Dongting Lake covers a vast area, its scenery boundlessly beautiful.
Boats returning from the distant shore, the fishing village appears as an earthly paradise under the evening glow. Yet, at this very moment, the brilliance of everything is overshadowed by the radiant moon above.
It's the Lantern Festival today, the day everyone anticipates all year for lovely flowers and the moon at its roundest.
The last ferry, brimming with excited tourists, glides across the vast turquoise expanse of the Dongting Lake, the flying waves like singing voices, celebrating the end of yet another workday.
The majestic and beautiful Junshan stands alone amidst the mist of this legendary adobe of the immortals, seeming to sprout eyes, eagerly watching all boats sail away. Those familiar fishermen and the unfamiliar tourists should all go home. At this time, it's best if even the birds who don't return to their nests stay away.
A moonlit night like this is meant for solitary enjoyment.
At least that's what Jiu Jue thinks.
Deep within Junshan lies a centuries-old tree whose branches unfortunately serve as his bed. An empty wine jar, squeezed between the rough trunk and a lock of lake-blue hair, is aggrievedly working as a pillow and has to bear the risk of being shattered at any moment - it and the man leaning against it are probably more than ten meters above the ground. Looking down, the moonlight is fragmented, the green water is deep, and there is no land in sight. It's just a lake within the lake that is secretly connected to the vast lake. This old tree is also unique, growing straightforwardly with lush branches of emerald green leaves, emerging directly from the water.
It is evergreen all year round and never withers.
However, only a weirdo would plant such a weird tree that grows in water and doesn't even have a name.
Only the millennia-old tree demon could do such a thing.
This tree, growing in the lake within the lake, was planted by her own hands centuries ago, as a protection, as a marker.
For beneath the waters of this lake lies the daughter of an old friend in eternal rest.
As Jiu Jue stretched, the wine jar finally rolled off the tree and plunged into the water that was still bathing in the moonlight, creating silent ripples of protest with each wave it stirred.
"So noisy! Can't you stop drinking?" an unhappy voice emerged from the trunk. "Look at this tranquil and beautiful moonlight of Dongting Lake, all ruined by your wine jar!"
"You're so ungrateful[1]!" Jiu Jue hit a tree branch, "I came here out of kindness to heal your wounds!"
"But I didn't ask you to come drink!" Yes, it's indeed the tree talking.
"Without wine, my life is just floating clouds[2]!" Jiu Jue sat up straight, lecturing the tree non-stop. "If it weren't for your half-dead distress signal reaching me, and me being so darn kind, abandoning beautiful women, good wine, and delicious food to come all the way here to be your savior, you would have since rotted into decayed wood, not even worthy of being used as firewood! How dare you be rude to me!"
"I didn't ask you to come!" the tree retorted without weakness. "I thought Tree Demon Big Sister would come. She's much better than you. She doesn't drink and wouldn't hit me on the head as she wishes!"
"Hit you on the head?!" Jiu Jue was amused and exasperated, deliberately giving the tree branch another whack. "I just want to knock some sense into you. I don't know where on earth your Tree Demon Big Sister found a stupid tree like you, only growing for centuries without developing any intelligence. It's a miracle that the 'signal' you sent when you were dying reached me, and you still expected her to hear it? Who knows which corner of the world she's having fun in. Do you think your rudimentary telepathy technique is a satellite phone? Luckily, I stayed in China and didn't go anywhere. Otherwise, you'd be waiting for your Tree Demon Big Sister to come back and collect your corpse."
"If I'm not smart enough, blame it on you. When I was just planted, you fed me a large pot of wine on the pretext of celebrating my new life. You know, minors must not drink alcohol as it is harmful to brain development, and as an underage tree, alcohol is harmful to me too!"
"Underage tree..." Jiu Jue burst into laughter.
A few days ago, this talking tree had all its roots cut off and was dying. Fortunately, it still had enough strength to use the telepathic spell to send a cry for help to the only two people who could hear it: one being Jiu Jue, the God of Wine-making, and the other naturally being the one who planted it here and is its idol - the tree demon, Shaluo. Unfortunately, it was too weak, and its spell had limited range. It was only heard by Jiu Jue, and the tree demon, who was far away in a foreign land, was totally oblivious to it.
"Are you sure you didn't see clearly who attacked the water tomb?" Jiu Jue stopped laughing and asked abruptly.
