Chapter 362 Lin Xingshi's Memories, the Great Lord's Invitation (Two-in-one monthly ticket request)

"Let me formally introduce you four. This is our Ghost Train Group's genius exorcist - 'Lord Mai Mai'." Ke Qirui's voice echoed in the silent carriage and reached the ears of the four Lake Hunters.

So, they all turned their eyes and cast their gazes towards the shortest girl in the hoodie in the carriage.

Su Zimai was stunned, his face flushed completely, feeling both embarrassed and annoyed at the same time.

She was already in a bad mood, and she didn't expect the captain to introduce himself like this in front of the four exorcists recognized as the strongest in the world. It was like praising the calculation ability of a three-dan player in front of a Go world champion.

If she is a genius, then what are these four people standing in front of her? It's so embarrassing. Thinking of this, Su Zimai raised her head and looked straight at Ke Qirui, with silent resentment and shame in her eyes.

"Master Maimai, do you have any objections to me looking at you like that?" Ke Qirui took a puff of his cigarette, put down his pipe, and asked with a smile, "Next time, just introduce yourself. We Maimais are still the same. We only let go in front of our own people."

She actually also hoped that Su Zimai could change his mood and not always be immersed in the sadness of losing his family. He felt absent-minded all day long.

In this regard alone, Ke Qirui has done very successfully.

At that moment, Su Zimai wanted to immediately lock Ke Qirui in the magic wardrobe and send her out of the carriage, so that she could live with the giant bee with three pairs of wings.

Of course, whether you can actually meet him is another matter.

"Captain, I'll settle the score with you later." Su Zimai lowered his voice and said angrily.

"Why after a while?" Ke Qirui asked in a low voice.

"I'll complain to Grandpa when I see him," Su Zimai said. "I'll say that his good daughter bullied me. Let's see who he sides with."

"Ah, our Mai Mai has finally found someone to back him up." Ke Qirui smiled. "But my adoptive father and I haven't been in touch for a long time. He occasionally contacts me to ask about you. Our relationship is quite strained."

She thought for a moment, "Hmm...should I say I'm too rebellious, or he's too old-fashioned? Maybe it's a bit of both?"

"So, Grandpa Su Wei doesn't have a good relationship with his two daughters." Su Zimai was stunned. "He doesn't have a good relationship with my mother, and he doesn't have a good relationship with you either."

"His personality isn't suited to being a father. He loves quietness but hates loneliness—a terrifying contradiction," Ke Qirui said. "He's always clinging to his own set of rules and is stubborn and unyielding. Anyone who spends too much time with him becomes annoyed."

"Is that how you talk about your adoptive father?" Su Zimai looked at her with disdain.

"What's there to be ashamed of?" Ke Qirui said calmly, "But it's good for him to be a grandfather. This way, he doesn't have to appear in front of you every day, and he can secretly care about you and arrange a good future for you. Where else in the world can you find such a good grandfather?"

"Don't say that, I've actually never even met him." Su Zimai frowned.

"There's nothing I can do about it. He's just that kind of person." Ke Qirui smiled.

By this time, Lin Xingshi had already turned her gaze away from the window. She tilted her head and looked at Su Zimai curiously, observing her and Ke Qirui chatting.

Su Zimai was at a loss for a moment, not knowing how to react.

"As for Xiaomai, Jiu Ya and I have already met her." Zhuge Hui waved his folding fan and said in a relaxed tone, "When we were having dinner in Lijing, I think her brother was there too. Um, what was his name... Gu Wenyu?"

Su Zimai was stunned.

She lowered her head and was silent for a moment, then turned her head to look. Zhuge Hui had a smile on his face, his eyebrows were picturesque, and there was a hint of sword-like light in his eyes.

Lin Xingshi raised his eyebrows at this time, then quickly raised his hand and put his arm around Zhuge Hui's shoulders.

"What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?" Zhuge Hui asked.

