Carrying A Lantern In Daylight

Chapter 43: Illusion

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Ilir originally had four wives and more than ten children, but only two sons survived to adulthood, and now they are all officials in Shangjing. Lu Da has never returned to Fujian City since he was sent to Shangjing to live with his brother at the age of ten. He has not seen him for more than ten years. When his father heard that his youngest son wanted to "return home", his first reaction was to ask him not to come. Perhaps because he had been persuaded to return home every time in the past ten years, Lu Da finally stopped listening and said he would come back no matter what.

He Simu laughed and said, "Why, Master, are you afraid that he will find out about the ghostly aura in this house? You are his father, and you gave him all his wealth and glory, as well as his life. Are you still afraid that he will destroy you for the sake of justice?"

Iriel had an embarrassed look on his face.

Everyone in the city knew that Iril's youngest son was a rare talent and his pride. Even the Huchi nobles of higher descent would treat Iril with courtesy for Luda's sake.

But he didn't even dare to see his youngest son.

Duan Xu held the sword and turned his gaze to He Simu. He Simu looked at him and snapped his fingers: "Since he has been staying at Master Yili'er's house for so many days, you should help him. Ghosts are very fast, go and intercept him and find a way to get him back to the capital."

Duan Xu was silent for a moment, then said, "But you..."

"Don't worry about me."

Duan Xu's eyes moved between Yili'er and He Simu, and he smiled and said, "I understand."

He held the sword and said to He Simu and Yilier: "Take care."

The young man in black and wearing a veiled hat turned around swiftly and walked out of the house, blending into the colorful spring scenery.

Tonight's dream was a little too real. He Simu saw the small town where she lived when she was very young. It was prosperous and noisy. The peddlers were shouting about their toys, the wonton stalls were steaming, and the sun was shining brightly.

She grew very slowly when she was young, and it took her a hundred years to reach adulthood, after which she stopped growing. Like her body, her mind also matured very slowly.

It seemed that she was about 20 years old, and looked like a 5 or 6-year-old child. She went fishing in the river with a group of children. The little girl, whose appearance I could no longer remember, said to her in the spring scenery: "Why is your body so cold?"

Before she could answer, she heard the boy next to her say, "Don't you know? She is a fairy child! She was brought here by the Star Lords of Xingqing Palace."

She asked in confusion: "What is a fairy child?"

"A fairy boy is a fairy who looks like a child. He can call the wind and rain and is immortal! When we are old and dead, you will still be young."

"The fairy child will help us? Exorcise demons and catch evil spirits. Isn't that what the adults in Xingqing Palace do?"

Various explanations came from the mouths of the children whose faces could not be seen clearly, describing her and her mother, aunt, and uncle.

In fact, she didn't know what she was at that time. She only vaguely knew that she was different from other children. Moreover, these people could never see her father, and her father wouldn't let her tell others about his existence. This was very strange.

She then ran to find her father and asked him what death was.

Daddy stood tall in the bright sunshine. He seemed a little surprised to hear this question. He squatted down and looked at her seriously with his peach blossom eyes. He said, "To die is to turn into a bright lamp and rise into the sky, temporarily leaving this world, and then start over as another life."

"If I start over again... will this person still be the same person?"

"Yes and no. The original person can never come back."

"Then will I also become a bright light?"

"No, only living people can become beacons when they die. Simu... you are already dead." Her father looked a little hesitant when he said this.

She?s dead, what does that mean

She was stunned for a moment, and asked in confusion: "I haven't even lived yet, so I'm dead? Why don't I start over again?"

Her father thought about it for a long time, as if this was an overly complicated question and he didn't know how to explain it to her, or how to explain it without making her sad. So in the end he just hugged her shoulders, patted her on the back and said, "I'm sorry."

In her memory, Dad often said sorry to Mom, but that was the first time Dad said sorry to her.

In fact, she didn't understand why her father said that, and she didn't know what she needed to forgive.

She thought that she was very happy, with her parents, aunts and friends. If life would always go on like this, what would life and death have to do with each other

It is actually a happy thing not to understand the meaning of this apology.

Later, when she, her father, mother, aunt, and uncle left the small town, people from all over the town came to see them off. She originally held her mother's hand, but soon her mother's hands were filled with gifts from people and she couldn't hold her anymore. Even she herself had a few more candies in her pocket and a basket of cakes in her hands.

She asked her uncle in confusion: "Why do they do this?"

My uncle, who was always gentle yet strong, smiled and said, "Because they love us."

These mortals love their relatives, lovers, friends, and this vast world. If you allow them to love and be loved safely, then every bit of this love will be related to you.

Maybe they don't know you, don't know your name, or even know they have received your help.

But they? Love you.

She didn't understand what was said, she just turned around and saw her friends who used to play with her in the crowd. Those children smiled happily and waved at her desperately, so she also waved at them with the cake basket.

She said, "Goodbye."

She thought that this life was long and they would meet again someday. She didn't know at that time that she had seen these people for the last time in this life, and the so-called goodbye was a broken appointment.

She didn't even have time to say goodbye to her aunt and uncle.

