Author: 易修罗 / Yi Xiu Luo

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 119

The staff officer was taken aback upon realizing Long Yin’s bold idea.

“But if we do that, we’ll have to send the Lone Star alone, without anyone to accompany and supervise him. Isn’t that too risky?”

Others in the room also voiced their agreement. “Yes, entrusting such an important task to him alone… If something goes wrong…”

Long Yin waved his hand dismissively. “The greatest advantage of the Lone Star is his obedience. When it comes to carrying out missions, he is far more reliable than any one of you. It’s precisely because they don’t have the subjective, messy thoughts of ordinary people that they always prioritize commands and will never question their superiors. Give me a hundred Lone Stars, and I could pacify the entire galaxy.”

He stood up and paced the council hall. “Don’t you think it’s very coincidental that the Soul Tree has borne seed unprecedentedly and the Lone Star, which only appears once every five hundred years, appeared at the same time? It’s almost like someone is arranging it all in the dark.”

“The church folks love to talk about gods and deities all the time. According to their theory, isn’t it divine will for the Lone Star and the tree seed to appear at the same time to help us expand our territory? If we miss this opportunity, we’ll have to wait another five hundred years.”

“Over the years, the Lone Star has been interning with the military, and his performance has been very satisfactory every year. I am as confident in his ability as I am in his loyalty. Since it is a secret plan, the fewer people go, the less attention it will attract.”

He leaned his arms on the tabletop. “The previous plan was leaked, and everyone here today is someone I trust. I hope you all remember two things: one, not a word of this matter is to be known to the public; and two, no one is to report up to the Marshal.”

Someone timidly raised their hand. “But the Marshal can’t be kept in the dark forever. What should we do then?”

“Don’t worry. The Marshal himself would surely agree. It’s just the bishop who has always been singing the opposite tune. If he issues punishment afterwards, I’ll take the consequences myself.”

Jing Yu had just returned from a campaign and was immediately summoned by the military department. This was a highly unusual situation. Moreover, Ling Xing felt guilty for hiding Jing Yu’s awakening, so ever since he left, he had been feeling uneasy.

Fortunately, Jing Yu returned after only half a day, but he didn’t bring back any good news.

“You have to leave again? Hasn’t this year’s military internship already ended? Why have they dispatched you again just after you returned?”

Jing Yu came back to bid farewell to Ling Xing. Although the military’s request was to depart immediately, Ling Xing had taught him to say goodbye to his family in person before leaving on a long trip. Otherwise, the family would worry.

“There is a temporary emergency task.”

Ling Xing was unhappy. “What kind of emergency task requires you? You are still a fledgling and usually just an intern with the army, right?”

“No, this time I am the only one going.”

Ling Xing was even more surprised. “What kind of task is it?”

Jing Yu never hid anything from Ling Xing. “To plant a peach tree on Lanxiu.”

Ling Xing’s hand trembled. He looked around to see that no one was there and quickly pulled Jing Yu into the church until they reached a secluded spot. There, trying to keep his pounding heart calm, he asked, “What did you say you’re going to do where?”

Jing Yu repeated honestly, “To plant a peach tree on Lanxiu.”

“The military is sending you so far just to plant a peach tree? Is that what they told you?”

“No, they just gave me a peach pit and told me to find a fertile piece of land to plant it.”

The more Ling Xing thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed; he couldn’t help but connect this to the recent societal buzz, and moreover, due to the church’s reasons, he had been closely following the whereabouts of the tree seed.

“That peach pit, do you have it on you now?”

Jing Yu looked down and took something out of his left chest pocket. Ling Xing hesitated for a moment before taking it and scrutinizing it carefully. It looked so ordinary and commonplace that he could hardly believe this was the Soul Tree’s seed that had caused such an uproar outside.

His eyes flickered as he handed the peach pit back to Jing Yu. “Wait here for me! Don’t go anywhere! Understand?”

Jing Yu didn’t ask why, as he always listened to Ling Xing, and just nodded his head.

Ling Xing walked away briskly, and after getting out of Jing Yu’s hearing range, he quickly called the bishop.

“What’s wrong?”

As soon as the other side picked up, Ling Xing asked impatiently, “Bishop, the tree seed of the Soul Tree, have you seen the actual thing?”

