CHAPTER 48: CHAPTER 48: JINGWEI [VOTE FOR MONTHLY TICKET]

"Heh heh, ha ha, HAHAHAHAHA!"

On the beach, at twilight, Wu Wang’s uncontrollable laughter grew even louder.

The bird, somewhat wary, perched on a distant rock. The Short Sword was stuck three inches deep in the rock before it, clearly startled by Wu Wang’s laughter.

Once again transforming into a girl’s likeness, she sat atop the rock, frowning and watching Wu Wang, who was soaking in the seawater.

Wu Wang immediately leaped up. He was about to speak when he saw the young girl step back, her eyes brimming with caution.

What’s this, a stroke of luck?

Wu Wang quickly steadied his emotions and analyzed the situation. He had even forgotten to dry his clothes and the water in his hair. He stood up and gave the girl a standard Human Domain salute.

"I, Wu Wangzi, have caused offense just now. I implore you, miss, not to take it to heart," he said.

Er, why did a ’ze ge’ slip out? And why has my voice become so husky?

"Human... Domain?"

The girl’s speech seemed strained, her tone a bit odd, but she managed to express herself clearly enough.

Anyhow, her voice was very pleasant to hear.

Wu Wang said seriously, "I hail from the North Sea and was heading towards the Human Domain. I encountered some mishaps on the way, and an old senior aided me with Great Divine Power to send me here. The excitement I showed upon seeing you earlier, truly, had another reason."

Doubt was written all over the young girl’s face.

Wu Wang pulled what he thought was a very warm smile, but with the starfish on top of his well-defined face, he looked indescribably comical.

The girl turned her head to the side, unable to help covering her mouth with the back of her hand and letting out a soft laugh.

With a light wave of her delicate hand and a turn of her body, she returned to the visage of a bird and flew towards the tree, leaving only two words behind:

"Do not... disturb."

Wu Wang reached out and took a couple of steps forward, then felt he was being too rash and halted, standing in the seawater, lost in thought for a while.

What’s going on? Why was I able to make physical contact with this girl without triggering my ’Touch-Woman-and-Faint’ syndrome? Could it be because she’s essentially a bird?

Yet, in the Great Wilderness, there are many ferocious beasts that take on human form. He had asked his father to test a series of human-formed beasts to verify his strange illness.

The result was—his ailment completely blocked him from developing normal relationships with women.

Women from Qingqiu were no good, women of the Rain Master’s retinue were no good, Black Corpse women were no good, women from the Rong Dog Tribe were no good...

So why, why could he alone touch this bird-turned-Fairy Immortal?

"Hmm?"

Wu Wang looked up at the Divine Wood on the cliff and saw the Fairy Immortal, transformed into a bird, flying out of the tree.

Fluttering her wings, she flew over the seawater, dropping twigs from her beak into the ocean.

Wu Wang, sharp-eyed, caught a small detail—at this moment, the colorful feathers on the bird’s forehead shimmered brightly, while the Spirit Light in her eyes dimmed considerably, looking somewhat dull.

His Praying Star Technique was fairly competent, so Wu Wang’s perception of Divine Soul and Divine Thought was quite sensitive. Right now, he acutely sensed something amiss with the bird Fairy Immortal’s Divine Soul.

Only then did he remember to look down at himself.

Wu Wang quickly leaped from the waves and tidied himself up rapidly, his Spiritual Sense locked on the bird as she flew back and forth, carrying twigs and pebbles, casting them into the sea.

This scene somehow felt strangely familiar to Wu Wang.

He unfolded a pair of Star Wings on his back and flew gently towards the Divine Tree, landing underneath it. Looking up at the bird’s figure, he watched her tirelessly, mechanically repeating her actions.

Filling the sea with branches and stones? It seemed I had seen this description somewhere before... it felt like... it was...

Suddenly, a flash of Spirit Light sparked in Wu Wang’s Spirit Platform.

Daughter of the Yan Emperor, her name Nuwa. Her boat overturned in the East Sea, and she drowned. Her heart filled with resentment, she transformed into the divine bird Jingwei, carrying pebbles and twigs in her beak, striving to fill the East Sea, tirelessly, year after year.

Isn’t this the myth from a textbook I read in my previous life’s elementary school? Jin Wei, Jing Wei, Jing...

