Chapter 249: The Past
In the cave, orange-red firelight flickered, reflecting on the damp rock walls and bringing a trace of warmth to the cold cavern.
The four people sat on the ground.
"These villagers are too strange," Jiang Che revealed a trace of lingering fear. "Clearly there are no True Essence fluctuations, yet they can spew fire and discharge electricity, displaying all kinds of special abilities."
"Even more bizarre is their physical strength. My sword chopped down on them, just like chopping on Dark Iron."
"Could it be some kind of secret method?" Chen Xingcai guessed. "I heard the Southern Border has a type of witchcraft... that can turn people into a type of puppet..."
"It is neither." A childish voice suddenly interrupted him.
The three turned their heads simultaneously, looking at Xiao Luo who had been silent all along. The little girl hugged her knees with both hands, the firelight casting swaying shadows on her face.
"What did you say?" Han Yu put down his long sword.
Xiao Luo raised her head, the jumping flames reflected in her eyes. "They are just ordinary people, it is just that..."
She paused. "It is that they are ordinary people who received a blessing."
"Blessing?" Jiang Che almost laughed out loud. "You call that a blessing?"
Thinking of the villagers' appearance, looking neither human nor ghost, Jiang Che even felt that the ghostly things he saw drifting in the Ghost Domain for so many years were more pleasing to the eye.
"Xiao Luo," Han Yu raised his hand to stop Jiang Che, his voice softening. "What do you mean by the blessing you mentioned?"
The fire pile suddenly burst with a string of sparks, illuminating Xiao Luo's pale face.
"It means literally that." Her voice was so light it was almost inaudible. "They were all just ordinary mortals before, until one day, they obtained the 'blessing', which turned them into their current appearance."
Chen Xingcai and Jiang Che exchanged a look.
"Who gave the blessing?" Han Yu pursued the question.
Xiao Luo buried her face into her knees and spoke no more. Inside the cave, the firelight swayed, stretching the shadows of the four people very long.
Xiao Luo hugged her knees, burying her face in the crook of her arms, revealing only a pair of pitch-black eyes.
After a long while, seeing that Xiao Luo still had no intention of answering, Han Yu did not continue to press, but instead changed the subject. He poked the fire pile with his scabbard, and sparks crackled and exploded.
"Last time you said that if we fought with them, we would be 'noticed', right?"
This time, Xiao Luo nodded gently, her hair hanging down in the firelight. "Yes, so why did you come to save me... you can never leave here anymore."
"Since we cannot leave here," Han Yu's voice was very calm. "We must know the truth, right? To know what thing is watching us."
"Yes!" Jiang Che nodded in agreement. "Even if we die, you must at least let us die understanding clearly!"
Han Yu threw a sharp glance over, and Jiang Che immediately shrank his neck. Yet unexpectedly, Xiao Luo seemed to be moved.
She slowly raised her head, firelight jumping on her childish face. "Actually, before... everyone was not like this."
The breathing of the three involuntarily lightened.
"I heard mother say... at that time, everyone was still ordinary people, living plain and simple lives at the foot of Mount Kunlun."
Xiao Luo's voice was as light as a wisp of smoke. "Just like what you saw during the day, calm and stable. Many immortals lived on the mountain. When there was drought, the immortals would even descend the mountain to help villagers pray for rain, so the seedlings in the fields would not wither and die. Therefore, the people in the village admired and revered the immortals very much."
Her gaze suddenly became dazed, as if seeing something terrible across time.
"But suddenly one day, the sky collapsed." Xiao Luo unconsciously gripped the corner of her clothes tightly.
"At that time I was not yet born. Mother said, that early morning was still clear and boundless, then suddenly a 'crack' sound was heard—"
"Everyone saw the sky split open with a pitch-black crack, just like... just like the ice surface being smashed."
"From that crack, black things constantly fell down. Some were like scorched stones, some were like... like living shadows."
Chen Xingcai unconsciously shifted closer to the fire pile.
