A gentleman riding a red dust smile

Today is the tenth day of Changyuan retreat.Early in the morning, Song Lingshuang and Changsun Jue came to Baicaozhai and waited for Changyuan to leave the customs.

Ai Zixuan also arrived, pestering Chang Qin as happily as usual.A few days ago, he officially resigned from the imperial family, lost the right to inherit the title of King Jiangyang and serve in the court in the future, and became a casual cultivator with a strong family but no name.Not to mention the royal family, removing from the family tree is a major event, but this person doesn't seem to care much, and is still as happy as before.In his words, as long as his father is still around, anyone will give him a little noodle.When his father is gone...then think about it later.

Song Lingshuang sat in the gazebo in the courtyard, propped his head in one hand, and held a piece of foxtail in the other, stroking it back and forth between his fingers.Chang Qin's impatient complaints and Ai Zixuan's deadpan smiles came from behind him from time to time.He looked sideways, and Changsun Jue was quietly reading a book next to him in a plain white dress. His long hair was tied behind his head, revealing his sharp and beautiful jawline.

Song Lingshuang closed his eyes, the wind blew the hair on his forehead, itching across his face.At this moment, he had an illusion that the years were quiet.For a moment he wished Chang Yuan would not come out.It seemed that as long as the door was not opened, time would not move forward, the truth was locked in the future, and he would not have to face the past.

Song Lingshuang just closed his eyes and rested his mind, and he really fell asleep after an unknown period of time.The left hand supporting the head tilted, and the head fell, but before it hit the stone table, it touched something else, neither soft nor hard, with a touch of warmth.Song Lingshuang seemed to like this kind of touch very much, and subconsciously rubbed against it without waking up.

In the distance, Ai Zixuan turned around while teasing Chang Qin, and saw Changsun Jue sitting upright in front of the small table in the gazebo, his eyes focused on the book in his hand, and his other hand stretched aside, letting Song Lingshuang rest on it with impunity.Ai Zixuan's eyes wandered back and forth between Song Lingshuang and Changsun Jue, one was sleeping peacefully, the other was sleeping peacefully.He froze for a moment, suddenly worried, his eyes darkened.

The noon sun was a little harsh.Song Lingshuang opened his eyes and found that he had fallen asleep with his left hand on his pillow.The arm is not numb yet, probably not long after sleep.Changsun Jue was still reading his book by his side, but Ai Zixuan and Chang Qin were gone.

"How long have I been asleep? Where are Brother Ai and Miss Qin'er?" Song Lingshuang rubbed her eyes and stretched her waist.

"Not long. Miss Chang and Zixuan went to fetch water." Changsun Jue's gaze was still on the book.

Song Lingshuang casually said "Oh", looked at Changsun Jue and then at the book in his hand, "What book are you reading?"

"I borrowed it from Miss Chang. "On the Function of Huhuangcao in High-Order Elixirs""

Song Lingshuang was speechless, he didn't even know what Hu Huangcao was, "It's not fun to listen to. Isn't it boring?"

"It's not boring. It's a blessing to be able to see Doctor Ghost's collection of books. Naturally, you should read more." He paused while talking, "Your array skills are too weak, so you should read more when you have time."

"How many books do I need to read to make up for my level? Is it possible that I still carry a large basket of books on my back all day long?" Song Lingshuang laughed at himself, then suddenly stopped smiling, and leaned in front of Changsun Jue, getting close enough to see Knowing his distinct eyelashes, he said with a smirk, "Of course, if you teach me, A Jue, maybe I can improve a bit!"

Changsun Jue looked at him, and there seemed to be waves in the deep water in his eyes. He was about to speak, but suddenly he heard the sound of the door opening.

Changyuan is out!

Song Lingshuang stood up quickly, walked to Chang Yuan, and asked, "Mr. Chang, how are you doing?"

Chang Yuan's expression was not stretched, and his face was a little tired. He looked at Song Lingshuang and Sun Jue, and said, "Let's talk in the study."

The two entered the study with Chang Yuan.Perhaps because of staying in the pharmacy for too long, Chang Yuan still smelled of herbs.He asked the two to sit down and said slowly, "I was wrong from the beginning. The red flame disease is not a disease, and the amethyst is not a poison."

Song Lingshuang and Changsun Jue looked at each other without speaking, waiting quietly for Chang Yuan to continue.

Chang Yuan took out the amethyst locked in the spiritual bag and put it on the table, "It contains spiritual power that cannot be underestimated."

Song Lingshuang and Changsun Jue were not surprised.The reason why spar is helpful to practice is because it contains spiritual power, so it is not surprising that there is spiritual power in amethyst.In terms of its level, the strength of spiritual power is also obvious.

