Chapter 33 The Debt of a Child (Part 8) A lone man and woman should stay away from him...
"Song the sorcerer?"
Upon recognizing Song Qiling sitting on the ground, Wan Hongling's disheveled face instantly regained its vitality, and her almond-shaped eyes brightened even more. She pushed herself up, took a few steps to the two of them, and bent down to look them up and down.
Miss Wan's gaze swept over the young sorcerer's haphazardly bandaged right hand, and she froze, her face tense as she asked, "Sorcerer Song, how did you get your hand injured?"
Song Qiling looked at Wan Hongling, then raised her eyebrows slightly—why was she the only one who had been hit by the butcher's knife?
Could it be that the owner of this illusory place is giving her special "care"?
Thinking this, she heard a few children's mocking laughs in her mind. She gritted her teeth and said, "It's alright. I was fooled by that pig's head earlier, but I wasn't hurt too badly."
Upon hearing her mention pig's head, the expressions of the people present all changed.
A maid named Qiu'er approached with her head down, tugged at Wan Hongling's sleeve, and whispered, "Miss, this place is different from other places. It's best for a lone man and woman to stay away from Young Master Song..."
Upon hearing this, Gu Lianzhou, who was sitting upright on the ground, slowly raised his index finger, pointed to his nose, and said, "There is still one person here."
If you don't consider yourself a human being, you don't have to treat me like an ornament either, right?
The maidservant didn't bother to glance at the person on the ground, and only pulled her mistress back. Suddenly, she heard the man surnamed Song chuckle, and then she looked up.
But then Song, the sorcerer, shook his head, picked and chose among the piles of grass on the ground, and finally picked up a slightly thicker blade of dry grass, which he casually swiped across the thick layer of dust.
This means they don't want to talk to them...
Qiu'er pursed her lips, turned around and gathered straw to make a comfortable place for Wan Hongling.
“Miss, this villain is extremely vicious. He probably knows your identity, which is why he kidnapped you to extort money from the master. Let's wait patiently, and the government officials will surely come to our rescue.”
Qiu'er spread soft straw on the open ground, pulled Wan Hongling to sit down, raised her chin and gestured towards Song Qiling at the other end, "Some people, they benefit from Miss's favor, and they don't even know how to be grateful. They are truly ingrates."
Upon hearing this, Wan Hongling could no longer sit still. She frowned and looked at Qiu'er, "How can you talk like that? What time is it and you still can't see the situation? If it weren't for the merchant guild's involvement, why would Song the sorcerer and his group be imprisoned here?"
She glanced at Song Qiling from afar, a hint of embarrassment flashing in her eyes, "It is we who have delayed Young Master Song, how can we talk about favors?"
If she hadn't pestered her father to settle them all in the inn, how could Song the sorcerer have been implicated?
“Young lady, don’t take all the blame on yourself.” Song Qiling held a handful of dry grass, paused slightly, and said, “This place is not reality, but the realm of demons and monsters.”
"Nonsense!" Qiu'er's eyes widened, she put her hands on her hips, convinced that the person in front of her was a charlatan, and said angrily, "Where is the monster? This dungeon looks really real to me. If it weren't real, how could the dry grass all over the place be so detailed?"
As she spoke, she kicked her skirt and strode towards the torch in the corner, reaching out to touch the flame. "If this weren't reality, this fire wouldn't burn anyone, would it? I can see it clearly..."
Huh? It's not hot?
The flame flickered, and a wisp of black smoke rose as it touched Qiu'er's fingertips. The little girl was stunned for a moment, then reluctantly grasped at the flame for a while.
"Although the flames don't burn people, they can still scorch the skin and leave marks," Song Qiling kindly reminded her.
Upon hearing this, Qiu'er recoiled as if electrocuted, brushed her fingers clean, and then looked at Song Qiling with red eyes, "Master Song, Immortal Song! We've been captured by a monster, what are we going to do!"
After saying that, the little girl was about to cry.
How could those supernatural tales from storybooks have become reality? She's still young, with so much of her life ahead of her; she absolutely cannot lose her life here!
Wan Hongling wasn't much better off. Seeing her maid so flustered, her previous doubts vanished instantly.
What the sorcerer Song said was all true.
They encountered not kidnappers, but demons.
In all her life, when has she ever set foot in any evil or demonic lands?
Looking around at the incredibly realistic scenery, Wan Hongling felt a chill run down her spine, her scalp tingling. "Master Song, what... what should we do?"
Song Qiling looked at the crisscrossing lines on the ground, marked two of them, and tapped them lightly with a blade of grass. "There are already six people imprisoned in the dungeon, which shows that this demon's strength is not to be underestimated. Even if we force our way out, we probably won't be able to leave its territory."
"So we're just going to stay here and wait to die?" Qiu asked, her face ashen.
“He won’t die.” Song Qiling looked up and glanced at the little girl, and said indifferently, “Even the Black and White Impermanence have their own set of rules for taking lives, let alone the colorless and formless demonic energy. If it wants to harm people, the only way it can do so is to scare them to death.”
At this point, she raised her intact left hand, her five fingers slightly curled, and made a sharp claw shape next to her face.
His pale and gloomy face startled Qiu'er.
