Chapter 86 Locking the Phoenix Tree (19) He scrubbed it roughly...

Water droplets splashed down, making a few soft sounds.

Song Qiling slowly opened her eyes, and what she saw was a clear and transparent golden yellow.

The morning sunlight pierced through the windowpanes, like amber melting into liquid, filling the warm room, where countless dust particles floated, drifting like stardust.

The faint warmth couldn't dispel the chill on her back. She moved her stiff body and turned to look to the side.

The tightly wrapped "cocoon" remained completely still throughout the night, suggesting that the person inside must have slept very soundly.

A sudden pang of sadness welled up in Song Qiling's heart. She pulled the thin blanket over herself to block out the chill, but her gaze involuntarily drifted toward her junior brother's face.

The cascading light bathed his jet-black hair in a soft brown-gold hue, and a few unruly strands of hair that fell across his forehead became translucent, like molten gold threads.

Undeniably, my junior brother has an exceptionally handsome face. Especially in the morning light, his chin, nose, and even his slightly pursed lips are outlined with a delicate and soft golden edge, as if meticulously painted by an artist.

Her gaze, as if possessed, fell on his lower lip, lingering for a long time on the dark red scab. A part of her heart suddenly sank down a little, a tingling, itchy feeling, as if a furry claw was gently scratching it.

A slightly bright beam of light fell precisely on Gu Lianzhou's brow, causing him to furrow his brow slightly before opening his eyes in the next instant.

Perhaps due to the sudden exposure to light, those dark eyes seemed to be briefly veiled with a misty haze, but soon the haze dissipated, and the pupils clearly reflected the figure of the person standing close at hand.

Song Qiling, who was also enveloped in golden light, was slightly taken aback and met his junior brother's gaze without any warning.

She forced a smile: "Awake?"

Gu Lianzhou felt as if he had been in a long dream, and now he suddenly woke up. The person in the dream was right in front of him, and for a moment he could not distinguish between reality and dream.

It must be a dream, but why are the dark circles under your eyes so intense, senior brother?

As he was thinking this, he suddenly felt a splitting headache. Scenes from his dream flashed through his mind, and his senior brother's angry voice still echoed in his ears. The beautiful, slightly furrowed brows overlapped with the person in front of him, making him feel a strange sense of guilt.

"Senior brother, why are you here?" he asked in a hoarse voice, trying to get up, but he felt tightly bound by the quilt, and even turning over became a luxury.

Song Qiling's breath hitched. Seeing his confused expression, she realized he didn't seem to be faking it and must have no recollection of what happened last night. She breathed a sigh of relief, and the pre-prepared explanation finally came in handy.

She explained, "Of course I was watching over you, afraid something might happen to you. Last night, you somehow provoked a nine-tailed fox demon, who followed you into the courtyard and caused a huge commotion in the room. I heard the noise and rushed over. I found you lying on the ground, and my companion demon also revealed itself. I fought with the demon and eventually devoured it, which saved your life."

After saying that, she licked her lips and asked tentatively in a low voice, "Are you... feeling unwell anywhere?"

As they spoke, Gu Lianzhou had already freed one arm from the tightly wrapped quilt, pulled the quilt off, and glanced at the thin clothes on his body. His mind was buzzing, and he subconsciously looked up at his senior brother.

He quickly pulled the blanket up to his chin and replied in a muffled voice, "I don't feel uncomfortable anywhere, but my mind feels foggy and I'm not very clear-headed."

Seeing her uneasy junior brother, Song Qiling looked away and also became uncomfortable: "Since there's nothing else, then get up and wash up. I...I'll go buy some breakfast."

Having said that, before he could react, she stood up, leaning against the nearby screen, and limped out, clutching a thin blanket.

"Oh, right." She paused slightly, without turning her head, and said, "That fox demon is quite powerful. Your companion demon ate it, which was a great tonic. It should be greatly enhanced in demonic power now and can already show its true form. You should be careful not to release it in front of others, so as not to cause panic among others."

Gu Lianzhou raised his hand to his forehead and answered each question. Only after seeing his senior brother leave in a hurry did he belatedly realize that something was wrong.

My lower lip was burning and throbbing, as if I had been bitten by something, and my body... didn't feel very refreshed either.

He hesitated, then reached into the thick quilt and pulled it down, his mind going completely blank.

What exactly did he do last night...?

-

Having lost all memory of the night, Gu Lianzhou became unusually silent.

Silently, he washed his body with half a basin of cold water, silently threw his clothes into the basin, grabbed a bar of soap, and went into the yard.

He squatted under the crooked tree in the yard, roughly scrubbing the stains off his clothes. The light in his eyes flickered, eventually turning into a lifeless void.

Regardless of what he did or dreamed about last night, the only certainty is that this matter is inseparable from his senior brother.

Thinking of this, his self-loathing reached its peak.

nausea.

Shameless.

They are unworthy of being human.

Oh, he's hardly a human being anymore.

What did his senior brother tell him before he left? His thoughts stirred slightly, and several supple dodder vines quickly emerged from beneath his feet. Their originally smooth, black roots were now covered with purple veins, emitting a faint glow in the sunlight.

Its size has also doubled, so calling it "dodder" seems like an understatement.

As if sensing his thoughts, the dodder's body rapidly shrank to the thickness of a thumb, obediently lying at his feet, swaying gently as it disappeared into the grass.

"..." Surprisingly obedient.

Was it this thing that devoured that damned nine-tailed fox demon?

Gu Lianzhou frowned slightly, thinking that the dodder was usually only good for unlocking locks and lifting heavy objects, and he never imagined that it would become so ferocious.

