Chapter 270 Jinjiang (1)
Yan Shixun could see clearly that Zheng Tiantian... no, Xie Jiaojiao, was standing behind the window, in the place where Zheng Shumu had stood before.
The fire in the workshop had gone out, and the unfinished semi-finished products were blurred in the darkness. One could barely make out the outlines of skulls and bones. The empty, dark eye sockets stared straight at the two people in the yard who were surrounded by wooden puppets.
Although the distance was far, Yan Shixun could vaguely read the meaning expressed in those empty eyes.
They are saying...
Save me.
Because of their living mouths and eyes, these wooden puppets cannot speak independently, but their mouthpieces and tongues are controlled by mechanisms inside their bodies.
Although the mechanism gives the wooden puppets the same movements as real people, it also controls them, making them unable to act independently or express their thoughts accurately.
Yan Shixun remembered the wooden puppets he had seen in the theater in the lake, as well as the corpses and shadow puppets that were chasing Nantian and others in the shadow puppet museum.
Their mouths kept opening and closing, as if they were trying to say something to people.
It was just because of their hideous and strange appearance that everyone subconsciously thought that they wanted to hurt strangers, even Yan Shixun thought so at the beginning.
It was not until Master Bai and Zheng Shumu asked him to rescue each other separately that Yan Shixun finally understood what these wooden puppets wanted to say when he saw them again.
They chase strangers out of instinct, not because they want to fill the holes in their wooden bodies with the flesh and blood of strangers, but when they are controlled by people behind the scenes to chase strangers, they want to seek help from the people from outside the program crew.
The villagers who had committed crimes against Carpenter Zheng's family were kept in the village by Zheng Shumu and his sister. Even after death, their souls were trapped in the bodies of the wood carvings, unable to reincarnate or find peace, and they repeated the pain day after day.
They want to seek relief.
but……
Yan Shixun looked coldly at Xie Jiaojiao across the wooden puppets in the yard, his eyes as sharp as a knife.
Whether it was the villagers who had done something wrong and were punished, or Master Bai who was willing to be used because of guilt, they were all controlled by Xie Jiaojiao and could not leave the Bai village.
Although Yan Shixun still didn't know how Xie Jiaojiao, who was born as a ghost baby, was able to escape the hunting down of heaven and earth in the future, logically speaking, heaven and earth would not tolerate the existence of a ghost baby, which would be terrifying once it grew up, and would inevitably try to resolve all possible crises before the ghost baby awakened its power.
But Xie Jiaojiao survived and grew up to this age.
Just like it is almost impossible for a person with an evil ghost in his bones to survive, the same is true for a ghost baby.
Every Ghost Festival and Ghost Month, the evil ghosts near the ghost baby will be involuntarily attracted to the ghost baby and approach it. The huge gathered power will attract the attention of the ghost exorcist.
The heaven and earth will also guide the exorcists or events that may kill the ghost baby to approach the ghost baby, and the ghost baby will continue to suffer disasters until it actually dies.
Therefore, Xie Jiaojiao, who successfully survived, became an existence that the world could not do anything about.
She herself is made up of the purest ghost energy and resentment. The ghost energy shrouds the village, and with the help of Zheng Shumu and Master Bai...
The Bai village is a place from which there is no return and is beyond the control of heaven and earth.
Is it because of Xie Lin?
The only variable Yan Shixun could think of was the little boy in swaddling clothes who was taken away from the field.
Given how protective and doting Xie Lin is on Xie Jiaojiao, I'm afraid that even if he knew Xie Jiaojiao's true identity, he would not do anything to her. Instead, he would protect her even more closely under his wings.
Just like now, even though he knew that leaving Yeli's protection might bring danger, Xie Lin still chose to seek an answer from Zheng Tiantian without hesitation.
——He wanted to know the connection between Zheng Tiantian and Xie Jiaojiao.
Even if the price of knowing the truth is too heavy.
