Chapter 62 The Sleeping Curse (26) "To avenge one person, ...
Those corpse flowers originally grew on the corpses on the seabed, but like life itself, they were too fragile. With the slightest wind or wave, they were all blown away and failed to gather together with the small mountain.
Now they are all being pushed up by the waves, surging and drifting, not knowing where they are going.
But Chang Mingai really noticed the direction the petals were drifting; they were coming towards her, as if clearing a path on the water to welcome something.
A coffin made of ebony drifted slowly through the raging wind and rain.
It was them! Chang Mingai rushed to meet them. Xie Tan was being held in Lu Jinzhao's arms. He was unconscious, his face was deathly pale, but he was still breathing, and it seemed that he had a fever.
Her heart calmed down a bit: "You two scared me to death... I really thought some sun god had left your lives there!"
"The Sun God disagrees." Lu Jinzhao carried Xie Tan on his back and walked towards the shore. Because he wasn't smiling, his flamboyant features looked a bit cold. "Let's go, Xiao Ai."
Chang Mingai was surprised. If she wasn't mistaken... it was rare to see him a little angry.
She quickly caught up, glanced at him a few more times, then looked at the somewhat disheveled Xie Tan, and vaguely guessed what was going on.
Xue Hong had already driven the car to the beach and was honking the horn.
Chang Mingai got into the passenger seat on his own initiative, while Lu Jinzhao put Xie Tan in the back seat and sat next to him so that Xie Tan could lean against him comfortably.
The vehicle quickly found a road along the coastline and drove uphill, but Xue Hong frowned and asked, "Will this road lead us out?"
Although it was the direction they were heading into the town, the journey had been so bumpy that he hadn't even been able to see his surroundings clearly before they arrived, like a tunnel leading to another world.
"No problem, they've already gone out." Chang Mingai helped check the group messages, and Xi Rui told them to leave from here.
She understood; this was another reason why Xi Rui hadn't left the dream world.
The black goat erased the town from the map, which must have involved some kind of spell or ritual. Xi Rui had searched for it when they first arrived, but to no avail. This meant that the spell was set in the town in the dream. He dissected and digested it one by one, which took him quite a while.
The raging sea was left behind, but the town remained as silent as a graveyard. Chang Mingai realized something and asked, "In this town... besides us, has no one else woken up?"
Xue Hong's expression was complex: "...Yes."
Chang Mingai looked back through the car window. The flames had already reached the distant shore of the sea, turning it completely black, like a chaotic abyss split open in the sky.
Countless ghostly figures moved wildly in the abyss, whether they were struggling in agony from being burned and screaming in terror, or dancing enthusiastically and singing hymns.
It resembles a scene from hell.
But can we say that the devil is unhappy in hell?
She was somewhat dazed, as if she could still hear those distant sounds in the wind, like the call of another world, a place everyone would eventually reach, waiting for the day they would return.
This is the collective choice of the town's residents who have been tormented for decades.
Where is liberation found only for the women of the decadent music scene?
It wasn't until the car accelerated out of the forest, left the town, and bumped back onto the coastal highway, driving for some distance, that Chang Mingai realized she was covered in sweat and her heart rate was so high it echoed the roar of the raging sea.
It's like bringing out a lingering echo of the sea.
Looking again at the lush, shady woods that resembled a group of hanged ghosts, Chang Mingai actually felt a sense of familiarity.
She took a breath of fresh, earthy air; it was raining outside the town, and her heart gradually calmed down.
She looked back and asked softly, "Is Xie Tan alright?"
Xue Hong glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the two children snuggling together. He softened his voice and said, "Let's go to the nearby scenic spot first."
It's a holiday, and the hotels and guesthouses in the scenic area are definitely fully booked, but they also need to slow down and make some adjustments. So they made an appointment at the Sparkling Water Scenic Area.
Chang Mingai also fell asleep by the window. Xue Hong turned up the air conditioning and quietly focused on driving.
In the small space of the back seat, Lu Jinzhao half-embraced Xie Tan in his arms, letting him rest his head on his shoulder.
His fingertips massaged Xie Tan's temples to relieve his headache.
Xie Tan's eyelashes fluttered, but he didn't open his eyes.
He was jolted awake as the car sped out of the town.
The scent, which only the two of them could smell, filled the enclosed space.
Even though his pheromone secretion had decreased due to the injection of inhibitors, he felt that it was getting worse in the cramped car.
