Netherworld.
The journey around the Styx is a little farther, passing through the fearful and greedy eyes of countless ghost cultivators, and the carriage slowly drove into Wangxiang Terrace.
Gongyiyan jumped out of the carriage, opened the curtain and stretched in a hand, helping the beloved baby of the whole demon world to get out of the carriage, making him stand firm beside her.
Jiang Zheliu's condition is not very good, he can already feel that his body can't support it anymore. The cracks of the resurrection stone are layered on top of each other, and the surface has been covered, and the traces of cracks are frightening.
Gongyiyan solved many "accidents" along the way. There were evil demons who were bewitched by the breath of the heavenly body, and there were ghosts blocking the way from the underworld. , even the movements are silent.
Walking all the way here, Jiang Zheliu also witnessed the situation of the war with his own eyes... It is impossible to have no casualties, but the little devil is well controlled, and the scope and extent are within Jiang Ziliu's expectations, even more than his The effect is expected to be even better.
If there is someone who can unify all walks of life and check and balance the competing interests and deepening hatred among all ethnic groups, he is actually a very suitable person.
Jiang Zheliu had a headache when he thought about it, so he stopped thinking about it, stretched out his hand and tightened the fur collar of his cloak, and knocked on the door in front of Wangxiang Terrace.
Although this place is called "Wangxiang Terrace", it is actually a complex and retro building. Behind the building is a huge magical instrument similar to a nine-layered pagoda. After climbing the tower, the top stone platform is the place in the underworld. The real Wangxiang Terrace.
He knocked on the door, the door seemed to be tied with a bell, the bell rang a few times, and then a pale-faced young ghost Xiu opened the door, glanced at the two, and seemed to be stunned by the beauty of the person in front of him. After a long while, he said, "You... are you alive?"
No wonder he asked this question. Jiang Zheliu stepped into the gate of hell with half a foot, and his vitality was very weak.
Jiang Zheliu nodded, and asked him calmly, "Zheliu in Xiajiang, come to visit the monk Wangxiangtai."
The young ghost repaired for a while, wondering if it was because of his voice or his name. He opened the courtyard door and said quickly, "Please come with me."
Gong Yiyan stayed by the side of the demon queen, followed Jiang Zheliu into the building like a yin house, followed the white-faced ghost Xiu to and fro, and finally stopped outside a house.
After the young man's notification, the door suddenly opened, revealing all kinds of stumps and corpses neatly arranged in the house, as well as the fragments of the soul scurrying around in the magic weapon, making a harsh rubbing sound.
Jiang Zheliu stepped in and saw a boy who was only seven or eight years old sitting under the shelf of the corpse. Half of his body was covered in blood. He shook the bottle in his hand and raised his head. Tong paused on Jiang Ziliu's body.
living person.
He Tan confirmed the life and death of the person in front of him, his eyes wandered between his neck twice, then stood up, his eyes moved to his face, and then he realized: "... Jiang Xianzun?"
Jiang Zheliu said, "It's me."
He Tan is not as high as his chest when he stands up, but this puppet master likes to piece together his body very much, so he can change his image at any time, not just the appearance of a child.
"It's just one breath away." He Tanduo glanced at the resurrection stone on his neck, "Immortal Venerable's cultivation base is completely ruined, and I'm here alone, aren't you afraid of danger?"
"You also said that I'm just one breath away, what are you afraid of?"
This is true.
He Tan licked his blood-stained fingers, wiped them cleanly, then leaned over to Jiang Ziliu's side to smell it, and moved his face away under Gongyiyan's dangerous gaze, frowned, "You are here, What do you want to do? If our Lord knows, I am afraid it will not be so easy to leave."
Jiang Ziliu was very patient, and calmly repeated his demands to him.
"Just make your body into a puppet?" He Tan didn't raise his brows when he heard it, "Restore the corresponding realm and seal the Lingxiao Sword?"
His gaze shifted to the famous sword by Jiang Zheliu's hand, he pondered for a while, and said, "That's right, your spirit is so weak that it will return to heaven and earth within two days and disappear. If you seal up Ling Xiaojian, then what? ?"
"Naturally, it is like an ordinary person, buried in a tomb, and there is no need to see the sun again."
Jiang Zheliu was too calm and calm when he said this, as if he was not talking about himself. His snow hair was as cold as ice, his skin was frost white and colorless, but his eyes were dark and cold, and it was difficult to see through the light, showing an incomprehensible toughness from his extreme fragility.
He Tan stared at him, rolled his eyes, looked at Gongyiyan next to him, and said, "I would be happy to serve the Immortal Venerable, but to make a puppet, you need to artificially cut the broken meridians in your body. To pick it up, I have to use a knife... I really can't bear to damage such a beautiful body."
Jiang Zheliu understood what he meant by refusing, and sighed: "I have already asked this Demon Race, whether it is successful or not, I will send my body out of the Netherworld without causing trouble."
