chsdbacks Chapter 25 The Spirit Spring Extends Life
Chapter 25 The Spirit Spring Extends Life
Liu Laosi glanced out the window; the darkness was thick and dense.
The groans of his wife, Zhou Xia, came from the inner room again, more real and more heart-wrenching than in his dream.
Liu Laosi wiped his forehead; everything in his dream was so vivid!
The terrifying, enormous shadow in the water, those eyes that seemed to see right through your soul, those words that resonated deep within your heart, and the strange phenomenon of the spring water beneath the bluestone.
Every detail is vivid in my mind!
It's terrifyingly real.
"A dragon? The dragon god of the Azure Wave Pool?"
Liu Laosi's throat was dry, and his voice was so hoarse that it almost didn't sound like his own.
Who's the one who's been making a miraculous appearance and exorcising evil spirits that's been circulating in the village lately?
Yes, with that kind of power, what else could it be but a true dragon?
But that's the evil god of Shixi Village!
Everyone in the village says that!
Otherwise, how could they have failed in the water dispute?
Surprise, fear, and a sense of absurdity were like ice water being poured over my head.
But then, an even stronger impulse, originating from the depths of despair, surged up!
His wife, Zhou Xia, was already dying. The doctor they brought from the city just shook his head and could only prescribe some medicine that wouldn't hurt him, but also wouldn't work.
Could it get any worse?
The words "pure spring" and "dispel gloom" in the dream were like a firefly in the darkness, weak but stubbornly attracting my nerves on the verge of collapse.
Liu Laosi gritted his teeth, stood up abruptly, and felt a sharp pain in his legs, which had become numb from sitting for so long. He gritted his teeth and endured it for a while before recovering. He stood there in the darkness for a long time, listening to his wife Zhou Xia's painful breathing in the inner room. Finally, he stomped his foot hard and tiptoed out of the house.
The night wind was icy cold.
Liu Laosi shivered and, guided by his memory and the dream, stumbled along the stream behind the house.
The moonlight was bright enough to make the stream shimmer like scattered silver.
The large blue stone lay quietly by the stream, covered with a layer of dew.
Liu Laosi crouched down, trembling, and parted the damp grass and moss under the stone.
The moonlight moved just in time, illuminating the base of the stone.
Sure enough, there was a small pool of water there, slowly seeping out from the cracks in the rocks. Under the moonlight, it looked exceptionally clear and pure, and the surface of the water seemed to be covered with a very faint, almost invisible hazy halo, which was completely different from the stream flowing next to it.
Liu Laosi's heart pounded even faster. He hurriedly ran back to the house, grabbed a clean, rough earthenware bowl that he usually used for meals, and returned to the stream. He carefully scooped up the puddle of water, the rim of the bowl almost touching the stone wall, afraid of spilling a single drop.
Holding the bowl of water in his hands, which seemed ordinary yet felt completely different, Liu Laosi faced the direction of Shixi Village and Bibo Pool, and knelt down on the cold gravel by the stream. The pain in his knees brought him to his senses, but also made him more fearful.
Liu Laosi opened his mouth, his throat tightened, and he didn't know how to pray to that evil god. After holding it in for a long time, he finally began to mutter incoherently with a sob in his voice.
"Jiao... Jiao God... Dragon King who has manifested... I, Liu Laosi, am truly at my wit's end... The woman inside is terribly ill, and even the doctors can't cure her... I beg you, sir, to have mercy and bestow upon me some divine water to save her life."
"...If it truly works, I will offer incense and kowtow to you every day from now on, and I will never forget your kindness! Never!"
After rambling incoherently, Liu Laosi gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and gulped down most of the water in the bowl in one go.
The water was icy cold and slightly sweet as it entered my mouth. As it slid down my throat, it felt like a clear stream was washing over my internal organs. The irritability and restlessness that had accumulated from fear and anxiety over the past few days dissipated considerably, and my drowsy mind became clearer.
This subtle change was like injecting a glimmer of life into a person on the verge of death.
Liu Laosi perked up and hurriedly carried the remaining half bowl of water, staggering back into the house.
His wife, Zhou Xia, remained in a daze, her lips cracked and dry.
Liu Laosi trembled as he helped her up and patiently fed her water little by little. After feeding her, he didn't dare leave and sat on the muddy floor by the bed, staring intently at his wife Zhou Xia's pale face.
Time passed slowly, seemingly endlessly.
At first, nothing changed; his wife, Zhou Xia, still had a furrowed brow and weak breathing.
Liu Laosi's heart sank little by little, despair gripped him again, and he felt that he must have really lost his mind, placing his last hope on an absurd dream.
However, just when he was about to give up, he keenly noticed that his wife Zhou Xia's eyelashes, which had been trembling slightly, seemed to have calmed down a little.
Immediately afterwards, a soft, steady groan, different from the previous painful groans, escaped from her throat, and her hand, which had been tightly gripping the tattered sheet with white knuckles, loosened its grip slightly.
Most importantly, although his breathing was still weak, the heart-wrenching, bellows-like rapid breathing had clearly eased and become longer.
Liu Laosi abruptly covered his mouth to prevent himself from crying out. His eyes widened as he stared intently at his wife's face in the dim light streaming in from the window. Then he glanced at the empty, slightly damp earthenware bowl on the bedside table. A powerful, complex torrent of emotions—a mixture of immense shock, disbelief, elation at surviving a catastrophe, and a deeper sense of dread—instantly overwhelmed him, causing him to tremble uncontrollably.
Shixi Village.
The quiet room in the side hall of the Jiaoshen Temple.
Lin Shi slowly opened his eyes, his expression calm and undisturbed, yet a faint hint of smugness, typical of a schemer, flashed deep within them.
Through the mysterious connection of the dragon clone, it was clearly sensed that the faint, fearful, and hesitant thread of faith originally from Liu Laosi had undergone violent fluctuations in the past few days, and finally became much clearer and more stable.
Although still slender, the core of its fear has been greatly reduced, and instead it exudes a nascent sense of piety mixed with gratitude and awe, like a tender sprout that is constantly shaken in a storm but whose roots have already been deeply embedded in the soil.
Lin Shi was very happy but very calm, and his mind was clear.
This is merely a tiny first step in a long journey.
It remains to be seen what Liu Laosi and his family's attitude will be next. They may become even more devout believers, continuously providing faith in the dragon. But they may also be indifferent or even resistant.
Will the people of Shanghe Village find out?
What will happen if we find out?
This is just the first seed of faith planted.
How to protect and guide this fragile seedling of faith to grow, and what new attention and probing, including attacks, might arise from the expansion of the Jiao Shen's power.
The real test and storm have only just begun.
The night dew grew heavier, and a chill seeped into our clothes.
From the distant mountains and forests came the mournful, drawn-out cry of an unknown night bird.
The spark has been ignited; whether it can spread like wildfire remains to be seen.
But the gears of change have already silently begun to turn after that bowl of clean water and that dream.