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墨書 Inktalez
"Forgive my rudeness, Master Song, but... are you certain this person has the will to return?"
I truly did not mean to say this, but Xiao Xingchen's soul was not only shattered but also so faint that it was almost impossible to sense.
Upon hearing this, Song Lan froze, his already pale face seeming to grow even whiter.
"This... I... he..." He stammered for a long time but still couldn't piece together a complete sentence.
After waiting for a while and seeing that he still couldn't make up his mind, I suggested, "Perhaps I could first attempt to restore this young lady's soul, and as for the other one, you can consider it more carefully?"
He was at a loss for words for quite some time before weakly saying, "I understand..."
"However, before that, I have a more important question..." I suddenly looked at him with a serious expression.
"What question?" he asked.
"Master Song, do you happen to have any food with you?"
"Huh?" Song Lan was genuinely taken aback. "Why does the young lady ask this?"
"Well, it's a bit difficult to bring up..." I scratched my head awkwardly. "Though I am close to fasting and do not rely on food to survive, if I exert myself too much in a short period without replenishing my energy immediately, I might faint from hunger..."
Souls are not living beings, so they cannot be treated with healing arts; yet they are not mere objects either, making Restoration Spells ineffective. This left only Soul Forging as an option.
Although I had never formally used Soul Forging before and was unsure of the results, if it required using my own spiritual energy to fill in the gaps like the Restoration Spell did, the consumption would surely be considerable. With less than half a bun left in my hand, it was uncertain how long it would last...
Thus, no matter what, I had to be prepared!
"I'm sorry, but... I don't have any either..." Song Lan's face showed clear distress as he struggled to find a response.
Well, I suppose that's true; after all, corpses don't need to eat and certainly wouldn't carry food on them.
"Ah, don't mind me, I was just asking," I waved my hand dismissively.
"Um, Miss Wei, if it’s inconvenient for you, there’s no need to force yourself..."
"No, don’t worry. I just wanted to inform you. Even if I were to faint because of this, I would just need a good sleep to recover. So please rest assured, Daoist." I smiled at him. "However, at that time, I might need to trouble Master Song to take me back to the cave, so that I won't be disturbed by any evil spirits while unconscious. Would that be alright?"
Upon hearing this, Song Lan's expression immediately turned serious.
"Regarding this matter, you can rest assured, Miss. If that is the case, Mr. Song will certainly ensure your safety," he promised solemnly.
I nodded in acceptance of his verbal commitment.
Confirming that my Spirit Power value was at full capacity, I gently placed my hands over A-Qing's Soul Locking Pouch.
"Shall I begin?"
With Song Lan's nod of approval, I slowly concentrated my spiritual energy into my palms and began to chant the incantation for Soul Forging.
Although A-Qing's soul was fragmented, it seemed relatively pure overall—perhaps because she had finally avenged Xiao Xingchen and resolved her lingering attachments—so there were not too many distracting thoughts interfering with the process. It wasn't particularly difficult to repair.
However, as I had anticipated earlier, the missing parts needed to be filled in with spiritual energy... I wondered if my current Spirit Power value would be sufficient to complete it.
Fortunately, just as I was nearing half of my energy consumption, a notification finally popped up before me—
[Soul Forging Complete].
Seeing this, I—Xu Ran—retracted my hands and couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.
The consumption level is barely acceptable.
"This soul has been fully restored. Please check it, Daoist."
Song Lan stared blankly at the Soul Locking Pouch.
After a long moment, he finally made up his mind and nervously untied the pouch's drawstring—
In the blink of an eye, a girl’s soul, radiating a faint azure light, appeared before him.
"A-Qing..." Song Lan murmured unconsciously.
As if hearing her name, the girl, who had her eyes closed, slowly opened them and looked around with her blank white eyes.
"Huh? Strange, where is this?" Suddenly pausing, she looked down at her hands. "Uh? I can see? And I have a tongue... but I clearly..." Her gaze caught sight of a figure, and she froze for a moment before slowly turning to look at Song Lan, her eyes widening in shock. "Song... Master Song..."
Song Lan stared at her with mixed emotions and stood up to bow.
"It has been a long time, A-Qing."
"Master Song!" A-Qing joyfully bounced in front of him. "You’ve recovered! You can speak! I can speak too, and I can see! I’ve heard that those who reach the Pure Land after death lose all their ailments in life. So this must be the so-called Pure Land?" She excitedly looked around. "Then what about Daoist Xiao Xingchen? Is he here too? He should be here, right? Since I could come, there’s no reason for the Daoist not to be here..." Turning her head, she met my gaze and paused for a moment before asking in confusion, "Who are you?"
Faced with her sudden wariness, I smiled as kindly as possible and said, "Just a passerby, don’t mind me."
"Huh?" Her expression twisted for an instant.
