Chapter 18 Yin Yang Stream (Part Six) Gently wiping with her senior brother's knuckles...
"Hide behind me."
Song San turned his head and shouted at Gu Lianzhou.
As soon as she finished speaking, she lowered her head, bit her fingertip, and smeared the blood on the yellow talisman. To the woman's astonishment, she threw the talisman at her forehead.
The yellow talisman, imbued with the sorcerer's fingertip blood, shot out like an arrow, striking the monster's forehead and emitting a sizzling burning sound.
The cinnabar runes appeared instantly, branding themselves into its flesh, and a series of shrill screams filled the narrow space.
In an instant, a gust of wind rose from beneath the woman's feet and spread rapidly in all directions, stirring up thick snow fog wherever it passed.
Song San raised his sleeve to cover his face and peeked through the crack at the two people standing in front of the door. He saw the old man holding the candle hurriedly pull the woman into his arms and ask worriedly, "Old woman, are you feeling unwell? Why are you shouting so loudly?"
In his haste, he didn't even bother to greet Gu and Song in the courtyard. The two of them helped the stiff old woman and hurriedly turned around and went into the house.
Watching the two figures leave, Song San couldn't help but gasp in astonishment—this monster couldn't even withstand a single blood talisman from her.
How is that possible?
"Senior brother, what should we do now?" Gu Lianzhou looked at the half-open doorway with suspicion, fearing that the monster might rise again and pounce out. He tightly gripped the hem of the Buddha statue beside him. "That old woman seems to be injured. Has the restriction on this courtyard been weakened? Should we escape?"
Song San tugged at his collar, shaking off the remaining snow, and said seriously, "Let's go!"
-
After an incense stick had burned, the two returned to the courtyard dejectedly.
Song San was puzzled.
Although a single yellow talisman is not enough to damage its core, it can certainly shake its demonic power. So why is this restriction still so stubborn?
Recalling the old man's reaction, Song San's suspicions deepened.
This blind old man could neither see the horse carcass in the yard nor the talisman she threw out; his mind and eyes were filled with nothing but his "old woman."
He was a living, breathing human being, yet the demon did not harm him in the slightest. Why was that?
After thinking about something, Song San's already drowsy head became even heavier. Frustrated, he ran his fingers through his hair and paced back and forth in the courtyard.
Seeing her like this, Gu Lianzhou also worried, "Senior brother, you are not fully recovered yet, don't overwork yourself."
Upon hearing this, Song San suddenly stopped and turned to look at Gu Lianzhou.
Gu Lianzhou felt a chill run down his spine under that intense gaze. "Wh...what's wrong?"
Song San raised an eyebrow slightly. "That's strange."
Gu Lianzhou paused for a moment, then nodded and agreed, "It is indeed strange."
What they encountered tonight was as strange as it could possibly be.
The senior brother counted on his fingers and said to himself, "Let's consider that old man as a living person. Add the two of us, and the doctor who gave you the herbs, and that makes four living beings. An illusion that can accommodate four people is something that ordinary demons and monsters can't create. Even before, I've never encountered such a situation."
The dream demon we encountered last time was already a sixth-rank great demon, and the illusion it created could only accommodate two people. But this time, it's much larger.
What kind of powerful demon could possibly achieve such a feat?
Song San's expression was solemn.
That wicked woman was so fragile that she couldn't even withstand a single blow from her; it couldn't possibly be her.
Who could it be?
The long journey over the past few days had left him exhausted. Seeing that there was no movement inside the house, and thinking that the demon had been affected by her talisman and should not be able to cause any trouble, Song San finally stepped over the bloodstains and got into the carriage.
Seeing this, Gu Lianzhou followed closely behind.
The car door closed, blocking out the blood-red moonlight.
Song San rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought. Gu Lianzhou also dared not close his eyes, fearing that trouble might arise while he was asleep. So he simply stared at his senior brother, waiting for dawn.
-
The winter night was long, and just as the first light of dawn appeared in the east, a loud rooster crowed, echoing in all directions.