"Jingwei?" Wu Wang nearly blurted out.

The bird flying over his head looked down at him. The light on its forehead receded, and its bird eyes revealed a degree of satisfaction. It landed back on the tree branch and nodded at Wu Wang repeatedly.

"Jin Wei!"

"You are Elder Shen Nong’s daughter, Nuwa?"

"Jin Wei."

The Jingwei bird nodded slightly, its eyes showing a touch of sadness.

Wu Wang immediately understood the cause and effect. He realized why he could interact with this Fairy Immortal... This was Elder Shen Nong’s unfulfilled wish!

She is now a spirit, not a real creature—a remnant soul after death. This...

Feeling the sadness in the Jingwei bird’s eyes, Wu Wang did not know the reason for this sadness, but he did not want to dampen her spirits with the question he had asked.

He coughed and quickly formed a thought, already saying with a smile, "Why does a legendary figure still have an accent?"

CRACK!

The tree branch was instantly crushed by a pair of delicate bird claws.

The Jingwei bird, huffing with anger, spread its wings and turned to dive into the Divine Tree. It soon returned with a short piece of wood in its beak, circling and diving, smashing the wood onto Wu Wang’s forehead.

Wu Wang covered his face with his hands and repeatedly begged for mercy as the Jingwei bird pursued him relentlessly, his forehead seeming to sprout ’-1’ characters.

After a while of chaos, the Jingwei bird seemed a bit tired and fluttered its wings back into the canopy.

Sometime later, she came out again, holding a twig. The colorful feathers on her forehead shone brightly as she delivered the twig to the sea surface.

Wu Wang, standing under the tree with his arms folded, couldn’t help but envision Jingwei emerging from the mist, a light smile appearing on his lips.

It was as if a drop of water had fallen into his heart, creating ripples upon ripples, and the full moon reflected in the water was now somewhat shattered.

He couldn’t help but speculate:

Could this be arranged by Elder Shen Nong? When diagnosing my strange illness, had he already calculated all of this? Does he want to recruit me as a son-in-law? So, he threw me here to develop a relationship with Miss Jingwei? But, how can a person and a spirit have children? Ah, what am I even thinking about! Wu Wang, oh Wu Wang, how can you entertain such thoughts? Love must come from mutual feelings, not arranged single-handedly by the older generation! But, I really was able to touch her just now... I could touch her. Perhaps she’s the only female I can have contact with in the Great Wilderness, aside from the Innate God who cursed me. Am I destined to be the Ning Caichen of the Great Wilderness? No, that’s not right. Elder Shen Nong’s wish should be to revive Jingwei. If Jingwei is no longer a spirit, wouldn’t that mean I can’t interact with her anymore?

Before he knew it, Wu Wang leaned against the softly glowing Divine Wood, his arms folded and a smile on his face, watching the Jingwei bird’s tireless flapping back and forth, motionless for a long time.

「After an hour.」

Wu Wang finally remembered that he had more important things to do.

Despite being shocked earlier, the first thing he did when his Divine Thought began to recover was to expand his Spiritual Sense to explore the entire small island and its surroundings.

The island was rich in Spiritual Energy, and the patches of Spiritual Medicine that grew everywhere must have been planted by Elder Shen Nong. Some of the Spiritual Medicines were even said to be extinct in the Great Wilderness; it was unexpected to find them here, in patches no less.

The outskirts of the island were surrounded by a shallow sea with clear, blue-green water and a white sandy seabed. Coral reefs were widespread, and schools of Spirit Fish swarmed about. No ferocious sea beasts were within the ten-mile perimeter protected by the Formation.

Wu Wang flew to the edge of the Formation. He wore the two rings Shen Nong had given him. A black and a white wisp of energy bloomed from them, burrowing into the Formation wall.

Can I get out?

A sudden sense of alarm surged in Wu Wang’s heart, and the necklace on his chest trembled.

He flew backward in an instant, but a beam of light suddenly erupted from the Formation wall in front of him, hitting him squarely on the shoulder!

A vast force struck, sending Wu Wang flying diagonally for several hundred zhang. With a cry of ’OUCH!’, he plunged straight into the sea.

