89 Demon World (10)
◎You are the protagonist in the story◎
"There's no one there?" Li Jintang came to his senses and subconsciously denied: "I just kept..."
"Don't lie to me." He smiled, gently caressing her cheek. For a moment, it felt like an electric current passed through her, stirring a shudder. The door behind them was open, and flashes of lightning streaked through the darkness, making his face appear even more sickly pale.
Since there are always people who want to destroy it, then... let them all disappear.
He raised his sleeve to light the candle on the table and gently lifted her chin with one hand: "Atang, you like me, you shouldn't protect those people."
The candlelight engulfed a corner of the puppet talisman, and a sudden fishy and sweet taste came out of his throat. Xie Changyan pressed the corner of his lips, but a trace of blood still slowly emerged from his head.
He completely ignored the pain caused by the backlash and stubbornly pushed the puppet talisman into the candle inch by inch, as if he would not feel at ease until he saw it completely engulfed by the candle flame with his own eyes.
"stop!"
Li Jintang suddenly rushed forward, and before he could react, he quickly knocked the candle to the ground, and picked up the unburned part of the puppet talisman.
The fire reflected in his eyes went out, and he suddenly pressed her hand, his voice muffled: "Atang, are you so unwilling..."
"You're bleeding." A ray of moonlight shone through her eyes. She leaned forward and hugged him without warning, burying her face in his chest. "Xie An, if it hurts, don't go on."
Li Jintang clearly felt that his heartbeat paused for half a second when she leaned over, and then suddenly accelerated.
"I have no other choice." He held her waist tighter, his head on her shoulder, like a piece of driftwood floating in the water before drowning. "If you knew everything, you would definitely hate me even more..."
"You're hugging me too tightly," Li Jintang patted his back and coughed twice, "I can't breathe..."
Xie Changyan quickly let go of her, but his hand remained on her waist. His dark eyes fixed on her fiercely, "Atang, if that day ever comes, you can hate me, or even kill me to avenge them, but leaving is absolutely impossible."
"What are you talking about? I don't understand..."
Before he could finish his words, he leaned over slightly and kissed her on the lips.
Thunder exploded on the eaves, shaking the figure reflected on the wall. Li Jintang's pupils dilated silently, and his head was buzzing.
He only touched her lips lightly, with a hint of caution, even breathing lightly, as if asking for her approval.
She closed her eyes, not knowing how to react, her mind went blank.
Seeing that she showed no resistance, he lowered his eyelashes slightly, and a light shone into his dark eyes.
Like a child who has just tasted honey, once his fingertips have tasted a little sweetness, he will want to hold on to the whole piece of candy and not let go. His palm pressed against the back of her neck, his knuckles digging into the scattered hair behind her back, and he kissed her lips bit by bit.
The force of their lips and teeth intertwined made her feel a little painful. Li Jintang took a step back to avoid him, but was pulled back by him. The softness on her lips caused a tingling sensation.
She felt something sliding in her sleeve, and then with a "bang", the dagger fell to the ground.
"I..." She murmured softly in between breaths, her fingers accidentally touching the corner of his eyes and feeling a wetness.
Her lips, which were pressed tightly together, slowly parted, her eyelashes trembled slightly as she looked up at him.
"This, this isn't mine," Li Jintang kicked the dagger behind him and stumbled, "It's mine, but I didn't mean to..."
"I know," he smiled, his eyes bewitching. "Atang, no matter what anyone says to you from now on, don't believe it, okay?"
"I understand."
Although his mind was in a state of confusion, he hadn't forgotten the important matter. Li Jintang took the fortune book and looked at him without blinking: "If you like me, you are not allowed to hurt my friends."
He raised his hand and threw the fortune book into the corner. He lowered his eyes to look at her shocked expression and chuckled softly, "Go to sleep. It will be back to normal tomorrow."
Li Jintang was half-believing and half-doubting, but he couldn't help being so sleepy that he fell asleep almost as soon as he touched the bed.
*
"Hurry up, you guys have plenty to eat."
Tian Heng walked behind the team, holding a piece of grass in his mouth, and urged them to hurry up.
These puppets still have a trace of human consciousness and need to eat like normal people, but their reactions are much slower, and some of them can't even understand human language.
Qu Lingfei mixed in with them, imitating the pace of other puppets and walking with difficulty. Not long after, another figure rushed to the front of the crowd, with a portrait hanging from his hand.
"This is what you are looking for, can you see it clearly?"
A very familiar voice sounded, no less than thunder in his ears. Qu Lingfei looked up suddenly and recognized the person who spoke at a glance. His heart was shocked and countless guesses flashed through his mind.
Why is Nangong Xiu here? Could it be that he, like Atang, has had his memory erased?
He calmed himself down and stared at the portrait.
This thing looks so familiar... Qu Lingfei's eyes suddenly jumped. Isn't this the "treasure" they lost in the demon world before?
But come to think of it, this demon is very cunning, and he might have colluded with the bat demon to steal their treasure. The master told him to retrieve it, but he didn't expect that he would get a good deal now.
He clenched his fists, thinking that he couldn't let Brother Nangong be deceived by the devil. Although there were many puppets surrounding them, if the two of them joined forces, they might be able to break out of the encirclement.
“Nangong…”
Before he could finish his words, someone suddenly covered his mouth and pushed him down.
"Senior brother, it's me." A female voice sounded in my ears.
