Since ancient times, sand devils have conquered villains

Jiang Baiyan's condition is very abnormal.
Shi Dai saw something strange in his expression.

It was as if he had just been fished out of the water, suffocating violently, his eyes were red, and his face was white with a lifeless air.

Thinking of the muffled sounds she heard outside the door, Shi Dai felt uneasy: "Mr. Jiang, are you okay?"
There was something she was holding back and didn't say, he looked bad.

"nothing."
Jiang Baiyan shook his head: "He was knocked unconscious by me, and he will wake up soon. Miss Shi only needs to tell him that the evil cultivator has died under his knife, and the illusion will be solved."

Shi Dai looked and saw a black gold knife in Jiang Baiyan's hand.
The strange noise not long ago... couldn't it be Jiang Baiyan handing the knife to the child and asking him to kill him?
"besides."
After a moment of silence, Jiang Baiyan seemed to find it difficult to speak, and looked unnatural: "If Miss Shi doesn't mind, you can use your identity in the nightmare realm to try to appease him."

Jiang Baiyan didn't want to say this.
But back then, he really had hopes for the "farmer", and he naively thought that he would be able to escape from the devil's cave if he met a kind-hearted person.

That sporadic and meager expectation is the boy's lingering obsession.

To break through this nightmare, we must try not to let him know the identity of the "farmer".

Shi Dai nodded and asked subconsciously: "What exactly is my role here?"
As he spoke, he touched the tip of his nose and said in a serious voice, "This is your memory. If Young Master Jiang doesn't want to talk about it, that's okay."

Jiang Baiyan stood up from the bed and straightened his messy clothes: "He is a farmer in the mountains. I escaped from the evil cultivator's lair and was rescued by him in the woods."

Is a nice guy?
Shi Dai: "Then he..."

She heard Jiang Baiyan chuckle softly.

"He is a fellow disciple of the evil cultivator. After taking good care of me for a few days, he appeared in front of me together with the evil cultivator."
His tone was flat, as if he was narrating a hearsay story, and the ending even contained a smile: "It was just a trap set up by the two of them. After that, I was captured again."

A completely unimaginable development.
At this time, any comfort seemed pale. Shi Dai was shocked and could not speak.

"He wakes up and can't see me."
Jiang Baiyan nodded: "I'm waiting outside the house. Please worry about the next thing, Miss Shi."

After he finished speaking, he left without any intention of staying.
The door was closed, and Shi Dai looked at the sleeping boy on the bed, with a feeling of discomfort in her chest.

When you are most desperate and helpless, meeting someone who is willing to lend a helping hand is like the life-saving straw you desperately hold on to after drowning. It is the only hope for survival.
At such a young age, he had to watch hope being crushed into powder and twisted into a quagmire of evil.

Even Shi Dai, who was a bystander, felt blocked in her heart. She didn't dare to think about how Jiang Baiyan felt at that time.

Stepping softly and getting closer to the bed, Shi Dai saw a circle of red marks on the boy's neck.

It was obvious that he hadn't before... Could it be that he had been pinched by Jiang Baiyan?What did Jiang Baiyan do in this room after he asked her to go out?
She was lost in thought, and as soon as she lowered her eyes, she immediately became excited.
The boy was caught off guard and opened his eyes, his dark eyes facing her.

"You finally woke up."
Shi Dai concealed more of her expression, showed a relieved smile, and sat on the edge of the bed: "How are you? Do you feel okay?"

He rolled his eyes, and his scattered vision gradually condensed.
The boy frowned: "You..."

He was more vigilant and alert than before.

What did Jiang Baiyan say to him?
"What's wrong with me?"
Shi Dai took a deep breath and said with lingering fear: "It really scared me. I didn't expect that the person who entered the house before was actually an evil cultivator! I thought he was just a reclusive weirdo... Living in the same mountain with him is really unlucky. .”

She didn't forget that she greeted Jiang Baiyan when he entered the room.
Since Jiang Baiyan was an evil cultivator, Shi Dai had to distance herself from him in front of the boy.