Lin Xingshi whispered in his ear, "Her brother just passed away. Don't bring up this irrelevant topic."

Zhuge Hui was stunned for a moment, then looked at Su Zimai and raised his folding fan to cover his face. "The one I just mentioned? No way, it's only been a month, and he's gone?"

"Yeah." Lin Xingshi nodded. "Lao Ya attended his funeral yesterday. The details are a bit complicated. If you're interested, you can ask him then."

"Oh, this is really rude..." Zhuge Hui patted his head with his folding fan and looked at Su Zimai apologetically. She had no expression on her face, just looking at him quietly.

At this time, Lin Xingshi spoke, and politely curled his lips at her, "Hello, 'Genius Exorcist Mai Mai-sama', right?"

"Don't call me that, my name is Su Zimai." Su Zimai said calmly.

"I'm Lin Xingshi, the current captain of Lake Hunter." Lin Xingshi crossed his arms. "We should have met before at Lin Zhengquan's funeral."

"Yes, I met you once."

As Su Zimai spoke, he looked at the young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes with caution and suspicion.

After a little imagination, I thought that although Lin Xingshi's facial features are a bit neutral, he would definitely be very beautiful if he had long hair.

It's just that she deliberately dressed herself up like a boy, and she did it so perfectly that there was no flaw. Not only did she draw her eyebrows, but she also cut her hair short and masculine. The only thing was that the braid that didn't match her hair color was really eye-catching.

Su Zimai heard from the team leader that the reason why Lin Xingshi dressed like this was because the Lin family's requirements stated that the person elected to the lake hunting in each generation could only be a man. This was an unchanging rule.

Therefore, the Lin family lied to the outside world about Lin Xingshi's gender and raised her as a boy since she was a child. They required her to dress as a boy and behave in a masculine way as much as possible, and never reveal the truth.

This means that Lin Xingshi may be the first female member of the Lake Hunter clan after so many generations.

Although it was against the rules, the other major families turned a blind eye to it. They all knew that it was inevitable for Lin Xingshi to become the heir of Hu Lie.

After all, Lin Xingshi's talent was obvious. If the best of today's young people could be considered gems at best, then she was a volcano, a volcano about to erupt. Among exorcists of her generation, no one could outshine her.

After hearing her story, Su Zimai just hoped these old feudal idiots would explode. But since Lin Xingshi himself had no objections, she couldn't say anything and could only avoid the topic.

"I heard a lot about your family from Jiu Ya." Lin Xingshi suddenly said.

"Just say whatever you want to say."

"Your family is all very unusual, right?" Lin Xingshi found a new topic. "Apart from anything else, I do know Ghost Bell and Blue Arc. They're both quite famous people."

"I guess so, but that's not something I can decide." Su Zimai said absentmindedly.

"Yeah, I understand this feeling too." Lin Xingshi nodded, put his hand on his chin and pondered.

"Do you really understand?" Su Zimai seemed unconvinced.

"Of course I understand." Lin Xingshi scratched his chin, glanced at the ceiling, and muttered, "How can I put it? I'm surrounded by shrewd old monsters who point fingers at me all day long. From time to time, I want to overthrow my entire family. Sometimes I also think that it would be better if I was born into an ordinary family..."

"What terrible things are you talking about?" Su Zimai felt something was wrong the more he listened, and was a little surprised. He thought to himself, what does it mean to expose your entire family? Is this what the captain of the Lake Hunting team should say?

"Oh... I accidentally let my true feelings slip." Lin Xingshi raised his eyebrows and smiled. "Sorry, just pretend you didn't hear what I said just now."

"Is she just an idiot or just a scheming person?" Su Zimai took a moment to recover. He leaned close to Ke Qirui's ear, narrowed his eyes, and whispered, "If her words got out, how much discussion would it cause?"

"Both..." Ke Qirui whispered, "Don't look at Miss Xingshi like this, she's actually quite rebellious at heart."

