Chapter 14 The gods seemed unable to hear, but Qin Wenxue did…
“However… I remember this gate was built to ward off malevolent energy. There’s an array on it, which should be able to withstand these rotting corpses and bones, and help us live a little longer.” After saying that, he walked to the door and leaned on the wooden door, intending to close it.
Shi Wenzhe also stepped forward to help. She didn't know what the wooden door was made of, but it hadn't decayed even after hundreds or thousands of years. She touched the patterns on the edge of the door and vaguely thought she smelled a floral fragrance. Shi Wenzhe leaned closer to the wooden door and sniffed, but couldn't smell anything anymore.
The wooden door creaked, like the dying gasps of an old man in his twilight years, and Shi Wenzhe couldn't help but soften his grip.
But before the door could be fully closed, the base got stuck and wouldn't move. The door slammed open and closed twice, making a clanging sound. Shi Wenzhe looked at the shaky door with a pounding heart.
"You!" Shi Wenzhe stopped him, saying, "Be gentle."
“I didn’t use any force,” Ming Shu retorted, then slammed the door twice more. With a “crack,” Shi Wenzhe watched helplessly as the wooden door made its final, desperate attempt to break under the weight, finally crumbling into pieces and falling to the ground in disarray.
Ming Shu hadn't even finished closing the door when he stared wide-eyed at the lifeless wooden door, almost collapsing from his stumble.
"Why is he so fragile?"
Shi Wenzhe felt utterly hopeless and glared at him, saying, "I already told you to be gentle!"
The night wind was chilly, making both of them feel extremely cold.
A piece of white bone climbed up to the hem of Shi Wenzhe's clothes and tugged it down forcefully.
Ming Shu pointed at the white bones, his voice hoarse, and then screamed, "Ahhhhhhhh!"
Shi Wenzhe followed the finger and saw the familiar, ominous white bones that made her want to cry. She covered her eyes and refused to look. With a determined heart, she kicked the bones. The sound of the bones hitting the ground was somewhat like pearls falling to the ground. Shi Wenzhe couldn't help but think, "It's quite crisp."
"Are we really going to be in big trouble?" Shi Wenzhe squatted in front of the shrine and hugged herself tightly, while pulling Ming Shu, who was snuggling into her arms, outwards. "Don't push me. You said you would protect me."
Ming Shu said in a trembling voice, "I'm scared."
Shi Wenzhe could tell that this guy was genuinely scared. She wondered if what the other person said about mutual generation and restraint was true. If it was true, why was he so afraid? It was truly an eye-opener. He was supposed to be a native demon, yet he wasn't as brave as this human who had only recently become a demon.
"Sigh." She could only stay here with Ming Shu and wait. Ming Shu said, "This statue has been worshipped by people, and even the earthen shrine has a trace of spiritual power, which can protect them for a while."
Shi Wenzhe opened his mouth repeatedly, but still couldn't help asking, "Why don't you whip them? Ruosu seems to be a very powerful whip, and you look like you can fight very well too."
Ming Shu puffed out her proud little chest: "Of course, Ruosu was given to me by His Excellency. It is the only Ghost-Slaying Whip in the Yellow Springs and the Azure Heavens."
Shi Wenzhe asked curiously, "Why is it about fighting ghosts?"
Ming Shu pouted: "Actually, it's for fighting demons, but demons are our own people, so it doesn't sound very good. I asked His Majesty to bestow upon it the Demon-Slaying Whip. Yun Jin said I was naive. How could she understand? This is an honor for me and Ruo Su!"
If Su happened to dodge at the right moment, she would feel honored.
Shi Wenzhe: "..."
"Alright." She sighed, but at this moment she inexplicably empathized with the Venerable One that Ming Shu had mentioned. Taking care of children is not easy, but it seems that the Demon Lord is doing a good job.
The various claims made about him by outsiders seem inaccurate. The Demon Lord isn't as cold-blooded as he appears; at least he's quite good to the simpleton beside him.
For some reason, she felt a sudden urge to ask Qinwenxue.
I think of that tall, imposing figure, and the cool, snow-scented fragrance emanating from him.
