"The child is gone."
Shi Wuqi said so.
When he passed through the barrier, he carried Miss Qi on one shoulder and put her arms around his shoulders. She closed her eyes gently, leaving a pair of dull gaps. They guessed she couldn't see anything, like someone who had fallen asleep. A living person who loses mobility should be limp, but her stiff body still reveals her identity as a corpse.
Wu Qi said that he was not sure how long the world outside the Dead Man's Swamp had passed, probably dozens of days, because the Ximen Gate had not yet closed, but it was almost there. When he went up, he only saw the familiar dilapidated house. There is no kapok tree in the yard anymore, and a huge hole is left in the yard, which shows how dense her root system once was. He felt a sense of depression and emptiness, and he pushed the door open anxiously. But there was no one in the room, and the bedding was still warm, maybe she had just left. He walked outside the courtyard and looked around, but didn't see any shadows or footprints. She might have been taken away by someone, I don't know if it was Lord Kuchtsuki.
If it was Lord Kutsutsuki, they would be more likely to take him away. They can leave through other doors, otherwise Miss Qi will definitely be threatened. He was a little lucky that he was the only one who went back, and he didn't have to go back. Aqi who originally picked up Zangtouhe could leave. He also spent some time with girl Kapok and knew that she was a good girl and her fate should not be like this. It's probably a good thing that others don't feel the same or greater grief that he does. Especially Mu Wan.
But now she is still stuck in another kind of grief and cannot extricate herself.
Shi Wuqi was a little worried about himself. Because ordinary people should feel very sad, he only feels half-to-eight. If it was his previous self-or she was just Mu Wan's friend, this feeling would be even less. He often feels that he is a heartless person, and his emotions are not compatible with human beings. Perhaps this is why the Corpse House was established.
...Why is it called the House of Crying Corpses? He doesn't remember.
Shi Wuqi brought Qi back, and when he passed through the door, he ordered himself to throw away those redundant feelings. Speaking of which, this door looks like two trees with flowers in full bloom from the outside, which is more beautiful than any human creation.
What he wants to do most now is to read through the Wangui Chronicles left in Shanhai's hands. They decided to leave before the door changed position and go to the place closest to Qing Lize. Although it is close outside, it is still a long distance just by walking.
"You shouldn't be able to tell it in that wasteland." Shanhai said, "Jiyue Lord said that it is spring now."
"I know. This world is very warm."
Lord Jiyue and Lord Kanna did not accompany them out. They need to return to a specific node and continue their work with no end in sight. In order to recover Wangui Zhi, Lord Ruyue left the Dead Man Swamp with them.
They come out of the door. This is an ordinary red torii gate, giving them a special illusion that they are really going back the way they came. But after wearing it, they knew it wasn't the case. Here is another spiritual vein as a buffer. In their eyes, the spiritual veins here are not pure white, nor are they stars, nor are they whirlpools that disturb the airflow. It is more like a deep space, dark but not monotonous, giving off a strange sense of depth.
The exit was also black and could not be seen clearly. Lord Ruyue left first. Shanhai ensured that the others went out first and left last. His vision went from darkness to darkness. He felt a little cold and hard on his back, and the gravity was downward. He was lying somewhere. Stretching out his hand, he touched the hard board.
This is a small space.
"Stop making trouble." He heard Shi Wuqi's voice, but he laughed a little, "Release your master quickly."
Then, a ray of light appeared in his sight. Although it is light, it is soft because it is also part of the darkness. It was late at night, and the faint moonlight shone on his face. Shanhai slowly sat up.
Another coffin. This feeling is really familiar, as if I went back to Xuanzhuang Town and visited the Lord of the Hundred Skeletons.
It's desolate here. Until now, they still maintained a terrifying and respectable silence, and Shi Wuqi just said something, matching Dai Luan's hearty laughter. But doing so did not substantially ease the current atmosphere. She observed carefully that the corners of Mu Wan's mouth twitched stiffly, more like a conditioned reflex than an errand. But neither one was what she wanted.
With nowhere to go, they found a towering tree. Spring may have arrived. The bonfire illuminates the tree crown, and you can see the new buds sprouting from it. The trees here are also very sparse, and the howling of wolves can be heard in the distance. But whether there are real plants or restless beasts, this gives them a sense of reality of returning to the real world. Everything is lit by fire and becomes more and more vivid.
They were tired, but not sleepy. Everyone looked at Shi Wuqi with an indescribable urgency in their eyes. He simply doubted that any of them cared more about the answer to the question than he did.
Miss Qi’s answer.
Shan Hai handed Wan Guizhi to him with both hands, and he took it seemingly casually with one hand. They formed a circle around the bonfire, with the mountains and the sea to the left of Miss Qi, and Miss Qi to the left of Wu Qi. Lord Ruyue was originally sitting on his right, and Aluan ran over from the opposite side, got next to him and poked his head around. Only Mu Wan was sitting opposite him, staring blankly at Wan Guizhi.
Wu Qi's hand passed over the yellowed cover. I don't know whether the paper itself is not very good, or it is too old. It is very soft and brittle, as if it will break when pinched, but it can be broken. Although it is called "Wangui Zhi", even these three characters are not written on the cover. There is no functional or commemorative explanation, and it seems a bit inexplicable both rationally and emotionally. But this may be better and more in line with Liangyue-kun's temperament.
The strange thing is that Shi Wuqi himself does not have a preset sense of solemnity. Perhaps he had thought about this scene too many times, but he felt somewhat calm, as if he had been rehearsed. However, the performance effect and the audience's reaction are unknown. Surrounded by many friends, he slowly opened it.
