Oni-tsubo

Kapitel 40

The lantern in Feixiao's hand did not go out. Even in such a strong wind, the candlelight did not flicker. His white robes were also blown about by the wind. "Oh no, the candles outside have gone out!"

"Is it time?" Chen Kai shouted loudly, his voice seemingly dissipating as soon as he opened his mouth, as if the wind was about to enter his stomach.

"No!" Fei Xiao shouted hoarsely, "Mine is still lit, it seems someone turned it off!"

Chen Kai couldn't care less about anything else. He and Wang Zijin held hands and leaned forward desperately to fight against the increasingly fierce wind.

"Quick, grab me!" Fei Xiao said, pulling on Wang Zijin's hand. "It would be terrible if we were sucked into the River of Oblivion!"

Wang Zijin and Chen Kai were both so windy that they couldn't speak. They felt as if the world had suddenly changed and had completely become a world of wind.

The wind grew stronger and stronger. Wang Zijin held onto Feixiao, and Chen Kai pulled on Wang Zijin. He felt like he couldn't breathe. After a while, his feet gradually left the ground, and he floated up.

"Aaaaaah!" Wang Zijin, who was in front, also let out a wail as he was lifted into the air by the wind, just like Chen Kai.

Only Fei Xiao stood firmly on the ground, pulling the two people with all his might. His white clothes and black hair were already wrapped up by the wind, making it impossible to see the expression on his face.

"What should I do?" Chen Kai looked back and saw that his toes were less than a meter away from the River of Oblivion.

"I can't go on!" Prince Jin suddenly screamed, followed by the sound of tearing cloth. Before Chen Kai could react, his body shot out like an arrow, spun several times in the air, and flew straight towards the River of Oblivion.

Oh no, oh no, the prince in front of him, holding a piece of white sleeve, also fell down.

Whatever you do, don't fall into the River of Oblivion, or you'll be reincarnated right away!

Chen Kai felt his body grow cold; the wind from the valley floor seemed to have carried away all his warmth. How could this be? How could this be? He hadn't lived enough yet! There were so many interesting things in the world he didn't know about. Was he really going to die?

Suddenly, a flash of white light appeared before their eyes, and a white, shiny, rope-like object suddenly darted out from the edge of the cliff above. "Grab it! Chen Kai!" Fei Xiao's voice carried on the wind.

Seeing the falling object in mid-air, Chen Kai frantically reached out to grab it, but the speed of the fall was too fast, and he missed by a hair's breadth. He closed his five fingers and actually grabbed nothing.

As soon as the rope turned, Wang Zijin grabbed it.

The speed of his fall increased rapidly, and he felt as if he had lost weight, as if he were floating in the air. "Feixiao, save me!"

But Feixiao seemed to be overwhelmed with her own problems, because Wang Zijin was holding onto the rope, and his whole body was swaying back and forth in the wind like a kite.

Well, well, it's good that Prince Jin is alive. Xi Man, I didn't expect that we would have to meet again so soon. All the past events began to appear before his eyes. This abyss is so deep, it seems to have no end. Darkness and coldness gradually surrounded him. He could no longer see the top of the cliff, only a narrow line.

So this is what death is like! Life is truly as fragile as willow catkins or duckweed in the face of death. Chen Kai thought to himself as he slowly closed his eyes.

Just as he was in despair, a sudden chill gradually enveloped him, a feeling that reminded him of someone.

"Ximan?" he asked in confusion, but before he could get an answer, a chilling hand grabbed him and stopped his fall.

The wind continued to blow towards the River of Oblivion. Chen Kai's body stopped falling, and he hurriedly looked up. Above him was a long-haired woman in red, her black hair disheveled by the wind, shimmering like satin in the darkness. Her beautiful face had eyes as bright and clear as autumn water.

"So soon we're saying goodbye?" The woman smiled at Chen Kai; it was none other than Xi Man.

Overjoyed, Chen Kai forgot the danger he was in. "Why didn't you jump? That's great!"

Xi Man clung to the crevice with one hand and pulled Chen Kai with the other. "I noticed the wind changed direction before I even fell into the River of Oblivion, so I wanted to see if something had happened!" She then chuckled to herself, "Hehe, looks like reincarnation isn't so easy after all!"

"Ximan, let's find a way up!" Chen Kai looked down and saw a bottomless abyss. He felt a surge of panic. If Ximan slipped out of his grasp, they would never be able to return to the world of the living.

"Wait a minute!" Ximan said, exhaling a breath into the air. A wisp of cold, blue air whistled out against the wind, like an arrow, flying straight up the cliff face towards the top.

What are you doing?

