Chapter 17 Farewell to Pi Dan
The book picks up where the previous one left off; Hu Cangcang, with the help of the black dog Pi Dan and all the dogs, finally defeats the lizard spirit Chu Tianming, allowing Xuan Mo to capture and subdue him. In the battle, Pi Dan was seriously injured, and the few surviving dogs lay dying on the bank of Zhuo River. After the onlookers heard Hu Cang Cang explain the truth of the matter, many of them were ashamed. People have put or lying shivering or immersed in the water fainting dogs, as many as possible to carry away to save treatment to heal the wound. The Moon Picking Building is now a large swath of blood red from top to bottom, and occasionally, you can see one or two dogs that still have faint breath that people have rescued.
But the dog's heart that had encased the demonic dan in the first place had disappeared from the blood vat. Xuan Mo stood on the top floor of the Moon Picking Pavilion, staring at the dead dog race. He had not had any emotional fluctuations for tens of thousands of years and was at the moment like the dark and low sky before a violent storm, with shallow air pressure ready to explode at any moment. He took a deep breath and suppressed the anger within him. He closed his eyes and thought: where did the demonic elixir soaked in dog's blood go? If we don't hurry to find and destroy it, the consequences will be unimaginable; how can we explain this to the Heavenly Court? How can we present to the Heavenly Court? How can we eradicate these demons from the earth?
Xuan Mo's head at this time must have two significant thoughts solved. Chu Tianming can complete the task, but endless layers of new trouble seem to exist.
With the lizard spirit, Chu Tianming was eliminated, and this sudden plague quickly disappeared. The people who were sick drank the wind-cold soup that had been brewed earlier and gradually got better. As for whether that half of the goblin's tongue had any effect was no longer that important.
Some kind-hearted villagers used a donkey cart to send Hu Cang Cang and the unconscious faithful dog Pi Dan back home. Hu Cang Canghad had a fever and put Pi Dan on her bed. She couldn't worry about her grandparents, so she crawled to their bedside to visit them. They found that neighbors had fed them medicine, and now the fever has subsided, and they are still in a coma. Fortunately, my grandparents were finally out of danger.
But her best friend, Pi Dan, the loyal dog she grew up with, has been out of breath more than in. In the local area, there are very few doctors who treat livestock. People think that an animal dead is dead, even if it is not sick to death, will be used as a festival to worship the gods and sacrifices to heaven with the sacrificial offerings. Hu Cang Cang, at this time, there is no way but to try to give the beloved PiDan some medicine and feed some food into his mouth one by one.
Hu Cang Cangherself is still feverish and exhausted, holding the black dog Pi Dan, who fell asleep. In her dream, she heard Pi Dan speak to her:
"Cang Cang, Cang Cang, wake up."
"You're Pi Dan? How come you can't talk?"
"Haha, Pale, I've always been able to talk. You couldn't hear me. Please don't be sad, you don't have to save me. That demon's demonic poison has poisoned me, and I can't live anymore. Cang Cang, you are my biggest worry in this life. If I'm gone, you must live this life well, too. Cang Cang, my real name is Ni Chong, remember? Remember me. When the next life comes, we will meet again!"
"No, don't you leave me, PiYan, oh no, Ni Chong. Where are you going?"
Ni Chong changed from his dog form back to his human form. He looked at Hu Cang Cang seriously, "Cangcang, your original name is Fox Xiao Xian; we knew each other long ago; remember me, remember that I'll come to find you in the future. Blow that peach kernel whistle when you miss me; that's what I made to give you; make sure you keep it and wait for me."
"Ni Chong, Ni Chong! You come back!" Hu Cang Cang shouted in her dream, wanting to blow the peach kernel whistle to keep him, but how could she not find that whistle anymore? In her anxiety, she woke up.
She had just woken up with cold teardrops on her face. She trembled and touched Pi Dan while his body was already hard. Finally, Hu Cang Cangbawled as she wrapped her arms around Pi Dan's dead body.
Moon Picking Pavilion, a demon rebellion thing, quickly spread to the royal palace's inner court; the Dongchuan king heard and was shocked and angry, even so by a demon cheated, he this king's face? But his beloved consort came back to life, ah? What happened?
