If I don't have money to go to college, I can only go to slay the dragon.

Jingle Bell.

In the darkness, the crouched Li Yuexian heard the sound of bells.

It was the watchman's bell.

Once represents one watch day.

Jingle Bell.

The bell rang again.

Twice represents the second watch of the day.

Li Yuexian breathed evenly in the darkness, and her hearing became sharper, as if she had never had such sharp hearing before.

Jingle Bell.

The bell rang again.

Three times represents the third watch of the day.

Li Yuexian has always heard of the ancient legend circulating in this small riverside town.

Legend has it that the watchmen in this small town never strike the fourth watch. If the fourth watch is struck, a disaster like a flood will usher in, and everyone who hears the fourth watch will be drowned in catastrophe.

Therefore, every night in her hazy sleep, she would listen carefully to the faint sound of the clock outside the window.

Together.

Two lanes.

Three ways.

Then

In the darkness, the weak golden eyes widened, and overwhelming fear seemed to spread in them, overflowing her eyes like a tsunami, making her want to call for something, but she was stuck in her throat and did not dare to make any sound.

Jingle Bell.

Four times represents the fourth watch.

At the same time, it also represents the arrival of disaster.

—

The biting winter wind blows across the road outside the clinic. Peiyuan Clinic is located in an old community. The roads here extend in all directions. There are no street lights and no people. The only thing is the moonlight shining coldly on the stone road.

Silently, transparent ripples rippled through the night, slowly covering the street like a thin film.

The moonlight is colder and the night is deeper.

On a desolate street corner in the night, as far as the eye could see, black fog spread from the end of the street, like a thick fog in winter. It quickly swallowed up the entire street, making everything seem to fall into a dark dream.

In the black dream, a bell rang.

Jingle Bell.

A sound.

A sedan came swaying.

The sedan is all red, with a silver top, yellow cover, red curtains, and a parrot green cloth cover. It has screens on all sides and hanging beads and tassels.

Jingle Bell.

Two sounds.

The second sedan followed closely behind.

The eight bearers of the sedan chair were all in black robes and black veils, and their steps were brisk, as if they were hanging in the air.

Three sounds.

That is a royal sedan, which is the most noble, solemn and luxurious imperial sedan. The Qing Dynasty stipulated that all Beijing officials of third rank or above should ride on a "four-person carriage" in the capital and "eight-person carriage" when leaving the capital.

Four sounds.

Anyone who dares to collide with the sedan chair will be killed without mercy.

Four sedans emerged from the thick black fog and walked slowly down the street side by side.

They stopped because someone was blocking their way.

Under the moonlight, standing in the middle of the road was a woman, wearing a black robe similar to that of a sedan bearer, holding a bronze sword in her hand, her molten red eyes silently looking at the four sedans lined up in a row. .

"The sinner will be punished." An old voice came from the sedan, without emotion.

"The guilty will be punished."

"The guilty will be punished."

"The guilty will be punished."

In the four-top sedan chair, those high above were repeating, with cold, dry voices.

"My only sin is probably that I was born as a moon." Li Muyue said.

She pulled out her bronze sword, and the invisible realm extended to the end of the street, swallowing everything it encompassed.

Yan Ling·Red Dust.

The next moment, dark chains shot out from the four-top sedan, and the Yanling named Hongchen shattered like glass before it could exert its power.

The moment before the realm was shattered, Li Muyue looked back in the direction of the distant clinic behind her as if she had a premonition.

—

Peiyuan Clinic.

Li Xingchu sat in the center of the outpatient hall, looking indifferently at the bright moonlight on the ground, and the withered yellow roses bent in a vase on the front desk beside him.

Jingle Bell.

The bell on the glass door was touched and opened, and four haggard old men walked into the small clinic.

They are so old that every movement is so sluggish, just like a film with frames taken from the past, occupying the position in this space bit by bit, until the smell of decay finally fills every corner.

