Upon hearing this, Si Xitong recalled a widely circulated rumor in the Jin Kingdom: It was said that in the history of the Jin Dynasty, there were spirits who were reborn. These spirits needed the nourishment of high-quality ancient jade to possess a body. Therefore, spirits would choose to possess noble persons to return to the world of the living. However, spirits also had inviolable taboos; they could not possess those with malevolent energy or those who had committed heinous crimes. Such people were already held captive by the Black and White Envoys in the underworld, waiting for them to die before being brought down to the underworld. Only after atonement could they be allowed to be reborn.
Thinking of this, her breath almost stopped, and her eyes instantly lost their luster...
Chapter 135 Xie Lanzhi's Death Tribulation
Lu Qing swallowed hard and asked her cautiously, "Your Highness, you used to ask me repeatedly about the matter of possession and unforeseen events at Jianzhang Palace. So... it's related to the Marshal."
But she found it strange. Half a year ago, Qianqian said that the Marshal had the same radiance as His Highness. How come he was covered in black aura in less than half a year?
"Qianqian, are you sure you didn't see wrong last time? Did the Marshal actually already have those chains you mentioned?"
Qianqian said, "It didn't exist back then. Now this chain is binding my sister."
Despite her discomfort, Si Xitong asked Qianqian, "Is there any way to untie it?"
The thought of the unseen constraints on Lanzhi made her chest ache.
Lu Qing quickly chimed in, "Our Qianqian has never encountered this situation before, and this is the first time she's seen chains like this."
"More than that, I'd like to ask Your Highness why you concealed the fact that the Marshal was...possessed by a wandering spirit? And now she's bound by chains; was she...a heinous villain in her past life?"
Si Xitong's brows furrowed, and she reminded Lu Qing, "Lanzhi, she is a kind person. Since she came into this world, she has never intentionally killed innocent people."
Lu Qing found it strange. She thought that only the most heinous people would be bound by the Black and White Envoys, otherwise why would they have chains on their bodies?
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Si Xitong grew increasingly agitated. She finally understood what Lan Zhi felt when she was agitated; it was truly difficult to control oneself. One could easily become impulsive.
"Your Highness, let me speak the truth," Lu Qing said. "Marshal Xie was a man who killed his father and relatives. Weren't those people innocent?"
Si Xitong's eyelids twitched: "What do you mean?"
"I believe that what happened to Marshal Xie is against the natural order. It is impossible for a spirit to possess someone who has committed many killings and possesses a lot of malevolent energy. Marshal Xie, that is, Xie Ying himself, is someone who fits the criteria." Lu Qing said, "So it doesn't seem like he was possessed at all."
Si Xitong understood her meaning. She believed that Lanzhi hadn't possessed Xie Ying's body, but rather that she was Xie Ying, which was impossible. Lanzhi was from another world, while Xie Ying was a native of the Southern Region.
Their memories and ways of doing things are completely opposite.
"impossible."
Si Xitong asked Qianqian, "Qianqian, do you also think the Marshal is a good person?"
Qianqian nodded innocently, then hesitated and shook her head, realizing something was amiss. Finally, under Si Xitong's expectant gaze, she relented and said, "Sister is indeed a good person."
Lu Qing looked helplessly at her daughter, knowing that her daughter wouldn't lie.
She thought for a moment, then came up with another possibility: "Do you think it's possible that Xie Ying's killings were too numerous, and his retribution came early, causing him to be killed? And then, by some twist of fate, the marshal possessed this body, inheriting even the original owner's bloodlust?"
This is currently the only possibility.
Si Xitong was uncertain, so she provided Lu Qing with all the clues she could. Including Xie Lanzhi's presence in the present world, she no longer cared about the so-called leaking of secrets. Unexpectedly, after listening, Lu Qing's face turned deathly pale, as if she had encountered an intractable knot.
"How could this happen? Father clearly said there wouldn't be such a variable, but now a variable has suddenly appeared. How am I supposed to unravel it?" Lu Qing suddenly regretted not learning her father's divination skills, otherwise things wouldn't be like this now.
