There were noisy sounds outside the house, from far to near.
She Zishu's just-closed eyes opened again, not only because he heard something, but also because he felt the presence of fire. People in the water town lit torches, one after another, more and more. The residents crowded in
On the street, the dark night becomes brighter.
What's going on? She just turned over and heard the old man walking out the door and talking to the crowd. For some reason, everyone gathered in front of the house. It had never been so lively here. There was a woman crying and couldn't speak clearly. Wait.
Zishu put on his clothes and walked out. Suddenly, everyone took a step forward, making it look even more crowded.
The old man was calming the woman's emotions, and Zishu recognized her as a widow from the village. Others told her that the widow's son ran out to play after lunch and did not come back when it was getting dark. She heard other children in the village say that they went to the lower reaches of the river.
They were playing hide and seek, but everyone else went home before dinner. The widow remembered to look for her, and she saw her son alone in the river just after nightfall.
On the other side - at the intersection of rivers that were full of gloom, she was heading towards the water. She was about to rush down like crazy, but she happened to be seen by a fellow villager who rarely came back from doing business at night. Several grown men pulled her and held her down.
, she cried and recited her son's name. But people looked over and saw no one at all. Apart from the normal ups and downs of the river, there were no abnormal waves.
"We don't know where his son is..."
"He didn't come back with the other children. The children thought he was hiding and unwilling to come out. He would naturally go home when he was hungry."
"It's not entirely certain yet that he was—he fell into the river. We have to—"
"Miko-sama, miko-sama...save her! Save her son!"
The eyes of the crowd were brighter than their torches, ignited by a hopeless expectation. Shezi knew that her son was a bit naughty due to lack of discipline from his father. Although he was not so friendly on his first day here.
,
He even chased his little bird all over the street... But after his mother said a few words, he apologized. Seeing that Zishu didn't make things difficult for him anymore, he stopped messing around. He and his friends also gave birds
I caught a fish - although it was too big.
"I will go," Zishu said, "I will go right away."
There is no emotion in what she says, but people can clearly see the perseverance on her face. Most of the time, she can be defined as sincere because her power can be used by others. After all, she is indeed
Help was given. In this unreasonable world, not everything is unreasonable at all times. Although there are no fixed conditions, if good people really have no good rewards, then only bad people will be left in the world to fight Gu.
Zishu ran very fast and no one could catch up with her. Many children were crying and they were all woken up. Their mothers or the elderly stayed at home to coax them. The older children may know what happened and turned their heads.
She stretched out the window, or ran into the yard, waving to Zishu through the railing. She was like a gust of wind on fire, and didn't have much time to nod back to the children.
This section of the road was not too short, compared to the speed needed to save people - but she arrived in the blink of an eye. The water level in winter was not high, and there was a wide gravel strip on the river bank, but further down, the depth would be
It was more than enough to drown a child. It was too cold nearby, abnormally cold, and she knew very well that it was because of the heavy Yin energy. The terrible legends about the water town were by no means groundless.
Broken, she smelled the child's scent. He should have been here, but now he was gone. In the flowing water that was not turbulent but fast enough, there were many shadows standing still in the center. There were pairs of pairs on the shadows.
Gloomy eyes, like will-o'-the-wisps. They looked at Zishu across the water, as if their sight was coming from the other end of the Naihe Bridge.
"Hand over the child."
Her voice was not loud, but it was enough to compete with the sound of water. The shadows were silent, and each moved slightly, but there was not much reaction. Most people would never be able to see them, but judging from their height, most of them were unknown.
An adult child. She didn't know whether she should do this, but that boy should just be like this...
"Don't force me, I don't want to do it."
Zishu raised his hand, and half a circle of blazing fire surrounded her. Both ends of the arc-shaped fire wall were cut off by the river. The fire was so fierce that all the splashing water evaporated under the heat. These fires from hell can
The lingering ghosts are burned clean. But in this way, they are deprived of all possibility of reincarnation.
Yes. This is too much like a private trial, and there is absolutely no justice. Zishu's heart is also full of contradictions. She does not want to solve the problem simply and crudely in this way. And by doing so, the widow's son will really be handed over.
Come out? She didn't know whether the drowning child was completely dead in the time that came and went.
As for snatching people from Huangquan Road... she really didn't have much confidence. If everything was burned clean, then the little boy would... This was really not a good idea. But other than that, she didn't have much confidence.
Multiple choices.
Those shadows suddenly disappeared. They dived one after another and returned to the water. What a group of cunning water ghosts... Although he was reluctant, Zishu walked forward, step by step towards the deep water. Under the night, the green water looked like
There was a moving, scorching flame. She dived down, her sight in the darkness
Li looked around. There was nothing special - disturbed fish, swaying water plants, and dead branches and leaves stuck in the cracks of the rocks. But she knew that there were human bones nearby, more than one. Even though
Even in the water, she could smell it - even though she didn't have to breathe.
