When Yin Xiu woke up again, she opened her pocket watch and saw that it was already eleven o'clock.
After only three hours of sleep, Yin Xiu inevitably felt the fatigue coming over her body, soaking into every part of her body and lingering.
He turned his head and looked around. No one was sitting around anymore. Both Liu Banxian, who talked a lot, and Luo Wei, who didn't need to sleep, had already covered themselves with blankets and lay down.
"You bastard, you didn't wake me up when you were about to go to bed. What if there's no one on guard when my mother comes?"
Cursing secretly, Yin Xiu walked to Ma Xiaoyu and carefully pulled the blanket down to cover her snow-white thighs.
"Hey, why is it still dusty?"
Seeing that there was a little bit of mud on her thigh, Yin Xiu felt awkward, so she might have to wipe it off with her hands, or rub it off gently.
Girls love to be clean. How uncomfortable would it be if they were dirty? Thinking like this, Yin Xiu protected her face while reaching out her hand and gently falling on Ma Xiaoyu's leg.
There was no sudden slap in the face, nor the softness or warmth as imagined, only a cold, stiff touch.
This terrible feeling had appeared before, and it left a deep impression on Yin Xiu, or made him feel like a nightmare.
Ma Xiaoyu died "again".
"Is it fake death again?"
Yin Xiu shouted, as if he was complaining, but also as if he was emboldening himself.
He patted Ma Xiaoyu's equally cold face, but received no response. He called twice more, and no one around him got up.
Only then did he realize that there was deathly silence all around. There was no sound of Luo Wei's heavy breathing caused by rhinitis, nor Liu Banxian's deafening snoring. Even Fang Yin in the distance, her graceful curves no longer undulated. Just lay still.
Is it...
"Yes, they are dead, they are all dead, just because of you, Yin Xiu."
The cold, deep voice made Yin Xiu's body tremble. He looked up following the voice and saw that at the top of the cave, his old mother had been hanging upside down without knowing when, with eight eyes staring straight at him, glowing green.
"I understand." Yin Xiu nodded helplessly and sighed.
"What do you understand?" My mother was suddenly confused.
"Dreams, or illusions, mother, this is also part of your vast magical power." Yin Xiu gritted his teeth.
"You didn't even hesitate?"
"Of course not," Yin Xiu looked at it, "Did you underestimate them, or did you underestimate me?"
"Who do you think they are? Female Taoist priests with bare legs and a terrible temper? Hot-blooded policemen with well-developed limbs and simple minds? Lecherous and cowardly charlatans who only know how to cheat?
These people are not people like you who can be dealt with in one go.
And I am not a softie who will be fooled or deceived if you use some tricks. "
Although she didn't know why she fell into her mother's fantasy again, Yin Xiu wouldn't be so panicked as long as some divine woman or some scene with unknown meaning didn't appear.
"Then who do you think you are?"
The old mother's eyes flashed with green light, "You are here, just like those fish, you can only jump around in the pond, and occasionally jump out of the water and then fall back. You can only wait to be caught, or when the pond dries up. , you have a way to leave."
"You mean, if I can't die, I will never be able to leave?"
"That's what I mean, how about this eternally warm and soft cage, which is specially designed for you, Yin Xiu."
"I don't believe it," Yin Xiu shook his head. "Believe it or not, as long as I stay a little longer, they will definitely find a way to wake me up."
The old mother didn't speak, just sneered.
Just when Yin Xiu was still about to say something, his nose twitched and he suddenly smelled a strange smell, sour and stinky, which made tears well up in his eyes.
"Let me tell you, Miss Ma, this method will definitely work."
"It seems to be quite effective."
Ma Xiaoyu blushed, took her socks back, and put them on her feet again.
call! Yin Xiu let out a long breath. He didn't know whether he was frightened or choked. Anyway, he woke up from his mother's dream.
I opened my pocket watch and saw that it was nine o'clock.
"Nine o'clock in the morning?"
Luo Wei shook his head, "The hour hand has passed twice, and it is now nine o'clock in the evening.
During this period, everyone went to bed one after another, and when they got up, you were the only one who stayed asleep.
