Chapter 12
The sound was ethereal and pleasant, which would be fine under normal circumstances. But with this word, and appearing abruptly in this deserted forest, it seemed particularly strange.
Cassel felt his scalp tingling and goose bumps all over his body. Under the gaze of the two people, he moved quickly and hid behind Nie Wuhen.
Nie Wuhen: "..."
The singing stopped, and the person in the mist gradually appeared. The dead tree made a creaking sound, and the person seemed to realize that there was someone in front of him, so he stopped.
She was wearing a plain silk dress with wide cuffs and intricate patterns embroidered with silver thread. There was a bell hanging on her slender wrist, and on her arm was a bamboo basket with some white chrysanthemums in it. The chrysanthemums looked like they had just been picked, and were extremely bright, with dewdrops still on them, about to fall.
"You are here to pick flowers too." The girl stood in front of the three people, her eyes showing confusion and vigilance. She pinched her sleeves tightly, "Why haven't I seen you before?"
"Don't be afraid, young lady," Bai Yi laughed, and with a swish he opened his bamboo fan, took a step forward with a smile, and when he saw the woman retreat, he stopped and said, "We came here to see the world. We passed by here on our way through the South China Sea, and somehow we got lost."
"Outsider," the woman whispered, "So that's how it is. This is the Misty Forest. Outsiders can't get out of here, and ordinary people won't get close. How did you get in?"
"The ship capsized in the South China Sea. The wind was strong." Nie Wuhen took over the conversation, his eyes fell on the chrysanthemums in the basket, and said, "I have never seen chrysanthemums in the forest."
The woman seemed to be frightened. Her eyes instantly turned red and she even cried as she asked, "Who are you?"
Nie Wuhen frowned.
Bai Yi stood in front of Nie Wuhen, clasped his fists, and vowed: "Don't be afraid, girl. This is my senior brother. He is used to being cold and indifferent. Don't be afraid."
Nie Wuhen: "..."
Cassel poked his head out and took a look at the chrysanthemum. It was pure as snow and as soft and white as the feathers on an angel's wings.
He was probably watching too intently, and didn't even hear what Bai Yi said clearly, until someone patted his head -
"What are you doing?" Cassel covered his head and stepped back, looking up at Nie Wuhen, feeling quite aggrieved, "You hit my tentacles!"
"..." Nie Wuhen retracted his hand and looked down at him, "Follow me."
After saying that, he turned and walked forward. Cassel was stunned for a moment, but when he reacted, he saw that the person was almost gone. He felt terrified and ran forward in two or three steps!
It's really not his fault! Although he is a little devil, he not only has no magic power, but also ended up in such a strange place, so he is still afraid! He is no different from those humans now.
Cassel, panting, finally ran behind Nie Wuhen. He reached out and grabbed Nie Wuhen's sleeve, and asked him, panting, if he could walk slower.
Nie Wuhen stopped and replied to him, We’re here.
Cassel was stunned. He looked up and found that the surrounding fog had disappeared at some point, and the outlines of the surrounding scenery gradually emerged. Surrounded by trees, there was a yard with a tall plaque hanging on it. There was something written on it. Cassel couldn't understand it, but someone else read it out.
"Chang. Rest. Ge." Bai Yi stood at the door, emphasizing each word.
"This is my home." The woman knocked on the door. After a while, several servants in coarse cloth opened the door and respectfully called out "Miss Qiongzhi."
"Uncle Zhang," the woman named Qiongzhi said softly, "There are several people who passed through the South China Sea and unexpectedly encountered a disaster and fell into this misty forest. I found them and I want to send them back."
Cassel's gaze moved down to the uncle's face, his eyes widened at that moment. He grabbed the tentacles, hurriedly took a step back, grabbed Nie Wuhen's clothes, and refused to let go no matter what.
Nie Wuhen tugged at his clothes but found that it didn't move, so he just ignored it. He lowered his eyes to look at the uncle. His skin was pale and he didn't look like a living person. There were two holes where his eyes were, as if they were dug out by someone. Bright red blood flowed from the holes to his cheeks and had already dried.
"I got lost." Uncle Zhang said, trembling as he opened the door. "My lady is kind-hearted, so I have nothing to say. Please."
Cassel didn't dare go in. He grabbed Nie Wuhen's sleeve and tried his best to stop him from going in: "You can't go in here, please don't go in..."
Nie Wuhen looked at the trembling tentacles and followed his words: "The reason."
"The aura is different," Cassel thought Nie Wuhen had agreed, so he lowered his voice and told the whole story, "It feels like the place I used to live in. There must be a lot of demons in there! Don't go in, they will eat us!"
He vaguely remembered that Barbatos once took him to the bottom of hell, but he was frightened awake that night and almost couldn't come back. From then on, he only dared to live in the first level of hell and never went to the lower level of hell. But the feeling brought by that terrifying aura is something Cassel will never forget.
This place today is very similar to the lower level of hell.
Cassel didn't want to relive the horrific scene again, so he could only try his best to stop Nie Wuhen from going in.
Nie Wuhen looked at him for a while, then suddenly asked, "Then do you know how to get out?"
Cassel shook his head blankly.
Nie Wuhen asked again: "Then who do you think is more powerful if you encounter a big monster or a ghost?"
Cassel was even more confused: "What is a big demon? And...what the hell? I don't understand."
