Chapter 120: Hut, wait for me here.
The mountain next to Chengqing is not very high, but it covers a large area and has lush jungles. There is thick fog in the deep areas, and it is easy to get lost if you enter without permission.
But Hou Yuan seemed to have been there before. He took her by the hand and drove straight in a certain direction. Half an incense stick later, the two stopped and what came into their sight was a rather old thatched cottage in the forest.
It was not only old but also very simple. There were several holes in the roof and the window bars were damaged. They creaked in the wind and looked like they were about to fall off. The door was wide open, and a fist-sized stone was propped against the door to prevent it from closing due to the strong wind.
An octogenarian, with gray hair and a hunched body, sat in the middle of the door. He was huddled in a chair, staring blankly ahead.
They stopped in front of the door. The old man looked a little suspicious. He tilted his ear slightly and listened for a while. Then he asked hesitantly, "Is anyone coming?"
Only then did Xu Xingxing notice his cloudy eyes. No wonder his pupils were white; it turned out he couldn't see.
She looked at Hou Yuan, who rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb and replied, "Is it you who asked me to come here?"
The old man's eyes paused, as if he was confused for a moment, then his wrinkled face was full of disbelief. When he came to his senses, he was overjoyed. His expression changed several times in a moment, and finally turned into extreme grief. He tried to stand up by holding on to the chair, but staggered forward and fell.
Xu Xingxing wanted to catch it immediately, but she saw that the black energy had caught the person before her and placed him on the ground.
The old man didn't dare to pause. He stood up and knelt hurriedly, saying incoherently: "But...but Lord Zeshen?"
Xu Xingxing hurried over to help, one hand passed over her to help the old man up, and said, "It's me. Let's go inside and talk."
The room was fully furnished. Although it was still shabby, it was clean. After the two sat down, the old man wanted to make tea for them, but was directly rejected by Yuan: "No need to bother."
He looked at the old man and got straight to the point: "Is your adoptive father the spirit beast Bai Ze?"
The old man turned towards Hou Yuan, his chaotic eyes filled with sorrow: "That's right."
"You said he was trapped in the lake?"
The old man nodded again.
Wei Yuan looked at the old man for a moment, his eyes narrowed with inquiry, and asked slowly, "Why do you have my aura on you?"
Xu Xingxing paused and sniffed twice.
Of course, I smelled nothing.
He glanced at her sideways, the corners of his lips curling up unconsciously. He raised his finger and stroked the tip of her wrinkled nose, saying softly, "Very slight."
The old man was startled and said quickly, "The gentleman who came before me also asked me the same question, but I really don't know."
Xu Xingxing was slightly surprised: "Who is that adult?"
Mo Yuan replied, "Bugs."
The old man lowered his eyes slightly, his expression respectful: "But I heard from my adoptive father before that I do have a connection with you."
Wei Yuan raised his eyes and looked over: "Speak."
"Over a hundred years ago, you had just destroyed Cheng Ruins and were about to leave when a howling baby blocked your path."
The old man lowered his eyelids, as if reminiscing. "You casually tossed me to the mountain spirits who were kneeling beside you. Concealed by your majesty, they didn't dare touch me. But they were crude creatures, so how could they raise a human child? Fortunately, when I was on the verge of death, my adoptive father came to settle here, and they quickly gave me to him."
After hearing this, Xu Xingxing looked at Hou Yuan with wide eyes in shock, praising him exaggeratedly, "How could our Zeshen be so kind?"
As she spoke, she excitedly shook his hand.
Mo Yuan: ...
He did remember some of it.
But at that moment, he seemed to have the urge to trample this noisy human child to death...
He looked into the woman's sparkling eyes, pursed his lips and chose to remain silent.
But to be more specific, he had just been possessed by the devil, his mind was confused and full of resentment, but the miserable cry of the baby brought him back to his senses a little.
Unexpectedly, the woman changed the subject and began criticizing again: "But what's going on in your head? Why don't you give the human baby to humans, but instead give it to the spirits?"
Zhu Yuan's eyebrows began to twitch. Just as he was about to argue, he heard the old man explain, "Don't blame Ze Shen. I heard from those spirits that because of the evil cultivators in Chengxu, there were not many living people within a hundred miles of this place. Those who could escape did so. My biological parents were overwhelmed when they fled and abandoned me on the roadside. As for those who couldn't escape, they couldn't even protect themselves, so how could they care about a burdensome child?"
"I see." Xu Xingxing understood and then changed the subject, "You just said over a hundred years ago. I wonder how old you are?"
"One hundred and ten exactly." The wrinkles on the old man's face piled up layer by layer, revealing a very bitter expression. "If it weren't for that strange thing in my body, how could I have lived so long?"
"Strange thing, what is that?"
As soon as Xu Xingxing asked this question, he saw the old man's tears suddenly burst out. He was unsteady, but he wanted to stand up and kneel again.
She hurriedly stopped the man and finally managed to calm the old man down. Then, with a sad look on his face, he slowly recounted what he had experienced.
"I was already eighteen at the time. One day, my adoptive father took back a fragmented soul. This soul was filled with resentment and refused to dissipate. My adoptive father tried to liberate it several times but failed, so he wanted to get rid of it. Unexpectedly, this wronged soul took advantage of my adoptive father's unpreparedness and possessed me. Its three souls were incomplete, so it shouldn't be a threat. However, after possessing me, it took control of my body and ate something."
