Daily Life in the Countryside After Being Reborn-Chapter 262 - 43: Blessing or Curse? (Part 2)

Xiao Xian could confirm that Mei Xiang was not an ordinary person; the daffodil bulb that hadn’t bloomed for decades could contain a person’s memories in the form of a narcissus flower.

After seeing that segment of memory, Xiao Xian understood why Mei Xiang had to leave Mr. Bai.

The visage of Mei Xiang within the illusion was vivid, a young woman in her twenties, while Bai Juyi had already become a lone soul under a white sheet.

Mei Xiang must have left Mr. Bai heartlessly because she feared the inevitable day of aging, sickness, and death.

Now aware of the truth, Xiao Xian felt an unprecedented heaviness. She wondered if what had happened to Mei Xiang would also befall her in the not-so-distant future.

She had saved Zhu Shijun once with the seed leaves of the Space Immortal Seedling. If, in the future, it was Zhuo Feng’s or her uncle’s turn to face life and death, or anyone else’s for that matter, would she also be able to do the same? How many times can human effort truly defy fate? With these thoughts, Xiao Xian had a sleepless night.

**

Pain, a deep, bone-chilling, visceral pain, Yezi opened his eyes and attempted to sit up, his body soaked and ice-cold like iron, immovable.

Yezi found himself washed up on an abandoned riverbank surrounded by scattered rocks, his lower body, still struggling to move, half-submerged in the frigid river water that was leeching away his consciousness.

Drenched, with a mouth so dry it was bitter, Yezi took a deep breath. The oxygen that reached his brain cleared his mind a bit, and his vision restored enough for him to barely turn his neck. All was silent around him. In the areas where moonlight reached, there were only scattered stones—no, besides the stones, there were also some dead fish carcasses.

It took Yezi a full hour of resting before he managed to crawl upward. When he bent his knees, he noticed his clothes had been torn from the rocks and the water’s current, hanging in shreds on his body as if he were naked.

"Damn place, lucky there’s no one around," Yezi crawled to the shore, wincing with every step as the uneven rocks grated against his bare feet.

Yezi stopped and surveyed his surroundings. Underfoot was an entire beach of scattered stones, far from where they had parked their car earlier.

The Chishui River rushed forward, and on either side of it, besides the stone beaches, were dark, dense forests.

Yezi, having grown up in the mountains, knew quite a few wilderness survival skills. Now, deep in the night and by the water, it was best to stay put when the environment was uncertain.

Under the moonlight, the river, carrying shards of ice, lapped against the stones. Yezi bent down to scoop up some water. After a smell test that revealed no off odors, he drank a few mouthfuls with relief.

After a few sips, his stomach was icy cold, and the chilly night wind made Yezi’s teeth chatter.

Earlier in the afternoon, Yezi had prepared some food, but after getting out of the car and being swept away by the water, he had lost all his money and his bag.

A fish leaped out of the water. The water was unknowingly teeming with nearly a hundred small fish, all with silver bellies and green scales, swirling densely beneath the surface.

Yezi was annoyed—if he had known earlier, he would have carried a few firestones like the old smokers in his village, wrapped in waterproof oil paper, ready for use. As this thought crossed his mind, Yezi chuckled at himself. Who would have thought he would encounter a broken bridge and be swept away by the river on his way out?

One accident after another, it really comported with what Granny Hong had said.

"Not listening to the elder does come at a price," Yezi muttered as he wrung out his pants.

Another fish leaped from the water. Instead of immediately falling back into the river, this fish collided with a large stone on the shore.

Following that fish, several more leapt in the same direction, all heading toward a huge rock covered in wild grass by the riverbank.

"That’s odd. These fish don’t seem to be committing mass suicide, do they? And where is this place?" From Yezi’s angle, the details were unclear; he could only see the giant rock where the fish were landing. The surrounding mountains created a river bend where the flow changed direction. The channel was narrow, not easily navigable by ordinary boats.

Yezi took a few steps and then glanced over the fish carcasses littering the river beach, raising goosebumps all over his body. In his ears were sounds of chewing, the sort that came from teeth grinding against meat.

With a rhythmic rise and fall, the chewing stood out distinctly amidst the chaotic splashing of the river.

Yezi held his breath, crouched down, and picked up a few rocks before heading towards the large rock beside the river beach.

With a few "shh" sounds, several fish bones, mangled and torn, were spat into the river, creating a layer of fish paste that floated on the surface before sinking again.

More fish surfaced haphazardly. Yezi leaned on the rock and leapt forward, ready to throw his stones at any moment.

There was nothing unexpected in front of the huge rock; Yezi found nothing and paused in bewilderment. He turned towards the river, where the cluster of fish by the bank scattered in fright.

"Ts-ts," Yezi heard a sound that seemed like human speech and chewing, uncertain whether it was falling from the sky, emerging from the ground, or rising from the rippling water.

Yezi swallowed hard and advanced step by step. The closer he got, the more his limbs seemed to petrify, making even a single step extremely difficult.

Murmuring to himself not to be nervous, he still couldn’t help but lose control of his limbs. After an indeterminable period, Yezi managed to stiffly turn his head and fix his gaze on the giant rock against which he was leaning.

The stones in his hand all fell to the ground. Yezi, who had lived for fifteen years, was witnessing such a scene for the first time.

**

Thank you to Shui Ren for the reward, to Yanzi and Leopard Four for their fan tickets, to Yan Yu for the monthly ticket, and off goes Fu Zi who’s debt-free and ready to sleep~ Slipping between two male characters, if you love it, remember to spit water and clamor for more scenes~ (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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