Chapter 9 Chapter 9 Miss, what are you afraid of?
Jiang Li followed the sound and searched for a long time before finally finding it.
This sound came from outside...
Sure enough, the closer she got to the door, the louder the sound became.
"Wuwuwu...don't come over here..."
Jiang Li heard the sound and realized it was a living person. She pressed the wall randomly, but finally found the switch and opened the door.
She was experienced this time and lit the torch with an oil lamp.
The cave was pitch black, with a faint light in the corner.
"Help..." The man's voice was weak and desperate. He was afraid of attracting something even more terrifying so he didn't dare to shout loudly.
Jiang Li held the torch and walked straight towards the people.
A closer look revealed two bat-like creatures surrounding a woman huddled in a corner. The water dripping from the creatures was sticky, and Jiang Li couldn't help but frown. The moment the torch approached, the two monsters fled in panic.
The woman looked up at the firelight, was startled at first, and then burst into tears...
Jiang Li saw this familiar face, and raised his eyebrows, full of helplessness: "Miss, why are you crying?"
"I... am just, scared... wuwu." The woman burst into tears.
Jiang Li sighed helplessly: "Stand up and follow me."
For Ximen Yueyao, the house was like a lifeline. It was bright, dry, and devoid of scary things. Most importantly, there was a living person nearby.
Jiang Li sat down on the ground, his arms propped up on his bent knees as he looked at her. The woman's makeup was smudged from her tears. She pulled out a handkerchief and offered it to him, "There's no water here for you to wash your face. Please wipe it."
"Thank you." Ximen Yueyao took it timidly and thanked him in a low voice.
Jiang Li propped up his chin, his eyes sharp as a torch: "How did you... get here?"
Ximen Yueyao seemed to have been stabbed in the heart, and her eyes flickered away: "Thank you! I... I have to go home."
"Please!" Jiang Li had a cold face and curled his lips.
"I..." Ximen Yueyao took a deep breath, her voice trembling, "I'm a little scared to be alone..."
Jiang Li raised his eyebrows and pretended to be surprised: "Oh? You mean, you want me to accompany you on this dark road again?"
"I'm not forcing you!" Ximen Yueyao quickly shook her head and waved her hands. "I'm saying, is there another exit here?"
Jiang Li shrugged and said indifferently: "I don't know."
She observed Ximen Yueyao's changing expressions with great interest, which was quite interesting.
She bit her lower lip in fear, her brow furrowed, and her throat tightened with nervous swallowing. After a moment, Ximen Yueyao seemed to have successfully calmed herself down, her brows relaxed considerably. "When... are you leaving here?"
"Me? Leave?" Jiang Li's eyes were sharp. "How did you know I would leave?"
Ximen Yueyao took a half step back guiltily: "I guess..."
"Tell me, why are you following me?" Jiang Li crossed his arms across his chest. "When did you follow me?"
Seeing that she could no longer hide the truth, Ximen Yueyao breathed a sigh of relief: "When you entered the cave..."
Jiang Li asked, "What else?"
"I didn't mean to follow you..." she told me truthfully, "Someone was chasing me. I saw you enter the cave from a distance, so I went in too."
Jiang Li: "Chasing you? Who is chasing you?"
Her oppressive gaze made Ximen Yueyao feel frightened, but she couldn't say anything.
"Forget it if you don't want to talk about it." Jiang Li stood up, picked up a book beside him and began to read. "There's a bed inside. Rest for a night and leave tomorrow morning."
"Thank you." She whispered, as soft as a mosquito's hum.
"I misunderstood you deeply before, but now I know I was wrong. I apologize..."
Jiang Li raised his lips to a mocking smile: "Miss, please stop showing mercy."
"I'm serious!" Ximen Yueyao explained quickly, twisting the handkerchief Jiang Li had handed her with both hands. "I was also avoiding you before, and I really should apologize to you.
sorry"
Jiang Li was confused by what he heard and simply ignored it.
Ximen Yueyao looked at her and silently apologized in her heart.
sorry.
As soon as she stepped into the inner room, a shrill scream instantly broke the silence.
I forgot, there's a dead body inside...
Jiang Li frowned, put down the book, and walked towards the inner room.
Ximen Yueyao huddled on the ground, and the moment she saw Jiang Li, she blurted out, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."
Jiang Li ignored him and walked straight to the body, pulling a piece of cloth over it. When he left, his eyes did not linger on her for a moment.
Ximen Yueyao froze in place, even her fear was frozen.
Jiang Li sat at the table all night and didn't close his eyes until dawn.
Only when daylight was barely breaking did she hastily memorize the contents of the scroll. Glancing at the approaching oil lamp, she unhesitatingly brought the book close to the flame. As the paper ignited and turned to ash, a flicker of relief crossed her eyes.
