Chapter 49 Dodder (Thirteen) I looked away, unable to bear it any longer…
His scalding breath brushed against the side of her neck, as if to leave a bright red mark on her skin. The young man's restrained and stoic voice slid down her neck to her ear and into Song Qiling's mind.
What can't be controlled?
Song Qiling flinched for a moment, trembling as she tried to back away, but the weight in front of her seemed to sense it and took a step forward as well.
The knee-high withered grass was trampled and bent, making a soft "rustling" sound. Song Qiling's breathing became erratic, and she raised her hand to press against her junior brother's chest, a trace of helplessness flashing in her eyes.
A strong, powerful heartbeat emanated from her palm, almost leaping out of the man's thin clothes. Song Qiling's knuckles slightly bent as she gripped the soft fabric tightly.
"Junior brother..." she steadied her breathing and asked in as calm a voice as possible, "What happened? Are you feeling unwell?"
Feeling a cool strand of hair brush against his neck, the man slowly shook his head, exhaling with difficulty, "It's nothing."
Song Qiling: "..."
You certainly don't look like you're unharmed.
Gu Lianzhou's trembling eyelashes slowly lifted, revealing the dark color of his pupils beneath.
It wasn't that he was physically unwell; quite the opposite, when all the dodder vines were released and wrapped around his senior brother, it was as if a fish out of water had suddenly found a spring of sweet water. His heart felt fuller than ever before, and he even had the terrifying thought that "it wouldn't be bad if this continued for a long time."
Fortunately, my senior brother was unharmed.
Gaining a sliver of reason, he released his senior brother, took a step back to avoid the probing gaze, and looked up at the sky.
The night was like old cotton wool soaked in ink, pressing down layer upon layer, not even a single star could be seen.
"Senior brother, the demonic energy within me seems to be out of my control." He spoke calmly, as if he were talking about something perfectly ordinary.
Song Qiling slowly opened her eyes wide.
-
An amber halo floated on the bluestone path. Gu Lianzhou followed behind his senior brother, stepping on his slender shadow.
Song Qiling tried to turn back several times, but her junior brother refused each time. In the end, she simply covered her head and continued forward.
I wonder what's wrong with my junior brother. He's been behaving strangely tonight. Could it be that the seal has failed?
After passing through a covered corridor, Song Qiling subconsciously headed west, but then, as if remembering something, she turned slightly and headed towards the south wing.
Gu Lianzhou watched in surprise as his senior brother pushed open the door and stepped into his room.
"Let me check it again for you," the senior brother said, turning around.
Standing in front of the door for a moment, Gu Lianzhou panicked as he watched his senior brother take out a tinderbox from his sleeve. He blurted out without thinking, "Senior brother, can we not light the lamp?"
Song Qiling looked at him with a puzzled expression: "How can I help you watch the light if I don't light it?" As soon as she finished speaking, she puffed out her cheeks and blew on the tip of the tinderbox.
A crimson flame flickered in the darkness as the senior brother carried a tinderbox into the inner room. In no time, the oil lamp on the table was lit, and its warm yellow light instantly filled the entire dormitory.
But then he saw his senior brother turn around and wave at him: "What are you standing there for? Come here."
It seems that Senior Brother is determined to stay here tonight.
Gu Lianzhou's throat tightened, and his feet seemed to be rooted to the spot, not daring to move an inch.
He looked down at his black boots, feeling uneasy. If he were to step into the house today and his senior brother saw the dodder plant at his feet, he would probably be mistaken for a monster.
If his senior brother distances himself from him because of this...
No.
He cannot enter the house.
Seeing Gu Lianzhou turn around again as if he were having a fit, Song Qiling's eyelids twitched, and she hurriedly called out, "If you run away again, I won't care about you anymore!"
Gu Lianzhou's heart skipped a beat, and he stopped in his tracks. A moment later, he turned around and looked at the person in the room.
Song Qiling said helplessly, "Come here."
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw her junior brother lower his eyes to look at his toes, as if he had made some great decision. He swallowed for a moment, then lifted his foot and walked towards her.
Black boots with white soles stepped over the threshold and landed slowly. The hem of his robe cast a dark shadow on the floor tiles. Gu Lianzhou looked up and saw his senior brother's brows furrow slightly. His heart tightened instantly, and he immediately looked away, not daring to look.
Suddenly, he heard hurried footsteps approaching him.
"What are you doing, acting all coy like this, a grown man?" Song Qiling strode up to Gu Lianzhou, pulled him by the arm and led him forward, then closed the door and locked it deftly, with an air of 'no one is getting away today'.
He pressed the person down onto the saddle stool in front of the table, and finding it inconvenient to bend over, he pulled the person up again and began to pull at the person's belt.
"Senior...Senior Brother." Gu Lianzhou raised his hand to press on his waist, staring at Song Qiling in confusion, "Can't you see the shadow?"
What insane question is this madman asking now?
Song Qiling glanced down at the shadows beneath their feet, then looked up to meet her junior brother's eyes. "I'm not blind, how could I not see? It's you who's spouting nonsense."
After saying that, he belatedly realized what he had seen and hesitated, "Did you see something unclean?"
Gu Lianzhou nodded.
That's how it is.
Song Qiling looked even more helpless: "Ancestor, don't forget that you were born with a pair of yin-yang eyes, which allows you to see things that others cannot."
The air seemed to freeze for a moment.
Only when the hand on his waist started moving again did Gu Lianzhou breathe a sigh of relief, as if he had been saved from a desperate situation.