They came anyway, like a black mist-like nightmare, catching up with the short-lived dream.

—

The dragon-headed crutch hit the ground heavily.

"The sinner Li Xingchu."

"The sinner Li Xingchu."

"The sinner Li Xingchu."

"The sinner Li Xingchu."

They hid in the darkness, where the moonlight could not reach, and used their dry, hoarse voices to bring Li Xingchu back to reality.

"The four clan chiefs are fighting in front of each other, but why is the ancestor of my family unwilling to leave the clan and personally teach me, an unworthy descendant?" Li Xingchu slowly glanced at the four rickety figures and said softly.

"The head of the Li family stayed in the ancestral land to take charge of the overall situation. This is the duty of the Li family today." one of them said.

"Where is the 'Holy Will'?" one of them asked.

"You killed Master Yuncheng, but you didn't find the Holy Will, and you became enemies with Buddhism for nothing. This is not a worthwhile deal." Li Xingchu said lightly.

"Li Xingchu, do you know how serious the crime you have committed is. There is not a day that goes by that the Li clan is not ashamed of you." One of them advised, "It's time to turn around."

"Where is my wife?" Li Xingchu asked calmly, "She should have been outside to greet the ancestors earlier. If she dies, then there is no need for us to continue."

Some of them laughed out loud.

Dry laughter came and went in the clinic, like ghosts whispering.

"Where is the Holy Will?" they asked.

"Where's my wife?" Li Xingchu said.

The glass door of Peiyuan Clinic was broken, and a person was thrown in mixed with glass shards. It was Li Muyue, her whole body was as red as blood bubbles, her limbs were twisted and she was lying on the ground, with a broken bronze on her right shoulder. The long sword penetrated deeply, and he lay on the ground with his hair disheveled, not knowing whether he was dead or alive.

Mu Yue was defeated miserably.

"How could the clan give birth to such a mutilated and ugly 'Yue'?" Some of them sighed, "The family is unlucky."

"She is dead, and you will never find the Holy Will." Li Xingchu's bright golden eyes stared at the rickety and corrupt shadows in the darkness, tears streaming down from the corners of his eyes.

"Someone has to pay the price." They scolded, "This is the ancestral teaching."

"This person can only be me, right?" Li Xingchu said.

"Mu Yue's remnant body can be used. The 'Moon' system cannot be leaked. And you participated in the changes to the 'Moon' system, and the clan cannot keep you."

"Is it because the clan can't keep me, or the clan leaders can't keep me?"

"The sinner Li Xingchu took away 'Mu Yue' privately, leaving the orthodox portal hollow. When he was satisfying his own selfish desires, countless young heroes of the orthodox died in disasters. The existence of 'yue' should have prevented those sufferings from happening, and those who were innocent The life you lost is the sin you can never wash away in your life." Someone said slowly.

"Fuck you." Li Xingchu hissed, "Prosperity and victory based on endless oppression are all false. For the sake of the so-called righteousness and the so-called clan, you endlessly flow suffering to one person. How can you Has anyone ever spoken up for this person after asking him how he feels? No one is born to suffer, no one!"

"The power and perfection carried by 'Moon' comes with a price. It is her destiny to be born as 'Yue'." One of them said gently.

"I decide my wife's fate. It's not your turn. She is no longer the moon, so you can get away as far as you want." Li Xingchu growled.

"The 'Yue' system cannot be leaked. After everything is completed, Mu Yue will be taken back by the clan. She will not die, but will become more perfect." Some of them laughed softly.

"Perfect? ​​Does it mean that it has no brain, like those things outside that only listen to your orders stupidly?" Li Xingchu asked in a hissing voice.

"Where is the holy will?" Some of them were tired of it and were harsh and cold. "As an orthodox clansman, atonement is the last mercy bestowed upon you by your clan."

"Fuck Mercy," Li Xingchu said.

