Longing for my love to return
After staying at Yuhuang Temple for two days, Si Mucheng followed Wen Ya down the mountain.
These past few days, spending time with the Celestial Masters of Yuhuang Temple, Si Mucheng has experienced a different kind of life and found it quite novel. Although having to get up at dawn every day to attend early morning classes is rather painful, he usually has to get up early for training at school as well, so he adapted quickly.
However, after the morning class, everyone else had to go out to search souls, leaving Si Mucheng rather bored. But Wen Ya's junior brother was exceptionally kind and stayed behind to keep him company. With someone to talk to, Si Mucheng took the opportunity to pester his junior brother to teach him something.
With Wen Ya's tacit approval, Si Mucheng addressed his senior uncle with particular confidence. He was always shameless, but his junior brother was the first to feel embarrassed. Hearing that Si Mucheng was learning to draw talismans, he took the initiative to guide him from the side.
So when he came down from Yuhuang Mountain, Si Mucheng had made rapid progress. He could draw simple talismans such as calming talismans and binding talismans with his eyes closed in one stroke.
Wen Ya did not comment on this.
When they descended the mountain, the junior brother was very reluctant to part, and sighed, saying, "I don't know when we'll meet again after this separation."
Zhao Wentian laughed from the side: "Is it because you're reluctant to part with Wen Ya, or your cheap nephew?"
The junior brother was a little embarrassed: "I can't bear to part with any of it."
When Wen Ya was young and studying at the Taoist temple, only her junior brother and Zhao Wentian would take the initiative to be friendly to her. However, her junior brother was friendly with everyone, and even though she was always cold-hearted, he didn't feel like he was being snubbed. He was also one of the few who would think of her after she left.
But this time, with the help of the comedic Si Mucheng, he cried out with a long face, "I can't bear to part with you either, Junior Uncle!"
Zhao Wentian couldn't help but laugh when he heard him say, "That's too much."
"Oh, I almost forgot about you," Si Mucheng turned to him again, "I'll miss you even more, Uncle Zhao!!"
Wen Ya was the first to lose her temper and turned to leave. Seeing this, Si Mucheng quickly and formally said goodbye to his junior brother Zhao Wentian: "Let's get together again next time. Goodbye, everyone."
Zhao Wentian nodded, and his junior brother said, "I will definitely come to the Taoist temple when I have time."
Si Mucheng smiled and waved, then turned and quickly chased after Wen Ya.
The weather was nice today, overcast and not too sunny. Si Mucheng felt like he was out for a stroll, wandering around and taking pictures, thoroughly enjoying himself. Suddenly, he remembered something, and strode over to Wen Ya, asking, "Where are you going after we get down the mountain?"
Wen Ya herself hadn't figured it out, and even Old Master Zhao didn't know about the Soul-Returning Lamp, so she was at a loss for what to do.
Seeing that she remained silent, Si Mucheng understood and continued, "Then you can stay at my house. You have nothing else to do anyway. You can decide when you've thought it through."
Wen Ya wanted to refuse, as she didn't want to trouble the Si family any further, but Si Mucheng knew what she was going to say just by looking at her expression, and quickly said, "You are my master now, why are you still being so polite? It's only natural for a disciple to be filial to his master."
Wen Ya felt a chill every time she heard him call her master, but she couldn't bring herself to say it, so she had to bite the bullet and agree.
Just as the two reached the signboard at the foot of the mountain, Wen Ya suddenly raised her hand and pressed down on the cloth bag.
Seeing that she looked strange, Si Mucheng asked, "What's wrong?"
Wen Ya looked at him and whispered, "The Soul-Returning Lamp."
Si Mucheng immediately tensed up: "What is it doing now?"
Wen Ya felt the vibration of the Soul-Returning Lamp, fearing that another ghost had come to visit. But just as this thought arose, she seemed to sense something and looked ahead, where a blurry figure appeared at the end of the road.
Si Mucheng clearly had a bad feeling and subconsciously grabbed Wen Ya's clothes, hiding behind her.
The person in the distance slowly approached. When they got closer, Si Mucheng could see what they looked like. It was a woman who looked young. She had two braids, wore a floral shirt, black cotton pants, and black cloth shoes. However, she was soaking wet, with water dripping from her hair.
Si Mucheng was absolutely certain that this was a ghost. Because "her" attire was extremely incongruous, possessing a sense of incongruity that was out of step with the times.
Wen Ya noticed it too, but then something occurred to her, and her aura grew even colder. The female ghost stopped in front of them and slowly said, "We've finally waited for you."
Si Mucheng's thought at this moment was that, fortunately, this time the ghost died relatively decently, without any blood and gore, so it didn't look so scary.
Wen Ya said coldly, "You were waiting for us?"
“Yes,” the female ghost sighed, “this mountain has a formation, I can’t go in, so I’ve been wandering around the mountain.”
Why did you wait for us?
"A voice told me that you have a magical artifact that can help me return to life and fulfill my wishes."
These words sounded so familiar to Si Mucheng; it seems this person was also summoned by that damned Soul-Returning Lamp.
Wen Ya sensed the Soul-Returning Lamp gradually calming down, realizing that the female ghost who had appeared was indeed related to the lamp, but this ghost was really strange. She frowned: "How old are you?"
The female ghost timidly spoke, "I'm twenty."
