Chapter 91: Tian Yuan Dharma Assembly (VIII)
He Ma's words seemed to freeze the air, and everyone present was unable to react for a moment. Everyone was silent at the same time, causing the restaurant, which was originally full of talk and laughter, to suddenly become silent.
"There are no three levels this year?" Zong Yi repeated what He Ma said with a look of disbelief on his face.
Then, he turned his head to look at the mineral water bottle in the Qilin cub's hand. The two brightly colored insects in the bottle had a particularly strong presence. They obviously could not be the product of nature.
He looked at Lu Ren and the others with some fear: "What... could these be?"
No one could give him an answer. But it was obvious that something had sneaked into the Zong family while everyone was busy preparing for the Tianyuan Dharma Assembly.
Although Lu Ren and others managed to escape the first two crises , if they continue to let it go, no one can guarantee that the next one will not lead to a disaster.
Before he could even finish his breakfast, Zong Yi hurriedly took the mineral water bottle containing the two insects and followed He Ma to the master's residence to report.
After he left, Lu Ren asked the mountain ghost anxiously, "Ali, is everything okay?"
Ah Li then analyzed the situations of the two encounters to Lu Ren: "From the situations of the two encounters, those two bugs should not be very powerful monsters. This place is deep in the mountains, so it is not surprising to have one or two spirit monsters. Just be careful."
After hearing what Shan Gui said, Lu Ren finally felt relieved.
The Qilin cub watched his spoils being taken away, feeling an inexplicable emptiness in his heart.
However, the sensible Kirin cub also knew that the overall situation should be given priority, and did not stop Zongyi's actions. He just pursed his lips, with an expression of "I'm wronged but I won't say it", and looked sadly in the direction where Zongyi was leaving.
When boys reach a certain age, they will start to like collecting bugs and mud. Unexpectedly, even mythical beasts are no exception.
Seeing this, Lu Ren quickly comforted the Qilin cub and said, "Although it is winter now and there are no insects to be found, the vegetation on this mountain is still quite dense. I will take you to find some cicada shells."
Cicada shell is the shell that cicada larvae shed when they turn into adults. It looks very similar to a complete cicada, but it is hollow in the middle. It is very delicate and is usually found on tree trunks.
When Lu Ren was a child, he loved to go to the mountains in his hometown to find these strange things to play with. The location of the Zong family happened to be deep in the mountains, where few people went. If he tried his luck, he might really find the traces left by Xia Tian accidentally.
At about ten o'clock, we were ready to set off.
As the clan has many branches and leaves and there are many children in the clan, there are many children's toys stockpiled in the clan warehouse. When the helpers heard that they were going to the back mountain to look for cicada shells, they kindly provided Qilin cub with equipment: a small plastic bucket and a small plastic shovel.
So Qilincub carried a small plastic bucket in his left hand, held Lu Ren in his right hand, and headed for the back mountain of the Zong family. The mountain ghost certainly wouldn't let them go alone, so he also followed them slowly, holding his teddy bear A Bing.
The boundary between the clan's house and the back mountain is a wooden wall with a wooden double door on it.
At this moment, the gate was wide open, revealing a narrow path behind it. Both sides of the path were lined with leafless trees. These trees were very sturdy, and the fallen leaves on the ground were piled up like a thick carpet. From this, one can get a glimpse of how lush and green this place must be in the summer.
In fact, every time the Tianyuan Dharma Assembly attends, all participants bring their families with them. These family members can play freely on the mountain during the meeting, and many people go to the back mountain for sightseeing through the back door. Therefore, although the ground on the back mountain is covered with layers of fallen leaves, the path is very clean, and it is obvious that someone has specially maintained it.
There is a small flower bed on the road leading to the back door, with many evergreen shrubs planted. These shrubs are still green in winter, but their color is much darker than in summer. They look lush, but lack some vitality.
When Lu Ren and his group passed by the bushes, a young man cursed: "You were so arrogant because you were capable in the past. Now that you are disabled, you still dare to be so arrogant? We will break your hands today!"
The voice sounded very excited, and just as the words fell, there was the sound of clothes being pulled and bodies colliding.
Lu Ren understood that there was a fight and quickly went behind the bushes.
Sure enough, behind the bushes there was a young boy who was surrounded and scolded by three or four other boys of similar size. It was obvious that he was being bullied.
The three or four bullying teenagers had fierce expressions and seemed to be aggressive. They took turns pushing the boy in the middle.
The boy in the middle bit his lip and said nothing, looking stubborn and forbearing.
Coincidentally, the bullied boy, Lu Ren, and the mountain ghost both knew each other: Qi Yu, the boy who invited the mountain ghost to possess him in Fengxu Village.
Even if he didn't know Qi Yu, Lu Ren couldn't just turn a blind eye to such bullying, so he stepped forward and shouted, "What are you doing?!"
The teenagers who looked ferocious just now shouted "Oh no" when they saw adults appear, and then ran away without a trace.
Things are often like this. When wild dogs gather together, they think they are the masters of the wild world and that they are omnipotent, so they gather together to harm antelopes and elks. But when a lion appears, they wail and become wanderers in the wilderness again.
Only incompetent and despicable people are keen on the hypocritical power brought by group bullying.
