Seeing old friends
As dusk fell, Si Mucheng looked around the desolate Wen family old house and wondered what Wen Ya would eat if she couldn't cook.
Wen Ya had no intention of starting a fire. After patting the chicken, she simply glanced at Si Mucheng, her eyes clearly indicating that she wanted to see him off. However, Si Mucheng frowned, and it was unclear what he was thinking. He actually wanted to invite her to have dinner at his second aunt's house.
In fact, he was just about to speak when Wen Ya suddenly turned her head alertly, as if she had heard something.
Seeing her like this, Si Mucheng sensed something was wrong and tentatively asked, "What's wrong?"
"Shh." Wen Ya frowned.
Si Mucheng focused his attention and sensed the surroundings, but heard nothing unusual. Wen Ya, however, clearly didn't think so. Her expression was grave, mixed with doubt, which made Si Mucheng uneasy.
A moment later, Wen Ya seemed to have found something amiss, and walked straight towards the bedroom. Si Mucheng quickly followed her.
The two walked to the bedroom door. The solid wood table placed against the window, weathered by time, was now trembling slightly. The source of the tremor was the antique bronze lamp on the table. Just like Si Mucheng had seen it before, the bronze lamp was flickering. At the same time, the entire lamp seemed to sense something and began to vibrate violently, causing the table to move as well.
Si Mucheng opened his mouth in surprise, but didn't say anything, because he saw that Wen Ya's expression was also very surprised.
Wen Ya went inside and tried to pick up the bronze lamp. As soon as her fingers touched it, the lamp seemed to be soothed and immediately quieted down, as if it hadn't made the commotion.
Wen Ya frowned, seemingly seeing this for the first time. Si Mucheng asked curiously, "Is this toy out of power? Haven't you changed the batteries yet? It was flashing last time. Will it still move?"
He accidentally let it slip, and Wen Ya asked, "Last time? You saw it like this before?"
Si Mucheng scratched the back of his head and stammered, "Well, I didn't mean to peek into your room. I just came to find you, and when I saw your front door was closed, I..." He still sounded like a pervert at the end.
Ke Wenya didn't seem to care why he came, and just continued to ask, "Did you see it like this last time?"
Si Mucheng paused, thought carefully for a moment, and honestly said, "There was no vibration, it just emitted light, like it is now, flickering."
Wen Ya had never heard of such a thing before. She held the copper lamp and examined it from all angles. Si Mucheng followed her gaze and asked, "What's wrong? Don't you have any batteries at home? I'll go buy you two." He firmly believed that this was just a replica toy, and he even thought to himself that the replica was quite exquisite.
Wen Ya gave him another look as if he were an idiot and said, "This is my family's magic weapon, the Soul-Returning Lamp, which doesn't need batteries."
Si Mucheng hesitated, then thought to himself, "These charlatans have all sorts of tricks up their sleeves. Magical artifacts? Or the Resurrection Lamp?" Although he had occasionally read some fantasy novels, hearing such terms in real life still felt absurd.
Wen Ya, of course, couldn't hear his silent complaints. She just couldn't understand why the usually dormant Soul-Returning Lamp would suddenly become active.
From as far back as she could remember, the Resurrection Lamp was, just as Si Mucheng had thought, a toy to her. For a long time, this family heirloom was carelessly tossed about, even left in the chicken coop. Once, the whole family searched everywhere for it, but couldn't find it after a whole day. Finally, they asked her, then she was three years old. She silently went to the chicken coop and retrieved it. Her mother was so angry she almost slapped her, but her grandfather shielded her, smiling and advising, "No one has been able to activate this thing for so many years; it's just an inanimate object. People are more important than things; it's not worth it for an inanimate object."
Helpless, the mother said, "Just keep spoiling her!"
But why would this magical artifact, which everyone assumed had long since lost its power, suddenly react? Had her grandfather ever seen it? Although she could tell from what her grandfather had said when she was little that he had never seen the Soul-Returning Lamp emit light, of course, even if she had a lot of questions she wanted to ask him, she no longer had the chance.
Lost in thought, Wen Ya didn't hear Si Mucheng's invitation to dinner at his second aunt's house that evening, which was an attempt to change the subject. When he asked her, she simply nodded casually. Then, she was inexplicably taken to Si's second aunt's house.
By the time Wen Ya realized what was happening, she was already sitting at the dining table. Si Mucheng's second aunt smiled and handed her chopsticks: "Xiao Cheng didn't tell me in advance, so I didn't prepare any good dishes. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, please don't mind."
Wen Ya stared at the chopsticks, motionless for a long time. After a moment, she mechanically turned her neck to look at the culprit. Si Mucheng smiled, his harmless puppy eyes blinking at her twice.
Wen Ya was completely convinced. She took the chopsticks, thought for a moment, and then said to her second aunt, "Thank you, I'm sorry to have bothered you."
"Hi!" Second Aunt's smile deepened. "It's just a matter of adding a pair of chopsticks. We're all very happy that you could come."
Si Mucheng's second uncle nodded and grinned foolishly in agreement, while Qin Yu looked around curiously with wide eyes.
