Chapter 340: If you can't get it, destroy it

Gu Die was the original owner of this pair of Buddha Eyes.

At the last moment of her life, she pawned this pair of Buddha Eyes at the pawnshop.

I used a drop of lamp oil to ferry her into reincarnation.

I still remember how she came to the pawnshop in the middle of the night, resolutely reaching out to dig out her own pair of Buddha Eyes.

She was that resolute.

How could I have known back then that behind this pair of Buddha Eyes lay so many shocking stories?

Yu Nian kept shrinking in the corner, constantly crying.

But her sobs and whimpers now were completely different from the nonstop tears of blood she shed when she was in pain and howling earlier.

Her crying now was more like after witnessing a horrendous massacre, she was immersed in it, unable to extricate herself.

Li Qingying and I sat slumped on the ground before the offering table, tacitly agreeing not to go forward and disturb her.

The Buddha Eyes are sentient.

Yu Nian had formed a contract with the Buddha Eyes, possibly through them seeing Gu Die's brief and desperate life.

A girl who had been confined in an ivory tower since birth, even deprived of the freedom to move about, her life should have been extremely impoverished.

Yet over these past ten-odd years, she endured pain that ordinary people could never experience in a lifetime.

Especially when she was sent up the mountain and saw the girls once said to possess Buddha Eyes being controlled and harmed by gu worms, would she not have felt like a lamb awaiting slaughter?

That taste of being destined to die while not knowing when the blade hanging over one's neck will fall—could it not drive a person mad?

That despair of being forced to await death in the prime of one's vibrant, splendid years, with nowhere to voice it, had accumulated resentful qi in this pair of Buddha Eyes until it suddenly burst forth at this moment… Yu Nian had contracted the Buddha Eyes, and likewise bore this resentful qi.

In the long years that followed, Yu Nian lived not only for herself.

Her life inevitably carried Gu Die, and even the village and tribe of Xiangxi, bearing the yearning for life and longing for freedom of countless girls who had been inhumanely imprisoned for the Buddha Eyes.

This wonderful collision between lives is both inheritance and redemption.

Yu Nian immersed herself in sorrow for a long, long time.

Until her spine suddenly stiffened, my heart jolted along with it.

Immediately afterward, we saw Yu Nian's neck tilt straight back, her whole body's tendons instantly tightening and bulging upward.

She widened her eyes.

In the Buddha Eyes, now drained of all blood color, when Yu Nian opened her eyes, they were limpid and clear to the bottom.

With her movements, that pair of Buddha Eyes kept growing dim and turbid.

That feeling was as if… as if some unknown force were drawing out the spiritual qi from within the Buddha Eyes.

"Oh no, it's those demons stealing the spiritual qi from the Buddha Eyes!"

The spiritual qi of the spiritual eyes that had been dug out from Yu Nian had already been exhausted; during this time, those beasts had been overdrawing her life.

Yu Nian had contracted the Buddha Eyes; they must have noticed it right away.

Once the contract succeeded, how could they not make a move?

Li Qingying and I immediately rose to our feet, ready to rush forward.

Although we didn't know how to stop this, we felt we ought to do something.

The next moment, my shoulder was pressed down.

Li Qingying and I both halted our steps; I turned my head and saw Liu Junyan had entered at some point, shaking his head at us.

"We can help her for a moment, but not for a lifetime; some obstacles she must overcome on her own."

As Liu Junyan's words fell, we heard Yu Nian let out a howl, her tensed body inch by inch being pulled forward, her tendons throbbing nonstop……

At that instant, I actually saw a sheet of blood qi emanating from Yu Nian's body.

After another howl, Yu Nian's body finally went limp.

She knelt on the ground, gasping heavily.

Liu Junyan released his grip, but I dared not step forward.

Until Yu Nian slowly turned her head to look at me, I saw her eyes clear as water yet seeming to flow with radiant colors, beautiful and powerful.

I no longer hesitated at all, rushed forward and enfolded Yu Nian in a hug, crying uncontrollably.

Heaven knows, when you personally witness a pair of hollow eyes becoming lively, that kind of shock.

That is the power of life!

"Senior sister, you're amazing! You not only contracted the Buddha Eyes but also resisted those demons—you succeeded!"

Yu Nian also tightly returned my embrace, her voice hoarse and trembling: "Xiao Jiu, I did it."

From the sun at its zenith to the sun westward, the whole process lasted several hours.

Our sweat alternated between wet and dry, our eyes were swollen from crying, yet we felt no passage of time.

Only after everything settled did we suddenly realize that in those few hours we had seemingly undergone a life-and-death ordeal.

Everyone sincerely rejoiced for Yu Nian.

When we gathered to eat dinner, I couldn't help but keep looking at Yu Nian's eyes.

Each time I looked, my heart involuntarily sighed, "How beautiful."

It is truly too beautiful.

The Buddha Eyes placed in the refrigerator, though clean and clear, remained icy cold.

Sometimes, when I unexpectedly opened the refrigerator and saw them, I would be startled.

But now they seem to have been infused with warmth—joy, anger, sorrow, happiness—all radiant.

After dinner, Yu Nian was to return to Huicheng.

I repeatedly urged her to stay, but she insisted.

She took my hand and earnestly said: "Xiao Jiu, contracting the Buddha Eyes is only the first step; afterward it will draw great numbers of covetous spirits and monsters after the Buddha Eyes. Since they cannot obtain them, they will try every means to destroy them, even joining forces from multiple sides. Every second I remain in the pawnshop is immense pressure on you; Huicheng will surely fall into chaos sooner or later—I must return quickly."

I can't bear to part with Yu Nian, but I also understand that what she said is right.

She has been guarding the Chaos formation on the Huicheng side, and now that she has contracted the Buddha Eye, the other side will feel a tremendous threat.

Fish dead, net broken — it's only a matter of time.

I could only hug her tightly again: "Senior sister, you must be careful, if you need anything, contact me immediately, don't try to bear it alone."

Yu Nian, however, was far more optimistic than I: "Xiao Jiu, Huicheng has the Tang Family — don't forget, and there's Aunt Tang too; they'll all help me. You guard the pawn shop well, we'll guard Huicheng well, and we'll all work hard together."

I kept nodding.

Li Qingying packed a bunch of tasty food and some pills given by Bai Shulan, stuffed them into Yu Nian's hands, and repeatedly urged: "Remember to eat well, take your supplements on time; next time we meet, I want to see you gain weight — I'll fatten you back up to make up for what you lost."

Yu Nian smiled and agreed to each request.

Returning to the pawn shop, I inexplicably felt a sense of loss.

Everyone is clearly working hard, we've been improving all along, yet I always feel it's not enough.

I am greedy.

I want more power, I want family happiness, I want everyone to be happy and prosperous…