41 Ghost Market (VI)
◎I believe you won't let me get into trouble◎
The fog dissipated, and a white light gradually flashed in front of his eyes. Suddenly, he felt five fingers pinching his shoulder. Li Jintang jumped forward instinctively and shook off the hand before he regained full consciousness.
"You..." She hurriedly held onto the tree trunk to steady herself, with panic still in her eyes, and just stared at the female ghost in white who was standing a few steps away from her with her head tilted.
It's strange, why is it so quiet around here, so quiet that only the sound of the wind can be heard...
Where did those 'people' go?
Realizing she was too excited, she slowed down her tone and whispered, "Why are you here?"
After saying that, she felt that it was not appropriate to ask this question at this time. She turned her head and looked around. Her sight was immediately attracted by several people leaning against the tree. Her heart beat faster.
She was startled and rushed over, falling to the ground. She grabbed Qiuyan's hand and shook it, "What happened to them?"
"They've been knocked unconscious by my drug," Li Jintang looked up in fear, his hand already reaching for the dagger at his waist. He saw the other party waving his hands repeatedly and explaining, "Don't worry, they're not in danger. They'll wake up in a while."
Li Jintang slowly came back to his senses, removed his fingers from the hilt of the knife, stared at the other person, and unconsciously took two steps back, not knowing whether to believe it or not.
Now she is alone... Well, if something really happens, she must do her best to protect them. If she dies here... she might be able to go home and reunite with her parents and sister when she opens her eyes.
"I didn't lie to you." As if she could see what she was thinking, the white-clothed female ghost stretched out a hand, but seemed afraid to scare her and hesitated to move forward. "Wait a little longer, they will wake up."
Li Jintang looked at her for a long moment, thinking that if she really wanted to harm him, she would have already done it. So he relaxed his tense body a little and softly repeated his question: "Why are you helping us?"
"I don't know either." The ghost girl's eyes seemed to be blank for a moment, and she gave an answer that made her baffled: "It's because... of you."
"Me?" Li Jintang was slightly stunned. Thinking of what she had just said, her eyebrows knitted thoughtfully. "You just said that you found me... very kind. What did you mean?"
"Can you tell me?"
"I..." The white-clothed ghost opened her lips slightly, but after a while she could only utter the same answer as before: "I don't know, I don't know..."
Li Jintang gave up on the question. She looked at the people lying on the ground—there was no sign of them waking up yet, and the ghosts that had surrounded them not long ago had disappeared, so they should be safe for the time being.
The white-clothed ghost was still standing there, not moving a step forward. Li Jintang moved his steps and took the initiative to approach her, "Sister, you have helped us so much, but I don't know how to address you."
The ghost girl's eyes lit up, and her two dark pupils seemed to come alive. "What did you just call me?"
"Sister, you..."
Li Jintang didn't know which sentence she was referring to. She was about to repeat the entire sentence, but just as she started, she was interrupted: "You call me sister? That...that's really great."
"I remember now, I have a younger sister," the ghost murmured, a hint of tenderness in her eyes, "and she looks very similar to you."
A look of pain suddenly appeared on her face. She clutched her long hair tightly with both hands, as if she wanted to pull it all out. "But I can't remember her name. How could I forget her name..."
Unexpectedly, she made such a sudden move. Li Jintang was anxious and reached out to pull her arm. "Sister, calm down first. Don't hurt yourself."
"Alan."
The female ghost stopped moving, turned her face stiffly, her two eyeballs appeared from between her arms, staring at her, and these two words popped out of her mouth.
"It's my name, but... can you still call me sister?"
I already have a sister, so how can I call someone else "sister"? Li Jintang didn't think too long and gave a reply that he thought was quite satisfactory: "I'll call you Sister Alan, okay?"
There seemed to be a clear light in Alan's eyes, and her pale face became warm. She nodded excitedly and kept saying yes.
"Sister Alan, there's one thing I don't understand," Li Jintang continued, "Why are they all ghosts, but their bodies look just like normal people?"