"Mu Yue told me a lot about you and the 'moon'. During the operation, I probably understood what kind of expectations you wanted to achieve through the 'moon'." Li Xingchu took a deep breath, "You may be able to create a puppet more powerful than Mu Yue, but to achieve your true goal, a living 'Moon' and a beating 'Holy Will' is what you really want, right? "

They didn't answer.

"In that case, how about making a deal?"

"You are not qualified to negotiate with us. You are a sinner. All you can get is judgment."

"No need to discuss?" Li Xingchu asked.

"Those who rebel against the clan should be punished by being cut into pieces with a thousand knives!" The dark eyes of the four old men were full of majesty.

The cold wind blew into the clinic, and four "dead people" in black official uniforms appeared in the corner. Their blood-red pupils looked quietly at Li Xingchu, who was sitting on the chair in the center. The cold face under the human bone mask symbolized death.

"Then let me put it another way, this is not a deal, this is a threat." Li Xingchu's golden eyes were bright, and they were full of coldness. "If you kill Li Muyue, or transform her into something like these monsters, you will never even think about it in your life. Get the holy will from me, you can give it a try and use your lingering lives to bet on this."

The cold wind blew in the clinic, and the rose petals fell from the vase.

After a dead silence, someone among them said calmly, "Hand over the Holy Will."

Huge force exploded on Li Xingchu's body. He was lifted from the chair and pressed against the wall. The one who took action was one of the "dead men". He easily strangled Li Xingchu's neck and left him hanging in the air to suffocate him. However, Li Xingchu was He didn't struggle at all, he hung his hands by his side, turned his head and stared at one of them standing hunched beside him with his golden eyes.

Breathing gradually became difficult, and Li Xingchu's cheeks became bloodshot and gradually turned purple, but he still did not make any struggling movements, just waiting for death to come.

It wasn't until one of them tapped the dragon's head with his finger that Li Xingchu on the wall was thrown to the ground. Amidst the impact and severe pain, he coughed violently and breathed hard for air.

They exchanged glances with each other, and finally one of them suddenly turned his head, laughed hoarsely, and raised his withered fingers to gesture to the dead man in the corner.

Li Xingchu, who was holding his throat and panting on the ground, hadn't gotten up yet when he saw Li Muyue, who was lying on the ground covered in blood, being picked up by one of the "dead men" dragging her ankles and walking towards the bed in the injection room, where she threw her onto the bed. The blood instantly turned red. The bed quilt penetrates deeper into the quilt cotton.

His pupils suddenly tightened and he wanted to stand up, but one of them on the chair next to him raised his head and stuck it on the back of his head. The severe pain and the blackness in front of his eyes made him lie down again.

"If you want to save Mu Yue's life, then you should not get involved in the 'Yue' system from the beginning. The moon that has lost its 'sacred will' has only two endings, either to be destroyed or to become a Jingguan." Someone said lightly.

The man holding the dragon-head crutch let out a weird, shrill laugh, "Li Xingchu, if you really want to save Li Muyue's life and are worried that we will still violate the agreement and make her a Jingguan after receiving the Holy Will, then you might as well do it How about you destroy her 'moon' system with your own hands? Even though Mu Yue, who is now responsible for the 'moon' system, has become filthy, she is still an orthodox taboo. But a useless person whose 'moon' system has been destroyed, maybe we will... Are you going to let her go?"

Li Xingchu slowly climbed up from the ground, his golden eyes staring at the laughing ancestor.

"The secret of the 'Moon' has always been a big secret in the clan. Those who know it will be killed without mercy. Those who steal it will be killed without mercy. Those who teach it will be killed without mercy. You have violated all three taboos. You should know that you It's no longer up to you to make your own decision about life and death. It's great that you want to keep Mu Yue at this time. I'll give you this opportunity." The ancestor hissed and laughed, "I heard that although you are a descendant of the Li family, you are born You are close to the Zhao family tradition, and your medical skills are passed down from the ancestors of the Zhao family. Although you have failed to live up to the love of the Zhao family, the only thing worth talking about in your life is probably the sin you committed yourself - secretly hiding the holy will. Tampered with 'moon'."

