Refuse to trample on the pride of heaven

Chapter 479: Longing for blood and sacrifice, the soul disappears with autumn and winter

In short, Lin Zhengxiu was determined not to call Lin Zhuxuan father.

The word "Dad" was stuck in my throat, and it was more painful than swallowing a branding iron.

He always felt that under Lin Zhuxuan's gentle face that always talked about moral principles, there were some thoughts hidden that he could not see through, and he was definitely not as honest and kind as he seemed on the surface.

This scholar has a soft heart, but there is an inexplicable stubbornness and depth in his bones that makes him instinctively alert.

At that time, he had just started learning the art of human transformation, so his foundation was already unstable. In addition, he had just recovered from a serious injury, so the circulation of demonic energy was sluggish.

During a nap, when his mind was relaxed, the illusion that maintained his human form suddenly collapsed for a moment.

The translucent demon body was like broken glass, with a dim, otherworldly light emanating from its edges, flashing in the corner of the simple earthen house.

Lin Zhengxiu woke up suddenly, his heart almost jumping out of his chest, cold sweat instantly soaking his back - he raised his eyes in horror and met Lin Zhuxuan's gaze.

At that moment, Lin Zhengxiu was gripped by a huge fear, far greater than when he was facing death by a pack of wolves.

This fear did not come from the potential fatal disaster of exposing his demonic body, but from a deeper and more acute sense of loss: he was afraid that the "self" reflected in those calm eyes would disappear completely, and that the boring days filled with the bitterness of herbs and the warm fragrance of rice porridge would come to an abrupt end.

As the teacher sat by the window and taught him to read, the afternoon sun cast dappled shadows on the pages of the book; the bowl of sweet, heart-warming syrup; and the occasional hot, wood-cooked boiled eggs...

He was like a caged bird awaiting sentencing, his body stiff and tense, and every moment was extremely painful.

However, the expected questioning, fear or expulsion did not come.

The gaze was calm, without surprise, fear, or even inquiry. It was like passing by an ordinary fallen leaf, and then naturally retracted, as if seeing nothing, and continued to look at the yellowed book in his hand.

This abnormal calmness made Lin Zhengxiu even more uneasy.

The more Lin Zhuxuan didn't mention it, the more panic grew in his heart, like a balloon that was constantly inflating and could burst at any time.

This uneasiness tormented him for two whole days.

Finally, one evening when Lin Zhuxuan was sitting on a low stool mending old clothes, Lin Zhengxiu could no longer bear it.

The pent-up fear, the panic of loss, and an attachment that he himself had never fully explored suddenly overwhelmed his stubbornness.

He was like a stone shot from a slingshot, and fell heavily to his knees on Lin Zhuxuan's legs with a "thump". He grabbed the corner of the other's clothes that were washed white with both hands and buried his face deeply in it.

"Wu...Wuwa..." The suppressed sobs finally broke out, filled with deep grievance and fear, and her shoulders shook violently, "You...do you know everything? You...are you going to chase me away? I...I didn't mean to lie to you...Although I'm not human, I haven't eaten anyone yet. I'm different from other phantom demons...Okay, I wanted to eat yours at first, but I don't want to now. Your eggs are more delicious..."

Tears poured out, soaking the thin cloth in an instant. He spoke incoherently, spilling everything out like pouring beans. He only knew to hold on tightly to the person in front of him, as if this was the only piece of driftwood he could hold on to.

Lin Zhuxuan was stunned for a moment by his sudden and intense reaction.

He looked down at the young man crying and shaking in his lap, a flash of understanding and amusement flashed across his eyes, and then was replaced by deeper pity.

He sighed softly, without pushing her away or asking any further questions. He just put down the work in his hands, raised his warm and dry palm, and with an unprecedented, almost clumsy tenderness, gently stroked Lin Zhengxiu's furry head again and again.

The force was steady and all-embracing, like the gentle breeze blowing through the pine forest in the mountains, or like the gentle touch that soothes a frightened cub.

Then, Lin Zhengxiu heard Lin Zhuxuan's voice, still calm, yet seemingly imbued with some strange power, coming from above his head. It clearly entered his confused mind:

"Whether you are good or bad, it's just right for me. Our Zhengxiu is actually a good child."

These words flowed like a warm stream, slowly flowing through Lin Zhengxiu's heart which was frozen by fear and grievance.

The crying gradually weakened, leaving only sobbing. He still buried his head, but no longer clenched the corner of his clothes so tightly.

An indescribable warmth and bitterness intertwined, dispelling the fear he had felt for days. After a long moment, he finally muttered in a muffled, nasal voice, like the hum of a mosquito:

"……gentlemen."

Lin Zhuxuan always corrected him, asking him to use proper titles instead of calling him by his full name without any respect.

