Chapter 34: Splendid Voice (Thirteen) I do not envy the divine bird accompanying the Queen Mother, but I do...

Ye Qingzhan had no way of knowing what the deceased ghost Mo Zhi felt as he watched his living self plunge into the flames. He only knew that the illusion continued. Daybreak arrived.

An early-rising villager discovered a pile of blackened human bones amidst the grass shavings. They threw down their buckets and began to cry out. The villagers came and, amidst the charred clothing, vaguely identified the deceased as the beggar from yesterday.

One of the villagers reported the matter to the authorities, who arrived to investigate. The coroner concluded that there were no signs of harm; the victim had simply been burned alive.

Fearing repercussions, the villagers rallied, claiming the beggar had moved the scorched grass pile himself to an open field. Before this, they had returned home, unaware of what had happened next. They also gave the officials some money.

A beggar, her body burned in such a state that it was impossible to identify her true identity, the officials hastily concluded the case as suicide and ordered the villagers to bury her. Before leaving, they returned the money to the villagers, claiming they were going to buy

her a coffin. Ye Qingzhan and Wen Gu, along with Mo Zhi, disguised themselves as wandering knights and approached the villagers to help bury Chu Mozhi's body, a final farewell.

A square-faced villager said, "Why are there so many deaths around Fenghua County lately?" A

flat-nosed young man shoveling dirt beside him added, "Yes, I don't know what happened. First, we heard that a hunter from Camellia Village went to the Jin family and cursed the tyrant Jin Guan from head to toe in front of everyone in the city, cursing his entire ancestry. He was then beaten to death by the bully."

Ye Qingzhan and Wen Gu exchanged glances, then looked at Mo Zhi, who was staring intently at the two men.

"Guess what? Jin Guan died that very night!"

Everyone around them gasped.

The young man continued, "I heard that he died in a very tragic way. Not a single part of him was good from head to toe. The young masters who usually bullied men and women with Young Master Jin and did all kinds of evil things seemed to have lost their courage and turned crazy after that night." "

There are monks and Taoists who traveled through Fenghua County saying that the Jin family was haunted by an evil spirit." The young man shoveled the soil and said, "The evil spirit was none other than the hunter Chu Letian who was beaten to death."

After finally hearing the whole story, everyone seemed to understand. The square-faced eldest brother asked again, "I heard that the Chu family had a girl with a strange fragrance. What happened to her?"

The young man thought for a moment and said, "Maybe she was killed by the villain Jin. Otherwise, Chu Letian would not have been so desperate and cursed him like he was seeking his own death."

How Chu Letian died, Ye Qingzhan had already predicted it when he eavesdropped on her private conversation with Concubine Yun. That night, he said to Yunyan in the room: "With this sick body of mine, I can't protect my daughter while I'm alive. If I die, even if I become a ghost, I will drag those who hurt Mo Zhi into hell!"

It turned out that he was not joking, he really did it.

Wen Gu remembered what he said to Chu Letian before he left the Chu family, asking him not to regret his actions that day.

It is unknown whether Chu Letian regretted speaking ill of his daughter that day. But after listening to what others said today, he thought: If bullies are rampant, the law is useless, and justice is hard to see. What would he do if his loved ones suffered?

Thinking of this, Wen Gu glanced at the person beside him imperceptibly - Ye Qingzhan's clear eyes were misty, and he lowered his eyes to look at the charred bones on the straw mat, with worry between his brows.

- He must be more cruel than Chu Letian.

Everyone nodded, and the eldest brother asked again: "Jin Guan is dead, what happened to his father, the county magistrate?"

The young man propped up the shovel and said: "When Master Jin was brutally murdered, County Magistrate Jin was in our Fenghua County watching some embroidery competition. After receiving a letter from his servants, he hurried back home. What else could he do? Go back and collect his son's body."

The eldest brother shook his head and said: "I said that bad things should not be done to the extreme. The father is not good enough, and he spoiled his son too much. He has become a gangster. If you ask me, he deserves it! Chu Letian can be regarded as doing justice for the heaven."

"They are all dead, so let's not mention it." The young man saw the coffin being carried in, and he and the others worked together to wrap the bones on the ground with straw mats and put them into the coffin.

After they were done, the villagers left one after another.