He Tan opened his mouth and made a sweet smile with a childish face, then rubbed his hands together and said, "As for the reward... Can Immortal Venerable leave me a section of your hair?"
He is a puppet maker, and even if he knew that the body in front of him could not be touched, he couldn't help but want to leave a little bit of its beauty behind.
This is all inevitable, and even this kind of request is more acceptable than Jiang Ziliu expected. He nodded in agreement.
He Tan pulled him to sit down, sorted out a seat from the cluttered corpse, then took out scissors and smoothed a strand of Jiang Ziliu's hair. Before he dropped his hand, he suddenly paused and asked : "I heard that you and the Lord of the Demon Realm are... a Taoist companion?"
Jiang Zheliu was silent for a moment: "Well."
The puppet master laughed: "It's good, but why don't you come with him?"
This is obvious to outsiders, but He Tan seems to be unable to think of it. Ghost Xiu's empathy is very low, and it is difficult to think of the word "unbearable".
"He will cry." Jiang Zheliu thought for a while, "He is very afraid of me leaving."
"Then did you tell him that you were here?" He Tan asked.
"No."
"... You didn't tell him that you were about to die, did you?"
Jiang Zheliu's eyes were a little out of focus, and after a long time, he slowly nodded.
"Well. I can't bear to say goodbye to him."
The little puppet master cut a strand of white hair, braided it into a braid, and put it in a precious box.
He turned his head and glanced at the female devil who was staring at him from the side. He sensed the arrogance of the demons on Gongyiyan's body, and worried: "Don't you have a will or something? I'm afraid of that demon. …”
"Yes." Jiang Zheliu comforted him, "He won't hurt you."
He Tan was barely at ease. He stretched out his hand and touched the resurrection stone between the opponent's neck that was fading in vitality. There are countless cracks on the jade, as if it will shatter in the next second. His hand just touched it, and he didn't touch it hard, and then he felt the vitality of this treasure disappear and turned into ashes.
The remaining stone dust leaked into the gap between the fingers.
He Tan withdrew his hand as if he was hot.
Resurrection petrified into powder.
Just like him, he felt like he was going to shatter.
Jiang Zheliu untied the knot between his neck and held the gift carefully prepared by the little devil in his palm. The pain in his lungs became more and more painful, as if the glued pieces were torn apart, spreading up layer by layer. Blood gushed down his throat.
He couldn't help it, raised his hand to cover his lips and coughed, but he couldn't stop his mouth, and then it almost turned into a heart-piercing sound, blood dripped from the corner of his lips, penetrated between his fingers, and fell to the ground drop by drop. .
Dyed through the knot he was holding.
The little devil is the last gift from God to him.
No one speaks. He Tan stood in front of him, Gongyiyan was by his side, but neither of them made a sound. The whole room was extremely quiet except for his violent coughing.
Bloodstains could not stop flowing out, dripping all over his hands.
Finally, this heart-piercing cough finally stopped. Jiang Zheliu, wearing a soft velvet cloak, was lying on the desk, his breathing was chaotic and fragmented.
Drops of blood fell to the ground from his fingertips.
It's messy enough here, with corpses and corpses everywhere. But only the blood in Jiang Zheliu's palm exudes the faint and long fragrance of the heavenly spirit body.
He Tan's throat was tight, and some didn't want to make him a puppet. But it was his wish to seal the Lingxiao sword forever, and he didn't want to return that strand of snow-colored hair.
Gongyiyan couldn't stand it any longer than him. She supported the shoulders of Lord Demon Queen from the side, restrained the stinging demonic energy all over her body, and the blue eyes under the mask never moved away from him.
Until the wheezing slowly calmed down.
Jiang Zheliu took off the ink bracelet from his wrist, and his bloody fingers touched Gongyiyan's hand.
She heard the other side's extremely low voice.
"Send me to the world, find a secluded place and bury it."
Gongyiyan was speechless, her throat stuck, but she couldn't agree.
"You give him the letter, and you don't have to say anything..."
Gongyiyan was clenched by her blood-stained fingers and took a deep breath. She didn't know what mood she was in when she said this sentence: "...Okay."
——
The outside of Wangxiang Terrace is overgrown with basil and weeds.
Gongyiyan actually didn't know exactly when his divine soul dissipated.
Perhaps in the wisp of wind that just blew past her ear, there was his soul that belonged to heaven and earth.
Da Mo was tired from sitting outside. Not only did she feel numb in her legs, but her heart was going numb. Carrying the letter and bracelet left to the Lord, she got up, walked around the stumps and bottles and jars outside, and knocked on the curtain.
The curtain shook twice, and He Tan's childish voice came: "Come in."
Gongyiyan lifted the curtain and came in, and when she looked up, she saw a boxy, jade-like table, exuding a strong chill.
This chill caught his hair, his eyelashes, covering his bloodless lips with a faint red, his fingertips were also a little red, his long eyebrows were stretched, and his appearance was as if he had fallen asleep.
