Bloodline 3

ss: “Ancestor, can you be reasonable How am I supposed to know the sewer pipe on that main road burst! This suburban area of the imperial capital is my first time here…I followed the navigation and di...My brother looked at me with a puzzled expression. He furrowed his brow deeply, as if afraid I was worried, then immediately relaxed it.

"Could it be that I'm seeing something different from you" he asked in a lighthearted tone.

I cautiously glanced around. This place was covered in trees and flowers, with leaves so large they could shade your head and blossoms growing half as tall as a person, like an untouched jungle.

But strangely, the flowers, trees and plants all seemed to wear a vibrant, intense redness. Even the withered and dull leaves carried a deep purplish-red hue.

It's hard to describe specifically, but I didn't see any bones or corpses.

"Brother... could it be that the Mirage Pearl's influence has affected us, causing us to see things differently" I asked.

My brother nodded and didn't say anything else.

It's no use saying anything, we're already in it.

Even if it's an illusion, we can only follow the illusion.

My brother winked at Master Huicqing, and the two of them walked side by side to one side of the small earthen mound, as if discussing something.

I was a bit worried, and I bent down to check the charm in my bag.

Fewer and fewer amulets that dispel illusions and purify the mind remain. Each of us can only have two.

Little Guangtou crouched and watched me pack my bag, shaking his head. “Little Qiao Master, we don’t need these things…mainly because we won't use them… We have Buddha’s protection, it’s fine. My master doesn’t just eat and drink all day, he also diligently studies, right”

You also know your master spends his days eating and drinking, right He'd probably be living the high life among the wealthy.

"Xiao Qiao, let's go." My brother called back to me.

I hurried over and gave him several Shen family talismans.

My brother took a look, stuffed these things into his trouser pocket, and said with a smile: "Sometimes the stuff from the Shen family can really come in handy...I wonder who's doing favors for whom."

"Huh What do you mean" I quickened my pace to catch up with him.

My brother grinned and said, "Do you still remember Situ Lin"

"Of course I remember!" How could I forget, this young master from a prominent family was practically one of the necromancer's behind-the-scenes bosses. Though in the end, he himself became material.

“People like Si Tu Lin who use so many esoteric spells have once said to Grandma Shen with a hint of flattery, 'It's well-known that the Shen family is exceptional at sending souls...' This shows that the Shen family is really good at something, and haven’t you noticed how these talismans are different from those used by various factions and influential families” My brother asked.

Of course I discovered it, and I've known about it for a long time.

But when I asked the people related to the Shen family, they all looked at me with puzzled expressions.

These things seemed so natural, taken for granted, that it was impossible to trace their origins. It was unclear when they had started, as if they had been gradually passed down through generations of the Shen family's headmasters and elite disciples.

Over time, I seem to have also begun to calmly accept and get used to it.

Although my brother occasionally lives at the Shen family's main house, he always maintains an outsider's perspective on things.

After all, he is the eldest son and grandson of the Mu family, and also the head of the Mu family. He sees things more clearly than I do.

"Xiao Qiao, haven't you noticed There's this kind of situation in our own home too." My brother chuckled lightly.

Our own home....

I stopped in my tracks, staring at my brother with a disbelief that was almost palpable. He seemed to have been giving this a lot of thought.

Our family also has something that is "taken for granted" and "never out of place".

There is one person in my family who has passed away, but left nothing behind to remember them by.

To speak of forgetting, yet she persists in a certain corner of my heart.

If you were to speak of her presence, it would be a fleeting thing, ephemeral as the dust motes caught in a gentle breeze.

Oddly enough, she was in the same situation at the Shen family.

The Shen family all remembered her, but couldn't say for sure about her past; they seemed to recall her features, demeanor, and mannerisms, yet it was as if a veil had been cast over everything, making it difficult to grasp the truth.

… Shen Junqiao.

This enigmatic woman, perhaps only my old man remembers most vividly

I looked at the pink talisman in my hand, clenching it tightly.

My brother seemed to have anticipated this. He reached out and rubbed my head: "You forgot about Jiang Qiyun when you were still in the underworld, didn't you It seems like a taboo. Everyone involved remembers your husband, but can't recall the specifics, and even find it perfectly normal."

This might also be a taboo, all memories about her, like a scar, etched there, but no longer painful.

I got goosebumps and couldn't help but ask, "Why go through with this It would be better to just forget about it!"

My brother shook his head, and before he could speak, Master Huqing interjected: "Memory is a very magical thing. If you forcibly erase it, it's like digging a hole in the whole, which will destroy the whole..."

He paused, then continued, "For example, a river. If you completely cut it off, many changes would occur, and the destinies of countless beings would be altered. The best approach is to vaguely remember that there's a river there, but one you can't cross."

"What a lousy metaphor." My brother chuckled, putting it down.

Although I didn't quite understand everything, we recently heard some things about our parents from ordinary people we hadn't met before and had no interaction with.

Like an invisible key, it quietly unlocks certain forbidden spells.

"Now saying these won't lead to any results, we should still focus on finding your son." Hu Qing tidied his robes and tucked up his trousers, looking a bit like a traveling monk.

"There are crushed tracks on the ground, can't you see them" My brother frowned. "Maybe I saw that monster for a fleeting moment, so what I saw is different from yours... I chased after it from the small building, and its breath was filled with black mist."

"Then you lead the way, and we'll follow in a fan formation." Master Huisqing said.

My brother and Master Huqing are both used to traveling the Jianghu. Without much talking, they began their search. I followed closely behind them, daring not to overthink things anymore.

Let the thunderstorms and rain come, if they are going to come.

In the Tai Shang Xuan Men, one can never truly explain the circumstances of fate.

I just don't know if the little ghost messenger notified Jiang Qiyun. If Jiang Qiyun knew I jumped into such a magical way, he'd probably be furious again!

"—Little Qiao, watch the road!" My brother shouted, and I woke up suddenly, quickly stopping my steps.

Something gray suddenly darted out in front of me, as if I had startled a small creature hiding in the grass.

"What is this! A monster!" I hastily jumped to the side a few steps, my movements like an animal caught in a trap.

"...A big rat, I suppose." Huiqing twitched the corner of his mouth. "Women are afraid of rats."

"You bald donkey... What do you know about women" My brother chimed in. "Suddenly stepping on someone's nest, no wonder they were scared! Is Xiao Qiao alright"

"Nothing..." I shook my head, that ashen-grey rat, how did it feel so familiarand the harder it struggled, the more violently the talisman shook." Mu Wanchen said, frowning.He pinched a hand gesture with one finger, surely he had already called for other gu spirits to support h...