But then she thought about how Marshal Xie had become a variable, and wondered if there might be a second one. If that were the case, humanity would perish.
"I believe this matter is related to the people involved in the battle. I wonder what the Marshal said after returning from the battle?"
Si Xitong shook her head.
The information stops here.
Now the jade pendant is broken again. What should we do? Just as Si Xitong was in a hurry, she tightly grasped Xie Lanzhi's left hand and carefully pressed it against her face.
Qianqian's eyes suddenly lit up: "The dark aura on my sister seems to have dissipated a bit."
"Disperse?" Si Xitong asked her anxiously, "Qianqian, will it be better if I get closer to her?"
Qianqian nodded: "Yes, but there's a fierce look on your face, as if it's a death sentence."
When Lu Qing heard her daughter mention the impending doom, she realized that the black aura around the prince would dissipate if he approached Marshal Xie, and now there was this impending doom. She feared that Marshal Xie was about to face a great calamity.
She dared not say more now, and could only wait for Marshal Xie to wake up and ask him to find out.
After Si Xitong found out, she never wanted to leave Xie Lanzhi again.
Xie Lanzhi slept for two days. When she woke up, she felt like she had been beaten up. Her left hand was warm and damp, and her chest felt heavy.
She moved her head and saw Si Xitong sleeping by the bedside with a towel in her hand. She immediately got up with a pang of heartache, and Si Xitong woke up instantly as soon as she got up.
"Lan...Lanzhi." She was still in a daze when she woke up. As soon as Si Xitong came to her senses, she immediately used a towel to wipe her forehead, even though it was clean.
There was a mother and daughter at the door, staring at her with eyes that looked at her like she was a monster, especially the little girl, whose face was full of confusion.
"How long have I been asleep?" Xie Lanzhi touched her face and found that her right hand was starting to itch, but it was recovering quite quickly.
Si Xitong wiped her hands again: "Two days, Lanzhi, are you hungry?"
Xie Lanzhi felt her stomach was empty, and she nodded, saying, "Hungry."
Xie Shangguang personally brought in a small dining table for her to eat. It was just a light porridge, but she didn't care and drank two bowls. After she finished, she heard Lu Qing whispering to her daughter, "She can actually eat food from the mortal world. Qianqian doesn't seem like a ghost."
“Mother, my sister wasn’t born that way. Of course she can eat.”
Xie Lanzhi: "......"
Even if she were stupid, she would understand what was going on at this moment. Lu Qing and Qianqian had lived in the Star-Picking Tower and had learned some Yin-Yang divination. Perhaps Qianqian was born with the ability to see things that ordinary people cannot see.
Xie Lanzhi sighed, then looked at her beloved wife, whose face was full of worry, indicating that she had already told her most or least part of her story.
She no longer hid anything: "You all come in, Shang Guang, go out."
Xie Shangguang wanted to serve her, but she dismissed him.
Lu Qing and her daughter walked in. After Qianqian got off the ground, she immediately took Xie Lanzhi's hand, touched it, and then turned to Lu Qing and said, "Sister's blood is warm, Mother, it's definitely not the corpse demon you're talking about."
Qianqian, who diligently sells her mother.
Lu Qing was extremely embarrassed and said to her two masters, "Well, um, I can explain."
“No need. Now I will tell you everything I know, especially about Lady Lu.” Xie Lanzhi’s face darkened, and she asked, “Have you ever met your King Aqina?”
"And what about his fate?"
Lu Qing was very surprised: "My husband deals with the King every day, but that doesn't mean I've ever had any dealings with him."
Xie Lanzhi: "If I said that during my battle with Altu, I deduced that your king, like me, was a victim of possession, how would you judge that?"
These words stumped Lu Qing, but she believed her father was right: "My father said that there can only be one variable, either accepted by the Heavenly Way, or subject to life and death judgments, and not rejected."
"If there are too many variables, humanity will perish."
