With Liang Qiufeng’s roar, the paper brain began to wriggle faster. The sound of hundreds of pieces of paper rubbing against each other was so piercing that it reminded people of the sound of a large group of insects flapping their wings.
The light emitted from the brain became even more dazzling, like a scorching sun, distorting the surrounding air. Chen Xiaoling felt threatened and took a half step back, also sticking a talisman paper on herself. A cool sensation spread all over her body, eliminating the oncoming heat.
Although she was only an outsider of the Chen family, she also understood the simple techniques of the aristocratic family. After calming down, she had no problem protecting herself.
Lu Yingjiu patted Jing Xian’s shoulder. “You deal with Liang Qiufeng, I’ll deal with the brain.”
Jing Xian said, “Why don’t I deal with the brain? The brain is much larger than the ghost. According to the corresponding principle, I should be the one to go because I am taller, stronger, bigger, and more enduring than you…”
Lu Yingjiu: ???
He slapped Jing Xian on the back to interrupt him, saying impatiently, “If you want to go, go quickly!”
Jing Xian got his wish and looked at the paper brain.
Soon Lu Yingjiu understood why Jing Xian was obsessed with the brain.
It’s not because of any corresponding principle.
Jing Xian held hairball in one hand, easily jumped onto the railing, stepped on it, and the cold wind lifted him into the air. He looked down at the brain from a high position, looking at the countless rolling, folding papers.
Then he threw out hairball.
Hairball fell down round and round, and because of its weight, it directly crushed a piece of paper, but it managed to stand firm. It was surrounded by self-portraits, looking left and right.
Then it started to suck the papers like storm!
Eating was called happy, was called refreshing, ka-chak, ka-chak, ka-chak…
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
He looked back in despair.
His gaze returned to the corridor, and Liang Qiufeng was still furious.
Lu Yingjiu noticed that he was holding something like a baton in his hand. With a light flick, the solid ground was shattered. He stared at Lu Yingjiu, as if he wanted to smash his head with this thing.
Lu Yingjiu took a deep breath, calmed down his anger at wanting to beat Jing Xian, pulled out his short knife, and gradually quickened his pace…
Faster and faster, faster and faster.
He took big strides, and when he approached Liang Qiufeng, he suddenly jumped up!
The baton just swept under him, and the fierce wind lifted his clothes, revealing half of his fair waist. His jumping height was just right, not a bit lower, letting the baton touch his clothes, and definitely not a bit higher, stingy and confident that he would not make any extra movements.
He flipped over the baton, and the blade fell in a perfect arc.
He slit Liang Qiufeng’s throat.
Large amounts of blood gushed from the wound, and the smell of blood exploded in the air. However, this fierce ghost did not decrease its momentum. The upper body made a strange creaking sound and directly twisted 180 degrees!
Ordinary people would have their spine and nerves shattered if they twisted like this, and they wouldn’t be able to move at all. But Liang Qiufeng didn’t slow down at all, and the baton went straight towards Lu Yingjiu!
In mid-air, Lu Yingjiu had no leverage at all.
There was no way to avoid it.
His face remained unchanged, and he made another gesture. Two thin pieces of paper slid out of his sleeve and instantly turned into little paper men. They flew up with the help of the fierce wind, spinning and landing on the baton.
Then they took big strides, running along the baton all the way to Liang Qiufeng’s wrist, one on the left and one on the right, reaching out to clamp his joints and twisting hard.
Crack!
The entire wrist was twisted a full circle! Liang Qiufeng’s right hand hung down limply, no longer able to hold the weapon, and the baton flew out and exploded the corridor railing, plunging into the ground on the first floor. The ten-centimeter-long baton almost completely disappeared, and the marble floor cracked inch by inch.
The movements of the paper men seemed light, but they were incredibly fast. The whole process didn’t take more than half a second, and when they broke his wrist, they didn’t hesitate at all.
Lu Yingjiu landed steadily, turned the knife around, and changed from a forward grip to a reverse grip. He grabbed the opponent’s shoulder with one hand like a vise, and cleanly stabbed the other into the heart, twisting it hard.
The talismans on the blade suddenly lit up, and the power of the talisman surged, contaminating all the ghost’s blood.
Black veins like little snakes immediately burst out on Liang Qiufeng’s face, spreading down to his neck, chest, limbs, and all over his body. The yin energy and talisman were fighting inside his body, and his flesh couldn’t bear this power and was about to explode. At the moment of death, he still wanted to reach out and grab Lu Yingjiu, his nails sharp as blades, cold as knives!
A large amount of fresh blood gushed out of his mouth and dripped onto the ground.
His eyes were hollow, as if some emotions were stirring, and he mumbled, “Dongdong, daddy misses you so much.”
