Wen Jiubai put away his bow and arrow, and looked at us quietly. I was at a loss. I touched my pocket but couldn't find a tissue. The wound on my chest was still hurting.
"Do you think... do you think we are willing to do this!"
At this moment, the old gentleman stood up tremblingly, with tears running down his wrinkled face.
"It's not that we don't have a son, it's that our son passed away five years ago! I still remember that it was a rainy day, and our old couple was waiting for our son to come home. We prepared a table of sumptuous dishes, but We waited and waited, but we couldn’t wait for our son to come back. Then, we suddenly received a call from the hospital, saying that our son had been in a car accident and had died when he arrived at the hospital.”
I froze and looked at the old man.
"How could you understand the pain of a white-haired man giving away a black-haired man! Then, this unfair heaven, after taking away my son, will take away my dependent wife!" The old man blushed with excitement, Looking at the old woman beside her, "My wife, Shuhua, was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer by the hospital last month. If she also leaves me, then my old life would be meaningless long ago!"
"Old man, don't talk about it." The old woman seemed to be unable to bear it anymore, and took the old man's hand, but the latter didn't pay attention at all, and was still emotional.
"If I can save my wife, I'll risk my life! And she!" The old man pointed at Moxue and shouted angrily, "She's not even a human, she's just a monster! Take this monster! What's wrong with exchanging my wife's life for my wife's life!"
Looking at Moxue again, she still looked devastated, as if she had lost any thought of resistance. If you attack her now, 80% will succeed.
Wen Jiubai spoke quietly beside me: "Then, how should you choose?"
humans, and monsters.
On one side are my familiar clan, and on the other side is the cat demon who has been alone for a hundred years.
Until now, I have experienced a deep sense of powerlessness. If human beings still can't understand each other, how can humans and demons reach a consensus
Hang a long hook every night, and look at the Chu Tower. Poor lonely moon night, Cang Zhaoke is sad.
You were born before I was born, and I am old when I was born. You hate me for being born late, I hate you for being born early.
Seeing that I was silent, Wen Jiubai opened his bow and arrow again, and looked at Moxue lightly, "Since you don't speak, I'll make the decision for you. The so-called exorcist is responsible for the entrustment that he takes. To fulfill the entrustment Your wish is the duty of a demon extermination.”
As he said that, Wen Jiubai's eyes became sharp, that arrow was really going to pierce Moxue's heart.
"Wait!" I immediately yelled to stop Wen Jiubai, Wen Jiubai turned his head to look at me, his peach blossom eyes were full of smiles.
"This guy is a monster." He whispered.
"It has nothing to do with whether she is a monster or not. I have a question for you." I said in a word, "Can Jinhua cat's fur really heal people's illnesses and make them live forever?"
A look of approval flashed across Wen Jiubai's eyes, and he showed his trademark sly smile, put down his bow and arrow, and said, "No, it's not possible. The so-called Jinhua cat's fur makes people immortal, but there are countless It’s just one of the legends about an elixir of life. It’s just like the ancient emperors refining elixir with mercury, it’s just a wild fantasy of human beings.”
At that moment, I breathed a sigh of relief, turned my head to look at the old couple who hadn't reacted, and said calmly, "Did you hear that? The truth is, even if you kill Mo Xue, you won't be able to save your wife's life. "
The old man was still a little dazed, and staggered two steps forward, "What? No, no, I don't believe it! It's impossible!"
"If you don't believe me, then you can give it a try." Wen Jiubai walked up to the old gentleman, and stretched out his hand as an invitation gesture. But the old man took a few steps back instead, and sat on the ground in embarrassment.
"How come, but..."
"It is precisely because human beings have birth, old age, sickness and death that life is so precious." Wen Jiubai said unhurriedly, "If you lose these things, it will become a real curse."
"Why do you say that!" Angrily, the old man reached out to grab Wen Jiubai's collar, but Wen Jiubai grabbed the old man's wrist instead, with a calm expression.
"Just imagine, what would happen if your wife really recovered from her illness and never died?"
"Of course it's a great thing! Everyone is happy!"
"No, no." Wen Jiubai said calmly, "It may be a good thing for you, but for your wife, you can only live another ten or twenty years at most. After you die, she will How to spend it? How to face the loneliness of being alone in this life? It is not the dead who are really suffering, but the living who are left in this world. You should be very clear about this."
The old man was stunned when he heard the words, he looked at Wen Jiubai and then at his wife, as if he finally came to his senses, he sighed and fell to the ground.
"Thank you." I whispered to Wen Jiubai.
"Thank you for what I did. You made your own choice. What does it have to do with me?" Wen Jiubai said lightly.
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In the evening, I took Shi Yitong and Wen Jiubai back to the old house. This is Shi Yitong's first time entering the old house. He looked at the complicated courtyard, the slowly blooming flowers and the locust trees swaying in the wind, and he could not close his mouth from ear to ear.
