Longing
Zheng Miao kept rambling on and on. Even though there was nothing in front of her, she could still feel You Huan's presence, just like countless times before when they sat facing each other and You Huan would smile and look at her.
Zheng Miao thought that the final farewell should be done with a smile, but tears welled up in her eyes without her realizing it.
You Huan gazed intently at Zheng Miao, whose spirit was growing fainter and fainter. But Zheng Miao still had so much to say, as if she wanted to say everything she wanted to say to You Huan for the rest of her life all at once.
Seeing the strange changes in You Huan's spirit, Si Mucheng was somewhat worried and looked to Wen Ya for help, but Wen Ya just pondered.
At this moment, Zheng Miao lit a candle on the cake, the small flame flickering weakly.
"Happy 23rd birthday, Xiao Huan. Wishing you... a joyful birthday every year."
The faint flame flickered for a moment, and even though there was no wind, it went out the next second.
Zheng Miao smiled, exhaled, her eyes filled with reluctance, but she still said to Wen Ya, "That's enough. Master, send her away."
There's really no time to lose.
Wen Ya nodded.
She recited the soul-driving incantation tens of thousands of times, each time with a different feeling. Wen Ya couldn't describe the emotion stuck in her heart; life and death were never in her own hands.
"All things return to dust, and all delusions dissipate."
You Huan instantly became a cluster of stars, those specks of golden light floating like a swarm of fireflies, dancing in place for a moment, then circling around Zheng Miao, before dissipating onto Wen Ya, or more precisely, falling into the Soul-Returning Lamp in Wen Ya's personal bag.
However, the others did not notice anything unusual.
Zheng Miao felt the gust of wind, and naturally, he could also feel the wind disappear.
She is like the wind, leaving no trace.
Zheng Miao gazed in the direction the wind had gone, feeling lost and forlorn.
After a long while, she wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, sniffed, and said with a smile, "Don't waste it, let's eat cake together."
So the three of them shared and ate the cake that Zheng Miao had brought before leaving the wetland park.
Standing by the roadside, Wen Ya said she wanted to wander around a bit more and wouldn't stay with Zheng Miao.
Before parting, Si Mucheng asked Zheng Miao what her plans were for the future.
Zheng Miao's eyes were still red, but her face showed relief: "I plan to go to Haishi."
She had just finished her internship and was about to be offered a full-time position, but You Huan's death threw her life off track. She gave up the high-paying job, then gave up Beijing, and returned to her hometown, where she drifted aimlessly. But now she has a new goal.
“A company in Shanghai gave me an offer before, and I’m planning to accept it.” Although she can’t face Beijing again, she has the idea of starting a new life. “Xiao Huan used to want to go to university in Shanghai, and she wanted to visit the Bund.”
Si Mucheng looked into Zheng Miao's bright eyes and said, "Then I wish you a bright future."
Zheng Miao nodded and said earnestly, "Thank you." Then she patted Wen Xiaofeng's head and smiled, "So cool."
Xiao Feng responded with two cooing sounds.
"Then, until we meet again."
They parted ways thereafter.
Si Mucheng and Wen Ya watched Zheng Miao get into the car and leave from the roadside. After a while, Si Mucheng finally asked, "Xiao Ya, where are we going to go?"
Wen Ya uttered three words: "Cuiping Village".
Hearing this, Si Mucheng was taken aback. She hadn't given up yet. He said, "Wen Yongjie hasn't come back, has he?"
Wen Ya simply frowned: "I can't say for sure, let's go take another look."
Far from the city center, taxis were scarce. When one finally passed by, the driver looked down on Wen Xiaofeng, saying he didn't take poultry. Si Mucheng wanted to argue with him that Wen Xiaofeng wasn't poultry but a pet, but Wen Ya stopped him.
The taxi sped away, and Si Mucheng looked annoyed: "I should have given him a run for his money."
Wen Xiaofeng's composure was exactly like Wen Ya's. She squatted on Wen Ya's shoulder, unmoved. Wen Ya also said calmly, "When we came over, we found that it wasn't far away. Let's walk over."
Si Mucheng had no choice but to give up.
The two people and the chicken walked back along the road at a leisurely pace, appearing quite relaxed.
The weather was pretty good today. Clouds covered the blazing sun, and there was a breeze while walking, which helped to cool things down.
Si Mucheng crossed his hands behind his head and walked backwards facing Wen Ya. He smiled and said, "I didn't expect Zheng Miao to believe in ghosts and gods. Xiao Ya, have you ever encountered this situation before?"
Wen Ya glanced at him: "Rarely. People fear death and resist the unknown. Even those who believe in ghosts and gods feel more fear than joy when faced with the ghosts of relatives and friends around them."
Si Mucheng let out an "uh," realizing he'd been called out again! He thought of his grandmother and tried to salvage the situation: "Although I'm afraid of ghosts, I'm not afraid of my own family and friends. There's a saying, isn't there? The ghosts you're afraid of are the people others long for but can't see. Yes, that's it." He reassured himself.
Wen Ya remained calm: "Then what's so scary about facing someone others are thinking about day and night?"
Si Mucheng's expression went blank for a moment: "??"
It seems... that's the case.
He struggled for a moment: "I just... can't stand the blood, it's a physiological thing, it has nothing to do with my courage... Besides, I've improved now, I'm not afraid of ghosts anymore..."
