This made Lu Yingjiu completely confused.
He was so perceptive that he knew the boy's emotions were genuine, and he wanted to squeeze his hand but stopped abruptly.
—Who would be willing to take action when faced with a young boy who hugs him tightly and whose ears turn red
But the exorcist's creed still lingered in his heart.
He said slowly, "What's your name?"
The boy didn't answer for a long time.
Some wild ghosts really cannot speak human language, and all they say sounds like ghosts howling.
Lu Yingjiu thought he didn't understand, or couldn't speak, and was just about to use talisman paper to ask a little ghost to act as a translator, but he saw the young man looking up at him.
The young man didn't show much expression, but his eyes were extremely deep - just looking at him like that, he had a somewhat cold aura, and his red ears gave him away.
He said, “… I don’t have a name.”
It looks like a wandering ghost.
Lu Yingjiu stopped struggling and asked, "You were the one who killed Duan Kangxi in the village, right?"
The boy nodded quickly.
"Why did you kill him?" Lu Yingjiu asked.
This is the issue that he cares about most.
If it was a wild ghost that killed humans indiscriminately, it must be driven away. He had to get an answer from the boy, a definite answer.
The boy was very well behaved and answered every question: "I know he killed Liu Lan. Killing someone means paying for their life. Isn't that a matter of justice?"
Liu Lan was the old lady Liu. The young man did not lie to him, Lu Yingjiu had already proved it, Duan Kang was indeed murderous for money.
He was about to ask more, but the young man seemed to know what he was thinking and continued, "A few years ago, when I was in the village, she gave me a bowl of hot porridge."
It turned out that he wanted to repay the kindness of the bowl of hot porridge.
The boy added: "After I avenged her, I never went to the village again, nor did I hurt anyone else."
The tone is earnest and every word is sincere.
Now Lu Yingjiu completely gave up the idea of taking action.
He gently pushed the boy away and looked him straight in the eye: "Even if that's the case, ghosts shouldn't stay in the human world. You should go back to the ghost world... Do you have any unfulfilled wishes?"
The boy pursed his lips slightly and did not answer.
Looking at his round eyes, not seeing his taller figure, and thinking of the bowl of porridge that he had remembered for several years, Lu Yingjiu couldn't help but sigh.
There are few lonely ghosts who can survive well.
He didn't care that he was wearing white clothes. He wiped the blood off the boy's face with his sleeve and said, "Are you hungry?"
The boy's eyes lit up.
Two quarters of an hour later, the man and the ghost had gone down the mountain and returned to the bamboo house.
As soon as the boy entered the room, he sat in a corner in a very proper manner. He knew that he was dirty, so he did not get close to the bedding.
Lu Yingjiu felt a little sad.
He just felt pity for the ghost at the moment, so he took it back home. The house was full of talismans, so he was not afraid that the young man would suddenly turn against him.
But he doesn't know how to cook. It's OK if he doesn't cook enough to kill people.
His cooking skills are not enough to fool people, and even ghosts would probably dislike him.
But there is nothing we can do at this time.
Before, Old Man Chai had sent him rice on behalf of the villagers, and there was firewood piled outside.
Lu Yingjiu said, "I am going to cook porridge for you, right?"
The young man nodded: "Yeah." His eyes were bright and he stared at Lu Yingjiu.
Lu Yingjiu didn't know what was good about her.
In short, when he was washing rice, making fire, and cooking porridge, the boy's eyes were always on him. If he looked back, he would definitely see his ears turn red.
The boy was dirty and covered in blood—of course, it was not his own blood, but those of the ghosts.
After the lid was put on the pot, Lu Yingjiu made little paper figures and asked them to carry hot water.
Before long, the wooden barrel in the cubicle was filled with hot water. The boy felt very happy, whispered a thank you, and left the cubicle.
When the faint fragrance of white porridge wafts out, the sound of water gradually subsides.
Lu Yingjiu lent him her own clothes temporarily.
So, the boy put on a loose white robe, and after washing away the dirt, his eyebrows were even more handsome like an ink painting, clean, with black hair hanging down, and bare feet on the ground. At this time, he was quiet and well-behaved, like a boy next door. It was completely unimaginable that those bodies with miserable deaths were all his.
Lu Yingjiu lifted the lid of the pot, scooped out the hot porridge and asked, "Why do you want to kill those ghosts?"
"Because they are close to the top of the mountain." The boy said, with a dark and cold light flashing in his eyes. Only at this time did he look like a ghost. "They know I live here, and coming here is a provocation."
"So, you want to kill them all?" Lu Yingjiu asked.
“… Yeah.” The young man sat at the table—he answered more carefully this time, as if he didn’t want to displease Lu Ying, the drunkard.
In fact, I didn't feel unhappy when I got drunk on the road.
He would not pay attention to the fights between ghosts, nor would he try to lecture the boy.
He couldn't persuade a ghost to give up its cruelty. After all, that was their way of survival.
