Ji Heng said, "That's very insightful." He stepped forward and slipped the red paper into the pocket of the person in front of him. He said calmly, "However, no matter how good a driver is, a car can't be without airbags."
Things like car rollovers often happen suddenly and unexpectedly.
One act of hypocrisy was enough. Su Er did not return the red envelope hypocritically like he did during the Chinese New Year. Instead, he said thank you sincerely.
Wang Sansi came back after only forty minutes.
Next to him was a girl in a white dress, with her long, straight black hair braided into pigtails. Because of her good face shape, she exuded a sense of purity when she just blinked her eyes.
"Hello." The girl smiled faintly and said, "My name is Xiao Cui."
Xiao Cui is usually just a simplified name, not a full name. It was the first time that Suer saw someone introduce themselves in this way.
Wang Sansi helped Xiao Cui carry her luggage and took her into the house.
Su Er stared at their backs and suddenly asked, "Where are the staff members who went out together?"
Wang Sansi stopped but didn't look back. "The token Xu He gave me... a brooch fell off the road. He's helping to find it. I'll take him back first."
Would a stamp ghost be so kind as to help someone find a brooch?
After Wang Sansi walked away, Su Er tilted his head and smiled at Ji Heng and said, "Do I look easy to deceive?"
Using such a poor excuse to make excuses.
Ji Heng: "I guess he thinks that no matter how good the excuse is, you will still be suspicious."
Su Er thought about it and nodded in agreement: "That's true." After a moment, he said with some uncertainty: "Charm doesn't seem to work here."
Ji Heng: "Oh?"
"When I first entered the Xu family, I tried taking a puff from the Xu brothers, and the taste was the same. Then, on a whim, I took a puff from the stamp ghost, and it was no different from an ordinary person." Su Er frowned. "If it's just because of the illusion, isn't it too far-fetched?"
Stamp ghosts really exist, how could they not absorb negative energy?
Ji Heng thought for a moment and made a judgment: "Maybe it's the smell of incense."
Sur: "You mean the incense burner?"
Ji Heng: "The smell of burning incense can cover up the negative energy."
Su Er became interested: "The incense burner that the owner of the adult store bought later was most likely lost to the Xu family, but it is much weaker than this one."
Ji Heng nodded: "There's nothing weighing down those incense burners."
The incense burner in Xu He's hand was deliberately covered with red paper. Who knows what is sealed inside.
Su Er pondered: "The aroma blocks the taste, but I still have a pair of eyes."
If you can't inhale, then use the eyes in your body to test Wang Sansi.
He was a man of action and immediately took a step forward to chase after him.
In the hall, Xiao Cui had just poured a glass of water and handed it to Wang Sansi, thanking him for picking her up.
Sur stopped at the door and didn't move forward.
Sensing someone coming, Xiao Cui turned around with a gentle smile and took out some special snacks from the big city from her luggage for him.
"Can you give me a few more?" Su Er smiled shyly: "My friend really likes to eat them."
Xiao Cui was very generous and stuffed some more into his pocket. Suer was very grateful and turned around expressionlessly to go find Ji Heng.
After walking a few steps, he almost bumped into Xu He. The latter was in a hurry to see his fiancée, and he said sorry while jogging forward quickly.
A separate area was set aside in the Xu family courtyard for growing vegetables. The leaves were lush green. As soon as Suer approached, he saw Ji Heng 'appreciating the vegetables' with his arms folded.
Very down-to-earth.
A soft sigh drifted away on the wind. Ji Heng's attention shifted away from the food. He caught a glimpse of his expression and raised the corner of his mouth slightly: "Nothing?"
Su Er said in a deep voice: "I can't see through it."
All the images seen with that eye looked like mosaics.
Ji Heng was not surprised by this: "The game will definitely find a way to balance the eye in your body."
Su Er only sees the practical benefits. His eyes flickered: "But this indirectly shows that determining who is human and who is a ghost will be the key to completing the mission."
Otherwise, the copy will not specifically restrict this ability.
Ji Heng was silent for a moment: "Let's go out for a walk."
Sur followed without asking any questions.
When they reached a secluded place, Ji Heng earnestly requested, "Scream harder."
Su Er was stunned for a moment, then took a deep breath and let out an "Ah" towards the sky.
The sound did not dissipate immediately, but instead became quite dull and had a faint echo.
Soul frowned and cried out again, but the strange feeling only increased.
Ji Heng: "Any ideas?"
Su Er lowered his head and thought: "It's like being in a closed space..."
