The next day.
Hu Yang and Ling Yao woke up and opened their eyes, only to find a tiny figure lying between them.
The little figure wore a peaceful, happy smile. Her tiny mouth smacked as she murmured, "Mother... Father..."
Hu Yang and Ling Yao exchanged a smile.
"Let her sleep. Be careful not to wake her," Hu Yang said softly.
Ling Yao nodded. The two quietly got up, dressed, and left the bedroom.
Ling Yao went to prepare food. Ordinary people without cultivation could not go without eating.
Hu Yang left the thatched cottage alone and walked along the village road. In the blink of an eye, the world had changed, and he still had not fully adjusted to it.
He had once been the emperor of the Xing Dynasty, but everything had changed because of a sudden plague. Thunder Punishment had struck him, turning Life and Death into a soul before he was reborn as a tree.
Even now, Hu Yang did not know that he himself had caused the plague. The Thunder Punishment he suffered had been Heaven and Earth's punishment for slaughtering living beings.
The women who had been bound by those villains had also been freed by the men of each household and brought home.
Hu Yang encountered quite a few of them while wandering around, but they would take detours whenever they saw him. He did not mind.
The village had returned to its former harmony and peace, with everyone busy with their own affairs.
Before he knew it, Hu Yang had arrived at the village entrance. He saw a White-Haired Old Man seated beneath a large tree, surrounded by a group of children eagerly listening to his story.
Interested, Hu Yang walked over and listened from the side.
"Village chief Grandpa, what happened