Chapter 54 Jiang Yu, the Soul-Reaping Ghost, is like a ghost emerging from the deepest hell to claim lives...

After Shen Jiuxu and Jiang Yu returned home, Zhou Yongyin came out from the back mountain with a handful of freshly picked wild vegetables in his hand. They were green and crisp. He washed them, shredded them, and made a cold salad. He also cooked a few hot dishes and steamed some buns. He then called Lian Quesheng and Xichuang to get up and eat.

After Lu Buwen announced his departure, Zhou Yongyin mumbled as he swallowed the bun in his mouth before turning to the man and saying, "He's only been back for two days, and he's already leaving."

He was somewhat dissatisfied. He had only exchanged a few words with Lu Buwen and thought he had finally met someone he could chat with, but the person was leaving after only one day.

In addition, Jiang Yu and Shen Jiuxu were about to return to Shenwuke. After the excitement, Zhou Yongyin was left alone on the mountain with a group of chickens and ducks that could only cluck and quack. It was extremely boring.

Thinking about this, Zhou Yongyin lost his appetite and became depressed, like a damp mushroom sprouting from behind a door after rain.

“Grandfather, it’s not that Shen Wuke suddenly had something to deal with, otherwise we would have stayed a few more days. Besides, you refuse to come to Shen Wuke with us and stay here with these chickens and ducks every day. It would be better if we all went back together.”

"I'm not going." Zhou Yongyin displayed an unusual persistence and determination in guarding the mountain.

Jiang Yu sat down beside him, helplessly resting her head on his shoulder, "Then I'll bring Jiu Xu back to see you after this is all over!"

"Go away, go away, you can't keep me anyway."

The weather suddenly turned from sunny to gloomy, and the crows in the forest kept calling, which was very annoying.

Xi Chuang helped Lian Quesheng pack his things, and the group prepared to leave. Zhou Yongyin didn't see them off, saying that watching their departing figures would make him feel even more sad, so he stayed on the mountain alone to feed the chickens.

The plump chickens, waddling along, looked at the bowl full of food in front of them, their eyes, the size of black beans, lit up.

"Jiang Yu, I'll go to Shen Wuke again in a few days. Remember to let me know if there's anything you can't handle." Lian Quesheng looked at his two friends, one with an injured wrist and the other with amnesia, and yet they ended up together. Shen Wuke was a den of wolves, and he was really worried that these two would be killed by those people.

"You two are just too thin-skinned. If Elder Lian says anything more nonsense, just sew his mouth shut."

Xi Chuang stood beside him and said, "Zi Shan and the others should be in Shen Wu Ke. I have already sent a message to them. If you encounter any problems that are inconvenient for you to handle in person, just ask Zi Shan."

"He's thick-skinned and he can swear."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yu looked somewhat dazed, then nodded, "Okay."

Does Ye Zishan know that his beloved senior brother thinks this way about him?

A few swallows flew low overhead. Lian Quesheng stared around for a while and said, "Then we'll be going now, otherwise it looks like it's going to rain again soon."

The boat had reached the riverbank, and it was just as magnificent as it had been on the way there. Even Que Sheng had already boarded the boat with his luggage when he suddenly remembered something and tossed the token from his waist over, "Jiang Yu, catch."

It was a palm-sized golden token with the character "雀" (que) written on it. Lian Quesheng shouted, "Go get the money if you're out of money, or you'll die of poverty."

He waved to the two men, a surge of indescribable emotion welling up inside him. But the ship was already drifting further and further away. Lu Buwen hadn't slept well the night before, so he went to sleep in the cabin. Xi Chuang wanted to practice his sword, so he went to the deck at the stern, where it was spacious and convenient for doing whatever he wanted. Even Quesheng was all alone, leaning against the ship, gazing at the distant water, lost in thought.

Ripples spread across the water as the boat moved, a storm was brewing, the sky had turned pitch black, and a few claps of thunder echoed in the distance. Seeing that they would be unable to use their swords today, Jiang Yu and Shen Jiuxu decided to stay at home for another night and wait for the weather to clear up before leaving.

The windows rattled loudly in the strong wind. Zhou Yongyin deliberately herded the chickens and ducks into the coop he had made, and then went back to his room to sleep early.

Shen Jiuxu was awakened from his sleep by the sound of thunder. He glanced at the window that had been blown open by the wind and saw that the tables and chairs near the window were wet. He got out of bed and closed the doors and windows. He then set up a protective barrier for both rooms before he felt at ease.

The candle that had been lit when he went to sleep was now more than half burned. Shen Jiuxu thought for a moment, but instead of taking out a new candle, he simply adjusted the wick and returned to the bedside.

"grandfather--"

"Grandpa, grandpa——"

Jiang Yu's anxious voice came from the side. His forehead was covered in sweat, and he was still fast asleep with his eyes closed, probably having a nightmare.

His well-defined fingers gripped the bedding tightly, veins bulging and clearly visible. Shen Jiuxu reached out to touch Jiang Yu's hand, trying to calm him down, but Jiang Yu seemed to have been stimulated by something; his face turned pale, devoid of any color, and he was restless, tossing and turning in bed.

"Jiang Yu".

He gently patted Jiang Yu's shoulder, but Jiang Yu remained trapped in his dream and couldn't wake up for a long time. Shen Jiuxu then touched Jiang Yu's forehead, which was normally warm and not hot.

"He's trapped in a dream."