Gu Lianzhou shuddered, sat up abruptly, and looked around.
When his senior brother was no longer in the cramped carriage, Gu Lianzhou's heart sank. Ignoring the numbness in his legs, he stood up, opened the carriage door, and looked outside.
The courtyard was covered in dust in the early morning. On the snow, his senior brother walked towards the gate with his back to him.
"Senior brother," he called out in a low voice.
But then I saw my senior brother reach out and pull the hospital door inward. The edge of the wooden door slid across the snow and opened with a "whoosh," revealing the scenery outside.
Gu Lianzhou immediately fell silent.
His gaze swept over the vast expanse of white snow again, and his sleepy eyes slowly widened.
As the crimson moon sets and the morning sun rises, the courtyard, once stained with blood and littered with wreckage the night before, is now completely transformed, with only a few messy footprints remaining on the snow.
The horse carcass is gone.
Gu Lianzhou rubbed his eyes and looked at the empty ground again, wondering if his memory was wrong.
He jumped off the carriage, walked to his senior brother's side, and said hesitantly, "Senior brother, I clearly saw someone eat our horses last night..."
Upon hearing this, Song San glanced at him and said with certainty, "It's not your hallucination, I saw it too."
"Then..." He gestured with his hands, looking bewildered, and said, "Where did that huge horse carcass go?"
Could it be that the monster devoured it completely in the middle of the night, and also cleared the snow away in the process?
But his senior brother shook his head, looking completely bewildered and unaware of the situation.
After a moment of silence, Gu Lianzhou lowered his arm and looked out through the half-open courtyard gate, asking curiously, "What is Senior Brother doing?"
Song San turned to look outside the fence. "The restriction has disappeared."
She stepped out of the courtyard gate, turned back to signal Gu Lianzhou, "Come with me."
Gu Lianzhou did as instructed and stepped out of the courtyard. His feet touched the thick snow, and he felt a strange mix of emotions.
He bent down, scooped up a handful of snow, and examined it closely in his palm.
As the snow touched his body heat, it gradually melted, turning into water that flowed down between his fingers.
It was indeed snow, not an illusion.
"I thought about it all night but couldn't figure out what kind of great demon could weave such an illusion." Song San listened to the crowing of roosters and barking of dogs at the village entrance and gave a bitter smile. "Until the blood moon recedes, the east turns white, and the restriction disappears."
"There's only one explanation: Joyful Village isn't actually an illusion." She casually picked up a bit of snow from Gu Lianzhou's palm, slowly crumbled it, and asked, "Junior Brother, have you ever heard of the living dead?"
Gu Lianzhou shook his head and replied truthfully, "Never heard of it, but it doesn't seem like a good thing."
Song San flicked the water droplets from his fingers, turned around, pointed to the house in the courtyard, and said, "You and I both saw him last night. The old man was enshrining his wife's memorial tablet in the house. He was clearly a widower, but just last night, his deceased wife returned to the world and stood with him. She looked no different from when she was alive."
Gu Lianzhou stared at his senior brother's actions, paused for a moment, then took out a handkerchief from his sleeve, stepped forward, and wiped the water from his hands. "Senior brother, do you mean that old woman will come back to life tonight?"
“Not entirely.” Song San’s gaze fell on the sapphire blue handkerchief covering his fingertips, and he slowly shook his head. “Judging from the manner last night, it didn’t seem like a resurrection, but rather like an evil aura had invaded the body of the deceased.”
Gu Lianzhou had never heard of such a horrifying thing before, and fell silent for a moment, carefully wiping his senior brother's knuckles.
Song San's eyes flickered slightly, and he awkwardly withdrew his hand. He cleared his throat and continued, "Only by using the power of demons and evil spirits can one set up a restriction. How could a mere wandering soul have the ability to cross between Yin and Yang and wreak havoc on the world?"
Recalling the white demonic aura he had seen last night, Gu Lianzhou believed his senior brother's deduction to the point of being 90%. "If that's the case, that demon is probably very difficult to deal with. In your opinion, what should we do now?"
