Chapter Fifty-Five: Two Sudden Accidents

Although Qin Xiaomo was not a Daoist disciple, she had received much protection from many people, whether in the parallel world or reality—such as Master Liu, Qingfeng, the old immortal, and even... Mu Bai.

“If possible, I’d like to help as well,” Qin Xiaomo looked at Master Liu, seeking his opinion.

“Miss Qin, to be honest, when I checked your pulse today, I found your Eight Extraordinary Meridians were already clear, but a few hidden acupoints are blocked by foreign energy and cannot be broken through. Also, for reasons unknown, your vital energy is abundant, filling your entire being, yet after a short while it’s suddenly absorbed somewhere in your body, and soon after, your energy is full again. That’s why you have never managed to become immortal,” Master Liu’s words were truly perplexing.

“Master Liu, to be honest, I don’t know if my vital energy is sufficient, but I do feel light and powerful. As for immortality, I’ve never really pursued it, but I have no idea where my vital energy comes from.”

“To explain vital energy: the air you breathe, when circulated to the kidneys, merges with kidney energy, and through further refinement becomes true energy—that’s the foundation of Daoist cultivation. But for someone with little knowledge of cultivation, though your meridians have been cleared by others, how you have such a constant stream of vital energy, I just can’t figure out,” Master Liu frowned, lost in thought.

“I wonder if it has something to do with those divine fruits,” Qin Xiaomo recalled the massive rose-red canopy, blazing crimson.

“What divine fruits?” Ji Dou asked, curious.

“I went to the heavens and saw an enormous tree called Crimson Flame Scarlet. The trunk alone was at least fifty meters in diameter, and the crown was so vast I couldn’t see its end. But the tree bore only sixty-six fruits. I... someone picked a few for me... to stave off hunger,” Qin Xiaomo felt embarrassed as she spoke. No matter how you looked at it, using a divine fruit to fill one’s stomach seemed sinful—though even the legendary Bajie did so on his journey for scriptures.

Master Liu’s expression showed surprise. Without another word, he turned around, rummaged through his cloth bag, and carefully pulled out a handwritten book with yellowed pages, leafing through it with great care.

After a while, “Here!” Master Liu pointed at a passage for Qin Xiaomo to see. “Is this what you mean?”

Qin Xiaomo leaned in. The book read: “At the summit of the clouds, upon a floating isle grows a tree, over a hundred zhang tall, crowned in crimson, bearing fruit once in ten thousand years, with but few fruits. Threads of gold condense into fruits the size of copper coins. Consuming them replenishes true energy, allowing one to ascend on the spot and become immortal...”

“Yes, that’s it! The fruits are just the size of copper coins!” Qin Xiaomo nodded vigorously, returning the book to Master Liu.

“What does ‘threads of gold condense into fruit’ mean?” Master Liu had always wondered about this.

“When the fruit ripens, a golden thread hangs down from the branch—whether by magic or otherwise, I’m not sure. If you reach out, the thread will lower into your palm, and there, a fruit slowly forms, about the size of a copper coin,” Qin Xiaomo described everything she had witnessed.

“What happens to the thread?” Qingfeng was also curious about the divine tree of the heavens.

“After the fruit forms, the thread withers, then vaporizes, and finally vanishes entirely into the air.”

After hearing this, Master Liu took up his pen and added these notes to the book. Once finished, he looked up at Qin Xiaomo. “I truly want to know who you really are.”

“Why?”

“Do you know where that tree grows?” Master Liu’s tone was solemn.

“Where?”

“It stands on an immortal isle beyond the Ninth Heaven. I always thought this record was mythical or a mistake—never imagined it could be real. No wonder your vital energy is endless, you’ve eaten divine fruit.” As he spoke, he seemed to be muttering to himself.

Hearing this, Qin Xiaomo suddenly laughed. “Master Liu, you must be joking. If it were real, why haven’t I become immortal?”

“That, I can’t explain for now,” Master Liu shook his head sincerely.

Just then, Qingfeng pointed at the television. “Master, look at the news.”

“At the Guangcheng Thermal Power Plant heating pipeline project, a collapse occurred during construction. Two workers were buried in a trench six meters deep. After six hours of continuous rescue, the workers were found around five in the morning, but medical personnel confirmed there were no signs of life. Relevant follow-up is underway.”

“How tragic. This must have been a construction accident. They should strictly follow safety regulations,” Ji Dou began, but Master Liu raised his hand to interrupt her, as the next headline was also an accident: “A man-made hill in a Guangcheng residential district suddenly collapsed, injuring two.”

“Last night, the artificial hill at the west gate of Huaya Garden in Guangcheng suddenly collapsed, injuring two citizens critically. When rescue teams arrived, preliminary inspection showed roughly seventy square meters had collapsed entirely, with rubble strewn across the sidewalk, exposed steel bars, and nearby landscape trees crushed against the fence.”

“How come there are so many accident reports today?” Qin Xiaomo felt uneasy hearing so many such news items.

“Don’t you notice some coincidences in these reports?” Master Liu stroked his goatee.

“They all happened in Guangcheng,” Ji Dou spoke first. Master Liu shook his head.

“They all occurred at night?” Qingfeng suggested.

“Not quite. In both accidents, the victims were two people,” Master Liu said gravely.

“Aren’t these all just accidents?” Ji Dou found the discussion puzzling.

“Whether they’re accidents or not can only be determined at the scene,” Master Liu replied, then turned to Qingfeng. “Go fetch Gu Zha. We’ll need his help for this.”

Soon, a red compact car pulled up at the door, and Gu Zha strode in energetically. “Elder brother, what’s happened?”

“There were two incidents last night.”

“Elder brother, do you suspect they’re not ordinary accidents?”

Master Liu nodded. “The Immortal Master said strange beasts have appeared in the mortal realm. Just in case, we need to investigate the scenes ourselves.”

“I understand. You give the orders,” Gu Zha said, stretching as he prepared for action.

Master Liu instructed Qingfeng and Gu Zha to inspect the construction site, while Qin Xiaomo and Ji Dou accompanied him to the residential district. They set out while it was still daylight, each to their assigned locations.

Arriving at the collapsed artificial hill at the west gate of Huaya Garden, they found that, although rescue workers had cleared part of the site during the day, it was still a mess. The hill was completely in ruins, rubble littered the sidewalk, steel bars jutted out, and the landscape trees were toppled, crushing the nearby fence.

Because an accident had just occurred, there were few people about. Master Liu had Qin Xiaomo and Ji Dou check around the landscape trees and the fence, while he examined the hill itself.

“Master Liu, could you give us some direction? We aren’t professionals and don’t know exactly what information you need,” Ji Dou asked, displaying a professional woman’s composure.

“There are three things to look for: first, is there any blood? Second, any unusual hair? Third, any signs of unnatural digging or breaking?”

“Master Liu, it sounds like you’re looking for signs of animal activity,” Qin Xiaomo said, thinking of pangolins at the mention of hair and unnatural digging.

“Exactly! But if there are, it will be an animal you’ve never seen before,” Master Liu replied, then continued his search.