"Old Bai, knife!"
Amidst the ringing in his ears, Bai Ya heard Qi Huan's vague cry. It was almost covered up by layers of buzzing, making it seem a bit illusory. He turned around and saw the broken blade Qi Huan had thrown nearby. He immediately rolled back to the edge of the blade, picked it up, and distanced himself from the monster.
Bai Ya put his other hand on his neck and felt warm blood, but the amount was not large and it just looked scary.
Suddenly, several fragments flashed before his eyes.
Just when his blood came into contact with the broken blade, some strange scenes kept flashing before his eyes. He vaguely felt that what memory was sealed in this knife...was it left by his father? People can indeed use some magic to extract some memories from the deceased's personal belongings and project them in some way. This is what many goddesses or Taoists can do. It's just that the information has always been abstract, and there are many charlatans who use it to interpret it at will and make money wantonly.
But the eyes of blood relatives with the same spiritual roots can see more intuitively.
Although Bai Ya got the weapon, his pupils were a little blurry. Surprisingly, Chu Tianhe, who was possessed by the python god, no longer paid attention to him, as if Bai Ya was no longer a threat. In other words, what Qi Huan is doing at this moment needs to be dealt with more. And when the memories kept flashing back in Bai Ya's mind, he couldn't move, and lost the ability to fight back in the spin of the world.
But not only did he see it, he heard something special...
"My son will come to me."
From his perspective, it was clearly his father's voice that spoke such words. The face listening to him face to face was none other than the ordinary great priest Chu Tianhe. There is a chess game between them, the grid is carved crookedly, and the chess pieces are irregular stones that are almost black and white. His father was holding a white piece, and while saying this, he was hesitating on how to place the piece.
"Well... I believe you can teach such a good son. But the lost place is not a place that can be found easily. If I hadn't happened to meet you when I went out, you wouldn't have found it here. You are determined in your heart and always They all know what they are doing, so you don’t belong here.”
"Isn't this just a good time to relieve your boredom?" Bai Sha smiled and knocked Bai Zi in one place, "It's your turn."
Chu Tianhe put down his teacup and looked left and right at the chessboard. He was probably in a tough fight. After all, he hadn't encountered a decent opponent for a long time, so he was somewhat taking it lightly. His eyes were searching the chessboard, and one hand was stroking the black pieces back and forth. These chess pieces were not as smooth as they are now, and that is probably how the edges were slowly worn away.
"Are you still alone now? The last time we met was more than twenty years ago, right? At that time..."
"The child's mother just left not long ago." Bai Sha took out a sharp knife from under the raincoat and gestured at a height, "My son is probably this tall."
"When I saw you, I didn't know you were gone. You were joking at the time, saying you wanted to treat me to my child's full-moon wine. It wasn't until I went back to hand in the mission that I realized you were... defecting."
"I didn't know you well at that time, so I didn't dare to say anything. The less I know, the better... It's better for you to take it easy. The time limit is short, and it's easy to come and go."
"Thank you for talking more. I was really afraid that if I knew too much, I would be killed by you. Fortunately, I didn't talk so much. But I know that you are not as cruel and surly as the rumors say, and you are slanderous in both black and white. Even those harsh and cruel scenes were only the request of Zuo Jinmen. You always ended the situation with one blow and never caused any more pain to the target... Well, I don't know whether it was easy or not. I was just taking advantage of you while you were busy. , pick some food from the gap between the left front teeth. Speaking of which, they buried my sister-in-law and others in a place you know. During the holidays, I will burn some paper money to comfort the spirits in heaven. Madam is a good person. .”
"In our line of work, there are no good or bad people. They are all going to be beheaded by the court... I can't thank you enough for burning incense. However,
, I won’t give in to you just because of this. "
After that, he dropped another piece. Chu Tianhe was a little surprised and looked at the intricate chess game. He has escaped death many times and often set up traps for Bai Sha, but his tricks were quickly seen through and all failed. He hesitated and said with a wry smile:
"You are being merciless. But speaking of it, I never thought that those of us who lick blood from our swords would sit here contentedly, play chess and drink tea leisurely all day long."
"Yes... it's fate. We have never crossed paths. It's really a coincidence that I met you in Jiutian Kingdom. Except for the last time, we seem to have only met once. You look very young and have hardly changed. . I have been hiding here and there with my son over the years, and although I have a good attitude... I guess I have aged a lot. Sometimes I pass by familiar faces in Zuofenmen, but no one recognizes me at a glance. I don’t know. It’s time to cry and it’s time to laugh.”
"I just learned how to maintain my appearance, and I am already an old man in my heart."
Chu Tianhe finally picked a place. Without much hesitation, Shiraisha took the next step.
"Aren't you just a person after all these years? Haven't you ever thought about finding a wife and living a good life?"
"Isn't it good for me to be a priest here? I don't care about women or friends now. Serving the gods wholeheartedly is probably the best way to repent for a person like me with blood on my hands."
After Chu Tianhe fell, Bai Sha was a little surprised. This was such a small detail that he didn't notice it as he was chatting. The situation had undergone a subtle reversal, which not only made him frown, but also seriously began to study the chess game again. He turned the white piece with one hand and looked left and right. Before the chess piece fell, he asked another question:
"Speaking of which... what kind of god is this temple of yours worshiping? I've only heard that it's a local god, but I don't know the name. What does he control, what does he protect, and what are the rules and taboos?"
