Chapter 35 Fireworks
Back to the present, Aunt Yu was making lunch. Yu Le happened to pass by and was stopped by Wen Rensu, "Yu Le, come and sit for a while."
Hearing this, Yu Le came over happily and refilled the tea for Wen Rensu and Ling Zheng. "Are you hungry? Dinner will be served soon."
Wen Rensu shook his head. "I wanted to ask you, do you always have the habit of burning incense at home?"
"Well, this incense is for curing my headache. Only when I smell this scent will I feel better." Yu Le answered almost without pausing.
"When did it start?"
"About a year ago. I can't remember if it was longer than that."
"Can't remember?"
"My mother said that a year ago, I accidentally hit my head on a rock and I can't recover my previous memories." Yu Le looked very annoyed.
Hearing this, Ling Zheng gave Wen Rensu a look and reassured Yu Le, "Is there always no one living around here?"
Yu Le shook his head, puzzled as to why Ling Zheng asked himself instead of just his mother: "Brother Ling Zheng, are you looking for someone? But I can't remember anything."
That makes sense. The other party erased Aunt Yu's memory of the several families that were wiped out, leaving no doubt about Yu Le's identity, but there was no way of knowing about Ling Zheng's family who had disappeared before, so Aunt Yu still remembered them.
Ling Zheng suddenly caught a fragment of memory and said with an idea: "Have you ever seen a girl with a birthmark on her left or right arm? Probably thirteen or fourteen years old." His dark eyes fixed, carefully observing Yu Le's subtle expression.
Yu Le initially said he had never seen one, but his tone was extremely certain. After all, not to mention girls, even people other than his family were rarely seen here. However, there was a birthmark on the arm...
He inexplicably conjured up this image: a round-faced girl with a peach-petal-shaped birthmark on the lower part of her right arm, and two small gourd-shaped braids tied with red thread...
Red line, red? The next moment, a large pool of blood filled the entire screen.
Suddenly, the sound of a bell echoed directly in my brain, and my thoughts were interrupted like a heavy blow, and the picture disappeared.
Yu Le's facial features wrinkled into a ball, and his body, which had been sitting on the wooden bench, fell backwards powerlessly.
Ling Zheng was quick to support him from behind. Wen Rensu walked around to Yu Le's side and pressed a few acupoints to wake him up. Only then did his gaze regain focus.
Strangely enough, Yu Le seemed to have forgotten what he had just experienced. He put on the same smile and said the same words: "Are you hungry? Dinner will be served soon."
Hearing this, Wenren and Lingzheng exchanged glances.
Wen Rensu first sent Yu Le to the kitchen. Seeing him walk away, he lowered his voice and said, "It seems that asking Aunt Yu will also lead to the same result."
Ling Zheng took a sip of tea and said, "Never mind. It has nothing to do with us anyway."
When Wenren Su heard this, his eyes narrowed slightly, with an inexplicable expression.
After a simple home-cooked meal, even though Aunt Yu repeatedly refused, Wen Rensu insisted on leaving a hundred dollars for them as a reward for their kindness in keeping Ling Zheng's things.
Walking out of the house, I saw Ling Zheng looking in a certain direction, and Wen Rensu asked, "Aren't you going home to take a look?"
Ling Zheng's crow-feather eyelashes trembled slightly, "That's not necessary."
"Alright." Since the person involved was unwilling, forcing them would be useless. Wen Rensu was silent for a moment and changed the subject, "Are we really going to let them go on like this?"
Hearing this, Ling Zheng's mood suddenly changed. He lowered his head in amusement, his laughter hoarse. It was the first time he realized that Wen Rensu was such a kind person. Then he raised his chin and smiled brightly, "Then tell Aunt Yu, your daughter probably died a long time ago, or was she killed by your nominal son?"