"Send a signal to the little fox, let him come and rescue us!" Xi Man turned around and winked at Chen Kai. Before she finished speaking, a white rope darted down from the top of the cliff like a nimble snake.

"Here it comes!" Xi Man said happily, grabbing the rope and turning to Chen Kai, "You caught it too!"

"Oh!" Chen Kai hurriedly responded, using both his hands and feet to climb up the rope, but the wind was too strong, making it extremely difficult to climb up.

"What do we do?" Chen Kai shouted hoarsely. Time was running out, and he didn't know how Fei Xiao was going to get them back. Would all four of them perish here?

As luck would have it, just as Chen Kai finished speaking, the wind gradually weakened, and after a while, the entire canyon returned to its initial calm.

"What's going on?" Chen Kai looked around, hardly believing his eyes. The heavens had intervened far too quickly!

"Hurry up!" Xi Man, who was above, turned around and pulled Chen Kai onto her back. "You're too slow, I'll carry you up!"

"How can I let a woman carry me?" Chen Kai shouted, but he had to admit that Xi Man was indeed more capable than him! In a short while, the two of them could see the top of the cliff.

"I'm not a woman!" Xi Man glanced at him. "I'm a female ghost!"

"Hurry up!" Fei Xiao and Wang Zijin shouted at them from above, "The candles are about to burn out!"

"We're here!" Ximan grabbed the rock at the top of the cliff with one hand painted with red nail polish. Seeing this, Feixiao quickly pulled her up. The two of them had just touched the ground when Feixiao turned around and ran, "Hurry, there's no time!"

"I... I'm still alive?" Chen Kai realized he was so scared when he touched the ground that his legs went weak and he couldn't lift them at all.

"Why aren't you running?" Xi Man said, pulling him forward at breakneck speed. Chen Kai's mind was blank. He felt darkness before his eyes, and the earth under the two moons looked unreal. His legs were weak, and he was being dragged along by a cold hand, mechanically running forward. He didn't know how long he had been running when the hand that had been pulling him suddenly disappeared. When he tried to clench his fist, his palm was empty, only covered in cold sweat.

Chen Kai then came to his senses and realized that weeds were growing all around him and a full moon was shining faintly in the sky.

"Feixiao, are we back?" Chen Kai sat down on the ground, as if he no longer had the strength to support his legs.

"Yes!" Feixiao turned around and smiled reassuringly. "It was a close call!" After saying that, she also let out a long sigh of relief.

"That scared me to death! I thought I was really going to die." Chen Kai looked at the full moon. It's good to be alive. At least the moon here doesn't make people get lost.

"Chen Kai!" Fei Xiao suddenly grabbed his hand. Chen Kai felt an unprecedented coldness in her hand, and then heard Fei Xiao say, "It's so good that you're alive. If something had really happened to you, I really wouldn't know what to do."

He lowered his head, his voice trembling. Chen Kai had never seen him so afraid before. He couldn't see his face in the moonlight, but he could feel his excitement.

"Feixiao, Feixiao!" Chen Kai leaned in and asked him, "Are you crying?"

But Feixiao did not answer.

"I was just thinking the same thing, if I died, who would cook for you?" Chen Kai joked with him when he saw this.

Feixiao looked up, and Chen Kai vaguely saw two lines of tears streaming down his jade-like face. "Chen Kai, I'm so sorry. If I were more capable, I wouldn't have failed to save two people at once. I shouldn't have let you come with me to such a dangerous place in the first place!"

"Feixiao, stop talking. I'm back alive and well, aren't I?" Chen Kai said, sitting up abruptly to show that he was healthy. He didn't want to see Feixiao's tears. In his mind, Feixiao was like a goddess, and he didn't want to see the always happy Feixiao in a vulnerable state.

Feixiao smiled and stood up, taking a few steps forward to check the stones that had just been piled up.

"Strange?" Feixiao said after examining the burnt-out candle closely.

"What's wrong?" Chen Kai also came over.

Feixiao looked at Chen Kai very seriously, "The candles were blown out. Someone knows we went to the River of Oblivion!"

Chen Kai felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this. Who would want to harm them? There was no reason for it.

Feixiao turned around as she spoke, "And what's even more interesting is that someone lit the candles again!"

Chen Kai gasped in shock, feeling as if ghostly figures were lurking in the surrounding weeds, ready to leap out and devour them at any moment. Who was it? Lurking in the shadows?

"There's someone over there!" Xi Man's voice suddenly came from the darkness.

Chen Kai was startled by her words and quickly looked around, asking, "Who is it? Where are they?"

