Chapter 063
The game mode Jin Meng chose this time was multiplayer mode, with a total of seven players entering the game together.
They were in a small wooden house with a bamboo door. There were a few small tables in the room, and the faint aroma of tea surrounded them.
"Huh, we're all together?"
"What you're wearing is so weird."
They were all wearing the same clothes, a white kimono with black patterns, and wooden clogs on their feet.
"Oh, the background of this mission dungeon is actually an ancient country."
After entering the game, Jin Meng subconsciously looked for Shi Jiu. Only after seeing Shi Jiu right next to her did Jin Meng breathe a sigh of relief.
Jin Meng walked over to Shi Jiu and asked, "Are you feeling well?"
Shi Jiu shook his head: "No."
After the players successfully entered the game, they soon received background prompts from the game system.
Tokijiu carefully looked at her background information. This time her name was Tsukikawa Tokijiu, a young Onmyoji from the Tsukikawa family.
The Yuechuan family is a famous Onmyoji family, and many powerful Onmyojis have emerged from their family.
"Wow, so I'm an Onmyoji!"
“Looks pretty cool!!”
The surrounding players had also received the background message and began to discuss quietly. This unknown fantasy world was the most fun and popular dungeon.
Everyone followed the system prompts and quickly mastered some basic skills of Onmyoji.
Shi Jiu and Jin Meng exchanged some information with each other. They were from the same family and were both younger generations of the Yuechuan family.
Players are curious to try out Onmyoji's various skills, but because their skills are not very advanced, they are all very weak.
Just as the players were having fun, the bamboo door was pushed open with a creaking sound.
The noisy room suddenly became very quiet, and everyone looked at the man standing at the door in unison.
"What are you doing? Have you finished your homework?"
The man who came in was wearing a black kimono, his hair was combed back, his brows were furrowed, and he looked very fierce.
"Right away, right away." A player responded with gritted teeth.
The man in kimono glanced around, his gaze finally landing on the two boys beside Tokisake, "You two, come out with me."
Not long after the two boys went out, they came back with pale faces.
Everyone was curious about what they had done. One boy remained silent, while another boy's voice trembled slightly, "They were some terrifying evil spirits."
Onmyoji has always been a profession that requires dealing with some strange things, and Shijiu is not very strange.
The game was quiet for the time being, proceeding according to the game flow. After two days of adaptation, Shijiu had almost mastered the skills of Onmyoji. She even sneaked into the family library and learned some other skills.
Among them, Shijiu thinks the most useful skill is the spirit sacrifice.
Using the sacrificial spirit, she could attach her soul to anything at will. The Yuechuan family was located halfway up a mountain, surrounded by trees. Sometimes Shijiu would sacrifice a spirit in the form of a bird, sometimes a rabbit.
The Yuechuan family has very strict control over the younger generations, and they are generally not allowed to go out.
However, Shi Jiu had already visited almost all of the Yuechuan family's places, and she finally set her sights on the Yuechuan family's forbidden area.
There is a place in the back mountain that is under a lot of spells. Ordinary people cannot enter at all. This is the forbidden area of the Yuechuan family.
Shi Jiu was very curious about what was inside.
It wasn't until a spirit sacrifice that Shijiu finally found an opportunity.
Several old Yin-Yang masters from the Yuechuan family are breaking the spell and preparing to enter the forbidden area.
This time, Shi Jiu's spirit sacrifice happened to be an inconspicuous little paper figure. She concealed her own breath, then quietly stuck behind an Onmyoji and followed them into the forbidden area.
There was actually no difference between the inside of the forbidden area and the outside, but Shi Jiu could clearly feel a strong demonic aura around him.
Shi Jiu now finally understood why this place was called a forbidden area. If she guessed correctly, this place suppressed many powerful monsters.
Shi Jiu followed the old Yin-Yang masters until they finally entered a small, hidden cave. It was very dark inside, but one of the Yin-Yang masters made a fire talisman, and the cave gradually became brighter.
"He hasn't woken up yet. Everything is safe."
"The seal needs strengthening. He's about to wake up."
The Onmyojis are talking, they are sealing something.
Shijiu had already jumped off the Onmyoji's body. She moved very carefully, and no Onmyoji noticed her. Shijiu heard something breathing softly in the cave, and walked towards the direction of the sound.
