The Taste of Ghosts in the World

A few days later, Frog Nine suddenly brought news that they had found Xiao Zhuzi, so Qi Mu and Feng Baisui accompanied the impatient Chen Gu to that place with a feeling of disbelief.

On the way, Frog Nine's mouth never stopped, and he kept expressing his emotions endlessly. Going around meant the same thing—there really was a bamboo demon who used the tasteless title of 'Little Bamboo' as his name, and After returning to my hometown for more than ten years, it has not changed!He said that this kind of behavior has seriously lowered the average cultural quality of the residents of the demon world, which is really inappropriate.

Chen Gu lowered his head all the time, and he could see that he was very nervous, so he didn't care much about Frog Nine's words, but he glanced over from time to time to show his displeasure.

Seeing that the atmosphere was getting into an embarrassing situation, Qi Mu hurriedly pulled Feng Baisui's hand, so Frog Jiu finally closed his mouth wisely under Feng Baisui's "gentle" stare.

All the way was safe and sound, and the carriage they rode for half a day stopped in front of a quiet valley.

In fact, this place is not far from the market town of "Xiangjiuhui", but the location is very secluded and remote, there are not many signs of monster activities, and there are only two residents in the huge valley.

Although the demon world has continued to develop in recent years, and even built a city that imitated the human world - "Ledu", but after all, the number of demons is still too small compared to the number of humans, and they have a very strong territory Consciousness never invades each other, so it generally presents the characteristics of vast territory and sparse monsters.

Frog Nine explained that this valley was originally the territory of an old tree spirit, and later he took in the little bamboo who had just arrived and had no territory, and it has become their shared land ever since.

Everyone saw a grey-haired old man at Taniguchi. His long beard hung down to his waist, and his face was covered with dimples, but he was still in good spirits. He looked much healthier than the young people present.

"Are you all Xiaozhuzi's friends? Haha, I thought that kid had no friends!"

The old man smiled heartily, was full of energy, and spoke in an exceptionally loud voice. Although he was leaning on a bent wooden stick in his hand, he was still able to lead the way at a brisk pace, while turning around to talk about the little bamboo.

"You may not know that the body of our plants can't move casually. That child dared to drag his shrunken fibrous roots for a long journey. When he first arrived here, he was thin and small, with a weak demonic aura, and he could hardly maintain his human form. , just sat under my tree all night, and left after dawn. I asked him where he was going, but he foolishly told me that he didn’t know, so I asked him to stay and continue walking after he knew.”

"That day I helped him plant the body in a purple bamboo forest on the leeward hillside, and later he built a house in the middle of the bamboo forest to live in. Who knows that he lived here for more than ten years. If it weren't for you My friend asked about how long the little bamboo stays, I didn’t know that the days passed so quickly! It passed in the blink of an eye... Oh, that bamboo is growing strong now!”

"That kid is timid and doesn't like to join in the fun. Hearing that all the goblins at the 'Scented Wine Party' will come back, he didn't dare to go to the market. If it weren't for the wine worm in my stomach, I couldn't help it I went there once, maybe I missed it with you..."

Speaking of this, the old man stopped, pointed to the lush bamboo forest in front of him and said, "He's in there, you go. It's not easy for me to enter the children's place."

Everyone thanked the old man, before they finished speaking, Chen Gu was the first to rush into the bamboo forest.

"Hey! You human, wait!" Frog Nine yelled and chased after him.

Qi Mu smiled apologetically at the old man, and followed behind with Feng Baisui.

Perhaps because of the fertile water and soil and abundant aura, this bamboo forest grows very vigorously. Before walking too far, the sunlight above the head is blocked, leaving only scattered spots of light, which are sparsely scattered.Fortunately, there is a path they are accustomed to walking in the forest, so that they will not get lost in it.

At the end of the path, there is a small bamboo house with a simple style. Behind the house stands a tall and strong green bamboo, which is much higher than the roof. The green color is particularly conspicuous in this purple bamboo forest.

"Little Zhuzi..." Chen Gu did not hide his joy, first murmured tentatively, and then raised his voice and shouted: "Little Zhuzi!"

Then he stepped forward quickly, hesitated for a moment when he raised his hand, and knocked down anyway.

"Little Zhuzi, little Zhuzi, are you there? I'm Chen Gu, and I'm here to pick you up."

After waiting for a while, there was no response from the bamboo house.

He knocked on the door again and shouted: "Little Zhuzi! I'm Chen Gu! Are you there? I'm here to pick you up! I'm Chen Gu!"

This time he knocked hard and urgently, his body was almost pressed against the door, but after a series of hasty knocks, the room was still dead silent.