After saying that, the hand that was stretched out paused.
He carefully retracted his weapon-like nails.
Even though Lu Yingjiu’s short knife was still stuck in his heart, he carefully wanted to touch Lu Yingjiu’s cheek with his hand.
Lu Yingjiu remembered Liang Qiufeng’s son, Liang Dongdong, who committed suicide due to depression.
If Liang Dongdong were still alive, he should be about the same age as himself.
He had no expression on his face, but his heart softened.
Perhaps all parents in the world were similar.
He thought of Zhuang Xue, thought of the warm yellow light in the old house, thought of her humming softly when she was arranging flowers, her body carrying a light fragrance, thought of the foxtail grass in the vase, swaying in the wind, fluffy and pleasing.
So, he stood still.
He let Liang Qiufeng’s hand gently rest on his cheek, and he smiled weakly, “Dongdong, daddy is so happy, you’ve grown so big…”
There were complex emotions flickering in those murky eyes.
It seemed that at this moment, he really came back to life.
However, the clarity of a ghost was short-lived, it was fleeting.
The complex emotions were swallowed up by brutality in an instant.
Everything happened very suddenly. Liang Qiufeng’s face was fierce, and with a shriek, his hand movements were no longer gentle, and his nails scratched towards Lu Yingjiu’s neck!
Lu Yingjiu had anticipated this and had never let down his guard.
He sighed softly in his heart, gracefully stepped back half a step, avoiding that deadly scratch, and the talisman paper in his hand ignited with fire—
Bang!!
Liang Qiufeng fell down with his eyes rolled back.
Behind him appeared Chen Xiaoling holding a high heel.
Her high heels, with a heel of more than ten centimeters, could be called a weapon. Usually, she stepped on it with great power, wearing bright red lipstick, and each step seemed like stepping on an enemy’s head.
One should know that she carefully selected these shoes to win back a city in front of Jing Xian, the big demon.
Now she had completely lost to the big demon.
But this high heel did land on the enemy’s head.
Lu Yingjiu clearly saw that the heel was stained with fresh blood, dripping down menacingly.
Chen Xiaoling threw the high heel on the ground, her right foot elegantly arched with the heel, and with a light hook, she tied the strap. Liang Qiufeng was still struggling at her feet, making a hoarse roar, reaching out to grab her foot.
“Is this sister’s jade foot something you can touch?!” Chen Xiaoling sneered, raised her foot, and stomped on his head without mercy.
These few kicks were full of force.
Bang bang bang!
Liang Qiufeng quickly stopped moving and died at the speed of light.
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
Too violent.
After dealing with the fierce ghost, Chen Xiaoling was refreshed. She was a little upset because of Lu Yingjiu, but now she was completely comfortable.
She clapped her hands and asked Lu Yingjiu, “Are there any more ghosts to deal with?”
Lu Yingjiu looked back.
Hairball was still enjoying eating the giant brain—if this brain was not made up of self-portraits, this scene would be horrifying.
Sharp pieces of paper kept pouncing on it, but they were all torn apart by Jing Xian’s yin wind.
Hairball was covered by Jing Xian, carefree, and ate more and more happily. It soon ate more than half of the brain.
Chen Xiaoling said, “Did you two husbands abuse it? It’s like it hasn’t eaten in a lifetime, it’s starting to eat paper, how pitiful.”
“It is quite hungry.” Lu Yingjiu said, “It hasn’t eaten anything for three minutes.”
Chen Xiaoling: “..…”
Paper was flying all over the hall.
The entire brain disintegrated, leaving only countless pieces of paper flying in the air.
As it disappeared, the flesh-like walls around it slowly sank.
The exit of the Rainy Day Museum appeared in front of everyone.
The exhibits were quiet and intact, and the writing on the wall was still clear. And in the middle of the hall, the self-portraits of the patients were restored, quietly bathing in the moonlight.
Hairball was howling and chasing a rotten piece of paper.
Lu Yingjiu propped up the railing and jumped down, grabbed it with one hand, and glared at Jing Xian.
Jing Xian knew he was in the wrong and was about to speak, but Chen Xiaoling interrupted them, “Hey, hey, hey, little couple, quarrel later, let’s leave this broken place first, I don’t want to stay.”
She took the lead towards the door, muttering as she walked, “Still want to trick me into staying and eating dog food, wishful thinking…”
****
After leaving the Rainy Day Museum, the moon was clear and the stars were sparse outside.
There was no light around, only the ticket office was still lit, and the old man was sleeping with his glasses on.
It was almost closing time now.
Looking back, the museum was quiet, as if nothing had happened.
“This is a good museum.” Chen Xiaoling finally said, “The tourists who come later will like it.”
