saint ruthless

28,

The train rumbled through the vast expanse of mountains.

Guo Changcheng sat leaning against the window, staring at the laptop and looking up something earnestly, and the endless trees and forests outside the window quickly swept back.

"Brother Chu, it is said on the Internet that it is located in the subtropical zone, where the Hakka people live together, there are primeval forests nearby, a national nature reserve, and a very strange Grand Canyon, known as the torn earth..."

Chu Shuzhi, who was closing his eyes and resting his mind, stopped, and the veins on his forehead twitched. "Are you traveling? How about checking the itinerary?"

The person on the opposite side cast an innocent look like a deer.

Chu Shuzhi rolled his eyes, and said angrily, "Check out the legends of ghosts."

"Oh... oh." Guo Changcheng shrank his neck and started typing again.

Chu Shuzhi adjusted his sitting posture, closed his eyes comfortably, and added, "You're so stupid."

Hearing this tone, Guo Changcheng could not help but pursed his lips and smiled secretly, and the dimples at the corners of his mouth were slightly sunken.

The train roared into the tunnel, and the light outside disappeared, as if it had suddenly entered the night.Guo Changcheng stopped what he was doing and looked up at the window.

It was pitch black outside the car, and the incandescent lights inside the car were dazzling, and the frowning of the person opposite was clearly reflected in the window.

The man was leaning against the window with his arms folded, even sleeping with a vicious look on his face.Guo Changcheng stared at it, and then became dazed.

The scene of New Year's Eve seemed to be in front of us suddenly.Behind Chu Shuzhi was the gorgeous fireworks in the sky, and he was dressed in black and melted into the night, and only his own reflection was in the deserted peach blossom eyes.

I'm serious, he said.

Guo Changcheng's breathing was stagnant, and he felt his heart tugging again without warning.In the past two days, he has lost count of how many times this has happened...

He touched his left chest subconsciously, and the strange thing was that the beating rhythm of his hands was still slow and steady, without any fluctuations.Guo Changcheng felt bitter about this fact.

However, the eyes stayed where they were not obediently, outlining the face reflected in the window, as if they couldn't get enough of it.He didn't know why, so he just looked at it for a while.

The person opposite seemed to have sensed something, just happened to open his eyes, and looked towards the window.

Obviously no one looked at anyone, but their eyes met in the reflection of the car window.

For a moment, no one looked away from the staggered eyes.

The train roared out of the tunnel and ran into the vast wilderness again.

Dragon City thousands of miles away.

Zhao Yunlan was lying on the bed with Erlang's legs crossed in all directions, the sound of spatulas colliding and the smell of food in the kitchen.He was holding an ancient book that looked like it was a long time ago. On the cover, there were three elegant characters, "The History of Immortals and Ghosts".

When he saw a certain passage, the casual expression on his face disappeared, his brows gradually wrinkled, and he muttered something.

"At the end of the Liang dynasty in the Southern Dynasties and the beginning of the Western Wei Dynasty, cholera continued and evil spirits were rampant. There was a great evil star in Nanling, the sun was dark, the earth was cracked, and the grass and trees in ten directions were wiped out. Birds and beasts disappeared in an instant, and no one could be found. Ghosts cry at night, later generations call it Nanling Evil Mountain."

When Shen Wei walked over with the food, he saw Zhao Yunlan resting his arms on his pillow, looking at the ceiling, as if lost in thought. "What's the matter?" Shen Wei smiled gently, "Even the smell of the food didn't attract you."

Zhao Yunlan casually took Shen Wei's hand and rubbed his slender knuckles, but still frowned slightly thinking about something, after a while, he withdrew his thoughts, met Shen Wei's questioning and concerned eyes, and spoke hesitantly , "Xiaowei..."

"Ok?"

"Where Old Chu Xiaoguo and the others went this time... isn't it not too far from the mausoleum where he repairs the corpse path?"

29,

Chu Shuzhi leaned against the window sill and fell into a light sleep amid the swaying and jolting of the train.

In a daze, he felt that he was not on the train, but was resting on the railing of the courtyard.The sun is just right, and behind it is a simple hut with green bricks and wooden tiles, and the herbs in the house are fragrant.A few trees were planted in the yard, the leaves were yellow, it seemed to be late autumn, and there were some flowers and plants under them, which looked well taken care of.

