"Ah... it's rather troublesome to explain. Xun Er, you still remember that, right? The Bodhi Ancient Tree."
"You mean the reincarnation we experienced within the ancient tree, Xiao Yan-ge? I know about that."
A flicker passed through Xun Er's bright eyes before she said, "Though I didn't examine it closely, when I broke through to Dou Di, I caught a fleeting glimpse of it too. I could only see myself... If that's the case, then Yao Wan...?"
"Mm... it wasn't a very good reincarnation."
Xiao Yan nodded wordlessly, then recounted everything he had experienced back then to Xun Er.
"That's more or less the situation. Can you understand it, Xun Er?"
"Of course. I can understand something like that."
Xun Er nodded, though an involuntary trace of helplessness and gravity appeared on her face. Going by her first reaction alone, how should he put it... it was quite in line with his preconceived impression of her, probably...
"It's just... this..."
By the time Xiao Yan had mostly finished explaining, the Space Tunnel had already reached its end.
At the end of the tunnel lay a small courtyard—Xun Er's residence within the Xiao Realm. Bright sunlight cast the shadows of the trees' branches across the bluestone paving.
A few fresh leaves had fallen into the teacups in the courtyard, and clear tea slowly began to rise from the bottoms of the cups.
Xiao Yan unconsciously rubbed the crackle glaze of the teacup with his fingertips, his thoughts churning as he fretted inwardly. Xun Er let out a long breath, then suddenly leaned forward. The jade pendant hanging from her hair struck the back of his hand with a chime, startling the faint insect calls in the courtyard into silence.
"I'll warm the tea."
She snatched the cup away, igniting a wisp