"Then thank you very much, but," A Xia maintained her gloomy expression, "let's forget it."
Piao: "Why?"
A Xia: "Because," she looked up at Piao, "I am a demon soul."
Demon soul?
Piao didn't quite understand A Xia's meaning for a moment. He then frowned, pondered her words, and suddenly realized, "That's true, then..." He smiled, "I won't forget you."
"Well, your words are enough."
Chen: "Why can't it be done if you're a demon soul?"
Piao turned to Chen, "Are you genuinely confused, or pretending?"
"I truly don't know." Chen's gaze was firm.
Seeing Chen's look of earnest inquiry, Piao thought for a moment and said, "A cenotaph buries things related to the deceased, but she," he pointed at A Xia, "what does she have?"
Hearing this, Chen followed Piao's gesture to A Xia and said faintly, "You mean, she doesn't have these."
"Exactly," Piao nodded.
"So that's how it is," Chen's eyes deepened, and he looked at A Xia, saying, "Don't worry, I will always remember you too."
"Thank you." A Xia's sorrowful mood disappeared as soon as the two of them said this.
Gu Xiao: "Speaking of which, I'm the same as you." He turned to look at A Xia.
A Xia: "Your requirements aren't as high as mine."
"They aren't as high as yours," Gu Xiao said, glancing at the old man not far away who was staring in their direction, and was startled, "He's looking this way."
"How is that possible." Chen glanced at Gu Xiao, then looked back, and was also startled, "He seems to be looking at me."
"..." A Xia didn't react as strongly as they did. Instead, she calmly looked at the old man, her brow furrowed slightly.
Piao, like A Xia, quietly watched the old man.
Then, the old man walked towards them.
"He's coming," A Xia said.
Gu Xiao was so startled that he pressed himself tightly against the wall, his soul body about to pass through.
Concerned that Gu Xiao might actually phase through, Chen deliberately held his arm.
Seeing this, Gu Xiao said, "Thank you." Then he looked at Piao, "Logically, shouldn't he not be able to see us? You're also in stealth mode."
"Indeed, why can he see us." Piao looked intently at the old man.
A Xia stared closely at the old man's face and said, "There's a wound on his face."
"You can see it?" Piao glanced at A Xia.
A Xia nodded, "Yes, his hair is also very messy, and his clothes," she widened her eyes, "are covered in blood." As she spoke, she finally began to feel afraid.
Piao: "He's not human."
"A monster?" Gu Xiao's voice began to tremble.
Chen glanced at the frightened Gu Xiao and said helplessly, "Uh, you're a demon soul, and you're scared of this?"
Gu Xiao: "You're a monster, and aren't you also afraid of some monsters?"
Chen was rendered speechless by Gu Xiao's words.
Gu Xiao swallowed, looked down at the hand Chen was tightly holding his arm with, and said, "Your hand is also trembling. You're scared too."
Chen: "Of course I'm scared. I can't sense what he is."
"I can't sense it either," Gu Xiao shook his head slightly.
At the same time, A Xia glanced at them and said, "Can you two stop talking?"
"I'm scared," they said in unison.
A Xia was speechless.
Piao also glanced at the three of them and said, "He's coming, all of you, be quiet." He then looked back at the approaching old man and asked, "Who are you?"
The old man said in a hoarse voice, "Do you need to help me?"
Hearing the old man's words, Piao then realized that the old man wasn't a monster, but a lone soul carrying demonic energy.
"No," Piao shook his head.
"I saw you lurking here earlier, aren't you..." The old man coughed twice, his eyes flashing with a green light, "looking for me?"
Chen looked at the old man's tattered clothes, his wrinkled face, and the unhealed wound at the corner of his eye, and asked, "Is there your grave here?"
"..." The old man looked at Chen and fell silent.
"Why are you looking at me?" Chen was clearly startled by the old man's gaze.
The old man: "You are a monster."
"..." Chen chuckled dryly.
The old man: "I don't speak with monsters." Saying this, he glanced at Piao and turned his back, "Monsters are all liars, I don't trust monsters."
Hearing the old man's words, Piao lowered his eyes and thought for a moment before quickly calling out, "Old sir, when did you see a monster?"
Upon hearing this, the old man stopped and turned his head to look at Piao with vacant eyes, saying, "A long time ago."
"A long time..." Piao blinked and took two steps forward, "How long?"
"More than ten days... no, a few days?" The old man shook his head, "I don't remember."
"What did that monster promise you?" Piao asked tentatively.
Chen looked at Piao's back and frowned.
Gu Xiao was thoroughly frightened by the chilling soul aura emanating from the old man and remained pressed against the wall, not daring to move.
A Xia: "..." She quietly watched Piao's back, feeling that she might be able to glean some clues from this old man's words.
The old man stared at Piao in silence for a few seconds, then tilted his head and said, "If you can help me, I'll tell you."
"What do you want me to help you with?" Piao asked respectfully.
Seeing Piao's amiable demeanor, the old man took two steps forward and said, "Take me to find my body."
"How long have you been gone?" Piao asked.
"Gone from where?"
"How long have you been dead?"
"Dead..." The old man repeated, looking up towards the top of the city wall, "A very long time, so long that I've forgotten."
"Several years?"
"Years," the old man mused with Piao's question, "Oh dear, a very long time."
"..." Piao's eyes darkened.
Seeing Piao's speechless expression, the old man said, "One year."
"One year?" Piao repeated, looking up at the city wall like the old man and said, "You are from here."
"Yes, my children and grandchildren were many. The day I died, my great-grandson was born. What a joyous occasion, but unfortunately," the old man lowered his head, "I spoiled everyone's mood."
"Eh?"
"If I had held on just a bit longer, until the next day to die, it would have been..."
"Are you blaming yourself?" Piao interrupted.
The old man: "Shouldn't I blame myself?" His voice choked, but no tears fell.
"How old were you?" Piao, not understanding mortal customs, asked this.
The old man didn't care about Piao's question and truthfully replied, "Ninety years old."
"Ninety years old."
"Yes, the next day I would have been ninety-one. My great-grandson and I, we are..." Halfway through his sentence, the old man suddenly remembered something and shook his head, "No, it's five generations, a great-great-grandson."
"Then congratulations."
"Congratulations for what? I'm still dead." The old man's eyes were vacant.
Piao looked at the old man's appearance and considered his age, a look of confusion appearing on his face, "You've been gone for a year, and logically, you shouldn't be here. Also, why do you want us to help you find your body? Your body..."