"I……"
Feng was still talking to himself. Oblivious to the noise coming closer and closer outside the house.
I don't know when the human voice has almost disappeared, only a small shadow stood in front of the window. They weren't sure what it was, but it must be an uninvited guest. Before Feng could say anything, the shadow suddenly flashed to one side and disappeared from the window. Xie Zhe's eyes were fixed on the door. The night was cold, but sweat slipped from his forehead.
He took out a piece of talisman, passed the others and went straight to the door, stretched out his hand and prepared to stick the paper talisman on it.
A knife pierced the flimsy wooden door. At the same time, it pierced the talisman in Xie Zhe's hand. The tip of the knife passed between his two fingers and was aimed at his chest. With a crisp "click" sound, Ling Yu screamed and jumped up on the spot. He immediately stepped back to dodge, and the blade spun to the side, and then the owner of the knife kicked him up.
It was black outside the door.
This was the last thing they saw. Even the figure of the knife-wielding man could not be seen clearly, and the three of them almost lost consciousness at the same time. Before closing his eyes, Xie Zhe turned around and saw the little boy's face turned into a blurry blank.
I don’t know how much time passed.
The first one to open his eyes was Han Shang. He climbed up from the hard ground and patted the dirt on his body. He felt extremely sore all over, and he must have been chilling on the ground all night. He quickly patted the people lying on the ground on the left and right, and they slowly sat up. Ling Huan felt extremely cold all over his body, and he couldn't stop shivering as soon as he regained consciousness. Fortunately, the early winter in this area is not too cold. Although it snowed yesterday, it was only a few or two. I mean, it will definitely not accumulate today - not to mention that there was such a... illusion last night.
The three of them calmed down for a while. From the moment they opened their eyes, they realized that the little boy was gone. Everything seemed like a dream, and it would have been even more like it had they not stayed in this cabin. There is a dim light outside the window, the sky may have just dawned, but now is the coldest time. They stayed in the house for a long time, pacing back and forth and stamping their feet, trying to warm themselves up.
Xie Zhe kept lingering at the door. There was indeed a mark of penetration on the door. He could no longer remember whether it was there when he first entered the door, or whether it was left after the "illusion" of that moment at night. Will the knife actually hurt me? He wasn't sure and certainly didn't dare try again. The only thing Xie Zhe remembers clearly is...
"What's wrong?" Han Chang stood behind him, "What problem did you find?"
"No...I can't even remember what the intruder looked like yesterday. But judging from the silhouette of the body, it was probably a child. Maybe it was that little boy. Because when I turned around to look at him, he had no face. This Illusion may not allow the same person to appear in the field of vision of both parties with the same identity."
"Probably this is the characteristic of illusion. We have all experienced it. This magic is too powerful. But who is it..."
"That knife is very red." Finally, Xie Zhe said.
When the sun fully rose, they walked out of the hut. Following the path they had taken before, they quickly arrived at the place where they had found Feng. He was still standing there, exactly as he had been the first time they met. His face had no emotion, and there was no light in his eyes, as if his soul was dead but his body was still alive.
It's hard to imagine he's just a teenager.
None of them approached rashly, and Feng didn't look at them either. Ling Huan asked Xie Zhe in a low voice:
"Is he...really alive?"
"Probably, we are not sure. No one can guarantee whether what we see after the illusion is lifted..."
Is it a thin and withered skeleton?
"maple--"
Han Chang put his hands together and put them to his mouth to amplify the voice. The boy heard his voice, raised his head, and looked at him quietly. It seems that he has not forgotten them, nor what happened yesterday. He was relatively independent of the illusion, and at least the memory remained in his mind—short-term memory.
Xie Zhe came to the conclusion from this: "She should still be alive. If she turned into a ghost, I'm afraid my obsession would be too deep and I wouldn't remember this."
Ye Lingquan echoed: "Well...he also said yesterday that we were not the first group of people to come."
Feng looked at them for a while. Seeing that the three of them stopped talking, he said softly:
"It's time for you to go."
"us……"
Ling Huan looked at him somewhat sadly. She felt they couldn't just leave, but she didn't know what to do. The events of last night are still vivid in my mind, and the screams and shouts still seem to be echoing in my ears. She looked back at the two people. Xie Zhe and Han Zhang were also speechless, but they also knew that if they left like this... this child would be too pitiful.
"You can leave at dawn." Feng said calmly, "Those who want to escape at night will die. Only during the day are they temporarily safe."
Ye Lingquan asked him: "What about you? Are you... not going with us?"
Feng didn't speak or look at her, just shook his head slightly. Ling Huan felt that he had really asked a stupid question. If he could leave, he would have left long ago, so why go through reincarnation with no end in sight.
Xie Zhe suddenly came over and stretched out his hand towards him.
"We'll find a way to get you out."
Feng's eyes were a little confused. He didn't know where this man got the confidence to break this meaningless cycle. He was silent for a while and said quietly:
"You're not the first person to do this either."
"Who knows if you don't try."