Yan Shixun did not see Xie Lin in the yard, nor did he hear any sound coming from the house. Out of vigilance against Xie Jiaojiao, he had already made the worst plan in his mind.
"Xie Jiaojiao, where's Xie Lin?"
When Yan Shixun asked the question, his heart was already sinking under the weight of the possible truth.
Xie Jiaojiao, who was standing behind the window, looked at Yan Shixun, who was surrounded by wooden puppets but remained calm and composed, and pulled her fingers unhappily.
Her delicate fingers were much softer than those of an ordinary person, but there was a thin layer of calluses on the softest fingertips. In her palm, she held a small mechanism built with hundreds of thin wooden sticks. It looked like a painstaking work completed by a carpenter's pinnacle of skill. It was so complex and exquisite that anyone who saw it was amazed.
It was this small mechanism that sensitively controlled the wooden puppets in the courtyard, causing the puppets, which were originally slow in movement, to immediately pounce on Yan Shixun and the other man.
Xie Jiaojiao bit her lips in hatred and looked at Yan Shixun with hatred in her eyes.
Why can this person look so calm? Why isn't he afraid? Why isn't he begging for mercy? This is not the scene she wants to see!
She wanted to see everyone fear her and no one dared to hurt her in the slightest. That, that was the way it should be!
Xie Jiaojiao did not answer, but the sudden attack of the wooden puppet gave Yan Shixun the answer instead of words.
He suddenly felt a pain in his heart, knowing that Xie Lin might have been in trouble.
Yan Shixun nimbly dodged the attack of the wooden puppet in front of him by leaning sideways. His body was as fast as flowing wind and snow. As he turned around, he quickly grabbed the puppet's neck and counterattacked subconsciously relying on muscle memory. He used all his strength and heard a "click!"
The puppet's neck was crushed.
The wooden sculpture's head immediately fell off its body and fell heavily to the ground.
At the same time, foul-smelling blood gushed out from the body of the wooden sculpture, splashing all over Yan Shixun before he was prepared.
He looked in surprise and saw that the headless wooden puppet did not fall down.
Different from strangers.
Even without a head, the puppet's movements only slowed down a few beats. Its body seemed to be searching for the head in a daze. The hand that was originally stretched out to Yan Shixun also touched its empty neck in confusion.
But it was precisely because the wooden puppet leaned forward that Yan Shixun was able to see clearly the inside of its body after it had lost its head. It was not made of wood as he had thought.
But... rotten, bloody flesh.
In an instant, Yan Shixun's eyes widened and he realized something.
These wooden puppets have never craved for the flesh and blood of living people, because their original flesh and blood have always been placed in their hollow wooden bodies.
——The bodies of those villagers who died may not have been buried.
Instead, it was stuffed into the wood carving.
People often say that the dead are buried in peace.
However, Zheng Shumu and his sister's overwhelming hatred for the villagers made them unwilling to let the villagers get even a little rest in peace, and naturally they would not bury the villagers' bodies properly.
They wanted the villagers to suffer both spiritual and physical torture even after death.
The soul recalls the suffering day and night in the shadow play, while the body is beaten by wind and rain, gradually rotting away but cannot find peace.
That's why the villagers would not hesitate to seek help from strangers whose background they didn't know, just to leave here.
——What a torture it is to watch your own flesh and blood rot.
Just within the few seconds that Yan Shixun was distracted and thinking, another wooden puppet controlled by Xie Jiaojiao pounced towards him.
Yan Shixun caught a glimpse of the puppet attacking him from the corner of his eye, but before he could react, he saw a long arm reaching out from the side, pulling him behind him, and the strong arm protected him tightly.
Then, the puppet that was about to pounce on Yan Shixun was broken into several pieces under Ye Li's palm, and fell to the ground with a "crash".
The smelly blood spread wildly on the ground, but avoided the place where Ye Li was standing.
It was like an evil ghost was instinctively afraid of Ye Li.