“…”
Seeing the hesitation in Wen Rensu's eyes, Ling Zheng raised his eyebrows. "Are you really serious?" As he spent more time with Wen Rensu, he gradually realized that his cold-blooded and sinister appearance in the Cliff Valley was more like a disguise. Therefore, he began to have some doubts about Wen Rensu's background.
His smile had not yet faded, but his tone suddenly became flat: "I'm going to the Qionglin School." A year has passed, and he will not focus on this.
"Ling Zheng, give me half a day." Wen Rensu's eyes were firm. When someone transmigrates into a person's body, they are subtly influenced by the original owner's personality. The AI doesn't want to resist this immersive experience; it's part of the joy of playing a human.
In ancient times, transportation was inconvenient and the road conditions were complicated. Ling Zheng wanted to let Wen Rensu lead the way, but since he said it would take a long time, Ling Zheng had no choice but to follow him reluctantly to see what Wen Rensu could come up with.
During the first search, Wen Rensu discovered that there were no signs of burning in this large area. The other party would not go to the trouble of transporting so many bodies. So how would they deal with it?
He looked up at the sky, the sun blazing brightly. He narrowed his eyes slightly, realizing it was a sunny day... He could sense the temperature plummeting. The village's yang energy must have been blocked by the yin energy accumulating in the air, resulting in such a weak warmth. In winter, the wind would likely be biting.
Wen Rensu climbed up a low hill. The dry grass under his feet gradually turned green. He closed his eyes and sensed the mysterious aura. His waist-length black ponytail swayed in the wind.
Where Qi comes, water guides it; where Qi stops, water demarcates it; where Qi gathers, there is no wind to disperse it.* In short, where there is flowing water and very little wind, that is where Qi gathers.
Running water gathers yang, and clear water flow can wash away yin. The source of water has the most yang energy, which is the best for suppressing wronged spirits.
Wen Rensu told Ling Zheng his idea and asked where the water for the stream in the village came from.
After hearing this, Ling Zheng's expression changed slightly, becoming extremely positive, and he quickly led Wen Rensu forward. According to Wen Rensu, he had also drunk several cups of tea from the mountain spring... a little nauseous.
It just so happened that the only stream in the village flowed down from the small hill they were walking on. After walking half a mile, they suddenly saw the light and the beautiful scenery of lush green mountain springs came into view.
The scorching sun shines on the earth, and the warm breath dispels the coldness that unintentionally clings to the body. This is what a sunny day should feel like.
Wenren Su approached the mountain spring, where the water gurgled and was crystal clear, with only a faint mineral smell, creating a peaceful and pleasant scene.
Looking around, there were no rocks hiding the spring, revealing its entirety. Wen Rensu pondered where he had missed the point.
Then he turned and glanced at Ling Zheng. Since Ling Zheng saw that there was nothing unusual about the spring, he breathed a sigh of relief. At this moment, he was squatting by the spring with nothing to do, stirring the water surface with a piece of grass.
"If it were you, what would you do?" Wen Rensu asked suddenly.
Ling Zheng was a little surprised by Wen Rensu's question. After thinking for a moment, a hint of anger flashed in his eyes. He said with a half-smile, "Make the best use of it."
Make the best use of it? Wen Rensu frowned. What could a ghost do? With a sudden inspiration, he touched the ground and took off, flying to the treetops not far away. He observed the terrain again, looking for a very dark place.
"Ling Zheng, hold me tight." To save time, Wen Rensu used Qing Gong to lead Ling Zheng to the lowest point of the village, where several strange-looking poplar trees grew.
The poplar tree, commonly known as the "ghost clapping" tree, suddenly raised a cold and nameless wind, and countless leaves rustled, making people feel irritated and annoyed. The closer they got, the more yin energy and evil aura they felt subtly provoked Ling Zheng's blood.
In the center surrounded by poplar trees, there is an ancient well covered with moss and covered by black stone slabs.
Wen Rensu walked forward slowly. Seeing this scene, Ling Zheng realized something and quickly retreated to a distance.