The little paper man's body was not very useful, and several times the wine was almost blown away by the wind blowing in from the cave.
Shi Jiu walked to the innermost part of the cave. It was very dark inside, but Shi Jiu still noticed some runes near the entrance. The runes emitted a faint golden light, slightly illuminating the cave.
There was a huge stone pillar in the center of the cave. Shi Jiu saw many golden lines on it. Now she was on the back of the stone pillar, and she felt that something seemed to be tied to the other side.
This thing must be very dangerous.
Shi Jiu turned to the other side of the cave and saw a person tied to the other side of the stone pillar. The moment she saw him, Shi Jiu's pupils shrank slightly, and the little paper man stood there for a long time without moving.
The man was shirtless, with long silver hair. There were also some strange red lines on his body, which had spread to his face. On his forehead, there was a closed vertical eye.
Shi Jiu looked at him for a long time before she slowly jumped in front of him.
His wrists and ankles were tied up with iron chains. His wrists were rubbed by the cold chains, and there were many unhealed scars on his body.
Shi Jiu jumped on him and tried hard to loosen the chain on his wrist. But it was no use. Not only did the chain not loosen at all, she was almost hit by the backlash.
Shi Jiu could feel that he was very weak. With no other options, Shi Jiu placed her hand on his forehead, channeling a little of her own strength into him.
Like a child who had been hungry for a long time, he had been trying hard to absorb the power of Shijiu after accepting her power. Shijiu's power was actually not that much, and soon Shijiu felt a little dizzy, but he had no intention of letting her go, and he continued to absorb the power from her.
Just when Shi Jiu was about to lose her temper, he finally let her go. At the same time, the lines on his body gradually brightened.
The vertical eye on his forehead slowly opened.
Because Shijiu lacked strength, the sacrifice to the spirit failed, and his consciousness returned to his body.
"Ajiu...what's wrong with you? Why do you look so bad!" Shi Jiu just came back and met Jin Meng who came to look for her.
At this time, Shijiu's face was frighteningly pale, which frightened Jin Meng. "Are you feeling uncomfortable?"
Shi Jiu smiled and said, "It's okay, I'll be fine after a short rest."
Seeing Shijiu's smile, Jin Meng was stunned for a moment, then sat down next to Shijiu and asked quietly, "Did you encounter anything happy?"
Noticing Shi Jiu's puzzled look, Jin Meng explained with a smile, "It feels like I haven't seen you smile so happily in a long time."
Shi Jiu didn't tell Jin Meng about her visit to the forbidden area today. She simply rested for a while to recuperate. Her strength had been drained so much that she rested for two days and two nights before finally recovering.
Taking advantage of the night, Shijiu once again sacrificed her spirit and transformed herself into a small paper figure. She stealthily reached the edge of the forbidden area. The last time the Yin-Yang masters opened the forbidden area, Shijiu had memorized their method, and she entered smoothly.
The inside of the cave was still the same as before, and it looked like no one had been there before.
But when she reached the stone, she saw the chained man again. For some reason, his wounds had become more severe, especially his arms, which were covered in bruises.
Shi Jiu jumped on him with ease, then reached out and pressed his forehead to give him strength.
This time, Shi Jiu was prepared and didn't let him suck her dry all at once. When he was almost done, Shi Jiu withdrew his hand.
I don’t know if it was an illusion, but Shijiu felt that he was very well-behaved this time, completely different from the first time.
After supplying him with strength, Shi Jiu quietly left the cave.
After turning around, Tokijiu didn't notice at all that his silver vertical eyes had opened again and were looking at her.
As a highly gifted Onmyoji, Shijiu's training was very demanding during the day. In addition to completing basic studies, he also had to follow some of the clan's veteran Onmyojis down the mountain to complete missions.
Shijiu's talent is almost the best among the younger generation. She learns everything very quickly. Now the clan is planning to train her to be the next priestess.
That day, Shijiu returned to the clan, but found that everyone in the family had a serious look on their faces, and something must have happened.
Shi Jiu subconsciously stopped a peer and asked, "Did something happen today? Something seems amiss in the clan."
The peer looked around and made sure no one was around before explaining, "Something happened in the forbidden area on the back mountain. All the elders in the clan have gone there today."
