59 Life and Death

The sound of banging on the door and the sound of breathing were interspersed, as if a dark shadow outside the door was lying on all fours, staring at Hua Lang through a thin layer of wood.

"Bang--"

There was another loud noise, and the wooden door shook violently. After a layer of dust fell off, it seemed as if it could no longer support itself and made a crisp "crack" sound.

Hua Lang's heart skipped a beat and he immediately blocked the door.

The door hinge groaned under the heavy weight, and with incessant clicking sounds, the wooden door suddenly broke at the top, and the fallen door panel fell straight down. A hand with great strength suddenly pulled Hua Lang over to avoid the falling object. Hua Lang turned around and found that the snoring in the house had stopped at some point, and the old woman was already standing behind her.

She stared at the wooden door and muttered, "Strange... Why are these things so aggressive today? Usually they just bump into it twice and then run away..."

Hua Lang didn't have time to think about the old woman's words, because at that moment, the entire door collapsed with a loud bang. "Something is crawling in!"

Moonlight mixed with the fishy wind poured in, illuminating the winding black tide - spiders as big as fists, centipedes three feet long, and mice as big as cats, all piled up in layers and rushing into the house.

"Oh my God!" The old woman grabbed Hua Lang's arm and said, "Hurry up, kid, follow me!"

The area outside the yard was also devoured by the swarm of insects, so the two could only hide in the house. However, even though they moved quickly enough, the swarm of insects, which moved even faster, crawled onto them in an instant.

The old woman ignored the swarm of insects crawling up. She let go of Hualang, crawled to the back of the bed, and lifted the bed board in one breath - there was a large water tank hidden underneath.

"Come here, baby!"

Hua Lang controlled his hands and did not slap the poisonous insects to avoid being bitten by them, but soon, he felt a slight pain on his exposed skin.

Just as she was about to move towards the water tank, the number of poisonous insects suddenly increased. With a sudden stab in the knee, Hua Lang was crushed to the ground by the weight of the swarm of insects!

Seeing this, the old woman who wanted to pull her away did not hesitate for a moment. She shook off the poisonous insects on her body, climbed into the jar nimbly, and closed the lid.

If you want to blame someone, just blame the kid for being unlucky. Why are the bugs so ferocious today?

Hua Lang truly felt the powerlessness of being a mortal at this moment. Those insects that she could kill with ease before had now become the king of hell that was taking her life. She no longer cared about so much and simply rolled over, trying to shake off the poisonous insects on her body.

But there are so many of them that when one piece falls off, another one climbs up!

Suddenly, the swarm of insects that were gnawing at her stopped, making a violent "chirp" sound, and the dense swarm of poisonous insects seemed to be unable to avoid her and crawled away from her body extremely quickly!

Hua Lang, who survived the disaster, ignored the pain in her body and quickly touched the hot spot on her chest - it was the brown bead she picked up in Guiyuan.

It was as if they had "come alive", and the temperature was almost scalding, but as the swarm of insects crawled out of the house, the temperature of the beads dropped.

The rustling sound that made his scalp tingle faded away, and Hua Lang dared to confirm that the insect swarm had actually left!

When the old woman heard that there was no movement, she stuck her head out and confirmed again and again before carefully climbing out of the tank and running towards Hua Lang.

She looked at the beads that Hua Lang hadn't put away yet and asked, "Wa, where did you get this?"

Hua Lang got up from the ground. Her sixth sense told her that this thing was not simple. Hearing the old woman seem to know something, she asked, "Grandma, do you know what this thing is?"

The old woman's excitement faded, and her tone was inexplicable. "How would an old woman like me know? But those evil creatures are so afraid of it. If we had it, we might be able to save the city!"

As if she was afraid Hua Lang wouldn't agree, she quickly added, "Look at your child's silly look just now. There's definitely no such harmful thing in the Eastern Region, right? Your child won't need it. If you give it to me, not only will I get you out of Zhongzhou safely, but I'll also give you a good thing I've been hiding for twenty years. I guarantee your child won't suffer any loss."

Hearing her say this, Hua Lang asked, "What is it?"

The old woman leaned over the jar, holding her waist. After a while, she pulled out a book from the bottom of the jar. "Oh, it's pressed too firmly... Your child has also been to Yujing to see that the fate of immortals is different from ours, but this book is special. Even if a child has no qualifications, after learning from it, he will be no different from those immortals!"

Hua Lang looked at the extremely worn and even dirty book with a hint of doubt.

"Grandma, has anyone practiced this technique?"

