Zhaozhao's eyelashes fluttered as she listened to her master's words. From those painful memories, she could more or less guess what was going on. She was sure that there was something bad about that heart.
"Master, just tell me. I'm listening," she said obediently, raising her small face to look at Chongming with a faint smile on her lips. She seemed quite calm.
But Chongming knew that his little disciple was actually very nervous. He reached out and stroked Zhaozhao's head in a soothing gesture.
"Do you still remember why I asked you to go down the mountain?" Chongming asked softly.
"Remember," Zhaozhao nodded. "You said that because my transformation was unstable and I was born with some physical deficiencies, I had to go down the mountain to help the Song family overcome a disaster and accumulate merits for myself."
She remembered it clearly. Even though she didn't encounter the so - called disaster of the Song family as her master had said after going down the mountain, she always kept this matter in mind.
There was a rustling sound outside the door. It was probably Taotie who heard their faint conversation, knew that she was awake and wanted to come in. But being intimidated by Chongming's powerful aura, it didn't dare to act rashly. So it could only scratch the door constantly.
Chongming cast a spell to immobilize Taotie outside, and then slowly said, "Actually, that wasn't my main purpose."
"Then what was it?" Zhaozhao was a bit confused.
"You were born with physical deficiencies because there was a crucial heart missing in your body. Do you still remember this?"
"Remember."
"When I asked you to go down the mountain back then, I actually wanted you to follow the clues to find the missing heart. Once you were injured and almost revealed your true form in front of everyone. When I took you back to Wutong Mountain, I injected a fragment into your body. You may not remember it. It was actually a part of your heart. But it was too small to operate independently and carry all your spiritual power. So I fused it with the Nuwa Stone and put them both into your body."
Her master's seemingly calm voice struck Zhaozhao's heart one by one, making her back sweat and her palms wet.
Zhaozhao said with difficulty, "So, is the thing that ran out of the wooden carving this time also... a part of my heart?" She still found it hard to believe. How could a heart turn into fragments?
Suddenly, Zhaozhao remembered a scene she had seen a long time ago: thunder rumbling and the burning pain on her body... She used to think it was just a nightmare. Could it be that those were real?
"Yes, the thing in the wooden carving is also a part of your heart. Your original form is a divine tree, a unique divine tree born naturally. So the heart it gives birth to is not like those of ordinary monsters and humans. It has a new name, called the Tree Spirit Heart."
"Tree Spirit Heart?" Zhaozhao, who had lost her memory, had no idea what this was. She could only infer from her master's words that it was similar to a human heart. But since it was divided into countless fragments, did it mean that it was already broken?
"I used to know very little about this Tree Spirit Heart. Later, after I picked you up and found your physical deficiency, I consulted a lot of ancient books and only then knew that the heart of the divine tree clan was like this. It is the origin of all power and the foundation that carries the physical body and spiritual power. And your situation seems to be more special. You can generate continuous spiritual power in your body and you are full of treasures. But without this Tree Spirit Heart, your physical body simply cannot carry it. Such vast spiritual power may cause you to explode at any time."
Hearing her master say that she was a divine tree, Zhaozhao was stunned. She originally thought that she was just an ordinary little tree that couldn't even be found in books. But it turned out that she was from the divine tree clan? It sounded quite powerful...
For some reason, she couldn't be happy when she heard this news. Whether she was a divine tree or an ordinary little tree, in fact, these were not what Zhaozhao wanted. All she wanted was to be happy with the people she cherished as before, and for everyone to be okay.
"Master, you said that I'm from the divine tree clan. Do you know what kind of tree I am exactly?"
Chongming probably thought that she would ask this question, so his face was no longer as calm as before. He turned around and walked to the window sill of Zhaozhao's room, looking out of the window without saying a word.
After a moment, he said, "I know, but it's not the right time to tell you yet. I'm afraid I can't tell you for now."
"Why?" Zhaozhao didn't understand. Since they had talked this far, what else couldn't be told to her? Didn't her master say before that he would tell her all about her identity and her heart?
"I have my reasons. You are a divine tree and you have such special features. I asked you to conceal your identity because your true form will attract a lot of covetousness. There are too many people and monsters with wrong intentions and greed in this world. It's better not to know this until you have the ability to protect yourself."
"But this is my own business. Can't I even know about it? I would never do any harm to myself," Zhaozhao argued. She really wanted to know the truth.
Chongming turned around, cast a spell to pick out the dragon scale hanging around Zhaozhao's neck, and said softly, "Are you sure you can guarantee that only you will know?"
The implication in Chongming's words was too obvious. Even if Zhaozhao was stupid, she knew what he meant. She explained anxiously, "No, master. Su Yuan won't hurt me."
"That's on the premise that you are human," Chongming reminded her coldly of this cruel reality.
Zhaozhao pursed her lips, clenched the bedsheet under her, and stubbornly repeated while looking at her master, "No, I believe in him. No matter what I am, he won't hurt me." In the past, she didn't dare to believe in Su Yuan, so she concealed a lot of things from him. She was afraid that because she was a monster, she would see a different look in Su Yuan's eyes and be treated coldly by him.
But Su Yuan had shown her with his actions again and again that no matter what she was, he would always stand by her side. This was the confidence Su Yuan had given her.
But Chongming was not Zhaozhao after all. The promise Su Yuan made was not credible in front of him. He didn't want to take such a risk. He knew that even without this dragon scale, just because Zhaozhao now had half of Su Yuan's heart in her chest, Su Yuan might know about their conversation.
"Zhaozhao, it's no use saying more. I won't tell you about your real identity for now," Chongming said. As soon as his voice fell, Zhaozhao visibly became dejected.
"Now there are two more things. Do you want to hear them?"
"Yes." No matter what they were, since she couldn't know her real identity now, it was good to know a little more information.
"Remember what I said today," Chongming instructed seriously. "First, the sacred object of the Dong Clan that you've been looking for is in your body."
"What?" Before Zhaozhao could be surprised, Chongming's voice rang out again, "Second, you may have to go to the Wuhuang Valley one more time. There's probably another fragment of your Tree Spirit Heart there. You need to go and retrieve it."