Chen Ying was stunned for a moment. As soon as Taoist Mingfeng loosened his grip, he subconsciously caught the sword, and then looked at Qiao Yan anxiously. Qiao Yan rubbed his forehead with a charming smile and said, "You are a little adult now. It's time to try to exorcise evil spirits."
Shen Ying's eyes trembled, and he looked at He Simu blankly.
He Simu just raised his eyebrows, stood there with his arms folded, and looked at Qiao Yan and Taoist Mingfeng with a hint of ridicule.
"Since you are so afraid of me, why do you come to kill me? Why don't you show some courage? I will think highly of you."
Qiao Yan did not respond to He Simu, but just coaxed Chen Ying to hurry up. Chen Ying held the sword with both hands, his hands were a little trembling, and he looked at He Simu as if he was expecting her to say something.
He didn't know what he wanted her to say, but at least she could say something to defend herself.
He Simu said nothing to him. All her emotions and words were directed to the two people behind him. Occasionally, when she looked at him, her eyes were calm.
There seemed to be no expectations, nor any disappointments.
Chen Ying raised his sword hesitantly, turned his head and met Qiao Yan's encouraging eyes. His whole body was trembling uncontrollably as if he was extremely scared, and he almost gritted his teeth as he swung the sword forward.
"Ah!" A scream cut through the night sky. Qiao Yan's wrist was covered in blood. She covered her hand in shock, which was stabbed by the magic sword. Her magic power continued to drain out from the wound.
Chen Ying took the opportunity to snatch the Ghost King Lamp Jade Pendant from her hand, ran over and stood beside He Simu, and summoned up the courage to shout at Qiao Yan: "No! You are not my little sister! My little sister is a good person... She will never let me kill anyone!"
He stuffed the Ghost King Lamp Jade Pendant into He Simu's hand and said with a little fear: "Give it back to you, you are the real little sister, right? Right?"
Before He Simu could respond, Qiao Yan and Taoist Mingfeng had already attacked in anger, and several spirit swords and bone spikes flew over like meteors in the dark night. Chen Ying subconsciously opened his arms to block his little sister, and closed his eyes in fear, only seeing a piece of flying clothes.
The pain did not come as expected, and Shen Ying only felt a pair of hands grabbing his shoulders. He shivered, opened his eyes slightly, and saw He Simu squatting in front of him with his head slightly lowered, supporting his shoulders with both hands to protect him.
Her chest was pierced by several spiritual sword bone spikes, and blood splattered all over her emerald blue clothes, like a deep red flower blooming from the blue water. The tip of the longest bone spike was only an inch away from Shen Ying's chest.
The warm spring breeze blew her long hair onto his face. Chen Ying stood there in a daze, only to see He Simu spit out a mouthful of blood, slightly raised his head and looked at him. Her eyes, which had originally been emotionless, finally showed him a little smile.
She said calmly: "Why are you protecting me? You will die. I won't die, I will just feel pain."
This is indeed his little sister.
Shen Ying pursed his lips and burst into tears. He stretched out his hand but did not dare to touch the sharp blade that pierced the little sister's body.
"Sister, please don't die... Please don't leave me... I will become stronger in the future... General brother said... People who always protect others are very lonely... In the future, we will protect you, just like you protected me... Please don't die..."
People who always protect others are very lonely.
—One day, you will be like your father, maintaining the balance between ghosts and humans to protect this world.
He Simu was stunned for a moment. She lowered her eyes slightly, then smiled helplessly. Her chest trembled and blood flowed from the corners of her mouth, dripping into the scorched earth.
She placed the Ghost King Lamp Jade Pendant in Chen Ying's hand and said softly, "Take it."
She stood up slowly, turned around and looked at Qiao Yan and Taoist Mingfeng calmly, then grasped the sharp blade that pierced her body, paused, and then licked it smoothly.
She could clearly feel the pain, but at this moment, she seemed to be unaware of it. It was a blessing in disguise, these magic weapons that reduced her mana had no real effect on her, because she didn't have much mana to lose at this time.
"If you want to kill me, you either need to find my vital point or control the Ghost King Lamp and burn me to death. Your strength is not enough to control the Ghost King Lamp, and you even need to use a mortal to take it from me, so the first method is the only one left."
He Simu gently patted Shen Ying's shoulder and said, "You hold the Ghost King Lamp, and neither humans nor ghosts can hurt you. Go find Duan Xu."
"Little sister..."
"Never give the Ghost King Lamp to anyone else, go!"
Chen Ying's face was covered with tears. He held the jade pendant and looked at the people around him. He seemed to know that he would only drag He Simu down. He gritted his teeth, grasped the jade pendant, took two steps back, and ran away.
Immediately, several shadows followed Chen Ying, and the rest still looked at He Simu eagerly.
He Simu had already pulled out the sharp blades that had just been inserted into her body and threw them on the ground. The moon was at its zenith, and the earth was bright and clear. She stood under the full moon, smiled slightly and pointed at the sky above her head: "Before the sun rises today, you can cut me into pieces and pierce every inch of my skin to find my vital point. But if you still can't find it when the sun rises and I recover my magic power, then you will be reduced to ashes by me."
Taoist Master Qiao Yanmingfeng's face was pale, and he revealed a fierce look.
Duan Xu rushed back to Shuozhou Prefecture at dawn. At that time, Chen Ying was sitting on the steps at the door, covered in blood, holding only a jade pendant stained with blood and emitting blue light. He gritted his teeth and did not answer anyone who spoke. Only when Duan Xu walked in did he come back to his senses, ran to Duan Xu and shouted, "Save my sister, save my little sister!"
Duan Xu had already heard about what happened in the city, and his face changed when he saw the blood-stained jade pendant. He rode his horse out of the city with Chen Ying, and finally found He Simu in a scorched earth soaked in blood and covered with crows.