The boy pursed his lips and looked at her critically: "Where did he go?"

"I heard a noise in the room and rushed in immediately."
Remembering Jiang Baiyan's instructions, Shi Dai responded accordingly: "When he saw you passed out, he had a knife stuck in his chest and he was already out of breath."

The boy was silent.
The boy frowned, confusion appearing in his eyes: "Dead? But...am I not his puppet?"

During the days and nights he was imprisoned, he had many opportunities to kill evil cultivators, but the reason why he did not do it was all because of the puppeteering technique.

It is easy to lift a knife and drop it with your hand, but when the evil cultivator is seriously injured and on the verge of death, all the wounds will be transferred to Jiang Baiyan himself.
It is for this reason that it was not until he cracked the evil spell at the age of 15 that he was able to kill evil cultivators.

Choking on a sentence, Shi Dai's brain shut down.
Then he quickly made up for it: "When I entered the house, there was another person in the bedroom. He claimed to be from Zhen'es and was ordered to hunt down evil cultivators."

If you are in doubt, use Calm Down.
I remember that in the previous memory, Xie Xiu personally said that he was hit by Zhen'Esi's arrow and that they were related to each other.

Shi Dai was serious and was about to convince herself: "That evil cultivator has done many evil things and is extremely evil. The Lord of Zhen'Esi arrived in time to unlock the puppet trick for you - the body has been taken away by the Lord."

The boy was stunned, stretched out his right hand and stared for a long time, then touched his neck where there was still severe pain.

The memory of being killed over and over was hazy, and he suspected it was a dream.
In reality, no one can come back from the dead again and again.

Did he really, really get rid of the puppets and evil cultivators and survive?The person in front of me——

He still hadn't recovered from his trance, and unexpectedly fell into a gentle embrace.
Shi Dai leaned forward and put her arms around his back.

"Okay, it's all over."
Her palms patted his thin spine again and again, and Shi Dai said softly: "Don't be afraid."

The boy's body was slightly stiff. Outside the door separated by a wall, Jiang Baiyan also frowned.

Through empathy, he felt the touch covering his entire body, as well as the vague heat.
Like a ball of soft warm water, with undeniable strength.

This feeling came without any warning, causing his breathing to become chaotic. He wanted to avoid it, but it followed him like a shadow.

...What is Shi Dai doing?
"really?"
In the bedroom, leaning in Shi Dai's arms, the boy hesitated and said: "He...that evil cultivator is dead?"

"Ah."
Shi Dai rubbed his fluffy black hair: "You are very brave. Was it you who stabbed the knife in his chest? An adult like me would tremble when seeing evil cultivators and dare not resist - it's amazing. "

The boy didn't respond for a long time.
It wasn't until the tips of his ears turned a faint red that he whispered: "I'm not great. It was the people from Zhen'es who saved me."

"You are a big brother coming to town in Esi. How old are you?"
Shi Dai paused and suddenly smiled: "Well...that brother is indeed very strong. He wears white clothes, is very good at swordsmanship, and is also proficient in talismans."

Outside the door, Jiang Baiyan was playing with the black gold dagger nonchalantly, and he chuckled silently when he heard the words.
What Shi Dai described was himself at the age of 17.

She is quite eloquent.

"You're not bad now either."
Shi Dai said to the boy: "When you grow up, you can be as powerful as him."

She always said something irresistible.

The child lowered his head in shock and said "thank you".
Jiang Baiyan listened without saying a word and raised his eyes slightly.

After dusk, it is a silent night.
The clear night is dust-free and the moon and stars are sparse.The evening wind in the mountains blew by, and the sparse shadows of trees swayed by the window.

A reassuring silence.

It was only now that he discovered that this mountain forest, which was once considered a forbidden place, could be so peaceful at night.
Not like in the memory, like a scourge.

"Does the wound on your neck still hurt?"
In the bedroom, Shi Dai frowned when she saw the red mark on the child's neck.

