The myth begins with the Lotus Lantern

Chapter 15 Memories
lonely.

Is there?

A little bit.

But it is more sad.

The sadness of having no control over one's own affairs, yet having to watch oneself slip into the quagmire bit by bit, being buried by time, and slowly rotting away.

But when Ding Lin heard the voice of the fairy maid, he immediately nodded.

The thoughts that had been sluggish for a long time were dusted off and became sharp and lively again.

"Lonely...I...yes...yes...I...I am so lonely..."

Ding Lin opened his mouth, and a magical scene happened. The words that he had been unable to say before, now came out naturally. When he uttered the first word, the sound was like a knife or an axe scraping the eardrum, and it was extremely unpleasant. After the next two words, things started to get better, although it was still a little rough, it was barely audible. By the end, it had become extremely natural, fluent and smooth.

"You are really spiritual," the fairy servant's eyes flashed with surprise, "It's rare that you can speak like this for the first time you talk to someone."

"It was... Qing... Qingyi... who taught... me..."

As soon as he uttered the first sentence, Ding Lin immediately realized that something was wrong. When he spoke again, he deliberately controlled his voice so that it was no longer coherent and sounded a little awkward and hoarse.

"Qingyi, it's the big bluefish, right?"

Ding Lin nodded, his thoughts racing. He no longer dived into the lotus pond as he had done in the past. His cultivation had stagnated. In his current place, the only person who could help him was the female fairy servant in front of him. In that case, communication was inevitable.

"Do you remember her?"

The female fairy servant was a little surprised. After she came out of retreat, she just happened to think of the fish in the pond. She just planned to come over to take a look and then go back to consolidate her cultivation.

Ding Lin's performance in previous years had long made her dispel her initial beautiful guess. She only thought that the scene of mutual support seen in the pond was an act of survival driven by the fish's instinct, but she did not expect to hear such an answer again tonight.

The fairy maid's eyes flickered.

"How much do you remember?" asked the fairy maid.

"I remember everything," Ding Lin said, and then explained, "Although I was just beginning to gain wisdom at that time, I could still tell who was good to me, and I remember all those things."

"..."

The fairy maid pursed her lips.

Ding Lin sensed that at this moment a strong sense of sadness seemed to emanate from her.

"Can you tell me about you and... Qing Yi?"

The fairy servant said, and sat down in the pavilion beside the lotus pond. She calmed down her emotions and returned to her usual indifferent and peaceful attitude.

But since Dante Lin had already captured that sadness, he naturally knew how to continue telling the story. He guessed in his heart that perhaps the female fairy servant had had similar experiences when she was in obscurity, so getting her empathy would be the best way to bring them closer.

"She and I..."

Ding Lin sank into memories.

"Our lake is not very big. At the beginning, I was the only one there. I don't remember the day when I became spiritually intelligent. I was confused and ignorant. About a year later, or maybe two years, there was a heavy rainstorm. The water level in the lake rose, and the water level in the ditch upstream also rose. When the rain stopped, I found a big black carp in the lake that liked to look at the moon at night. It was Qingyi..."

"At the beginning, I was very afraid of her and stayed away from her because every time Qingyi looked at the moon, she would eat the fish in the lake. But Qingyi's movements of looking at the moon attracted me so much that I couldn't help but learn and imitate her. Later, I realized that looking at the moon was actually a form of cultivation."

"Then, one day, Qing Yi finally discovered that I was imitating her. I was scared to death..."

"Qing Yi didn't eat me... She was very kind and stayed away from me for fear of scaring me... She would adjust the speed of her breathing according to my learning progress..."

"That's how Qing Yi taught me how to practice...

Ding Lin spoke very slowly. Except for the part about his origin, everything else was true.

"Qing Yi always leaves some for me every time he hunts..."

"I gradually felt Qing Yi's kindness, and from that time on, I always followed her, like a little tail..."

"During the period when I first cultivated my demonic energy, I always liked to jump out of the water. Qingyi would push me higher while I was still in mid-air and play with me..." "Later, one day, Qingyi suddenly learned to speak. She was not very skilled and spoke one word at a time. She began to try to teach me, but I had not yet opened my larynx."

Ding Lin kept on talking, and all the little moments of the past came back to his mind, and he was immersed in them unconsciously. He talked more and more, describing those details and specific behaviors vividly. Only in the very few places involving his emotional turning points would he be vague, and use words like "grateful" and "happy" to replace his deep vigilance at the time. While saying this, he glanced at the female fairy servant.

The latter was listening intently and didn't seem to notice.

"I thought the days would go on like this, until that night, when a black fish demon who called himself Black Scale showed up at our door. He and Qing Yi were old acquaintances. After a few words, he became extremely vicious and wanted to eat us."

Ding Lin glossed over the incident of the pearl theft and went on with the story.

"Qingyi was no match for the black fish demon and was badly injured. She told me to run away, but with my strength, where could I go? I couldn't even escape from the lake. I jumped onto the surface of the lake. Qingyi used her last bit of strength to push me back like she did when we played before. I finally escaped from the lake and landed in the ditch upstream. I was so scared that I swam upstream."

"Swim all the way..."

Ding Lin paused.

"She was obviously so scared at the time, begging for mercy so eagerly, and screaming in pain so loudly, but... she still sent me up first..."

"You didn't run away."

The fairy maid spoke softly. She tried her best to keep her voice calm, but she couldn't help but tremble a little.

Thoughts are racing.

Back to the past again.

Full of mountains, full of sky, full of ground...

In all directions, there were heavenly soldiers everywhere, surrounding them...

Surrounded by a small thatched hut.

Surround a family of five.

……

Ding Lin was silent for a while.

"Yes."

He replied.

"I didn't run away."

Ding Lin's voice suddenly became a little strange.

"It's really strange. I clearly wanted to escape, but somehow I couldn't help but swim back."

"Qing Yi fell from the sky, her demonic energy drained away. She spat out a mouthful of blood that covered my breath, and then she used her last bit of strength to press me down with her body and hid herself..."

……

Yes.

Really strange.

In front of the thatched cottage, a thin middle-aged man protected his wife and children behind him, and his body was clearly shaking violently.

I'm scared.

But why were my legs as if they were hammered into place, fixed firmly in the same place, not moving at all?

……

Memories are spreading.

There seems to be an overlap at this moment.

(End of this chapter)