Chenxing was sure that what she got was feathers that did not belong to ordinary animals.
Egrets inhabit swamps with dense reeds as hiding places, or mountains with streams. Although this place is a mountain, there is no water. Strictly speaking, it is just a large mound. Egrets feed on fish and shrimp, and there are no conditions for them to survive in a place like this.
Or, to put it most simply...she could sense the lingering demonic energy on the feathers.
"Like a monster," she held the feather with her fingertips and observed carefully, "but not a monster."
"It's a really strange smell."
She Zishu stood opposite her, also staring at the feather with interest. The feathers are gray and white, a little dirty, with sand and dust hanging on them. There was an almost imperceptible speck of blood on it, and it was here that the strong, identifying scent emanated. There seems to be a special floral fragrance lingering between each fine hair. It was so subtle that if Zishu hadn't dealt with the source of that aura not long ago, she might not have been able to tell it.
"So, this thing...was left behind by that half-demon?" Ling Huan was counting the few luggage at the side, and Yin Huan also helped silently. "Is it the legendary half-demon who often associates with Lord Uoyue?"
"Maybe it's a trap." Chenxing said.
"Why don't you always believe anything?" She Zishu reached out and gently snatched the feather, "Even if you are not sure, it is still too late to make plans until you find something abnormal."
With his hands free, Chenxing hugged his shoulders and said coldly: "It's too late. Whatever you do, you should think about whether there is a way out. I don't have that much time to take such a big risk on something I'm not sure about."
"Zishu seems to have no idea of the consequences..."
Ling Huan and Yin Huan were dealing with the matter at hand, but they felt a burning gaze. here we go again. As soon as she turned her head, she found She Zishu looking at her with that strange look again. The look in his eyes couldn't be called full of curiosity, but it was indeed mixed with a little desire for knowledge. She always wants to get to the bottom of it, Yin Huan thought to herself. She couldn't say whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, but it was true that all life began with learning and imitation.
Is this a good thing for her, for them? Yin Huan couldn't think clearly.
"Why?" Zishu asked, "Why do you say that?"
"Sorry! Did I, did I offend you?"
"No. Would the average person be offended?"
After a moment of excitement, Ling Huan calmed down and thought about it. She looked at Yin Quan, who shook his head, and she pondered to herself. During this process, Zishu always maintained that strangely eager gaze. Maybe this was just the illusion of others, she just... opened her eyes wide. Those eyes are very strange. Anyone who stares at them for a long time will fall into them, so people will instinctively look away.
Chenxing didn't care about this. She took Fei Mao back from Zi Shu's hand without ceremony, but her face remained expressionless.
"Isn't it possible?" She explained seriously, "What I just said sounded like I was trying to teach people a lesson, but I didn't mean it... It's just that you always seem to be unafraid of danger, regardless of the consequences, and don't think about what will happen in the future. What happened, so keep moving forward with whatever comes. Sometimes that’s a good thing, but sometimes… it’s dangerous.”
Zishu looked at Yin Huan, and Yin Huan nodded heavily, deeply convinced.
Aren't you afraid that your life will be threatened? Yin Huan's eyes were clearly asking her this.
"Is the danger because of fear of death? Fear of death?" Zishu also responded seriously.
"So be it." Ling Huan saw that Chen Xing behind her had walked away boredly. She paused for a moment, then explained to Zi Shu: "For this matter, there are currently no clues except Feathers... Only when there are really no clues at all can we follow this only clue. If time passes, Granted, how to make the most correct judgment is very important. Sometimes, the failure of action will make the situation irreversible, so you must first weigh the pros and cons. As for death... it is the most extreme situation. But , but it’s not impossible…”
She Zishu stood there motionless, like a dummy. They knew that whenever this time came, she was the one doing the thinking, albeit in an unusual way. The two sisters looked at each other, not knowing whether they should continue busy with what they were doing.
Yin Huan turned his head to avoid the sight blocked by She Zishu. Ling Huan also looked over and understood what his sister meant.
"Where did the Heroine Chen go?"
"Let's go get directions," She Zishu said. "I saw she prepared some useful things."
Yin Huan took out a pen and paper and spread it on the small table in the hotel. She occasionally interacts with others like this. Her handwriting was originally small and neat, but now in order to increase her speed, it became much more sloppy. But there is also a different charm to this kind of scribbling. Ling Huan joked with her, saying that she would definitely become a calligrapher in her future and be in a line of her own.
She wrote these words: I really don’t know what kind of person or monster that half-demon is.
"He must be a good person who has a close relationship with the six realms of impermanence." Ling Huan thought, "Mr. Maoyue is such a gentle person. I think the people she admires are also the same as her."
"Half-demon..."
Zishu didn't know if she had figured it out, but she ended her thinking and sat on the other side of Yin Quan to read what she had written.
"Have Zishu ever heard of a half-demon? Have you seen one?"