Seeing this scene, both Xie Jiaojiao who was looking at this side and the wooden puppets around were stunned. They did not expect that this person who had a weak presence before and was even ignored by all ghosts and monsters, could be so powerful.
When Ye Li deliberately lowered his presence, no one, god or ghost, could discover his existence except Yan Shixun, not to mention that there was a strong ghost aura everywhere at that time.
Standing among them, Yeli is like a tree hidden in the forest.
However, when Ye Li no longer retained this last bit of tenderness towards the human world, it removed the layer of illusion that originally concealed the true identity of ghosts and gods.
No ghost can ignore his existence.
Even though they were controlled by Xie Jiaojiao, the wooden puppets still subconsciously retreated, trying to stay away from Yeli as much as possible.
Yan Shixun noticed the movements of the wooden puppets. He raised his eyebrows, glanced at Ye Li, and signaled him with his eyes.
Ye Li immediately smiled and blinked his eyes slightly, then stepped forward steadily and tacitly, surrounding all the wooden puppets that surrounded them. No matter how the puppets trembled and made the "clacking" sound of wood colliding, he kept them tightly under his control.
Yan Shixun took this opportunity to move forward, bypassing the wooden puppet and heading towards the house, his steps steady and without a trace of panic.
It was as if the one in control of the situation now was not Xie Jiaojiao, who had created the entire shadow play by covering the sky and earth with ghostly energy.
But him.
"Xie Jiaojiao, Xie Lin is your brother, right?"
Yan Shixun's tone was steady, even with a smile on his face, as if he didn't care about Xie Lin's life at all, but his eyes were fixed on Xie Jiaojiao.
"Xie Lin lost a sister, and he went crazy for most of his life because of it."
Yan Shixun firmly and calmly told Xie Jiaojiao the truth he had heard from Song Ci before, word by word: "Xie Lin went crazy from the day his sister disappeared."
"He searched everywhere in the country, gave up his career, spent all his money and time, and went to all the places where his sister might be. He didn't believe what others said that his sister was dead, and he just tried his best to find her."
"He lives like a beggar. No, he lives worse than a beggar. At least beggars can have occasional happiness, but Xie Lin has lived in pain for decades and has never been able to get rid of it."
"He suffered from serious mental illness, attempted suicide more than a dozen times and even went missing several times. Many times he even forgot who he was, but he still remembered that he had to find his missing sister. The once glorious singing god has fallen to a state more destitute and haggard than a beggar."
"He would ask everyone: 'Have you seen my sister? She is the most beautiful girl in the world.'"
"Xie Lin is the best brother I have ever met."
Yan Shixun's words penetrated the darkness and entered the house.
The little puppet held in Xie Jiaojiao's arms lowered his head, but when he heard Yan Shixun's voice, his arms shook as if he sensed something.
Xie Jiaojiao looked at the flying wooden sculptures, limbs and smelly blood in the yard, as well as Yan Shixun who was still walking towards her steadily in such a cruel scene. She bit her lips in hatred, leaving a row of deep teeth marks and blood.
"What do you know!"
Xie Jiaojiao shouted sharply: "As a ghost exorcist, do you think you know everything? What's the point of you saying this now!"
"It was my brother. He left me first!"
The bloody scene from many years ago reappeared in Xie Jiaojiao's mind. She hysterically questioned Yan Shixun: "You are not me at all. You don't know what I have been through. What right do you have to speak for them and blame me instead!"
"I didn't do anything wrong at all. You guys have been forcing me to do this!"
Yan Shixun dug up the kidnapping case from decades ago and hit Xie Jiaojiao's sore spot accurately, forcing the calm little girl to collapse, revealing the anger and resentment that had never been extinguished beneath her calm surface.
The entire house and courtyard began to shake violently.
The thick ghost energy, like a hurricane, swept out from the house, mercilessly destroying everything in its path.
Ye Li's eyebrows suddenly became fierce, and the powerful ghost energy rushed straight towards Yan Shixun, protecting him firmly.
