Chapter 27

==================

This time, the entire retrospective did not last long.

Ning Chen finished reading the entire retrospective and after coming to his senses, he was rarely silent for a long while, while Xie Tingyun rubbed Achao's head and said nothing.

The ghost in front of him was still unremittingly delivering soul fire to the two people. Ning Shen sighed and said, "I really don't need it. It's really not enough to fill my teeth. I might as well go back to the demon world to get food... No, find those demon cultivators."

After being clearly rejected, the ghosts lowered their hands dejectedly, looking very sad. Some of the ghosts even refused to give up and secretly went behind Ning Chen and offered the tassel of the Chengfeng Sword to him. The Chengfeng Sword was so stupid that it didn't know how to refuse and actually took the tassel wrapped in soul fire and took it.

When the ghosts saw that the Chengfeng Sword had really collected it, they happily sent more soul fire to the Chengfeng Sword. The Chengfeng Sword was unable to handle it and one of its tassels seemed to be dancing in a panic.

Xie Tingyun noticed what was happening here. With amusement, he took the Chengfeng Sword from Ning Chen's hand, gathered all the soul fire he had rolled up in his palm, and returned it. He whispered, "What are you doing? You are not allowed to take other people's soul fire. What will happen if you take it?"

Ning Chen replied, "That's right."

Although he didn't know what the function of these soul fires was, the earth-bound spirits were no longer trapped here after their obsessions dissipated. The only thing left was this ball of fire, so one could imagine how important it was. He estimated that if Ning Chen had really eaten it, these souls might have dissipated directly.

The threads on the ghosts gradually faded and disappeared, but Ning Chen and Xie Tingyun stood there for a long time, and they still did not disappear. There were only a few strands of threads left on their bodies and they no longer disappeared.

Ning Chen looked at the ghosts staring at him and Xie Tingyun: "..."

Ning Chen finally understood. If he and Xie Tingyun didn't take them in, the obsessions of these earth-bound spirits would not completely dissipate, right?

The village head’s wife smiled helplessly: “If you don’t accept it… we won’t give up.”

Maybe people are always greedy, even if they become ghosts. The old obsessions dissipate, and they begin to desire more.

Only when the two of them can finally be at peace, maybe they can truly let go.

Xie Tingyun said: "Soul fire is the last spiritual power of the soul after death. If the soul fire disappears, you will not be able to stay in the world of the living and will soon dissipate. Even so, do you still want to give out the soul fire?"

Xie Tingyun hesitated for a moment and didn't even dare to mention Achao.

The only surviving half-demon in Pingjing Village is so tiny now. As his parents, can they be at ease with him?

The village head's wife sighed, "A Chao will eventually grow up."

Although a hundred years have passed in the human world, perhaps because of the time travel, Achao and these long-dead ghosts are staying in the time and space that once happened. The time and space that once happened overlap with the present, resulting in a special time and space interaction, so that Achao has only grown a few years older in a hundred years, and now he is still a child of eleven or twelve years old both mentally and physically.

The village chief's wife smiled and said, "I don't think I have ever shown my demonic talent in front of you. Although I am only a lowly half-demon, not as powerful as you, but... I have never made any mistakes."

For some reason, her eyes moved back and forth between Ning Chen and Xie Tingyun tenderly, and she said, "Take it. Maybe it will be useful in the future."

"Of course... it's best not to use it ever."

Xie Tingyun was stunned.

Ning Chen didn't like her self-deprecating title, but the meaning behind the words of the village head's wife made Ning Chen frown and said, "What do you mean? Your talent is foresight?"

It felt very wrong to say such things, and Ning Shen found it difficult not to ask a few more questions.

Unexpectedly, the village head’s wife shook her head and said, “How can that be possible? It’s not a prediction. Your Excellency, you think too highly of me. At most, I can only vaguely sense some peripheral things, such as that you might use these soul fires, but I don’t know why exactly.”

Ning Shen let out an "oh" and thought to himself that was the case.

A demon who has awakened the gift of foresight, no matter how rare his bloodline is, will be a great threat to everyone, and is generally extremely rare.

If they had the gift of foresight, perhaps they wouldn't have ended up like this.