The wooden courtyard door creaked, and a thin figure walked into the courtyard with a bamboo basket. His face was not clear, and he was wearing a green shirt and cloth shoes, which looked like ancient attire.The man glanced at him, entered the room, then came out with a blanket, covered him lightly, and said in a slightly reproachful voice.

Why are you sleeping here? The injury is still not healed, and I will catch a cold.

The voice was soft and clear, with a reassuring power, and it seemed to make people feel very nostalgic.

……

Feeling the surrounding shaking, Chu Shuzhi opened his eyes, and the train stopped at a stop.A small shadow overhead blocked the light from the window.Guo Changcheng was leaning over, holding his coat to cover him.Seeing that he woke up, he said apologetically, "Did I wake you up, I'm sorry."

Chu Shuzhi shook his head to express that it was all right. After waking up for a while, he drove the faint drowsiness out of his mind, and then asked, "Where are we?"

Guo Changcheng smiled and pointed to the rolling hills not far away. "It's the next stop."

After getting out of the car, the two went to the hotel to put their luggage first, and then went to the police station to find out the situation.This time it wasn't a big murder case, but recently many people in the city had the same nightmare in the middle of the night, and the content was weird, so I asked the Special Investigation Office to take a look.

The receptionist Xiao Wang made the best tea for the two Buddhas who visited the police station and waited beside them.The superiors have already ordered that those who come to the special mediation office are all big shots, and they must not be neglected.

"They said that they heard miserable cries in their dreams, but some citizens said it was a single person crying, while others said it sounded like a group of people crying, one after another. It sounded creepy." Xiao Wang Explaining the situation, I was inexplicably a little nervous.

The man in front of him had no expression on his face, with a natural fierce look on his brows, and he was dressed in pure black and looked extraordinarily chilling. When he sat there, he felt a strong aura spreading around him.

But the other person was much softer, he seemed to be a few years younger than himself, and he was fair and pretty.The young man was remembering something, looked up and found that he was a little nervous, and smiled shyly and comfortingly, with dimples on the corners of his mouth.He asked, "Then, is there nothing else in the dream except crying?"

Xiao Wang thought for a while, "Someone said that they faintly heard something, 'It's time, it's time to pay your life', and 'It's been too long, let us out...', just the lines that are common in ghost movies, they I can’t remember exactly either.”

Speaking of this, there seemed to be a faint flash of lightning in the left pocket of the handsome young man's chest. Xiao Wang blinked, thinking that he had misread it.

At this time, the man who had been sitting drinking tea and not talking much spoke up. "Are there any large cemeteries or mass graves near you?"

"No, no..." Xiao Wang scratched his hair uneasily, "The nearest cemetery here is also in the neighboring city, which is strange to say, generally every suburb has a cemetery, otherwise it would be inconvenient to go to the grave, but listen The local old people said that the feng shui here is not very good, and it is not suitable for the deceased to rest in peace, so people here have always placed the tomb elsewhere."

Those two people asked a few more words, and then the man in black stood up, thanked him, and was about to leave.Xiao Wang couldn't hold back, and asked, "So... are these recent incidents really... haunted?"

The man glanced at him lightly. "There are some things that you shouldn't know. You'd better not ask."

Xiao Wang hastily apologized.

The young man on the side smiled gently at him, "It's all right, don't worry about it, it's just that our department has regulations, you can't talk nonsense, otherwise your salary will be deducted. Thank you very much today, for telling us a lot of useful information!"

The man spoke sincerely, his voice was soft and waxy, and it sounded very nice. Xiao Wang had a good impression of him, so he couldn't help but look at him a little more, and said with a little expectation, "By the way, I need to drive you Go look around, the police station has a car, you two can call it at will."

The young man showed a grateful expression, and was about to speak when the man at the door turned back.

"No, thank you, let us borrow the car, we will go around by ourselves, and we will contact you if we need anything." His tone was blunt, and his eyes were not very friendly.

After finishing speaking, he grabbed the young man who was still about to say something by the collar, and dragged him away.

The house was quiet again.Xiao Wang blinked his eyes, he felt that the man just now showed a little hostility towards him for a moment, it must be an illusion.

thirty,

It was strange that Guo Changcheng was pulled out by Chu Shuzhi involuntarily. "Hey, Brother Chu, isn't it good that the police brother said he would drive us?"

