Then he heard nothing.
Someone picked him up and hugged him. He couldn't hear who the person was, and his vision gradually became blurry.
But he knew it was him.
It must be him.
If the facts were right in front of him, he would turn his back and cover his eyes.
He never wanted to question him. Such questioning would only make both of them miserable.
Ji Liyou just tried his best to say, "I'm not... not his substitute, am I?"
The old stories between him and him in the past were all true. He didn't believe that his smile at him was fake, nor did he believe what Master Ying said. If everyone said that he wanted to kill him, he would have to defend himself. He wouldn't. .
He didn't hear his answer. Ji Liyou wanted to hold his hand and ask him carefully, but it was too late. It was too late for him and him to say the last words.
There must be something wrong, and he wanted to find out, but unfortunately, he didn't have the strength to ask him the truth again.
He didn't dare to ask him why he didn't run towards him like before when he rang the bell twice.
It was a long time since the voice came to his ears again. Ji Liyou felt that he was having a nightmare. He always had nightmares, and this had become a habit.
When he suddenly opened his eyes, he was already in a mysterious and quiet valley.
Ji Liyou shook his head, "I haven't woken up yet, I have to sleep again."
He lay in the grass, closed his eyes, and tried his best to control himself and not think about the dream just now, it was so terrible.
He couldn't sleep, couldn't sleep at all. Since he was in a dream, he would just take things as they came. Ji Liyou couldn't help but look at his hands. He remembered that in the dream just now, Tumo chopped his hand into pieces.
If he didn't stop him with his hand, he would probably die in an instant.
In the dim and dark valley, the grass was extremely tall and blocked the sky. He walked very fast and very far, but he still didn't see the road. He kept walking among the grass and mountains.
When he stopped, he raised his head again, only to find that he had gone deeper into the mountain.
Ji Li was helpless, "Where am I?"
Soon he discovered another terrible thing - he was lost.
The faint light above his head became lighter and lighter, and Ji Liyou understood that it was getting dark.
He heard what seemed like the low roars of animals and the flapping of birds' wings.
What's even more frightening is that the fog on all sides is getting thicker and thicker. The fog spreads very quickly. Ji Liyou can hardly tell where his hands are. It's like he is in spilled milk. No matter how good his eyesight is, Ji Liyou can hardly tell where his hands are. , it is difficult to see beyond seven inches, and no matter which direction you go, you can't seem to get out of this valley.
Ji Liyou shouted, "Is there anyone there?"
He called for a long time and found that no one was paying attention to him. Although he was not very tired, he had given up hope.
He wanted to sit there and wait for this dream to wake up on its own.
For some reason, in his dream, he started to shiver, it was so cold.
He put his hand to his mouth, breathing in to warm himself, but on the other hand he found that the breath coming out of his mouth was also cold, just like the deep valley, without any temperature.
At the same time, he also discovered that the bell on his wrist had disappeared.
He lost his bell.
Ji Liyou suddenly remembered Master Ying's words. He said his bell was a soul-calling bell.
If... If the Soul-Calling Bell disappears, does that mean that he no longer needs the Soul-Calling Bell? The storyteller has taken away the Soul-Calling Bell from him.
That's why the bell disappeared.
In fact, he thought, it was possible that the Soul-Calling Bell no longer needed him.
The soul he wanted has been recalled, so what's the use of keeping him
Ji Liyou woke up in an instant.
"Am I dead?"
No one told him the answer.
"Is this Huangquan Road?"
His echo echoed through the trees. No one came to look for him, and no one came to lure him away. Even on the road to hell, there is always black and white and impermanence. Is he so unpopular
What's behind the fog? Ji Liyou was curious.
He is definitely not the kind of person who can sit back and wait for the clouds to clear.
So he started walking forward again, scolding Old Man Wen from head to toe, and felt comfortable. He walked a long way, but still couldn't find the way. In this strange forest, in the deadly thick fog, where should we go? When can we go home
His stomach growled.
"People are dead, but they are still hungry? I am really hungry. If I had known I would have eaten something when I died."
He accepted the fact that he was dead really quickly.
In other things, he can always stay awake, but when it comes to the storyteller, he blindfolds his eyes and covers his ears. He just wants to stay by his side.
Just when he was starting to feel hungry, tired, and worried, he suddenly smelled the aroma of barbecue.
Although the aroma was very light, he could immediately tell that it was roasted hare.
