Chapter 64: Ascension is Not Ascension, Mulberry Tree is Not Mulberry Tree

  "Are you sure, Master Ning?"

  Shu Bailin sat behind Ning Feng, feeling extremely uneasy all over.

  Two people sat facing an old mulberry tree, ten zhang apart, from dawn till morning.

  "No."

  Ning Feng nodded his head and acknowledged it very frankly.

  "Huh?"

  Shu Bailin's face turned green and almost jumped up.

  If it weren't for the consideration of the Liu family members gathered around the bed of the ailing Old Man Liu, and the large crowd of people in front, almost everyone in the entire village was here, he would have had to jump up.

  "Why then..."

  Shu Bailin wanted to ask, if you're not confident in your heart, why say that the problem will be solved at noon today and invite everyone from the whole village?

  After some thought, I felt it was too disrespectful and didn't dare say anything more.

  Ning Feng fell silent for a moment before speaking up, "I've always felt that something is off. As cultivators of our generation, subduing demons and evil spirits is the right path, but we can't just muddle through things and end up getting caught with the knife."

  Take the knife?

  Shu Bailin somewhat understood Ning Feng's meaning and disbelievingly said: "Young Master, you mean that demon or ghost, whatever it is, is using us?"

  "Maybe."

  Ning Feng's answer sounds like he doesn't have much confidence in it.

  "There's something I still can't figure out..."

  He gazed at the old mulberry tree for a whole night and into the morning, furrowing his brow.

  Before long, it was almost noon.

  The arrow is on the string and cannot but be shot.

  Everyone in Liujiacun village has gathered outside, waiting to see the excitement. If this can't be handled properly, it won't just be Ningfeng's face that will be lost, but also the entire face of the Taiyang God Temple will be completely lost.

  Thinking of this, Ning Feng felt that the cost of showing off was really too great, and if he wasn't careful, he would end up being beaten to death by Tianyunzi.

  Just as Ning Feng was lost in thought, the sound of a noisy conversation drifted into his ears, coming from the villagers who had gathered together.

  So many people gathered together, how can they not talk? The old mulberry tree was the one that spread the news of the mischievous ghosts and monsters, which had long since spread its wings and spread throughout the entire Liu Family Village, their topic of conversation also revolved around this old tree.

  "Who would have thought that this old mulberry tree would become a scourge? I used to like playing under it when I was a kid."

  "Who says it's not? In our Liu family village, which of us hasn't sneaked out at midnight without telling our parents and played hide-and-seek under the trees?"

  "Yes indeed, speaking of which, when we were able to play the Ascension game back then, didn't Old Sangshu become a spirit at that time?"

  "It's been ages since I thought about it, I heard that my grandfather's grandfather used to play under the old mulberry tree. How many years has it been? A cow or a horse living to this age would have turned over in its grave long ago."

  “……”

  All sorts of conversations, all kinds of colorful ones, and no shortage of various clever remarks after the fact, such as "I saw that old mulberry tree was not right" and so on, never-ending.

  Ning Feng's ears suddenly perked up, and he muttered to himself: "Ascension game? What does that mean?"

  He turned his head and glanced at Shu Bailin, and indeed this guy didn't miss those conversations, with ears perked up higher than Ning Feng.

  With a glance, Shu Bailin stood up and walked towards the villagers who were discussing this matter. They were all middle-aged people in their 40s and 50s, talking about their childhood experiences with a sigh on each of their faces.

  Shu Bailin was so furious that no words could describe it, and before he could even react, Ning Feng saw him walking back with a strange expression on his face, whispering something in his ear.

  After listening, Ning Feng's face was also similar to his.

  What is called a "flying to heaven" game, actually takes place on nights with a moon. One by one, little kids sit down under an old mulberry tree, and then their buttocks leave the ground and they fly up, all the way to the treetop's height, before slowly falling back down.

  It looks like a child rising up to heaven, hence its name.

  The child's mouth can never keep a secret, and of course, this secret cannot be hidden from the adults forever. Once, it was discovered by Old Man Zhuang, who followed him to take a look, and his soul almost got scared away.