He took a few ministers and generals to Cherry's bed-chamber, where they went to see her, not caring about the rules. The king's favorite woman was Cherry, and he didn't want anything to happen to her.
The guards summoned her: "The king is here!"
Cherry didn't get up and went outside to greet her. The king told the people to stay out and went to see Cherry alone. Cherry still didn't get up to greet her but sat on her bed with a smile, staring blankly ahead.
"I've come to see you. I've come to see you. What's wrong with you?" Yesterday, the king thought Cherry was a bit strange, but he hadn't suspected anything because she had not recovered from her death. But now she looks like a puppet. Her skin is pale with a slight greenish-black color, and her face looks as if she's been painted, so she doesn't look like a living person.
"Don't frighten me, Concubine! Aifei, say something!" The king held her shoulders and shook her. Suddenly, Cherry Noble Concubine's head tilted to the side, and her neck snapped in unison, followed by countless tiny black-flowered spiders crawling out from inside. Some of them even pounced on the king of the country.
"Ah--! Ah--! Help!" The country's king screamed in fear, pouncing on the spiders on his body while dodging everywhere. The ministers and generals waiting outside heard something terrible and rushed in to save him, but they were also stunned by the scene. The spiders were still crawling out of her body, and her head had fallen off, and her body was collapsing like a sack.
The king was so frightened that he shouted, "Burn! Burn them! Quickly burn them for me! Quickly!" Immediately after, a breath did not come up; the king of the country was so scared on the spot that he died.
The Noble Consort's chambers were soon caught in a sea of flames, and some spiders were burned to death. Random arrows shot some, and some escaped without realizing it.
Xuan Mo stood outside the royal palace expressionless. Still, his heart was incomparably remorseful: how come this Pi Dan had not been gotten rid of earlier but even let it be a breeding ground on a human corpse and hatched so many minor demons, as well as that lost demonic dan? This errand could have been better done, and how should I reply to the Heavenly Court? The enemy to be faced is not that simple, and it is still necessary to spend some time and energy to continue to stay on earth.
The next day, the entire city of Zhuo Yi put on sackcloth and filial piety to mourn for the king of the country who had just died.
The official announcement to the public was that the king had been overworked due to his concern for the people's plight and had accidentally contracted a cold and died of a severe illness. No one dares to talk about the spiders in the inner courtyard of the royal palace, and the brilliantly decorated bed chamber in which she lived has become a nightmare for everyone in the city.
Hu Cangcang's grandparents were able to get down to the ground. Hu Cang Cang made them breakfast, changed into mourning clothes, and took Pi Dan's body to the back of the mountain. There was a flourishing peach blossom tree here, and she and Pi Dan used to come here to play often. Now the peach blossoms have bloomed, Hu Cang Cangburied PiDan here, carved a tombstone for PiDan and prepared some of his favorite food in front of the grave to pay tribute. She was wearing mourning clothes at this time, and she was really in mourning in her heart. She was mourning for her best friend, her closest companion, her true family.
"Who are you? Who am I? Is what you told me in your dream true? Was it true when you said you would come back to me? If I say I already miss you now, will you return to me?" Hu Cang Cangsadly closed her eyes and quietly sat on this small grave hill.
She picked up the peach kernel whistle she had worn around her neck since childhood. Cang Cang had never remembered who had given it to her, and since Ni Chong had told her in her dream that it was something he had carved for her, she must keep it safe. She gently stroked this unassuming little thing, like a treasure, but also like a souvenir, a reminder, to help her remember her best friend.
Hu Cang Canggently blew a whistle, and a short and sad melody sounded. A gust of wind blew through the peach blossom forest. Countless petals danced, swirled with the wind, and drifted down onto Hu Cangcang's dress, spilling over in front of PiDan's tiny grave.
Xuan Mo stood before the grave, looking at Hu Cang Cang from a height. Hu Cang Cang opened her eyes, saw that it was her teacher, and said faintly, "Teacher, here?"
Xuan Mo was still the same as before, with a black coat, thin and gloomy face, and bright and intelligent eyes, but today, there seemed to be something different in those eyes. He opened his mouth and said, "You don't have to be too sad. Ni Zhong fading away from his dog body will be better."
"Heh, the teacher already knew my skinny egg is called Ni Chong? Well, that's right, the teacher is a heavenly god. Naturally, his magical power is limitless."
