Chapter 222 Jinjiang
Who will I be with in this life, holding your hand and growing old together?
Yan Shixun had never thought about this question.
Before this, he didn't care.
The people around him, whether it was Li Chengyun, Zhang Wubing, or other Taoist masters, all seemed to be single, or they already had a partner when Yan Shixun met them.
Yan Shixun has not witnessed their transition from being single to having a lover, nor does he think there is anything wrong with being alone. He feels that his current state is good enough.
He didn't like to have any karma with others, and because of this he often went from street to street catching ghosts and exorcising evil spirits. He saw too many joys and sorrows, and even he himself became cold.
Why waste time looking for a lover? There are too many lives and wronged souls waiting for his help, and when he returns to the courtyard in his spare time, he can spend his time just reading and sleeping, which is also interesting. It seems that there is no extra space for the so-called lover.
Although he sometimes feels lonely, Yan Shixun doesn't think there is anything wrong with it.
People are always lonely, from birth to death, and they will go alone when they die.
Yan Shixun has seen too many lives and deaths. He has become accustomed to it and deeply believes that he will remain single until his death.
However, Lan Ze and Cheng Jing shook Yan Shixun's cognition, and what Lan Ze said to him also made Yan Shixun unconsciously look complicated when he looked at Ye Li again.
This ghost... loves him?
Before coming to Changshou Village, Yan Shixun also sat in the small courtyard. Listening to Jing Xiaobao's reciting, he gradually fell into a state of doubt and daze, repeatedly thinking about what Lan Ze had said to him.
Lan Ze said that no matter how well a person hides his feelings, when he truly loves another person, a smile and warmth will show in his eyes, and even his temperament will change.
Although Yan Shixun is far superior to Lan Ze in spiritual practice, he is very clear that everyone has their own specialties. From the daily interactions between Lan Ze and Cheng Jing in Haiyun Temple, it can be seen that Lan Ze is proficient in love and is much more professional than him.
——Although when Lan Ze heard the reason why Yan Shixun asked humbly, he was amused and confused by Yan Shixun's serious attitude of treating love as a truth that needs to be verified.
Lan Ze bluntly said that Yan Shixun was good in every way except that he had no love in his heart.
How can anyone call love a "professional"?
However, thanks to Lan Ze's patient explanation, Yan Shixun gradually realized that perhaps Ye Li did treat him differently from others.
If before today, Yan Shixun was still hesitating and doubting, thinking that even if Ye Li treated him specially, it should not be love, but more of mutual support and trust like that between the Taoist priests of Haiyun Temple.
However, Ye Li's frank words at this time shattered all other speculations in Yan Shixun's mind.
Yan Shixun had no awareness of loving others or being loved by others, but he was good at rooting out the truth from the smallest details.
At this moment, Yan Shixun looked directly into Ye Li's eyes, taking in the solemnity and seriousness in those eyes.
Yan Shixun realized that Ye Li... loved him.
This realization made Yan Shixun open his eyes wide, and the slender fingers hanging by his side bent unconsciously.
Although Ye Li's body temperature was slightly cool, Yan Shixun felt a heat spreading from him, raising his own temperature as well. His throat felt dry and hoarse as if it was burned by fire.
Yan Shixun looked at Ye Li with complicated eyes, knowing that he was waiting for his answer.
However, his brain was like a ball of wool that had been played with by a large cat. His originally clear and smooth thoughts were tangled into a mess, and even his language system was disordered. His usual calmness was gone.
Yan Shixun's Adam's apple rolled up and down, and a smile appeared on his lips without him even realizing it.
But when he wanted to say something, his thin red lips opened and closed, but he suddenly became speechless.
Ye Li looked at Yan Shixun intently, but did not receive an answer from him for a long time.
So he tentatively opened his arms and, with gentle and slow movements, embraced Yan Shixun in his arms.
The warm and strong body fell into his arms, as if the void in this embrace was supposed to be filled by the other person.
Yan Shixun did not refuse.
Ye Li's arms slowly tightened, and then, with a sigh, he slowly approached Yan Shixun's neck, and the breath he exhaled fell on Yan Shixun's earlobes and neck.
