Want to Sleep
Yes, she was carried.
...
Yingshi remained dizzy and disoriented all the way until she was carried back.
Her face had regained its fair complexion, and her hair still carried a hint of lingering moisture. She had recovered a bit of spirit and no longer looked as pitiful as she did when night first fell.
"Actually, I could have walked by myself," she said, though it was an afterthought.
Yes, she could have walked, so why had she silently acquiesced just now?
Huh?
Even though her body was so exhausted that it refused to listen to her, making her feel the phantom pain of having just run a women's three-thousand-meter race, she wasn't so tired that she couldn't walk at all.
But then again, thinking about it seriously, she had run much more than a mere three thousand meters today! Why was her fate so bitter?
Shuangjian ignored this expired polite refusal. He gently placed her on the edge of the bed and asked in a low voice, "Do your palms hurt?"
"...I don't feel anything anymore."
Yingshi was a little surprised. She hadn't even told Shuangjian about everything that had happened today, yet he seemed to know what kind of torment she had endured, and even cared about the red marks on her hands that hadn't even broken the skin. What a considerate and caring partner!
Feeling warm inside, she rubbed her palms against her clothes, patted the edge of the bed to signal Shuangjian to sit next to her, and got straight to the point, asking, "Shuangjian, what do you want to do tonight?"
Shuangjian gazed at her, fell silent for a moment, and suddenly said, "I want to sleep."
"...!"
Yingshi's entire body jolted.
She met Shuangjian's calm eyes in shock, remained stunned for two seconds, and then realized that it was her own mind that was in the gutter...
"Sleeping is good!" she hurriedly nodded her head vigorously, trying to cover up her embarrassment. "Time in the Infernal Temple is unpredictable. Not just you and me, but probably all the disciples have never truly slept here. When people don't get enough sleep, they easily become foolish and irritable. It is time to sleep."
She babbled a whole bunch of nonsense to ease the awkwardness of her dirty thoughts. Suddenly, struck by a bright idea, she suggested, "Hey? How about I do some ASMR for you?"
"...ASMR?"
Yingshi felt this idea was increasingly brilliant and quickly explained, "It's for sleep aid. I'll make some small noises by your ear, whisper some random things, and I can also gently comb your hair... It will be very comfortable, and you'll fall asleep in no time."
The more she spoke, the more excited she became, her face written with eagerness to try it out.
Doing sleep aid was indeed a good method. It could satisfy Shuangjian's desire to sleep, allow her to participate and earn merit points, and most importantly, she really wanted to do that to Shuangjian!
Looking at Shuangjian now, she felt as if she was looking at the ultimate edition Barbie doll she had wanted most as a child. She really wanted to take him out of the display window and do some small, experimental kneading and rubbing on him...
If she could really coax Shuangjian to sleep, she would definitely feel a great sense of accomplishment.
"..." Shuangjian hesitated for a moment.
His original intention for the suggestion was to let Yingshi rest, not to have her continue doing things and worsen her fatigue. Therefore, he pursed his lips and said, "Perhaps there will be a chance in the future, today..."
"Is today inconvenient?" Yingshi looked at him with puppy-dog eyes. "But I really want to do it. It will really be very comfortable, just try it."
Her voice was inherently pleasant, and now intentionally lowered and softened, it caused a tingling sensation to ripple by Shuangjian's ear.
Were the sleep-aiding whispers Yingshi mentioned... also like this?
Shuangjian lowered his eyes, coughed softly, and asked, "Then, how should I cooperate with you?"
"Just lie down and close your eyes!"
...
Tap, tap, tap...
Pat, pat, pat...
Click, click, click...
Shuangjian kept his eyes closed, listening to the background noise of a certain little animal working diligently by his ear, his consciousness perfectly clear.
He had heard these rustling sounds before; the large rats in the room made similar noises when gnawing on wood. So this was what was called ASMR in the macrocosm where Yingshi lived.
Yingshi didn't just continuously tap her fingers against the nearby wooden boards and walls; she would also occasionally whisper, mostly in a breathy voice. Most of it was meaningless gibberish, but occasionally, complete expressions slipped in, such as this sentence—
"Shuangjian, you smell so good, and your hair smells good too. You smell really nice..."
Then, she added, "I didn't secretly sniff you, the scent just drifted over."
Shuangjian caught this genuine, heartfelt murmur and couldn't help but smile.
The corners of his lips curled up slightly, a curve that Yingshi wouldn't notice in the darkness.