In the past, he felt it was troublesome and that scholars were too troublesome, but now the word "sir" seemed like some kind of unspoken promise and belonging, with a dependence and awkward intimacy that he himself was not even aware of.

He was still lying on Lin Zhuxuan's legs, feeling the soothing pats on his head, his heart in a mess.

An absurd yet heartwarming thought, like a young sprout stubbornly breaking through the frozen soil in spring, sprouted uncontrollably in his heart: Just like this, living a poor but stable life with this officious "cheap father" in this small village in the mountains, it seems... there is nothing wrong with it?

As soon as this thought came to his mind, Lin Zhengxiu was startled by himself. He cursed in his heart as if he had been burned: Bah! Bah! Lin Zhuxuan is not his father! He is a noble phantom demon! ...Although he is a useless and useless demon.

That day was the day of the grand sacrificial ceremony held once every ten years in the nearby big city. It was said that the scene was grand and lively.

Lin Zhengxiu's heart, which had been trapped in the mountain village for a long time, had been eager to go. When he heard that several young men in the village were going to the city to watch the excitement, he immediately became like a cat that smelled fishy, ​​and he pestered Lin Zhuxuan with great interest, insisting on going with them.

He felt that the small-scale sacrificial ceremonies in the village were boring, and only the loud drums and gongs and various performances in the city were worthy of his "experience".

Lin Zhuxuan initially refused, worried about his newly recovered body, and even more worried that his unruly temper would cause trouble.

But in the end, she could not resist his nagging. Looking at his bright and eager eyes, her heart softened and she sighed and agreed. She carefully stuffed some change into his pockets, repeatedly reminded him to be careful, and allowed him to play for a day or two before coming back.

The city's sacrifices were indeed unprecedentedly grand. Crowds of people thronged the streets, flags fluttered, and there were people breathing fire, juggling with guns, walking on stilts, and parading as gods. Lin Zhengxiu was dazzled by the sight, his face flushing with excitement.

He bought some sugar figures and squeezed into the crowd to watch the acrobatics, like a truly carefree young man, temporarily leaving behind the loneliness of the mountain village and the chatter of the scholar.

As he happily sat on the creaking ox cart on his way home, he still had two pieces of the city's most famous osmanthus cake in his arms for Lin Zhuxuan, and was thinking about how to exaggerate the prosperous scene of the city when he got back and "show off" in front of his teacher.

The oxcart finally reached the hillside outside the village after a shaky start. Lin Zhengxiu jumped off and habitually looked toward home—his smile instantly froze on his face.

Where are the familiar farmland and houses as far as the eye can see? Only a muddy, silent "ocean". The flood has swallowed the valley, leaving only the treetops and rooftops of a few highlands, like despairing tombstones piercing the water.

The surviving villagers huddled on the high slopes, their cries shrilly, like the wails of jackdaws.

Someone recognized him, grabbed his arm, and tearfully recounted the tragedy of last night: Their area had never been affected by high tides in previous years, but last night, for some reason, without any warning, a raging flood rushed down from the mountain pass like a mad beast, instantly submerging the village... Mr. Lin... he...

Lin Zhengxiu didn't hear a word of what was said afterwards.

His ears buzzed, as if he had been plunged into a bottomless icy cave, the biting cold instantly freezing every limb. The world spun and faded before his eyes, leaving only the all-consuming, murky yellow water.

He wondered vaguely: If… if he hadn't insisted on going to the city to join in the damned fun that day, could he have stayed with Lin Zhuxuan? Could he have… prevented all this? Would he not… die?

No! Impossible! Lin Zhengxiu shook his head violently, trying to dispel this terrible thought, as if grasping at the last straw.

Someone like Lin Zhuxuan, gentle as jade, calm as the abyss, should have been blessed with great fortune and a long life! How could he... how could he... be swept away so easily by a flood?

Moreover, he had never called Lin Zhuxuan "Dad", the name that person most desired...

An almost eerie calmness enveloped him.

There was no expression on his face, and his eyes stared at the swampland with empty eyes, as if his soul had been pulled out.

However, beneath this calm and stagnant appearance, the heart had long been grasped and kneaded by an invisible giant hand, and then thrown to the ground, shattered into powder, and each fragment was engraved with the name of the gentleman.

At this moment, his confused thoughts were suddenly pierced by another memory - it was a cold and vague message sent by Min Xiao through the spiritual imprint of the tribe.

Before, he was addicted to this little warmth and scoffed at the call of the tribe and ignored it. Now thinking back, the words such as "water diversion" and "festival sacrifice" mentioned in the message seemed to be like poisoned steel needles, piercing into his confused mind.

Absurd! Twisted! Like the most vicious curse, it instantly filled Lin Zhengxiu's heart, completely crushing the remaining warmth. A violent, all-destructive urge crazily grew in his chest.

