The fire burned everything away, revealing the original night sky.
When the firelight dissipated, the exquisite and elegant pavilions, the colorful and beautiful lights, and the charming and ugly female ghosts all disappeared, as if they had never appeared.
All that was left was a dark barren mountain.
Even though Wu Suowei had good eyesight, she had just been in the brightly lit ghost building and was shaken by the light of the fire. At this time, she could not see anything clearly. However, she heard some suspicious or frightened shouts around her, which made her hold the sword.
She turned around instantly, but because these voices were ordinary male voices, she did not attack immediately.
"Relax."
A familiar voice came from behind.
Wu Nuxia breathed a sigh of relief.
When the eyes gradually adapted to the darkness, through the hook-shaped moon and thousands of stars, one could vaguely see the barren mountain, countless tree stumps, the southwest horse tied to the tree stumps, the old friend of Yizhou standing behind him, and the people who had already sat up on the ground.
Several men with frightened faces.
I couldn't see clearly in the dark, but I could still see white stripes. I guess I wasn't wearing any clothes.
"Everyone's clothes should be nearby. Feel around and put them on," Song You said.
"who are you?"
"This is where?"
"I wasn't just..."
"Isn't it still daylight?"
Four different voices sounded together.
It can be heard that some of them are already regular visitors to this ghost house in the wilderness, at least it is not their first time here, while some of them do not know this. It is probably the first time they have encountered it and they have never heard of it before.
Some people's voices still have a lot of energy, some people are already very weak, and some people ouch a few times, thinking they have back pain.
Then there was a sound of fumbling with clothes.
When they had almost finished wearing their clothes, they heard the sound of a flame exploding:
"Canopy..."
Suddenly there was a firelight in the night.
However, Song You picked up a wooden branch from somewhere, and the flame automatically ignited on the wooden branch, illuminating a small area among the barren mountains.
Several faces were reflected by the firelight, with different expressions. The shadows of people, horses, and tree stumps were all cast on the ground. The ground was uneven and the light and shade were uncertain. They looked more like ghosts than the white faces and red makeup under the lights in the building just now.
"Where's the ghost here?"
Wu Suowei asked Song You.
"It's gone."
"This is gone?"
"Just a kid."
"You Taoist priests are good at this kind of thing." Wu Suowei frowned, "It's a pity that I didn't leave a token."
"There are specialties in martial arts. If a heroine encounters evil spirits outside in the future, it will be hard to be hurt by a sword, so it is best to leave. If you have to fight hard, you can smear blood on the blade. People who practice martial arts have strong blood and can overcome evil spirits."
"I know this. I'm not thinking about you. Why should I stab myself for no reason?"
When the other four people heard this, they all understood.
The expressions of the four people are also different.
One person opened his eyes wide, terrified.
One feels happy and has some aftertaste.
One person is disappointed yet relieved.
One person blamed them for being nosy.
The flames from the wooden branches in his hands illuminated their facial features in varying degrees of light and darkness. Through the flames of this small tent, the Taoist glanced at their expressions to get a glimpse of what was in their hearts.
This world would be impossible without fire.
"The sperm is in your brain!"
Wu Nuxia was so angry that she walked over and kicked the person who blamed them.
Song You didn't stop him and still stood where he was:
"It's a cool night in the mountains. You might be able to stay overnight in a nearby village. If you live nearby, go home. If you live far away, please find a place to stay."
Some people are grateful, some are angry.
There are also people who were kept by Wu Nuxia.
"The ghost was completely burned by you, and nothing was left. Although it is often the case to catch and eliminate ghosts, but in this way, according to the government's agreement, it will take a month to half a year after we unveil the list.
We won the reward only after the subsequent demons and ghosts happened." Wu Nuxia said, "But there is an eyewitness here who was awakened by your fire. With his testimony, we may be able to get the reward in a few days.
Get the reward."
"The heroine is thoughtful."
Song You bowed his hand to him, and then looked at the man who was still dressed in messy clothes but dressed as a scholar: "My surname is Song You, I am from Yizhou. I have unveiled the list and come here to get rid of ghosts. It is polite."
"This is what Wu did!"
"My surname is Gu... my surname is Gu and I am from Jingzhou. I would like to thank you two for saving my life. I am ashamed of myself."
Gu Yi only patted himself on the head.
"I'm really confused. I know that this is a barren mountain. How can there be gorgeous pavilions on the barren mountain that are not found in other cities and towns, and how can there be so many charming and charming women. But somehow, I didn't feel strange at that time.
, I thought that the prosperity of Changjing was just like this. I am really ashamed of the sages and the books of the sages that I have read..."
"Since they are demons, they can confuse people's minds. How can they be easily distinguished?"
Song You knew that even if there were ghosts and charms, given the behavior of the two little ghosts, it must be their lust that had taken advantage of them, but if he was asked to help testify, he would not hesitate to say these two words of comfort.
"From now on, remember that the word "color" is like a knife in your head, especially when traveling in the wilderness, you need to identify it more often."
"I know I know..."
"Can you still walk?"
"Yes! Yes!"
He was afraid that they would leave him behind.