The square-faced elder brother bowed to the blank wooden sign and said, "I didn't invite you home last night. The old woman has already told me. I went out to look for you, but couldn't find you. I didn't expect to see you like this when I saw you again. If it were last night... Never mind, I won't say anymore. You were a wanderer and homeless in your life. May this coffin protect you from the wind and rain."

Ye Qingzhan listened, feeling that people's hearts are always unpredictable. Wen Gu's expression also moved.

Mo Zhi listened to her words, tears streaming from the corners of his eyes, dripping onto the blank tombstone and soaking the wood.

The elder brother said to them all, "My dear heroes, thank you for your help. I have something to do at home, so I'll leave first."

After the elder brother left, Mo Zhi knelt in front of his own hungry grave, tears streaming down his face, not knowing whether he was crying for himself or for the man.

A crack appeared in the illusion, and in a blink of an eye, they arrived at a familiar place - the stage of the Red Dust Inn.

Hu Sanniang sat in the audience, laughing. With a clap of her hands, a group of vengeful spirits burst out of the window of a second-floor room. They gathered neatly around Chu Mozhi and slowly transformed into human form. They were all people she wanted to see again until her death.

"These vengeful spirits were taken back by the Black and White Impermanence. When they came, they were all charred bones, carved in your exact likeness. I left them here to do odd jobs at the inn," Hu Sanniang said.

Chu Mozhi knelt on the ground and looked at them.

Hu Sanniang raised her finger, and she was able to speak.

"I'm sorry."

Thousands of words, in the end, only three words remained.

Yun Ying and Yun Tianpiao looked at each other, smiled, and helped her up, saying, "We are all dead, so we won't say these polite words anymore, but there are some things that must be explained."

Hu Sanniang exchanged her ghost power for the four mirrors of the Shiyi shop, which she placed on the four green lamps in the corners.

Everything in Mo Zhi's illusion was projected on the stage, and they saw it all.

Yun Tianpiao said, "Yingying and I have never set our hearts on the inner palace." She looked at Yunying, who continued, "What we've always hoped for is to be like Aunt Yun, saving displaced and abandoned children, and teaching them skills that will allow them to survive in the world and live well."

"That night, I asked Aunt Sun about what life was like in the palace. I just wanted to know what kind of person the Empress, who elevated the status of the embroiderers, was. I didn't expect you to misunderstand me."

Aunt Yun also stepped forward and said, "As for the quota for entering the palace, Aunt Sun had her eyes on you from the beginning. But when we arrived in the capital, the tragic news of the Empress's death came from the palace, and the matter of selecting a concubine to enter the palace was shelved."

Chu Mozhi listened, tears streaming down her face. She shook her head and said, "I didn't want to enter the palace, not at all. I was just afraid that Jin Guan would hurt you, afraid that I would hurt you... but, but I still hurt you."

Yun Ying patted her shoulder and said, "It's not your fault. It was that evil Taoist priest and Ye Mei who did the evil."

"If my resolve wasn't weak, how could I have believed that person's slander and been controlled by the Night Phantom in my dream?"

Wen Gu, who stood silently to the side, said, "The Night Phantom the fox put into the medicinal herbs is a highly condensed form. It's beyond human willpower to overcome. You can't break free. After entering a dream, a person's mind is at its most unstable and weak. If your mind falters for a moment, they will take advantage of the opportunity and control you without a moment's respite."

The people around her said a lot at once, still speaking for Chu Mozhi. Ye Qingzhan was pleasantly surprised and said quickly: "Don't be too sad, it's all the fox's fault. I don't know what wisdom he wants to get that makes him so cruel and scheming."

The ghosts surrounding her were awakened by her words, and they all remembered what the fox man took away from Chu Mozhi's eyebrows.

Ye Qingzhan asked Wen Gu: "Do you know what 'wisdom' is?"

She remembered that the fox Taoist also appeared in Qinghuai's illusion, and Xue Ning also mentioned the fox man in her last letter to Xie Zhiyan. She vaguely felt that there was something wrong with this fox doctor, and Xie Zhiyan's disappearance might be related to him.

Wen Gu shook his head at her.

The King of Hell only asked him to track down the fox, and did not tell him what the fox had done.

Ye Qingzhan turned his gaze to Hu Sanniang in the audience, and Sanniang also shook her head.

She was still brooding, when a familiar voice echoed, "I know!"

Li Zhixing swaggered towards the inn, his face devoid of any trace of shame for his late arrival. Under

the expectant gazes of the crowd, he handed the two objects in his hands to Chu Mozhi, saying, "Listen to the voices inside first. There's something you don't know."

