"Disappear forever..."
Xie Shuci repeated those words in a daze.
Sikong Xin's expression was calm as he said, "At that time, Ban Xiaxi's consciousness will be completely overwhelmed by negativity."
The boy poured a few drops of water from the gourd he carried with him and began polishing the human bone on a stone.
"You shouldn't have come in," the boy said, bowing his head.
"Will he kill us?" Sikong Xindao asked.
"Hmm," the boy mumbled.
"He hates everyone here."
Looking at the empty houses hidden under the gray fog, Xie Shuci couldn't help but feel melancholy and asked, "What exactly happened back then?"
The boy paused, looked up, and said, "So what if I know? It's a fact that has already happened."
"Perhaps there's some misunderstanding?" Xie Shuci held onto a sliver of hope.
The boy replied, "There is no misunderstanding."
Sikong said, "Why don't you tell the four of us what happened back then? Perhaps we can find a way to resolve Ban Xiaxi's inner conflict and bring Chunsheng Mountain back to the surface."
The boy, holding the half-polished human bone, stood up, his gaze sweeping over the four people, and said, "I tried before, but failed."
Xie Shuci frowned.
The boy added, "However, it won't hurt to tell you."
Anyway, you'll never get out of here again.
"Wait a moment." The boy sheathed the bone knife at his waist, turned around, walked to the thatched hut, pushed open the door, and went inside. A faint light shone from within.
By the light, Xie Shuci could vaguely see several dried and blackened fish hanging in the room.
The room was very simple, with a wooden bed against the wall covered with withered grass. The quilt was a mink cloak stained with dark blood, probably the belongings of the first few people who entered Chunsheng Mountain.
Apart from the mink cloak, the room could be described as utterly destitute.
Xie Shuci couldn't imagine how he survived.
Before long, the boy returned to the courtyard with a faded animal hide scroll.
The boy and Xie Shuci sat around the stone table, while Liu Dazhuang moved the tree branch that the boy had half-peeled to their side and sat down next to them.
The boy frowned slightly as he watched his rough movements. "Be gentle, I still need it to make a coffin."
"Make a coffin?" Xie Shuci asked in surprise.
The boy explained, "The bodies of my parents and the villagers are trapped underwater. After I take my revenge, I will retrieve them all. As for those who died here, if you can keep your bodies intact, I will make you a coffin."
Xie Shuci felt a pang of bitterness in his heart. "How many have you made?"
The boy said, "More than twenty coffins. Although there are many trees here, it is too damp, and there is not much wood suitable for making coffins."
"What's your name?" Sikong Xin suddenly asked.
The boy paused for a moment, then said, "My parents haven't had time to name me yet, they all call me Little Dog."
"My name is Xie Shuci, this is my younger brother Xie An, Sikong Xin, and Liu Yunhan."
Finally, Xie Shuci pointed to the king, "It is the king."
The little dog placed the sheepskin scroll on the stone table, then suddenly glanced at the king and asked, "Is it hungry?"
Xie Shuci patted the king on the shoulder, "Are you hungry?"
"Awooo!"
The baby is a tiny bit hungry.
Seeing this, the puppy turned around and went inside. It carefully scraped off a piece of fish with a bone knife and placed it in front of the king, then quietly looked at him.
The stillness of time here gives the puppy a calmness beyond its years.
The king leaned forward and sniffed it. The smell was very unacceptable to it, but under the puppy's gaze, the king felt embarrassed not to eat it. It gritted its teeth, picked up the piece of fish, chewed it a couple of times, and swallowed it before it could even taste it.
The little dog looked away and opened the parchment scroll in front of him. Xie Shuci immediately raised his chin and glanced at it. Inside, there were some ancient pictures drawn with rough paint.
Xie Shuci recognized it at a glance and said, "I saw this painting at the Water God Temple..."
I've seen it in people's graves.
The little dog said, "This file was given to me by an outsider. He is the only person who came out alive after entering this place."
Xie Shuci's body trembled violently. He exchanged a glance with Sikong Xin, who asked, "Who is he?"
"He claimed to be a ward off evil spirits."
Xie Shuci opened his eyes wide in disbelief. Could this also be related to warding off evil spirits?!
