Red satin

Chapter 28

All that could be heard were the sound of footsteps running quickly towards them, light and quick. As they ran, they said, "I went to get a glass of water, and when I came back I couldn't find you. How did you get here? Let me help you!"

Qin Jin reached out and touched a small, cold hand. To her surprise, she found Hei Bao trembling in her arms. This was something that had never happened before; Hei Bao was actually scared!

She suddenly felt a sense of familiarity; she felt as if she had touched this hand somewhere before. Where was it? Why did it feel so familiar?

Blackie let out a sharp cry, each sound like a cry for help, or like it was using all its strength to scare something away.

But the little girl's hand remained firm. Qin Jin slowly reached out and touched it, finally feeling something on the back of her hand—a scabbed wound.

Qin Jin slowly withdrew her hand, her face filled with disbelief.

“You’re the one who robbed Hei Bao that day. I’ve touched your hand and seen that scar.”

She heard her own voice trembling; Qin Jin simply couldn't believe this ending.

"Haha, now that you know, I won't hide anything anymore. That's right, I am the person you're looking for." The little girl's voice was still as pleasant as ever, but it sent chills down one's spine.

"What did you do to that child?" Qin Jin shouted excitedly.

"What do you mean, what do you mean? There is no such child at all. This child is me, the human form I transformed into. Ten years ago, I was being chased by the Four Symbols at the Moon-Catching Platform. Those four guys kept beating me until I only had one of my seven souls left. If I hadn't escaped quickly, I would have been completely destroyed."

"You, you are the witch?"

“Yes, I am the witch. The Four Symbols have been hunting me down. I’m hiding in the Miao village and can’t come out. I can only survive in the most yin places. Luckily, I met Kabeng, that evil curse. It helped me.” The girl said through gritted teeth.

“I used the power of Kabeng to find the descendants of the Four Symbols, because only in this way can I induce the Four Symbols to shift in time and space. The power of the Four Symbols is so great that without doing this, I would not be able to take revenge.”

Qin Jin had regained his composure. Since he was going to die anyway, he might as well die knowing why: "Do you just want revenge?"

"Of course, it's not just that. However, if the Four Ministers don't die, I will be trapped in that dark place for the rest of my life, never able to rise again."

"Why should Kabeng listen to you?" Qin Jin asked curiously.

"That's nothing but a pathetic curse. It has no thoughts of its own. It's just a killing tool. Whoever possesses it possesses a murder weapon."

"So that means killing you is the same as killing Kabeng, right?"

The witch chuckled softly: "Theoretically, that's true, but it depends on whether you have the ability to kill me."

"You killed so many people just to lure out the Four Ministers?" Qin Jin was furious.

"A lot of people? I didn't want to attract more attention from the exorcists, so I didn't use my full strength at all."

"You've forgotten, although the old Four Ministers are dead, the new Four Ministers still exist! We won't let you succeed."

The girl's voice became even more shrill: "Haha, you think you're so capable, don't you? Then why are you blind? You don't have the power of the Four Phases at all. I've been sending Kabeng to follow you all this time, but I haven't found any power in you. Last time I tried desperately to close the time-space transfer portal, but that wretched monk ruined everything."

Qin Jin laughed angrily: "Fine, so you are a witch. If you are a witch, why did you stay by my mother's side? How could my mother not have discovered it?"

"That's because I took advantage of your mother's weakness. The human form I took was a pitiful orphan. Your mother loved you so much that she was overwhelmed by maternal love and didn't recognize me. With your mother's power protecting me, I can survive even if I leave the most yin place."

"You are shameless. You exploited everyone's weaknesses. You took advantage of Shishi's jealousy, you took advantage of my love for Heibao, you took advantage of my mother and Yingqi's maternal love, you took advantage of all my friends. Do you want to get rid of us?"

"The Three Lives Stone! I want the Three Lives Stone."

Qin Jin was stunned again: "The Three Lives Stone is just an ordinary stone, why would you go to such great lengths to get it?"

"Who told you that it's just an ordinary stone? You can't even imagine the power that stone possesses. If I can't have its power, I will destroy it, because I know that only the Three Lives Stone can kill me. I am immortal, and if the Three Lives Stone is not removed, I will never have peace. One day, an exorcist will find a way to open the Three Lives Stone, and my end will come."

The girl's voice drew closer: "Tell me, with so many reasons, should I kill you?"

"There's more than one Three Lives Stone, so why are you so persistent in bothering us? You used Lan Qi to kill Shi Shi, forced Grandpa Ke Liang to hand over the Three Lives Stone, and then blinded me, causing me to run to the temple because I felt lost and helpless. And then you took my Three Lives Stone. With your abilities, is it really that difficult for you to get the Three Lives Stone?" Qin Jin couldn't understand her.

