Chapter 73 [VIP]
The scene before me was like ink splashed in water, rapidly spreading, distorting, and deforming. The burning village, the wailing villagers, the vengeful face of the female ghost... everything faded and stretched in an instant, finally collapsing into a suffocating darkness.
Immediately afterwards, the bright light became blinding.
Jiang Zhuochen subconsciously closed his eyes and then opened them again, finding himself standing on a muddy dirt road. The sky was overcast, and a fine drizzle fell, the cold rain soaking his coarse cloth clothes, the chill biting to the bone.
He looked down and saw that he was wearing old clothes with patches on them, and his body seemed to have shrunk a bit, turning into the appearance of a boy.
"Master?" He hurriedly turned his head and saw Xu Xing standing beside him, also dressed in simple farm clothes, frowning as he looked around.
"Hmm." Xu Xing's voice was low. "Have we entered an illusion again?"
"Again?" Jiang Zhuochen asked subconsciously, then his eyes widened slightly. "Was the master in my illusion last time you?"
Xu Xing raised an eyebrow, realizing he had carelessly let something slip. However, the misunderstanding had been cleared up, and admitting it didn't seem so bad.
"Alright." Seeing this, Jiang Zhuochen understood everything. He clenched his fist, which had shrunk considerably, and waved it in front of the other person, settling scores later: "Why didn't you remind me back then? I was almost devoured by my inner demons."
Xu Xing easily took his fist and squeezed it. "Since you seem to like it a lot, staying a few more days isn't out of the question."
His tone was calm and overly matter-of-fact, which intimidated Jiang Zhuochen. "How can you be so calm even though you've lost all your memories? You don't have any spiritual power at all, aren't you afraid you won't be able to escape?"
"I'm not afraid," Xu Xing said calmly. "I am your master."
Jiang Zhuochen smiled, pursing his lips. Indeed, his master was always omnipotent. After smiling, he followed Xu Xing inside.
“I encountered this once when I went out on a training trip with my fellow disciples. It’s a time-travel cage created by a female ghost. It’s not a simple illusion; things will unfold according to a predetermined path, and we can’t stop it. If we anger her, the entire environment might collapse, and we would all be trapped here.”
"Then what should we do?" Xu Xing asked.
Jiang Zhuochen drawled leisurely, showing no sign of urgency with Xu Xing by his side. "Either I wait for my powerful master to recover his magic and forcefully break through, or..."
Xu Xing replied helplessly, "Or?"
“Either we don’t disturb her, but try to dispel some of her resentment within the existing trajectory and see if we can influence her,” Jiang Zhuochen wrinkled his nose. “In the illusion, her power will increase infinitely. Any abnormal actions we take will be detected and we will be killed.”
Do you think you can do it?
"I think you have a better chance of regaining your magic power." Jiang Zhuochen glanced at him, then muttered to himself, "How come this female ghost is so powerful?"
They've already self-destructed, yet they still have the ability to fabricate and maintain an illusion.
The two were chatting casually when suddenly two voices called out from behind them.
"Hey, isn't this Li Zhuangguo's wealth and fortune? Coming back so late, be careful you don't get another beating from your father."
Jiang Zhuochen and Xu Xing paused. Both of them were wearing ordinary, worn-out coarse linen shirts and looked dusty and dirty. It was obvious that they had gone to some remote mountain village to play.
Jiang Zhuochen, now disguised as Li Fugui, accepted his new identity very naturally. He turned around and grinned heartily, "Uncle, why are you so late too?"
The slightly hunched-over uncle, carrying a hoe, walked past them and teased, "You think everyone's as idle as you little kids?"
"Hehe." Jiang Zhuochen pulled Xu Xing along behind him and asked with a shameless smile, "Uncle, can you come home with us and take a look? If my dad really gets angry, can you tell him we got lost and didn't mean to come back so late?"
The uncle chuckled, "Lost? Hahaha, what an excuse you came up with."