Nie Wuhen: “…”
He closed his eyes, and while Cassel was stunned, he pulled away his sleeve forcefully - Cassel pulled it so tightly that the sleeve became wrinkled, and there seemed to be some unknown liquid on it. It seemed that Cassel's tears had wet his sleeve.
Nie Wuhen said, "Since I said I would protect your life, I would not lie to you. Instead of aimlessly searching for a way out in the forest, you might as well give it a try. Follow this ghost in, and life or death will be up to fate."
Cassel was dumbfounded: "But I don't want to die."
“…I didn’t say you would die.”
Cassel scratched his head and said in a sullen tone: "...Oh."
The yard is square. After entering, the place was empty except for a towering tree in the middle, with dense leaves and thick branches. The breeze blew and the fallen leaves fluttered all over the ground. Several servants were holding brooms and mechanically sweeping the fallen leaves. When they saw someone coming, they just raised their eyes stiffly, saluted and said, "Miss."
Bai Yi followed Qiongzhi, glanced around, and then looked at Nie Wuhen silently. Nie Wuhen didn't say anything, but tapped the hilt of the sword with his fingertips, once, twice, three times...
Cassel was curious, so he leaned over and asked in a low voice, "What does this mean?"
Nie Wuhen paused his knocking and looked down at him: "I can't get out."
Cassel: “!!!”
Bai Yi couldn't help laughing. Qiongzhi, who was standing next to him, was walking towards a room. Upon hearing this, she turned around and asked, "What's going on?"
"Nothing." Bai Yi said, "It's just that the location of this tree is not very good."
"Really?" Qiongzhi pushed open the door, hung the white chrysanthemum in her hand on the door, and said softly, "This tree has been here since I can remember."
"The courtyard is square, forming a 'mouth'. With such a big tree planted inside, doesn't it look like the Chinese character 'trapped'?" Bai Yi joked, "I'm afraid that once someone comes in, they won't be able to get out."
"You are joking, young master." Qiongzhi said, "Didn't I just go out? The Misty Forest is very strange. I'm afraid I can't get out until the next day. You can stay here for one night. Please don't mind."
"How could that be?" Bai Yi laughed. He watched the white figure disappear at the door, and the smile on his face gradually faded. When he turned to look at Nie Wuhen, he saw the latter reaching out and taking down the chrysanthemum on the door.
"Rebirth Formation." Nie Wuhen held the chrysanthemum, and white light condensed in the palm of his hand. The chrysanthemum petals fell down, and finally with a sharp cry, it instantly turned into ashes and disappeared.
"Using chrysanthemum as the trigger and using life to infuse magic power to set up the formation, she was really ruthless," Bai Yi took over his words and continued, "I just don't know how we offended her. It seems like this is just the first time we met, why would she use such a vicious formation. Could it be that the bone monster on the road has some connection with that Qiongzhi?"
"We can't rule out this possibility, but there is another possibility." Nie Wuhen added, "This Qiongzhi, or the housekeeper, is related to the Demon Realm. The gluttonous beast we encountered in the forest is from the Demon Realm. The dead turned into ghosts, but they didn't go to the Wangchuan River where the Demon Realm and the Xiuxian Realm meet. Instead, they stayed here for no reason and lived there peacefully. It's really suspicious."
"A ghost?" Bai Yi thought of a possibility and felt terrified. "Then this house, could it be a tomb?"
Nie Wuhen said nothing.
Bai Yi felt goosebumps all over his body. He touched his arm uncomfortably and turned around to see Cassel biting a candied haws with an innocent look on his face.
"What's wrong?" Cassel hurriedly put the rest of the candied haws in his mouth, swallowing it all. His mouth was bulging like a puffer fish. After finally swallowing it, he wiped his mouth, looked up at Bai Yi, and asked.
Since Nie Wuhen just said that he would not put his life in danger, he had nothing to worry about. And according to Nie Wuhen, he will definitely protect himself.
Bai Yi blinked, and another bad idea came up: "Hey, do you know what a grave is?"
Cassel shook his head obediently.
Bai Yi was about to blurt out something, but Nie Wuhen interrupted him and spoke first: "A ghost is coming."
Bai Yi was stunned for a moment, and then he heard a series of knocks on the door. A servant was outside the door and said, "Three gentlemen, the food is ready. Miss invites the three gentlemen to have dinner in the front hall."
Cassel's tentacles jumped. He scratched twice and looked back at Nie Wuhen. The latter looked at him indifferently, was silent for a moment, and said, "No."
Cassel pulled his antennae in frustration and muttered a few words.
Bai Yi's eyes rolled and he laughed twice. He said loudly, "Please ask this little brother to go and reply. We will go right away."
Nie Wuhen looked at Bai Yi.
The person outside responded and then retreated.
Bai Yi pretended not to see Nie Wuhen. He walked forward and put his arm on Cassel's shoulder, grinning: "Brother, if you don't take you there, I will. Look at this wealthy family, they must have a wide variety of food."
Cassel's eyes lit up, but he also had concerns: "But aren't they bad guys? Will they...?"
"Don't worry, I'm here with you, what are you afraid of?" Bai Yi tapped his fan and laughed happily, "Isn't that right, brother?"
Nie Wuhen pulled the corner of his mouth: "I'm not going."
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