Zhaozhao got up from the ground, rubbing her buttocks and taking a cautious breath. Her master hadn't controlled the strength well just now, and she'd almost been sent flying. Falling hard on the ground had really hurt!
The Wuhuang Valley wasn't much different from when she'd last visited. The trees were still the same, and even the strange little animals didn't seem to have grown at all after all this time.
Suddenly, Zhaozhao had a really absurd thought. It was as if time had stood still in this place, and everything had stopped changing.
While she was in a daze, something seemed to crawl onto her instep. Zhaozhao's scalp tingled instantly. Subconsciously thinking it was some "terrible" bug, she quickly stomped her feet on the spot, trying to shake off the invading bug.
They plants were most afraid of bugs that bit randomly!
This was a kind of racial restraint, an innate conditioned reflex to natural enemies.
"Ouch, I'm going to be shaken dizzy..." A familiar voice came. Zhaozhao stopped and looked down in the direction of the voice. A little turnip-headed elf was holding onto her shoelace stupidly.
"Ah, it's you! Little elf, long time no see."
She hadn't expected to see the little elf she'd met in the Wuhuang Valley last time again, and she'd almost shaken the little thing flying.
Thinking of the fall when her master had teleported her here, Zhaozhao still had a lingering fear. Embarrassedly, she picked up the little turnip-headed elf in her palm and observed it carefully in front of her eyes.
"It's me, it's me!" The little turnip head was very excited, waving its short chubby arms and jumping on the spot in Zhaozhao's palm.
"I sensed you as soon as you came, great immortal." It looked very proud and deliberately tilted its head up, waiting for Zhaozhao's praise.
"Wow, so amazing." Zhaozhao thought it was cute and reached out a finger to touch its head. She didn't dare to use too much force, for fear of breaking the little vine or stem on top of its head.
These little guys were too fragile.
"How did you know I was here?"
Holding the little elf in her palm, Zhaozhao walked aimlessly through a flowerbed.
She didn't know where to look for the lost fragment for the time being. Although it was her own, Zhaozhao felt that her connection with it didn't seem very strong.
At least she hadn't felt anything yet.
She didn't know how long she'd have to stay here, so she wanted to find a place to settle down first.
She still remembered the flower house the cute little guys had taken her to last time, but she didn't quite remember the way.
The little turnip head seemed to know what Zhaozhao was thinking. While pointing her in the right direction, it answered her question: "I sensed a very kind aura on you, just like that great immortal from before."
"Great immortal from before?" Zhaozhao stopped and looked down at the little turnip head in her palm.
Since she'd heard Zhuang Ming's mother call her the goddess, every time she heard the little elf say something like this, she always had a strange hunch that this great immortal seemed to be related to her somehow.
Moreover, her master had said before that the goddess of the Wuhuang Valley in the mouth of the Taotie was also her...
Some clues were about to surface. Zhaozhao nervously bit her lips and asked the little turnip head in a low voice: "What great immortal? Male or female?"
The little turnip head tilted its round head and thought for a while, as if using its not-so-big brain capacity to digest Zhaozhao's words.
After a long time, it hesitated and said: "Female, maybe? Or male?"
"..." Zhaozhao felt a headache. She felt like she understood a little bit how Teacher Liu had felt when facing her doing math problems.
Seeing her expression change, the little turnip head quickly explained: "I don't know if it's male or female because it never came out!"
"Where is it then?" She didn't hold out much hope. It was better for her to go and see for herself.
"I'll take you there." The little turnip head felt very guilty for not being able to answer the great benefactor's question. At this moment, it said extremely actively.
"Okay." Zhaozhao followed its guidance. After noticing its mood, she kindly comforted it for a while.
No one understood plants better than plants themselves. They plants would wither if they were in a bad mood! Although the little thing in her hand was in an elf form, it was actually born from a plant body, so it would still be affected by the plant to some extent.
With the help of magic, they didn't walk for long before they reached the place the elf had mentioned.
Looking at the scene in front of her, Zhaozhao didn't know what to say for a moment.
She hadn't expected it to be so easy to find.
The fragment of the tree heart spirit that had been somehow separated from her body was now lying quietly in the trunk of a tree.
No, to be exact, it wasn't a dead tree. After all, half of the tree was still lush and green, but the other half was like an old dying tree that had been withered for many years. The thick trunk was hollowed out in the middle, holding her fragment.
Looking at this strange tree, Zhaozhao inexplicably had the illusion that this was her future. It seemed that she would be like this in the future.
"Great immortal, great immortal?!" The elf's voice exploded in her ear. Zhaozhao blinked and turned her head to look at it: "What's wrong?"
"It should be me asking you what's wrong." The elf looked at her worriedly. "Why do you look so sad? And you're crying..."
Crying?
Zhaozhao woodenly reached out and touched her face. She felt the wetness on her eyelashes. So she was really crying.
But, but why was she crying?
There was a dull pain in her heart. Why was this? What was she sad about? The emotions came so inexplicably...
She turned to look at the fragment. It was still floating quietly in the tree hole, emitting a soft glow all over. It looked mysterious and sacred.
Something flashed through her mind, and she understood! These weren't her emotions. They were the ones that came with the fragment. It was the feeling it passed on to her.
As if being attracted, Zhaozhao slowly reached out her hand towards it.
Her fingers passed through the barrier around the fragment without any hindrance. The little turnip head watching beside her opened its not very obvious eyes in surprise.
Suddenly, a strong wind blew up all around. The little turnip head was blown staggering. It tightly grabbed the vines on the ground and anxiously shouted at Zhaozhao: "Great immortal! Are you okay, great immortal?"
Zhaozhao didn't respond to its concern. She still maintained her original posture. It was as if she couldn't hear anything and was completely isolated from the outside world. Her eyes gradually became dull and empty.
A moment later, a flash of red light passed through her eyes. Then she closed her eyes and fainted on the grass.
The fragment in the tree hole flew out and stopped above her chest. A barrier formed around it automatically, clearing out all the unimportant things.
Zhaozhao's hair began to grow rapidly. Her body shape slowly began to change. The features of her demon form on her head appeared, and the white little flowers on it bloomed.
In a daze, the unconscious Zhaozhao felt that she was falling rapidly. She really wanted to open her eyes to see what was going on, but her body simply wouldn't listen to her.
And when she "opened" her eyes again, she saw a strange place she'd never seen before.
It was a desolate place, but there was a strange tree growing there alone.
There was a person sitting under the tree. He was wearing a silver battle robe, with his ponytail tied up high. He bent one leg and leaned against the tree trunk.
A gust of wind blew. He turned his head slightly, placed a flower in his hand beside the tree, and then slowly smiled.
Looking at that face, Zhaozhao murmured: "Suyuan..."