"How could this be?" Su Ming stared at the girl, and disbelief gradually appeared in his eyes. The girl's appearance … was the exact same as Bai Feng's!
She looked just like Bai Feng when she was a child, and it made Su Ming remember her when he was in Dark Mountain.
"Grandpa, what are you doing? I'm begging you, give me that fish. It's so pitiful. I want to let it go. Its parents must be really worried …" The girl looked at Su Ming with a pleading look on her face. Her innocent eyes made it hard for anyone to refuse her.
Su Ming remained silent. He turned his head sideways and cast a glance at the fish in the net. It was a very normal fish. It struggled in the net and occasionally spat out bubbles. By the looks of it, it was so tired that it was about to give up.
'Could it be that when I cast the Mortal Refinement Art, Bai Feng was beside me, which was why the Art also pulled her soul in? But she didn't form 999 seals like I did. The goal of those seals was to protect the existence of intelligence, but since she didn't … the soul that was pulled in has already lost its intelligence. The only thing left is her origin soul, which will change along with the cycles of life and death.' Su Ming stared at the girl formed by Bai Feng's soul with a complicated look.
With Su Ming's intelligence, he could already tell that the fish was formed by the white ring's will. If he wanted to form ties of fate with it, there were two ways. One was to let it go and let it leave, but the fate of fate in this matter was rather vague, and he could not be certain. The other method was to cook it and eat it. By doing so, he could truly form ties of fate with it. If he continued with this method, then once he successfully refined the Mortal Refinement Art, it would be the same as Su Ming completely suppressing the treasure.
In silence, Su Ming cast the girl a glance and shook his head.
When the girl saw him shaking his head, tears immediately appeared in her eyes. She turned her head sideways and stared at the fish in the net. There was a reluctance to part with it on her face. Once she took a few steps forward, she lowered her head and looked at the net hanging from the pillar in the lake.
"Grandpa, can I lift the rope and take a look at it again? Please."
Su Ming looked at the girl and sighed in his heart, tacitly agreeing to her request. When the girl saw that Su Ming did not say anything and neither did he disagree to her request, she immediately stretched out her hand and grabbed the rope. With great difficulty, she pulled it up bit by bit until a fish slowly emerged from the net in the lake. Once it left the lake, it started struggling rapidly. In fact, when Su Ming looked at it, a fierce glare shone in its eyes.
Clearly, the fish also had a simple form of intelligence. Perhaps in its eyes, even though it had been caught by Su Ming, it had been placed in the net and sunk into the lake. Besides being restricted and having no freedom, it was no different from how it usually was. However, the girl was pulling it up bit by bit and making it leave the water. This was the same as slowly taking away its life, causing a fierce glare to appear on its face. At the same time, it started struggling furiously.
With great difficulty, the little girl lifted the net bit by bit. Just as she was about to lift it onto the fish platform, the fish began to struggle violently. Suddenly, a cunning look appeared in the little girl's eyes. She grabbed the bottom of the net and lifted it up. As the fish struggled, it charged out and sank into the lake with a splash, disappearing without a trace.
"Thank you, grandpa." The girl looked incredibly happy. She turned around and stood at the edge of the fish platform with her back turned towards the lake. She stuck her tongue out at Su Ming, looking incredibly adorable.
"Is this your choice..?" Su Ming's expression was calm, but he was sighing in his heart as he spoke languidly.
"Yes …" The girl was incredibly happy. She felt that she had done a good deed. She let the fish go, and the fish would definitely thank her for being able to return to its parents. But just as she was happily saying that one word, before she could finish her sentence, a huge whirlpool suddenly appeared in the lake behind her. The appearance of the whirlpool was incredibly sudden, and almost at the instant it appeared, a black shadow flew out from within.
That black shadow flashed in midair and grew to be about ten feet big. It could be vaguely seen that it was a fish-shaped creature. It was so quick that it instantly closed in on the girl, who had not noticed it in the slightest. In an instant, it bit down on her and rushed into the lake from the other side of the fish platform.
The girl's laughter disappeared. When she was dragged into the lake, she saw the ferocious beast that had bitten her and caused her so much pain that she almost fainted. Its appearance … was the exact same as the fish she had released previously, besides its size.
It was only at that moment that she saw the light in the fish's eyes. It was not gratitude, but a cold, murderous glare.
When she sank into the lake and saw the murderous glare in the rain's eyes, the girl, who could no longer speak, moved her lips slightly. There was a dazed look on her face, and she mouthed a few words that Su Ming understood what she wanted to say once he saw them.
"Why …"
Su Ming saw everything that happened, but he did not stop it. This was Bai Feng's choice. When she chose to lift the net in which the fish was trapped, all of this was already set in stone.
