Chapter 111 Crane Cry (9)
The Golden Chain of Law was so angry at Jian Shiyuan that it was speechless. It shrank slightly and tightly grasped Jian Shiyuan's neck, as if it was warning him, but also as if it was venting its inner anger.
Jian Shiyuan leaned back, his neck tense, revealing the tattoo-like golden chain marks. He reached out and gently stroked the skin of his neck, following the direction of the veins and scratching.
"Relax. Just because I'm not afraid of destruction doesn't mean I'll take you with me. Don't worry, I'll find you a new home before I leave. If you want to continue your eternity, go ahead."
When speaking, Jian Shiyuan's voice was light and clear. The Golden Chain of Law could feel the speed of blood flowing in his neck, and slowly, it seemed to feel Jian Shiyuan's heartbeat.
Boom, boom, boom.
The seed that looks most like God is now just a human being.
The golden chain of law miraculously suppressed the anger.
Jian Shiyuan looked at Shu Baoxiang quietly, as if they were thousands of miles apart. His gaze was light and gentle, as if he was looking at a fragile little flower against gravel. No matter how it struggled, rolled, or gritted its teeth, Jian Shiyuan remained gentle and silent.
Jian Shiyuan, bereft of emotion, his human qualities slowly stripped away. He is a lone boat, sailing alone on the vast ocean. Everything he sees fades as he sails towards His kingdom. This journey is a lonely one. No matter how hard he cries out, he can only rely on himself.
He was being devoured by divinity, and he was completely unaware of it.
An apple is rotten, its insides are eaten away by bacteria, but it still hangs on the branch, sucking rain and dew, and trying hard to grow.
Shu Baoxiang also rotted away, and she was unaware of it.
In the end, she married Pei Zhenchao's cousin.
People have to make choices, and Shu Baoxiang had already made her choice. Now, with her mother's help, she finally saw through her own selfishness and cowardice.
She is a weak person who constantly doubts whether her choices are correct. When questioned, her first reaction is panic. Her mother can easily define her, but she only knows how to avoid, doubt herself, and reflect in vain.
She would hide in her shell to escape reality.
Shu Gu also married a male concubine to show his deep affection.
Shu Baoxiang just wants an entry ticket. She doesn't trust her own abilities and she needs allies.
In terms of character, the two are very different.
Shu Baoxiang would hesitate.
As for Shu Gu, even if she really did something wrong, she would never regret it.
While both of them were walking forward, Shu Baoxiang would look back and complain about the anxiety on the road, while Shu Gu would get everything she wanted without saying a word.
The smile on the young woman's lips bloomed like a short-lived flower. She waved to Shu Su, and Shu Gu knelt obediently in front of her.
He is still as handsome as ever, and the sadness in his eyes does not diminish his beauty.
The young woman reached out and touched Shu Su's eyebrows, her nails digging into the flesh. With a little force, she pushed Shu Su and made him stagger. "If you continue to retreat, one day you will regret your decision. How could I give birth to two useless people like you, haha."
She picked up the scissors and gestured at the air, as if suppressing her inner restlessness, with a smile on her lips. Suddenly, she snuffed out the candle.
The shark lantern went out, and the luminous pearls inlaid around the walls emitted a faint light. The Shu family's wealth and prosperity enveloped the two of them, swallowing up Shu Su and Shu Baoxiang.
On the day Shu Baoxiang married a male concubine, Pei Zhenchao left the sword tomb. Across the sea of people, she looked at Shu Baoxiang calmly. She didn't insult, cry, or even hate Shu Baoxiang. She just looked at Shu Baoxiang calmly.
With so many people around, Shu Baoxiang shouldn't have seen her, but for some reason, all the white cranes that should have been flying around disappeared.
So many people couldn't block Pei Zhenchao's red skirt, and Shu Baoxiang could see Pei Zhenchao's eyes clearly.
Instantly, Shu Baoxiang's heart skipped a beat. Pei Zhenzhao blinked, as if seeing her for the first time. She raised her arm and shook the thin gold bracelet on her wrist towards Shu Baoxiang.
The gold bracelets collided, making a tinkling sound.
Shu Baoxiang brushed past her gaze, suppressing all his emotions.
She moved forward and could never look back.
Pei Zhenchao lowered her arm, the gold bracelet stuck on her wrist bone. Slowly, a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and she waved towards Shu Baoxiang's back as if relieved of a heavy burden.
Beautiful friends are no longer friends after they say goodbye.
Pei Zhenchao loved her to his heart's content and said goodbye to her with joy. She was delighted to see Shu Baoxiang had found her purpose in life. When Pei Zhenchao left, she took off her gold bracelets and threw them into the sky. By the time they landed, she had already vanished.
