CH 83

Chapter 83: It’s Better To Remain Where You Came From, Than To Remain Somewhere Else.

“It seems that the one who died used his own body to protect this man.”

“Although this man was barely able to survive, the other man landed terribly on the ground. All his bones were broken, how could he survive?” After saying that, the villager sighed: “It’s really unfortunate. They were in our village not long ago, why did they suddenly fall off a cliff? I don’t know what happened….ah, to think Granny Yao let them spend a night in your house.”

“What?!” Granny Yao shouted out. She then looked at Bian Zhonghua, who was lying on the bed with a pale face, and frowned.

‘In that case….’

‘Is Qi Ci the one who died?!’

“Quick! Take me to the ancestral hall, I need to see him!” Granny Yao suddenly stood up and urged the villagers.

Although the villagers were puzzled, they still brought Grandma Yao to the ancestral hall. At this time, the Chief of the village was also inside the ancestral hall. With a troubled face, he walked around in circles.

Of course, this unknown guest couldn’t be kept in the ancestral hall, where the memorial tablets of their ancestors were placed. But it wasn’t appropriate to bury him in a random place.

As he thought of this dilemma, Granny Yao and the villagers arrived. With a single glance, Granny Yao was able to locate the coffin, which was placed in a corner of the ancestral hall. In a hurry, Granny Yao walked over to the coffin.

The Chief of the village was confused to see her there, so he asked: “Granny Yao, what brings you here?”

“Open the coffin,” Granny Yao said.

“Ah? But this man had a terrible fall, and his corpse looks a bit scary,” the Chief said. “Do you still want to open the coffin and see the corpse inside?”

Granny Yao nodded firmly.

The Chief of the village had to push open the lid of the coffin, and when Granny Yao looked inside, her face paled. As her hands trembled uncontrollably, she muttered: “It’s really this child, how could this….?”

The bloody smell was too heavy, so the Chief of the village had to hurriedly reseal the coffin. After taking out some objects, the Chief handed them to Granny Yao and said: “Is his friend recovering from his injuries in your house, Granny Yao? These are this man’s relics, please pass them over to that man when he wakes up.”

Granny Yao hadn’t yet recovered from her shock, and it took her a long time to understand what the Chief had said. With trembling hands, Granny Yao reached out to take the relics.

The relics were: a wooden box with broken corners, a wooden box with unknown incense, a token stained with blood so it was difficult to read what was written on it, and a copper coin tied in a red rope.

The Chief of the village began to worry again about how to dispose of this coffin: “Why don’t we build a grave for him first? When he stayed in the village before, it seemed that he was from the Capital. Maybe we should wait until his friend heals his wounds and then let him carry the coffin back to the Capital.”

“He’s not from the Capital,” Granny Yao said abruptly. “Forget it, let me take care of the coffin.”

“Ah? Granny Yao wants to take the coffin to her house?”

Granny Yao nodded without hesitation.

Granny Yao had been practicing medicine in the village for many years and had long established a big reputation among the villagers. The Chief of the village looked at Granny Yao’s determined attitude and no longer tried to argue with her, and with the help of some villagers, took the coffin all the way to Granny Yao’s house, placing it in the courtyard for her. Several of the villagers thought that it was strange to leave a coffin out in the open like this, but Granny Yao waved her hand and told them that it was alright.

When the villagers bid their farewell to Granny Yao and returned to their homes, it was already midnight.

Granny Yao, on the other hand, went inside her house to check on Bian Zhonghua, only to see that he was still unconscious. Knowing that Bian Zhonghua wouldn’t wake up for a while, Granny Yao walked to a wooden cabinet and pulled out a yellowed worn-out painting book, and then walked outside.

The painting book was the same one that Qi Rulan left behind.

Granny Yao walked to the coffin, caressed the lid with her old hand, and sighed repeatedly. Then, she muttered: “How could this happen to you so suddenly? I always thought that you were a special child, but in reality, you couldn’t escape dying in such a horrible accident. It’s better to remain where you came from, than to remain somewhere else.”

With that said, Granny Yao gently placed the painting book inside the coffin, closed it again, and then slowly pushed it onto the wooden cart, slowly taking it towards the lake. Since this was extremely difficult for an old woman like her, Granny Yao had to rest for a while between each push.

It took her a lot of time and effort, but finally, the coffin was pushed to the edge of the lake. Granny Yao gasped for a breath and had to rest for a long time. But in the end, she mustered all her remaining strength and pushed the coffin into the lake with her shoulders.

