Murong Xiao flipped through the scriptures, pretending to understand. After giving a nod to Li Mo and Grandpa Murong Yunhai, he waved his hand to say goodbye.
“Brother Li, take care.”
“Take care, Master of Mourning Love.”
“You little…!”
The departure scene was filled with reluctant emotions, and Murong Xiao had so much to say, but he didn’t know how.
Li Mo chuckled and returned to the Water Clan’s cave to tidy up the kitchenware and other things.
Ying Bing was still in a daze, completely unaware when Li Mo walked up beside her. She didn’t even notice when a tea leaf fell from her cup, her soul seemingly floated away to who knows where.
“Ice Chunk.”
“Hmm?”
“Let’s go visit the Marriage Tree again.”
Ying Bing, initially looking down, fluttered her eyelashes when she heard this, suddenly snapping back to reality.
“Why are we going there again?”
“I think I dropped something there last time.”
Fine then.
Little Li wanted to see if he could fulfill his wish in front of the tree; who knows when he would ever see that Marriage Tree again. The scene he saw yesterday at the Hundred Flavors Pavilion had left him with a bit of PTSD.
“Then let’s go look for it.”
Ying Bing touched her big-headed doll and nodded.
The two headed out of the Water Clan’s cave.
“By the way.”
“Hmm?”
“What do you think would happen if a True Dragon and a True Phoenix mated?”
Ying Bing, who had been daintily walking, nearly tripped at his words and quickly grabbed Li Mo’s sleeve when she regained her balance.
“Why are you asking that?”
“Um… Just out of curiosity. I’ve never heard of the descendants of a True Dragon and a True Phoenix.” Li Mo pondered.
“That’s because True Dragons and True Phoenixes have never appeared at the same time.”
Little Li was even more confused now.
Having seen the Jade Phoenix Divine, Ying Bing softly explained, “Because of the collective belief of beings, True Dragons and True Phoenixes didn’t just exist; they were born from the faith of living beings.”
“Currently, Da Yu still exists, its national fortune condensed into the aura of the Golden Dragon, so we can’t even mention the True Phoenix.”
“This relates to the Guan Shen method—if the faith of living beings is lost, the power will keep weakening.”
After listening to Ice Chunk’s explanation, Little Li was deep in thought.
Memories from the womb told him that the mainstream belief was that dragons were fictional creations.
They were born from groups of various beings who believed in each other, battling and merging until they formed what became a totem for all descendants of Yan and Huang.
Well, in his past life, there weren’t that many mysterious powers, not to mention he still barely understood the collective belief power now.
It might not be a suitable comparison.
Before long.
The two arrived at the base of the Marriage Tree.
“Hmm? Did I fulfill my wish?”
Li Mo clearly remembered where he had hung his wish pouch, but it was now empty. He walked around the Marriage Tree a few times and found no trace of his pouch.
“Ice Chunk, my pouch is gone. Do you have any idea where it could be?”
“Maybe someone picked it up?”
Ying Bing silently looked to the side.
“How rude! Which son of a g*n steals a wish pouch?!”
Little Li was furious.
Smack—
Suddenly, a sound echoed in his ears.
It was Ying Bing, expressionless, squeezing the big-headed doll so hard it squeaked.
“No big deal, just a wish pouch. I can hang ten or eight more later.”
Li Mo suddenly felt less angry.
With that squeezing, his scalp felt a bit tingly.
This feeling of empathy was a bit too direct, to put it mildly…
Having already greeted Wu Qing and her husband, Li Mo intended to leave the South Border with Ying Bing and return to the Qingyuan Sect.
His trusty steed had gone back home.
Li Mo didn’t expect Ice Chunk to plan the route, so he borrowed her map.
The two arrived at a small pavilion not far from the Marriage Tree.
However, as he unfolded the map, he froze.
“Li Mo Village… Li Mo Mountain… Li Mo River… Li Mo Clan…”
The map was indeed very accurate, but many places were not labeled, which was normal; a map bought from a merchant wouldn’t have details for every little spot.
It was widely known that Ice Chunk wasn’t great with directions.
Little Li couldn’t help but imagine that chilly Qingluan Divine Maiden getting lost, pulling out a map to figure out her location, and only getting more confused, not knowing where she was at all.
So she picked up a pen…
“There are indeed places marked here.”
Ying Bing took back the map, her clear eyes focused.
“Yup, that’s it.”
Looking at the delicate hands still gripping the big-headed doll, Little Li nodded.
Then he pulled out his own map, planning their way home.
After a while.
In the pavilion, Li Mo rubbed his forehead, just about to glance into the distance when he noticed two more figures by the Marriage Tree.
Ying Bing followed his gaze.
Not far away was that cheerful Qingluan clan leader, Shang Qin Qing, laughing happily upon seeing them.
And she wasn’t alone; beside her was a pure monk wearing a gauzy hat. They were about ten feet from the little pavilion.
Pure monk?
Wasn’t that the famed Huai Kong?!
Shang Qin Qing looked at Huai Kong with an oddly lingering expression.
“Hiss…”
Little Li inhaled sharply, sensing something unusual, he instantly held his breath and locked his aura.
The renowned monk was getting so cozy with a female demon like that!
This was way more shocking than Elder Xue looking for trouble with a lantern! He definitely couldn’t sleep soundly tonight.
Well then.
It seemed both the monk and Shang Qin Qing were absorbed in each other’s presence, neglecting the world around them.
“You’re finally waking up.”
“Lady Benefactor, this poor monk does not know who you are…”
“Then you should open your eyes and look at me.”
“……”
Huai Kong sighed deeply.
As he did, he opened his eyes, his murky gaze sparkling back to life, and his dry skin quickly became rosy and elastic.
In an instant, he transformed into a middle-aged monk.
“I knew you would… otherwise, you wouldn’t have placed the Marriage Tree in the temple.”
Shang Qin Qing glared at him, gritting her teeth.
The Qingluan symbolizes love.
So does the Marriage Tree. To be precise, as the only pureblood Qingluan in the world, encountering one’s destined partner under this tree caused it to become extraordinary.
Couples making wishes before the tree surely didn’t just harness mere collective belief power.
This is also why Shang Qin Qing retained some of her strength, allowing the Qingluan clan to thrive on its own.
Huai Kong opened his mouth.
“If you claim I lie, I’ll push this tree down, just like the Natural Disasters and the Nine-Headed Bird.”
“Don’t be foolish…”
Who knew where the other monks in the temple had gone? Probably being forced into extra homework by their abbot.
In any case, Shang Qin Qing suddenly lunged at the monk and began to nibble on him.
If the monks saw this, they’d probably freak out! Their esteemed abbot was being nibbled on by a demon!
Li Mo leaned back in tactical retreat.
No wonder that Qingluan clan elder looked at him and Ice Chunk with such longing; it turned out they were starving!
You see, this just proved that you can’t keep yourself pent-up for too long; just like Brother Murong, who couldn’t hold back his wandering thoughts…
Ying Bing’s clear eyes reflected the scene not far away, her lips gently pursed.
She recalled that day.
While he slept, she had secretly…
Upon reflection, that didn’t really count as a kiss…
Was it supposed to be like this?
She turned her head, her eyes couldn’t help but sneak a glance at his lips.
……
PS: Today there was an unexpected emergency at home, so I apologize for the late update, dear audience.
There’s one more chapter to write tonight, and you’ll definitely be able to read it by tomorrow morning! Mwah!