Ning Chen really couldn't outlast these stubborn ghosts, so he compromised impatiently and said, "Okay, okay, let's make it clear first, I'll take you in and you can leave quickly. It's really boring to scare people here all the time."

Seeing that Ning Chen was finally willing to accept, the ghosts happily handed over all their soul fire to him. During this period, they even did not let Xie Tingyun go, and still insisted on putting some into Xie Tingyun's hands.

"..." Xie Tingyun said helplessly in a low voice, "I really can't use it, don't give it to me!"

Ning Chen thought that since he would collect them anyway, he would not really be eaten by anyone in his own death, and these ghosts should be able to reincarnate, so it would not affect him.

Based on Xie Tingyun's personality, Ning Chen felt that he would most likely not actually use other people's soul fire.

So Ning Chen always loved to confront Xie Tingyun about his faults and then he calmly confronted the real offender: "I told you to take it back, and I have already taken it back. Why are you so hypocritical?"

Xie Tingyun: "..."

What are you saying?

Xie Tingyun turned around and gave the fire to Ning Chen, and said to the other ghosts who were still insisting on giving him soul fire: "Give it to him. You see, he is seriously injured and needs your soul fire. Just give it to him. As his...his...friend, I really hope he can accept it."

Ning Chen took the soul fire in a hurry, and in the process he stuffed the soul fire of the village chief and his wife back.

He accidentally and skillfully transferred all the soul fire into the sea of ​​consciousness. Hearing Xie Tingyun stuck for a long time, he couldn't help but say meaningfully: "Yeah. Yes, you are right."

How can we not count “friends” who always quarrel and fight when we meet every day?

Ning Chen sent a voice transmission and said, "What did you want to say just now, dear Holy Son? You can say such unpleasant words, you are worthy of being the Holy Son."

Xie Tingyun: "..."

Xie Tingyun turned his head away and didn't look Ning Chen in the eye. After a while, he answered, "You ask even though you know the answer."

Only after seeing Ning Chen had really collected everything did the ghosts feel completely relieved. They took one last look at the remaining four people, whose figures gradually melted away in the sunlight.

The village head’s wife held her soul fire in her hands and said, “…What is this?”

Ning Chen did not raise his head, still holding the last soul fire that had not been put into the sea of ​​consciousness in his hand. He stretched out his hand and poked the soul fire with interest, but was gently wrapped up by the quietly leaping soul fire.

The soul fire itself does not burn people, but Ning Shen can feel some subtle warmth coming from his fingertips.

Ning Chen said without raising his eyes: "I will not accept the soul fire of the ghosts who still have little brats alive."

Ning Chen seemed to have thought of something and added, "Especially those who like to slap people on the back."

Village Chief: “…”

Xie Tingyun: "..."

The village head's wife has no physical body at the moment, and Achao's talent for recollection is still cooling down. Achao cannot find his parents, so Xie Tingyun simply holds Achao in his arms.

Ah Chao had not said a word until this moment, when he could not help but bury himself in Xie Tingyun's arms. After a long while, he choked with sobs and said, "...Thank you."

Xie Tingyun looked at the village chief and his wife, and saw that some of the silk thread was still on them, faintly connected to Ah Chao. He said thoughtfully, "Can you leave now?"

The village chief's wife nodded.

That's easy.

Xie Tingyun gently lifted Ah Chao up and said softly, "I owe you half my life. If you feel comfortable with me, you can entrust Ah Chao to me. I will take him back to Liuyun Sect and at least protect him for half his life without worries and let him grow up safely."

Ning Chen secretly sent a message to Xie Tingyun to complain: "As expected of you, you are Saint Xie. You speak so nicely. Your future Taoist partner is so lucky - whoever you want to pursue can't you just coax them and get them easily?"

Xie Tingyun: "..."

Xie Tingyun said, "You are very troubled."

Ning Chen was satisfied when he saw that he was upset: "I know, I did it on purpose."

Xie Tingyun: "..."

The village head's wife was stunned for a moment, then realized what Xie Tingyun meant, and said happily: "...Thank you!"

Xie Tingyun had never held a child before, but he had been held by someone else with disdain and care, so he imitated the way he remembered from a long time ago, pinched the back of Ah Zhao's neck with an awkward technique, and said, "Do you want your parents to go with you?"

