Chapter 93 Jade Leaf
When Rong Yuan was reading the notes, Pea did not return to its original form, but stayed on the table in the form of headphones - from that day on, it remained like this unless Rong Yuan needed it. But Rong Yuan knew that Pea actually preferred to live in its original form, and suddenly Rong Yuan felt a little uncomfortable with this.
But now Rong Yuan feels that what Pea does is not completely without benefits - at least in this way, it will not see the records about it in the notebook.
Most contractors use and guard against weapon spirits, and rarely trust and get close to them. Most people who have been documented regard weapon spirits as a useful pocket, and treat them no differently than a prop, but at least they can start and end well. However, some people always suspect that weapon spirits have secretly swallowed up some of the merit points, or suspect that it is the eyes of the "Merit Book" used to monitor themselves, and their attitude towards it is really not good. There are also a very small number of people who, when they find that the contractor has absolute control over the weapon spirit, treat it as a toy for fun and do many very excessive things.
Over the long period of time, it is not that there are no contractors who have goodwill and love for the weapon spirit, but the longer they own the "Book of Merit", the greater the conflict between the two sides, and the final result is often a fall-out, and the weapon spirit will either be killed or sealed. Until the next contractor exchanges it out.
Rong Yuan felt that the fact that Wandou would lose his previous memories every time he was reborn might be a protection from the Book of Merits. Otherwise, those painful past experiences would certainly make him more mature and wiser than he is now, but his mind would be completely polluted, and the Wandou accompanying Rong Yuan now would definitely not be this kind of Wandou.
Sometimes it acts foolishly and sometimes it makes mistakes, but it is clean and simple, just like a piece of white paper. Even when it is dyed with various colors, it will not lose its essential beauty.
After Rong Yuan made sure that the notebook data in the optical computer had been completely deleted and would never be restored, he tapped the Wandou earphones with his fingers and said, "Wadou, change back."
A little man as big as a fist suddenly appeared, still with his head lowered, seeming to be afraid to look at him.
"Look up." Rong Yuan said.
Pea seemed to struggle for a moment, then slowly raised her head, her eyes wandering, and it took a long time before she met Rong Yuan's gaze. She looked up at him, her already big eyes looking even bigger, and she looked a little pitiful.
"Listen, Pea, I'll only say this once." Rong Yuan said calmly.
Pea sat on the table with his hands clasped together, his back involuntarily straightened, his expression not as inorganic as usual but rather a little stiff. This was the first time Rong Yuan saw such a panic-like expression on Pea's face. He had thought that Pea was just an emotionless robot, but now he clearly felt that it was uneasy.
——Perhaps those erased memories were not completely cleared. They still left a shadow in Pea's mind , making it involuntarily doubt and fear its own future. It made it always appear so cautious and careful in daily interactions, always measuring the degree of its words and actions, and dared not to overstep the line.
"Listen to me carefully," Rong Yuan leaned forward slightly and said, "I am an adult with independent thoughts. I am not cowardly enough to push the mistakes I made onto you, let alone attribute my incompetence and stupidity to you or the Book of Merits. I can take responsibility for everything I have done. Even if one day... I lose everything and die on the street, it only means that I am no better than this, and it is not your fault. So Pea..."
Rong Yuan pinched the pea that was staring at him blankly with two fingers, picked it up and let it stand on the bookshelf to look at him, then said: "- Don't be afraid. I won't vent my anger on you, nor will I hurt you. If you don't betray me, I won't betray you; if you trust me, I will trust you back... I believe in you better than anyone else in this world. You are not a tool, nor a slave driven by anyone. You are my partner who walks side by side. As long as I still have the Book of Merits, you must accompany me, whether it is for a day, a year, a hundred years, or even longer!"
Pea opened its little mouth, and its expression did not change for a long time. Even the commonly used emoticons disappeared. The light reflected in its eyes, which were sparkling, as if they were filled with crystal tears.
…
Rong Yuan felt uncomfortable after suddenly saying so many things that were not what he would say. He hardly spoke a word for the rest of the day. Under his influence, the atmosphere in the classroom was frighteningly low. Even the teacher who came to answer their questions couldn't help but become ten times gentler than usual.
As soon as the study was over, Rong Yuan got up and left. He immediately returned to the dormitory and hung up the Do Not Disturb sign, asking Wandou to pay attention to whether anyone came to knock on the door. He opened the window to see that it was already dark outside, and pressed the control button on his neck to summon Yu Shuo.
In the "Merit Record Notes", Rong Yuan discovered a problem: most of the "Merit Book" contractors before Xiao Yifei died because of their own actions, and a few died in disputes. After all, the environment at that time was full of chaos and blood. Once the identity of the contractor was exposed, it would immediately lead to endless hunting, while very few of their relatives suffered misfortunes. Most of the contractors after Xiao Yifei were descendants of the Xiao family. Under the guidance of the notes, they were able to make full use of the "Merit Book" to the greatest extent to make profits but avoid the backlash of various rules. Under the cover of the entire family, their identities were not leaked, but no one could live to the age of forty, and basically died in various unfortunate "accidents". At the same time, many of their family members and friends also died.
Xiao Yifei is this dividing point.
Rong Yuan originally thought that this was because the descendants of the Xiao family had kept the "Book of Merit" for their own profit, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that it was not right. For the "Book of Merit", is it important who the contractor is? It is not important, otherwise the contract would not be so casual. The book does not care whether its contractors of each generation are related by blood. If there is anything it really cares about, it should be the merit value. In this regard, the Xiao family has accumulated, has a foundation, and is prepared. Although the purpose is not pure, it is indeed better than others. They have also avoided the tragedy of countless people dying in the fight for the "Book of Merit". Just looking at these two points, the "Book of Merit" will not cast a curse at will.
