"What exactly does Life Exchange mean?"
I stared at the three of them, baffled. Serena Jing kept her head lowered, her presence heavy, looking utterly drained.
Mona Ouyang immediately glanced at the dense mountain ranges surrounding us, stretching out for miles.
"Tell me, Rachel Lan, what did the mountains here look like when you saw this place back then?"
I stared at Mona Ouyang, puzzled, but as I thought back, I remembered—thirty years ago, most of the mountains near here were bare, almost no dense growth. Only near the village was there any vegetation.
"What about farther away? Do you remember?"
Mona Ouyang asked again. I shook my head.
"I never went that far. How would I know?"
Serena Jing finally lifted her head and spoke.
"This place used to be lifeless. It was my uncle's power that revived everything—the land, the flow of the earth's veins. All of it was to exchange for his daughter Leah King's safety. But the price was too great. Even if Leah died, in the next life, she would still..."
"Dead?"
I glanced uneasily at Serena Jing. Hearing such words from a ghost unsettled me, though I couldn't say why.
"Is there something wrong with that?"
I shook my head.
"There's no such thing as worthy or unworthy. All I see is a father trying to save his daughter. There's nothing else."
I stared intently at Serena Jing, but she just smiled.
"Looks like you haven't heard Ethan Zhang talk about it—my uncle's past..."
I nodded, then shook my head. I had heard Ethan Zhang talk about Basil Bertram's past—a sad story. After Basil Bertram got involved with a woman of lower status, Leah King was born. Fearing his family, he hid mother and daughter far away, visiting only once a year with some money. Then bandits kidnapped them. After Leah King was tortured, Basil finally rescued her, but broken, Leah ignored his pleas and jumped into the bandits' burning house.
"I don't care what happened in the past. All I know now is that Basil Bertram made the right choice."
As we spoke, Serena Jing suddenly snapped her head up, her eyes locking onto mine, and shot to her feet.
"The right choice? That wasn’t right—it was selfish. Did Uncle ever think about us? Did he think about Auntie? Did he think about everything our family has built? He threw it all away. It looks carefree, but it’s actually irresponsible."
I swallowed, and behind me, Mona Ouyang sighed.
"Enough, girl. It really was irresponsible—he vanished without warning, left you all behind, and no one could find him. We could only wait for news of his death. It’s frustrating, but right now, the only option is the dream of foresight. In that dream, you might find him, but it could also affect everything now. It’s a mess, and Rachel Lan’s situation over there is very dangerous."
For a while, all we could do was keep thinking to ourselves. There was nothing we could do. Even if I went back and tried to explain things to Basil Bertram, it would only strengthen his resolve—he thought it was worth it, and no one could stop him. For his retainers, trading the life of such a powerful figure in the ghost world for that of an ordinary person was unthinkable.
Then Serena Jing started to explain. Only Basil Bertram could perform Life Exchange. He died beside the ancient tree, became a ghost, and merged with the sentient tree—a unique existence. That’s why he could brew Morning Dew Wine, which heals both humans and ghosts. Most importantly, with this power, Basil could turn his energy into the life force that nourishes all things, causing everything to grow wildly.
The key part was linking Leah King to this power within himself. Leah’s body was missing so much from birth that saving her was nearly impossible. Basil Bertram’s only way was to connect his own life to Leah King’s, temporarily sustaining her, and then use his power to continuously transform it into life force, injecting it into the land. That’s what the so-called Heavenly Dao is about.
All of this was so Leah King’s body could regain those innate energies and the aura of fortune and blessing. After Basil did this, the Heavenly Dao considered everything to be because of Leah King, and naturally started to replenish what she lacked as a reward—restoring her innate energies little by little, gradually giving her back some life.
This is the method of reincarnation under the Heavenly Dao. The revival of all things always goes hand in hand with reincarnation. After Basil Bertram connected himself to Leah King, he established this cycle, slowly filling what Leah lacked. Her early life seemed tragic, but when Leah stood on stage at eighteen, after ten years of effort, she became a top star. Even after a brief fall, she got back up.
Once her innate energies were restored, Leah King’s destiny stabilized, and the luck she lost from birth was replenished. That’s why Leah has had such smooth sailing all these years.
I swallowed, and Mona Ouyang sighed as well.
"I knew it. That guy really did use this method to protect everything for his daughter. No wonder his power faded so quickly."
Mona Ouyang said, and I glanced at the distant mountains. They were indeed densely forested, filled with vibrant life force and a natural energy that was different from anything man-made—majestic and overwhelming. This was caused by half of Basil Bertram’s essence, the ancient tree. A lot couldn’t be explained, but right now, all I knew was that I had to find Basil Bertram.
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I raised my hand, staring at the white life force flowing from my palm. Maybe I still had a way.
"Let’s do this instead."
Suddenly, an idea struck me. I seemed to have thought of a solution.
"Don’t let Basil Bertram know about this—just you, Miss Serena Jing. When I enter the dream of foresight again, I’ll try to contact you and tell you what’s going to happen next."
For a moment, Serena Jing’s eyes widened.
"That’s actually a good idea. As long as you know roughly when Basil Bertram disappears, you can follow him and naturally find out where he goes. That way, we have a chance to find him, without changing what’s already happened."
I agreed, but Serena Jing was worried that she might see me as an enemy or a lunatic, completely refusing to trust me.
"Let’s do this, Miss Serena Jing—tell me something deeply personal about yourself. When I find you, I’ll repeat it, so you’ll know it’s really me."
Serena Jing stood up.
"Come with me, but you must promise not to tell anyone else."
After half an hour, I was surprised to see Serena Jing blushing. I didn’t ask anything further. Tonight I would enter the dream of foresight again—if the Serena Jing of the past believed me and helped, the others wouldn’t notice my presence. Even if Serena failed to find Basil Bertram, with her help, I could still discover where he disappeared.
Once everything was ready, I took a shower and went straight back to my room.
"What’s up, Rachel? Did you find anything?"
As soon as I entered, I saw Leah King rehearsing her lines. I jumped in surprise, then smiled awkwardly and said I’d found some clues, but needed to investigate further.
"It really is unbelievable. I used to hate this orphanage, but coming back this time feels different."
"Maybe it’s because you grew up here."
As I spoke, I pushed open the back window and saw the huge leaves of hydrangeas under the streetlamp atop the mountain. Tonight, maybe I could finally settle things. As long as we found Basil Bertram, we’d rush over and use my two instincts—maybe that would work. I’d discussed it with Mona Ouyang and Mengmei before. Since Basil could turn his power into nature’s energy and give it to the land, maybe we could do the opposite: first sever the connection between Leah King and Basil Bertram, then, through my instincts, channel the land’s natural energy back to Basil. Maybe that would work.
Leah King was still reading her script as I lay down on the bed.
"Get some rest. Aren’t you supposed to be taking a break?"
Leah King smiled and shook her head.
"A lot of people are waiting for me, expecting things from me. So I want to finish shooting this sequel as soon as possible—it really is a good movie. Most importantly, I know that guy is always watching me. I don’t know why, but it feels like I’ve known him for ages, though I can’t remember."
I made a sound of agreement and leaned against the window.
Before the events at the end of the dream of foresight, I had to do something. As long as I found Basil Bertram, there would be a way. Lately, I’d been thinking a lot, all thanks to Yin Choujian, who’s filled my head with so much on this journey that I can’t help but keep thinking.
"By the way, Leah, what do you think your father should have been like?"
I asked, and Leah King burst out laughing.
"I have no father, and no mother. After all, I’m an orphan, aren’t I?"
I awkwardly apologized in a hurry.