Chapter 44 The Dog-Beating Stick Biubiu The sound of faltering footsteps could be heard...
Shi Wenzhe's unsteady steps, having purified the malevolent energy from the children, had exhausted all the spiritual power she had just recovered.
Ahead lay a vast plain, shrouded in mist, with smoke billowing everywhere, and sand and gravel swirling around withered branches and leaves, dancing and swirling above the huge, fluttering flags on all sides.
Several crows suddenly appeared out of thin air from a formation, their dark eyes staring intently at the two people rushing towards them. They flew around the flags and watchtower, their broad wings stirring up hurricane-like sandstorms, before landing on the watchtower.
Shi Wen looked over and saw nothing but four banners and four watchtowers; there was no one there either.
"Where is this?" she asked.
"Moonlit Canal"
"Didn't you say there were people on duty tonight? How come we can't see a single ghost?"
"Shh, don't speak." He suddenly pulled Shi Wenzhe into his arms, using the Dharma to silence her. Shi Wenzhe was already scared and flustered, and at this moment she seemed unable to even breathe, and couldn't help but want to cry.
Sui Yuan led her to a place where the ground was covered with dense, eye-catching golden runes. The pendant on Sui Yuan's forehead shimmered, emitting a bluish-black metallic luster, like the feathers of several crows. The runes suddenly emitted golden light, and the earth beneath her feet seemed to surge, as if something was about to emerge from the ground.
But she waited for a long time, and nothing happened.
She stared blankly at Sui Yuan, who seemed equally incredulous. The pendant on her forehead emitted blue light several times before finally ceasing its activity and remaining motionless.
"Why can't this formation teleport you?"
Shi Wenzhe said, "I...I don't know either."
The black fog had already swallowed most of the sky, pressing down heavily. Shi Wenzhe looked up and felt that black was the most hated color. Not a moment, not a second, did she want the sun.
Sui Yuan looked at him with an expression of disbelief, and cast spells several times in a row. The runes lit up and then went out. Finally, as if she was annoyed by this person, she ignored him completely.
Peach Blossom Valley began to crumble and disintegrate, its shimmering fragments scattering across the surrounding world like a silent, boundless snowfall, which, along with the smoke of war and dust, fell into the endless abyss.
The golden runes on the soles of her feet vanished, turning into an empty void. Shi Wenzhe stepped into an isolated space. She felt like a bird trapped in a glass jar, wanting to struggle out, but the jar was transparent and blended into the surrounding environment, making the exit hidden. She couldn't find her way, didn't know where she was, and even became confused about time and space.
Sui Yuan and she were imprisoned in the void. He seemed to have his life force and soul drained away. His body froze, frozen in place, and he became that stiff porcelain doll again. His face and body began to melt, and paint splashed all over the ground.
A thunderclap suddenly echoed across the sky, followed by a series of lightning bolts striking down from thousands of miles away, as if breaking the shackles of space. Sui Yuan's lifeless eyes suddenly brightened, as if he had received a signal from afar. He slowly raised his head, his entire demeanor changing, becoming much more composed and reserved, as if he had instantly grown into an adult, his soul maturing somewhat. He was somewhat bewildered by the sudden situation, glancing at Shi Wenzhe and the surrounding world. The pendant on his forehead continued to glow, until another bolt of lightning struck. Sui Yuan stared intently, his eyes filled with surprise, and asked uncertainly, "Little White Flower?"
Shi Wenzhe was almost dumbfounded. Was Sui Yuan's brain not working properly? Had she forgotten her so quickly?
Sui Yuan groaned, resisting the melting of his body. Only half of his face remained, his eyeballs hollow and gone, leaving only two empty eye sockets staring blankly at Shi Wenzhe. He spoke with difficulty, his voice trembling and hoarse, yet he still suppressed the pain in his body, uttering each word slowly and deliberately: "I saw..."
Shi Wenzhe reached out, cupping the melted paint in her hands, intending to smear it on his face. Seeing Sui Yuan's nonchalant expression, she was nearly frantic: "What did you see?!"
Sui Yuan chuckled softly and said gently, "Don't bother, and don't worry about me. This place is a manifestation of Linglong's obsession. You should leave now."
Shi Wen asked in return, "Where can I go?"
For some reason, even though Sui Yuan wasn't wearing red clothes, red paint flowed from his eyes, like tears of blood. His voice trembled, and half of his face was covered with ominous black lines. He looked like a demon crawling out of hell.
Sui Yuan said, "He wants to take your life. Remember... from this moment on, do not release any of your purifying power."
Shi Wen, her neck stiff, slowly raised her head. Red paint was smeared all over her body. Half of Sui Yuan's face had melted away, with only a corner of her mouth still holding a smile, like a corpse that had not yet fully decomposed.
"Sui Yuan, Sui Yuan." Shi Wen's voice trembled, and he was already incoherent: "Sui Yuan!"
There were too many questions she hadn't yet asked, but then she saw Sui Yuan exhaust all his strength. With a series of cracking sounds, he was struck by lightning and turned into dust, silently disappearing into the space, even his soul vanishing without a trace.
"Don't worry, this is just a wisp of my consciousness. We will meet again soon." Sui Yuan's last words still lingered in the air. Her tone was very gentle, as if she were comforting the flustered Shi Wenzhe. Shi Wenzhe seemed to see the affectionate eyes of the other party through those words.
Tears often fell like rain.
"Why did she initially think this person was so gloomy? He was clearly..." Shi Wenzhe's voice was dry as he slowly said, "He was clearly a good child."
