Chen Ling knelt on the ground, gently stroking the silky black satin.
He remembered that this was the robe he had put into the tomb with his own hands when the grave was moved.
The golden embroidery on it was elegant and luxurious, but a large part of it was dyed dark red by blood, which was particularly eye-catching.
He picked up the clothes from the ground, and held them in his arms like a treasure. He looked around anxiously, at the wreckage of trees, collapsed buildings, the flat cemetery... No, the person he was looking for was not there.
Jiang Yu indeed disappeared before his eyes.
Chen Ling didn't know how he was doing, whether he was seriously injured, or whether he was in danger.
He knows nothing...
"Get up." Zhao Xunchang came over at some point and patted his little disciple's back with heartache.
The heavenly punishment just now was too horrifying. Based on his experience, it was suppressing the evil spirit that was surging in Jiang Yu's body. Of course, it was also a punishment from God for certain beings that might break the balance between heaven and earth.
But what he saw more clearly was not how dangerous Jiang Yu was.
Instead, the two children clung to each other, determined to fight for their lives.
Looking at his lost disciple, Zhao Xunchang sighed, squatted down, reached out and grabbed Chen Ling's hand, his palm was bloody and the flesh on his fingertips was almost worn away.
What a sin this is.
Zhao Xunchang gently brushed away the hair on Chen Ling's forehead that was sticky with blood and sweat, "Get up, Master will take you home, we will treat your wounds and you can get some sleep. When you open your eyes, Jiang Yu will be back."
Chen Ling didn't react until the last sentence. His eyes were wide open and his gaze was bright, like a drowning man grabbing a life-saving driftwood. He asked anxiously: "Really? He will be back when I wake up?"
Zhao Xunchang nodded, pulled his arm and lifted him up from the ground: "Let's go."
As soon as I took a step, I heard a faint sound from somewhere around me.
Chen Ling's gaze instantly changed from dazed to fierce. Before he turned around, he had already picked up the cursed whip and walked towards the source of the sound.
Li Daoxuan lost the greatest support from the four ritual objects and was injured. At this moment, he was like a skinned monster, gasping for breath and trying many times to get up from the ground.
Chen Ling glanced at his head.
The blood stuck his hair together, his bones seemed to be sunken, and the black veins that covered his entire face still hadn't disappeared.
He was like an old dog that was seriously injured, panting heavily and rapidly, his hands supporting the ground trembling constantly, and just as he was about to get up, a whip came over, wrapped around his arms and pulled hard -
Li Daoxuan fell to the ground again, his chin hitting the gravel.
He raised his eyes, not knowing whether it was because of his inner demons or because the physical pain was too severe, his pupils were constantly changing between contraction and dilation.
Chen Ling grabbed his hair and lifted Li Daoxuan's head up. "What did you mean by waiting for twenty years?"
Li Daoxuan gnashed his teeth, his eyes filled with vicious resentment: "You have been dead for a long time, didn't your master tell you?"
Zhao Xunchang frowned: "Why waste time talking to him? Come on, I'll take you back to heal your wounds."
"Wait." Chen Ling seemed to have suddenly become a different person. He was extremely calm, but his hands holding Jiang Yu's robe never loosened at all.
He lowered his eyes and looked at Li Daoxuan coldly: "I know very well that I am a living person."
"You are and you are not." Li Daoxuan said something ambiguous, and suddenly grabbed Chen Ling's ankle. He tried his best to escape from his body and wanted to get into Chen Ling's body and take over the shell.
Li Daoxuan's soul was filled with evil spirits, and before it could completely leave his body, it was knocked back by Zhao Xunchang with a talisman.
Zhao Xunchang's Taoism skills are not low, and the talisman paper is a mixture of chicken blood, cinnabar, and blood essence, so its power should not be underestimated.
The thin talisman paper was like a solid steel bar, trapping Li Daoxuan's soul and inner demons in that body.
Chen Ling looked at the man on the ground with a ferocious expression trying to break through the talisman paper, and suddenly felt very tired. What did the life and death, the past have to do with him? He just wanted to go back and shrink in Jiang Yu's room waiting for him to come back.
Pingshan had a poor terrain, but under the care of the fat boss it became a beautiful environment. However, it has lost its former brilliance and is covered with a gray veil.
Chen Ling didn't even look at Li Daoxuan again. He hugged the soft cloth tightly, stood up and left, walking carefully.
He was not afraid of falling, but he was afraid that the baby in his arms would get dirty after falling.
Zhao Xunchang felt uncomfortable seeing him like this. He was so angry that he couldn't let it out, for fear of affecting his little disciple's mood.
The person who sent him to Pingshan was Assistant Qiu, a subordinate of Jiang Shengxing.
Assistant Qiu's heart was still pounding after facing the earth-shaking scene just now. When he saw Zhao Xunchang and Chen Ling coming out of Pingshan, he hurriedly got out of the car and opened the back door for them.
Just as they were about to get on the bus, the follow-up troops arrived.
There were a lot of Taoist priests and monks, filling up a total of eight cars.
A Taoist priest was the first to get out of the leading black car. He was the abbot of Qingxuan Temple and Li Hongyu's master.
