Chapter 5

Taking a deep breath, Buli seemed to have finally caught his breath. The pungent tobacco lingered in his lungs, and Buli regained some of his spirit, coughed a few times, and said, "Xian'er, why hasn't Dahuhei come back yet?"

"He said he was going to find a mother bear. Who knows, that naughty bear!" Cai Xiaoxian seemed to be scolding Dahuhei, but her words sounded like a coquettish complaint, making her seem incredibly endearing.

"Then carry me home. I'm tired and want to sleep. You, you child, how did you get lost again? Go left and walk about ten miles, and you'll reach the place where we lived for a while." Buli's voice gradually weakened as he struggled to lift his hand and point out the direction. He had lost too much blood and had no more strength to speak. Cai Xiaoxian nodded, gathered up the longbow, short crossbow, and dagger that Buli had dropped on the ground, and gently placed Buli on her shoulder with no effort at all. She also carried the snow wolf's corpse under her arm, displaying incredible strength, like a real bear. As Cai Xiaoxian ran steadily through the forest, she looked like a wild leopard, agile and strong.

The rugged rocks were like the fangs of wild beasts, filled with ferocity. In the middle of the stone forest was a small pool of water, and next to it was a platform about ten feet wide. After years of wind and rain, the platform had become incredibly smooth, like a mirror made of stone.

Gently placing Buli on the platform, the sun had already set, and the sky was gradually darkening, the night curtain being drawn.

Cai Xiaoxian sat next to Buli, took out a few ordinary sheets of paper and a pile of tobacco leaves from a deer skin bag, and skillfully crushed the tobacco leaves, rolling them into a cigarette on her smooth, delicate thigh. The aroma of the tobacco carried a hint of a maiden's fragrance, which, in a later era, would be more precious than the finest Havana.

The starlight was like water, gently falling. The wind in the forest seemed to become gentler under the starlight. The night was peaceful and serene. Cai Xiaoxian was not in a hurry, although Buli was seriously injured, such injuries had occurred a couple of times before, usually when he accidentally encountered a large wild beast and protected Cai Xiaoxian while escaping, sustaining severe injuries. After a night's sleep, he would naturally recover. Over time, Buli and Cai Xiaoxian had become accustomed to his strange constitution.

As night fell, the entire forest turned into a dark, monstrous shape, and the rustling of the leaves became much lower. The starlight, like water, fell on the forest and on Buli's body. Cai Xiaoxian watched for a while, seeing that Buli's breathing was steady, and she began to feel sleepy, her eyelids drooping. Normally, she would sleep for about fifteen hours a day, and today's activities had indeed made her quite tired. Cai Xiaoxian forced herself to keep her eyes open, watching over Buli.

After a while, a milky white light suddenly appeared before Cai Xiaoxian's eyes, as if she had just closed her eyes and it was already morning. Cai Xiaoxian was startled and tried to open her eyes wide. To her surprise, she saw that Buli's bare upper body was emitting a soft white light, like starlight, and his whole body seemed weightless, as if floating in the mountain breeze.

Buli and Cai Xiaoxian's figures were enveloped in the flickering light, which changed unpredictably.

Like an old monk in meditation, Cai Xiaoxian was captivated, forgetting her fatigue.

Time passed, and she didn't know how long it had been. The wounds on Buli's body and the sunken chest were visibly healing, his already formidable recovery ability enhanced by the starlight, becoming even more remarkable.

However, this time seemed different from before. In the past, Buli's self-healing ability, though powerful, was uncontrollable and chaotic. This time, the starlight, like a mist, seemed to be activated, as if it had its own intelligence, helping to heal Buli's severe injuries.

The starlight mist gradually began to disperse, spreading around Cai Xiaoxian, turning the platform into a fairyland. Cai Xiaoxian's beautiful face was visible through the starlight mist, her beauty incomparable.

As the starlight mist gradually dissipated, Cai Xiaoxian continued to stare at Buli, completely forgetting the passage of time. As the starlight faded, she looked up at the starry sky, lost in thought.

After a long time, a voice seemed to resonate in Cai Xiaoxian's heart, as if coming from the vast emptiness while she gazed at the stars.

"Xian'er, do you miss your mother?"

"Yes," Cai Xiaoxian nodded, a hint of confusion and nostalgia on her young face.

"Sometimes I wonder what I've lost in my forgotten memories." Hearing this, Cai Xiaoxian suddenly came to her senses, realizing that Buli was speaking to her. How long had it been? How could such severe injuries have healed so quickly?

Cai Xiaoxian turned to look at Buli. His rugged face cast a large shadow in the starlight, the lines as hard as if carved by a large knife or chisel, and the darkness did not feel cold but rather gave a sense of trust.

"Brother, are you better?" Cai Xiaoxian asked tentatively, unsure.

Seeing Buli nod, Cai Xiaoxian let out a cheer and, like a bird, flew into Buli's arms, hugging his neck and laughing happily.

"Good, go to sleep for a while. I think I saw something this time, and I'll try to see it more clearly," Buli said, patting Cai Xiaoxian's back.

"What did you see?" Cai Xiaoxian asked.

"It should be my lost memories. I couldn't see clearly, just a distant mist. I wanted to see it more clearly, but I was thrown out directly." As Buli spoke, he suddenly turned his head to look at the northern forest, gently picked up Cai Xiaoxian, and placed her to one side, bowing and saying, "The Elder has arrived."

"Of course, with the bloodline activation, I must come," a cold voice said. The man was dressed in black, but the clothes were so dirty they had turned gray, covered in years of grime. He seemed not to notice, as he had long been accustomed to it.

"Was this bloodline activation not arranged by the Elder?" Buli straightened up, habitually standing in front of Cai Xiaoxian, and looked at the figure "floating" out of the forest. The man was the elder who guarded the Bai Ling clan's ancestral hall, the only one in the clan who was kind to Buli.

The black clothes were not particularly large, but the man wearing them looked like a skeleton, the clothes hanging loosely on his frame, almost floating. He seemed to have not taken a step, but was blown over by the wind, more like a ghost than a person, exuding a chilling aura.

"Of course," the man said without hesitation, being completely honest. "The more noble the bloodline, the more conditions are required for activation, sometimes so many that they seem hopeless. Your bloodline, though strict, is still relatively good. It just requires you to be on the brink of death at midnight on your eighteenth birthday, and the starlight to cleanse the impurities in your body. I can't provide the blood of a wild dragon, but beating you to near death is easy for me. Your luck is not bad; there is no moon tonight. Over the years, how many people with your bloodline have not survived the brink of death due to a full moon?"

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