Chu Shuzhi strode forward, gnashing his teeth, "Why, don't you know how to drive, do you need him to drive?"

Just now that kid's eyes almost grew on Guo Changcheng's body, did he die when he was beside him?

Guo Changcheng is very stupid and naive, and he can't figure out why his brother Chu is unhappy.He wondered, he had been quite obedient along the way...

As he was walking towards the garage, Chu Shuzhi's cell phone rang. "Hello," he answered, it was Zhao Yunlan. "...Well, here we are. There are no clues for the time being. It may be caused by resentful spirits, but there is no cemetery nearby, which is a bit strange."

What was said over there, Chu Shuzhi paused: "My mausoleum?" Guo Changcheng behind him perked up his ears.

"Yes, it's tens of kilometers away. It's not too far away. But I've never been here before." He said flatly.

He listened for a while, as if lost in thought, his brows frowned. "At the end of the Liang Dynasty and the beginning of the Wei Dynasty... counting the time, it was hundreds of years earlier than I crawled out of the corpse pile, so I don't have any impression."

"...But since it may be caused by resentful souls, maybe it has something to do with that big evil star, let's go and investigate first."

After hanging up the phone, Guo Changcheng, who was behind him, came over with his head probing. "Brother Chu, what did you say just now, what is the great evil star?"

Chu Shuzhi shook his head, "I don't know. There are many demons and ghosts in the world. There are natural ghosts, sub-beasts, and mortals who have entered the way of demons. Who knows what it is."

"Oh." Guo Changcheng replied, not thinking about it, he glanced at Chu Shuzhi, hesitated for a while, but couldn't suppress his curiosity. "Brother Chu, and just now... You said that your mausoleum is also near here?"

"Ah."

"Then..." The child hesitated with some tentativeness.

"Don't go."

"Hey? I didn't say anything yet!" Guo Changcheng felt aggrieved.

"Don't even think about it, don't go."

All right.Guo Changcheng, who had been shut down for a while, muttered, dejectedly and innocently, even the strands of hair seemed to be expressing loss, sticking limply to his forehead.

In fact, Chu Shuzhi has nothing to shy away from the mausoleum where he practiced as a corpse. If he came here alone this time, he might really stop by to have a look.But... He glanced at Guo Changcheng, and the soft white light behind the child's ears flickered and appeared, which was very soft.

However, when he thought of the vague memory of being in a state of chaos and bloodletting and eating corpses during those hundred years, he felt that it was not the place for Guo Changcheng to go.That person was too clean to be contaminated with even a little bit of blood and filth.

The child was only lost for a while, and soon regained his vitality. He remembered something again and asked, "By the way, Brother Chu, what did you do before you cultivated the corpse path?"

Chu Shuzhi replied casually, "I don't remember. People practice corpse practice only after they die, and they were probably ordinary people before they were alive."

Guo Changcheng looked at him puzzled, "Then...doesn't your tombstone record what happened during your lifetime?"

Chu Shuzhi put it lightly. "I don't have a tombstone."

The child fell silent for a moment.

Chu Shuzhi climbed up from the chaos hundreds of years ago, and has no memory of when he was alive. He doesn't know where he came from and why he died. It is worth recording, and no one mourns after death.In the dark, he could only vaguely remember a few words, Shu Zhi, Chu Shuzhi, that was his own name.

Thinking of this, he suddenly felt a warm touch on his hand.The child's white and soft hands carefully held him, his mouth moved, but he didn't say anything.

Chu Shuzhi wanted to say, what are you doing looking like you are about to cry? Some modern people only have urns. I have a big coffin anyway.

But he didn't say it, because the child's clear eyes were full of distress, which made a corner of his heart suddenly soften.

Seeing that the man didn't make a sound or move, Guo Changcheng realized that his actions might be too intimate, so he hurriedly let go, and said awkwardly, "Yes, I'm sorry...".

Just for a second, his wrist was held, and then the slender knuckles slid down his wrist, covering the entire back of his hand.Chu Shuzhi walked in front of him, unable to see his expression, but the strength of holding him was very gentle. "Let's go," the man said, with dry and warm palms, "Go for a walk around the city first, and then drive a little further if there is no problem."

