Chapter 9: Pear Garden Shadow (Part 9) Oh, my Lord, how can I hear…

The young man glared at Xie Zhiyan.

The voice was neither loud nor soft. Li Zhixing, who had excellent hearing, heard it and exclaimed in his heart, “Wow!” He exclaimed: These are not good people!

Before Xie Zhiyan left, he said to the three people standing at the door, “Come and have dinner soon.” After saying that, he walked to catch up with the few people who had gone ahead.

The maids and servants all retreated.

After a while, only a few familiar people were left in the room, and a "Yang" who was so angry that he covered himself with the quilt and wanted to suffocate himself.

The exiled immortal kindly pulled off his quilt and reminded him with a kind smile: "Young man, I have a share in saving your life. Listen to what I say, get along well with others and don't be blinded by the past."

After that, Li Zhixing crossed his arms and went to find Ye Qingzhan to continue listening to the story. The latter glanced at the young man who was lying on the bed with his back to him, and suddenly heard someone beside him whisper: "

So you give names to everyone you meet."

Wen Gu's voice seemed to contain a smile, but it seemed to be just her illusion. Ye Qingzhan looked at him blankly, as if he saw his faint smile. It

was faint, cold, and seductive.

This smile was terrifying in the eyes of the exiled immortal: Lord Yama, this kid can actually laugh!

These words floated into the ears of the exiled immortal with a hint of sourness: Lord Yama, why do I smell vinegar in my ears?

Li Zhixing forgot to ask Ye Qingzhan what was going on. When he came to his senses, the frightening young man had left quickly, leaving only him and the little girl who loved giving people names since childhood at the door.

And Qinghuai came quietly to the bed, and he kindly advised: "Ayang, you'd better be obedient, otherwise you may regret it later."

The young man covered with the quilt stiffened.

Qinghuai sighed, stepped back out of the room and chased after the ghost ferries.

He still couldn't remember who he was, but there was a voice in his heart urging him to persuade this very angry young man.

That was all he could say, and he was powerless to do anything else.

***

After dinner, a jade plate hung in the evening sky, and the clear light covered the flower and stone path of the Ye Mansion. Li Zhixing put his hands in the wide sleeves of his Taoist robe, looking at the couple walking side by side in front of him, chatting happily with Miss Ye.

On the way to dinner just now, Ye Qingzhan told him everything she and Wen Gu had heard in the troupe in the past few days.

On the day the Zhao family's property was burned and ransacked, it wasn't just Zhao Wenchao, who fought tooth and nail, but also Xie Zhiyan, who came to their rescue despite his injuries.

Xie Zhiyan, who had been caned and confined by his father, had sneaked out of the house, feverish, and emerged in the rain, leading a carriage. With his breath fading, he knelt before Zhao Jinfan and said, "My Xie family owes you, and Xie Xu will repay it with his life."

The Zhao girls, fierce as the sun, naturally refused to board their enemy's carriage. But Zhao Wenchao, always righteous and loyal, seemed to have made a resolution. He pushed the two sisters into the carriage, then pulled the reins and steered the horses away from the flames.

Later, the Xie family was executed for treason, leaving only the young son, Xie Zhiyan, behind.

No one knows how he survived.

As for the Zhao family,

Zhao Wenchao and the two young ladies journeyed north, but along the way, they encountered bandits who verbally abused and humiliated the Zhao girls. Zhao Wenchao risked his life to protect her, only to be hacked

to death. Thus ended a legendary figure in the martial arts world.

Life was like duckweed, finally finding roots, only to be uprooted.

His death was a gruesome one, a bloody mess, his voice mute.

His last words before he expired were a single, "I'm sorry," addressed to the vast universe.

Zhao Jinfan heard his dying words, thanks to Xie Zhiyan's timely arrival.

As bandits descended on her and her sister, Xie Zhiyan appeared, bow in hand. Amidst the desert smoke, beneath a crimson sun, he rescued them.

Afterward, Xie Zhiyan remained with Zhao Jinfan like a dog-skin plaster, hiding his true identity and helping her rebuild the Suiheban step by step. At

the time, they were sixteen and fifteen respectively. Now, ten years later, the Zhao family has fallen on hard times, and the story of the Xie family's execution is no longer mentioned. Back then, Xie Zhiyan was often called Xie Xu, a courtesy name his mother had chosen. His father disliked it, so few people called him by that name, except Zhao Jinfan, who found it easy to pronounce.

The relationship between the two is always unclear.

In Ye Qingzhan's words: "There seems to be a dead knot between the two of them, which others can't untie. But they can't take another step forward because of the family feud."

It doesn't matter whether it's a dead knot or not, what's important is to find Qinghuai's heart knot. Li Zhixing thought to himself: Based on his experience as an immortal and what he encountered in the realm in the past few days, Qinghuai is either that "Ayang" or this "Xie Zhiyan."

After all, the shadows of these three people are like they were cast from the same mold.

Three pairs of phoenix eyes, like three brothers from the same mother, so annoying!

"Immortal, you mean that you are going to find Hua Niang to find out how the Xie family was wiped out, and let Wen Gu and I go to find out about Ayang?" Ye Qingzhan saw the person beside him looking up at the moon with an angry look, and asked quietly.

Li Zhixing nodded and whispered, "You and Wen Gu are the same age, and children always communicate better." He paused, then added, "Hua Niang and I are about the same age, so we're easy to talk to."

"It's obviously Hua Niang who can't keep secrets, she's a good liar," Ye Qingzhan muttered, then took Wen Gu's arm. "Tonight, troupe leader Zhao said he wants to arrange a play for tomorrow's practice. Wen Gu and I will go prepare first."

