First brush limited
Dazzling light came, accompanied by a strong sense of dizziness, and a little nausea. But the feeling was wonderful, as if the whole person was isolated in another dimension, like detaching from the body, while the soul was watching.
Bian Shengjian felt that someone was calling him while in a trance, but his senses seemed to be covered with a layer of fog, he could not see or hear clearly, but only vaguely sensed that the voice was somewhat familiar.
“Third brother!” The voice sounded again, trembling, “Wake up… please.”
Bian Shengjian’s eyes widened instantly, as if the soul that had been floating for a long time finally returned to the body. He squinted his eyes, bent down and coughed violently on the ground, and then took two deep breaths to get out of that chaotic state. But when he looked up and saw the things in front of him, his pupils shrunk– he was standing on a crowded street.
“Where is this?” Bian Shengjian felt a little strange when he heard his own voice.
“This is… the past.” Lu Shen said.
Bian Shengjian stared at him blankly, and after a long time, as if suddenly remembering something, his face turned pale.
“I…you…”
“I know it’s hard for you to believe and accept,” Lu Shen tentatively held one of his cold hands, “But I can explain it to you slowly.”
“Go away!”
Bian Shengjian’s tone was trembling, although he tried his best to convince himself that the memories that appeared in his mind were all fake, but when he turned his attention to the crowd, from the clothes of passers-byers on the side of the road, to all the buildings that reveal a strong atmosphere of the times were clearly reminding him– this is the past.
“This is not true.” Bian Shengjian murmured.
“We can go back when the task is completed.” Lu Shen’s voice was a little hoarse, “I’m sorry to have involved you…. But I need your help.”
“I don’t believe it!” Bian Shengjian suddenly yelled, and the rim of his eyes were red, “You, tell me—what the hell is going on!?”
Lu Shen didn’t speak, he suddenly reached out and pushed his shoulders sharply.
Bian Shengjian was pushed a few steps back and almost fell on the road, but when he finally steadied his body, a loud whistle sounded in his ears, accompanied by wheels rolling against the ground–a large cargo truck was heading towards him.
Bian Shengjian froze in place, feeling the gust of wind blowing towards his face. For the first time, he realized that death was so close to him that he couldn’t even move his body. He could only watch the car as it approached him.
“Am I going to die?”
Bian Shengjian closed his eyes, and at the last moment he could still feel warm tears slipping out of his eyes.
Third brother, you are a loser, you were being plotted against.
Don’t want to die.
There are people I want to see and things I want to do.
I do not want to.
Fuck you I don’t want to die!
Bian Shengjian opened his eyes abruptly, but the pain he imagined after being knocked flying did not come. He numbly covered his neck, but was shocked to find that the big truck had driven away as if nothing. The ground was clean, not even a drop of blood.
“Do you believe it?”
Bian Shengjian was gently carried back to the side of the road.
“We do not belong to this era.”
“Except for the parties involved, we are transparent to this world.” Lu Shen stretched out an arm, blocking an oncoming passer-by in front of Bian Shengjian.
“Like this.”
Bian Shengjian watched as passers-by passed through Lu Shen’s arm.
“Do you believe it?” Lu Shen looked at him.
Bian Shengjian didn’t speak, and only two big tears fell from his eyes in the next second, and the sound of it dropping to the ground could even be heard.
But of course, it couldn’t also leave traces on the ground.
“I’m sorry.” Lu Shen wanted to stretch out his hand to wipe his tears, but as soon as he reached out, he saw Bian Shengjian clearly dodging away, so he shrank it back stiffly. “But I didn’t expect…….that you can really come in with me.”
“Kill me.” Bian Shengjian closed his eyes and said hoarsely, “is it possible to wake up after dying?”
“If you die in this world, you will be hit with the same degree when you return to reality, and the consequences are no less than death.” Lu Shen said, “But it is difficult to achieve, because you can’t touch anything that belongs to this era, even if you jump from a tall building, it’s useless.”
“Then what do you want from me?!” Bian Shengjian raised his head up suddenly with reddened eyes, he stretched out his hand and strangled Lu Shen’s neck with almost all his strength. “You mean that I can only touch you here, is that it!”
