Chapter 17: How Many Return from Ancient Battles

Both sides gradually became familiar.

Lin Jue used the excuse that he had rarely seen demons and ghosts and was very curious about their magic and supernatural powers, naturally asking what magic and supernatural powers they had and wanting to see them.

The two gladly agreed.

However, the demon-ghost surnamed Su was quite mischievous; under the pretext of showing his transformation skills, he pulled the demon-ghost surnamed Mo in front of Lin Jue and suddenly turned into a terrifying demon-ghost with a missing piece of his head, brain matter exposed, and several dark red blood holes on his face, wanting to scare Lin Jue.

He himself, although his death appearance wasn't good, at least counted as a complete person.

However, Lin Jue had just seen the dog demon's transformation technique on the road and had been scared twice, so he was well-prepared, and coupled with his head feeling numb in the middle of the night, he didn't have much of a reaction.

Instead, he regretted not having any strange feelings.

Later, the two showed the ability to walk through walls and spit breath.

It was just that this was a natural characteristic of ghosts, and Lin Jue still felt nothing.

Finally, it was the transport technique.

Just when Lin Jue was full of expectation, letting them transport him, feeling that he might learn something, the two walked to his side, one lifting his head and one holding his feet, and lifted him up with effort.

Lin Jue was silent at that time.

"In the past, monks in the temple would run here to steal wine and meat, and after eating and drinking, they would sleep here; that's how we moved them out."

The two said quite proudly.

What could Lin Jue say?

He had to compliment them a few times and continue chatting.

These two truly liked poetry; it seemed they had always used this for fun after death. The things they often talked about were also various poems, quite elegant. Even when Lin Jue asked them if they were demons or ghosts at the beginning, they didn't answer clearly, just shaking their heads and responding with doggerel poems like "Meeting you by chance in the bamboo mountains, not a demon, not an immortal. Know that this is a burial ground, the night owl cries at the fourth watch."

Later, Lin Jue was also urged and instigated by them, discussing for a long time and putting together miscellaneous sentences like "The long road is thick with dust and evening colors, the old temple in the barren mountains has night wind," followed by two lines about meeting immortal traces by fate.

His head was hazy in the second half of the night, and he couldn't remember it at all.

He only remembered that it drew peals of laughter from the two of them.

If this kind of laughter could be heard clearly by ordinary people, I fear no one in the temple would have slept peacefully that night.

Finally, he didn't know when he fell asleep.

Just when he was dazed, he had another dream.

It was still the attic in the dream, the furnishings were generally the same, but the details became illusory and ethereal, and it was still the two, Su Xiaojin and Mo Laifeng, in front of him.

"Hahaha, Brother Lin is too easily sleepy; you must know that when I was Brother Lin's age, I had no problem staying up for several nights in a row playing chess and writing poems with friends." Su Xiaojin said with a smile.

Lin Jue glanced at his hair and believed what he said.

"Since Brother Lin is sleepy, we had to come to find you in your dream." Mo Laifeng's nature was much gentler and steadier. "To tell you the truth, we were originally from Huizhou. Feeling that there was no hope of taking the imperial examinations, and it happened to be a time of internal and external troubles for the country, we simply joined the army. That departure was ten years of yellow sand in the Western Regions. I unfortunately died in battle. Brother Su was extremely righteous and brought my flesh and bones, sending me back from ten thousand miles away."

Hearing this, Lin Jue was unexpectedly surprised and looked at the Su-surnamed ghost who was still laughing and joking again.

A gentleman wielding a sword is the elegant trend of these days, but a scholar holding a halberd and joining the army is the ultimate romance of these days; such things are not rare.

But what he didn't expect was that he could actually meet such a righteous person in reality.

Sending bones from ten thousand *li* away, no matter which dynasty or generation, is a beautiful story.

"It's a pity..."

That Su-surnamed ghost snatched the words, smiling: "Although I saved my life on the battlefield, I was left with injuries. After ten years, I got used to the yellow sand days of the Western Regions, but returning to this ink-wash homeland, I actually fell ill due to water and soil incompatibility. Originally, we two agreed that whoever died first, the living one would help the other return to their roots. I didn't expect that I ultimately failed to fulfill the promise."

Originally heavy words, but after he finished speaking, he clapped his hands, spread them out, and had a shameless look:

"And I even dragged myself in!"

The Mo-surnamed ghost stood beside him, as if he had long been used to it.

"We came this time, not to ask Brother Lin for help. It's just that in the first half of last night, I heard Brother Lin counting money upstairs, and there were sighs in the middle, so I guessed that Brother Lin was out seeking an education and must be lacking travel expenses. Coupled with playing with Brother Lin just now, it was extremely enjoyable and extremely compatible, and I admired Brother Lin's character, so after Brother Lin fell asleep, I discussed it with Brother Su for a moment..." Mo-surnamed ghost said, "Before Brother Su died, he buried our money under a small mound in the bamboo forest behind the temple. We just dug a small pit on it, and there are more than a hundred taels of silver and money inside. If Brother Lin is short of money, you can take some."