Wen Ya felt quite awkward because she had unintentionally troubled others, but her second aunt kept urging her to eat more and not to be shy. She could only obey her host's wishes; in her mind, when eating at someone else's house, since she was being treated, she should take the food seriously, and eating well was the greatest respect she could show to the host. Besides, Si Mucheng's second aunt's cooking was truly delicious.
Wen Ya finished her meal with restraint and focus, then put down her chopsticks, pursed her lips, and said thank you, "Thank you for the meal, it was delicious."
Second Aunt has the unique enthusiasm of a rural person: "If it's delicious, have another bowl. Qin Yu, go and get another bowl of rice for 'Little Immortal'."
"Yes, yes, Qin Yu, go quickly," said the second uncle.
Before Wen Ya could stop her, the obedient Qin Yu quickly snatched her bowl and filled it with rice.
Wen Ya stared at the rice still steaming in her bowl, remained silent for a while, and looked up to see the expectant eyes of her second aunt and uncle. She sighed silently in her heart, but still picked up the bowl and began to eat earnestly.
When Wen Ya finally left her aunt's house, she was given a bag of snacks. She carried the bright red plastic bag with a somber expression, but the Si family members were all smiling and not deterred by her cold face. They were all looking forward to her accepting everything.
Wen Ya pondered for a moment and pointed out that there was a problem with the placement of a side table in the main room, which might affect one's health, such as causing a fall or a cold.
Auntie and Uncle both turned to look at the side table. Auntie suddenly realized, "No wonder things haven't been going well at home lately. It was all because of the table's placement! It's truly a 'little deity'! Thank you, thank you!" With that, she and Uncle went to move it. As they walked into the house, Auntie said to Si Mucheng, "Xiaocheng, go see the 'little deity' off!"
Si Mucheng responded and gave Wen Ya a thumbs up: "Amazing, master!"
Wen Ya glanced at him with an inscrutable expression, said nothing, and walked straight away. Si Mucheng quickly followed. Although he didn't think Wen Ya was afraid of the dark, no matter how capable she was, she was still just a young girl, and of course he had to make sure she got home safely.
Wen Ya sighed every now and then along the way. At first, Si Mucheng didn't pay much attention, but when they reached a dark area, Wen Ya sighed softly. Si Mucheng's alarm bells went off immediately. He nervously looked around but didn't see anything unusual. But before he could relax, Wen Ya sighed again.
Si Mucheng felt a chill run down his spine, wondering what this expert had seen, and could only cautiously ask, "What's wrong?"
Wen Ya seemed to be startled by his words, suddenly coming back to her senses: "What?"
"Uh," Si Mucheng scratched his head, "You've been sighing the whole time, are you still thinking about that imitation...magic weapon of yours?"
Upon hearing this, Wen Ya shook her head and sighed, "No." She paused, "It's because I ate too much."
Si Mucheng laughed at the unexpected answer: "How could you stuff yourself like that, Great Immortal? We saw you fill up with bowls and ate them all, so we thought that was your only appetite. If you couldn't eat anymore, just say so." She hadn't uttered a sound with each bowl of rice she filled, and her expression was perfectly calm, leading everyone to believe she was eating willingly. Her second aunt even muttered under her breath, "Don't let her thin frame fool you, this 'Little Immortal' can eat three bowls of rice." Turns out, she had forced herself to eat.
Wen Ya remained silent.
Si Mucheng suddenly remembered something, took a small bag out of his pocket, and showed it to Wen Ya: "Look!"
Wen Ya looked over and saw a lump of rice in the small bag. She immediately felt her overloaded stomach protest. Seeing that she didn't speak, Si Mucheng explained with a smile, "It's for Wen Xiaofeng. Even chicks need some rice! How about that? My little brother is quite thoughtful, isn't he!"
Wen Ya was speechless for a moment. She couldn't help but glance at Si Mucheng, and that indescribable feeling welled up again.
How should she tell him that Wen Xiaofeng doesn't actually need to eat?
Si Mucheng continued rambling, "Actually, we should have brought Xiaofeng over for dinner. How could we leave a little chick at home while we went out to eat? It must be starving..."
Wen Ya opened her mouth, but suddenly sensed something and turned around alertly, her right hand already holding a talisman.
Si Mucheng reacted quickly. He felt the same chill he had experienced when he first encountered the Long-Tongued Ghost. The air suddenly became damp and cold, clinging to his bare skin and giving him goosebumps. Realizing something was there, he quickly jumped behind Wen Ya and grabbed her arm for a sense of security.
They were already very close to the Wen family's old house. The path on the hillside was winding and lush with greenery on both sides. It was very quiet during the day, but now it seemed a bit eerie.
Wen Ya didn't care about Si Mucheng's approach. Although his palm was hot against her arm, she just stared intently into the depths of the woods and said in a clear voice, "You've actually come looking for me. You must have some unresolved matters from your past life. Why hide? Show yourself."
As soon as she finished speaking, a figure staggered over from the shadowy trees.
Si Mucheng held his breath, but cold sweat involuntarily slid down his forehead.
He knew that the person who came was not a "human" person; no good person would be covered in blood!
Yes, he saw a ghost again.
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