A piece of Japanese incense

Chapter 255 Back to Dream

Zhi Yihe trembled with fear: "You, you, you! What do you want to do!"

The witch sighed, "You and I have committed grave sins, bringing disaster to countless innocent lives."

"It has nothing to do with me! I was dragged into this for no reason and had to go through life for someone else. I'm just a complete wretch! What a mess of grudges and love-hate relationships! I'm either being hunted, poisoned, or blinded! This isn't my life at all! I want to go back! I want to return to my normal life!"

The old woman was silent for a long time before she slowly spoke, "Go back? How can the barrier of time and space be broken so easily? Moreover... the karmic connection between you and Yun Tang, and the immense karma you bear from activating the forbidden formation, all of this has firmly anchored your soul here. With my limited cultivation, even completely removing the poison from your body would require immense effort, let alone sending you back to your own world."

The witch's skinny fingers touched Zhi Yihe's brows, chanting an ancient and obscure witchcraft spell. A faint warm current flowed from her fingertips, guiding the power of the formation into Zhi Yihe's body.

"You!" she cried out in shock. "There's more than one poison in your body? Each one is deadly and inflicts death on a single blow! How can they coexist in your body? You...how did you survive until now?"

Although Zhi Yihe couldn't see the master's expression, he could hear the shock in her tone: "I didn't know..." A light bulb suddenly lit up in his head: "Oh! I know! My grandmother fed me a pill before she died. She said it was the 'Nine Revolutions Pill', which was the result of my grandfather's life's work and could keep me alive. Since then, it seems that I no longer need to take various medicines."

"Nine Revolutions Pill?! The legendary 'Nine Revolutions Life-Extending Pill'?! A divine pill that steals the good fortune of heaven and earth, can bring back the dead, turn bones into flesh, and even dissolve all poisons and rebuild one's foundation?!"

The old woman's tone was filled with sincere admiration: "How could such a talented person exist in the world, capable of developing such a legendary elixir! Compared to him, I am truly incompetent and ignorant, just looking at the world from a narrow perspective!"

The old woman sighed again and shook her head. "I originally thought that if I exhausted my remaining cultivation, supplemented by the power of the formation, I could still give it a try. But now, the toxins in your body are complex and overbearing. They, combined with the power of the 'Nine Revolutions Pill' and your own unique bloodline, make it impossible for me to understand them. Forcibly extracting the poison will affect the entire body. If I'm not careful, you will die from the poison. I... can't cure this poison."

"Can't solve it?" Zhiyi was desperate.

"Everything you heard, heard, and knew today in the formation must be kept to yourself! Absolutely! Do not reveal a single word to anyone! Do you understand?!

The 'Nine Revolutions Pill' is a heaven-defying item, and reborning is a taboo that involves defying the will of heaven and changing one's fate! Any one of these is enough to plunge you into eternal damnation! Anyone who reveals the secrets of heaven will be punished by heaven!

The old woman spoke in a stern voice, "I have seen the secrets of heaven. You have faced many calamities in this life, and are surrounded by murderous intentions. The karma of past and present lives is the source of all your misfortunes. If you wish to truly live the rest of your life in peace and avoid the slaughter, it would be best to find a secluded paradise, hide your identity, forget your past, live a simple life, and live a simple life."

Zhi Yihe suddenly raised his head. Even though he couldn't see, his hollow eyes still revealed a strong unwillingness and resistance. "No! You want me to stay blind like this forever? Hide like a useless person?! Live in constant fear, not knowing when the poison will take effect. I'll just wait to die like this? I won't accept that!"

She grabbed the witch's hand and said, "Tell me! Is it true? Is it true that if I just find the person who poisoned me and take the antidote to remove the poison, my eyes will be healed?"

The witch shook off Zhi Yihe's hand and said, "Don't create any more trouble! The person who poisoned you is not someone you can easily deal with. To be able to plant such a strange poison in you, his scheming and the power behind him must be unfathomable! If you go looking for him, you will be walking into a trap, like a moth to a flame!"

The old woman's tone softened. "Listen to my advice! In this life, I don't ask you to save the world or appease your karma, but I do ask you to stop causing more bloodshed and stop getting involved in endless grudges and killings. I will do my best to protect you and get you out of Xizhe safely. Let it go, child!"

Zhi Yihe secretly complained in his heart: "I don't know where that stinky Feng Yan has gone. Wait until I find you!"