Alan lowered his head and examined himself, feeling rather embarrassed. "I look ugly like this, don't I? Actually, we all rely on the bodies of living people to survive, but this body of mine..."
"They first kill living people in the form of souls, then remove their spiritual roots and parasitize them."
Xie An's words suddenly echoed in her ears, startling her slightly, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on her forehead uncontrollably.
But didn't he say at the time that he was trying to scare her...
"Don't misunderstand," Alan said hurriedly, obviously noticing something was wrong with her. "We only inhabit the bodies of those who are dying or have recently died. We won't harm the innocent. It's just that the owner of this body of mine fell seriously ill before he died, so it became what you see now."
Li Jintang breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, but a sense of guilt welled up in his heart - how could such a gentle sister Alan be the one who harmed innocent people?
"Sister Alan, this is just a body," Li Jintang softened his tone and tried to comfort her. "Besides, the first time I saw you, I felt very close to you. I just can't figure out why."
Alan's lips curled up, and his cheeks sank a little. "Really?"
"Absolutely true."
A ray of red light filtered through the trees, its warmth melting as if it could melt a person. Following Alan's instructions, Li Jintang went to the nearest lake, scooped a pot of water, and fed the group little by little throughout the afternoon. Not long after, they woke up one after another.
"Atang?" Qiuyan was the first to speak. She glanced at Du Alan, who was standing not far away, and asked suspiciously, "Why are you with her?"
"I'm glad everyone is okay." Li Jintang felt that the heavy stone hanging in her heart had finally fallen to the ground. She smiled and repeated the conversation she had just had with Alan from beginning to end without missing a word.
After hearing this, several people looked at each other with different expressions on their faces.
"You saved us?" Qu Lingfei stepped forward first, bowed, and said politely, "We misunderstood you earlier, young lady. I hope you can forgive us."
"No, no, no, it's not about saving," Alan waved her hands almost flattered, "I know if a fight really breaks out, the ones who will get hurt the most won't be you, but..." Her voice lowered at the end, and the few people didn't hear clearly.
"They can't catch up with us in a short time, let me take you out." Alan said again.
Qu Lingfei didn't expect it to be so easy. He was hesitant and didn't know whether he should trust her completely.
Qiuyan had already stepped forward, and as if seeing through his thoughts, she turned back and said with a smile, "Brother, let's follow this Miss Alan out. Even if something unexpected happens, it's better than staying here with no way out."
He thought about it and felt that this made sense, so he bowed again and said, "Thank you for your trouble, young lady. I am very grateful."
Alan glanced at them and said, "Come with me."
The person walking in front leading the way had her white skirt blown up by the wind, so pale that it almost blended into the air, like a wisp of smoke that would dissipate at any time.
The journey was smooth, with no strange people trying to stop them. The vendors in the ghost market were set up as usual, and the shouts of hawkers were left behind.
A floating green cloud suddenly appeared overhead. Looking up, I saw layers of branches and leaves stretching out in all directions. The branches it covered were as thick as coiled dragons and snakes. Occasionally, a strong breeze blew, and the green leaves rustled like the wings of thousands of butterflies.
Alan stopped in front of it, pressed his fair palm on the rugged branch, and twisted it lightly, as if touching a switch. The trunk creaked, as if the sound came from inside.
The five of them were all stunned. After a moment's distraction, they saw a big hole that had appeared on the thick branch. It was pitch black and bottomless at first glance.
"You can get out if you walk to the end of this road." Alan stepped aside and his eyes moved over Li Jintang as he said this, seeming reluctant to leave.
Li Jintang's eyes met hers, and she was suddenly startled - for a moment, just a moment, she thought of her elder sister.
"Atang, it's time to go." Several people thanked Alan one after another. Qiuyan reached out a hand, patted her shoulder, and reminded her softly.
Li Jintang regained consciousness and glanced at Alan. "Sister Alan, thank you so much..."
Anyway, I won't be coming here again. Li Jintang just slipped in and out again. Under Alan's surprised gaze, she smiled and said, "Sister Alan, I actually have a sister too. You and my sister are very similar."