In this way, everything Xie Shuci encountered after transmigrating into the book was inextricably linked to the exorcism of evil spirits. Xie Shuci did not believe that such a coincidence could exist in the world!
Upon hearing the words "ward off evil," Sikong Xin and the other man's expressions turned serious.
"Besides giving you the case file, what else did he do?"
How did he leave?
The puppy shook its head and said, "He didn't do anything else. As for how he left, I don't know, but I didn't see his body here. He should still be alive."
The four fell into deep thought.
Xie Shuci wondered, if the person behind these frequent encounters was Bixie, what was his purpose?
Also, why did that dog demon ask him to find the warding-off evil spirit?
The little dog spread out the dossier and said to Xie Shuci, "What I know is not much different from what is in the dossier. Since you have seen it before, you should already know it."
Xie Shuci nodded. "I understand."
The little dog continued, "Back then, my parents' ancestors often had dealings with the Banxia clan. Because of the Banxia clan's presence, Chunsheng Mountain was like spring all year round, and the crops planted by our ancestors yielded a bumper harvest every year. During one harvest season, several playful children in the village accidentally drowned. At that time, our ancestors had few people, and overnight, almost all the young children in the village drowned. As a result, our ancestors harbored resentment towards the Banxia clan."
Liu Dazhuang scoffed, "Others protect you so that the weather is good and the harvest is plentiful, but you can't even keep an eye on your own children, so you blame others for it? You deserve to die!"
The little dog didn't react after hearing this, and continued, "They are ignorant and foolish. Perhaps they think that all the water in the world is controlled by the Banxia clan. They think that they could have saved these children, but instead let them drown in the water. They think that the Banxia clan is not worthy of the title 'Water God'."
Sikong Xin's lips curled into a sarcastic smile. "What's laughable is that the title 'Water God' was imposed on them by mortals. What's the difference between them and worldly cultivators? They're just cultivators who know how to control water and are willing to protect all living beings."
The puppy didn't refute him, as if it wasn't interested in the details.
"At first, although they harbored resentment, they knew that mortals could not contend with the Banxia clan, so they gradually distanced themselves from them. Until one day, a man dressed like a shaman found them and told them that the banxia clan's nemesis was fire." The little dog spoke calmly, "In order to avenge their drowned child, the ancestors, blinded by greed, used a method given by the shaman to hold a torch ceremony in Chunsheng Mountain the day before setting the fire. The Banxia clan was affected by this, their spiritual power declined, and they stayed indoors. That night, the ancestors burned down their tribe, and no one survived, from the oldest to the youngest."
"A bunch of beasts! They're a bunch of beasts!" Liu Dazhuang cursed loudly after hearing this.
Sikong Xin gritted his teeth and held back from cursing.
However, Xie Shuci already knew about this, and felt both depressed and bloated.
The little dog put the dossier away and said, "After the Banxia clan was destroyed, the wizard also disappeared. No one knows his identity. The ancestors recorded this in the family genealogy. The only description of that wizard was that he carried a red longbow."
"A crimson longbow? Could it be the Sunset Longbow from the Xiaoyao Sect?" Liu Dazhuang asked.
Sikong said, "This matter is of great importance. There are countless cultivators in the world who use longbows. Do not speak nonsense."
Xie An, who was listening to their conversation, gave a cryptic smile.
"Since this happened to our ancestors, how do you know so much about it?" Sikong Xin asked.
The little dog put away the sheepskin scroll and said, "Some of it was what Ban Xiaxi said, and some was from my parents."
To my ears.
"You've met Ban Xiaxi?" Xie Shuci asked in surprise.
"You guys have so many questions." The little dog glanced at them, but perhaps because he hadn't had anyone to talk to in recent years, he didn't seem impatient.
“I was once an orphan. This totem on my face is a symbol of my status as a slave. Later, I accidentally ended up near Chunsheng Mountain. At that time, I was about the same age as Ban Xiaxi. I originally planned to commit suicide by drowning myself in the water, but that's how I met Ban Xiaxi. At that time, he was not mute yet and could speak.”
