Chapter 30: Boundary Division
Lu Renzheng was squatting on the ground, resignedly picking up the scattered human heads one by one and putting them into the storage bag that Si Yuan had given him.
I have to say that the storage bag is really convenient. No matter how many things are put in it, the weight will not increase and the volume will not change. Lu Ren was happy to think whether the employee purchase channel will be opened in the future. This is simply a must-have item for home and travel. If it is opened, Lu Ren hopes to get an employee discount based on his length of service.
Lu Ren worked tirelessly to pick up the fruits, but the head fruits on the ground were not quiet at all. Every time he touched a head fruit, it would curse and say a few words.
"I'm not done yet! I'm not done yet!"
"You hurt me! Can't you be gentler?"
"What are you looking at! If I could beat the two men behind you, I would have jumped up and hit your knees."
Noisy, very noisy.
In front of Lu Ren lay the human head tree that was chopped off by Si Yuan's palm. As soon as the tree fell to the ground, the leaves that were originally full of vitality seemed to be sucked dry in an instant. They immediately turned yellow and withered, and fell off in an instant. The moment they hit the ground, they decomposed into soil, as if the normal growth process of a leaf was suddenly displayed in front of Lu Ren at a hundred times the speed.
The big tree disappeared, leaving only a field of ferocious human-head fruits. They no longer looked like Lu Ren and his old classmates. Their faces had turned into many faces of people that Lu Ren did not recognize, both men and women, old and young.
Si Yuan said that these were people who had used the elixir of immortality.
Behind Lu Ren, Si Yuan was slowly cleaning the blood off his hands with a handkerchief. Xi He stood opposite Si Yuan. Although the former did not speak, his expression was obviously unfriendly. Although the two did not make eye contact, Lu Ren was still keenly aware that under the calm sea, there were countless dangerous undercurrents surging.
They seemed to be in a silent standoff.
Lu Ren finally put the last human head fruit into Si Yuan's storage bag. Without the noisy human head fruit, the whole scene suddenly became quiet. The typhoon had passed through, and the clouds had cleared and the rain had stopped. The breeze blew across the hills, and the early birds began to sing. The mountain peaks in the distance were already outlined by a white line in the first rays of morning light.
It's almost dawn.
Lu Ren, who hadn't slept all night, couldn't help but feel his eyelids twitching. He yawned quietly, then looked at Si Yuan and Xi He standing on his left and right, thinking that it was no use to stay in this stalemate , so he took the initiative to start a conversation: "Um... my friend is still injured in there."
Lu Ren had been picking fruits here for quite some time, but the people in the villa had been silent for a long time. Zong Yi, who was taking care of them, had not come out to check on them either, which was actually unusual.
Si Yuan said: "They are safe for now. The elixir of immortality is the spider silk of hell, which will endlessly attract the dead. Everyone here today has been contaminated by the scent of the elixir of immortality. If it is not cleaned up, there will be endless disasters. I have wrapped them all in the barrier. Someone will take over later."
It is said that those who fall into the Avici Hell will suffer endless suffering and will never be able to return. The Buddha showed mercy and ordered spiders to hang their silk over the abyss to save the people from the impossible. However, the evil spirits rushed to be the first and did not know how to give way. The silk was eventually overwhelmed and broke in the pool of blood. ①
The same is true for the elixir of immortality.
Since ancient times, the elixir of immortality has attracted many people, but the humans who have been resurrected by the elixir have all had their temperaments changed drastically and become bloodthirsty.
That is not the light of hell, it is just despair in disguise, just fallen flowers in the mirror and the moon in the water.
Therefore, tens of millions of years ago, the emperor issued an order: the elixir of immortality should be imprisoned forever in the Eight Chambers of Wushan Mountain, and the yellow bird and the black snake were ordered to guard it, just to be on the safe side.
But is there anything in the world that is truly perfect?
After graduating, Sheng Min was dressed in bright and beautiful clothes and looked wealthy. He claimed to be in the catering business, but the competition in the catering industry was too fierce these days. He could make enough food and clothing, but he couldn't make much money. How could he satisfy his pursuit of a superior life? He was not satisfied. People go up and water flows down. He wanted to succeed, which was not wrong in itself, but he was unwilling to be down-to-earth. He just wanted to use some unconventional methods to make quick money.
All problems stem from the word greed.
He got a method to enter the ghost market from a wild Taoist priest. That method was different from the one Jiao Jiao gave to Lu Ren. It was a side door method. Although it did not limit when to enter the ghost market, it limited the time to stay in the ghost market. At first, Sheng Min only bought some exotic ingredients from the ghost market . He remembered the words of the wild Taoist priest and only entered the store with red lanterns.
After he launched these dishes using monsters as ingredients, his business became extremely popular and he made a lot of money.
But the supply of goods in the ghost market was not stable, and the red lantern shop gradually could not meet Sheng Min's needs. The time he could stay in the ghost market was limited, so he began to go to the yellow lantern shop to shop. Sheng Min was actually quite lucky. He found good ingredients in the first two times he went to the yellow lantern shop and made a lot of money.
But the third time he brought out the monster, it was a lie.
