The "floating corpse" that Longmiao and Kapok salvaged from the river had not a drop of water on its body.
It took some effort to fish it out. Kapok's hands turned into long and strong branches, trying to reach into the river to intercept it. But she was too light. After holding the "floating corpse", she was almost carried into the river by the water. She let go suddenly, and it was Long Miao who pulled her back. Finally, he flew to the river and fished the thing out.
"So you can fly?" Kapok looked at him in disbelief.
"Only recently..."
"But why are there bodies floating down the river?"
"I don't know. I heard when I was a child that this kind of thing only happened in war times. The corpses of soldiers and civilians were piled up, sometimes completely blocking the mouth of the river. The corpses were soaked and the stench filled the sky, and the plague began to spread. .”
"Yeah, it's really scary. I've never heard of it." Kapok stretched out his finger and poked the man's face. "There is no evil spirit on this corpse. It should be a human. Was it moving just now?"
"...are you moving?"
The two people didn't know why they wanted to do this. Perhaps on a yellow-red river, if such an unexpected corpse appears in a wide and flat field of vision, you will have the urge to salvage it?
There's none? All right.
The "corpse" is indeed moving, and Kapok is not lying. There was a faint rise and fall in his chest, but there was no blood on his body. The water didn't soak into her clothes, nor did her hair. It was held up like an oil film, but it didn't penetrate at all. The mouth and nose were pointing upwards. Maybe it was unlucky and fell over. Now it is a real corpse.
They took the "body" back to the cabin and laid it flat on the bed. To be honest, those clothes are much cleaner than the dusty bed boards. It was a woman, whom neither of them had ever met.
Kapok crossed his little hands and placed them on her chest. Long Miao asked: "Are you going to try to drain the water?"
"That's right, right?" She said, trying to apply pressure one by one. "In my memory, I have friends who saved drowning humans like this."
Kapok was not very strong, although she was much stronger than a human child, but she didn't know how hard she should use for fear of breaking her ribs. Long Miao has never seen anyone do this, but he has heard of it. So he put his hand on Kapok's hand and pressed harder and more regularly. He didn't know if this was the right thing to do, so he could only say that everything happened as it happened.
The person on the bed suddenly opened his eyes.
First there was a violent cough. The two people quickly let go of their hands, and she sat up, coughing violently. A large stream of red liquid splashed out. She couldn't tell whether it was from her nose or mouth, so she immediately covered her mouth and nose with her hands. It looked like she had choked on some water - even though the color was easily reminiscent of blood. When she coughed, she made a sound similar to vomiting, and her stomach must have been uncomfortable. There wasn't much liquid, but after coughing for a long time, some solid matter came out of her mouth.
Yes, it's solid, even ethereal.
Kapok stretched out his hand and picked up a piece of the thing. It turned out to be a few lotus petals. They are not sticky, not stained with human mucus, and are still clean.
It took her a long time to stop, but her breathing was still rapid. And because she was breathing too fast, her head was dizzy, and everything she saw was flashing in black and white, as if someone had strangled her neck hard and then suddenly let go. An inexplicable nausea made her tears well up, and they just hung in her eyes without wiping them away.
"Please be patient, there is still some water here." Long Miao poured the remaining water in the bucket back into the cup and handed it to her.
She didn't want to drink, she just stared blankly ahead.
"Where did you come from?" Kapok asked.
She shook her head.
"Then, what's your name?" Long Miao asked.
She was silent for a while and let out a light sigh.
"...Liangqiu Muwan."
The voice was a little hoarse, and it sounded like he hadn't spoken for a long time.
Her eyes suddenly lit up, and she groped around herself hurriedly, as if she was looking for something. Under the wide hem of her clothes, a thin umbrella tube hung on her waist, and she touched an umbrella. Finally, she breathed a sigh of relief. Logically speaking, it would be easy to lose an umbrella in this situation, but I have to say that she was really lucky. The umbrella handle was stuck on the rope between the umbrella tube and waist, and she couldn't get it off even after a long time of untying it.
Mu Wan gave up and took a long breath, seeming to feel a little more relaxed.
"Where is this...?"
Her voice was better than before. But the other two people couldn't answer this question. After all, they didn't know where this place was, including Kapok, who had lived there for a long time.
"It's hard for me to say." Kapok spread his hands, "It's up to you, do you want to think about it carefully, have you forgotten anything? It's what happened before you fell into the river, and there were people and so on."
Long Miao then explained that the water in that kind of river seemed to make people forget some things.
Mu Wan frowned, pursed his lips, and his eyes looked a little fierce. At this time, they didn't dare to speak, but they just felt a little baffled. But she took a deep breath and quickly calmed down.
"I probably haven't forgotten anything, thank you for reminding me...I remember all the important things and important people."
Long Miao breathed a sigh of relief for her: "That's good."
"What time is it now?"
"It's late in the twelfth lunar month."
"Is it late?"
How many days have passed outside?
Mu Wan stood up, but suddenly staggered. Her legs had not been used for too long and she could not stand firmly. She walked out the door, and the other two followed. Facing the desolate and depressed scene, she was at a loss.
