Chapter 49: Look, Master, This Tree is Sprouting!

"Master, Captain Zhang said things won't be wrapped up that quickly here. He told us to go back to the village to rest for a bit, and later we might still need to trouble you both to go down to the station to make a statement."

Zhao Dongsheng rubbed his forehead with a headache as he looked at the brightly lit mountainside.

Earlier, when he heard Zhang Ming speak with such absolute certainty that he was going to take people back immediately for questioning, he had assumed they could head straight down the mountain. But halfway there, Ah Lu had been sent back to the village to wait for the people from the municipal bureau.

The people had arrived, but so had the night.

Everything scattered across this mountainside had to be uprooted and carried back overnight—how could that possibly happen quickly?

And then there were the corpses inside the karst cave...

Just thinking about it gave Zhao Dongsheng a throbbing headache.

Su Chen was also finding it hard to cope.

He couldn't figure it out.

When Zhang Ming and the others pinned down Sun Zhiyuan, seeing the swirling black Qi all over Sun Zhiyuan made him even more certain that the latter was the one who had murdered Zhao Xiaoting.

Yet Zhao Xiaoting's body was in the karst cave, and Sun Zhiyuan, the one who harmed her, was right here—so how could her soul manifest outside?

This was deeply abnormal.

Was there something he had overlooked?

As he frowned in deep thought, he couldn't help but sweep his gaze around their surroundings once more.

"Brother Zhao, let's go up to the peak and take a look."

Earlier, when he was leading the way, his mind had been entirely focused on finding Sun Zhiyuan, and he hadn't paused when they reached the summit. Now, standing atop the peak and gazing at Dragon Mountain under the dim veil of night, twenty to thirty mountain ridges rolled on continuously, resembling a small dragon.

The mountain Qi rippled along with them. As far as the eye could see, it was a vast expanse of lush green, yet the region corresponding to the dragon's neck emitted a faint trace of black, while the places representing the dragon's eyes both appeared gray.

In other words, had this dragon-like mountain Qi been defiled?

Su Chen slightly furrowed his brow.

The howling of the wind by his ears sounded as though it were answering him, yet equally as though it were weeping.

"Brother Zhao, the place where we caught the ghost earlier was right over there, wasn't it?"

Su Chen pointed at the blackened spot and asked Zhao Dongsheng.

Although Zhao Dongsheng was more familiar with the Dragon Mountain area than Su Chen, twilight had now fully descended, making clear identification no small feat.

He estimated the direction of the highway, calculated for a moment, and then nodded.

"Right!"

"And that side should be Green Mountain Village?" Su Chen pointed toward one of the gray spots.

Zhao Dongsheng nodded. "We just crossed a mountain ridge from there."

"What about that side? Is that Pine Bright Village?"

Zhao Dongsheng's sister-in-law hailed from Pine Bright Village; he had been there twice before for the betrothal and wedding, so he was familiar with it. After a brief moment, he shook his head. "No."

Su Chen sighed.

The one defiling the dragon's neck was the vengeful ghost Zhao Xiaoting, but what on earth was defiling the dragon's eyes?

"Let's head back to Green Mountain Village first."

Returning to the village, Su Chen sensed the mountain Qi as he slowly arrived beneath the banyan tree at the village entrance.

It was this!

The gray Qi—the Qi of death.

He hadn't looked closely before, but now, observing carefully, Su Chen discovered that the roots and tendrils of this ancient banyan tree had already extended throughout the entire Green Mountain Village, and its deathly Qi permeated every corner of the settlement.

Beneath the banyan tree at this moment, villagers sat in twos and threes, chatting idly.

"Such a terrible sin. Do you know what Ah Zhiyuan was growing? Drugs! Once you take those drugs, you can never quit, and your whole life is ruined."

"Sigh, before, Old Sun kept saying his son went out to work, and we all believed him. If you ask me, Old Sun definitely went behind our backs to grow them too."

"I heard they're going to face the firing squad. Sigh, if they both die, leaving just little Gou Dan behind, the poor child probably won't survive."

"If you ask me, anyone who grows filth like that deserves to have their lineage cut off. I heard just a tiny bit of that stuff can tear dozens of families apart. Isn't that pure wickedness?"

"No wonder Old Sun used to come here every single day to burn incense. Where would he get the money to buy incense otherwise? It was all blood money!"

