After being forced to debut in metaphysics, I became popular

The gate of the courtyard slowly closed.

Until Yan Shixun and Xie Lin left for a long time, Zheng Tiantian hugged the little puppet and stood behind the gate with her head down, silent and unwilling to move.

It was like playing a puppet game with the puppet in her arms.

Zheng Shushu also stood with Zheng Tiantian without saying a word.

He is no longer the elder brother who unconditionally doted on his younger sister in front of Yan Shixun just now. After his smile faded, his simple and weather-beaten face showed a bit of helplessness and exhaustion.

"Tiantian, you..."

Zheng Shu wanted to say something.

But Zheng Tiantian raised her head when she heard the voice, and her eyes were as cold as the water of Baizhi Lake.

All of a sudden, all of Zheng Shushu's emotions were like a flame extinguished by water, and he couldn't speak a word.

"What do you want to say, brother."

Zheng Tiantian's voice was very soft, and it disappeared as soon as the wind blew.

She stared fixedly at Zheng Shushu, but her beautiful big eyes did not show any sense of cuteness. The dull eyes reminded people of the glass eyes of delicate dolls, and the inorganic clarity was creepy.

"If it wasn't for my incompetent brother, how could I have become what I am now? Does my brother want to blame me now?"

Zheng Tiantian lifted her lips and smiled ironically: "But my brother didn't save me, what should I do, I can only save myself."

"Whether it's you or my brother, no one came to save Tiantian... Tiantian was in pain, it hurt, and she was bleeding, but my brother didn't show up, and no one came to save me. I don't want to die, so I have to let others Dead. Fair enough, isn't it?"

"My brother only thinks of accusing me now, isn't it too late? Ah, I see."

Zheng Tiantian looked up at Zheng Shushu with a smile, but what she said made Zheng Shushu's heart drop straight down.

"That person surnamed Yan is the descendant disciple of the previous exorcist, right?"

Zheng Tiantian tilted her head and said in a sweet voice, "Brother, you think I don't know what you did, do you? It must be the statue that the exorcist gave you. This time, you still want to protect that Yan ? Just because he was related to the previous ghost exorcist?"

"Tiantian is very sad, brother."

Zheng Tiantian pouted, feeling aggrieved: "Obviously I am your sister, but why didn't you protect me, brother? Do you want to see what happened at that time happen again?"

"no!"

Zheng Shushu's heart ached from Zheng Tiantian's words, and he yelled and interrupted Zheng Tiantian's words.

His pupils constricted, he gasped heavily, and even the palms hanging by his sides couldn't help shaking.

Zheng Shushu's eyes reappeared the scene of the year, the dark village, the constantly shaking vision, the cold hand holding him, and the shouts and footsteps behind him, he ran until he was exhausted and did not dare to stop...

The deepest despair and pain were dug out again by Zheng Tiantian, and the red fruit spread out in front of her eyes.

A look of pain appeared on Zheng Shushu's face, and he looked at Zheng Tiantian full of guilt and distress.

Zheng Tiantian just snorted, turned around and walked towards the house without saying another word.

The corners of her beautiful skirt arced across the air, and the little puppet hanging in her arms collided with hands and feet making a slight sound.

And as she walked through the yard, the wooden puppets placed in the yard, with their empty eye sockets, also moved their eyes slowly, always staring at her.

Like a soldier obeying the general.

Only Zheng Shushu was left standing behind the gate, slowly turning around to look at Zheng Tiantian's back, his eyes were sour.

All the words in my heart turned into a sigh in the end.

In an instant, Zheng Shushu seemed to have aged ten years, and his heart and eyes were exhausted.

He dragged his feet and walked slowly towards the cabin in the workshop.

The fire was still crackling, but the two chairs next to it were empty.

Zheng Shushu looked down at the chair, and remembered Yan Shixun's outstanding demeanor sitting there just now with his back straight like a green pine, and Yan Shixun's bright and sharp eyes when he talked about the Tao he insisted on.

Like.

so similar.