“Of course.”

“What does it look like?”

“What does it look like? Very ordinary. Those unaware would take it as a peach pit. If I hadn’t seen it being picked from the Soul Tree with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it at all.”

“It’s really…” Ling Xing murmured to himself.

The bishop found it odd. “Why do you ask this?”

“It’s nothing, just asking,” Ling Xing hurriedly said. “I won’t disturb you any longer. I have to go.”

He hung up the phone in a fluster, and during the walk back, he quickly pieced together the military’s intentions.

Sending Lone Star to break through the soul traction and plant the tree seed on Lanxiu would mean expanding the influence from one circle to two. The earlier speculation that the tree seed would be planted on Huangxiu fell short of the military’s ambitions.

What to do? This event was unfolding right in front of him; should he just let it happen and watch as the military’s ambitions spread through Jing Yu’s hands? His mind raced for strategies, and when he looked up, Jing Yu was in front of him.

Jing Yu had indeed waited as told, and upon seeing him, said, “I have already said my farewell. The military has requested that I depart immediately, so I must go.”

“Wait a minute!” Ling Xing instinctively stopped him, even though he hadn’t thought of a solution yet.

“Is there something else? Oh, the seeds? I’ll remember to bring them.”

“No, it’s not that.” Ling Xing’s mind raced. “You’ve just returned, and you have to leave so quickly. I’m very—I’m very reluctant to see you go. Stay one more day before you leave.”

“But it’s a military order.”

“I know, but the military only wants you to plant a peach tree. It makes no difference whether you plant it a day earlier or later. It’s not really an urgent order, is it?”

“But…”

Ling Xing stepped forward, grabbing his arm. “You’ve been away for a whole month, and you’ve only been back for a day. Lanxiu is so far away. Who knows how long it will be before you can return? Please listen to me, stay one more day, okay? Please.”

Seeing Ling Xing so insistent, Jing Yu half-reluctantly agreed.

During the night that Ling Xing insisted Jing Yu stay, he was restless. Even preparing the most lavish dinner did not offset the frequent blunders he made at the table due to his distraction.

He could only be thankful that Jing Yu wasn’t one to read into others’ expressions. Anyone else with normal emotional intelligence would have noticed Ling Xing’s unusual behavior.

But Jing Yu was as usual, finishing all the food prepared for him, then picked a book for Ling Xing to explain, oblivious even as Ling Xing stumbled over many words.

The lights in the church’s backyard bedroom went out quickly. It was a peaceful night, with insects and birds outside and people inside all entering slumber early.

Until, aside from the nocturnal creatures, there was no other living being awake. A figure quietly climbed out of bed.

The person in the upper bunk was still in deep sleep, half his face bathed in moonlight and the other half hidden in shadow, creating a strikingly sculpted image. Ling Xing looked at his sleeping face and couldn’t help wanting to touch his straight nose or his tightly closed lips, but he ultimately restrained himself.

Jing Yu’s coat was hanging at the head of the bed. Ling Xing closed his eyes, took three deep breaths, and finally mustered the courage to reach out. He felt the seed in the front pocket, which looked very much like a peach pit.

A hand reached over from the side, securely and powerfully gripping Ling Xing’s wrist. Ling Xing’s hand trembled, only then realizing that Jing Yu, who had been asleep just moments before, was now wide awake, staring intently at him.

This scene was frozen for a while until the suspended time slowly started to melt. Even though Ling Xing was caught in the act, he still refused to let go of the seed.

“Listen to me, Jing Yu.” He swallowed, trying very hard to choose his words. “This is not just any peach pit. It’s the seed of the Soul Tree. The reason we have soul traction is because of the presence of the lighthouse, and the lighthouse only works within the range of the Soul Tree.”

“The military is sending you to Lanxiu not to plant some peach tree. They want to use you to plant the seed in a place they cannot reach themselves. The next step is to have you find laborers there to build a lighthouse for them. Once all of this takes shape, they’ll be able to move freely between two places, even reaching beyond Lanxiu.”

“Jing Yu, for so many years I have tried hard to instill in you the philosophy of peace. Even though I know that you are destined to walk the path of war in the future, I still insist. I hope that when you execute orders, even if you can remember a tiny bit of what I’ve said to you, even if there can be a tiny bit of mercy, it will not have been in vain that I’ve read every book to you over these seven years.”