In the strong wind, Yan Shixun went upstream, walking steadily towards Xie Jiaojiao step by step.
His eyes were as sharp as knives, and surprisingly bright in the darkness and chaos.
Not only for Xie Lin, but also for Master Bai and Zheng Shumu.
People have the right to choose. Xie Lin chose Xie Jiaojiao, but Master Bai and Zheng Shumu... they wanted the other to live.
Forget all the pain of the past, and live a stable and happy life like an ordinary person in the remaining life.
Yan Shixun heard their sincere and earnest requests, and they were souls that could still be saved.
At the very least... I won't be trapped in this ghost show forever, enduring the torture and pain in the dark.
He still remembered that Master Bai's wood carvings were placed in Zheng Shumu's workshop.
According to Zheng Shumu, the wood carving only needs one final cut to be completed, and Master Bai will lose his life and become something like the wooden puppet in the courtyard, with his soul and corpse trapped in the wood carving, unable to leave.
What Yan Shixun had to do was to completely destroy the wooden sculpture before Xie Jiaojiao and save Master Bai from the imminent death.
And Xie Lin...
Yan Shixun's thoughts paused, leaving only a slight sigh.
I'm afraid he is too late.
Xie Jiaojiao looked in horror at Ye Li, who was standing as steady as a rock in the hurricane in the yard. She never expected that there would be someone who could resist the power from her in the world she created for herself.
"What are you..."
Xie Jiaojiao murmured in disbelief: "Impossible, how could this happen, this is impossible!"
"This is clearly my world!!! No, no one can hurt me anymore!"
Xie Jiaojiao's eyes were bloodshot. She raised her hands to cover her head in pain and screamed. The little puppet in her arms fell to the ground.
Because the ghost baby that was controlling the entire ghost show was shaken violently, her will and emotions were reflected throughout the world, causing the entire Bai village along with the surrounding mountains, forests and lakes to shake together, like a horrible earthquake.
The people who stayed in Uncle Bai's yard were also staggering because of the sudden shaking. Many of them fell to the ground, and some of them hurriedly held onto the furniture pillars next to them to barely keep their balance.
"What happened? Was it an earthquake?"
Zhao Zhen said anxiously: "Brother Yan and Brother Xie are still outside. I wonder how they are doing now."
Zhang Wubing fell to the ground with his buttocks, and tears welled up in his eyes due to the pain. He rubbed his buttocks and tried to stand up, but the next wave of vibration came and made him fall to the ground again. He lost the strength to stabilize his body and was like a dead fish bouncing back and forth on a trampoline.
However, considering that Zhang Wubing fell in the yard, there was so much space around that nothing could hit him, so everyone just watched Zhang Wubing crawling on the ground trying to get up, but no one helped him.
Song Ci's entire attention was on Xie Lin at this moment. His hands gripping the pillar gradually tightened, and his eyes were fixed on the courtyard wall next to him, as if he wanted to stare a hole in the wall to immediately confirm Xie Lin's safety.
"Xie Lin is with Brother Yan now... He will be fine, right?"
Song Ci frowned and murmured to Lu Xingxing beside him, but it seemed more like he was eagerly seeking the comfort of a positive answer.
Lu Xingxing saw that Song Ci was uneasy, and couldn't help but wonder: "Master, what are you worried about? With Brother Yan here, what are you afraid of? You might as well worry about yourself. I don't think I'm as reliable as Brother Yan."
When Zhao Zhen, who was standing next to him, heard this, he looked at Lu Xingxing with a loving gaze, as if he had a feeling of relief that "my son has grown up".
Zhao Zhen: Xingxing actually realized his own situation. He has really grown up.
Lu Xingxing noticed Zhao Zhen's gaze. He subconsciously glanced at his ankle and retracted his injured foot, not wanting anyone to notice his wound.
Then he said speechlessly: "Then why are you looking at me? I can't say anything else, but I can still afford to lose. Brother Yan is just better than me, and there is nothing I can do about it! Whoever can compare to the evil ghost in the bones can go, anyway, my master can't compare to him, so there is no need for me to disbelieve in that evil."
