"Should we take Yan Jie to Xingdu with us and give him an opportunity to meet with President Yang?"
These past two days, Le Yao had been paying extra attention to Yan Jie. His 'lovesickness' seemed to be worsening, his every action now carried a trace of despondence and his entire being appeared to be dispirited.
At the thought of this, Le Yao smiled and added, "Otherwise, if he goes on like this, I'm afraid that he won't last until President Yang comes back to Huaxia again."
"I think it's better for him to have some time alone and live separately from Yang Hengtian for a while. This way, he can fully understand his own feelings towards Yang Hengtian."
Xu Yao continued, "Also, I don't think it will be long before Yang Hengtian comes back. After all, Yang Hengtian's current actions are the equivalent of 'marking' Yan Jie. An Alpha's possessiveness is somewhat strong and unreasonable. You can see that even when he was leaving, he still remembered to leave his 'taste' on Yan Jie. It's quite obvious that he's also concerned about this separation."
"Then if it's as you say, Yan Jie won't be staying here for long?"
"It's hard to say at this moment."
If their relationship continued to develop at the current pace, Yan Jie would probably end up marrying Yang Hengtian in the future. Although Yang Hengtian would be spending most of his time in Huaxia over the next few months, there would always be a day when the project would finish.
At that time, when this man returned to Tarot, he and Yan Jie would be separated once again. Then, what will happen if their relationship goes on?
Although there were a few 'long-distance couples' in the Flying Wolf Division, if they were given the choice to live together, who would be willing to stay apart for such a distance from their beloved?
"Forget it. Let's not talk about this anymore." Xu Yao continued, "In any case, in less than two years, the time taken to travel between the two planets will be shortened greatly. As long as there are sincere feelings, they will be able to overcome this small matter of distance. Let's talk about the new place I found instead."
"What place?"
"A place to plant the Blessing Tree."
"You already found it? That fast?!" Le Yao originally thought that it would take at least eight to ten days to find the right location.
Xu Yao had previously mentioned that, after moving to the Second Station, he would begin searching for a place with abundant spiritual energy in order to realise his plan of transplanting a branch of the Blessing Tree on Huaxia. At that time, Le Yao had thought that it would be quite difficult to find such a place. After all, the Earth wasn't small, ah.
Thinking so, Le Yao instinctively looked back at the memories from his previous life.
He remembered that, even back then, there were very few places on Earth with sufficient spiritual qi. If he had wanted to find such a place, the first requirement would have been to look for an area with unpolluted surroundings, such as a mountain or a vast landscape of greenery. Otherwise, no matter how good the place initially appeared, it would gradually become stained with the 'viciousness' of humans, and the natural spiritual qi there would eventually vanish.
Although it was true that there were many places in Huaxia where humans had yet to set foot, surely it was still difficult to find a place flowing with spiritual qi without seeing it directly, right?
It turned out that the place Xu Yao had found was a cave.
The mountain itself, which contained the cave, was shrouded in a blanket of clouds, and appeared to have been left untouched for countless centuries!
After listening to Leslie's explanation, Le Yao discovered that the mountain had not always been as high as it was currently. It was formed during the last natural disaster when a strong earthquake displaced the local landform, and thus a mountain rose and a cave was formed within.
Now, it was called 'Mian Yu Mountain', for it mysteriously and continuously drizzled there for most days of the year.
"Our original area of residence is covered with ice and snow during the winter, and all the vegetation there hibernates over those months. Similarly, it's too hot during the summer over here, so the local vegetation also has to go through a period of dormancy."
Xu Yao continued to explain, "Once this particular place reaches a suitable and habitable temperature, the surrounding vegetation recovers rapidly. And that basically happens during this time of the year, when there is constant rain. The plants will now grow very quickly. Then, by the time we leave to go back to the original camp, they will once again enter a state of dormancy."
Xu Yao continued to explain, "Once this particular place reaches a suitable and habitable temperature, the surrounding vegetation recovers rapidly. And that basically happens during this time of the year, when there is constant rain. The plants will now grow very quickly. Then, by the time we leave to go back to the original camp, they will once again enter a state of dormancy."