"I've said it six hundred times already. I only saw a mass of clouds and mist, flickering between light and darkness, moving at incredible speed, descending straight into the water. I didn't even have time to retaliate before the sharp weapon[3] in the clouds and mist severed my roots." The tree let out a long sigh, filled with guilt. "Under the orders of Tree Demon Big Sister, I've been guarding the water tomb here for hundreds of years, and it has always been safe and sound. Those useless things who covet the treasure in the water tomb never even have a chance to approach. Let alone them, even the Dongting Dragon Lord here is in awe of the water tomb and never dares to disturb it."
"This is interesting." Jiu Jue scratched his nose, "What a bold thing they must be to dare to so brazenly..."
In Junshan on Dongting Lake, there is a lake within the lake, and a tree that takes care of a water tomb - this tree grows in the water, her flexible and sturdy dense roots tightly winding around the graveyard lying deep underwater, protecting the person resting within in the simplest and most effective way. Its Tree Demon Big Sister told it that the woman in the tomb, named Zhuge Jingjun, was the daughter of the most important person in her life. While she was alive, she kept her safe, and after she passed away, she still wanted her to rest in peace. That's why Tree Demon Big Sister planted it here, entrusting this secret underwater graveyard to its care, forbidding any uninvited guests from approaching.
However, the mysterious person who came out of nowhere easily breached its defenses and opened the graveyard that had not been visited for hundreds of years. When it was dying, it only remembered that the cloudy thing ran away as fast as it came. It circled in the graveyard without doing anything unusual and then left.
"Didn't you just go into the water tomb? Did you find any clues?" the tree asked him.
Jiu Jue's legs were hanging in the air, swinging boredly. He said, "That's right, I didn't find any clues. The attacker was clean and efficient." He paused, then smiled slyly, "But that person took something from the water tomb."
"What is it?" The tree was a little anxious. It had never seen the scene in the water tomb with its own eyes, only hearing from its Tree Demon Big Sister that there was something very precious in the water tomb. It was precisely this treasure that often caused water demons and evil things to hover nearby.
"What's the use in telling you? Can you get it back?" Jiu Jue knocked its "head" again. "Just focus on healing and stop talking."
The tree sighed again, dejectedly sinking into silence.
Jiu Jue lay back down, hands folded under his head, gazing at the rising moon.
In truth, he wasn't there just to admire the full moon or get drunk. This trip to Dongting Lake had become more than just about healing a tree.
Zhuge Jingjun in the water tomb had passed away centuries ago, yet her body did not decompose, as if she was in a deep sleep.
It had nothing to do with preservation techniques; it was because half the blood in her body came from an immortal - Water God Zimiao and a mortal woman named Xuechang were her biological parents.
Zimiao didn't see the birth of his daughter. During the severe drought that punished him for falling in love with a mortal, he used all his true essence to transform into sweet rain, saving the people from disaster.
Everyone believed that the Water God of the Four Directions, Zimiao, had perished along with his divine spirit in that sweet rain. Little did they know, before he decided to turn into rain, he had extracted a drop of water from between his own eyebrows and sealed it within a bracelet, leaving it for his unborn daughter.
This drop of water was a fragment of his soul, the only eyes he left in the world to watch over and accompany his daughter.
This bracelet had been worn on Zhuge Jingjun's wrist since her birth.
What was stolen was precisely this bracelet.
Because this bracelet contained the "eyes" of the Water God, as more and more demons and monsters learned of this fact, obtaining the "Eyes of the Water God" became their greatest desire. They believed that by acquiring the divine essence of the Water God, their cultivation would make tremendous progress.
This was also the fundamental reason why the tree demon planted this stupid tree here.
Of course, he had no intention of burdening himself with explaining this series of background information to this not-so-bright tree. It would be too much trouble.
After coming up from the water tomb, he pondered on the tree for quite some time. Who could have stolen the water bracelet?
According to the description from the stupid tree, this individual was certainly not some minor demon with low cultivation. If that person is already powerful enough, why would they need to steal the "Eyes of the Water God" to aid their cultivation?!
Strange!
Jiu Jue turned over, gazing at the serene lake beneath him. It was so peaceful, not a ripple in sight.
But why did he always feel like something unseen was stirring under the water and ready to emerge?!
Furrowing his brow, he let his confusion melt into the moonlight.
Footnotes:
[1] 過河拆橋: to burn one's bridges; to abandon one's benefactor upon achieving one's goal.
[2] Fleeting; transient.
[3] 利器 means sharp weapon and also outstandingly able individual.
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