I thought you were too tired, but I pushed you just now and found that you didn't move. Then I called Miss Ma and the others.
And then……"
"Then I'll get up, right?" Yin Xiu rubbed her nose.
"That's right, the process doesn't need to be so detailed."
"There is no need to go into details," Yin Xiu patted the shoe prints on his body, "I believe everyone has spent a lot of effort on me."
"We are all good brothers, there is no need to pay so much attention."
Luo Wei handed over a water bag.
"Let's go to the star observatory now?" Yin Xiu took a sip of water.
Fang Yin nodded, "Although it's only half an hour away from the observatory, it's better to get there first. You can't wait for us there, right?"
"Mom, do you know that place?"
Fang Yin said calmly: "It knows everything. How can anything under the ground escape its eyes?"
Compared with the astrological platform mentioned by the alchemists, the star observatory is really a different place. It can even be called a paradise.
After passing through the heavy curtain of water, there is really a dome with a gap exposed, allowing the moonlight to shine down, and you can also glimpse a corner of the Milky Way from here.
And perhaps because this dome is open in the wild, far away from the light sources of the city, the stars and moon become clearer here, and those wonderful trajectories and changes can be faintly seen.
Although you can see the starry sky when you look up, it is still far away from the ground. The nearly vertical smooth rock wall in the middle is faintly reflecting the silver light.
Yin Xiu and his party stood firm on a rock platform above the pool, and then began to busy themselves with their own affairs.
Yin Xiu and Luo Wei were responsible for searching the area to see if there were any missed corners or other secret passages.
Ma Xiaoyu arranged formations and spells on the side.
Only Fang Yin followed Liu Banxian step by step, watching him constantly measuring and moving his position on the ground with a compass.
At the same time, he placed the dice in a simple Bagua array on the ground and fiddled with it from time to time.
"What, you know how to do Feng Shui?"
Seeing Fang Yin squatting beside him attentively, Liu Banxian asked.
"No, I don't understand this stuff, but I've always been curious about these things."
At this time, Fang Yin's tone and demeanor were like a curious child, not the conspirator and strategist who had many tricks and tricks before.
"It's not too late for you to learn now. Well, this direction is called Li, which is the so-called south. It is also divided into several branches, Bingwu and Ding. According to the zodiac sign, it belongs to fire." Fang Yin nodded as if he understood.
"I've met many people, and you're the first one to talk to me seriously."
"Why, others are just perfunctory with you?"
"It's not perfunctory, or it's not cheating," Fang Yin rubbed his hair, "They don't care about me at all, they don't love me or hate me, they just seem to regard me as a dispensable thing, neither Some kind of existence, not just a passerby."
"It seems like you've been through a lot."
Liu Banxian took off his sunglasses, and his eyes were filled with hazy water vapor, looking full of energy in the moonlight.
"Is this my destiny? Maybe it's my bad luck, or maybe it's a flaw in my fate?"
Liu Banxian shook his head, "Fate can't control that much, and wasn't it said by someone that man can conquer nature?
Many times the so-called destiny is just an excuse. "
"Really?"
"Of course it's true. If a person is destined to be rich or poor, high or low, there are no variables or opportunities, and his life is just smooth sailing, or he is doomed to be homeless, would such a life be interesting?
To be even more extreme, if someone asks a fortune teller, the child will be outspoken when he is born, and he will live a life of mediocrity. Then I am afraid that the child will be drowned in a slop bucket before he takes a bite of milk. "
"Drown?"
Fang Yin stood up, no longer looking at the Feng Shui compass on the ground, but walked to the water's edge, where her beautiful face and slim figure were reflected on the water, rippling with the waves.
Perhaps when she was born, her father, a boatman, planned to throw her into the water to feed the fish.
But later, for some unknown reason, Fang Yin was left behind, and finally lived on his own until now.
Is it because his mother begged him? Impossible, in Fang Yin's memory, his mother seldom spoke.
When the guests got into her cabin one after another, she did not speak, but occasionally made one or two slight murmurs as the water swayed.
Even when she died, she only screamed for the first half of the night, and gasped for breath for the rest of the night, and finally died on the musty-smelling mattress.