Si Mucheng thought to himself that she was quite young, so why was she dressed so old-fashioned? But Wen Ya shook her head and said, "I shouldn't have asked you how old you are. Let me rephrase it: what year were you born?"
Si Mucheng looked at her suddenly and understood what she meant. He felt goosebumps rise on his hands.
The female ghost sighed softly and said, "1945. Our country has developed so fast, I'm almost blinded by it."
really!
Si Mucheng hid even deeper behind Wen Ya, wishing he could shrink himself into a small ball. But unfortunately, he was strong and muscular, and no matter how much he shrank, he couldn't block Wen Ya's way.
Good heavens, a female ghost from eighty years ago, why hasn't anyone taken her in?
But the next moment, he sensed something was wrong and almost immediately said, "You died when you were twenty? That was in 1965, sixty years ago now. You haven't been taken away in sixty years?? Isn't it said that ghosts become vengeful spirits if they linger too long due to their obsessions? Master, 'her' resentment..."
Wen Ya didn't sense much resentment from the female ghost. In fact, from the moment "she" appeared, Wen Ya knew that this wasn't a vengeful ghost, but just an ordinary ghost tormented by its obsession before death. But it was precisely because of this that something was even more amiss.
"Do you remember anything?" Wen Ya asked.
The female ghost nodded: "Remember my name is Shen Guixiang? I'm looking for someone, but I've been searching for so long and I still can't find them. Can you help me? Can I borrow your treasure for a moment? I just need to find the person, say a few words to them, and then I'll leave, okay?"
At this point, neither Wen Ya nor Si Mucheng said anything.
A female ghost, born during the founding of the People's Republic of China, inexplicably appeared at their door. Even after wandering for so long, she hadn't become a vengeful spirit and had evaded the searches of various exorcists. For a moment, it was hard to decide whether to praise the female ghost's good luck or theirs.
They encountered such a thing, but the strange behavior of the Soul-Returning Lamp was already highly suspicious.
Even so, there's no reason to refuse a ghost that comes knocking; it's a Taoist priest's job to exorcise souls. Wen Ya was silent for a moment before saying, "I can't lend you the Soul-Returning Lamp because I don't know how to use it to bring a soul back to life. But I can help you settle your unfinished business."
Hearing Wen Ya say this, Shen Guixiang lowered her head, her face showing a submissive acceptance of all arrangements. She said softly, "Alright. I'll do whatever you say."
So when he returned to the Si family again, he brought back another ghost.
Si Mucheng couldn't help but think that this "Soul-Returning Lamp" was really not letting anyone rest. One after another, it kept attracting ghosts to the door. Wen Ya was going to have a hard time again. He had to talk to Aunt Chen when he got back and ask her to buy a free-range chicken to stew for Wen Ya to nourish her.
But then he remembered that Zhao Wentian said the soul-searching formation in his family's Taoist temple had failed, and now the Soul-Returning Lamp could summon ghosts on its own. How could this not be another kind of soul-searching formation? Well, that's good, it saves Wen Ya from running around looking for ghosts to exorcise herself.
The Si family was naturally very welcoming when they heard that Wen Ya would be staying for a few more days. Aunt Chen happily went out to buy groceries and also brought back the free-range chicken that Si Mu Cheng had asked for. The dishes she cooked for dinner were all Wen Ya's favorites. Chen Hui also told Wen Ya to stay without worry, as her presence would keep her mischievous son a little in check.
Although Si Mucheng didn't know how his parents figured it out, he felt that what his mother said made some sense.
She then asked Shen Guixiang again, but all she remembered was that she came from a place called Shenzi Village in Yucheng. The person she was looking for was her lover, because they had agreed to meet at the Arch Bridge in Yucheng.
“I waited for him for so long, but he never came. I just wanted to tell him why he hadn’t come yet, and that I was getting impatient.” Shen Guixiang’s round, grape-like eyes, like a clear spring, were filled with a misty sorrow.
Upon hearing this, Si Mucheng hesitated, wanting to say something but then stopping himself. He wondered if the person didn't want to come if they kept waiting.
But Shen Guixiang had already waited for sixty years, and he dared not ask.
Wen Ya simply asked, "What's his name?"
“Zhong Weinian. His name is Zhong Weinian.”
Shen Guixiang said that she and Zhong Weinian had known each other since childhood, and later they developed feelings for each other. However, Zhong Weinian's parents disapproved because Shen Guixiang's family had a bad class background.
At that time, these things were taken very seriously. Shen Guixiang's family had been landlords for generations, and they were looked down upon everywhere in Shenzi Village. The Zhong family had produced several soldiers, and Zhong Weinian had a bright future, so his parents refused to budge no matter what.
The two young people then decided to elope.
That was an impulse unique to them. No matter how others criticized it, at that time, their desire to elope was more about breaking free from the constraints of prejudice than simply because of love.
To avoid being discovered, under the moonlight, Zhong Weinian first put Shen Guixiang in the car and told her to head towards Yucheng. The two agreed that he would come to Yucheng to find her in two days and meet her at the archway bridge.
Shen Guixiang obediently set off. Although the two had agreed to meet two days later, she couldn't wait any longer and waited for him by the archway bridge every day.
However, two days passed, and she didn't wait for Zhong Weinian; instead, she had an accident first.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