She had only been in Zhaoyao Continent for two days, but she had already experienced many life-and-death situations. In fact, she had only met Qin Wenxue once, but she always felt that it was quite different from meeting Ming Shu once.
What's different? She didn't know; at least when she looked at the mangled, bloody face of the rotting corpse, the only thought in her mind was: "Qin Wenxue."
She thought, "Qinwenxue, I'm a little scared."
The roaring and howling grew closer, only a threshold away from them. The putrid stench assaulted their senses. The broken oil lamp in the ancestral hall crackled. Its flame was weak, as if it had burned for hundreds or thousands of years, and now it was at its last gasp. Shi Wenzhe watched it sway unsteadily, fearing that a strong gust of wind would extinguish it.
The white bones had already touched the toes of her shoes. Shi Wenzhe pulled her feet back slightly and gathered her loose clothes. She liked the clothes very much and didn't want to get them dirty.
As if sensing something, the earthen shrine trembled and lit up a semi-circular barrier, keeping the approaching danger at bay. The barrier was sparse and the light was dim, but it protected the two of them.
Ming Shu is right. The power of human will is really strange; it seems like anything is possible.
Can gods and Buddhas really protect people from death?
"I don't know." Shi Wen rested her head on her lap, like a simple, innocent child, unaware of life or death. She quietly stared at the rotting corpses and bones outside the barrier, at the sharp, long fingernails, at the decaying flesh. The bones were bathed in a warm glow under the yellow candlelight, not particularly terrifying. Why weren't the corpse's eyes rotten? Why were they bluish...?
A heavy object fell from her shoulder, and Shi Wen snapped back to reality. It was Ming Shu who had fallen asleep, her head resting on her shoulder.
His eyebrows and eyes were illuminated by the candlelight, giving him a gentle and serene appearance.
Shi Wenzhe thought to herself, "He's almost dead, how can he still fall asleep?" But she didn't wake him. Everything that happened today was quite unbelievable. Actually, she was also very tired, but if someone had to be the guardian, she was willing.
Good for cutting.
In this tiny space, they were able to lean on each other and rest peacefully, even though danger was just five feet away.
If the barrier were a glass dome, it would surely have many scratches and cracks. Shi Wenzhe was a little worried, wondering how much spiritual power remained here, and whether it would be enough to protect them until Qin Wenxue arrived.
If she makes a wish to the statue now, will her spiritual power increase? She is a human being, no, she is not a human being now, so will her wish still be valid?
She was a little anxious, her fingertips unconsciously digging into the soil, completely unaware that her fingernails had flipped over.
The stench intensified, and Shi Wenzhe's heart skipped a beat. She tentatively reached out a finger to touch the barrier, but unexpectedly passed through it. The dark green fluorescence settled on her fingertip, corroding her flesh.
Shi Wenzhe abruptly withdrew his hand, hugged Ming Shu tightly, and shook him repeatedly: "Ming Shu, Ming Shu! Wake up, this barrier is about to disappear."
But Ming Shu seemed to be unconscious, completely unresponsive. Shi Wenzhe felt a chill in her heart. She trembled as she checked his breath with her fingers. The faint breath touched her fingertips, and a huge weight was lifted from her heart. She went limp.
"When did you faint? Why did you faint?" Ming Shu was back to back with her, so she had no idea about Ming Shu's condition. She couldn't help but recall when it started, since Ming Shu hadn't been hurt at all. It seemed to have started when the barrier appeared. At that time, Ming Shu's reaction was very slow, as if she was weak and powerless, but she still responded to Shi Wenzhe with strength.
Shi Wenzhe felt a pang of sadness, unsure whether to blame Ming Shu for not telling her or to be touched by Ming Shu's secret protection.
The barrier turned into dust, which drifted onto the two people's hair. Shi Wenzhe seemed to hear the prayers of many people traveling through time and space, overlapping and intertwining, falling into her ears, heavy and resonant.
A sharp pain shot through her back, and she smelled the stench of blood, which drove the rotting corpses and bones mad, tearing at her flesh with increasing ferocity. Her back was wet and cold, and she hugged Ming Shu tightly, burying her head in his chest, not daring to look up.
