Chapter Seventeen Entering the Cycle of Rebirth (Five)

  "Teacher is going back to the country," Tianqi called his supervisor before the plane took off, told him about the situation, and the supervisor reminded him of some things to pay attention to. He also said that in less than a month or at most three months, he would be back in the country. As people get older, they all want to return to their roots. His daughter Tianying will also go back to China for her Ph.D.

  "Hmm," Upon hearing Tian Qi's words, Ou Shen's expression didn't change much.

  "What's wrong? Is your head hurting again?" Tian Qi felt something was off about Ou Shen's state.

  "Would you agree if I said cancel this ceremony?"

  Tian Qi glanced at Director Chen sitting in the front row, the ten robust men and ten "women" on the bus, then looked at the things they had prepared, and could only shake his head. Now canceling was out of the question, not to mention that he himself was unwilling, even Chen Yu would not agree.

  When a cart is pushed to the front of a mountain, there must be a road; it's still Tian Qi's optimistic 'nature' that calms him down.

  "So I won't say it," Qiu Shen turned his face away, gazing out of the window.

  Tian Qi felt a little worried, Chou Shen had the ability to foresee things, this was what he knew, at this time still saying such words, it was clear that this ceremony would not go smoothly, and it was very likely that something unexpected would happen.

  In the end he chose silence, since speaking out wouldn't make a difference and would only affect morale.

  When we arrived at Yunnan airport, the temperature was very high and the air was filled with a humid smell. Others were fine, but Fatso couldn't take it, he's too fat, this climate really needs an adaptation process for northerners.

  In order to rush for time, after getting off the plane, everyone didn't have too long a rest before boarding the chartered bus and rushing to their destination, deep in the mountains. Accompanying them was also a middle-aged man, who should be about the same age as Chen Yu, and when introducing himself, he said he was Director Zhang, and there was also an older old man, a local, who was their guide for this trip.

  Due to the climate, Yunnan is lush with trees and has beautiful scenery. Many of the men and women who were hired for this trip had never been to Yunnan before, and they chattered excitedly all along the way. Pangzi and Tianqi said that these people were all hired from a public relations company.

  The big bus drove for more than two hours, and then everyone started walking for the next leg of the journey, finally arriving at the final destination where the ceremony was held before dark.

  "Whoa! Fat brother, I'm in trouble!" After arriving at the location, Fatso turned around and found that the spring was very small, just one person could easily fill it up. He thought he had lost big time. Those 'girls' were overjoyed, such an easy job, free travel and still got paid.

  There are no villages within a radius of over ten miles, so they can only set up tents. Because they were well-prepared in advance and had many people with them, they didn't spend too much time on it. The fat man wanted to live alone in one tent, Tian Qi naturally knew what he was thinking of doing, as he hadn't been shy about flirting with the female laborers they'd hired along the way.

  "I said no way! From now on, I won't interfere with you, but don't think about anything before the ceremony is over!" Fatso was very dissatisfied with Tianqi's decision and kept whispering in his ear, provoking Tianqi.

  Bao Zi is older than Tian Qi and has more social experience, so it's natural that he's not satisfied. Another reason is that Tian Qi has a good temper and rarely gets angry. This time, Tian Qi really wants to get angry, but can only give up.

  A quiet night, the fatigue of the journey, everyone went to bed early. Tian Qi was afraid that he would still have some ideas, so she waited with her eyes closed until Pangzi fell asleep before sleeping.

  The ritual is to be held on the second night, so there's no need to get up early. Actually, there aren't many things to prepare, just put the Bagua diagram at the top of the mountain, then put the baby's blood into a vessel and place it in the center of the Bagua diagram. Then, at the spring eye on one side of the mountain, fix the 'jade' pendant and a 'bed', for Wang Xiang to gather his soul. On the other side of the mountain, also place a 'bed', Chen Yu will wear the mourning clothes brought by Tian Qi and lie on it.

  During the preparation of the ceremony, there were no major problems. The only thing that happened was that when the person who went up to place the Bagua diagram came down, he accidentally twisted his foot and got hurt. Another change was that the ceremony required a host, standing at the top of the mountain and reciting the words written in the book. Originally, Tian Qi was supposed to be the host, but Qiu Shen insisted on letting him go for some reason.

  Chou Shen is not a fatty, he won't easily make any decisions, but once he makes up his mind, others can hardly change it. Tian Qi thinks this host isn't that dangerous, seeing how persistent Chou Shen is, he didn't object much either.

  "He said there will be a moon tonight, so don't worry!" The guide's words were translated by Director Zhang, who was more familiar with Chen.

  Director Zhang always looks like he's smiling, and is very enthusiastic towards everyone, but Tian Qi always feels that this person isn't as simple as he appears on the surface. Especially when he's looking at Chen Yu while she's looking elsewhere or talking to someone else, his gaze seems to have a hint of ill intent.

  But Tian Qi is still young after all, and this little clue did not attract his sufficient attention.

  The guide uncle was right, the moon still came out, Chou Shen took the residual volume and climbed to the top of the mountain, and the Bagua diagram and infant blood were also placed in the designated position.

  "If anything unexpected happens, I'm sorry!" Chen Yu put on mourning clothes and lay down on the 'bed', saying to Director Zhang standing beside him.

  "Don't worry, nothing will happen to you!" Director Zhang patted Chen Yu's shoulder.

  Tian Qi also inserted all the array flags, and everything was ready.

