Chapter 53 "I'm yours"...
The chant in the air changed its tune, fittingly enough. "The vast blue sky, the rippling green water. The mortal world sighs in remembrance, while I alone cross the dark river."
"It's really difficult to cross the river alone. If I hadn't turned into the White Water Demon, I would probably never see you again. I feel so lonely when you are not around. I feel that being alive is the same as being dead. Ranran, don't leave me again." He hugged the girl tightly in his arms.
Shi Ranran patted his head soothingly, and said softly, "Be good..."
Teacher Feng looked extremely aggrieved and hugged her waist tightly.
Soon, as the sound from the underground palace was heard, a newlywed couple bent down by the pool.
"The incense smoke, the candlelight shines, the bride and groom enter the wedding hall together!"
"Bow to heaven and earth, thank them for their creation, and pray for a good marriage!"
"I bow twice to my parents, expressing my gratitude for their upbringing!"
"Husband and wife bow to each other, wishing them love and harmony, and respect for each other like guests!"
"The ceremony is over!"
After the worship, Master Ranran, whose patience was almost exhausted, tore off her veil.
There was a flicker of tenderness in the teacher's eyes. He gently took the veil from her hand, put it back on her, and then took it off himself with full ritual, without getting tired of it.
Master Feng said softly, "Ranran, I am yours."
He added, "I brought you a gift today."
After saying this, he turned around with his teacher Ranran and heard a crisp childish voice calling out, "Sister!"
The smile on Shi Ranran's lips disappeared, and she narrowed her eyes almost dangerously. In the blink of an eye, a soft little hand was around her waist. The five-year-old girl blinked her big eyes, looked at Shi Ranran admiringly, and said, "Sister!" The girl was obviously five-year-old Liu Wanxiu. The difference was that this was only one of Liu Wanxiu's soul, the soul that was troubled by memories.
"Who told you to bring her here?" Shi Ranran's eyes were bloodshot. She grabbed Shi Changfeng's neck, and her sharp and swollen fingertips dug deep into the flesh.
As she moved, Commander Feng's neck was squeezed into a thin circle in an instant, and trickles of blood continued to flow out, flowing down the neck into the bright red collar.
Master Feng narrowed his eyes contentedly and said, "I know Ranran can't bear to leave your sister, so I brought her soul here so that she can stay with you forever. This will also help relieve her mother from the pain of losing her daughter."
"You are so self-indulgent. How could I not bear to part with that idiot!" Shi Ranran said angrily.
Master Feng's gaze was like a snake, slowly climbing up to Master Ranran's eyes. He changed his words and said, "Then I was wrong. Didn't Ranran want to take revenge with her own hands? You missed an opportunity ten years ago. Now, I sent her up. Even if it's just one soul, I can vent my hatred temporarily."
His eyes were lingering, and his tone was seductive: "So Ranran, kill her."
Shi Ranran twitched the corners of her mouth, and the cinnabar mole between her eyebrows turned even redder. Looking at the little person staring at her intently, she pulled out her hand, formed her five fingers into claws, and pointed them at Xiao Wanxiu's face.
Commander Feng touched his neck nonchalantly. If you look closely, apart from the remaining blood, the scar on his neck is slowly healing.
He curled the corners of his lips and waited for Shi Ranran to finish that annoying thing.
Xiao Wanxiu obviously didn't know what was waiting for her. Her memory still stayed on the night when she watched the red carp with her elder sister. Seeing her elder sister raised her hand, she subconsciously hugged Shi Ranran's wrist, as if holding a rare treasure, and gently breathed on her wrist.
"Sister, it doesn't hurt. Wanwan will blow on it for you. The bad carp will be chased away by Wanwan."
Shi Ranran paused.
The smile on Commander Feng's lips disappeared.
.
In the lobby of Yuanchun Tower, several cooks were tied up and trapped in the center. The young man standing in front of them was the famous King Cang. Beside him was a young man with a delicate appearance, who said he was his helper from Dongshan Temple.
However, the mother of the head of the group had eyes swollen like peaches from crying. She looked at Chen Qing, who had suddenly become her deputy, with her eyes narrowed to the limit, and she said "you you you" many times, but she did not dare to say it out loud because of the nearby Cang Wang.
Her heart was boiling with anger. This girl actually had an inexplicable relationship with King Cang. No wonder King Cang had acted like he was defending her just now. His heart was so crooked!