The same firmness as that gentleman back then is admirable, and the mountain stands tall and cannot be offended.

Zheng Shushu was stunned for a long time, then slowly pulled the chair over, and sat in the place where Yan Shixun had done just now.

The fire reflected his cheeks red, and the flames danced in his eyes, flickering on and off, he suddenly felt that he had just bid farewell to that reality just yesterday.

Zheng Shushu never thought he was a lucky person, and he often wondered if he had done bad things in his previous life, which is why he had to live such a rough and difficult life in this life. Do all the suffering in the world.

But the gentleman who appeared in the white paper lake in the early spring, dressed in white, was the luckiest person in Zheng Shu's life.

The gentleman smiled, rolled up his sleeves and asked him loudly across the lake for the way, but at a glance he saw the karmic sins all over his body.

However, the way that gentleman looked at him did not change at all, without any contempt or fear, it was still clear and warm.

At that time, Zheng Shushu couldn't help but wonder, doesn't this person know how to be afraid?Or ridiculously kind?

Zheng Shu sneered at this, and malicious thoughts came to his mind.

He wanted to destroy the smile on this man's face, make this man's white gown covered with mud, the unbroken green pine fall into the abyss, and the skin of kindness be torn off.

but……

When Zheng Shushu opened his eyes that morning, he heard a knock on the door from outside the courtyard.

The man still had a clean white shirt, stood under the dead branch with a smile, and called him, Brother Shu.

Zheng Shushu was shocked by the fact that the man survived, but also deeply astonished.

"I didn't expect you to survive..."

Zheng Shushu sneered: "However, after seeing those things, can you still call me that?"It is disgusting hypocrisy to call a beast a man. '

But the man was not only not angry, but instead raised his head and laughed, with a handsome and unrestrained expression: "Brother Shu, everything in the world has a cause and effect, it's just a peck and a drink."Didn't you kill them because they did something wrong? '

'I never said that I am a kind person. I am a layman, wandering around, just making friends. '

The man smiled and groaned: "I don't seem to have made an introduction yet?excuse me.I am Li Chengyun, whose Dharma name is Chengyun, and his name and Tao are one. '

Before Zheng Shushu could react, the man moved into his house in a natural manner, like a close friend he had known for many years.

Even Zheng Shushu himself began to doubt himself. Could it be that he has been in and out of life and death so many times that his memory has declined, and he has forgotten that he actually has such a number one friend?

Zheng Shuhu said it angrily, but every time Li Chengyun invited him to drink and hang out, he walked over unconsciously, complaining unwillingly, with a smile that could not be suppressed no matter what.

He has no friends.

Since the night his mother died, he has been living in hatred and pain.

He didn't seem to be able to breathe again until his revenge was avenged.

But after being happy, Zheng Shushu was not as happy and relaxed as he imagined every time before, but became confused and helpless.

Even because he traveled between life and death many times, his original identity and purpose began to blur, and every time he fell into a dream, he always returned to that night many years ago.

It was as if, he had already died in the cold lake that night with his mother, but he himself forgot.

All the remaining memories that are still alive are false.

Li Chengyun appeared at that time point, pulling Zheng Shushu, who was gradually confused and confused, back to the world from the three-way intersection he chose.

Zheng Shu also gradually felt that it seemed that he had only gradually begun to live like a human being until now.

Not those woodcarvings of dead things.

Nor is it a shadow puppet manipulated to appear behind the curtain.

"Snapped!"

The fire burst into sparks, awakening Zheng Shushu who was addicted to memories.

He snapped back to his senses, blinked his eyes, and regained his sanity.

The room outside was still pitch black, and Zheng Tiantian, who didn't like flames, didn't light the candles, but hummed an out-of-tune tune cheerfully in the deep darkness.

Her skirt was twirling in the air, like a blooming flower, extremely beautiful.

Zheng Shushu followed the singing voice, his eyes were dull.

Under Zheng Tiantian's singing, there were gradually fine and small knocking sounds echoing her, like the sound of wood colliding.