Shu Baoxiang married the illegitimate son of Pei's daughter.
Pei is a man of deep affection. When in love, he is willing to go through fire and water, and walk a tightrope for love. But when he no longer loves, he turns around and leaves, withdrawing all his emotions and leaving no regrets.
This girl from the Pei family was the younger sister of Pei Zhenchao's father. Although she was of noble status, she fell in love with a servant. Without her family's knowledge, she stayed with the servant for several years and gave birth to a son, Pei Ji.
After giving birth, Pei's daughter, perhaps suffering from postpartum depression, became increasingly irritable, and she and her husband gradually grew tired of each other. The year after giving birth to her son, Pei fell in love with a male cultivator and ruthlessly abandoned her son to marry her true love.
Pei took the child in and named him Pei Ji. As for the child's father, his fate was sealed the moment Pei's daughter got married.
What happens to a slave who seduces his master?
The status of an illegitimate child was very low, not to mention Pei Ji's ordinary spiritual roots and talents, so there was no possibility of turning things around. When Pei heard that Shu Baoxiang wanted to marry Pei's son, she immediately sent Pei Ji's engagement letter and dumped the illegitimate child on Shu Baoxiang like a burden.
Shu Baoxiang did not love Pei Ji. She hated silent, timid and cowardly male cultivators.
On their wedding night, she dragged Pei Ji to the backyard and forced him to practice swordplay all night. When Pei Ji collapsed from exhaustion, Shu Baoxiang simply said, "We share the same bloodline, so why is there such a huge disparity?"
She missed Pei Zhenchao all the time.
She named the palace [Chao Palace], she would smile at the jumping pigeons, she would wear a thin gold bracelet, she would change into a red dress, she would think of Pei Zhenchao's eyes, and only in her dreams would she dare to reach out to Pei Zhenchao -
She felt like she was rotting, and she was helpless and powerless.
When she wakes up from the dream, she will think of Shu Su, and more resentment will arise in her heart.
If she was the brother and Shu Su was the sister, would all this not have happened?
If her mother had just given birth to her, would all this be less terrible?
If she was more cruel, she would kill Shu Su.
No! Shu Su can't die!
Shu Baoxiang is very conflicted. She hopes Shu Su lives a worse life than her, but she also doesn't want Shu Su to live too badly.
Fighting day after day wore away all her ambitions. She always felt tired. Sometimes she would suddenly let go of the sword on the battlefield. Although she would still chop off the opponent's head at the last moment, she was tired, really tired.
Jian Shiyuan heard a faint sound, very light, like sand falling on a jade plate.
He listened carefully and finally heard it clearly.
It was Shu Baoxiang's whisper:
'Shu Su is still retreating. He is becoming weaker and weaker. He is not like the brother I remember. He no longer smiles proudly, nor does he smile at me with high spirits. He always frowns and purses his lips. When I look at him, it is like seeing a second Pei Ji.'
'Did I do something wrong? Why did he force me like this? Seeing him like this, I wanted to scold him and ridicule him. My words became more and more unpleasant, but I just couldn't help it. Every time I hurt him, I always felt a long-lost happiness.'
'Maybe my mother was right. I am consumable. I shouldn't resist my fate, I shouldn't be jealous of him. Everything now is not what I want. I am in so much pain. Shu Su is asking me to move forward! I can only move forward! Ah - someone come and save me!'
"I know Shu Su doesn't want me to share power with him, but I don't want him to be happy. How can he be happy when I'm in so much pain?"
'He's injured again, what a fool. I'm also a fool. I almost forgot my purpose. Every time I see him injured, I remember what I have to do. Run forward, it's too slow, run faster, don't stop.'
"I just want to beat him, why am I still unhappy even though I beat him? Do I really want power? I forgot what I really want!"
The last sentence is almost hysterical.
'Why can't Mother treat us fairly? Why do I have to compete with him? I can't back down!'
The scene in front of him shook rapidly, and Jian Shiyuan saw the red sky.
Behind Shu Baoxiang were countless dense, pure and clean fishing lines, which pierced into the bodies of the people as if out of control. Countless people knelt on the ground, with many corpses wrapped in straw mats beside them, and red spots of various sizes on their exposed skin.
The leading official was a middle-aged man with gray hair and frost on his temples. His clothes were dirty, stained brown with filth. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly towards Shu Baoxiang in mid-air, tears streaming down his face as he pleaded:
"Please, Fairy, please help save the people of Yongzhou. This city is almost deserted! They really can't hold on any longer. Wujiang, there are too many bodies being burned, and the blood has turned the river red!"