Sure enough, after Wen Ren Su kicked the heavy stone slab away, an unimaginable stench exploded in the air.
This is the accumulated smell of decomposing corpses, trapped in a small space all year round. It is tens of thousands of times more pungent than the smell of dead rats.
Even though Ling Zheng was prepared and covered his nose with his sleeve, the strong stench still made his eyes red and his stomach churn.
Due to the destruction of the evil formation, a strong wind suddenly blew up around them, and the poplar trees let out a terrified scream that sounded almost human.
Wen Rensu threw out nine soul-calming talismans in different directions, turned around and leaped, slashing diagonally with his sword. Pieces of poplar branches fell down, and the long-lost sunlight penetrated in.
He immediately retreated ten feet away and stood shoulder to shoulder with Ling Zheng. The talisman spontaneously ignited without fire. After a long time, the hurricane blew away the yin energy in the area, and the air was refreshed.
The two men walked closer and peeked into the ancient well. Inside, there were piles of bones like mountains, stuck with rotten flesh, which were higher than the horizon.
The surface was covered with a soul-calling banner, the color of which was not the usual golden color, but a dark red dyed with blood. There was a line of official script written on it, shining with golden light, the same color as the golden powder mixed in the Yu family's incense ashes.
"Blood is the guide, soul is the medium. The netherworld opens the way, and you will obey my command."
This is the spell for refining a Yin weapon, but the soul-calling banner was destroyed by Wen Rensu before it was completed.
Wen Rensu had an expressionless face. He took out a tinder and threw it into the well. Due to the blessing of methane, the flames rose rapidly. After a while, all the injustice and sin would turn into a handful of yellow earth.
Glancing sideways at Wen Rensu's silhouette, which flickered in the flames, Ling Zheng sneered and turned his gaze back to the front. His pupils were dotted with sparks, as if he was thinking about something, yet as if he was thinking about nothing.
"Let's go." Wenren said.
Ling Zheng crossed his arms over his chest, "Is it over?"
Wen Rensu heard the teasing in Ling Zheng's tone and said, "Yeah."
"You know better than me how much a human life is worth in this world." In this situation, Ling Zheng inexplicably had a stronger desire to express himself.
"I've tried my best, but I just want to have a clear conscience." Wen Rensu's tone was flat, and it was impossible to tell that he was speaking of noble character.
Ling Zheng paused. Unexpectedly, Wen Rensu had completely given up on pretending. He tilted his head slightly and said, "Who are you..." He thought for a moment, "...never mind."
The more you know, the more trouble you'll have. The other party's identity is definitely more than just the former guardian of the Cliff Valley, but he's not interested in that. Anyway, as long as he can escort him to the Qionglin Sect, it's fine.
Regardless of whether they are from the righteous or evil sects, Ling Zheng only sees two types of people: those who can be used, and those who cannot be used.
To get to the Qionglin Sect, one has to pass through five cities: Yushang, Tongwu, Yangping, Quankang, and Yunliao, and finally cross the Qingyi River. The Qionglin Sect is located near the Qingyi River.
After leaving the village, Wen Rensu observed the shadows and then headed northeast. In the evening, the two arrived at Yushang City.
As they approached the city gate, several stationed soldiers shouted at them, "The city is closed today. No outsiders are welcome to enter."
Ling Zheng asked: "Why?"
The officer said impatiently, "Why so many questions? Go away." As he spoke, he made a gesture to drive them away.
Seeing this, Wen Rensu placed a sword on the officer's neck, his eyes narrowed slightly, releasing an oppressive aura that could not be ignored, his evil nature overflowing: "If he asks you, just tell me."
Now, he was completely like the guardian of Cliff Valley, his behavior and temperament were so erratic. Ling Zheng wondered, which one was the real him?
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Author's Note: *From "Geography for Children" by Xu Shanji and Xu Shanshu
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