Chapter 78 Locking the Phoenix Tree (XI) Who allowed you in? ...
After all, there is a difference between men and women, and it was really inconvenient to share a room with her junior brother. Therefore, after Song Qiling kicked her junior brother out of the dormitory for the third time to change his medicine, she pulled Gu Lianzhou aside and said earnestly, "Senior brother wants to ask you for a favor."
At that time, Gu Lianzhou was learning to cook, carrying two long green beans in his hand. Upon hearing this, his eyes lit up: "What is it?"
Song Qiling stared at the two green beans still glistening with water droplets, and suddenly remembered the braised fish from yesterday that hadn't had its innards removed. Her stomach clenched slightly, and she couldn't help but instruct, "Remember to simmer this dish a little longer, don't let it get undercooked."
Seeing her junior brother nod, she continued, "You've been here with me these past two days, so Yu Qi and the others are bound to be suspicious. After you have lunch, go to the Murong residence. I need you to inquire about something for me."
"Okay." Gu Lianzhou slightly bent his knuckles, casually tore off the stringy parts of the green beans, and threw them into the vegetable basket beside his feet.
Song Qiling said, "Since Yu Qi is close to Zhao Heng, it shouldn't be difficult for him to enter and leave the Prince's residence. I want to use him to find out about the current situation of Prince Zhao Yu of Nancheng."
Although Gu Lianzhou didn't understand his senior brother's intentions, he still nodded in agreement. Seeing the troubled look on his senior brother's face, he pressed on, "Is there anything else you need to tell me?"
Song Qiling looked up and sized him up.
Young Master Gu, who never lifts a finger, now had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing his well-defined forearms. The steam rising from the stove dampened the stray hairs on his forehead, which clung to his flushed cheeks.
Such attentiveness made her feel a little embarrassed to speak.
“It would be better if we lived separately.” She scratched her head and said with difficulty, “It’s been raining a lot lately, and the ground is damp. It’s not a long-term solution for you to always sleep on the floor.”
She suddenly stopped speaking, but forced herself to continue, "Why don't we go back to the inn..."
Gu Lianzhou's eyes flickered slightly, and he nodded in agreement, "What a coincidence, that's exactly what I was thinking too."
This reaction was truly unexpected.
Song Qiling suddenly looked up, her almond-shaped eyes wide open, almost doubting her ears: "Really?"
These past two days, her junior brother had been clinging to her like a piece of chewing gum, so his quick agreement made her uneasy.
But Gu Lianzhou smiled slightly, slammed the green beans onto the cutting board, and with a flash of cold light from the cleaver, the green beans fell off one end. "I rented a small courtyard from the boy, which is very close to here."
Song Qiling: "?"
Gu Lianzhou's knife work continued without pause, turning the green beans into neat diagonal slices. "Don't worry, senior brother, that courtyard is only a wall away from here, so it's very convenient to move around."
Don't worry... What do you need to worry about?
Song Qiling wondered if she had misheard. She looked him up and down, and seeing his unchanged expression, her heart finally died. "You, you're not planning to go back to Huaidu?"
Why did they stay and reside there permanently?
Gu Lianzhou said without looking up, "The dodder on my body has been very restless lately. Although it can't speak, I understand its thoughts."
He paused in chopping vegetables, turned to look at Song Qiling, and smiled slightly. "It told me... it's very hungry."
"Hungry?" Song Qiling's eyelids twitched. Gu Lianzhou had already turned around to add firewood to the stove. The firelight gilded his profile with a layer of gold. "Although I don't know what it eats, I understand that this is not a good omen. I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you for a while longer to help me out of this predicament."
He's right.
Dodder may appear docile and harmless, but it is actually a manifestation of evil spirits. Its growth is unlike that of ordinary creatures; it needs to absorb demonic energy to continuously strengthen itself.
Its current abilities, such as "unlocking" and "entanglement," are already a significant improvement over the past. If this continues, it is not impossible for it to manifest itself in front of people.
not to mention……
“The several demonic energies within you have been refined into one by it. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.” Song Qiling leaned against the corner of the stove, looking rather troubled. Her gaze fell on the taut lines of his forearm as he added firewood, and a thought crossed her mind. “How about I try it for you?”
Gu Lianzhou's hand, holding the firewood, hovered in mid-air. He looked up at his senior brother and asked, "How should we try?"
But then Song Qiling chuckled and squatted down, picking up firewood and putting it into the stove. The flames immediately shot up: "This method is quite laborious. We need to eat our fill before we can try it."
-
A wisp of smoke rose from the chimney, leaving a faint ink-like trail against the azure sky.
After a while.
With a charred green bean dangling from her mouth, Song Qiling struggled to swallow a bowl of brown rice. Her gaze swept over a dish of pickled vegetables on the table, and her hand holding the chopsticks seemed to be itching to eat.
As if sensing something, Gu Lianzhou across from him said without looking up, "Eat up, don't worry about saving face for me."
Sigh, in the end, I still hurt my junior brother's feelings.
Song Qiling mumbled an "uh" and ate two large bowls of rice with pickled vegetables, tears streaming down her face.
After finishing his meal, Gu Lianzhou skillfully cleaned up the table and took the bowls and chopsticks to the courtyard.
Song Qiling took out the bronze mirror with the inscription "Phoenix Holding a Ribbon" from the chest and carefully wiped it with the corner of her sleeve.
When the drum and the boat returned, they saw smoke rising from the house, as if they had stepped into a fairyland.
"Senior brother, what are you doing?" He gripped the door frame, trying to open the door a little to let in some air.