The old woman looked at Hua Lang's expression and asked, "What's the problem? This book is..."

She paused and rephrased, "You'll understand once you see it, baby. I don't have the guts to do that. These things are better given to you young people."

Hua Lang took the book and instantly understood why it had been destined to be thrown into the jar - it was a book called "On the Way of Life".

The skills can be divided into two categories: the way of life and death. The way of life is different from medical skills. Practicing the way of life can be said to be sacrificing oneself to benefit others. In addition, resources are so important on the path to immortality. There are few people who practice the way of life, and the skills are also scarce. It is very likely that after practicing for a few years, there will be no difference between you and an ordinary person. Therefore, there are very few people who practice the way of life.

But Hua Lang is a mortal now, and she can't practice the way of killing anyway. Even if it is really a useless book, she still wants to give it a try.

Moreover, she happened to obtain this item and happened to enter the city where insects were raging. It was destined by heaven, so she naturally could not just stand by and watch.

"Grandma, please accept this bead."

The old woman glanced at Hua Lang's face again. After she took the beads, she turned her gaze and said, "It's dawn. Isn't your son going back to the East Region? Get ready. I will take you to find someone."

Hua Lang nodded. The Wu family had connections everywhere, and even if they hid in Tiancheng, they might not be safe. She had to go to the East Region to find Xie Hanjing as soon as possible.

Hua Lang simply treated the wound. Now that he was a mortal, even the slightest injury could worsen.

The two of them moved the sculpture away and left the house. The already messy courtyard was like a storm had passed through it, with all the debris turned upside down. Hua Lang looked up and saw that the few pieces of rubble on the roof had been reduced by half.

After briefly tidying up the yard, the old woman couldn't wait to pull Hua Lang out the door. "I'll take your child to find Linwa later. She's learned from those books and is very capable now. It was her who built the teleportation array between Yujing and Tiancheng. You'll understand when you meet her later."

The old woman muttered to herself as she led Hua Lang through the even more chaotic streets. Through the half-open door, she could see people inside picking up things that were smashed by the swarm of insects.

Hua Lang scanned the numb faces and remembered the insect swarm in Luoshui Village. But those insects would never crawl into the village. Why were the fill-in-the-city under Yujing and Di Palace so affected?

Although she knew there must be something strange going on, Hua Lang only stayed up all night after becoming a human again, and now she felt dizzy and her forehead was throbbing, and she couldn't think at all.

Hua Lang tried to call the system again, "001, are you there?"

Still no response.

Ever since she escaped from the Ghost Abyss and woke up to find herself lying on the Wu family's coffin, she had tried to contact 001, but 001 never showed up once.

Hua Lang was worried. Could it be related to the bad news that it didn't mention?

After turning the corner, they reached the end of the alley. Hua Lang looked up and saw the wall made of sculptures again.

There were many people gathered in front of the wall. Hua Lang estimated that this wall should surround the entire city. As for its function, it was probably to deal with the insect swarm.

Suddenly, the old woman walking next to him quickened her pace and Hua Lang hurried to catch up with her. Seeing that she was about to fall, Hua Lang quickly supported her.

"Lin, where's Linwa?"

Following the old woman's gaze, Hua Lang discovered a collapsed house sandwiched between the alley head and the statue wall.

The people gathered in front of the wall heard the noise and came over. A man who looked to be about forty or fifty years old was the first to shout, "Old Lady Yu."

Granny Yu pointed at the ruins and asked, "What's going on? Where's Linwa?!"

The man was silent for a moment, and only after Granny Yu pressed him further did he say, "Sister Lin, it's gone."

"Impossible, you're all lying to me, aren't you? Linwa is so capable, how could he just disappear like that? My Linwa——!!"

The man seemed to be used to this kind of thing. Listening to the old woman's heartbreaking wails, he just looked a little lonely. "There are not many capable children who died here... Sister Lin's body has been thrown outside the wall according to the rules."

Someone else asked, "She went to Yujing with you yesterday, and this happened when she came back. Sister Lin has always been weird, and you, Aunt Yu, followed her, and nothing happened in the meantime?"

Granny Yu wiped her tears, "Linwa told me not to follow her, how would I know where she went..." She suddenly seemed to think of something and said in a high voice, "No, Linwa must have gone to Broken Tower! For the past nine years, every time she went to Yujing, she would go to Broken Tower to see the tomb of the Plague God!"

As soon as he finished speaking, as if to echo Mrs. Yu's words, the last eaves that was struggling to hold on in the ruins collapsed completely, and the ashes settled, revealing a standing sculpture.