“Yes…not entirely wrong…..” Lu Shen said with a little difficulty, but he never struggled from beginning to end, and only looked at Bian Shengjian with gentle and sad eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
Bian Shengjian unexpectedly released his grip, squatted on the ground and let out a painful cry. “Aaaaaaaahh!”
The people on the road were still walking, and the trees on the side of the road were still moving with the wind. Even if Bian Shengjian felt that his voice was about to burst, no one glanced at them from beginning to end.
They do not belong to this era.
Bian Shengjian felt that he should be crying, and that his face should have been covered with snot.
This kind of thing–traveling back through time and space and going back to the past was usually quite refreshing to read as a story. However, if it really happened to him… He could only feel infinite fear.
What was the mission Lu Shen mentioned? If he can’t complete it, won’t he be trapped here for the rest of his life?
No…it shouldn’t be a lifetime, there’s no sense of time here, if he can’t leave, he will probably be permanently lost in another time and space, like a lonely ghost who can’t even scare people.
***
“…How can I go back?”
When Bian Shengjian barely recovered from the great pain, he was sitting with Lu Shen on the steps of a small shop, and the sun shone diagonally on him. He could actually feel the warmth on his body.
Lu Shen stared at the passing crowd, and after a long time he said softly, “Do you still remember what I said to you?”
“I don’t remember.” Bian Shengjian touched his face, it was actually dry, but his eyes were still sore and uncomfortable.
“Thirteen years ago…” Lu Shen paused for a moment, “Class 8 lost 56 people, ten of them became resentful spirits, I found six of them, hence four are left, and now this is the seventh one.”
Bian Shengjian thought of that lump of flesh and blood lying on the ground, pinched his palm with his fingernails to his palms and said, “…the one that climbed out of the lake?”
“Yes.”
Lu Shen glanced at him, and was surprised to find that Bian Shengjian had managed to clear up his emotions very quickly after venting. Although he could still see some strangeness on the surface, most of the negative emotions had been removed. It was pressed down to the bottom of his heart. It could be seen that by forcefully suppressing it could he only be able to show this “I’m fine” state.
Very pitiful.
“Yes.” Lu Shen said, “Only when these ten resentful spirits are collected can I reincarnate.”
“You’re already dead?” Bian Shengjian looked at him, as if after experiencing this supernatural event, there was nothing more worthy of his surprise. “Is it none of my business that you want to reincarnate?”
“I…” Lu Shen paused, “I’m sorry, it’s my fault.”
Bian Shengjian turned his face, thinking of all the weird things about Lu Shen before, including the sentence “I’m a ghost”, and the corner of his mouth ticked up stiffly.
Bian Shengjian, you are an idiot.
“Did you approach me in the first place just to take advantage of me?” he asked.
“Yes.” Lu Shen hesitated for a while and then added, “but I’m also afraid that you will encounter danger.”
“What danger?”
Bian Shengjian looked at him coldly. At this moment, although he no longer wanted to believe every word Lu Shen said, if he wanted to escape from this world, his only hope was the beast in front of him….
The huge disappointment and the pain of being exploited burned his heart like a raging fire, and he almost broke his teeth, gritting it hard before speaking as calmly as possible. “Go on.”
“Generally, the resentful spirits can only stray in the familiar places they stayed in during their lifetime,” Lu Shen said. “Because these people were all students before they died, most of them were located in the school, that is, the No.4 Middle School.”
Bian Shengjian nodded.
“You asked me before if I heard a bell…” Lu Shen lowered his head, “That’s the soul bell I placed in the back mountain.”
“Soul Bell?” Bian Shengjian looked at him, “What do you mean?”
“The resentful spirits are in hiding, and because I am a spirit envoy, they are generally afraid of me.” Lu Shen said, “It is very difficult to find them…..most of the time I only rely on luck.”
“Aren’t you a spirit envoy?” Bian Shengjian couldn’t help interrupting him, “Don’t you have any special abilities?”
“My special ability………haven’t you already seen it?”