The Wangui Zhi seems to be very thin, but in fact if you look it up, it is almost endless. But Kisaragi-kun told him that the reader only needs to think about the specific appearance and feelings of a monster in his mind, think of the impression that monster left on him, turn the pages of the book at the same time, and then rest on a certain place with his fingertips to read. To the memory of its past and present lives.
"What if someone is pretending to be a monster?" Dai Luan asked.
"Although I have never turned it over, I asked Liangyue-kun. He said at the time that the page he turned to would be the page about the monsters that the pretender wanted you to see. But it doesn't matter, Wanguishi itself is not What a tool of resistance. Lord Bai Skeleton, please hurry up and take a look. You are only allowed to look at one person's. Once you find it, you must return it to me."
They accepted it readily and continued to stare at Shi Wuqi's hand. He didn't feel nervous, and his hands never trembled, but he felt that his whole arm was weightless and light. He was a little afraid that he couldn't control the strength well, and that the slightest exertion would destroy Wangui's will. But if something goes wrong, perhaps it can only be blamed on its age.
Wu Qi glanced at Miss Qi, as if to confirm her existence again. What she responded to was still his familiar look - eyes without waves and brilliance, and stiff, half-smiling lips.
He returned the stiff smile.
Then, he stood up Wan Gui Zhi, turned it over gently, slowly removed his thumb from the corner of the book, and let it flow. Cinnabar is like dried blood, the color is still bright red, after all, it is what it is.
Turning to the last page, at the bottom is the only text written in black ink in the whole book, a small and slender string.
Written by Liang Yuejun in Xishu Wenxiang.
There is no record of Qi.
No, nothing.
He raised his head and looked at Miss Qi in confusion. The others looked at them and then at Kisaragi-kun. She felt a little confused, turned her face slightly, and motioned for him to read it again.
Still the same result.
After that, Shi Wuqi insisted on reading it seven or eight times. Although when he raised the spine of the book for the third time, he already knew that he would not be able to find the answer he wanted on it. I even felt lucky, secretly wondering if Kisaragi-kun had made a mistake and this book was fake. But Dai Luan immediately asked this question, and Lord Ruyue made a guarantee.
"Maybe you made a mistake from the beginning." She said, "What if she is not a monster?"
This passage is deep and empty. In the desolate moonlight, Shi Wuqi saw Ru Yuejun's eyes as silent as dead water.
What is reflected there is probably the appearance of his heart.
Shi Wuqi was not the only frustrated person on this night. In a distant place, in another corner of the night, there was someone who was in a similar state of mind to him, but in a much worse situation.
Jiang Doudou fell asleep in another small room in the hotel, across the corridor. She waited for them unexpectedly, and developed some strange dependence and undue trust on the humans among them. This is probably biological instinct. After all, it was indeed Tang He himself who rescued her from the bandits - under the instruction of Lord Xueyue. But he didn't return her to that poor and comfortable home, which no longer existed anyway. In her simple perception, she was treated as a human being, given food and clothing, and considered a good person.
Tang He didn't know whether she was so "stupid" from the beginning, or whether she suffered inhuman treatment in the bandits' den. At least in his memory, both he and Tang Yu were much smarter at this age. This girl had nothing to do with him, and he shouldn't have any feelings for this "captive" or "tool", but the opposite feelings were connected first. This made his perhaps still human heart uneasy. He knew very well that he shouldn't have such thoughts, and worked hard to get rid of them.
"When farmers slaughter sheep, they will take the lead in letting go of the memory of each other's company." Lord Xueyue said from behind him, "I allow you to have short-term compassion."
Should he be grateful for this? no way.
His hand holding the whetstone slid over the blade of the knife for the last time, and his slightly trembling breath made the candlelight on the table sway.
"Or...don't you be afraid, huh?"
The hand holding the whetstone trembled, as if Kanna-kun had once again cut the flesh on his back with a knife, leaving carvings on his spine. That was the only time in a normal battle that his back was turned to him, just for a moment. The burning pain hit me again, but the trembling and numbness made my whole body freeze instantly.
But Tang He soon understood that it was Lord Xueyue who deliberately scratched his bandaged back with his fingers. Across the fabric, from the right shoulder to the left waist. Flirty, slow, and nasty.
The black blade flashed with white light for a moment.
He was still sitting there, not moving at all, just waving the knife backwards. In the blink of an eye, Lord Kutsutsuki had already retreated far away by instinct. The distance was far enough that even if Tang He stretched out his arm with the length of the knife, he couldn't touch him.
But at that moment, there was indeed a chill on his neck.
In the center of the fair and slender neck, a narrow red line spread and cracked at a speed visible to the naked eye. Lord Xueyue stretched out his finger, gently wiped the mark, and moved his hand in front of his eyes. The bright red blood flashed on the fingertips, as if dipped in cinnabar, bright and clear. The faint afterimage of the sword still appeared in his field of vision, and the buzz of the blade in the air also echoed in his ears.
"Aren't you quite capable?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the head with a mop of black hair slipped along the slanted incision and fell steadily, landing firmly in the outstretched hands of Lord Kouchue, unexpectedly calmly. There was no splattering blood, nor scorching and boiling demonic smoke. Only the gurgling, warm red slowly overflowed, sliding across the skin, accumulating in the neck, continuing to spread downwards, and being engulfed in the same scarlet gown.
As if holding a light lotus, the red eyes on the face in the hands are still full of energy, and the red lips are still chattering.
"But that's not all you have left, right?"
