Chapter 334

Li Li Zhuiyuan sat on the stone stool for a long time.

So long that even Lu Runsheng, who didn't like to use his brain, couldn't help but lower his head and ask in a low voice:

"Xiao Yuan, are we going back?"

There didn't seem to be anything worth looking at here, and A-Li was still waiting above. Most importantly, Lu Runsheng felt that Xiao Yuan's current state was a bit abnormal.

Being dazed or blank wasn't anything when it happened to others; for example, A-You was often like this.

But Xiao Yuan was always clear-headed; he always knew what he was doing and what he needed to do.

Li Li Zhuiyuan regained his senses slightly and nodded.

Lu Runsheng waited for a while longer.

Seeing Xiao Yuan still sitting on the stone stool, Lu Runsheng had no choice but to reach out, pick the boy up, and move him onto his back.

Walking out of the main seat, looking up, the quicksand above was still continuing. Maybe by dawn, this space underground would be completely filled.

Lu Runsheng held Xiao Yuan on his back with one hand and grabbed the wall with the other, his feet dangling, grabbing, sending, and stopping, as if jumping, and soon arrived above.

After putting the boy back on the tricycle, A-Li looked at him carefully.

Li Li Zhuiyuan's gaze first fell on A-Li's face, then quickly scattered.

Lu Runsheng got on the tricycle.

The starry sky tonight was still brilliant, but the two behind the car didn't play chess like they did when they came.

Li Li Zhuiyuan's gaze was directed upward, but his eyes couldn't see a single reflected star.

A-Li's hands had been gently kneading the boy's head. She didn't hope to make the boy quickly break away from this state in this way; she just hoped it would make him feel better.

The boy had found Wei Zhengdao's method of suppressing and killing evil spirits once and for all.

A very simple method.

Eat the evil spirit.

This was different from Lu Runsheng's love for eating dirty food.

Because of Lu Runsheng's own special nature, he could absorb negative attributes such as resentment, corpse energy, and evil energy. In essence, it was no different from ordinary people needing to absorb various nutrients from meals.

Lu Runsheng gnawing on a zombie leg was no different from an ordinary person gnawing on a roast lamb leg.

But, Wei Zhengdao's "eating" here was another concept.

Even though Li Li Zhuiyuan had read many books and had rich experiences and wide knowledge due to walking the river, this was the first time Li Li Zhuiyuan had come into contact with this concept.

Before that, the boy hadn't even imagined that there could be such a solution.

Many of the evil spirits and opponents who died in his hands would exclaim in disbelief before they died:

"Impossible!" "Why?" "On what grounds!"

Because some of the traits the boy displayed were beyond the scope of their past cognition.

Now, when Li Li Zhuiyuan looked at Wei Zhengdao again, he had a similar feeling, and even... much more so.

The main seat of the formation was so clean.

Cleanliness is the most terrifying thing.

Qing'an under the peach forest was suffering from the backlash of secret arts and gradually losing himself. He chose to seal himself, which was actually to prevent himself from becoming a great evil that poisoned all living things after losing his way.

The Fengdu Great Emperor opened the underworld, built the Yin office, locked up endless ghosts, and even suppressed himself as the most terrifying ghost in hell.

By doing this, he exchanged for merit from the Heavenly Dao.

Qing'an was spontaneous; he was like a Jianghu hero with a conscience who locked himself up.

Toward this, the Heavenly Dao would often turn a blind eye.

The Great Emperor was raising bandits to ensure his own importance, and he himself was that strongest bandit, like a feudal town that only bowed its head in name.

And Wei Zhengdao's "eating"—was a kind of accommodation.

It had nothing to do with self-sacrifice and dedication, nothing to do with raising bandits to ensure his own importance... the most fatal thing was that it even had nothing to do with the Heavenly Dao.

This was a very terrifying means, beyond reason, incomparably crazy.

If you continue to eat, how big will your stomach grow?

How big will your appetite expand?

This was no longer a matter of how much you could eat until you were full and bloated, but if you could eat all the way up, who would you eventually point those chopsticks at?

Arriving at Shinan Town, the spirit in the boy's eyes finally recovered some.

A-Li's massage continued.

Li Li Zhuiyuan: "I made you worry."

A-Li learned Li Li Zhuiyuan's previous movements, lowered her head, and touched her forehead against the boy's, and they could perceive the temperature of each other's bodies.

For a long time, when the tricycle drove from the road into the village road of Siyuan Village, the boy sat up.

"Brother Lu Runsheng, go to the bearded man's house."

"Okay."

The tricycle drove to the bearded man's house.

Li Li Zhuiyuan signaled A-Li to continue sitting in the car, and he got off alone and walked into the peach forest again.

Earlier, when communicating with Qing'an in the peach forest, Li Li Zhuiyuan had a strange feeling that Qing'an wasn't very active about this matter, even though he could clearly benefit from this result.