Because the matter was from a long time ago, his face didn't show much emotion when it was brought up again.
The puppy said, "He was my only friend. I heard some things about his family from him. At that time, the whole tribe used their last bit of spiritual power to send him outside the tribe. He could have lived, and I didn't realize he was dead until two years later when I grew taller and bigger, but he hadn't changed at all. That's when I realized that he hadn't left alone. He tried to use his meager strength to put out the fire, but he failed."
When he said the last sentence, the puppy's tone unusually became more animated.
"Because of the totem on my face, even when I begged, no one was willing to give me a bite to eat. Only my parents and the villagers here were willing to take me in. If it weren't for them, I would have starved to death long ago. However, I didn't know that my parents' ancestors were the enemies who killed the Banxia clan. When Banxiaxi learned that I had recognized my parents as my godparents, he suddenly disappeared. When he reappeared, it was three years later, and he was no longer the Banxiaxi I used to know."
Then the flood happened, which caused all the people in the surrounding area to move away from Chun Sheng Mountain. Chun Sheng Mountain also sank to the bottom of the water shortly afterward.
"Do you hate him?" Xie Shuci asked.
“I don’t hate him. I’m avenging my parents because I want to repay their kindness, but I don’t hate him.”
After hearing this, Xie Shuci couldn't help but sigh. Rather than staying in Chunsheng Mountain to seek revenge, Xiaogouzi seemed to be finding a reason to stay in Chunsheng Mountain and silently accompany Banxiaxi through the years of thousands of years ago.
Just like when I first asked him, he said the target of his revenge was "water," not Banxia Creek.
Xie Shuci suddenly remembered something, turned to look at Sikong Xin, and asked, "My Dragon-Subduing Artifact can dispel miasma and allow him to temporarily maintain a positive personality. Can it turn that black seawater back to its original color?"
In some matters, Xie Shuci is like this. He doesn't want to get caught up in who is right and who is wrong. It doesn't matter to him because it has nothing to do with him. He just acts purely based on his own feelings.
It's as if he knows that what his ancestors did to the Banxia clan was terribly wrong and unforgivable, but he is ultimately just an observer and cannot replace the Banxia clan and the "laws" of the original world to punish them. All he can do is do what he wants to do and what he can do.
Upon hearing this, the puppy's gaze froze, and it stared straight at Xie Shuci.
Sikong Xin frowned and pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I don't know. The Fulong magic artifact can indeed drive away the miasma and suppress the resentment on his body, but it can only drive away and suppress it. As for whether it can eliminate the resentment in his heart, I don't know either."
Xie Shuci pursed her lips and lowered her head. "After leaving the Immortal's Tomb, I heard Chu Wenfeng mention that Ban Xiayin cleared away the evil energy on those Yin Ghosts in the tomb. Maybe finding him will provide a solution!"
Sikong Xin didn't have much hope after hearing this. "There's a fundamental difference between malevolent energy and resentment. Besides, the seawater here has been accumulating for thousands of years, so it won't be so easily eliminated. However, since our purpose in coming here is to find Ban Xiayin, we can give it a try."
Listening to their conversation, the little dog looked on with a hint of expectation in its eyes. It then lowered its head, pulled out a very sharp bone knife from its waist, and placed it on the stone table.
"This is the most precious thing I own. I'm giving it to you in return. Could you please do your best to restore the water here to its original color?"
The puppy's eyes were fixed on Xie Shuci's face, its expression very sincere.
Upon hearing this, Liu Dazhuang was taken aback and said, "What's wrong with you, kid? Didn't you want to take revenge on Ban Xiaxi? Why do you want us to help him?"
Liu Dazhuang is so stubborn; he has absolutely no sense of romance.
The little dog was a very organized person. When Liu Dazhuang asked, he explained, "The person who killed my parents is the negative person you all call Ban Xiaxi. If I can eliminate him, I can consider it revenge for my parents."
Liu Dazhuang: "..."
After thinking about it carefully, he actually felt somewhat convinced; the logic seemed to make sense.
Xie Shuci looked at the sharp bone knife on the table and asked, "Is this thing made from human bones?"
The puppy nodded: "Some severed limbs and fragments I picked up."