"Haha, besides the ancestor of the Ke family, who can obtain the Three Lives Stone? How could someone who is not a member of the Ke family possibly have the Three Lives Stone? If the Three Lives Stone were easy to obtain, I would have obtained it long ago. There is only one Three Lives Stone. Whether it is the big stone you saw in the illusion during the time-space transfer, or the small stone on your body now, it only has one primordial spirit. As long as you destroy this primordial spirit, it will be fine."

Qin Jin was actually impressed by this meticulously planned scheme. Anyone else might have been just as impressed as he was. Everyone thought the enemy was Ka Beng, and they didn't know who Wu was, let alone why Wu was still chasing him after killing the Four Phases. So that's what happened.

The truth is finally coming out. From Shishi entering Miao Village to Kabeng killing people everywhere, forcing Sixiang to shift time and space, then killing Shishi, forcing Grandpa to hand over the Three Lives Stone, blinding Qin Jin, and making her enter the temple, it was all a series of schemes.

Who can escape such a scheme? Dying like this is at least a way to die in peace, at least to understand why they died.

"Aren't you afraid that Ke Liang will come to kill you? After all, he's a member of the Ke family." Qin Jin made a last-ditch effort.

"Him? A fake Taoist priest who knows nothing actually wants to kill me? He's dreaming! What can he do?"

A figure emerged from the shadows: "I will perish with everyone."

It turned out to be Ke Liang, who was holding Hei Bao in his arms. Hei Bao had run out to ask for help, and the little monk sensed something was wrong as soon as he smelled Hei Bao's scent, so he followed.

"Do you know why I didn't put up a barrier here so that none of you could get in?" The little girl looked particularly terrifying now.

"Since you're all going to die anyway, I might as well gather you all together and let me kill you all."

The little girl reached out her hand and lifted it into the air, sending Ke Liang flying. His neck was gripped by an invisible hand.

"What good is it if you want to perish together with the enemy? Do you think you have the power to trap me and capture me inside your body? Unless the Four Phases come back to life, even the dead ones had to borrow the power of the moon to trap me. You actually dare to dream of perishing together with the enemy? Is that even possible?" The girl's voice was calm and steady, full of invincible confidence.

Qin Jin tried to rush to save Ke Liang, but fell down because she couldn't see. Lu Ziming fired his gun, and the bullets pierced through the girl's body as if they were passing through air.

Only the young monk stood quietly, the air thick with the scent of death, as Ke Liang struggled helplessly.

"Do you really think the Four Symbols are dead?"

Finally, a sound came from inside.

A child walked in from outside, and everyone was surprised. It turned out to be Dingdong. With a wave of her hands, Ke Liang fell from mid-air.

"Killer? You actually have the power of a nemesis?!" The witch's voice was somewhat unsettled.

"Yes, I am one of the new Four Phases—the Nemesis. Did you think you were the only clever one who set up this scheme? The old Four Phases spent ten years chasing your escaped soul, but you hid in the most yin place all along. But you finally came out, sent Kabeng, and took advantage of the old Four Phases' kinship. The old Four Phases sacrificed their lives by time-space teleportation in order to find your illusory body. You should know that back then, so many demon hunters chased after you, but they could only kill a part of you. Because you have an illusory body, you will never die and will live forever."

Dingdong's expression remained calm, while Qin Jin and the others were stunned.

"Haha, so what if you find my physical body? Can you defeat me alone?" The witch remained confident.

"Now that we have found you, there will be more than one person. Since there is one of the Four Phases, there will be all four. Don't you really remember that we have been here for all eternity to hunt you down? The Four Phases have only one mission: to hunt down witches and guard against your evil aura. What meaning do life and death have?"

Two more people entered the temple, and Ke Liang exclaimed, "Yingqi, Old Man Li!" The young monk also clasped his hands together, and the four stood side by side. A purple aura rose into the air, conjuring a golden dragon that tumbled and rolled within it. Qin Jin was blind, and Ke Liang and Lu Ziming supported her.

"As expected, you are a Four Symbols. It's just a pity that your golden dragons are still small and weak. They probably can't kill me, haha!"

Ke Liang asked the four people, "What exactly is going on?"

"The true new Four Symbols are not you, but the four of us. The Four Symbols simply represent the four righteous energies of metal, wood, water, and fire. The four energies come together to worship a golden dragon that wards off evil. No one says that the Four Symbols must be human. They can be any vessel from the human realm, the ghost realm, the demon realm, or the spirit realm, as long as their virtues are compatible."