"How rebellious is she?" Su Zimai whispered. "If she was truly rebellious, why would she obey her family and dress like a boy even though she's become the world's number one exorcist? Could it be that she was born to like being a boy?"

Ke Qirui shook his head. "I don't know much. I only know that Lin Xingshi ran away from home for a while when he was a child."

"Running away from home?"

"Yes, she scared the whole Lin family at that time. After all, there aren't many monsters like her who awakened their Sky Drive at the age of four. If she got lost, where would we find her?"

"You awakened your Heavenly Drive at the age of four?" Su Zimai was stunned for a moment and asked almost word by word.

She originally thought that she was very powerful because she awakened the Heavenly Drive at the age of fifteen, but she didn't expect that there were people who were even stronger. Why didn't they say that they awakened the Heavenly Drive while still in the placenta?

"What else?" Ke Qirui puffed on his pipe. "Her talent is obvious. She's shown it since she was a child. Everyone expected her to become the world's number one exorcist. Of course... now that we know there's an organization called the 'Savior Society' in the world, I wouldn't be surprised if there are even more powerful exorcists hidden within it."

Su Zimai asked in confusion, "You yourself said that Lin Xingshi is already the best at the Calamity Level. Is there anyone who is better than her?"

"Maybe there are restricted-level games in the Salvation Society?" Ke Qirui said nonchalantly. "Compared to restricted-level games, natural disaster-level games are nothing. Besides, didn't we see those monster kids the other day? The kid with the game console trapped us in Jurassic World. He's also an exorcist. In my opinion, his potential is no less than Lin Xingshi's, maybe even... better."

"Forget it, let's not talk about the Salvation Society. It's too unlucky." Su Zimai shook his head.

She thought for a moment and lowered her voice to ask, "Since she ran away from home, why did she come back?"

"I don't know. Only people in the Lin family know about this." Ke Qirui shook his head.

"You guys are making so much noise, can't you be a little quieter?" Zhou Jiuya suddenly spoke up and asked coldly, "Are you going to let me sleep?"

Su Zimai turned his head and looked at the man who was still wearing a Zhongshan suit and had a slicked-back hair. He was very recognizable and could be recognized at a glance from 800 meters away.

Unfortunately, she had a very bad impression of Zhou Jiuya, thinking that this guy was arrogant and conceited. However, he and Ke Qirui had the best relationship among the Hulie people, and he was also very powerful, so it was impossible not to accept him. This was the most infuriating thing.

"Classmate Zhou Jiuya, why are you like the old man in my family? He loves quietness but is afraid of loneliness. If you want to sleep, why don't you just find an empty carriage?" Ke Qirui turned his head and glanced at him.

"Heh, you reminded me..." Zhou Jiuya tilted his head and said impatiently, then opened his light golden eyes.

He stood up from his seat, turned around and walked into carriage number two.

"Okay, then I'll find a quiet place to sit down and you guys can chat." Zhong Wujiu suddenly said. The voice coming out from under the mask was surprisingly not hoarse, but just a little indifferent.

"In such a hurry to leave?" Lin Xingshi glanced at him and said, "Why don't you introduce yourself to this little sister?"

"Just introduce them." After saying that, Zhong Wujiu followed Zhou Jiuya.

Lin Xingshi shrugged his shoulders with a smile on his face.

"Sorry, that's just the nature of our old crow." Zhuge Hui waved his folding fan. "We've tried to discipline him many times, but he won't change."

"It's okay, I'm not familiar with him anyway." Su Zimai said indifferently.

Lin Xingshi suddenly said, "Let me introduce this person to you. His name is Zhong Wujiu. He's the second strongest among us. His Tianqu is 'Nuo Mask'. I wonder if you've heard of this culture."

"Nuo mask?"

Su Zimai raised her eyebrows, obviously not understanding. She knew very little about traditional culture. She knew about well-known things like lion dancing and the Nian beast, but she was not sure about Nuo masks.