He lowered his head, his shoulders shrugged slightly, and when he raised his eyes again, the eyes that once showed a bit of warmth because of Lin Zhuxuan were now filled with an icy abyss and a hint of desperate madness.

So, before helping the surviving villagers escape from this deadly place, in some unknown corner, Lin Zhengxiu used his bloody fingers to open an ancient, dusty forbidden book that he had found deep in the Xuanyin Sect.

The strangely twisted runes on the pages reflected his equally twisted determination.

When he saw Lu Wensheng and his group also trying to enter a certain formation area, a cold and desperate plan took shape in his mind...

------

When the sacrifice began, Lin Zhuxuan still chose that path.

He stood on a high place far away. The tiles on the roof were icy cold. The night wind made his blood-stained clothes rustle, but it could not blow away the heaviness in his heart.

He watched from afar, his lips curled into an arc uglier than crying, and he sneered silently: Ha...it's just as I expected.

On the altar, in the center of the surging power of the flood and the vortex of countless wailing souls, the thin figure seemed so small, as thin as a dead leaf that could be torn apart by the wind at any time.

However, he is so clear, like a reef standing in the turbid and raging waves.

His throat was so dry that it hurt, and every swallow tasted of blood and rust.

The wounds on his body were still aching slightly. That was because he had bought time for Lin Zhuxuan to forcibly block the marks left by Min Xiao's minions. The demonic energy was boiling like boiling water in the damaged meridians, but he ignored it.

Lin Zhuxuan is such a person, pedantic, stubborn, caring about the lives of others, and valuing other people's lives a thousand times more than his own.

Hadn't he known this all along? The man who cooked rice porridge for a wounded stranger, who stubbornly named an "alien," who calmly stroked his head even after his demonic form had manifested... the path he had chosen had always been one of sacrifice, of the damned "right path" in his heart.

He hated Lin Zhuxuan for arguing with him that night.

He hated this broken body that couldn't hold the demonic energy, hated himself for being so weak and powerless as a phantom demon, hated that the forbidden techniques he had learned with all his strength were so vulnerable in the face of a real disaster, unable to truly protect the people he wanted to keep!

If he was strong enough, strong enough to fight against Min Xiao's conspiracy, strong enough to reverse this damn sacrificial formation, why would Lin Zhuxuan need to stand on the altar?

He was ready to give up his life just to meet again, according to his desires, in his memories - who would have thought that things are so unpredictable?

He calculated his own madness, but he couldn't calculate Lin Zhuxuan's determination.

He underestimated the weight of the "foundation of life" in the gentleman's heart. That weight was enough to make a mortal calmly walk towards destruction.

When the crowd fanned the flames and blocked his murderous intentions, he realized that he was actually a hypocritical person.

He once despised human kindness and laughed at Lin Zhuxuan's "meddling", but at this moment, he used his demon body and life to practice the purest protection - protecting the person who gave him a name and taught him what bondage is.

It turns out that he is no longer the rat in the gutter who only knows how to eat raw meat and drink blood. It turns out that the word "Mr." has been quietly engraved in the heart of Lin Zhengxiu.

Longing for sacrifice for blood, the soul disappears with autumn and winter.

He watched as countless rays of light rose from the turbid flood and the twisted array runes, like the cold mist dissipating on a winter night, like the fallen leaves drifting in late autumn, with a lightness of relief, they merged into the light transformed by Lin Zhuxuan, and then together became thinner and transparent.

The gentleman's figure, like a candle that is about to burn out, stands between heaven and earth, small but containing incredible power.

He opened his arms as if embracing the suffering earth.

The invisible power of the soul rushed out, like the purest rain, soaking the dry and cracked land; and like the strongest dam, taming the violent and overflowing torrent.

The power was so majestic and yet so gentle, with the determination to burn itself out and benefit all living beings.

After a while, the wind stopped, the rain stopped, and the turbid waves receded.

The haze that enveloped the sky and earth was swept away, the sky and earth became clear, and all things seemed to be washed again, radiating a tranquility after surviving a disaster.

However, the altar was empty.

That thin, reasoning figure in a green robe disappeared completely between heaven and earth like ink dropped into water, leaving no trace.

It was as if he had never existed, and as if he had become a part of this bright world and gentle breeze.

Lin Zhuxuan stood between heaven and earth, a small shadow, moistening the dry soil and stopping the flood. After a moment, the sky and the earth were clear, but he was gone.

Only Lin Zhengxiu was left alone, covered in blood, kneeling on the cold rubble, facing the clear world that suddenly seemed extremely empty and suffocatingly silent. All sounds were gone, and only the hollowed-out heart in his chest was silently shattered in the dead silence.