The little monk is the Buddha, Dingdong is the nemesis, Yingqi is the exorcist, and Old Man Li, being a spirit, carries the energy of the Ke family descendants.

This golden dragon was new and not yet fully mature, but at this point, we couldn't worry about that anymore; getting rid of the witch was the most important thing.

The atmosphere in the air had become heavy. Everyone knew that this was the final battle. The Golden Dragon was new, and the Witch's power was so great. Was there any way to defeat the Witch?

With the great battle imminent, people's hearts have calmed down. Everything is about to end, or tomorrow will be a beautiful day.

The lights in the main hall still flickered, and the Buddha statue in front of me seemed to be hiding many secrets.

The little girl-shaped witch stood alone in the center of the circle, as calm as an elf standing on a lotus flower. The golden dragon was already restless, the four guardians were guarding the four directions, Ke Liang and Lu Ziming were protecting Qin Jin, and Hei Bao was in Qin Jin's arms.

A buzzing sound came from the air, the sound of a golden dragon circling, tearing through the night sky and spinning faster and faster. The shaman's expression gradually became solemn, no longer daring to underestimate these new four phases.

However, everyone knew in their hearts that even if the witch's physical body was destroyed this time, it wouldn't have much effect, because without the power of the Three Lives Stone, it was impossible to truly eliminate the witch. But perhaps it could force it to find a place to hide for a few decades, thus gaining a short period of peace.

What's most hateful is that there's never been a way to open the Three Lives Stone; otherwise, now would be the perfect opportunity to kill the witch.

The Four Symbols are here, the Three Lives Stone is here, and the witch's physical body is here too. If we can use the Three Lives Stone this time, we can truly destroy the witch.

The so-called tranquility was achieved through countless efforts by the first four phases. These entanglements of love and hate, gratitude and resentment, will never be erased, and they will fight against the witch for countless lifetimes, with no end in sight.

At this moment, a voice filled with grief and indignation was heard: "Fine, you four ministers and witches, but you insist on using us powerless mortals as pawns in your affairs. What are we? So many of our dearest and most beloved friends have died, and we are nothing more than tools for you to fight each other."

It was Qin Jin, and she looked terrifying.

The Four Phases knew things were going badly, so the shaman began hypnotizing Qin Jin, intending to use him to harm any of the Four Phases. This hypnosis wasn't ordinary hypnosis; it was about stimulating the deepest resentment within a person. If this continued, Qin Jin would become like Shi Shi, losing his mind. Whether he harmed others or himself, it would weaken the Golden Dragon's power, potentially harming the Golden Dragon from this resentment.

One of the most important conditions for Wu Neng's victory was that it knew everyone's weaknesses and could use these weaknesses to achieve its own plans.

Ke Liang got angry, slapped her across the face, and shouted, "What nonsense are you talking about? Wake up!"

A terrifying black aura appeared on Qin Jin's face: "What are we? What do our lives and deaths matter? What do our struggles and efforts matter? We are nothing but pawns of fate. Now it's all over. Bring the Three Lives Stone, lure out the witch, and activate your Four Phases. My mission is complete, isn't it? My dead friends' missions are complete, aren't they? You can fight however you want, it's none of my business, right?"

Qin Jin looked around with resentment: "But look at me, I'm blind. Look at Shi Shi, she fell from the nineteenth floor and shattered into pieces. Look at Ying Qi, she gouged out her eyes for her child. Look at Lan Qi, covered in blood. And look at the faces of the three of us, aren't we all on the verge of collapse? We are enduring the fear of losing friends and not knowing whether we will live to see the dawn every night when we go to sleep."

Qin Jin's eyes began to bloodshot: "We dare not love each other, afraid that we will not be able to make promises to each other, that we will not have time to make promises. We dare not separate, because every departure may be a final farewell. We dare not go into the darkness, not knowing what kind of terrifying things might happen there."

Her voice choked with emotion: "We didn't even have time to tell the person we loved our hearts before we lost her. I can't even bear to lose a warm black cat; I'd give my eyes for it. Our strength came from our defiance of fate; we didn't believe we couldn't overcome our tragic end. Our courage came from our desperate desire to live. Is it all over now? Regardless of who wins or loses, our mission is complete. If we knew that everything we did was just because we were pawns on a chessboard of good versus evil, why did we fight so hard? Why were we so afraid? Why were we so scared? Why were we so exhausted? Why didn't we dare to love? Why?!"