When her aunt and uncle died, the scene was grand. She was shocked by the strong spiritual power turbulence, and when she ran out of the door, she saw heavy snow falling in the autumn weather in September, fluttering and covering the ginkgo, maple leaves, and osmanthus branches.

Others told her that the snow was red, just like the debris of firecrackers flying all over the sky during the Spring Festival, but she didn't know what red looked like. She just stood there, watching the two bright lights leaning against each other in the wind and snow and slowly rising into the sky, and suddenly she didn't know where she was going.

Her aunt would no longer give her trinkets, her uncle would no longer give her books, and they would not come out to protect her when her mother punished her. They might start over in this world, but starting over would mean that she would no longer have any connection with them.

Her father told her that her aunt's family had a predetermined destiny and that her aunt was the longest-lived person in her family.

"One day your mother will leave us, and in the end it will be just us, father and daughter, relying on each other. It's really a bit sad." Her father sighed and stroked her hair with a smile.

Her father said he would depend on her for everything, he had promised.

But my father broke his promise.

That year, she wore mourning clothes and white flowers, sitting beside her mother's coffin. Her mother lay quietly in the coffin, as if she was asleep. Because of her monastic life, her mother still looked like a young person when she died at the age of 90, without any signs of aging.

She was holding a jade box filled with ashes.

In other words, the person in the box is her father.

She gently stroked the coffin, which was made of very solid and delicate golden nanmu, the wood that her mother had picked herself. Her mother always said that birth, aging, illness and death were normal in the world and that we shouldn't take it too seriously. Her mother did die naturally at an old age.

She didn't know whether she should mind or not. She thought she had the right to be sad or refuse to accept it.

But she? After all, she no longer has both parents and can act like a spoiled child.

So she turned over and jumped into the coffin, lying beside her mother, stretching out her arms to hug her mother tightly as she used to, with the jade box containing her father's ashes in her arms.

She whispered, "Look, I can hug both of you with one hand now."

"You guys said you loved me, but you all left one by one, leaving me behind, you liars."

She is mature enough to understand her destiny.

Born to die, from now on a ghost, everlasting. All loves are fleeting like smoke, only the abyss is the same as her, and her life is as long as the sky.

In the silent afternoon, she curled up in her mother's coffin. No one answered her muttering. Only the Ghost King Lamp jade pendant around her waist was shining brightly. She took it off and held it in the air, looking at it again and again.

"Leave me... and this thing," she said softly.

The sunlight shone brightly through the Ghost King's Lamp, and at that moment she was vaguely aware of a strange and subtle feeling she had never experienced before, as if there was another person by her side.

It's the smell.

This word suddenly appeared in her mind, as if it had popped out of thin air. She was stunned, the smell was clearly strange and distant to her, as if it only existed in other people's mouths.

What is smell

Why did she immediately conclude that this was a smell, something so lingering and clear, floating like a thread of wind, entwining her nostrils and heart.

This is... Agarwood, Amber, Styrax, Mint Leaves, Bletilla, Benzoin...

This is…

This is…

The scent of Duan Xu.

His sachet.

He Simu paused while holding the Ghost King Lamp. In the long silence that seemed like the vicissitudes of life, she cleared away her confusion and sadness, and then laughed softly: "You want to look through my memory to find my vital point, Lord of the Ghost Palace, you really have worked hard."

The sunlight, the coffin, the jade box, and the Ghost King Lamp all disappeared. When He Simu opened her eyes again, she saw a full moon hanging in the sky. She was sitting in the Iril Garden, enveloped by a magic circle. The glazed tower in front of her was filled with strong ghost energy, as if it was shrouded in black fog, and Iril stood beside the glazed tower, looking at her nervously.

He Simu smiled lightly and said to the ghost in the glazed tower: "Master of the Ghost Palace, it's really not easy to see you once."

Far away near Shangjing, Lu Da walked into the room in the post station and closed the door. Feeling the unusual atmosphere in the room, he frowned and turned around, and saw that his window was wide open. Under the moonlight, a young man in black clothes with a black gauze hat was leaning against the window.

An evil ghost, an evil ghost holding a spiritual sword.

The evil ghost took two steps closer to him, as if he wanted to say something to him. Luda frowned and took out a bone flute from his sleeve. It was made of eagle bones and engraved with strange Huqi characters. When the bone flute was played, the sound was as sharp as a sharp blade. The veil on the evil ghost's head showed several ghost symbols, and then suddenly broke and fell off.

As the veil fell, the boy's features were clearly revealed. He had deep eyebrows and distinct facial features, and was handsome and charming. His eyes were round and upturned, with a layer of light.

Luda put down the bone flute in surprise and said, "Seventeen?"

The young man seemed even more surprised. He was silent for a moment and then laughed: "Young Priest, you actually recognized me?"

Lu Da took two steps forward and put his hand on Duan Xu's arm, from which a cold ghostly aura emanated.

"You've been missing for many years. Are you dead?"

"… "

Duan Xu nodded and said seriously, "That's right."

"Then why are you here?"

"To be honest, your father asked me to drive you back to the capital." After a pause, Duan Xu smiled brightly and said, "Of course, this is just an excuse for your father to get me out of here."