"All you need to know is that these are a pair of masks." Ke Qirui took a puff of his cigarette and explained, "It's said that each of Zhong Wujiu's masks seems to be related to monsters recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Book of the Later Han. I don't know the details, so you can ask Sister Xingshi if she's willing to tell you."

"But wasn't the Classic of Mountains and Seas written by ancient exorcists? Doesn't that mean every monster is a real demon?" Su Zimai knew this.

"It's a long story. Old Zhong doesn't like us to casually reveal his affairs," Zhuge Hui said jokingly. "He's a bit... reserved. To put it nicely, he's slow to warm up."

Lin Xingshi also said, "When you become a third-level exorcist in the future, we might have the opportunity to work together. Then I'll take you to see Zhong Wujiu's strength with your own eyes. There's a reason why he's ranked second among us."

"Actually, I'm not really interested, but thank you for your kindness." Su Zimai nodded. "Can I ask you a question?"

"What's the problem?" Lin Xingshi said nonchalantly, "Ask anything."

"My team leader said you ran away from home once before. Why?" Su Zimai whispered, "I ran away from home too, so I'm a little curious."

Lin Xingshi raised his eyebrows slightly, lowered his head and thought for a moment, then said calmly, "Nothing, I just don't like the people in my family. I wasn't very sensible when I was little."

"Is it because they want you to dress as a boy? You look very beautiful." Su Zimai asked.

Lin Xingshi was stunned for a moment, raised his eyes to meet Su Zimai's, and smiled silently.

"Looks like I was right?"

"What else?" Lin Xingshi tilted his head.

"But... you're so powerful now, do you still need to let them control you?" Su Zimai looked at Lin Xingshi's outfit in confusion. "If you don't like it, why do you still have to obey?"

Lin Xingshi remained silent, and slightly restrained the smile on his face.

Zhuge Hui put away his folding fan and chuckled softly, "Little sister is just outspoken. Even we dare not bring up such a sensitive topic."

"Xiaomai, many things are not as simple as you think. This world is very complicated." Ke Qirui suddenly said, raised his hand and ruffled Su Zimai's hair vigorously.

"It's actually not that complicated. I hope you can always stay this pure." Lin Xingshi chuckled. "In the eyes of pure people, the world is not complicated."

She whispered, slowly glancing sideways at the scene outside the car window, her long fiery red braid dancing slightly behind her head.

Lin Xingshi felt that the turbulence of time and space in front of him was very novel and it was hard to look away. The scenery that came into view seemed chaotic and disorganized.

Sometimes she could see scenes from her childhood, but the old streets, ponds, and dilapidated houses in her memory were no longer there.

So this feeling is very strange, just like a series of yellowed old photos passing by in front of the eyes, making people's thoughts drift inadvertently to the faded ones.

Whenever she saw such a scene, a familiar yet unfamiliar figure would appear in her mind, the boy with a tuft of purple-red hair on his forehead.

"Ms. Ke's train demon is really interesting, and it is a very happy experience to be able to take such a ride." Lin Xingshi said.

"Really?" Ke Qirui said, "I think it's no different from an ordinary train, except that the scenery outside the window is more special."

"It's indeed very special. These are scenes that I can never return to." Lin Xingshi said nonchalantly.

"After all, the times are developing too fast. The world we live in now is completely different from the world we lived in when we were kids." Ke Qirui said softly, looking up and glancing at Lin Xingshi.

Lin Xingshi didn't say anything. He just stared out the window in a daze with his eyes blank.

"Miss Xingshi, are you thinking of someone?" Ke Qirui asked curiously, holding his pipe.

Lin Xingshi was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "It's just a friend who got lost."

Zhuge Hui remained silent, just waved his folding fan and smiled softly.

Su Zimai simply sat down and played with his mobile phone. He accidentally typed the name "Black Pupa" in the blank search box and stared blankly at his own image on the screen.