The traces were very obvious, and clear fingerprints could be distinguished. When Jiang Baiyan pinched him, he was cruel.

The boy hesitated for a moment and finally nodded: "Yes, a little bit."

He was not good at coquettishness and admitted that the pain was the limit.
After saying a few words, he lowered his head shyly.

Immediately afterwards, the gentle wind blew away from the side of my neck.
The wind is mixed with a faint fragrance, the scent of plum blossoms from the sachet on Shi Dai's waist, and the wisps of it soothe the pain in her neck.

His scars were so hideous that touching them only caused pain.
Shi Daizi blew on the child carefully and touched the back of the child's head: "Will this make it better?"

The mountain breeze is flowing and the twilight is gathering.

The boy who was very close looked at her seriously, as if he wanted to remember this face in his heart: "Yeah."

Across the door, Jiang Baiyan leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.
He couldn't describe what he felt just now, the pain on his neck was mixed with the itching and twinge——

Like an invisible net, it was even more difficult for him to break free than the pleasure of dying.

*
This layer of nightmare dissipated in a moment, Shi Dai blinked again and saw a ray of sunshine.

The wooden house in the mountain disappeared without a trace, and the boy in his arms disappeared.
She was standing in front of a temple with Jiang Baiyan.

This memory is in winter.
Heavy snowflakes are falling, covering the red walls and green tiles of the temple.Fortunately, she was wearing thick clothes, otherwise Shi Dai would have been frozen.

She quietly looked at Jiang Baiyan beside her.
He didn't know what he was thinking of and frowned slightly.

The first two times, he looked calm and composed, making Jiang Baiyan frown. What kind of memory is this?
Seeing the dark look in his eyes, Shi Dai tentatively said, "Mr. Jiang. If you care about this memory... I can close my eyes and stay here waiting for you."

Shi Dai is very principled.
No matter how curious you are, you can't pry into other people's privacy.
Otherwise, what is the difference between them and thieves and robbers?

Unexpectedly, she would say such words. Jiang Baiyan turned his head and smiled softly: "No need. It's not such an important memory."

It really wasn't important. He tried so hard to cover it up, but instead tried to cover it up.

This temple is not big and has a panoramic view.
The white snow is spread all over the ground, and there are noisy people all around. A solemn and solemn Buddha statue stands majestically in the hall.

There is a lacquered mahogany table in front of the main hall, and on the table are three steaming wooden barrels.
Several kind-hearted monks stood behind the barrels, holding large spoons and scooping out spoonfuls of white rice porridge.
In front of the barrel, hundreds of sallow-looking men, women and children were divided into three teams, each holding a porcelain bowl to hold the food served by the monks.

Shi Dai understood.
This is giving out porridge.

Monks are compassionate and compassionate. During every New Year and festival, many temples will provide hot porridge to poor families to satisfy their hunger.

Faintly realizing something, she looked at Jiang Baiyan.
His face was pale and his expression could not be seen, and he was looking in a certain direction.

Looking along, a boy in ragged clothes was sitting in the corner of the temple, drinking porridge quietly, holding a porcelain bowl in his hand.
He ate slowly, like a reserved cat.The thin clothes on his body could not withstand the cold winter wind. When the wind blew, his thin lips turned white and his body couldn't stop shaking.

Compared with the previous two levels of nightmare, this child is the youngest, only about seven or eight years old.

Shi Dai suddenly remembered that after the Jiang family was wiped out, Jiang Baiyan once wandered alone, and was later captured by evil cultivators.
Both parents are dead and the body is like duckweed. What can a child under ten years old do?

The boy in the distance finished his porridge and put the porcelain bowl in his arms.
It's too cold in winter. It's almost New Year's Eve and the cold wind is like a knife.He had nowhere to go, so he could only huddle in an inconspicuous corner, trying to block the cold wind.

In addition to people queuing up to serve porridge, there are also pilgrims in the temple in twos and threes, traveling together.

