No more sounds could be heard in the bamboo forest.
Tang Yu and Lin Chen held lanterns and walked quickly one behind the other.
White stones can be vaguely seen under the light and shadow. The further you go forward, the more densely packed they become, forming a path out of the void and the solid.
After walking for a while, Tang Yu stopped and looked back at Lin Chen: "It's almost enough to get them here, they are all following me."
He pretended to be angry: "I don't curse. Do you really think I’m not angry? I don’t want to see anyone now.”
Lin Chen opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but no word came out.
He has never been very good at talking, and his thinking is not very quick. He is usually taciturn. At this time, he really doesn’t know what to say.
In other words, it is inappropriate to say anything to a person who is calculated and forced by the group and is about to die.
Tang Yu looked at Lin Chen who couldn't beat him with three sticks, and sighed: "If you want to follow, then follow. If I still can't beat the tiger, I will use you as my backstop."
Lin Chen nodded hurriedly: "Yeah!"
Tang Yu: "..."
The two continued to move forward in silence. In the silence, they could only hear the "rustling" sound of footsteps breaking bamboo leaves.
The light of the lantern can barely illuminate a small area of the ground in front of the toes, while the wider area is filled with substantial darkness.
The mist in the forest reflects the orange halo of stars, and the flying dust forms a fine gauze, which does not seem to be used to reject the darkness, but to bind humans within it.
Lin Chen followed Tang Yu and walked through the mist. The mountain wind blowing coldly on his face, even the spirit body could not help but feel cold.
The wind seemed to be mixed with strange sounds that were difficult to ignore, the "crunching" sound of chewing bones, and the "whooshing" breathing of beasts, pouring into the ear holes one after another, arousing terrifying associations.
Tang Yu clenched the saber in his hand and followed the sound.
The familiar smell of blood tickles the tip of the nose, and the sticky smell of death surrounds the body. Numerous bones lie on the ground, and green will-o'-the-wisps float lightly, indicating that the front is a forbidden area for ghosts.
Lin Chen saw two green flames as big as lanterns lighting up in the darkness in the distance. They were located two stories high, in pairs, and were incompatible with the surrounding will-o'-the-wisps.
Those are the eyes of a tiger, cold, fierce, and arrogant.
The huge tiger walked through the mist from the depths of the bamboo forest, with a faint green light floating on its pitted surface. It looked like a ghost, a demon, or an animal, but the pride and playfulness in its eyes was very human-like.
Stepping on bamboo leaves, white stones and skeletons, it walked to the players and lowered its head to look down at Tang Yu, who was standing at the front.
"Roar——"
It opens its bloody mouth and roars at humans who dare to challenge its authority.
“I hope there are no animal protection laws in weird games.” Tang Yu muttered and raised the saber in his hand.
The tiger demon didn't know whether he understood his teasing, so he roared again, raised his sharp tiger claws high, and slapped Tang Yu hard.
The expected scene of blood and flesh splattering did not appear. The tiger's claws passed through Tang Yu as if they penetrated a ball of air, and flew into the air without any obstruction.
Tang Yu just stood there, untouchable and unharmed.
The tiger demon finally realized something and looked at the young man in front of him in confusion, fear gradually woven into his eyes.
Tang Yu smiled and raised his saber to the tiger's neck: "Now do you know what your grandfather and I are? Weren't we crazy before?"
The tiger retreated hastily, but it was too late. Tang Yu swung his sword and thrust it into the soil, used the force of his arms to prop up his body, turned over and jumped onto the tiger's back.
The tiger had a premonition of what he was going to do, and hurriedly ducked and was about to roll over. However, Tang Yu raised his hand first and patted its shoulder blade.
“Bang!”
The smoke clinging to the body suddenly dispersed. The king of beasts in life and the terrifying monster after death collapsed, with two green fires in his eyes. It flickered twice and then extinguished, leaving only the dust and ashes of smoke that lingered for a long time.
[The main mission has been completed, please follow the guidance of the guiding green lantern to leave the instance]
[Number of remaining guiding green lanterns: 5]
[Note: Each green guiding lantern can only open one exit and guide one person through]
Lin Chen stood aside and looked at his hands blankly The golden color of the lantern in the center faded away, and the green color began to flicker from the edge.
The corpse of the tiger demon collapsed in a few breaths, and as a gust of wind passed by, the flesh, blood and dust on the surface dispersed.
There was only a scarecrow that was two people tall. It was tied into the shape of a tiger. It was worn in many places from top to bottom. It looked quite old.
Looking around, where are the bones and corpses on the ground?
It was clearly white paper money and half-cut paper figures, spread one after another in the mud!
......
In the middle of Yanghua Town, in the raging fire, the door and wall of the house curled up like burnt paper. It should be wood, but it was burned out of the paper. Tie texture.
The townspeople, who had fully revealed their true form as scarecrows, jumped into the fire one after another. The crackling sounds of their hair could be heard in fragments, and the billowing black smoke swirled around the fireworks. It was unknown whether they were vegetation or trees. The ashes are still the condensation of ghosts and monsters.
