"Princess!" Old Man Mo exclaimed after he managed to get up. The banyan tree's attack managed to injure his internal organs, which now seemed to burn and seemed to be pulled out of place. "Should we steal the brain waves from the banyan tree? Maybe we can find out what it is thinking right now."
"It is a sin," Ying Hua said sounding regretful.
"Then let me do it!" Before she said anything, he was silent and closed his eyes. All the blood flow seemed to collect in his crown, making his head seem to swell and almost explode. The veins around his face bulged and even looked like they were about to burst.
Ying Hua saw white smoke billowing from Old Man Mo's head, indicating that he had released quite a lot of energy.
"Hah!" he gasped for exhaustion soon after. "I failed to find anything. Maybe it's because my ability to steal brain waves isn't perfect yet. Forgive me, Princess!"
She was silent, then thought of something. "I wanted to do it, Old Man Mo, but Emperor Liang forbade me to steal other beings' brainwaves."
"Then does that mean we have failed?"
"Skeleton Crow," she exclaimed. "I'm pretty sure he can steal someone's brainwaves."
"He's not that strong, Princess."
Ying Hua wanted to refute Old Man Mo by saying that Skeleton Crow had read her mind. But because it was related to her kissing Prince Dwei, therefore she canceled her intention.
"I'll try to find the bits of energy left around here. Maybe it can help me to trace the memory of the banyan tree," said Ying Hua. "That way I can figure out a way to get it to talk to us."
She finally went to visit several places around the banyan tree, such as a collection of rocks, several monuments, some rotting wood, and even some buildings that had been destroyed and had not been cleaned.
After a long search, she immediately returned to meet Old Man Mo.
"I found some pieces of information," Ying Hua said uncertainly. "The banyan tree looks familiar with a flock of golden-winged birds. If humans saw the bird, its wings would only appear yellow."
"Is it a demon, Princess?"
Ying Hua frowned. "It seems that the bird is a once-reincarnated soul, which has a very strong bond with the banyan tree. Maybe that bird is the answer to why the banyan tree can have this much power."
"Alright," Old Man Mo said nodding. "Then let's go find the bird. Do you know where the bird went?"
"Looks like it's towards the East. Some of the energy I caught showed an old temple buried deep in the ground. It seems that the shrine is the home of the bird."
Agreed, they finally went to find the whereabouts of the temple. However, because of its position on the ground, it was quite difficult to find it.
"Can't you find the remaining temple energies, Princess?" asked Old Man Mo after they had searched for a while but found nothing.
Ying Hua looked around, looking for something. "I caught some energy. But unfortunately, it's too weak compared to the other energies. And it obscures my vision to know where the shrine is."
Old Man Mo frowned, while his eyes darted far away in search of something.
"I can come up with a move, Princess, that might help us locate the shrine," he said. "But you know it will cause a shock or an earthquake. Is that fine because maybe some creatures will get hurt?"
"We'd better not do that." Ying Hua took a deep breath. "There will be bad karma in the future if we harm one being just so we can achieve our goal." Now she was silent, then thought hard.
Soon a flock of birds arrived, which seemed to be mingling with one another. Seeing this Ying Hua immediately stopped them.
"Oh, Beautiful Birds, you look like you are having fun. Would you like to help us?"
The birds looked doubtful, then glared at Ying Hua. They immediately left while cracking jokes a few times.
Seeing this, Old Man Mo immediately swung his stick to block the birds. A big gust of wind from the opposite direction of the birds, sending them flying and bouncing right where Ying Hua was.
"Old Man Mo!" Ying Hua said shrilly. "You don't have to go that far."
"Our time is limited, Princess," Old Man Mo said. Now he turned to the frightened birds. "You'd better answer Princess Ying's question if you want to survive. You better not be rude to her. Do you understand?"
"Why are you doing this to us?" asked one of the birds, who sounded like a female. "If you ask for help, then do it well. If we refuse, then you have no right to force us."
"If you refuse, then you have no right to ignore us!" Old Man Mo seemed to be roaring, thus cornering the birds. "You must speak politely, you must politely decline."
Cornered, one of the birds replied, "What do you want? What help do you need?"
"I wanted to ask if you have ever seen a very bright yellow winged bird. Its eyes are like a pair of clear gray marbles, its beak is as black as natural stone, which is very beautiful." Ying Hua glanced at Old Man Mo, wanting to be angry with him but in the end, it was he who managed to push the arrogant birds away.
"We've never seen one," answered one of the birds without a second thought. "Are your business done? Now we can go, right?"
They were all about to fly off before being stopped again by Old Man Mo waving a stick in the air. They screamed and even cried.
"What more do you want?" asked one of the birds.
With a flushed face, Old Man Mo snapped, "Do you guys think we are stupid? You cheated us! You guys don't want to remember if there were any birds like she said. You just want to hear our questions and then leave."
"You don't know anything," snapped one of the female birds. "You're just accusing us."
"You who know nothing!" Old Man Mo's chest and shoulders shook against his anger. "We have to find an heirloom to save the universe. We have to restore balance. If we can find the heirloom, then I will ask the Red-Eyed Black Snake to continue to allow his people to eat birds like you, so that you all die!!!"
In a huff, Old Man Mo took Ying Hua away. His anger exploded until smoke billowed from his nostrils.
As they were about to leave, the birds stopped them.
"Wait a minute! Did you say Red-Eyed Black Snake? Is he the most respected snake demon king?" asked one of the female birds. "Is he supposed to lead the mad snakes that prey on animals and even humans so brutally?"
Old Man Mo's body spun around. His nose was still puffing smoke. "Yes!" he nodded. "He's the one we've been referring to."
"Looks like we can help you guys," said the bird. "Or, I can help you."
***