Chapter 68
Chapter Sixty-Eight
I was speechless for a moment, looking around at the unfamiliar scenery. I rarely went out. Before, I spent my days practicing magic in the Taoist temple. After returning home, my mother wouldn't even let me get out of bed, let alone go out.
Thinking about it this way, I realize how unfamiliar this world truly is to me.
Zhou Xiuqi said, "This is Liuzhou. The teleportation talisman will take you to the place you want to go."
I had never heard of Liuzhou before, so I asked, "Where in Lin'an is this?"
Zhou Xiuqi's expression immediately darkened: "This isn't Lin'an, it's a hundred and eight thousand miles away from Lin'an."
My expression froze on my face, and then I said with some doubt, "You haven't mistaken this place, have you?"
Zhou Xiuqi was having some difficulty breathing. Seeing her pale expression, he said, "Do you think that's possible?"
To be precise, that's impossible. Zhou Xiuqi has been to so many places, how could he not recognize Liuzhou? This is troublesome; how did he suddenly teleport to this place?
She knew she would have to use another one, so she reached into her purse to take out another talisman, but Zhou Xiuqi stopped her: "Don't do it yet."
"I'll stay here for a while."
[Male lead's favorability increased by 0.1%]
The system gave me an untimely notification, and even a fool could guess that it was hinting that I should try to seduce the male lead.
Ignoring what the system said, I had no money on me, so I could only ask Zhou Xiuqi, "Then shall we sleep on the streets?"
Zhou Xiuqi's eyes were already starting to close. I was afraid he would fall asleep and regret not having come out to see more of the world earlier, as he would now be completely ignorant of it.
"Senior brother, senior brother, don't sleep."
Zhou Xiuqi just squinted and said, "I'm not asleep." Hearing his reply, I felt relieved. Zhou Xiuqi's flaw was that he was too righteous, and that was also his strength. So, his presence often made people feel safe.
Zhou Xiuqi: "Keep walking straight ahead, and you'll find a dilapidated temple."
As I listened to his words, my voice grew weaker and weaker. I pursed my lips and said, "Say less. I'll ask you when I need to."
Zhou Xiuqi knew he was not lightly injured, so he secretly pressed his feet firmly on the ground: "I'm fine."
His face was as white as a dead man, so his words were completely unconvincing. In fact, the original book describes Zhou Xiuqi very little, and even his childhood is only mentioned in passing.
Tragic, yet righteous.
Because they live in misery, they yearn for justice even more.
Zhou Xiuqi never revealed his weakness, nor did he ever express his fear. Such a perfect person would ultimately lose only his emotions. But emotions are what it means to live in this world; without emotions, living would be suffering.
I couldn't help but ask, "Why don't you feel any pain?"
Zhou Xiuqi's lips were bitten until they bled, and his mouth tasted of rust: "A Taoist cannot be afraid of pain."
Zhou Xiuqi looks like a man with a story. Oh well, there's no need to know too much about other people's affairs.
I dragged him along, but he was too tall, and it was very difficult to carry him. We could only move forward slowly, but this slow pace was very frustrating because Zhou Xiu's injuries needed treatment.
We left him in a corner halfway through the journey, letting him meditate for a while before setting off again. By the time we reached the dilapidated temple, it was completely dark, and I couldn't see its complete appearance.
The air was filled with the sounds of frogs and cicadas.
The stars in the sky are dazzling, but the moonlight is weak and cannot illuminate the ground.
I helped him lie down in the temple. My back was covered in sweat, which was damp and had a slightly sour smell.
I sat down a distance away from Zhou Xiuqi and started to observe him. As the male lead, Zhou Xiuqi was definitely handsome, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and a sturdy posture. The female lead and he looked like a match made in heaven.
The system's tasks are completely meaningless.
I choose to abandon the mission.
We need to find another way out of here.
This might take a lot of time to complete, but everyone has their own choices, and my choice is to find a new path.
Once I knew which direction to take, I didn't feel so bad anymore.
When my mind quieted down, unfamiliar fragments of thought surfaced, and my heart skipped a beat. So, he was the ghost child; he was the ghost child. That's why everyone knew his identity and avoided him like the plague.
Even knowing that he was a ghost, she still felt a little uncomfortable.
Because they were ghosts, they were to be so ruthlessly exterminated. She was clearly too much of a saint; she wasn't suited to be a Taoist priest. Some people act without thinking, but I'm different. I think things through repeatedly before doing anything, even trying to see things from the other person's perspective. This makes me indecisive.
I sighed. It was a bit cold at night, and there was no firewood in the dilapidated temple. The wind was blowing from all sides, making her bones ache.
