Chapter 19 part 2
This night, Ling Xi had a dream.
Inside the dream, she was still a child with a rumpled face, dark-skinned and thin. A person was squatting between the junction of two walls and watched the happy children blew bubbles on the street. She didn’t know what they were holding and why it would become colorful bubbles in the sunlight. She only felt that it was pretty and wanted to touch them. However, the moment she stood up, the group of children ran away as they were laughing, “We don’t play with fools and don’t play with sillies. You are the ugliest and the stupidest in the village!”
At that time, she wouldn’t be sad or broken-hearted. She looked bewildered at the group of kids that laughed at her and missed one person a bit.
It happened that that person approached her from not far away. He was holding two hot steamed buns in his hand and looked at her with smile.
“Big brother, they said again that I’m ugly and stupid.” Ling Xi grabbed his hand and tilted her head.
Big brother put a big bun in her mouth, smiled and lifted her up. “You are unhappy?”
Ling Xi happily nibbled on the bun and shook her head, “With big brother here, I will always be so happy.”
“What about when big brother is not here?” He asked with a smile.
“Will big brother not be here?” She frowned.
“Of course…not!” He pinched her nose.
The dream changed. Ling Xi had gotten taller. Big brother didn’t change much. He still held her little hand and the shadow of their backs were stretched by the sunset.
“Big brother, where are we going?”
“Go wherever we want.”
“But they will say that I’m a demoness.”
“Are you?”
“No.”
“Then, what are you worried about?”
After a brief silence, Ling Xi raised her small head slightly and asked, “Big brother, you will always be with me, right?”
“Wrong!”
“Ah…then, then where will you go?”
“You have to grow up and marry. When you reach a marriageable age, I will naturally dump you, the child-in-law!”
Child-in-law is usually used as a derogatory term when a woman marries a second time and bring in her children of a past relationship. Here, he had to take care of her for being her big brother although he is not her parents.“What is child-in-law?”
“You are a child-in-law!”
“What is grow up?”
“When you get taller…older…”
“What is marry?”
“…”
“What is marriageable age?”
“…”
“What is…hahaha, big brother, don’t tickle me. Hahaha…”
The sun sunk to the west and the red glow dimmed. The laughter of the two submerged in the night. The bright moon of the autumn had been covered by the dark clouds. The sharp wind swept away the dust. Big brother who was just laughing with Ling Xi fell on the ground in a sorry state. Blood flow out of her wrist, but she didn’t feel it. Both of her hands grabbed big brother’s cold hand tightly. Her bright eyes were full of panic.
The dark clouds in the night sky transformed into various forms. They laughed as they stared at the head who was not a person nor a monster.
“Eat her!”
All voice repeated this sentence: eat her and swallow her spiritual power.
“No, it’s the man next to her!”
“It’s him. He is the one who tried to attack us three days ago!”
“Heavenly spirit! His body is already death, but his spiritual power hasn’t scattered yet. Eat him!”
Heavenly spirits are spirits from the heaven/ god realm. So, they are more powerful than immortal spirits.“Eat him, eat him, eat him…”
Black shadows, terrible devilish monsters threw themselves in Ling Xi’s big brother direction while they strived to be the first and feared to be the last!
The scene suddenly went blank. All the voices disappeared. Ling Xi suddenly opened her eyes and happened to see the black Nan Zhi. She curled up in his arms and hugged him tightly.
The moonlight was just right and the stars were bright.
Only now did Ling Xi realize that it was just a dream. She sat up in trance. Nan Zhi shape-shifted back into a human form and stared at her.
“Don’t be afraid.” After a long moment, he said these three words.
Ling Xi’s eyes were already tearful and the tears had been rolling in her eyes. The moment Nan Zhi spoke, the tears fell down without stopping like a dike that had collapsed.
Nan Zhi raised his hand and wanted to wipe away her tears. However, he only had a human form. That hand passed through Ling Xi’s cheek. Nothing had been wiped off. His lips moved and he chanted a spell. He reached out once again to wipe away Ling Xi’s tears but still wiped off nothing.
Nan Zhi frowned and was more displeased.
“The body had already died…,” Ling Xi murmured as she gradually recovered her senses.
Many things had happened during the ten years she was a fool. Recently, the memories became more a more clearly to her mind. The dust of time that covered big brother’s every glance, smile, word and deed had been striped away and little by little it surfaced in her memories.
The dream of tonight made Ling Xi feel like an ice cellar.
What she had forgotten in the past, the hysterical laughter of those devilish monster, they were actually laughing at big brother…the human body had already died?
