Chapter 55

#I can offer you the tenderness of summer blossoms and warm winds.

I finally saw Xie Zhuo again, and I was filled with gratitude toward fate—but that gratitude soon turned into sorrow.

I looked at the small Xie Zhuo in front of me, wanting to sigh, but I had no mouth, and no breath…

I, Fu Jiuxia, a mere wisp of soul, have been here for three years now!

Three years! Time flies like a fleeting white horse. The infant Xie Zhuo had already grown into a little child. Still small, yes, but much bigger than the first time I laid eyes on him.

Back then, three years ago, after I had just seen baby Xie Zhuo, I immediately wanted to find someone in the Snow Wolf Tribe whose soul resonated with mine, someone whose body I could enter. I didn’t even know what I would say to him, but… even just to hold him, to touch him—it would’ve been enough.

But!

I searched all over the Snow Wolf Tribe and couldn’t find a single soul compatible with mine!

So I had no choice but to venture farther away.

But I was merely a soul wisp—formless, powerless in spellcraft—I could only ride the wind and drift along, swaying my way forward.

I floated out of the Snow Wolf Tribe’s forest and into the Northern Wastes, which had yet to become the Immortal City. I circled through the Northern Wastes, tried everyone I encountered, but still came up empty. I couldn’t afford to waste more time—not knowing what was happening with Xie Zhuo filled me with worry. I missed him terribly…

So I floated back to the Snow Wolf Tribe’s forest.

When I saw Xie Zhuo again, he had grown a lot.

The Snow Wolf Tribe devoted soul power to him day and night. He grew faster than an average child, and his mind matured early too.

It seemed… he was already beginning to realize how different he was from others.

Since returning, I followed him every day. He couldn’t sense my presence, and no one in the Snow Wolf Tribe could either.

Every day, after receiving the soul power offerings, little Xie Zhuo liked to leave his tent. He would walk from the east side of the tribe to the west, then back again.

I stayed by his side, drifting from east to west and then west to east, always watching him.

Wherever Xie Zhuo went, no one stopped him, and no one spoke to him. Occasionally, children would whisper behind his back after he passed, only to be hurried away by their parents.

Little Xie Zhuo would look back at those people.

With those large, uniquely childlike eyes, he would gaze at the ones who avoided him. But they wouldn’t even meet his gaze.

Every time that happened, little Xie Zhuo would blink twice, silently. Then, he would reach out to grab something—maybe a stone on the ground, maybe the snow-white trunk of a nearby tree. He’d tap the stone against his foot, or gently bump his head against the tree.

As if trying to confirm something—

That he truly existed, right?

They could see him, right?

Yes, they could see him.

But they chose not to.

Though they offered soul power to him every day, everyone treated him more like a statue they were forced to worship.

Fearful, wary—afraid that the power behind the statue might one day punish them without warning.

But little Xie Zhuo didn’t understand why. All he knew was that he was different from the others. And among all the people, there was only one who was also different—

Xie Zhuo’s mother—Xie Ling.

By order of the chieftain, every adult in the Snow Wolf Tribe had to offer soul power to Xie Zhuo every day—including Xie Ling.

But soul power was scarce. The Evil God had killed her blood-bound mate. And since the day his biological father was slain, Xie Ling’s other child, Zhu Lian, had fallen ill, bedridden, never leaving his tent.

Xie Ling needed soul power to sustain Zhu Lian, and also had to contribute a portion to Xie Zhuo. That meant she couldn’t stay home to care for her sick child like other tribe members. She had to venture out—who knows how—to gather soul power just to survive.

She hated Xie Zhuo…

So, she was different from the others.

Every time she returned, Xie Zhuo would always “just so happen” to walk to where she arrived.

Xie Ling didn’t ignore him. She would look at him with hatred, then stride quickly toward the tent where Zhu Lian lay.

Upon meeting her gaze, Xie Zhuo would pause, then struggle to move his legs, trailing after her.

Right before reaching Zhu Lian’s tent, Xie Ling would stop, turn, and glare at him.

“Get lost. This isn’t a place for you.”

Xie Zhuo would halt, watching her go in.

He’d stand outside the tent for a long time, saying nothing, lost in thought. After some time, he would quietly leave on his own.

Then he’d walk to the icy lake that no one else visited.

He’d look at his reflection in the frozen water and whisper, “Today, she saw me again.”

Watching little Xie Zhuo, my heart was always in turmoil, never at peace. “I’ve been watching you all this time,” I silently murmured.

Snowflakes began to drift softly from the sky.

Little Xie Zhuo didn’t lift his head. He just kept looking down at the ice. “I can be seen.”

“Of course you can be seen. You’re not alone. You’ve always been watched over.”

How I longed to answer him—how I wished he could hear me.

Then, snowflakes began to pass through my soul. A sudden thought sparked within me.

I rose into the air, weaving among the falling snow. Carried by the wind, I collided with hundreds of snowflakes…

And finally!

My soul touched one flake—and for the first time, there was no empty void in return. I felt its chill. My soul finally entered a snowflake!

Using it as a vessel, I descended from the sky.

It had been so long since I felt a sense of real presence—I could barely control myself.

But perhaps snow and ice were always meant to ride the wind, wild and free.

I surrendered to fate, letting unseen forces guide me. I swayed downward, brushing past the top of Xie Zhuo’s head, wobbling again as I drifted before his eyes, and finally settled onto his chest.

His gaze seemed to fall on “me.” I summoned all my strength, making the snowflake tremble midair, just slightly—an arc unlike any ordinary flake.

I didn’t know if he saw it, or if he would notice. I only wanted to use every ounce of myself in that moment to tell him—

Xie Zhuo, I’m here.

