It was late at night and everyone had taken a rest.
Two little girls were crowded on a small bed. An iron plate hung from the ceiling, with a short candle standing in it. The three walls next to the wall are all large and small grids, with many knick-knacks placed there, but they all seem to be made by myself out of bamboo slices, leaves, or wood to pass the time.
Yuting told her one by one their origins and how to play. Many things are very strange, even Aluan has never seen them before. Aluan also talked about some things he encountered along the way, which she had never heard of before and found it very novel.
Saying she was tired, Dai Luan lay back and fell on the pillow. She suddenly screamed and hit something hard on the back of her head. Yuting quickly helped her up and rubbed her head. Then, she took out a small wooden box from the pillow. A Luan stretched out his head and asked what it was. She hesitated and opened it slowly. Inside was a small apricot-colored horn, which didn't look like wood.
Dai Luan stared at it for a long time, feeling that there seemed to be a faint shimmer around it, and she couldn't tell what color it was. Before she could see clearly, Yuting suddenly closed the lid.
"This is a whistle made of small ram's horns." Yuting closed the lid and stuffed it into the corner of the bed. "It's a birthday gift from Master Zhang. So..."
"It's okay, it's okay! I'm also afraid that it will get dirty for you... Just put it away. But, your Master Zhang is so awesome. I thought those young masters and young ladies can't do anything."
"Yes, he is amazing. He looks good, sings well, and is good at everything."
Yuting sat up, blew out the hanging candle, and slowly lay down.
The woodshed was a little dirty, and even though they had cleaned it for a long time, it was still hard to avoid the bugs hidden in the firewood. So Miss Yuting went around their mattress, sprinkled a circle of powdered medicine, and lit it on fire. There is a faint fragrance in the room, like green bamboo washed by rain, and it is not smelly at all. In this way, no bugs crawling on the ground or flying in the sky can bother them. Mu Wan was sleeping on a put together chair outside the bedroom, and a circle of medicinal powder was sprinkled on the ground. If you smell this smell too much, you will easily feel sleepy.
But Shi Wuqi was still awake.
There is a lot of water in Qingli Lake, especially when autumn has not yet come, so there should be noisy insects. But it's so quiet here, as if all the bugs are asleep. The quieter it is, the slightest movement seems noisy, and the even breathing of the mountains and seas is also very clear. He patted it twice with his backhand and slept soundly. He was probably tired from working before.
Shi Wuqi heard a slight sound, like human footsteps. Someone was walking next door, but he didn't listen carefully and didn't pay attention to whether Qi was walking around. But other than that, within a radius of ten feet, he could only hear the heartbeats of five people including himself - and the flock of sheep behind the woodshed. There were two kinds of footsteps, one of which was very slow, a little dragging, like wandering. Not only was there no heartbeat, there was no breathing either. It was just like another Qi girl walking around. The other one, just like ordinary people, still has a young heartbeat.
He wasn't sure about the source of the last two sounds, so he sat up to try to hear them clearly. But when he just sat up, the voice became weaker.
Shi Wuqi suddenly realized that the sound came from below.
Since it was once a warehouse, having a cellar is nothing new. But Miss Yuting said she lived alone, what could this thing walking underground be? Could it be that something unclean has sneaked in, or is there a grave hidden underneath and a fake corpse?
He thought it was nonsense. He didn't know when this "thing" became active. Or maybe it was too busy when the friends were awake, and the footsteps were covered up.
He was worried, so he sat up, put on the long clothes covering himself, and quietly walked out of the woodshed door. Standing outside the house, Miss Qi opened the door softly. He walked in quietly and saw that Mu Wan was sleeping deeply and did not dare to say anything. He turned his attention to the room where the two little girls were sleeping. The door was ajar.
Suddenly, there were footsteps outside the door. He turned around suddenly and found Yu Ting walking into the room.
"Oh, you scared me." She lowered her voice, "Why is Mr. Shi here?"
"...I'm here to see Qi. It's so late, isn't Miss Yuting going to bed?"
In the darkness, he stared at her face. Against the moonlight outside the room, her expression was blurry.
"Hey, I ate too much fruit, so I need to stay up all night."
Before walking out of the door again, Shi Wuqi suddenly turned around and said to Yuting who was about to go back to the house:
"Do you have a cellar here? Also, what is that in your hand?"
Yu Ting's footsteps froze at the door, and she unconsciously tightened her grip on the thing hidden in her hand. She turned around and glanced at Mu Wan, who was sleeping soundly, and then at Aqi beside him. Then, she suddenly closed the bedroom door again and returned to the main door.
Shi Wuqi seemed to understand what she meant, and he greeted Ah Qi and gently exited the house.
The two came to the empty yard.
"I'm afraid you might have seen some clues." Shi Wuqi said to her with a smile.
