Chapter 72: Eternal and Everlasting

The small animals in the forest seemed to sense something; they stopped and gazed into the distance, then began to move.

If someone were in the mountains right now, they would discover this strange sight.

Those animals were like streams of various colors, wanting to flow into the sea, all moving in the same direction—where Ye Qin was located.

Many animals came to a place not far from the big stone.

Seeing the strange sight nearby, they no longer dared to approach; each raised its head, stood upright on its forelimbs like a human, and kept sniffing the air.

They wanted to catch that wisp of spiritual energy between heaven and earth.

Their furry faces showed an extremely comfortable expression; bathed in moonlight, it seemed as if every hair was glowing.

Ye Qin slowly opened his eyes, awakening again, as if from another lifetime.

The White Bone Contemplation faded, the illusion ended.

It looked around, but saw a cross-legged human figure on the ground also gradually fading away.

"The Origin Contemplation Object projected a shadow, reflecting from the spiritual level into reality—how amazing!"

Ye Qin muttered to himself, then sensed the power surging within his body, overjoyed.

This time he fully recovered, feeling that his lifespan had been extended by three years!

His earlier guess proved correct—entering the Third Realm increases lifespan; ordinary small snakes live only 2–5 years, but he has completely surpassed that limit.

It became 2—8 years!

And now, Ye Qin's serpent body is exactly five years old.

Ye Qin is confident that, at his current cultivation speed, he will definitely reach the Fourth Realm before the next great calamity arrives.

The White Bone and the bright moon slowly faded, everything returned to normal, and the surrounding plants gradually stopped growing.

If a geologist were here, they would surely be astonished.

Because the plants here grew unbelievably—buds that were once as thin as a finger now bloomed into flowers the size of a fist.

Even genetic mutations aren't necessarily this formidable.

But fortunately, only this part underwent mutation; the surroundings merely grew a bit taller, and if not examined closely, it's easy to overlook.

At a point about a hundred meters from Ye Qin, the vegetation showed no change—at most a bit of green.

The radiation's range is not far.

Seeing Ye Qin awaken again, the small animals chirped happily; even the night cat's mournful call sounded somewhat celebratory.

They, in a human-like manner, bowed to Ye Qin, then disappeared into the grass.

Ye Qin also returned to the cave, looking at the White Bone before him, he couldn't help sighing, "I never thought we'd meet again."

When Ye Qin first left the cave, he had already prepared himself for never returning.

The White Bone naturally could not give him a response, but at this moment time flowed silently, even though it could not speak.

Its existence was the greatest comfort to Ye Qin.

Like an old friend, and also like an invisible lover, it kept watch and accompanied him, letting him spend his remaining years in peace.

Ye Qin slowly coiled his body beside the White Bone, meditating in deep concentration for a long time; though it consumed no strength, it left his spirit somewhat fatigued.

What he lacks most now is a good night's sleep.

Outside the cave, the bright moon hung high; inside lay a bone and a snake, the ages flowing slowly, unchanging through eternity.

That day, Hu Xiaocao again carried many offerings up the mountain to pay her respects.

Besides that, her bamboo basket was full of paper money and offerings, all meant to be burned for Ye Qin.

But when she arrived at the original spot, Xiaocao rubbed her eyes, thinking she had taken the wrong path.

The giant stone was empty—nothing existed there at all.

Hu Xiaocao hurried over, calling out, "Mountain God Grandfather, where are you?"

Could it have been snatched away by an eagle or vulture on the mountain?!

She had originally thought that Ye Qin was the Mountain God, so ordinary animals would never dare to offend him.

Hu Xiaocao regretted deeply; earlier she had dared not touch Ye Qin, not out of fear but because she feared desecrating the Mountain God, so she did not dare move that serpent body.

If she had known earlier that this would happen, she would have dug a grave and buried Ye Qin no matter what.

Hu Xiaocao's bean-sized tears rolled down her face, wetting the paper money; through her blurred vision, she noticed something beneath the stone.

Shades of blue-black intertwined, curled together like bark, yet very long, flashing with an unusual color in the sunlight's refraction.

Hu Xiaocao picked it up and saw clearly that it was a snake shed!

The scale patterns and colors on it were almost exactly like those she had seen on the Mountain God's body before.

Hu Xiaocao was so startled she forgot to cry, tears still hanging from her eyelashes, "Could it be that the Mountain God Grandfather isn't dead?!"

She searched everywhere, hoping to find Ye Qin's trace, but looking around, all she saw were towering trees blocking the sky—finding a snake would be no easy task.

Hu Xiaocao carefully placed the snake shed into her basket, as if it were a precious treasure.

This snake shed is not ordinary; it contains part of Ye Qin's enlightenment-derived spiritual energy, nourished by moonlight, feeling cool to the touch and lacking the usual prickly sensation of a snake shed.

Like a fine craftwork.

Although Hu Xiaocao didn't understand the reasoning, she also felt the snake shed before her was extraordinarily remarkable.

She couldn't comprehend how, having clearly seen Ye Qin on the brink of death, even without breath, he could suddenly come back to life.

Yet the snake shed before her could not be fake—it was indeed shed from Ye Qin's body.

"Mountain God Grandfather? Are you still alive?"

Hu Xiaocao shouted loudly, but only an empty echo replied from all directions, drifting toward the distant horizon and startling the birds in the trees.

Besides this intact snake shed, Hu Xiaocao also noticed that the vegetation around where Ye Qin had stayed was astonishingly tall.

Just a few days earlier, when she came to look, it hadn't been like this—it was as if everything had undergone a collective change.

Hu Xiaocao stretched out her hand to measure and found that some grass was taller than she was.

Her eyes widened with greater astonishment, and she whispered in surprise, 'How did it suddenly get so long?'

She recognized one of the plants; the villagers nearby liked to call it wild ear. This plant is very common, as its leaves resemble ears and can be used in stir-fries, which is how it got its name.

Ordinary wild ears grow only a few tens of centimeters, but the one she saw before her was over a meter tall—taller than her by about half a head.

The leaves were packed tightly together, almost affecting the neighboring plants.

Hu Xiaocao gasped in awe; aside from the area near Ye Qin, where the surrounding plants were heavily affected, elsewhere was quite ordinary, with nothing special.

I said Mountain God Grandfather is so powerful—how could he possibly have died!

Hu Xiaocao was overjoyed; after gathering a large bunch of wild ears, she excitedly ran down the mountain to tell her mother the good news right away.

Although she didn't see Ye Qin, knowing he was still alive in this world, Hu Xiaocao felt content.

Upon hearing the news, the woman saw the snake shed that Hu Xiaocao had brought back, as well as the huge, unbelievable wild ears, and she was also very delighted; she carefully stored them away and placed them before the spirit tablet for offerings.

Afterward, the mother and daughter returned to the Mountain God Temple, devoutly bowing; the lingering glow of the setting sun stretched the shadow of the two—one large, one small—kneeling together, making it very long.

The shadow falling on the clay-cast stone statue also added a touch of warmth.

Although it was the waning sun, in the mother and daughter's hearts this was the beginning of hope—just like the Mountain God's shedding and rebirth—and everything was getting better and better.

(End of chapter)