ITOTIABSAM | The Immortal on Liuyun Mountain | 139
After his graduation trip following the college entrance examination, Gu Cong had also tried bungee jumping. However, without the safety equipment around his waist, even the height of just one tree could still trigger the instinctual fear in his brain when falling.
Fortunately, just before he hit the ground and started bleeding from his head, he managed to control his new body in time, awkwardly spreading his wings and barely managing to cushion the impact.
Like a small cannonball falling from the sky, the fist-sized, entirely white bundle crashed fiercely into the bushes, then rolled forward like a ball.
The scene was so lively that even 0028 couldn't help but laugh, "Pfft."
Dizzy and disoriented, Gu Cong flapped his wings a few times with difficulty, then staggered to his feet, wanting to check if he was injured. But when he looked down, he didn't see his claws.
What met his eyes was a mass of fluffy body feathers, snowy white and fluffy, with a rounded curvature, like a plump yuanxiao (sweet rice dumpling).
- The food seems pretty good.
Can this really fly?
The surroundings told him that this was still Liuyun Mountain. Trying to adapt to his new body, Gu Cong hopped and jumped, "flying" up to the highest nearby rock, and indeed saw the familiar courtyard not far away.
At this time, Xie Ye should be resting.
Despite his cultivation being comparable to the peak strength before the climax of a novel, he still slept like an ordinary mortal. Even with such low-quality sleep, any little disturbance could wake him up.
Gu Cong, on the other hand, was the opposite.
Always keeping in mind the original owner's wandering soul characteristic, he hadn't closed his eyes these past few days. Unfortunately, since Song He's realm hadn't reached the out-of-body stage, he couldn't rely solely on spiritual cultivation. The drowsiness, suppressed by spiritual power, gradually accumulated. Just now, he had only felt a slight daze, and when he opened his eyes again, he had switched to a new body.
"It's okay," after laughing enough, 0028 consoled him casually, "This part wasn't detailed by the author, so you can improvise. Anyway, you'll eventually transfer to the Villain's true puppet."
After standing upright, Gu Cong, who was still not as tall as a Starweed: ...
Anyway, now that he had limbs, after tumbling several times over the next ten minutes, he finally managed to fly relatively steadily over the wall and landed by the pond, gazing at the water's surface.
With deep brown eyes, a small triangular mouth, at first glance, he indeed looked like a round snowball. But if one raised their perspective, they would see that his head, back, wings, and tail were all pure black.
As his too slender body moved back and forth on his two small claws, Gu Cong circled around the pond, almost like looking into a mirror. He tentatively raised his straight, tail feathers, almost as long as his entire bird, and indeed saw a few patches of gradually changing crimson fluff.
It was grape red.
–- The Long-tailed Tit, besides its scientific name, also had a more commonly known name, "Fat Jiu."
Its appearance scored full marks for cuteness, but its combat power was barely passable.
Moreover, as far as Gu Cong knew, Long-tailed Tits had the habit of clustering together, but after so long, he hadn't encountered any of his kind. The tree he fell from earlier also showed no signs of nest-building. It was as if this Fat Jiu had been left behind by a group of birds wandering for warmth in autumn and winter, accidentally falling from the mundane world into Liuyun Mountain.
The evidence was the chaotic and mixed spiritual energy in his body, resembling that of a child who had never practiced cultivation, inadvertently swallowing many precious treasures of heaven and earth.
Just a little more, and he would burst.
[It seems that most of the living creatures possessed by Song He are in a dying state. This is a setting that the original story didn't mention,] Gu Cong recorded his new discovery in his mind, while 0028 in his sea of consciousness rubbed his chin, [But with the temperament of the villain, your appearance like this will surely make him like you even more.]
"The phrase 'make the villain like you' sounds a bit strange," Gu Cong thought, but he had to admit that the system's conclusion was correct:
The round and fluffy Fat Jiu was indeed cuter than the cold and thin Starweed.
Unexpectedly, after practicing several times in secret, Gu Cong finally arranged himself in a perfect "colliding porcelain" posture, drooping his long tail and lying beside the stone path that Xie Ye passed by every day, from the courtyard to the stone road several times, the young man did not even glance at him, only his clothes, tainted with the scent of cedar, hurriedly brushing past.
0028, who enjoyed spectacles without regard for consequences, chuckled, "Oops, it's a flop."
Pretending not to hear the incessant chatter of the system in his mind, Gu Cong quietly closed his eyes, dutifully pretending to be dead for a while, ensuring that Xie Ye wouldn't come back, before finally shaking his wings and standing up.
As a former top student who had once swum through the sea of questions, even when he was wrong, Gu Cong wanted to figure out where he went wrong. Relying on the small size of the White Tit's body, Gu Cong flapped his wings and flew to the window of the bedroom, hiding himself.
The young man who had previously coldly ignored him was now sitting at the wooden table, patiently infusing diluted spiritual energy into the obviously wilting Starweed.
Beside him were several small flowerpots planted with Starweed, indicating that the young man had practiced many times. Because the purity and speed of his spiritual power at his fingertips were just right for the Starweed.
However, without Gu Cong's possession, the Starweed had returned to its initial dying state. Just as it had happened in Xie Ye's memories, it rapidly deteriorated, beyond salvation.
In a low voice, 1101 reminded, "Its consciousness has dissipated."
Xie Ye responded quietly, "I know."
Outside the bedroom, Gu Cong felt a strange tightness in his chest.