“You are a Lone Star; your fate was decided the moment you awoke. I am merely the caretaker of your fledgling phase. In your long life, I only belong to these brief seven years. I have no right to interfere with your future.”

“But, but this matter alone.” Ling Xing’s eyes glistened. “If you really plant that seed, it will mean helping the military expand the battlefield for aggression by twice as much. How many creatures will suffer and die innocent deaths? Now that I know of this, I cannot let it happen by any means, let alone allow the person I care about the most, you, to personally sow this seed of evil.”

“When I was still in my fledgling phase, I personally experienced the Ash Event that left me heartbroken, until I was saved by God. I think, if God wanted me to live, it must be for some reason, until I met you.”

“Only after meeting you did I realize that God made me live all these years, just to wait for your appearance.”

“Your joining has made my life complete, perfect, without regrets. Even if it ends at this point, I will not feel any sorrow. So when I made this decision, I had already drawn a period on my life’s trajectory.”

“If you want to stop me, kill me here. You can also pretend that nothing has happened. After tonight, I will voluntarily go to the military to surrender myself, to be at the mercy of their punishment.”

Neither of the two moved until a nocturnal creature hooted twice outside the window, then one of them finally moved.

Jing Yu gradually loosened Ling Xing’s wrist and retracted his hand. The whole process was like a slow-motion replay, quiet and long.

Ling Xing closed his eyes and moved, with only two words left to say, “Thank you.”

The next day, a storm swept through the military headquarters.

“What? The seeds have been stolen?!”

Long Yin heard such news early in the morning and arrived in a rage. “Who did it?”

A subordinate reported, “The Lone Star’s caretaker came to confess this morning, saying he stole the seed but refused to disclose where it’s hidden.”

“Absurd! Didn’t we order him to depart yesterday?”

“Yes, but for some reason, he delayed it by a day.”

Long Yin clenched his teeth in anger. “I was against handing him over to the church from the start. If the seed is gone, should I go to the church to demand them?”

An advisor reminded him, “When he came to confess this morning, I sensed something was amiss and stopped him privately, but it still caught the attention of some. This matter is still a secret outside; don’t let your agitation spread the news, especially since the whereabouts of the seed is unknown. It would definitely cause a huge uproar.”

His words awakened Long Yin. Now they had no name for their actions, not even a legitimate reason to question. How could Long Yin tolerate this?

“Where is he?!”

Immediately someone brought Ling Xing over.

“Speak! Where is the seed?”

Ling Xing calmly stated, “I stole the seeds myself. Jing Yu knows nothing about this. It has nothing to do with him.”

Long Yin slammed the table. “I’m asking you where the seed is!”

“I will not give you the seed. Have you explained to the public your secret plans to plant the seed on Lanxiu?”

“When did the military’s decisions become a matter for public interference?”

“Then why, when I mention this, does everyone here act so surreptitiously? Such a big incident has occurred, and the Marshal hasn’t shown his face. Could it be that you decided this alone?”

Long Yin, fists clenched, wished he could beat him up right there.

“I will ask you one last time patiently. Don’t think that being in your fledgling phase gives you immunity to death. Where is the seed?”

Ling Xing’s expression remained unchanged. “No matter how many times you ask, the answer will be the same. I will not tell you.”

Long Yin waved his hand, summoning his subordinates. “Go to the church. Dig three feet into the ground if you must but find it for me.”

The subordinate had just received the order to leave when Long Yin stopped him again. “Also, call back the Lone Star. He is not allowed to stay there anymore!”

“Yes, sir.”

The church’s priest had finished the day’s morning prayers when he heard a commotion outside.

He rushed out to see many in military uniforms digging up every inch of soil in the courtyard. The flowers planted together by Ling Xing and Jing Yu were ruthlessly uprooted.

“What are you doing?”

He hurried forward to stop them, only to be blocked by the military personnel. “We are executing military duties. It does not concern you. Please do not interfere.”

“This is the church’s courtyard. How can you behave so recklessly?” the priest protested angrily.

But the military personnel completely ignored him—a few even entered the church and started searching inside. The priest tried to follow but was firmly restrained in place.