How…how could big brother die?”
“Heavenly spirit!” Ling Xi anxiously wanted to grab Nan Zhi’s hand, but she grabbed emptiness. She had long been used to this, but Nan Zhi’s brows furrowed tighter.
“Nan Zhi, what…what is heavenly spirit?” That devilish creature said that big brother is a heavenly spirit. She remembered that she had read about it in books, but couldn’t recall the recordings about heavenly spirit. “Nan Zhi, you remember, right? What is a heavenly spirit?”
“Who is a heavenly spirit?” Nan Zhi asked.
“Tell me first what a heavenly spirit is!” Ling Xi said anxiously.
Nan Zhi was expressionless again and became silent.
Ling Xi didn’t know what the matter with him was and wasn’t in the mood to have a dispute with him. She took out the purse of tail feathers, opened the purse and poured out everything inside of it.
The purse of tail feathers was similar to a storage bag and could shrink everything that was put inside. Ling Xi treasured it very much. On the journey, she put almost everything that could be used inside of it. She remembered that she had brought a few books before going down the mountain. At this moment, she didn’t have the patience to turn them over one by one. She poured everything and began to turn over a book the moment she saw it.
Heavenly spirit, heavenly spirit. If big brother was a heavenly spirit, then what is a heavenly spirit?
“Everything has spirits. Cultivating into an immortal could avoid the pain of reincarnation and ascend to a god. In the six realms, both human spirit and demon spirit are earth spirits. Gods are the lords of all things. They can’t be born or destroyed. The spirits of the gods in the heaven realm are the same as the gods. Those spirits who aren’t born and couldn’t be destroyed are heavenly spirits.”
Nan Zhi spoke about the heavenly spirits without emotion. The slightly calmed head of Ling Xi set off a storm again.
The body had died but the spiritual power hasn’t dispersed yet.
Those spirits who aren’t born and couldn’t be destroyed are heavenly spirits.
The two sentences hovered in her mind. The big brother who stayed at her side for ten years seemed…not as simple as an ordinary person?
“Nan Zhi, big brother might…” Ling Xi raised her head. There was no one else in the room aside from her shadow. Her words also came to an abrupt end.
Nan Zhi had disappeared. The lantern that he had made for her before going down the mountain had also disappeared.
Chapter 19 part 2
This night, Ling Xi had a dream.
Inside the dream, she was still a child with a rumpled face, dark-skinned and thin. A person was squatting between the junction of two walls and watched the happy children blew bubbles on the street. She didn’t know what they were holding and why it would become colorful bubbles in the sunlight. She only felt that it was pretty and wanted to touch them. However, the moment she stood up, the group of children ran away as they were laughing, “We don’t play with fools and don’t play with sillies. You are the ugliest and the stupidest in the village!”
At that time, she wouldn’t be sad or broken-hearted. She looked bewildered at the group of kids that laughed at her and missed one person a bit.
It happened that that person approached her from not far away. He was holding two hot steamed buns in his hand and looked at her with smile.
“Big brother, they said again that I’m ugly and stupid.” Ling Xi grabbed his hand and tilted her head.
Big brother put a big bun in her mouth, smiled and lifted her up. “You are unhappy?”
Ling Xi happily nibbled on the bun and shook her head, “With big brother here, I will always be so happy.”
“What about when big brother is not here?” He asked with a smile.
“Will big brother not be here?” She frowned.
“Of course…not!” He pinched her nose.
The dream changed. Ling Xi had gotten taller. Big brother didn’t change much. He still held her little hand and the shadow of their backs were stretched by the sunset.
“Big brother, where are we going?”
“Go wherever we want.”
“But they will say that I’m a demoness.”
“Are you?”
“No.”
“Then, what are you worried about?”
After a brief silence, Ling Xi raised her small head slightly and asked, “Big brother, you will always be with me, right?”
“Wrong!”
“Ah…then, then where will you go?”
“You have to grow up and marry. When you reach a marriageable age, I will naturally dump you, the child-in-law!”
Child-in-law is usually used as a derogatory term when a woman marries a second time and bring in her children of a past relationship. Here, he had to take care of her for being her big brother although he is not her parents.“What is child-in-law?”
“You are a child-in-law!”
“What is grow up?”
“When you get taller…older…”
“What is marry?”
“…”
“What is marriageable age?”