The senior brother couldn't even see the dark figure.
A sudden surge of joy welled up within him, and he felt a loosening around his waist. Looking down, he saw his senior brother tossing the emerald green leather ribbon toward a nearby table. A moment later, a pair of slender, graceful hands pulled down his robe.
Fang Song's breath caught in his throat again. Gu Lianzhou stared at those hands, then awkwardly looked away, gazing absently at the curtains hanging to the side.
In the large bedroom, only the two of them breathing could be heard, interspersed with the crackling sound of the oil lamp burning.
First came the outer garment, then the inner garment. When the inner garment was removed, soft, warm fingertips accidentally brushed against his skin. Gu Lianzhou's breath hitched slightly, his throat bobbed for a moment, and all the muscles in his body tensed up.
Perhaps it was the "dodder" causing trouble, or perhaps he was too paranoid tonight, seeing threats everywhere, which prevented him from relaxing.
His senior brother was worried about his health, which should have made him happy, not like this, with his mind in complete disarray.
He closed his eyes briefly, feeling a gentle breath brush against his chest, and his senior brother's muffled voice came: "Junior brother, how long have you been feeling unwell?"
Does the discomfort my senior brother mentioned refer to his restlessness, or something else?
Gu Lianzhou, his mind still somewhat hazy, pondered for a moment before realizing that his senior brother was referring to the dark figure.
Therefore, after a moment's hesitation, he replied, "About five days."
Song Qiling raised her hand and covered the golden rune on her junior brother's chest, gently stroking along the lines, causing a chill to rise wherever she went.
She looked up at her junior brother and said, "It is a bit chilly, but please bear with it. I will try to hurry."
He lowered his head again, his gaze returning to the rune, and he couldn't help but wonder, "This rune was drawn by me with a dragon whisker brush dipped in gold ink. It doesn't dissolve in water, so there's no reason for it to be damaged."
She looked at it again and again, then raised her hand to her chin, and said thoughtfully, "Since the runes are complete, the demonic energy should not be overflowing. Yet you feel that the demonic energy is out of control, which is indeed illogical."
“There is another possibility.” Song Qiling raised her hand to pull Gu Lianzhou’s clothes up, met his blank gaze, and said with a wry smile, “Junior brother, you may have accidentally become the substitute for that evil spirit.”
"A body double?" Gu Lianzhou frowned. "What is a body double?"
“It can also be called a puppet,” Song Qiling explained. “Ordinary people’s bodies cannot withstand the possession of evil spirits, but you are different from others. You were born with the ability to see yin and yang, and you are very easy to attract evil spirits. After being tempered and refined like this, you may have already merged with the demonic energy in your body. If this continues, you may become its puppet.”
As he spoke, Song Qiling's expression also became serious. "Junior brother, I still do not know how to break this."
Gu Lianzhou slowly fastened his clothes. "What if we erase the runes and break the seal?"
Song Qiling was shocked and terrified when his junior brother made such outrageous remarks. "The talisman on the body still has a suppressive effect. Once it is removed, the consequences will be immeasurable. At best, it can confuse people's minds, and at worst, it can take their lives."
"Is that so?" Gu Lianzhou lowered his eyes to look at the "dodder" at his feet, feeling that things were not as bad as his senior brother had said.
"Of course, this is just my guess," Song Qiling said self-deprecatingly. "My senior brother's skills are not proficient enough, and he is not very clear about the matter of evil spirit possession. If you want to get to the bottom of it, you will have to ask my master..."
As she continued, Song Qiling paused slightly, her expression darkening, "My master, Chu Yue."
Hearing his senior brother mention their master for the first time, and with such an unwilling look on his face, Gu Lianzhou couldn't help but ask curiously, "Senior brother seems to have some grudge against Uncle Chu?"
Then I heard my senior brother scoff, "Unfortunately, I burned down his residence. I suppose he won't let me off the hook."
Gu Lianzhou: "..."
There seems to be a considerable misunderstanding here.
"It's because my senior brother is incompetent." Song Qiling turned around, shaking his sleeves, and gave a self-deprecating smile. "If I were more capable, why would I need to rely on others?"
But she had finally escaped from the Heavenly Mystery Sect, and no longer had to see Chu Yue's icy, sour face. The thought of burning his bedroom to the ground filled her with immense satisfaction.
Gu Lianzhou assumed his senior brother was just being temperamental and whispered, "Although I don't know why you resent Uncle Chu so much, a teacher for a day is a father for life..."
"Father?" Song Qiling seemed to have heard a huge joke. She turned around and pressed her junior brother step by step. "Do you know that I have been raised by Chu Yue since I was a child, and I have never seen his face change in more than ten years?"
The black boots touched, and Song Qiling suddenly stopped, her gaze fixed on Gu Lianzhou's eyes. "In this state, he can no longer be called a human being, yet he is the leader of the Tianji Sect, who slays demons and upholds justice. Tell me... should I consider him my father?"
At the height of her emotions, she suddenly laughed, "Forget it, I must have lost my mind. Why am I telling you all this?"
Gu Lianzhou looked down at his senior brother who was so close to him, his eyelashes trembling slightly, and a sudden feeling of bitterness welled up in his chest.
He had no way of knowing the secrets behind it, but his senior brother seemed to be suffering greatly from it, willing to bear the name of being ungrateful and betraying his master, just to escape this person.
Upon thinking about this, he realized that the person called "Chu Yue" was definitely not a good person.
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