Xie Wuwang's soul

Chapter Twenty

Jiang Zanghua: This damn slacking off.

Oh no, it's love at first sight! I actually want to join.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yulin, who had been left out in the cold, took out a brush and began to scribble and correct on the talisman paper. She added a stroke here, changed a checkmark here, and crossed it out here. Done.

Jiang Zanghua, feeling utterly helpless, stood alone, listlessly supporting the blue light barrier.

At that moment, someone gently patted his shoulder.

The woman smiled and said, "It's time to show off your real skills."

The five talismans in her hand were lined up in front of the woman. The woman put her index and middle fingers together and muttered, "Bagua, open."

A golden light flashed, and a rotating Bagua formation immediately formed beneath the woman's feet. Her hair billowed as she bathed in the golden light, and she opened her eyes, shouting, "Swift Wind, come!"

Suddenly, a strong wind howled, and the trees swayed wildly in the wind like delicate flowers, while the mist was quickly blown backward.

And they continue to gather.

Zhou Yulin pulled out the talisman from the very center and threw it forward. The talisman turned into water and hit the mist, which had originally seemed dangerous, and the mist easily dissipated without a trace.

Jiang Zanghua: Damn, she actually fell for it.

Gu Ling pounced on him, "Wow, Zhou, you're so handsome! I love you so much!" Chen Mu straightened up, showing no surprise whatsoever, "To be able to modify the wind talisman like this, your teacher would probably be furious."

Zhou Yulin wasn't embarrassed at all. She put away her talisman, put on her sachet, and said seriously, "Chen Muyao, do you know what I like most about you?"

Jiang Zanghua, Guling: !!!

I like that you don't talk much.

Jiang Zanghua, Guling: ...

The boy stretched lazily, looking back at him with a nonchalant arrogance. "I don't care what you like about me, Zhou Yulin." His voice was very pleasant, clear as jade, and he always pronounced each word clearly when calling someone's name.

It has to be said, Chen Muyao is really good at pretending. In front of her second uncle, she's all sweet and obedient, calling him "Miss." But in front of Zhou Yulin, she acts like, "I don't care who you are, who do you think you are?"

Zhou Yulin stared at his face without the slightest anger. Instead, she pointed to her head and reminded him, "Your hair is messy."

"Oh." Chen Mu shook his headband and tidied his hair again.

Just after the treatment was finished, Gu Ling leaned over to Zhou Yulin and asked gossipily, "Yulin, don't you... like him a little?"

Who do you like?

"Look, this is my young master."

“…Heh.” Zhou Yulin curled her lips and sneered, then slowly promised, “Don’t worry, all the good men in the world are dead. Even if he were the only man left, I would choose to be alone for the rest of my life.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Muyao snorted coldly, as if I thought she was superior.

“…Alright.” Gu Ling patted Zhou Yulin’s shoulder. “But let’s just say, Yulin, I really didn’t expect you to be so good at using talismans. I heard you loved reading when you were little. Were you reading books about talismans?”

Regarding this, Zhou Yulin naturally couldn't reveal her identity, so she could only vaguely say, "Well, later another teacher came to teach me, and I practiced for two and a half years." "Two and a half years!? That's amazing!" Gu Ling's exclamation made Zhou Yulin a little embarrassed.

She first touched the talisman paper at the full moon banquet, during the first birthday celebration.

As she grew up, she lost interest in drawing talismans, treating it merely as a hobby. Little did she know that she would now be making a living from it.

Jiang Zanghua recalled, "Drawing talismans requires talent, and most talisman masters simply copy existing talisman papers in books without making changes or innovations. I didn't expect you to be so talented."

Zhou Yulin was genuinely embarrassed by the praise and quickly changed the subject, "We've been walking for so long, why haven't we reached the exit yet?"

Jiang Zanghua looked at the ice not far away and sighed, "We've circled around three times already. We still haven't gotten out."

“The soil here is really strange.” Jiang Zanghua squatted down and picked up a piece of soil with his finger. “The winters in the south are mild and dry, and the temperature is not high, but many of the lands are cracked. That’s fine, but look at these cracks. They are not irregular like natural cracks, but rather as neat as if they were cut by someone.”

"It's like being trapped in a maze." Chen Mu shook his head, touched the nearest tree, and stated, "It's true that we're spinning in circles, but these trees are with us. As we move, the land and the trees are moving as well."

Gu Ling asked blankly, "What should we do? Are we trapped inside?"

Jiang Zanghua nodded. "It seems that's how it will be for now."

Zhou Yulin smiled and said, "That's easy."

All eyes turned to her, and the girl parted her red lips slightly, "Let's turn the tables on them and fight fire with fire. Since this land moves with us, it's easy to know how one piece of land moves, but if we follow the boundary lines between different pieces of land, how does it move?"

An hour later, a cry rang out: "Help! We really made it out!!!"

Gu Ling almost couldn't resist giving Zhou Yulin a bear hug.

Jiang Zanghua was also quite pleased and looked at Zhou Yulin with admiration.

This girl is really something.

After the group left the forest, a deserted and abandoned courtyard came into view.

The roof was covered with vines, and the tall ginkgo tree in the yard had lost all its leaves, leaving its branches bare. The surrounding bamboo fence was covered with spider webs, as were the roof and the vermilion gate that came into view.

