Originated from mountains and seas, life never ends

Chapter 158: The Sword is Still in Use

Since the two of them had no decent identities, they could not stay in any inn or restaurant, so at night they either found a random roof to sleep under, or found an alley where no one paid attention to them.

As time went by, the noise outside the city became more and more serious, and from time to time I could hear people discussing in lively places.

Rumors were spreading in the city. People heard that the emperor had gone astray in his cultivation of immortality, and when he heard about the rebellion, instead of concentrating his forces to suppress it, he went to ask some immortal for advice on how to break through some bottleneck before taking action.

When Meng Liyun heard this, her face was full of question marks and she was very confused about the emperor's decision.

Rumor has it that the royal relatives are very worried about the redress, and the generals have repeatedly requested to go to the battlefield, but no victory news has been reported so far.

Meng Liyun turned her eyes slightly and looked towards Xiao.

Xiao didn't react at all. He just stood there with his eyes downcast, as if thinking about something.

"what happened?"

Xiao raised his eyes slightly, looked at her, and said softly: "Let's leave soon."

"Leave here?" Meng Liyun was stunned, "Why?"

"...I think it's only a matter of time before the rebels get here." Xiao said softly, "Why don't we go back and take a look."

Meng Liyun frowned: "Go back?"

"Aren't you worried about your parents? We can go back and see them." Xiao looked at her, "I really haven't heard any news from them along the way."

Meng Liyun was stunned for a moment, then reacted.

She was moved.

So Meng Liyun didn't hesitate for too long and nodded in agreement: "Then when do we set off?"

"In two days."

"But... it will take a long time to go back, right?" Meng Liyun hesitated, thinking about the time she had left home and how far she had come. If she wanted to go back...

"It won't take long." Xiao glanced at her and said, "I asked and it's possible to take a shortcut. If it's fast, it will take only a few months."

After hearing this, Meng Liyun nodded.

Xiao's guess was correct. Less than a month after they set out, news came that the capital had been breached.

Before leaving, they went to the houses of those nobles and looted a lot of food, and were almost discovered by the monks inside.

Walking out of the war zone and arriving at the territory occupied by the rebels, I saw that the bones that were previously exposed in the wilderness had been buried. The people were still wearing tattered clothes, and they were thin and hunched, but they had already started to cultivate with hoes - I didn't know where they found the seeds.

"How long did this battle last?" Meng Liyun was a little dazed as she looked at the people bending over to cultivate the land in the wilderness.

"...Five years." Xiao looked around at the dilapidated houses. Not far away, soldiers in armor were pulling carts of food and goods on this bumpy road.

During the journey, a man in Taoist robes passed by, looking listless and slovenly. The soldier was about to salute him, but the man waved his hand and a talisman appeared out of thin air between his fingers, which he then stuck on the car.

The soldier was puzzled, and the man did not explain. He scratched his messy hair, waved his hand, and continued walking without stopping.

The soldier could only lift the cart up again. As soon as he took a step, he took several steps easily as if someone was pushing him from behind. Still a little incredulous, he tried to pull it again.

Meng Liyun followed Xiao's gaze and saw the soldier who suddenly went to the bathroom and the Taoist who casually pasted talismans on everyone he passed by. She raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Is this the monk they invited here?"

"It should be a casual cultivator." Xiao said lightly and retracted his gaze.

Meng Liyun watched quietly for a while, then turned around and followed.

……

There were few places that were not affected by the war. Meng Liyun followed Xiao and asked around, not only about people, but also about the gods and beasts that appeared inexplicably in the mountains.

When Meng Liyun followed her memory to the mountain where she grew up, she saw only withered grass, a dry riverbed, and dilapidated thatched houses.

Meng Liyun nervously pushed open the creaking wooden door, went inside and looked around. Her heart was still hanging in the air, but she only breathed a sigh of relief.

It was the adoptive parents who left on their own initiative.

Meng Liyun saw the traces left in the house and could confirm it.

Xiao asked someone outside and came in to tell her that her adoptive parents moved away before the war and told her where they went.

Meng Liyun lowered her eyes and looked at the dusty table. She gently wiped it open and could still see the painting she had carved on the table.

On the corner of the table, there is a painting of her and her adoptive parents sitting under a tree in front of the door and looking at the moon. It is abstract and simple.

For some reason, Meng Liyun pulled the corner of her mouth and wiped the ashes back.

"Let's go then."

Meng Liyun went out of the door and looked at the tree where she was punished for being hung when she secretly followed others to rob a tomb for the first time - the tree had been broken into two parts by the invasion of war, and the hideous broken end was pointing at the sky full of dark clouds.

Based on hearsay, it took them nearly another month to finally find the residence of their adoptive parents.

My adoptive parents live in a relatively busy village, most of whom are ordinary people who have been displaced by the war.