"In that case, it's up to you to defile the 'Yue' with your hands and destroy the abandoned 'Yue' yourself." The ancestor's words were very slow and very detailed, like a millstone trying to grind the current Li Xingchu into a little bit. Nian Ni said, "I will give you a chance to save Mu Yue. If you hand over the Holy Will and then destroy Mu Yue yourself, we will naturally have a reason not to kill her. The clan will keep her under house arrest for the rest of her life." How about her life?"

"Fuck you." Li Xingchu stared at the ancestor and sneered.

The Ancestor raised the corner of his mouth and shouted in a joking manner, "Trespass!"

The back of Li Xingchu's head was pushed to the ground by a huge force. His whole face hit the floor and was cut to pieces by the broken tiles. The blood soaked into his golden pupils bit by bit. Even so, he still stared at the An ancestor, the rage in his pupils seemed to jump out of his eyes and destroy everything he was looking at.

"Using dirty hands to destroy dirty things is also a good skill." Some of them nodded, seeming to praise the idea, and then they praised it one after another.

"You tell us the whereabouts of the Holy Will, destroy Mu Yue with your own hands, and then suffer the punishment of being cut into pieces with a thousand knives, and this matter will be cleared up."

The hissing ancestor walked up to Li Xingchu with hunched waist, looked down at those beautiful golden eyes, "Li Xingchu, this is the mercy of heaven, don't delay."

"Get out." Li Xingchu wanted to spit out a mouthful of blood on the other person, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the faucet had already been thrust into his mouth, smashing his teeth.

Ancestor Vamp gently lifted Li Xingchu's chin, forcing him to swallow the blood and teeth in his mouth, causing severe pain and a fishy sweetness to rip through his throat.

"The last chance, Li Xingchu, for the sake of the head of the Li clan and for the great contribution your father has made to orthodoxy, hand over the Holy Will. Li Muyue can survive with a useless body. If you die, this is your The best possible outcome." One of them advised calmly.

Li Xingchu's voice was very vague when he spoke, and thick blood flowed out when he opened his mouth, "You will never get the holy will in your life."

"We have plenty of time." One of them sat firmly on his seat and gently raised his hand to signal.

Beside the bed in the injection room, Jingguan indifferently pulled out the bronze sword from Li Muyue's shoulder on the bed and stabbed it into her thigh. The severe pain caused the fainting Muyue to wake up and let out a shrill wail.

But at the same time she woke up, she launched a counterattack. She pulled out the broken bronze sword from her thigh with her left hand and slashed it towards the throat of the dead man beside the bed, but was blocked by the proliferated facial bones and a string of sparks burst out.

The broken bronze sword was snatched away again and pierced into Li Muyue's left shoulder, but this time Li Muyue remained silent, her molten red eyes fixed on the blood-red eyes of the dead man.

"We have enough time tonight. I believe that the descendants of the Li family are all good men. You will be able to withstand the punishment of being cut to pieces with a thousand knives, but you may not be able to withstand the person you love being cut to pieces with a thousand knives in front of you." ." The one sitting on the chair among them put his hands on the crutches, hunched his back and said calmly, "If we don't share the holy will, Mu Yue will die miserably in front of you. You and we are more determined to fight to the death. Or are you more determined to keep your wife? I really want to take a look at it. Mu Yue who is riddled with holes is still Mu Yue after all, and Mu Yue who cuts off human piglets is also Mu Yue who is alive. Kill Mu Yue and you Knowing how to die will completely bury the Holy Will, but there are too many ways to keep Mu Yue alive that are more painful than death."

"We can let you die, or we can let you live. In our hands, even death is a luxury," he said.

Li Xingchu looked at the person on the seat. From the other person's eye sockets, he could not see the person's pupils, but could only see the deep darkness, from which thick despair and twilight spread.

The clan leaders did not accept the threats.

