Zhang Biling also looked suspicious: "This..."
"Is this still Xiao Xia?" She looked at Zhou Xu and asked softly.
"You ask me, who am I to ask?" Zhou Xu was so stunned that he almost didn't react, he was stunned for two seconds before he said "oh", and honestly gave up the seat to Bu Ning.
In fact, Bu Ning was a little hesitant.
He stared at Xia Qiao's back, especially the shoulder, for a long time, and frowned lightly.
"What's wrong, Ancestor?" Zhang Biling saw the change in his expression and couldn't help but ask, "Have you found any problem?"
Bu Ning came back to his senses and shook his head, "It's okay, I just feel a little familiar..."
But again he couldn't tell where the familiarity came from.
When he was near the bed, Bu Ning suddenly remembered that this back image was a bit like Wen Shi, like Wen Shi when he was fifteen or sixteen years old.
In just these few steps, Xia Qiao's back figure seemed to have changed again, it was a little taller, and it was a bit more like Wen Shi.
Previously, in the cage that contained the entire Songyun Mountain, Bu Ning was the leader of the Great Sealing Mountain Formation. He knew everything about the formation, so he sensed part of the memory that was recovered by Wen Shi.
He knew that Xia Qiao was Wen Shi's puppet, and he released it before he was born into a cage, and walked out of the sealed land instead of himself, just to make Chen feel at ease.
Bu Ning actually had doubts before, because the Xiaqiao he saw was thin and thin, and he was very different from Wen Shitian. He couldn't find a few similarities.
Now he understands.
That skinny and vulnerable Xia Qiao may not be what he really is, but this is what he is now.
With such a back, it is possible to turn the fake into the real in the seal formation that was winding in the sea of blood.
This is indeed Xia Qiao, before he changed back.
It's just that I don't know what he's experienced and what he's dreamed about, but it makes people not approachable.
Before Bu Ning could touch him, his hand was cut by the mang blade that stretched all over his body. The red blood immediately oozes out. Zhang Biling whispered from the side: "Be careful!"
This time, Bu Ning did not move sideways, but went against the edge, pressing one hand against Xia Qiao's back, and patted his forehead with the other, leaning over and whispering: "Xia Qiao , this is Songyun Mountain."
This sentence seemed to travel directly to the heart along the palm of the hand, and Xia Qiao's whole body was shaken, and the fingers covering his head were extremely tight, and the blue veins were exposed.
The next moment, he opened his eyes.
"You are in Songyun Mountain, no one can commit crimes here." Bu Ning said again.
Unlike Zhou Xu, who often speaks in a high-pitched voice, his tone is very low, his speed is not fast, and he has a bit of elegance, which is the most comforting at this time.
Xia Qiao grabbed his hand, so strong that he could almost break Zhou Xu's bones.
Bu Ning could bear it, but Zhou Xu couldn't stand it any longer, and shouted, "Hey, take it easy, I'm made of fucking meat—"
While speaking, Xia Qiao had already turned over.
His forehead and temples were covered in cold sweat, his hair was messy, his eyes were half-covered, and his gaze towards the crowd was scattered. It was as if there were so many things pouring into his mind that he couldn't tell whether he was dreaming or awake for a while.
At that moment, he felt a little strange.
Zhou Xu's pain was stuck in the middle of the road, he stared at him for a long time, and hesitantly called out: "... Xia Qiao? Are you... still Xia Qiao? Do you still recognize people?"
Seeing Xia Qiao's delay in speaking, Zhou Xu panicked a little, and tapped his free hand on his chest: "Me, Zhou Xu! It was Bu Ning who just talked to you, and my mother—"
He pointed back at Zhang Biling, then remembered something and added: "Oh yes, and your brother! When your brother heard it, he was in the room on the top of the mountain, but he still didn't wake up."
I don't know if it was because Zhou Xu's thick quack voice was so recognizable, or because he heard Wen Shi's name, Xia Qiao finally let go.
He sat cross-legged on the couch, hunched over and buried his face in his palms, as if to ease and digest everything.
Zhou Xu got close, saw his face move slightly, his lips opened and closed lightly. Seems to repeat everyone's name—
Wen Shi, Zhou Xu, Bu Ning…
Zhou Xu breathed a sigh of relief—it’s okay, at least it’s not so confusing that no one recognizes it.