"All the infected patients have been taken away for the cremation. Fairy, what else are we going to do?"
"Fairy, are we not pious enough? What else should we do?!"
"Master Xiangxianzi, please save my child. He is only one month old."
The whole place is devastated and the mountains and rivers are in mourning.
Shu Baoxiang sat suspended in mid-air, her eyes clear and without sadness, her tone still calm, "I haven't accumulated enough faith yet. Even if I wanted to use the magic of exorcism, I couldn't cure so many people."
Before he finished speaking, the people who were kneeling on the ground begging kowtowed heavily, tears and snot streaming silently. They dared not say anything more, but only blamed themselves for not being pious enough.
How can I be more pious?!
How can they be pious?!
The house is gone, all the relatives and friends are burned, all gone.
Why can't they have an extra heart and an extra head?!
Faith? Faith! They were already Shu Baoxiang's fanatical followers, how much more faith did they need?!
The people didn't know how else to beg, they just smashed their heads hard on the sandy ground, and their blood gradually dyed the land red.
Jian Shiyuan found Shu Su.
He hid in the crowd, staring at Shu Baoxiang with indescribable eyes. He clenched his fists tightly and his face was pale.
Shu Baoxiang also saw Shu Su. Jian Shiyuan noticed Shu Baoxiang's silent mockery and interpreted her lip language:
——If you don’t like it, then why don’t you come?
Are you coming?
Shu Su's eyes turned cold, and she looked a bit like the arrogant she used to be.
The next moment, a terrifying aura came crashing down!
A deafening roar resounded throughout Yongzhou.
Boom!
The heaven and earth trembled, like fireworks suddenly exploding, and wherever it went, fishing lines as pure as gold flew all over the sky.
Shu Su still used the incense and fire method. He was harvesting the people's faith. At the same time, he turned his own power into rain and sprinkled it on the earth.
Shu Baoxiang would spread her beliefs wherever she went, and she would also place Shu Su's god cards alongside her own, which made it much easier for Shu Su to snatch Shu Baoxiang's believers.
The fishing line, as golden as sunlight, covered the entire area and surged outward like water waves, like a tsunami and an earthquake, and everything was shaking.
Everyone could sense it! A vague and sacred figure was floating in the sky.
Like a new sun, it is dazzling and out of reach.
Shu Baoxiang also looked up. Through the dazzling light, the corners of her mouth slowly curled up, then quickly lowered again.
Shu Su couldn't help but take action, and he finally took action
This kind of power is the Hezi Shu Bingxin in Shu Baoxiang's memory.
All the crying and begging stopped, and everyone raised their heads, staring at the figure in reverence and confusion.
A giant beam of light swept down like waves, and the sky and the earth were all bright!
When Jian Shiyuan looked again, the scene returned to its original state.
Inside the palace.
Across the steps, Shu Su raised her eyes while holding Bai He, her lips looking pale due to dryness. Shu Baoxiang stood in gorgeous clothes, holding a sparkling blue bead in one hand.
She said something that Jian Shiyuan was familiar with, "The hatred of having your wife taken away should be irreconcilable."
Shu Su was silent for a long time. He hugged Bai He tightly, sticking completely to Bai He, tightly, as if sucking in its warmth.
Shu Baoxiang maliciously advised Shu Su to destroy the bead, "Destroy it! Even with its help, you are still so defeated and hurt?"
Shu Su was silent at first, then he firmly took the beads out of Shu Baoxiang's hand and held the blue beads tightly.
Finally, she spoke, "Little sister, I'm going out to travel. I may not be back for a long time. Don't worry about me. I will take good care of myself and I will bring you a gift."
Shu Baoxiang frowned slightly, hiding her annoyance well, still with that mocking expression, "You're a loser who can't do anything right, so don't try to be a hero. If you encounter any tough enemies, come back to me. I still say—"
"I am your sister. No matter what you do wrong, I will tolerate you and protect you. You are a waste your whole life, so I will support you for the rest of your life."
Shu Su curved her eyes and nodded towards Shu Baoxiang, "Yes, I understand. Goodbye, little sister."
Shu Baoxiang watched Shu Su leave. She didn't know that goodbye meant never seeing each other again.
She wanted to say something, but looking at Shu Su's back, she said nothing.
Some words, if hidden for a while, can never be spoken out in a lifetime.
Jian Shiyuan saw the white crane jade pendant.
This jade pendant would eventually fall into the hands of the system and be hidden within the Time Stop Sphere. Right now, it lay perfectly still in Shu Su's hands.
Shu Su sat at the bow of the boat, carefully carving a jade pendant.