As if Heaven took pity on me, he seemed to hear my voice.

He raised his hand…

And I landed in his palm.

A small palm—yet far warmer than me.

The snowflake began to melt in his hand.

In that slowly dissolving snow, I looked into Xie Zhuo’s eyes.

Those dark eyes were still clear—untainted by the depths and shadows yet to come.

He blinked, watching me melt in his hand.

How I wish I could tell you—I saw you, Xie Zhuo. One day, you will meet someone who sees nothing but you in their heart and eyes.

She will change, but she will come back.

But I couldn’t say a word. When the snowflake fully melted, my soul drifted free once more.

Little Xie Zhuo was still staring at his palm. The melted snow pooled in his small hand. He gazed at that tiny droplet for a long time, lost in thought, who knows about what.

After a moment, he stood up, but carefully cupped the droplet of water in his palm and then tucked it into his pocket.

The droplet in his pocket would surely be absorbed by his clothes soon… I was thinking that, when I suddenly heard Xiao Xie Zhuo muttering, “Little snowflake, float and float.”

He began to walk back. “Little snowflake, float and float…”

He looked like he was a bit happier than when he came.

Maybe, catching a strange little snowflake was enough to make a child happy.

So even if my complicated feelings hadn’t reached him, at that moment, I still felt a deep sense of contentment.

Because he was happy.

“Little snowflake, float and float. Little snowflake, float and float…”

That phrase became something Xiao Xie Zhuo mumbled to himself over the next few idle days. It was as if he really had felt the “favor” and “attention” that strange snowflake brought him!

Inspired by this, I began looking for everything around me that my soul could attach to.

I suddenly realized that maybe, in the past, it wasn’t that I couldn’t find someone whose soul resonated with mine—it was that I hadn’t yet learned how to attune myself to someone else’s soul at all!

Back then, I had left in such a rush that Lord God Ji hadn’t had time to teach me. Or maybe, for a Lord God, finding someone with a compatible soul and merging with them was as easy as eating or drinking.

But I wasn’t a Lord God. I was just a Celestial!

My soul… still wasn’t strong enough.

Those three years I spent stuck in a loop were for nothing!

After realizing this, I began to train my soul—starting with snowflakes, then stones, then wooden posts—from small and light to big and heavy. I tried everything in the Snow Wolf Tribe’s territory.

In the process of training myself, I also tried to stay close to Xie Zhuo.

Whenever Xie Zhuo was receiving soul power offerings from the tribe, the atmosphere was always quiet and heavy. He sat motionless on the formation inside the main tent, and the tribe members never looked him in the eye. They always offered their soul power in haste, then immediately left.

In that small tent, people came and went, but not a single word was spoken to him.

I learned how to control my soul and slipped into one of the burning candles beside him.

As the wick burned, I felt a scorching pain like my whole body’s blood was being evaporated, but still, I let myself become the flame.

When no one was paying attention, I made the flame jump into strange shapes—sometimes a heart, sometimes an arrow, sometimes a crescent moon.

With nothing else to do, Xiao Xie Zhuo was quickly drawn to the candle flame. He blinked and stared at me, and I endured the intense pain just to make the flame dance for him.

The fire reflected in his eyes, lighting up his face. He said nothing, but his head would tilt back and forth with the movement of the flame.

Looking at him, my heart felt full, and the pain no longer mattered.

But soon, the Snow Wolf tribe members in the tent all thought I was just a bad candle with a faulty wick, flickering so much it hurt their eyes. Someone came over and snuffed me out.

My soul couldn’t hold on any longer either and floated away with the extinguished smoke.

After I drifted out, Xie Zhuo kept watching the curling smoke for a while.

Then, over the next few days, his catchphrase became: “Little flame, dance and dance. Little flame, dance and dance.”

Having brought him joy twice now, I was even more motivated.

I became the stone he passed, the wooden post he touched. I tangled with the wind brushing past him and the raindrop that slid down his cheek.

One day, the warm wind from outside drifted into the forest of the Snow Wolf Tribe. Judging by the time, it should’ve been midsummer, but the forest was still blanketed in winter white.

Outside, the vibrant colors of summer flowers were carried in by the warm breeze, floating into the forest.

Summer blossoms danced among the trees.

I dove into the largest and most beautiful flower, just as I’d hoped. I had learned to control myself. I rode the wind, weaving through countless members of the Snow Wolf Tribe, dodging hand after hand that tried to catch me.

I found where Xie Zhuo was—sitting cross-legged by the ice lake, watching the tribe’s children play with the summer flowers from outside.

I brushed past his eyes and dove into his arms.

I was big, bright, and heavy—a bold, showy flower. When I landed in his arms, there was even a soft little plop.

Xie Zhuo stared at me, stunned.

He held me and looked me over.

A few Snow Wolf Tribe children who had been chasing me stopped when they saw Xie Zhuo.

They whispered among themselves:

“Ah, it floated to him.”

“He caught the prettiest flower this year.”

“He’s the luckiest one this year.”

“But my mama clearly told me—Xie Zhuo is the most unfortunate child in our tribe!”

Upon hearing that, Xie Zhuo turned to look at the kids who looked about his age. As soon as they met his gaze, they ran off like the wind.

Xie Zhuo lowered his head and looked back at me. He gently touched my petals, a bit disbelieving, a bit cautious.

From inside the summer flower, I gazed up at him.

I thought: Xie Zhuo, will this… make you feel a little better?

If, for now, no one is willing to treat you kindly—

Then at least, let me offer you the tenderness of summer flowers and warm winds.