At the same time, Gu Lianzhou's muffled laughter echoed from a quiet corner.
As if recalling something interesting, the young master shrugged slightly and trembled all over, clearly about to burst with suppressed urges.
Those who knew him were laughing; those who didn't might have thought he had suddenly fallen seriously ill.
Song Qiling slowly lowered her hand and gave this guy a disdainful look.
"So everyone, don't panic and fall into that monster's trap." She withdrew her gaze and looked back at the topographical map. "For now, let's wait and see. In less than a day, that thing will reveal its true colors."
After saying that, she grabbed a handful of straw, swept away the lines on the ground, stood up, chose an open space, leaned against the railing, and closed her eyes to pretend to sleep.
The torch on the wall swayed unhappily for a moment, then suddenly went out, leaving only a wisp of smoke drifting in the air.
Suddenly, everything went completely dark.
Wan Hongling trembled, reached out and held Qiu'er's hand, and they huddled together in the hay to keep warm.
Suddenly remembering what Young Master Song had said, she mustered her spirits and patted Qiu'er's hand as a gesture of comfort.
-
The morning light slanted in through the narrow window high up in the cell, cutting a white line on the damp stone wall.
Song Qiling and her group were awakened by the sound of iron chains dragging on the ground.
The sound, mixed with the scraping of gravel, rolled over my eardrums as it drew nearer.
The noisy footsteps were chaotic and came on fiercely.
The butcher wasn't the only one who came.
In the distance, before anyone could be seen, several streaks of fire flashed and gathered in front of the prison cell. Wan Hongling was dazzled by the light and looked out through the iron bars.
After just a quick glance, the young lady gasped, "Someone's here! It's the soldiers!"
"Are they here to rescue us?" Qiu'er exclaimed in surprise.
Song Qiling slowly frowned and said in a low voice, "They are not human. Look carefully and see what they look like."
Countless figures approached, forming two orderly rows outside the prison cell. They were dressed in blue cotton-padded jackets, with short knives at their waists; at first glance, they were indeed the attire of constables. It was understandable that Miss Wan admitted her mistake, but...
The heads of those "captains" were not visible above their necks, but rather grayish-brown coarse hemp paper bags, on which the character "soldier" was hastily drawn in ink.
The scene was clearly one of solemn oppression, but the crudely made paper bags added a touch of childishness.
Gu Lianzhou stood up, quietly moved closer to his senior brother, and whispered, "How can this be even more terrifying than my dream?"
Song Qiling glanced at the person beside her, curled her lips into a cold smile, and said, "Are you being modest again? Your dream is far more extraordinary than this one."
In his dream, even the graffiti face of a maid was terrifying enough; how could the paper bag man in front of him compare?
Having grown accustomed to the bizarre sights before them, the two remained unfazed, even having the leisure to chat with the group of paper bag figures. However, Wan Hongling and her servant had never witnessed such a scene before, and were immediately terrified into silence, huddling together and trembling.
"Let us out!" Yu Qi's hoarse voice suddenly rang out from afar.
Song Qiling remained silent for a moment.
This person was restless last night, shouting incessantly. She tried to reason with him, but he wouldn't listen, insisting that they were fake, a demon in disguise, and telling her not to spread rumors and mislead people.
It's like a stubborn rock that can't understand human speech.
Finally, Song Qiling got too lazy to pay attention to him and simply closed his eyes to rest and recharge, leaving the fool alone to shout until his voice was hoarse.
Liu Dai, on the other hand, remained completely silent from beginning to end, as if he had vanished from the world.
"Wah ya ya ya ya ya—" The man's high-pitched, slightly shrill voice passed through the two rows of "soldiers" and slowly approached the group.
Song Qiling looked in the direction of the sound and slowly opened her eyes wide.
A burly man dressed in a crimson python robe with a crane embroidered on his chest and a jade belt around his waist walked slowly over, singing in the style of traditional opera.
This time, instead of the character for "soldier," the character on the back was a bowl-sized character written in vermilion ink.
Perhaps because the ink was not yet dry, the cinnabar was dripping down the paper bag's texture, congealing into blood droplets at the bottom, adding a touch of bloodiness.
As if to fit the occasion, the children in the next room burst into uncontrollable wailing upon seeing the burly man in red, their wailing so loud that it instantly drowned out Yu Qi's roar.
The cell suddenly became a lively scene.
The butcher stood side by side with the "official," pointing his bloodstained machete at the men in the cell, as if introducing the new arrivals at his butcher shop to those around him.
Although Song Qiling did not hear him say a word.
The "official" beside him, however, danced with glee, flicked his sleeves, clasped his hands in a fist and bowed to the sky, and sang in a theatrical style, "You've done a good job—the higher-ups will be very satisfied when they find out—"
Upon hearing this, the butcher let out a pleasant "huff" from deep within his throat.
"Let's begin—that's it—" The operatic voice rose sharply, like a death warrant being thrown to the ground, sentencing everyone to death.
The butcher dragged the chain forward a few steps, then took out a key and inserted it into the lock.
Wan Hongling and Qiu'er stood up as if electrocuted and retreated in a panic.
Begin? Begin what?
Is this an attempt to take their lives?
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