Wen Gu simply glanced down at someone holding her wrist, then followed her forward.

She had heard Ye Qingzhan's conversation with the lazy immortal. In fact, he also had some interest in meeting the young man named "Ayang." After all, Yin Sha was most excited by two types of people.

One was the little white flower who had learned to lie and was holding his arm. Yin Sha loved to devour people of pure purity like her; the other was the evil person, like that boy, whose heart and eyes were filled with hatred. Yin Sha also loved to absorb the resentment carried by such people.

Young people were not good people.

He knew better than anyone here. He

was making plans in his mind, and when he came back to his senses, Wen Gu was pulled by Ye Qingzhan to catch up with Zhao Jinfan and the others. Miss Ye smiled and said, "If you want to practice your opera but don't want to disturb the people in the mansion, you can go to my southwest courtyard. There's plenty of open space there, and there's a reed marsh behind the courtyard. When

you get tired of singing, you can take a leisurely boat ride and enjoy the scenery." "After all, it's not easy for you to come all the way from Changle County. You can't let me make you too tired," Miss Ye yawned and said sleepily, "I'll take you there tomorrow. It's getting late today, everyone should go to bed early."

Zhao Jinfan wanted to say something, but seeing that her eyes were almost closed, she replied, "Okay, Miss Ye, sweet dreams."

"Sweet dreams."

Miss Ye entered the boudoir. Zhao Jinfan gathered the artists of the troupe together, briefly discussed the arrangements for tomorrow, and let them go back to sleep.

They were indeed tired after traveling through mountains and rivers and the dusty journey.

Xie Zhiyan escorted Zhao Jinfan to the side room, then turned and called out to Wen Gu. As his "master," he was holding someone hostage to learn his craft, so he shared the same room. Wen Gu, though annoyed, had no choice but to endure it, since he was now "Alang."

The exiled immortal scurried into the kitchen to question Hua Niang, who was helping prepare tomorrow's meal. Ye Qingzhan, left alone, quietly went to find A Yang, intending to have a "heart-to-heart talk all night long," but unexpectedly ran into Qing Huai at the door, carrying a food box.

"What are you doing?" Ye Qingzhan asked with his head tilted.

The hunched young man pointed to the side room embarrassedly and said softly: "Delivering food."

Ye Qingzhan stared at him for a moment: "Good boy." She didn't even remember whether the young man had eaten or not.

The two pushed the door open and entered, and the first thing they saw was the person on the couch holding a porcelain bowl.

The medicine in the bowl was drunk clean.

Ye Qingzhan and Qinghuai stared at him, and the young man glared at them.

"Puchi--" Ye Qingzhan and Qinghuai smiled at each other.

"What are you laughing at!" The young man was angry, raised the medicine bowl, and wanted to throw it away, but after a pause, he still put the bowl beside the bed and turned his head away.

Ye Qingzhan took the food box from Qinghuai's hand, swayed left and right, walked to the bed with a sly smile, and said leisurely: "Ayang, do you want to eat? The food smells so good."

This tone was exactly the same as Miss Ye's before she left.

Ayang turned his head and said angrily: "No!"

Gurgle--

the stomach has no mouth, and it doesn't say one thing and thinks another, it made a loud sound.

Ye Qingzhan laughed heartily, and so did Qinghuai. He took the food box from her again, fearing that she would spill the food due to her laughter, and handed it to the blushing boy on the couch: "Eat quickly."

"You're the toughest talker in the whole body." The usually obedient Qinghuai suddenly became a little ruthless and said venomously: "But you'll be hungry."

Ye Qingzhan nodded and said: "Eat, eat, your stomach is rumbling like that."

The person standing at the door didn't know whether the boy on the couch took the food box or not, but listening to the laughter in the room, the corners of her lips couldn't help but curl up.

Glancing at the food box on her wrist, she didn't bother him and left with a smile.

Coming out of the kitchen and passing the Begonia Gate, Li Zhixing accidentally saw a figure holding a wooden box. He didn't see it clearly, but saw Ye Qingzhan and Qinghuai coming out of Ah Yang's room with their heads down.

He didn't need to think, he knew that these two kids hadn't gotten anything out of him.

Li Zhixing wanted to lecture them, but something more important awaited him.

He had previously told the other two ghosts that time in this illusionary realm passed much more quickly than at the Ghost Gate, but he hadn't dared mention the seven-day deadline for passing the ghosts through.

Seven days at the Ghost Gate.

They had to untie the five ghost visitors' knots within seven days, or else, once the illusion collapsed, they would be retaliated against, and their transformation into fierce and ferocious spirits would be hastened.

Now that he was away from the gate, he had no idea how many days had passed, so he couldn't afford to lose time.

Li Zhixing lifted his Taoist robe, his paper-thin body fading into the night. While the figures in the illusion vanished, the scenery remained, making his movements easier.

In the shadows, unlit by the candlelight, Wen Gu lay on his side on the couch, his arms folded, waiting for the person writing on his desk to stop writing and drift off to sleep.

Xie Zhiyan finally stopped writing, contentedly undressed, and blew out the candle.

Wen Gu opened his eyes in the darkness.

He stuffed the pillow under the quilt, relying on his current shadow skin, and slid down the bed like a boneless person. Then he turned sideways and silently exited through the crack of the door. As soon as he left, he saw the exiled immortal leaning sideways to squeeze through the window crack.

The two of them nodded in understanding.

One of them was standing at the head of the sleeping person's bed in the blink of an eye.

The other one unhesitatingly put the yellow pages on the desk.