With a loud bang, the door was suddenly thrown open.
Mo Bai rushed in, clutching her arm, blood at the corner of her mouth, and stumbled to the ground.
A-Liao, who was tidying up the dishes, was startled. She hurried over to support her, turning to shout into the inner room, “Master! Master! Sister Mo Bai is hurt!!”
"Let go!”
Mo Bai pushed her away, struggling to stand up, her brows furrowed as she fixed her gaze on Liang Yudong, who was hurriedly leaving. In a low voice, she said, “They’ve come for us. I can't fight them. I set up a barrier with the Seven Deadly Curse that can hold them off for three days.”
"The so-called righteous path is best at taking advantage of others′ misfortunes,” Liang Yudong said coldly, staring at the doorway. “Your injury isn’t light; come in and apply some medicine.”
"Yes, yes! Sister Mo Bai, you're bleeding!” A-Liao interjected anxiously.
"Besides the Longevity Elixir, you know all those medicines only treat the symptoms, not the root cause.” Mo Bai ignored her, grabbing Liang Yudong's arm, her sharp nails almost digging into his flesh. “A great camity is approaching, and we don’t have time. That yaokai bird with five hundred years of cultivation has already met its doom. We know what happened to it. How much more do you need to complete your work?”
Liang Yudong pondered for a moment and replied, “I still need one ingredient… ginkgo seeds.”
"Three days.” Mo Bai leaned against the table, gasping for breath. “If you can’t obtain the ginkgo seeds and create the Longevity Elixir in three days, you might escape human camities, but you won’t be able to flee from natural disasters.”
"I know.” Liang Yudong withdrew his distant gaze and sat down across from Mo Bai with a bitter smile. “Humans often say it's hard to make a living; they probably can't imagine that yaokais feel the same way.” He forced a smile, “Ha, yaokais just want a life of peace and tranquility, free from strife. And even that seems impossible.”
Mo Bai lowered her eyes, her beautiful eyeshes trembling slightly.
A table, two people, forming a lonely little world.
A-Liao couldn’t read, but she wasn’t foolish.
They had just mentioned the “yaokai bird” and how it “met its doom,” and A-Liao easily thought of the kind old man she had only met once, yet felt a sense of familiarity with. The memory of the dead bird was still vivid in her mind.
"Master..." She stood between them. “Are you a yaokai?”
She always seemed so calm and serene, with a crity that made it seem as if nothing reted to sadness could enter her heart. This included her inquiry about the word “yaokai,” which made many people turn pale with fear.
Liang Yudong gazed into her clear, innocent eyes, remaining silent.
"Is there still a need to keep this a secret?” Mo Bai gnced at him and said to A-Liao, "Anyway, you don’t know what fear is. Let me tell you, neither your master nor I are human. He is a ginkgo tree yaokai; don’t let his youth fool you; he’s actually over a thousand years old.”
"What about you?” A-Liao propped her chin on her hand, filled with curiosity and completely unafraid.
"I..." Mo Bai pouted, “Why should I tell you?”
A-Liao rolled her eyes and said, “Sister Mo Bai loves to eat fish so much; are you a cat?”
"You little brat..." Mo Bai pretended to want to hit her.
"Leave those who really cause trouble to me,” Liang Yudong stood up, interrupting their bickering. “Mo Bai, take A-Liao somewhere else to avoid this.”
"Avoid?” Mo Bai seemed to hit a nerve, jumping to her feet and saying sharply, ``Where can we hide? In three days, if you still can't find the ginkgo seeds for the medicine, no matter where you and I are, we'll all meet the same fate.”
"I know,” Liang Yudong nodded slightly.
"You know?!” Mo Bai's eyes fshed with a sharpness like a bde. Ignoring her bleeding wound, she leaped forward, darting into Liang Yudong's room. A moment ter, she emerged, holding the book. “You've read this recipe for the elixir of life countless times; do you think I wouldn't read it? Do you think your silent spell would work on me? I'm not that foolish girl; I'm also a cultivated yaokai! I′ve just been waiting for you to make a decision!”
"You truly possess the cunning of a yaokai cat,” Liang Yudong remarked lightly, gncing at the wrinkled book in her grasp. “But didn’t you already make your decision?”
"I..." Mo Bai was momentarily at a loss for words. Throwing the book aside, she rushed forward and grabbed Liang Yudong's colr, gritting her teeth, “I don’t want to perish together with you.”
"Yeah, I know.” Liang Yudong stood motionless.
"I..." Mo Bai's beautiful eyebrows twisted together; her delicate lips pressed so tightly they were about to bleed. After a long stalemate, she dejectedly released her grip, punching Liang Yudong gently in the chest, her head lowered as she murmured, “I just want to wear pretty clothes, eat all kinds of fish, live like a real woman, and just live well…”
"I know..." Liang Yudong sighed softly, holding Mo Bai in his arms. "I'm sorry...”
Mo Bai's shoulders trembled as she sobbed softly.
This was the first time A Liao heard Liang Yudong apologize, the first time she saw Mo Bai cry, and the first time she witnessed them being so close to each other.
In just a moment, she faintly felt that her life, which had always been as calm as water, was being severed by some unknown force.
Ginkgo seeds!
A Liao held the fshlight and stumbled along the path.
Mo Bai said that all yaokais in the world must face a heavenly tribution at least once in their lives. If they cannot avoid it, it will be a dead end, leading to total destruction of body and spirit. Fortunately, in ancient times, a great master left behind a mysterious book—"Yaokai Spirit Longevity Formu."
As long as one follows the prescriptions inside to gather various rare medicinal materials and combines them with the yaokai's own essence, they can create a colorless and tasteless divine medicine—Longevity Elixir. If taken on the day of the heavenly tribution, it will ensure a safe passage. The bird that died beneath the ginkgo tree was unable to gather the necessary ingredients, so it couldn't produce the Longevity Elixir for its kind, and it couldn't survive its tribution, losing centuries of cultivation in a single night, its miserable life coming to an end on its fateful day.
Liang Yudong was a thousand-year-old ginkgo tree spirit. Mo Bai said that his day of reckoning would come in three days.
A Liao couldn′t be without her master.
She ran faster and faster, determined to help her master find this st medicinal ingredient. There were so many ginkgo trees in the forest; she would be able to gather plenty of ginkgo seeds.
On the summer night mountain road, the grass gave off a faint fragrance, and the sounds of insects filled the air. The stars in the night sky twinkled like eyes, watching the girl who was racing below.
The mountain path was too dark, and she was running too fast. A rock tripped her, sending her crashing to the ground. Her palms and knees were scraped and bleeding. It hurt, but A Liao held back her tears as she got up, only to find her way blocked by someone.
"I knew you would run off," Liang Yudong said, breathing slightly heavier as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I really can't do it anymore. Even the trick of teleportation is becoming difficult."
"Master, I'll help you get the ginkgo seeds!" A Liao looked up at him, her eyes filled with an unwavering determination she had never shown before.