The rotting corpses and white bones piled up one after another, and Shi Wen's back was getting heavier and heavier, almost burying her in the ground. But beneath her was the unconscious Ming Shu, and she could only use all her strength to hold up a space.
Her consciousness was beginning to fade, and blood trickled down her forehead, falling onto Ming Shuyue's white clothes. She tried to wipe it clean with her free hand, but it was torn apart and eaten by the menacing rotting corpse.
Ruosu on her wrist had been quiet all along, but it lit up for a moment just as she was about to lose consciousness. In that instant, Shi Wenzhe regained her clarity and strength.
It was strange, she thought she was about to die, because a normal human being would not survive more than ten minutes being torn apart by rotting corpses and bones. Ten minutes would be enough to devour her without leaving a trace. But Shi Wenzhe seemed to have lived for more than ten minutes. Moreover, after the pain and numbness subsided, she gradually lost the ability to feel her body and the pain.
"That's strange, how is she still alive?" She looked at her body and found herself completely unharmed. What was that flesh and blood around the corpse's mouth?! She was almost completely eaten!
She suddenly remembered the last words Ming Shu said to her before he fell into a coma: "They can't kill me, don't be afraid. As long as I don't die, you won't die either." He spoke with great difficulty, as if he had used up all his strength just to speak.
Shi Wenzhe once joked, "You seem to be a little more afraid of dying than I am, but don't worry, I'll always be there for you."
What did Ming Shu say? Ming Shu seemed to have said nothing, but Shi Wenzhe didn't care because she was completely captivated by Ming Shu's previous words. She was in a daze because Ming Shu mentioned Shifang City. He said that Shifang City was actually quite prosperous. Although it didn't have the lively atmosphere of a human city, the demons in Shifang City still had a certain peace and tranquility in their secluded corner. Although there wasn't much, he liked it very much.
"What is Shifang City like?" she wondered. "Is it like the memories transmitted from the flowers and plants? But it seems to be the human world. Is the Demon Realm the same? Will it have the steaming aroma of hot buns?" She wanted to go out and take a look.
"If I have the chance, I'd like to go with Qin Wenxue. Qin Wenxue seems very capable, and she would feel at ease if he were there. But is there still a chance?"
Shi Wenzhe felt as if she had been hit with a hammer, her brain unable to think. She raised her head in disbelief. Ming Shu was hugging herself, as if instinctively protecting something in her arms. She looked at Ming Shu's pale lips and silently shed tears.
In just a few breaths, how did he grow so many white hairs? Why is his body so cold? Why is he almost out of breath?
Shi Wen felt as if her heart was being torn apart, and it seemed she understood everything.
She thought, "This is an immense debt of gratitude that I can never repay."
"So many white hairs, you look quite pretty with them." She muttered to herself, her palm continuously channeling spiritual energy into Ming Shu.
Unfortunately, she was just a flower, a useless little white flower, whose spiritual power was too weak to be of any use.
The person in his arms grew colder and colder, the rise and fall of his chest was about to disappear, Shi Wenzhe's heart sank slowly, his eyelashes trembled helplessly, and tears streamed down his face.
The rotting corpses outside continued to fall one after another, their flesh and blood flying everywhere. Every now and then, the crevices would be eaten clean and then grow back, only to be eaten clean again. This cycle repeated itself until the wick of the lamp was shortened. In this constant cycle of life and death, Ming Shu grew increasingly lifeless.
Shi Wen's fingers trembled uncontrollably. She could no longer feel Ming Shu's faint breath. A faint sob rose in the ancestral hall, not very noticeable amidst the noisy roars, but pitiful.
"Do gods really protect people's lives and deaths? If so, then she should make a wish: that Qin Wenxue would fall from the sky, that Ming Shu would live to be a hundred years old, and that she herself could live towards death."
Do gods protect people from death?
Do gods protect the life and death of monsters?
Would the gods care about the life and death of ants on earth?
"The gods seem unable to hear, but Qin Wenxue... heard them."
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