Ji Liyou swallowed his saliva. Although he felt hungrier, he felt more energetic. He held his breath for a moment, and then took a deep breath. He immediately judged that the aroma was coming from the west side of him. Come on, why not go and see it? Look who is paying homage to him and coming to bring him food.
His judgment was obviously correct, because after walking for a while, the aroma became stronger and stronger.
Ji Liyou hummed a little tune, "It doesn't matter if I'm a ghost, no one will be able to see me from now on, and I don't have to say or do things against my will."
The mountains ahead seemed more dangerous, but the terrain seemed to be sinking downwards, and the aroma of roasted rabbit seemed to be mixed with a rotten stench unique to the swamp.
His heart sank again. If he was really dead, where was he now? Why can he feel cold and smell fragrance? Are ghosts also sentient
At this moment, a strange sound suddenly sounded in front of him. He hurried over and saw a strange shadow appearing in the thick fog.
Unlike a wild beast, he couldn't describe the shape of the shadow.
In the fog, he couldn't see anything.
However, this shadow actually walked up to him.
As soon as he saw this shadow, he immediately felt an unspeakable fear in his heart.
Because he saw that the shadow had the same face as him.
Ji Liyou mustered up the courage to rush over and catch him. The shadow suddenly disappeared, turning into a gust of wind and disappearing completely, as if it had never appeared before.
He couldn't help but shuddered and stood there in shock for a long time.
He couldn't figure out why this person had the same face as him. Because he couldn't figure it out, he was even more curious.
Now it was less important to him whether he could find his way back, because he was determined to find out who that person was.
He left in such a hurry that there was still uneaten rabbit meat on the ground.
Ji Liyou sat down following the scent, wiped the dirt off the piece of rabbit meat, then tore it into strips, put it in his mouth, and chewed it slowly.
The rabbit was not cooked, only the outside was cooked, and there was still blood inside. Ji Liyou now understood why he didn't finish it, because even he couldn't eat it.
The mouth was filled with the smell of blood, and it was almost impossible to swallow.
But he forced himself to eat it all.
He was really hungry, and his strength began to disappear little by little. If he didn't eat something, he would really starve to death here.
After having something in his stomach, he felt more comfortable. He lay down and prepared to take a nap on the soft fallen leaves for a while before setting off. Maybe after a while, the fog would disperse.
Of course, he never imagined that once he lay down, he would almost never be able to stand up.
Smoke-like thick fog floated among the wooden leaves. As soon as Ji Liyou lay down, he immediately felt that the smoke was as far away as the clouds in the sky, and everything was getting further and further away from him.
He felt his consciousness become more blurred. My mind was a mess.
The whole person seemed to have suddenly sunk into a soft and sweet bottomless pit. Everything in the world seemed to have become distant, important things had become insignificant, and all pain had been relieved.
This relaxed and sweet feeling is what everyone is looking for. Ji Liyou did feel very happy at first, but slowly, he felt an unspeakable fear.
He knew that he must not sleep awake, he wanted to get out of here.
The key is that when he tried to stand up again, he found that all the muscles and joints in his body were loose and weak.
Just then, he saw the weird shadow again.
The shadow slowly walked towards him and stopped in front of his eyes. Ji Liyou was sure that he saw his own reflection in his eyes.
The reflection in this man's eyes looks the same as himself. I wonder if he has found this funny thing.
Shadow spoke.
The voice was strange, hard and hoarse, like a throat that had been burned on a fire.
Shadow said: "You know my secret, I should kill you to silence you."
Ji Liyou didn't understand: "What secret?"
He tapped his forehead with his finger and said after a moment, "Forget it, I won't scare you anymore, you are not afraid of me at all."
Ji Liyou's strength slowly returned, and all the pain on his body when he first fell asleep disappeared.
"Thank you. What did you give me to eat?" Ji Liyou patted the dirt on his body.
"A panacea." He said, "Come with me, otherwise you won't be able to get out."
"where are we going?"
"Go and cross the River of Forgetfulness, and go to the next generation." He said.
"You're not just a bull-headed horse-faced guy, are you?"
He smiled, which was almost the same as the corners of Ji Liyou's eyes that curled up when he smiled, "I don't have a bull's head or a horse's face, I'm just a human being."
"Why do you look so similar to me?" Ji Liyou asked.
Ji Liyou looked at him, and after a while, he was knocked on the forehead by this person.
Ji Liyou rubbed his head, "Why are you hitting me? What did I say wrong?"
"My surname is Ji, my given name is Feiyu, and my courtesy name is Fuwei. Why do you think I hit you?"
