Exploring Yong'an City Part 4
"You deserve to die."
"Killing you would be as easy as turning my hand."
"Only the winner is a saint."
"Hmm—" Huaiwen woke up with a start. She gripped the blanket tightly, stared at the ceiling for a long time, and only after confirming that she was lying in bed did she let go of the blanket, take a deep breath, and calm herself down.
She stared at the ceiling, her dream replaying in her mind. But the rapidly flashing images made it impossible for her to see anything clearly; all she felt was a headache. She could only close her eyes, control her breathing, and it took her a while to calm down.
She was thirsty too. She got up to pour herself a glass of water when Onikiri came in. They were both surprised and delighted. One busied herself pouring water for Huaiwen, while the other rushed out to call Xuanye. After calming Onikiri down, Huaiwen carefully questioned Xuanye about the details of that day.
When Xuan Ye asked Huai Wen why she had used the blood curse, Huai Wen realized she had been controlled. She had no idea what happened afterward.
But she clearly remembered that when she was surrounded by sand and dust, she saw the white talisman transform into a long silver thread, which quickly touched her brow, and then she was controlled.
"Do you think the golden armor and jade suit are related to the stone tablet? I can't seem to find a connection. But these two things happened at the same time..." As Huaiwen spoke, his stomach involuntarily rumbled.
Huaiwen scratched her head and grinned sheepishly, while Guimie laughed and ran off to find her something to eat. Embarrassed, she looked up and met Xuan Ye's gaze.
This was completely different from the look in her eyes when she was talking to Xuan Ye just now. Xuan Ye's dark eyes always seemed to be exploring something, as if he wanted to dig deep into her.
"Are you dreaming?" Xuan Ye asked softly.
Huaiwen paused for a moment, then thought of the nightmare she had before waking up. It was a nightmare, but there were no images, only echoing sounds. She nodded.
Xuan Ye raised an eyelid slightly, thought for a moment, and then asked, "What did you dream about?"
Huaiwen shook his head and joked to himself, "It's nothing, maybe I was cursed with a nightmare by that white talisman."
After a while, Xuan Ye finally caught his breath, wiped away all the emotions in his eyes, and casually looked up at the window: "No matter what the dream is, you must remember not to die."
Huaiwen nodded blankly. She knew in her heart that there was a curse connecting the two of them, and it would be bad for the other if either of them were injured or died.
After the meal, Huaiwen wanted to visit the Qian residence, and Xuanye nodded and accompanied her.
Upon arriving at the Qian residence, from the outside, everything appeared the same as yesterday, with nothing unusual. Using the pretext of a visit from a transvestite, they entered the residence again. This time, only the steward greeted them. When they inquired about Master Qian, the steward said that Master Qian was not at home due to important matters. Further pressing for a return date, the steward shook his head, saying he didn't know.
Huaiwen and Xuanye exchanged a glance, seemingly sharing an innate understanding; Huaiwen knew what Xuanye was thinking. So she tentatively spoke up: "In that case, we won't disturb you any longer, but please trouble the steward to tell Master Qian that we want to order that 'Golden Armor Jade Suit'."
The butler's expression was not good: "I will tell the master."
"Oh, right." Xuan Ye suddenly pulled a jade pendant from his sleeve. "I found it on the road. I wonder if you, Steward, recognize it?"
The butler looked over, then met Xuan Ye's eyes, and panicked. Xuan Ye smiled: "It seems you know him."
The butler dared not answer.
Xuan Ye spoke again: "It's good that you know it. That thing will definitely come back to retrieve its parents' personal belongings. We'll wait here, just like those twenty people last night."
Upon hearing this, the butler dropped the pretense. He hurriedly begged for mercy, "No, no, no. I... I'll tell you everything."
Xuan Ye nodded and sat down. Huai Wen looked at him with newfound respect, not expecting that he could still pick up the jade pendant that Master Qian had dropped under the circumstances last night.
The butler sighed and began to tell the story.