Before Li Xingchu could speak, the man had already given the order calmly, "Jingguan, peel off Mu Yue's skin piece by piece until she opens her mouth, starting from the breasts. First the breasts, then the eyes and nose, make a good one for me." The human pig comes out. Even though the inside has been tainted, the skin is still full of clues. After all, making one more beautiful human pig is one more piece of collection."

Jingguan beside the bed pulled out the bronze sword from Li Muyue's shoulder. Li Muyue instantly grabbed the sword's edge and pushed it towards his throat, but a heavy punch immediately hit his abdomen! Li Muyue suddenly curled up and trembled, and her hands and feet were immediately grabbed by the other two dead men from Jingguan who walked indifferently, and they forced her body to straighten on the bed. The body that symbolized beauty was forced to stretch, and the bronze remains in Jingguan's hands The sword swung towards the proud curve.

At the moment when the cruel scene was about to happen, the bronze sword suddenly stopped, and its blade stopped in front of Li Xingchu's neck.

At the last moment, Li Xingchu burst out with unimaginable strength and rushed to the bedside, stopping the sword with his own life.

But this sword actually didn't stop for him.

"Have you thought clearly?" The person on the seat gently lowered his raised finger, and the broken bronze sword in Jingguan's hand also lowered his hand. "Surveying the Holy Will is your only way out."

Li Xingchu stood by the bed, looking down at Li Muyue on the bed. With disheveled hair and blood all over her body, she no longer had the heroic appearance of the past.

Li Muyue stared at him with her molten red eyes, and told him in a hoarse voice, "Li Xingchu, don't listen to their nonsense. They will go back on their word even if they find the 'Holy Will'. It's just torture. I can bear it." , let them come!”

"But I can't bear it." Li Xingchu whispered. Watching the woman he loved being tortured to the point of being reduced to a human form was probably the real torture for him.

Li Muyue stared at Li Xingchu blankly for a moment, then suddenly cursed, "Li Xingchu! I don't allow you -"

"This is the only way." Li Xingchu covered her mouth and whispered, his golden eyes staring at the woman on the bed silently.

"Hand over the Holy Will." They said in the darkness behind them.

Li Xingchu turned around and looked at the dumb ancestors. The tears under his golden eyes had dried. He said calmly, "There are two people in this world who know the whereabouts of the Holy Will."

"Which two?"

"One person is me." Li Xingchu said.

"Where is the other person?"

He turned his head and looked at Li Muyue, whose mouth was covered by him on the bed.

The old man on the seat suddenly raised his head and shouted sharply, "Stop him!"

But he was still a step too late.

There was a harsh explosion sound on Li Xingchu's body, and then his body fell down. The ancestor burst out with a speed that was completely contrary to the previous rickety slowness and came to Li Xingchu's side on the ground. He originally wanted to reach out to feel his breath, but Yu Guang glanced at the tragic scene on his chest and silently gave up the move.

At the heart of Li Xingchu's chest, countless red spikes exploded in his chest like hedgehogs. The sharp spikes pierced through the internal organs, upwards through the lower jaw and penetrated the brain. What was especially weird were the sharp teeth. It was covered with blood vessels, contracting and expanding as if they were alive, like some kind of parasite greedily occupying territory in this body.

"Power Word...?" He hesitated in a deep voice.

"Impossible, the dragon-binding rope carried by Jingguan has cut off the development of any field." The person who came later said in a low voice, "This is another method different from the power of power."

Four Jingguan guards were stationed nearby, but they were unable to prevent Li Xingchu from hanging himself. This method of suicide was unheard of even to them. They had long considered hanging themselves, and Jingguan was the guarantee, but now even Jingguan could not prevent Li Xingchu from committing suicide.

Li Muyue on the bed was stunned for a few seconds after Li Xingchu fell, and then let out a shrill wail. She struggled to look at Li Xingchu on the ground, but was pinned to the bed unable to move. Her molten red pupils were filled with sadness like a sea.

