Chapter 31 The Man Behind the Scenes
Fancy ways to die are not just a figure of speech.
Having lost count of how many times this had happened, Karin stared numbly at her body, now reduced to ashes.
Finally, a glimmer of light appeared in the darkness.
She fell onto the soft grass, and the gentle, bright sunlight made Karin feel like she was hallucinating.
A hand appeared in front of her. "Rongniang, what are you thinking about?" A blurry figure approached. "I've already prepared the meal. We'll have fish soup today."
The scene shifts, and suddenly Huali has a bamboo bird nest in her hand, covered with soft green grass, with two newly hatched chicks perched on it.
She heard herself open her mouth and say, "Look at our new family member."
This is...
Along the way, pink roses bloomed on the fences, and clusters of small purple flowers covered the grass.
The soft, healing atmosphere soothed the terror of dying, and for a moment she almost merged into the role, when suddenly Ao Bai's voice rang in her head, "Host, wake up!"
Karin suddenly opened her eyes.
Bathed in the afterglow of Chenliu City, she looked at Ao Bai with surprise and uncertainty, "I saw a woman."
Ao Bai thought for a moment, "We just detected that the host's memories and the spiritual fragments of the Blessing Lamp have merged. What the host saw should be related to the person behind the scenes."
In the mountains? But this area is a vast desert, how could there be mountains?
"Lingwu Mountain!" That's right, it's Lingwu Mountain!
The tangled yarn was finally found. Huali stopped the old woman she had met while distributing porridge by the roadside, her heart sinking with suspicion. "Grandma, has anyone in Chenliu City ever lived in Lingwu Mountain?"
A flash of terror crossed the old man's eyes. "Why are you asking this? Aren't you afraid of trouble starting again?"
She knew it all too well; Karin's breathing became rapid, and she felt a tightness in her chest.
She took out a mid-grade spirit stone and handed it over, saying, "I mean no harm, I just want to know some things from the past. If you tell me, this is yours."
A hint of hesitation flashed in the old man's eyes, and Huali reluctantly took out another one.
"That happened many years ago. There was a mountain demon in Lingwu Mountain who often transformed into human form and came to Chenliu City. The people in the city saw that she was simple-minded and often gave her some food. But who knew that the mountain demon was not only ungrateful, but also poisoned the well, causing a plague in Chenliu."
A look of terror crossed the old man's eyes, as if he could still see the devastation of the plague.
The neighbor's festering throat, half a rotting tongue, fell onto the bluestone with a scream. At the tree roots lay a corpse wrapped in a straw mat, with half a bluish-purple child's hand peeking out from the corner of the mat.
"At that time, the entire city of Chenliu was soaked in a poisonous fog mixed with the stench of mugwort and corpses. It was terrible." The old woman said, wiping away her cloudy tears as she spoke.
Karin could imagine the horror of that time, but it was not the same as the woman she saw in the fragments.
She would provide a home for baby birds abandoned by their mothers, and she would also lie in the soft haystacks and play with the little rabbits.
She loved sneaking into town to eat vegetarian wontons and loved the purple violets blooming profusely in front of and behind her house.
"Later, thanks to Young Master Songran's timely appearance, he saved the entire city's population with spiritual plants."
Hua Li nodded. She had heard Rong Xing mention it before, "How did you determine that the plague was caused by that mountain demon?"
"Naturally, someone witnessed the mandrill poisoning the well."
Who is it?
The old woman thought carefully, "It was the family that sold hairpins... what was her name again... I can't remember, she died a long time ago."
Karin then asked how he died.
"I heard that he encountered a monster when he went out and was devoured alive. His body was never found."
After seeing her grandmother off, Huali looked up at the colorful lights illuminating the street. With each of her deaths, the Sea of Time sped up once more.
A damp spring rain fell in her heart, saddened by the empathy amidst constant death, and dejected by the impending answer.
This time, Huali didn't rush to Mingyue Pavilion, but instead carefully observed everything around her.
The rabbit lanterns in the young ladies' hands, the blue-crowned magpies nestled together under the eaves, and Song Ran talking to the wonton stall owner under the beautiful crabapple tree.
"Songran."
The person opposite looked up, a hint of surprise in their eyes. "Is there something you need, young lady?"
Karin shook her head and sat down: "What is your most cherished possession?"
Anyone else would probably feel awkward being asked this by a stranger, but Song Ran still thought about it seriously and said, "I have nothing I love."
"You're lying. You said you liked violets before."
