Chapter 542: Laozi Descends

Time flies.

In the blink of an eye, several decades have passed.

The village head of Qu Ren Li was no longer Chen Ren, and had already changed several times.

Those villagers who once gathered to watch have also gone through a cycle—the children of back then have grown old, and the elders of back then have turned to dust, buried in the slope behind the village.

And what remains unchanged among them is…

"Dad, outsiders say our village has a divine spirit—is that true?"

In front of the former home of Chen Ren, a five- or six-year-old child looked up, curiously gazing at the middle-aged man before him.

The child's eyes were bright, full of curiosity.

The middle-aged man was Chen Ren's grandson, Chen Kang.

He smiled at the words, raising his hand to ruffle the child's head.

"Of course it is." He said, "There is a divine spirit, and it still belongs to our village."

"Really?!" The child's eyes grew even brighter.

"Look over there." Chen Kang raised his hand and pointed in a direction.

At the eastern end of the village, two wooden houses stood quietly there.

One was somewhat newer, the other somewhat older, but both were clean and tidy, forming a stark contrast with the other houses in the village that were gradually falling into disrepair.

"Back when your great-grandfather was still around," Chen Kang said slowly:

"When I was younger than you are now, they were already there."

The child listened, entranced, eyes unblinking.

"As your great-grandfather said," Chen Kang continued: "That house was built by the divine spirit's own hands."

"At that time your great-grandfather was still the village head, and that divine spirit came to our village, wishing to stay awhile."

"Your great-grandfather agreed, and then that divine spirit… just pointed a finger, and the house built itself."

He gestured, his tone filled with a hint of longing.

"It built itself?"

"It built itself."

The child's mouth fell open, and for a moment he could not speak.

Then he snapped back to reality, eagerly pressing:

"Then, why have I never seen them?"

Chen Kang laughed.

"Who says there isn't?" he said. "You just forgot—when you were little, your mother even held you to go see the excitement, right…"

His words suddenly stalled.

It wasn't that he didn't want to say.

It was that he couldn't say it.

Because at the edge of his vision—the eastern horizon—a wisp of purple appeared without warning.

That purple was extremely faint and light, like the first ray of dawn, or as if someone had lightly brushed a watercolor across the sky.

But once it appeared, it spread, diffused, and surged at great speed.

The purple turned into flowing clouds.

The flowing clouds turned into mist.

The mist carried an ineffable spirituality, drifting toward Qu Ren Li.

The farther it drifted, the faster it went.

The farther it drifted, the nearer it came.

Finally, under the astonished gazes of Chen Kang and countless villagers, the all‑sky purple qi suddenly coalesced into a faint, barely visible ribbon of mist, drifting toward the two wooden houses at the village's eastern end!

No.

Not the wooden houses.

But rather, about a hundred meters beyond the wooden houses.

There stood a plum tree!

Its trunk was stout, its branches and leaves lush, having grown on this land for many years.

At this moment, beneath the veil of all‑sky purple qi, the tree seemed to come alive, each leaf trembling slightly and emitting a soft glow.

And beside the plum tree—

Unbeknownst when, two figures appeared.

One male, one female.

The man stood slightly behind, hands clasped behind his back, his robes fluttering faintly in the morning breeze; his face was indistinct, yet he inexplicably made one want to bow one's head.

The woman stood in front.

She wore coarse cloth clothing, her hair simply tied behind her head, no different from the village women.

But at this moment, under the illumination of the all‑sky purple qi, her originally plain yet pretty face seemed to radiate an indescribable luster.

Her right hand rested on the trunk.

Her left hand—

was raised.

lifted slightly to the level of her left armpit.

There, a point of light was gathering.

It was not a blinding light, but a soft, warm glow, as if it contained the vitality and spirituality of the very moment heaven and earth first opened.

The light began to glow slowly from under her left armpit, growing brighter and denser, finally becoming a fist-sized ball flowing with myriad colors—

Then she reached out and took it from under her left armpit.

When the light faded, it could be seen.

It was a baby.

Its whole body emitted a faint halo, skin crystal clear and translucent, yet the face bore an old appearance... faintly revealing an ineffable charm.

At the moment the baby left her left armpit, the purple qi filling the sky suddenly retracted, all rushing into the baby's body.

Under the plum tree, all was silent.

The woman lowered her head to look at the baby in her arms, her eyes complex.

The baby opened its eyes.

Those eyes were clear as water, reflecting the faint light left after the sky's purple qi dissipated.

He glanced at Li Shi, his gaze penetrating the moment, penetrating identity, penetrating all worldly bonds—

The next moment, he broke free from her embrace.

He landed on the ground.

He could walk immediately.

With his first step, the earth beneath his foot silently split, a golden lotus blossomed from the ground and supported his foot.

With his second step, another lotus blossomed.

Third step, fourth step…

He walked forward step by step, each step causing a lotus to surge from the earth and bloom beneath his foot.

Golden lotus, white lotus, red lotus, blue lotus—various colored lotuses bloomed in succession, forming a short floral path, exotic fragrance permeating the air.

He walked to the front of that plum tree.

He stopped his steps.

He raised his head.

He extended a tiny finger, pointing at the old tree with lush branches and leaves.

"This is my surname."

The voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached everyone's ears.

That voice did not sound like an infant's, nor like an adult's—it seemed to come from afar, yet also to rise from the depths of each person's heart.

The words fell.

The ground trembled.

Then, amid the astonished gazes of the crowd, nine water columns burst from the earth, encircling the tiny infant and shooting skyward!

Nine water dragons surged from the ground, coiling and dancing around the infant.

Then they opened their mouths, and clear springs poured down from them, showering the infant!

Nine Dragons Spitting Water, bathing it!

At the same time—

The sky changed.

The purple qi that had previously dispersed somehow gathered again.

But this time it was no longer drifting mist; it transformed into layers of auspicious clouds that blanketed the entire sky.

Within the cloud layers, immortal cranes could be seen flying, vast silhouettes could be seen, and jade towers and palaces could be seen faintly.

Celestial music drifted down from the clouds.

It was not a sound any instrument in the human world could produce; that music was ethereal and elusive, yet solemn and grand, like the first hymn at the dawn of creation!

Afterwards.

The Nine Dragons dispersed.

The auspicious clouds gradually faded.

The celestial music ceased.

The tiny infant stood under the plum tree, soaked all over, yet felt no discomfort.

He simply stood still, as if sensing something, yet as if sensing nothing.

Then—

He turned around.

He walked toward Li Shi.

After two steps, his steps began to stagger.

After another two steps, that transcendent aura had completely vanished.

By the time he reached Li Shi's presence, he had fully become an ordinary infant.

An ordinary infant needing to be held, soothed, and fed.

Even the face that had originally shown signs of age returned to normal.

The skin was no longer crystal clear, the brows and eyes no longer bore the Dao Rhythm, retaining only the rosy tenderness of a newborn.

He lay at Li Shi's feet, like any newborn, eyes closed, occasionally moving his lips, uttering faint murmurs.

It seemed as if everything that had just happened were merely a dream.

Li Shi stood, lowered her head to look at him, then lifted him into her arms.

All of that still churned in her mind just moments ago.

Yet the baby now in her arms made her feel as if those were illusions.

Just as she was dazed, a hand reached out from beside her.

Yu Lin stood at her side, reached out his hand to her, and gave a faint smile.

"Let me borrow it for a moment; I'll return it to you soon."