Chapter Thirty-Eight: Self-Production and Self-Destruction

  Tang Ao nodded, acknowledging Su Tong's guess: "Yes, although I don't understand what happened either. When I first woke up from the abandoned mansion, I was very weak and could barely withstand the yin energy inside. We had to rush out as soon as possible. After we got out, I was so weak that I could hardly walk, let alone take you down the mountain. You were unconscious and didn't have any awareness at all. I could only rest for a while in the empty space outside the mansion to recover my strength. Because we came out in a hurry, the wooden board with the talisman on the door of the abandoned mansion wasn't blocked by me. I saw that something was about to come out from inside, and I was also very anxious. The things inside were very fierce, and I couldn't let them come out. Otherwise, the consequences would be unthinkable. So, in a state of emergency, I suddenly remembered the method of drawing a void symbol introduced in a book I had read before. Although my ability at that time was not enough to do it, I didn't care if it was feasible or not. I took a gamble and used all my energy to hold back the evil spirits that were about to rush out from inside, and then left you in the boundary I had set up earlier. After that, I went back to fix the wooden board with the talisman on the door of the abandoned mansion. When I sent you to the hospital and calmed down, I felt that something was strange about myself. Although my physical strength was almost exhausted to the point of weakness, my spiritual energy had actually increased, which is particularly inexplicable."

  "Then when you woke up at that time, did you see anyone?" Su Tong thought of the mysterious person he met at that time who looked a bit like Tang Ao and should be a spirit body. "Was someone helping you out?"

  "No, I woke up and saw you lying not far from me, with a very heavy evil spirit wandering around, but for some reason, it seemed to be afraid of approaching your body," Tang Ao said, shaking his head. As he spoke, he suddenly remembered something else, and with a hint of blame in his tone, he took out the tortoiseshell eight trigrams pendant from his pocket and handed it to Su Tong, saying, "How could you be so reckless! At that time, taking off the eight trigrams pendant was extremely dangerous! Do you know how much danger you were in? Put it back on quickly, your soul is still recovering from damage, and if you encounter any evil spirits, it's easy to get into trouble. Wearing it can help you recover a bit faster."

  "No, no, I don't want it, you wear it quickly!" Su Tong recalled her previous experience and was so scared that she hurriedly refused, even subconsciously moving her body back a bit, as if the tortoiseshell pendant was something terrifying. Afterwards, she also quickly realized that her reaction seemed somewhat inappropriate, so she hastily spoke again to cover it up, "Your body is still very weak, you need it more than I do, so you wear it!"

  How could Tang Ao not see her abnormality, even if Su Tong tried his best to cover it up, he still couldn't escape his eyes. He looked solemn and asked Su Tong with a serious and somewhat worried tone: "Su Tong, you have to tell me the truth, did you encounter anything when you came in to find me?"

  Su Tong hesitated for a moment, the mysterious person in the abandoned house seemed to have no malice towards Tang Ao, especially after she woke up and saw that Tang Ao was unharmed from head to toe. This made her even more convinced of this point. If the mysterious person had some ill intentions or at least an unfriendly attitude towards someone, it would only be towards herself. Was it necessary to tell Tang Ao about this? The person looked colder than Tang Ao, like a big ice block, but there were many similarities between their facial features. Could that person be one of Tang Ao's ancestors? Su Tong was not a superstitious person, but she had heard some unscientific rumors and stories, such as how some families were protected by their deceased elders and could turn bad luck into good fortune. She didn't take it seriously before, just listening to it for fun, but after her recent experiences, her thoughts had changed. She realized that in this world, nothing was impossible, only things she hadn't experienced yet. So if the mysterious person in the abandoned house was really one of Tang Ao's ancestors, and if that person seemed to have some resistance or even rejection towards herself, throwing her out of the protective boundary, would it make Tang Ao feel embarrassed?

  Su Tong was worried and didn't know how to start, but Tang Ao took her silence as a sign of something else. He felt a bit uneasy and asked cautiously: "Was there something serious that happened during the time I lost consciousness, or did I do something that I don't remember, which scared you? Don't worry, just tell me what happened. Because of my previous illness, I lost a lot of memories, so I'm not sure if I'll have another episode like that. Whatever it was, don't be afraid of how I might react, just tell me the truth."