But there wasn't a soul in sight. Only weeds danced wildly in the wind, and a round moon hung in the inky sky. The world was so quiet that there wasn't even the sound of insects chirping.

Feixiao turned to the side and said, "Since you're still here, why don't you come out?"

A figure slowly stood up from the weeds. The person didn't speak, had a slightly hunched back, and was not short. He slowly walked up to them.

The moonlight shone on the man's face, revealing a pair of glasses perched on his nose, a pale face, and a calm expression.

That face was so familiar. Chen Kai would never forget that serene aura.

He looked at the person, as if he couldn't believe his eyes, his face full of surprise, and he took a few steps back in a daze. "Zhang... Zhang Ye! Why?" Could it be that Zhang Ye blew out the candle? Why would he do this to them? He had already harmed Fei Xiao, did he have to put them to death?

"Did you blow out the candle? Why did you do that?" Fei Xiao's anger flared up the moment she saw him, completely losing her usual calm and collected demeanor.

"Hehe!" Zhang Ye chuckled unhurriedly. "I didn't blow it out, I lit it!"

Fei Xiao and Chen Kai were startled again. They looked at each other, their eyes filled with confusion.

"It seems like someone wants to harm you, I can't just stand by and do nothing!" Zhang Ye said with a smile.

"No way, could it be that you've been following us all along?" Chen Kai asked in surprise.

Zhang Ye didn't answer, but smiled again, "I can't do something like taking other people's things for nothing!"

"What kind of person is he?" Feixiao asked him hurriedly.

Zhang Ye casually pulled a small snake, about three inches long, from his pocket. The snake was covered in gray powder. "It's a small fry. I sprinkled incense ash on it, and it turned into this!"

"Isn't this a snake?" Chen Kai asked him. Fei Xiao's expression changed suddenly when she saw the snake, and her body seemed to tremble slightly as if she had been electrocuted, but Chen Kai did not notice.

"And it was a water snake!" Zhang Ye casually tossed the dead snake into the bushes and said to Fei Xiao, "Chang Chun and I will do our best to help you. You two should also avoid getting involved in dangerous things recently. After all, it's always good to be wary of others!"

"I understand, you don't need to lecture me!" Fei Xiao still didn't have a good impression of Zhang Ye.

"Hehe!" Zhang Ye said to them calmly, "Then I'll be going now. I just hope you all come back safe and sound!"

After saying that, he turned and left, but after walking halfway, he seemed to remember something and waved to Chen Kai, "Chang Chun has something he wants me to ask you!"

"What did you say?" Chen Kai walked over, puzzled. He and Chang Chun didn't have any connection.

Walking up to Zhang Ye, he suddenly slipped a round object into his hand and whispered, "Chang Chun asked me to give this to you!"

"What is it?" Chen Kai was about to take it out when Zhang Ye stopped him. "Don't let your friend know!" He glanced at Fei Xiao to make sure he wasn't looking their way before continuing, "It's Chang Chun's gift, the greatest curse she could find!"

"What would I do with this?" Chen Kai didn't dare to accept it at all upon hearing the curse.

"Chen Kai!" Zhang Ye said, "Your enemy this time is no ordinary person. I wonder if this can be of any help!"

"Then how do you use it?" Chen Kai asked him.

Zhang Ye smiled. "It's simple. Keep it in your arms every day. When you're willing to give your life for someone, you'll see a miracle happen!"

What kind of miracle was it?

"It's a secret!" Zhang Ye said with a mysterious smile, "Actually, I've never seen it either. I only know that when a miracle happens, the sky is set ablaze!"

Looking at his face, Chen Kai knew that Zhang Ye felt indebted to him and Fei Xiao, and had come to help them. He suddenly felt very touched.

"How is Changchun? Are you happy?" Chen Kai asked him.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Ye's face softened as if a gentle breeze had swept over him. "She's doing well and is slowly being discharged!"

After saying that, he smiled, waved, turned and left, saying, "We are very happy, thank you!"

Chen Kai stood in the grass, watching his departing figure, and suddenly felt very relieved. Everyone has their own happiness, and everyone has someone they want to protect. He hoped that everyone who longs for happiness could live the life they want!

A gentle spring breeze swept by, bringing the scent of early summer and the sweet fragrance of flowers, dispelling the hatred between people.

Two days later, Chen Kai brought fruit to the hospital to visit the old man.

As soon as I opened the door, I saw Aunt Huang, with her obese body, asleep by the hospital bed.

He felt bad about bothering her, so he put down the fruit and turned to leave when a voice behind him suddenly asked, "Is that Chen Kai?" In the end, he woke Aunt Huang up.