Fortunately, this place was not eroded by the war for too long. After fleeing for only a few months, it was stabilized and took root.

When Meng Liyun saw her adoptive father, he was carrying a hoe and limping on a dirt road in the countryside, talking to a man next to him who was also dark and thin.

I haven't seen my adoptive father for several years. His hair is all white and he has lost a lot of weight. In my memory, his steady and broad hands would tremble slightly due to fatigue when he held the wooden handle. It seems that there is something wrong with his legs and feet. He walks with a limp and there is no trace of the broad and strong man he once was.

The adoptive father lowered his head slightly, pulled the corners of his mouth, seemed to be smiling, and said something to the person next to him. Suddenly, as if he sensed something, he looked up in her direction.

Meng Liyun’s first reaction was to pull Xiao in front to block him and hide behind him.

For some reason, Meng Liyun's hands were shaking violently. She huddled behind Xiao and didn't dare to look.

Faced with the sudden pull, Xiao froze for a moment, then he understood something. He looked at her helplessly and slightly turned sideways to block his adoptive father's gaze.

The way she and Xiao were dressed did not fit in with this village, and many people looked at them as they walked over. The group of men who were going home after work couldn't help but stare at them a few more times.

Meng Liyun hid behind Xiao, and followed him, slightly turning sideways and turning half a circle, without showing up until her adoptive father and his group left.

Lao Qi looked at this strange man several times as he passed by. He seemed to think that he looked familiar. He frowned, then looked at who was hiding behind him. Before he could see clearly, his sight was blocked by the man. He met the man's cold eyes and paused. Knowing that the other party was not easy to mess with, he took the initiative to retract his gaze and left with the people next to him.

Meng Liyun looked at her adoptive father's back, her lips suddenly pursed, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Why are you crying?" Xiao reached out and wiped the tears from her cheek with his thumb, then patted her head as if to comfort her. "Let's go and have a look?"

"...Yeah." Meng Liyun didn't know why, but she suddenly felt an endless amount of bitterness in her heart, making her so uncomfortable that she just wanted to cry.

She quietly followed her adoptive father to the door of his house. Looking at the simple door, Meng Liyun crouched in the corner and quietly looked around.

My adoptive parents' home is at a corner of the countryside, with endless farmland behind it. It is surrounded by four small rooms, with an apricot tree in the open yard in the middle.

There were two pear trees and a gourd rack planted in front of the house. A few piglets were sleeping soundly in the fence next to it. A skinny long dog was tied next to the gate. It looked as if its foster parents had withheld its food - but Meng Liyun had heard that this was what the dog looked like.

The skinny dog ​​seemed to sense something. Its lying body suddenly stood up and it looked around alertly.

Meng Liyun squatted in the corner, biting her nails in distress, and the owl behind her gave her a helpless look.

"…What are you struggling with?"

"Don't make a sound!" Meng Liyun stopped him from saying anything else and glanced at him. "I... I'll take a look at the situation first."

Xiao:......

Xiao: "How about you——"

"Hey, I told you to keep quiet!"

After hearing this, Xiao really stopped talking.

Then I watched her squatting there until late at night.

Looking at the crescent moon in the sky, Owl seemed extremely helpless.

"It's evening already."

"I know, I know!" Meng Liyun scratched the tree trunk next to her, and she had peeled off a layer of bark from the trunk.

Meng Liyun was still grinding her teeth in confusion. She glanced at the broken bark on the ground, picked up a few pieces and threw them into her mouth. She chewed them and was about to swallow them when she was patted on the head by the owl, and the remaining bark on her hand was patted off.

"What are you doing?!" Meng Liyun looked at him dissatisfiedly.

"...It's been almost a year since the war ended." Xiao looked at her helplessly.

Meng Liyun was confused: "So what?"

"…Stop taking these as snacks."

Meng Liyun: ...

Meng Liyun coughed twice in embarrassment and was about to turn her head to continue watching when she was forcibly pulled up by Xiao.

"Why are you being cowardly?" Xiao pinched the back of her neck with one hand and pushed her forward.

"No, no, no!" Meng Liyun turned her head and clung to the tree tightly, refusing to go out.

"I'm just homesick, you know nothing!" Meng Liyun said angrily, "I don't believe you won't be like this when you go back!"

"I really can't." Xiao was unmoved and wanted to push her out, but he found that her hands and feet were clinging to the tree tightly and he couldn't get free at all.

Xiao:......

There was no choice but to let go.

Meng Liyun continued to cling to the tree, staring at the house in the distance, her brows furrowed.

"When are you going?"

"Don't rush me." Meng Liyun pouted, "I'm waiting for the right time."

The wait lasted until the next afternoon.

Xiao:......

Xiao: "Do you feel guilty for not coming back in the past few years, so you plan to be their door god for a few days?"

