The surroundings were filled with boys and girls as gravely ill as she was, lying in the thatched hut, living and perishing on their own, waiting for death to descend.
"Little Clove, will Aunt Wei treat our illness?" Next to the pigtailed girl, a young boy around ten years old coughed as he asked.
The pigtailed girl’s face was pale, and her body bore whip wounds that were red and swollen, streak upon streak. She said, "Aunt Wei told us to rest here behind the mountain. She’s going to find a doctor to treat us."
They had entered the underworld too many times, their souls and bodies invaded by yin energy. Suffering from various ailments and starving, even speaking a bit more would make it hard to catch their breath.
The little boy murmured softly, "I heard her saying behind our backs that the money spent on treating us could have bought several children. I think she won’t hire a doctor."
Little Clove gently patted his head.
The boy mumbled, "Will Aunt Wei come? I saw her throw Little Dun’s body off the cliff yesterday. I might also be thrown off the cliff, right?"
Little Clove didn’t say anything. Just then, she heard the chirping of birds. By the moonlight, she saw a skylark land in the thatched hut, hopping around and tilting its head as if examining her illness.
She stretched out her hand, but the skylark flapped its wings with a flutter and disappeared into the moonlight.
Chen Shi controlled the skylark to fly swiftly. It soon arrived in front of the mountain at the Taiping Sect and entered the underworld through a round hole.
The several Taiping Sect cultivators who had just cast the spells were startled, fearing that the bird might disturb the ghosts of the underworld. Yet, they dared not make a sound and just watched the skylark enter the underworld.
Chen Shi made the skylark fly silently over the marsh, avoiding pale blue flames, picked up a white lotus flower, and flew up, flapping its wings through the round hole.
Those several Taiping Sect cultivators still did not dare to make a sound. Suddenly, two of them leaped from the shrine, jumped off the ritual platform, and activated their Golden Cores to chase after the skylark.
"If we manage to capture a bird that can pick Resurrection Lotuses, we must get it!" The two were overjoyed.
The Golden Cores were extremely fast, but Chen Shi was faster. He left their Golden Cores far behind, and quickly returned to the thatched hut.
Little Clove saw the skylark flying back, holding a white lotus in its beak, and was slightly taken aback.
The skylark hopped up to her, came to her side, and placed the white lotus in her hand.
Tears rolled down Little Clove’s cheeks as she sobbed, "Is it you? Are you the ghost boy from the underworld? I went looking for you but didn’t find you. I couldn’t save you... Did you turn into a bird and bring me this lotus flower?"
She had heard from her elders at home that after death, people turn into ghosts. Ghosts can be reincarnated, either as humans or other creatures.
Perhaps the boy who had sought her help, unable to wait any longer, had turned into a skylark holding a white lotus, coming to repay her.
The skylark pecked at the palm of her hand, indicating she should eat the white lotus to cure her illness.
Little Clove looked at the white lotus in her hand, somewhat puzzled.
Could the white lotus heal her illness?
It was by picking this kind of lotus that she fell victim to this strange disease. Could consuming this lotus cure these strange ailments?
But, if consuming the lotus could heal her, why wouldn’t Aunt Wei tell them?
They had picked so many lotuses for the Taiping Sect. Could it be that they couldn’t spare even one lotus?
The skylark pecked at her palm again. Little Clove did not directly consume the white lotus but handed it to the little boy next to her instead, saying, "Little Tian, you eat this."
The boy, dazed and confused, ate the Resurrection Lotus at her urging. After he finished the white lotus, his condition improved a lot. He said, "Little Clove, my body hurts so much! But I’m still so hungry!"
Indeed, the Resurrection Lotus was a Spiritual Medicine for healing soul injuries. They had suffered from strange diseases because of entering the underworld too many times, their souls wounded by the invasion of yin energy. Consuming the Resurrection Lotus stabilized their souls, and naturally, the ailments receded.
As for the yin energy in their bodies and other pains, the Resurrection Lotus could do nothing.
The skylark flew away again, and after a while, it came back, this time also bringing a Resurrection Lotus.
Little Clove consumed this lotus, and her complexion improved a lot.
"Are you really that ghost boy?" she asked the skylark.
Little Clove’s eyes teared up, "Did you really die and become a bird?"
The skylark jumped to and fro.
Little Clove regained some strength and helped the other children in the hut adjust their positions. Two more children in the hut were breathing shallowly, severely ill.
The skylark flapped its wings and flew away. Before long, noisy sounds came from the mountains.
"That lotus-picking bird is nearby!"
Many Taiping Sect cultivators searched everywhere. Even those who had achieved Golden Core and Nascent Soul levels were alerted and searched all around, but they never found the skylark.
The skylark brought two more Resurrection Lotuses, helping the children in the thatched hut to consume them.
"Little Clove, there are ghosts again!" the boy called Little Tian cried out.
Little Clove shuddered with fear. Several children in the hut huddled together, trembling.
Chen Shi controlled the skylark to fly out and land on the thatched hut. All around, ghostly fires floated about, disappearing suddenly and reappearing in the distance.
He saw clearly that those ghostly fires were children of the same age as Little Clove, each with a flame above their heads. They ran through the forest, and the flames followed.
Some children hid behind trees, others in the bushes, as if evading something.
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