The wooden puppets placed in the living room also raised their arms stiffly and slowly, playing the time for Zheng Tiantian.

And the little puppet placed on the table also shook its head and dangled its calf.

Driven by Zheng Tiantian, all the wooden puppets seemed to have life for a moment, and their every move was no different from that of a stranger.

In the dim living room, there was obviously no one alive, but it was very lively.

The wooden puppets are crowded together, and in places where there is no light, they look like evil spirits lurking under the water.

Zheng Tiantian casually looked aside with a sarcasm in her eyes.

——You see, some people stand in the light, mistakenly thinking that they are also a member there, forgetting what they have done before.

It's really annoying to pretend to be a good person after doing bad things... What do you think, little puppet?

Zheng Shushu watched all this quietly, and his body, which was warmed by the fire around him, gradually cooled down.

He lowered his head, his eyes dimmed.

After a long time, Zheng Shushu turned around slowly, dragged his feet, and walked slowly towards the half-sculpted statue of the old man in the workshop.

Some things have been dragged on for too long, and it's time to end...

Uncle Bai.

……

Yan Shixun stood at Master Bai's home, Master Bai lowered his head, still drooping his eyelids and unwilling to speak.

The room was dead silent.

Even outside the yard, there was gradually no sound.

I don't know if it's because the night is getting dark and the villagers are used to going to bed early. The lively atmosphere when Yan Shixun and his party first arrived in the village has disappeared. Every house is silent, and no dogs bark or geese are heard.

It was as if the whole village had fallen into a peaceful sleep.

Yan Shixun frowned, turned his head to look at the side window, and suddenly felt that the outside was abnormally quiet, and even the air was a few degrees cold in vain, and the cold breath spread upwards along the soles of his feet.

He got up and walked to the window, with one hand in his coat pocket, and when he looked out, he could only vaguely see the bright lights of the village outside through the glass that was covered with dust and became blurred.

The outline of the village is vaguely outlined. Under the starless and moonless night, everything is blurred. Even the windows of the houses that are illuminated are like a dim yellow curtain. The figures walking past the windows are manipulated shadow puppets. .

Yan Shixun's heart skipped a beat.

The scene of the village outside the window gradually overlapped with the scene when he left the theater in the lake before, and the village he saw at that time seemed to be the same.

It's as if... from the very beginning, no real village existed.

Only the props of shadow puppetry are used repeatedly by the people behind the scenes, so similar scenes are repeated.

In an instant, Yan Shixun suddenly remembered that not only did he mention that Master Bai invited the carpenter to the village in the magazine interview he saw before, but also that Master Bai also mentioned Carpenter Zheng when he seemed to be talking to the real official person in charge just now.

Yan Shixun could tell from Master Bai's expression that Master Bai felt ashamed of Carpenter Zheng's family.

Zheng...Zheng Shushu, a carpenter.

Therefore, it was Zheng Shu's father who was invited to the village by Master Bai.

At that time, Zheng Shushu did not continue to study carpentry, but was obsessed with shadow puppetry.

It is even very possible that Carpenter Zheng would agree to Master Bai's invitation and move his family to the village with the surname Bai, because Zheng Shuji liked shadow puppetry when he was a child.

Therefore, fathers want to provide their children with the best learning environment and pamper their children. Even if the children do not want to inherit the ancestral woodworking skills, it doesn’t matter. As long as the children like it, they can do whatever they want in the future.

But in the village surnamed Bai, Zheng Carpenter and his wife died unexpectedly.

Moreover, their deaths are related to people in the village surnamed Bai.

That's why Zheng Shuhui hated the villagers, and also hated the shadow puppetry.He gave up his favorite shadow puppetry and picked up his family's carpentry again. While inheriting this craft, he also used it as a tool to avenge the villagers.

It is also because of this that Master Bai feels guilty towards Zheng Shushu, and maybe even because of this emotion, Master Bai will turn a blind eye to everything Zheng Shushu does.

or……

Willingly be used by Zheng Shu.