The air fell silent for a moment.
Under the expectant gaze of the other party, Song San slowly raised the corners of his lips and smiled warmly, "Of course... I'll run."
Although she didn't know why the village was so strange, staying there would only be a pointless waste of her time.
Now that the restrictions have been lifted, the path is right in front of us. If we weren't fools, why wouldn't we run?
Therefore, the two reached an agreement and, before dawn, packed their valuables and set off on their journey out of the village.
-
Since the two were in a hurry to leave the village, they naturally walked faster than usual. In just a quarter of an hour, they saw the crooked tree at the end of the road.
Gu Lianzhou finally felt relieved, and his tone became much lighter, "Senior brother, when I return to the boundary marker, I will definitely leave a mark to warn those who come after me."
Song San tightened the bundle on his shoulder, not stopping, "You're kind-hearted, let's go out first and talk."
Upon hearing this, Gu Lianzhou belatedly realized that something was amiss.
Given how strange Huanxi Village is, what became of the travelers who stayed there before?
If he escaped safely, why didn't he leave a mark to warn others as he had thought, instead letting the situation escalate to its current state?
As he got closer and closer to the crooked tree, his unease grew stronger.
As I approached the fork in the road behind the crooked tree, my unease reached its peak.
He heard two rustling sounds, and suddenly a dark shadow darted out and rushed straight towards him!
Gu Lianzhou was startled and had nowhere to avoid it, so the dark figure pounced on him and fell to the ground.
In an instant, the world spun around, and everything seemed to go black. His senior brother's voice seemed to come from the bottom of the valley, swirling and echoing in his ears.
"Junior brother? Junior brother?"
The sound became clear in an instant.
Gu Lianzhou's knuckles tightened, and he grabbed a handful of snow from the ground, struggling to prop himself up as he looked at the dark shadow at his feet—
A pair of golden pupils stared straight at him.
"Meow—" The shadowy figure opened its mouth, revealing a pink tongue and a row of sharp teeth.
It bent its front paws and slowly groomed its fur, appearing completely harmless.
What pounced on him was...
Black cat?
Gu Lianzhou slowly opened his eyes and reached out to grab the "culprit," but saw it nimbly twist its body, avoid his hand, and walk behind the tree.
Song San helped his junior brother to his feet, looked warily in the direction the cat had left, and shouted, "Who's there? Come out!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a soft laugh rang out from above.
Song San raised his eyebrows slightly and looked up in the direction of the sound.
In winter, most trees are bare, but among the intersecting branches, a young man dressed in black sat calmly. He had his hands folded behind his head, his legs crossed in a lazy manner, leaning against the tree. His long, narrow phoenix eyes looked at her through the gaps in the branches.
His eyes were full of mockery.
The three remained silent for a moment. Finally, Song San scoffed and said, "I hate it when people turn their backs on me."
juvenile:"……"
Gu Lianzhou: "..."
What should I do if my senior brother speaks so rudely?
Whether it was his imagination or not, as soon as his senior brother finished speaking, the person in the tree withdrew his hand, awkwardly tugged at his clothes, and became much more restrained in his demeanor.
The man nimbly jumped down from the dead tree branches, landed steadily, and looked at the two of them.
Song San sized up the unfamiliar face before him—
The boy had a youthful face and a slender build, but his eyes revealed a maturity beyond his years. Under her scrutiny, he did not back down in the slightest.
He seemed to be someone who had seen it all before.
Looking at his sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, with his red lips and white teeth, it was clear that his noble air was not as obvious as that of the local villagers, even though he was dressed in rags.
This must be an "outsider".
Song San made this conclusion in his mind.
"Have you seen enough?" the boy asked irritably, gripping his sword tightly.
Song San then shifted his gaze to the strange wooden sword.
Those who roam the martial world, whether they carry a long sword made of black iron or a pair of short swords, all look majestic and imposing.
But the one in front of me is made of wood.
Are you using this to scare children?
A note from the author:
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