"Yes. This girl Qi is not a stranger, but a walking corpse."
"How can you tell?"
"It's not obvious." Yuting shook his head, "Originally I was just suspicious. But in order to let you have a good sleep, I added some soothing things to the anti-insect powder. When I came out at night, I saw Miss Qi still standing upright. She was guarding her there, her eyes were so big, and she ignored me no matter how much I waved. I just thought she might be a corpse."
"What if it's some kind of puppet? You haven't thought about it."
"I boldly touched it. Her face and her arms all had the same feeling as a living person - just colder."
None of them spoke. Two people and one corpse stood outside. The moonlight was very weak and their faces could not be illuminated clearly. Yuting looked up at the moon and suddenly whispered:
"I'm envious."
"...What are you envious of?"
She opened her hand to Shi Wuqi, and inside was a delicate little ram's horn whistle.
"Is this... why is there a spell on it?" Shi Wuqi moved his gaze up to her face suspiciously. She's just an ordinary sheepherder, so she shouldn't be that capable.
"It was originally an ordinary flute, and the noble man enchanted it with magic power. Now it can move the corpse...but it can only move the original owner of the flute."
After saying that, she immediately clenched her hands and dropped them to her side.
She said again: "Now it's your turn to tell me who you are."
Yuting suddenly became serious. Compared with his lively appearance before, he was completely different. She is a very smart girl, and she probably judged from his previous behavior that he was the one controlling Qi.
"Me. I am a businessman, and I naturally value integrity. Since you told me, I will also answer your question - have you ever heard of the name of the Lord of Bones?"
Yuting was not surprised at all.
"I guessed it was you."
"Huh? You know me. That's why I'm curious."
Yuting shook his head: "To be precise, I don't know you, but I know you. The noble man told me."
"Reciprocity is a courtesy. You should also tell me who your noble man is, right? I can't tell you, but I know him."
"I don't know," she said truthfully, "he is the most famous corpse exterminator in the local area... You should have heard that many people in Qinglize have such a skill. He didn't tell me much, he just taught me this I even told you that you can control hundreds of corpses, so you are called the Lord of Hundreds of Bones."
"I'm really getting more and more curious about the noble person you talk about. Exorcism is not a forbidden skill, but it is not easily spread. It is not easy to get you a small object. What price can you offer on your own? "
"...Maybe he was moved by the fact that I traveled thousands of miles to find him and beg him."
Shi Wuqi had long understood that she might not be alone on this journey. And the owner of this whistle must be the third young master of the Zhang family whom she mentioned to them before going to bed.
"You walked from north to south alone, carrying a rotten corpse, and you really suffered a lot. But from what you said, it wouldn't be difficult for your noble man to repair it. But you want to What? Let him move and that will be the end of it? I think you are a very smart girl, and this is not the only thing you spend a lot of time on."
Yuting turned around and took two steps. Although she was not that big, she looked like a troubled woman at this moment.
"Let's do this..." He sighed, "If you don't mind, please take me to meet your young master first."
She looked at Miss Qi again. Ah Qi stood behind him blankly with no expression on her face. She really looked like a stiff puppet at this moment. Even so, she was certain that the corpse-crushing technique of the Hundred Skeleton Master was far superior to this small spell. She nodded slightly, turned and left. Shi Wuqi followed her around the wooden house to the sheepfold.
The sheep were asleep, and their horses were tied to the stall posts to rest. Yuting took the lamp he took out from the house, opened the wooden cover under the soil, and walked towards the cellar.
"You just said forbidden techniques," she said as she walked down. "Crushing corpses is not a forbidden technique, and dragging corpses is not a forbidden technique. So, does the technique of bringing a walking corpse back to life be considered a forbidden technique?"
The Bai Skeleton Master following her frowned.
"I guessed that your ambitions are really big. I advise you to give up this idea. The reversal of life and death goes against the principles of yin and yang. Underworld will definitely not let you go in December."
Yama, the demon, will definitely not let you go.
"I don't care." She suddenly stopped, turned around, and raised her voice, "I can run, I will take him with me, and we can go anywhere, to the ends of the earth, to a place where the Six Paths of Impermanence cannot be found."
Even the six realms of impermanence are clearly known. I am afraid that the noble person she talks about is really not simple.
He looked at her and felt that this wish was ridiculously simple. The Six Paths of Impermanence - Staying outside of reincarnation and walking among the six paths. escape? Where can I escape? Not only do you have nowhere to hide in the Three Realms and Six Paths, but you cannot escape their eyes even if you are reincarnated.
But Shi Wuqi looked at her, looking at her reflected in the candlelight, and suddenly felt reluctant to break this candlelight-like wish, this moon-like wish.
It's so close, but it's so empty. If you try to touch it, you'll be burned.
Or, beautiful and distant.