This is just a small wooden boat used by mortals for fishing. It is crudely made and has no cabin. It drifts with the current and is extremely slow, but Shu Su does not despise it.
It was obvious that Shu Su was in a very happy mood. This must be a wonderful trip. He hummed a song, softly singing a fisherman's tune.
After carving a jade pendant, he used his sleeve to polish the seams, wiping off every scrap of jade and polishing it. Admiring it against the light, it was a truly beautiful, translucent jade pendant, the white crane pattern so vivid that Shu Su smiled with satisfaction.
"This treasure is for you! I carved it myself, so you must keep it well."
Shu Su pushed the jade pendant away, perhaps reluctant to let it go, and looked at it reluctantly for several times.
A male voice sounded in the air. The voice was gentle, with a hint of helplessness at the end. "I don't have a body, so I can't accept the gift you gave me."
Shu Su quickly took the jade pendant, held it in her palm and rubbed it carefully, "Then I will keep it for you first, and I will give it to you when you have a body."
Seeing this, the man laughed, "If you like this jade pendant so much, there's no need to give it to me. I'm not a human, you don't need to give me a gift."
Shu Su quickly waved her hands, "You're my friend, this jade pendant is for you. I spent a long time carving it. Look, my fingers are all red from rubbing it. When I get more proficient, I'll carve a better one for you."
The blue beads flickered slightly, and it seemed very happy, with a smile in its voice, "Okay, please put it away for me first."
The boat drifted slowly downstream.
The story is coming to an end and the picture is gradually falling apart.
Finally, Jian Shiyuan heard the voice of the system. It was calling Shu Su, calling "Bing Xin" again and again. The voice was bloody and filled with the pain and hatred that only humans have.
"Give him back to me—"
I?
Does it possess human emotions and self-awareness?
Jian Shiyuan lowered his eyes, and then he touched another time-stopping ball.
This time nothing fell down. Countless translucent bubbles floated out endlessly. They rushed towards Jian Shiyuan and exploded in front of him one by one.
Thump, thump, like a heartbeat.
Slowly, Jian Shiyuan seemed to really hear the heartbeat.
He was also caught up in another scene.
"Chen family's third son, where are you? Come out and welcome the gods! Where have you been hiding?!"
Boom, boom, that's the sound of the heart beating wildly.
"You little bastard, you're hiding away and slacking off again. You're so lazy you're going to die! Forget it, we'll go first. If the gods blame you, you'll die as a token of your sin!"
Jian Shiyuan saw the scene in front of him clearly.
Outside the dilapidated temple, a group of villagers with pale faces gathered. They were men and women, young and old. They were all ragged, with rough skin and thick calluses on their fingers from years of hard work.
At this time, they were busy with the sacrificial ceremony. The adults held chickens, ducks, fish, meat, incense, candles, and paper money, while the children carried mats and wax paper.
The meat offerings offered to the gods in front of them were tempting in color and fragrant. The children couldn't help drooling at the tempting aroma of meat. The adults were not feeling well either. Their eyes were green and glowing, like hungry wolves, full of desire.
A skinny kid, with only bones left, secretly reached out his hand to wipe the oil off the edge of the bowl, but was spotted by a man who was moving an incense burner. The man slapped the kid in the face, knocking him to the ground.
"Are your claws itching again? Open your eyes wide and see whose tribute this is! If you try to move, I guarantee that your whole family will be in great trouble and your body will be utterly destroyed!"
The child didn't dare cry even though his face was swollen from being slapped. He secretly crouched down and curled up into a ball. He was very short, his clothes were tattered, and he was covered in dust. He jumped out like a gray mouse.
The man was still cursing, calling people "little beast" and "bastard".
After a while, the temple was decorated.
Jian Shiyuan watched as smoke rose like soft clouds. The villagers knelt on the ground, kowtowed to the central clay statue, and muttered something. Jian Shiyuan could vaguely hear words like "cure illness" and "good harvest."
The villagers have such simple wishes. They don’t think about getting promoted, getting rich, or becoming emperors. They just want to eat enough, stay alive, and not get sick.
Jian Shiyuan had mixed feelings. He looked at the food offered by the villagers, and then at the people who were as thin as ghosts. He couldn't help but ask himself, how long would it take them to save up all this food?
Woo.
A gust of cold wind blew, and a sinister aura filled the air.
The villagers lowered their heads deeply, not daring to look at what was happening on the altar.
A chilling wind swept past, and suddenly, a green-faced, fang-toothed demon crouched beside the clay statue. It wore a bright red and green silk robe and was stout, nearly two meters tall. With a goat's head, a human body, and black hooves, it looked like a fanged centaur.
