The leaf boat in the turbid water of the vast Lechuan River swayed on the surface of the river, giving people a sense of mysterious beauty, and Xu Huaigu was in a trance.

That small boat was also a wonderful object, Xu Huaigu was still far away at first glance, but it only took two or three artemisia efforts to get close to the shore.

After the boat got closer, Xu Huaigu saw the picture on the boat clearly.

There was a rickety old man standing on the boat, about a head shorter than Xu Huaigu. His whole body was shrunk in a wide robe, and he wore a black hat, and held a black artemisia in his hand.

The boat sailed to the shore and stopped, but the old man on the boat did not come down, but continued to stand on the boat.

The two looked at each other across the river.

No matter how carefully Xu Huaigu looked, he could never see the old man's face, only his black hat and robe, which was very mysterious.

The old man put away the black artemisia in his hand and said slowly, "You, why are you here?" ”

Xu Huaigu knew that this was the ferryman, he was very nervous, and said solemnly: "My friend was poisoned by the red flower, and he didn't live for long, I could only take the risk to come to Lechuan to find an antidote, but I accidentally broke into this cave, if I disturbed my predecessors, I am willing to apologize." ”

The old man's words were extremely cold, as if he were just a walking corpse without any feelings: "That's true, no lie." ”

And then there was no follow-up.

Xu Huaigu saw that the old man didn't ask, and was afraid that the old man would leave him like this, so he hurriedly asked: "Senior, can you spare the life of the junior, so that the juniors can leave here and rescue my friend?" ”

The old man was indifferent: "How much do you want to save her?" Would you like to die for her? ”

Xu Huaigu was stunned for only a moment, and then said firmly: "Yes!" ”

The old man's tone still did not fluctuate: "That's true, and it's not lying." ”

Xu Huaigu said: "Where do the juniors dare to lie in front of the seniors? Everything is true, and I hope that the seniors can become adults! ”

The old man was indifferent: "No, when you come to the Lechuan River, there is no way back, you have only one choice, which is to die." But I think your soul is indeed pure, and your heart is also kind, and such a soul is indeed becoming more and more rare now. I can promise you one thing, after the death of one of your friends, I will salvage her soul from the Lethe River, so that she will not have to enter reincarnation, but will return to her original body and continue to live. But at the price, your soul can't enter reincarnation, and you have to stay in Lethe and follow me, okay? ”

Xu Huaigu said helplessly: "Do I have a choice?" ”

The old man said, "Of course there is, I won't force you, if you don't want to, you can be reincarnated after death, and I will definitely not stop you." But that friend of yours is also going to die, and if you do so, it seems to conflict with what you said you were willing to die for her. ”

Either way, there is no way out for you. Xu Huaigu threw his long sword to the ground in frustration and fell silent.

For a long time, the old man still watched him from the boat.

Xu Huaigu asked sadly: "Could it be that in the eyes of the seniors, human life is so worthless?" Is human life just a tool for trading? ”

The old man said calmly: "Look at the Lethe water at the bottom of my feet, I have been adrift on the Lethe River for more than 3,700 years, and I have seen hundreds of millions of souls, one or two of them are indeed not enough for me. ”

Xu Huaigu said sadly: "But those two souls, for themselves, are the whole world!" I want to live, can't my seniors give me a chance? ”

The old man was indifferent: "There is no chance, the reincarnation of heaven is impermanent, whether it is death or life, it is the same truth." I only look at it from my own point of view, and I never care about others, and no one is qualified to let me do it. ”

Xu Huaigu sat on the ground dejectedly, fiddling with the sword in his hand twice at will, lifeless.

He doesn't want to die, there are still many things in this world that he hasn't seen, he wants to continue to live, he has to meet more people, he is not ready to die.

When he said that he was willing to die for Yu Qin, he was indeed willing to die for her in his mind, so the old man said that he was not lying. But when this choice really came to his eyes, he suddenly felt an irresistible fear.

He hesitated.

The old man looked at it in his eyes and said, "I don't blame you, but I want to give you a time limit for your choice, just a stick of incense." After a stick of incense, you make your choice. ”

Xu Huaigu said decadently: "Do I really only have to die? Is there really no other way to go? ”

The old man did not answer.

Xu Huaigu could see that the old man was a little annoyed.

But also, how can such a mysterious person who can manipulate the life and death of others at will be interested in his own inconspicuous life? is willing to talk so much to yourself, which is already very face-saving.

Xu Huaigu pondered for a long time, and the scene of Yu Qin finally drawing his sword and committing suicide appeared in his eyes again, and he couldn't help but be moved.