"Are you afraid that my mother will come up from the bottom of the water?" Ma Xiaoyu glanced at her.
"What, the Malaysian spider spirit can dive?"
Fang Yin had a cold face and took two steps to the side.
"Don't worry, I won't break your fingers."
Ma Xiaoyu said, and dropped two talisman papers into the water. The talisman papers swirled like fish, and suddenly got into the water and disappeared.
"I'm not worried about this, I just hate you for no reason."
"Heh, what a coincidence, I also felt disgusted when I saw you."
Ma Xiaoyu laughed, "But I'm not inexplicable. I know why I hate you."
"It must be said that it is an honor to be hated by the female Celestial Master of the Ma family."
Fang Yin and Ma Xiaoyu competed and looked at each other.
Suddenly, she asked: "Mr. Ma, when you were born, people in your family must have been very happy, right?"
"What do you ask for this?"
Ma Xiaoyu was a little surprised, but still said: "In our Ma family, men are only used to pass on the family line, while girls are responsible for slaying demons and inheriting the family's magic.
I had two older sisters above me, but they died not long after they were born.
So when I was born, everyone was very happy. My aunt even prayed for a longevity lock specifically for me, hoping that I would grow up healthily. "
"very nice."
"what?"
"It's nothing."
Fang Yin snorted coldly and walked to the other side, not wanting to have anything to do with Ma Xiaoyu anymore.
Ma Xiaoyu just thought it was the woman's weird temper again and ignored her, just concentrating on setting up the formation.
At the moment, nothing is more important than defending against my mother's attack.
She turned to look at Liu Banxian, who was still playing with the compass.
"Liu Banxian, when will the Nine Stars Lianzhu appear?"
Liu Banxian shook his head, "I don't know. There is always only an exact date, not an exact moment."
Ma Xiaoyu pursed her lips, "In other words, we have to at least persist in front of my mother until the moment when nine stars are connected, then we can know whether it can work?"
Liu Banxian also sighed: "Yes, this is something that is uncertain. Although many miracles will occur when the Nine Stars are in a row, I can't say whether there will really be an opportunity to reverse the situation and defeat my mother as we wish."
After a pause, he added: "Perhaps it's true that success depends on God and planning depends on people."
"Didn't you say that you never believed in the so-called destiny?"
"Otherwise, what do you want me to say?" Liu Banxian spread his hands, "I can't say it. Let's just give it a try, regardless of whether it's true or not. The worst is, we'll hug each other to death!"
"Don't worry, you won't die." Ma Xiaoyu looked around, "Although this place doesn't look like an observatory and more like a prison, I dare say that it's not ours, but my mother's prison. .”
Liu Banxian wiped his face and said, "Miss Ma, for some reason, I think you are looking more and more like Brother Yin."
"You mean appearance?" Ma Xiaoyu frowned, a cold light flashing in her eyes.
"No, no, no," Liu Banxian shook his head repeatedly, "You are a girl and he is a boy. How can they look the same? I mean personality, tone of voice, attitude and so on."
"Oh, that may be because the person who is close to Mo is black."
Ma Xiaoyu crossed her arms and didn't seem very angry.
"As the old saying goes, it takes three years to learn well and three days to learn bad. I'm afraid it doesn't even take three days to get close to Yin Xiu. If you have a meal and talk with him, even a saint will become a rogue."
"I didn't expect you, Miss Ma, to know him so well." Liu Banxian exclaimed.
"Not understanding."
Ma Xiaoyu coughed twice, "I just saw through it. Who wants to understand someone like him?"
"That's, that's, I was wrong." Liu Banxian nodded repeatedly.
"By the way, the formation you set up, Miss Ma, and the talisman hanging on the ceiling of the cave, when it burns, it means that I have sensed my mother's evil aura, which means that my mother has come over."
"How do you know?" Ma Xiaoyu was a little confused.
"I don't know," Liu Banxian pointed to the top, "but they are indeed burning, and they are still burning very hot."
Ma Xiaoyu raised his head in surprise. Wherever he looked, there were red flames, and the talismans turned into ashes one after another.
At nine-thirty, on a starry night, my mother came quietly. (End of chapter)