He felt another person's body and breath, felt the pressure of massaging his temples, felt his right hand being covered by another hand, their fingers lightly intertwined.
They... were too close.
It seemed the fire was so intense that it melted the two of them into one, making them indistinguishable.
How can I wake up?
He felt his fever, which had just subsided a little, was about to return.
He didn't dare to move, quietly sensing for a while. Lu Jinzhao didn't move much either, probably having fallen asleep as well.
Well… thankfully, he wasn’t discovered. He comforted himself with this thought, and could only let it go, continuing to pretend to be asleep.
Lu Jinzhao did not close his eyes at all.
He looked at Xie Tan's trembling eyelashes as he leaned against him in the rearview mirror, his lips slightly curved, but he said nothing.
The scenic area is brightly lit; today is the Water Splashing Festival at Art Harbor, a celebration that will last all night, with festive decorations everywhere.
Chang Mingai was woken up by a phone call. Still half asleep, she answered a few times and gave Xue Hong a new address.
"The young lady's family owns a villa here," Chang Mingai often remarked. "Thank you, young lady."
When they arrived at the seaside villa, another carload of people had already returned from shopping and were carrying their luggage inside. The group finally reunited, and Xie Tan naturally woke up.
But he still looked sickly, and when the wind blew, he couldn't help but cough a few times. Xia Wujin frowned when he saw his face: "Let's go to the hospital first."
The remaining people also gathered around, and Xie Tan subconsciously backed away, as the scent of his pheromones hadn't dissipated yet... Then he realized that even if they were near him, they wouldn't be able to smell it.
He was about to refuse when Lu Jinzhao said first, "No need."
This statement was made so casually and naturally that everyone's attention turned to Lu Jinzhao again.
Isn't this the person we should be most worried about?
But because the person who was most worried said so, everyone felt relieved, so it seemed that it really wasn't a big deal.
Chang Mingai and Xi Rui exchanged glances, and Xi Rui covered her mouth and whispered, "Good family member's speech."
Chang Mingai, as if she had found a kindred spirit, also shut her mouth: "You think so too!"
Xie Tan: "..."
With so few people around, and right in front of them, what are they whispering about?
He nudged Lu Jinzhao, who was trying to carry him upstairs, and said, "Go help them with their luggage. I need to rest."
Lu Jinzhao observed his expression, touched his forehead, and then smiled and agreed, "Then you rest for a while, I'll come down to pick you up after I'm done moving."
They all went inside. Before leaving, Xia Wujin specifically instructed, "If you're still not feeling well, tell me and I'll call a private doctor to come to your home."
Xie Tan was taken aback. Xia Wujin had already left. He lowered his eyes. Even the young lady wasn't that straightforward. She could tell that he didn't want to go to the hospital.
Chang Mingai was in charge of tidying up the RV. She gave him a bottle of water, and when he took it, she noticed the needle mark on his arm as his sleeve slid down. She paused for a moment.
This was just recently played.
Get ill……?
She suppressed her speculation for the time being, watched him take a sip of water, and sighed, "He's very worried about you."
She still remembers Lu Jinzhao's expression when he came ashore; it was truly rare to see him like that.
Xie Tan said softly, "I know."
He unconsciously recalled the situation when Lu Jinchao found him.
Everywhere there were flames, melting, rotting flesh, huge, writhing eyes, and a foul stench.
Lu Jinzhao ran towards him as if she were running towards him on a sunny beach.
With their heads close together, there was no way to avoid it.
However, Xie Tan didn't get any probing or questioning. Lu Jinzhao just looked at him seriously and said, "Do you want to destroy this place?"
His tone was flat and steady, and in the firelight, it had a touch of divinity.
What else could it be? Xie Tan thought to himself, no matter what he originally thought, things had come to this point, and he knew without even looking at the comics that it all seemed too much like what he had done.
And there's no problem with it; this is what the long-haired owner wants to do, and that's what he wants to do right now.
He didn't care about the fire, but his pheromones were burning him. He forced himself to endure it and asked, "Are you going to stop me?"
Their breaths mingled, and their words, like tentative reachouts of souls, touched gently, as if in a tentative exchange.
Xie Tan saw Lu Jinzhao smile.
Lu Jinzhao said, "No, I heard it."