When I returned to the inner room, Ximen Yueyao was curled up in the corner and sleeping.
Jiang Li hesitated for a moment, but still reached out and pushed the person awake.
The woman was drowsy and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Come on, I'll take you out."
The moment the woman heard the words, her sleepiness immediately disappeared: "Thank you!"
Jiang Li had heard her say thank you countless times, and she was tired of hearing it. After hesitating for a long time, she still didn't say it out loud.
With the previous experience as a lesson, Jiang Li lit a torch and walked in front, holding the torch, while Ximen Yueyao followed closely behind, clutching the corner of her sleeve tightly.
This time, it was surprisingly calm.
Finally, daylight came through ahead.
Jiang Li threw the torch away and continued to walk forward, but his sleeve was still being pulled: "We're at the cave entrance, let go."
Ximen Yueyao had practically closed her eyes and groped her way through the cave. Now, staring at the light at the cave entrance, she felt as if she were in another world. Yesterday's horrific memories surged back at her, and she couldn't stop trembling.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Jiang Li was too lazy to exchange pleasantries with her and just stood up and left.
"Wait a minute..." Ximen Yueyao grabbed his arm in desperation.
The moment Jiang Li felt himself being caught, his feet suddenly felt empty...
A net appeared from nowhere, hanging the two of them in the air...
"Ah!" Ximen Yueyao lost control and bumped into Jiang Li.
Jiang Li quickly glanced at the net rope that trapped them, and his cold gaze suddenly fixed on Ximen Yueyao's face.
"It's not me, it's really not me!" Ximen Yueyao immediately understood what that look meant and quickly waved her hand to explain, "I swear, if it were me, I'd be struck by lightning!"
"I didn't say it was you." Jiang Li said calmly, "Besides, if lightning really strikes, it won't just hit you."
"I..." Ximen Yueyao chose to keep quiet and stop arguing. The two of them worked for a long time, but in the end, they couldn't destroy the net at all. Jiang Li said helplessly, "Now, we can only wait for the trap setter to arrive."
While waiting for someone, Ximen Yueyao took the initiative to speak: "I used to be very afraid of you. They said that if I got involved with you, I would be unlucky."
"They're right." Jiang Li said with a smile, "If you get close to me, you will be unlucky..."
But the woman's face did not show the fear she expected, but instead a deep and dark look.
"But I don't feel that way." No fear, no nervousness or fear.
Jiang Li chose not to talk anymore.
She hadn't slept all night, and when she felt sleepy, she fell asleep.
Seeing that she could actually sleep peacefully, Ximen Yueyao couldn't help but admire her for being able to remain calm in the face of danger.
I don’t know how long it took, but I heard voices coming from the quiet mountains.
"Where did this little girl go?"
"It's such a small place, where else can we run to?"
"Seeing that the elder is also in trouble, if that little girl is willing to be protected by me, I don't mind helping her..." While speaking, he also let out a sly laugh.
"The elders gambled their entire reputation on this little girl. Even if she survives this time, she won't cause any trouble."
"Well, what would happen if this disaster star knew that the person the mountain god really chose was this little girl?"
"That's going to be a good show! She didn't die this time, and the elders were furious. The others won't let her go."
Ximen Yueyao heard the conversation clearly, her heartbeat began to accelerate uncontrollably, and she prayed in her heart that Jiang Li did not hear it.
But the fact is, Jiang Li was woken up by the voices and heard it all.
"Ximen Qiu is going to die?" Jiang Li knew that she shouldn't show such excitement in front of her, but she couldn't control herself.
"Um……"
Jiang Li suppressed his joy: "Well, I'm sorry."
Ximen Yueyao waited for a long time, but Jiang Li didn't ask any more questions. At this moment, beside her, his heart was in great torment, as if it was burning on fire.
After a while, Jiang Li asked again: "Why did they arrest you?"
Ximen Yueyao took a deep breath, prepared to be exposed: "Sacrifice."
Jiang Li was puzzled: "Sacrifice? Wasn't it destroyed?"
Ximen Yueyao explained: "After you left, grandpa might have thought of this situation and told me to leave.
Canceling the sacrifice to the mountain god would anger him, so everyone unanimously decided to let me be the saint and re-host the grand sacrificial ceremony. Then they chased me all the way, and I happened to see you entering the cave, so I followed you."
Jiang Li sneered, "Pedantic."
Ximen Yueyao made up her mind and decided to confess: "Actually, half a month ago, the mountain god chose me as the Saint. But grandpa couldn't bear to see me die, so he persuaded everyone and claimed that you were the one he chose.
They saw you as a disaster, so this way they could get rid of you and make the elders owe them a favor, killing two birds with one stone. That's why they later arrested you in public.
I know very well that I am the one who benefits, but I don't have the courage to stand up and die for you... I'm sorry, so I felt guilty and afraid towards you at the beginning."