The coffin slowly slid into the lake and sank without a sound, not even making a ‘splash’ sound.

Granny Yao sighed again and left a mark at the edge of the lake, with the intention of building a grave here when the time came. After finishing this, Granny Yao got up and walked towards the wooden house.

Behind her, the white moon shone brightly among the darkness of the night sky. It was as if the lake was the only quiet place in this turbulent world.

…

Bian Zhonghua dreamed once again of the yellow river churning with blood.

However, this time, he wasn’t on the shore….he was inside the river.

He could feel the nauseating insects and snakes nibbling at his body in the river, while the ghosts around kept pulling him deeper inside the river.

Bian Zhonghua struggled to emerge to the surface, and when he made it, he saw a bridge right in front of him.

The bridge was covered in a thick mist, with a line of humanoid figures walking one after another. They didn’t talk or fight, they simply walked dazedly to the end of the bridge, just like wandering souls.

There was a plaque embedded in the bridge, and when Bian Zhonghua finally broke free from the ghosts pulling at him in the river, he took a closer look. Once the white fog dissipated a bit, he was vaguely able to read the word ‘Naihe1’ written on the plaque.

Bian Zhonghua was shocked to see this, but then, he suddenly opened his eyes.

The warm sun of winter penetrated through the window casket, falling gently on the bed. Before Bian Zhonghua could move, he already felt every inch of his body roaring in pain.

‘Where’s Qi Ci?’

‘Where am I?’

Bian Zhonghua struggled to turn his head, only to see a mural painted on the wall, a bed, and wooden cabinets. ‘This simple decorated house looks familiar….isn’t this Granny Yao’s wooden house? Why am I here?’

Bian Zhonghua frowned.

‘The last thing I remember is that after the Taotie ran away, I fell into Qi Ci’s arms….‘

‘I must have passed out.’

‘Was Qi Ci the one who took me here to treat my injuries?’

As Bian Zhonghua thought of this, the wooden door was gently pushed open. At that moment, Granny Yao walked in with a jar of medicine. She was startled to see that Bian Zhonghua’s eyes were wide open, and as she took a few steps forward, she said excitedly: “Boy! You finally woke up! You’ve been asleep for three days and three nights, did you know that?”

Bian Zhonghua smiled: “Sorry I made you worry. Where’s Qi Ci?”

Granny Yao paused, averted her gaze, and said: “What? Qi Ci? I haven’t seen him. The villagers who went up the mountain to collect medicinal herbs found you at the bottom of a cliff. Do you remember how you fell off the cliff?”

Bian Zhonghua froze: “At the bottom of a cliff? Qi Ci wasn’t there?”

Granny Yao nodded with a guilty conscience.

Bian Zhonghua suppressed his smile and his face became solemn. After pondering about something, he suddenly got up.

Granny Yao was startled to see this and hurried to stop him: “What are you doing?! Quickly, lie down and rest. Where did you find the strength to move?”

Bian Zhonghua said anxiously: “Something must have happened to Qi Ci! I have to go find him!”

Granny Yao stomped her foot: “Look at you! You can’t even walk a few steps without help! How can you go find him in this state?”

After the instinctive panic, Bian Zhonghua calmed down.

‘How can I go look for him if I can’t even walk on my own?’

After some internal struggles, Bian Zhonghua leaned back on the bed, feeling a bit uneasy and unwilling.

Granny Yao sighed and tried to comfort him: “I’ve already asked the villagers to help look for him. You should take care of your injuries now. Stop worrying about it.”

Bian Zhonghua bowed his head and thanked her.

Granny Yao put the jar of medicine for Bian Zhonghua’s wounds beside the bed. After instructing him how to apply it, she sighed and walked out.

Bian Zhonghua turned his head to look at his right shoulder, where the dragon pattern was supposed to be, noticing that it had disappeared completely.

‘It seems that the seal has been lifted after all.’

Even then, Bian Zhonghua wasn’t able to feel his internal energy at all.

Feeling odd, he recited a spell, trying to summon some pigeons. Firstly, he wanted to send a pigeon to inform State Master Li of what had happened. As for the second pigeon, he wanted to send it into the depths of the nearby forest to search for Qi Ci’s whereabouts.

Unexpectedly, even after tossing and turning several times, he couldn’t move an inch, and his body felt nothing but pain.