"No, no! Put it away right away. Even if you don't say anything, I will do my best."
Xie Shuci hurriedly shook his head. The more he looked at that pale, bloodless thing, the more panicked he became. Who would carry human bones on their person! Xie Shuci would be scared to death sooner or later.
Sikong said, "Tell me first how Banxiaxi killed the outsider, and also why you are unaffected by the miasma here."
The puppy nodded and said, "There was no miasma here at first. Perhaps my body had already adapted to the underwater environment, so I wasn't affected. As for how he killed the outsiders and used water, the fact that you are still alive only proves that he doesn't want to harm you for the time being."
A sudden thought struck Xie Shuci. He sat up straight and exclaimed, "Is it possible that the reason Ban Xiaxi isn't killing us now is because we promised him that we would help him explain to Ban Xiayin?"
Sikong Xin paused for a moment after hearing this, then said, "Brother Shuci makes sense."
"So, we're safe until we find Ban Xiayin?" Liu Dazhuang asked.
Sikong Xin shook his head and said, "Not necessarily. Ban Xiaxi's negative emotions are unstable, and no one can be sure when he will make a move. Brother, you should be very familiar with the mountains, so take us to take a look first."
"That's possible, but you all need to come with me to a place first."
"where?"
"Family mound".
After sitting for a while, the group headed towards the back of the mountain.
The little dog led the way with the pearl, and Xie Shuci and the other three followed behind. Perhaps because of the presence of the little dog, a "native" of the group, they were no longer as tense as before.
On the quiet mountain path, the appearance of a few people was like adding a touch of other colors to a silent landscape painting.
Before long, the four of them followed the little dog to the foot of the back mountain.
The terrain here is relatively low, and the black seawater submerges the foot of the mountain, making it appear somewhat bleak under the light of the pearl.
The five people stood on a hillside, looking down at the land swallowed by the sea, and gasped in shock.
On the hillside below, dozens of graves were dug, some containing simple, empty coffins, while the dark, inky sea had already submerged a portion of them.
"The water level has risen again," the little dog murmured, a hint of a sigh in his voice.
"You...dug all of this?" Xie Shuci said incredulously.
"Um."
Looking at the grave being swallowed by the sea, the little dog's expression became both complicated and sorrowful.
“I’ve dug hundreds of graves here,” the puppy said.
Xie Shuci looked at the grave closest to them. The soil on it was uneven, indicating that it had been dug up not long ago.
He would dig up a seabed for every one he filled in.
Xie Shuci had to admire his perseverance; if this had happened to Xie Shuci, he would have collapsed long ago.
As if sensing the five people on the hillside, the quiet sea below suddenly began to ripple gently, the water splashing against the small grave on the ground, and the merciless seawater surged into the grave.
How much hatred must one have to go to such lengths? Not even a place to rest in peace after death.
How can we dispel the resentment that has accumulated over millions of years?
"You previously said that the villagers' bodies were trapped in the water?" Sikong Xin asked.
The puppy pointed to the gradually surging seawater in the distance and said, "It's all down there."
"Then their souls..."
“They’re down there too. Banxiaxi won’t let them reincarnate,” the puppy said.
Xie Shuci sighed.
Xie An, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke up: "Where are the bodies of the Banxia clan buried after their deaths?"
The little dog froze, his face turning pale. He said, "According to the family genealogy, the Banxia clan was burned to ashes, leaving no corpses behind. The ashes... were scattered in the river."
Xie An lowered his eyes, a mocking smile playing on his lips. "It's just an eye for an eye."
"I just don't understand, is it really necessary? To hate them to this extent?"
Sikong Xin also said, "To reduce bones to ashes is nothing more than this."
As for?
Is it really necessary?
Unfortunately, now that things have come to this, there is no one left to answer their questions.
The inky black seawater pounded against the earth, emitting a low, hoarse roar.
For thousands of years, in the silent space, only the sea has been roaring its unwilling anger through its waves day after day.
In a corner they couldn't see, a pale face appeared on the water's surface.
His silver pupils drooped, and he stared blankly at the group of people on the hillside.
Is it really necessary?
These three light-hearted words seem to make everything that happened seem less important.
