Maiden Of The Splitting Moon - Chapter 729: The Girl's Origin

Although his expression was calm and relaxed his eyes said differently, they were serious and in fact, somewhat somber. The young cultivator was apprehensive, sensing that something was amiss.

“What is it?” she asked, “Is there something wrong?”

Her expression softened with a worried look, waiting to see what Elder Shen was about to say.

“Well, it’s about Hongyu’s origin”, he explained, “When you left her with us and asked to find out more about her, we proceeded with several tests. And well, the results of what we found were… not something that we expected.”

“What do you mean?”

The Spirit Elder sighed before looking at the little girl, watching her run around with Hei Yue.

“Elder Hua examined her body while I examined her mind, the both of us pooled together our efforts and pored over hundreds of books in the Archive. Despite that, there was nothing that came from it, not even the smallest hint as to her background. But the examinations that we did all led to one result.”

He then looked back at Ming Yue.

“She is neither human, demon, or beast but something entirely different”, he told her.

“Something, entirely different? Then do you know what she is?” the young cultivator asked.

Elder Shen could only shake his head.

“We don’t know. Hongyu may look human but everything within her is fundamentally different from a normal human body. The meridians in her body are positioned differently and instead of twelve, she has nine primary meridians and eighty-one secondary ones. Frankly, it’s extraordinary. It’s as if she was gifted by the Heavens but as far as we can tell, she is the first person with such a condition. But her ability to learn and grow is far beyond what we had expected.”

He took another sip of tea, setting the cup down in front of her.

“That is also why we came here, to see you and to investigate where you had found her.”

Ming Yue was quiet now. She looked at the Elder and then at Hongyu, watching her gleeful face.

“I… I see.”

Elder Shen sighed before looking away.

“I know that what I’ve just told you is shocking and perhaps not very believable but the others all agreed on this.”

“No, no, it’s fine. Human or not, she’s still the same little girl from before. And that will never change.”‘

The young woman responded, keeping her eyes and the little child with a gentle gaze. The elder smiled.

“In that case, this is one less thing to worry about. We weren’t sure how you’d take such news. Aside from you, only Elder Hua and I know about this, and when we found out well… we were speechless”, he said.

But then his smile turned into one of concern.

“We made sure that none of this information got out. There are plenty out there who would like to have Hongyu, even more so if they found out about her unique physique. I’m sure you know.”

Ming Yue nodded.

“I do.”

After watching the little girl for a while longer, she faced the elder.

“Since you plan on going to the ruins, we can go together, it’s only a short detour from where I need to go”, she said.

“Ah yes, where do you plan on going?” he asked.

The young cultivator answered him.

“The Den, to see the Zodiacs.”

Elsewhere, far from the Reticent Fortress, in a place hidden from all eyes, there was an elderly man frantically whittling away at something in his hands. He sat in front of a workbench, hunched over and working in silence.

Whatever he was inside of, it did not look manmade. It was a large dome room with walls that were just roots intertwined with one another. A greenish moss covered it and provided a gentle glow of light, making it easy to see.

It seemed that he was inside the base of a tree.

Time passed by before he suddenly stopped, putting his knife down and turning around. It was in fact, Senior Cheng Wei, the old master of the Wildwood Pavilion. But compared to before, he seemed much thinner and frail though his eyes were full of life and concentration.

Surrounded by piles of plant pieces and shavings, calling it a mess would be an understatement. There were also books, brimming with notes and whatnot, detailing his findings with each plant he had discovered.

Nevertheless, this old man ignored the clutter around him.

He was focused on what was in front of him.

Looking at it with excitement, there was a branch in his hands, one with several different twigs grafted into it.

“With this, it will now have a thousand”, he muttered to himself.

Walking to another part of this secret workshop, there was a green glow emanating from that part. It pulsed like a heartbeat as Senior Cheng Wei approached the Penzai or what is known as the “Evergreen Heart”.

Of course, it had yet to reach the same size as it did when Ming Yue found it but it was more than just a branch. It was the size of a young tree, nearly as big as a small child. However, it looked very different from a regular tree.

Each and every branch had tens of different pieces, each of which came from some sort of plant or herb. Flowers and fruit of varying sizes, shapes, and colors had already begun to grow.

Looking at it, the old man took out a small axe, making a light cut into the trunk, and then carefully slid his branch into it. He even used tree sap like glue, making sure that everything was tightly fitted together.

Once done, he took a step back and just gazed at its brilliance, talking to himself in the meantime.

“I was right to keep it. So long as it keeps me alive, I can continue to work. A project that I can work on for the end of time.”

His eyes had an obsessive look to them, almost crazed in fact. With this revived Evergreen Heart nourishing him, he had no need to eat, sleep, or drink. All that was on his mind to that very plant, nurturing it and letting it grow to his heart’s content.

It seemed like nothing else mattered now.

He couldn’t take his eyes off of it but at some point, he had to look away. Going back to his makeshift workbench, he began to draw up plans for his next step. The senior took out a map, one detailing the entire Beast Continent.

“Hmm, so I’ve already gone through here and here, I don’t think there’s too much for me to find.”

He then looked up, staring at the piles of plants surrounding him.

“I suppose, I can make a quick trip to the Den, sell all of this, and see if there’s anything interesting in the markets. It may also do me well to send to a message out to a few people, see if they’ve found anything special in the other continents.”

Closing up the map, Senior Cheng Wei started making preparations, taking this opportunity too clean things up. It didn’t take him long to fill his spatial ring with everything he wanted to sell.

But before he left this secret abode of his, he went back to the Evergreen Heart. He walked up close to it, sat down and closed his eyes. Staying there for a few minutes, the old man took several deep breaths, absorbing all of the energy coming from the small tree.

Soon enough, his frail and thin body began to look stronger as color returned to his face. In fact, it looked as if he was several years younger!

Opening his eyes, he was refreshed, standing back up to go.