Before coming to Pingshan, he personally led a rescue mission to Lanhu Village. He had already learned from Li Hongyu what Li Daoxuan had done. He looked ashamed and said, "It was my master's failure to discipline me that led to such a vicious person. Fellow Daoist Chen, please rest assured that we will handle this matter impartially and will not tolerate it."
Chen Ling glanced at him and got into the car.
Zhao Xunchang glanced at the old Taoist priest and snorted coldly: "Li Daoxuan is from your Qingxuan Temple, and you also have people in the Special Investigation Department. I think it's not appropriate to put Li Daoxuan anywhere."
Chen Ling's cold voice came from inside the car: "Thank you, Master, for taking care of it first. I will report the matter to the Seventy-two Departments."
Qingxuan Temple was in the wrong, and knew that there was no reason to refute. They were just a little confused. Could this young man really invite people from the Seventy-two Departments? But when they thought of the description of their apprentice Li Hongyu, they looked at Chen Ling through the glass with a little more respect.
As fellow practitioners, Zhao Xunchang and the Qingxuan Temple Master were old acquaintances. Zhao Xunchang couldn't stand his sanctimonious and aloof appearance, so he snorted and said, "Get out of the way."
The head of Qingxuan Temple glared at him and refused to give in: "Old friends meet, why do you always have to be so sarcastic? You, your temper hasn't changed."
Xu Chang sneered: "It's none of your business."
Qingxuan Temple Master: “…”
Perhaps because of the storm, after the dark sky caused by the evil spirits in the sky faded away, the sun was unusually bright, and the color of the sunset was warmer and more moving than before. It gently enveloped the undulating mountains, leaving light golden embellishments on the tips of the green grass.
Chen Ling got out of the car and looked at the courtyard gate in front of him. He had the illusion that he was in another world.
He raised his hand and pushed gently. The purple-blue bird rushed over like a cannonball, hooked the hem of his clothes with its powerful claws, and then held the fabric above with its mouth and moved its body upwards little by little.
Chen Ling froze for a moment, then felt the other person hitting his chin with his head. His eyes moved and he came back to his senses.
He smiled and patted the macaw's head: "I'm back."
The macaw cried, "Welcome home, welcome home."
Chen Ling touched the little head again, took Xiao Lan's huge and bulky body off him, and walked straight into Jiang Yu's room.
The only window in this room that allows light in is the one at the entrance.
As soon as Chen Ling entered, he closed the door, sat down on the bed with his robe hugged, and lay down on the bed with his head tilted back.
This was his first time sleeping on Jiang Yu's bed. It was hard, and with the antique carvings, it made him feel cold and eerie. At this moment, Chen Ling could only get a sense of security from this small dark room.
His body was curled up with the tip of his nose buried in his clothes. The unpleasant smell of blood made his eyes start to swell, and even his nose became sore.
He gritted his teeth and said in a low voice: "Jiang Yu, are you there?"
"You're here, right?"
After two consecutive sentences without receiving a response, Chen Ling turned over and lay straight on the bed, looking at the dark ceiling and said, "I've thought about it and still think you're playing hide-and-seek with me. I'll count to 100 and you'll come out by yourself, okay?"
In the darkness and silence, the rising and falling sound of a person's breathing becomes lonelier.
Chen Ling bit his lip and turned over to lie on his side again.
Just as I closed my eyes, I heard scratching sounds on the door, accompanied by a wronged howl.
Chen Ling immediately opened his eyes, got out of bed, grabbed the German Shepherd before it could pounce on him, and dragged the sturdy big dog into the house.
The German Shepherd probably didn't expect his owner to be so enthusiastic. He was stunned for a few seconds, then raised his two front paws and lay on Chen Ling, licking him hard with his tongue.
Chen Ling was pushed back by it, his legs hit the edge of the bed and he sat down.
He held the German Shepherd's front paws tightly with both hands and stared at the pair of bright black eyes as if he was looking for something.
After a while, he said, "Do you know where he is?"
The German Shepherd barked a few times, suddenly jumped onto the bed, bit its owner's clothes and dragged him towards the pillow, then barked again.
"Do you want me to sleep?" Chen Ling lay down obediently, stretched out his hand and pressed the dog's head against his chest, "He can see me through your eyes, right?"
The German Shepherd barked three more times and moved its head forward, with the tip of its nose almost touching the young man's chin.
Chen Ling lowered his eyes, looked at those ignorant eyes, and sighed softly.
Not Jiang Yu, at least now these eyes still belong to this silly dog.
With the addition of a dog, the room seemed to suddenly become warmer and no longer so cold.
Chen Ling closed his eyes tiredly. Before his consciousness completely sank into the dream, he kept telling himself in his heart, "Fall asleep quickly. When you wake up, you will be able to see the person you want to see."
In the yard, Zhao Xunchang looked embarrassed.
He raised his hand to smooth over his hair a few times, quietly pushed open the door and glanced at the outline of the bed through the gap. He sighed softly. What was supposed to happen had finally happened, and what was supposed to be known would be known sooner or later.
After a brief thought, he called Chen's parents to discuss how to confess his life story to Chen Ling.
It was Chen's father who answered the phone. After listening to the person on the other end's description of the recent days, he was silent for a long time and said, "Tell the truth, we will be here right away."