Guarding the River of Time

Chapter 459 - 449: On the Path of Reincarnation, Leaving the Lamp Behind

Seeing the atmosphere grow a bit cold, Su Mu spoke to break the silence.

"This is my daughter, she’s nine years old."

Su Mu looked at Lady Houtu and slowly said, implying that Nannan was still young and unaware of many things, so any questions should be directed to him.

"Nine years old..." Lady Houtu seemed deep in thought.

"This is Lady Houtu, Nannan, you can call her Lady," Su Mu ruffled Nannan’s head, indicating she shouldn’t be afraid as her father was right beside her.

"Hello, Lady..." Nannan softly called out.

This was the first time Su Mu saw Nannan being so shy because Nannan was usually quite lively; whether meeting Du Ziren or Shen Yu for the first time, she had always been bold and outgoing.

However, it might also have been the aura around Houtu that was too overwhelming.

When I first saw Houtu, I was also stunned by her aura; that’s the aura of someone in a high position.

"Come over."

Lady Houtu gestured at Nannan to come over.

Upon hearing this, Nannan didn’t move immediately but looked up at Su Mu.

"Go on," Su Mu ruffled her hair and said with a smile.

Only then did Nannan muster the courage to walk step by step towards Houtu. In fact, Nannan herself didn’t know why she felt so restrained. She had never felt this way when meeting Uncle Du or Aunt Yu, yet with this Lady, she became very reserved.

....

Nannan walked up to Lady Houtu.

Lady Houtu extended her right hand, holding Nannan’s little hand, and they walked towards the end of the stone bridge step by step.

Su Mu followed behind them.

Soon, Lady Houtu, holding Nannan, reached the end of the stone bridge, then slightly bent down and pulled a strand of hair from Nannan’s head.

With a thought, the strand of hair in her palm turned into a green seedling.

Su Mu stood behind, witnessing all of this, yet he didn’t ask anything. He wanted to see what Lady Houtu was planning to do....

"Do you know how to plant a tree?" Lady Houtu lowered her head and softly asked Nannan in front of her.

Hearing this, Nannan nodded, "Dad taught me, and I’ve planted with Dad before."

Before the five youngsters came to their home, Nannan was in charge of the medicine garden at home, and many trees in the garden were planted by Nannan herself.

....

"Nannan, but there’s no soil here, how do we plant...."

At the bridge’s end, there was only a tall stele, the ground all covered in dark stones, without any soil.

"There’s no need for soil."

With that, Lady Houtu’s gaze fell on a spot closest to the stele, and with a wave of her hand, the solid stone suddenly had a small pit appear in it.

Nannan took the seedling handed to her by Lady Houtu and approached the small pit near the stele.

She squatted down and placed the seedling into the pit, but without soil, the seedling couldn’t stand upright.

Nannan then looked up at Houtu and softly said, "Lady, without soil, it doesn’t seem to stand upright."

With that, Lady Houtu waved her hand again, and a mass of purple-black silt surged from the Nether River beneath the stone bridge, falling around the seedling.

Seeing this, Nannan pulled out tools like a trowel from her Elixir Field World to adjust the soil and fix the position...

Finally, only watering was left.

Lady Houtu used water from the Nether River to irrigate the seedling, and with the irrigation of Nether River water, the river sand became solid, and the seedling emitted a faint glow, seemed lifelike, vibrant, becoming the only splash of green on the stone bridge.

After finishing all this, Nannan surveyed the surroundings and noticed that the environment was rather dim and desolate, apart from the dark river and this lone stone bridge, there were no other trees, making the seedling she just planted particularly conspicuous.

As soon as the seedling was planted, Lady Houtu suddenly looked up at the stele and found an additional mark on it.

Originally eleven, now there was an additional one, totaling twelve.

This meant that this act forcibly extended the "life span" of the Ten Thousand Realms by one era!

It also implied that her choice was correct.

However, what puzzled her was how this era was extended, whether it was because of Nannan herself or because of Su Mu.....

Because Lady Houtu’s initial intention was not to increase the "marks" on the Reincarnation Stele to extend the life span of the Ten Thousand Realms.

Her intentions were solely for Nannan herself.

The change in the Reincarnation Realm was an unexpected surprise for her, something she never anticipated.

....

"Lady, it’s so desolate here, it seems like there are no other trees..."

Nannan softly asked Lady Houtu.

Because she felt that a place to live should have more "breath of life" and "greenery" to be better.

So, when at home, Nannan would plant some small plants, small flowers, and such.

For this question Nannan asked, Lady Houtu didn’t answer, but instead turned around, looked at the gloomy Nether River, and murmured, "It’s fine like this."

It’s not that she didn’t want to, but that she couldn’t. This place is the core of the rules of reincarnation, not allowing any "life force" to appear.

This time, using Nannan’s hair to turn into a "lamp", and leaving it here, was already an exception she made.

.....

At this moment, Su Mu approached, his Divine Sense locked onto the "seedling" as he carefully examined it.

He didn’t feel any "curse" or any rules and laws that would harm Nannan within it. He only sensed that the seedling had a faint life connection with Nannan, a beneficial connection.

He just didn’t understand why Houtu did this...

He looked up, gazed at Houtu’s back, and conveyed a message, "Why is this...."

He used transmission instead of asking directly because some things couldn’t be known to Nannan or involve her.

Upon hearing this, Lady Houtu stared at the gloomy Nether River and remained silent for a long time.

An ethereal voice finally echoed in Su Mu’s mind, "You need not worry, just continue forward."

As she said this, Lady Houtu turned around, meeting Su Mu’s eyes, their gazes colliding at this moment.

"You shouldn’t have a weak point. If you have a weak point, a vulnerability, considerations, you will surely fail..."

Hearing this, Su Mu fell into silence.

He knew what Houtu meant by "weak point." He was very clear that his weak point was Nannan.

He had always protected Nannan very well, worried that one day Nannan would truly get involved.....

He also always wanted to refine the Long River as soon as possible, to leave this place early; the enemy was in the dark, while he was in the light, making it very disadvantageous for him.

"Don’t you have a weak point yourself...."

Su Mu looked at Houtu and questioned.

Upon hearing this, Lady Houtu was slightly taken aback, then softly replied, "No."

After saying this, she added, "Nor can I."

........

ps: Just to add, the story won’t wrap up too quickly; it will only pick up the pace. The outline of the book is complete and won’t end poorly.