Li Daoxuan stared at the six people tied up, his eyes dark. Shi Qinglan, standing nearby, had already finished counting the suspects. He clasped his fists and reported, "The lower officials have sent people to carefully investigate everyone who came and went in this building. There are six suspects in total. They all have the thick calluses that Your Highness mentioned on their right hands. Four of them are the cooks in the backyard, and the other two are clients of this building."
However, after half of the interrogation, everyone had proof of their alibi, and the clues were interrupted again.
Seeing this, Chen Qing couldn't help but become suspicious. Wasn't it the Happy Funeral Demon who peeled people's skins? Why was it searching everywhere for the suspect now? Thinking this way, she also asked, "Wasn't that person killed by the demon? Why did they mobilize so many people to capture so many people?"
Li Daoxuan tilted his head and whispered to her softly, "Madam Shen, why are you so sure that the person was killed by a great demon? Why couldn't it be a human?"
Chen Qing was horrified and almost lost control of his voice: "You mean..."
"Mrs. Shen, please be at ease. The deceased was killed by someone cutting his skin and bleeding. The knife wound was on his neck, and there was no residual demonic energy in the house. This proves that it was not a demon that killed him. Naturally, I will find the murderer among the humans."
Shen Qing clenched his palms and found that they were covered with cold sweat without him noticing.
The demon didn't kill the person, so she guessed wrong? The Happy Funeral Demon didn't appear here? How to explain the strange phenomenon in the sky? Chen Qing clearly remembered that the only demons that could cause such a strange phenomenon were the Red and White Demons, apart from Wuming, who had been refined by You Daozi.
But she clearly remembered that Bai Shuisha was at home at the moment...
"It's unfair, Your Highness! I really didn't do anything! I just wanted to have some fun, wuwuwu!" Some of them had heard about Li Daoxuan's rebellious nature, and were afraid that this ancestor would do something that didn't distinguish right from wrong, so they could not help but kneel down and beg for mercy.
Chen Qing was gradually disturbed by the crying.
Li Daoxuan asked, "Are these the only ones with calluses on their hands?"
Shi Qinglan said, "I have checked all the men in the building, including the cook, and they are indeed inside."
Hearing him say this, and remembering the old woman on the deck who had handed him the cloth to wrap the oars, Chen Qing casually interjected, "Do you really have to look for it only with men? There are many people in the countryside where men and women make a living together. Women can do anything men can do. Men have calluses on their hands, so can't women have calluses on their hands?"
She remembered that when the old woman named Ah Si handed her the cloth strip, she also had calluses on her hands.
As the saying goes, a word of advice can awaken a person from a dream. Shi Qinglan suddenly had an epiphany, but at the same time he felt secretly annoyed in his heart. Others could understand something so easily, but he had now committed such a careless mistake. How foolish he was!
"Come here, search thoroughly. Anyone with calluses on their palms, regardless of gender, bring them here!"
"yes!"
While waiting for the suspect, Chen Qing carefully recalled the memories of his previous life. There were more than a dozen people who were skinned, and the crime happened at night. It was Xuanji Pavilion that took over the case at that time.
Xuanji Pavilion only deals with matters concerning demons and evil spirits and does not interfere in cases involving mortals, so those people must have been killed by demons.
But now that I have intervened, many things have changed... Will the Happy Funeral Demon come again? Chen Qing hesitated.
"Shaoqing! A suspect has escaped!" The voice of a yamen runner came from afar, interrupting his deep thoughts.
Upon hearing the noise, a group of people rushed to the backyard of Yuanchun Tower, but saw a white-haired old woman running around under the eaves. Perhaps because she was familiar with the terrain, the group of martial artists were left behind by her for a while.
The old woman walked as fast as the wind and moved as swiftly as the wind. Her posture was so agile that you couldn't tell that she was only in her fifties.
Suddenly, the old woman seemed to sense something, glanced at Chen Qing, then turned a corner and rushed towards Chen Qing.
Before Shi Qinglan could draw his sword, a figure in red rushed forward and kicked him away.
The old woman fell heavily to the ground. A flash of snow passed by, and Li Daoxuan's sword was unsheathed, pointing directly at her heart.
The old woman seemed to be a little confused, with cloudy eyes. She stared at Chen Qing and tried to get up. Her posture was quite creepy.
Li Daoxuan frowned impatiently, and the sword moved closer to her heart.