Lu Shen shrugged his shoulders, “My thoughts can control and kill people.”
Bian Shengjian didn’t speak, and what flashed before his eyes was a painful face.
“And…the drawn talisman.” Lu Shen hesitated for a moment, and his expression displayed regret. “The one under your bed was actually not an exorcism talisman, but a soul-calling talisman.”
Bian Shengjian waited silently for his explanation.
“Every night of the full moon, that is, the fifteenth of every month.” Lu Shen said, “The hidden resentments will release their residual resentments, and these residual grievances will take the opportunity to enter some people’s dreams and arouse their memories of the deepest, most painful and most regretful events in their lives, and torture them. If the will of the invaded is not strong enough, they will easily be seduced… That is, they will lose their hope of living, and they will eventually choose to commit suicide.”
Lu Shen didn’t dare to look up at Bian Shengjian’s eyes, and just went on talking to himself, “In other words, the previous suicide incidents in the school, all these were done by residual resentments, so…..”
“So they all died in the end.” Bian Shengjian looked at him, “What’s the use of the Soul Bell?”
“It can stabilize people’s minds and prevent them from being invaded by resentment.” Lu Shen took a deep breath, “The bell can’t be heard by ordinary people, but you told me that you heard it that day, so I knew from that moment that the Soul Bell was useless to you.”
“So the bowl of water you gave me…” Bian Shengjian pinched his palm, “What’s the matter with that talisman under my bed?”
“What I put in your school bag was indeed a protective talisman. It can be burned into ashes and sprinkled into the water to eliminate the influence of residual resentments on you, but the talisman attached to the bottom of your bed was solely my own assertion.” Lu Shen said, “I want to know if you can be possessed by residual resentments.”
Bian Shengjian was shocked, and he looked at Lu Shen in disbelief. “…Why are you doing this to me? What did I do wrong?”
“No, you did nothing wrong.” Lu Shen said, “It’s because you simply met me.”
“You want to use me and find out where the resentful spirits are hiding, right?” Bian Shengjian’s tone was very light.
“…Yes.” Lu Shen lowered his head, “But I didn’t expect it would really succeed.”
Bian Shengjian hooked the corners of his lips expressionlessly, suddenly raised his hand and gave himself a slap, and after a while, blood dripped from the corner of his wounded mouth.
“What are you doing!” Lu Shen roared and grabbed his hand tightly. “Every injury you receive here will directly affect your body in reality!”
“I was wrong.” Bian Shengjian still kept the smile on the corner of his mouth, “Lu Shen, my biggest mistake was believing you.”
“Third brother…” Lu Shen gritted his teeth, “After we go out, you can take revenge on me any way you want, but at least not now. “
“Shut up, you don’t have the right to call me that.” Bian Shengjian wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, “You make me feel sick.”
Lu Shen’s lips trembled and nodded silently.
“Then what should I do now?” Bian Shengjian took a deep breath, feeling a needle-like pain sprouting in his temple. “How can I get out of here?”
“Wait.” Lu Shen said, and suddenly stood up as if he had sensed something. “It’s coming. “
“What?” Bian Shengjian was stunned, then also stood up.
“The target of this mission,” Lu Shen gazed in one direction without blinking, “if her resentment is resolved, we can go out.”
“What resentment are you exactly talking about?” Bian Shengjian couldn’t help but ask.
“The range of resentment is very wide,” Lu Shen, “there are many ways to resolve it, it may be to help solve a problem, or it may be to kill a person.”
“But murder is not allowed, so it can only be solved by other means.” Lu Shen added another sentence.
“Then according to your meaning,” Bian Shengjian frowned, “you want to change the past?”
“It’s only a change to a certain extent, and because the person who resented is already dead, the final result will not be affected.” Lu Shen looked at him, “Death is an important node that cannot be crossed, but before this node, changes are allowed.”
“That is to say, the period we are in now is the important time period when the resentful spirit has the most strong grievances.”
Bian Shengjian was silent, suddenly he seemed to have sense something, Lu Shen and him both turned their heads and look in the direction of a corner of a street—
A person was walking slowly towards this side with its head lowered.
