Siheyuan: tomb robbing? I am serious about hunting.

Chapter 1041: Sudden Destruction

She met Shen Yanzhi's gentle gaze. His eyes, filled with smiles, were like a spring breeze sweeping across a lake, rippling the water. Lingxi's heart skipped a beat, and her cheeks instantly felt hot, as if they'd been roasted by charcoal. She hurriedly lowered her head, not daring to meet his gaze again. The sweet scent of osmanthus flowers lingered in her nose, richer and sweeter than ever before. Moonlight streamed through the window lattice, casting a shadow over them like a thin veil. The shadow of the osmanthus tree swayed across the ground, as if telling an unfinished story. Lingxi knew that her heart, like the Mid-Autumn moon, had quietly become full. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest, its thumping louder than the wind, as if it would leap out of her chest at any moment. "This way!" the young man in black suddenly shouted, shining his torch toward the old locust tree. Lingxi's pupils narrowed as she watched the green chains, gleaming eerily in the firelight, swing towards her. The runes on the chain lit up in the moonlight, emitting a power that suppressed demonic energy, causing her throat to tighten and she could barely breathe. Just as the chain was about to wrap around her neck, a white shadow burst through the air, piercing the darkness like a flash of lightning. Shen Yanzhi had caught up with her at some point. He was still wearing his moon-white robe, but now it was a little disheveled, his hair a few strands loose. In his hand was a wolf-hair brush, the tip dipped in bright red cinnabar. "Break!" Shen Yanzhi shouted softly, and with a flick of his wrist, the wolf-hair brush drew a golden talisman on the chain. The moment the talisman left his body, it made a soft buzzing sound, like a golden butterfly, crashing into the green chain. With a crackling sound, the runes on the green chain dimmed instantly, and the chain fell to the ground like a dead snake, emitting puffs of black smoke. The two men in black took a few steps back, shocked by the power of the talisman, and stared at Shen Yanzhi's sudden appearance in surprise. "Master Shen, get out of here!" Lingxi screamed. She could smell the yang energy in his body being eroded by the resentment of the mass grave. It was the smell of pure life colliding with the foul aura of death, like fire meeting ice. But Shen Yanzhi protected her behind him, the cinnabar on the tip of his pen drawing a bright arc in the night, forming a golden barrier that separated her from the man in black. "I said I would protect you." His voice trembled slightly, and it was obvious that maintaining this barrier took a lot of his energy, but his tone was remarkably firm. The moment the man in black was forced back by the talisman, a gust of wind blew, lifting Shen Yanzhi's sleeve. Lingxi's eyes accidentally swept across his wrist, and her pupils suddenly constricted—it was a lifelike birthmark of an ink bamboo, the veins of the bamboo leaves clearly visible, and the lines at the bamboo joints were exactly the same as the mark of the Demon Suppression Division recorded in ancient Qingqiu texts! The Demon Suppression Division, the mysterious organization whose mission is to slay demons and monsters, was one of the culprits in the bloodbath at the border of Qingqiu three years ago! Lingxi felt dizzy, as if the ground beneath her feet suddenly cracked open, wanting to swallow her. She looked at Shen Yanzhi's tall back, at the glaring black bamboo birthmark on his wrist, and suddenly remembered the hot tea he warmed for her, the sweet cakes he bought for her, and the poems he read for her. Those tender moments now turned into sharp knives, piercing her heart. It turned out that he knew she was a fox from the beginning. It turned out that his approach to her might have been a scam from the beginning. Seeing that they could not break through the barrier for the time being, the men in black exchanged glances, turned around and disappeared into the darkness of the mass grave. Shen Yanzhi then put away his wolf-hair brush and turned to check if Lingxi was injured, but met her eyes filled with shock and pain. "Lingxi, you..." Before he could finish his words, he was pushed away by Lingxi. She stumbled back a few steps, her eyes filled with strangeness and fear, as if she were looking at someone she had never met. "Are you from the Demon Suppression Division?" Lingxi's voice was hoarse, each word rasping from her throat, tinged with the taste of blood. Shen Yanzhi's face paled instantly, his lips moving but no words uttered. Moonlight streamed across the mass grave, illuminating the scattered bones and paper figurines, as well as the tears streaming down Lingxi's face. She looked at the white-clad scholar who had once captivated her heart and inspired her dependence, and suddenly felt incredibly unfamiliar. It turned out that human warmth could truly be a poison that pierced the intestines. Lingxi would never return. That little fox with the fragrance of grass and light golden eyes had been pushed away by him. And he could only guard this empty study, clinging to those memories of her, in endless regret, waiting for forgiveness that might never come. Like a warning from a small animal whose tail had been stepped on. Shen Yanzhi paused, the cloth resting on the wound above her knee. He raised his head, his eyes filled with an indelible guilt, like a thick fog. "I guessed it when we first met." Lingxi huddled in his arms, her nose nuzzling against his collar, where the faint scent of ink, mixed with the scent of the grass and trees of Qingqiu, made her feel incredibly at ease. She finally understood that to like someone didn't mean you had to become like them, it didn't mean a fox had to give up its tail, nor did it mean a human had to hide their identity. It was that you were willing to stay in this secluded valley for me, giving up the prosperity of the human world; I was also willing to accompany you to see the mountain streams and rivers of the human world, and to enter the world that once frightened me. It was mutual tolerance, mutual understanding, and the determination that no matter where you come from, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. In the distance came the laughter of foxes, the little foxes of the tribe chasing and playing under the moon, their silver bell-like laughter echoing in the valley. The moonlight of Qingqiu gently fell upon them like a thin veil, stretching their shadows far longer and intertwining them, making them indistinguishable from one another. Shen Yanzhi lowered his head and gently kissed her forehead, the warmth of his lips carrying the coolness of moonlight and the sweet fragrance of osmanthus. "Lingxi, I will be with you for the rest of my life." Lingxi snuggled closer into his embrace, burying her face in his chest. She could hear his steady heartbeat, like the eternal tide in the depths of a cold pond. The scent of ink mixed with the sweetness of osmanthus at the tip of her nose was reminiscent of the warm and fragrant autumn night when they first met—the lanterns in the alley flickered, he bent down to pick up the fallen osmanthus cake, the ink bamboo on his white clothes swaying gently in the wind. Back then, she was unaware of the complexities of the world and only thought the scholar's voice was pleasant; back then, he might have guessed her identity, but he still extended a kind hand. From that moment on, the thread of fate tightly entangled them together, passing through misunderstandings and hurts, and finally weaving a perfect picture under the moonlight of Qingqiu.