The boy's eyes lingered, timidly looking at every pedestrian passing by——
There was too little life around him and he was too lonely. Looking at other people, it seemed as if he could draw a little warmth from them.

Finally, his eyes froze.

A family of three walked by talking and laughing under the Bodhi tree, and a green Bodhi leaf fell leisurely and stopped in the little girl's hair.
Her mother smiled and brushed away the fallen leaves for her, and her father also stretched out his hand to wipe away a sliver of snow from the tip of her nose.

The girl was innocent. She took a bite of the candy cake in her hand and chatted happily with her parents. Her laughter was as clear as a bell.

He remained motionless, silently watching the three people pass by.
After a long time, as if he had made up his mind, the boy looked at the Buddha in the hall, who was neither sad nor happy, and said something softly as if praying.

The distance was too far to hear what he was whispering, so Shi Dai clenched her right hand tightly.
For a moment, she didn't dare to look at Jiang Baiyan's expression.

At this time, the Jiang family had been wiped out.

"This was before being kidnapped by evil cultivators."
Jiang Baiyan said with a smile: "Ms. Shi was made to laugh." Shi Dai quickly waved her hand: "No, no. Mr. Jiang, how can I break this nightmare?"

Jiang Baiyan's eyebrows narrowed slightly.

He never thought that the scene like this would appear in the nightmare realm.

This was the first winter after the Jiang family was wiped out. He was living like a mouse crossing the street. He had to hide the identity of the Jiang family and the fact that he was a shark, and he had to do his best to survive.

Everything was normal, there was no unforgettable pain or earth-shaking changes.
He just came to the temple to serve a bowl of porridge. The porridge was bland and tasteless. He looked at the family of three and thought...

The winter cold is crisp and cold, covering the face like a thin layer of frost.
Jiang Baiyan lowered his eyes and smiled.

I remembered.
At that time, he wanted some sugar.

Just want a little sugar.
He didn't even dare to dream about his family being reunited, happy and healthy.

Unfortunately, this wish was not realized.
Gods and Buddhas are high above, but his wishes are too humble and insignificant, an insignificant speck of dust to attract attention.

"sugar."

Shi Dai: "Huh?"
She remembered that Jiang Baiyan didn't like sweet pastries, let alone sugar.
I bought him a candy man back then. Jiang Baiyan held it in his hand for a long time but never took a bite.

"He wants candy."
Jiang Baiyan said quietly: "Miss Shi, just wait here quietly. I'll buy some."

It's just... like this?
After being slightly startled, Shi Dai blurted out: "As for candy, I have it."

As she spoke, she took out an exquisite brocade bag from her sleeve.

This is a sugar bag prepared for Shi Yunsheng. It contains a variety of sugar pills with different flavors.
Before, in front of Lianxian's jade gate, Shi Dai relied on it to disguise herself as a love token, so that she could start a bloody drama and dispel the soul boy's suspicion.

"It's too much trouble to go to the sugar shop, so just use this."
Shi Dai weighed it in the palm of her hand. There were still many sugar pills in it: "But... how should I give it to him?"

Jiang Baiyan curled his lips: "Miss Shi will just send it to him."
It was difficult for him to speak kindly to the child.

Shi Dai remained silent and turned to glance at him

Unlike the helpless young boy he once was, Jiang Baiyan is now one of the best swordsmen in the Zhen'e Division.

He is strong.
Naturally, one would not expect sympathy or pity.

Put yourself in Shi Dai's shoes, there were times when Shi Dai was sad when she was a child.
Being scolded by a teacher, feeling depressed due to setbacks, or quietly shedding tears when someone is sick or injured——

Compared with Jiang Baiyan's past, these are very small things.
Even so, Shi Dai would feel embarrassed if others saw her.

She doesn't like the sympathetic looks from others, and she doesn't like to be given charity. Jiang Baiyan must be the same.
If she handed the candy packet to the child and said some comforting words to him...

It would probably embarrass Jiang Baiyan.