In the black smoke, a figure wearing a blue official uniform stood suddenly, it was Meng Fang.
He has no body, even if he walked through the fire of his own karma, he was not damaged at all.
The hem of his clothes, beard and hair moved automatically, and he pointed his right hand at Qisi, with an angry glare on his square face: "How dare you, Fang Xiaoxiao, to destroy our foundation of Yanghua Town?"
Qisi was in the light of the fire. Zhong Zi stood there feeling bored for a long time. It was only at this moment that he finally laughed sincerely when he heard Meng Fang's words: "Inheritance? What inheritance do you have? You can deceive others, but don't deceive yourself. ”
After pouring the alcohol, Qiu Xin carried the empty wine jar and returned to Qisi’s side. He just happened to hear his very familiar words. They were just said to tease him an hour ago, but now they were thrown away intact. Give it to NPC.
Oh haha, if you learn it now and use it now, that’s right.
Qisi clicked his tongue and sighed: "But those who are seeking fame, deceiving the world, and bullying the people with righteousness actually think they have a position to accuse others. Should I say you are confident or arrogant? Or - Sad or ridiculous?”
Meng Fang stood tall and straight, standing with his hands behind his back, looking into Qisi’s eyes through the smoke and said coldly: “I am studying hard in the cold window, with the ambition of managing the world and benefiting the people. To establish a heart for heaven and earth, and to establish a destiny for the people.
"I was entrusted with important tasks by the saints. I originally wanted to clear up the imperial court, but unexpectedly the barbarians invaded our Central Plains and bullied my son. The building was about to collapse and he had no choice but to take orders in the face of danger. ”
The endless wisps of black smoke condensed into twisted human faces, crowded and surging with each other in the firelight. The golden flames returned to green color at certain angles, turning the deep purple The sky is reflected in a charming and strange way.
Meng Fang stood under the night sky in front of the crowd of ghosts, unmoving, and said in a loud voice: "While alive, I gathered the remnants of the soldiers, guarded Yanghua Town, and lived and died with the people of the city; after death, I rebuilt Yanghua Town for the dead. Soothe his soul.
“You can never listen to criticism, right and wrong will always be clear to you. I burned the ointment to follow the sundial, worked hard and slept hard at night, and felt clear in my heart. "Qisi patiently listened to the impassioned speech and tilted his head: "Then please explain the situation of the tiger monster in the bamboo forest. "
Meng Fang said: "Outside the newly built Yanghua Town, there will inevitably be disturbances from monsters, ghosts, beasts and insects. In order to gain peace overnight, I can only trade with that tiger monster. , so that it can protect Yanghua Town in the outer ring. "
Qisi sighed: "What makes you think that even now, you can still deceive us with these words? ”
He paused and spoke clearly: "We have also been to the Bamboo Forest. After the tiger monster bit the people, it still left the rogue ghost as its residue." The townspeople who were killed by ghosts were left with nothing. After becoming Xiyi, they moved to the west of the town - is this letting the tiger monster eat the air?
"Well, you are still pretending to catch the ghosts and send them to the mirror. Are you afraid that they will not die thoroughly enough, so are you adding another processing step?"
In the light of the fire? The ghosts roared, Meng Fang lowered his head and said nothing, his face was half-brightened by the firelight, and his blue clothes fluttered in the wind.
Qisi continued: "Actually, I felt something was wrong on the first day. Who in the serious town would pile so many corpses behind the mansion.
"Later I found out that the identities of the townspeople were changed, but there were always shadows of a few identities fixed in human form. I began to suspect that you wanted to use outsiders like us to exclude dissidents. The so-called humanoid caoza is A sign that induces us to take action."
He raised the corners of his lips and smiled brightly: "You see, you can get rid of a person with just a tap on the shoulder, and he is still a gangster from beginning to end. What a ghost did, so clean and convenient.
"What we did really fits the name of 'ghost', but it's not the ghost of the tiger monster who took the blame, but your ghost." That’s all.
“You want to maintain the stability of Yanghua Town, so no townspeople other than you can know the truth. They must be ignorant, they must be ignorant, and they must think that they are still alive.
"It is a pity that the scholar is a character who is both literate and has frequent contact with outsiders, so he is destined to know more than others. You can't do without such a useful agent, and you don't want the secret to be leaked, so you can only silence it immediately. ”
At this point, Qiss played with the [Cursed Pendulum] and shook his head pretendingly: "To be honest, I quite admire those scholars. They can obviously be complicit with you, but they are dedicated to hinting us the truth.
“The first one gave us urgent instructions, telling us the rules while drawing our attention to you; the second one encouraged us to watch the burial, and then discover the secret of the identity change of the townspeople. Sensing the flaw in the 'tiger monster eats people' argument; the third person directly told us the answer——"
"If you can live freely and as you please, who wants to live in fear and fear? What about in the forbidden realm of despair? No matter who is harming others, they are all evildoers. ”
Qisi repeated the scholar’s words word for word, his playful and sarcastic attitude coincided with the sonorous and gentle tone in his memory, as if countless people were shouting their innermost demands in unison.