Gongyiyan really felt that he was asleep, and his steps lightened.
The faint aroma of the heavenly spirit body wafts in the air, even if it is blood, it will not be an eyesore. The light-colored thin shirt on his body was soaked with blood spots.
After all, it's a knife.
He Tan wiped his hands beside him and complained in a low voice, "I connected all the broken meridians in his body, you don't know that I'm going to be blind..."
Gongyiyan stared at him, but did not respond. After a while, he asked, "Are puppets so good-looking?"
"Oh... No." He Tan said, "I didn't make him a puppet."
Gongyiyan's expression froze, she turned her head and stared at him intently.
Ling Xiaojian was still standing beside the jade platform and was not put into his body, which showed that He Tan did not use the method of making a puppet to restore his cultivation.
"Although I'm trying to connect the meridians of a corpse, he is so beautiful that I can't do it." He Tan told the truth, "And... why are you demons so obedient, you really think that the demons will be obedient. to find him?"
impossible.
"Only by drawing your Demon Venerable's attention to Jiang Xianzun, you won't die, and I won't get into trouble." He Tan sighed, reached out and took out a bead from the small box at the bottom of the press box. , put it in Jiang Zheliu's mouth.
This jade bead is so small that it can hardly be seen in the mouth. But it won't slip down your throat.
Ghost repairers are good at preserving corpses. This jade bead can keep Jiang Zheliu's body in this state forever, it won't turn into ashes like a monk, and it won't rot. It will always be soft and warm, like falling asleep.
But no breathing, no heartbeat.
"This is Jiang Xianzun's last chance."
He Tan stared at him and looked a little reluctant, "If he can wake up, I will become the benefactor of Mozun. It's a... risky investment."
He turned, stood on tiptoe, and removed a lampstand from the shelf.
This lampstand is shaped like a short-lived flower with a hollow wick inside.
He Tan poured it in with the blood of the heavenly spirit body and burned it to make lamp oil. I saw that the lantern suddenly lit up, and there were two small shadows around the flame, which followed the flame of the lamp.
"What is that?" Gongyiyan asked coldly.
"It's a remnant."
He Tan put the lantern beside Jiang Zheliu, and the light dimly reflected his snow-white eyelashes.
"When a person dies, the flesh and soul have not yet been completely separated, so he can use the rebirth magic weapon from the blood to recall two remnants of the soul." He Tan stretched out his hand and played with Jiang Zheliu's long eyelashes, feeling that he felt it. Ice-cold, "Of course, the remnant souls are useless... Some of those souls that have returned to the world can only be recalled slowly."
Gongyiyan frowned and said slightly annoyed, "Why didn't you light the lamp earlier? You have to wait until someone dies..."
"What do you know." The child curled his lips in disgust. "If most of his soul is not allowed to return to the heaven and earth to warm up and absorb spiritual energy, even if it is gathered in a magic weapon, it will be just as weak."
"Then when will he wake up?" Gongyiyan breathed a sigh of relief.
"This... I don't know." He Tan played with Jiang Zheliu's long snow-white hair, "It's not that easy to live after death, no matter how you say it."
He felt more and more vigorously, until he was knocked off by the devil, and said "thank you" staunchly.
Gongyiyan picked up the lantern and carefully put it in the Qiankun bag. Then he reached out and hugged the queen.
His body was extremely cold. But when you feel it carefully, you can still feel a strange temperature. This reassured Gongyiyan gradually. She looked down at Jiang Ziliu and said in a low voice, "Sorry, I can't listen to you anymore."
The other party was leaning in her arms, his long hair curled softly on his shoulders, his eyelashes were long and thin, his thin lips were slightly pursed, and he couldn't tell it was a corpse at all.
He Tan rubbed the hand that was patted, looked at the savage demon, and couldn't help saying: "If you live, remember to come and thank me... Hey, the knife on his body can't be pressed, where are you going to send it back... Take your sword!"
——
Ling Xiaojian was placed beside Jiang Zheliu.
This body is soft, very light, and has no weight. However, because the meridians have just been connected to the inside of the body, it is still a little difficult to keep the incorrupt jade beads flowing freely through the meridians along the body.
Yuzhu was cold, and after Jiang Zheliu stayed on the ice platform for so long, his body was getting cold and airy, and his fingertips were terribly cold.
Gongyiyan put him on the carriage and watched for a long time before sighing and said in a low voice, "Jiang Xianzun, let's go back, shall we?"
Of course he couldn't speak.
The lantern stood on the table, and the lights were dimly lit.
Under the dim light, Jiang Zheliu looked peaceful and calm, like a lifeless but very beautiful puppet.
Gongyiyan watched for a long time. She didn't want to let the other party bump on the road anymore, but summoned the demons under her command and sent the letter that the queen left to the Lord to the front line.
And she was sitting on the carriage, watching over this inextinguishable lantern, watching the other side fall asleep beside the table, resting on the Lingxiao sword.