"Such a place is rare." The drizzle was like a veneer of silk covering the green mountain, giving it a veil of mystery. Although this layer couldn't be lifted, the tenderness of the 'veil' was almost tangible when at close range.
"It seems that President Liu and Yan Jie can come here to gain some insights later. On that topic, I think President Liu and Brother Han Mo have made remarkable progress in the study of xuanshu recently," said Le Yao.
Although it initially was only a temporary idea to teach metaphysics, the whole xuanshu class had now gained more or less of an understanding about the topic of study. These students were very diligent in their practice and didn't stop even if they were busy, going to the extent of reviewing the 'learning materials' in their spare time.
"Not too long ago, President Liu managed to successfully draw a talisman using spiritual power. At first, Yan Jie also seemed to be about to succeed but I think Yang Hengtian's departure has disrupted his thoughts recently." Xu Yao smiled and continued, "Although it is not a bad thing, he still became so anxious from failing to reach the final step."
"It's still good for him. After all, it wasn't easy to cultivate spiritual power, and now they have the ability to use it. So, it's good progress," said Le Yao.
In the past, their chance of success was very low for they needed to request and borrow power from the gods. But now, they could borrow it directly from himself or Xu Yao. It was so simple and easy.
While talking, Xu Yao guided Le Yao over to the entrance of the cave.
It wasn't that big or noticeable, but the interior surprised him, it was almost like the difference between Heaven and Earth when compared with its outside surroundings.
Standing at the entrance of the cave and looking down, Le Yao could see that the surroundings were illuminated by a faint light that seemed to be shining from the depths of the cave. Although he couldn't determine its origin, the light was very soft and gentle, not hurting his sight at all.
Le Yao subconsciously brought the incubator a little closer—he actually hadn't wanted to bring the three small ones with them on this exploration at all. But when they saw that both of their parents were walking away, the three little ones immediately craned their necks together in their direction and began to howl.
Their cries weren't particularly loud, but their silent sobs were even more pitiful to hear. Le Yao had no choice but to bring them along.
Xu Yao simply placed his hand on the incubator. "Don't worry, I already went to have a look into its depths when I came here last time. It's not dangerous. Just be careful with your footing because we'll be going down."
The Shenjun seal on the incubator was also powerful enough to keep them away from any sudden dangers.
Le Yao placed his own hand on top of Xu Yao's, the one which was against the incubator. "What is there to be afraid of when you are here?"
At that moment, their eldest son clenched his little fists and flapped his little fat legs at his parents. After that, he gave Le Yao a long stare.
"Wa?"
"What is it? You're so brave, Hanghang." Le Yao smiled. "It's time to enter the cave, and then our journey will soon begin."
"Dada~" Xu Hang turned to look at Xu Yao.
"Hanghang~" Xu Yao also smiled while watching his eldest son.
"Dada!" When he saw his Big Dad looking at him, he called out again, this time with even more enthusiasm.
"That's enough out of you two." Le Yao was speechless as he watched the scene play out. "Do the both of you, father and son, like to show off in front of me that much?"
"A~" Xu Hang's voice sounded out quickly as if to really answer: Yes!
Judging by the voice and the tone with which his son made the affirmation, Le Yao felt that the boy was very proud of himself, and he really couldn't tell who their son had taken after.
But then again, his son could only take after Xu Yao. Le Yao was quite sure that he hadn't had such a haughty character in any of his lifetimes as a child, but Xu Yao was different. After all, he had been very arrogant even during the time when he was imprisoned in Pusheng Lake, speaking and doing everything with a feeling of 'I'm so awesome.'
When Le Yao stepped into the cave, he unconsciously smiled and shook his head lightly as if to brush away his wandering thoughts. Then he focused his attention back onto the incubator and his footing.
After entering, the path would gradually descend. Although there were no steps, the road was still easy to walk. Moreover, they were both, fortunately, wearing military boots with thick soles, further reducing the risk of their feet being hurt by the uneven rocks.
Xu Yao held Le Yao's hand, and between them were their three children. With the intelligent light on the incubator activated, they could quite clearly see all the surrounding objects within a radius of three meters.
The three little guys were also staring with their eyes wide open. They seemed to be curious about the new environment they were in. Just looking here, and then over there, their eyes wandered around curiously while their mouths were babbling and murmuring 'baby words' that only they could understand.