Everyone was attracted by the noise and looked at the sculpture in silence. After a while, the man broke the silence. He sighed and said, "Sister Lin still cares about her. It seems that this is her own choice."

The old woman seemed to have found an outlet for her anger. She rushed forward and beat and cursed the standing statue, "You are such an unlucky god. Even after your death, you won't let us rest in peace. You must kill everyone in the city..."

No one tried to stop her, only Grandma Yu's wails shook the sky.

"Who are you?" The man looked at Hua Lang.

Hua Lang replied, "My mother-in-law brought me here yesterday to fill the city. She originally wanted to... send me out of Zhongzhou..."

"What's the point of asking Sister Lin about this matter before leaving Zhongzhou?" The man looked puzzled.

Hua Lang felt a little weird for some reason.

Before she could say anything else, the man looked at her face, then suddenly turned his head thoughtfully and started chatting with other people.

Grandma Yu continued crying, and Hua Lang walked forward, intending to comfort her.

But as she approached the ruins, she noticed something different about the sculpture—it had a face carved into it!

Judging from the carving skills of the person who carved the face, he should not be a sculptor. Although the lines are not smooth, they are carved in great detail, and the eyebrows and eyes are almost lifelike.

The sculpture was of a girl about seventeen or eighteen years old. This was the first time Hua Lang saw Rong Cheng Yunxuan's face. Her facial features were indeed very similar to hers. The sculpture was standing in the ruins holding a lotus. The only color was large patches of black blood. It looked sacred and terrifying.

not good!

Hua Lang took a step back.

"This sculpture... When did Sister Lin carve the face of the sculpture?" Sure enough, the next second, someone also discovered the abnormality of the sculpture.

Old Lady Yu finally raised her head… Her body seemed to twitch, and then she immediately turned her head, staring intently at Hua Lang, "It was you who took Lin Wa away…"

"It's you! I remember now!!" The man who was thinking hard also looked at Hua Lang. His words fell like a hammer, "...More than ten years ago, I saw this face at Linmei's house... You, you you you are not dead!"

"Pay for my Linwa's life!!"

Hua Lang tried to explain, but the group of people were completely unwilling to listen to her. Seeing them rushing towards her with hostile expressions, she could only run away while saying, "You've got the wrong person! I don't even know the sister Lin you're talking about!"

"She's lying. She has the Myriad Pearl on her! I wanted to let Linwa recognize her face, but I brought her back yesterday, and today my poor Linwa died! Oh my, Linwa, I'm sorry for you!!"

The doors in the alley were interconnected, and Hua Lang was not familiar with the terrain. In a blink of an eye, she was forced into a corner of the alley.

Looking at the high wall in front of her, Hua Lang was extremely anxious. When she was a fairy or a demon, climbing over a wall was easy for her, but now, just running this distance made her chest hurt and her vision go black from time to time.

what to do!

After dodging a flying kitchen knife, Hua Lang's forehead broke out in sweat and the wounds all over his body began to hurt again.

Several big men caught up with her and cornered her. Someone shouted excitedly, "Tie her up! If she dares to survive, we'll kill her!"

"Cut off her hands and feet, throw her over the wall, and let her taste the feeling of being bitten to death by insects!"

Hua Lang's back was pressed tightly against the wall. She quickly looked around the entire alley and soon discovered in despair that only a part of the people were catching up with her. Even if she used the firewood pile to escape from the side, she would be blocked in the middle by two waves of people!

A large man walked over with a knife in hand. Without a second thought, he raised the knife, the cold light glaring. Just as the tip of the knife was about to fall on Hua Lang—

The knife stopped.

To be precise, except for Hua Lang, everyone's limbs were frozen.

Hua Lang first moved out from under the knife, then raised his head and looked at the bier parked in the alley.

The jade-like funeral carriage seemed out of place in the dirty alley.

The big men could only roll their eyes and watch all this in shock and anger, but no matter how hard they tried, they still couldn't move even a finger.

Bai Wei moved slightly. Hua Lang thought it was the group of masked Wu family retainers. She had escaped under their noses once, and it would be difficult to do it a second time.

Unexpectedly, the sound of a wheelchair was heard, and a face with a perfectly appropriate smile appeared from behind Bai Wei. He said:

"Hello again, Junior Sister Hua."

*

"After spending a day in Tiancheng, I think Junior Sister should have a preliminary understanding of Rong Cheng Yunxuan."

