NOVEL NEXT
Chapter 358
After years of watching Luo Luo's romantic relationships, it was time for her parents to experience some romance themselves.
"Hai, eat quickly. Once we're done, let's go make a baby," Lin Zaozao said, picking up some food with her chopsticks and placing it in Murong Hai's bowl.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
"Don't get too excited. Save that energy for later," Lin Zaozao teased, patting Murong Hai's back.
After finishing their meal, Lin Zaozao tossed the takeout containers into the fire, burning them to ash.
"Hai, come on. Let's go to our love nest and make a little one," Lin Zaozao said, wiping her mouth and pulling Murong Hai towards the cave where he was staying.
"Zaozao, wait, wait a moment!"
"What's wrong?" Lin Zaozao asked, puzzled.
"We just ate. Shouldn't we digest a bit first?"
"Digest? That's easy. We'll digest in the cave. After some vigorous exercise, I bet you'll be hungry again!"
Lin Zaozao's bold words made Murong Hai's bronze skin flush red.
"Let's go exercise in our love nest!" Lin Zaozao walked up to Murong Hai, hoisted him over her shoulder, and carried him into the small cave.
...
How frustrating!
Lin Zaozao rested her chin on her hand, pulling the blanket tighter around her. Looking at the sleeping Murong Hai, she traced the scars on his body with her fingers, her heart aching.
Most of the wounds were fresh. Some were still seeping blood.
Remembering the giant snake she had encountered earlier, Lin Zaozao could easily imagine what kind of life Murong Hai had been living here.
She bit her finger, drawing blood, and slowly began to draw on Murong Hai's body. In moments, a simple ritual pattern appeared on his chest.
Lin Zaozao placed her finger at the center of the pattern. A flash of light emanated from her fingertip, and all of Murong Hai's wounds healed instantly.
Taking a deep breath, Lin Zaozao lifted the blanket, put on a robe, and walked outside barefoot.
Standing in the snowy landscape, Lin Zaozao looked up at the falling snowflakes, her thoughts drifting to Luo Luo.
With her memories restored, she now understood where all those rewards came from when Luo Luo was acting as her system.
On one hand, he had taken the place of the corrupted cultivator, allowing him to glean some rewards.
The rest came either from points he earned completing tasks or from exchanging his own blood.
No wonder Xi Luo was so stingy with rewards when he was her system.
How could he not be frugal when his health was at stake?
Being a priest had its downsides, particularly the need to use one's own blood to draw ritual patterns.
Damn! If she had to draw these patterns too often, she'd become anemic! She wondered if it was possible to use someone else's blood instead.
Biting her finger every day to draw patterns would turn her into one of those tragic heroines from angsty novels.
Constantly sacrificing herself, body and soul.
Lin Zaozao looked down at her bare feet on the ice, feeling the cold creep up to her head.
To break the barrier here.
Damn it all! She'd give it her all.
Finding a sharp tree branch, Lin Zaozao closed her eyes and made a quick slash across her foot!
"Holy shit! That hurts like hell! Tss... What a miserable ritual! Ow, ow, ow!"
Lin Zaozao watched the blood gushing from her foot. To avoid waste and ensure she had enough blood for the ritual, she made another cut on her other foot.
Then, following the pattern in her mind, Lin Zaozao began the ritual dance.
In essence, it was an elaborate form of shamanic dancing.
Bloody, not just shouting and hollering!
By the time she finished drawing the ritual pattern, Lin Zaozao's feet were numb with pain. Seizing the moment, she walked to the center of the pattern and sat down.
In an instant, a glow spread from Lin Zaozao's body, extending in all directions.
Wherever the light touched, the ice melted. Small blades of grass, compressed under the ice, slowly poked through.
Outside the ritual pattern, a massive Moonlight Flower Tree burst from the ground. Like a giant released from restraints, it grew upward at an astonishing speed.
It only stopped when its top reached the transparent barrier above. Then, large Moonlight Flowers began to drift down on the warm breeze, settling on the ground.
Wherever the Moonlight Flowers landed, fields of flowers bloomed, swaying in the gentle wind.
The Moonlight Flowers brought life wherever they fell, except when they landed on Lin Zaozao, where they dissolved into light.
As the glow faded from her body, Lin Zaozao slowly opened her eyes. Looking at the vast field of flowers before her, she could only think of one thing.
She was one hell of a shaman!
Lin Zaozao turned to look at the Moonlight Flower Tree behind her, grumbling:
"Sure, it's beautiful, but it drinks my blood. Why call it a Moonlight Flower Tree? Why not a Bloodsucker Tree?
Look at you, so tall and nice to everyone else, but so cruel to me.
Just look at what you've done to my feet! I lost at least 400ml of blood drawing that damn ritual pattern. Do you know how much rice I'll have to eat to make up for that?"
As soon as Lin Zaozao finished speaking, the single red Moonlight Flower on the tree fell onto her feet.
In a flash of red light, Lin Zaozao's cut feet were instantly healed.
"Oh my goodness! I had no idea the Moonlight Flowers could do that! If I'd known they were so potent, I'd have picked a bunch to sell as medicine."
Lin Zaozao examined her now-perfect feet, then looked up at the towering tree. She stroked its bark before turning to walk back to the cave where Murong Hai was.
As she walked away, Lin Zaozao didn't see the tree roots that emerged from the ground where she had been standing, waving in an almost human-like manner.
Early the next morning, Lin Zaozao, still cozy in her blankets, was awakened by the howl of a wolf.
As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw the big heads of Zhao Cai and Jin Bao, who were Qian Duoduo and Mi Duoduo in her previous life.
Thinking about Zhao Cai and Jin Bao's tragic deaths in their past lives, Lin Zaozao, her mind still in a daze, suddenly embraced Zhao Cai's big head and burst into loud sobs.
"Oh, my Qian Duoduo! My Mi Duoduo! You both died so horribly! But your owner has avenged you all! Waaah... my Zhao Cai! My Jin Bao! You haven't died too, have you? Why have you come into my dream?"
Just as Lin Zaozao was wailing with fervor, her head was abruptly pressed down onto the bed by a wolf's paw.