"How can I... go to a place with people? A place with a lot of people, a town or something, a village."
"Walking all the way along the east side, I heard that there was a village. But I don't know the name. Besides, this was hundreds of years ago, and I'm not sure if the village is still there. Hey, don't you stay a little longer? "
Kapok looked at her, his eyes shining. Long Miao could understand that look, as if she was pestering him to tell her what she had experienced. But judging from Mu Wan's expression, she didn't want to spend any more time here. She had other things to do.
"How far is it? If I leave now, how long will it take to get there?"
"Are you kidding?" Kapok blinked, "The area where I can move is about two hundred miles. Even if I can go to the edge, the surroundings will still look like this. There are no trees and no birds. , there is only dry air and cracked land. It almost never rains here, and the water flows from far away. You can't reach the village even if you walk for a day and a night. What's more, the village may have been demolished long ago. .”
Mu Wan raised his head and looked at the pale sky. She suddenly raised her hand and whistled, as if calling for something. Longmiao and Kapok also raised their heads and looked around at the nearby sky, but saw nothing.
After a while, a black spot suddenly appeared in the sky. The black spots are getting bigger and bigger, like a thick drop of ink blooming on the white paper. Soon, the ink mark had a simple outline. It flapped its wings, looked ferocious, and with a strange cry, the huge monster fell to the ground.
Long Miao took two steps back, stretched out a finger, and asked.
"You, you can summon the Tengu? Do you have this kind of blood?"
After not seeing her old friend for a long time, she hugged the tengu's furry body and felt a little at ease from the touch. She couldn't summon monsters in Qinglian Town, which made her lose a lot of security. But fortunately, this is only temporary. But when she heard Long Miao's question, she felt a little confused.
"Indeed. But why are you so surprised? I know there are not many people like this, but it's not that..."
"……nothing."
"If you have it, you have it. If you want to say it, just say it. If you don't want to say it, I won't force you - don't stifle problems for you."
Long Miao frowned, but he didn't expect this woman to be quite fierce. But he wasn't too afraid, he just frowned and said:
"No. Speaking of embarrassment, when I was down and out, I was hunted down by such an Onmyoji. He also knew the Tengu technique."
"W-what? Who?"
Mu Wan suddenly let go of Tengu and turned to look at him. Long Miao felt that she was a little sensitive, but there was no protection in her eyes. Instead, she did not hide any disgust at all. This is probably the only useful thing that the Taki Mansion gave him - observing words and emotions.
"A black onmyoji. He has the aura of tengu in him, but you don't have it in you. You haven't called it out for a long time?"
"...Yes. That Onmyoji, could it be..." Mu Wan looked him up and down, "Are you a half-demon?"
"Yes...but I also have a name. You can call me Long Miao."
"You still have that name?"
This is the fourth person's voice.
Mu Wan almost instinctively drew the umbrella, but the knot had not been untied and was stuck there. The tengu bared his teeth behind her for a long time, but he hadn't attacked yet. They looked over and saw a young man in white standing gracefully, holding a white fluffy feather fan in his hand, which looked like a dandelion in the wilderness.
Long Miao's tone was a little complicated.
"Cang Yu?"
"Call me brother."
Kapok looked at him and then at Long Miao.
"Is this the troublesome brother you were talking about? Why don't you two look alike?"
"It's not a kiss."
Long Miao didn't look good, and neither did Mu Wan. She still remembered how this man led them into such a dangerous situation in Wule City. Although objectively he did nothing wrong, he was the one who took away Yan Muxue's body and let She Ji steal it. Mu Wan remembers it till now.
"Why do you say that? We were born and raised by the same father, so why can't we be considered relatives?"
"He only gives birth to children but does not support them. When did you come?"
Kapok suddenly said something. He had been standing at the door a long time ago.
"...Then why didn't you tell us?"
"Eh? Do you want to say something?"
"..."
Long Miao has discovered that ordinary people's logic cannot be applied to Kapok. He and Mu Wan no longer cared about her and focused on Cang Yu. Cang Yu waved his hands repeatedly and explained:
"I'm not here to cause trouble for you, girl." Cang Yu waved his hands repeatedly, "Rather, I didn't expect you to appear in such a desolate place. I came to persuade my good brother to come with me. It has nothing to do with you, so don’t worry.”
Mu Wan looked back at Long Miao, then looked at him again.
"Then why don't you ask him if he is willing to go with you."
"Don't meddle in other people's housework."
"He doesn't want to leave with you!"
Kapok tugged on Long Miao's clothes and pulled him backwards. The tengu next to him lowered his body even more and let out a threatening whine. Cang Yu looked disgusted. When he saw the dog, he felt like he was seeing something dirty. He felt disgusted and looked down upon.
Many animals dislike dogs because they are too loyal to humans.
Cang Yu straightened his clothes, looked at Long Miao behind Mu Wan, and then at Kapok. Then, he said to Long Miao slowly:
"Shuangyue Lord is looking for you."