"Take your luggage and set off with us. We are going to Changjing at this time. We will almost be able to reach the city gate at dawn."
"Okay, okay!"
Song You and the female hero walked back together.
The scholar followed them in panic.
"Don't be afraid, scholar." Wu Xia led the horse and said as she walked, "That female ghost only absorbs people's yang energy and can't eat people. The most you can do is shorten your life. Recently, you will have back pain and low spirits.
Even if you came to Changjing to take the exam, you already finished the exam a few days ago, right?"
"Yes, I just finished the exam, so I wanted to go out to enjoy the peach blossoms, but accidentally got lost." After hearing what she said, the scholar became even more frightened, "Will it really shorten his life?"
"What's wrong? You're too young!"
Wu Nuxia carefully picked the way and said with a grin: "Today, oh, it's already yesterday. I unveiled the list yesterday morning. The county magistrate said that as far as can be found, dozens of people have died due to their yang energy being sucked dry.
I don’t know how many people can’t be found, and I don’t know how many people are weak but are close to death, and I don’t know how many people have lost their lives in the past few years.”
"ah?"
The scholar was shocked.
The heroine seemed to have satisfied some kind of interest, and she grinned.
There are countless stars and a little fire on the mountain, gradually moving away.
…
Originally, if he had traveled all night, he would have been able to reach the city gate before dawn, just like Song Youyou said.
However, it was difficult to walk at night, not only for humans but also for horses. They had to find a place to take shelter from the wind and rest several times. In short, when they got cold, they walked for a while, walked for a while and rested for a while, until the sky turned white and the fish belly was almost ready.
After walking halfway, the remaining half was almost finished in one breath.
Song You returned to Willow Street in the morning.
As soon as he inserted the key into the keyhole, he heard a series of very urgent sounds on the wooden ladder inside. When he opened the door, there was a calico cat sitting in the house, licking its paws and looking at him.
"I'm back."
The calico cat put down its paw and looked at him doubtfully: "Didn't you say it would take a few days?"
“It went more smoothly than expected.”
"Did you catch a ghost?"
"Caught."
Song You walked back upstairs.
The calico cat followed behind him, raised his head and asked, "Where do you think our family's money went?"
"Isn't it hidden by Sanhua Empress?"
"you guess."
"I have no idea."
"Hidden by Empress Sanhua."
"Where is it hidden?"
"In the mouse hole."
"Miss Sanhua is amazing."
Maoer talked a lot, and Song You also tried his best to accompany him.
When he reached the second floor, he lay down on the bed.
"are you tired?"
"I'm just sleepy."
"Are you going to sleep?"
"almost."
"You also slept during the day..."
"yes……"
Song You's voice has become smaller and smaller.
He was vaguely aware of the calico cat rubbing its feet on the bedside. After wiping it clean, he jumped on the bed and got closer to observe him. Song You felt funny at first, and felt relieved at the same time. In this kind of peace of mind, he walked in last night.
The exquisite attic, the charming female ghost, or the different faces of the four prostitutes all disappeared from my heart.
It was too easy to fall asleep this time.
When I opened my eyes again, it was dusk.
It's like taking a long nap.
"..."
Waking up in the afternoon always feels strange.
Just then——
When she opened her eyes, there was no one in the room, and Empress Sanhua didn't know where she was. She got up and walked a few steps, opened the window, and saw only dim skylight in front of her. The dim sky in the evening made people feel like they were there.
The illusion of the end of time, but the curfew has not yet been lifted. At this time, there are no people on the streets outside the window. Only the tile roofs of the houses are connected together, and the world is quiet.
It feels like a day has been stolen and the entire world is missing.
This feeling is really wonderful.
So Song You put on his clothes and sat by the window for a while, enjoying the evening breeze and savoring this feeling. When it completely slipped away from his heart, he got up and walked downstairs slowly.
The door downstairs was open, and in the dim light of the sky, the cat was playing with a ball on the street.
Wu Nuxia took a small bench and sat under the eaves of her house, holding her chin up and looking at the cat.
When she saw Song You coming out, she turned her head and her eyes suddenly lit up: "Hey! You finally woke up! I thought you were going to sleep until tomorrow!"
"The heroine didn't sleep?"
"Squinted for a while."
"You should rest more."
"Jianghu people are in good health, so just go to bed early tonight." Wu Suowei said with a nonchalant expression, "I took the scholar to the county government today to hand in the results, and it went pretty smoothly. I guess the county magistrate believed the scholar's words and said that he would be sent to the county government these days.
If someone goes to that mountain and has a look, as long as he doesn't see anyone coming out of the attic in seven days, he will come and give us money... Don't worry, as long as we really have the ability to eliminate demons, he won't dare not give us money."
"It's a female hero doing everything, I'm really ashamed."
"What are you ashamed of? It's just that everyone has their own division of labor. You burned those ghosts directly with one fire. I'm ashamed of myself. I got an advantage and will give you more money when the time comes."
"The heroine's information is better."
Song You also went to the house and brought a bench out, sat at the door, took a rest and watched the cat playing with the ball on the ground.
"You are such an arrogant cat. I just said I would play with it, but it refused and almost scratched me."