The little boy finally agreed, but he didn't look hopeful. He probably went through so much that he called it a "futile struggle." Even when he said this, he looked mature, which made people feel distressed.
Xie Zhe had his own way. He found a basin from the previous room. This basin is made of pottery, not very big, and still usable. Then he asked Han Chang to fetch water from the well, pour it into it, and put it in the middle of the table. Then he took out a needle - I don't know where he took it out. Maybe it was the so-called "eating guy" that Onmyoji carries with him.
He pricked the middle finger of his left hand and let a drop of blood fall into the pottery basin. Then, he handed the needle to Ling Huan.
"Uh... Do I want it too?" She carefully took the needle.
"Yeah. It's easy for two people to fall into it. It's safest to have three or more people. Don't worry, nothing will happen. The woman's right hand was stabbed."
"Ah good……"
Although Ye Lingyu didn't understand what the so-called "trapped" meant, she chose to believe Xie Zhe. She easily pierced the thin skin, letting the blood fall into the water. The blood spread quickly, just like Xie Zhe's blood. Ling Huan was about to hand the needle to Han Zhang when Xie Zhe suddenly said sharply:
"Don't give it to him! Give it to Feng. Feng must be the last one."
"Why?" Han Chang raised his eyebrows, wondering if Xie Zhe was dissatisfied with him.
"Monsters cannot participate in this spell."
"You have a problem with me?"
"All participants in the ritual must be humans." Xie Zhe emphasized, "Monster blood will cause damage. You haven't seen this spell, have you?"
Han Chang suddenly let out a strange laugh, perhaps expressing his dissatisfaction.
"You really overestimated me. I'm very ignorant. I'm so sorry."
"If you want to help, you have another task - watch us. The three of us must hold hands together for a while. If anyone is sleepy and seems to be falling asleep, wake him up immediately without hesitation. There is a stick here Break the incense into three sections. When it is almost burned out, throw it into a bowl, and then use your hand stained with incense ashes to nod the head of the person closest to you. Three sections of incense for three people."
"...Okay." Han Chang crossed his arms and shrugged, "You guys start."
Feng didn't hesitate at all when pricking his hand. Even Ling Huan showed his teeth slightly when he did this. After all, the injection was quite painful. But the little boy was really strong, and he dripped blood into the water without changing his expression. As promised, they sat in a circle around the small table. Except for Zhongli Hanzhang who was standing on one side, among the three of them was the pottery basin with three drops of blood. Xie Zhe asked Feng to drink one-third of the water, but at this moment, he hesitated slightly. Maybe among the people who said they wanted to help him in the past, no one had ever used this strange method.
Then Ling Huan drank the remaining half, and finally Xie Zhe drank it all. There was only a little water hanging on the wall, so Xie Zhe placed the needle inside. The needle was placed against the pelvic floor, the tip pointed at the little boy.
The three of them held hands and closed their eyes. Next they followed Xie Zhe's instructions. Han Chang walked slowly around them suspiciously, not causing any trouble. He rarely looked serious, probably because he wanted to see how powerful this onmyoji was. Xie Zhe said that when he started, he lit one of the incense sticks with his fingertips, and the incense began to burn slowly. It burns much slower than ordinary incense. In this small space, he had to hold the incense and walk around them all the time.
The air was soon filled with curls of smoke. The smell of this incense is also lighter than the ordinary one, but the taste is stronger. I don’t know what the material is.
"Just... keep holding hands?" Ling Huan closed his eyes and asked carefully, "What else needs to be done."
"Don't talk, just sit quietly. You may see something after a while, but it's all an illusion. Don't panic. Try not to open your eyes. If anyone does, the ceremony will be over. And you must never let go. Hands—absolutely not!”
Xie Zhe emphasized repeatedly, and Ye Linghua nodded. But she also realized that there was no point in doing this as everyone closed their eyes. So she hummed again to show that she heard it. Next, everyone stopped talking. She felt her hands were a little sweaty, but of course, she couldn't let go. Ling Hu comforted himself that he was just a little nervous. Xie Zhe's hand was much hotter than his own. Is a man's temperature higher? She didn't know. But this was not the case for this child. His hands were as cold as iron, and it felt like he would get frostbite if he touched them for a long time. She squeezed her little hand tighter, hoping to warm it up.
Soon, a red light flashed before her eyes. Ye Lingyu was startled and almost opened her eyes, but she immediately remembered Xie Zhe's words and closed her eyes even tighter. Her breathing was a little rapid and she tried to calm herself down. The ceremony didn't seem to be interrupted. The others must have strictly followed Xie Zhe's request.
Then... there was light gradually in front of her eyes, as if she really opened her eyes. If her eyelids weren't so tight that she might have misunderstood. In this light, some things showed vague outlines, but they became quickly and elusive. Before she could see anything clearly, she suddenly felt someone press lightly on the top of her head. Presumably, one of the incense sticks burned out.
Zhongli Hanzhang sprinkled a little bit of incense ash in his hand into the pottery basin in the middle, and the needle suddenly turned to Ye Lingyu. He was slightly startled.