In just a short moment, because of the similar dead silence of the village, all the previous clue fragments were connected into a complete line in Yan Shixun's mind.

He immediately turned around to look at Master Bai, and asked in astonishment: "Is it Zheng Shuhu who has been using shadow puppetry as a cover to deceive the world?"

"Using your skills, hiding behind the scenes and manipulating all this, is he the one who trapped us here?"

Master Bai's eyelids trembled.

Under the drooping skin, his eyeballs rolled slowly, and then opened a slit, looking seriously at Yan Shixun in front of him.

He stared at Yan Shixun for a long time before lowering his head again.

Even if someone sees through the truth, for him, it can only cause this little shock. He is amazed at the keenness of the young man in front of him, and then he returns to dead silence.

It was like a small stone was thrown into the lake, causing a few splashes, and then everything returned to dead silence.

Master Bai sat on the grand master's chair, so quiet that even the sound of breathing almost disappeared into the air.

On the four walls of the magnificent living room, there are shadow puppet figures hanging everywhere.When Master Bai closed his eyes, it seemed as if he had merged with his surroundings.

He is also a forgotten shadow puppet, no different from other shadow puppet figures.

It's just that among the houses that no one came to, they were gradually weathered and broken, and finally buried in the yellow sand. No one knew that there used to be a village here.

And the shadow puppetry that was very popular for a while.

Master Bai didn't speak, but this attitude had indirectly given Yan Shixun the answer.

Yan Shixun understood what Master Bai wanted to tell him, and also understood another thing because of Master Bai's actions.

——They are not only in the shadow play.

Moreover, the person who was manipulating all this behind the scenes was also watching them all the time.

It's like spectators sitting under the stage, watching with relish the shadow puppets on the stage being manipulated, making various movements, watching them struggle desperately because of the hardships they encountered.

But the spectators off the stage laughed and applauded.

Yan Shixun, who had figured everything out, immediately turned around and was about to leave Master Bai's house with a big stride.

But just as he opened his legs, he suddenly heard Master Bai's voice coming from the darkness.

"... trees."

Master Bai's voice, which he hadn't talked to for a long time, was hoarse and rough, like the hiss of an evil spirit: "Take the trees away."

Yan Shixun's body froze, and he turned to look at Master Bai in astonishment.

what happened?

When he asked Master Bai about the people behind the scenes just now, Master Bai did not deny it, but now he revealed that he wanted him to protect Zheng Shushu.

Is it because of Master Bai's guilt towards Zheng Shushu?

Before Yan Shixun could ask, Master Bai raised his drooping eyelids, looked at him with dead eyes, and asked softly, "Is what you saw really a living person?"

Master Bai grinned: "Son, you know that shadow puppetry has another name...is it called ghost show?"

Yan Shixun's eyes slowly widened.

In the blink of an eye, he realized what Master Bai wanted to remind him of.

In a ghost show, all those who died in reality can continue to live like normal people here.

Not to mention the person behind the scenes, who reversed the position of the shadow puppet and reality in order to avoid the detection of heaven and earth.

That being the case, apart from Zheng Shushu who is suspected to be the person behind the scenes, and Master Bai who himself is the medium of shadow puppetry, do the other villagers... really exist?

After this idea popped up, the first thing that came to Yan Shixun's mind was the third uncle Bai's house where they were staying.

When he asked before, Uncle Bai told him generously that anyone in the village who knew shadow puppetry was dead.

But in this village, a shadow puppet artist surnamed Bai lived here at the beginning, so other relatives came to join him. For dozens of generations, they have relied on this craft to make a living. of.

...What about Uncle Bai?

Third Uncle Bai lived next to the shadow puppet master's house. Why did he know so clearly what happened back then, but still survived?

Or to put it another way-is Uncle Bai really still alive?

And all the villagers and children he saw in the village along the way, are they really still alive?

Yan Shixun's thinking suddenly froze.

He realized that he had been deceived by the inertia of his thinking.

In fact, except for Bai Sanshu and Zheng Shushu, he saw almost no adult villagers in the village.