He just thought that if this boy grew up, he would definitely be a famous ghost.
The wooden bowl was gently placed on the table, and Lu Yingjiu also sat down.
For a while, the two of them ate in silence, neither of them said a word.
The boy was a little absent-minded.
After a while, when they finished eating, he asked, "Where... where are you going next?"
"I'm not sure," Lu Yingjiu said, "We can go to the next village or go back to the capital."
The boy hesitated for a moment: "Can I go with you?"
Lu Yingjiu said: "If you have no unfulfilled wishes, you should return to the ghost world."
The young man hesitated to speak.
"You should have a good rest," Lu Yingjiu said, "There are about two hours left, you need to be clear, then we can say goodbye."
There is another room in the house with clean bedding.
Although ghosts don't need to sleep, Lu Yingjiu still made the bed for him.
"Thank you," the boy said again, "this is the second time I've had such delicious porridge."
“…Good night.” Lu Yingjiu smiled and blew out the candle.
The next day, the morning sun had just climbed over the mountain and Lu Ying had sobered up.
The boy was sitting at the table in a proper manner. When he saw him, his eyes were brightened. The sun shone warmly on his shoulders.
Lu Yingjiu said, "Let's go. Today is the Ghost Festival and the Yin energy is strong. I will find a secluded place and use talisman paper to open the door to the ghost world and send you back home."
He was about to lead the boy out, but the boy said, "I actually have an unfulfilled wish."
"Hmm?" Lu Yingjiu stopped.
The young man looked as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
Lu Yingjiu said, "Let me tell you more."
The young man hesitated for a long time: "I didn't have any wishes before, but now I have one."
"I, I want to get married."
Lu Yingjiu: “…?”
Lu Yingjiu: “…???”
He held his forehead and said, "What kind of wish is this..."
"That means literally." The boy's ears turned red again.
Lu Yingjiu rubbed his brows and said, "Wouldn't it be better if you returned to the ghost world? Humans and ghosts can't live together."
"Don't you want to be together?" The boy looked at him.
"Not really." Lu Yingjiu thought for a moment, "I have heard of human-ghost love, but most of them ended tragically. It was not that the ghost went crazy and harmed people, but that the people around them were afraid of them and broke up the couple, and hired an exorcist to drive the ghost away. Is your sweetheart a human or a ghost?"
The boy's ears turned redder: "People."
Lu Yingjiu said: "Then I can't help you. If you don't want this, I'll just send you back to the ghost world. It's much easier to find a beautiful female ghost to marry than to find a human. If you happen to meet some bad exorcists, I'm afraid you'll be in danger... Hmm?"
The young man took a few steps forward, hugged him tightly again, buried his head in his arms and said in a low voice: "I have never had a home, no relatives or friends, no place to live, and I have never slept on such soft bedding. I want to go with you, and I want to drink the porridge you make many times."
Lu Yingjiu was hugged by the young man. She smelled the faint cold fragrance on his body. Somehow, a soft spot in her heart was touched.
He was distracted for a moment and wondered, what does this cold fragrance smell like
Like... some kind of flower.
Thinking back to what the young man had said, Lu Yingjiu had been exorcising ghosts for many years and naturally understood the feeling of being a drifter.
Every time the young man drinks a bowl of porridge, he will think about the past few years. He must be lonely and bored.
He was in a dilemma, and after a long while he finally said, "Where is your sweetheart? I can take you over to see her quietly for a while, and then I'll send you away. I'm afraid that 'marriage' you mentioned is not possible."
The young man said quickly, "It's okay. I don't know where to go either. I'll just follow you and look for it. We'll find it eventually."
Lu Yingjiu sighed softly.
He gently stroked the other person's tail with his hand: "Then come with me."
—He never expected that when he came to the village to exorcise a ghost, he would inexplicably have a companion.
The other party is a ghost.
Although he didn't find it troublesome, he also didn't find it annoying.
Deep down in his heart, he seemed to be very tolerant of this young man from the beginning.
He had said that there was a destiny between people. When you meet some people, you will always feel that you have known each other for a long time and regret that you met too late. Maybe there is also a destiny between humans and ghosts. In any case, he couldn't say no.
Besides…
It's just helping a ghost fulfill his wish.
He had done the same thing before, and this was not an exception.
When their wishes are fulfilled, humans and ghosts will go their separate ways and they will still say goodbye.
Having made up his mind, Lu Yingjiu took the young man to find Old Man Chai at noon and said to him, "I have dealt with the ghosts and monsters, and they will not bother you again. You can walk peacefully at night from now on."
"Oh, that's great." Old Man Chai was overjoyed. "Master is really amazing! Yes, yes, I was thinking, if I give you some silver, why not exchange it for some of Old Lady Liu's jewelry?"
He smiled and said, "Everyone is a little bit taboo about relics. This village is small, I'm afraid it will leak out easily and I won't be able to sell it at a good price. Master, you travel around, so it's convenient for you to take the things far away and sell them."