Chu Mozhi took them, and Ye Qingzhan pulled Wen Gu closer to examine them. In Chu Mozhi's palms lay a piece resembling crystal amber, and the other a golden elixir.

Yunyan, a demon herself, naturally recognized the objects in her right hand, but had never seen the one in her left.

Li Zhixing said, "The one in your left hand is a treasure refined by your mother, Luo Fengjun, using her demonic power. It can silence and reappear. It's a gift from her for your first birthday, and she asked Chu Letian to give it to you."

He added, "The one in your right hand is the demon essence of the demon race, but it also contains your mother's voice and appearance. It's a gift from your grandfather, the Peach Blossom Fairy, for your coming-of-age ceremony." He reflected that the Peach Blossom Fairy was one of the oldest immortals in heaven and earth, having lived for over ten thousand years, making her a grandfather.

At that moment on Yuyuan Island, someone, drunkenly awakening from beneath a peach tree, could see the exiled immortal calling him "Master." For the first time in his life, the dashing, unparalleled handsome man uttered an obscene word: "Fuck your father's uncle!"

Li Zhixing sneezed, then said, "Open it and take a look."

The curious ghosts urged Chu Mozhi to open the two beautiful round beads.

Chu Mozhi placed the beads in her palm and was about to pry them apart when the bamboo, as if recognizing its master, automatically cracked.

Amber let out a hoarse laugh, and then the demon essence transformed into a figure, truly stunning, with a pair of peach blossom eyes that shone with a myriad of charm.

Chu Mozhi's appearance was inspired by her mother, Luo Fengjun.

Luo Fengjun smiled and said, "Mozhi, although Mother can't see you, I know that if you saw this, you would surely grow up happy and healthy."

Amber's voice echoed beside him, saying, "Mozhi, Daddy is sorry for you, for making you suffer for so many years."

Luo Fengjun smiled and added, "Mother is an autumn laurel tree on Yuyuan Island. Although her lifespan was short, she was attracted by the prosperity of the human world and escaped from the island. She was pursued by the God of Thunder, but fortunately she met your father, Chu Letian. He is arguably the most gentle man in the world."

The amber Chu Letian continued, "Dad scolded you because he knew he wouldn't live long. You have a kind heart. If I left, you would surely be heartbroken. Rather than leaving you with sorrow, it's better to let you hate me and regard me as a burden. After we part, you can live well and happily."

Although they had never discussed it, Chu Letian and Luo Fengjun's words always seemed to resonate. Ye Qingzhan's eyes welled with tears, and she thought, this is parental love.

Luo Fengjun said: "We demons, once we fall in love, we are not afraid of being torn to pieces, and we want to be with our loved ones forever. Unfortunately, I can't do that."

Chu Letian said: "Since I met your mother, it has been the most wonderful time in my life, but it didn't last. My health was getting worse and worse, and your mother became weaker and weaker when she was pregnant with you. I once heard storytellers talk about demons, saying that they can't give birth to human children and will die. But... I can't help myself and I regret it too much - I killed her."

Li Zhixing observed his expression and whispered: "Demonic energy and human energy repel each other. If they stay together for a long time, they will harm each other. Your father, his illness, and your mother's life, in fact..."

The exiled immortal stopped talking, but the ghosts all understood. Hu Sanniang said: "Love and kill each other, live towards death."

Li Zhixing nodded.

Luo Fengjun continued, "I've never regretted giving birth to you. I only regret not being able to see you grow up, and I know I can no longer rely on your father. After giving birth to you, I left. As the saying goes, fallen leaves return to their roots, and I returned to Yuyuan Island and died where I grew up. I'm sorry, Mozhi, for giving birth to you but not being able to raise you properly."

Chu Letian added, "I'm sorry, my girl. Your mother fought so hard to give birth to you, but I couldn't protect you while I was alive. I only pray that in death I can protect you."

She had already shed many tears, but couldn't stop. Chu Mozhi trembled as she listened to their final words.

Luo Fengjun and Chu Letian said together, "I'm sorry, daughter."

"We love you very much."

Amber fell silent, and the demonic energy extinguished its light. As the words fell, the women in the embroidery shop gathered around the sobbing woman.

Ye Qingzhan lowered her eyes and cried softly. She had clearly told herself to grow up and stop crying, but she couldn't help it.

