Bronze and touch triggered, suddenly a large yellow flame gradually devoured. After the incident, the man swam towards the surface, carrying the unconscious Ann Hao.

After reaching the shore, the man looked at the gasping Ann Hao. He pulled a slip of paper out of his backpack, uttered a few incantations, and burned the paper completely. When the paper had turned to ashes, he held the ashes in his hand, tore open Ann Hao's wet clothes, and evenly spread the ashes over them.

In Ann Hao's painting, the Divine Spirit and soldiers were praying. One was to protect Ann Hao's three souls and seven spirits. The other was to shield them from harm caused by those objects.

When everything was finished, he took out a pack of Red Tower Mountain cigarettes from his bag and took a deep drag.

Looking at the calm water, the man said, "The entrance to monitoring the three generals! Fifteen remain sealed after this. I don't know which level the entrance is on. If the lower levels close… I'll be very troubled!"

His fingers were slightly burnt. He took a puff of the scorched cigarette, then threw it on the ground, grinding it harshly with his shoe. The ground bore a scorch mark. So, he stopped pretending.

Taking a dagger from his bag, he looked at Ann Hao in the twilight and threw it into the cold water.

Soon after, the water's surface began to bubble like boiling soup. After a while, the river calmed again, and a loud bang echoed from the depths.

After receiving a call, the man quickly swam up from the bottom of the water. When he returned the second time, a claw mark ran across his body, stretching from the back to the abdomen. The wound bled continuously.

Pale-faced, the man sat down, pressing on the handprint. After a while, he spat out several gulps of black blood, which gradually turned red, and the wound grew longer and longer.

Looking at the blood under the ebbing moonlight, he shouted angrily, "This Black Devil is strong! If not for the pre-injury, I wouldn't want to deal with him. But if you want to file a report, the window won't be open for long!" The boy nodded, looking at the principal lying beside him.

The gold lodged in Ann Hao's heart had vanished. The man pulled a copper coin from his pocket and flicked it lightly with his fingers. In this bronze offering, there were two identical figures, but only for those without form.

The man gently held his hand in the air, patting the soul lightly. Another soul sought an appropriate merging within Ann Hao.

To General Ann Hao in Suzhou, he chuckled and said, "Good luck. Two souls that haven't been bitten by ghosts, yet even the gods won't be able to save you." With that, he left with his backpack.

After the man walked away for a while, Ann Hao woke up, looked around, and muttered in frustration, "Why am I still sleeping here? I sleep here twice a day. Does someone want to meet me?"

He glanced at the time. It was now eleven o'clock!

"Just a little more time! My aunt told me to come back! It's dangerous—what now? If it's not someone's fault, then it's really bad stuff."

Ann Hao walked up to the Shangming Lamp's door, gently pushed it open, stepped in, and entered.

For Ling Adao, the head of the village elder's family, this house was also one of the best in the village. Uncle's three-story small pavilion was upstairs on the left. Brother stayed in the room above on the second floor. Since he had gone to college, his room remained empty. When Grandma was alive, Sister had stayed on the ground floor's left room. She and Grandpa lived upstairs from there. After Grandma died, Grandpa stayed behind, leaving this small house built in Brook Village. One day I asked him why he built the house by the river. He said it was because of the attachment he and Grandma had when they met each other.

I was about to bark in response to my thoughts. I kept a large dog, though I didn't know which one it was. When Grandpa brought it home, he said the dog could live in town.

The dog was named for its black body, with only its chin white, so it got its name.

Later, I closed the story, wagged its tail, and returned to help them make a den.

I went to see a puppy that hadn't opened its eyes. It wagged its tail at me, then died, seemingly wanting to approach me.

I laughed, pulling my tired body to the side, lightly touching its head. It nudged its head against me gently, wagging its tail gleefully.

"I didn't know you'd come back! I thought you'd died!"

I was comforting it, unaware of something close behind me. When I heard the sound, I turned, frightened.

I desperately needed peace with the past. Gazing at the exhausted face of the middle-aged woman behind me, I whispered, "Caretaker, I…"

The caretaker wasn't angry at all, even when seeing how I looked. Instead, she grew visibly upset. She noticed the bloodstains on my face. Wanting to examine me further, quickly, her hands rose back to calm.

She quietly said, "Yan, my child, what happened? Were you defeated?"

I gently shook my head and whispered, "I accidentally fell."

My aunt nodded lightly, calling my uncle in the lit-up house as she heard the creak from the downstairs tower.

My uncle appeared in dark red shorts, approaching slowly. Seeing me, he froze in surprise for a moment, then came closer, placed his hand on my head, and pressed on the wound on my back.

He then calmly said to the concerned caretaker, "The wound's not deep. Later, I'll take him to the clinic and have Old Chen disinfect it for him. You go get some rest first!"

My aunt nodded slightly, intending to return home. As she prepared to ascend the stairs, she glanced at me again, her eyes blurry. I knew there was pity in them.

After ensuring the upstairs light was turned off, my uncle turned and said to me, "Can't you clean up this dirty mess?"

I nodded lightly. My uncle sighed, patted my shoulder, and said, "Go take a bath! You stink—let's clean you up before taking you to Chen Anqing's clinic!"

I nodded silently, letting my blood-and-dirt-stained clothes fall off me.

The lotus-like water gently touched me, washing the mud away.

While scrubbing my body and clothes, I noticed the pile of filthy garments laid on the ground. Bending down, I picked them up carefully. What's in your pants pocket?

Afterwards, a chill ran through me. In my memory, I didn't recall putting anything in the pants pocket. It pressed against my hand, and I pulled it out to see what it was.

From outside the door, my uncle's voice hurried me to finish. I responded quickly, shoving the item into my pocket and stepping out the door.

Along the way, my uncle walked ahead of me, and I followed slowly. Neither of us spoke.

Arriving at the clinic's entrance, we saw the lights still illuminated outside the door. My uncle greeted Doctor Chen in advance.

When Uncle Chen opened the door, Doctor Chen was asleep at his desk. Hearing the door creak, his sluggish eyes met the sight. "Can't even let me rest at midnight."

My uncle led me to the bench, and somewhere along, they both chuckled.

Doctor Chen was both a friend and foe to me. His injections hurt a lot. When I was small, I often fled quickly.

Doctor Chen pressed on the wound at the back of my head, speaking calmly: "Did you hear? Old Zhang on the east side of the village has died!"

"Huh! I didn't know. When?"

"You didn't hear? He's been gone for seven days! No sons or daughters. Who knew about him? If no one knew his faults, will the oil come to light? The corpse has already started to decay!"

The three of us fell into silence between words, as if layers of secrets lay beneath.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.