"Hey," Jiang Zhuochen followed behind the man, glancing left and right. "Anyway, could you put in a good word for us? We'll help you with some work another day! What do you say, Brother Zhaocai?"
Jiang Zhuochen bit his lip, suppressing a laugh, and nudged the expressionless Xu Xing with his elbow. "Brother, say something, Brother Zhaocai!"
A dark glint flashed in Xu Xing's eyes. He reached behind him and pinched the other man's lower back as a warning. He felt the other man flinch, and his expression gradually softened. He lazily replied.
"Okay, okay." The man was completely charmed. "I'll keep an eye on things for you."
"Thank you, Uncle!"
After turning along the path for a while, a poor and isolated little mountain village came into view. Low mud-brick houses were scattered in the valley, with wisps of smoke rising from their chimneys, yet the air was thick with a suffocating, murky atmosphere.
Several raggedly dressed children were chasing and playing. They noticed them but only glanced at them before continuing to play.
Suddenly, a sharp cry of crying and cursing came from a house not far ahead. The courtyard wall of that house was higher than the others, and it seemed that the family was slightly better off.
"Isn't this Wang Laowu's house?" The man turned his head toward the source of the voice, then clicked his tongue: "Hey, didn't they bring back a girl a few days ago? I don't know where they picked her up from, but she's so pretty... really beautiful."
The two exchanged a glance and, with a tacit understanding, pretended to be passing by, slowing their pace as they approached the Wang family's courtyard gate.
"Hey, where are you two going?"
Jiang Zhuochen stopped in his tracks, looking impatient: "Uncle, aren't you going to listen to some gossip?"
"..." The man shook his head helplessly. "It's so noisy, the whole village will know by tomorrow. There's no need for you to go and listen. You can listen if you want, I just need to rest."
"Alright," Jiang Zhuochen said, striding forward.
The gate to Wang Laowu's courtyard was ajar. Through the crack, they could see a burly, dark-skinned man with a fierce face roughly dragging a thin figure.
It was a little girl who looked only fifteen or sixteen years old. She was soaking wet, her hair was disheveled, and her face was covered in mud and tears. She was struggling and crying desperately, "Let me go! I want to go home! Please let me go home!"
Her face was identical to the female ghost's, only a little more youthful. Her eyes were filled with terror, helplessness, and a trace of stubbornness that had not yet faded.
"Go home? I spent three thousand yuan to buy you, so you're a member of the Wang family! Even if you die, you'll be a ghost of the Wang family!" Wang Laowu slapped the girl across the face. She staggered a few steps and fell into the mud, her cries turning into suppressed sobs.
At this moment, a woman with high cheekbones and a mean-looking face rushed out of the house, wailing at Wang Laowu: "Husband! Baozhu's fever is getting worse! Where's the medicine?! Where's the medicine I told you to buy?!"
"What's the rush! We didn't have enough money, we only grabbed one set!" Wang Laowu roared irritably, then kicked the girl on the ground. "It's all because of this good-for-nothing that we're wasting our time!"
Cuilian glared fiercely at the girl, her eyes filled with venom, then turned and ran back into the house.
Jiang Zhuochen silently finished reading and whispered, "So that female ghost was sold here? But why was the village massacred?"
Xu Xing gestured for him to turn back, "Wait a little longer, it might be soon."
Seeing the two men turn back, the man stood up and dusted off his pants. "Let's go, it'll be dark soon."
Thanks to this uncle, they arrived at their next residence without incident, just in time for the fact that their nominal father had not yet returned.
"Hey, you two are really lucky." The man waved his hand. "Go on in."
"Thank you, Uncle," Jiang Zhuochen said obediently.
The man looked Jiang Zhuochen up and down, then said to Xu Xing earnestly, "Zhaocai, you're the older brother. Stop leading your younger brother around all day. It's about time you shared some of the burden at home."