"Why do you need to be so sarcastic?"
"How can it be called sarcasm? The teacher is a Heavenly God, but he left Pi Dan and me inside that glacier without a care. I went to the Cao Tang yesterday to look for you, but they said you were no longer there. I understand what it means to 'call the heavens but not the earth.' If you can save Pi Dan? How wonderful it would have been if you could have saved the people of the whole city before that demon rebelled! They wouldn't have died whether they were humans or dogs!" The anger raging out of Hu Cangcang's eyes caused her to raise her voice slightly as she spoke the last few words. She had always been very polite in front of her elders, not to mention that she had never questioned her teacher, and today, she made an exception.
"It's not that I haven't thought about saving you. I taught both of you, and I know that with your skills, you'll be fine. Furthermore, Ni Chong was originally going to go through this calamity, and he would have to die whether I saved him or not. This Zhuo Yi City is the same. Even without this lizard spirit this time, it will still have to go through a calamity. This is this country's national destiny; it's the fate of heaven, and heaven's fate cannot be disobeyed!" Xuan Mo's brows furrowed slightly. This was the first time in his tens of thousands of years that he rarely explained anything to others, especially to demons and people; the only thing he did was strictly follow the heavenly rules and regulations and precisely carry out the orders to fulfill them. However, he couldn't explain anything to Hu Cangcang; he still moved his mortal heart.
"Teacher." Hu Cang Canggot up and knelt for Xuan Mo, "This is the last time Cangcang honors you as a teacher. I really can't understand your so-called calamity, your so-called heavenly destiny. I only know that it is a living life. I don't believe in heaven, and I don't believe in fate. I only know that if I can protect them, even if I still have a breath left, I will try my best to take up the responsibility. I believe in the cycle of karma and that good and evil are rewarded!"
After saying that, she picked up the short sword she was carrying, which Xuan Mo had given her as a gift. She unsheathed the sword, and with her hand, she cut off a bunch of her hair and respectfully handed it over to Xuan Mo along with her hair and the short sword. "From now on, the teacher-disciple bond between you and I is like this strand of hair, completely broken. You continue to return to being a Heavenly Soldier and God General. I will continue to protect my family on this earth and protect beings as insignificant as ants in your eyes."
Xuan Mo hesitantly picked up Hu Cangcang's broken hair, and she was breaking her will to speak with herself! This master and disciple love is thus hurt.
Xuan Mo's heart tightened like a thousand-pound boulder was pressing on his chest, clutching Hu Cangcang's hair so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He did not say anything because he knew it was useless to say anything, so he turned around and silently left. Hu Cang Cangknelt down and gave to Xiang Xuanmo's back, solemnly kowtowing three times as a disciple's last salute.
After this, Hu Cang Cang and Xuanmo never saw each other again.
Without schooling, Hu Cang focused all her energy on caring for the Hu family's two elders. The family needed money, and a severe illness made the family's living situation worse. So Hu Cangcang, on the one hand, does housework, gardening, fishing, and shrimping; on the other hand, from time to time, to goes to the city to do some odd jobs. Because he could read and write and knew a little about herbs and medicine, he often helped in a few medicine stores in the city.
The city's plague, so that the old two hurt the root, the body is getting worse and worse daily.
Her grandparents were worried about how she, as a girl, would live alone in the future, so they asked the matchmakers to find her several marriages. Hu Cang Cang also became more handsome, but a few years later, the young girl from the small lotus just showed the tip of the corner of the young girl falling into a big girl. Quiet, like a virgin moving like a rabbit, can be a standard beauty. Unfortunately, Hu Cang Cang always uses their age, which is still tiny. Grandparents must be close to the service, and so on, or the matchmaker will be sent away.
Since Pi Dan left, Hu Cang Cang has often been dreamed of in his dreams. Only, the familiar Pi Dan in the invention is often not in the form of a black dog, but always with the original appearance to see her - that is, the young man called Ni Chong. He had a handsome face, an upright figure, and blue eyes as bright as the stars in the night sky. Ni Chong often smiled at Hu Cangcang. He no longer called her Hu Cang Cang but Fox Xiao Xian. She often hoped that she could dream of him again, whether in the dog or human form, whatever was good. But every time she desired in the middle of the night, a great sense of loneliness engulfed Hu Cangcang, and she shrunk to the foot of the bed with her legs tightly clutched, burying her head into the hollow and silently shedding tears. The moonlight poured through the window pane on the young girl's body, filling the room with silence and sadness.