He watched as a little pink spread behind Yan Shixun's ears and neck, and a smile appeared in his eyes.
See, his beloved Ghostbusters weren't totally indifferent to him.
Ye Li originally wanted to speak first, but at this moment, Yan Shixun's eyes, which had been broken by the waves, suddenly became sharp again.
As Yan Shixun was facing Nancun, he could just see the unusual movements in the village.
In the originally quiet and peaceful village, in the yard next to Grandma Nan's house, an old woman pushed the door and walked out.
She moved furtively, her eyes rolling around nervously as if she was worried that her movements would be seen by the neighbors.
In her arms, she was holding a whole quilt and tiptoeing towards the three-way intersection.
Yan Shixun looked over Ye Li's shoulder and frowned at the old woman who was walking towards where he was standing.
Her movements and the quilt in her arms all made Yan Shixun feel strange.
Suddenly, as if a bolt of lightning split his mind, which had just been like a ball of wool, Yan Shixun suddenly opened his eyes wide and realized what was in the old woman's arms.
baby!
That's not a quilt at all, it's clearly a simple swaddling cloth.
The old woman hurriedly walked towards the fork in the road, muttering to herself, "I don't want to do this either, but you're a girl. Remember the suffering you've endured in this life, and don't come to our house in the next life. If you come again, I'll throw you to death. When you go back, tell others that if you're a girl, don't come to our house. Do you understand?"
As she spoke, the old woman threw the swaddling clothes towards the fork in the road with a nervous look on her face.
Yan Shixun immediately realized that this was a tradition that was gradually disappearing in the southern regions, but at this point in time, it was obviously still being used in Nancun.
According to an old and decadent tradition, if a family gave birth to an unwanted baby girl, they would throw the baby girl outside on a busy road, leaving her to be crushed to death by the passing pedestrians and carriages, turning her into a pile of meat paste.
In this way, the baby girl who feels pain will be afraid of this family, and when she is reincarnated, she will tell other souls that this family will kill the baby girl at birth.
In this way, no baby girl would dare to be born into this family, and thus this family would be able to fulfill their wish of giving birth to a boy.
It was obvious from the words the old woman muttered that she also wanted to treat the baby girl in the same way.
Yan Shixun didn't have time to say anything to Ye Li. He pushed him away, then took a long step and ran quickly towards the old woman. He subconsciously stretched out his arms, trying to catch the baby girl's swaddling clothes before she fell to the ground.
Ye Li saw Yan Shixun's actions and let him go without hesitation.
He knew that Yan Shixun was so anxious that he even forgot that he was still in a dream.
Whether it was the old woman or the baby girl, these were things that had happened twenty years ago and were now being replayed before Yan Shixun's eyes.
It's like a slide show on repeat.
No matter how anxious you are, how can you enter a scene that has already happened and change the established facts?
Yan Shixun's palm was rapidly approaching the swaddling clothes that was thrown high up and then dropped. He held his breath and stared, fearing that he would not measure the landing point well and would pass by the swaddling clothes, causing the baby girl in the swaddling to fall to the ground and get hurt.
However, the swaddling clothes were getting closer and closer to Yan Shixun's palm, but when he subconsciously raised his hand to catch it, it went straight through his palm and fell heavily to the ground with a "bang".
Yan Shixun stood there in a daze.
It was like a ball of air that didn't really exist, but was just projected into the shape of a cradle. But how could one catch something that didn't exist?
Yan Shixun looked down and found that the baby girl in the cradle had a pale and bloodless face, and was obviously dead already.
From the very beginning, the old woman held out a dead body.
Yes.
A tradition of Nancun, corpse sacrifice.
The villagers would offer the bodies of their deceased family members to the "gods" in Nanming Mountain, begging them to grant them what they wanted.
And this old woman obviously wanted to use the baby girl's body in exchange for the birth of a boy next time in her family.
Before Yan Shixun could come to his senses, he suddenly heard a low, angry roar.
"What are you doing!"
The familiar voice made Yan Shixun subconsciously turn sideways to look at Ye Li, but Ye Li just shook his head slightly, then pointed behind him, motioning him to look back.
Yan Shixun's mind, which had been in a mess due to Ye Li's blunt words just now, quickly returned to normal and he returned to his usual calm and rational state.