Lu Xingxing: Wasn't it embarrassing enough that I was beaten by Brother Yan before? You don't even want to admit it, do you want Brother Yan to beat me again? Even the King of Hell dares to pick me up and spank me, so a rookie like me should just stay quiet, otherwise it will be even more embarrassing.
Song Ci didn't care about Lu Xingxing's words.
According to his previous personality, he would definitely retort sarcastically and would not stop until Lu Xingxing was driven into a coward.
But now, he was unexpectedly quiet, and only looked in the direction where Xie Lin and Yan Shixun left, with increasing worry.
During the long period when Xie Lin was ill and unconscious, Song Ci handled all matters on his behalf, and all matters that needed to be informed to Xie Lin had to go through his hands first.
Therefore, Song Ci knew more about the disappearance of Xie Lin and Xie Jiaojiao than anyone else.
Even Xie Lin himself did not know as much and in as much detail as Song Ci did.
After Xie Jiaojiao disappeared, because it involved a singing god who attracted such huge public attention and the scene was so tragic, more than a dozen kidnappers and the nanny all died in the warehouse. Except for the nanny whose death was within the normal range, the remaining body parts of the kidnappers could not even form a complete human shape.
Therefore, the special team in charge of this case attached great importance to it and used many methods, searching all the surveillance cameras nearby and trying their best to piece together the original appearance at that time.
The original intention was to notify Xie Lin to go and confirm whether the person in the surveillance video was Xie Jiaojiao.
However, Song Ci heard the heavy tone of the other party on the phone and knew that it would not be a good thing. Therefore, he was worried about irritating Xie Lin, so he went to confirm it with his secretary.
Then Song Ci, who was still a teenager at the time, saw a horrifying scene that he would never forget for a long time.
When the kidnappers took the nanny and Xie Jiaojiao into the warehouse, everything was normal and within everyone's expectations.
Xie Jiaojiao's face was red from crying. The nanny held her tightly in her arms, like a lioness protecting her cubs, and roared at the kidnappers around her, forbidding them to hurt Xie Jiaojiao.
One of the kidnappers was enraged and killed the nanny in front of Xie Jiaojiao.
The blood fell on Xie Jiaojiao's body.
The nanny kept staring at Xie Jiaojiao until her death, worrying about her safety.
Die with eyes open.
Xie Jiaojiao seemed to be so frightened that she even forgot to cry. She stood there, staring blankly at the nanny's body.
She shouted, "Mom."
After that, all surveillance cameras were interfered with and the images turned into a blur.
By the time the surveillance returned to normal, it was several hours later.
In the camera, it was already dark.
On the deserted street in the suburbs, Xie Jiaojiao's beautiful skirt was soaked in blood, and her skin and hair were stained with flesh fragments. She looked miserable and terrifying.
But the little girl's young face was filled with confusion.
She stood in the middle of the intersection, confused and not knowing where to go.
His bare feet were covered in blood and flesh, and he couldn't tell whether they were his own or someone else's.
Behind Xie Jiaojiao, the door of the warehouse, with only a crack left, slowly closed with a harsh sound.
Just before the door was completely closed, the surveillance camera captured a strange scene.
One of the kidnappers fell behind the door with his arms sticking out, as if he was trying to crawl out and escape.
But the next moment, it was as if something was pulling him from behind, dragging him back into the warehouse.
There were ten bloodstains on the cement floor in front of the warehouse.
The door was successfully closed.
Xie Jiaojiao was the only one left on the quiet street.
She stood there for a long time, until just before dawn, when she suddenly seemed to hear some voice, confirmed the direction she wanted to go, and took a step forward.
Xie Jiaojiao disappeared from the surveillance camera with her bare feet.
But what surprised the team in charge of the case was that there was no trace of Xie Jiaojiao in the next surveillance video.
The video they got was the last visual footage of Xie Jiaojiao.
