It's night.

Takasugi leaned against the wall, hiding in an extremely remote alley.

Purple-red blood continued to flow from his body, down the cold stone walls and onto the sand, making a corrosive sound of "snort".

Takasugi's mouth was wide open, and a "ho-ho" pant sound came out of his throat, like a worn-out bellows. His body was like a rag doll full of scars, and all kinds of horrific wounds on it could kill him at any time.

But he didn't even have the qualifications to cry out for pain.

His consciousness had completely dissipated, and he had lost any ability to think. My mind was filled with paste, and my soul was left with fragments.

So, someone gently walked up to him.

The man opened his mouth and seemed to say something. But Takasugi couldn't hear it at all.

Immediately afterward, the man's hand pierced Takasugi's chest, removing a purple heart that smelled sweet.

............

Qianzhou was woken up by fright.

Maybe it was because last night's bedtime exercise was too exciting, and Qianzhou dreamed.

He dreamed that he was falling from an extremely high place, speeding up. During this period, Qianzhou tried everything he could, but he still did not slow down the trend of his whereabouts.

Just when Qianzhou was about to accept his fate, a gust of wind suddenly blew.

The wind blew the boat upside down, and the boat found itself flying higher and higher, until it finally floated out of the atmosphere.

Then Qianzhou was scared awake, and his mouth was still muttering: "Don't fly, don't fly, don't fly in this life." ”

When Qianzhou came back to his senses, he found that the sky outside had already brightened.

The morning air hadn't warmed up yet, and the wind blowing from the window was still a little cool—it would have been nice if it had been a little wetter.

Qianzhou took care of his image in the mirror, put on his clothes, and combed his hair.

From the outside, it is no different from usual, but the tiredness between the eyebrows and eyes can't be hidden.

On top of that, the wound inflicted yesterday is still aching.

Qianzhou washed his face with the water brought by the maid, pushed open the door and walked out.

Qianzhou arrived at the hall just in time for breakfast, and everyone else had already arrived.

Jiang Qinghan glanced at him: "It's not noon today, and you have already gotten up." ”

Qianzhou twitched the corner of his mouth: "Don't take those two times as normal, it's for a reason." ”

Jiang Qinghan smiled and stopped teasing him.

Jiang Xuance and Pei Xing also laughed.

"Teacher. Sitting on the throne, the former man gently greeted Qianzhou.

Her voice was hoarse, and her breathing was extremely weak.

"What happened to you in the past, are you okay?" Qianzhou looked at the pale and transparent skin of the past, and couldn't help but feel a little pity in his heart.

"I had a fever last night and I'm fine now. He shook his head slightly.

Qianzhou has reservations about this.

Just as everyone was drinking porridge, Qianzhou suddenly stood up.

"What's wrong?"

"I felt like an acquaintance. Qianzhou said.

When Qianzhou walked to the gate, he saw a Taoist with a white beard walking with a staggering step.

Seeing Qianzhou, the Taoist first opened his cloudy eyes, paused for a while and then suddenly said, "It turned out to be a little layman." Is this the so-called abode of the prophet?"

Qianzhou nodded.

"That's great. The Taoist breathed a sigh of relief, took off a cloth bag on his body and handed it to Qianzhou, "I also bothered the little layman to hand it over." ”

Qianzhou opened the cloth bag, and inside was a purple mask.

"There was still a hand. The Taoist added, "It's a pity that it was ruined by the sword." ”

"How did Dao Chief's mask come about?" Qianzhou knew this thing, and Sangxia had shown it in front of him.

"There's nothing hard to say......"

Push back the clock to last night.

Sangxia went against the water of the Dome Bay and continued to swim upstream. It wasn't until it had traveled a considerable distance to get out of the river.

"Damn. Sansha climbed ashore and vomited out the blood clot that had accumulated in his throat.

His body was covered with numerous burn marks, and the charred wounds had formed a thick carbon shell. Yellow pus came out of the fissure.

The strange hand on his right shoulder hung down wiltedly, and only three fingers remained.

But suddenly he laughed again: "Funny, funny." Didn't expect ......"

Before he could finish his sentence, another mouthful of blood spurted out of his throat.

"No, it's too bad, it needs to be replenished. ”

That's when he found a house.

Easily knocking the wall down, the strange hand on Sanxia's shoulder stretched out in the horrified gaze of the family of three, and stabbed into the bodies of the three in turn.

In just a few breaths, there were only three dried corpses left at the scene.

"Boom. "It's the sound of a barrel falling to the ground.

Sang Xia followed the sound and saw a Taoist with a cane standing there, the water in the bucket spilling all over the ground.

When the Taoist drew his sword from his cane, Sangsha also put the mask on his face.

............