"But what exactly happened, probably only the elders of the clan know."
Shi Jiu suddenly had a bad feeling. She politely thanked her peer first: "Okay, thank you."
"It's okay." The peer smiled and continued, "But now some people say it's the work of the evil spirit in the forbidden area."
"Haunted demon?"
"Yes, it's one of the three evil monsters, and it's the most difficult to deal with."
"By the way, the clan leader specifically told us not to go to the back mountain." said a peer.
"Okay." Shi Jiu nodded thoughtfully.
As soon as it got dark, a small paper man appeared near the forbidden area.
Shi Jiu also discovered that the defense of the forbidden area had become stronger. Fortunately, these days when she had nothing to do, she often went to the library to read books, and thus learned how to break the spell of the forbidden area.
Although it took a little more effort than usual, it was still smooth and she successfully entered the forbidden area.
After entering the forbidden area, Shi Jiu immediately went to the cave. As expected, he had a lot more wounds on his body. He didn't know if the power he had previously sent to him had taken effect, but even though he still had some injuries, he felt much better than before.
Shi Jiu didn't dare to send too much power to him this time. She stopped after sending one-third of her previous power. It was still early, and she didn't want to leave yet. Shi Jiu crawled over his body, carefully counting the wounds on his body.
There were quite a few wounds, probably more than twenty in total, big and small.
Shijiu was lying on his waist, leaning on his abdominal muscles, trying to figure out which healing technique would be best. But soon, she sensed something was wrong, and she subconsciously looked up. He had opened his eyes and was looking at her.
His eyes were a familiar silver color, narrow and beautiful, with a cold gaze.
In the past, his eyes were always gentle when he looked at her. This was the first time he stared at her with such cold eyes.
A strange force flashed by, and Shi Jiu was pushed to the ground by it. Fortunately, she was not hurt. The demonic energy around her became stronger and stronger, and his eyes never left her.
"Onmyoji?" A hint of hatred appeared in his silver eyes.
There must be some restraints on his body. The moment he used his strength to push her away, Shi Jiu noticed that the lines on his body lightened slightly. Then, the demonic energy around him became less.
"My name is Shijiu."
He didn't say anything, just looked at him with cold eyes.
Shi Jiu paused, looked up at him, and asked cautiously, "Can I know your name?"
He still didn't answer her.
Shi Jiu didn't care. She jumped onto him again, and was unsurprisingly bounced away by his strength again.
But Shijiu didn't give up. She jumped on him again and grabbed the edge of his pants tightly. Perhaps due to the backlash of the restraints on his body, his strength was weakened and he couldn't throw her away again.
Under his gaze, Shi Jiu jumped around on him arrogantly.
"Get off me." Shi Jiu heard his voice with a hint of gritted teeth.
"Okay." Shi Jiu agreed obediently, but did nothing at all.
Not only was she still hanging on him, she was also touching him unscrupulously.
If Shijiu looked up, he would see that his eyes were red with anger.
Shijiu was actually treating his wounds, but after many experiments, Shijiu found that human healing skills were completely useless on ghosts, and might even aggravate the wounds.
After working for a long time, Shi Jiu was finally tired and she sat on his shoulder to rest.
"When were you arrested?"
“........”
"Why do you keep having new wounds on your body? Some of them look fresh."
“.......”
"Is the incident in the forbidden area today because of you?"
She was bored at the time and didn't care whether he answered her or not. She just sat on his shoulder and talked to herself.
"No." Hearing his voice suddenly, Shi Jiu subconsciously looked up at him.
His voice sounded like it was squeezed out from between his teeth, still with a gnashing sound.
"How long have you been here? Is there anything you want to eat? I can bring it to you tomorrow." Shi Jiu suddenly changed the topic.
“........”
He still didn't speak.
Shi Jiu thought about it carefully and said affirmatively: "You like grapes."
“.......”
After a day of life as an Onmyoji, Shijiu offered sacrifices to the spirits again and slipped into the cave.
This time she had to use some strength because she was carrying a bottle of potion and a bunch of washed grapes on her back.
As if he could sense her breath, he slowly opened his eyes and looked towards her from his head down and eyes closed.