Although the group of bullying teenagers had suddenly fled, Qi Yu was still stunned. In fact, he was very surprised when he heard Lu Ren's call. He didn't expect that someone would be willing to stand up for him at this time.
The Qi family is different from the Zong family, which already has its own healthy ecosystem. The Qi family, which is good at inviting gods, emphasizes talent, and talent is absolute. People who are destined to be with gods may succeed in their first descent, while people who are not destined to be with gods may not be able to perform a successful descent in their entire lives.
And Qi Yu had extraordinary talent since he was born . He was one of the few people who could succeed in his first divine descent. Since the founding of the Qi family, there have been no more than thirteen people with such outstanding talents.
Qi Yu was almost raised in a pampered environment. He was arrogant because of his talent and was very cold to people and things. He learned everything quickly and was completely regarded as a child of other people's families in the eyes of others. It was precisely because he learned too quickly that gradually, there was nothing left in the ancient books passed down by the clan to teach him.
Therefore, Qi Yu decided to visit famous mountains and rivers, explore the footprints of ancient gods, and walk a path that no one has ever walked before.
Unexpectedly, reality gave him a wake-up call not long after he set out. He was seriously injured when passing through Fengxu Village and lost part of his memory.
This was because Qi Yu used the summoning technique for too long, and when he was rescued, he was almost bleeding from all seven orifices. At the same time, because the mountain ghost stayed for quite a long time, some of Qi Yu's brain cells were damaged. This is why Qi Yu lost some of his memory.
But the most terrifying thing is not these.
The scary thing is that Qi Yu found that he could no longer perform the magic of summoning gods. No god was willing to respond to him.
He went from being a genius to being a fool in an instant.
Lu Ren looked at Qi Yu who was standing stubbornly in front of him: his posture was very straight, his face was fair, he was wearing a black coat, and from a distance he looked like a black plum blossom in the cold.
He looked at Lu Ren with his dark eyes and thanked him sincerely: "Thank you."
Those eyes were too cold. Lu Ren could see neither anger nor sadness in them. They were like a pool of stagnant water, without a single ripple.
Lu Ren said, "You're welcome."
Qi Yu nodded when he heard this, turned around and prepared to leave.
Lu Ren looked at his bleak back and couldn't bear to see the flowers of the motherland being submerged in the swamp, so he called out to Qi Yu: "Qi Yu, wait."
Qi Yu seemed : "Do you recognize me?"
Lu Ren, who didn't know Qi Yu had lost his memory of Fengxu Village, said: "Of course, we were saved by you in Fengxu Village before."
Hearing the words "Fengxu Village", Qi Yu was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly: "So, it's Fengxu Village..."
Realizing that his reaction was wrong, Lu Ren quickly asked, "What's wrong?"
Qi Yu then explained his amnesia, and added at the end: "It should be a side effect of the summoning magic."
Upon hearing this, Lu Ren looked at the mountain ghost.
The mountain ghost nodded: "The power of the gods is too strong, and it is really difficult for mortal flesh and blood to resist. He is already lucky. In ancient times, someone forced to invite the gods, and ended up hurting his soul and spirit. He was a fool for the rest of his life."
Lu Ren could only comfort Qi Yu, "It's a blessing in disguise." He then thought of the bullies he had just chased away, and asked , "Did those kids bully you because of your amnesia?"
When Qi Yu heard this, he pursed his lips tightly, seeming reluctant to say the reason.
Shan Gui and Lu Ren looked at each other, and they noticed something was wrong with Qi Yu. So Shan Gui tried to smooth things over, saying, "It's okay. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. We just asked a few more questions when we passed by. We'll leave now."
After saying that, several people planned to turn around and go to the back mountain.
But Qi Yu's voice rang out at this time: "This matter is no longer a secret within Xuanmen. They bullied me... because of me, they can no longer call on the gods."
"Can't ask the gods for help?" Lu Ren was puzzled by Qi Yu's words, so he asked the mountain ghost, "What do you mean?"
The mountain ghost said to Qi Yu, "The art of summoning gods is just a medium, to invite gods to a carrier. Among the many carriers, humans are the most intelligent creatures, and they were molded by the ancient goddess Nuwa in her own image. They are the most suitable and the most favorite carrier for gods. You have all three souls and seven spirits. It is impossible that you cannot summon gods."
But after hearing what the mountain ghost said, Qi Yu looked very painful: "I know, but since I came back from Fengxu Village, the gods are unwilling to respond to me."
After hearing this, the mountain ghost began to ponder. Lu Ren then asked the mountain ghost: "A Li, do you know what's going on?"
Shan Gui was not sure either, but she guessed: "Gods all have their own preferences. I am an ancient god, and my divinity is too strong. I stayed with him for too long, and I may have left some soul marks on him, which made other gods unwilling to approach. It should be fine after a while."
Lu Ren then asked: "How long will it take?"
The mountain ghost hesitated and said, "I'm not sure, maybe one year, or maybe a hundred years."
Lu Ren: "..." Isn't this time span a little too long? If it's a hundred years, wouldn't Qi Yu be dead?
It's like going to the doctor and asking him, "What's wrong with me?"
The doctor said, "It's hard to say. It could be a cold, or it could be a terminal illness that won't last more than three days."