He was about to hear more clearly when he suddenly heard Xia Qiao say, "I... Where's Grandpa?"
Zhou Xu was stunned.
This question was very low, hoarse as if muttering to himself, with a sense of daze, it was the most Xiaqiao's tone. But Zhou Xu did not dare to accept it.
He turned his head and looked at Zhang Biling, not knowing how to answer.
The room was silent, and after a long time, Xia Qiao answered in his palm, "Oh..."
Grandpa is gone.
It was as if he was in a coma for three days and three nights, walking the thousand-year-old road again and again, until he said these two words, and finally came to an end.
"Xiao Xia..." Zhang Biling walked over with a worried expression.
Zhou Xu had the green marks on his wrist, he hesitated for two seconds, but patted his shoulder: "Xiaqiao, you... are you okay?"
Xia Qiao rubbed his face hard, and finally lowered his hands.
He didn't look up, but Zhou Xu saw that the tip of his nose was red, and his eyes must not be much better.
These details are all familiar shadows, the Xia Qiao they have always known. Zhou Xu finally relaxed. He was about to say, "You scared us to death just now." When he saw Xia Qiao's body tense again, he raised his head and asked, "I... Where's my brother?"
He hesitated for a moment when he said "my brother", as if he suddenly didn't know what to call it better, but in the end he chose the most familiar name.
"Are you stupid?" Zhou Xu had a conditioned reflex, and when he saw him straighten up, he held his wrist and took a half step back, for fear that he would not recognize his six relatives, "I told you just now that your brother was in the room on the top of the mountain, Didn't wake up."
Xia Qiao frowned, his expression a little hesitant.
Or Zhang Biling saw his intention: "Are you looking for him for something?"
Bu Ning finally asked in this gap, "What did you remember?"
Some things the authorities are obsessed with. When I heard the spirit, it was too broken, maybe I couldn't remember exactly what I wanted to do when I released this puppet, but I just remembered that I wanted to deceive the dust.
But after all, Bu Ning grew up with Wen Shi, and he knew nothing about this junior brother's behavior.
In his opinion, even if Wen Shi, who was under the seal of the great formation, had a vague consciousness, the puppet he released would not be a blank piece of paper, and would not know anything.
Something must have happened later.
Sure enough, Xia Qiao was stunned for a while, and then lowered his eyes: "... I was released by my brother to lead the way."
"Lead the way? The way to where?"
Xia Qiao fixedly looked at his hand: "The way to seal the great formation..."
Every puppet knows why he came to this world. They are spiritually connected with the puppet master, and from the moment they open their eyes, they know what they want to do, even better than the puppet master himself.
For the puppet masters, it is a flash of subconsciousness, but for them it is the reason for existence.
When Xia Qiao turned his back to Chenbu and Wen, he knew from the moment he walked out of the Great Sealing Array that he would come back one day—
Everything behind him will be trapped in a cage and hidden in dust. The person who stripped away his spiritual aspect didn't know whether he would live or die.
So he left Xiaqiao.
Even if he forgets and is gone, and his body returns to dust, there is still a living being who remembers for him. There is still a cage in this world, and there are people in the cage that he wants to keep.
If one day, someone can free the people in the cage from the quagmire and return to freedom, and Xia Qiao can guide him.
Only Xia Qiao knew the way back.
"Then why did you become like that?" Zhang Biling heard Xia Qiao's words and asked, "When I first saw you, you were still young."
In fact, it's not just that he is young, Zhang Biling said it euphemistically.
At that time, Xia Qiao was small and afraid of life, and he was almost inconspicuous in the crowd. Almost everyone knows that this child can't learn anything, just like a blank sheet of paper that can't be painted with paint.
Who can associate such a person with the puppet of Ancestor Wen Shi
Xia Qiao was silent for a while and said, "Because there are many people staring at me."
Of course, the puppet of Wen Shi can't be blank paper. The original Xia Qiao actually knew a lot of things and was stronger than many people. But he is a puppet after all, and he is a puppet of "no master".
From the moment he stripped off the spirit when he smelled it, the one who communicated with Xia Qiao's spirit and spirit changed from the puppet master himself to that cage.
In other words, the connection between him and Wen Shi was cut off.
At that time, Wen Shi would not have expected what would happen later. When he released Xia Qiao, he wanted this puppet to return to Songyun Mountain.