Moxue stood under the pagoda tree, her skirt fluttering gently with the breeze. Wen Jiubai made tea in the house, and white mist floated out of the teapot, but Mo Xue had no intention of entering the house to drink tea.
"Are you... that person's grandson?" Moxue looked up at Shi Yitong.
Shi Yitong nodded foolishly, not knowing what to say.
"That's it... so it's like this." Moxue murmured, "Time flies too fast. Your human life is as short as a flower, but unexpectedly, it's been so long."
I looked at Moxue, took a deep breath, and decided to say, "That man, Shi Yitong's grandfather."
Moxue looked at me.
"That person liked you." I said firmly.
Moxue was taken aback, looked at me in surprise, opened her mouth, but said nothing.
"I read his diary, and he said that you are the most beautiful woman he has ever seen in his life. He really liked you, but, as an exorcist, he had to..."
"I know." Moxue interrupted me, her eyes were moist and filled with tears, but there was a smile on her face, "I know, but this is enough. I am already, very satisfied! "
As she said that, Moxue suddenly regained her vitality, just like when we first met, she stretched out her finger to point at Shi Yitong with full of vigor.
"Hey, boy!"
Shi Yitong was taken aback by her, and pointed to himself with his thumb, "Me?"
"Yes, it's you!" Moxue pinched her waist and said, "You have to live a good life and pack up your grandpa's messy things! If you pay for your life in advance, I will chase you to hell I’m going to beat you up too, do you hear me?”
Shi Yitong quickly responded, "Okay, okay! No problem!"
"And you!" Moxue reached out to me again, and hooked her fingers at me, "Good man Gu, come here!"
I was a little baffled, so I had no choice but to listen to her and walked over.
"Close your eyes!"
It was as unruly and capricious as a princess, I smiled in my heart, but closed my eyes obediently.
"Next, I'm going to do something super scary to you!"
After I finished speaking, I felt something soft on my forehead, and when I opened my eyes, it was Moxue who pressed a kiss on my forehead.
I couldn't help but smile, and she smiled back.
"Will we be able to see you again?" I asked in a low voice.
"Who knows."
"Are you... leaving?"
"Probably. However, I still have one last thing to do." Mo Xue straightened her body, walked towards the house, and stopped in front of the high threshold.
"Hi, Wen Jiubai."
Wen Jiubai turned his back to us, judging from his movements, he was sipping tea.
"They call you Wen Jiubai, is that the name?" Mo Xue continued, and stepped across the threshold to stand behind Wen Jiubai.
But Wen Jiubai still held the teacup and didn't answer.
"Jiubai, Jiubai." Mo Xue chanted the name, as if repeating, but also as if thinking, and finally asked, "Hello, are you... is that him?"
This time, Wen Jiubai paused slightly, and replied in a low voice, "So what if it is, so what if it's not?"
When Mo Xue heard this, she laughed instead, and said affirmatively, "It seems that you are him right. Jiubai, Jiubai, you really gave yourself a decent name!"
From where I was, I couldn't see Wen Jiubai's expression, nor could I guess his expression.
"I didn't expect you to degenerate like this one day. Exorcist?" Moxue sneered, "This is definitely the funniest joke I've ever heard. You, exorcist? Hahahaha..."
A bad premonition rose in my heart, and I walked forward quickly, wanting to ask what happened. But at this moment Wen Jiubai put down his teacup, stood up, walked straight to the door, passed by Moxue who was blocking the door, and his deep and powerful voice drifted past my ears,
"Your matter has been settled. As for my matter, you don't have the position to meddle in it."
Moxue shrugged her shoulders indifferently, took a few steps back, and used her cat-like jumping power to jump directly onto the branch of the pagoda tree. The branch was shaken, and many snow-white pagoda flowers fell down.
"Then I'll take my leave, we'll meet later. But—"
Before Moxue disappeared, a sentence clearly fell into my ears.
"It's really beyond my imagination that you're in the same boat as human beings. Hehe."
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[Chell's words: The inspiration for this story comes from the legend of Jinhua cat in ancient China. The original text is as follows: Jinhua cat, after three years of being an animal, squats on the house at midnight every night, stretches its mouth to the moon, absorbs its essence, and becomes a monster after a long time, goes into deep mountains and deep valleys, hides at night, emerges as a charmer at dusk, and meets women. Become a beautiful man, and become a beautiful woman when you meet a man. Every time you go to someone's house, you first drown in the water, and if you drink it, you won't be able to see its shape. Anyone who encounters a monster will come like a human being, and will become ill over time. Cover it with blue clothes at night, look at it late, if there is hair, you will sneak up on hunters, lead a few dogs, go to the house to catch cats, peel the skin and roast the meat, and eat the sick, and then heal; If you are sick and get a female, you will not be cured. Fuxiang Zhang Guangwen has a daughter, eighteen years old, with a very different look, who was invaded by monsters and lost all her hair. After catching the tomcat, she recovered.
(See Article 51 of "Maoyuan · Spirituality", quoted from "Jianhu Collection")]