Of course, they didn't look alike, but she couldn't quite pinpoint the specific similarity. She added with a smile, "When I saw you, I felt very close to you, too. That's the truth."
Alan's eyes lit up, and he looked as if he wanted to leave with them.
"Sister Alan, take care of yourself here. I will come to see you again." In order to comfort her, Li Jintang made a promise that was impossible to fulfill for the first time.
The sound of the hem of the clothes being blown by the wind became farther and farther away. Li Jintang walked all the way and when he looked back, the white spot was no longer in his sight.
She felt an inexplicable melancholy in her heart. She was the last one to leave from that exit. She saw a hand reaching out from the place in front of her where there was a flash of white light - it was Qiuyan's hand. She took a deep breath and was about to reach out to hold it when she suddenly heard a shrill scream from behind.
Li Jintang paused for a moment, then listened carefully, but there was no sound again.
Did she hear it wrong just now?
"What's wrong?"
"I..." She thought quickly, but did not answer immediately. Instead, she asked him, "Xie An, did you hear any strange noises?"
"No," Xie Changyan seemed stunned for a moment, his eyes dimming instantly, "You heard wrong."
Before he could finish his words, when the exit was about to close, a scream suddenly came from the crack, even more shrill than the one he had just heard, which made everyone's heart sink.
Qu Lingfei frowned and asked, "Could it be that the barrier is broken?"
"Do you want to go back and save them?" Xie Changyan turned his gaze to Qu Lingfei, his eyes fixed on the golden elixir that had once leaped within him. "I advise you to save your energy. If you go back now, you might not be able to find anyone alive."
"We're also responsible for the destruction of the barrier," Qu Lingfei said without further hesitation. "There's no rush to get going now. Let's go back and save them."
It was almost there again, and Xie Changyan curled the corners of his lips - these people were always trying to ruin his plans, and once he got what he wanted, he would never show mercy again.
Dust flew up from the ground, and the girl in white stared blankly at the slowly closing exit until an ant crawled onto her shoulder. She then moved mechanically, shrugged her shoulders, and shook it off.
A man covered in blood suddenly appeared from behind the bushes and almost fell on her, his arms shaking violently. "Hurry, hurry up..."
Alan was stunned and quickly supported his body with his hands, but the man fell to the ground limply as if all his bones and muscles were pulled out.
"What’s wrong with you?"
As soon as she squatted down, the man on the ground suddenly widened his eyes, stretched out his five fingers to her wrist, and his sharp nails dug deep into the flesh.
Alan seemed to be unaware and just stood there letting him pinch him. Suddenly, he saw an arc of light passing by his body and directly cut his hand into two pieces.
"Sister Alan!"
Not knowing why she was still standing there in a daze, Li Jintang hurried forward to pull her away, looking her up and down: "Are you okay?"
Without waiting for her to answer, Li Jintang glanced at the bleeding arm and hurriedly lowered his head to look for a tourniquet.
"Don't bother," Alan came back to his senses and said quickly, "I'm not hurt..."
Yes, this body wasn't originally hers, so perhaps she couldn't feel any pain at all. Li Jintang paused, then fumbled out a tourniquet and quickly tied it around the bleeding area.
"Why are you back again?" Alan tilted his head and asked in confusion.
"It's because of the barrier..." Li Jintang was about to answer when she suddenly saw a sword light shoot out, passing by her side, and piercing the ghost on the ground in the chest. The hand that was about to successfully launch a sneak attack on her when she was not prepared dropped down weakly and remained motionless.
The ghost was possessing a living human body. Crimson blood trickled down from the tip of the sword. The young man half-blocked her, a smile still playing on his lips, but his expression was extremely cold. "Miss Li, you are so focused on healing others' injuries. If something were to happen to you, I wonder if anyone would come to collect your body."
Li Jintang was almost used to his way of speaking. She wiped the blood stains off her clothes and smiled brightly at him: "Don't I have you? Xie An, I believe you won't let me get into trouble."
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