“Yes,” Lu Yingjiu nodded, “If Liang Qiufeng is still sober, he would be very happy to see more people coming.”
They didn’t disturb the old man and quietly went around.
Following the route they had taken during the day, through the streets and alleys, Lu Yingjiu found the location of the guest house that had caught fire.
The ruins after the fire had been cleaned up, leaving black marks on the ground. One could still faintly feel the yin energy—even though Liang Qiufeng was dead, the souls of the tour group were still wandering here.
Lu Yingjiu laid out talisman paper around, a total of eight pieces.
After setting it up, he made a gesture.
The talisman paper burned in this windless night, very quietly, very slowly, the orange-red flames licked the night.
The yin energy was slowly dissipating, and the blackness on the ground also faded a bit.
Because there were five ghosts this time, the dispersal process was a bit slow. In the night, Jing Xian stood next to Lu Yingjiu, a gust of wind blew, and he smelled the fragrance on Lu Yingjiu’s hair.
He moved half a step closer, holding Lu Yingjiu’s hand and whispered, “The night market here is famous, just three kilometers away, do you want to go later?”
Lu Yingjiu glanced at him.
He was still angry that hairball had eaten the waste paper, but he just hummed, which was considered an agreement.
Chen Xiaoling was waiting in a skirt on the side. She was quite attractive to insects, swatting away flying insects with a magazine while cursing.
By the time she killed the third mosquito and disgustedly wiped her hands clean with a wet wipe, a strong wind suddenly rose on the ruins of the guest house, as if something was whistling over their heads.
The talisman paper had just burned out.
Lu Yingjiu said, “They have left, we can go too.”
They returned along the original route.
There were quite a few pedestrians on the street, who had no idea what had happened today, and were in a hurry. They hailed a taxi at the corner of the street, and Lu Yingjiu told the driver to go to the night market.
The driver skillfully navigated through the alleyways. This was a busy area, and there was a bit of traffic on the road. The occasional piercing honking sound and the sea of car lights intersected.
In the car, Lu Yingjiu sent the photos of the array he had taken to Chen Xiaoling, asking her to check if anyone knew why the Zhang family wanted to go to the ghost world.
Chen Xiaoling blinked and said, “Leave it to me. But, I’m still worried about you, you won’t suddenly have any problems, will you?”
She curled her freshly permed long hair and said, “It’s rare to see you not explain things clearly to me. There must be something wrong when things are abnormal.”
—— Lu Yingjiu had never told her that it was the Heavenly Way that wanted to put him to death.
It wasn’t deliberate concealment, but indeed helplessness.
On a certain night just after they left Jianjia Middle School, the energetic and vigorous Jing Xian had just finished frolicking with him. Lu Yingjiu was so tired that he was drowsy after being dragged by Jing Xian to take a hot bath, and he just wanted to sleep.
The bed was soft, he leaned drowsily in Jing Xian’s arms, letting Jing Xian stroke his temples over and over again with his fingertips.
He didn’t know how long it had been when Jing Xian asked in a low voice, “Are you still awake?”
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
Lu Yingjiu: “…Hmm.”
Jing Xian said, “The less people know about Heavenly Way, the better. Try not to bring it up on your own.”
When this topic was brought up, Lu Yingjiu sobered up.
He looked at Jing Xian with his eyes open, his voice still sleepy, “Why?”
Thinking about it carefully, Jing Xian should have known about his entanglement with Heavenly Way a long time ago, but he never said anything.
“Ordinary people shouldn’t pry into the intentions of Heavenly Way. If you tell them, they are likely to bring disaster upon themselves.” Jing Xian said, “That’s why I never told you.”
“But I’ve found out now, haven’t I?” Lu Yingjiu lazily rubbed against him in his arms.
“That’s different.” Jing Xian stroked his black hair gently again, dropping a light kiss, “You found the clues yourself, it’s destined. But other people… other people shouldn’t be entangled with this matter. The more they know, the more dangerous it is.”
Hearing this, Lu Yingjiu understood.
It was nothing more than Heavenly Way being arrogant, not tolerating others knowing its thoughts, prying into its secrets, and coveting its majesty. If he told others without authorization, against fate, he would bring disaster upon himself.
But speaking of this…
Lu Yingjiu thought for a few seconds and said, “I’ve investigated the ‘time has come’ before. But many of the aristocratic families don’t know about it, at least I haven’t found any signs.”
He continued, “At present, the only ones who definitely know about this are Chen Minlan, Zhang Nianyun, Chu You—probably Ye Deyong as well. The secret seems to be kept among a handful of people.”