"Then do you think that Aqina's Longevity Cake and Carefree Pills are things that can save the world?" Xie Lanzhi asked.
Upon hearing this, Si Xitong's gaze darkened as he stared at Lu Qing, who felt immense pressure from her master's intense stare.
“No…it’s something harmful.” Lu Qing had no choice but to face reality. She said, “Marshal, I understand what you mean. You believe there are two variables: you and the King.”
"But have you ever considered what would happen if you were the one creating the variables...?"
Xie Lanzhi felt it wasn't impossible; she had indeed changed Little Phoenix's trajectory ahead of time, and she had to take half the responsibility.
She nodded and said, "If I change the time, will it also affect Aqina's existence?"
Lu Qing was now uncertain. Now that she heard that the King might also be a variable, her mood became extremely heavy, and she began to feel a little strange about the King's behavior of valuing her husband.
The queen even ordered the royal family to show deference to her husband, and even gave him half of her wealth. This greatly enhanced her husband's status among the Xiongnu.
However... all of this comes at a price; the husband must research lethal weapons for the king.
She believed that even if the king wanted to unify the world, he didn't need to wait until now. He could have conquered the Central Plains by sending a million iron cavalry south. Why wait another ten years to prepare firearms?
Now that the marshal has said this, the king's actions are becoming increasingly strange.
“Marshal, if what you say is true, then as another variable, does the King know your future?” Lu Qing pointed out the fatal flaw: “Just as you know His Highness’s future.”
Si Xitong had long guessed that Lanzhi knew about the future and past events, but she didn't expect her to know so much.
Xie Lanzhi shook her head: "I only know the ending of Little Phoenix, but I don't know what will happen to me. If I do, it will probably be..."
The word "death" was covered by Si Xitong's hand, preventing her from saying it.
After hearing this, Lu Qing's doubts about why she saw His Highness on the right track before coming to Tianjing were also resolved. It was Marshal Xie's influence.
Now Marshal Xie is beginning to be influenced by others.
She immediately asked, "That bastard Artur is a deadly battle maniac. Did he say anything else to you afterward?"
“Nilubei,” Xie Lanzhi said. “He invited me to play the final match at Nilubei next month.”
At this moment, when Qianqian heard Xie Lanzhi mention Niliubei, the dark aura around her became noticeably heavier.
Qianqian was so frightened that she shrank into Lu Qing's arms: "Sister, you can't go, you can't go there."
Seeing her daughter's reaction, Lu Qing blurted out without thinking, "Marshal, I think Niliubei will be the place where you meet your demise. It might even become your burial ground."
Upon hearing this, Si Xitong almost instinctively grabbed Xie Lanzhi's hand, afraid that she would leave him. But his concern clouded his judgment, and he didn't even know which hand he was holding.
Immediately, Xie Lanzhi let out a bloodcurdling scream like a pig being slaughtered: "Little Phoenix, it hurts...it hurts!!!"
It turned out that she was holding her unhealed right hand.
Chapter 136 Si Xi Tong Di Xiang Fu Sheng
The doctor re-bandaged her right hand and specifically reminded her, "Marshal, your hand may need more rest than your leg."
Xie Lanzhi nodded blankly.
It was just an accident.
She glanced at the little phoenix, who was secretly hiding her hands behind her back. Her face was a mixture of innocence and heartache, a strange and inexplicable sight. She stood five steps away from the bed, seemingly afraid that she might impulsively reopen Xie Lanzhi's wounds.
At this point, the way the two of them usually loved each other and liked to hug and cuddle began to show its negative side.
Especially when Xie Lanzhi was injured, after the doctor left, Si Xitong moved a stool and sat by the bed, not wanting to leave her for a moment.
There are still fifteen days until November. Xie Lanzhi's injuries haven't healed, so it's impossible for her to fight again in such a short time. Artur's injuries are also serious. Neither of them are made of iron, so it's impossible for them to recover within half a month.
Xie Lanzhi's constitution was different; she recovered 70% in a short time, but Artur was different.
Even if he's wounded, he'll still fight her.