He haunts
The person who saw the water monster was the son of the old Ma family. Everyone called him Xiao Mazi, and he was still of school age.
"When did you see the water monster?" Mo Xue asked.
Xiao Mazi was playing in the water in the yard to cool off. He looked up at the three people. Mo Xue and Wei Si were also wearing wide straw hats. The hot red light cast a shadow on their faces, and the face of the person on the right could not be seen clearly.
Xiao Mazi said, "A month ago."
"Where?"
"Of course it's on Chishui Lake, what else?" said Xiao Mazi.
Mo Xue and Wei Si exchanged a glance. This man was young, but he didn't seem to have any mental problems. Mo Xue continued to ask, "What did you see at that time?"
The pockmarked boy straightened up, reaching Mo Xie's waist when he stood up. He paused, then mouthed the words, "I saw Redwater Lake."
“…”
Mo Xue asked again: "Didn't you see the water monster?"
"yes."
"What does the water monster look like?" Bai Linchuan asked as he squatted down.
"What does a water demon look like..." Xiao Mazi replied seriously, "Just ask the water demon and you'll know."
"What did the water monster look like when you saw it?" Bai Linchuan asked patiently.
Xiao Mazi said with a little impatience: "It looks like a water monster."
"...Where did you see the water monster?"
"Chishui Lake." Xiao Mazi said confidently.
"What did you see in Chishui Lake at that time? Did you discover the water monster?" Bai Linchuan asked.
"I saw the Chishui Lake. Why do you keep asking?" asked the little pockmarked boy.
"Kid, are you telling a tongue twister?" Mo Xie asked with a smile.
"No, I think you guys are looking for me to play with, I called my dad!"
“…………”
"He really has something wrong with his brain," Mo Xue said angrily as the three of them walked back to the inn.
Bai Linchuan said as he walked, "It's strange. Usually, the demon-slaying missions issued by the sect are always when a demon has injured someone. Someone reports it, and then the disciples are sent down the mountain to eliminate the demon."
Mo Xue and Wei Si looked at Bai Linchuan, and he immediately added, "As my senior brother said, to find the monster, we should start with the victim."
Mo Xue pouted, "It seems that the eldest brother cares about the younger sister very much. He gave her detailed instructions before she left. If that's the case, why didn't he come with us?"
Bai Linchuan glanced at him calmly and said, "There is a talisman. If there is any danger... you can call him at any time."
Mo Xue kicked a stone on the ground and muttered to himself, "The ghost is still there..."
After entering the inn, it finally became a little cooler, but the scorching wind was still blowing and it was still hot. Mo Xue squatted behind the table to avoid the heat.
The shopkeeper dozed off behind the table when Wei Si woke him up. With his eyes half closed, he replied, "Are you asking who's missing in Shu?"
Wei Si nodded, "Yes, a month ago, when Redwater Lake dried up."
"That's difficult. Although Shuzhong isn't big, there are still hundreds of people here."
Wei Si handed over a spirit stone and said, "Please think about it carefully."
The shopkeeper took it and said with a smile, "Well, it's true. There was an incident that caused quite a stir, but it happened only two months ago. There was a wealthy family in Shu, the head of which was named Ruan Yi. He claimed that his house was haunted and even paid a large sum of money to hire a monk."
"What happened next?" Mo Xue took out a bowl of ice jelly from somewhere and ate it with slurps.
"The monk we invited was no simple man. Later, he said he had caught a ghost. But, the strange thing is..." The shopkeeper came forward, his face mysterious and gloomy, and whispered with his hand covering his mouth, as if he was afraid that a fifth person would know.
"After that, his wife disappeared."
"hiss!"
Suddenly, a cold wind blew, and Mo Xie's hair stood on end. He turned his head immediately and saw that it was his junior sister who was standing behind him. He took a step to the right, leaving room for him to move forward.
"They caught a ghost, but the person disappeared?" Mo Xue asked doubtfully, "No one questioned him?"
"I asked. Someone asked Ruan Yi, but he said that the couple had a falling out and she went back to her parents' home, but..."
Mo Xie took a deep breath and touched the back of his neck.