Song Ran took a bite of the wonton, and the fresh, light green vegetarian filling wafted towards him. He shook his head, "The Lamp of Wishes will be lit soon."
"Besides the back mountain, you also frequent Lingwu Mountain, right?" Huali also felt a bit hungry, and casually took out a packet of pine nut candy from her Qiankun bag. "I heard Rongxing mention before that you grew up in the mountains when you were very young."
This is no secret; everyone in Chenliu City knows it.
"Did the mandrill save you?"
Song Ran hesitated for a moment, his hand holding the chopsticks, but he quickly concealed it. He feigned just the right amount of confusion, as he always had, "Who is this young lady? Why are you so interested in my affairs?"
"Eleven times, plus the previous two times, I've died a total of thirteen times." Huali bit into the sugar filling, the sweet taste filling her entire taste buds, but her tongue still tasted bitter. "This shopkeeper only sells vegetarian wontons, Agui and Lanxin never talk much to people, and the purple violets transplanted in the nursery on the back mountain, I just want to ask one question, why?"
Huali couldn't understand why such a gentle person would do such a thing.
Song Ran stared blankly at Hua Li's tearful eyes, and after a long while, he chuckled softly, "You still found out."
In the sea of time, Song Ran remained conscious. He had witnessed countless deaths and rebirths.
“Because this is what I want to see.” Song Ran took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and handed it over. “Huali, did you see her?”
"I only entered her memory for a fleeting moment." Karin didn't answer, still stubbornly staring at the other person. "Why?"
Song Ran looked up and pointed to the fish-scale gauze lantern on the eaves, "That was bought by Rong Niang when she first took me down the mountain when I was three years old."
The years in the mountains are long, but they can never compare to the bustling world of Chenliu city.
Rongniang led him, a tiny boy, step by step, from Lingwu Mountain to Chenliu City, and this relationship lasted for a full twenty years.
Although Rongniang was a mountain spirit, she had a heart that embraced all things. In her eyes, he was not the cursed demon, but a child without a home, so she gave him a home.
Teach him to recognize the spiritual herbs and flowers in the mountains, and teach him to cultivate magic.
“Those days were really good.” Song Ran’s eyes shone with a gentle light. “Until a plague broke out in Chenliu City, Rong Niang told me, ‘Xiao Ran, the people in the city have been kind to you by giving you a meal. Help them out on your path to immortality as much as you can.’ So I listened to her and came to Chenliu City.”
Karin could almost picture what was going to happen next.
She tightened her grip on the pine nut candy.
“I searched the mountains for medicinal plants and finally found the antidote to the plague, but Rongniang is now seen as the culprit who poisoned her.” Songran opened his palm. “Could I have one of your candies?”
"Thanks."
"So Rong Niang didn't poison her; she was framed."
Song Ran put the pine nut candy into his mouth. "Yes, the previous city lord had a cultivation level of Nascent Soul and more than ten Golden Core cultivators under his command, while I had only just formed my Core at that time."
“They tied her to the lamp of blessing and burned her with three thousand bolts of lightning for three days and three nights, then buried her at the foot of the Bright Moon Pavilion.”
"Huali, do you know? Mortals are truly absurd. They are jealous, ignorant, blindly obedient, and arrogant."
Song Ran's eyes swept over the bustling crowd on the street. He casually helped a child who had fallen up and patted the child's head after receiving the child's thanks. "They will arbitrarily lay vicious lies on others out of jealousy, believe lies out of self-righteousness, ignorance and arrogance, and unite like never before out of fear of the return of the plague."
"So, you killed everyone? How did you do that?"
Song Ran tilted his head: "Have you forgotten? Forcibly controlling the Blessing Lamp not only grants immense spiritual power, but also allows for the sacrifice of divine souls."
"What's wrong? You also think what I'm doing is absurd?"
Karin remained silent, then shook her head. "No. I don't know."
Song Ran: "...Go away, I don't want to hurt you. Leave this place and never come back."
"Is it that bowl of porridge?" Huali's throat was dry. "That's why you stopped me when I was about to drink it." Huali looked up. "So what if we left? Even if it wasn't us, someone else would have noticed. Do you really think no one has noticed what happened in Chenliu City?"
Song Ran sighed, "If I had known, I shouldn't have been soft-hearted and let that little fox go, which led the one from Beiyuan and you all here."
"What's done is done, and it won't change no matter how many times it happens."
“How can they be the same?” Song Ran shook his head. “There’s only one last time left, and the entire city will be utterly annihilated.”
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