This was not the real world. It was an illusory cycle of life and death. Everything was possible in this place.
Splashing sounds came from the water, and as a large amount of blood filled the air, it dyed a small part of the lake red. Su Ming looked at it quietly and closed his eyes. After a moment, when he opened them again, a fierce look appeared in his eyes, but he quietly threw the fishing rod into the lake and closed his eyes again.
The sky slowly darkened, and rain gradually started falling …
When Su Ming closed his eyes, the world in which he was instantly fell silent. It gradually shattered, and once it turned into countless fragments, they gathered together once more. It was as if nothing had changed, but it was as if … something had changed again.
Su Ming had no idea how much time had passed. When he opened his eyes, he saw a vast sky. It was drizzling, and the rain fell on the flagstones, stirring up a layer of fog that filled the county town where he was.
He was no longer the old fisherman. Instead, he was dressed in a long, dark blue robe. He had the appearance of a middle-aged man, but there was already quite a lot of white in his hair. He sat on a rocking chair under the eaves and watched the rain in the sky, the pearls on the eaves, the slowly moving dark clouds, and the setting sun that was hidden by the dark clouds.
It was dusk, and it was a quiet county town in the rain.
The house Su Ming was in was a garden. There were quite a number of herbs planted neatly on the soil, and at that moment, the rain seemed to have nourished them quite a bit.
The house was not big, and Su Ming was the only one living in it. He was a rather famous doctor in the county town. He practiced medicine to help the people, and he had saved quite a number of lives.
Time trickled by, and the rain gradually became heavier. It fell on the ground, causing night to fall even earlier. The entire county town was shrouded in darkness. Only the lights in the houses were still lit, as if they were some sort of guide in the darkness, allowing the people to feel that they were not alone …
Su Ming slowly stood up from the rocking chair. He could still remember that he was Su Ming, but he also noticed that his memories were not clear. It was as if Su Ming's life had been a very long time ago, so long that he was about to forget it.
'Is this the power of reincarnation? It's just the second time, and I'm already like this. By the looks of it, perhaps the third time, or perhaps the third time, I'll completely forget why I came here …' Su Ming stood up quietly and lit the lamp on his palm. The light swayed on Su Ming's face, flickering, causing an ancient air to appear around him.
At that moment, banging sounds traveled swiftly into the air. Someone was knocking on the door to the courtyard.
"Doctor Mo, are you there? Please save her!"
Su Ming turned his head around and looked towards the door. He took a few brisk steps forward, and once he opened the door while braving the rain, he saw two men standing outside the door. Behind them was a somewhat broken palanquin that was being carried by eight people.
The two men looked rather similar. Clearly, they were a pair of brothers. At that moment, the person on the left was looking at Su Ming anxiously. He went up and grabbed Su Ming's hand.
"Doctor Mo, save me! My wife is about to give birth! Doctor Mo, save me!"
With an anxious look on his face, the man pulled Su Ming, intending to call out to the people carrying the palanquin behind him.
"Wait, your wife is about to give birth. You should go and look for a midwife. This is …" Su Ming was momentarily stunned. At that moment, he seemed to have forgotten his previous identity. As if he had truly fused into this world, he instinctively opened his mouth and said those words.
"But … Ah … Doctor Mo, this is a long story, but my wife's life is hanging by a thread. Doctor Mo, I … I'll kowtow to you!" The man knelt down on the ground with a thump. He did not care that the water on the ground had soaked his robes to the knees. He started kowtowing with loud bangs.
His eyes were bloodshot, and no one could tell whether it was tears or rain that fell from his eyes. However, he looked like a ferocious beast filled with despair, as if he would explode and kill Su Ming if he did not agree to his request.
"Ah … Get up first. I'll go. I'll go, alright? Wait for me, I'll take the medicinal box." Su Ming hesitated for a moment, then cast a glance at the man and quickly helped him up.
After a moment, Su Ming sat on the palanquin with the medicinal box and was carried away in the rain. In the distance, he could see the lights of the houses in the county under the rainy night. There was a desolate air to them as they shone.
Su Ming sat in the palanquin with the medicinal box placed by his feet. He looked at the county outside the window. As the palanquin was quickly carried away, he gradually saw a shed built at the foot of the city wall not too far in the distance. There was a noodle stall inside, and there were a few people sitting around the table eating hot noodles.
At that moment, a thunderous roar traveled into the air. At the same time, a woman in the distance wept madly while letting out shrill and forlorn cries as if she had gone mad.
"Feng Er, Feng Er … Why aren't you back yet …?"
When the people at the noodle stall heard the shrill cries, they lifted their heads and cast a glance at each other before shaking their heads and whispering to each other. "Ah … That poor girl.
Three days ago, she was dragged into the lake by a big fish … "
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