But later Songyun Mountain disappeared.
So Xia Qiao came to this world alone.
No matter how strong such a puppet is, it also has a weakness - once someone with ulterior motives catches the opportunity, it can make the puppet change hands.
That sealed land is both terrifying and infinitely alluring to many people, after all, there is a half-immortal body there.
In the past thousand years, too many people have wanted to find it there.
Those people may not know that Xiaqiao is the guide, but they still want to control him. After all, he was the only living creature that came out of the Great Seal Array.
"Did someone arrest you?" Zhou Xu couldn't help but ask.
"Um."
"Someone..." Zhou Xu wanted to ask, but couldn't ask anymore.
Although he knows limited things, he has heard too many true and false stories. He knows that if someone wants to get something from a puppet, they will do everything they can. After all, in the eyes of most people, even if the puppet looks like a living person, it is not a real person.
He suddenly understood why the comatose Xia Qiao would attack all those who approached. But he didn't really want to understand how many things a person has encountered before forming such an instinct.
The room suddenly fell silent.
Maybe Zhou Xu and Zhang Biling's expressions were too heavy, Xia Qiao looked up at them, and said again, "... Actually, it didn't take long."
"Ah?" Zhou Xu didn't respond.
Xia Qiao: "I mean... that kind of days didn't last long."
He paused, omitting the things that had entangled him in the nightmare, and said, "I couldn't bear it later, I was afraid that once I changed hands, I would be manipulated to say things that shouldn't be said, or bring people I shouldn't bring. Go to the Sealing Array, just... move yourself a little bit."
Zhou Xu stared at him blankly: "Are you moving a little bit?"
He accented the word "dot".
Anyone who has seen Xia Qiao's "white paper" appearance knows that he didn't move a little bit, he just abolished himself.
Even Bu Ning couldn't help but say, "You really..."
It's really my brother's puppet.
Even if the connection is broken at the beginning, some things are still in the same line. His method is exactly the same as when he hears the spirit of self-stripping.
One is to save people, the other is to avoid harming people.
"Did you hide after that?" Zhou Xu asked.
"Hide away." Xia Qiao said.
He not only turned himself into a blank, but also changed his appearance. For a very long time, he has always been a child, wandering in unknown streets and markets. He doesn't remember who he is anymore, he doesn't know where he came from or where he's going, he just instinctively avoids all kinds of strangers.
He is very sensitive to smells, very sensitive to places, and very sensitive to people, as if he was born with a spirit. He imprisoned himself in an inconspicuous body, until one day he encountered Shenqiao in an alley.
The old man once said to him, "I have a predestined relationship with you, and I want to see you grow up".
He later asked, "Why?"
The old man said, "The day I saw you, I had a dream. I dreamed that I was a blue bird that flew out of the woods. I had been wandering in the mountains for a long time, looking for my family."
He asked, "And then what?"
The old man said, "And then I found you."
He didn't know why he was hiding from everyone, but he was not afraid of sinking the bridge. But from that day on, he had a home. Someone wanted to see him grow up, so he started trying to grow up, releasing himself little by little from that shell.
Shen Qiao raised him, but he never changed back to his original form.
until now...
Zhou Xu asked him, "Then why did you suddenly change back?"
Xia Qiao thought about it and said, "I smell the smell of the sealed land."
"Ah?" Zhou Xu was stunned for a moment, then looked around, "Here? Isn't this Songyun Mountain?"
"..." Xia Qiao choked and said, "It's not here, I smelled it before, and I haven't been very comfortable since then. I was groggy after entering the cage."
"Before?" Zhou Xu mumbled a few words, then suddenly raised his head and said, "Wouldn't you smell it in Zhang's home?"
Xia Qiao acquiesced.
Zhou Xu widened his eyes.
He had thought that the ancestor of the Zhang family must be one of the people who coveted the seal land, but he didn't expect that the scum would have put his home in such a place.
Is it out of fear of being robbed by others, or out of fear of not being punished
"My family?! It's actually in the family's old house. I rely on it, with so many people coming and going, no one has bumped into anything?"
"It's all said, only Xiao Xia can find the way." Zhang Biling scolded his son.
"Then at least there is a way." Zhou Xu said hesitantly, and asked Xiaqiao, "Is it the way? The way I understand?"