“I found it strange at the time, why didn’t they tell the rest of the family, but kept the secret to themselves. If they wanted to achieve their goal, it would obviously be the best strategy to rely on the power of the family. I’m just one person, no matter how powerful I am, I can’t fight against a huge group.”
“Now,” he looked into Jing Xian’s dark eyes, “what you said, I seem to understand. If they actively spread this matter, spread the information, they would instead harm their own family.”
“Hmm.” Jing Xian responded in a low voice, “After they knew about this, didn’t they suffer misfortune?”
Chen Minlan’s family was exterminated, even the grandson in junior high school was not spared. Zhang Nianyun committed suicide in the deep mountains, his ghost wandering in the mountains for decades. Chu You, as the head of the family, fell ill early and spent the second half of his life in idiocy.
No matter how one looked at it, it’s a tragic and lamentable fate.
Lu Yingjiu just gave a bitter smile, “They did a good job of protecting their relatives. What is this, some kind of personal heroism? If I really want to pursue it, I can’t blame others, if they get what they want, everyone will be happy—carrying the burden on their own, the rest of the family doesn’t even have to feel guilty even if they benefit from it.”
Jing Xian was silent, reaching out to smooth his slightly furrowed brow.
This move had always been very effective for Lu Yingjiu.
He indeed relaxed his brow, hugged Jing Xian back and kissed him on the corner of his lips, laughing, “Alright, I won’t be unhappy. I know you’ve been protecting me well before, and you will in the future.”
After saying those words, he had originally intended to go to sleep. He didn’t expect that this kiss would invigorate Jing Xian.
In various senses.
So Lu Yingju couldn’t fall asleep again in the latter half of the night.
The intimacy had been intense, with skin rubbing against skin, bodies touching, and even his pajamas carrying the lingering cold fragrance that hadn’t dissipated all day.
——His consciousness returned to the taxi on the way to the night market.
The traffic outside was congested. Looking at Chen Xiaoling and listening to her questions, Lu Yingju, like Chen Minlan, chose silence and concealment.
He just smiled and said, “There’s no problem, you can rest assured.”
“Really?” Chen Xiaoling raised her chin, skeptical. “Well, I’ll temporarily believe you then.”
After the traffic jam, the car finally arrived at the entrance of the night market.
The night market at Jinfang City was famous, with far more tourists than on the road just now.
Bright lights, a constant stream of pedestrians.
Looking out of the car window, Lu Yingju could already see the bustling shops on both sides of the road.
Flames crackled as barbecue chefs sweated profusely, constantly turning succulent skewers of beef and lamb until they were brown and golden. The aroma of sweet syrup filled the air, with bowls of milk, sago pudding, and double-skinned milk lined up, revealing purple taro balls and caramelized pearls through the bottom of the plastic bowls…
In addition, there were all kinds of snack shops.
Chen Xiaoling’s eyes went wide.
Not because she wanted to eat, but because these foods were all exquisitely packaged, clearly designed for tourists to take photos. And she was a standard social media fanatic, feeling uncomfortable if she didn’t post five or six updates a day.
This night market was simply the perfect place to show off.
She hurriedly got out of the car, leaving behind a remark, “This sister is off to take photos, you two take your time!”
With that, she briskly walked away in her high heels and disappeared into the crowd in the blink of an eye.
Lu Yingju rubbed his forehead.
He and Jing Xian got out of the taxi and joined the crowd.
The aroma of food lured out hairball, who perched on Jing Xian’s shoulder, wagging its tail and looking around.
Jing Xian always bought three portions whenever he bought something.
One for himself, one for Lu Yingju, and one for hairball.
But in reality, he was quite biased. Every time he got the food, he would push hairball’s portion into Lu Yingju’s bowl.
Perfectly marbled braised pork belly.
Sweet and delicious mango sago.
Crispy fried squid and baked scallops.
Lu Yingjiu kept saying no need, but Jing Xian kept adding from his own bowl to his, saying ‘you need to supplement your nutrition, your physical strength is not good, every time we’re doing it in the bed, you almost fall asleep’.
Lu Yingjiu held his forehead and said ‘that’s because you always go on until late at night, who can stand it?’
Jing Xian didn’t care, he kept adding meals for him, contributing to the future nights.
Lu Yingjiu originally didn’t have a big appetite, and in the end, a cycle was formed. Jing Xian kept giving him delicious food, he ate a part of it, and then fed the rest to hairball—it fully played its role as a trash can, and happily ate everything.
Just walk slowly and stroll slowly.
After swallowing a big elbow, hairball suddenly let out a big burp.
“Burp——” it said, “Awooo— burp.”
Lu Yingjiu immediately woke up: he had never heard hairball make this sound!
Could it be…
Could it be indigestion?!
