0p0 Chapter 496 The Mother Tree's Backup Plan
Chapter 496 The Mother Tree's Backup Plan
Upon hearing the report from his clansmen, Xuan An, who had just left Xuan Yue's place less than half a day ago, thought he had misheard. How could Le Zhi and the others have arrived so quickly?
Before he could think further, the Longclaw Clan were frequent visitors to the Cave Dwellers. The guards recognized Nanfeng and his group and opened the door to let them in. Xuan An was only delayed for a moment before Nanfeng and his group arrived.
Hearing a sound from the doorway, Xuan An walked out of the room and immediately saw Le Zhi, who was shining white, in the crowd.
White hair, white eyes, and a small white ball on its head—that must be the child's animal companion. It's not as short as Le Chu said; it looks taller than Lei Xiu's shoulder, so it must have grown quite a bit recently.
As he observed the group's condition and noticed the presence of the Jelly Frog, Xuan An paused slightly in his steps before subtly turning his gaze away.
"Clan Chief Xuan'an, we have arrived." Nanfeng raised his hand in greeting, and the Longclaw Clan members followed suit.
Not wanting to appear too impolite, Lezhi nodded as a greeting.
Xuan An nodded in acknowledgment, "Thank you for your hard work. You arrived much earlier than expected. I was trying to contact you, but I couldn't reach you..."
"Ah, I noticed it, but I was in a hurry and didn't notice." Nanfeng touched his nose upon hearing this, his words somewhat indistinct.
Xuan An sensed that he seemed to be hiding something, but the original purpose of contacting them was to urge them to hurry up. Now that the person had suddenly appeared in front of him, other things were not so important.
Thinking of this, Xuan An's expression became even more serious, and his already furrowed brows tightened even more. "Alright, let's not talk about that now. This is Le Zhi, Lei Xiu... It's been a long time."
Xuan An met Le Zhi's gaze for a second, but couldn't discern anything, so he turned his gaze to an old acquaintance and greeted him, feeling a sense of things having changed.
“Decades is indeed a long time,” Lei Xiu replied softly. Compared to Xuan An, he was more composed, as if he had already gotten used to it.
“Alright, we can talk about pleasantries later, Yuezhi…” Xuan An composed himself and immediately got to the point, “Since you’re already here, that’s perfect. Senior Xuan Yue was urging me to see you today. I know you’ve had a long journey, but if you can still manage, I think…”
Lezhi raised an eyebrow, this was truly a godsend. "I'm fine with it, I'm also eager to see Senior Xuanyue as soon as possible."
Unaware of the deeper meaning in Lezhi's tone, Xuan'an, seeing that Lezhi agreed, instructed someone to take Nanfeng and the others to rest, while he himself led Lezhi, Leixiu, and a string of small animals to where Xuanyue was.
He originally planned to only bring Lezhi along, but Lei Xiu insisted on coming along. He also had something to discuss with Xuan Yue, and since they were already here, they might as well meet them all at once.
Jelly Frog and Cola followed closely behind the two, never leaving their side. Xuan An had no choice but to let them turn one person into a group due to the urgency of the situation.
Anyway, once they get there, they'll know that if Senior Xuan Yue doesn't want to see them, it won't matter even if they're at the door.
…………
Xuan An had just visited at noon, and now that it was getting dark, he was here again. Xuan Yue thought something had happened. When the door opened and she saw Le Zhi, Xuan Yue's expression of surprise was genuine; she was clearly very surprised by Le Zhi's sudden appearance.
Le Zhi's eyes flashed, a hint of doubt appearing in them. This Xuan Yue seemed a little different from what he had imagined.
"Lezhi?!"
It wasn't surprising that Xuan Yue recognized him, after all, he was the only unfamiliar face, and Lei Xiu was with him. A smart person would be able to tell his identity at a glance.
Lezhi nodded, "Senior Xuanyue."
Their eyes met, and no one knows what they exchanged in that short time. Xuan Yue turned slightly to invite Le Zhi inside.
Lei Xiu wanted to follow, but was repelled by an inexplicable force, his feet seemingly nailed to the spot, unable to move at all.
He was only freed when the door closed again in front of him.
