Chapter Twelve: The Flower Blooms Brilliantly

  There are many things in the treasure bag, most of which are copper products: copper mirrors, copper bells, copper seals, copper knives, copper coins, copper gourds, and several pieces of medicinal materials and animal organs, including a piece of snake skin that had just been peeled off. The strangest thing is half a copper ring, whose use is unknown, and the young officer hesitated when commenting on it.

  These magical instruments, which were once so powerful in Li Yuechi's hands, are now useless in the boys' hands. The sound of the copper bell is dull and uninteresting, with no captivating effect at all. Even the Hundred Treasures Pouch itself is the same, as things taken out from it can't be put back in.

  Xiao Qiu continued to distribute them equally, the snake scales and other things were said to be demonic pellets, very useful, but no one wanted them, Xiao Qiu kept them for himself, the treasure bag was given to Er Liang, Fang Fang didn't want anything, she left with the extinguished oil lamp, which seemed to interest her.

  It just so happened that there were ten copper coins in the pouch, exactly enough to be divided among the ten people. Xia Qiu even gave one to the officer, "You have a share too."

  The officer was taken aback, took the copper coins and whispered: "What a poor monk."

  "If you don't want it, hand it over." Er Dong stretched out his hand.

  Since being beaten, the officer was extremely afraid of Er Bao, hastily hiding and tightly grasping the copper coins in his hand.

  The fun of "dividing the spoils" soon disappeared, there was no food in the treasure chest, and the boys still felt hungry. At the same time, there was another thing that hung over everyone's head, making them uneasy. Even Erliang, who loved to eat the most, just kept rubbing his belly without complaining about the lack of food.

  "Is Baldy really dead?" Er Biao found it hard to believe. "How are we going to explain this to his parents?"

  No one answered, which was exactly what they were most worried about. Xiao Qiu also didn't make a sound, and didn't even dare to say that he had once held the bald man's head in his hands. At the time, he hadn't felt anything special, but now he couldn't shake off the feeling of horror, as if the bald man's death was all his fault.

  The team stretched out in a long, thin line. Er Bao caught up with Xiao Qiu and Fang Fang, saying softly: "No matter what others think, I want to go to Pangshan with you two."

  "Alright." Xia Qiu said unenthusiastically, he understood Er Tong's thoughts. Shen Jia's second young master couldn't explain the death of Tu Zi, and would rather flee far away.

  The journey back to the town was longer than expected, and by the time they arrived at Feng's residence, it was already completely dark. The officer refused to go any further, saying "The Xuanfu Army has received orders not to wander around in the vicinity of Ye Lin Town after dark."

  "Nonsense, Wolin Town is the safest..." Er Bao immediately retorted, but he wasn't very confident. The sudden appearance of the snake demon and the demonic breed signified that Wolin Town was no longer as safe as before.

  The boys had been walking for a day and were already exhausted, so they accepted the officer's suggestion and followed Xia Qiu and Fang Fang into the courtyard, hoping to rest for a while.

  Three thatched cottages and the wooden pillar standing in the middle of the courtyard are still there, but the wind is gone.

  Fang Fang searched inside and out but found nothing, "Everything is here." She covered her mouth with one hand, her face full of surprise, "Grandma Feng has gone who-knows-where."

  The boys didn't care about that, and had already walked into the house to find a place to sit down. They were even happy that the old madwoman wasn't there. Er Biao proposed a possibility: "Was she swallowed by the snake demon? The place where that big snake appeared isn't too far from here."

  "No." Fangfang immediately denied, "Nothing has been moved..."

  "It's possible that the old lady encountered a snake demon on her way out, so nothing in the house has been disturbed." Xia Qiu guessed, and upon seeing Fang Fang's tears flowing out, she changed her words to: "Or maybe she went to town and hasn't returned yet."

  A shout came from outside, Erliang rushed in with a pot of porridge, "It's still warm."

  The boys all jumped up, looking around for bowls and chopsticks. Fangfang let out a long sigh of relief, "The porridge is warm, which means that Grandma Feng was here not long ago... the snake demon died last night..."

  "Do you remember? A small green light escaped." Er Liang said while eating his porridge, "Wind Granny might have been invaded by the demon kind..." Er Liang racked his brains to think of the word "invaded".

  Fang Fang shook her head in disbelief that Wind Grandma would come to harm, "Wind Grandma is a good person, besides she's not even around here."

  He nodded twice, focused on eating his porridge, there wasn't much food, he had to eat quickly.

  Except for Fangfang, no one cared where the wind grandma went. They rummaged around looking for food, picking vegetables from the backyard garden, and when everyone finally filled their bellies, the quiet courtyard completely changed its appearance.

  Li Yuachi's oil lamp lit up by itself, Fangfang carried it to search around the house, but still couldn't find any trace of Grandma Wind. She had no choice but to give up searching and put the oil lamp on top of a wooden beam in the middle of the courtyard, which made her feel at ease.

  The night was deep, no one wanted to walk the night road, the young men casually found a place to lie down and sleep. Er Shuang didn't want to go home immediately, the closer he got to Ye Lin Town, the more timid he became, not knowing how to explain to Tu Zi's parents.

  Xiao Qiu fell asleep at the door and soon entered a dreamland: Master Li Yuechi of the Five Elements Sect, Pangshan, was talking to him. He couldn't hear what he was saying, but judging from his expression, it seemed like both advice and warning. Xiao Qiu only had one thought in mind - he wanted to say that he also wanted to learn how to slay demons and eliminate evil, and he would be doubly careful, never letting the demon kind get close to him even half a step.

