Chapter 5 Pear Garden Shadow (V) He covered his heart and knelt on one knee...

Hu Sanniang brushed off the dirt on her body, supported herself with her hands and tried to stand up slowly. Li Zhixing saw this and stepped forward, and helped her up together with Qinghuai.

"Hu Sanniang, are you okay?" Qinghuai asked worriedly.

Sanniang smiled and shook her head.

Li Zhixing silently rolled up her sleeves, only to feel that there was no muscle in her arm and wrist, only a piece of white bones, and he felt a sudden discomfort in his heart. Sanniang noticed the pity on his face and teased, "Exiled immortal, you'll be held responsible for touching my arm."

Her words were flirtatious, but devoid of any flirtatiousness. Hu Sanniang's eyes were clear, but Li Zhixing felt strangely guilty. Suddenly, a voice flashed through his mind:

"Brother Li has entered Tangtang's boudoir, so he's Tangtang's man."

"Take good care of Tangtang..."

With a splitting headache, Li Zhixing hurriedly lowered his hand and lowered his brows, saying, "Sanniang just loves teasing me."

Hu Sanniang laughed heartily, then stopped and looked towards Changzuifang, a hundred meters away. Suddenly, she asked, "Did the immortal go to Changzuifang?" "

Yes," Li Zhixing thought, thinking of the fragrance surrounding him and Qinghuai. Hu Sanniang, familiar with Guanzhong affairs, knew where he had been without having to guess, and from the beginning, she had made no attempt to hide it.

"I'm going to complain to the King of Hell," Sanniang suddenly said.

"..." Li Zhixing looked at the banished immortal, his face smeared with powder, his almond-shaped eyes twinkling. After a moment, he said, "Sanniang, please be kind and let this little fairy go."

His voice was gentle and coaxing.

Qinghuai, standing beside him, felt a tingle on his scalp, and he silently complained, "You didn't treat me like that just now.

" As if truly deceived by the sweet voice, Hu Sanniang looked at the banished immortal and asked earnestly, "Have you ever met Lord Jinchan?"

"That fat, big-eared, golden-robed bastard?"

It wasn't the banished immortal who said this, but Qinghuai, who stood silently beside them. He hated that bastard, and the sight of it filled him with resentment.

Hu Sanniang glanced at the green-clad ghost, whose beauty, even as a ghost, was indistinguishable between male and female, and smiled, "That's him."

"That blood all over you, Sanniang, is also because of him."

The question she had been curious about but hadn't even thought about was now blatantly stated by the person before her. Li Zhixing looked at her, "What do you mean, Sanniang?"

"The evil ghost who repeatedly troubled the Red Dust Inn is him." Sanniang's gaze fell on Changzuifang. "He also usurped the Sword Gambling House, seizing it from Brother Zhu."

"Brother Zhu couldn't defeat him and was forced to give up the gambling house. Fortunately, he had the help of his friends in Guanzhong, so he sold meat to make a living there. Otherwise, he would have been dead long ago."

Li Zhixing listened to Sanniang's words, his brow furrowed.

The ghosts in the Ghost Gate have a power that is determined by the accumulated emotions of love, hatred, resentment, hatred, and infatuation in their lifetime. The power of ghosts condensed from hatred and resentment is the most terrifying and powerful.

Now, the guard, Hu Sanniang, was covered in blood and in a state of disarray, while the "Golden Cicada" was unharmed, his clothes fluttering and his body intact.

He had a headache—

this gate of hell, I was afraid, was about to change.

"I, Hu Sanniang, can't swallow this anger. I must fight him to the death, so that he knows who is the master of this pass!"

Qinghuai immediately clapped his hands. "Good!"

Li Zhixing glared at him.

What's good about it? Didn't you see the blood all over it?

"But the most important thing right now isn't him. It's resolving this young master's emotional knot." Hu Sanniang looked at Qinghuai, then set her gaze on Li Zhixing's face. "The Immortal's next step should be to 'collect the relics,' right?"