He Smiling, he pretended to be serious and asked: "So Master Meng, whose puppet are you? ”
Meng Fang closed his eyes for a while and then opened them again, and said calmly: "When you are born in the court, you are loyal to the emperor; when you die in the wilderness, you seek survival for the people. I have never been selfish."
In his eyes Reflecting the fierce light of the fire, it seems that through the connection of the same fire, we can see another time and space thousands of years ago.
At that time, the army was defeated like a mountain, and countless generals either died in battle or surrendered. Only a man of letters, he, stood up resolutely and led the troops to resist the enemy.
The defeat was certain, and he struggled to hold on to Yanghua Town. He watched helplessly as his morale declined day by day, and countless people fled in all directions, dragging their families and families with them.
In order to stabilize the morale of the army, he gritted his teeth and killed several deserters and some troublemaking refugees. From then on, he was out of control.
Those who dare to retreat will be killed, and those who dare to escape will be killed. No one can leave the city and must live and die with the city.
The tragic and heroic character cannot offset the disparity in military strength. The remaining soldiers are gradually disintegrating, and the defense line has repeatedly shrunk. Everyone knows that the city cannot be defended.
Maybe today, or maybe tomorrow, this precarious city will be breached and become the enemy's garrison.
At this moment, Meng Fang received news from the king's division and learned that there was another army protecting the king and retreating to the south in order to recuperate and make a comeback.
He realized that there was one last thing he could do for the king - to strengthen the walls and clear the country, burn the city and destroy the food supply, leaving no supplies for the enemy.
On the day when the city was broken, Meng Fang drew his sword and killed himself, martyrdom for his country; several loyal soldiers set fire from the four corners of Yanghua Town and tried their best to burn the materials in the city.
In the raging fire, most of the townspeople who had no time to escape were burned to death; when the enemy troops entered the city and found nothing, they massacred the refugees to vent their anger.
Meng Fang’s soul wanders around the world, drifting away together with all the innocent souls who died in vain.
He saw the devastation, saw countless corpses of tragic victims, heard the mournful cries of ghosts, and the accusations from the common people.
He seemed to finally wake up from the nightmare, and his heart, numbed by the fatigue of many days, ached: he began to think, what should the people deserve?
A vast team of dead souls were wandering around. Some entered reincarnation, some dispersed into nothingness, and some followed Meng Fang, wandering aimlessly.
Just like they came to Yanghua Town together to escape the war, now they will also find a place to return together.
After walking like this for a few days, Meng Fang came to a bamboo forest.
He still had a lot of things that he didn't understand, and he would continue to think about them, but now he had to put all his thoughts on hold for a short time.
He saw a man in red clothes sitting lightly on a bamboo branch. A golden silk ribbon hung from the hem of his clothes, with strange patterns embroidered on the edges, like the attire of an ancient witch.
The man lowered his head and was slowly making a scarecrow with his hands. First, he carefully covered the surface with a layer of green paper to serve as clothes. Finally, he did not forget to apply lipstick and blush on the head with his fingertips.
There was a huge tiger lying under the man's feet. It seemed that he could see or sense Meng Fang. It kept baring its teeth at where Meng Fang was standing, but at a certain moment it stopped moving.
Meng Fang approached uncontrollably and discovered that the tiger was also made of straw!
“You’re here.” The man on the bamboo tree suddenly raised his eyelids and looked at Meng Fang, as if he had anticipated his arrival and had been waiting here for a long time.
Meng Fang was slightly startled and asked: "Who are you?"
The man lowered his eyes and smiled, and said: "I can feel your confusion and see your desire, which is as small but interesting as your soul.
"Would you like to pray to me? I may be able to grant your wish. ”
A long scarlet scroll spread out out of thin air in front of Meng Fang’s eyes, with golden vines weaving text on it.
A strong wind suddenly blew, and Meng Fang’s soul was blown towards the man, directly attached to the latter On the scarecrow in his hand.
When Meng Fang came back to his senses, he found himself standing firmly on the ground, followed by a long and narrow shadow.
He touched his arm and felt the warm flesh.
People are afraid of death and long for life, but those who have passed away cannot be admonished.
But what if there is a power that can make people lose the memory of death and regain a new life?
What if... we could give everyone a chance to live again?
Meng Fang looked at the bloody contract scroll in a daze, then stretched out his hand out of nowhere and held the golden quill.
In the haze, he only listened to the god-like being read out malicious words in a compassionate tone:
"You will always be awake and remember everything. After your ideals and innocence are consumed, fear and cowardice will Gives birth to greed and ambition."
"I look forward to seeing your sins, which will be the best food for the rules; I will taste your pain with pleasure, nothing is more fascinating than tragedy."( End of chapter)