Didn't we agree that we're partners? Can you tell me about any unpleasant things you've encountered in the past?"
Although Hei Wuchang stuttered when expressing his concern, which he rarely expressed, he was trying his best to express it so that Tian Baozhu would not feel so guilty.
Although her words were clumsy, Tian Baozhu sensed his comfort and smiled faintly. She looked at the cave ceiling, where countless tiny fluorites glowed in the darkness, like the stars in the night sky. In this quiet atmosphere, she dropped her forced disguise and slowly told her story...
※※※
"Senior, you said I was lively before, and I said I wasn't. Actually, I wasn't lying. In the past, I was seen as a dark person by others. Really, I was crawling in the dark.
Mom always tells me to go out and play by myself because she has to take care of my brother and can’t take care of me. You are the older sister, you can’t compete with your brother for mom, you have to be good.”
It is not difficult to imagine such a scene: little Tian Baozhu squatting in the corner, talking to the earthworms in the mud.
The children played a prank and threw mud on her face.
Dirty ghost! Playing in the mud all day!
Mud, mud is not dirty! Lots of plants grow in mud, flowers grow in mud, and delicious fruits grow in mud!
"After just one week in kindergarten, I was nicknamed Dirty Ghost. Children's likes and dislikes are pure, and now I think about it, I was the one who didn't fit in.
Dad doesn't love us, not even mom or brother. He loves to spend money outside. Mom is the piggy bank that can provide him with money.
My father's last name is Tian, and my mother's is Zhu, so the homophonic meaning of "Tian Baozhu" is "Dad protects Mom." This was Mom's hope, but it was in vain; Dad didn't change for the better. Then Mom pinned her hopes on having a son. My younger brother was named Tian Baoer, a son who would protect her own status. Unexpectedly, no matter how many children she had, she couldn't control her fickle nature.
I used to hate people teasing me about my name because it sounds like "zhu" (zhu). They mocked me for being dark, dirty, and burrowing in the mud all day. But I don't hate the character "tian" (tian). It makes me feel connected to farmland.
I was prepared to crawl in the darkness for the rest of my life, until I went to an agricultural university, where I met a group of like-minded people. I worked with the fields, planted crops in the land, and cultivated the fruits of my sweat.
I will no longer hate my name, Tian Baozhu, because the field will produce precious things, as precious as jewels. I also want to be like the field, even if outsiders think I am covered in mud, I will make myself bear abundant flowers.
She didn't want to analyze herself in front of others at all, but Hei Wuchang said nothing and just listened to her quietly.
She turned her head away so that Hei Wuchang wouldn't see the silent tears flowing down her face. She chuckled softly to hide her embarrassment. "I also want to know you, to understand you, the former... Hei Wuchang."
"I, have no memory—"
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