  All things arise from yin and yang

  Reborn due to reincarnation

  Borrowing the vitality of another person's life

  Gather the spirits of the people in the shade

  ……

  As the deep chanting continued, the celestial phenomenon on the mountain top changed, and thick clouds gathered unknowingly. The moonlight shone through the middle of the cloud layer, shining directly onto the container holding the infant's blood.

  The content of the recitation was very long, because of the gathering of the crowd, on the mountain top except for that one beam of moonlight it was all dark, and they could only hear Qi Shen's voice but couldn't see him.

  The color of the beam gradually changes from white moonlight to red light.

  At this moment, Tian Qi stood beside Chen Yu's 'bed', and Pangzi was beside 'Yu' Pei, nothing had changed yet.

  When the beam turned bright red, another change occurred. The middle of the beam split into two forks, connecting to Yu Pei and Chen Yu's bodies.

  In just one hour, a person can age ten years. What kind of change would that be? Tian Qi witnessed it with his own eyes.

  Due to the red light beam, Tian Qi could see every change that occurred on Chen Yu's body clearly. The mourning clothes that were originally a bit tight on his body loosened at a visible speed, his hair began to fall out, and the wrinkles on his face increased, becoming dry and withered.

  Tian Qi was somewhat worried, the ceremony had not yet completely ended, and he had to wait until the beam disappeared. He didn't know if Director Chen could hold on until the end of the ceremony, as the departure of the life light 'yin' also meant a loss of vitality.

  Pangzi quietly informed the situation on the intercom, and a human figure had also appeared on the "bed", Wang Xin's soul had begun to be recast.

  Great life

  Nature's Gift

  Change one's fate against heaven

  The Power of Love

  Deep hatred is still being read aloud.

  The bright red beam of light has faded, the ceremony is about to end, and the heart hanging in the sky has also slowly let go. Director Chen has aged a lot, but his life is worry-free, it seems that his lifespan is not yet exhausted.

  Just when everyone thought everything was going smoothly and the ceremony would end perfectly, a sudden strong wind blew away the clouds on the mountain top, also blowing 'chaotic' the red 'colorful' light beam.

  "What's going on!" Fatso exclaimed from the other end of the intercom.

  "Qiu Shen, how's it going over there?" Tian Qi also shouted through the intercom.

  However, there was no response from Tianqi on the walkie-talkie. After waiting until the clouds had all dispersed and the moonlight shone down, Qiu Shen was nowhere to be seen, and the mountaintop was empty!

  Tian Qi's heart turned cold. Di Sheng had mentioned on the plane that something might go wrong, so he had taken his place to climb the mountain peak. He hadn't expected an accident to really happen.

  The problem with the ceremony occurred on the banner, Director Zhang was in charge of guarding the banner, according to him, the banner suddenly flew up by itself. The banner represents various natural phenomena, 'insert' the banner, no matter what changes occur outside the formation, the inside will not be affected at all, and people outside the formation cannot see the scenery inside.

  "Do you believe what that old man said? I don't think he's a good person!" Fatso said.

  The ritual is irreversible and cannot be interrupted and continued, because the ritual was interrupted halfway through, Wang Xin's soul was not fully re-cast, but it can already enter reincarnation. However, in her future three lives or more, if she becomes human again, she may become deaf or mute, and her body will have disabilities due to the incomplete soul.

  "It's all fate, I've done my best, no regrets, just sorry for Tianqi, Chou Sheng is gone, don't worry, I'll do my best to find him, even if it costs my life." Chen Yu said from the heart, he originally only wanted to satisfy his own wishes, didn't expect such a mistake to happen.

  "What's the relationship between that Director Zhang and you?" Tian Qi didn't have time to grieve, although everything had happened suddenly. He believed that Chou Shen was definitely still alive, as long as he hadn't seen his corpse, he wouldn't give up for a day. First of all, let's start with that somewhat suspicious Director Zhang.

  "Do you suspect him?" Chen Yu asked.

  "It's not suspicion, at that time there were only a few of us in the formation, Director Zhang was in charge of guarding the flag, I don't believe the flag would fly up by itself." Tian Qi directly expressed his thoughts without being polite.

  "That's right, it was me. I didn't want to admit it at first, but I think this punishment is still not enough for you!" Chen Yu hadn't even responded when Director Zhang pushed open the tent flap and walked in.

  "You, Xiao Zhi? Why?" Chen Yu said in surprise.

  "Heh heh, why? Don't you know? Do you still remember what I said when I was about to leave? Take good care of Zhang Yao and don't let him get hurt. Did you do it?"

  "I..." Chen Yu couldn't continue, as he recalled the events that had occurred decades ago between Zhang Yao, Chen Yu, and Zhang Xiaozhi. Zhang Xiaozhi and Chen Yu were good friends, but Zhang Xiaozhi liked Zhang Yao, who in turn liked Chen Yu. In the end, Chen Yu chose Zhang Yao and promised to take care of her for the rest of his life, after which Zhang Xiaozhi left and went on to work at a library in Kunming until he became the director.

  "I knew what the consequences of incomplete soul re-casting would be, so I didn't destroy it from the start because of the fraternal bond between us brothers. I never thought to harm others, and I will take responsibility for someone's disappearance."

  "Get out of my sight! Your past grievances are your own business, just take responsibility for it and be done with it. Come on, tell me where to go!" The fatty spoke as he was about to get physical, he's not like Tian Qi who likes to reason things out.

  It's useless to say whether Tianqi is good or bad, things haven't gotten any worse, it's already like this, blaming who doesn't make sense, we should think about the long-term plan.