What he saw with his own eyes was still alive and kicking, only the children playing outside. As for the other villagers, he only heard voices or saw vague shadows through the windows.

Because when they arrived in the village, it happened to be dinner time, which should have been the time when everyone was at home.

So Yan Shixun didn't realize this problem for a while.

It wasn't until now that Master Bai reminded Yan Shixun of the loopholes.

If there are only shadows and sounds, how is it different from shadow puppetry?

And if Uncle Bai's face gets older and has more wrinkles...

Yan Shixun quickly painted the face of Third Uncle Bai in his mind.

Then he found that this face was exactly the same as the one he had seen in the Shadow Puppet Museum!

The old man guarding the shadow puppet museum and saying that he would charge tickets is clearly the older and vicissitudes of Uncle Bai.

What's more coincidental is that Uncle Bai's house is also at the head of the village.

Like, Gravekeeper.

Yan Shixun looked up at Master Bai in astonishment, and Master Bai also clearly realized from this handsome face that this young man wanted to understand everything just because of a reminder from himself.

Master Bai laughed softly, and then the laughter became louder and louder, and even his chest trembled.

But he soon coughed violently, and his laughter was mixed with the sound of coughing and foaming blood in his throat.

His body, which was as old as a candle in the wind, could not bear such violent emotional fluctuations at all.

But Master Bai felt very happy.

He lived in a corner for many years, and his life gradually died away. He was overwhelmed by guilt, and even lost expectations for everything.

He hopes that the child can live well, and never refuses any request from the child.

However, he could only helplessly see the child sinking into the quagmire.

He is supposed to be the one who takes revenge, but why does he live in more pain than the enemy?

Master Bai wants to do something, even though he knows that he does not have such qualifications.

However, he can't actually do anything.

Just like when Carpenter Zheng's family was killed many years ago, he was excluded and isolated by the whole village, and he knew nothing about these things.

He was so powerless that he couldn't do anything except yelling with tears and slamming the table when facing the dead body, which was ridiculed by other villagers as hypocrisy.

Long ago, even when he was a child, Master Bai had already vaguely noticed that the people in the village were no longer impatient with shadow puppets, and they yearned for the extravagant world outside.

But at that time, his father just patted his head and told him lovingly, as long as he is himself, no matter what other people are, as long as they learn shadow play well in a quiet and steady manner, the shadow play handed down from their ancestors will be fine. will not be lost.

That was also the first time his father told him the true face of Southwest Shadow Puppetry.

'Son, what do you think is the shadow puppets handed down from our ancestors?Just something to amuse the kids at the fair? '

His father shook his head lightly: "In the shadow puppetry, there are our thousand years of time, and the truth of thousands of years ago. '

'What we inherit is not only shadow puppetry, but also all the things that have happened on this land.When newcomers want to know what happened here thousands of years ago, they will come to look for Southwest Shadow Puppetry. '

'And our task is to pass it on, not to let it be lost, so that the latecomers forget the past. '

His father taught him so.

Therefore, according to the teaching, Master Bai only focused on sharpening his own skills and polishing his own works, and recorded all the inheritances that were passed on by word of mouth in the past on paper.

He felt gratified that even if he had an accident one day, the shadow puppetry would not be lost.

Later inheritors will rely on these notes to learn again the appearance of the shadow puppetry.

But in the end, it seems that he really only managed to be alone.

The environment that he has been ignoring all this time has gradually deteriorated when he didn't pay attention, and it has become a strange appearance to him.

Those childhood playmates will no longer be as amazed and delighted as they were when they saw the shadow puppetry for the first time when they were young. Shout the name of the great saint.

They open their mouths and keep their mouths shut, it's money and status.

Either to show off that someone has bought my work, or to be proud of which TV station I have accepted an interview with, or how much money I have for a performance now.

Even the shadow puppet artisans from the same source have exhausted their minds to innovate and promote in order to compare and compete with each other.

Some discarded traditional repertoires and features, and wrote new plays that are more popular with young audiences.Some were not convinced, and simply advertised that they could use their feet to play shadow puppets.