Believers came for the routine morning prayers, and from a distance, they were frightened away by the scene, not knowing what had happened.

After a while, Jing Yu came out, still carrying a suitcase, closely followed by two soldiers.

“Jing Yu, what exactly happened? Where is Ling Xing?”

Jing Yu seemed not to hear his words, walking straight past him. His expression when he left was exactly the same as when he arrived, showing no change at all and no sign of attachment despite having lived here for seven years.

The soldiers sent by Long Yin searched every room and courtyard of the church and even frisked the unknowing priest, repeatedly questioning whether anyone else had been there the day before, but they deliberately avoided answering the priest’s questions.

The catastrophe lasted a full six hours, and after the military personnel withdrew without finding anything, the church was left as devastated as if a tornado had passed through.

The priest anxiously dialed Ling Xing’s terminal number over and over but could never get through. Eventually, he had no choice but to call the bishop.

Upon receiving the news, the bishop hurried to the military headquarters. Upon seeing him, Long Yin inwardly cursed the nuisance.

“Major General Long Yin,” the bishop greeted him curtly.

“Bishop,” Long Yin feigned politeness in return. “This isn’t a church. Have you mistaken the place?”

“Your men tore down our church this morning, and a child from the church is still missing. Am I not allowed to come looking for someone?”

“A child?” Long Yin laughed. “You call someone in his seventies a child?”

“No matter his age, he is still a fledgling, and fledglings should not be punished the same as adults for crimes, especially since you can’t even present his crime.”

Long Yin scoffed, about to reply, when his staff discreetly tugged at his sleeve, causing him to hold back his words.

“Fine, you say he’s a child, then he’s a child. Your child came on his own. No one forced him.”

The bishop didn’t listen to his explanation. “I only give you one choice: either you state the reason for his detention or release him.”

Long Yin was thoroughly annoyed. According to his subordinates’ reports, they found nothing in the church, and Ling Xing stubbornly refused to talk. If the bishop put more pressure and the matter leaked, it could blow up big.

“Alright, you can take him, but make sure to watch him closely. After all, fledglings are very fragile,” he said, emphasizing the word “fragile”.

The bishop responded with a fierce glare, and soon someone brought Ling Xing over. Seeing that he was unharmed, the bishop finally felt relieved.

“What exactly happened?”

Long Yin listened intently without showing any reaction.

The bishop, sensing alert, covered Ling Xing with his robe. “Let’s go. We’ll talk back at the church.”

“Tch,” Long Yin spat disdainfully behind them.

“General, it looks like the bishop is completely unaware of this matter. We can rule out the line that Ling Xing handed the seed to the church.”

“But he is still a person of the church. Perhaps he just didn’t have the chance to hand it over. Keep a close watch on them. Record everyone who comes in and out of the church during this time.”

Ling Xing returned to the church and nearly cried when he saw the destruction of what he and Jing Yu had built.

The bishop also felt uncomfortable; the once-thriving plants, now mixed with soil, were scattered all over, in total disarray.

Ling Xing silently grabbed a shovel from the flower room and began to crouch down, little by little, replanting the surviving plants back in their original place. The bishop and the priest also helped him, and the three worked until nightfall, only managing to restore a quarter of the original state.

A hand was placed on Ling Xing’s shoulder. “Take a rest now. We’ll continue tomorrow.”

Ling Xing, no longer knowing what fatigue felt like, thought about the two people with him, understanding they wouldn’t leave if he didn’t, so he reluctantly agreed.

Seizing this opportunity, the bishop tentatively asked, “Don’t you want to tell me why you went to the military headquarters? Is the call you made to me this morning related to this?”

Ling Xing opened his mouth, about to speak, but then immediately thought that if he didn’t tell, it would be seen as his own doing, but if he did tell, the church and the military would inevitably clash again. The military might even bite back, accusing the bishop of being the mastermind, and worse, the church might get dragged down with him, burdened with accusations of theft.

With this in mind, he shut his mouth tightly, refusing to utter a word no matter what.

The bishop and the priest exchanged helpless glances. Without even knowing the reason, how could they argue with the military?

