Chapter 307
After Han Ye finished speaking, he turned around and looked at Uncle Zhang and Dashan, who had been guarding him, with a serious expression on his face.
"Uncle Zhang, Dashan, after I leave with Han Xibei, the two of you should follow the plan. Remember, you must guard the Bitter Cold Land and the Frontier Region well.
If she returns from the illusion early, she will definitely come back to those two places first."
"Understood, Lord Han Ye."
Just as Uncle Zhang and Dashan finished speaking, they saw Zhao Cai and Jin Bao, who had been guarding the sacrificial altar below, leading the giant wolf pack brought by Lin Wuwu and Lin Wanwan, rush out towards the praying platform.
"Where are those wolf cubs going?" Ruo Qiu and Xiao Taohua asked in confusion, watching the direction the giant wolf pack had left.
"They must be going to the Frontier Region. Have you forgotten that in the previous life, Zhao Cai, Jin Bao, and Xi Luo were the ones Han Ye brought back from the outside?"
Ji Fantian sighed as he looked in the direction the giant wolf pack had left.
"Now that Han Ye and Xi Luo have left, Zhao Cai and Jin Bao will definitely return to the place where they first met Han Ye, waiting for her return."
He now humbly hoped that after Han Ye regained her memory from the illusion, even if not for them, at least for the sake of Zhao Cai and Jin Bao, she would return.
"Han Ye, please, you have to come back from the illusion, don't abandon us." Ji Fantian prayed silently in his heart as he caressed his belly.
"Alright, everyone, don't just stand around here foolishly. Whether or not Han Ye will come back from the illusion, you must go with me to Tianshan Mountain now.
If you stay here any longer, be careful that the children in your bellies won't be safe."
Ye Xi's words made Ji Fantian, Ye Yi, and the others' hearts tighten.
In this life, although women were held in high esteem, the ones who could give birth were still women.
Yet they, as men, had conceived Han Ye's children.
This was different from the natural laws of this world.
Originally, they had Han Ye's aura to protect them, so they were not afraid of the natural laws of this world.
But now it was different...
Han Ye had left, and if this world discovered that they, as men, were pregnant, it would inevitably cause them to miscarry, taking away their children.
Their children were the only hope they had to keep Han Ye with them.
"Let's go! Before the sky brightens, quickly leave Canglan Country and go to Tianshan Mountain. The Baichi Clan of Tianshan Mountain is naturally not bound by the laws of this world, so as long as you hide there, no one will harm the children in your bellies."
"Okay, let's go! Everyone, let's go!"
Han Ye and Han Xibei turned around and beckoned for Ye Yi, Ji Fantian, and the others to follow them and leave.
Only in the Tianshan Baichi Clan could they wait for Han Ye to return from the illusion they had created.
...
Today was the once-in-a-decade Praying Festival in Han Country. Ming Yue, the high priest with even higher status than the ruler, walked shakily towards the sacred Moonlight Flower Tree of Han Country with the help of attendants.
Han Country was experiencing a drought unprecedented in a hundred years. The great drought had turned the earth barren for miles, and starving corpses were everywhere.
The citizens, unable to find enough food, had reached the point of consuming their own children.
The old ruler and high priest of Han Country could not bear to see such a tragic scene befall their people. They were willing to sacrifice their lives as offerings in the hopes that a new priest would be born and the Moonlight Flower Tree would bloom again.
The old priest's withered hand caressed the Moonlight Flower Tree, his cloudy eyes filled with determination.
As the sacred tree of Han Country, the Moonlight Flower Tree had not bloomed for ten years. Without the tree blooming, no blessings would descend upon this parched land.
If the Moonlight Tree did not bloom, it meant no rain would fall from the heavens, and human lives would have to be sacrificed to appease the resentment blanketing the land.
He turned to look at the equally aged ruler, his old friend from their youth.
Time had flown by, and the two of them had been helping each other since their younger days until reaching this point today.
Now that they were both old, with one foot in the grave, it was time for them to offer up their tattered lives for the sake of their descendants.
"Little Cloud, are you afraid of dying?" The old priest turned and joked to Han Yunchuan, the ruler of Han Country.
"With an old bone like you accompanying me in death, why would I be afraid?" Han Yunchuan immediately brushed off the attendants supporting him, dragged his frail legs over, and sat down shakily under the Moonlight Flower Tree, laughing as he held the old priest's hand.
"Ming Yue!"
"What is it?"
The old priest turned to Han Yunchuan's soft voice.
"I never thought that after quarreling with you my whole life, the one accompanying me in death would be you.
Actually, you didn't have to join me in death. As long as you were unwilling, no one could have forced you."
"Why wouldn't I be willing? Little Cloud, we've bickered our way through an entire lifetime. Because of our past, neither of us had any children to carry on our legacy.
To put an end to this drought unprecedented in a hundred years, we're about to die anyway, so why bring up unpleasant matters!"
The old priest ignored all the people standing below the sacrificial altar and gripped Han Yunchuan's hand, smiling gently.
"That's right! We're about to die, so why care about what others think! Luckily, my brother left behind two heirs. After we die, as long as Han Ye and Han Xibei are around, Han Country will prosper in the future."