Since then, no one has seen Xie Jiaojiao again.
It was as if she had disappeared from the face of the earth. No matter how hard everyone tried to find her, even though Xie Lin had spent a huge amount of money and hired famous masters and private detectives, he could not get any news about her.
Song Ci always remembered the scene in the surveillance video.
Xie Jiaojiao was covered in blood with a hollow look in her eyes, which caused a huge shock to the young Song Ci.
It was also from then on that Song Ci became keen on looking for ghosts and monsters, and ordinary things no longer aroused his interest.
Song Ci really wanted to ask the ghosts passing by if they had seen a girl.
Her name is Xie Jiaojiao.
She is Xie Lin’s sister.
As long as she is found, Xie Lin, the incomparable shining star, can be hung back on the sky.
At that time, Song Ci heard that Zhang Wubing, the young master of the Zhang family who was in the same circle, was born with a physique that was prone to encountering ghosts. So he stopped Zhang Wubing at school and asked him to see a ghost.
Zhang Wubing didn't know what Song Ci was thinking. The young master would not put down his airs and explain to others in a nice voice. So, Zhang Wubing, who also came from a wealthy family, was also irritated. He cursed Song Ci and thought that Song Ci was making fun of his pain, and then walked away.
Because of this, Zhang Wubing and Song Ci have always had a bad relationship.
Until Zhang Wubing hosted this show.
Song Ci thought, maybe even though the show encountered ghosts so often, he still hadn't found Xie Jiaojiao's ghost because his brother Xie Lin wasn't there.
So, after he carefully consulted Xie Lin's doctor and confirmed that Xie Lin was in good mental condition and would no longer be easily stimulated, he decided to bring Xie Lin into the show.
After the filming of this episode is finished, he will ask Brother Yan to summon the spirit to see if he can find Xie Jiaojiao.
After all, with Zhang Wubing, a man who encounters ghosts every day, here, he will definitely succeed this time.
……Bar.
Song Ci thought blankly.
There was a loud rumbling sound in his ears, but he was only concerned about looking in the direction where Xie Lin left, eager to see Xie Lin's figure in the next moment.
No one knew it better than Song Ci that Xie Jiaojiao was clearly dead!
If it was a human, how could they do something like what was shown in the surveillance video?
Only evil spirits could have caused the kidnappers to die tragically.
After watching several episodes of the show, Song Ci became even more convinced of the truth behind Xie Jiaojiao's death.
That's why he became more worried about Xie Lin's mental condition when Xie Lin said Zheng Tiantian was like a younger sister.
Song Ci, who had never seen Zheng Tiantian, didn't know that it was not because Xie Lin was hallucinating again, but because Zheng Tiantian looked exactly like Xie Jiaojiao when she disappeared that year.
The ghost baby's time was forever frozen at the moment when the nanny died in front of her eyes.
Once upon a time, Xie Jiaojiao really liked that nanny.
She grew up in the love of her brother.
Although she has no parents or elders, the existence of her brother fills all of Xie Jiaojiao's regrets. It is her brother's love that allows Xie Jiaojiao to smile happily and grow up carefree like an ordinary girl.
Because Xie Lin truly treats Xie Jiaojiao as his sister and a normal living person.
Therefore, from the moment she was born, she indirectly caused the complete death of her mother's soul. Xie Jiaojiao, who forgot all this and slept soundly, did not know her true origins and just lived happily according to Xie Lin's expectations.
Later, Xie Lin became busier and busier. Even though he tried his best to make time to accompany Xie Jiaojiao, he still had to hire a nanny to take care of Xie Jiaojiao during his working hours.
She was a simple and kind-hearted woman who loved Xie Jiaojiao with all her heart and took care of the lovely little girl as if she were her own daughter.
Xie Jiaojiao didn't say it, but when her classmates and friends asked her about her mother, she regarded the nanny as a mother.
Then, right in front of Xie Jiaojiao, the nanny was killed by the kidnappers.