Shi Jiu had already jumped to his side, carrying a small package on her back. The package was a bit heavy, and Shi Jiu's little paper figurine kept leaning back. Seeing him looking over, Shi Jiu greeted him happily, "I'm here again, and I brought you your favorite grapes!"
“...............”
When did he ever say he liked eating grapes?
After a while, Shijiu easily jumped onto his shoulder. Then he sat down, opened his package, picked a grape and fed it to his mouth.
He maintained his aloof attitude and never opened his mouth.
Shi Jiu wasn't embarrassed either, she bounced around on him, knowing that he couldn't do anything about her, and later even stuck to his face.
He finally couldn't stand it anymore, "You go down..."
Before he could finish his words, a grape appeared in his mouth.
Worried that he would spit out the grapes, Shijiu quickly covered his mouth with his body.
“..........”
Seeing that he had eaten it, Shi Jiu smiled triumphantly and then moved it away from his mouth.
Shijiu brought some potions today, and she wanted to see if human potions would work on his wounds. But after looking around, Shijiu frowned and looked up at him, "Why do you have more wounds on your body?"
There were some new wounds on his body, especially on his arms, which looked like they were bitten by something.
As she expected, he did not answer her question.
Shijiu gave him a few grapes again, talked to him on his shoulder for a while, and then left the cave.
For the next few days, Shijiu would come to him every night with some delicious fruits.
She was very clever and always found a way to get him to eat the fruit. She also loved sitting on his shoulder and talking to herself, even though he couldn't understand some of what she said.
Shi Jiu discovered that human potions were effective on his wounds, and that they would heal faster. So she would apply potions to his wounds every night before leaving.
But one thing that Shi Jiu found strange was that new wounds kept appearing on his body. Something was constantly hurting him.
That night, Shijiu deliberately arrived a little early. She did not enter the cave directly, but quietly observed from outside. Everything was very quiet until Shijiu heard a strange sound coming from the cave.
It's like the subtle sound a baby makes when eating.
Shi Jiu immediately entered the cave quietly, and then she saw the scene in front of her: there was a golden ghost biting her arm and absorbing her strength.
Because of the restraints on his body, he was unable to return to the pit and could only allow the ghost to absorb his power.
Shi Jiu finally understood how the new wounds on his body came about.
A golden light flashed, and while the ghost was madly absorbing power, Shi Jiu threw out a talisman, sealing the ghost.
The ghost seemed to be still not full, and the whole ghost was a little dazed.
It first looked up at Shi Jiu, then looked at him in front of it with some grievance.
Shi Jiu had already walked in front of the ghost. The little ghost was very aggrieved, with tears in its eyes, and looked like it was about to cry. Shi Jiu also knew that the crying of this kind of ghost was very harsh and unpleasant, especially if it cried in this place, it would definitely attract other people's attention. When Shi Jiu was thinking of a countermeasure, he heard his voice.
He said coldly: "Don't cry."
The little ghost really sniffed his nose obediently and forced himself to hold back his tears.
Shijiu: “….”
Shi Jiu looked at the new wound on his arm and finally couldn't help asking, "Is he the one who has been absorbing your power?"
"Um."
Under Shijiu's constant harassment these days, his attitude has improved a lot, and sometimes he will answer when Shijiu talks to him.
Shi Jiu frowned and asked, "Are you just going to let him absorb your power like this?"
“...........”
After a while, Shi Jiu heard him say, "It can't absorb much."
"But you don't have much power in you, don't you know?"
“.........”
After Shi Jiu finished speaking, her gaze fell on the little ghost spirit again. For some reason, the little ghost spirit seemed to be not very courageous, and it was a little afraid of her.
The little ghost's body clung tightly to his arm, looking at Shi Jiu pitifully. It kept whimpering, as if asking for help.
Shi Jiu looked at him for a long time, and then seemed to understand something. She raised her eyes to look at him and said, "He is asking you for help. Could he be thinking of you as his mother?"
“..................”
Shijiu thought for a moment, then jumped to the little ghost spirit.
The little ghost shrank his neck a little in fear.
At this moment, Shi Jiu had already placed his hand on the little ghost's head. The little ghost actually had body temperature and was a little hot, which surprised Shi Jiu.
