Edited by Qiuxue and Noks
“Leslie, quickly analyze the damage and carefully open the incubator cover!” Xu Yao instructed immediately.
Leslie swiftly complied. Fortunately, the threshold for the explosion-proof coefficient of the incubator's glass covering was still very high. Although some cracks had appeared, none of the children were injured.
Xu Hang was also really worthy of being the Eldest Young Master Xu. He was not weak at all!
Finally, the incubator was successfully opened. Le Yao and Xu Yao hurriedly took their eldest child out and then upon making eye contact, could only gaze blankly at the other for a while.
Only one word could describe their current feelings: speechless!
Being held up, Xu Hang stretched his arms out towards the Blessing Tree. Seeing this action, Xu Yao moved him closer to the tree. When Hanghang touched it, its little twigs responded by wrapping themselves around his little hands. Finding it funny, and feeling tickled by the touch, he giggled and didn't seem to be afraid at all.
However, as the Blessing Tree couldn't find any trace of lingering resentment in him, it quickly retracted its twigs.
Le Yao held Xu Li upto the tree and tried the same actions with her. The result was the same as before. Their children’s souls were very pure, so there was nothing to purify. Even so, the children were very happy to play with the shiny moving twigs.
Before long, the sky darkened and the family of five had been playing with this tree until midnight.
Le Yao, still holding Xu Li in one arm, then summoned several relatively familiar spirits, including Rong Gui.
As soon as the undead arrived, they were attracted to the Blessing Tree, and the colour of their spirit body consequently changed. It was almost as if the Blessing Tree was marking them into different levels.
“How do you feel, Master Rong?” Le Yao asked. Rong Gui was standing right next to the tree. Le Yao could see that the resentment on his spirit body was being absorbed into the tree, while a corresponding amount of purified spirit qi was also drifting into him, it was like his soul was being cleansed.
“Nothing special. It doesn’t hurt or itch,” Rong Gui said.
Since meeting Le Yao, he had eaten well, dressed warmly, and gained a place to live. His resentment was no longer as strong as it had been in the past.
“And you?” Xu Yao turned to ask some of the other spirits, who were waiting to have their resentment purified.
“I feel lighter,” replied one of the undead.
This undead's spiritual color was the deepest, which meant that he should be the one who harbored the most resentment. Now that he was next to the Blessing Tree, they could clearly see that the colour of his spirit body was changing. It went from black to gray, and the tree which had absorbed his resentment began to grow again.
About 15 minutes later, all these spirits had been purified into a translucent white spirit body colour and steadily became more and more transparent.
“Master Rong?” Seeing that Rong Gui’s spirit body was about to disappear, Le Yao quickly called out to him. This time, he called out subconsciously, almost as if to try and stop the other from leaving.
“This is the right time.” Rong Gui continued, “I’ve already been wandering for so many years, and I wish to live a peaceful life. At first, I wanted to continue and live smoothly like I have in your care, but in the end I can't do so forever.”
“Have you really thought it through?” Le Yao still felt a little surprised. Although he didn’t seem that close to him compared to the others, they had still known each other for quite a long time. He was a bit reluctant to just let Rong Gui disappear.
“I called you here just to hear your feelings, not to make you go.”
“I know.” Rong Gui showed a rare peaceful smile and said in a hoarse voice, “I just want to rest for a while and then go to a different place. In the future, you’ll be fine even without me, and I hope that we can see each other in another future.”
Not long after he said this, his white spirit body converged into a little spot of light, just like the one seen in Tarot's Fu Ta Yuan, and then fluttered away as it gradually dissipated. Slowly, the other spirits also faded into soft speckles of light.
Le Yao was still stunned and turned to look at Xu Yao. “Can you still hold one more?”
Xu Yao was already holding two children in each of his arms, but the children were still small. So, he had no problem holding the three of them together at the same time. He took the youngest one and asked, “What are you going to do?”
Le Yao didn’t answer.
Lifting his right hand, he guided the spiritual qi inside his body towards his Yan Wang seal, and then quickly wrote four pure spirit spells on the stone wall of the cave. The runes began to absorb the spiritual qi from the surroundings, and gradually, a bright silver light emerged from above. This light seemed to be sentient and it readily spread out along the path which Le Yao had taken to get here from the camp, as if to guide future visitors.
Soon enough, there were some faint voices heard from the entrance of the cave, and then the undead emerged in twos or threes. When they saw that Xu Yao and Le Yao were present, they first kowtowed towards them, then surrounded the tree like Rong Gui had done.
The color of their spirits turned from darker to lighter again and again, until they too finally turned into small points of light and disappeared.
The spirit tree began to grow again. It constantly absorbed the resentment around it and converted this into spiritual power.
At first, Le Yao really didn’t know the reason why he had been born into such an era in his second lifetime. But now, he finally understood that he was needed so that the undead could be guided towards their next life, which was originally his responsibility as the Prince of Fengdu.
“Since it's been successful here, we should also continue to replant the Blessing Tree in another location when this one has grown a little bigger. In this way, the undead can enter the reincarnation circle on their own like they do in Tarot,” said Xu Yao.
“En, that's a good idea.” Le Yao nodded and watched as more and more undead drifted in and were purified by the Blessing Tree, and after being cleansed of resentment, they soon turned into soft specks of light and disappeared.
He then turned to Xu Yao to take Xu Li back into his arms. “Let’s go.”
“Not going to stay a little longer?”
“No. There are still other things that we need to do,” said Le Yao.
