Chapter 29 A Child's Debt (Part 4) This little brother is so fierce...
The frustration in his heart had not yet dissipated. Song San took a few steps forward and suddenly heard rustling footsteps ahead. He glanced up and saw two figures walking from the other end of the corridor.
One of them was Wan Hongling.
She had changed into a light blue silk skirt, over which she wore a red jacket embroidered with gold thread. Her hair was neatly styled, and her whole appearance was bright and shiny, clearly showing that she had dressed up carefully.
"Song Shushi (a Taoist priest)".
Wan Hongling smiled from afar and said with delight, "What a coincidence! I was just about to look for you."
Having said that, he strode over, leaving the maid behind him a few steps behind.
Song San: "..."
It's truly a case of enemies meeting on a narrow road; it's as if this person timed his arrival perfectly to ambush her.
With no way to avoid it, she could only grit her teeth and nod, saying "Miss Wan." As the girl drew closer, she subtly took a half-step back.
Wan Hongling walked quickly to the front, stopped awkwardly, and then took something out of her sleeve and handed it over.
"I've been embroidering this purse for several days, thinking of giving it to Young Master Song." As she spoke, a faint blush rose to her cheeks. "Do you like it?"
Song San lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on the exquisite purse in her hand—the purse was embroidered with crane patterns in gold thread, the stitches were fine and dense, obviously a lot of work had been done.
Song San just couldn't understand it. She had only met Wan Hongling twice, so what had she done to make Miss Wan treat her like this?
Therefore, she refused without hesitation, saying, "Your craftsmanship is excellent, but I am used to using old things. I would like to leave this purse to someone more suitable."
As soon as she finished speaking, Wan Hongling's face stiffened for a moment. "Why is Young Master Song being so formal? It's just an ordinary purse."
“Miss Wan,” Song San interrupted her, “I have other important matters to attend to. Let’s talk another day.”
After saying that, she slightly bowed, stepped aside, and walked quickly past.
Wan Hongling stood frozen in place, the purse in her hand slowly drooping.
She watched Song San's departing figure, bit her lip, and a trace of resentment flashed in her eyes.
"Miss, this person is so disrespectful, why are you still paying attention to her?" Qiu'er, the maid following behind, had never seen her young mistress like this before, and couldn't help but grumble to herself. The young mistress is usually a gentle and reserved person, so why does she become so attentive when she meets that refugee named Song San?
Upon hearing this, Wan Hongling lowered her eyelashes, a nameless anger rising in her heart. "I certainly don't want to act so rashly, but when it comes to 'love,' has there ever been any logic to it?"
In the end, something must have touched a nerve, because the young lady, just beginning to experience romantic feelings, realized she had said something inappropriate. She hurriedly raised her hand to cover her lips, a hint of annoyance flashing in her eyes.
Why did you, Gods and Bodhisattvas, speak your mind?
Upon hearing this, Qiu'er was startled and quickly lowered her head, focusing her attention on her nose and mind.
She was young and naturally didn't understand what love was.
She had followed her mistress since she was a child, taking care of her every need, and knew her mistress's temperament best. However, Wan Hongling's behavior these days made her more and more uneasy.
It's like... it's like a different person inside the shell.
-
Song San descended the creaking stairs, but before he reached the lobby, he heard a wolfing sound and stopped in his tracks.
Who's eating in the middle of the night?
Turning the corner of the stairs, you'll see a person sitting in a corner of the lobby, with a mountain of bowls and plates piled up in front of him.
In the flickering candlelight, the man moved mechanically and hurriedly, stuffing food into his mouth as if he hadn't eaten for generations, choking his back until it bulged, yet he was still unsatisfied, eating insatiably.
Then look at this person, whose black hair is tied up high, with a few strands sliding down his shoulders as he moves.
Song San couldn't help but feel his eyelids twitch.
"Yu Qi?" she called out tentatively.
As soon as he finished speaking, the man in front of him turned his head stiffly to look at him.
Crumbs fell all over the boy as he moved, staining his dark clothes in patches.
Yu Qi stared intently at her, his pupils unfocused, as if he were bewitched.
Looking at his swollen cheeks and the corners of his mouth stretched bloody from the food, he even had difficulty opening his mouth.
Song San frowned slightly. "Yu Qi, stop eating."
Yu Qi wouldn't listen to any of it. He picked up the steamed bun next to him and tried to stuff it into his mouth. His mouth was already full, but he didn't seem to realize it and pushed the food scraps in.
Loss of consciousness?
Three words suddenly jumped into Song San's mind. Sensing something was wrong, he took a few steps forward and clenched his fist, delivering a heavy punch to Yu Qi's abdomen.
The boy cried out in pain, his neck veins bulging, and his fair face flushed red. Then, with a loud "whoosh," he vomited violently.
Song San quickly dodged to the side, and fortunately, he avoided being splashed by the vomit all over the ground.
The sour, foul odor gradually spread through the air.
The boy in black robes hunched over, like a shrimp struggling on a chopping board, convulsing slowly with each vomiting motion.
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Yu Qi wiped his mouth, raised his bloodshot eyes and looked over, his voice hoarse as he asked, "Brother Song?"
Song San raised an eyebrow: "Awake now?"
Looking at the mess on the floor, Yu Qi belatedly felt disgusted with himself. He propped himself up on the table, took two steps back, and then felt a splitting headache. He frowned and closed his eyes.