"Sanniang is indeed extremely intelligent," Li Zhixing said, his expression normal, his usual faint smile playing on his lips. "Most of my immortal power has been sealed by the heavens and earth, and I cannot enter directly. I need external assistance."

Sanniang's gaze, tender yet resolute, met his smile. "Go ahead, Immortal. I will protect the distinguished guests of the inn."

Pointing to the location of the 'collect the relics' shop, Sanniang bowed and said goodbye to the exiled immortal and the young man in green.

Li Zhixing bowed in return, and saw her staggering, her steps slow but powerful. He watched them go, and once they disappeared around the corner, he turned to Qinghuai and said, "It's time for us to get down to business."

The two turned and entered a secluded alley.

Deep in the alley stood a small shop, its flaking red lacquer plaque faintly visible as the words "Shi Yi" (collection of relics).

Standing behind the counter before the open door was a white-haired old man, his clothes tattered, his head lowered as he wiped something in the dim candlelight.

Before the two entered, and before the old man looked up, he said,

"You're here."

"Li Zexian,"

his voice echoed like an ancient bell, ringing through the silent night.

"

Bang!"

"Bang bang!"

The sound of gongs and drums rose to the sky. Ye Qingzhan walked beside Wen Gu, forcing her eyes open from her drowsiness to follow the opera troupe.

She hadn't gotten a full night's sleep these past few days, rushing from dawn to dusk to Sui'an County. When the troupe stopped for a break, the host, Zhao Jinfan, would pull her aside to teach her the pronunciation and rhyme. Wen Gu was no exception, being pulled by Mr. Xie Zhiyan to learn the basics.

The two characters they played, "Ali" and "Alang," were only eleven or twelve years old, quite old for learning opera. Zhao Jinfan, a man of few words, said after two days that they weren't cut out for it and relegated them to odd jobs in the troupe. Sometimes, when they were short of people, he'd ask them to play the gong.

Xie Zhiyan, however, was a patient man. He pestered Wen Gu for several days, calling him "a teachable child." He then became a full-fledged student in the troupe, even more exhausted than she was

—but also more energetic than she.

"Wen Gu, are you tired?" Ye Qingzhan approached him and asked softly, "How about I hold you for a while?"

"No need." With his arm pressed against her, the young man looked lost. The evil spirit in his body drove him closer. He forced himself to move away from her and pretended to be kind and reminded her, "Don't get too close to me, the evil spirit in your body..." He was polite in words, but in his heart he only snorted: I can naturally bear this little weight, and in the future, you will have to bear it -

Ye Qingzhan could not hear what he said in his heart, but she understood what he did not finish. So she followed his words and moved away from her, but she did not dare to move too far away, for fear that the troupe would suspect her. After they were at a distance that was not too far, he continued to look listless.

Wen Gu silently watched her paddling the distance between them, and caught a glimpse of her wrinkled expression, as if a small white flower had been rubbed by someone, and he couldn't help but add, "Thank you."

Hearing the thanks, Ye Qingzhan smiled, and stopped with the troupe, leaning against a tree to rest. After a moment, she handed the things in her hand to Wen Gu, untied the water bag from his waist, and said, "I'll go get some water."

Wen Gu nodded, and warned like a brother, "Don't go far." After seeing the person walk away, he lowered his head, as if thinking about something.

He didn't like to get too close to others, and felt uncomfortable when someone got close to him, but when she got close to him, his body and mind were filled with joy, which was strange.

In order to play the role of "brother" well these days, he tacitly allowed Ye Qingzhan to do many things, not limited to taking the water bag from his waist.

The way she looked at people was always clean and bright, like a white pear that bloomed in the early spring, making people want to pick it with their own hands, and even more want to--

Dirty her...

No.

Not yet, she must be willing to sacrifice herself.

The evil spirit in her body surged, and her heart beat violently. Wen Gu cracked his knuckles until they cracked, and finally shook himself down.

