Chapter 26 A Child's Debt (Part 1) A Taoist Talisman Was Planted in My Heart...
Gu Lianzhou frowned.
Endless flames flashed before my eyes.
Lava gushed from underground, spreading across the scorched earth, and wherever it passed, the withered bones sizzled and crackled.
A wisp of bluish-gray smoke emerged from the hollow eye sockets of the skull and drifted towards the throne above.
The tall man leaned back on the throne. Gu Lianzhou tried to see his face clearly, but his gaze was out of control and landed on the pale back of a hand on the armrest of the chair. The wisp of smoke seemed to have a mind of its own, slowly wrapping around the man's fingertips and tightening in a flattering manner.
Suddenly, the earth trembled, and a roar that seemed to come from an ancient beast resounded throughout the land.
Gu Lianzhou suddenly opened his eyes.
A red banner with yellow lettering came into view.
Gu Lianzhou blinked slowly, and after a long while, he could see that the flag embroidered with the four large characters "Wanxing Trading Company" was being pulled and flapping loudly in the biting north wind.
The braying of donkeys continued unabated.
Wait, is that a donkey braying?
He turned his head and strained to see the pile of straw about eight feet high beside him, and Song San sitting on the side with a blade of grass in his mouth.
As if sensing something, the senior brother looked over in the next instant.
Their eyes met, and neither of them spoke.
After staring at each other for a long time, the senior brother casually picked a blade of grass from between his teeth and said lazily, "Oh, you're awake."
"Hmm." Gu Lianzhou responded, fragmented images of the rushing water flashing through his mind, a hint of embarrassment crossing his face. "Senior brother..."
"Gu Si, you're finally awake!" The boy's clear voice interrupted their conversation. Gu Lianzhou turned his head in surprise and saw two heads staring at him from head to toe in the messy pile of straw.
Yu Qi squeezed forward, pulled a hand out of the hay, and placed it on Gu Lianzhou's forehead, saying to himself, "It's not hot... Gu Si, you're always so sleepy, did you hurt your head? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere right now?"
"Are you a doctor and am I a doctor?" Liu Dai swatted away the dusty hand and said dismissively, "I think Brother Gu was exhausted a few days ago. After suddenly settling down, he was physically and mentally exhausted, which delayed his reaction and made him so sleepy."
After saying that, he reached out and grabbed Gu Lianzhou's wrist to feel his pulse.
Fragmented memories flooded Gu Lianzhou's mind like a sudden storm—a rushing river flashed before his eyes, countless demonic energies fleeing from the Valley of Resentment attacked him, firelight flickered in the wind, flags fluttered in the air; carriages loaded with people and goods, and a group of...knife-wielding servants.
"Why are you jumping so fast?" Liu Dai clicked his tongue twice, shook his head, and looked at Gu Lianzhou, saying, "Why are you so agitated? Did you have a nightmare or something?"
Gu Lianzhou rolled his eyes, his gaze falling on his senior brother's calm face, and said in a low voice, "No, I remember everything."
In his memory, on that day, yin and yang were reversed, and the world was shrouded in darkness. His senior brother led him out of the valley, and after the group reunited with great difficulty, he saw countless demonic energies overflowing from the cracks in the valley and rushing in all directions.
Two or three of them pierced straight into his brow.
He immediately fainted, and when he woke up, he was lying on Yu Qi's shoulder. In the distance, his senior brother was negotiating with a group of merchants passing by.
I still remember how much effort my senior brother had to put in to persuade the other party to allow the four of them to stay on the cart carrying the grain.
Now he lies on that rickety donkey-drawn cart.
Liu Dai released his grip and breathed a sigh of relief: "It's good that you remembered. You don't know, we met a very kind person. Did you see this flag?"
He pointed to the brocade banner with its curled edges above his head, his eyes filled with hope, "Wanxing Trading Company treated us like refugees and initially looked down on us. It was only thanks to Master Song's silver tongue that he persuaded the caravan leader to give us a ride."
"Tsk tsk tsk, they say there's always a way out." Yu Qi lay back on the soft hay, looking at the blood-red sunset on the horizon, and sighed, "I never thought that I, Yu Qi, would see the light of day again, hahahaha..."
Perhaps the laughter was too loud and startled the donkey pulling the cart. The donkey's braying "Ee-woo, ee-woo" rang out along with Yu Qi's laughter, disturbing the driver.
The burly man with a full beard turned around, looked at the four "vagrants" in the haystack, and said impatiently, "What's all the noise about? If you keep making noise, I'll throw you all out."
Liu Dai immediately covered Yu Qi's mouth and put on a fawning smile, "Master, my brother just lost his composure because he was happy about something. Please be magnanimous and let us off the hook."
Seeing this, the man snorted and turned his head away to focus on driving.
"Mmm—" Yu Qi shook his head to break free of the hand in his mouth, propped himself up to sit up, glared at the back of the driver's head with dissatisfaction, and then turned to Liu Dai, "Who is your brother?"
They did manage to keep their voices down, so they were relatively obedient.
Liu Dai said helplessly, "This is not Happy Village. You can't make a scene here. Just bear with it for now. We'll give you your freedom once we get to the city."
Seeing that the other party was still upset, he advised, "This is an opportunity that Master Song obtained. Even if you don't care about the monk, you should at least care about the Buddha. You should restrain yourself."
"Tch." Yu Qi crossed his arms and lay back down stiffly like a corpse, muttering, "Then I want to be the older brother."