——This was Nancun twenty years ago. Everything he saw was a projection of what had already happened.
The year twenty years ago was called the "Ghost Year" by many Taoist priests and exorcists.
But the one who judges sins is not the King of Hell who has long since disappeared and died.
But it is Yeli.
The voice he just heard also came from Yeli twenty years ago.
In a flash, Yan Shixun sorted out everything. He quickly turned around and looked back with sharp eyes.
Not far in front of him, Ye Li, dressed in black, was looking at the old woman with a gloomy expression.
All the sins of the soul are exposed under the gaze of Ye Li in black.
The old woman's legs went weak and she fell to her knees trembling. Although she didn't know who this person who suddenly appeared was, she was almost crushed by the huge fear that came from the depths of her soul, and she unconsciously wanted to beg for mercy.
But before the old woman could start to defend herself tremblingly, Ye Li in black had already raised his eyes and looked towards Nancun.
In the eyes of ghosts and gods, the entire village was shrouded in a heavy black air, with clusters of sins tightly entangled in many courtyards. It was the hatred of the dead towards the living, and it also indicated the sins of the living.
The Lord of Fengdu was furious.
The originally clear sky quickly turned gloomy and the wind howled.
The strong wind passed quickly between the mountains, whistling like the howling of ghosts.
The sound of chains dragging on the ground came regularly from the depths of the darkness.
The ghost came from Fengdu, following the will of the Lord of Fengdu, to lead all the souls of Nancun to Fengdu for judgment.
The innocent will be reborn, but those who are entangled in sin...
Stay in Fengdu prison for a long time.
In an instant, the entire South Village was filled with cries and screams.
"What's wrong with you? Speak, don't scare me!"
"Wake up, wake up!"
Every household turned on the lights, but they could not resist the spread of darkness under the gloomy sky.
But gradually, the noisy sounds in South Village gradually weakened, and in the end, it became deathly silent.
The wind blew through the village road, and the straw baskets rolled past, raising dust.
But there was no one in sight.
All the villagers fainted in their homes, and their souls were taken away by the ghosts, one by one, to be judged for their lifetime sins.
However, only a few people were able to come back.
Yan Shixun saw Grandma Nan, who was the first to push open the door of the yard.
Looking at the appearance of the village and her previous experience of walking through the underworld as if in a dream, Grandma Nan understood everything.
Her old face darkened and became terribly stern.
Because of the trip to Fengdu, the purer power of ghosts and gods came over them, and the power of the "gods" in the Nanming Mountains collapsed, and Grandma Nan's tampered memory returned to normal.
She thought of the master she met in Nanming Mountain many years ago, the corpses at the bottom of the river, and the corpse ceremony that never stopped in Nancun.
Grandma Nan looked from outside her house toward the end of the village road and saw a tall figure standing silently at the three-way intersection.
The man was dressed in black, with his hat pulled down so low that his face could not be seen.
Grandma Nan knew that this was... the real God.
She trembled and bowed deeply at the fork in the road, feeling guilty that as a witch in Nancun for many years, she had been an accomplice to the evildoers and presided over so many ceremonies without knowing it.
Grandma Nan made a vow - since this was Nancun's sin, then it should be Nancun who should end it all.
As a native of Nancun, she has an unshirkable responsibility.
When Grandma Nan stood up, the three-way intersection was empty.
The ghosts and gods forgave her and gave her the opportunity to settle her own cause and effect.
Little Nantian had also woken up. He rubbed his eyes and walked to Grandma Nan, grabbed her clothes and shouted that he was hungry.
Grandma Nan quickly contacted Nan Tian’s parents, who had already left the village, and briefly explained to them everything that had happened in the past and was happening now. She then handed little Nan Tian over to his parents and sent him out of the village.
Before leaving, Grandma Nan warned Xiao Nantian not to go near Nanming Mountain again and not to return to Nan Village.
She knew very well what a powerful enemy her master would face. When she led the remaining people of South Village into the mountains, she never thought of coming back alive.
As the last Nancun citizen who witnessed all of this, Nantian would definitely greatly weaken her master's power even if she failed to kill him in Nanming Mountain. If her master wanted to recover, he would need Nantian to inherit the Nancun customs and Grandma Nan's flesh and blood and soul to complete the sacrifice again.