Lu Yingjiu doesn't lack the money.
He was just about to persuade Old Man Chai to give the jewelry to the old lady for burial when he saw the young man pursing his lower lip.
So he changed the topic and said, "Then give me the jewelry."
Old Man Chai then took out a wooden jewelry box containing bracelets, jade rings and hairpins and handed it to him.
Before leaving, Old Man Chai thanked him repeatedly.
He looked at Lu Yingjiu's figure, and suddenly his eyes fell on the young man, a little confused:
Strange, where did this person number one come from
After walking a little further, Lu Yingjiu stopped and handed the jewelry box to the boy.
The young man was stunned and took it: "What do you want for me?"
"I think you want it." Lu Yingjiu said lightly.
His instinct was right, and the boy burst into delight.
He walked quickly with Lu Yingjiu, walked around a few old locust trees at the end of the village, and walked up the slope.
There is a small, simple tombstone there, with the words "Liu Lan's Tomb" written on it.
There were a few flowers placed in front of the mound.
The villagers did not erect a monument for Liu Lan, it was all caused by the teenagers.
Lu Yingjiu stood by and watched him dig the soil and bury the jewelry one by one.
After the burial, he stood up and bowed towards the tombstone.
Then he went to greet the wine and said, "Let's go."
So they walked out of the village in the warm afternoon sun.
Lu Yingjiu came on horseback.
It was a black horse with sleek fur. It was in its prime and full of energy. Upon seeing the stranger, it could not suppress its curiosity and snorted at the young man.
Lu Yingjiu got on the horse lightly and patted the front of him: "Come on."
The young man came up and sat in front of him.
Lu Yingjiu put his hands around him and held the reins, but he heard the young man whisper, "I can ride a horse."
Lu Yingjiu laughed and handed the reins to him: "Then come on, we are going to the east."
The young man flicked the reins lightly, and the human-like black horse took a step forward.
The sky was high and the clouds were vast, and birds were leaping on the dark green branches. It trod on the light brown cobblestone road, heading all the way to the east.
To the east, the nearest way is up the mountain.
The horse walked up the mountain road, surrounded by lush trees that swayed in the wind.
Lu Yingjiu asked: "Is this also the hilltop where you lived before?"
"Yeah." The boy nodded, "I've lived here for five or six years."
Lu Yingjiu's drunken breath was beside his ear, blowing on his earlobe and making his face hot. He couldn't help but tighten the reins.
The ghost had no heartbeat, he only felt his own soul surging.
Lu Yingjiu looked around.
Even during the Ghost Festival, when the air was filled with negative energy, he did not sense any other ghosts or monsters.
I guess they were all killed by the young man last night.
This kid is really fierce when he is protecting his territory.
Lu Yingjiu thought so, completely unaware that from the moment they first met, the young man had already classified him as part of "his own territory".
For the next half hour, he watched the young man, who was familiar with the route, lead the black horse along a small mountain path, making many turns and shortening the distance of the rugged mountain road.
As we walked, a small bamboo house suddenly appeared in the forest.
The young man reined in his horse, jumped off and said, "This is where I used to live."
Lu Yingjiu followed him into the house.
There were only a simple bed, a table and chairs in the house, nothing else. It was cold and deserted, and it didn't look like anyone had ever lived there.
There was only a pot of flowers blooming on the windowsill.
The young man carefully picked the flowers, tied them into a colorful bunch and handed them to Lu Yingjiu.
Lu Yingjiu took it and said, "Why are you giving me flowers?"
The boy just smiled and didn't answer.
It was the first time for Lu Yingjiu to receive flowers, and the one he came from was of the same sex.
But the flowers bloom so passionately, everyone will like them.
He curled his lips, took the flowers, and walked out the door. Suddenly he remembered something: "Hey, didn't you tell me last night that you have never had a place to live, never had a home? Isn't this bamboo house your last place to live?"
He felt something was wrong and looked around the bamboo house. "I think you have a good life. You have a shelter from the wind and rain, a bed and bedding, and you can grow flowers. How can it be as miserable as you say? Why do you have to follow me?"
—If the young man had not said those words with such sincerity, Lu Yingjiu might not have been soft-hearted and taken him with him.
Boy: “…”
Boy: “…”
He snapped his fingers, and a ball of will-o'-the-wisp fire rose from the ground, engulfing the entire bamboo house!
The fire was strange and intense, and after just a few breaths the bamboo house was reduced to ashes.
Road to welcome wine:
The will-o'-the-wisp fire went out, a wisp of green smoke rose up, and ashes danced in the wind.
The boy looked at him nervously and said, "Oh no, there was a huge fire just now. Now I have no home. This is such a sudden disaster!"
After saying that, he took a few steps forward and hugged Lu Yingjiu tightly again: "My life is so miserable! I am so sad, it's worse than death, I need many hugs to feel better!"
Road welcomes wine:
This is fucking blackmail, right?!