"It's better than this."
Holding the rope on the brocade bag and turning it lightly on her fingertips, Shi Dai said, "Wasn't he praying to Buddha just now?"

Jiang Baiyan paused and turned to her.
The girl was tinkering in her long-sleeved pocket for a moment. When she lowered her head, her expression could not be seen. Only a lock of hair on her forehead was raised and swaying in the wind.

Shi Dai raised her head, and the cuffs of her sleeves, which were layered like petals, suddenly bloomed, and she stretched out her hand, revealing a section of white wrist bones.
In her hand was the Zhang Feng Talisman.

*
In the middle of winter, the temple is covered with snow. The upper and lower floors are white, and the bodhi tree in the corner is the only green.

After eating the hot porridge, the pain in his abdomen was relieved. The boy moved his numb and cold legs and prepared to get up and leave.
He didn't know where he should go, but staying in the temple in such a dirty way had defiled the clean place and made him feel guilty.

Hold the corner of the wall with your right hand and exert force on your calf.
Just as he was about to stand up, for some reason, a breeze blew over his head.

The bodhi leaves rustled, the sunlight fell, and the light and shadow were mottled, falling through the gaps in the corner of his eyes.

A black shadow fell with the wind, impartially, and fell right into his arms.

The boy held his breath in confusion.
It is a beautifully embroidered brocade bag.

Looking around, no one was looking around, so he tried to call out: "Whose bag is this?"

Pilgrims came and went incessantly, but no one responded.

He was at a loss and asked several more times, but still got no answer.

too weird.
This kit fell from the sky for no reason.
Surprised and uncertain, he opened it hesitantly, and when he saw clearly what was inside, he was suddenly stunned.

It's...sugar.

Sugar pills, large and small, lie quietly in the bag, round and cute, with a lingering fragrance.
like a dream.

My heart was pounding so hard that my eardrums were stunned.
He looked up hastily, trying to find a line of sight directed at him from the surrounding pedestrians, but found nothing.

Why... did it fall into his arms?
In the main hall, the gods and Buddhas remained solemnly silent, and the distant and gentle sound of bells rang out from nowhere.

Somehow, the boy took out a sugar pill from his bag and put it into his mouth.

It's the smell of flowers.
So sweet.

The feeling of fullness in his heart almost overflowed. He ate carefully, chewed carefully, and waited for the icing sugar to gradually melt on the tip of his tongue.
But halfway through eating, I burst into tears for no reason.

This taste is elusive, obviously very sweet, but the tears fall uncontrollably.

In order to prevent the shark's identity from being discovered, before the water droplets condensed into shark tears, the boy shrank himself into a small ball and buried his cheek in his arms.

On the other side of the temple, Shi Dai put the used wind charm in her arms and looked at the corner under the bodhi tree, the tip of her nose suddenly became sore.

It's over.
She actually wanted to cry a little bit.

"This layer of nightmare will be solved in a short time."
Jiang Baiyan said: "Thank you very much, Miss Shi."

Shi Dai couldn't help but look at him again.

From beginning to end, Jiang Baiyan was like a spectator.
When he saw himself being humiliated and abused as a child, he had an indifferent smile on his face and remained indifferent.
When he saw his childhood self being deceived and deceived, he was so distracted that he almost broke the other person's neck.

It was completely impossible to guess what was going on in his mind.

"This is an illusion, that child is not the real me."
Jiang Baiyan looked at her with a clear smile: "Miss Shi, you don't have to worry about him."

He burst into tears just because of a piece of candy. He had never had such a time before, nor did he need such a time.
He does not have to live on the kindness of others.

Thinking of this, Jiang Baiyan laughed to himself.
In fact, he was not qualified to say such things. In his real life, no one would give him a candy.

In the past that really happened, he got up and left after eating the porridge, wandering aimlessly in the city, and seemed to be infected with a fever. Later, he was kidnapped by evil cultivators and never tasted sweets again.

Without knowing what he was thinking, Jiang Baiyan raised his lips with half-sarcasm: "The illusion is fake after all."