He closed his eyes slightly, the memories from that time still vivid in his mind.
The fire engulfed the entire tribe; the scorching heat, the fleeing figures, the piercing screams—everything was as clear as if it had happened yesterday.
The intense, scorching flames would frighten them to the point of incapacitating them.
At first, they did not know who was responsible for their impending doom.
So, in the very first moment the fire spread, his brother, the young patriarch of the Banxia clan, was worried that the damned flames would harm the other people in the mountains, because many mortals had gathered there for the torch festival.
When he was in dire straits, the older brother used his limited spiritual power to summon a water mirror, which reflected every corner of the mountain.
He searched many places but saw no one until his tribe was reflected in the water mirror.
Then, he saw his brother freeze.
Amidst the raging flames, her brother stood silently amidst the fire, while Ban Xiaxi stood behind him, her eyes blurry with tears. She couldn't imagine what expression was on her brother's face, which always wore a gentle smile, at this moment.
He saw in the water mirror in front of his brother that a large group of people were standing outside the tribe. They held up torches and threw them into the tribe one by one, burning down their houses and burning their people to death.
Those people had gleeful smiles on their faces and their eyes were brimming with boundless hatred, as if they had committed some heinous crime.
But they clearly didn't do anything.
At that moment, he saw his towering brother tremble.
Brother, are you scared too?
What are you afraid of?
Are you afraid of the sudden fire, or are you afraid of those hideous-looking humans?
The fire destroyed their escape route, and many of their people died or were injured. Apart from the crackling of the flames, not a single cry of agony could be heard.
"elder brother……"
"Um……"
That fear caused a tremor in the brother's voice.
"Uncle...they..."
"Um."
The older brother put away the water mirror, staggered, and leaned against the candlestick. "Xiaoxi, I'm out of strength. You have to escape by yourself, understand?"
"Brother..." Large tears rolled down Ban Xiaxi's face as she shook her head desperately.
The older brother used the last bit of spiritual power in his body to form a stream of blue water that enveloped Ban Xiaxi, but he never turned around to look at him.
“Listen to me, escape through the hole you usually sneak out of. You are the last bloodline of my Banxia clan…”
Banxiaxi was frail and sickly as a child, and his brother asked him to rest quietly in the tribe. He accidentally discovered a dog hole and often sneaked out from there.
So, my brother knew all along.
"I can't hold on much longer, let's go!"
The older brother turned his head and a tear rolled down his cheek.
So, even his brother can be so scared that he cries...
Ban Xiaxi took a deep breath. The phrase "the last bloodline of the Ban Xia clan" seemed to give him endless courage. He wiped away his tears and looked at his brother deeply, as if saying a final farewell. Then he turned and ran towards the place in his memory.
The blue sheen on its body appeared and disappeared intermittently, indicating its owner's fragile physical condition.
He traversed through the sea of fire, his remaining spiritual energy insufficient to support his escape. Just as his spiritual energy was about to dissipate, a wisp of spiritual energy from the sea of fire flew towards him, merging with his brother's spiritual energy to protect his body.
"Go..." came a faint murmur from the sea of fire.
Ban Xiaxi recognized him; this person was her uncle.
As he traversed the sea of fire, faint, almost imperceptible spiritual energy would occasionally fly towards him, as if they were using their last breath to protect the last hope of the Banxia clan and help them escape to safety.
Tears streamed down his face, and the flames made his legs weak, but he dared not stop for a moment. He carried the last hopes of his entire tribe on his shoulders, and he could not stop.
As he crawled out of the dog hole, using his last bit of strength, he ran to a place far away from the fire. During this process, he felt the last bit of spiritual power belonging to his entire clan dissipating from his body.
The disappearance of their spiritual power proves that they are dead.
His body went limp on the ground. Realizing that the last bit of his brother's spiritual power had vanished, he could no longer control himself. He bit his lower lip tightly and let out a low, desperate sob.
However, just then, he heard a series of chaotic footsteps behind him.
He wanted to stand up and leave, but he couldn't muster any strength.
Ban Xiaxi had already escaped the fire, so why did she still die?
Yes, why is that?
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