Ji Liyou was speechless, "Are you... Ji Fuwei?"
But he didn't even look at him, his attitude was still so serious and reserved.
He slowly untied the ribbon tied around his chin with one hand, took off his hat, and put it on his head. There was gauze under the hat, and it was even harder to see the way forward in the mist.
Ji Fuwei suddenly said, "The fog in this deep forest is poisonous."
"The Lost Valley and the Deep Forest?"
"You know?" Ji Fuwei asked.
"I heard someone say that a thousand years ago, the mountain god was demoted to the mortal world. When she landed, she landed in the deep forest of the Lost Valley. The Lord of Heaven did not allow her to retain her divine status, so he called her a ghost. Therefore, the mountain god in the deep forest of the Lost Valley , has now become a mountain ghost."
Ji Fuwei listened but did not refute.
After walking for a while, he took Ji Liyou to a small wooden house outside the valley.
After entering the wooden house, Ji Liyou began to feel warm.
He pulled up the chair opposite Ji Fuwei and sat down, saying, "Do you have any drinks?"
Ji Fu shook his head slightly.
"Originally, I should call you grandfather, but you look like this and are about the same age as me. I really can't say it."
Ji Fu smiled faintly and said, "It's okay. It doesn't matter between you and me anyway, so there's no need to force it."
Ji Liyou was stunned, "What do you mean?"
"I have no children, where will my grandchildren come from?"
"Then my father is..."
"He is my adopted son, just like you are his adopted son. We have almost the same relationship."
Ji Liyou stretched out his hand and said, "Let me slow down first. Am I his adopted son?"
"Did he never tell you?"
"I thought I was of his bloodline, but I didn't expect that I'm not even a member of the Ji family. If Ji Shanjing wants to kill me, I can't say anything."
Ji Fu stood up slightly and came over with tea. A large pot full of scalding strong tea was still steaming from the spout.
"Although there is no alcohol here, there is tea. Do you want it?"
It's like talking to peers.
"Thank you."
Ji Liyou drank tea and asked, "Am I dead now, sleeping underground like you?"
Ji Fu said slightly, "You don't have to sleep."
"Um?"
"There's still a glimmer of hope, your life is pretty tough."
"Did you save me and bring me here?"
Ji Fu shook his head slightly, "Let's go back to the Three Realms. This is not a place for you to stay for a long time."
He stretched out his hand slightly, and a bottle of wine flew out from behind the bookshelf.
Ji Fuwei placed a jug of wine in front of Xiao Ma and said, "It's still too late to leave after drinking this jug of wine."
Ji Li smiled sadly and said, "Didn't you say there is no drink here?"
"Now I have it. I'm here to see you off. If it's because of me that you've had a bad life these years, please forgive me. This wine is my apology."
Ji Liyou wanted to laugh, but couldn't.
Because what Ji Fuwei said was true, he really suffered too much, and even Ji Shanjing had no peace.
In fact, Ji Shanjing never understood that it was not him but Ji Fuwei who stood in front of him.
It was Ji Fuwei who stood in front of them and blocked their light. They lived in his shadow, and gradually grew up and became him.
Ji Fu sighed slightly and said, "You are seriously injured. You will definitely be in pain when you wake up."
Ji Liyou's nose felt sour, "But pain can also keep people awake."
As long as a person is alive, there will be pain, and that is something that no one can avoid.
Ji Liyou gradually realized that only a person who can endure pain while awake can go on for a long time. The road in the world is really bumpy.
Spring water flowed down from the mountains. Ji Fu slightly pushed him and immersed him in the cold and clear spring water.
The cold spring water flowed through Ji Liyou's wound. In an instant, all the pain before death returned, and the pain was almost unbearable.
His wrists began to feel numb, starting from his wrists and spreading to his upper body. Every part of his body was in pain. He wanted to vomit blood, but the cold spring water poured into his mouth and nose. He could no longer feel the smell of blood, only the spring water. It's cold and sweet.
Ji Fu, who was on the shore, leaned slightly by the water and said, "Let's go."
He watched him gradually move away under the water, and his clothes gradually drifted away with the wind.
The water was not a gentle hand, it was like a knife splitting open his body. From the center to the limbs, from the inside to the outside, there was no place without pain.
But the pain has made him sober.
Cold is more awakening than warmth, and pain is more memorable than joy.
After Ji Fuwei left the wooden house, he said to him, "Nine out of ten things in this world are bitter, but not enough sweet."
This is not a spring, it is a road leading to the world.
(End of chapter)