The voice fell, sounding careless, lazy and indifferent.But Shi Dai keenly caught a trace of other emotions, light and indifferent——
Like awkwardness and grievance.

There seemed to be a breeze passing through her heart, and suddenly, she figured out some clues.

At the end of the day, memories are just memories.
In this false nightmare, no matter how similar those children are to him, they are just illusions hidden deep in the heart.

Only Jiang Baiyan beside her is real.

He was the one who was scarred as a puppet, and he was the one who was deceived and ridiculed by evil cultivators.
It was he who longed for a hint of sweetness in the cold winter with heavy snowfall.

It's unfair to pour good intentions into mere illusions.
No matter what they said or did in the nightmare realm, the real Jiang Baiyan had never experienced it back then.

As the boy took the sugar pill, this nightmare situation started to dissipate.

"The nightmare caused by the mirror demon should be coming to an end soon."
Jiang Baiyan said: "Miss Shi——"

The unspoken words stopped in his throat, and his eyelashes trembled.

What he saw was a hand that suddenly came closer. It was slender and beautiful, as white as jade.
In her hand, she held a round sugar pill.

"For you."
Shi Dai smiled, her almond-shaped eyes slightly bright: "Master Jiang, try it, what does it taste like?"

Jiang Baiyan was puzzled: "...what?"

"It can't just be him, we have to have it too. You must be tired after working in the Lotus Immortal Palace for so long, right?"
Twisting another one with her left hand, Shi Dai dropped it into her mouth with brisk and familiar movements.
Then he shook the sugar pill he held in his right hand towards him: "Mr. Jiang——?"

When wandering around Chang'an City before, Jiang Baiyan showed little interest in sweets.
Shi Dai thought he didn't like sweets, but today she realized later that it was just because he didn't have the chance to eat them in the past and it gradually became a habit.

So, would Jiang Baiyan himself like her sugar pills?

Before giving the kit to the boy, she thought about Jiang Baiyan and left a candy pill for him. In order not to appear deliberate, she left another one for herself.

What he has in the illusion, he must also have in the real person.
The kid who wants to eat sweets is Jiang Baiyan.

In an instant the wind rises, the sun rises, the clouds rise, and the sky sets.
Perhaps it was because the rustling of Bodhi leaves was too noisy that it made him slightly confused.

Blinking his eyes slowly, Jiang Baiyan lowered his long eyelashes, took the sugar pill from her hand, and smiled with an unknown meaning: "Miss Shi... is used to making people happy."

There was a vague meaning of ridicule in this sentence, but Shi Dai raised her chin and made an undisguised, proud smile at the corner of her mouth: "Master Jiang said such words, which means -"

Shi Dai laughed softly and imitated his tone: "Are you a little happy after being coaxed by me?"

Sure enough, it looks like a cat.
Jiang Baiyan said nothing, looked at her sideways for a moment, and then looked away.

Very strange.
He couldn't distinguish the subtle emotions welling up in his heart, like a green moss suddenly growing in a damp and dark corner.

It doesn't hurt, but it's worse than pain.

The sugar pill is put into the mouth and licked by the tip of the tongue, it is full of fragrant floral fragrance.
He raised his hand and pressed it on his heart.

Is it itchy?
Not getting a response from Jiang Baiyan, Shi Dai thought he wouldn't answer, so she narrowed her eyes lazily, waiting for the nightmare realm to fall apart.

Unexpectedly, at the moment when the nightmare collapsed and his vision blurred, his voice came along with the winter wind.
Very light, with an imperceptible smile, like a snowflake falling on the ear, and then melting softly.

Jiang Baiyan said: "Yeah."

The author has something to say:
评论区100红包～感谢在2023-09-09 23:59:09~2023-09-10 23:58:01期间为我投出霸王票或灌溉营养液的小天使哦~
Thanks to the little angels who threw the mines: Breeze Qingsheng, K, Bie Bieste, and Sunshine 1;
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