On the cliff of the island, Jingwei, who had just flown out of the tree canopy with a stick in its beak, turned to glance this way. Its bird eyes widened in surprise, the stick fell from its mouth, and it quickly flapped its little wings to come over.

「Azure sea, blue sky, white sandy beach.」

The young man sat cross-legged on the beach, scratching his head and smiling, his wet hair still dripping.

In front of him, the bird hopped on one leg at times, and at other times flapped its wings, calling out "Jin Wei, Jin Wei" incessantly. It seemed to be lecturing the young man.

POP!

At the soft sound, Wu Wang subconsciously looked up and saw the slowly rising green smoke again, and the girl stepping out of the smoke in a light green short skirt, her bare feet touching the ground.

This time, Wu Wang reacted much faster, focusing his gaze on her face to avoid any impoliteness.

But how could he expect that her eyes and cherry lips would show a hint of delicate anger, and her slender willow eyebrows and crystal-clear earlobes were so striking?

How could her beauty be described? Her beauty was beyond simple comparisons; peaches seemed too flirtatious, frost-kissed plums too cold. Wu Wang couldn’t articulate poetic praises like ’perfect in every aspect, a masterpiece of natural charm,’ so he could only comment earnestly, "Very beautiful."

"Hmm?"

Jingwei cocked her head slightly. While initially a bit huffy, she was caught off guard by Wu Wang’s compliment.

She hummed, seemingly annoyed, as a blush swept across her cheeks. Her lips, which she had been about to open, pressed together. With a hurried hand, she wrote two lines in the air, then turned and disappeared into the green mist, transforming back into the divine bird to flutter away.

Wu Wang carefully discerned these somewhat complex ancient characters of the Human race and quickly understood the meaning of the two lines:

"This place is enshrouded by a Formation. Trespassing could lead to a dire fate."

Quite kind-hearted, isn’t she?

Wu Wang called out, "Thanks for the warning, I will be careful!"

But he received no response.

Considering her age, if she could also be considered to be alive, she would be an ancient person, wouldn’t she?

Wu Wang sighed softly and spread his wings to fly toward the Formation wall again. This time he did not touch it lightly. Instead, he flew around the Formation to confirm that there were no blind spots above or below in this great Formation.

’Quickly, in a few days; slowly, in a few years.’

With such an admonition from Elder Shen Nong, and combining it with the situation here, Wu Wang suddenly had a bold idea.

If Senior Shen Nong arrived in a few days, then the old senior would certainly be worried that I might elope with his treasured daughter. If Senior Shen Nong took a few years to arrive, then the old senior must have some ulterior motives. Actually, there was another possibility. If the old senior couldn’t come... COUGH, the Human Emperor is invincible and sweeps across the Great Wilderness! The other possibility was actually the path of becoming a God through collective thought.

When he communicated with Senior Shen Nong, the old senior had mentioned this, saying that ’the Human Domain had tried this before.’

If it were a remnant soul or spirit, becoming an Acquired God through collective thought, that would indeed be considered bringing Jingwei back to life. Right after I had initiated the collective god-making in the Women’s Country, Senior Shen Nong had found me ahead of time and brought me here, which could very likely also be for this reason. But no, without the arrangements left by the Goddess in the Women’s Country, how easy can it be to create a God out of nothing? Moreover, the tale of Jingwei filling the sea has been circulating in the Human Domain for many years. If Senior Shen Nong wanted to use the collective god-making method, why would he wait until now? My being sent here by the old senior must have some deeper meaning. Well, thinking too much is useless. I’ll just wait and see. Before the old senior arrives, I’d better communicate more with Fairy Immortal Jingwei, at least befriend her first.

Wu Wang looked at his attire, sneaked off to the other side of the island, propped up a small Barrier with his Mana, and after dawdling for an hour, he finally stepped out.

Behold this young man! White clothes like snow, robes like brocade; a tall and robust figure, his face as handsome as jade. He was a red-lipped, white-toothed Young Master, with clear eyebrows and handsome eyes like a Moon Ritual official. His long hair was meticulously combed, a soft hairband fluttering gently in the sea breeze. He took out a folding fan and, with a faint smile, strolled towards the base of that Divine Tree. His cultivation was too low to fly, and his Star Wings were too conspicuous, ruining the overall aesthetic of his outfit, so he had to walk.