"What is this light?" Le Yao asked. The soft light that could be seen from the cave entrance gradually increased in brightness as they continued to descend, but he still didn't know its origin.
"There is some kind of stone at the bottom of this cave. If we go down a little bit more, you'll be able to see that these stones look a bit like white jade, but they are much brighter."
"How did you find this place?" Remembering the small cave entrance, he felt that it wouldn't have been easy to notice such a hidden opening.
"When we calm our mind, we should be able to sense the fluctuation of spiritual qi in our surroundings, and naturally I could sense the abundant qi coming from within this cave," said Xu Yao.
"Un, I can also sense it. But it has to be within a certain range of me. I think this range…" Le Yao roughly estimated in his heart, "I think it's within a hundred meters. Something like this is still too far away for me to sense. How about you?"
"Considering the harmony of our nightlife, I think I should refuse to answer this question, Madam." Xu Yao smiled, "Why don't you guess?"
"I'll give you a month's worth of fun at night directly in return for not making me guess!" Le Yao grabbed Xu Yao's hand. "Hurry up, say it!"
"I don't know how far I can sense, but I had locked onto this position even before we relocated here."
Le Yao: "…" Oh damn!
If he remembered correctly, the original camp was at least thousands of kilometers away from here!
Le Yao stared at Xu Yao for a while, then suddenly threw away the hand he had just grabbed in disgust. "Hmph! I won't give you a month's worth of fun. Touch me and you'll be laid off directly for a lifetime."
Xu Hang: "He he~"
Xu Yao lowered his head. "Little boy, what are you laughing at?"
Extending his little arms, Xu Hang seemed to want to grasp the transparent glass in front of him, motioning his desire of wanting to leave the incubator. But he couldn't reach it no matter how he waved his hands. He could only continue to make grabbing gestures and pedal his legs restlessly.
Xu Yao could tell that his son wanted to come out, but it really wasn't convenient, so he didn't take him out in the end. Instead, he pressed a button which would play children's songs, and then continued to walk further into the cave.
The distance from the entrance to the main tunnel was not very far. After less than four minutes of walking down the extended slope, and taking two turns, they arrived at their destination.
Le Yao saw the 'white jade' stones that Xu Yao had mentioned earlier illuminating the space. The stones weren't small at all. The array of stones before them were long and slender and the way that they circled the area resembled a fence, with the tallest stone almost as long as an adult arm's, and the shortest one about half as tall as that.
Their surface was very smooth, and the color was indeed a bit like jade. The light he saw being emitted reminded him of the famed luminous night pearls. However, Le Yao couldn't be certain of exactly what the stones were.
However, what attracted most of his attention was not these 'white jade' pieces, but instead, the open space in the center of the fence. This wide area looked just like it was a reserved planting land for the Blessing Tree.
"Did you follow the path until reaching this place last time as well?" Le Yao asked as he stood beside the white jade fence.
"Yes." Xu Yao said, "The stones have been moved, otherwise they wouldn't be in such a circular formation."
"En. But it's indeed easier to gather spiritual qi if you arrange them like this. So, when shall we head back to retrieve the tree branch?"
"There's no need to go back." And as Xu Yao said this, he opened his right palm to reveal a sapling of the Blessing Tree.
The sapling wasn't that big, but its white color was the same as the fully-grown tree, the one he had seen in Xingdu's Fu Ta Yuan. It had taken root.
Le Yao guessed that the most likely reason why the sapling could appear so quickly was that Xu Yao had used his teleportation skill. Xu Yao had said before that he would use spiritual qi as nourishment and it was obvious that the branch had persevered and grown into a sapling.
The roots of the sapling sprawled across Xu Yao's palm. Le Yao reached out carefully to touch it, and found that it gently hooked his fingers, it was as if the sapling had its own consciousness.
Then, Xu Yao cast it into the air, watching as the sapling floated up and landed into the center of the white jade fence. Its roots quickly sank into the ground, and the color of the land touching its roots began to change rapidly.
All the soil inside the white jade fence rapidly disappeared from sight, before a small cold pool finally emerged. This little spirit tree was just like the Fu Ta Yuan version in Xingdu, it was also rooted in a pool of water.