The undead community development project had yet to finish. It surely wasn't enough to build only one offshore community. Furthermore, the laws of the new Underworld weren't perfect yet. There were multiple issues that needed to be solved quickly.
He was the Prince of Fengdu. Although he had married the son of the Jade Emperor, he still had his own duties.
Xu Yao said with a smile, “You look very much like the serious little prince who used to read scriptures to me at Pusheng Lake.”
Le Yao said, “What do you mean by look alike? That is me.”
Xu Yao just smiled and didn’t speak anymore.
In a flash, they returned home from the cave. The three children, who were still fascinated by the changing color of the undead, were suddenly brought back to their home.
They couldn't help but blink several times and then—
“Wu~ wa~”
They started to cry…
Le Yao and Xu Yao, who were just reminiscing about their past, were surprised by the sudden cries. They quickly moved to hug and coax the children, but it was futile and they simply wouldn't stop crying.
Yan Jie could hear the sound of crying coming from the neighbouring mobile house for a long time. He came over to take a look and said abruptly, “What’s the matter with my two little nephews and little niece? Who was it that offended them?”
Not paying Yan Jie any attention, Xu Yao said, “They're upset. Is it because we interrupted their fun?”
Le Yao said, “It must be. They won't stop crying. Can you go over there again?”
Yan Jie didn’t quite understand where this 'go' was referring to. However, before he could ask, Xu Yao instantly disappeared before his eyes! Along with the three children!
“Ho-holy shit!” Yan Jie’s eyes almost fell out of their sockets. He rubbed them hard several times and said, “Mr Xiao Le, I think I'm still dreaming. I'll go out and come back in again in just a moment.”
Le Yao smiled and replied, “Alright, then go, go!”
Yan Jie really did leave the house, and then walked in again. But he still didn’t see Xu Yao and the children! He could not help touching his forehead while whispering to himself, “I'm not burning up, and it can’t have been an illusion…”
“I can prove that it wasn't an illusion,” said Le Yao meaningfully. “Do you want to try?”
Yan Jie was confused, “… how do we try it?”
Le Yao then grabbed Yan Jie’s shoulder with his hand.
In just a short moment, a strong light flashed in front of his eyes. Yan Jie reflexively closed his eyes, and then he felt that the sensation of the floor under his feet had changed!
Originally, he had been stepping on the hard floor of Xu Yao's mobile house, but now it seemed that his feet were cushioned on a soft carpet.
Clang!
At that moment, something suddenly fell to the ground. Yan Jie heard the sound, opened his eyes, and just happened to meet the gaze of a very surprised person.
“You?!” Yang Hengtian couldn’t help pinching himself. “Yan Jie?”
“Ah?” Yan Jie also showed disbelief and his expression looked like he had swallowed a raw egg. “Wait a minute, don’t say anything! Wait until I wake up after finishing this dream!”
Yang Hengtian: “…”
“Pffttt! It’s not a dream Brother Yan, it’s reality. I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning,” said Le Yao.
Then he disappeared.
Yan Jie felt his heart beat really fast! He felt that he wouldn’t be able to describe his present mood no matter how many words he had.
Yang Hengtian was shocked speechless upon seeing Yan Jie right in front of his eyes. He also deeply doubted whether he had yet to wake up from his dreams. However, when he wanted to ask Le Yao for confirmation, the other was no longer there.
On the other hand, the culprit Le Yao re-emerged at the cave on Mian Yu Mountain.
Xu Yao had already taken their children into the cave, and the children had again watched the undead be purified of resentment. However, even after the children were taken to see what they had wanted to see, they still continued to cry.
Then, just as Le Yao appeared, the children suddenly stopped crying. There were tears hangin on their eyelashes as they watched Le Yao smile and walk towards them.
Le Yao and the three children stared at each other. Slightly confused, he asked, “Why were you crying again?”
Xu Yao said, “They were looking for you. It seems that it’s not fun to see the light change only by themselves, they want the whole family to watch it together.”
Le Yao was feeling very proud of himself but he pretended not to care. “Really?”
Xu Hang uttered a light “En~ wa~” and the other two also laughed with their bare gums showing.
What should be called having a good time? Le Yao thought that this moment was probably the answer.
The person he liked, their cute children, and the smile on their faces, which were so sweet that it melted his heart. Maybe there would be many bumps ahead, but as long as their family was together, there was nothing to fear.
“What are you thinking about?” Xu Yao asked upon seeing Le Yao stand in a daze.
“There's something I have forgotten to tell you even after all this time.” Le Yao smiled brightly as he said, “Xu Yao?”
“Hmm?”
“I love you.”
Xu Yao: “…”
A moment later, loud cries suddenly echoed inside the cave again. It seemed that when two people were hugging each other, they had blocked the sight of the three little ones.
They weren't able to see the balls of light that they liked, they could only see the chins of their two dads?
…
The End
Qiuxue: It's already the end… I haven't been fed enough dog food yet, ah. But, at least there are still the extras to come~
Noks: A long journey… and it ends. With extras left, but still. Ah, I enjoyed XY and LY's relationship, and enjoyed their three little buns even more! It is a sweet, full of fluff, interstellar-yet-historical, with elements of horror(Yeah, right) story that has come to an end with the trapped undead transcending. A story that ends with a message of new beginnings—now that's what I call an ideal ending (＾▽＾)
Frozenmirage: It’s the end, but their love is eternal…
Psst wait for the extras