She sat cross-legged quietly on the ground, and Qiao Yan, who had fallen asleep again, lay on the ground with her legs as a pillow, and a few crows stood quietly on them. There was a lot of ashes left over from burning piled up around them, and it was unknown how many once living bodies they came from.
There was no intact part of He Simu's clothes, which were completely dyed red. There was no intact part of her body either, as her face from her fingertips to her cheeks was covered with countless cuts and piercing wounds.
In contrast, Qiao Yan's body was unharmed and she slept peacefully.
The morning sun shone gently and slowly from behind He Simu, and the sky and earth were bright, reflecting the pool of blood beside her. She slowly raised her eyes and looked at Duan Xu, smiling lightly and contemptuously.
When Duan Xu saw this scene, he felt as if his heart had frozen and his breathing had stopped.
She sighed softly and said, "It hurts so much. It hurts so much."
She said, it hurts. He bit her with less force, not wanting to really hurt her.
He lent her the touch, not to hurt her.
Duan Xu froze for a moment, then immediately jumped off his horse and ran away like a gust of wind. He squatted down and hugged He Simu's shoulders, scaring away the crows on her body.
He Simu snorted softly and said, "Fortunately, it doesn't hurt now."
Duan Xu hugged her shoulders tightly, his body shaking uncontrollably.
But he was in pain, and it would be best if he could feel the pain for her.
As He Simu's magic power returned, her sense of touch disappeared again. She patted Duan Xu's back, and she didn't know why, whether he was injured or she was injured, he was the one who looked uncomfortable.
"The wound will heal tomorrow. The evil spirits have a strong ability to recover. Don't treat me like you are paralyzed."
Duan Xu said nothing. The moment he let her go, he picked her up by the waist. He Simu frowned and said, "I can walk."
"Don't talk." Duan Xu had a faint smile in his eyes, and the light in his eyes faded away, with that crazy factor playing a role.
He Simu looked at him for a moment, sighed, put her arms around his neck, relaxed and fell into his arms, her wet, sticky, blood-stained skin pressed against his neck.
"Calm down, General Duan."
Duan Xu was silent for a moment, closed his eyes, then opened them again, chuckled and said, "I'm very calm."
He carried He Simu onto the horse, ordered his men to bring Qiao Yan along as well, and rode them back to the city.
When He Simu was washing and packing, she used three buckets of water to wash away the blood. Although the wounds on her body had slowly healed and stopped bleeding, they were too many.
If she were a mortal, she would have died of bloodshed.
He Simu changed into a clean single garment and lay on the bed. Although she repeatedly told him that she didn't need to rest, she was still pressed on the bed by Duan Xu and the tearful Chen Ying. So she leaned against the bed and silently calculated the accounts in her mind, deducing the suspected evil spirits one by one to see which stupid guy had arranged this clumsy play.
Shen Ying had been sitting at the head of her bed. The child had stopped crying, but she didn't know if she was frightened. She kept holding her hand without saying a word.
He Simu took some time off from settling accounts and tapped his forehead: "What's wrong with you?"
Chen Ying raised his eyes, as if he had grown up overnight, and his childish look became firm. He looked at He Simu seriously and said word by word: "Little sister, I have decided that I must become stronger in the future and protect you. Although you are an evil ghost, you are a good ghost. You and brother Duan Xu are both amazing. If I protect you, you will no longer get hurt and can do amazing things."
He Simu couldn't help laughing. She turned her head and said, "I remember your wish was to eat eight meat-filled buns in one meal."
Shen Ying shook his head and said solemnly: "I don't want cakes anymore. It doesn't matter if I don't eat them for the rest of my life. I want to protect you. This is all I wish for from now on."
He Simu's eyes flickered as he looked at the child with a resolute expression he had never seen before.
In fact, what the fake Qiao Yan said at that time should have been the truth that Shen Ying hoped for in her heart—He Xiaoxiao was a human, not a ghost, and she did not eat his father. In such a brief and chaotic moment, Shen Ying finally abandoned this beautiful lie, ran to her side and asked her—You are the real Xiaoxiao sister, right? Right
He Simu recalled what Duan Xu said with a smile in the courtyard that day - Don't even think about getting out of his life.
Should such a short life of mortals be tied to a passer-by like her
She sighed softly, put her arm around Chen Ying's shoulders and patted him: "Become stronger first, little guy."
Duan Xu had been outside dealing with some things the whole morning. It seemed that the death of Taoist Mingfeng and this mess would take him a long time to clean up. He Simu thought that he would not be back until at least the evening, but he pushed open her door at noon.
Chen Ying had already fallen asleep tiredly beside He Simu's bed, while she was holding a thick, curled-edge black ancient book, reading it carelessly.
Duan Xu picked up Chen Ying and laid her on the couch. Then he sat next to He Simu and asked her softly, "What are you doing? How do you feel?"
He Simu closed the book, snapped her fingers, and the book disappeared. She said calmly, "Feelings? I don't feel anything. I told you that this injury will heal on its own. Soon I will be able to repay this grudge."
After a pause, she turned her gaze to Duan Xu and said with a half-smile, "But I really want to know how those evil spirits knew that I had no magic power. You didn't tell me, did you?"
Duan Xu seemed to be stunned. He lowered his eyes and then raised them again. He smiled and slowly approached He Simu. He whispered in front of her, "Do you doubt me?"
He Simu just looked at him and said nothing.
The young man's eyes seemed to be burning with fire. He spoke word by word, "I swear to you on my past, my future, my body, my heart, my family, my ideals, and everything I have in the world under the name Duan Xu. From birth to death, I will never, ever do anything to hurt you."