  Xiao Qiu was woken up by the heat.

  The heat is not from a summer night, but is produced in the chest and spreads throughout the body.

  Xiao Qiu gently rubbed his chest, feeling like something was stuck in his esophagus. Then he remembered that he had swallowed an internal elixir before, and at the time, he didn't think it would get stuck.

  The burning sensation grew stronger and stronger, Xia Qiu couldn't sleep anymore, so she got up, put on her straw hat, and walked out of the room.

  The yard was bright, the oil lamp left outside by Fangfang shone amazingly, illuminating every blade of grass and tree nearby with crystal clarity. Among the many treasures left behind by Li Yuachi, only it was still functioning.

  It's strange, Xia Qiu thought to herself, not feeling scared at all. She walked around the oil lamp in a circle and still felt a burning sensation in her chest. So she continued walking outwards, and with each step, it seemed like she would feel cooler.

  He pushed open the simple wooden gate, stood by the roadside looking left and right, the light of the oil lamp weakened here, the official road stretched out in both directions into the darkness, the whole world seemed to be only this big, finally his gaze focused on the opposite side of the road.

  There was also something shining in the grass, much weaker than the light emitted by the oil lamp, but with a hint of coolness.

  Xiao Qiu felt a surge of excitement, as if after a day of hard herding, he could finally jump into the river and take a refreshing bath. His chest was getting hotter and hotter, and the cool light across the road was like a magnet drawing him to the river.

  At the same time, a nameless fear held back Xia Qiu, he remembered the green light he saw by the river, the demon that killed Li Yuechi, and the reminder from the Wu Xing master before his death.

  He took a step back, and the light in front of him suddenly rose by a foot. It was a blue glow, vastly different from the bright green color of the demon's kind.

  Xiao Qiu's caution disappeared, he walked over with big strides, completely unaware that the oil lamp behind him was shining with an eerie light, even if all the oil lamps in Ye Lin Town were combined, they couldn't produce such a strong glow.

  Xiao Qiu walked over to the opposite side, lowered her head and looked around, couldn't help but let out a soft sigh, then held her breath.

  In the grass, there was a flower that would be etched in his memory forever. It was about three feet tall, with three round leaves at the top and a slowly swaying flower on top, with a diameter of almost one foot, so much so that the stem and leaves below seemed to be unable to bear its weight.

  This flower is entirely blue, without a single speck of impurity.

  Xiao Qiu had an indescribable feeling, as if this plant was nodding at him in greeting, so he nodded back.

  The dryness in his chest had disappeared, but his heart was beating faster for no reason, thumping away like the drums on a festive day.

  "What a beautiful flower." A voice beside me said.

  Xiao Qiu didn't turn around, his gaze reluctant to leave this blue flower, he knew it was Er Shuang speaking.

  At some point, all the boys who were sleeping got up and stood behind Xia Qiu, watching the miracle that had occurred at night.

  Only the young officer was an exception, he took a glance and immediately retreated to the side of the wooden gate opposite the road, shouting: "Hey, are you guys crazy? That's a demon breed, stay away from it."

  Compared with the delicate blue flowers, the officer's voice was particularly jarring. "The devil's breed is green, it's not." Da Liang said, his eyes even turning a deep blue.

  "It's so beautiful..." Fangfang stood beside Xia Qiu, also disbelieving that this was a demonic breed. She even felt ashamed of herself, thinking she wasn't worthy to be close to it.

  "This was left by the Wind Grandma." Xia Qiu gave an explanation for the whole thing, "The Wind Grandma is not an ordinary person, the oil lamp in her courtyard is the same as that of a Five Elements Master, she is also... a master, the people in town didn't recognize her."

  "That's right." Fangfang remembered the oil lamps more clearly, "Both of the oil lamps had the same pattern on them."

  The other boys still didn't care about the wind granny, they just stared at the blue flower, afraid to miss a single glance. Er Liang suddenly knelt on the ground, licking his lips and said: "I really want to take a bite, taste its flavor."

  Several angry glances were cast over, and Erliang hastily said: "I was just thinking about it, I wouldn't really do it."

  The boys sat one by one on the grass, surrounding the blue flower, with different expressions, all deeply fascinated by it.

  The officer turned his head to glance at the brightly lit oil lamp, and his heart slightly calmed down. He became even more convinced that the blue flower in front of him was a monster. However, when he turned his head back, he had a new idea in mind - why should he help these savage boys? They had beaten him, humiliated him, and treated him like a criminal. In the end, they got what they deserved.

  "Good flowers do not often bloom." The officer retreated into the courtyard, closed the wooden gate, and was completely under the halo of the oil lamp. "This flower blooms at night and is expected to wither before dawn."

  "Fang Fang said, without a single youth looking at the officer in the courtyard."

  "Pick it, and it won't wither." The officer's face was smiling, but his heart was filled with a sense of revenge. "Act quickly, there is only one flower, not enough for the nine of you to share."

  The provocative sentence did not produce the effect that the officer had hoped for, and instead of rushing to take action, the young men simultaneously recoiled, as if they all felt that they were not worthy of touching the blue flower.

  Finally, Xia Qiu stretched out his hand, his heart beating faster and faster, with a force compelling him to grasp the flower tightly.

  "That's right, it should be you." The officer muttered to himself, "Who told you to swallow the inner elixir, this is called self-inflicted suffering."

  (Collection needed, recommendation needed)