Han Yunchuan clasped the old priest's hand in return and laughed softly.
They were a revered high priest and a ruler standing above all, yet because they were both men, they could not be accepted by everyone. Though they were side by side, they could not stay together.
Now that they were about to die, what was the point in caring about such things!
Ming Yue and Han Yunchuan smiled at each other. They took the knives handed to them by the attendants and prepared to plunge them into their chests.
Once they died, their blood would serve as an offering, and the Moonlight Flower Tree would surely bloom.
And once the tree bloomed, it would surely heed the people's prayers and bring rain to alleviate this drought unprecedented in a hundred years.
But just as the blades were about to pierce their chests, the sound of a crying baby came from the Moonlight Flower Tree, interrupting the old priest and old ruler's actions.
The crying came from the Moonlight Flower Tree itself.
Thinking of this, the old priest knocked the dagger out of the monarch's hand and looked up at the largest flower bud on the Moonlight Flower Tree.
That was...
To the shock of the old priest, the monarch, and the crowd gathered below the sacrificial altar, the flower bud of the Moonlight Flower Tree that grew directly on the trunk slowly bloomed.
And the crying of the infant came from within the flower petals.
The Moonlight Flower Tree was the sacred tree of the Han Country.
Its roots could extend infinitely to every inch of the Han Country's land, and it could sense the prayers in the heart of every priest.
Whenever someone prayed to it, if the Moonlight Flower Tree granted their wish, it would blossom and let its petals fall onto the hands of the person who prayed to it, signifying that it had blessed the people who prayed.
That was why the Moonlight Flower Tree became the sacred tree of the Han Country.
The flowers of the Moonlight Flower Tree were white, but that white color could only bloom because of the long-term offerings by the people and the old priest.
And whenever the people prayed to the Moonlight Flower Tree, they had to offer something they cherished most to receive its blessing.
Now, the Han Country was suffering from a great drought that only happened once every hundred years, so the old priest, the only one who could sense the Moonlight Flower Tree, prayed to it for a long time, hoping that when it bloomed, it would bring rain to alleviate the century-long great drought.
But no matter how many years the old priest prayed to the Moonlight Flower Tree, it only formed buds but never bloomed, let alone blessed the Han Country.
Ten years passed, and if it weren't for the prosperity of the Han Country ten years ago and the benevolent and kindhearted monarch Han Yunchuan,
Who kept purchasing grain from neighboring countries and devising ways to dig canals and divert water during these ten years of drought to reduce the deaths of the people from the drought,
Even the wealthiest Han Country could not withstand such consumption after ten years of depletion.
Now the Han Country's treasury was empty, and even the royal family was so hungry they could barely stand.
Adding to that, other countries were eyeing the Han Country greedily, ready to pounce on any opportunity to invade.
If it weren't for their sacred tree, the Moonlight Flower Tree protecting the Han Country on the brink of destruction, the Han Country would have been partitioned by the neighboring countries long ago and would not have lasted until now.
Under the double crises of internal strife and external threats, having gone ten years without a drop of rain and thus lost the faith of the people, the old priest and the ailing monarch, after reviewing ancient texts, decided to risk everything for a glimmer of hope for the Han Country.
That was to offer their flesh and blood to the Moonlight Flower Tree, so that after receiving their sacrifice, it would grant their dying wish and bring down the sweet dew to save the Han Country from this calamity of national destruction.
And so began today's solemn rain-seeking sacrifice ceremony witnessed by multitudes.
Under the gaze of thousands, the old priest and the old monarch of the Han Country, having made preparations for the afterlife, stood ready to sacrifice themselves to the Moonlight Flower Tree together, to bring down the life-saving rain for the people.
Hearing the crying of the infant, the old priest dropped his dagger, helped the monarch stand up, and gazed intently at the large flower bud on the trunk of the Moonlight Flower Tree.
That large flower bud had grown on the Moonlight Flower Tree for a full thousand years. Other buds bloomed and withered, but that massive bud, like a jade carving decoration, had remained on the tree trunk for a full thousand years.
Now, at the moment of his and Yunchuan's sacrifice, that flower bud that had grown for a thousand years was blooming.
Hearing the loud cries of the infant, the old priest and the monarch could not hide the shock in their eyes.
And the nobles and common people who had been guarding the Moonlight Flower Tree were speechless with shock upon hearing the tree's crying.
Their sacred tree had given birth to life!
So before the astonished eyes of the crowd, as the jade-like flower bud bloomed, the sky of the Han Country, which had not seen a single cloud for ten years, was suddenly covered in dark clouds...
Accompanied by strong winds and the rumbling of thunder heralding heavy rain, clearly audible to everyone.
Just as people were too shocked by this celestial phenomenon to speak, the large flower bud on the Moonlight Flower Tree fully opened as the downpour drenched the earth.
In the pouring rain, the old priest and the monarch clearly saw the infant lying in the center of the flower petals.
Although the heavy rain blurred their vision, the old priest and the monarch could still clearly see the faint Buddhist light surrounding the infant.
As if a holy child had descended to save humanity.
To the old priest's shock, the infant, wrapped in the Moonlight Flower petals, slowly floated down into his arms.
This was a baby girl!