How did it strangle that fox demon?

As soon as the idea came to mind, the dodder smugly shook its tentacles and suddenly leaped up in a gust of wind. The seemingly harmless monster suddenly soared several feet high, and its tentacles covered with demonic patterns instantly filled the courtyard.

In the process, they also overturned the wooden basin in Gu Lianzhou's hand.

When Song Qiling pushed open the door carrying the oil paper package, this was the scene she saw—a giant python-like monster twisting and turning, as if it wanted to tear the world apart...

A soft, fluffy tail tip rubbed intimately against her front, then clung to her cheek, leaving a cool, damp mark.

Song Qiling opened her eyes with difficulty and saw her junior brother surrounded by dodder. Her chest heaved, she took a deep breath, and turned around to close the door.

He's gone completely out of control just because he went out for a short while?

"Quickly put away your demonic aura." She slipped into the gap, brushed away the unruly tentacles around her waist, and saw Gu Lianzhou looking innocent under the crooked tree. She said helplessly, "I brought you some food."

Another gust of wind howled, and amidst the fluttering of clothes and disheveled hair, the giant object in the courtyard had vanished. All that could be seen was her junior brother righting the overturned wooden basin, picking up the clothes scattered on the ground, and getting up to walk towards her.

Song Qiling raised an eyebrow slightly as her gaze swept over the wet clothes in her junior brother's hands: "Washing clothes so early in the morning, so diligent?"

Gu Lianzhou responded in a muffled voice, hiding his clothes behind his back, his face practically screaming "I have a guilty conscience."

"If you're not feeling well, do less. And your companion demon, how dare it be so rampant, flying all over my face." She wiped the water from her face, picked up the oil paper package, and walked into the house. "Stop washing, have dinner with me first."

Upon hearing this, Gu Lianzhou nodded silently, then put down the wooden basin and clothes, turned around and followed his senior brother step by step.

He ate his meal in unusual quiet.

Song Qiling went to buy food with her mind preoccupied. Because her mind was so muddled, she only bought four solid steamed buns and forgot to buy pickled vegetables and porridge.

Therefore, despite both of them choking badly, neither of them complained in the slightest. In the end, perhaps because Gu Lianzhou was choking so badly, he took the initiative to suggest boiling some water.

When Gu Lianzhou returned with the water jug, he saw his senior brother sitting upright at the table, holding a vermilion brush, drawing intricate incantations on a yellow talisman. As he got closer, he could feel that the senior brother was focused and concentrated, with occasional beads of sweat seeping from his temples and sliding down his hair to his chin.

Seeing this, he dared not make a sound to disturb them, and simply stood quietly by their side.

After about half a cup of tea's time, Senior Brother Fang let out a long sigh, picked up the talisman and shook it in the air, waiting for the ink on it to dry.

Gu Lianzhou stared at the rune for a moment, then couldn't help but ask, "What is Senior Brother drawing?"

Song Qiling turned to look at him: "I've prepared a talisman to conceal your demonic aura for you."

She said, "Times have changed. If the dodder continues to be as rampant as it is today, its overwhelming demonic aura will likely attract all the demon hunters in the southern city. In that case, a bloody storm is inevitable."

It was only because she knew that her junior brother was kind-hearted and that his companion demon was also a benevolent demon that she was willing to help him. If it were someone else, they would probably have tied him to a pillar and burned him to death in public.

Gu Lianzhou looked at the talisman in surprise, then his gaze shifted to his senior brother's face. A wave of tenderness washed over him. He put down the teapot, his fingertips trembling slightly as he picked up the teacup and poured his senior brother a cup of hot tea.

"Senior brother, there's no need for you to do so much for me." He pushed his teacup forward and said apologetically, "I originally wanted to be your help, but I didn't expect to cause you so much trouble."

“No trouble at all,” Song Qiling replied without hesitation.

She looked at the yellow talisman in her hand with great satisfaction. "I used to learn demon-catching magic and practice drawing talismans in order to eliminate demons and protect the righteous path, to restore peace to the people, and to accumulate merit for myself and seek peace of mind."

She placed the talisman on the table and smoothed it out. Her fingers flew as she folded it into a triangle, saying, "You have a kind heart. Even though you coexist with that dodder, you haven't done anything to harm anyone. As your senior brother, how can I stand by and do nothing while you're in dire straits?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Lianzhou's brow twitched violently.

He... doesn't seem to be as good as his senior brother said.

Song Qiling neatly folded the yellow talismans, then took out a brocade pouch from her waist, poured out the incense pills inside, stuffed the talisman paper inside, and then picked up the talisman pouch with satisfaction, handed it to Gu Lianzhou, and urged him to hang it on his body.

Seeing that he obediently did as she said, she smiled and said, "Now that you're wearing this talisman, you can't take it off easily, understand?"

Gu Lianzhou nodded, his gaze sweeping over his senior brother's face before moving down to the colorful brocade pouch at her waist.

I had noticed before that my senior brother didn't care much about his appearance. He could wear coarse clothes, but he always had various brocade pouches and sachets around his waist, as if he were carrying a bottomless treasure bag, which would jingle as he walked.

Gu Lianzhou's gaze lingered on a small, emerald-green sachet. He raised his finger slightly, pointed at it, and chuckled, "Senior Brother is particularly fond of this sachet. He wears it every day and has never taken it off."

Upon hearing this, Song Qiling followed his fingertip and choked for a moment when she saw the Wuxiang Talisman at her waist.

This person has sharp eyes, and how come they also have such a good memory?