Shi Wenzhe's eyes were vacant as she looked at the hand that had just held Sui Yuan's body. It was covered with melted paint, the only trace she had left to prove that Sui Yuan had ever existed. But the paint was gradually fading and disappearing. Shi Wenzhe clenched her hand to stop it from disappearing, but in the end, she was powerless to do anything about it.
The space was vast, and layers of black mist pressed down on her. She was like a sail isolated beneath the waves, tossed and turned by the crashing spray. But the sail was too small, a tiny, unnoticed presence in the vastness of the world. Her fate was constantly tossed about, and the boundless black mist surrounded her, slowly eroding her space to survive.
The light was swallowed up, it was pitch black, and not even the wind could get in. Shi Wenzhe felt a suffocating feeling from the cramped space, as if a rough rope was around her neck, the force gradually increasing, determined to take her life.
The black mist transformed into countless snakes, burrowing straight into her seven orifices. She couldn't see clearly and tried to reach out to grab them, but all she touched was air. The icy touch shot from the top of her head to her stomach, making her feel nauseous. Her hands and feet were bound, and she was brazenly restrained in mid-air, forced to endure the inexplicable attacks.
"She's dying, she's really dying." A voice told her, incredibly real and intensely, that she was about to die and no one could save her.
Pain spread throughout his body, and tears welled up in his eyes. Shi Wenzhe was panting heavily, whether from anger at the black mist or from fear and sadness.
The sound of her breathing gradually increased, and Shi Wenzhe was breathing with all her might, stubbornly resisting. Even though she knew that her chances of survival were slim, that annoying voice was right. She was isolated and helpless, and she was about to die.
But so what? Shi Wenzhe wasn't afraid of anything except death. As long as she wasn't dead, even if it was her last second, she would struggle and shout.
She believed Linglong wanted her dead, but she didn't believe it was the Linglong she had seen. The Peach Blossom Valley was no longer the same place, and perhaps it wasn't what he wanted. Once she survived, she would find Linglong and ask him clearly, and preferably slap him a few more times so he could feel the pain he had suffered.
"Ah!!!!!" she screamed. The black mist gripped her heart tightly. Shi Wenzhe felt the powerful squeezing force, as if it was just waiting for the right moment. The black mist, which was eyeing her heart like a tiger, was about to pounce on her and crush her heart, leaving her without a complete corpse.
She heard the invisible chains binding her body being pulled and tugged, and she seemed to hear the clattering sound of heavy fragments echoing in the void, repeatedly stimulating her soul.
"Linglong!" she suddenly cursed, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, which she coughed up forcefully. "Linglong! You bastard, if you want my life, come and take it yourself! What kind of person hides behind my back! Damn it, I at least cooked you a meal. Even if I didn't do anything special, I still put in the effort. Our friendship may be shallow, but we hit it off immediately. How could you do this to me? Damn it! Damn it! If you're not going to show up, you'd better never show up again! I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you!!!"
Shi Wenzhe was filled with resentment. Was she to be forced to remain trapped here and die silently? Why, why!
She had never seen the City of Ten Directions, nor the mortal realm or the Nine Heavens. Ming Shu said that the Chang'an Passenger Road was ten miles long and filled with peach trees, but they had never bloomed. She wanted to go and see it.
And Qin Wenxue, Qin Wenxue... Is his poison cured? Is his body still cold? Will he look for me after he finds I'm missing?
"It hurts so much..." Shi Wenzhe thought and cried, tears welling up in her eyes again, wetting her collarbone, spreading all the way down to her heart.
"How can there be so many tears and so long?" When the heart beats, tears shimmer at the same frequency, and unspoken longings also vibrate, wondering if they will be sent to another person at the same frequency.
As she thought about it, her vision began to turn white, a lump of air stuck in her throat, threatening to suffocate her. Her brain felt like it was being hammered, and her soul began to drift. She seemed to see through her eyes and see her own dying body struggling. A surge of strength welled up from somewhere, and Shi Wenzhe, relying on that extraterrestrial power, shook off the black mist that bound her.
"Thump—" She fell to the ground. The dizziness from lack of oxygen made her stagger. The force was brutal and rapid, sweeping from her abdomen all the way to her throat and finally straight to the top of her head. In an instant, her senses cleared. Shi Wenzhe felt like fireworks were going off in her head. Her body felt especially light. A white light flashed in her chest. Something cut open her chest and pulled out a short stick.
"Crackling sounds." The short stick made a dazzling entrance, emitting brilliant sparks that blinded Shi Wenzhe's dog eyes.
"?!" Shi Wenzhe exclaimed, "It's a ghost..."
The short stick was dark bronze in color, with intricate patterns engraved on it. However, the patterns were not obvious, and it looked dirty and extremely ordinary and dull, like a fire poker from a farmhouse kitchen, or a fire poker picked up randomly on the road.
However, this stick is extremely conspicuous.
The short stick suddenly lengthened, glowing with a red halo. It swept across the area like a thousand troops, forcing the black mist around her to scatter. Finally, it vanished completely in the sweep of the stick's wind, like beating a dog. Shi Wenzhe was dazzled by the flashes of fireworks, her eyes sore from staring.
She felt the stick was a bit unreasonable and domineering, but she liked it very much.
She touched her chest, secretly marveling at how amazing her body was, managing to fit a short stick inside. She wondered if there had been any bleeding when it was removed.
She groped around haphazardly, and finally looked down to find that her body was unharmed. The dull pain she felt when someone cut her open seemed to be an illusion.
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