Wen Gu glanced at him sideways and handed her the handkerchief in his sleeve.

Ye Qingzhan took it. It was Chu Mozhi's handkerchief, which he actually brought out from the illusion. Looking at the three bluebirds flapping their wings in the clouds, she asked: "Wen Gu, if one day you fall in love with someone, but you will die, would you still dare to love her, would you be willing to love her?"

Just like Sanniang said, love and kill each other, live towards death.

The young man beside him was silent for a long time. Ye Qingzhan did not expect anything and walked forward. He wanted to return the handkerchief to Mozhi, but someone grabbed his wrist.

Wen Gu's chest was pressed against her back. Ye Qingzhan could clearly hear the heartbeat, but she didn't know if it was hers or his.

The young man lowered his head and whispered in her ear, slowly saying: "I am willing to accept it."

Since you have fallen in love, then no matter life or death, you will accept it.

The warm breath brushed past her ears, and Ye Qingzhan's face flushed.

Li Zhixing, who was standing by, saw the two of them pressed together, and suddenly turned around, closing his eyes and saying, "Don't look at anything indecent, don't look at anything indecent." When he opened his eyes, he saw Hu Sanniang in the audience covering her face and laughing. She wasn't laughing at the young man's love affair, but at the fact that he was still so innocent at his age.

Li Zhixing touched his head awkwardly.

Ye Qingzhan's face was as red as a peach, and she wanted to break free from Wen Gu's shackles, but he tightened them unexpectedly. Wen Gu took a step forward, getting closer to her, and said in a pleading tone, "Next time, don't take risks again."

Thinking of his extremely despicable thoughts, he said in a deep voice and a serious look, "Don't hurt yourself to protect me..." He also wanted to say that it was not worth it.

But before she could finish her words, the girl deftly broke free from his hand and said without hesitation: "No, I can't bear to see you vomiting blood every day, not to mention that I'm not injured! I said I would protect you and I will protect you!" "

You must listen to me on this matter, no negotiation." Ye Qingzhan tilted his head, "I'll go return the handkerchief to Mo Zhi."

Wen Gu stayed at the side of the stage, with the warmth of the girl's wrist still lingering between them. He clenched his fingers and pursed his lips tightly.

After handing over the embroidered handkerchief, Ye Qingzhan returned to him. Seeing Wen Gu smiling, he said with surprise: "You look so beautiful when you smile, and your voice is nice too. Talk and laugh more in the future."

Wen Gu put away her smile, suppressed the sharp pain in her heart, and replied, "Hmm."

Ye Qingzhan looked at the girls gathered together and asked him again, "Wen Gu, what is the purpose of life? What do you seek?" As she spoke, the exiled immortal leaned in to listen.

"Xie Zhiyan was a descendant of a military family, but because of Zhao Jinfan, he fell in love with the theater. He was called unfit and a disgrace to his family, but he... was happy with it." As she said this, she secretly glanced at the young man beside her, but was caught in the act.

Under Wen Gu's gaze, Ye Qingzhan hurriedly turned back and continued:

"Qinghuai spent his entire life just wanting to find a place that would accept him, and his mother, Xu, seemed to have only wanted to spend her life with her lover, but unexpectedly married the wrong person. Similar to her yet different, Xie Zhiyan's mother, Xue, was drifting and misunderstood. When she met Xie Cang, she thought her fate would be different, but she still gave up her singing and performance, and died in the wind and rain. Chu Letian and Luo Fengjun, it seemed that they lived just to love someone well...

"What is the right and best thing to do in life?"

Wen Gu looked at her and said earnestly, "I can't answer that."

Ye Qingzhan understood him. She looked the same age as him. If she could answer this question about life, it would be strange.

The exiled immortal who was eavesdropping on the side laughed out loud and said, "I don't know what they want, but it is very clear what these little embroiderers want. "After saying that, the two of them and the fairy looked at the girls who were all looking at the embroidered handkerchief.

Chu Mozhi pointed at the words on the handkerchief and said embarrassedly, "I can't read. I've let down my sisters."

Yun Ying put her arm around her shoulders and said, "What does it matter? We'll read it to you."

Yun Tianpiao pointed at the words on the handkerchief and recited with the other girls,

"I don't envy the divine bird accompanying the Queen Mother, I just want to be a wild bird flying in the clouds."