"Well……"
Chu Tianhe was vague, and he didn't seem to know how to introduce this god. He thought over and over again, as much as Shirasa thought about the chess game. After a long time, he said slowly:
"Master Bai, I'm not afraid of your bias. He is an evil god."
"Huh?" Bai Sha was a little surprised, but his reaction was not as big as Chu Tianhe thought. "I don't care about this. On the contrary, I am more worried about you. If you leak something, won't you be punished..."
"That's all, you can say." He picked up the teacup that had already cooled down, "You should know the difference between good gods and evil gods."
"I'm not an expert, it's all nonsense. Please forgive me if I've offended you." He finally picked up a new one and kept it in his hand. "I heard that the gods and Buddhas with names that people worship, They are all good gods. Good gods accept well-intentioned wishes, and whether they are his followers or not, as long as they are good wishes, they will be granted, and if they are evil wishes, they will also impose punishments. Moreover, after the wish is fulfilled, if a person has the intention to offer offerings and burn incense, and specifically returns the wish, this It is excellent; if for some reason the wish cannot be fulfilled, it does not matter. On the contrary, the evil god will only respond to devout believers of the religion, or those who are most likely to become believers afterwards. And no matter what kind of wish, evil and good nature, it is The evil god accepts it. And the price demanded by the evil god is even heavier, and even those who do not repay their wishes will definitely have consequences."
Chu Tianhe nodded: "That's about it. This evil god is a python god who descended from the animal realm, and his name is Mahulaka. The emotional rules of the human world are not suitable for it, and it has other decisions about what is good and evil, right and wrong. To say that it is an evil god is just a human conclusion. It is just a little... cold and does not respond to everything. I am here to be an ordinary matchmaker, building a bridge of communication between the lost people and the Python God. That’s all.”
"Accompanying a king is like accompanying a tiger, you have to be more careful."
"Thank you for your concern. After all, you should pay more attention. You are not from here, and you should not stay here for a long time. Since you don't care and know the truth, I still have to remind you. Lord Python God, for the misunderstanding
People who enter the territory are not tolerant. In a few days, it will be the day of sacrifice to the python god. Before that, you'd better leave as soon as possible. No matter what happens then, don't look back. Go all the way out without hesitation. Otherwise, you will anger the gods, and not even I can save you. "
After saying that, a child dropped from the sky. He was suddenly startled and realized that he might have made the wrong move just now. It had been too long since no one had played chess with him. They were just chatting, so he was a little neglectful. Chu Tianhe frowned and paused for a long time at the position where he just placed his fingers.
"Thank you for the reminder... But Xiao Chu, you have no regrets."
Chu Tianhe smiled helplessly, admitting his defeat.
This can be regarded as the longest clip, but it flashed quickly in Bai Ya's eyes, just like a short dream that could fit into a long content, and when he opened his eyes, it was just a dream. There are some intermittent scenes after that, all of them are fragments in Bai Sha's memory, scenes of him helping those who are lost here.
He was scheduled to leave on the day of the sacrifice.
Those scenes were suddenly covered in blood at a certain moment, and everything became blurry, as if the memory was grabbed by a bloody hand. Everything became a black silhouette, but all sounds disappeared. Those things flickered in weird, distorted ways, making it hard to tell. The last sound that appeared was a strange and absurd scene.
Those lost people who usually have kind-hearted faces seem to have turned into strangers. He seemed to be in another world, full of mutilated people. But they are clearly still alive.
Help. They shouted, subtle and harsh, intermittent and continuous... There were broken human limbs scattered everywhere, not animals. Some people who were cut in half crossed the path and crawled slowly, leaving red blood stains; some people who lost their eyes wandered around, but passed through it when they were about to hit something; some people held their heads and walked towards Walking in one direction unswervingly, no matter what obstacles lie ahead...
It's like a living person who has mistakenly entered the ghost world. Or are they all dead ghosts?
Help, Priest Chu... Where is the high priest?
Their wails continued.
He should have left, and left without looking back.
But how could he not care?
He really found Chu Tianhe's figure, wearing a sacrificial robe. Those ghosts followed him, and countless pairs of dark or bright red hands seeped out from the ground, dragging him, but he only moved forward slowly with heavy steps. He walked very slowly, but he couldn't catch up, and no matter how much he called Chu Tianhe's name, he turned a deaf ear.
Following Shirasa's line of sight, the surrounding scenes galloped backwards. He frantically followed Chu Tianhe towards the temple, and the familiar faces he passed by became strangers at this time. The red and white witches and the red and black priests stood on both sides of the steps of the temple, their eyes vacant and lifeless, like unconscious sculptures.
Chu Tianhe disappeared into the temple, and the ground was covered with strange, tiny claw marks.
"What happened?!" he asked.
But no one answered. He tried to rush into the temple, but no one stopped him. He kept chasing Chu Tianhe's back. The images on both sides were murky, and only the distant human figure remained in the center. The field of vision will be bent, probably because the footsteps are turning and going downwards, and Bai Ya who is included in it cannot be determined.
This is a stairway with no end in sight.
Bai Ya felt that his father was starting to feel tired. He slowly stopped and began to regain his breathing. Is this a case of hitting a wall with a ghost? He didn't know, and he didn't know if his father knew. It was impossible to say that all of this was just an illusion... no matter how much he said it, it was just an anomaly that he had witnessed in his mortal body.
Let's go back. He heard his father sigh slightly.
The gauzy blood color gradually faded. When he turned around, a hoarse voice he had never heard before whispered in his ear.
"Master Bai, you will have no regrets..."