"Right, right, right! Why was this tree struck by lightning before? It must have been because burning that wicked incense offended it, and the heavens brought down their wrath."

"Ain't that the truth? Little Gou Dan had a high fever right after he was born; he shouldn't have survived at all, yet this tree protected him. Of course it got struck."

...

Su Chen caught snippets of this chatter and paused, stunned.

Abruptly, a leaf fluttered down, swaying gently.

He raised his head. Under the cover of night, leaves carrying the Qi of death were swirling downward.

He extended a hand, and a leaf slowly settled into his palm.

Zhao Dongsheng was stunned. "It's shedding leaves? That shouldn't happen."

Indeed, it shouldn't.

The banyan trees in Cuicheng remained evergreen throughout all four seasons, shedding their leaves only around the Qingming Festival.

For it to shed leaves before the New Year had even passed was thoroughly abnormal.

Su Chen seemed to realize something as he gazed at the banyan tree's trunk. The tiny cluster of tender green within it trembled, then quickly dimmed.

Could this be...

Had it heard the villagers' discussion?

Did it feel guilt, and no longer wish to live?

Yet, children are innocent. What wrong was there in protecting a child?

Su Chen bent down to pick up a fallen branch, had Zhao Dongsheng ignite it with a lighter, and respectfully held it upright before the banyan tree.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, his heart gradually growing still and serene.

"An ancient tree possesses spirit. I hope you can live on, bless more children, and protect this patch of peace. You did nothing wrong!"

After finishing his silent prayer, Su Chen planted the branch into the earth before the banyan tree and bowed deeply three times.

His actions immediately drew the attention of the nearby villagers.

"Young man, what are you doing? If you want to pay respects to our banyan tree, go buy incense at the sundry shop. Can a tree branch count as incense?"

"Exactly, paying respects requires sincerity. You aren't even willing to spend money on incense—how does that show any sincerity?"

They had barely spoken a couple of sentences when they were cut off.

The one stopping them was an elderly man who lived by the Earth God Shrine.

"Hush, hush, hush! What nonsense are you spouting? This young man is a master; doesn't he understand this better than we do?"

Everyone's expression froze in astonishment, followed by someone cautiously asking, "Old Jia, is this the Master you mentioned before who can communicate with the deceased?"

Seeing the old man nod, the crowd instantly shrunk their necks, offered awkward, ingratiating smiles toward Su Chen, and fell completely silent, not daring to utter another word.

Zhao Dongsheng cast a disgruntled glare at them.

Though he had no idea why Su Chen was burning a tree branch as incense either, well... did a master's actions need to be explained to them?

Su Chen's gaze was fixed intently within the tree trunk.

The black Qi produced by the burning branch drifted and wavered, yet intertwined within it was a wisp of golden Qi. It floated upward alongside the black Qi, then quickly separated from it and drifted slowly back into the tree trunk.

Inside the trunk, the patch of green that had previously been so dim as to be nearly invisible paused upon sensing the golden Qi, and was soon enveloped by it.

The green nurtured itself within the gold, gradually radiating a luminous glow.

Su Chen let out a breath of relief.

"Wonderful, it has revived!"

Just as he felt a surge of joy, a gentle breeze blew by, and the cluster of golden-green inside the tree trunk surged upward violently, rushing up the trunk and spreading out into the branches.

The wind blew once more, and the leaves upon the banyan tree cascaded down in a rustling torrent.

"Eh? Why are so many leaves falling all at once?" Everyone cried out in alarm and doubt.

Zhao Dongsheng also raised his head, startled by the densely packed falling leaves swirling above them.

This... looked like they were going to shed every last leaf.

And shed them they did. Within a single minute, every leaf was gone, but immediately afterward, tiny, tender green buds began to burst forth.

Zhao Dongsheng initially thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, but after shining his flashlight upward, he said in pleasant surprise, "Master, look! The tree is sprouting new buds!"

"Captain Zhang said earlier that a tree struck by lightning wouldn't live long, but now it's sprouting buds. It definitely won't die."

"I knew Captain Zhang was just talking nonsense, right?"

Su Chen felt the deathly Qi on the banyan tree dissipate as the leaves fell, replaced by the resurgence of mountain Qi that bloomed with vibrant vitality. He smiled and nodded.

Wonderful!

At that very moment, a delicate wisp of Qi drifted over.

Su Chen looked up in surprise as a faint, ethereal voice brushed against his ear: "Thank you."