As it absorbed the spiritual aura from the surrounding environment, it quickly grew at a visible speed.
"Da, Dada~" The magical scene outside attracted Xu Hang's attention from within the incubator. He excitedly clapped and shouted even louder, "Da!"
"Wa~"
Xu Wei and Xu Li also saw the changes happening to the tree. Previously, they weren't able to see it because of its short height as a sapling, but when the tree grew taller, it finally reached their range of vision. The emergence of a white thing with a shape they had never seen before made them very enthusiastic.
"Wu a~" Xu Li kicked her legs agitatedly, and she stared at the Blessing Tree with her big black round eyes.
The tree still continued to grow. The height of the cave was only about seven or eight meters. Le Yao was worried that there would not be enough space for the tree to grow, but the tree finally stopped growing after reaching a height of about two and a half meters.
Xu Yao said, "Tonight, let's bring some of the undead over to test whether the tree has a purification effect."
"The Blessing Tree in Xingdu is so big, and yet this one is so small. Is it due to the lack of spiritual qi or maybe something else?" Le Yao asked this question in a serious tone. If it was really a matter of lack of natural spiritual qi, then they would need to think of another solution.
"The trees in Tarot are also not all the same size. I went to a different Fu Ta Yuan and came to the conclusion that the size should be related to the number of spirits they have purified. They absorb resentment and evil spirits and turn it into spiritual qi, which also serves to provide nutrition for themselves."
"That sounds quite environmentally friendly." Le Yao looked down at the communicator to check the time. "Should we go back first? It's going to be dark soon and we can summon Master Rong to have a look."
"En. Also, the list of the undead who wish to transcend—" Xu Yao didn't manage to finish his words. He was interrupted by his own sudden but stern shout.
"Hanghang!!!"
It seemed that Xu Hang's patience in calling his parents had reached the limit. He slammed his steamed bun fists against the glass cover of the incubator and—
Bang! Bang!
The glass cover reverberated loudly against the force of the pounding, due to which Xu Hang stopped his slamming action. Perhaps feeling that his fists no longer felt as painful as they did on the first time he hit against the glass, he continued to slam against it. Suddenly the God's mark on his right hand started to shine! The spiritual qi was drawn and clustered into one hand and then—
"Crack!"
One of the glass layers covering the incubator had been damaged by him!!!
Le Yao was instantly dumbfounded.
"Leslie, quickly analyze the damage and carefully open the incubator cover!" Xu Yao instructed immediately.
Leslie swiftly complied. Fortunately, the threshold for the explosion-proof coefficient of the incubator's glass covering was still very high. Although some cracks had appeared, none of the children were injured.
Xu Hang was also really worthy of being the Eldest Young Master Xu. He was not weak at all!
Finally, the incubator was successfully opened. Le Yao and Xu Yao hurriedly took their eldest child out and then upon making eye contact, could only gaze blankly at the other for a while.
Only one word could describe their current feelings: speechless!
Being held up, Xu Hang stretched his arms out towards the Blessing Tree. Seeing this action, Xu Yao moved him closer to the tree. When Hanghang touched it, its little twigs responded by wrapping themselves around his little hands. Finding it funny, and feeling tickled by the touch, he giggled and didn't seem to be afraid at all.
However, as the Blessing Tree couldn't find any trace of lingering resentment in him, it quickly retracted its twigs.
Le Yao held Xu Li upto the tree and tried the same actions with her. The result was the same as before. Their children's souls were very pure, so there was nothing to purify. Even so, the children were very happy to play with the shiny moving twigs.
Before long, the sky darkened and the family of five had been playing with this tree until midnight.
Le Yao, still holding Xu Li in one arm, then summoned several relatively familiar spirits, including Rong Gui.
As soon as the undead arrived, they were attracted to the Blessing Tree, and the colour of their spirit body consequently changed. It was almost as if the Blessing Tree was marking them into different levels.
"How do you feel, Master Rong?" Le Yao asked. Rong Gui was standing right next to the tree. Le Yao could see that the resentment on his spirit body was being absorbed into the tree, while a corresponding amount of purified spirit qi was also drifting into him, it was like his soul was being cleansed.
"Nothing special. It doesn't hurt or itch," Rong Gui said.
