Chapter 23: Splendid Voice (Part 2) "Is he your lover?" ...

The yellow leaves carried the message, somewhat reassuring the two men behind the bushes.

Li Zhixing thought this young woman was quite clever. Even when she was alone, she was still keeping an eye on the movements in the illusion. Whether the information she gathered was useful or not was not a matter of debate. The identities she assigned to them were quite reasonable, making it much easier even to use magical techniques.

With this in mind, he began to cast a spell, transforming his Confucian scarf and robes into the flowing robes of a monk. He then looked at the small black skeleton beside him.

Mo Zhi appeared to have died in a fire, his bones now charred black. He expended some of his magical power to create a flesh body. Judging by the size of her body and feet, the small black skeleton must have been a girl around Ye Qingzhan's age.

Li Zhixing thought for a moment and transformed her into a young alchemist.

Mo Zhi examined her new clothes, eyes filled with delight.

Seeing the smile on the imp's face, Li Zhixing averted his gaze with satisfaction, looking at the young man staring blankly at the ginkgo leaf. For as long as he spent preening himself, the young man stared at him.

Wen Gu lowered his eyes and stared at the ginkgo leaf, filled with questions: Why does she trust me so much?

Because of his dark aura, ghosts and immortal servants alike shied away from him, constantly dodging and avoiding him, desperate to get even the slightest bit of it.

But she, however, seemed completely unconcerned.

Even when they first met, the evil within her swarmed towards her like mad, wanting to devour her. It took a surge of anger from him then, and only then did Jiang Qi manage to calm her. He himself wasn't sure if he could suppress it in the future.

She could see it, but wasn't afraid at all. Or perhaps she was afraid, yet she chose to stay by his side, never leaving him.

And—

why did she believe the Yin Sha would always protect her and never retaliate, and why was she so certain he would find her? Just because he was a fellow ghost ferryman? But he clearly...

was he sincere or just pretending?

Why should she trust him so much? And how could she be so unguarded?

The leaf in her hand wrinkled as the boy's gaze deepened and became increasingly confused.

Li Zhixing sighed distressedly, thinking this man was truly ill-tempered, even judging his temper by a single leaf. He hurried forward and said, "We're running low on ginkgo leaves. Be gentle!"

The gloom in his heart gradually dissipated. Wen Gu suppressed the impatience in his brow and tucked the ginkgo leaves into his sleeve.

"Hey, hey, hey! This is mine..." Li Zhixing reached out, but he was still a step too late. Another of his precious leaves had been taken by this moody young man, brazenly and directly before his eyes. Unable to fight him off, he could only amend his words, "It's okay. I have plenty of leaves,

so this one won't hurt me." Wen Gu didn't even spare him a glance and walked away from the bush.

Li Zhixing wanted to curse, but he held it in. She considered disguising him, but seeing his azure robes resembled those of a sect monk, she gave up and resigned herself to following him.

After all, he was the Yin Sha's "master."

As

the girl approached, the Yin Sha slipped into the embroidered handkerchief. Ye Qingzhan sensed their presence. They were right beside her, yet she dared not approach easily.

The running girl finally stopped and suddenly asked, "Who are you? Why are you standing at my door?"

Concealed in the sleeve, Ye Qingzhan could see nothing, only the faint scent of flowers permeating her nostrils. She whispered, "Can you pull me forward? Pull me to the cuffs." She

actually commanded the Yin Sha.

The mist in the darkness, worn down by the wear and tear, inexplicably developed a false sense of allyship, and after a moment, they actually moved her forward.

The handkerchief rested on Ye Qingzhan's sleeve, and her vision suddenly brightened. She looked out at the girls standing under a cluster of green trees a few steps away.

They were all very good-looking.

One of them looked older, with thin eyebrows like willow leaves and decent makeup. He walked forward a few steps and said to the girl with a smile, "We are from Yunzhi Valley in Fenghua County. We came to Sui'an County to participate in the weaving and embroidery competition. On the way back, we got lost and now we would like to ask for a drink of water. Is it convenient for you?"

The girl in coarse cloth was about to agree, but a rough male voice spoke first and refused for her:

"It's not convenient!"

Ye Qingzhan was startled by the sudden scolding and turned to look at the man who walked out of the thatched courtyard.

The man was very tall, estimated to be about nine feet tall, but his body was like a bamboo pole under the cloth clothes. It took wind to fill it up, and he was already skin and bones. He turned around, and when Ye Qingzhan saw his face clearly, he was shocked again.

The man had wide eyes and sharp eyebrows. There were three claw marks from his left eye to the right side of his face, which was shocking and made his fierce appearance even more ferocious. His face was like a collapsed valley, his skin sticking to his flesh and bones, his eye sockets deep, his lips dry and cracked, a sign of serious illness.

"Dad..." the little girl called him, "Why did you come out?"

His voice was trembling, lacking the usual closeness between father and daughter. Fear and caution prevailed.

Ye Qingzhan was puzzled as he heard the man continue angrily,

"I didn't come out to wait for you to bring everyone home!"

There seemed to be a hidden meaning in his words, and the little girl's voice suddenly became tearful. She said sadly, "Dad—"

The people standing under the shade of the tree looked at each other, their faces slightly unnatural. The older woman hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and said gently, "I'm sorry, big brother, we've disturbed you so much." She paused, then added, "But you don't have to look down on us like this..."

Before the woman finished speaking, the man turned around, looked at her with a pair of deep-set eyes, and said in a bad tone, "What's wrong with you--"

He stopped abruptly in the middle of his words.