"But they had a very good relationship and were extremely loving. The whole Shuzhong region had heard of it. Shuzhong was a holy land of love, and many people knew their story. 'The love between the man and me was deep, and the love between us was as strong as mine. Three thousand peach trees, eternal and immortal.' That's what they were talking about."
The shopkeeper said, facing three confused faces.
"What do you mean?" Mo Xie asked.
"That's Ruan Lang. In order to pursue his lover, he planted three thousand peach trees with his own hands to express his love. The couple worshipped the heaven and earth under the splendid peach blossoms. It was once a beautiful story. How could they break up suddenly?" said the shopkeeper.
Wei Si said, "That's hard to say. It's easy to change the hearts of old friends, but it's said that the hearts of old friends are easy to change..."
The shopkeeper nodded in agreement and said, "That's true. It hasn't rained for a long time. Maybe his peach trees are dead." He sighed.
The three of them immediately decided to set out to meet Ruan Lang.
As we were leaving, the shopkeeper squinted his eyes and said, "I wonder where this ice jelly came from, sir. Why does it look so familiar?"
Mo Xie smiled and said, "Just go to the back and turn right."
The shop owner took one look and said, "That's not my kitchen!"
"The spirit stones have been paid." Mo Xue pointed at his sleeve and said with a smile.
After walking out of the door, he transformed again from his sleeves, and two more bowls of ice jelly appeared in his hands, which he handed to Bai Linchuan and Wei Si respectively.
"Junior sister, here you go."
Bai Linchuan was stunned. The red beans and powdered sugar spread in his mouth, and the cool and sweet taste helped digest the summer heat.
When we arrived in Taoyuan, the scene was quite different from what we had expected.
His black boots stepped on the sparse green grass. He looked around and said, "The whole Shuzhong area is almost scorched into a desert. The mountains and the sea are desolate, but here I can still see peach blossoms."
Ahead, a large peach orchard covers the entire hilltop. On the branches, a few peach blossoms are blooming, which is a rare sight in this hot weather.
Bai Linchuan said, "The peach trees can only bloom because of the spiritual energy that is filling them here."
But the petals of the peach blossoms are all wilted, wrinkled and shrunken, not full. It seems that even though the owner has tried hard to maintain them, the result is not satisfactory.
A man in a long green robe appeared in the peach orchard. He was carrying a bucket of water and walking along the peach trees watering them. Suddenly he raised his eyes, paused, put down the bucket and walked over.
He had an elegant face and a gentle appearance. Although he was unhappy that an outsider had intruded into Taoyuan, he still asked politely, "Excuse me, sir, who are you?"
Mo Xie signed up directly: "I am Mo Xie from Lingzhong Mountain. I am here to exorcise demons. Are you Ruan Lang?"
The man in green was startled. "Yes, I am Ruan Yi, but I don't have any monsters here."
Mo Xie smiled and said, "Of course, otherwise you wouldn't be alive today." He said casually, "You take good care of the peach garden."
Ruan Yi forced a smile. "Just barely. They won't stay for long."
"If that's the case, why do you still need to take good care of it?" Mo Xue asked.
Ruan Yi looked at the one or two peach blossoms that had faded on the branches, his thoughts drifting away. After a long moment, he said, "It's just a token of my longing."
"Since you still love her, why don't you get her back?" Mo Xue stared at him and asked.
Ruan Yi looked up and was met with a pair of unfathomable eyes. He suddenly realized, "It seems that you have come here specially, but there is indeed no monster here."
He was intentionally trying to chase him away, but Mo Xue seemed unaware and suddenly asked, "By the way, do the peach trees here bear fruit?"
Ruan Yi was stunned: "...No."
"That's a pity." Mo Xie said.
Ruan Yi smiled and shook his head, as if laughing at their lack of understanding of love. "Sometimes, things aren't necessarily done for a certain outcome. Even if you love each other, you absolutely can't be together."
Wei Si asked, "Can't or don't want to?"
"This..." Ruan Yi opened his eyes slightly wide and sighed softly, "It's impossible."
"I heard that you found a cultivator to exorcise ghosts a while ago. Why didn't you come to our Lingzhong Mountain?" Mo Xue suddenly turned back and asked.
"To be honest, there was no ghost. I was just suspicious. The monk I went to see was just a charlatan. I felt ashamed, so I lied and claimed to have caught a ghost."