Xia Qiao shook his head: "It means that only I can find it, and only I can bring people closer."
After all, he is connected with that cage spirit.
Knowing the whole story, the house became quiet again. Xia Qiao was about to recover, and the things in his mind were still a little messy. Just as he was taking care of his thoughts, someone suddenly opened his mouth.
The speaker was Zhou Xu, but the tone was Bu Ning, and he opened his mouth: "I have an unkind request."
Xia Qiao was startled.
Even if he was Wen Shi's puppet, he recovered eight or nine points. The one in front of him is also Wen Shi's senior brother, no matter what kind of seniority he is based on, he can't make such a statement.
But he was always polite and polite, even to the puppet.
Xia Qiao: "Huh?"
Bu Ning had a worried look on his face, he pondered for a moment and said, "If you can find the sealed land, don't let the younger brother know about it for the time being."
Xia Qiao was taken aback: "Why?"
"I'm afraid that once he finds out, he won't care about his own situation." Bu Ning said, "Let me think of something else."
At that moment, the mountain wind whimpered through the bamboo window. Everyone in the room had their own plans, and everyone was talking. No one noticed that there was a person leaning against the shadow by the wall outside the house—
Wen Shi stood with his eyes lowered, the pine branch in his hand that could never be thrown away, and the blood-stained puppet thread wrapped around the base of his finger.
***
So in the early morning, Xia Qiao got up and adjusted the lamp on the table, and then looked up to find another person silently beside the door.
He screamed out of his throat, but his brother used a puppet line to seal the sound.
If it was before, he would definitely ask after the unblocking: "Brother, what are you doing?"
But today is different.
You don't need to ask him why he is standing here.
Or rather, from the very first moment, he knew that such a day would come. For one day, he wandered the world for a thousand years.
When Wen Shi retracted the puppet line, Xia Qiao said, "Brother... Ancestor Bu Ning won't let you go now, he said to think of a safer way."
"I heard it." Wen Shi wrapped the puppet thread back into his fingers and said in the calmest voice, "But I can't wait."
God stabbed a knife in his heart, and he waited for a thousand years with that knife.
Then the knife was pulled out, but the blood hadn't drained away, so it was stabbed back again.
This time, he couldn't wait a day.
Xia Qiao looked at him and said, "Okay, then I'll take you there."
But they didn't go straight down the mountain.
Before going down the mountain, Wen Shi detoured to a place—that was the spiritual formation that Bu Ning placed in the mountains, where Qingxin Lake was originally located. Now there are Zhong Si and Zhuang Ye's dilapidated spirits in the array.
There was no water in the array, but it was full of white mist, like the breath of a long winter. In that piece of clean white, two shadows could be vaguely seen.
Wen Shi stood on the platform where Zhuang Yechang was standing, and subconsciously turned his head to glance at the high stone, but no one would come out from behind, dusting the dust and laughing at them being played again.
Xia Qiao followed and stood on the mountain road, thinking that he would say something when he smelled it. But he just stood for a long time, and finally said to the people in the confrontation: "I'll go first."
"...If Bu Ning is angry, you wake up early to coax him." He had already turned around and went down the mountain road as he spoke.
Xia Qiao suddenly heard a bit of goodbye.
He froze for a moment, and hurriedly chased after him.
He followed Wen Shi down Songyun Mountain, opened the gate, and landed in Zhangjiaben's house. The ruined house is as cold as the mountain forest, and the light blue smoke has the tidal smell of rain.
But for Xia Qiao, the most important thing is not these, but the smell of scorched grass mixed with blood in the seal formation.
He sniffed the smell, and when he smelled it, he crossed the collapsed and broken stone beam, passed through the river pond and the wet woodland, and got closer to the place little by little.
When he felt that the cage door was close at hand, Xia Qiao stopped for a moment, then turned around and asked, "Brother, what are your plans?"
Wen Shi said: "If the cage is released, I will come out with him."
Xia Qiao: "What if I can't figure it out?"
Can't understand...
When Wen Shi looked at the void in front of him, he suddenly remembered that Chen Buo was leaning against the white plum tree and looked at him with a smile a thousand years ago. After a thousand years, Xie Wen stood by the dead tree in front of the Shen family villa and looked at him with a smile...
He was silent for a long time and replied, "Then I won't come out."