Lin Jue was stunned for a moment.

Such a good thing happened for no reason?

Just as he was pondering whether to agree or decline, he thought carefully and felt it was wrong.

Isn't this still asking him for help?

It's just a euphemistic way of saying it.

If not, why not tell Lin Jue to take all the money? Both ghosts are dead; who are they leaving the money for?

"May I ask where the two brothers live?"

"Su Village, north of Danxun County."

"Lao Village, south of Qiuru County."

"How far is it from here?"

"It's only two or three hundred *li*."

"The two brothers protected the country, but stopped their steps when they were only two or three hundred *li* from home, stopping for more than ten years; it's truly not beautiful."

"If Brother Lin is willing, please bring a letter to our families for us. Our corpses are buried north of the bamboo forest. As for the buried silver, Brother Lin, please leave some for our families."

"I will definitely bring it."

Lin Jue said calmly and firmly.

The dream dissipated quietly.

Lin Jue woke up, and it was already broad daylight.

He put the cloth garment used as a quilt, the pants used as a pillow, and the books used as a cushion into his book satchel, and then there was nothing else to bring. Lin Jue walked downstairs with his book satchel on his back.

*Creak... *

Pushing open the attic door, the sunlight outside shone in, hitting Lin Jue's face, leaving him in a trance.

He didn't sleep well, and his head was still hazy. The experience last night was just like the Wang Family Ancestral Hall in Heng Village, so fantastical and unreal, like a dream he had himself.

Did he really chat with two ghosts for a whole night?

Lin Jue couldn't help but be lost in thought at the door for a moment.

When he walked outside, he discovered that most of the merchants and travelers staying the night had already left. The temple, which was very lively and crowded last night, had now become empty, with only the middle-aged monk sweeping the floor.

Seeing Lin Jue, he turned and smiled:

"Benefactor Lin is awake? You are the one who woke up the latest; breakfast time is almost over, I don't know if there is any left."

"Thank you, Master."

"I see Benefactor Lin's spirit is not good; did you not sleep well last night? Last night, the monks and guests in the temple heard voices in the attic, and many people were woken up. Did Brother Lin encounter anything?"

"Master didn't tell me that although this attic has been vacant for a long time, I wouldn't be the only one staying there," Lin Jue couldn't help but complain.

"There were many people outside last night, and our temple still relies on the accommodation money from passing benefactors to maintain our livelihood, so it was truly hard to tell the benefactor." The monk stopped his broom, leaned on it, and bowed to apologize to him, "This attic sometimes does have two unusual benefactors coming to play; some fellow disciples encountered them in previous years. However, these two have kind hearts and are half-men of letters; they have always liked to associate with scholars and respect virtuous people. Previously, there were guests who were brave and liked strange demon-ghost stories who stayed in the attic and lived peacefully with them. Since the benefactor is a scholar and a virtuous person, there is really nothing to be afraid of."

Saying this, he paused and smiled slightly: "What's more, the benefactor is not even afraid of the demons and ghosts on the road, so why be afraid of those who have lived with us in this temple for many years?"

"..."

Listening to him speak, Lin Jue felt for a moment that this monk could also be considered a "high-level monk."

Who says you have to have magic power to be a high-level monk?

"I hope the benefactor will not speak of this outside."

"I know, I know."

Lin Jue didn't know what to say, just nodded, and followed the monk to the dining hall.

The food in the temple was simple; breakfast was still a bowl of thin porridge, and each person had a vegetable bun. The temple monks were leisurely and could wait until noon after eating, but the merchants and travelers had to hurry and had to add their own dry rations to last half the morning. However, the vegetable buns in the basket were left for a few, but the thin porridge was gone, so the monk gave all the vegetable buns to him.

Lin Jue thanked him and asked for clean water to wash up simply before sitting down to eat.

There were only a few people in the dining hall, a team of merchants he didn't know, talking in low voices about what they heard yesterday, mostly about someone making noise last night, or hearing that someone encountered a monster on the road, and what happened afterward.

Chatting and chatting, they talked about mules.

Talking about the price of mules now, and from the rising price, they talked about the war in the west.

The war in the west was intermittent, fighting and stopping, and it had been like this for decades, and there was no change now.

Hearing that our side won, slaughtering half the people in a small country's city, hearing that our side suffered a big defeat, leaving an entire army in the yellow sand, and saying that a certain country invaded our border, burning, killing, and looting in the city, and by the time the reinforcements arrived, they had already left like the wind; how many people were buried in the sand, how many people couldn't return home—these merchants finished it in a few sentences while eating.

Listening to this, Lin Jue couldn't help but think of the two literary ghosts who returned from the Western Regions he met in the middle of the night yesterday.