The train demon was still speeding through the tunnel, the rumbling sound of the engine still lingered in my ears, and the few people in the carriage were doing their own things, as quiet as pieces of paper cuttings.

In another corner of the world, in the forest behind Lingxin Lake on Haifan Mountain, when the little Nian Beast woke up, it was already dusk on August 18. It opened its eyes on the huge branch and lowered its head to look at the lantern demon that had been soaked by its saliva.

The setting sun was red, and a slanting afterglow shone through the fiery red maple leaves and fell on the face of the little Nian beast. A breeze blew from the high treetops.

"Thank you for your hard work." The little Nian Beast said, patting the lantern demon with its claws, "I can only sleep where there is light."

But after a while, there was a rustling sound in the woods, followed by heavy footsteps.

The little Nian beast raised his eyebrows and looked sideways, only to see a giant purple-red lion walking towards him from a distance.

The Nian Beast Lord had also shrunk a lot in size at this time, only four or five meters long, apparently to make it easier for him to move in the forest without disturbing other demons.

It walked over, slowly raised its purple-red eyes, and stared at the little Nian beast on the tree.

"Want to go out for a walk with me?" asked the Nian Beast Lord after a long silence. Its voice was still as powerful as it had been back then, commanding without even being angry.

Ten years wasn't too long for the Nian beast's lifespan, and it wasn't enough to cause such a drastic change in such an old lion. The Great Lord still looked the same as the young Nian beast remembered, but he could vaguely tell something had changed.

The little Nian beast nodded silently, then tumbled down from the branch.

The Nian Beast Lord glanced at him, walked into the woods, and slowly walked towards Lingxin Lake.

The father and son walked one in front and one behind, and the little Nian beast followed quietly behind the Nian Beast King.

The forest is quiet, with colorful leaves fluttering in the air, the most eye-catching of which are maple and banyan trees.

There are all kinds of trees on Haifan Mountain, some that bloom in spring, some that bloom in summer... Even when the climate and seasons are unfavorable, they can survive, thanks to the protection of the Nian Beast Lord. Wherever the Nian Beast Lord passes by, withered flowers will bloom again and withered trees will grow again.

Everywhere you look, you see lush branches and leaves, and clusters of flowers, everything is a thriving scene.

The little Nian Beast seemed to be able to recall the scene of that year. They were walking on the same road that year, and the fiery red maple leaves swirled and fell, forming a bright red path.

However, at that time, the king always carried its body in his mouth and led it through the forest.

When crossing Lingxin Lake, the prince would use his claws to press the little Nian beast onto the lotus leaves, for fear that it would fall into the lake.

But now it was different. The little Nian Beast just followed his father quietly, slowly passed through the forest, and came to the edge of the clear blue lake.

The lotus leaf demon rode the wind and waves and rushed over, the expression on his face was so tense that it was almost distorted.

The prince looked at the lotus leaf demon, then looked back at the little Nian beast, and then climbed onto the top of the lotus leaf.

The father and son sat silently on the huge lotus leaf and slowly floated across Lingxin Lake. Ripples spread across the lake, blurring the reflections of two lions, one big and one small.

After passing through Lingxin Lake, the Nian Beast King led the little Nian Beast through a tunnel made of flowers and thorns. The setting sun was blowing in their faces. Looking down from the cliff, a maple forest swayed in the wind, rising and falling like fiery red waves.

At this moment, the sun is setting in the west, slowly descending below the horizon, forming a complete circle with the half sunset reflected on the sea.

The Nian Beast King crawled down from the top of a high cliff, and the little Nian Beast also lay silently beside it. A sea breeze blew over, and the fur of the two lions swayed slightly.

Silent silence, along with the afterglow of the setting sun, enveloped the two for a long time. At this moment, the hoarse voice of the Nian Beast Lord was heard, "Tell me, where have you been and what have you done in these years?"

(End of this chapter)