Xuan An raised his hand and patted his shoulder. "Give up. No one can trespass without permission."
When Lei Xiu was still the patriarch of the Thunder Clan, he had heard about the situation in Xuan Yue. The rule against trespassing had always existed, but since no one had tried it before, he had never taken it seriously, assuming it was just a verbal agreement.
Now it seems that things are not as simple as he thought.
He had no idea what was happening outside, but as soon as he entered, he sensed a strong aura that was extremely similar to that of the mother tree.
However, when Lezhi closed his eyes and tried to feel it, something just didn't feel right.
"You noticed it. Sure enough, no wonder he said he would give the thing to you, saying that only you are qualified to possess it."
Xuan Yue's voice rang out, and Le Zhi opened her eyes. Just as she was about to ask a question, she was stopped by Xuan Yue raising her hand.
"No need to ask. I'll take you to see something. If it proves that you are the right person, then I'll tell you whatever you want to know."
After saying that, without waiting for Lezhi's response, Xuan Yue turned around and went to a blank wall. She raised her hand and touched the wall. The next second, the wall in front of her melted away like ice, revealing a downward staircase.
"Come with me." Xuan Yue turned around and gestured.
Lezhi immediately followed.
The fluffy ball nestled quietly on his head, as still as a chicken.
When they first entered, Xuan Yue didn't ask Mao Qiu to leave, as if she hadn't noticed it. Of course, Le Zhi wouldn't remind her.
The two people and a stowaway bird descended the steps in silence, their footsteps making a rhythmic sound.
Depending on where they move, the wall will light up accordingly, illuminating their feet so they don't accidentally step into an empty space, but it won't work if they're too far away, as they won't be able to see anything at all.
Fortunately, the stairs weren't very long, and they reached their destination before Lezhi completely lost patience.
The walls were still empty. This time, Xuan Yue didn't go forward, but turned to look at him.
I gestured to him with my eyes to come forward and give it a try.
Xuan Yue didn't tell Le Zhi what to do, nor did he ask.
Standing in front of the wall, without much thought, I raised my arm and placed my palm on the wall.
The moment the palm touched the wall, it reacted immediately. Under Xuan Yue's suddenly wide-open eyes, Le Zhi and the fur ball on his head sank into the wall and disappeared instantly.
"…………?!"
Silence returned to the room, as if what had just happened was nothing but a dream. Xuan Yue hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help but step forward and, imitating Le Zhi, raised her hand and placed it in the same spot.
After a while, nothing happened, just like every other time.
"So, he really is the person you've been waiting for, isn't he?" He's the one the Mother Tree spoke of who could save the Tree Spirit race, isn't he?
Clinging to boundless hope, Xuan Yue forced back tears and slowly crouched down against the wall...
…………
At the same time, Lezhi was unable to empathize with Xuanyue.
The lively green light spot had circled him more than ten times, trying to get close to him every now and then, but Lezhi dodged it in time.
After several back-and-forth exchanges, seeing that Lezhi was seriously trying to dodge, Guangdian finally decided to change tactics. If a direct attack wouldn't work, they would try diplomacy first.
A ray of light split off from the point of light, like a vine carefully searching for a place to climb, slowly but firmly reaching towards Lezhi. This time, Lezhi did not dodge, but instead raised his hand to catch the light's gesture of goodwill.
Only polite children can communicate well, and Guangdian is learning quite quickly, he thought.
The next second, a familiar voice rang in my mind—it was the mother tree.
But it is not the mother tree.
With a sharp eye, Yuezhi noticed the difference between the two; this was merely a message left behind by the mother tree, and they could not communicate.
Did they know he would come all along?
Lezhi closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and said, "I knew it wouldn't be that simple, so this doesn't count as finding you yet, right!"
No one responded; the light spot simply kept trying to be friendly to him, indicating that he should accept the message.
Helpless, Lezhi knew that getting angry with it was useless, so he could only take it one step at a time. He opened his mind and connected with the light point. The information rushed into his mind, and the huge amount of information made his head spin for a moment.
After a long while, Lezhi slowly opened her eyes, her expression sour as if she was about to curse, but unfortunately the person she was supposed to curse wasn't in front of her. "Really... stupid!"