Chang Yuan went on to say: "However, this kind of spiritual power is very different from the spiritual power we have obtained through practice. We call it dark spiritual power for the time being. Dark spiritual power will attach to the golden core and act on the flesh and blood. It is fierce and domineering. Once Entering the golden core, while conflicting with ordinary spiritual power, it will also force the golden core to overload. Once the heart can not bear it, it will cause the eroded person to bleed to death. Back then, I treated it as a disease, and used herbs to make the golden core The alchemy is not corroded by the epidemic poison, and it is actually isolated from the attachment of the dark spiritual power to the golden alchemy."

Hearing this, Song Lingshuang and Changsun Jue's expressions changed.

"If so, why is it contagious?" Changsun Jue asked.

Chang Yuan nodded, appreciating Chang Sun Jue's grasp of the key points of the problem, "Indeed. Since it is a kind of spiritual power, it should not flow into the human body spontaneously. It can be speculated that it is contact. But in fact, the way of dark spiritual power infection is ordinary spiritual power."

Facing the puzzled gazes of Song Lingshuang and Changsun Jue, Chang Yuan explained, "If someone around you feels unwell or injured, what is the most likely thing for a cultivator to do?"

Song Lingshuang was startled, and then realized, "Use spiritual power to detect the pulse?"

Chang Yuan nodded, "That's right. The most normal way is to use spiritual power to probe his veins, or send spiritual power to heal his injuries. Practitioners, the spiritual power comes from the golden core. Once the person infected with the red flame disease Using the spiritual power, the dark spiritual power will attach to the normal spiritual power, use it as a medium, enter the heart veins, and corrode the golden core."

Because there was no large-scale epidemic in Minghe, Song Lingshuang and Changsun Jue were not very clear about the situation back then.However, although Chang Yuan's explanation was unexpected, it was very reasonable.The first people to be infected with the red flame disease back then were the monks who took care of the disease patients, and the second were the medicine practitioners, so Chang Yuan took it for granted that both had been in contact with the patients.Only now did I know that it was because both of them had used spiritual power for patients.When the Red Flame Plague started in Yinshan Mountain, Old Sovereign Xie and Sovereign He attended the training session.The magic training meeting is a gathering for practitioners to discuss magic techniques, and it is not surprising that people are infected with diseases because of spiritual power discussions.

"Then the first person who contracted the red flame disease used spiritual power on this amethyst stone?" Song Lingshuang murmured while staring at the amethyst stone in the spirit pouch on the table.

Chang Yuan nodded, "Exactly."

Changsun Jue had been thinking for a while, then he raised his head and said, "No, one thing doesn't make sense."

"Which point?"

Changsun Jue said: "Back then, the red flame epidemic spread widely, but it took a month for the infected to die. And the people we saw in the end shadow, it took only a moment from the onset of symptoms to death. According to what Mr. said, the two The difference between them should lie in the amount of dark spiritual power attached to their golden core."

"good."

"Then before the red flame epidemic, why was the first person to use spiritual power on the amethyst stone only infected with a small amount of dark spiritual power? Everyone knows that crystal stones can assist in cultivation. If you use it without knowing the dark spiritual power, Why only draw a little bit of spiritual power? Normally, it should be like the two people in the end shadow suddenly died suddenly because they absorbed too much dark spiritual power. As far as the junior knows, there is no such case after the outbreak of the red flame plague. I don't know if what this junior said is right?" Changsun Jue said.

"You're right." Chang Yuan didn't refute, "So..." He paused, "Or, the first person to be infected with dark spiritual power only used a very short amount of time on amethyst due to special reasons. The spiritual power of time. Or, the amethyst he touched was very small."

Chang Yuan's expression was very obscure.Song Lingshuang and Sun Jue seemed to have sensed something, and kept silent.

Chang Yuan looked at the amethyst stone in the spiritual pouch on the table, "Based on my research on dark spiritual power these days, if it is an amethyst stone of this size, it only takes a moment to use the spiritual power, and the dark spiritual power infected It is enough to kill a person in one day. So..." He sighed, "The latter is more likely."

Song Lingshuang looked at the amethyst stone on the table.These days, a part was chiseled by Chang Yuan for research, and the original amethyst was still half the size. He asked, "How small?"

"I'm afraid it's not the size of a child's fingernail."

All three were silent.Song Lingshuang had personally experienced it when he was still in the Amethyst Cave. It was much more difficult to chisel out amethyst stones according to the texture of the ore than to chisel out a large one.Even for Chang Yuan, it took a lot of effort to split the amethyst stone that Song Lingshuang gave him in the first place.

"So..." Song Lingshuang's face was gloomy. Although he had expected it when he handed the amethyst stone to Chang Yuan, the confirmation of his guess still made him feel a little uncomfortable.