31,

On the top of the moon, the lights are bright.Two-bedroom hotel suite.

Chu Shuzhi sat lazily on the sofa and watched TV.He was holding the remote control in one hand and leaning on the edge of the sofa with the other. He didn't pay attention to the TV at all, but frowned and lost in thought.

It has been almost a week. They first went to investigate the citizens who had strange dreams. In the next few days, they drove around the suburban forests and villages and counties to investigate, but they still found nothing.Since there is no cemetery nearby, even the smell of ghosts is lighter than other places, but Chu Shuzhi always feels that something is not right. , made him anxious again.In the beginning, that feeling of anxiety only appeared occasionally, but in the past few days, it has become more and more difficult to ignore. In the past two nights, he even had a rare dream and woke up several times.

There is only one last piece of land that has not been visited, and tomorrow they will set off to the southwest.Chu Shuzhi's eyes darkened, and he intuitively knew what he would find there.

Just as he was thinking, the sofa next to him sank.Guo Changcheng sat over with his small diary in his arms.The child just got out of the shower, barefoot, with steam in his hair, and a loose T-shirt and trousers on casually.

He didn't seem to want to disturb Chu Shuzhi, he just moved around him, adjusted to a just right distance, then curled his legs on the sofa, opened the diary, bit the pen and began to conceive.

Chu Shuzhi's eyes darkened even more.This one here is also very disturbing...

He found that Guo Changcheng really liked to lean towards him, almost habitually, and he didn't talk much, he just liked to sit beside him honestly and do his own thing.

Unconscious dependence, as if staying by his side would make her feel more at ease.

The child lowered his head, revealing a slender and fair neck, a bit too docile and cute.This can probably be regarded as a kind of torture, you can't push it away, you can't touch it, Chu Shuzhi still has nothing to do with him.

He restrained the desire to wrap his arms around the child's slender waist and hold him in his arms for a long time, and finally he only touched his head and said, "Stupid, are you hungry?"

Guo Changcheng stopped writing, looked at the clock, and jumped off the sofa quickly, "It seems that it's time for dinner, brother Chu, wait a while, I'll do it right away." The hotel they booked had a kitchen At that time, Guo Changcheng volunteered to pack his daily dinner.

The child ran away on slippers, Chu Shuzhi thought about it, followed him, and leaned against the kitchen door to watch him work.

Guo Changcheng felt very embarrassed, he smiled and drove people out while peeling potatoes, "Brother Chu, go watch TV outside, I'll be fine in a while."

Chu Shuzhi was noncommittal, and asked casually, "What are you going to cook?"

Guo Changcheng thought for a while, "First make a stewed chicken with potatoes, and then stir-fry some vegetables, is that okay?"

"Well, it's good." Chu Shuzhi nodded, and then took the knife and chicken from him.

Guo Changcheng didn't know why. "Brother Chu?"

"Go and rest, I will do it."

Chu Shuzhi cut the meat neatly, seasoned it, and put it into the pot, with smooth movements and flying kitchen knives.

Guo Changcheng was dumbfounded.

After a while, he came back to his senses and yelled in disbelief: "Brother Chu...you you you...you can cook?!"

Chu Shuzhi was amused by the silly yelling, and said casually, "What's so strange, after all, there was no takeaway hundreds of years ago."

He cooks very quickly, and served three dishes and one soup in a short while.Guo Changcheng only took a sip, and was so moved that he was about to cry, with a blissful expression on his face: "Brother Chu, your cooking is much better than mine!"

"Really," Chu Shuzhi rested his chin, watched the child's cheeks puff up with interest, and said lightly, "I don't think so."

Guo Changcheng blushed and stammered, "Really, I didn't know about it before, and I made a fool of myself every day, but now I know that your cooking is so delicious, I'm too embarrassed to do it again... I want to change it You are cooking."

Chu Shuzhi raised his eyebrows, with a smile on the corner of his mouth, "It's not impossible."

Guo Changcheng seemed to be blushing even more, he didn't speak, he lowered his head and concentrated on dealing with the chicken nuggets.

The two sat facing each other, the TV next to them was still on, the food was bubbling hot, and the room was full of fragrance, it really felt like living at home.