Ye Qingzhan leaned on his sleeves and looked at the two of them, wondering why Wen Gu and the others hadn't come yet, and there was a quarrel here.

"Brother Chu?" The woman thought for a moment and called out uncertainly.

When the man heard this, his face suddenly froze for a moment, and the hostility in his body disappeared. He lowered his eyes and said, "Come in and talk."

Hearing this, everyone's eyes were a little surprised.

Ye Qingzhan, whose eyes were rolling back and forth in his sleeves, was also shocked: Why did his face change so quickly?

The woman nodded and said to the girls under the shade of the tree, "Listen to Brother Chu and go in first."

The little girl standing at the door looked at them blankly, and after a moment she said, "I'll go get you some tea."

Just as everyone was about to step in, they heard the sound of horse hooves, rapid and fierce. The man walking in front had his eyebrows twitching wildly and shouted, "Go in quickly!"

The women were frightened by the shouting and hurriedly ran into the thatched cottage. The little girl next to her followed at the end, but was a step too late. Someone put a rope around her waist. She said, "Close the door!" As soon as she finished speaking, the rope around her waist was pulled up suddenly, and she stumbled and was dragged onto the horse.

The women in the yard were shocked and anxious, but they still followed the instructions and held their breath to listen to the movement outside.

Suddenly a young voice was heard, with a smile like honey in the voice, saying: "Little beauty, I haven't seen you for a few days. Do you miss me?"

Ye Qingzhan didn't know how the girl on the horse felt. She was suddenly thrown to the ground and wanted to curse: You are crazy!

"Master Jin, what's going on?"

Master Jin?

Ye Qingzhan, sprawled on the ground, looked at him.

This wicked young man, dressed in brocade and rich attire, had a very fair complexion and, while handsome, his narrow eyes held a mischievous glint, and his smile was frivolous.

This reminded her of the "Golden Toad."

Not in appearance, but in spirit.

She suspected this man was related to Master Jin.

The man under the horse had a gloomy face, and he tightened his hands in his sleeves again and again. He lowered his voice and said, "Did my girl offend you in any way?"

"Offended?" Young Master Jin glanced at the sickly-looking man under the horse, and then stared at the girl in his arms with lustful eyes, "You have indeed offended me. I haven't been able to find you for three days, and I miss you so much. I miss you so much that I feel uncomfortable all over, and I'm heartbroken. Tell me yourself, is this your fault? Should you be punished for this crime? What punishment should I give you? I'll punish you--" As he spoke, he pinched the girl's chin with his hand, forcing her to look up at him, "Be my maid."

The frivolous words and reckless behavior were unbearable for the girl on the horse. After suddenly breaking free from the shackles of his palms, she opened her mouth and bit his hand, and soon blood came out.

Ye Qingzhan looked at the blood flowing out of the woman's mouth, and felt happy. When he turned around, he saw that the man who was bitten hard actually smiled.

"As expected of a woman I, Jin Guan, have taken a fancy to. She's got a lot of guts!" Jin Guan's eyes flickered with a strange gleam, and he smiled a sinister, sickening smile.

He said slowly, "Little beauty, bite the bullet, bite the bullet, bite the bullet again." Before he finished speaking, the girl released her tongue and spat blood on his face.

Ye Qingzhan: "..." Well done! This man is sick.

Li Zhixing, who had been watching the situation from the tree, was speechless. He whispered, "So it seems I can accept my young apprentice jumping into a stream in the middle of winter." Wen

Gu, standing nearby, had a cold look in his eyes, a dark, murderous aura emanating from him.

Li Zhixing looked at him, patted his shoulder, and soothed him, "Calm down. I know you find him disgusting too and want to kill him. Wait, wait."

Mo Zhi crouched quietly in the tree, observing a different view from the man and immortal beside her. She looked past the thatched hut's earthen wall and gazed at the women in the courtyard.

Outside the thatched hut, the middle-aged man took a few steps forward, clenched his fists in his sleeves, with anger in his eyes, but he spoke in a servile manner: "Young Master Jin, please be merciful and let my daughter go."

Jin Guan wiped his face, but was not annoyed. Hearing this, he looked at the skinny man under the horse and said, "Let her go? Chu Letian, this young master really wants your daughter, why does it become 'let her go' in your mouth? You make it sound like I'm a lingering ghost and annoying, and I'm in your way."

"..." Ye Qingzhan thought to herself: Isn't it?

In just a short moment, she wanted to shut this man's mouth and drive him away - what kind of good young man would tie up a girl with a rope if he wanted to have an affair with her, and what kind of polite young man would say obscene words to someone else's daughter.

Not knowing how the father felt, the exiled immortal on the tree couldn't bear it any longer and tugged at Wen Gu's clothes: "Go down and kill him."

He thought, with Qinghuai's illusion as a reference, these people in this illusion must have a great relationship with Mo Zhi. Instead of continuing to listen to the crazy talk of the arrogant boy, it would be better to go down and find out.

Li Zhixing finished thinking, but he looked sideways and there was no sign of the person next to him. He hurriedly lowered his head to look for it, and found that Wen Gu had arrived under the tree and walked towards the crowd.

He also jumped down the tree with Mo Zhi.

Wen Gu arrived next to Chu Letian first, bent down and picked up the handkerchief on the ground. Ye Qingzhan, who had been lying on the ground for a long time, was held in his palm again.

Jin Guan saw a handsome young man suddenly come to Chu Letian's side, his brows suddenly frowned, his eyes were alert, he looked at the girl in his arms, and asked unhappily: "Is he your lover?"