I decided to go out and find some firewood to keep warm. I had just gotten up when Zhou Xiuqi called out to me. He was still awake! He was so badly injured; I thought he would at least pass out.
"I'm going out to find some firewood to keep warm."
The temple was pitch black when his voice came from directly in front of me: "Don't go, use a talisman."
The talismans are fast, but they burn quickly too. I don't have many talismans on me, so I'm hesitating.
Zhou Xiuqi spoke again: "There are weeds next to me."
I swallowed my words and carefully made my way through the darkness. He was sitting on the ground, and I couldn't see him at all in the dark, afraid of stepping on him. But then I heard the sound of fabric rubbing together right behind me.
My back stiffened, but I didn't stop walking. I clenched my fists slightly, ready to summon my magical artifact at any moment.
A pair of warm hands rested on my shoulders.
I jerked myself together, swung my hand and slashed, and calamity appeared in my hand in a flash of white.
I immediately sensed something was wrong. Zhou Xiuqi was injured and moving slowly, barely managing to dodge the attack.
"Senior brother?"
Zhou Xiuqi reached out and covered my mouth, then led me to hide behind a pillar in the dilapidated temple.
A moment later, slow, dragging footsteps echoed in the dilapidated temple. The newcomer lit the remaining half-burnt candle on the candelabra, the flame illuminating her face. It was a woman; she clasped her hands together devoutly, saying nothing, and began to pray to the unknown deity.
After finishing his prayers, he stared intently at the statue, half of which was broken, and asked, "Why can't I go back?"
My pupils trembled.
She then asked, "Are you a god? Can you grant my wish?"
Her expression suddenly snapped, and she overturned the rickety table. The rotten offerings rolled to the ground, and a peach pit, which had been gnawed away, rolled to my feet. My heart pounded in astonishment.
A desperate cry emanated from the woman's thin body. She was so thin, as if she hadn't eaten in a long time, and her whole body resembled a swaying corpse: "I want to go back, I want to go back, I want to go back!"
"Let me go back, let me go back—" she cried, her neck arching, her fingers gripping the statue's feet tightly. The statue remained silent, standing there for a long time.
Even when the woman's blood stained his feet, he remained unmoved.
"What's wrong?" Zhou Xiuqi asked me, frowning.
He looked at my hand, and I lowered my head. Suddenly, my hand began to tremble uncontrollably. Excitement, fear, and a jumble of emotions welled up inside me, and I didn't know how to express them.
Zhou Xiuqi thought I was scared, so he raised his hand and pressed down on my trembling palm: "She is alive."
I stopped trembling, my heart as still as death.
Yes, she is alive.
She was a living person from another world, just like me, but she was more terrifying to me than a ghost.
Her appearance told me that I could not leave this world unless I completed my mission. I would stay here for the rest of my life, like her, starting to seek help from the gods of this world, starting to go mad, going insane, and finally dying in a blur.
I looked up at Zhou Xiuqi, whose brows furrowed even deeper: "What's wrong with you?" he asked, his tone sharp, like an older brother.
I don't know what my expression looked like, but it must have looked terrible, which is why he frowned so deeply.
"Senior brother, I want to say a few words to you."
Zhou Xiuqi sensed something was wrong with her: "What did you say?"
I blinked, my eyes stinging with tears. "I'll tell you when we get back." People's thoughts change in an instant; in just a moment, her opinion had already shifted.
We only stayed in the dilapidated temple for a day before heading back. There was still no one on the streets of Lin'an. I was amazed by Zhou Xiuqi's self-healing ability. In just one day, he was as good as new, a recovery speed that was not normal for a normal person.
I grabbed him and asked, "Are you really alright?"
Zhou Xiuqi brushed my hand away and calmly replied, "It's nothing."
Zhou Xiuqi escorted me to my doorstep. I stood there without going in, and Zhou Xiuqi didn't urge me. His eyes were on me.
I let him look, but I wouldn't go in.
Zhou Xiuqi asked, "Did you have a fight with your parents?"
I shook my head: "Senior brother, I want to go with you."
Zhou Xiuqi didn't refuse, which meant he agreed. I smiled and followed him, but my heart ached. I didn't know which way to go from here. Zhou Xiuqi's fate was death, and mine was death too. Why couldn't I die in his place?
When this thought popped into my head, I didn't feel anything was wrong with it; maybe if I died, I could go back.
I think so frantically that every moment I've been here is devouring my soul, trying to assimilate me step by step, but I haven't done that, so I can only die.
There aren't many people who are good to me, but my maternal grandmother is one of them. Even though I try my best to deny that they are all characters in the book, every little thing about growing up in the Taoist temple is real.
I don't want to watch them die.
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