He didn't say the rest of the words right away, his mind kept searching for an appropriate metaphor.
Ji Heng helped him complete the task: "Coffin."
Suer was stunned for a moment. This was really a vivid description. Even if you were standing in a sparsely populated place, the air was not fresh, but made people feel suffocated.
Ji Heng smiled and said, "There's a whole other world inside the coffin. Now I've seen it."
Su Er said with some doubt: "One thing doesn't make sense. The stamp ghost swore that this was its illusion."
This seems to be the case, as Xia Zhi's injuries are not noticeable here at all.
Ji Heng: "If the ghost's power is given by the coffin, then there is no contradiction."
After carefully recalling the details of his encounter with the stamp ghost, Su Er's mouth twitched: "Could it be that the stamp ghost didn't realize this at all?"
Unless the other party has Oscar-level acting skills, that kind of attitude cannot be faked. The confidence revealed in the stamp ghost's words and deeds is obvious: he is the creator of the illusion.
"Its brain is probably all about making up stories," Ji Heng said, as if it wasn't surprised. "You can tell from the fact that it thinks Xu He is a good person."
The stamp ghost said that he couldn't remember many things. Now it seems that it is not just memory loss, but confusion is a more accurate description.
On his way back, Suer observed the surrounding scenery carefully: "I wonder if we are at some point in the past, or in an illusion created by the coffin."
If it is the past, does that mean their actions can change the future?
Ji Heng suddenly stopped and asked: "When you apply a formula to solve a problem, do you research the source of the formula?"
Soul: "Occasionally."
Most of the time he only focuses on the results and prefers to memorize a formula.
Ji Heng said calmly, "Xu He must have other intentions. No matter what he is planning, we will just grab the benefits."
Su Er's throat moved: "If he simply wants to kill someone..."
Ji Heng responded rationally: "Then fight back."
Su Er was taught: "Listening to your words is better than reading for ten years."
·
The atmosphere in the Xu family is not very good.
Xiao Cui leaned on Xu He very dependently. Xu Han didn't say anything, but his expression was full of disapproval of the young couple.
Several staff members from the Governance Bureau tried to smooth things over, saying that Xiao Cui was pretty and a perfect match for Xu He.
Xiao Cui smiled with her lips pursed. From an observer's perspective, Suer always felt that her smile was a little forced.
The gate was not locked and it made a creaking sound when someone pushed it.
The stamp ghost actually came back, walked straight to Xiao Cui, spread out his hands, and revealed a brooch.
Xiao Cui was surprised that the lost things could be found.
Xu He hugged Xiao Cui and thanked the stamp ghost: "That's great! You helped us find the token of love."
Seeing this, Su Er lowered his voice: "She has an injury on her waist."
Ji Heng nodded, and also noticed that Xiao Cui couldn't control her body and tensed up for a moment when her waist was hugged, but she didn't dare to dodge. She pretended to hold Xu He's wrist unintentionally and pushed the other's arm down a little.
The Xu family doesn't like entertainment activities. They don't have chess, mahjong or playing cards, and they don't often turn on the color TV.
Now that there are so many people together, we can only make small talk.
In order to ease the atmosphere, Xu He took the initiative to say, "I'll take you to see the treasures I bought outside."
Everyone showed an expression of interest.
Xu He led everyone to a small hut, and Xia Zhi stood under a nearby tree, hiding the panic in his eyes.
Xu He had no doubt about what she was doing here. Instead, he warmly invited her to go and enjoy it together.
Incense was burning in every incense burner in the room, and Xu He's eyes inadvertently revealed a hint of obsession.
"Is this... an antique?" The staff members of the Governance Bureau were quite knowledgeable, but unfortunately they did not have the ability to identify antiques.
"It's much more powerful than antiques." Xu He returned to normal and said mysteriously, "It is said that on special days, the smoke from these incense sticks will stretch for thousands of meters without interruption, guiding people to the free town."
As soon as the words fell, there was complete silence all around.
After a long while, the head of the Governance Bureau was the first to come to his senses. His lips trembled with excitement. "Really?"
Xu He stared at him for a few seconds, then burst out laughing: "It's just a legend. I bought it because I thought it was interesting."
Soon he looked at Xiao Cui affectionately and said, "Maybe one day this incense burner will really work, and then we can go to Free Town together."
Wang Sansi, standing by, complimented them with perfunctory words like "they were a perfect match", but his eyes were glued to the incense burner like glue, and he refused to move away.
