Chapter 192: Ember
Chapter 192: Ember
[Emergency news: At around 07:21 today, a fire broke out in a village outside Yundu City, Yunzhou Prefecture. Firefighting, emergency, environmental protection and other departments have rushed to the scene to carry out emergency rescue and environmental monitoring. ]
[It is reported that the fire first broke out somewhere in Yanglao Village, and spread along the rice fields to the highway. The burning trunks of green trees collapsed in the middle of the road. The chain rear-end collision has now caused at least 7 injuries and 1 death...]
[The fire situation is being further tracked, our reporter is reporting for you. ]
The wall-mounted TV in the ward was playing this morning's emergency news. Several photos of the fire taken by drones occupied most of the screen. A girl with disheveled hair sat on the hospital bed, staring at the screen motionlessly, and the burning flames flickered slightly in her pupils.
Click, the door opened, and Lan Shiwen, wearing a Zhongshan suit, walked in.
Yin Lishang turned his head when he heard the voice, and his two dark eyes stared at Lan Shiwen's face motionlessly without saying a word.
Lan Shiwen didn't like being stared at like this, especially by Yin Lishang. He couldn't see any emotion on the face of this terminally ill girl that could be associated with a living person. She was like an exquisite but soulless porcelain doll. She was like this most of the time in the ward, unless she talked about her brother with the nurse or someone else.
Every time Yin Lishang looked at him like this, he felt like he was being stared at by a ghost.
But this time, Yin Lishang took the initiative to talk to him:
"I want to find my brother." The girl looked at him with her dark eyes without blinking.
"Brother?" Lan Shiwen frowned slightly.
Of course he knew who Yin Lishang's brother was. He was one of the remnants of the Yin family, the son of Ji Wuxie. His original name was Yin Taimian, and his alias was Ji Taixie. He had died in Yanglao Village.
But Ye Yao somehow fooled the God of Plague and made Yin Lishang think that he was her brother. She was so worried about him that she stayed in the ward for so many days, thinking about returning to her brother day and night.
To be fair, Lan Shiwen really wanted to know how Ye Yao did it. If he could solve the secret, he might be able to find another new way to control ghosts besides "upgrading" and "granting". But reason told him that it was impossible.
The method of controlling ghosts is a hidden secret for any ascender. It is not for sale and cannot be communicated. Even if the ascender is killed, the answer may not be obtained.
Lan Shiwen sighed and looked at Yin Lishang's dark eyes which were as deep as the abyss. Just as he was about to say "Okay, I'll take you to find your brother right away", the cell phone in his pocket suddenly rang.
He has more than one SIM card, and the one that received the call was a private number used specifically to contact upgraders, and not many people knew about it.
The caller ID showed an unfamiliar number. Lan Shiwen had no memory of ever having such a contact, and his private number enjoyed the operator's special service, so it was impossible for him to receive harassing calls.
"...Is someone coming to plead for the Liu family so soon?" Lan Shiwen exhaled a breath of foul air and answered the phone: "If you are here to persuade me not to be impulsive, you can hang up now."
The person on the other end of the phone was stunned for a moment, and then a reserved female voice came over: "Yes, Yu Ziqian asked me to persuade you..."
"Yu Ziqian?" The impatience on Lan Shiwen's face disappeared immediately: "Tell me more."
"Well, he said... the situation in Yanglao Village has calmed down for the time being, but before midnight tonight, no one is allowed to approach Yanglao Village."
The female voice on the other end of the phone spoke slowly, and her tone was as if she was reading a text from a manuscript: "He also said that if you ask why, just say that Yu Ziqian said so. If you don't comply, you will bear the consequences. Well, that's all."
Lan Shiwen nodded slightly: "Is that all? I understand."
The female voice on the other end of the phone also breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, I'm hanging up."
"Wait." Lan Shiwen suddenly asked, "Who are you to Yu Ziqian?"
"Um...fiancée? No, I can't talk to you about anything else. I'm hanging up!"
The phone hangs up.
Lan Shiwen looked at the gray "Call ended" on the screen, and a question mark appeared in his heart: "Ah? Fiancée?" Yin Lishang on the hospital bed was still looking at him motionlessly: "I want to go find my brother."
"Ahem... Ahem, got it." Lan Shiwen coughed twice and put the phone back in his pocket: "I can take you to find your brother, but it has to be after midnight tonight."
Yu Ziqian has issued a warning that from now until midnight tonight, no one is allowed to approach Yanglao Village, otherwise they will bear the consequences.
At the same time, in Yanglao Village, in the Netherworld, Ning Zhe had already arrived in front of the ginkgo tree with the remaining fire burning.
In the land temple under the tree sits a pottery statue of the land god, whose tattered clothes were burnt into tatters by the flames. Only on the jade plaque in the land god's hand, the 14 words "Taiwei Xiyi Xiansheng Zhenjun Weiwu Zhenliang Dadi" can still shine with golden light.
If you look closely, you can see traces of burns on the pottery statue of the land god, and the painted facial features have become somewhat blurred.
"It seems that the local god of Yanglao Village is not the same ghost that caused the fire just now."
Ning Zhe stood in front of the land temple, looking at the scarred pottery statue of the land god, took a deep breath, and said softly, "Nian Jun."
The faceless girl in wedding dress appeared before him again.
Unlike his previous recklessness, Ning Zhe's actions this time were well thought out.
It is known that Ji Taiyu's mother said in a letter that his grandfather, the previous generation of the Yin family, hid something that could kill the Ascended One in the deepest part of Yanglao Village, and that "deepest part" was not accessible by human power.
Then, people who know the rules of the land god of Yanglao Village can easily deduce that the so-called "deepest place" where the Yin family hid things is in the last layer of [human, ghost, demon, Xi, Yi, Wei], the realm of "Wei".
What in Yanglao Village can kill the Ascendant?
--fire.
"Assuming that the thing that the Yin family hid in the 'Wei' was the spark that caused the fire just now, then..."
So why did the fire not start earlier or later, but suddenly start today after he took Yin Lishang away?
Is there any connection between the Plague God's departure and the flames getting out of control? To know the answer to this question, one must go to the deepest part and see for oneself.
So Ning Zhe stretched out his hand and turned to the next page of the almanac.
The next moment, he died, all sounds disappeared, and the world became quiet.
The "Tao Te Ching" says: "To hear something without hearing it is called rare."
The best way to judge whether you are in the realm of "Xi" is to prick up your ears and listen carefully. If you find that you can't hear any sound, then that's it.
By falling down by suicide, Ning Zhe successfully reached the -2 floor 'Xi' from the -3 floor '聻'.
When I opened my eyes in Xi's world, I still saw the ginkgo tree with the last flame burning and the small land temple with a pottery statue sitting cross-legged. It seemed no different from Xi's world.
But the difference is that as his level deepens, the burn marks on the land god in front of Ning Zhe seem to become more obvious.
In addition, the flickering embers in the ginkgo tree became brighter. The flickering flames made Ning Zhe's mood become a little agitated, and he had an urge to... jump into the fire.
"The deeper you go, the more severe the burns on the land spirits become, and the more obvious the impact on people standing near the fire is."
"What is the relationship between the land god sitting under the tree and the fire burning in the tree?"
(End of this chapter)