Half a month later, I was discharged from the hospital.
My left hand was not broken, just dislocated, and after being corrected by the doctor, it is now fully healed. However, a piece of flesh fell off my right shoulder, and I had to get more than a dozen stitches, but it is not a big deal.
When I called my master Zhang Chu and Yuquan, they rushed to the hospital. Li Dongbin, the head of the police station, also came to see me. He told me that the cases of Zhu Huiwen and Jiu Niangniang had been settled, and that we could leave Dongling County at any time if we wanted to.
As if it was an agreement, neither my master Zhang Chu nor Yuquan mentioned anything about Susu, but I could still see their concern for me from their eyes.
Director Li Dongbin was very straightforward and drove us to the largest hotel in Dongling County and treated us to a meal. During the meal, we all drank a lot of wine.
After three rounds of drinks, Director Li arranged for someone to send the three of us back to the guesthouse.
Lying on the bed in the guesthouse, covered with a blanket, I burst into tears. I touched my chest, and found that the Taiyin Pearl was no longer there under my windbreaker. Susu was gone. I fell asleep in a daze.
In the dream, a young and beautiful figure appeared in front of me. It was Susu's shadow. She waved at me and smiled at me.
I called Susu's name, but she seemed not to hear me and kept running forward.
And I followed her in pursuit.
I don't know how long I ran, but I was very tired. However, I couldn't catch up with her.
In the mist, Susu's figure disappeared.
I knelt in front of the mist, desperately saying: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
In the morning, I was woken up by my master Zhang Chu.
Seeing my red eyes, my master patted my shoulder and comforted me, "Tianyi, I know you feel guilty about Huang Susu, but she is gone. Don't blame yourself anymore. Many things are beyond our expectations. Although you are a ghost-catching Taoist priest, you are still an ordinary person after all."
"It cannot be reversed, and there is nothing you can do about it. You need to live your own life well. I believe that even if Huang Susu were still alive, she would hope that you could be strong, optimistic and happy."
My master Zhang Chu said a lot, just like he was my father, which made me feel warm inside.
I sat up from the bed and hugged my master Zhang Chu tightly. I nodded while crying.
"Master, I understand. I understand. I will live my own life well."
After my master left, I started to live my life.
I also ate the breakfast that Yuquan brought me. These days I felt like I had lost my soul. I didn't have a peaceful meal or a good night's sleep. But I knew I should change, just like my master said, and Susu must want me to become strong, optimistic and happy.
After dinner, I took a shower, changed into clean clothes, and shaved.
Don’t say it, look in the mirror and you will find yourself refreshed, as if you were reborn.
I looked out the window, at the clouds flowing in the sky and the huge, bright sun, smelled the morning air, and watched the pedestrians and vehicles coming and going on the street. I felt the breath of life.
Walking out of the room, I knocked on the door of my master Zhang Chu's room.
When he opened the door and saw me, my master was startled, then smiled and asked, "Tianyi, how are you? Are you feeling better?"
I smiled and said, "Okay, it's all right! Master, let's go. We still need to find that Miao girl Ana! I want to resolve your worries as soon as possible."
My master's eyes turned red, he nodded and said, "Okay, let's go!"
Then we called Yuquan and checked out of the guesthouse.
I left the room and took a taxi outside, heading straight to Daleng Township.
Daleng Township is where the Miao girl Ana lived. My master Zhang Chu went there to look for the Miao girl Ana, but she broke his leg. He is still disabled until now.
On the way, Yuquan sat in the passenger seat of the taxi, and my master and I sat in the back seat.
My master Zhang Chu told me everything about his senior brother Yuan Kun and his encounter with the Miao girl Ana, which also gave me some understanding of the cruel Ana.
Several decades ago, my master Zhang Chu and his senior brother Yuan Kun went to Miaojiang to seek a solution because someone was poisoned by a Gu. They were originally going to find a famous local Gu master to help them, but on the way, they happened to meet a Miao person.
The Miao man told them that the "Battle of the Gu Kings" was taking place on the Qihuang Mountain.
The man also said that the "Battle of Gu Kings" was a battle between the Black Miao and White Miao in Miaojiang, a contest of strength, and that famous Gu breeders from all over Miaojiang would participate.
My master and his senior brother Yuan Kun, who knew about this, were naturally curious, so they rushed to "Qihuang Mountain".
The purpose is, firstly, to see the excitement and broaden their horizons. Secondly, since all the Gu-breeding masters from Miaojiang will participate, they must be experts. For them, they can also find a powerful Gu-breeding master to help save people.
The two of them rode a bullock cart to the foot of Qihuang Mountain. When they were about to go up the mountain, they unexpectedly met a woman in a forest. The woman was in a coma, and her body was covered with bright red blood.
Eager to save the woman, the two men worked together to rescue her.
Who would have thought that just as the woman was settled, a figure in a purple robe appeared. This person was also a young woman with outstanding appearance, fair skin and bright eyes. This person was the Miao girl Ana.
Ana didn't know my master Zhang Chu and his senior brother at that time. When she saw the woman next to them, Ana asked my master and the other two to hand over the woman, saying that the woman was her enemy.