Beside us, Song Lan cleared his throat to successfully redirect A-Qing's attention.
"A-Qing, this is Miss Wei Mianfei. She is the one who restored your soul, allowing you to reappear in this world." After a brief hesitation, he added softly, "Also, this is not the Pure Land; it is Potter's Field located in Yiling. As for Xingchen..." He cast a sorrowful glance at another Soul Locking Pouch.
"Eh?" Following his gaze, A-Qing finally noticed the existence of the Soul Locking Pouch. "Daoist Xiao Xingchen..."
Memories scattered before her soul began to resurface, and she slowly crouched down, extending her translucent hand to gently caress the Soul Locking Pouch.
"Miss Wei, right?" She suddenly looked up at me. "Since you can save me, you should also be able to save the Daoist, right?"
"Uh..." Meeting her unusually eager gaze, I felt a chill run down my spine and couldn't help but force a smile. "Theoretically, that should be the case..."
"Then please, I beg you, save the Daoist!" She lunged forward, grasping my hands with urgency as if she were a drowning person seeing a lifeline. "As long as you are willing to save Daoist Xiao Xingchen, I will do anything you ask, even if it means my soul scattering again. Please save him!"
"Wait, wait, wait..." I quickly interrupted her. "Please calm down, A-Qing!"
Honestly, what nonsense was she saying! I had just managed to restore her to her original state; why would I want her to scatter her soul again? Am I just sitting around with nothing to do?
"I am calm!" she shouted back. "I’m begging you, Miss Wei!"
"A-Qing, please calm down," Song Lan chimed in from the side. "Miss Wei is not unwilling to save Xingchen; it's just..."
"Just what?" A-Qing looked at Song Lan in confusion.
"Just... I can only restore one soul at a time. I just restored you, and now my remaining strength is insufficient for another restoration. I need to rest for a while," I continued smoothly. "So, could you please let go of me?"
I offered her an awkward yet polite smile.
"Ah, I'm sorry! How rude of me!" A-Qing quickly released her grip. "I was just too anxious for a moment; please don’t take offense!"
"Mm, it's fine." I sighed and discreetly glanced at Song Lan. "However, since you two are old acquaintances and seem to have a deep connection with this soul master... perhaps during the time I need to recover my strength, you two could discuss what to do next..."
"Eh?" A-Qing's expression turned bewildered. "Discuss what? Decide what?"
In response, Song Lan remained silent, his expression grave.
I slowly rose and bowed to Song Lan.
"Well then, please excuse me for a moment."
***
Silently approaching the half-assembled Guardian of the Mountain Stone Beast, I finally couldn't help but let out a deep breath.
Phew~~ That scared me! It had been so long since I interacted with anyone that I didn't know how to react at all.
In any case, I should let those two catch up properly.
Selfishly speaking, I personally leaned towards restoring Xiao Xingchen's soul... After all, he is one of the characters from the book, and I really wanted to see what he looked like in person!
However, in the end, it would still depend on Song Zichen's decision.
Just as I sat down to catch my breath and prepare to get to work, a familiar strange cry rang out from beside me—
"Gao!"
...Right, I had completely forgotten about this guy.
Glancing sideways at the black creature rushing towards me, I said with annoyance, "Xuan, where have you been? Didn't I tell you to stay put?"
As it turned out, even with prior instructions, this guy still ran off. Clearly, the fact that we hadn't been attacked earlier was just good luck!
"Gao!" (I went to patrol! Besides, with that lost guy around, there was no problem!) It smiled proudly.
I stared at its smug face in silence.
"Are you not my Guardian Spirit Beast? If so, you should take your responsibility to protect me seriously and not shift the burden onto others." Although I wanted to say this, upon reflection, I realized that it wasn't exclusively my Guardian Spirit Beast; it was the Guardian of the Mountain Stone Beast.
Sigh, never mind. I'll just go with the flow.
I sighed silently and picked up a few scattered stones nearby, resuming my puzzle-making endeavor.
"By the way, Xuan, let me ask you something. Did you find any edible fruits or anything while you were patrolling?"
I remembered that when the Wen family's cultivator was stationed at Potter's Field, they had made wine from fruits. So logically, there should be berry-like plants around.
It felt like there had been too many unexpected situations lately; relying solely on the remaining buns wouldn't last long. I needed to find a way to develop a food source just in case…
"Gao…" (Huh? Um… I don't know what is edible…) Xuan Yi tilted its head awkwardly at me.
"…" I shot another speechless glance at it.
Well, great. I'm surrounded by creatures that don't need to eat. Trying to gather information about food from them is like searching for fish in a tree!
I couldn't help but rub my forehead in despair.
Sigh! Forget it; I'll look for food myself when I have some free time.
After all, I have plenty of time… right?
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