"The villagers were so scared they knelt on the ground crying and shouting, watching as those black shadows were about to smash into the village..."
Xiao Luo's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Just at this moment, the Immortals on the mountain made a move. Mother said she would forever remember that scene—countless streaks of golden light rose from the mountain peak, weaving into a giant net in the air."
The fire pile suddenly crackled and popped, startling Xiao Luo into a shiver.
"Those black shadows smashed onto the net, emitting terrible roaring sounds." Her speaking speed became faster and faster. "Several Immortals flew down from the mountain peak; it was they who protected the village."
Xiao Luo's voice came to an abrupt halt, and the light in her eyes also extinguished. "However, after that disaster, no one ever saw the Immortals again."
...
Han Yu pondered for a moment, then asked softly, "Those Immortals... what did they look like?"
Xiao Luo raised her head, her gaze sweeping quickly over Jiang Che's and Chen Xingcai's faces, then lowered her head again.
"My mother said the Immortals consisted of both men and women, and all looked very good-looking..." Her voice became smaller and smaller, and she stole another glance at the two. "Probably... just as good-looking as them."
Han Yu: "..."
Silence spread in the cave for a moment, then Xiao Luo continued, "Although there were no Immortals, everyone still lived ordinarily, and later I was born."
Her fingers unconsciously twisted the corner of her clothes. "Then another few years passed, and we encountered a drought..."
The fire pile emitted a slight crackling sound, illuminating Xiao Luo's face, which was childish yet carried the vicissitudes of life.
"The village decided to send a person into the mountain to search for the missing Immortals and ask them to help us pray for rain." Xiao Luo's voice suddenly became drifting and indistinct. "That person was gone for a very, very long time... so long that everyone thought he was dead."
Jiang Che could not help but lean his body forward. "And then?"
"Just when everyone was about to give up, he returned." Xiao Luo's eyes glimmered with a strange brilliance in the firelight. "He brought back news of the Immortals—"
The air in the cave seemed to solidify.
"The Immortals asked all villages around Mount Kunlun to send people..." Xiao Luo's voice unconsciously lowered. "To go to the Divine Tree deep within Mount Kunlun. On the night of the full moon next month, the Immortals wanted to present a blessing to all mortals."
"What blessing?" Chen Xingcai could not help but pursue the question.
Xiao Luo raised her head, jumping firelight reflecting in her eyes. "A blessing that can allow mortals to become Immortals and obtain eternal life."
Her voice was clear and cold, carrying a trace of indifference far exceeding her current age. "Moreover, one could also make a wish to the Immortals to obtain the power one desires."
...
The firelight flickered dimly and brightly, illuminating Xiao Luo's pale face.
"So, this is the so-called 'blessing'?" Chen Xingcai's voice was somewhat tight. "And then? Why are you different from them? Also, what exactly is that thing 'watching' us?"
Xiao Luo's gaze landed faintly on the jumping flames, and the corners of her mouth pulled into a bitter smile. "Yes... why am I different from them?"
She suddenly extended her slender arm and slowly rolled up her sleeve.
The gazes of the three people involuntarily focused over there—
Under that fair skin, a trace of extremely faint black pattern was vaguely visible, pulsing slightly like a living creature. That pattern was exactly the same as those on the villagers' bodies, but compared to them, its color was countless times lighter. If one did not look carefully, it would not be clearly visible.
"Hiss—" Chen Xingcai sucked in a breath of cold air, subconsciously shrinking back.
Xiao Luo lowered her sleeve, her voice so light it was almost inaudible. "Out of trust in the Immortals, everyone in the village accepted the blessing... and I was no exception."
She raised her head, eyes flickering with complex light. "The only difference was... at that time Mother felt that as long as we could live a plain and happy life, she was satisfied... and simply did not need extra things..."
"So..." Xiao Luo's voice became lower and lower. "Mother and I... neither of us made a wish to the Sacred Tree... We were also the only two people in the entire village who did not make a wish to the Sacred Tree."
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