"Is this the strange thing you were talking about?" Xu Xingxing asked.
"Yes, after consuming this, my skin and flesh instantly tore apart, and my body nearly collapsed. I was nearly dead, and Shattered Soul threatened my adoptive father, saying he would spare my life if he sank into Chengqing Lake with him..."
The old man choked up several times when he spoke of this. He dug his fingers hard on the table, blood seeping from his rough fingertips. "I saved my life, but my adoptive father never came back. He was a rare special spirit beast with great magical powers. If it weren't for me, he would never have been controlled by that traitor. But the thing inside him could hold me hostage to this point. I can't even commit suicide. Now I'm over a hundred years old, and I'm still alive... I can't even die..."
"I went to seek help from those capable and extraordinary people. At first, some were willing to help, but no one who went deep into Chengqing ever returned... Gradually, whenever I went to look for them, I would be beaten and chased away. I wanted to seek help from Kunlun, but I couldn't leave Chengqing within twenty miles. I was really at my wit's end and could only wait aimlessly in this forest."
The old man's eyelids suddenly opened wide, and a glimmer of light finally appeared in his cloudy eyes. "Fortunately, a temple like yours was built in the town near Chengqing in recent years. I went to your temple every day to kneel and pray, and finally the gentleman I had been waiting for came."
The old man turned towards Hou Yuan, his expression full of hope and respect. "Did you hear my prayers and travel thousands of miles to save me?"
"Not really." Yuan Yuan's honesty was heartbreaking. "I can't hear the prayers in these temples."
Xu Xingxing was speechless for a moment because of Wei Yuan's lack of empathy and disappointment, but after hearing his next words, she asked curiously, "Why?"
"I have already given up my divinity, how can I possibly bless others?" Hou Yuan looked at her. "They are worshipping the side of me that I have given up."
Xu Xingxing suddenly realized: "So you can't save people. If you want to save me, you can only study medicine."
Yu Yuan nodded.
"Can you take out the object inside the old man's body?"
Zhu Yuan glanced at the old man and said, "It doesn't matter whether you take it or not. If you take it out now, you will die in a moment."
The old man's expression suddenly became excited: "My Lord, I am not afraid of death! If I die, then my adoptive father won't have to suffer the shackles of that traitor because of me?"
"Bai Ze has been trapped for over ninety years. Whether you live or die now, you pose no threat to that traitor. Besides..." Yuan looked at the old man, "I might be able to use your life."
After saying this, Hou Yuan said to Xu Xingxing, "I'm going to explore the way to Chengqing Lake first. You wait here for me. I'll be back in half an hour at most."
Although Xu Xingxing was surprised why he didn't let her go with him, seeing his serious expression, she didn't ask any more questions.
Who would have thought that it would take Yuan Yuan a full hour to get there.
As soon as he left, it began to rain, the Milky Way poured down, and the wind blew violently, as if it wanted to split the already dilapidated hut in half.
Xu Xingxing hurriedly condensed a thick layer of ice outside to cover the house, thus blocking the very strange rainstorm and strong wind.
But misfortunes never come singly. For some unknown reason, the old man, who was originally fine, suddenly fell to the ground and shrank, and then began to convulse violently.
Xu Xingxing quickly transferred spiritual energy into the old man's body, and took out the pills from the Qiankun bag for him to take, which made his expression slowly relax.
Then Xu Xingxing helped the old man to rest on the couch, and she sat beside him to observe his condition from time to time.
Half an hour later, the sudden rain stopped and the strong wind gradually subsided, but the dark clouds in the sky were still very low, as if they would attack again without any care in the next moment.
When Xu Xingxing was feeling anxious and was debating whether to go and look for him, Wei Yuan finally came back.
The man was soaked all over, his face was extremely gloomy, and he was full of hostility. Only when he saw her coming towards him did his brows soften a little.
She pulled him into the house and used her spiritual power to dry the water stains on his body. Just as she was about to ask him what happened, she saw Hou Yuan looking at her sullenly and said, "I will go find Bai Ze alone tonight. You wait here for me."
Xu Xingxing paused, finally realizing something was amiss. Frowning, she asked, "What's wrong with the lake? Is there anything else in this world that could make you so cautious?"
As Yuan looked at her, his irritation and resentment grew even stronger. Just as he was about to speak, the woman interrupted him, "Tell me the truth. Don't try to lie to me. You can't fool me."
Hou Yuan's eyes darkened. He endured for a moment, then finally pulled her into his arms, buried his face in her neck and sniffed hard. After a while, he raised his head and said, "I know that broken soul."
Xu Xingxing always felt that he was too abnormal. She stroked his face and asked, "Who?"
"Shi Chen."
Xu Xingxing was shocked: "Isn't he dead?"
Hou Yuan closed his eyes and rubbed her palm, but his frown did not relax. "All the evil cultivators in Chengxu were annihilated, but he managed to save a piece of his own soul. I only found out the reason after I entered the lake."
"What."
Zhu Yuan raised his eyes to look at her, but did not reply: "Xingxing, do you know what this old man ate?"
Xu Xingxing shook his head: "You know?"
"I knew it when I saw him."
The corners of Hou Yuan's lips curled slightly, but his eyes were filled with bitter self-mockery, "It's bones."
"Huh?" Xu Xingxing didn't react.
Yuan looked at her and said slowly: "What he took was mine.
"Phalanges."
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