Upon hearing this, Liu Dai's lips twitched slightly: "Don't you even look at your immature appearance? You dare to presume to call me your brother? It's simply laughable."
Thinking this to himself, he readily agreed and managed to calm the little darling down.
-
The wheels rolled along, speeding through the wilderness.
Song San suddenly turned his gaze to Gu Lianzhou, raised his eyebrows, and silently said: Come here.
As dusk settled and visibility was limited, Gu Lianzhou knew that his senior brother had something to say to him, so he moved to sit up and leaned closer to him.
“There are seven demonic energies in your body now.” Song San raised his hand, his knuckles slightly bent, leaving only his index finger to tap Gu Lianzhou’s chest.
She lowered her voice as much as possible, but Gu Lianzhou still heard her—
“I planted a talisman on your heart to suppress your demonic power. The side effect is that you will be in a coma for three days.”
Even through the thick clothing, a burning sensation slowly traveled from my senior brother's fingertips, reaching my heart and bringing a slight sting.
Gu Lianzhou's pupils trembled slightly. He lowered his eyelashes and looked at the fingers on his chest.
My senior brother's finger bones are long and well-proportioned, and his nails are neatly trimmed with a faint reddish hue. There are thin calluses on his joints.
And this seemingly harmless hand can penetrate skin and flesh, reaching the heart to plant a spell inside.
"Heh. Seven demonic energies." Song San withdrew his hand, leaned back, and looked leisurely at the stunned Gu Lianzhou, saying, "Junior brother, how many more surprises do you have that I don't know about?"
Of the four, only this unlucky one was favored by the demonic energy. If she hadn't stopped him in time, Gu Lianzhou's mortal body would probably have been riddled with holes by the demonic energy.
Where would the present-day scene be?
Gu Lianzhou raised his hand and touched his chest, then looked up at Song San. Before he could speak, his senior brother waved to him.
"If you want to repay me, then learn to draw talismans properly. Once you have mastered it, you will be able to fight back when evil spirits get close. It will be better than being like a funnel now, accepting all evil energy without resistance."
Song San muttered, "You are still my junior brother, so I have to bring you to Uncle Nie in your entirety. As for apologies or thanks, that's unnecessary. Silver is more practical. Give me a hundred taels for each demon, and seven demons will be seven hundred taels. Hmm... When we get to Nancheng and see Uncle Nie, won't you, Young Master Gu, have to hand over your entire fortune to me? No way, what if the Gu family collapses by then?"
"Senior brother, the Gu family isn't that poor..."
Song San seemed to be obsessed with money, ignoring Gu Lianzhou's words. He looked at the full moon in the sky and thought it was a piece of silver. "Then I'll give you a discount since you're my fellow disciple. Also, after you come with me to the South City and meet your master, you must go to the temple to pay your respects."
She sighed deeply and said, "You're the unluckiest person I've ever met. How come you can't even swim? You've almost drowned several times..."
As if remembering something, Song San suddenly bit his back teeth and stopped talking.
She glanced at Gu Lianzhou and saw that he was also staring at her in a daze. A nameless anger flared up, and she said angrily, "What are you staring at like an idiot for? Don't you understand the saying that diligence leads to mastery and idleness leads to ruin? Tomorrow you need to work harder and make up for what you've missed these past few days. Remember that?"
Having said that, he felt he had said too much and turned his head away in annoyance, refusing to look at Gu Lianzhou.
My senior brother was truly furious.
Gu Lianzhou had just woken up, his mind still foggy. He could barely understand his senior brother's words, and now he couldn't even get a word in edgewise as his senior brother lectured him like a torrent of beans.
After fully processing what he had just said, he moved forward and squeezed into the dry haystack, sitting side by side with Song San.
"Senior brother, this is for you." He took out a brocade pouch from his bosom and handed it over.
The finest brocade brushed against the back of his hand, its warm, silky smooth texture prompting Song San to lift his gaze.
In Gu Lianzhou's hand lay a dark blue sachet, its embroidery equally exquisite, but unlike the money pouch from before, it was not bulging.
She took it with surprise, untied the ribbon, opened the sachet slightly, and looked inside. "What is this?"
Gu Lianzhou explained, "I was in a hurry to leave the village and didn't bring any money with me. Then the flood washed away all my valuables. Now all I have left is this piece of jade, which I'm giving to you today, my senior brother."
Song San emptied the contents of the container, held it in his hand, and examined it closely in the twilight.
This stone is smooth and white all over, and judging from its appearance, it is carved into an animal.
The small beast had clearly defined scales, full and plump paws, and a tail sculpted with a lively and graceful style. It was clearly a valuable and exquisite piece.
After looking at it for a while, Song San frowned slightly and asked, "Is it a tiger? Tsk, it also looks like a Pixiu, could it be a Taotie?"
Gu Lianzhou shook his head and said, "Qilin."
The hand covering the jade suddenly tightened, and a pair of eyes, sharp as could be, stared straight at him.
Song San said coldly, "What did you say?"
"According to legend, the Qilin is an auspicious beast that symbolizes peace and prosperity."
Gu Lianzhou failed to notice the wariness in his senior brother's eyes. He calmly took the jade unicorn from his senior brother's hand, turned it to face Song San, and said, "The appearance of the unicorn signifies peace and prosperity in the world. It's a good omen. If possible, I would like to ask that you not pawn it for money, but simply consider it a token of my goodwill."
Song San stared at the jade lump in silence for a long time, then suddenly twitched the corner of his mouth and said, "You're giving me a Qilin?"
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