Rong Yuan wondered, could it be that something else happened when Xiao Yifei lost the "Book of Merit", which led to the "Book of Merit" becoming a gathering place of "evil"?
Somehow, he thought of the jade pendant he got on the moon.
That secret collection method... the regret and resentment revealed in the message... the words between the lines expressed hope that Xiao's son could use the "Book of Merits" to find him, but also warned them not to keep the "Book of Merits"... that contradictory feeling... and the jade pendant with the word "Xiao" engraved on it hidden under that sentence...
Perhaps it was intuition, Rong Yuan thought that the man was Xiao Yifei. Although he didn't know why he died on the moon, and what happened after he left the note, he believed that the jade pendant he hid must be related to the "Book of Merits"!
After returning to City A, Rong Yuan pulled out a small box from the top shelf, unlocked it, and took out the old glasses on it - they were his great uncle's relics - and then removed the interlayer. At the bottom was the green jade pendant. Rong Yuan hesitated for a moment, took it out, rubbed the cold lines on it with his fingertips, and asked, "Wa Dou, what is this?"
"Jade pendant." Pea said: "No abnormalities were found in the scan results." Its tone was a little more lively than before, and if you didn't pay attention, it would be easy to ignore this subtle change.
"Is it just an ordinary jade pendant?" Rong Yuan weighed it and said, "Whether it is or not, we will know after trying it."
"How to try?" asked Pea.
Rong Yuan said: "If it is related to the Book of Merits, it should also have the characteristic that it cannot be easily damaged." As he spoke, he raised the jade pendant and smashed it hard against the surface of the marble coffee table.
"Bang!"
Broken jade
Rong Yuan's shoulders drooped, feeling a little disappointed. The edge of his palm felt slightly painful. He raised his hand and licked the wound. The fresh taste of blood melted on the tip of his tongue.
A strange light suddenly flashed.
"Rongyuan, look!" Pea suddenly said.
Rong Yuan had also noticed this abnormality. He picked up a piece of debris from the coffee table and saw a small piece of pointed object stuck in it, which had a different color and delicate patterns from other parts.
Rong Yuan was delighted and knocked off the other parts. Finally, he found a piece of jade leaf the size of a knuckle hidden in the jade pendant. The veins on the leaf were clearly visible, and there was a small round hole on the top. It felt warm and smooth to the touch, and it made a clear sound when knocked. It was obviously not very thick, nor did it feel hard, but Rong Yuan used all his strength and could not break off a small piece of it.
"This is..." Pea stood nearby, touching the edge of the jade leaf with her little hand. The more she looked at it, the more familiar it felt. Suddenly, she said, "There are new rules in the Merit Book. Do you want to check it out?"
"explain."
"Rule 17, the companion artifact leaf vein bookmark can generate golden light of merit to protect the wearer. The more merit the contractor gains, the stronger the protection will be. The golden light of merit is invisible and does not consume additional merit points."
Rong Yuan held the jade leaf in his hand and looked at it for a while, and said: "Since there is such a divine weapon, why didn't Xiao Yifei leave it to future generations?"
——Why did he leave a note to make them yearn for the Merit Book, but didn't leave a companion artifact? Since the Merit Book was lost, but the jade leaf was still kept by his side in a disguised form, could it be that he wanted to exchange it for two more bottles of wine? Or was the jade leaf also lost at the beginning, and then he found it back? Or when he left the jade leaf to himself, because he had never experienced it, he didn't know that the Merit Book had such a big side effect? Or, in Xiao Yifei's time, this rule did not actually exist, but after the book and the bookmark were separated, too many contractors died, so this rule evolved to remind the contractor to keep this thing safe?
What the truth is, it was hidden hundreds of years ago. Rong Yuan didn't know. But he didn't have much desire to explore history. Now that the bookmark was in his hand, he only needed this result.
Rong Yuan said to himself: "I have to find an ordinary person to try it out."
"Try what?" asked Pea.
"This leaf vein bookmark is a divine artifact, not a merit-based product produced by the mall... If ordinary people come into contact with it, will they be wiped out by the power of rules?" Rong Yuan asked.
…
The needle was pulled out of the arm, and although it was quickly pressed with a cotton swab, the blood that seeped out still dyed the tip of the cotton swab red.
"Oh, you've been getting injections all day long, and your arms are full of needle holes. Eat more good supplements later." The elderly head nurse said with some concern.
"Well, OK." Jin Yang smiled and said softly. He had been hospitalized for the past few days, and he knew almost all the nurses in the hospital. Many people liked to come in and talk to him or look at him whenever they had time, which inevitably affected his rest. So later, the head nurse came forward and took over Jin Yang's daily examinations, injections and medications, and drove everyone else away.
The head nurse was packing up needles and other things. She turned around and saw a pile of gifts on the table. She asked, "Did any friends come to visit you again today?"
"Yes. There's nothing wrong with my health. I feel bad for making them worry so much." Jin Yang said a little embarrassedly.
"What's the big deal? You should be happy that so many friends care about you," the head nurse lectured.
"You're right." Jin Yang did not refute.
"Hey? Why is there an unsigned one here?" When the head nurse put today's medicine on the table for him, she saw a small box placed alone on the windowsill with a small note on it, but it was unsigned. She couldn't help but feel a little strange.
Jin Yang took it and looked at it. On the note was written a simple sentence in familiar handwriting - "Wish you peace and happiness."
A smile suddenly spread across his face and he said, "It's okay, I know who it is."
He opened the box and a light green jade leaf lay quietly inside.