Qin Jin's deepest resentment had already surfaced. She raised her hand and swung it at the golden dragon. Ke Liang tried to stop her, but it was too late. A black lightning bolt shot up from the ground and pounced on her hand. Qin Jin's power was unleashed. Wherever the force reached, a low meow was heard, and a black cat fell to the ground.

Hei Bao jumped up and took the blow from that resentful aura.

Qin Jin heard Hei Bao's cries, and his resentment dissipated, instantly clearing his mind. However, Hei Bao had already fallen to the ground, barely alive. Ke Liang and Lu Ziming dared not speak, afraid that they would burst into tears if they opened their mouths.

Qin Jin lay on the ground, feeling his way along the ground inch by inch, following the sound, trying to find Hei Bao.

Black Treasure was also there, calling out softly, as if wanting a final embrace from its master. If it hadn't jumped up to meet that attack, and the Golden Dragon had been injured, the shaman would have had no more scruples, and everyone here would have been in mortal danger.

Qin Jin, who was blind, knelt on the ground, searching for Hei Bao. He could only hear the cat's low meows, which seemed to be full of comfort, telling Qin Jin not to be sad, not to be in pain, and not to resent anymore.

In the darkness, Qin Jin thought about her recent lapse in judgment, about how she had actually knocked down Hei Bao. An unforgivable pain overwhelmed her. She frantically groped on the ground, her hands scraping blood from the rough surface. She was truly risking her life to find Hei Bao.

Hei Bao used his life to tell her that no matter how fate arranges things, no matter how unfair it is, there are still people who love her, there is still a cat who would give his life for her, there is still the love and warmth of friends, and she must persevere and not give up easily.

Blackie's voice grew weaker and weaker. The power of that attack was terrifying. It just wanted to hug its master one last time. Its cries were full of resentment and regret, just like when Qin Jin first found it. It opened its two eyes and looked at Qin Jin pitifully, its cries just as weak, like a whisper, full of longing for each other.

The cat's meowing finally stopped. Qin Jin stopped groping and listened intently for a while. Sure enough, there was no more meowing. Hei Bao could no longer make a sound.

Qin Jin frantically groped on the ground, collapsing onto it, as desperate as a drowning person.

Blackie lay quietly in another corner, its eyes closed forever, no longer able to stay with its master.

Qin Jin stood up blankly, knelt on the ground, turned her head left and right, clapped her hands repeatedly, and said in a sad voice: "Hei Bao, it's time to eat, it's time to eat, come here, come here, how about we eat your favorite cat food today? I've prepared the best milk for you to drink, come here, don't hide, I'm here, we'll never fight again, we'll never go to dangerous places again, we'll live a good life, Hei Bao, come out, if I find you later, I won't give you any food, come out quickly."

Qin Jin's voice was filled with such pain: "Hei Bao, Hei Bao, come out! Don't leave me! I'll always give you the best! Please, please help me find it! Please help me! It's alright! It's a spirit cat! It won't die! It will never die! Please help me find it!"

The hollow sound echoed in the hall, and tears welled up in the eyes of the four ministers.

Qin Jin suddenly screamed in agony, each scream like that of a wounded wild beast. It felt as if her heart had been ripped out, bleeding and aching so much that she could hardly breathe. Lu Ziming rushed over and held her in his arms. She trembled uncontrollably in his embrace, crying out, "Hei Bao, Hei Bao, I killed it, I killed it."

Lu Ziming said, "No, no, it has nothing to do with you. Don't blame yourself."

Ke Liang's eyes flashed with anger as he stared fiercely at Wu, but Wu's face remained expressionless, as if he hadn't seen anything at all.

The four were enraged. The golden dragon suddenly rushed to the shaman's side, only to encounter the shaman's powerful barrier. It turned out that the shaman had secretly erected a barrier while everyone was in chaos. The golden dragon couldn't harm it; its power was insufficient. It could only transform into a golden cage to trap the shaman. Everyone struggled, and just as they reached a stalemate, a figure appeared in the air. It was Ke Liang's grandfather, Ke Dao. He appeared in the air, said to Ke Liang, "Let's perish together," and then transformed into a wisp of green smoke, disappearing into the golden cage. The green smoke turned into a rope, binding the shaman. The shaman hadn't expected that a deceased old Taoist priest from the Ke family would suddenly appear out of nowhere, and even bind him.

Without saying a word, Ke Liang rushed into the golden cage, using his own body as a ghost catcher to capture the witch.

Qin Jin and Lu Ziming both shouted, "No, absolutely not! Ke Liang!"

Ke Liang turned around, took one last look at Qin Jin and Lu Ziming, and said quickly, "Ziming, she's blind. You'll take care of her in the future and make sure she doesn't get hurt again. That way I can rest easy."