Xia Zhi realized that something was wrong with him, frowned and deliberately stood further away.
"Brother Xu, I'm a little tired." Xiao Cui suddenly spoke in a coquettish tone.
Xu He then locked the house again under everyone's reluctant gaze.
·
The yard at dusk is like the most perfect oil painting.
Wang Sansi noticed that the players were avoiding him, so he took the initiative to find the other three and talked about what happened when he picked up Xiao Cui.
"She told me that when Xu He was still in the city, he often used the legend of the incense burner to attract visitors, but later those people disappeared. Xiao Cui also complained that Xu He often beat her and was not as gentle as he appeared."
Xia Zhi asked defensively, "Why didn't you tell me before?"
Wang Sansi said seriously: "I have selfish motives, I want to be beautiful alone."
"…"
It is normal for players to keep information to themselves, and there is nothing wrong with doing so.
Without giving anyone more time to ask questions, Wang Sansi's expression grew serious. "When I first saw those incense burners, I felt an unprecedented sense of crisis."
At that moment, it seemed as if something was about to rush out of the incense burner and devour his soul.
"So after careful consideration, we decided it would be safer to focus on teamwork."
Xia Zhi couldn't tell whether it was true or not, so he looked at Suer and Ji Heng, wanting to hear their opinions.
Su Er smiled and said, "Many hands make light work. It would be great if you are willing to cooperate again."
He actually changed the topic directly without even using words to test whether Wang Sansi was being insincere.
Xia Zhi felt puzzled but didn't know how to say it clearly.
·
Although Xu He arranged accommodation for everyone, Suer had been with Ji Heng since the evening. After it was completely dark, they agreed to eavesdrop.
Instead of going directly to Xu He, the two found a secluded place outside the room where the incense burner was locked and waited.
Fortunately, although it is summer, there are not many mosquitoes in the grass, otherwise we would have suffered a lot.
When the moon was above the willows, Xu He finally appeared. There was no friendly smile on his face as during the day, but instead a kind of piety.
He entered the house kneeling every three steps, and after entering, he kowtowed seven times in succession to the incense burner.
"The offering will be here soon," Xu He said with a strange smile, "God of Freedom, after this offering, please let me be your pallbearer. I will be your most loyal servant!"
After kowtowed seven times, Xu He left the house.
"Sacrificial offering..." Su Er lowered his head slightly. "He deliberately used an old lock and brought people on a tour. Is he trying to lure people to steal the incense burner?"
Thieves will be treated as sacrifices in the incense burner.
Ji Heng nodded: "This is the only possibility."
Once you rush in rashly, you can imagine how dangerous it would be.
Su Er coughed lightly and said the wise words before making a move: "I have an idea."
After exchanging a glance, Ji Heng said helplessly, "Run for a coffin bearer?"
With the previous experience of being the Chief of Guards as a lesson, it is not difficult to infer the logic behind his behavior.
Su Er said frankly, "According to what Xiao Cui said, Xu He has owned the incense burner for so long and yet he hasn't become a coffin bearer. This proves that the God of Freedom doesn't think highly of him at all."
What's the difference between this and dating a girlfriend for more than ten years but not getting married?
Ji Heng laughed: "I'm afraid you won't even have a chance to speak when you get in."
Sul ran to the vegetable garden without saying a word and started making clay figures. He made at least forty or fifty of them, some normal, some with five eyes or three heads and six arms. He secretly injected Yin Qi into them one by one with an electric shock device.
The last one was very weak like a premature baby because of insufficient Yin energy remaining, and its voice was like that of a kitten.
Su Er frowned as he put away his stun gun. Running out of stock meant he'd have to risk killing more demons to replenish his Yin Qi. But now wasn't the time to worry about that. He hurried back with his army of clay figures.
After counting the number, Ji Heng looked at Suer deeply and said nothing.
Suer gave detailed instructions to the clay army for a long time. During this time, Ji Heng helped open the lock outside the house and stepped aside to make way. His meaning was very clear: please start your performance.
The clay figurine army followed Suer's instructions and recreated what Xu He had done not long ago, kneeling every three steps and then kowtowed seven times to the incense burner after entering the house. The difference was that the words they spoke were Suer's modified version:
"I have three legs."
"I have five eyes."
"I have six big wings."
…
After introducing themselves one by one, they finally said in unison: "God of Liberty, please choose the pallbearers from among us. We have the ones you like, and our believers are willing to provide you with all the services you need."
incense burner:"..."