Grandma Nan asked Nan Tian to stay away, both to protect him and to prevent her master from reviving.
On the other hand, the judgment of souls has not stopped.
After seeing that most of the people in Nancun were entangled in unforgivable sins, Ye Li twenty years ago was extremely disappointed with the world. In a rage, he expanded the scope of the trial to the entire Nanming Mountain area.
Although the situation in other villages was better than that in Nancun, more than half of the souls were still left in Fengdu because of their sins.
For a while, coffins were in short supply throughout the Nanming Mountains. In the end, they were sold out so fast that people couldn’t even wrap themselves in straw mats.
The dead bodies were scattered all over the place, and the dead were rotting in their homes.
When the master saw Grandma Nan who had recovered her memory and the situation near Nanming Mountain, he had some vague guesses in his mind.
The thing he had always been afraid of finally happened.
The ghosts and gods... noticed Nanming Mountain.
If he allowed the ghosts and gods to investigate, then everything he had done in Nanming Mountain over the years would be in vain.
However, although the master was panicked, he still managed to keep his composure.
After all, his efforts over the years were not in vain. Even if he was not a god recognized by heaven and earth, he had already touched the boundary of heaven and earth. If he found the god of Nanming Mountain, he would be very likely to be defeated by him even though he was weak.
After all, the great way of heaven and earth has collapsed, and the gods must have become weak.
The master felt that by then, he could step on the corpses of the gods, become a new god, and force heaven and earth to recognize him.
The master was very proud.
He killed Nan Apo and others who could not compete with him at all in Nanming Mountain, and they became part of his power. Then he saw the black figure coming.
Twenty years ago, Ye Li gave Grandma Nan a chance to make amends. Grandma Nan's death was due to the sins she had committed, so Ye Li would not interfere.
But after Grandma Nan's death, Ye Li would not let go of the master who pretended to be a god in Nanming Mountain.
Therefore, after Grandma Nan died, Ye Li appeared before the master.
The master was still eager to see the scene of the god's death, expecting everything to go according to his plan.
However, the master who was not recognized by heaven and earth did not know that even if the Dao was safe and sound a hundred years ago, Ye Li was still the most special one among all the gods.
After the decline of the Great Dao, Ye Li became the last remaining ghost god because of his special nature.
Even the Great Dao could not do anything to Ye Li and the 100,000 ghost soldiers from Fengdu led by Ye Li.
What’s more, he is a master who relies on sinister means to gain power?
My master was defeated completely and utterly. He fled in panic and begged for mercy, trembling like a sieve under the terrifying and powerful pressure of Ye Li.
But just when Ye Li was about to kill his master, his master's figure suddenly disintegrated into a pile of chrysanthemum petals and disappeared.
Ye Li sensed the heaven and earth, but was shocked to find that no matter yin and yang, life or death, there was no trace of his master.
It was as if my master had evaporated into thin air.
After Ye Li searched in vain in Nanming Mountain, he sealed off Nanming Mountain so that even if the master used special means to escape, he could not escape Nanming Mountain and would not cause any impact on the outside of the mountain.
Then, because of the sins of the villagers near Nanming Mountain, Ye Li, who had lost the last hope in the human world, turned around and left Nanming Mountain.
He walked silently in the world, and finally settled in a small town, sitting on the edge of the market, watching the hustle and bustle of the world with cold eyes.
Ye Li wanted to take one last look at the human world, then return to Fengdu and never set foot in the human world again.
But he didn't expect that at that market, he would meet a young boy named Yan Shixun...
Yan Shixun watched everything replaying in front of him like a slide show, until finally, all the scenes disappeared, leaving only darkness in the dream, leaving him and Ye Li alone.
He couldn't come back to his senses for a long time.
Ye Li didn't say anything. He just stared at Yan Shixun and waited patiently.
Yan Shixun pursed his lips, slowly raised his eyes and looked towards Ye Li.
Ye Li had been prepared to face any questions and attempts from Yan Shixun, such as asking him why he didn't save Granny Nan, or why he took away the souls of the guilty villagers...