Chang Yuan's complexion was not much better, he nodded slightly, and said: "I also hope that I am thinking too much. But now it seems that, as you guessed at the beginning, the red flame epidemic back then was probably not a natural disaster, but It was a man-made disaster. This person accurately calculated the size of the amethyst stone, so that people infected with dark spiritual power would not die too soon, thus allowing the red flame plague to spread."

After Chang Yuan finished speaking, the room became quieter.

Because it was too quiet, I could clearly hear Chang Qin's crisp complaints in the yard, "Who would believe you when you said you were a graduate of Hantian Academy? You can't walk steadily when you hit the water, half of it has been spilled."

Ai Zixuan followed with a spineless and doting laugh, "Miss Qin'er has good eyesight! I was indeed a first-class poor student back then. It doesn't matter if you spill it, we just go there again!"

"Who will go with you again!"

Then there was the sound of water being poured into a jar.

The fight between Ai Zixuan and Chang Qin brought a little life to the dead air in the study.

Chang Yuan broke the silence, "All of this is just our speculation, there is no evidence, I really hope I am thinking too much. There are still many puzzles about this amethyst. To fully understand it, we need to More time. Take this half back. I still have some amethyst stones left. If you two don’t mind, Chang would like to study more.”

Song Lingshuang nodded, "The amethyst stone is not the property of the two of us. If it can help solve the mystery of the red flame epidemic back then, sir, just check it out. If the red flame epidemic is indeed man-made, then the juniors should also be responsible for it." Find the culprit and do your best. It’s just that this junior has something to ask, so please agree to it.”

"please say."

"Mr. said that the first time I saw this amethyst was at my father's. Since this matter is related to my father, if you find anything, please let me know. Song Ye is very grateful." A big gift was made.

Chang Yuan quickly helped him up, "Although Chang doesn't know if he can find out, but if there is any progress, I will definitely let you know."

Song Lingshuang bowed again to express his gratitude.

After drinking tea, the two exchanged some pleasantries with Chang Yuan, left Ai Zixuan who continued to tease Chang Qin, and returned to the inn.

After entering the room, Song Lingshuang didn't lie down on the bed habitually, but sat down at the table.With a heavy expression on his face, his fingers subconsciously began to caress the silver pendant hanging on his chest again.

Changsun Jue sat down opposite him and said, "Don't think too much."

Song Lingshuang raised his eyes and glanced at him, then lowered his eyes again, "But I have to think about it."

Changsun Jue understood that what Song Lingshuang was entangled at the moment was the reason why his father did not contract the red flame disease even though he had been exposed to amethyst. "Uncle Song is an upright man, neither greedy nor addicted. It's normal not to use this unusual spirit stone for cultivation. When you and I found the spirit stone, our spiritual power was exhausted, didn't we also not absorb the spiritual power of the amethyst stone?"

Song Lingshuang shook his head, "The situation at that time was different. You and I were in a hurry to find the exit, and we had just entered a cave locked by an enchantment. We didn't know what threats were inside, so why were we so anxious to absorb spiritual power? Although this purple The spar is indeed different from ordinary spar, but if we hadn’t found the bones of the two red flame plague at that time, after finding the exit, I think I would probably have done so. At least I would have explored it with spiritual power to see what it was What is it?" He finally raised his head and looked at Changsun Jue, "You don't have to comfort me. I know very well, and the more likely situation is that when my father got the amethyst, he knew what it was. Even if he didn't It is completely clear, and at least he knows what it can do, so he didn't try to use spiritual power to test it or use it to practice. You forgot, Mr. Chang said at the time that when my father went to him with the amethyst, he just Ask him if he has seen this kind of spirit stone." He paused, his eyes shifted, "He didn't ask what this kind of spirit stone is and what it is for..."

Changsun Jue's thin lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but he remembered what Song Lingshuang said when he was drunk a few days ago.

"Do you know that I have been kneeling for a long time. My waist is sore and my back hurts from kneeling."

What I wanted to say came to my lips, but I didn't say it in the end.Changsun Jue said: "I don't know what happened..." He looked at Song Lingshuang, and Song Lingshuang felt his gaze and looked back, "But, I believe in Uncle Song. You are his son, so you have to believe it too." .” He said it sincerely and naturally, even a little domineering.

Song Lingshuang looked at Changsun Jue.For so long, he seemed to be waiting for redemption in his anxiety.That salvation is not Chang Yuan's answer, and even he himself doesn't know what it is.

Now someone said to him, I believe it, do you believe it?

Thus, there was finally a drizzle in the dry desert, and there was finally a little light in the mist that could not be seen.

He smiled, for the second time in these days, aimless, unburdened, pure and heartfelt.

He said, "Let's go home."