Meng Liyun: ...

"Don't talk nonsense." Meng Liyun looked at her adoptive father who came back with a hoe on his shoulder, and hid timidly, "I'm just weird."

"What's weird?"

"Why haven't I seen my mother come out all day?" Meng Liyun said, still a little worried, "Was she in any accident?"

"Then go in and take a look."

"...Okay." Meng Liyun had no choice but to nod, "I'll go in and take a look at night."

Xiao:......

"Why wait until night?" Xiao was puzzled. "Are you going to steal them?"

"Nonsense!" Meng Liyun glared at him, "Don't you know it's easier to act at night?"

Xiao:......

Ignoring the doubtful owl, Meng Liyun clung to the tree and really waited until the sun set.

"By the way, are you hungry?" Meng Liyun looked at the rising moon and suddenly had an idea, "How about we go have a meal first?"

Xiao:......

Facing Xiao's eyes that said "If you don't come over here, I'll knock you out and throw you into the house", Meng Liyun laughed dryly, shrank her neck, and slowly came down from the tree.

"Hey, go, go, go. I don't know what you are rushing me for." Meng Liyun shook her sleeves, ran out of the house stealthily, quietly walked around the sleeping dog, and tiptoed onto the eaves.

But she didn't expect that the thatched house had such poor load-bearing capacity, and her foot almost sank into it as soon as she stepped on it.

Fortunately, Xiao pulled her hand and prevented her from falling directly and making a hole in the roof.

"...Why is the grass so thin? Can it keep out the rain?" Meng Liyun wondered, clinging to Xiao's body.

Xiao had no choice but to put her next to the apricot tree in the yard.

Meng Liyun tiptoed and ran to the front room in a wretched manner. She looked at the unfamiliar furnishings, pursed her lips, and then quietly ran to the kitchen to rummage around.

Xiao followed her and frowned in confusion as he watched her inexplicable course of action.

Meng Liyun dug around and found a basket of coarse flour steamed buns. After thinking for a while, she took out half a bun that was obviously left over and started to eat it.

Xiao:......

So she was still hungry during those two days...

Meng Liyun was chewing on it, and then she thought of something and broke off a little bit to pass to Xiao.

Xiao waved his hands to indicate that he didn't need it.

Meng Liyun stuffed it into her mouth.

But he choked all of a sudden. He saw a bowl of water next to him and drank it all in one gulp without thinking much.

After I finished drinking it, I vaguely felt that the taste seemed a little wrong.

The owl standing at the door suddenly turned sideways, and a fork rushed in half an inch from behind him. Under the moonlight, the sharp tip of the plowing fork flashed cold light.

Meng Liyun's body swayed and she held onto the table, feeling that all her strength was being quickly drained away.

Okay, okay, softening powder and aphrodisiac incense.

This amount is quite large...

Meng Liyun twitched her lips, and when she looked again, she saw that Xiao had already snatched the fork away and threw it aside.

Seeing this, the man did not hesitate at all, pulled out the dagger from his waist, turned half a circle and stabbed towards the owl's neck, but the owl held his wrist tightly and could not move forward even half an inch.

In this brief fight, the man knew that he was no match for this man, but he didn't want to give up. Just when he was about to do something else, the man who was hit by the muscle softening powder suddenly rushed over from the shadows and snatched his dagger.

The man let go. Seeing this, Lao Qi grabbed the man who was hit, wanting to use him as a hostage, but the man was agile and slipped away from his hand like a loach.

Lao Qi gritted his teeth, tensed his body, and wanted to do something else——

"father!"

A shout interrupted his movements, and taking advantage of his daze, the man pushed him out of the door.

He had no chance of escaping from that small and cramped space, and Lao Qi had no choice but to look at the two people walking out of the house.

A man and a woman, the two I saw yesterday. The man looked at him, seemingly helpless. The woman held his wrists, restraining them, not knowing what she wanted to do.

Old Qi stared at the two men with a fierce look in his eyes, as if he was ready to die together at any time.

"...I know it's not good to eat secretly when I come back, but it's not a crime punishable by death, Dad."

The woman spoke, her voice weak - it might be because she had been injected with the muscle softening powder.

Old Qi was stunned when he heard this.

He originally thought that the "Dad" just now was some kind of ploy, but now he had no chance to fight back, so why... ?

Old Qi stared blankly at the girl holding his hands. The white moonlight slowly fell, gradually illuminating her eyebrows and eyes.

The woman who looked somewhat like his daughter who had left home for decades was looking at him helplessly, with a guilty look in her eyes.

The woman pulled the corner of her mouth, as if she had touched the tip of her nose when she had done something wrong as a child. She looked away for a moment, then turned back and gave two dry laughs.

"You're still as good as ever, Dad."

After saying that, he lost consciousness and fell down.