Ye Li knew very well that the judgments he made as a ghost, although correct and rational, were not close to ordinary human emotions.
Even if Yan Shixun scolded and resented him, he could understand.
However, Ye Li had made all the preparations, but he did not expect Yan Shixun to say, "So, Master should have died twenty years ago, but he just appeared again and turned into a chrysanthemum again?"
Ye Li was rarely a little confused.
His long eyelashes, as slender as crow feathers, trembled slightly, but when he raised his eyes, he only saw Yan Shixun's serious and solemn face.
Ye Li understood what Yan Shixun was thinking from his eyes.
——Yan Shixun made the same judgment as Ye Li.
Since they had sown the seeds of evil early on, trying to use the corpses of others to get things they did not deserve, and even harming young lives, then those villagers should bear the consequences themselves.
This is the cycle of cause and effect.
Sins may not be known to outsiders, and they may even be considered normal because everyone around them behaves in this way.
However, heaven and earth always watch over all living beings, silently but impartially recording all sins.
And the things that are not judged in the world of the living...
Judgement in Hades.
Yan Shixun didn't think there was anything wrong with what Ye Li did twenty years ago. Although the verdict lacked warmth and tenderness, it was correct.
Otherwise, how can the grievances of those lives killed by the villagers and the souls that cannot be reincarnated be redressed?
Therefore, Yan Shixun did not raise any questions.
Not to mention the accusations that Ye Li was prepared to bear.
Yan Shixun's expression was normal, but Ye Li opened his eyes slightly wider, with light flowing in his narrow eyes, as if the sun and the moon coexisted in them.
He looked at his beloved ghost exorcist in front of him and felt a huge surprise blooming in his heart.
This kind of harmony made Ye Li want to hug Yan Shixun tightly in his arms regardless of everything and never let go.
However, Ye Li still understood Yan Shixun's character.
He knew that since Yan Shixun asked this, he realized that his master was not dead and still existed outside the dream, so Yan Shixun would definitely leave the dream to chase after his master and protect the lives in Nanming Mountain.
If he hugged Yan Shixun at this time, his beloved ghost exorcist would probably be disliked and think that he was hindering him from saving people.
So Ye Li quickly restrained his impulse and nodded calmly: "Yes. Twenty years ago, Nan He also relied on such a special method to escape trial, and just now, he did the same thing again and escaped from the dream."
Yan Shixun listened to Ye Li's words and frowned because of the special means.
But suddenly, he recalled the scene when he first met his master.
At that time, the master did not exist independently, but tore off the skin of the village chief and walked out of the body of the village.
Maybe... Master's special method is to use the existence of others to cover up the traces of his own existence.
That is why the master only appears at the annual festival in Changshou Village.
Because apart from the festival, he is hiding under someone else's skin!
That's why Ye Li couldn't sense his master between heaven and earth, because his master had given up everything just to survive!
Yan Shixun, who had figured everything out, suddenly grabbed Ye Li's arm.
"We will leave the dream immediately."
Yan Shixun looked at Ye Li with sharp eyes: "Even if Master ran away and the Winter Solstice Festival was not completed, he would not want to see the success in his hands. Greed is his biggest weakness. He must be in Nanming Mountain now!"
Ye Li lowered his eyes and responded with a smile: "Okay, as you said."
As soon as he finished speaking, a strong wind rose up from around Ye Li, violently tearing apart the entire dream world.
Ye Li took a step forward with his long legs and embraced Yan Shixun in his arms, preventing the wind blade from hurting Yan Shixun at all.
With a "bang", the dream collapsed.
Everything returns to darkness.
Yan Shixun’s eyes went dark, and he felt like he had fallen into a deep ocean of consciousness, falling straight down.
However, he could always feel that Ye Li was by his side, holding him tightly.
Yan Shixun curled the corners of his lips. He, who always kept his nerves tense and handled crises cautiously, tried to let go for the first time and chose to trust Ye Li.
Yan Shixun, who always stood at the forefront of danger and protected others, suddenly felt that with Ye Li by his side...
Very reassuring.
His nerves relaxed and he allowed himself to sink completely into darkness.
Yan Shixun knew that Ye Li would catch him.
No matter where you are.
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