"You look like a good scholar, how could you believe in ghosts and gods?" Mo Xue asked.
Ruan Yi maintained his expression, but his tone grew stern. "This is my personal matter, so please don't tell me." He then asked, "What demon do you wish to exorcise?"
Bai Linchuan walked up quietly from behind and shook his head slightly.
Mo Xie smiled and said, "Since there are no monsters here, there's no need for us to stay here for long. By the way, where does your wife live?"
Ruan Yi's smile faltered: "She has left Shuzhong now."
Mo Xue nodded thoughtfully.
Ruan Yi looked at their departing backs and retracted his smile.
On the way back, Mo Xue looked at Bai Linchuan, "How is it, did you find anything?"
Bai Linchuan shook his head. "No, the peach orchard is very clean. The thing that releases spiritual energy is a magic weapon, which he must have bought with a lot of money. There is only one driver in the orchard. He said that the peach trees are carefully cared for by the owner and he doesn't even let them get close."
"Didn't he mention his wife?" Mo Xue asked.
"No, he keeps his mouth shut." Bai Linchuan replied.
"Could it be that the clue is broken? It's really weird. What should we do next?" Wei Si said worriedly.
"What he said was true and false, real and fake. How can you tell the truth from the false without testing it? But he has established an image of himself as a kind and affectionate person." Mo Xue replied.
Bai Linchuan turned his head to look at Mo Xue. This man's cleverness was really good in dealing with others. The hot wind blew the veil onto his face, and a hint of sweetness lingered in his mouth.
After Mo Xue returned to the inn, he rested one hand on the counter and said, "Shopkeeper, I have a question for you. Do you know where Ruan Yi's wife's family is?"
"Oh, that's a difficult question for me. I think I heard before that they met at some festival in some bridge town."
"Heqiao Town?" Bai Linchuan said. His last mission was there.
"The Tankagami Festival in Heqiao is quite famous," Wei Si added.
"Yes, yes, that seems to be it." The shopkeeper came forward and asked curiously, "How is it? Did you find anything?"
Mo Xue smiled and said, "If you want to live to old age, ask fewer questions and inquire less. We will stay one more night."
Late at night, Mo Xue had already fallen into a deep sleep in his bed. Suddenly, a cold wind blew in from outside the window. In the darkness, a blade flashed with a cold light and pierced the quilt.
The sharp blade pierced into the quilt, but there was no cry from underneath. The big man realized that the touch was wrong and suddenly lifted the quilt, revealing only a pillow underneath.
A sword energy came from behind, and the big man dodged it in time.
Mo Xue held the sword and said, "It's so hot, and you're still covered with thick blankets. You didn't notice anything wrong. It seems you're not very smart."
The big man raised his sword and stabbed at him. Mo Xue raised his sword to counter the attack. With one blow, he was forced back dozens of steps and his back hit the door.
Mo Xue suddenly swung his sword, and the big man dodged instinctively, but the flying sword only smashed the teapot on the table.
With a crisp "ping pong" sound, Wei Si, wearing only his inner garments, broke into the room through the window. Seeing the fierce-looking man, he rushed forward with his sword in hand.
As swords flew, the tables and chairs in the room were cut in half, the bed curtains were shattered, the floor was cracked, and the room was in a mess.
Wei Si covered his chest with his hands, and Mo Xue couldn't resist and knelt on one knee on the ground.
The strong man said, "You two are no match for me." He raised his sword and was about to cut their necks.
"Wait!" Mo Xie raised his hand to stop him, "Before you die, can you let me know who wants to kill me?"
The burly man sneered, "Don't try to trick me." He looked towards the door, "Come out, isn't there another one?"
Bai Linchuan walked out slowly from behind the door.
"One more and you'll die again." The strong man said sternly with a ferocious look on his face.
"We are all disciples of Lingzhong Mountain. Aren't you afraid that if you kill us, our elders will seek revenge on you!" Mo Xue said.
"Ha, if you all die, who will confess? In the entire Lingzhong Mountain, I'm not afraid of anyone except Bai Linchuan." He spoke arrogantly.
Outside the door, the gauze of Bai Linchuan's hat fluttered in the dark, and he slowly walked forward.
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