On an early fall night when Hu Cang Cang was sixteen years old, Hu's husband and wife lay on a couch, hand in hand, and passed away one after another. When he left, Grandpa said to Hu Cang Cangthe's last words: "Cangcang, grandparents have you and PiDan in this life is very content; you will bury us two in PiDan's small graveside, together to be a companion!" After saying that, he passed away with a smile on his face.
From then on, Hu Cang Cang became a loner. Following her grandfather's instructions, she sold the only valuable things at home, prepared two thin coffins for the two older men, funeral mourning, and buried them under the peach blossom tree, with PiDan sleeping together as a companion. Hu Cang Cang kneeling in front of a few graves, looking at his life's closest family and friends who have been successively away from their own; what should they do in the future? What should he do in the future? What is the meaning of living? A mouthful of hot blood gushed out from her heart, and she fainted.
Since the palace fire, this Dongchuan country's fortune has been as Xuan Mo predicted, with the naked eye trending downhill. The new king of the country was a playboy of the royal family's collateral line, and no one had expected him to become the king of a country, something that even he did not have any expectations of.
Unfortunately, the plague swept through the country, many of the descendants of the king's lineage died, and even the old king's brothers died and fell ill. No one was to inherit the throne, so the ministers had to bring up such a lazy guy as the king. Even though they did their best to assist him, they still failed to slow down the momentum of Dongchuan's demise.
In the past few years, Dongchuan suffered from floods and droughts, coupled with the plague in the capital city. The new king had no achievements, and the morale of the whole country was in the doldrums. Several small neighboring countries have always been eager to see Dongchuan's country's luck, which is so bad that they took this opportunity to find trivial reasons to go to war with Dongchuan's country.
In Hu Cang Cang, sixteen years old this year, the Dongchuan country border war is becoming increasingly intense. A few small countries united to attack Dongchuan, and the enemy country annexed a few bits of the border states and counties; look at the enemy's army, which is about to hit the capital, Zhuo Yi City. As the enemy army was about to attack Zhuo Yi City, the country's king ordered all men over 15 and under 50 to join the military to protect the country.
Hu Cang Cang refused to think that since he had learned some skills and knew some swordsmanship, he should be more ambitious for the country and the people instead of indulging in love and family matters. However, the repeated changes in her family have worn down her once high-minded and ambitious ambition. Since her grandparents passed away overnight, Hu Cang Cang is all alone. The loss of her family, the absence of her best friend, and the betrayal of her teacher have left her heart broken and even confused about the meaning of her life.
When she passed by a street sign in a daze and saw the draft notice, a fire suddenly grew in her heart. "Right! Go join the army, go to war, and kill the enemy to protect the country!" Hu Cang Cang said she told herself in her heart, and then she quickly ran back to her broken and cold home, tied her hair, changed her clothes, and went out of the city to the battlefield at night.
Hu Cang Cang joined the army in just half a year, on the battlefield to kill countless enemies, and repeatedly won the war. Unfortunately, the two troops were fighting, the strength was too great, and the food and supplies could only sometimes keep up. The army was disorganized and lost without a fight, even though Hu Cang Cang and a few generals tried to salvage it, but to no avail.
In less than a year, the entire Dongchuan Kingdom was wiped out by the enemy state. The capital city, Zhuo Yi, was burned and looted by the enemy's iron horseback riders, and the Dongchuan Kingdom was destroyed from then on.
On the battlefield, Hu Cangcang, who was shot into a hedgehog by the arrows, knelt on one knee with a sword in her hand. With her last strength, she raised her eyes to look at the moon in the sky and said faintly, "Pi Dan, I owe you a life in this life, and I will pay you back in my next life."
Her eyes began to drift, and in her blurriness, she seemed to see Ni Chong in her dream walking towards her, smiling and saying, "Fox Xiao Xian, I'm coming; I'll take you away."
Fox Xiao Xian went down to the world through tribulation and transformed Hu Cangcang, so the incense's first life died at 17.