Wen Ya curled her lips into a smile.
At that time, they were approaching a fork in the road. One path led to a small road, the destination of which was unknown. Both sides were barren fields, but there was a person in the distance on this small road.
Wen Ya narrowed her eyes, her expression hardening: "Wait a moment."
Si Mucheng stopped and looked in the direction she was looking: "What's wrong?"
Wen Ya recognized the man's T-shirt: "Wen Yongjie".
Si Mucheng was taken aback: "Really?"
It's only a few hundred meters from Cuiping Village, and if there's a shortcut that outsiders don't know about, the distance is even shorter.
“I saw him wearing this outfit at the market yesterday.”
Wen Ya found it quite a coincidence that she saw Wen Yongjie near his home for two consecutive days, but his sister said that he did not go home, so he must have another place to stay.
Seeing that the person was walking further and further away, Si Mucheng made a quick decision: "Who cares if he is or isn't, let's follow him."
They turned onto a side road with no cover, and occasionally passersby would walk by, but Wen Ya and Si Mucheng dared not get too close.
Wen Yongjie knew Wen Ya. Although Si Mucheng didn't understand why she didn't just go up and call him, Wen Ya had her own concerns.
She harbored suspicions about her grandfather, but in reality, the person closest to him was not her, his granddaughter, but Wen Yongjie, who had been with him for nearly ten years. She believed that if anything happened to her grandfather, Wen Yongjie should know.
Therefore, we should not have a direct conversation with him at this time. After all, if the death of the grandfather is fake, if we find Wen Yongjie's whereabouts, we will most likely be able to find the grandfather as well.
Wen Ya's heart quickened; she didn't know what was causing her turmoil of emotions. On one hand, she was happy that her grandfather might not have died; on the other hand, she felt heavy-hearted because she didn't know what he was after all this.
Her intuition told her that her grandfather was plotting something beyond the understanding of exorcists, and that this matter must be related to the Soul-Returning Lamp.
A resurrection lamp?
Wen Ya suddenly remembered the function of the Soul-Returning Lamp. Legend has it that the Soul-Returning Lamp can bring the dead back to life and return them to the world. The ancient books found in the Shangguan family's library also recorded that ancestors in ancient times had successfully brought the dead back to life using the Soul-Returning Lamp.
So, who does Grandpa want to bring back to life?
Mingming Wen's family, apart from the grandfather and grandson, had all long since passed away and their ghosts had been driven away. Who else could it be that could make his grandfather go to such lengths and even activate the divine artifact?
Wen Ya's breathing became erratic due to her complicated thoughts. Wen Xiaofeng noticed this and nuzzled her cheek with her head.
Wen Ya breathed a sigh of relief and touched her face to it, all in a comforting gesture.
"What's wrong?" Si Mucheng saw the beads of sweat on Wen Ya's forehead and thought she was tired, so he said, "Why don't you take a rest? There's only one road here, so you shouldn't get lost."
They were already far from the main road, and there were very few houses along the roadside; mountains began to appear on both sides.
Wen Ya shook her head. Seeing that they were walking in increasingly remote areas, she suddenly had a flash of inspiration and asked Si Mucheng, "Do you have a map on your phone? Can you find out where we are now?"
Si Mucheng took out his phone: "Yes, I can use navigation. I can see all the shops along the road clearly."
“I don’t need anything else,” Wen Ya said thoughtfully. “I just want to know where this road leads.”
Si Mucheng opened the navigation app and found it wasn't running smoothly. Looking at the signal bars on his phone, he muttered, "We're not even in the mountains, so why is the signal so bad?"
Although it wasn't very smooth, it eventually loaded.
Si Mucheng zoomed in on the map and exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? This road leads back to Xiqiao Village!"
When her guess came true, Wen Ya calmed down and said, "As expected."
Si Mucheng reacted quickly: "So Wen Yongjie is going back to Xiqiao?"
"uncertain."
Although it's a shortcut, walking alone isn't practical.
Si Mucheng had obviously thought of this as well: "No, according to the navigation, it would take several hours to walk here. He wouldn't be here hiking for fun for no reason."
Wen Ya raised her chin: "He was carrying something in his hand. I saw him at the market yesterday, and he's near the market today, so he's obviously going shopping. His destination shouldn't be too far away."
"Yes, yes, yes!" Si Mucheng immediately had a new idea after being reminded by her. "It's probably not convenient for him to buy things where he lives, and the market in Cuiping Village is the closest place he can go to buy things. He can walk there."
Finally, he frowned and said, "He probably lives in some mountain village."
As if to confirm his guess, Wen Yongjie turned onto a small path, which seemed to lead uphill.
Wen Ya and Si Mucheng stood still for a moment, then exchanged a glance and followed after them again.
But after entering the path and passing through a row of trees, they were surprised to find that Wen Yongjie had vanished into thin air, disappearing without a trace.
"Where is everyone??" Si Mucheng was startled and looked around, but the road was so narrow and there were trees on both sides, it was easy to tell whether there was anyone there.
"Have they discovered us?" Si Mucheng asked in a panic.
Wen Ya turned around, only to find that the path they had just come from was blocked by several trees, and they could no longer find their way back.
“No,” she frowned, “there’s a formation here.”
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