“…”
“What is…hahaha, big brother, don’t tickle me. Hahaha…”
The sun sunk to the west and the red glow dimmed. The laughter of the two submerged in the night. The bright moon of the autumn had been covered by the dark clouds. The sharp wind swept away the dust. Big brother who was just laughing with Ling Xi fell on the ground in a sorry state. Blood flow out of her wrist, but she didn’t feel it. Both of her hands grabbed big brother’s cold hand tightly. Her bright eyes were full of panic.
The dark clouds in the night sky transformed into various forms. They laughed as they stared at the head who was not a person nor a monster.
“Eat her!”
All voice repeated this sentence: eat her and swallow her spiritual power.
“No, it’s the man next to her!”
“It’s him. He is the one who tried to attack us three days ago!”
“Heavenly spirit! His body is already death, but his spiritual power hasn’t scattered yet. Eat him!”
Heavenly spirits are spirits from the heaven/ god realm. So, they are more powerful than immortal spirits.“Eat him, eat him, eat him…”
Black shadows, terrible devilish monsters threw themselves in Ling Xi’s big brother direction while they strived to be the first and feared to be the last!
The scene suddenly went blank. All the voices disappeared. Ling Xi suddenly opened her eyes and happened to see the black Nan Zhi. She curled up in his arms and hugged him tightly.
The moonlight was just right and the stars were bright.
Only now did Ling Xi realize that it was just a dream. She sat up in trance. Nan Zhi shape-shifted back into a human form and stared at her.
“Don’t be afraid.” After a long moment, he said these three words.
Ling Xi’s eyes were already tearful and the tears had been rolling in her eyes. The moment Nan Zhi spoke, the tears fell down without stopping like a dike that had collapsed.
Nan Zhi raised his hand and wanted to wipe away her tears. However, he only had a human form. That hand passed through Ling Xi’s cheek. Nothing had been wiped off. His lips moved and he chanted a spell. He reached out once again to wipe away Ling Xi’s tears but still wiped off nothing.
Nan Zhi frowned and was more displeased.
“The body had already died…,” Ling Xi murmured as she gradually recovered her senses.
Many things had happened during the ten years she was a fool. Recently, the memories became more a more clearly to her mind. The dust of time that covered big brother’s every glance, smile, word and deed had been striped away and little by little it surfaced in her memories.
The dream of tonight made Ling Xi feel like an ice cellar.
What she had forgotten in the past, the hysterical laughter of those devilish monster, they were actually laughing at big brother…the human body had already died?
How…how could big brother die?”
“Heavenly spirit!” Ling Xi anxiously wanted to grab Nan Zhi’s hand, but she grabbed emptiness. She had long been used to this, but Nan Zhi’s brows furrowed tighter.
“Nan Zhi, what…what is heavenly spirit?” That devilish creature said that big brother is a heavenly spirit. She remembered that she had read about it in books, but couldn’t recall the recordings about heavenly spirit. “Nan Zhi, you remember, right? What is a heavenly spirit?”
“Who is a heavenly spirit?” Nan Zhi asked.
“Tell me first what a heavenly spirit is!” Ling Xi said anxiously.
Nan Zhi was expressionless again and became silent.
Ling Xi didn’t know what the matter with him was and wasn’t in the mood to have a dispute with him. She took out the purse of tail feathers, opened the purse and poured out everything inside of it.
The purse of tail feathers was similar to a storage bag and could shrink everything that was put inside. Ling Xi treasured it very much. On the journey, she put almost everything that could be used inside of it. She remembered that she had brought a few books before going down the mountain. At this moment, she didn’t have the patience to turn them over one by one. She poured everything and began to turn over a book the moment she saw it.
Heavenly spirit, heavenly spirit. If big brother was a heavenly spirit, then what is a heavenly spirit?
“Everything has spirits. Cultivating into an immortal could avoid the pain of reincarnation and ascend to a god. In the six realms, both human spirit and demon spirit are earth spirits. Gods are the lords of all things. They can’t be born or destroyed. The spirits of the gods in the heaven realm are the same as the gods. Those spirits who aren’t born and couldn’t be destroyed are heavenly spirits.”
Nan Zhi spoke about the heavenly spirits without emotion. The slightly calmed head of Ling Xi set off a storm again.
The body had died but the spiritual power hasn’t dispersed yet.
Those spirits who aren’t born and couldn’t be destroyed are heavenly spirits.
The two sentences hovered in her mind. The big brother who stayed at her side for ten years seemed…not as simple as an ordinary person?
“Nan Zhi, big brother might…” Ling Xi raised her head. There was no one else in the room aside from her shadow. Her words also came to an abrupt end.
Nan Zhi had disappeared. The lantern that he had made for her before going down the mountain had also disappeared.