  Su Tong had to reveal the situation at that time, after all, the current situation is more complicated and the situation is not particularly clear. She only has Tang Ao as an ally, so no matter what happens, the two people still maintain a state of unreservedness, without hiding anything, and timely communication is more beneficial.

  Tang Ao furrowed his brow after listening to her, looking puzzled rather than worried. He fell into deep thought, occasionally shaking his head subconsciously. After a while, he still found it hard to believe and asked Su Tong again for confirmation: "You're saying that mysterious person looks very much like me?"

  "Hmm," Su Tong nodded, "it's indeed quite similar, but the facial features are a bit more angular than yours, and the temperament is cold and icy, without any warmth at all, unlike you. Is there anything strange about it?"

  Tang Ao shook his head, still frowning: "I also can't say for sure. According to your guess, it's possible that one of my ancestors is protecting me, but I don't know if this explanation makes sense. If it's not the case, then there's no way to explain why that mysterious person knew about the jade pendant and the eight trigrams. But even if I assume that person must be one of my ancestors, I still can't be certain. After all, as an orphan, I grew up in an orphanage from a young age, and later left to study abroad. From start to finish, no family members or relatives ever came looking for me. Even if I wanted to acknowledge my heritage, even without having had that serious illness and losing some memories, I still wouldn't know anything about my origins. What's the true identity of that person? Why did they do what they did? I really can't figure it out, and I feel uneasy and uncertain."

  "It's okay, don't think about it too much. Since that person helped you, it means they didn't have any ill intentions towards you, so just let it go." Su Tong heard him talk about how he grew up in an orphanage and had never seen any relatives or family members, and his heart felt a certain indescribable taste, and he couldn't help but want to comfort him. "Maybe one day you'll coincidentally find out some things related to your own life story, and then you can figure it out step by step. Don't worry about it for now, and don't be troubled by this matter."

  "No, I'm not worried about that mysterious person and my relationship. What I'm really worried about is his attitude towards you."

  "He's just not very friendly to me, it's not a big deal, I think he might be protecting you, and at that time, I was wearing your tortoiseshell pendant, so he must have thought it was because of me that you got into trouble in the deserted mansion. To be honest, even if he was angry with me, there's nothing wrong with that, I'm even more angry with myself. Now this result is already very good, you're safe and sound, although your physical strength has been greatly consumed, but your spiritual power has increased a lot. As for me, I also had a narrow escape, and experienced what it's like to have my soul leave my body, this kind of experience, ordinary people probably wouldn't even have the chance to try, it's really a precious experience!" Su Tong said with a smile, trying to make light of the previous events.

  Tang Ao let out a sigh, regardless of whether she refused or not, and forcibly put the tortoiseshell eight trigrams pendant around Su Tong's neck. Then he said to her: "You must wear this, at least today you have to listen to me. I'm worried about that matter, worried about that mysterious person, it's not because of his simple attitude towards you, but because I don't know what kind of attitude he has towards you, so I'm worried. Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"

  "That's not it, I just feel a bit heavy-headed and light-footed, can't muster up any energy. Didn't you say so earlier? It's because my soul was out for too long last time and consumed too much." Su Tong replied.

  "I actually didn't tell you the truth earlier, I was afraid of scaring you, especially with that female ghost around. I'm also worried that if she finds out, it'll cause more trouble." Tang Ao said carefully to Su Tong, "The reason you feel dizzy and weak isn't because your soul was away for too long and consumed too much energy, that was just something I made up to comfort you. In reality, the reason you're having those bad reactions is because your soul was damaged, including when it left your body. It's all a result of your soul being hurt. Don't be afraid, it's not severe from what I can tell. From what you said earlier, I think he must have done something to you when he threw you out of the boundary. You just didn't understand and weren't on guard. What's strange is that he did something to you, but didn't actually try to kill you. When your soul left your body, I secretly checked for you, and your soul root wasn't damaged, so it was easy to return your soul to your body. That means the mysterious person didn't want to directly kill you, but rather hurt you first and then throw you out to fend for yourself. He just didn't expect that you were wearing the Bi Xi Ba Gua pendant earlier, which had some spiritual energy on it, so it could protect you for a while longer. I happened to wake up during this time, otherwise...I don't dare think about what would have happened."