The woman was injured and weak, so my master Zhang Chu and his senior brother naturally refused.
Unexpectedly, the Miao girl Ana took action directly.
Although Ana was very young at that time, she was already a very powerful Gu worm master. She manipulated the Gu worms to attack my master Zhang Chu and his senior brother Yuan Kun.
Yuan Kun and my master Zhang Chu are both Taoist ghost hunters, but their skills are not high, so they are no match for the Miao girl Ana. After being attacked, my master's senior brother Yuan Kun was poisoned in order to protect my master Zhang Chu, and vomited black blood.
My master Zhang Chu panicked at the time and asked the Miao girl Ana to hand over the antidote.
But the Miao girl Ana turned a deaf ear to them and even mocked them, saying that they were ungrateful and deserved to die.
My master was angered by the words of the Miao girl Ana, and in order to remove the poison from his senior brother Yuan Kun, he rushed forward and fought with the Miao girl Ana.
But my master Zhang Chu was not very powerful at that time. How could he be a match for the Miao girl Ana? After a few fights, my master was knocked to the ground.
That Miao girl Ana took out a small snake and was about to bite my master Zhang Chu to death. Later, the unconscious woman suddenly woke up and saved my master. That woman was also a Gu insect master. When she fought with Ana, it seemed that they were equally powerful.
But the woman was injured after all, so she was restricted by Ana in every way.
There was no other choice, so the woman asked my master to take his brother away first.
My master obeyed and left with his brother.
However, halfway through the journey, not long after they hid in a bush, my master Zhang Chu's senior brother Yuan Kun died. His body began to twitch, his eyes turned white, and his gaze became vague. Not long after, Yuan Kun vomited several mouthfuls of black blood and became motionless.
My master was shocked
He was stunned, and with trembling hands he touched his senior brother Yuan Kun's chest, and found that Yuan Kun's heart had stopped beating. He was dead.
Knowing that his senior brother Yuan Kun was dead, my master Zhang Chu became furious and returned to the place of the fight with his sword.
But he didn't expect that when he returned there, the Miao girl Ana was gone, and a headless female corpse was lying on the ground.
The headless female corpse was the woman from before.
My master only found out the woman’s name later. Her name was Yao Nianzhu.
Looking at the headless female corpse and thinking of his senior brother Yuan Kun, my master was very sad. But he only knew that the Miao girl was called Ana and didn't know anything else.
Later, my master buried the headless female corpse and the body of his senior brother Yuan Kun separately, and promised to help them avenge their deaths.
That day, my master went up to Qihuang Mountain alone, and witnessed the "Battle of Gu Kings" on Qihuang Mountain. At the same time, he also found the executioner-like woman, Miao girl Ana.
Through tracking, my master Zhang Chu found Ana's residence and learned that Ana lived in a Miao village called "Tianqi" in Daleng Township, Dongling County.
Over the next decade, my master Zhang Chu practiced diligently and never forgot to avenge his brother. Only when his Taoism became more profound did he dare to go to the "Tianqi" Miao village alone and decided to kill the Miao girl Ana.
When my master Zhang Chu appeared in front of the Miao girl Ana for the second time, Ana was also surprised. The two fought for a long time, and what surprised my master Zhang Chu was that he found that Ana not only knew Gu Shu but also witchcraft.
It was during this second meeting that my master Zhang Chu was defeated again and had his leg broken by the Miao girl Ana.
Later, my master used a secret method to burn his lifespan and escaped triumphantly.
When my master mentioned the Miao girl Ana, his face turned pale and his eyebrows were wrinkled like a pimple.
He clenched his fists and said angrily, "That Miao girl Ana is very vicious and evil. I will not let her go. For my brother, I will kill her."
The driver in front was frightened by my master's voice and appearance. He looked back without much trepidation.
I turned my head and said to the driver, "It's okay, big brother. My master is just resentful. Don't worry about it. It's not directed at you, it's at others. Just concentrate on driving."
The driver quickly turned around and didn't dare to look back. From time to time, he secretly glanced at us through the rearview mirror.
I looked at my master and said in a low voice, "Master, don't worry, we will definitely kill that evil Miao girl Ana. She has done a lot of harm to people, and this time, it will be her retribution."
My master nodded and said nothing more.
The taxi driver was driving very fast. The scenery on the road was nice. Layers of trees passed by on both sides of the road, dense and green.
It was morning, the air was hot and stuffy, but with trees on both sides, we felt a lot cooler inside the car. Also, maybe the driver was nervous, but he turned up the air conditioner loud enough.
After the car passed a bridge over a small river and drove for a while, the driver stopped the car.
"Hey... everyone, we have arrived at Daleng Township. If you want to go to other Miao villages, you can only walk. There are many mountains and rivers here, so it is not easy to drive."
The driver looked at us and spoke cautiously.
It seems that the previous story and my master's angry expression have frightened the driver.
We got off the car immediately.
But as soon as I took out a hundred yuan from my wallet, the driver snatched it away. Then he got into the car, closed the door, and hurriedly reversed and drove away.
I shouted, "Hey! Big brother, you're still thirty points short!"
But the car had already gone far away and the driver did not respond.
(to be continued)
(End of this chapter) (End of this chapter)