"What's wrong with me?" He raised his hand to his stomach, looking puzzled. "I remember being very hungry, so I went downstairs to get some food. By the way, where's the shopkeeper?"
He still remembered the shopkeeper telling him to call him if he wasn't full, but now only he and Brother Song were in the main hall.
Song San also found it strange, "When I came, I only saw you, I didn't see the shopkeeper."
She paused, then got down to business, "I want to ask you, when did you contract this amnesia? Didn't you realize it at all?"
Yu Qi shook his head in confusion.
"This amnesia has come on so suddenly that it has amplified your appetite a hundredfold," Song San said with exasperation. "If I hadn't discovered it in time, you would probably have been stuffed to death tonight."
Upon hearing this, Yu Qi belatedly felt a chill run down his spine and broke out in a cold sweat.
After a long moment of stunned silence, he finally came to his senses, slapped his thigh, and said, "No wonder I always feel hungry. It turns out I'm not growing, I'm possessed!"
Judging from his tone, there was even a hint of excitement.
Song San's lips twitched slightly as he said, "Now is not the time to be thankful. Do you remember when you fell for their trick?"
Yu Qi looked troubled. "Ever since I left the village and got on Wanxing Trading Company's donkey cart, I've been craving it terribly. If I had to give a specific time, it would be the day Brother Gu wakes up..."
Song San clicked his tongue.
How is this related to Gu Lianzhou?
Didn't she already seal away those seven demonic energies?
His brows furrowed into a small mountain of worry.
"Go to Doctor Liu's room now. Do not eat anything until the demonic energy is completely eliminated," she instructed, then turned and walked towards the stairwell.
Yu Qi said "Oh," glanced down at the filth on the ground, and although his stomach was rumbling with hunger, he was too nauseous to muster any appetite.
-
Song San left and then returned, going back to Gu Lianzhou's door.
Just as he raised his hand to knock on the door, he suddenly felt a chill brush against his neck. He hesitated, and his hand paused.
She closed her eyes and silently recited the mantra of stillness. Suddenly, a damp, musty smell wafted over her.
Song San opened his eyes suspiciously.
With a forceful pull, the wooden door opened with a click.
As far as the eye could see, the candle on the candlestick was already half burned, the melted wax slowly dripping down and piling up at the bottom, casting swaying shadows on the wall in a dim yellow glow.
Although it was a quiet room, a cold wind rose from beneath my feet, making me shiver involuntarily.
Behind the bed curtains, Gu Lianzhou's slender figure was hidden under the quilt. Hearing the noise, he mumbled something and then propped himself up against the bed.
"Senior brother."
Song San could see it clearly: the curve hidden under the bedding slowly rose and swelled, like a moth struggling before breaking free of its cocoon, and the shadow cast on the wall grew ever larger.
She narrowed her eyes, stepped over the threshold, her right sleeve trembled almost imperceptibly for a moment, and the yellow talisman in her hand flew out, piercing straight towards the bed curtains.
The moment the talisman touched the bed curtains, the entire room suddenly distorted, as if the reflection on the water's surface had been disturbed.
In a short while, the 'reflection' began to slowly peel away, revealing the pitch-black void behind it.
Where was Gu Lianzhou in the huge room?
Countless pairs of green eyes lit up in the darkness, densely clustered together, sending chills down one's spine.
Thinking to himself, "This is bad," Song San turned around and went back to the corridor, only to hear the wooden floor under his feet groaning under the weight.
Looking up, one sees that the doors on both sides of the long corridor are tightly closed, the lights are on, but it is eerily quiet.
Song San placed his hand on his waist and strode towards the stairwell.
"Click".
Suddenly, a crisp sound of breaking wooden planks echoed beneath my feet.
Song San lowered his eyes and looked down through the gaps in the wooden planks. His pupils suddenly contracted—below the planks was a wasteland overgrown with weeds.
A gust of cold wind swept in and extinguished the candlelight at the end of the corridor.
Darkness surged in like a tide. Song San pulled out an illumination talisman, lit it, and finally saw the scene before him clearly.
This is no inn; it's clearly a dilapidated, abandoned temple!
In the flickering firelight, a broken Buddha statue lay askew on the altar, covered in cobwebs, and the incense burner was filled with dust.
The corridor she had just walked through was actually the ruins of a temple. And those tightly closed doors were nothing more than shadows cast by the collapsed walls.
"Hehehe..." A crisp yet eerie laugh came from all directions.
A cold wind swirled up the withered leaves on the ground, and countless green eyes lit up in the darkness. The eyes seemed to find it novel, rolling around and focusing their gaze on Song San in the center of the dilapidated temple.
Song San took a deep breath and shouted, "You monsters, quickly reveal yourselves!"
As if it had heard some incredible joke, the laughter grew increasingly wild, transforming from a high-pitched child's voice into a deep, resonant one.
"Qianqian, this young man is so fierce, I'm so scared."
"Then throw him into the butcher's house and make him suffer!"
"Hey, let's throw that brother who's emitting black aura in too. I think they get along really well."
Why should we reward him?
"Yeah, why should we reward him?"
"None of the adults are any good!"
"They must be taught a lesson they won't forget..."
The deep, resonant voice turned high-pitched again, “Then let him taste the pain we have suffered.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the chatter around him fell silent.
Song San frowned, about to say something, when suddenly he felt his feet slip and a strong sense of weightlessness washed over him.
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