"..." Xu Xing gave a forced smile. "I understand."
Once only the two of them remained, Jiang Zhuochen touched his upper lip to his lower lip and chuckled again. "Li Zhaocai? Why does that sound like a mongrel's name? Hahaha, Xu Xing's name is definitely the best. Li Zhaocai…"
Hearing him repeat the name endlessly, Xu Xing stretched out his hands, trapping the man beneath him, and leaned in close. "Never going to stop?"
The name Li Fugui sounds nice, doesn't it?
Jiang Zhuochen tilted his chin up, his smile undiminished. "Luckily, your name is Xu Xing, otherwise I wouldn't have gone with you based on that face alone."
"You came with me in the first place because of this face?" Xu Xing asked incredulously.
“That’s right.” Jiang Zhuochen said matter-of-factly, “Your appearance reflects your heart. Someone who’s this good-looking is probably not a bad person.”
Xu Xing was speechless for a moment, then reached out and rubbed the back of his head. "From now on, I will review all the friends you make."
"You're so domineering," Jiang Zhuochen said, puffing out his cheeks in protest.
Xu Xing reached out and poked him, then lowered her head and bit his lower lip. After letting go, she asked softly, "What did you just call me?"
Jiang Zhuochen didn't react at first. He hadn't called him just now. His questioning gaze met Xu Xing's. In the silence between them, he slowly recalled what had happened until he suddenly realized.
"elder brother?"
Jiang Zhuochen's face couldn't hide his teasing, "You want me to call you brother? But that would mess up our generational hierarchy."
Xu Xing grabbed his chin, "You even dared to call me by my name, and now you know about seniority?"
"Okay." Jiang Zhuochen couldn't hold back any longer and hugged him, shouting, "Brother, brother, don't be angry, I won't call you that anymore."
The two shouts made Xu Xing's throat itch. He pressed down hard on the back of the man's waist and then bit his earlobe.
"It's fine, do as you like."
"Then brother? Elder brother?" Jiang Zhuochen shook his head, "Recruit..."
Xu Xing pinched his mouth shut, "You don't need to say the rest."
Jiang Zhuochen couldn't open his mouth, so he could only let out a few muffled laughs.
Over the next few days, Jiang Zhuochen and Xu Xing lived their normal lives in the village as Li's sons, closely monitoring the Wang family's movements. They also learned from the villagers that the girl's name was Yishui.
The Wang family's gate was often left wide open without any attempt to hide it from people, so they could easily see the treatment the girl had been receiving these past few days.
That evening, the two followed Li Zhuangguo, who had eaten and drunk his fill, out for a chat, and naturally ended up in Wang Laowu's courtyard.
At this moment, Cuilian was carrying a bowl of cold, spoiled food and walking towards the woodshed, cursing and swearing.
"Oh," Li Zhuangguo exclaimed in surprise, "Didn't you say you bought her to serve your Baozhu? Why does it look to me that you guys have to serve her?"
"Don't even mention it, it's bad luck." Cuilian spat. "Outsiders are just outsiders, they're so stubborn, scolding and beating them won't work. We've been starving her for days. Aren't we worried about her starving to death and wasting the money we spent on her? We're just bringing her some food."
"Haha, your family is still too soft-hearted." Li Zhuangguo said calmly, "To deal with this kind of woman, you have to beat her hard a few times, then starve her for five or six days. When she's barely breathing, she won't dare to resist."
"Really?" Cuilian was a little tempted. This was the first time her family had bought a maid, and they had no experience.
"Would I lie to you?"
Cuilian glanced down at the bowl in her hand, feeling it would be a waste to throw it away. After thinking for a while, she slowly nodded. "Okay, I'll try it tomorrow."
Jiang Zhuochen listened calmly, then exchanged a glance with Xu Xing. Xu Xing understood and continued chatting with Li Zhuangguo and Wang Laowu. He himself quietly retreated and followed Cuilian to the woodshed.
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