"That's probably it. The Taoist mentioned a few words lightly, without the meaning of elaboration, "Since I have already delivered the things, then I will leave first." ”

"Wait a minute. Qianzhou stopped the Taoist, "Daoist, you are dying." ”

It's different from when you first saw it. Although the Taoist was already old at that time, his hair was black, and although his eyes were bitter, he could vaguely see the burning flames.

But now?

The Taoist was hunched, his hair dry and pale, and his eyes were cloudy and blurry. Even walking requires crutches.

Even weaker is the essentia in the human body.

In Qianzhou's perception, the essentia of the Daoist is like a flame that will be extinguished by the wind at any time, and it has reached the point where it is impossible to burn.

In any case, Taoists can't live today.

The Taoist nodded lightly: "Of course I know, in fact, I shouldn't have been nostalgic for this world long ago seventy years ago. ”

Qianzhou didn't know what to say, and hesitated for a while before speaking: "Maybe there are other ways." ”

"No need. The Taoist smiled and shook his head, "Life and death have their own certainty. If the little layman has a heart, he will come and help me collect this body later. In terms of payment, I have nothing but this sword. ”

After speaking, the Taoist narrowed his eyes and staggered away.

Looking at the Taoist walking away, Qianzhou flicked his fingers and pasted a small piece of crystal on the Taoist's clothes.

"Lives? That kind of thing doesn't exist. ”

............

Qianzhou returned to the hall and took out the mask under the puzzled gaze of everyone.

"What is this?" Jiang Xuance put on his gloves and carefully held the mask in his hand.

Qianzhou leaned back in his chair and sighed: "It doesn't matter if it's a gift or a curse." In the final analysis, it is nothing more than the leftover material of the high authority and essentia crystallization. It would be more appropriate for me to call it "bait". ”

The mask is purple all over and has a metallic texture. But when pinched in the hand, it is unusually light, as if there is no weight. There were no retouched patterns on the mask, just two eyes hastily gouged out. No matter how you look at it, it reveals a shoddy meaning.

But in fact, the presence of this mask is quite strong. In the eyes of the transcendent, it is as conspicuous as a hundred-dollar bill on the concrete floor.

"It's like saying, 'I'm here,' as if I'm afraid people won't notice. Jiang Xuance pinched his chin and said.

"Do you recognize the material?" Jiang Xuance handed the mask to Pei Xing.

"No, I can't. Pei Xing shook his head, "The nature is very strange, it is not the material of the present world." Nine times out of ten, it comes from the abyss. ”

"Put it away for now, and you'll study it when you have time. But I don't think the mask is important anymore at this point. Qianzhou sighed again. He found that he seemed to sigh more and more often.

Although there is no evidence, Qianzhou feels that the purpose of the people behind it has been achieved nine times out of ten. It's like the stage has been set up, and then you can only wait for the curtain to open.

After a while, the second guest from the previous year arrived.

Holder was still the same old-fashioned and dull look, his robes were meticulously groomed, and his hair was neatly braided.

Qianzhou glanced at him several times, but he didn't see anything different from before.

"Good morning, Uncle Holder. "I greeted him first.

"Lord Prophet. Holder bowed back.

"Is there something wrong with Uncle Holder?" asked the old man directly.

"Two things. Holder's way of speaking was as direct as his appearance, "Enron has had a lot of trouble lately, and many people think that these outsiders have brought disaster. They asked us to let the strangers leave as soon as possible. ”

Holder said as he glanced at the four young men present.

To his surprise, none of the four young men had any superfluous expressions on their faces, as if they were listening to something that had nothing to do with him.

"Do a lot of people think so?" asked Former Nian.

"Not much, but definitely not much. ”

"It's not necessarily a bad thing to let them go early. Holder continued, "Enron is not a place to be remembered, and we don't want Enron's troubles to affect our guests. What's more, there are inexplicable signs of plague in the city now. ”

"Plague?" Chishu frowned and interjected into the conversation between the two.

"That's the second thing I'm going to say. Holder's expression remained unchanged, "The symptoms were discovered after the [Bright Light Festival], and it is unclear whether there is an incubation period - so what do you think about leaving?"

"We'll think about it. It's just that it takes time to plan the route and prepare the supplies—doesn't Enron really need help?"

"It's our own business. Holder's tone was as flat as ever, "Then I'll take my leave." ”

Qianzhou looked at Holder's back thoughtfully.

"Teacher, Uncle Holder is right. "We've been troublesome to you a lot, and the [Bright Light Festival] is over." Maybe leaving early is a better option. ”

Qianzhou looked at the past, his eyes were like a lake without waves: "Do you really think so?"

He lowered his head and let out a soft "um".

Qianzhou touched his head: "If you really think so, I respect your choice." But if you need help, remember: I'm your teacher. ”