The cicada, molting in the turbidity, floats outside the dust, and does not get the dirt of the world.

The cicada, which also has the meaning of regeneration, changes from larvae to adult, and soars through change, expressing the will of the ancients to ascend to bliss after death.

As a status symbol, at the beginning, the jade cicada was most popular in the Han Dynasty as a mouth, and lasted until the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. The clear and realistic cicada made of jade is placed in the mouth of the deceased, and the more noble the status, the better the workmanship and texture of the cicada. But in the homes of ordinary people, people can't afford to use jade cicadas, so they will use live cicadas from trees.

But later, some dignitaries followed the example of the commoners and began to put live cicadas in the mouths of the dead, because they thought it would be more effective!

The mouth is the largest passage to the internal organs, and if you put a cicada in the mouth of the deceased, the deceased will be purified in another world, and even transformed and reborn. It's just that what they didn't expect was that the cicada, which only drank the sap of the tree, was holy and clean, but it also changed.

In the burial chamber, because it was hungry, because it was trapped by its mouth, it began to suck the flesh and soul of people, its body slowly grew, but the holy soul disappeared little by little, day after day, year after year, when it was finally able to come out of the tomb, it became a form that it did not even recognize itself.

"I came across it outside the valley, and at that time, I was looking for someone. But he told me not to waste any more effort, because people change, and their souls become dirtier and dirtier from childhood to old age, and when I find him, he will no longer be what I remember. Ziyu pursed the corners of his mouth, "I shouldn't have listened to him, because now I know that the person I'm looking for has not changed." ”

Xu Chong didn't hear the last few words she said, because all his energy was now focused on the old cicada that was getting closer and closer to him. It has shed half of its skin, so it is now in a state of "breaking out of its shell", and the transparent skin hangs on the tip of the tail, and it does not fall.

Xu Chong took off the sword at his waist, grabbed the hilt of the sword with one hand, and stabbed it above his head.

The old cicada's long tubular mouth nimbly dodged the blade, and its two bulging compound eyes seemed to be made up of thousands of diamond-shaped fragments, each of which reflected Xu Chong's frightened face.

"Whew."

The long tube wrapped around Xu Chong's arm, which had not yet fully recovered, and the sharp tip pierced his wrist. Xu Chong let out an "ah", and the sword in his hand fell, falling into the thick snow and disappearing. At the same time, he felt his body suddenly cool, and the heat poured out from the place where the old cicada had bitten it, rushing towards the old and ugly body.

The blood was lost too fast, his mind was a little confused, and in a trance, he seemed to hear Ziyu's voice, but when he tried to turn his face to look at her, his eyes were covered by a blue and faint light, and he couldn't distinguish anything.

"Poof." The sound of something breaking was followed by a terrible moan.

"You kill me...... How can you take revenge? ”

"I just take my own stuff...... I told you not to touch him, and I promised you everything else......"

Ziyu's voice was trembling, and she seemed to be frightened. Xu Chong groped and stretched out his hand, but he couldn't touch her, only a cold, slippery silk-like thing.

The restraint wrapped around his arm disappeared suddenly, and Xu Chong's eyes were still the blue that seemed to never go away, but in his ears, there was a "buzzing" sound, getting smaller and smaller...... He felt the cicada fall from a great height, stuck in the crevice of the stone wall. Its legs seemed to be still moving, stuck on itself, and aching. Xu Chong was not afraid, because he knew that it was just the last shaking of the insect before it died.

His body was fluttering, and he was dragged up by something, clinging to the stone wall, and flew towards it. The blood continued to flow outward, and his body was getting colder and colder, but fortunately, he could not feel the roar of the wind and snow, and his body was softly wrapped in the silky thing, and it was rising and rising rapidly......

***

When he woke up, the wind and snow had stopped, and Xu Chong found himself lying in front of a bonfire, his body warmed by the warm and warm light of the fire.

He raised his arm and rolled up his sleeve, and was surprised to find that the wound on his wrist was completely gone, leaving only a faint round spot. And what surprised him the most was that his arms and legs, which were injured by falling off the cliff, also recovered as before, and became strong and powerful, no longer as soft and fluffy as Fang Cai, and it took a lot of effort to even lift a sword.

He sat up and looked at the figure with his back to the bonfire, "Ziyu, you killed it and saved me." ”

"It once saved my life, and in order to repay the kindness, I will sacrifice Nedan ......" Ziyu's voice was a little choked, "However, today I took advantage of its molting skin to retrieve Nedan with my own hands and kill it......"

"You're doing it for me......"

"It's right, I'm always taking revenge, it was like that all year ago, and it still hasn't changed." As she spoke, she put the sword down at Xu Chong's feet, "I'll bring you the sword, you take it, let's go." ”

Xu Chong couldn't understand what she meant, but he knew she needed comfort now, more than ever. So he walked over and took her into his arms, his chin resting on the top of her head, "Come with me, let's get out of here and go to a wild place where there is no one else but ourselves." I farm, you weave, and I have a bunch of children. ”

Ziyu pushed him away, staring at him tightly with tearful eyes, "Xu Chong, you know what I am, you have seen it, I am no different from it." ”

Xu Chong stretched out his arm and grabbed her with all his might, as if he wanted to dissolve her into his own blood and bones, "I saw your true face, and I also know that you gave Neidan to me, Ziyu, you are completely different from it, although you are all ...... It's all demons, but you're so kind, how can it be compared to you? ”

"I've eaten people too," Ziyu's hands grabbed Xu Chong's waist and grabbed him painfully, "I've eaten people...... I couldn't help it...... Although there are wild animals in the mountains, there are always times when it is difficult to hunt...... It kills people and deliberately sends them to tempt me...... I couldn't help but ......"

Xu Chong lowered his head and kissed his face, "I know, it's okay, I don't care," he smiled at her, his smile warm and fiery, "Ziyu, do you know?" Actually, I've killed people, and I'm not as clean as you think. ”

"You've ever killed someone?"

When he said these four words, Xu Chong suddenly twisted his head to the side and asked loudly, "Who?" ”

A man came out of the shadows next to the campfire, limping and panting.

"[Eighth District] Lord Xu, I finally found you."

Wu Yuanli's face was red by the firelight, and the look of panic on his face couldn't be concealed.