Therefore, Qing'an should have known the truth long ago.

Wei Zhengdao could teach the "Black Leather Book Secret Art" to Qing'an back then, but he indeed couldn't teach the "Method of Suppression and Killing" to him, unless Wei Zhengdao was willing to... eat Qing'an.

This time, there was a rare lack of wine smell in the depths of the peach forest.

Qing'an sat in front of a small tea table, on which were peach blossom tea, a plate of boiled peanuts, and a plate of tea-dried tofu.

Except for the tea, the peanuts and tea-dried tofu should have been offerings placed by Xiao Yingying for Qing'an today.

Su Luo sat on the side, grinding ink.

The seat opposite Qing'an was left empty, with a cushion placed below.

Li Li Zhuiyuan knew this was left specifically for him.

Qing'an knew that after he went to Langshan, he would come to see him again.

Li Li Zhuiyuan didn't stand on ceremony and sat down directly on the cushion.

On the tea table in front of him, there was a cup of tea.

The boy picked up the teacup and took a sip.

Qing'an: "How is it?"

Li Li Zhuiyuan: "Disgusting."

Qing'an nodded: "Indeed."

Li Li Zhuiyuan: "Short of tea leaves?"

Qing'an shook his head: "I usually drink offering wine and rarely drink tea. Today, I had a sudden whim, tried a sip, and felt it was disgusting, so I deliberately left it, wanting you to come and experience it too."

Li Li Zhuiyuan lowered his head. Beside the teacup, there was also a pair of chopsticks. He didn't reach out to take the chopsticks to pick up food, but said very calmly:

"I have experienced it."

Qing'an: "I said you look a lot like him, but you are ultimately not him."

Li Li Zhuiyuan: "Hmm, I don't want to be the second him either."

Qing'an reached out, picked up a brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote on the white paper in front of him.

"He once said that we had big appetites. When walking the river, he thought the most about how to feed us, fearing we would starve to death.

But he never told us that his stomach was actually the biggest."

Qing'an put down the brush, and the word "stomach" was written on the white paper.

Li Li Zhuiyuan: "Wei Zhengdao?"

Qing'an: "You have already seen it, so are you afraid?"

Li Li Zhuiyuan: "On the way back, I was lost in thought until just now."

Qing'an: "I, until now."

Today there was no zither, no song, no wine, and even less wind. After Su Luo stopped grinding ink, the depths of the peach forest were quiet enough to be chilling.

Qing'an spoke again: "He is him, you are you."

Li Li Zhuiyuan: "You just said that."

"I know, your path is very difficult to walk, but it's not without opportunity, and you have already explored the method to continue walking." Qing'an picked up the brush again and wrote the word "for" on the paper.

After a pause, intending to stop, he continued to write the words "righteous path."

Qing'an: "This is the path you can survive on."

Li Li Zhuiyuan: "Everything, for the righteous path?"

Qing'an nodded.

Li Li Zhuiyuan: "This, I can indeed do."

Qing'an: "Knowing how is enough, don't overdo it."

Li Li Zhuiyuan: "Are you concerned about me?"

Qing'an: "My loss of self is already very serious. I have long had a deep sense of alienation from myself. Some things, if you hadn't brought them up, I would have long forgotten."

Li Li Zhuiyuan: "Still a deal."

Qing'an: "Hmm, a deal. Although it can't be drunk with wine this time, having the interest to drink tea is even harder."

The "don't overdo it" that Qing'an mentioned was to read the pronunciation of the word "for" as a tone.

Then, the meaning of "for the righteous path" would change from:

Everything for the righteous path.

To,

Everything, for the sake of becoming the righteous path.

Li Li Zhuiyuan: "I don't have that thought."

Qing'an: "Hehe, this doesn't depend on your thoughts. You, after all, are not him."

"Hmm." After responding, Li Li Zhuiyuan stood up, "It's very late, I'm going back to sleep."

Qing'an waved his hand.

Li Li Zhuiyuan turned and walked out of the peach forest.

Watching the boy's departing back, Qing'an tapped his fingertips lightly on the tea table, and then asked Su Luo beside him:

"He is much calmer than I expected."

Su Luo: "He has always been like this."

"No. I deliberately cooked tea to wait for him because I felt he would come. Now I have a feeling that he came because he knew I felt he would come, fearing I would be disappointed."

Su Luo: "Out of a kind of politeness?"

"Fearing I would feel humiliated, and it would be hard to talk if I wanted to do business with him in the future, or fearing I would raise the price.

I increasingly feel this is the case. He is very similar to him. These two people can easily and simply see through me. He once said back then that I was so stupid that it wouldn't be strange if one day I was tricked into guarding a house."

Su Luo: "But you said that this person is ultimately not him."