Since meeting Le Yao, he had eaten well, dressed warmly, and gained a place to live. His resentment was no longer as strong as it had been in the past.
"And you?" Xu Yao turned to ask some of the other spirits, who were waiting to have their resentment purified.
"I feel lighter," replied one of the undead.
This undead's spiritual color was the deepest, which meant that he should be the one who harbored the most resentment. Now that he was next to the Blessing Tree, they could clearly see that the colour of his spirit body was changing. It went from black to gray, and the tree which had absorbed his resentment began to grow again.
About 15 minutes later, all these spirits had been purified into a translucent white spirit body colour and steadily became more and more transparent.
"Master Rong?" Seeing that Rong Gui's spirit body was about to disappear, Le Yao quickly called out to him. This time, he called out subconsciously, almost as if to try and stop the other from leaving.
"This is the right time." Rong Gui continued, "I've already been wandering for so many years, and I wish to live a peaceful life. At first, I wanted to continue and live smoothly like I have in your care, but in the end I can't do so forever."
"Have you really thought it through?" Le Yao still felt a little surprised. Although he didn't seem that close to him compared to the others, they had still known each other for quite a long time. He was a bit reluctant to just let Rong Gui disappear.
"I called you here just to hear your feelings, not to make you go."
"I know." Rong Gui showed a rare peaceful smile and said in a hoarse voice, "I just want to rest for a while and then go to a different place. In the future, you'll be fine even without me, and I hope that we can see each other in another future."
Not long after he said this, his white spirit body converged into a little spot of light, just like the one seen in Tarot's Fu Ta Yuan, and then fluttered away as it gradually dissipated. Slowly, the other spirits also faded into soft speckles of light.
Le Yao was still stunned and turned to look at Xu Yao. "Can you still hold one more?"
Xu Yao was already holding two children in each of his arms, but the children were still small. So, he had no problem holding the three of them together at the same time. He took the youngest one and asked, "What are you going to do?"
Le Yao didn't answer.
Lifting his right hand, he guided the spiritual qi inside his body towards his Yan Wang seal, and then quickly wrote four pure spirit spells on the stone wall of the cave. The runes began to absorb the spiritual qi from the surroundings, and gradually, a bright silver light emerged from above. This light seemed to be sentient and it readily spread out along the path which Le Yao had taken to get here from the camp, as if to guide future visitors.
Soon enough, there were some faint voices heard from the entrance of the cave, and then the undead emerged in twos or threes. When they saw that Xu Yao and Le Yao were present, they first kowtowed towards them, then surrounded the tree like Rong Gui had done.
The color of their spirits turned from darker to lighter again and again, until they too finally turned into small points of light and disappeared.
The spirit tree began to grow again. It constantly absorbed the resentment around it and converted this into spiritual power.
At first, Le Yao really didn't know the reason why he had been born into such an era in his second lifetime. But now, he finally understood that he was needed so that the undead could be guided towards their next life, which was originally his responsibility as the Prince of Fengdu.
"Since it's been successful here, we should also continue to replant the Blessing Tree in another location when this one has grown a little bigger. In this way, the undead can enter the reincarnation circle on their own like they do in Tarot," said Xu Yao.
"En, that's a good idea." Le Yao nodded and watched as more and more undead drifted in and were purified by the Blessing Tree, and after being cleansed of resentment, they soon turned into soft specks of light and disappeared.
He then turned to Xu Yao to take Xu Li back into his arms. "Let's go."
"Not going to stay a little longer?"
"No. There are still other things that we need to do," said Le Yao.
The undead community development project had yet to finish. It surely wasn't enough to build only one offshore community. Furthermore, the laws of the new Underworld weren't perfect yet. There were multiple issues that needed to be solved quickly.
He was the Prince of Fengdu. Although he had married the son of the Jade Emperor, he still had his own duties.
Xu Yao said with a smile, "You look very much like the serious little prince who used to read scriptures to me at Pusheng Lake."
Le Yao said, "What do you mean by look alike? That is me."
Xu Yao just smiled and didn't speak anymore.
In a flash, they returned home from the cave. The three children, who were still fascinated by the changing color of the undead, were suddenly brought back to their home.