The moment she finished speaking, she felt a lot more relaxed.
She demanded sharply, "You mean to say that almost everyone knows that the real Saint is not me."
"Um……"
Jiang Li remained silent, and the air was eerily quiet.
Is it anger? Not really.
Jiang Li couldn't figure out what was going on, but he had a vague urge to make them kneel down and beg for mercy, to see their desperate eyes and feel overwhelmed with regret...
Jiang Li glanced at her and said, "You are no different from them."
Ximen Yueyao felt extremely guilty: "I'm sorry..."
Unexpectedly, these words weren't meant to be criticism or blame: "Beneficiaries? The benefit you're talking about is not losing the life you should have had, right? If that's a benefit, then aren't they also benefiting?"
Ximen Yueyao paused. This was something she had never considered. She had been brainwashed by the words of the people in the village, and she logically believed that she should complete the mission of the Saint and die.
But why should her fate be decided by others? Why should she die?
Obviously, she also didn't believe in the legend of the mountain god...
Ximen Yueyao was enlightened: "Jiang Li, you are really amazing."
Her admiration came from the heart.
At the same time, the people who had set the net came to close it. They were two men, followed by the couple that Jiang Li had seen yesterday morning.
The couple was very excited to see Jiang Li: "You, a witch, are here too!"
Another person chimed in: "Tell me where my son is!"
In the past, Jiang Li would have given each other some false respect. But when she thought about how everyone wanted her dead and the hurt they had caused her in the past, she was left with only murderous intent.
If she died, half of the people in the village would be the murderer and the other half would be accomplices.
"She's dead." Jiang Li spoke deliberately lightly.
"You're talking nonsense!" The man wanted to do something, but could only point at her from a distance.
"Yang Tiansheng died in a very miserable and painful way. Even his body was eaten clean by insects." The only thing that was not true was that Yang Tiansheng's death was not painful, but very pleasant.
Since the man couldn't reach Jiang Li, he picked up a stone on the ground and threw it at Jiang Li.
It hurts so much!
It was so annoying. If she had known that Yun Si was going to release the poisonous insect yesterday, she would not have stopped him. When she saw the people below, she couldn't help but feel contempt and disgust in her heart.
"Stop it now, stop it!" Ximen Yueyao tried to dissuade them.
Seeing this, the man beside him interrupted: "Stop fighting, it's more important to get down to business."
"No problem! You give that disaster star to my wife and me, and I'll leave her to you."
They didn't believe the news of their son's death, nor did they believe the words of the man they believed to be the murderer - Jiang Li. They just wanted to find someone to vent their anger on.
Unexpectedly, the man said, "You want someone? Are you begging me?"
There was a lot of arguing going on downstairs, and Ximen Yueyao took the opportunity to say, "When they let us down later, you'll take the opportunity to leave. The farther away the better."
"Oh? What about you?"
"I..." Ximen Yueyao looked lost. "I have done something wrong, so I must pay for it. If it weren't for me, Grandpa wouldn't have gotten into trouble, Brother Tiansheng wouldn't have died, and this situation wouldn't have happened..."
Jiang Li shook his head: "He's stubborn and refuses to change."
Jiang Li looked at the people below: "It's a pity they don't have any Gu worms on them. If they did, she could easily take down two or three of them."
"Oh, right!" Ximen Yueyao took out a box from her arms, "I'm returning the things you lost before."
Jiang Li's eyes lit up. Isn't this the Gu dish she had lost?
She chuckled and took the Gu dish: "Do you know that you saved your own life?"
Ximen Yueyao was puzzled: "What?"
"If I were you, I wouldn't choose to go back." Jiang Li looked at her, "After I get off here, I will choose to leave here and never come back."
Ximen Yueyao met his gaze and seemed to understand something: "But, my grandfather..."
"Your grandfather is an elder, and ordinary people can't kill him." But I will kill him with my own hands!
"I see. Thank you."
Ximen Yueyao suddenly thought of something and said, "I went to the side hall of the ancestral hall, and there was no cat there. Are you lying to me?"
Jiang Li admitted directly: "I did lie to you, so we are even."
"You..." Ximen Yueyao was disappointed, and understood what it meant to be even.
Jiang Li no longer cared about the Saint Girl's affairs. She asked expectantly, "Will you forgive my grandfather?"
"No." She answered decisively.
The people below had almost finished arguing and began to remove the ropes, letting Jiang Li and the other two down.
Jiang Li shifted her focus and stared intently at the three men on the ground. She reached out and quietly opened the Gu dish, while at the same time holding her breath and concentrating her energy, her heartbeat accelerating.
Three, two, one... She counted silently in her heart.
With a thud, four people fell to the ground at the same time.
Jiang Li's pupils widened. How could this be?
There was a sound of bells in the air...
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