A gust of wind blew gently, the bamboo leaves shook and made a rustling sound, but it seemed more and more silent.

A thin layer of sweat broke out on Chen Gu's face, he looked at Qi Mu as if asking for help, and asked with a somewhat hopeful expression: "Is there no one in the room?"

Before Qi Mu could answer, Frog Nine said: "How is that possible! The old man clearly said that he hadn't gone out today. Moreover, any of us can feel the evil spirit in this room. Of course you are human and don't understand! "

Chen Gu didn't seem to be able to hear his words, but just looked at Qi Mu stubbornly, and repeated: "Is there no one in the room?"

Frog Nine was ignored by him, snorted unhappily, and muttered: "Humans just like to deceive themselves and others!"

Qi Mu saw a cluster of tiny flames still flickering in Chen Gu's eyes, and his indescribable expression made it hard to tell the truth, but after much deliberation, he still felt that it was better to tell the truth at this time, so he gently shook his head.

At that moment, the flames went out with a pop.

He turned his head and looked at the closed door again. After a moment of silence, he slowly said, "I'm sorry... Xiao Zhuzi, you must think that I lied to you, right? No... I didn't lie to you, and I didn't mean to break my promise , I really didn't go back to see your conditions at that time... When I was finally able to go back, the bamboo forest was gone, and you were gone... When did you leave? Why didn't you leave me a letter? , so that I can find you... I know, you must hate me, don't you? So you ran away in a fit of anger, and you didn't care about yourself so much, and you ran back to the demon world because of your lack of skill, which made me unable to find it anywhere... Let me tell you, I have been looking for you for more than ten years, and even asked the monsters for help to bring me here, I...I miss you very much...What about you? Do you miss me?"

Speaking of this, he deliberately stopped and waited for a while, but still no one answered, so he could only continue on his own: "But fortunately, I finally found you! Do you remember the appointment we made when we were young? We want to be together Marry a wife, be neighbors together, and your family will live next door to mine. I have never forgotten this agreement, so I must tell you in my lifetime... I am getting married."

As soon as these words came out, Qi Mu felt his heart skip a beat. Through the thin door, he could feel the unsettled fluctuations of demon power coming from inside.

"Little Zhuzi, you...will you be happy for me? I think you are so kind, you should...you should be, right? Isn't it..."

Chen Gu had always held the simple idea that his friends would be happy for him, but when he really said these words to Xiao Zhuzi, his heart was filled with infinite disappointment, and even just faced with a lifeless bamboo door. A little uncomfortable.

With a light cough to hide his bewilderment, Chen Gu continued: "I have already bought a big yard, and the yard is full of high-quality bamboos, which are carefully maintained by special staff every day. You will definitely like that bamboo forest... ..."

After a pause, he took a deep breath, as if summoning up all his courage, he involuntarily raised his palm and pressed it against the door, and said softly: "Come with me, that forest is specially prepared for you, we still want to Living together like that before, I will introduce you to my wife and tell you about the process of our acquaintance. She is very beautiful, and she is also a nice person. She also likes bamboo forests. She also heard me tell you about you... In short, you I'll like her... come back with me, little Zhuzi, okay?"

Chen Gu's voice is hoarse and his tone is broken. If you don't prick your ears to distinguish carefully, you can hardly hear what he is saying.

"I should have found you sooner, but it's not too late... right?"

"Little Zhuzi, come back with me... to the world... okay... okay..."

His hoarse pleading gradually disappeared in the sound of the wind, and the hand attached to the door slowly slipped down, hanging down by his side.

"You haven't forgiven me yet, have you?" He seemed to be asking the people in the room, and he seemed to be asking himself, "Then at least... at least let me see you again... okay?"

The green bamboo behind the house was suddenly blown by the wind and shook gently. After a while, it returned to silence.

The man with red eyes seemed to have lost the brilliance of his life at that moment. He stood silently in the rustling bamboo forest for a long time, as if time stood still, as if everything was silent... No one disturbed him, and no one I know what he was thinking during this time.

Finally, he moved his stiff arms and took out a small silver collar from his pocket. The bell on the collar made a crisp sound with his movements, "I said I would give it to you before, but I wanted to give it to you personally." Here you are, now...I put it outside the door, remember to come and get it."

After finishing talking, he put the collar away, took one last look at the silent bamboo door, then turned and left.

"Hey, hey!" Frog Nine pointed at the bamboo house, staring in disbelief, "You left like this?"

Chen Gu didn't look at him, and walked past him directly.

Qi Mu shook his head, and had no choice but to turn around and go out. After walking a few steps, he found that Frog Jiu was still standing there stupidly, so he motioned for him to follow.