Others would play tricks when other people were about to perform on stage, causing the other party to have diarrhea and be unable to sit on stage, so they naturally replaced the performance.

Peers are lighter than each other, each showing their own magical powers.

Obviously they are famous for the title of master of shadow puppetry, but in their words, the proportion of shadow puppetry is getting less and less,

Master Bai saw this.

He was unwilling to be in the same group as others, and was gradually pushed to the edge by the villagers. It was only because of his title as an officially certified successor that he had to hold his nose to get along with him, but he often rolled his eyes at him. He said that if he simply gave up the title of inheritor, other people could better carry forward Southwest shadow puppetry.

Master Bai smiled and said nothing. After pondering for a long time, he decided to invite Carpenter Zheng, whom he met by chance, to help him perfect the Southwest Shadow Puppet, which is famous for its "bone".

Since the biggest difference between Southwest shadow puppets and other shadow puppets is the delicate and flexible skeleton production, starting with the improvement of the skeleton, he can definitely make Southwest shadow puppets more exquisite.

Carpenter Zheng's family has been carpenters for generations, and has been famous for a long time in the original place of residence, and is well known far and near.

Carpenter Zheng was very hesitant about moving.

Although he also wants to make something with his friends, for a craftsman who loves the handicrafts he inherited, being able to improve his skills is far more gratifying than money.

That is the realization of personal value and sense of accomplishment.

However, Carpenter Zheng is not only because of the huge sundries accumulated by several generations of his family, but also because of his wife and children.

For him, relocation is something that needs careful consideration.

But when Carpenter Zheng took his son away from Master Bai's house, just as Master Bai was going to perform a shadow play at the market, he invited father and son to go with him.

Zheng Shushu, who was still a child back then, happily yelled the name of Monkey King, and his palms turned red.

Xiao Zheng Shushu was sweating profusely with excitement, and told his father with a flushed face that he had found something he really liked, and he was determined to be the best shadow puppet maker!

Carpenter Zheng looked at the child and smiled too.

Soon, Carpenter Zheng moved to the village with his family.

When the villagers heard that Carpenter Zheng was a famous person, they enthusiastically came to help move.

But when they were moving the box down from the pickup truck, the young men were surprised by the weight of the box in their hands, so they quietly opened the box while no one was paying attention.

Then what they saw was part of the wealth accumulated by Carpenter Zheng's family for generations, and there were also a lot of precious wood with a gram of gold.

The young people moved their minds and coveted the money of Carpenter Zheng's family.

They are like poisonous snakes lurking in the grass.

The right time to do it came soon. Regardless of Zheng Carpenter's begging, they killed Zheng Carpenter and hid his body behind the curtain of the warehouse sundries, and then took part of the property.

Young people don't hide their thoughts, they always want to show off when they have money, and they buy a lot of items beyond their original wealth.

Their elders, relatives and friends soon discovered the extra property in their hands.

However, they just scolded the young people why they didn't say earlier that Carpenter Zheng's family was much richer than this at first glance, so what's the use of just grabbing this point.

Now that Carpenter Zheng's family is orphaned and widowed, those wealth are within easy reach.

So everyone agreed to get rid of the mother and son, and then take the wealth of Carpenter Zheng's family as their own, and share it equally among all the participants.

At this time, Zheng Carpenter's wife, who found her husband missing, was looking for her with a big belly.

In the end, she saw the dead body of her husband who was thrown into the warehouse like a piece of rotten meat behind the curtain.

The wife passed out from crying.

But because of this, he frightened the snake and alarmed other villagers.

They hypocritically comforted Carpenter Zheng's wife, saying that they would definitely find the person who killed Carpenter Zheng, but at the same time they winked at each other and went to the door that night to kill her and the child.

When Master Bai knows about this, everything is a foregone conclusion.

Master Bai's tone was hoarse, and he paused for a while after speaking a few words. When he finished speaking, his cloudy eyes were already filled with tears.

The room was silent.