Starweed was not some rare treasure; a piece of the most common low-grade spiritual stone could exchange for it. But in Xie Ye's eyes, perhaps it was not just a plant. It might have been a rare friend with whom he could communicate.
"If I faint immediately, can I still change back? Gu Cong suddenly spoke.
0028 shook its head, "It's already dead."
"My mistake," Xie Ye gently brushed over the withered and shriveled leaves, "I shouldn't have brought you back."
Living creatures with spiritual intelligence were no different from humans. However, the fact that they could cultivate into demons naturally frightened them.
His tone was calm, and there was little expression on his face. Yet Gu Cong felt that his downturned phoenix eyes seemed as if they were about to cry.
—Even though its owner was unaware.
The sunlight today was still intense, but the young man forgot to hold up the umbrella several times. Following behind Xie Ye, Gu Cong stepped with his short legs, watching as Xie Ye buried the starlight grass that would never shine again back in its original place.
Legend had it that the strange Immortal on Liuyun Mountain possessed great powers, capable of changing the weather and moving mountains and seas. Yet, the young man in front of him didn't use any magic, letting the soil cling to his fingers as he buried the grass.
Knowing full well that now was not the best time to reveal himself, Gu Cong still followed his heart and stepped out from behind the large rock where he had been hiding, slowly approaching the young man's drooping sleeve.
With his divine sense spreading throughout Liuyun Mountain and most of the cultivation world, Xie Ye had long detected the small creature following behind him, but he had no interest in paying attention.
As the sleeve swayed, he flipped his palm and caught something warm.
It was a bird.
Short and round, like a ball, extremely cute.
Yet, he hated birds.
Or rather, he hated birds on behalf of the old Xie Ye in this world.
Unconsciously, his five fingers tightened, and dangerously, the fluffy white feathers overflowed. The bird, the size of a large bun, struggled for a moment. Just as Xie Ye thought it might peck him and escape, the white tit unexpectedly nuzzled him with its warm forehead.
After a brief mental adjustment, Gu Cong leaned against the young man's fingertip, making the most of the situation: "Chirp."
He was just too small.
So small that Xie Ye could easily flick him with his fingertip, causing him to tumble head over heels. His chirps were weak and brief, and even though Gu Cong's intention was to comfort, they sounded like coquetry.
This familiar tone finally awakened distant fragments of memories in Xie Ye's mind, reminding him that he had seen this bird before. However, at that time, the bird had shown no inclination to approach him, instead building a nest in the tree outside his courtyard, hiding behind the lush leaves. Occasionally, when it was in a good mood, it would chirp a few times, sounding like an out-of-tune song.
There was an invisible barrier outside Liuyun Mountain, preventing Xie Ye from leaving, but other things could still fall in, such as Shen Qingshu, and now, this bird.
Before his awakening, even if he felt lonely and longed for companionship, he would still willingly send away any living creatures that wanted to leave. However, many people would lose their minds and babble incoherently upon seeing him for the first time.
Perhaps it was a month, or maybe even longer, but later, Xie Ye never saw that white tit again.
Probably, like the starweed he had just buried, it had died.
"In appreciation for your somewhat interesting presence," Xie Ye loosened his grip on the white tit's fingers and opened his palm, "off you go."
Having narrowly escaped danger and regained freedom, the white tit, its chest heaving with rapid breaths, lowered its tail feathers and remained motionless.
Yet, its increasingly steady breathing proved that it was still alive.
"Following me will lead to death," the young man pointed to the soft soil pit where the starweed was buried, as if issuing a threat, "just like it."
How could a bird understand human words? Pretending not to understand, Gu Cong calmly followed the natural instincts of this body, using his small beak to tidy up the messy feathers.
1101 murmured softly, "It seems like it's a bit foolish."
Even facing death, it didn't know to flee.
Xie Ye thought the same.
So, he raised his hand and gently sent the bird flying upwards. Spiraling spiritual energy, like the gentlest breeze, lifted the chubby white tit into the sky.
For living beings without fear in their hearts, the world outside Liuyun Mountain was actually quite ordinary.
This bird was indeed foolish; once out of the barrier, it was free.
Completely unprepared, Gu Cong found himself in a predicament. Suddenly taking flight, buffeted by turbulent air currents, he struggled to flap his wings a few times, but once again ended up tumbling awkwardly, headfirst towards the welcoming embrace of Mother Earth.
But this time, a cloud caught Gu Cong.
Countless puppet strings intertwined and wove into a soft net, with Gu Cong dangling upside down, facing a pair of dark and profound phoenix eyes.
Too close.
He thought.
It felt like a close-up shot in a movie theater, intense and dazzling.
The normal body temperature of a silver-throated long-tailed tit was a toasty forty degrees Celsius.
Belatedly, Gu Cong realized he was feeling a bit warm. He scrambled to sit up, his feathers brushing against the young man's crimson lips, inadvertently silencing whatever Xie Ye had been about to say and missing the fleeting curiosity in Xie Ye's eyes.
With his gaze fixed firmly on the young man's arm hanging to his right, the diminutive Gu Cong tilted his head back and chirped softly, "Chirp."
Xie Ye raised his hand in response.
Then, he watched as the small white ball spread its neatly arranged wings and delicately brushed away the dust between his fingers with the softest tips of its feathers.
It's not your fault, Gu Cong thought as he meticulously cleaned him.
He was still alive.
Right here, standing in this place.
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