A similar scene aroused the memories that Xie Jiaojiao had forgotten deep in her soul.
A dark field, a young boy in tattered clothes, and... a skeleton lying on the ground, staring at himself with concern with his eyes open.
That was her biological mother.
...That's right.
She is not Xie Jiaojiao.
She was Zheng Tiantian, the child whose birth her parents had longed for with great love, but she died in the icy lake together with her mother.
She is not a human, she is a ghost.
A child who died before he was born.
Xie Jiaojiao remembered the whole truth about herself.
The evil spirit that had been suppressed because of Xie Lin's love suddenly erupted in despair and anger.
"You were the ones who gave up on me first. It was you who failed to protect me. You clearly said you would protect me, but when I cried and called your name, you didn't come! You weren't here!"
Xie Jiaojiao stood in the violently shaking house, screaming hysterically.
Her originally beautiful and fair hands now had bulging veins, looking as hideous as ghost claws. She covered her head with her hands and shook it in pain, trying to shake the past scenes out of her mind.
However, the ghost baby has memories since it was in the mother's womb. The despair and suffocation in the cold lake, all the pain, are deeply engraved in the ghost baby's soul.
Even wanting to forget is not allowed.
It's like the Dao's punishment for the ghost baby that shouldn't exist.
Xie Jiaojiao's thin shoulders trembled violently, and the tears fell from her eyes and turned into blood, falling on the little wooden puppet on the ground in big drops.
The puppet looked up at the girl, his features sad and guilty.
It stretched out its hand, as if wanting to comfort the girl. But when it raised its arm in front of its eyes, it suddenly saw its current appearance and realized that it was just a puppet and could do nothing.
The puppet man lowered his arms dejectedly.
Just when Xie Jiaojiao was about to collapse, Yan Shixun had already walked against the wind to the door of the room. He stretched out his hand and placed it on the door, looking at Xie Jiaojiao quietly through the door.
Just as Yan Shixun was about to push open the door and grab Xie Jiaojiao when she lost her composure, he suddenly heard someone calling him.
"Mr. Yan."
Yan Shixun glanced sideways following the sound, and saw the missing Xie Lin standing not far away, looking at him quietly.
——But, it is in a semi-transparent state.
Yan Shixun understood everything when he saw Xie Lin floating on the ground with his feet not touching the ground.
He knew that his guess had come true. Xie Lin... was dead.
Although this is not reality, the souls are still there in the ghost play.
Even if he returned to reality right now, the best outcome for Xie Lin would be an empty body that was still breathing.
It's already too late to save it.
Xie Lin chose his own death.
Yan Shixun looked at Xie Lin, his Adam's apple rolled. He wanted to say something but finally sighed in his heart. He just used his eyes to ask Xie Lin what he wanted to do.
"Mr. Yan, can I ask you for a favor?"
Xie Lin did not explain his current condition. He turned his head and looked at Xie Jiaojiao behind the window with a sad expression.
"Don't hurt Jiaojiao, just leave."
Xie Lin choked up and said, "I know Jiaojiao killed someone. I saw it... In her soul memory, I saw what happened decades ago. But, it wasn't her fault. It was me, the irresponsible brother."
"It's done now. The dead won't come back to life. Jiaojiao just resents me as her negligent brother. She has no grudges against Mr. Yan or anyone else. So, Mr. Yan, can you stop pursuing what Jiaojiao did before and leave quietly?"
Xie Lin looked at Yan Shixun sadly: "Jiaojiao has suffered too much, I don't want her to be hurt again. I never thought that Jiaojiao had gone through other experiences when I didn't know. It was my fault that I didn't protect Jiaojiao well."
"But now, I have found her again, so I want to stay with her from now on."
"Please, Mr. Yan, just pretend you didn't see anything and leave..."
"You think."
Yan Shixun suddenly interrupted Xie Lin and asked him calmly: "Will Xie Jiaojiao really let us go according to your idea?"