Qu Lingfei's body trembled, and he looked at her with wide eyes: "Junior sister?"
The girl in front of him was dressed the same as him, with a layer of mud on her face. At first glance, she looked no different from the puppet next to her.
"Brother, we are outnumbered. Don't act rashly." She glanced around and said in a low voice, "Looking at Fellow Daoist Nangong, it seems more like he's conscious and willingly surrendered to the demon, rather than being possessed by a puppet talisman. Don't let him fool you."
Qu Lingfei could no longer hear anything else. He simply clutched her sleeve, his face filled with worry. "Junior Sister, you shouldn't have come. I can take on this risky task alone. What if something really happens and I can't protect you?"
"Now is not the time to talk about this." Seeing that he didn't listen to what she said just now, Qiu Yan frowned impatiently and repeated it again with clenched fists.
"Puppet Talisman?" Qu Lingfei frowned thoughtfully. "Junior Sister, when did I ever say he was controlled by the Puppet Talisman?"
Qiuyan's expression changed, but then returned to normal: "Didn't you say that?"
"I never knew about the puppet talisman." He didn't think deeply about it, nor did he notice the change in the girl's expression. He just thought to himself: "According to you, Atang is also under his control? But why is he doing this? Could it be that he is..."
"I heard that the Demon Realm clan is skilled in formation cultivation. I'm sure she's just one of the demons cultivating that formation," Qiu Yan sneered, mockingly saying, "Brother, you're truly naive. How could someone like him, who can even harm his own friends, possibly expend so much spiritual energy on a woman?"
"If that's the case, Atang will be in danger." He rubbed his brows, feeling confused. "But now my master has ordered me to retrieve the Xuanyu. This is really troublesome."
"Leave the matter of Xuanyu to me," she rolled her eyes and pushed him, "I will create the white mist, and you leave quickly while the chaos is going on."
Qu Lingfei immediately shook his head: "Junior sister, how can I let you go alone?"
"If you don't want your friend to get killed, then listen to me," Qiu Yan sneered, her tone filled with disdain. "If something really happens, do you think we can rest easy just because you're here?"
"Junior sister..." He was stunned for a moment, feeling dazed. The junior sister in front of him was still his junior sister, but she seemed a little different.
But she was right. Atang had saved his life, so he shouldn't leave her alone no matter what.
Before he could come up with a solution that would satisfy both parties, white smoke suddenly rose all around him. As he was hesitating, a voice came from the front, jokingly saying, "My spiritual power can't sustain it for much longer. If you hesitate any longer, I'm afraid you won't have a chance. I guess you don't want to wait until later to collect her body, do you?"
Qu Lingfei's heart suddenly tightened, but the white smoke was too thick and he couldn't find anyone for a while. As a last resort, he had to jump out of the team.
I don’t know whether what my junior sister said is true or not, but it is always dangerous for Atang to stay alone with that devil, so it is better to find a way to rescue her as soon as possible.
"Book of Fate," Li Jintang climbed up from the couch at daybreak and patted the book. "Can you speak now?"
"I'm dying of suffocation!" Mingshu jumped up and said, "Pah!" "Who did this? I'm going to skin it alive!"
"Keep your voice down," Li Jintang covered it, "If Xie An hears, I can't save you."
The Book of Destiny paused, as if thinking about something: "It's that kid..."
Li Jintang didn't have time to talk to him about anything else. He just wanted to get everything clear: "I asked you yesterday, can you answer it now?"
It stood there, silent, as if it had crashed. She was getting impatient, and was about to repeat her question from yesterday when it mechanically began: "That guy is the only good guy. The others are out to frame you and deceive you. The only way to be safe is to stay with him."
He uttered these words without any pause, as if he had been programmed by someone.
Li Jintang was stunned when he heard this: "But didn't you say the same thing yesterday..."
"Yesterday is yesterday. What does it have to do with today?" The fortune book jumped out of her palm and knocked on her head: "You still don't believe me?"
"You're so weird."
She didn't ask any more questions and turned to look out the window. The sun was rising slowly at this time, and a ray of rosy light passed through the window. Everything seemed so full of life.
But she always felt empty in her heart, as if something was missing.
There were very light footsteps beside her. She didn't say anything and didn't look up. The person just quietly walked around behind her and carefully combed her hair.
Li Jintang stared at one spot for a long time, then finally broke the silence: "I really want to go home. I miss my parents and my sister."
"Xie An, will you come with me?"
The boy paused for a moment, lowered his head and looked into the girl's pale eyes: "Okay."
She didn't know what the consequences would be if she forcibly took the person in the storybook away, but she thought, she couldn't leave him alone.
She was unusually quiet today, and hadn't noticed anything was wrong with the tattered book. Could it be that the puppet talisman from last night had taken effect again? Xie Changyan's fingertips trembled imperceptibly, his pale face reflected in the bronze mirror, and the fishy-sweet smell from last night seemed to come back.
He shouldn't have used such despicable means on her, but once people have tasted a little sweetness, they won't be willing to let go.
The boy continued to comb her hair as if nothing had happened, but she suddenly turned around and stared at him closely, her expression revealing a hint of nervousness.
Xie Changyan put down the comb and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Xie An, there is something I have to tell you." She said solemnly, reaching out to hold his shoulders, half-kneeling and straightening up, half a head taller than him.
"In fact, you are the protagonist in the story, and I am just an outsider."
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