They couldn't help but blink several times and then—
"Wu~ wa~"
They started to cry…
Le Yao and Xu Yao, who were just reminiscing about their past, were surprised by the sudden cries. They quickly moved to hug and coax the children, but it was futile and they simply wouldn't stop crying.
Yan Jie could hear the sound of crying coming from the neighbouring mobile house for a long time. He came over to take a look and said abruptly, "What's the matter with my two little nephews and little niece? Who was it that offended them?"
Not paying Yan Jie any attention, Xu Yao said, "They're upset. Is it because we interrupted their fun?"
Le Yao said, "It must be. They won't stop crying. Can you go over there again?"
Yan Jie didn't quite understand where this 'go' was referring to. However, before he could ask, Xu Yao instantly disappeared before his eyes! Along with the three children!
"Ho-holy shit!" Yan Jie's eyes almost fell out of their sockets. He rubbed them hard several times and said, "Mr Xiao Le, I think I'm still dreaming. I'll go out and come back in again in just a moment."
Le Yao smiled and replied, "Alright, then go, go!"
Yan Jie really did leave the house, and then walked in again. But he still didn't see Xu Yao and the children! He could not help touching his forehead while whispering to himself, "I'm not burning up, and it can't have been an illusion…"
"I can prove that it wasn't an illusion," said Le Yao meaningfully. "Do you want to try?"
Yan Jie was confused, "… how do we try it?"
Le Yao then grabbed Yan Jie's shoulder with his hand.
In just a short moment, a strong light flashed in front of his eyes. Yan Jie reflexively closed his eyes, and then he felt that the sensation of the floor under his feet had changed!
Originally, he had been stepping on the hard floor of Xu Yao's mobile house, but now it seemed that his feet were cushioned on a soft carpet.
Clang!
At that moment, something suddenly fell to the ground. Yan Jie heard the sound, opened his eyes, and just happened to meet the gaze of a very surprised person.
"You?!" Yang Hengtian couldn't help pinching himself. "Yan Jie?"
"Ah?" Yan Jie also showed disbelief and his expression looked like he had swallowed a raw egg. "Wait a minute, don't say anything! Wait until I wake up after finishing this dream!"
Yang Hengtian: "…"
"Pffttt! It's not a dream Brother Yan, it's reality. I'll pick you up tomorrow morning," said Le Yao.
Then he disappeared.
Yan Jie felt his heart beat really fast! He felt that he wouldn't be able to describe his present mood no matter how many words he had.
Yang Hengtian was shocked speechless upon seeing Yan Jie right in front of his eyes. He also deeply doubted whether he had yet to wake up from his dreams. However, when he wanted to ask Le Yao for confirmation, the other was no longer there.
On the other hand, the culprit Le Yao re-emerged at the cave on Mian Yu Mountain.
Xu Yao had already taken their children into the cave, and the children had again watched the undead be purified of resentment. However, even after the children were taken to see what they had wanted to see, they still continued to cry.
Then, just as Le Yao appeared, the children suddenly stopped crying. There were tears hangin on their eyelashes as they watched Le Yao smile and walk towards them.
Le Yao and the three children stared at each other. Slightly confused, he asked, "Why were you crying again?"
Xu Yao said, "They were looking for you. It seems that it's not fun to see the light change only by themselves, they want the whole family to watch it together."
Le Yao was feeling very proud of himself but he pretended not to care. "Really?"
Xu Hang uttered a light "En~ wa~" and the other two also laughed with their bare gums showing.
What should be called having a good time? Le Yao thought that this moment was probably the answer.
The person he liked, their cute children, and the smile on their faces, which were so sweet that it melted his heart. Maybe there would be many bumps ahead, but as long as their family was together, there was nothing to fear.
"What are you thinking about?" Xu Yao asked upon seeing Le Yao stand in a daze.
"There's something I have forgotten to tell you even after all this time." Le Yao smiled brightly as he said, "Xu Yao?"
"Hmm?"
"I love you."
Xu Yao: "…"
A moment later, loud cries suddenly echoed inside the cave again. It seemed that when two people were hugging each other, they had blocked the sight of the three little ones.
They weren't able to see the balls of light that they liked, they could only see the chins of their two dads?
…