  It's strange to say that children can play the "ascension" game, but adults have no effect at all. Even when children grow up a bit, they still can't play it.

  What's even stranger is that soon after this matter got out, the old mulberry tree no longer had the effect of taking children "to heaven".

  After all, this matter did not cause anyone to be injured, and it was slowly forgotten. If it weren't for the fact that the old mulberry tree was identified as a monster and held responsible for the recent events in Liu Family Village, I'm afraid those children from back then who are now middle-aged would have long forgotten about it.

  "Ascension?"

  Ning Feng stroked his chin thoughtfully and said nothing, "There must be a problem with this."

  "Old Shu..."

  He had just shouted, and a muffled sound came from behind him. Shu Bailin flew back to his original position at incredible speed, plopped down on the cushion with a thud, and closed his eyes as if in meditation.

  Ning Feng was speechless for a moment, he still didn't know who this guy was. Shu Bailin was just short of having "don't call me I don't dare to go" written on his face.

  Shaking his head, Ning Feng saw that Shu Bailin was beyond hope, so he stood up and walked slowly towards the old mulberry tree.

  Arriving under the tree, it was already high noon, but a faint chill still lingered, making one's hairs stand on end.

  The old mulberry tree was too tall, too big, and its branches and leaves were too dense. No matter how Ning Feng lifted his head to look up at the tree, he couldn't see what was hidden under the dense branches and leaves.

  "Come on."

  Ning Feng thought back to not long ago in Fusuang Valley, climbing the bronze tree with all his might, and couldn't help but mock himself: "Am I really going to climb trees for a living?"

  He pressed his hands on the trunk, exerted force suddenly, and the whole person borrowed strength to rise, constantly pressing or leaning on the trunk or branches, gradually leading into the lush leaves.

  Ning Feng has now made some progress in his qigong practice, and it's different from when he climbed the bronze tree. This time, at least he doesn't need to use his hands and feet together, his posture is quite elegant, and from a distance, the corner of his scholar's robe occasionally flashes out from among the branches, his body fluttering like a startled swan.

  In a moment, Ning Feng climbed to the highest branch of the old mulberry tree. The chill that had invaded his body grew stronger, and there was also a faint gloom surrounding him, lingering on without dispersing.

  The entire Liu Family Village is under our feet, even the hidden valley in the mountains can be seen clearly.

  Ning Feng didn't look at the scenery for long, first using the Mó Yùn Tàiyáng Fǎ (Sun God Palace Method), imagining the Sun God's palace, warm and cozy feelings emerged to guide him, circulating throughout his body. Only then did he recover from his cold and regain mobility, and the yin-cold energy could no longer invade his body.

  He strained his eyes and looked down below.

  "Huh?"

  Not long after searching, Ning Feng soon discovered something unusual.

  "This old mulberry tree has actually reached this point..."

  He was amazed to find that the heart of the old mulberry tree, in a direction only visible from his highest vantage point, had a large, bottomless hole as deep as a water vat.

  "Could it be..."

  The girl seemed lost in thought, and casually plucked a twig, tossing it into the tree hole.

  "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

  The sound of branches colliding came one after another, Ning Feng listened with his ear sideways, and his face gradually changed.

  "Goodness gracious, this old tree looks lush and thriving on the outside, but inside it's actually been hollowed out long ago."

  Ning Feng estimated the location of the sound and found that this old tree was almost hollow. The last faint sound came from a very deep place, about one zhang below the ground.

  In other words, what's empty is not just the tree trunk, but probably even the roots have no way to escape.

  "It won't last much longer."

  Ning's face lit up with a look of sudden realization, as if he had finally found the answer to something he had been searching for all along.

  "As for ascending to heaven..."

  He recalled the strange sound mixed with the collision of branches he had overheard earlier, as if he had gained some insight.

  The next moment, Ning Feng suddenly let go and fell straight down from the highest point of the tree crown.

  "Ah~"

  They didn't know when they ran under the tree, one after another shivering with cold, their necks stretched to the point of breaking. Seeing Ning Feng's strange movements, they thought it was the beginning of a demon or monster being subdued, and the villagers held their breath in tension... They couldn't hold back, and simultaneously let out cries of surprise.