After leaving the bamboo forest, the old tree spirit was still waiting outside. When he saw them, he didn't ask any more questions, but said flatly, "Going?"

Chen Gu nodded, thought for a while, and then asked the tree spirit: "Is he doing well here? Will other monsters bully him?"

The old man smiled and said, "That's good! Everyone is taking good care of him, he is of the same race after all."

Hearing this sentence, Chen Gu's body trembled, he lowered his head and muttered: "Yes, after all, they are of the same clan..."

Qi Mu patted him on the shoulder to show comfort, Chen Gu said embarrassedly: "I have troubled you so much, but this is the result..." He smiled wryly, and wanted to thank him again, but was interrupted by Qi Mu.

"Since you're here, no matter whether the result is good or bad, it's just a wish. This is the demon world after all. You should go back quickly."

Chen Gu opened his mouth, hesitated to speak, and finally nodded silently.

Qi Mu asked Frog Nine to send him back to the human world safely. Although Frog Nine was puzzled by the human being's hard work to find that little bamboo and then left without even seeing it, he did not understand what Master Yuan Ling explained. Without further ado, he patted his chest to ensure the completion of the task.

Watching them leave, Qi Mu pulled Feng Baisui and said softly, "Let's go, go back and have a look."

Feng Baisui nodded, and the two walked along the path just now to the depths of the bamboo forest.

Just in front of the bamboo house, they saw a man in a blue shirt squatting on the ground, staring at the silver collar in his hand in a daze.

Sensing someone approaching, the man looked up and asked in surprise, "Are you from just now?"

His voice was clear and gentle, and his face looked like that of a young man.

"Chen Gu said that you were still a child when he left, have you grown up?"

The other party did not answer.

Qi Mu looked at him, and only asked one question——

"Why don't you see him?"

The young man was stunned for a moment, then slowly got up and said, "He was only seven years old when I met him, but I had practiced for a hundred years. When he was 16 years old, we were separated for nearly 20 years... Now you look at him, then look at him again. Just look at me and you can see why..."

Qi Mu didn't say a word, of course he knew why, although that young and childish face had changed, but that change was like time deliberately prolonging his pace, walking extraordinarily slowly, and Chen Gu, who is an ordinary human being, had a face that Fine lines have already begun to appear on the face, and a few thin white hairs are quietly emerging from the temples.

The young man held the collar in his hand, stroked the blackened silver surface with his fingertips, shook his head lightly, and said, "I'm his friend, not a pet."

The tone didn't seem to be answering the question just now, but more like speaking to himself.After finishing speaking, he turned and entered the room without looking at Qi Mu and the others.

Qi Mu looked at his thin and stubborn back, exchanged glances with Feng Baisui, and was speechless for a while.

They all understood that this bamboo demon, who can only be regarded as a young fairy in the demon world, is not as timid as the old tree spirit said. Facing Chen Gu, although he has too much reluctance, he always has one insistence——

If he wants to spend a short time together in the carefully constructed artificial bamboo forest, he would rather keep the unpolluted impression when there were only two of them alone.Even if it only accounts for one tenth, or even one ten thousandth of Yaozu's long life, it is still the best memory.

When a hundred years pass by, that human being may be very old, may have been buried in the tomb, or he may have gradually forgotten the prosperity of the world, but in that memory they are still two innocent and intimate The boy in the bamboo forest chatted carefreely in the bamboo forest, neither the future nor the past existed.

No matter how much time has passed, in that bamboo forest, they have never been separated, and they will never be separated.

On the way back, Qi Mu looked at the shadows of him and Feng Baisui walking side by side on the ground, and couldn't help sighing, "Could it be that it's really a transvestite?"

"No," Feng Baisui said flatly, "It's because they are not firm enough."

Qi Mu looked at him asking for advice.

"Even if Chen Gu's lifespan is too short and he dies first, we can find him again when he is reincarnated. Not in this life, but in the next life, as long as he is firm enough, he can always find a way to be together." After a pause, he He added: "But if it were me, I would directly rob the soul from the underworld, once and for all."

Qi Mu was stunned for a moment, Feng Baisui's words reminded him of an old friend from the past, but more, he thought of themselves, and suddenly a sense of pride welled up, he couldn't hide the smile that was about to burst, and stretched out his hand In the past, he patted Feng Baisui on the shoulder and said, "Thank you for being so firm."

"You're welcome." Feng Baisui said without any modesty: "It's enough for you to buy a bottle of Spring Love Lotion to thank me."

"..."

Qi Mu's smile froze on his face, and then he withdrew it angrily. After holding back for a long time, he gritted his teeth and said, "If I don't buy it, you'll keep holding on to this, right?"

"Yes." Feng Baisui replied comfortably.