Ling Xing’s bedroom was also turned upside down, with books scattered all over the floor, but this mess couldn’t fill the void created by a person’s disappearance. Before Jing Yu arrived, Ling Xing had also been living here alone for over sixty years, yet he had never felt such emptiness.

Sleeping on the lower bunk felt as if it lacked a certain weight from the upper bunk, leaving him feeling insecure and weightless.

This state of affairs continued for another week, with the bishop visiting frequently, trying to coax the truth out of Ling Xing, but to no avail, as Ling Xing had made up his mind to remain silent. The bishop returned without success, and Long Yin’s men who were sent to watch him couldn’t find any leads.

As time passed, some people became impatient. With the chances of recovering the stolen tree seed becoming slimmer, the most frustrating thing was knowing who the thief was but not being able to prosecute them, a situation that Long Yin found hard to swallow.

Seeing that the matter couldn’t be dragged out any longer, his staff offered a suggestion.

“We’ve dragged on the issue with the tree seed for so long without any conclusion, and the public has been waiting for the military to provide an explanation. The Marshal has also mentioned it twice. In my opinion, since no outsiders are aware of the current situation, we might as well treat that fake tree seed as real and agree to plant it in our country to fulfill their wishes.”

“And then what? Grow a peach tree?”

“We saw with our own eyes that it came from the Soul Tree, and it’s true that the Soul Tree has only produced such a strange thing once in thousands of years. There’s no precedent to prove it’s definitely a seed. All of this is just speculation by the experts.”

Long Yin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Although he thought this suggestion was foolish, he couldn’t think of a smarter solution.

“Even so, I can’t stand the thought of a thief getting away with it.”

At this moment, someone knocked and entered. “Major General.”

Long Yin’s eyelids twitched, and the person who came in was a military health medic. “Speak.”

“I performed a routine physical examination on the Lone Star this morning and discovered this.”

Long Yin took the report from him, quickly reading through it in a few lines. “You’re saying that Lone Star has awakened?”

“Yes, but he has been injected with a sedative specifically for fledglings, so it hasn’t shown.”

Long Yin was so frustrated that he wanted to crumple up the report. “Ling… Xing…”

The staff officer had a flash of inspiration. “I do have an idea.”

“Go on.”

“The Lone Star has awakened, and he would naturally have to kill one of his kind during the coming-of-age ceremony. The death of this person is inevitable.”

“If the Lone Star accidentally kills another fledgling with whom he has been in constant contact during the coming-of-age ceremony, no one would be suspicious, and it would save the military the trouble of choosing someone. Isn’t it killing two birds with one stone?”

“Reasonable.” Long Yin’s eyes flashed with danger. “Do you have an antidote for that sedative?”

The medic became somewhat flustered upon hearing the staff officer’s words, but still quickly looked down and replied, “Yes.”

“Good.” Long Yin gritted his teeth. “You know what to do, don’t you?”

For the first time in many days, Jing Yu was summoned before Long Yin.

“You have violated a military order once, causing irreparable damage—a crime equivalent to treason. According to military law, you should be executed.”

Jing Yu stood upright, listening to him without any objections, ready to execute even a death order from Long Yin without hesitation.

“However, the military department has decided to give you a chance to redeem yourself and mitigate your offense. And this order benefits not only you but also your caretaker greatly.”

Long Yin walked up to him and whispered, “After all, you wouldn’t want to see his soul disperse, right?”

……

Ling Xing silently closed the Holy Scripture in his hands. Recently, apart from tending to the garden, he had spent all his time reading scriptures and repenting. Within the church’s discipline, he had committed three sins: breaking his promise, lying, and theft. He felt unworthy to continue serving as a priest here.

At this time each year, priests would go to foreign planets to study doctrine, and this year was no exception. When the priest returned, Ling Xing planned to find an opportunity to discuss this matter with him.

The sound of footsteps from behind reminded him that someone had entered the church. Thinking it was a parishioner coming for a visit, Ling Xing turned around, only to see an unexpected person.

“Jing Yu?” he exclaimed in surprise. “You’re back…”

Jing Yu stepped forward, and the last word of Ling Xing’s greeting, ‘home’, never had the chance to be spoken.

Ling Xing felt darkness before his eyes. His wrist went limp in the air, and the Holy Scripture fell to the ground.

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