  Ning Feng certainly wasn't out of his mind.

  As he fell, he kept grasping at branches, breaking off mulberry twigs by the dozen, until he landed beside a hollow in the trunk of an old mulberry tree. He grabbed hold with both hands and stuck there, poking his head into the hole to look inside.

  As noon approaches, the bright sunlight, gentle breeze can be seen in the tree hole with thick and long bones, extending to the deepest part of the tree hole.

  "This is..."

  "Snake? Python?!"

  Ning Feng couldn't tell the difference between the two from the skeleton, anyway it was a long worm at least over 100 feet in length that had turned into white bones inside the old mulberry tree.

  "So that's what ascending to heaven is like."

  Ning Feng suddenly came to when he saw this skeleton.

  What is meant by "ascending to heaven" is that this long worm, after boring through the old mulberry tree and almost hollowing it out, was also stuck inside, with only its head barely protruding from the hole.

  This is a big trouble, with such a huge body, there must be a corresponding amount of food. In the time it was stuck until its death, the hunger of the long worm can be imagined.

  Ning Feng simulated it in his mind and restored the truth of ascending to heaven.

  Long worms are close to being demons, they can absorb the moon's glow. There was a young child who sat under a tree on a night with a full moon, and his stomach growled with hunger as the long worm could only stick its head out, and saliva flowed from its mouth without needing further mention.

  It inhaled, inhaled again, and inhaled once more, wanting to suck the tender little child right into its mouth.

  This is the true meaning of ascension.

  As for reaching high places and slowly falling down, now that the dragon has transformed into a skeleton, no one will ever know whether it was due to insufficient strength or some other reason.

  It's even simpler for an adult to "ascend to heaven", after all the weight difference is too great, and no matter how strong the gecko's suction power is, it's not that strong.

  Once climbing a tree, Ning Feng solved the doubts in his heart and also unraveled the mystery of "ascending to heaven". With a satisfied heart, he let go of his hands once again.

  It's really coming down this time.

  All the way, Ning Feng's two hands grasped and caught, his toes touched and landed lightly on the ground in front of the old mulberry tree.

  In a short time, his spirit and energy were greatly different, the hesitation between his eyebrows was gone, replaced by flying eyebrows and dancing colors, as if he had made up his mind.

  "Your Highness..."

  Shu Bailin hurriedly went forward with a flattering expression, pretending to offer support.

  Ning Feng waved his hand dismissively, gave him a displeased glance, and sat back down in their original position.

  "What?"

  Ning Feng had just expressed what he saw and his judgment when Shu Bailin suddenly cried out in surprise, jumping up from the couch.

  "So that's what you mean..."

  Shu Bailin swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and with a wave of his hand, he sucked the long worm out of thin air, as if erasing a scene from his mind. He pondered, "If even an old mulberry tree can fall to such a state, doesn't that prove it's no longer able to hold on? Isn't it more convincing that it's just pretending to be mysterious and confusing people?"

  He made sense, and Ning Feng didn't deny it at all.

  Taking Hu Mengniang, the fox demon, as an example, if she knew that her life was not long and she had no chance of achieving great things, would she still persist in her bitter struggle and endure hardships? How is that possible?!

  "I roughly know what the truth is?"

  The gentle breeze evened out his breathing, slightly making up for the previous exhaustion, and he suddenly stood up without any warning.

  At the same time, the sun moves to its highest point, emitting the most intense light, noon.

  "Old mulberry tree, are you coming out yourself, or should I invite you out?"

  The wind was blowing loudly as he spoke, a red sun appeared and disappeared behind the palace, floating in his mind.

  "What's going on?"

  Whether it was Shu Baoling or Liu's family, or even the entire village of Liujiacun, they were all shocked.

  Because ——

  When Ning Feng spoke out those majestic words, he was facing away from the old mulberry tree and towards

  Master Liu of the old village!

  PS:

  The bridge segment of "Ascending to Heaven" originates from a small story told in the original novel "Tian Xia Di Yi Xiang", and Dong Liu simply mixed it into our story, hereby declared.