Zishu shook her head and said she had never seen it before.
After listening to what they said, Yin Huan wrote a few more words.
I think that when a half-demon was born, he must have had a difficult time.
"Um……"
The other two people looked at each other in confusion, unable to say anything for a moment. They understood what Yin Hu meant, and Yin Hu had the most reason to think about the suffering of others. Among humans, she is now considered "incomplete", and even her own kind has been treated unfairly many times. Ling Huan's hands usually seemed fine, and when She Zishu was walking on the road, no one would suddenly ask her about her past. There were only voices, and if they weren't there, they would be gone. Yin Huan himself couldn't say he regretted it, but he certainly felt aggrieved. Now that she can empathize with the half-demon she has never met, she can understand.
They went to bed early, and Duchenxing came back very late. Maybe the process of divination is very complicated, or maybe she prefers to be alone. Since there were more people traveling together, there was no peace in her ears. When she woke up the next day, she pointed out a direction for the three people without saying anything else. But obviously, that's where the half-demon is. She gave a time that was not too long but not too short - five days' journey - as long as the others didn't drag their feet. When she spoke like this, she was warning them not to dawdle.
Three peaceful days have passed. Time is fast or slow. In a peaceful place, some people will easily forget past or future hardships, while others will always adhere to the principle of being prepared for danger in times of peace. No matter which one it is, time will not stop for this purpose.
Until the fourth day, they came to a county town.
Only a hundred years ago, this was a small independent city. The imperial court spent money to widen it in two directions, absorbing the small towns along the way and making it border with other prosperous areas. Logically speaking, they shouldn't rest. There were too many places they passed by without stopping, and there was nothing special here. However, the four of them still had to stop.
Ling Huan had a high fever for no apparent reason.
The weather was getting colder and her clothes were really limited, so it was not surprising that this happened. Although Yin Huan had given her a lot of warm clothes, she still caught a cold. I didn't cough or sneeze, but my nose kept running. Her body temperature is not stable, rising and falling at times, and these days are the times when she needs to rest.
Yin Huan felt a little guilty. She couldn't read anything from Chenxing's expressionless face, but she knew that this cold and arrogant woman must not like wasting time. Although she didn't say anything, she still had the right to pretend not to know and not pay attention. She wanted to take care of her sister wholeheartedly, but she didn't know if she had the conditions.
"The child is sick." She Zishu stood by the couch and came to her conclusion, "She can't move forward."
Chenxing did not buy the medicine, but gave Yinhua money to get the medicine. She took the medicine to the back kitchen of the inn and asked someone to help her fry it, while She Zishu and Chenxing stayed in the room. It's broad daylight now, and the streets outside the window are busy with traffic, but the house is as silent as night.
"What are your plans?" Zishu asked her, "I think it's better to ask you when the other child is away."
"You are a bit more humane." Chenxing was probably sarcastically saying, "I don't have any plans."
"What to do? They said you are someone who will never stop."
"Are you looking at me through their eyes?"
"My eyes can't see anything."
The two were in a stalemate for a while. Chenxing looked at the bedside, and Lingyu was in a bad state. She couldn't sleep, sniffing on the bed and her face was hot. There was a basin of cold water next to her, and Yin Huan put a new veil on her head before leaving the house. Of course she could hear the conversation between the two, but she was so confused and half asleep that she might not be able to fully understand it. But it didn't matter, neither of them seemed to care whether she heard or not.
"Don't be careless. No one knows whether her illness is related to living corpses."
"Didn't the living corpse disappear?" Zishu said, "I haven't heard of such a thing for a long time."
Chenxing said lightly: "Yes, it's like a dream. But it doesn't mean the end. An expert said that this is the poison of Death Shadow Pavilion, and the source of this instability is in their hands. Now look Wake up, the world is already calm, but no one knows when the plague will sweep across the earth again - from those places where it stopped."
"Is that so... So you don't plan to leave them here to meet the half-demon alone." She Zishu said, "In the past few days, we have only been moving towards this goal. You never mentioned that Is the half-demon moving? I think, either you have made up your mind to meet him alone, then this is a good time to unload your burden; or the half-demon is really motionless in the previous place."
Chenxing didn't answer her question. He picked up the weapon, lowered the white curtain on the brim of his hat, covered his face, and faced the door.
"where did you go?"
Chenxing didn't answer her, and she walked straight to the door. Yin Huan just came back at this time, and she almost collided with Chen Xing who opened the door, but Chen Xing reacted quickly and grabbed her medicine bowl. The medicine was steady in her hand, held high by her left hand. Her right hand held up the fallen Yin Quan, who stood up straight and took the bowl sheepishly.
"You come with me." Chenxing suddenly said to her, "Go and collect information."
Yin Huan pointed at himself, tilted his head, then looked at Zishu in the room and his sister on the couch, and nodded blankly.