Ye Qingzhan followed the girls from the troupe and walked towards a stream on the east side, but she walked further and further away in a daze. When she came to her senses, she found that she was the only one left by the water.

After filling her water bag, she wanted to leave, but she felt a sudden weight on her ankle.

Horrified, Ye Qingzhan looked back and saw a bony, white hand stretched out from the water, holding her tightly... Then another head emerged.

"Ah!"

"Ghost!"

Another head emerged.

"Ah--"

The shouting startled a flock of birds, and the bamboo forest swayed. Wen Gu, who had been leaning against a bamboo with his eyes closed, opened his eyes and moved his ears slightly to identify the direction of the sound.

He stood up and found that the troupe members were rushing from the west side of the stream, and the direction of the sound came from the east. Without time to think, Wen Gu touched the ground with his toes, jumped up gracefully, and stepped onto the branches.

The bamboo leaves

swayed gently, and there was no trace in the shade. The afternoon light fell on a clear stream, and the green water was carefree.

Splash -

the green water wrinkled its face.

"Why are you shouting!"

With a "gulp", Li Zhixing poked his head out of the water, wiped the water off his face, and loosened his hand holding Ye Qingzhan's ankle, "It's me, Li Zhixing."

"Help, help... the exiled immortal?" Ye Qingzhan was holding the water bag and shouting randomly. When he heard the familiar voice, he suddenly turned around, "Li Xianjun, it's really you!"

"You're finally here," Ye Qingzhan was surprised and happy, and immediately reached out to pull the person lying on the shore, "It's been half a month, you're finally here." He looked up again and saw Qinghuai's face emerging from the water, swimming towards the shore in a hurry, as if there was a flood or a beast in the water.

Or... is he afraid of water?

Ye Qingzhan quickly put down the water bag and reached out to pull him with his right hand.

When Wen Gu arrived here, he saw this scene - the weak little white flower was soaked with water and was struggling to pull two big and strong men out of the water. Wen

Gu looked unhappy, but still stepped forward to help without saying a word.

Ye Qingzhan was trying hard to pull the two people out, and was worried to death, when she suddenly saw a pair of white and slender hands stretched out from her side, helping her to pull out the soaked people and ghosts. She took another glance and found that it was her familiar good friend. She complained in her heart that he was late, but her face was full of joy.

"You are here!"

Wen Gu just responded lightly and dragged the man and the ghost up.

After coming up, the exiled immortal sneezed loudly, then sniffed his nose and asked, "Why did you two become like this?" "You can still recognize me in this state. I am really amazing." Ye Qingzhan responded quickly.

After wiping the water off his face, Li Zhixing tapped Ye Qingzhan's forehead lightly: "The scent of the two of you can't be hidden, whether you are at the gates of hell or in the illusion."

Ye Qingzhan said "Oh".

"What's more," Li Zhixing glanced at Wen Gu, then looked at her, "Your voice is crisp, and it's hard not to hear that voice." He looked at the cold-faced young man beside him, "Don't you think so? Young Master Wen Gu."

The young man glanced at him.

"Then why, in the illusion, didn't the immortal and Qinghuai turn into shadow people?" Ye Qingzhan sensed the undercurrent between the two of them, and the tension was on the verge of breaking, so he said something at the right time.

Li Zhixing retracted his gaze and looked at her: "Because Qinghuai and I were not 'invited' to enter by the people in the illusion, but we entered the illusion through the 'Void and Misty Stream'."

"What is the Void and Misty Stream?" Ye Qingzhan asked puzzledly.

"A place as evil as the 'Boundless Strange Realm'."

Boundless Strange Realm?

Ye Qingzhan was confused: What the hell is going on?

When Wen Gu heard the name of this place, he felt the evil in his body suddenly tighten, as if fleeing from disaster. He covered his heart, knelt on one knee, and spat out a mouthful of blood.