She couldn't dive deeper, and she didn't know why. Maybe she was too light, but this wasn't the sea, so how deep could it be, and how terrifying could the water pressure be? But there was an invisible barrier blocking her below.
She couldn't understand how an ordinary water ghost could be so powerful. In this way, she would have no way of finding the little boy's body.
What should I do... what should I do? She Zishu even thought, if it doesn't work, let's burn the river water in this area dry? The water upstream will still fill up, so it needs to be blocked, but where should we start? Where should the Yin River just flow into?
For a while? This was really a big project, but she couldn't think of any other way. The longer it was delayed, the more dangerous it would be for the child.
A burst of melodious music came from the water, which was too weird. Zishu couldn't tell what kind of instrument it was and what kind of music it was. The sound was too hazy, so she went upstream again and exposed her head to the river. Her long hair was like jet black.
Like water plants, they were gathered to the same side along the direction of the water flow. The music was much clearer, but the water got into her ears, which made her obviously feel uncomfortable. In addition, in addition to the sound of crackling flames on the shore, there seemed to be
Something else.
She looked towards the shore and suddenly swam over in fear.
"Don't come over here!"
Those little birds...how could those birds catch up here? She was so fast. And when she left the house, they were still sleeping on the corner of the bed, weren't they? One, two, three, four, no more and no less. They didn't
If he dared to get close to the wall of fire, he would just let out a sharp scream from a distance, hoarse at the top of his lungs.
She began to feel inexplicably anxious. Perhaps this was what people often call panic. For these water birds, her identity was equivalent to that of their mother. Think about it, the mother of the little boy would be so heartbroken about his disappearance.
At this point, Zishu was worried that he was the same, and even more worried that he was different.
Those birds haven't reached the water yet. Even adult birds cannot stay in such waters. Their down cannot isolate the water, and even absorbs water, making themselves heavy and bloated. She didn't know
Those birds were just trying to get close to her, or they were worried about her - or even wanted to rescue her. She had no choice but to go to the shore. The water ghosts didn't dare to do anything to her, but the resistance of the water still existed.
The safe zone outside the flames was too far away, and those little birds were gradually approaching here. Zishu could not keep up with their speed. She didn’t know what it was like for these little beings to overcome the coldness of winter.
Perseverance, but few people do this, right? After all, the widow wanted to jump into the river to save her son, but was blocked by so many strong men. This must be difficult.
But tragedy happened before her eyes.
Those little waterbirds sank one after another in the water. They should have instinctive fear and instinctive survival. It was as if something was dragging them below, but Zishu couldn't be sure. Because they were so weak, every time their wings
The beating of them makes no splash. Their disappearance makes no waves, just like the agitation of the river itself.
Until now, Zishu still cannot empathize with the mother who lost her son, but her heart is indeed empty. No one has survived, no one is left. Their weak screams of desperate death will never be heard again.
And just in the afternoon, they were curled up next to each other and sleeping, breathing evenly.
She seemed to have lost something, and gained something again. She lost what she didn't want to lose, and gained what she didn't want so much after getting it. She seemed to have no choice, and it seemed like this happened more than once.
Zishu climbed ashore in embarrassment, dragging his wet red dress. The water made the color of the cloth darker and more gorgeous. She was still like a flower, like fire - a broken flower, wet fire.
Before she had time to feel any deep pain, there was a gust of cold wind behind her. She turned around and saw a dark shadow following her. She smelled a familiar smell, but it was not that little boy. The shadow took a few steps closer, and she
He raised his hand expressionlessly, and a burst of fire rose from the ground and burned out of thin air. The red fire turned blue for an instant, accompanied by a distorted scream. It quickly returned to red and then dispersed. The arc-shaped wall of fire was still there.
While burning, other shadows will not come closer.
It was hard to say whether this was some kind of anger, but she felt nothing more.
"Ah, ah ah..."
She heard a familiar lament, as familiar as the breath just now. Zishu turned around, and the person she saw was an old woman with panic-stricken eyes. Her eyes were blank for a while, and her expression was lost. The open fire could not illuminate her eyes.
, these old eyes, like her old ears, died suddenly just now.
It's over.
All is lost.
That person is...
That person is——
Is it guilt or sin that fills her heart? She shouldn't have anything, she shouldn't have it. She was clearly here to help the child, but... the arc-shaped fire gradually weakened, weakening from a few feet to one foot. Grandma
There was a lively sound approaching from behind, and the light of the torches became clearer. The villagers were coming.
"Sister Zishu..."
Behind grandma, a boy suddenly poked his head out timidly. He was still alive! This was indeed something to be thankful for, but Zishu couldn't be happy. She didn't know whether it was because she had lost her "child" or because she had killed her.
The "child" of her benefactor. She really couldn't imagine how humans should react in this moment.