The Qian family ancestors were from the State of Yin. They had served as soldiers in the State of Yin, and one of them even rose to the rank of Grand General. He later died in battle. The King of Yin was deeply saddened and ordered the creation of a "golden armor and jade burial suit" to commemorate him.
After being bestowed upon the Qian family, the golden armor and jade suit became a family heirloom, passed down from generation to generation. Later, the Yin Kingdom was destroyed, and most of the Qian family ancestors also died in the fall of the kingdom, their bodies never even found. The surviving son dug up his legless father and the translucent golden armor and jade suit in the ruins.
To mourn his lost family, the son dressed his father in golden armor and jade robes, found a cart, and pushed him away from the fallen kingdom, where they found a new place to live. Normally, a corpse would decompose in a few days, but his father, wearing the golden armor and jade robes, did not decompose or smell for a whole month.
The son, who accidentally discovered this secret, made it a family secret, which was passed down from generation to generation. From then on, Qian family descendants would typically wear this golden armor after death to prevent their bodies from decaying and smelling foul for a short period.
Generation after generation, this golden armor and jade suit became increasingly tainted with the aura of the dead, keeping corpses from decaying and rotting for longer and longer, thus acquiring the power to bring the dead back to life. The Qian family also secretly began researching this art of resurrection.
The missing Mr. Qian naturally knew this secret. His son had passed away ten years ago, and since he had a son late in life, he was naturally reluctant to part with him. So he used the Qian family's "resurrection" technique on his own son.
However, neither Mr. Qian nor Mrs. Qian anticipated the power of this resurrection technique. They did not expect that their son would not only fail to be saved but also perish.
The butler pleaded, "That's all I know. Please, gentlemen, save my master and mistress."
Huaiwen considered for a moment and asked, "But steward, did you follow Master Qian and Madam Qian while they were performing the spell?"
The butler nodded, and Huaiwen asked again, "During the spellcasting, were Master Qian and Madam Qian like they were last night?"
“Never before has this happened. Young Master could never control Master and Madam.” The butler’s voice trembled with tears. “Young Master may have become a demon. We have to ask you two to rescue Master and Madam. We will definitely repay you. This time, we will not delay.”
Thinking about it this way, getting the golden armor and jade suit back becomes no simple matter. Huaiwen couldn't help but admire the reason why the head of the Demon and Human Bureau wanted this golden armor and jade suit back then, and why they refused to give it to him.
After sorting out her thoughts, Huaiwen reassured the housekeeper, saying that she would definitely find the golden armor and rescue their master and mistress.
The steward, moved, began to kowtow, but Xuan Ye lazily said, "Wait a moment."
The butler and Huaiwen both looked at Xuan Ye with puzzled expressions.
Xuan Ye said, "Saving your master and mistress and demanding the golden armor and jade suit are two separate matters. So this time, if you want us to save your master and mistress, you must first pay us."
Huaiwen was taken aback, then a smile crept onto her face. She thought, "That's great! I don't have to worry about food expenses on the road. Xuan Ye truly lives up to his reputation as the most business-savvy demon; he's so good at calculating!"
Without saying a word, the steward hurriedly ordered someone to fetch the money.
After leaving the Qian residence, Huaiwen was overjoyed, carrying two large bags of silver. To be honest, she had never seen so much money before! She immediately praised Xuan Ye as a master at collecting debts.
Xuan Ye raised the corners of his mouth slightly, quite pleased with Huai Wen's praise.
Coming back to her senses from the joyful mood, Huaiwen told Xuanye that she felt the two of them should return to the stone tablet. Xuanye had the same idea, so the two quickened their pace and set off.
When they arrived, they found a large crowd gathered, whispering amongst themselves. News of what had happened at the stone tablet the previous night had already spread. Soon, Huaiwen spotted Ayan on the outskirts. Ayan saw her too and waved, beckoning her over.
When Ayan saw Huaiwen, she quickly waved her over: "Do you know what happened here last night! Look, that stone tablet is cracked. I told you my magic would work! It just delayed things a little!"