Yan Shixun stood with one hand in his pocket in the darkness not far away, his head slightly lowered, his hair falling down, blocking his eyes, making it difficult for people to see his expression clearly.

No one spoke first.

Yan Shixun didn't expect that this kind of thing had happened in this village before, and behind Zheng Shushu... there was such a blood feud.

"I can tell you everything, and whatever you want, I'll give it to you. There's only one condition."

The moment Master Bai raised his head slowly, tears flowed down his uneven cheeks.

"Take the tree... away."

"Don't let him stay here anymore, and don't let him be trapped by hatred anymore. He should have started his own life long ago. Instead of living in the past like this, in order to avenge those people, even ruined his own life."

Master Bai choked up: "You... Maybe, you can do it."

When Yan Shixun raised his eyes, he saw Master Bai's tearful face.

He was silent for a moment, and then asked softly: "Even if he caused everyone's death, trapped us in a shadow puppet show, and the evil power was so strong that we had to invite an ebony statue to suppress it, do you still think he was saved? the value of?"

Hearing Yan Shixun's words, Master Bai seemed very surprised: "Do you know the ebony statue?"

"No, it's not right. Do you think the ebony statue is used to suppress trees?"

Master Bai seemed to have heard the ridiculous words. He shook his head and said, "The deaths of all the people in the village were indeed made of trees, but after that layman accidentally entered Baizhi Lake a few years ago, the trees That's changed, he's a good boy now."

Layman?

Yan Shixun thought of the painting hanging in Zheng Shu's house, and hurriedly asked: "Do you know the name of that layman, Master Bai?"

Master Bai nodded: "He is a very unique person. He came here to find Southwest shadow puppetry and asked me about things that happened thousands of years ago. Shadow puppetry ruined the life of trees... but it also left him with a glimmer of life. Start living like a human being.”

Master Bai smiled bitterly: "That Layman Chengyun is a powerful person. But later I heard that he died in martyrdom."

The moment he heard Master Bai's words, Yan Shixun only felt his brain "hum!", and it became blank in an instant.

It was as if all the scenes around him were collapsing and disappearing. The last time he met Li Chengyun back then reappeared in his mind. The man folded his sleeves, smiled softly under the slanting flower branches, and said reunion.

But they were never able to reunite again.

Yan Shixun slowly clenched the hand hanging by his side, until the finger bones turned white, and the nails were deeply embedded in the palm.

Even though he knew very well that Li Chengyun had died a few years ago, he personally organized Li Chengyun's funeral. As Li Chengyun's personal disciple and son, he sent Li Chengyun off for the last time, and watched with his own eyes. Li Chengyun was buried.

But for so many years, he never had the courage to turn around and face Li Chengyun's death again.

It was an unbearable pain.

But now, Master Bai's words tore open his healed scars, and fresh blood gushed out from the once festering wounds.

Yan Shixun forced himself to calm down amid Li Chengyun's death.

His Adam's apple rolled, and his voice was hoarse: "Then, do you know how that, layman Chengyun... died?"

The once sharp thinking is like a stuck disk, continuing to run with difficulty.

However, the strong emotions suppressed forcibly made Yan Shixun's eyes red, his throat sour, and even his limbs trembled.

The news of Li Chengyun's death back then was passed on by other people. The young Yan Shixun didn't know the specific cause of Li Chengyun's death, nor did he know what caused his death.

All he saw was a cold corpse with a smile on its lips.

Li Chengyun, master... Knowing the end of death, he didn't have any anger towards the world.

He walked away with a smile, as if he had died as he wished.

Yan Shixun blinked quickly, forcing back the tears welling up.

Seeing Yan Shixun's expression of emotion, Master Bai gradually realized something, his face became serious, and asked him: "What is the relationship between you and Layman Chengyun? His descendants, or disciples?"

Yan Shixun opened his mouth, but failed to make a sound several times.

When tears rolled down the corners of his eyes, Yan Shixun struggled to break away from his smile.

"He used to be the one who shielded me from the wind and rain."

"It's my master, my father, my best friend."