Pfirsichblüten

Kapitel 8

Seeing that we were staring at him intently, Li Zheng laughed loudly twice and said, "If I can revive her, I can also completely obliterate her."

At that moment, Shan Fangfang's trembling body suddenly stopped. Just as I was about to speak, there was a sudden "boom" and an explosion, with blood and flesh flying everywhere.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [28]: Upon seeing this, Xiao Tao seemed to suddenly realize something and cried out, "Grandpa, what will happen to my grandpa?" As soon as she finished speaking, she rushed out. My tired body couldn't hold her back at all, but I could only anxiously call out, "Xiao Tao, don't go over there, it's dangerous!" At that moment, a figure leaped past me and grabbed Xiao Tao. I looked and saw that it was Li Xie. Xiao Tao struggled in Li Xie's hands. Seeing that the situation was not good, Li Xie quickly knocked Xiao Tao unconscious with a palm strike, and then gave me a bitter smile.

I let out a long sigh of relief, but then I heard Li Xie say, "You're Li Zheng? No, you're not Li Zheng, you're not my brother."

Li Zheng took two steps forward towards me and said with a wry smile, "Brother Xie, this is an indisputable fact."

Li Xie shook his head and said again, "You are not my brother, absolutely not."

Li Zheng shook his head, took another step forward, and said to me, "Lin Wei, how did you guess my identity?"

I struggled to support myself and said, "You've arranged everything very well, but it's too comprehensive. You shouldn't have arranged for Huang Hua to be here."

“Haha,” he glanced at Huang Hua, who was still in the blood clot, and said, “That useless thing came and went on its own, it has nothing to do with anyone else.”

He took another step forward and said, "My good apprentice, to reward your intelligence, I will tell you my identity."

"Hmph, I already know who you are."

"Oh, you know?"

"Hmph, when Shan Fangfang killed Hu Xiaodie, she had a steward surnamed Li by her side. You are his descendant."

"Haha, you're really smart."

"Your goal is the treasure left behind by Jia Dao when he eloped with Hu Xiaodie."

“Sigh,” he said with a wry smile, “Eighty years have passed, and I no longer care about the treasure. But my family has a burden left by my grandfather, and in order to revitalize the Li family, I have no choice but to do this.”

I snorted and said, "Actually, with your own strength, you're more than capable of dealing with these ghosts and monsters. Why bother to come up with so many things?"

“Good, good question. To enter the treasure, I need to make Hu Xiaodie’s wronged soul extremely sad, so that it will open the treasure’s entrance before it turns to ashes. Only then can my goal be achieved.”

"Oh, so you've been searching for Gu Yu for the past ten years."

"Haha, that's right, the Taoist treasure Ancient Rain, under the power of Taoist magic, can automatically summon the soul I want."

"So, the diary Chen Penghai saw, and the letter Huang Hua gave me, were all things you deliberately arranged?"

"Yes, you are really smart, so smart that it scares me. Back then, when I found out about Shan Liang's background, and since she fell in love with me, I lied to her that I could help her fulfill the burden her grandmother had entrusted to her. Seven Stars of the Gate, haha, with just this insignificant little scheme, I tricked her into willingly sacrificing herself for me."

"People born on an unlucky day or time are indeed hard to find, but there were three that year."

"Zhang Xue, Shan Liang, and Huang Jing? You killed them all?"

"Haha, I had no choice because of the burden I carried. Dean Li Haitao was also born on an unlucky day, but I couldn't let him die then, because he had to wait for you to appear."

"Me? You already knew you could find someone like me back then?"

"Haha, the Tao is boundless; there is nothing it cannot do."

"Hmph, for what treasure, for what burden, you've killed so many people. Aren't you afraid of legal punishment?"

"Legal sanctions? Ha! First, do you think you'll get out of here alive? Second, do those bastard cops even believe in ghosts and gods?"

"Haha, you're wrong. I'm a human, not a ghost. No matter how high your magic is, you can't defeat me."

Li Zheng took another step closer to me and said, "Do you really think I can't kill you by manpower alone?"

"You can't." Li Xie finally spoke up from the side.

“Huh? Brother Xie? We’re from the same family, we share the same burden.” Li Xie slowly raised his gun and said, “You’re not my brother. My brother is a kind person and would never do such a thing. What kind of burden? I don’t know. I only know that murderers should be punished.”

“Haha,” Li Zheng strode toward me and said, “Brother Xie, you wouldn’t dare to fire, because you will always be my brother Xie, with the blood of the Li family flowing through your veins.”

When I saw Li Zheng walking towards me, I instinctively took a step back, and due to excessive blood loss, I fell to the ground.

"Stop, you bastard, or I'll shoot."

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [29]: Li Zheng ignored Li Xie's advice and was about to come in front of me when a gunshot rang out.

I looked at Li Xie, whose face was already covered in tears. Li Zheng stood there, slowly turned around and walked towards Li Xie, blood dripping from his chest, mixing with Shan Fangfang's shattered flesh.

Walking up to Li Xie, Li Zheng smiled and said, "Very good, very good. Brother Xie has finally grown up and has his own convictions."

"Brother, why..." Li Xie was already sobbing uncontrollably.

"Don't cry, that burden was too heavy for me. Now it's alright, I can finally rest. Rest well—" Li Xie was about to say something when Li Zheng leaped into the cave entrance. Li Xie tried to run forward and grab him, but all the flesh and blood on the ground rushed towards the entrance. Li Xie had no choice but to leap away, shouting, "Brother—" before kneeling on the ground, letting his tears blur his thoughts.

After a long while, the Arts Building shook again, and the opening slowly disappeared. I supported myself and walked to Li Xie's side, placing a hand on his shoulder, unable to offer any words of comfort. Unexpectedly, Li Xie suddenly stood up, wiping away his tears, and said to me, "Lin Wei, it's over, it's all over. Shouldn't we be happy?"

"But your brother..."

"My brother? He died ten years ago, haha."

I understand Li Xie; true pain is something you can't cry out. So I could only smile and say, "By the way, the blood clots on Huang Hua's body have dissolved. You should take him back; he still did something to harm people."

Li Xie approached Huang Hua, squatted down to look at him, and said, "He is dead."

Oh, he's dead? That's good, at least he died with Huang Jing's comfort. So I said, "Let's go. Also, from now on, this door can only be opened briefly between eight and nine in the morning, when the yin energy has just dissipated, because I always feel that the yin energy here is too heavy."

"Um, are you able to walk? Do you need me to help you?"

"It's okay, you still have to hold Li Heng and Xiao Tao."

"This little peach..."

I smiled wryly and said, "It will pass... don't worry."

As we stepped out the door, the sun had just risen, and the lingering gloom, under the sunlight, rose in colorful patterns like lotus blossoms.

The world is beautiful, life is beautiful.

Sunlight streamed onto the entrance to the Arts Building. On the doorframe, which I couldn't see, a drop of blood slowly crept out from the center of the door, climbing along the frame to the very center, shimmering in the sunlight…