Seeing this, Song Qiling turned around and waved to him, saying, "Come in and lock the door."
Gu Lianzhou dared not disobey and had no choice but to do as he was told.
I suppose this is my senior brother's "method".
After picking up three sticks of incense and placing them in the small incense burner, Song Qiling said, "In a moment, I will use a bronze mirror as a door to open the illusion for you."
"Illusory form?" Gu Lianzhou asked blankly, "Senior brother, you once said that illusory forms are born from people's obsessions, then..."
Wouldn't that expose all the secrets in his heart?
Seeing his predicament, Song Qiling immediately understood and said, "You said it yourself, you are born according to human desires. Can you still be considered a 'human' now?"
After saying that, he realized that what he said was not right, and quickly spat a few times: "That's not what I meant. What I meant was... the dodder in your body is your companion demon, and it has its own intelligence. When it unfolds its illusory form due to external forces, it should be a chaotic state, which can better reveal its true nature."
"In other words, your companion demon is like a newborn baby. It will inevitably feel hungry during its growth period. If you ignore it and let it roam around, it may cause trouble. It is better to take the initiative, open the illusory form, find out what it needs, and feed it."
After a feeble explanation, Gu Lianzhou nodded, only half understanding, and asked, "Senior brother, are you confident you can safely enter and exit the illusory realm?"
Upon hearing this, Song Qiling blinked slowly and said, "Junior brother, if you harbor murderous intent towards me, I'm afraid I won't be able to escape the illusion."
She raised her hand and patted Gu Lianzhou's shoulder, saying earnestly, "Relax. If we're talking about being nervous, I'm the one who's more nervous right now."
Entering the virtual world voluntarily is no different from brazenly barging into someone's bedroom; if caught, one cannot plead innocent.
Therefore, she could only pray that the dodder seed inherited her junior brother's kindness and would not kill her.
"Come on, lie down first." She smiled kindly, pulled Gu Lianzhou over and pressed him into the bed, then pulled the blankets next to him and covered him with them. "Just think of it as a dream. When you wake up, everything will be normal again."
This was the first time in days that Gu Lianzhou had slept in a bed, and he was flattered and overwhelmed. With someone watching him, he couldn't close his eyes. He moved over a bit and gently patted the bed, inviting her, "Senior brother, won't you sleep with me?"
Looking at the pitifully narrow wooden bed, Song Qiling laughed and said, "No, it wouldn't be good if the bed legs broke under the weight."
She straightened up, returned to the table and sat down, holding the bronze mirror up to Gu Lianzhou on the bed. Looking at the increasingly oily mirror surface, she slowly closed her eyes.
After reciting the incantation more than ten times in her mind, and listening to the heavy breathing around her, Song Qiling suddenly opened her eyes.
She stared at the bronze mirror, watching the increasingly dark and bluish-black image within. Her gaze was involuntarily drawn to the mist within, and she momentarily lost herself in thought.
In the blink of an eye, a spark ignited!
Song Qiling stared intently at the swirling dark blue smoke, feeling the powerful shockwaves rushing towards her, her heart clenching tightly.
The heat wave, carrying the smell of sulfur, pierced her nostrils with every breath, making it impossible for her to cough; she could only endure it.
The scorching, golden-red magma resembled thousands of tongues of fire tearing at each other, churning up towering, viscous waves of fire as it fell, splitting into strings in mid-air before crashing against the dark stone walls, sending sparks flying.
Despite being surrounded by hellfire and sweltering heat, Song Qiling seemed frozen in place, unable to move an inch.
She tried to roll her eyes and look up.
At the edge of the field of vision, a huge chair covered with cracked gold and red patterns emerged from the swirling blue smoke, and a tall figure leaned quietly against it.
Song Qiling swallowed hard, her Adam's apple bobbing.
Through layers of mist, she could barely make out the man's outline—a physique remarkably similar to Gu Lianzhou's, but with an added air of nonchalant nonchalance.
As if sensing something, the "person" slowly raised his pale hand, his slender knuckles touching his temples, as if he were having a headache because of the person who had suddenly appeared in his domain.
Is this person Gu Lianzhou's disguise?
No, Song Qiling narrowed her eyes, sensing a dangerous aura.
This person is not Gu Lianzhou.
At least... not entirely.
A faint "tsk" sound was heard, and the man sitting alone on the high platform lowered his hand and stood up, holding onto the handrail.
He walked slowly towards her, stepping on the golden-red lava.
Song Qiling's gaze shifted downwards, landing on his bare feet, and her heart skipped a beat.
The scalding lava surged and overflowed the rocks, leaving a hissing sound in its wake. White smoke rose and enveloped the man's black and gold robes, making him appear as if he were walking on clouds.
If we ignore the blood on the soles of the man's feet...
The feet stepped over the lava, each step producing a hissing sound as flesh burned. The skin on the soles of the feet melted like wax, and new scarlet flesh grew back the instant the feet were lifted. Broken black pebbles embedded themselves in the wounds, only to be swallowed up by the new flesh in the blink of an eye.
The person seemed completely oblivious, strolling over as if taking a leisurely walk.
Through the thick, acrid smoke, Song Qiling finally saw his face clearly.
"you……"
She struggled to speak, and the next instant, pale fingers suddenly clamped down on her chin with such force that they almost crushed her bones.
As the man bent over, the light of the lava illuminated half of his face, revealing features remarkably similar to his junior brother's. However, his right eye was covered with spiderweb-like golden-red cracks, as if lava was flowing beneath his skin.
He quietly pressed his earlobe against Song Qiling's ear, his breath hot and almost melting her. "Who allowed you to come in?"
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