"The descendants of the Li family are indeed strong enough." Some of them sighed.

"The sinner is dead, what should we do next?" someone asked softly.

There is only one person left who knows the existence of the Holy Will, and the answer is self-evident.

But the four ghosts looked at the woman on the bed who was roaring in grief, their brows filled with gloom. Li Xingchu did deserve to die, but not now. Li Muyue was also supposed to die, but now she had to live.

Now torturing Li Muyue has lost any meaning. They know very well what kind of "moon" the orthodox training is. No torture in this world will make this woman speak, as long as she doesn't want to.

I'm afraid Li Xingchu also knew that this was the only way he could save Li Muyue, so he resolutely chose to hang himself.

"Fools," one of them said coldly.

"The sinner Li Muyue."

The shadows gathered around the bed, looked at the woman on the bed and said in a low voice, "Hand over the Holy Will."

There was no response. After wailing, the woman on the bed seemed to be dead, with blood and tears flowing from her molten red golden eyes.

The clinic was dead silent except for the trickling blood.

"Remove the power of the 'moon'."

The old man with a crooked head gave Li Muyue a gloomy look on the bed, turned around and walked out of the injection room, "Give her a breath and bring her back to the clan to wait for punishment."

The old woman among the four slowly walked to the bedside, reached out and took the green lancet, "This is the last chance to hand over the holy will."

no answer.

"It will be very slow, it will be very painful, and it will probably leave scars. A lot of people will feel sorry for a beautiful woman like you." The old woman reached out and put her hand against Li Muyue's cheek and whispered.

"What the clan gives you, the clan will take back."

The lancet in the old woman's hand cut open Li Muyue's chest, revealing the blood-red and intricate alchemical matrix called "Moon", mixed in the flesh and blood like a grotesque work of art, making people feel confused and dreamy .

The lancet intervened in the flesh and blood and began to destroy the connection of the alchemy matrix. The delicate system began to be dismantled bit by bit in the hands of the old woman. With her skillful techniques and her thorough knowledge of the 'Yue' system, it was not difficult to guess that she was the 'Yue' system. 'One of the founders of the system, so she naturally knows how to make this process as long as possible and as painful as possible.

She is happy to slowly cut at those points that can cause crazy pain, like a slow knife cutting flesh, listening to the beautiful music gnashing out from the teeth of the woman under her. It is a kind of enjoyment, a kind of torture. The pleasure made her old body feel young again, greedily absorbing the joy and meaning of life from this woman.

Unimaginable pain exploded in Li Muchue's body slowly and silently. She trembled and trembled, her body struggled reflexively, and blood and tears flowed from her pupils. The helpless sadness surged like a boiling ocean in the small clinic. The wash echoed.

But from beginning to end, she never uttered a wail or scream. She just stared at the ceiling and endured the death penalty for a crime that was unbearable for humans.

She was not afraid of torture, as long as she knew what she was enduring.

For this she could endure it forever.

This process lasted for a long time, just like this night.

But no matter how long the night is, there will always be a moment of dawn.

"It's almost time." The old man standing in front of the glass door said calmly.

After an unknown amount of time, the black fog covering everything on the street outside the clinic had already begun to thin, and the dawn sunlight shone through the black fog.

The old woman put away the lancet and left the hospital bed that was stained red with blood and looked like a butcher chopping board.

"Bring back the clan." The old woman said in a low voice, without even looking at the cruel scene behind her.

Li Muyue, who was already bleeding on the bed and couldn't see clearly, was picked up by the dead man in Jingguan, and the black shadows in the room left one after another.

Before leaving, the last ancestor stopped by the front desk of the clinic. He turned his head and glanced at the withered roses above, and stretched out his withered fingers to point at the withered petals. However, he suddenly stopped in the middle of the journey and fell aside. The table was lightly wiped.

He twirled his fingers carefully, took one last look around the messy clinic, and turned to leave.