Hua Lang had breakfast on the bier and finally had some strength. She touched the wound that was healing rapidly after being applied with medicine.

Hearing Wu Tingque's words, Hua Lang thought of what he said before going to Guiyuan, "When you arrive in Zhongzhou, you will get to know Rong Cheng Yunxuan." She thought he was just keeping her in suspense, but she didn't expect that this was what he meant.

"You guessed I would run away? And you just stood by and watched while I was being hunted!?"

Wu Tingque heard the questioning tone in her words, but he did not get angry. He continued in a gentle voice, "Junior Sister Hua, you worry too much. I have always been busy with affairs. My rescue today was just a coincidence."

After saying this, he even gave Hua Lang a way out. "As for the matter of escaping, I think it's because Junior Sister Hua is still dissatisfied with the sincerity of this cooperation, and it's Wu's fault for not considering it carefully."

Hua Lang said bluntly, "Cooperation? Master Wu probably only sees me as a pawn to gain power."

"Zhongzhou set up a killing array at Guiyuan. You knew I was heading there, but you didn't warn me. I nearly died in the array before your men finally arrived. If we win the battle at Guiyuan, you can use the opportunity to secure your position with the help of the Jin family. If we lose, you can save me and leave me as a retreat, using Rong Cheng Yunxuan's identity to consolidate your power. Master Wu truly won't suffer any loss."

Wu Tingque shook his head and said, "Junior Sister Hua, you are wrong." He looked at Hua Lang, took a sip of tea, and said calmly, "In the battle of Ghost Abyss, the demons won no matter what. I have never thought of profiting from it."

Hua Lang felt that there was something else in his words and wanted to ask further, but Wu Tingque continued, "As for Wu's retainer, if he dares to neglect Junior Sister Hua, then he is neglecting Wu."

He put down the teacup, and Hua Lang saw the door suddenly pushed open, and a masked man in black with his hands tied was pushed in.

"How does Junior Sister Hua want to punish him?"

Hua Lang frowned, not understanding the deeper meaning of his move, "Didn't Master Wu want to discuss cooperation?"

Wu Tingque still didn't let the man in black go down, so the man in black continued to kneel on the ground.

Wu Tingque pushed a palm-sized box towards Hua Lang.

"To show my sincerity, Wu brought this with him."

Hua Lang opened the box and found a familiar ring lying quietly inside. "It's the storage ring I had in Qinglai..."

Although Hua Lang was pleasantly surprised to have found what he had lost, he already knew that Rong Cheng Yunxuan was not someone to be trifled with, so he naturally did not want to be dismissed like that. "Is this Master Wu's sincerity?"

Wu Tingque said, "Besides this, I can also agree to three requests from Junior Sister Hua. How about that?"

Hua Lang was a little surprised. She didn't expect that he was really willing to give in. After all, there was a huge gap between her and Wu Tingque's status. If Wu Tingque really wanted to do something to her, she would not be able to resist openly.

His sincerity was indeed great. The first thing Hua Lang thought of was to find Xie Hanjing, but Xie Hanjing was far away in Cangluan now, and Wu Tingque would never let her leave Zhongzhou.

Hua Lang pondered for a moment, then said, "Help me find someone."

Wu Tingque nodded, "Junior Sister Hua, please speak."

"My second disciple—Yan Rong."

In the battle of Guiyuan, the cultivation world suffered a great defeat. Xie Han was shocked to learn that Yan Rong was also in Guiyuan. No matter whether he was cultivating immortals or demons, his situation was probably extremely dangerous at the moment.

But after she finished speaking, there was no response.

Hua Lang looked at Wu Tingque and saw that his eyes were not on him.

Following Wu Tingque's line of sight, Hua Lang looked at the man in black kneeling on the ground...

A belated sense of familiarity...

【Author’s words】

Seriously late (wiping sweat awkwardly) [Please] [Please]

——

The previous chapter, which was rushed out as a rough job, has been fixed. I will give a brief summary and add some content so that those who don't want to go back don't have to worry: Xiao Xie doesn't compete for the top three because he wants to go to Zhongzhou to find Xiao Hua, the content of Jing Ling was adjusted to be spoken by Xiao Xie, a brief summary of Xiao Hua's new identity as a mortal was made, and then the dialogues were modified (for example, the old woman, some personal terms were added to her), and some descriptions were adjusted (such as "a hole like a deep hole", which was something I wrote offline in my mind).

When I think about what I've done, I think: (Hang myself on a tree) (Whack myself with a cane)