Ah Chao raised his head suddenly: "Is it okay, brother? I can do anything."

Xie Tingyun said: "Normal souls cannot stay in the world of the living for too long. Generally speaking, only by becoming a ghost cultivator and refining the ghost into a puppet, as long as the ghost cultivator himself does not die, the puppet will never die."

"But your talent is very special," Xie Tingyun changed the subject, "Perhaps you can try to use retrospection to change their state, so that they can live a normal life close to that of ordinary people. As long as this balance is not broken, they should be able to remain in the world forever."

Moreover, Xie Tingyun discovered that the threads of earth-bound spirits on the village chief and his wife had not completely disappeared, but some new threads had grown and were entangled with Achao. Doesn't this also mean that to some extent, they are still some kind of "bound spirits", still trapped in the lingering memories, but they are not confined to a place, but to a person who cannot be let go.

Xie Tingyun wanted to give it a try. But even if it didn't work, he still had the option of ghost cultivation.

Ah Chao didn't quite understand, but he subconsciously believed in Xie Tingyun unconditionally, so he nodded vigorously and said quickly: "I can do it! I can also become a ghost cultivator. I can do anything, brother, please teach me how to do it."

Xie Tingyun pinched Ah Chao's face and said, "I'll teach you a motto. First, take your parents into your sea of ​​consciousness and nurture them."

Ah Chao made an "oh" sound, as if he understood something, and then followed his instructions. Then he asked, "Can other people's souls also be received into the sea of ​​consciousness and nurtured?"

"Of course."

Xie Tingyun said: "As long as both parties have complete trust, the Sea of ​​Consciousness is actually the most suitable place to nurture the soul."

Ah Chao lowered his head and stared at his hands in a daze.

For the first time, he felt that his retrospection was useful and could save the people he wanted to save.

At the same time, the last soul fire in Ning Chen's hand was also passed into his sea of ​​consciousness.

Ning Chen looked up thoughtfully, and with his increasingly familiar consciousness, he probed upwards. He could already clearly feel the poisonous miasma above the Endless Forest beginning to dissipate and disappear.

Xie Tingyun was also startled.

After a moment, he suddenly realized: the real reason for the production of those poisonous miasma should be the massacre of all the people in Pingjing Village!

Ning Chen also figured it out, and thinking of the demon lord who ran away without knowing why, his face darkened.

Don’t get caught by Ning Chen next time. If Ning Chen is caught, he will definitely find an opportunity to bite off that mysterious demon lord.

It was obvious that the group of monsters were coming for something. In the entire Pingjing Village, there was only one Achao left besides a bunch of earth-bound spirits. The village chief's talent was a temporarily absolutely safe space, and the village chief's wife's talent was mild foresight. Ning Chen didn't think these things were useful to the Monster Lord.

Then it can only be Achao.

At this time, Ah Chao gently tugged at Xie Tingyun and whispered, "Brother, I will go back with you. I can do anything. I don't want to eat for free."

Xie Tingyun couldn't help laughing: "I know, you are very useful. I will take you back to see my master. My master will definitely like you very much."

"As for you, you will be responsible for setting up a backtracking system for us, specifically helping us to catch those junior brothers and sisters who are not serious about their cultivation and sneak out to play, as well as keeping an eye on a certain unruly demon lord to see if he comes to secretly bully the auspicious stone lion at the gate of our sect."

Ning Chen: "..."

Xie Tingyun emphasized the last point and said, "Please tell me if you have any questions, okay? This behavior is very bad and needs to be severely punished. Now this task is handed over to you, Chao."

When Ah Chao heard that he had so many uses, he lost his excitement and nodded vigorously, saying, "Yeah!"

Ning Chen snorted, "Thank you, Saint, why don't you just say my name directly? Also, who would come here just to bully a stone lion? You underestimate me too much."

Bullying the stone lion was of course a side job, and of course it would be more interesting to bully Xie Tingyun.

--------------------

The author has something to say:

Actually, Xiao Xie is not good at saying sweet words when courting someone, but he knows how to control Xiao Ning. For example, how to get Xiao Ning to eat a dish that she doesn't like but is very nutritious. Xiao Xie only needs to express enough praise and taste for the dish, and Ning the cat will automatically grab the dish and show off in front of Xiao Xie ()