Hua Bao whispered, and Shen Jiuxu naturally guessed it. The rain outside was getting heavier and heavier. Looking at Jiang Yu's condition, he was also affected. "Go and see your grandfather."

"Yes." Hua Bao replied softly. Just as she was about to leave, she heard Shen Jiuxu's voice again, "Never mind, you stay here and guard Jiang Yu. I'll be right back."

Large raindrops rolled down from the eaves, turning the ground into a muddy mess. Zhou Yongyin's room was right next door, and Shen Jiuxu figured it was only a short walk, so he didn't bother to find an umbrella.

Unexpectedly, the rain was blown by the wind to the eaves, dripping down his hair and onto his clothes, quickly soaking the area. He knocked on the door, but heard no response, so he pushed the door open and went in. His regular breathing was very clear in the small room.

Shen Jiuxu felt much more at ease for the time being.

The person in the bed was fast asleep, wrapped in blankets, and the windows were closed. Everything seemed to be in perfect order, so it seemed he was overthinking things.

The flower buds emerged and were placed in a blue porcelain vase on the table by Shen Jiuxu. "Keep an eye on him here."

A silvery-white light appeared and disappeared. Shen Jiuxu turned and left, then returned to Jiang Yu's side. The other flower bud saw someone coming and carefully shrank behind the bed curtain.

Jiang Yu was still unconscious, and his complexion was even worse than before. Shen Jiuxu poured a glass of warm water, supported his body, and fed him a few sips, but there was still no improvement.

He could only place the person on the bed, cut his wrist with his sword, and blood dripped down instantly. Shen Jiuxu put his wrist together with Jiang Yu's wrist and whispered, "Sleeping in the same bed but dreaming different dreams."

When a cultivator suffers a qi deviation and is discovered, and someone wants to help them, they will choose this method: the savior's spirit will enter the person's dream and try to bring them out.

However, this method requires extremely high cultivation levels from the practitioner, and one must be a person with a firm Dao heart; otherwise, one may easily be misled by dreams and ruin one's cultivation.

Therefore, very few people would actively use the "same bed, different dreams" technique. Shen Jiuxu had only seen it in an ancient book, but he couldn't care less about that now.

Thunder rumbled, and flashes of lightning streaked across the sky before disappearing again. The rain intensified, and the water on the ground accumulated. Houses in the lower-lying areas of Broken Stone Spring had already been flooded, and the bottoms of cabinets on the ground were almost entirely submerged.

"Honey, wake up, wake up."

The woman was awakened in the middle of the night and saw that the water had already risen a foot deep. The sound of rain outside the window reminded her that the rain probably wouldn't stop anytime soon. The woman quickly nudged her sleeping husband beside her, "Get up quickly, the house is going to flood."

Water was everywhere, and small objects were blown to the ground by the wind and then floated in the water. As soon as Shen Jiuxu fell asleep, his clothes were already half wet. He looked at the dim sky around him, which seemed to blend into the outside world.

The place looked familiar, with jagged rocks everywhere. The sound of the wind blowing through the gaps in the rocks was mixed with the thunder and lightning, making it impossible to hear any voices.

Shen Jiuxu couldn't remember where he had seen this place before. He guessed that he had been there with Jiang Yu before he lost his memory. He looked around but didn't see anyone.

"Jiang Yu".

The wind howled louder, and Shen Jiuxu could only draw out his shouts, but the surroundings were empty; he saw no one. The flower buds and branches seemed to sense the tree's anxiety, and they all looked around.

Suddenly, Shen Jiuxu remembered something. Jiang Yu had given him a magical artifact before, which Lian Quesheng had specially brought from Bailuzhou. He said that as long as the two of them carried it, they could find each other anywhere.

Shen Jiuxu didn't know if his primordial spirit could work, but he had no choice but to try anything. He looked at the red line on his wrist, his lips moved a few times, and in the blink of an eye, golden light flashed, and the red line spread into the distance.

The water was deep and the road was slippery, winding and difficult to traverse.

Shen Jiuxu walked for a long time, the red thread on his wrist twisting and turning. He passed through a dilapidated house, the white roof looking like a plain silk cloth hung after someone had died.

He continued walking forward when a harsh, grating sound of a suona horn broke through the thunder, abrupt yet deeply impactful. The wind blew, causing the branches to sway, and with a deafening crash, a massive tree trunk fell to the ground, submerged in water, its mournful cries seeming to weep for the tree.

"Jiang Yu".

Shen Jiuxu finally saw him. He was standing alone by the water, dressed in black, soaked by the rain, his long hair disheveled and plastered to his face. He couldn't hear his own voice and seemed to be thinking about something, his silence somewhat eerie.

He was holding something in his hand, which was flashing with light. Shen Jiuxu took a few more steps in that direction and, upon closer inspection, realized that it was the Xianchen Sword.

The once pristine sword was now stained with blood, and a trail of blood flowed onto the ground as the rain washed over it. Looking at it, Shen Jiuxu felt that the sword had become listless.

Jiang Yu's eyes were very dark. He stared at the water and saw his reflection. Several sword marks appeared on his pale face at some point. The blood on them was washed away by the water, and the skin in those spots was red and even a little swollen.

His pale lips and cold expression made him look like a ghost, a vengeful spirit that had emerged from the depths of hell to claim lives, revealing sharp fangs.

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Author's Note: The chickens and ducks fed by Zhou Yongyin:

Grandpa, if you put in so much food, I'm going to get as fat as a ball! [Chin resting on hand]