It looked abandoned for many years; the vermilion gate had faded somewhat from the erosion of rain. The door opened easily with a gentle push, and the interior was slightly better than the outside. The furniture and furnishings were neatly arranged, as if no one had touched them for many years.

Normally, a family's courtyard wouldn't be built deep in the mountains and forests. But this courtyard was different from other wealthy families; it was built deep in a maze-like forest. From the moment Zhou Yulin stepped through the door, the feeling of being watched became even clearer.

She followed behind the others, and happened to walk side by side with Chen Muyao.

“There’s nothing unusual about this courtyard.” Jiang Zanghua, after inspecting it, was somewhat incredulous. “Normally speaking, many strange things should happen in this kind of deep mountain forest. For example, being stared at by a pair of eyes, being pushed into a lotus pond for no reason, or hearing strange noises in the middle of the night.”

As expected of Jiang Zanghua, who is well-read, he started with the same old routine as soon as he opened his mouth.

Zhou Yulin looked around and found nothing unusual except for the tea set on the table, which was unusually clean.

The only ginkgo tree in the courtyard suddenly reminded Zhou Yulin of her second senior brother.

The second senior brother loved ginkgo trees very much because he said they represented the beginning of his parents' love and the origin of his life. Therefore, he always kept a ginkgo leaf in his sachet. Every autumn, he would secretly go down the mountain to watch the ginkgo leaves fall and hang a nameplate on the tree. He said he hoped his parents could see it, so that they wouldn't have so many regrets buried in his heart.

I heard from my fellow disciples that my second senior brother was taken in by our master and is an orphan of war. “Sister Yulin, is there anything strange about that ginkgo tree? You’ve been looking at it for a long time.”

Even Jiang Zanghua could see Zhou Yulin's dejected mood, so he couldn't help but comfort her, "Autumn goes and winter comes, it's the natural order of things, you don't need to feel sentimental."

Chen Muyao turned his head away and scoffed, "I didn't know that Miss Zhou was so thoughtful and had such a melancholy and sorrowful feeling about autumn."

In plain terms: She's a total straight woman. Don't overthink it, no need to worry about her.

Zhou Yulin glanced at Chen Muyao and pretended to be sad, saying, "After all, I am a girl, and I will always feel a little heartache when I see fallen leaves and flowers."

Chen Muyao said irritably, "When you suggested carving the tree, why didn't you show any concern that the tree might feel pain?"

Zhou Yulin feigned weakness: "I'm sorry, it's all my fault."

Chen Mu smiled and said, "It's good that you know."

They were completely unmoved by the little green tea's tricks, and countered each move with their own.

Getting back to the main point, Zhou Yulin asked about the purpose of their trip, "Have you found the entrance to the secret realm?"

While asking, Zhou Yulin also guessed in her heart that if the secret realm was suppressed by souls, it would attract other ghosts to stay there.

However, this place looked like nothing more than an abandoned courtyard deep in the mountains, not like a place where wandering ghosts and vengeful spirits resided. It certainly didn't look like a haunted house where a major murder had occurred.

Moreover, Zhou Yulin's intuition told her that there must be a sequel to the story Gu Ling had told. However, Gu Ling didn't trust this sequel, or perhaps he had some reservations, so he didn't even mention it, and the story ended with a brief mention.

"No."

“When a wandering soul is trapped in one place for a long time, it will form a small secret realm. How can you be sure that the secret realm is the one you are looking for?”

Gu Ling: "When we found him, he was missing a soul and a spirit."

Zhou Yulin suggested, "How about this, we only took a general look just now. Let's split up and go to our respective rooms to check. Maybe we can find some clues about the entrance."

The room Zhou Yulin entered should be a young lady's room. She opened a drawer and found a dusty but well-preserved diary inside.

[The 15th day of the 8th month of the 452nd year of the Celestial Calendar]

My days are numbered. My father has been working tirelessly for me lately, and I want to live on, but... I'm sorry, Father.

[December 3, 452 of the Celestial Calendar]

How could this be? They think I've gone crazy, but I'm definitely not Liu Yuning. What went wrong?

[January 1st, 453rd year of the Celestial Calendar]

The witch doctor found me. I asked her why she was deceiving herself, and she laughed, saying, "My worthless life is precious enough to live for others." I can hardly remember who I am anymore.

[March 20th, 458th year of the Celestial Calendar]

I finally discovered the truth. But...

The paper at the back was deliberately torn off.

Zhou Yulin put the diary back and saw a painting hanging on the wall of the room.

The paint on the painting has faded, making the faces of the figures unclear, but it is still possible to vaguely identify a man and a woman.

Notably, the male protagonist's green eyes resemble those of a wolf lurking in the night, ready to deliver a fatal blow to his enemy at any moment. Behind him, a woman in splendid attire holds his hand, and it appears they are both clutching something.

Suddenly, a man's scream from outside the door interrupted Zhou Yulin's thoughts, "Ah—"

Zhou Yulin immediately ran towards the direction of the sound. It was only about fifteen steps away from her room. Gu Ling collapsed to the ground, pointing at the skeleton in the cupboard, her finger trembling, "The skeleton of a dead person!"