Not only did he turn himself into a half-ghost, he also ate other people's food and had to pay a large sum of money. In order to pay off his debts, Sheng Min began to smuggle ghost items from the ghost market to the human world.
The last time, he took out the elixir of immortality from the Black Lantern shop.
Si Yuan was patiently explaining to Lu Ren the future arrangements for his group of old classmates.
Xi He, who had been standing by as a background, couldn't help but glance at Si Yuan after hearing this. "After three thousand years of separation from the Heaven Realm, you have indeed changed a lot. In the past, you didn't care about the lives of humans." He raised his chin slightly and pointed at Lu Ren. "What about him?"
"Of course he will follow me. He is my employee and has employee benefits."
Xi He raised an eyebrow: "Employees? Humans?"
This was somewhat beyond Xi He's expectations. He scanned Lu Ren from head to toe, as if studying his peculiarities.
Lu Ren felt that Xi He's gaze was a little too explicit, and Lu Ren couldn't help but ask Si Yuan: "Who is this?"
Si Yuan's answer was very cold. He didn't seem to want to introduce Xi He's identity: "Xi He, the governor of Buzhou Mountain."
Lu Ren seized the opportunity and asked: "What exactly does Jie Si mean?"
Seeing that he really knew nothing, Xi He was amazed but still gave him some scientific advice: "The saints once divided the world into ten realms. Each realm has its own department to manage it. They are independent of each other and do not interfere with each other."
Si Yuan added: "However, after tens of thousands of years, the ten realms have already fallen apart, and after tens of thousands of years of reorganization, only the Nine Netherworld Realm is left, which governs the three realms of 'Hell, Hungry Ghosts, and Asuras', the Buzhou Mountain Realm governs the Heaven Realm, the Shanjian City Realm governs the 'Sravaka Realm, Pratyekabuddha Realm, Bodhisattva Realm, and Buddha Realm', and the Foreign Household Investigation Bureau is responsible for the two realms of 'Animal and Human'. Although there are connections between the realms, the cooperation is not close."
Lu Ren actually didn't hear a word. These terms were too difficult to pronounce. He really couldn't match the notes he heard with the Chinese characters he knew. His only thought was why other people's names of Jiesi sounded so noble, but they called it such a stupid name as the Foreign Household Registration Investigation Bureau?
However, Lu Ren still heard the three words "Heaven Realm" very clearly. He blinked and asked belatedly, "Then Xi He came from the Buzhou Mountain Realm Division. Isn't he... a god?"
Si Yuan couldn't deny it: "You can say that."
Lu Ren almost subconsciously put his hands together and bowed to Xi He.
Xi He frowned and asked Lu Ren: "What are you doing?"
Lu Ren explained seriously, "This is also the first time I've seen a deity. I don't know what etiquette to follow. This is how we worship gods in the human world. I hope you don't mind. I came in a hurry today, so I'm not very polite. Next time, tell me in advance and I'll bring you a roasted pig."
Xi He: "..." He sighed silently and asked Si Yuan: "Didn't you tell him?"
Lu Ren was confused and was thinking: What do you want to tell me?
Then he heard Si Yuan's voice coming from the side: "Xi He, is my blood brother."
Lu Ren was stunned for a moment. Brother? Then he and Si Yuan are the same species? Xi He is a deity, then Si Yuan...
Lu Ren's pupils could be said to be trembling.
Si Yuan's helpless voice continued: "The Rain Master and Baihua from your logistics team also came from the heavenly realm. "
The CPU in Lu Ren's brain could hardly process such information: Who did he just say? Are the two people who tell him crosstalk in the office every day gods?
Lu Ren felt that the filter of god in his childhood memory was shattered at this moment.
Xi He seemed a little impatient. He stretched out his hand and said to Si Yuan, "Give me the elixir of immortality. The elixir left by the Emperor of Heaven should be managed by the Buzhou Mountain Realm Division."
Si Yuan said slowly, "The elixir of immortality has always been imprisoned in Wushan, which is the territory of the Two Worlds Division. It seems that there is nothing wrong with me coming here to retrieve the lost items."
Xi He frowned: "The Black Snake and the Yellow Bird failed to keep the immortality elixir. If they can lose it once, they can lose it a second time. The Two Worlds Bureau cannot be trusted."
Si Yuan didn't seem to want to talk to his brother: "It's not up to you to decide whether it's credible or not."
Having said that, Xi He silently tightened his grip on the hilt of the Tang sword at his waist.
Lu Renzhen was afraid that the two of them would start fighting, so he hurried out to mediate: "Calm down, we are all family, please don't fight."
After hearing this, Si Yuan said to Lu Ren very seriously: "Don't worry too much, he has never been able to beat me since he was a child."
These remarks that added fuel to the fire really made Lu Ren feel overwhelmed.
Fortunately, the brother Xi He did not seem to intend to fight with his brother here. He stared at Si Yuan and said, "You know, what happened today cannot be hidden from Buzhou Mountain Jiesi. They will come to find you sooner or later."
Si Yuan seemed indifferent: "Then let them do it."
Seeing that he couldn't persuade Si Yuan, Xi He simply stopped struggling. He nodded slightly at Lu Ren, then turned around and walked towards the morning glow.
①The story of spider silk comes from Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s novel