Huaiwen gave an awkward smile. There were too many onlookers; she couldn't just jump out and say that it was because of her and Xuan Ye that the stone tablet was split. Ayan kept describing the phenomena of the stone tablet cracking in her ear.
After a while, Huaiwen finally broke free from Ayan and walked back to Xuanye's side. She sighed and paused before speaking, "Everyone has quite the imagination; they can make up anything."
"Yeah. You people really do love to make things up."
Huaiwen was used to Xuan Ye's sharp-tongued comments and continued nonchalantly, "They won't hire Taoist priests to perform rituals again this time, will they? If so, they might as well come to my Human Demon Hall. My rituals are much more effective than theirs."
How effective is it?
"It's so effective it'll satisfy you. Want to give it a try?" Huaiwen leaned closer to Xuan Ye, squinting his eyes and deliberately teasing him.
"Brother Huaiwen—"
"Um--"
The sounds piled up together, naturally drowning out the dullness, and Huaiwen didn't hear Xuanye's reply. Ayan ran over and first pulled Huaiwen away from Xuanye, asking Huaiwen how the debt collection was going.
Huaiwen shook her head and then nodded. Well, she did have some money on her now, but she couldn't just tell everyone openly. What if Ayan wanted her to treat him to a meal again? So she said she was still collecting debts.
Hearing this, Ayan nodded and asked, "So, are you going to Yong'an City next, or somewhere else?"
"We're going somewhere else."
Huaiwen thought to himself, "Because we have to go and rescue Master Qian and Madam Qian."
"Where are we going?" Ayan glanced at Xuan Ye and lowered his voice, "Brother, are you really not considering getting rid of that guy behind you? He doesn't look friendly at all. If it weren't for the fact that we're destined to meet, I wouldn't have kept trying to persuade you."
Huaiwen naturally turned to look at Xuan Ye, and their eyes met. Huaiwen shuddered and immediately turned back to A Yan, saying, "No need."
"Then I'll go with you."
"Why?"
“Because…” Ayan smiled, grabbed the square jade pendant from Huaiwen’s waist, and held it up, “this one.”
Huaiwen was shocked. She pointed at Ayan and said, "You are a member of the Jiang clan!"
Ayan smiled proudly: "Exactly."
"How did you know? No, when did you find out I was from the transgender community?"
"I knew it the first time."
"..."
Huaiwen looked at him resentfully: "Why didn't you say so sooner!"
Ayan scratched his head awkwardly and explained that he hadn't recognized Huaiwen at the time because he couldn't be certain that Huaiwen was from the transvestite organization. What if the jade pendant on Huaiwen's waist was stolen? He had originally planned to come back to Qingyun Temple the next day to verify Huaiwen's identity, but Huaiwen had left first.
Then, they met Huaiwen again in Yong'an City. While they were eating at a restaurant, Huaiwen sat on a stool and kept rummaging through his treasure bag. He spotted the "Mountain and Sea Jade Pendant" of the Jiang family.
At this point, he confirmed that Huaiwen was a member of the Demon Slayers' Guild. As for why he didn't say it at the time, it was because Xuan Ye had immobilized him and pounded his chest, causing him great pain, so he forgot about it for a moment.
At this point, Huaiwen's resentment deepened. She was a little angry, but more helpless. If Ayan had recognized her back then, she wouldn't have lost her life three times! But what's done is done, and there's nothing more she can say.
Ayan smiled and extended her hand: "Now let me formally introduce myself. My name is Jiang Liyan."
Huaiwen looked at Jiang Liyan's hand outstretched in mid-air, and although he was annoyed, he still reached out and shook it: "Hello, Jiang Liyan."
Soon, Huaiwen turned around and asked Jiang Liyan if he could answer their secret code. Jiang Liyan smiled and told Huaiwen to say it.
Huaiwen sized him up and cautiously began, "People here say there is no hell."
"The path to the Infernal Realm is fraught with difficulty and danger."
shock……!
It's confirmed: the creditor and the debtor.
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