Upon reaching the tree, Wu Wang declared loudly, "Fairy Immortal Jingwei, are you tired from your efforts to fill the sea?"

Under the tree, there was silence for a while, with only the faint sound of flapping bird wings.

"Um, Fairy Immortal, do you know where this is, which part of the Great Wilderness you are in?"

FLAP FLAP FLAP FLAP...

Wu Wang blinked and did not give up. He waited under the tree for a while until he saw the Jingwei bird flying towards him, before he called out loudly, "Fairy Immortal! Have you eaten?"

The Jingwei bird, carrying bits of wood in its beak, turned its head and flew away, leaving behind six faint ink spots in mid-air.

Wu Wang stood under the tree as a light north breeze passed behind him, carrying away a slightly yellowed leaf.

Why doesn’t she respond? Not even a glance in my direction. Could it be because of an abnormality in her Divine Soul? Or is my charm too low?

He had not given up. Encountering a member of the opposite sex with whom he could mutually sense each other’s warmth was not an opportunity to be forsaken so easily, turning them into strangers!

Even if she would just poke at me a few more times, or pinch my shoulder, that would be immense happiness!

Wu Wang took a deep breath, fiddled beneath the tree for a while, and then took out a drum made from the skin of a beast from the Northern Wilderness. He sat cross-legged on the ground and began to beat it.

After a while, he switched from the skin drum to brass gongs, then to the Jade Flute, to tree leaves, and finally to the erhu.

Even more, Wu Wang deployed his trump card, taking out a sanxian and started to play and sing a well-known piece—"The Fairy Immortal across from me, look this way."

However, it didn’t earn him even a backward glance from the divine Jingwei bird.

「From night till dawn.」

Wu Wang sat under the tree, a bit exhausted, and with a wry smile, he watched the bird flying back and forth above his head.

It was now certain that she was in a state where she was unlikely to be aware of anything.

You’re forcing me to use my ultimate move!

Wu Wang took a light breath, leaped up from beneath the tree, and taking advantage of the moment when Jingwei was flying to the sea, he tied a loop with a strap around a tree branch and slipped his head into it.

Afterward, he bent his knees, mimicking the posture of someone hanging himself.

Once his internal energy could circulate, he could hold his breath for months without a problem.

The returning divine bird’s gaze suddenly turned sharp. The brightness of the colorful feathers on her forehead faded, and her speed increased dramatically!

Just as she was about to rush under the tree, she burst into a puff of green smoke in mid-air. From within, that enchanting figure flew out, wrapping her arms around Wu Wang’s waist and dragging him to the side.

Wu Wang looked up at the lovely face close to his, observed her snowy white neck, felt her slender hand encircling his waist, and suddenly, his heart thumped a few times.

She placed him on a gentle slope nearby. Jingwei, however, stood a short distance away with a stern face, staring at him.

"What are you doing! Why do you devalue your own life?"

"Fairy Immortal, you are truly kind," Wu Wang immediately replied. "Using your benevolence to awaken you, Fairy Immortal—for this, I sincerely apologize. But, Fairy Immortal, could you talk with me? I... I really want to get to know you better, and I’d like you to get to know me better too."

As he spoke, Wu Wang took two steps forward. Sunlight filtered through the treetops onto him, illuminating his face with a slight apologetic smile, and those somewhat helpless eyes.

There was the Innate God who had cursed him when he was merely seven or eight years old. He was the heir to a Large Family Clan, yet afflicted with a strange illness that prevented him from touching women. His trip to the Women’s Country had been like navigating a bathhouse where one had to tie a safety rope to the soap, never daring to relax for a moment. He had found himself drawn to women around him several times but never dared to express his feelings, even deliberately distancing himself. He was fully aware that mastering the ninth level of the Yan Emperor’s Edict was harder than ascending to heaven, and he was undoubtedly the latest to start on this path. Yet, he still harbored a sliver of hope, dreaming of freeing himself from the Innate God’s shackles, perhaps even gaining the strength to give that God a few good slaps...

As if a thousand words were stuck in his throat, Wu Wang let out a soft sigh at that moment, his hands behind his back, a smile in his eyes and on his lips.

"It’s really nice to have met you so early."

"Huh?"

Jingwei blinked, question marks popping up above her head like tiny mushrooms after the rain.