The witch looked at Zhi Yihe's pale face which was full of stubbornness and obsession. She knew that Zhi Yihe at this moment, just like Zhi Yihe who had made a wish for rebirth at the altar, only wanted to follow the path they believed in as if it were her destiny.

She closed her eyes, no longer trying to dissuade him, and murmured to herself: "Forget it... Forget it... You can do whatever you want..."

Leaving the mansion, Zhi Yihe leaned on Yu Nian's arm and said, "Brother Nian, Master promised to take us away from Xizhe."

Yu Nian was silent for a moment, and then his deep voice rang in Zhi Yihe's ears: "Okay. I'll go with you. Let's go back to Dongli."

"Yeah." Zhi Yihe responded softly and closed his eyes tiredly.

The master's promise was quickly fulfilled. A few days later, under the cover of a caravan, Zhi Yihe and Yu Nian quietly left the western capital and headed eastward towards the border between the two countries.

Although the journey was long, the witch's arrangements were flawless, and they actually avoided the possible eyes and ears of Prime Minister Chigan along the way.

When the familiar outline of the Dongli Mountains and Rivers appeared in Yu Nian's eyes again, complex and indescribable emotions lingered in his heart.

The dream took me back to the outskirts of the city, to a quiet hillside covered in lush grass. Yu Nian, holding Zhi Yihe's hand, stopped before a moss-covered tomb built of rocks.

"Ah He, this is where my mother rests." Yu Nian's voice was low and restrained.

Zhi Yihe groped around, then slowly crouched down. She couldn't see the grave, but she could feel the softness of the earth beneath her feet and the freshness of the grass and trees in the air. She reached out her hand, brushing against the cool tombstone, as if she could touch the last bit of warmth Aunt Hong left in the world.

“Aunt Hong…” Zhi Yihe’s voice was very soft, full of sadness and reluctance: “He’er…I want to eat wontons.

"Don't worry, I will take good care of Brother Nian, and we will be fine."

Yu Nian stood silently by, watching Zhi Yi and the thin figure whispering in front of the grave.

After paying homage to Aunt Hong, Yu Nian took Zhi Yihe to a higher point on the hillside, a relatively open flat ground that overlooked a corner of Menghui City.

He took out a few carefully preserved old clothes that had been washed white but neatly folded. He found them based on his memory, imitating the styles that Yan Shaoyu, his aunt, and his grandfather might have worn when they were alive.

There was no coffin, no ashes. Silently, Yu Nian dug several shallow pits on the flat ground. Zhi Yihe stood by quietly, carefully placing the painted ashes and the clothing into the pits, one by one, as if laying down a sleeping loved one.

Yu Nian didn't erect a monument, but carefully covered the cenotaph with soil, piling it up into several small mounds. He knelt before the mounds and kowtowed three times.

Zhi Yihe groped her way forward and knelt beside him. She didn't know the exact direction, but just bent down deeply towards the mound.

The mountain wind whimpered, sweeping across the newly minted graves and picking up a few dead leaves. Sunlight filtered through the sparse clouds, gilding the hillside, burdened with endless sorrow, with a bleak warmth. Separations from life and death, family feuds and national hatreds, at this moment, all transformed into the silent mountain wind and the silent earth beneath our feet.

After the memorial service, the two prepared to descend the mountain. As they walked down the path, Yu Nian inadvertently glanced at the edge of a cliff not far away and paused.

On the edge of the steep cliff, sheltered from the wind and facing the sun, a vast expanse of golden flowers bloomed! They shimmered with a warm and dazzling light in the sunlight, swaying with the mountain breeze, forming a flowing golden ocean. The contrast with the lush green mountains below and the hazy city in the distance was breathtakingly beautiful.

"Golden Lantern Flower." Yu Nian's eyes flashed with surprise and inexplicable emotion. He remembered Zhi Yihe once mentioned to him that Feng Zhixu had given her a golden lantern flower.

"What's wrong?" Zhi Yihe asked puzzledly.

Yu Nian's voice softened. "There's a large patch of golden lanterns blooming on the cliff edge. It's very beautiful. Can I take you to see it?"

Although Zhi Yihe couldn't see, the words "golden lantern flower" moved her heart. The warm and bright image seemed to penetrate the darkness before her. She nodded and said, "Okay."