It roared and sniffed, grabbed a chicken, and started to chew it in big mouthfuls, spitting out chunks of fat on the ground as it chewed.
Seeing this, the villagers were so frightened that they trembled, their teeth chattered, and the veins on the back of their hands were bulging with tension.
"Master, it's the untouchables who didn't treat us well, please spare my life!"
The goat demon spat out a mouthful of skin, narrowed his eyes and roared, "Wang Laoer, is this the tribute you gave me? Such a fat chicken is filling my teeth. How do you think I should punish you?"
The man who was named begged for mercy, "Master, we were wrong, please forgive us this time, we will definitely do it next time"
"From today on, your village must offer an extra boy as a sacrifice every day, starting with your son, hahahahahahaha..."
The man was shaking all over and sweating profusely.
"Sir, my son is already eight years old. He's old and has food stuck in his teeth! Why not replace him with our girl? She's only four years old and she's very tender!"
"Stop talking nonsense! Offer your son and daughter together. I'll fry one and steam the other."
The goat demon laughed wildly, and the man turned pale and was soaked. The other villagers stole glances at him, their eyes filled with hatred and sadness.
Hiding in the crowd was an old man, thin as a twig. He rolled his cloudy eyes, slowly crawled forward, and spoke with difficulty: "Master, there are only a few dozen children in our village. If we pay tribute again, there will be no more children. Our village is old and sick, and our future depends on these children. Please be kind and spare us."
The demon snorted coldly and shouted angrily, "How dare you, little old man! I accepted your tribute because I saw your sincerity and willingness to protect you, yet you actually refused to do so! If you offer your children to me as tribute, I will help them escape the sufferings of this world and enjoy bliss. How dare you stop them from accumulating merit?"
As it said that, it dropped the fat chicken, picked up the old man with its greasy claws, pulled him close and roared, "You old bastard, you don't know how to appreciate my kindness. I will use you to make an example of you."
Suddenly, a huge, boiling oil pot appeared in the open space.
The demon laughed strangely, grabbed the old man, pressed his head, and pressed him into the boiling oil pot. For a moment, the villagers gasped in fear, the old man screamed miserably, and the frying food crackled.
The demon was not satisfied with just blowing the old man to death, so he extracted his soul and immersed it in a wok of oil and fried it repeatedly.
This oil pan is not an ordinary vessel, it is a magical tool cultivated by demons that can fry souls.
The old man had done good deeds all his life, and his soul was very pure and beautiful. It was fried until it turned yellow and black. He wailed miserably, and the sound was so loud that it made people's scalps numb. Some of the villagers present who were weak were frightened to faint.
Jian Shiyuan pursed his lips. He had no emotions but could understand anger. Instinctively, he wanted to destroy it all.
A kind-hearted man in his seventies was killed in a bomb and his soul was extracted and tortured. What kind of world is this?
What kind of world is this!!!
Jian Shiyuan remembered this scene deeply, and he became more determined in his decision.
The demons are still laughing wildly. In the clean and bright temple sit demons who kill without blinking an eye. They pretend to be gods and enjoy offerings from humans. Everything is so absurd.
In the depressing atmosphere, Jian Shiyuan heard a sigh, followed by a flash of sword light.
A blurry figure emerged from the light, and only a white light was seen. An endless stream of blood spurted out from the neck of the demon who was laughing wildly just now. Before the villagers could react, more and more blood gushed out.
They stared in amazement as the blood splattered and splashed hot on their faces.
A smile appeared on Jian Shiyuan's lips, showing his comfort.
A column of blood spurted out from the demon's sheep head. As the blood flowed, the entire space suddenly burst into a blood mist!
Countless energy and spiritual energy burst and filled the demon's body.
Before it could react or even see the intruder, it was beheaded by a single sword strike. The sword's piercing light blasted through the entire temple, wiping out all evil.
There was silence, and the villagers heard a nice male voice.
"Incense Shinto, this is the incense Shinto? Haha, what the hell is this!"
"Who am I?"
This was the first time Shu Su saw the world clearly.
For a long time, the incense and Shinto that Shu Su had been exposed to were all clean and gorgeous, like the luxurious performances of aristocratic families, which required sufficient sense of ritual and complicated rules.
In order to win over the hearts of the people and cultivate believers, the aristocratic families naturally cannot exhaust all their resources. In a sense, the aristocratic families have assumed the responsibility of protecting the people. Within the control of the aristocratic families, Shu Su can see bullying, but will never see such a dirty and inhumane sacrificial process.
Seeing this today, Shu Su’s Taoist heart is hurt.
He kept asking himself, what exactly is the Tao of Incense?
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