"Wait!" Chen Qing hugged Li Daoxuan's arm, "Don't hurt her!"
Li Daoxuan stared at her for a few seconds, his gaze firm and deep, holding onto the arm holding the sword. "She won't hurt me. She must know something. I have to ask her."
Chen Qing saw clearly that there was no murderous intent in the old woman's eyes. On the contrary, it was as if she saw an old friend.
Seeing that he was still indifferent, Chen Qing said again: "Li Daoxuan, aren't we partners? Since we are working together, you have to trust me. I saw something in Liu Niangzi's 'realm' that is related to another big monster. The clue is in her mouth." She pointed to A Si Pozi.
Li Daoxuan's eyelashes drooped slightly, as if he was weighing things. Finally, he retracted his sword as if in compromise. "I'll give you one incense stick of time."
Chen Qing immediately curved her eyebrows and said, "Okay."
Li Daoxuan was annoyed by her bright smile and turned away and said, "Let go."
Only then did Chen Qing notice that she was still holding his arm, and she let go obediently upon hearing that.
When she came to Grandma Si, she saw her staring into her eyes with a dazed look on her face. She asked tentatively, "Grandma?"
As if she had regained her sight, Grandma Si's eyes were focused as she continued to look at Chen Qing. However, she finally spoke: "A Chou?"
Chen Qing's heart moved, and he took advantage of the situation and squatted down. He took her hand affectionately and said with a smile: "Grandma, it's me." She really mistook herself for someone else.
"Good boy, you didn't even tell grandma when you came back. Grandma made lotus seed soup for you, but you left without saying a word and the soup got cold." She talked a lot of nonsense like this, and then she talked about another thing.
Chen Qing listened to her rambling patiently for a while, and when she saw that the time was almost up, she suddenly asked, "Grandma, did you kill them?"
The old woman who had been talking a lot suddenly stopped talking. She glanced around vigilantly, then quietly put her arm around Chen Qing's shoulder and led her to her side.
Li Daoxuan narrowed his eyes and carefully watched the old woman's movements, with the sword in his hand ready to strike.
Grandma Si sat on the ground and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, Grandma has already avenged you! Those two girls went too far! And as for them, Grandma hasn't had time to avenge you yet. Just wait for Grandma."
She carefully took out a paper bag of unknown material from her bosom and stuffed it into Chen Qing's hand.
"The lotus seeds are ripe. You used to love to stay in a canoe and pick lotus seeds. Unfortunately, the boat you had before was smashed by them. Grandma has no use for it, so she had to buy an old one."
"Grandma picked a lot of lotus seeds this year, and there's no time to make soup. You can just eat them for now."
Chen Qing's mind flashed back to the scene of the Happy Funeral Demon skillfully hiding in the boat. She was eager to know who Ah Chou was. Her intuition told her that Ah Chou was closely related to the Happy Funeral Demon...
She put down the bag of lotus seeds and tentatively asked, "Grandma, do you still remember the mole on my forehead?"
What was exciting was that Ah Si Pozi really touched her smooth forehead in confusion and said, "Yes, Ah Chou, where is the mole on your forehead?"
Chen Qing's breathing stagnated for a moment, his hands trembled uncontrollably, and he was even mute for a moment.
Seeing that she was still silent, Ah Si Pozi asked again in confusion: "A Chou, why is your mole gone?" Suddenly, her eyes became sharp, "No, you are not Ah Chou. Ah Chou died a long time ago. They killed him."
Just before Ah Si Pozi suddenly jumped up, Li Daoxuan quickly pulled her away behind him. Because her movements were too fast, Chen Qing was forced to grab his shoulders to keep his balance.
Just as he popped his head out from behind him, he saw that old woman Ah Si rushed straight towards Li Daoxuan's knife.
Li Daoxuan frowned, drew back his sword, and said solemnly, "Don't—" His voice fell silent halfway through.
"The wound is in the heart, and even the immortals can't save it." Li Daoxuan said.
She bumped into me on her own, and she was definitely determined to die.
No one knew what Grandma Si was thinking at the moment before her death. She only looked at Chen Qing, then at the boat standing alone in the lake, and finally her body fell backwards like a light fallen leaf and fell into the water.
This fall was like a drop of clear water falling into ink, and a multitude of brightly colored carp surged up, covering her. Blood and crimson intertwined and blended, slowly unfolding a painting of carp playing in the lake.
The painting is red, stained with blood.
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