A faint power fluctuation appeared around them. Shi Jiu continued to supply power to the little ghost spirit. She also knew that the little ghost spirit could not survive on its own yet, and it could only receive power from other people. In the past, this power would be given to it by its mother, but it was obvious that the little ghost spirit had now lost its mother.
"Don't absorb your mother's power in the future. Your mother doesn't have much power." Shi Jiu said while feeding power to the ghost spirit.
"I'll feed you from now on."
The little ghost was very happy to absorb the new power. After absorbing it, it happily circled around Shijiu for a few times.
"You..." Shi Jiu heard his slightly unbelievable voice.
She understood what he wanted to say, and Shijiu smiled and said, "It's okay, he can't absorb much power anyway."
"It's much less than yours." Shi Jiu joked.
In the dark cave, Shijiu heard his laughter.
"Xiu." He suddenly spoke.
"Um?"
"My name."
Shi Jiu understood what he meant. She sat on his shoulders, smiled and looked sideways at him, then called out sweetly, "Ah Xiu."
She didn't feel it at all, and his body stiffened slightly in the darkness.
Shijiu was completing tasks in the dungeon while also feeding the child.
Perhaps the little ghost also felt the greater power in her, so every night he would wait obediently beside Xiu for her to feed him. The little ghost was also very well behaved. Knowing that the two of them had something to talk about, he would hide obediently after each meal, leaving them enough private space.
Because the little ghost no longer draws power from Xiu, the wounds on Xiu's body have visibly decreased.
After Shijiu finished feeding the little ghost, she would sit on Xiu's shoulder to rest. She had lost some of her strength and would actually be weak for a while, but Xiu would not disturb her during this time and let her sit on his shoulder.
"I brought you peaches today, please try them." After Shi Jiu had a good rest, he took out the fruit he had prepared for him and handed it to his mouth.
Xiu had become accustomed to her feeding him, perhaps out of gratitude for her bearing the pain of losing his strength, and he never refused her fruit again. He would eat whatever Shijiu fed him.
A faint peach scent surrounded them, and Shijiu asked with a smile, "Is it delicious?"
"Yeah." Shi Jiu heard his reply.
Shijiu happily continued feeding him, and this time his eyes were fixed on her.
For so many days, he had never seen her true appearance. It was as if a small feather was tickling his heart, and he suddenly wanted very much, very much to see her true appearance.
As if possessed by some unknown force, he uttered these words: "Can I see your face?"
Shi Jiu, holding a peach in his hand, suddenly froze in his place, "Huh?"
The unexpected happened suddenly. Before Shijiu could answer, her figure flashed and disappeared. The peach in her hand slowly rolled off his shoulder.
Xiu didn't move for a long time, and his eyes darkened unconsciously.
Shi Jiu was called back by Jin Meng. Tonight, something else had happened. New problems had arisen in the forbidden area, and some of the elders of the clan had gone there. Jin Meng knew that Shi Jiu went to the forbidden area every night, and was worried that Shi Jiu would be discovered, so she immediately called Shi Jiu back.
"The Cherry Blossom Festival is coming soon. Jiu, you should not go to the forbidden area for the time being." Jin Meng said a little worriedly, "If the elders of the tribe find out, the consequences will be serious."
Shi Jiu thought for a moment and agreed to Jin Meng's request: "Okay."
Of course, it was impossible to ask her to give up, as she still had some things to say to Xiu.
Late at night, after the elders of the clan had returned, Shijiu went to the forbidden area again. Perhaps because of the cherry blossom festival, the seal of the forbidden area was tightened again. Shijiu failed to enter the forbidden area and almost triggered the seal and was discovered by the elders.
For several days in a row, Shi Jiu was unable to enter the forbidden area.
It has rained frequently these days, and the sound of short rain can be heard in the cave.
The wine hadn't come for several days, and the little ghost was almost crying from hunger. Finally, he had to, and there were more wounds on Xiu's arms.
After the little ghost had eaten his fill, he looked at the cave entrance with some sadness, then looked up at Xiu, whimpering and saying something inaudible.
Xiu was silent for a long time, and finally smiled at himself.
There is always a difference between humans and demons, not to mention that she is an onmyoji.
The rain outside was beating against the branches and leaves.
It's really ironic to think that as a haunted demon, he actually has different thoughts about a human Onmyoji.
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