Another gust of wind swept in, like the last snowflake before an avalanche. The entire hill suddenly crumbled apart. With his eyes freed from their restraints, Xie Tan discovered that instead of fleeing, they pounced on him like a pack of hungry wolves, blinking excitedly and frantically.
His sluggish brain realized that the pheromones that had been staring at him weren't cursing him for causing the wildfire, but rather were attracted by his overflowing pheromones... in common parlance, they were intoxicated.
Surrounded by a barrage of eyes, Xie Tan felt even more dizzy and nauseous, but he only had time to look for a second before Lu Jinzhao gently pulled him into his arms, supporting the back of his head, and his vision went black.
His senses shifted elsewhere, and all he felt was Lu Jinzhao's warm embrace, which seemed hotter than a mountain of fire. He shivered slightly.
Lu Jinzhao also crawled into the coffin and whispered, "Hold me tight."
Xie Tan was no longer able to think. He only felt comfortable holding him. The body temperature of the person in front of him could suppress the hatred that did not belong to him, fill his emptiness, and prevent him from being lost. Even from an unspeakable physiological point of view, it could soothe the fire that had been ignited in his body.
So he obediently stretched out his hands and hugged Lu Jinzhao's neck tightly.
Lu Jinzhao's scent is always changing because he likes to try all sorts of shower gels and laundry detergents. Today it might be a refreshing lemon scent, tomorrow a slightly sweet berry scent, and sometimes a cool herbal scent... But now, he smells entirely like himself.
The unpleasant smell, amplified by his burning body heat, permeated him from head to toe, giving Xie Tan a strange sense of...satisfaction.
He paused for a moment, then raised his head slightly, his nose resting on Lu Jinzhao's shoulder, revealing only his eyes. He could see that all the eyes on the mountain were already scattering and fleeing in fear.
But the long hair, which had been dormant, did not let them go. Suddenly, it struck, each hair like a sharp arrow, piercing through every fleeing prey.
The fire burned up the long hair, forming a volcano in the air.
The coffin carrying the two people passed smoothly through them. Xie Tan watched quietly, when suddenly an absurd thought occurred to him.
It's as if they didn't stumble upon an ancient family's evil plot in a remote town, but rather they were traveling together in a small boat, far from the main group, when they stumbled upon a secluded place and encountered a fireworks display that belonged only to them.
They walked through the fireworks.
Lu Jinzhao's hand reached into his pocket, causing Xie Tan to tremble and tighten his arms around Lu Jinzhao's neck.
Lu Jinzhao quickly pulled out the suppressant he always carried, patted him reassuringly, and asked, "Is this it?"
Xie Tan remained silent in his arms for a long time, and Lu Jinzhao waited patiently, even massaging the glands on the back of his neck as if trying to relieve his discomfort... but this only made Xie Tan tremble more violently.
He released one hand and weakly grabbed Lu Jinzhao's well-defined arm... He couldn't pull it away at all, but it seemed to make Lu Jinzhao misunderstand and pull even harder.
But the person's movements were very slow, as if he were to crush a small tomato to see if he could break the skin and let the juice leak out.
Xie Tan used all his remaining willpower and strength, gritting his teeth, to keep from making a sound.
He actually wanted to bite Lu Jinzhao's neck.
But he held back: "Um...yes."
Lu Jinzhao innocently lowered his hand, but a smile appeared on his lips.
He created some distance between them, letting Xie Tan lean against him, then grabbed Xie Tan's arm and steadily injected the inhibitor into his body.
Then, in the midst of the raging storm, she gently patted him and said, "Sleep now, we'll reach the shore when you wake up."
Chang Mingai saw Xie Tan with his eyes downcast, seemingly lost in thought, and couldn't help but ask, "Going to such lengths... what was it all for?"
It was a mixture of confusion, sighing, and worry from a friend.
She didn't think the cult leader and the black goat were deliberately trying to scare her; it was simply a fact that it was dangerous, and he faced death without a care in the world.
Xie Tan did not answer, and Chang Mingai also felt that he would not answer, so she stopped disturbing his rest and continued to pack her things.
For a moment, all was quiet.
The long hair bundle in his pocket had been burned away by two-thirds, leaving it huddled quietly.
Xie Tan touched the still-warm talisman in his hair and whispered, "To avenge someone..."
Chang Mingai was taken aback. He turned around and saw Lu Jinzhao, who had finished moving his things and was coming to pick him up from upstairs, running towards him with a big smile.
"To repay a debt of gratitude to someone," he said slowly.
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