Before the incense stick time had passed, Xu Huaigu suddenly clenched his fists and said angrily: "Senior, if there is only one way to die, I am willing not to enter reincarnation and change my friend to a way to live!" ”

The old man said, "Well, the deal is established, you come forward, and I will deprive you of your soul." Don't be afraid, the process is not painful at all. ”

Xu Huaigu secretly said in his heart that it would be strange if he was not in pain, he didn't want to die yet! Who wants to die if there really isn't any way to live?

Xu Huaigu's scalp was numb, but he bit his lip and took two steps forward to the old man. The old man was still standing on the boat, Xu Huaigu was a little puzzled, the old man seemed to be unable to leave the range of the Lechuan River.

This is the weakness of the old man, and it may be a way to survive, and he tries to think of a countermeasure.

The old man's expression did not change, and he stretched out his hand to touch Xu Huaigu's forehead.

The cold touch hit, and Xu Huaigu felt that the old man's hand was as cold as the cold ice of the wax moon, and it was piercing ice. As the cold touch approached, his consciousness gradually dissipated, and he became drowsy, although he knew that he must be dead if he slept like this, but the irresistible feeling of sleep could not be resisted.

Otherwise, just die, who calls himself too unlucky, and walked to such a forbidden place, he must be reincarnated in the next life.

By the way, he made a deal with the old man, and he has no next life.

Xu Huaigu thought like this, and suddenly a slightly familiar voice came to his ears: "Old guy, let him go, it can be regarded as looking at my face and selling me a favor, how about it?" ”

Xu Huaigu's spirit shook suddenly, and he hurriedly took a few steps back and escaped from the old man's palm.

Xu Huaigu hurriedly followed the voice to see who said this, but saw another old man sitting by the river at some point, it was the old man he saw fishing by the stream a few days ago.

The old angler said to the ferryman: "We have been neighbors for more than 1,200 years, and even if you are an iron stone, you have to melt." This time I let this little guy go, even if I owe you a favor, I will definitely pay you back in the future. ”

The ferryman's tone was unwavering: "You are a monk who only had twelve realms in your lifetime, what qualifications do you have to owe me favors?" ”

Xu Huaigu's expression became very strange.

He wondered if he had heard it wrong, and in the mouth of this ferryman, he seemed to have heard the saying "there are only twelve realms"? It was the first time he had heard it, and it was so justified.

The Twelve Realms...... You must know that no one has twelve realms today, who is this ferryman who is sacred, and dares to say the word "only"?

The old man of the fishing was accustomed to it, and continued to persuade: "Old fellow, you said that you have been guarding this empty Lechuan River for more than 3,700 years, and there is still no news for you there, are you willing?" I can't get tired of these boring days, don't you want to leave Lethe? ”

The ferryman said indifferently: "This is my sin, and I want to atone for it." ”

The old man said angrily: "You have a sin to atone, but I am not guilty, I can't die if I want to die now, I can't walk away, I can only stay in this dark Lechuan, is it interesting?" What do you say about those bullshit fairies in the sky, setting up these messy tests? I can't stand it, if I were given another choice, I would never want to soar, and it would be the same for you to choose, right? ”

Xu Huaigu listened to the conversation between the two old men silently, and couldn't interject at all, so he could only let the two of them decide his fate on the side.

The ferryman was silent for a while, and then said, "Okay, let's make an exception." ”

The old angler smiled: "That's right, let that group of bullshit fairies see, the ferryman who has been working hard is also temperamental." ”

The ferryman stopped talking, and it was a tacit acquiescence that Xu Huaigu could leave.

The ferryman knew the origin of the old man and his thoughts.

The old man of the fishing was named Shangguan Chuan during his lifetime, a famous monk of the Twelve Realms, and his name can be seen even in the current literature. It has been more than 1,200 years since the old man ascended to the heavens and was tested by the heavens, and after he failed, he was punished and suppressed in Lethe River.

What suppressed Shangguan Chuan was the door of life and death, which required the combined efforts of five other flower tokens to open.

The old man's strategy and ferryman knew very well that a little insect carving skill was not clever at all, but it was very suitable for a little monk like Xu Huaigu.

When Xu Huaigu first entered Lethe, he first mixed a familiar face, gave him a small gift to gain favor, and then gave him a lot of guidance, introduced him to the bottom of the cave, and got the white jade token on the dead man, and then he had two tokens, and then cheekily begged himself to let Xu Huaigu live, so that Xu Huaigu could hope to collect all the tokens.

Xu Huaigu inherited his life-saving grace, and he must repay it, and collecting all the tokens is the reward.

He could have kept Xu Huaigu away and let his plan die early, but I have to say that Shangguan Chuan did grasp his weakness, and he did have a lot of complaints about that sky.

In addition, he felt that this little guy was indeed a little interesting, so he decided to make an exception and let Xu Huaigu go.

The ferryman propped up two artemisia into the depths of the Lechuan River, and disappeared in the fog.