Yan Shixun's eyes, which originally had some affection in them when he looked at Xie Lin, had turned cold.
"In your eyes, Xie Jiaojiao is your sister, but in my opinion, Xie Jiaojiao has died a long time ago. What's standing there now is a fully formed ghost baby."
Yan Shixun's hand on the door panel gradually tightened, and he said in a cold voice: "Xie Lin, from the love between you and Zheng Shumu, a new ghost was born. She hates all living people. After everything she has experienced in the past, she has forgotten the instinct to love someone."
"She wants to drag everyone into the hell she once experienced. The experiences of the villagers of Bai Village and Zheng Shumu are the best proof of this... Even if I agree with you and want to leave quietly, she will never let us go."
Xie Lin was stunned: "Impossible, Jiaojiao is a good girl..."
"Then let's give it a try."
As he spoke, Yan Shixun had already grasped the door handle. His eyebrows were slightly lowered, his eyes fell on Xie Jiaojiao, and then he exerted force with his palm and opened the door.
At that moment, the originally beautiful and tender little girl suddenly grew hundreds or thousands of times in size. The black ghost shadow occupied the entire village with its fangs and claws, and roared at Yan Shixun with its head lowered ferociously. The stench of blood immediately swept the entire village.
The crying little girl disappeared.
Just as Yan Shixun said, Xie Jiaojiao is dead, and what is here now is just a ghost baby full of resentment, which grows up on death and corpses.
All they saw was a shadow play on the screen.
But the real ghost is sitting behind the curtain, manipulating everything.
——If only then can we see the truth?
Go behind the curtain, stand in front of the ghost, and ask her the truth that she least wants to look back on.
A strong wind suddenly blew up, ruffling Yan Shixun's hair and clothes, but he looked calm as he watched the huge figure of the ghost baby slowly appear before his eyes.
He had guessed before that since the entire village had fallen into the shadow play, it must mean that this world had been demarcated as part of the territory of the person behind the scenes, but Li Chengyun was still able to come in, and both Master Bai and Zheng Shumu mentioned Li Chengyun's "departure" when describing what happened that year.
But Li Chengyun originally came for Baizhi Lake.
If Li Chengyun found out there was a ghost here, even if he thought it was someone else's karma and would not intervene easily, he would not allow the ghost to harm innocent people.
Therefore, Li Chengyun must have done something back then to provide insurance for Baizhi Lake before "leaving".
Where do you leave from and where do you go?
Leave the ghost show and return to reality.
And what Li Chengyun did back then...
He used the ebony statue to suppress the ghost baby that devoured the entire Baizhi Lake and the Bai clan village, and the one who caused all this, Xie Jiaojiao.
The ebony statue is suppressing Xie Jiaojiao.
After the young student took away the statue, Xie Jiaojiao, who had tasted the bitterness of being suppressed, became even more resentful towards the human world. She fought back fiercely, occupying all the ghostly energy around her. Through the "rebirth" of the wooden puppet, she comprehended the cycle of life and death, and thus completely occupied the entire area, becoming a terrifying existence that even the heaven and earth could not do anything about.
How could such a ghost baby give up the world she built on anger and live a peaceful and happy life with her brother Xie Lin, as Xie Lin naively believed?
Impossible.
Yan Shixun slowly raised his head and looked into the eyes of the ghost baby who lowered his huge head. Even though the smell of blood lingered around him and the ghost baby could even swallow him in one bite, he remained calm and even had a barely perceptible smile on the corner of his lips.
The next moment, the ghost baby opened its bloody mouth that could almost swallow the world and pounced towards Yan Shixun and others.
Just then, Yan Shixun finally moved.
He did not run away, but instead suddenly and actively rushed towards the ghost baby. The power lent to him by Ye Li flowed through his meridians, supporting all his movements.
Yan Shixun recited the spell to kill ghosts in reverse in his mind, and in the ghost play, he turned the world upside down again, allowing the power that was originally detached from reality and could not hurt the manipulator behind the scenes to return to the original state.
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