A very slight pulling sensation came from his hair. Yingshi's fingers were loosely twirling his scattered strands of hair around them, as if she were combing them, or perhaps just unconsciously playing with them.
The force of the gentle touch was so weak it was barely perceptible, yet it felt as if it sprouted countless extremely fine threads, accurately tugging at his heart.
To him, threads were bad things, but this time was different.
It brought neither pain nor restraint, but a kind of... touch that gently tied him, yet strangely made him feel peaceful.
Elusive, seemingly present yet absent, unprecedentedly... plucking at his heartstrings.
"..."
Shuangjian silently opened his eyes and glanced at Yingshi's current appearance.
"Ah, why did you open your eyes!"
Yingshi was constantly paying attention to the user's feedback. As soon as their eyes met, she hastily reached out to cover Shuangjian's eyes. "It will interrupt the brewing of sleepiness..."
Don't look at her with those deeply affectionate eyes in the middle of the night, she would get shy!
Feeling his long eyelashes brush against her palm, confirming that Shuangjian had obediently closed his eyes, Yingshi removed her hand and continued to earnestly create her primitive version of ASMR.
As time ticked by, gradually, her own eyelids began to fight each other.
The extreme exhaustion from the day surged back like a tide. Her movements of combing Shuangjian's cool, smooth hair became slower and slower, and the whispers she spoke turned into a jumble of mumbled, disjointed syllables, finally stopping completely, replaced by gradually lengthening and even breathing.
—Once again, before she could coax someone else to sleep, she had coaxed herself to sleep.
Shuangjian made his movements extremely light as he got up. He placed Yingshi back on the pillow, silently watched her for a while, and then slowly walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. He picked up the lantern outside and walked toward the other tightly shut houses.
He still had other things to do.
For example, carrying out some intimidation against the disciples who might continue to riot during the day.
...
The longest night in history was a torment of a blunt knife grinding meat for everyone.
This night was almost equivalent to the real timeline, feeling as though it lasted for several hours.
And the worst part wasn't its length, but the crisis that descended unexpectedly after everyone thought that although it was long, it was peaceful, and thus lowered their guard...
After dawn, before walking towards the courtyard, perhaps everyone had hesitated.
Recalling the knocked doors last night, that cold gaze, the threatening words... They didn't even understand why things had turned out this way. Could disciples also become part of the rules?
Walking to the giant Buddha in a state of confusion, even though they saw that it had undergone changes beyond imagination again, no one spoke up immediately.
"Do not comment on the changes to the Buddha statue, and certainly do not attempt to stop them."
The evil spirit had said, "This is not a rule limited only to the night."
He hadn't even explained the consequences of breaking it, but why was it so terrifying?
The crowd, already threatened by the night, was mentally prepared for the statue to continue changing. Yet, seeing it with their own eyes still made their scalps tingle with shock.
They had seen the appearance of the giant Buddha before.
"...Xu Yingshi?"
Someone whispered that name.
Like a forbidden incantation being cast, everyone suddenly realized it and searched the courtyard with their eyes. But she wasn't there; the young girl who had fought so hard to put out the fire yesterday was nowhere to be seen in their ranks.
The giant stone Buddha had begun to blur three days ago. Yesterday, it had completely taken on the appearance of a woman. Today, it finally revealed its true face. Although it still lacked a pair of eyes, it was already clear enough that it was Xu Yingshi.
Under normal circumstances, they should be furious right now, trying to find Xu Yingshi, or even inflicting destructive damage on the transformed Buddha statue.
But the evil spirit's warning added another layer of consideration to their minds. In short, no one yelled, let alone took the lead to shout things like "smash this stone statue."
"Xu Yingshi must know something, but where is she?" someone asked in fear. "Could it be that she was molded into this stone womb?"
"Or perhaps..."
Is Xu Yingshi the evil spirit's accomplice?
Is she the target they must muster the courage to confront in order to suppress evil?
And if they truly submitted to the evil spirit's coercion, would that show a lack of resolve and a failure to pass the trial?
Before they could sort out their thoughts, a loud bang came from the sutra-chanting pavilion at the far edge of the courtyard, whose doors and windows had remained tightly shut.
The crowd looked over in horror, only to see a wooden window on the third floor violently burst open from the inside out. Amidst the scattering wood splinters, a resolute figure leapt down from the window—someone was jumping off the building!
Without the enhancement of spiritual power, everyone was merely flesh and blood. The figure fell extremely fast, landing heavily on the bluestone slabs with a muffled thud. Her legs must have been in agonizing pain, yet the person's first reaction was actually to cover her flying bamboo hat?!
"...What's going on? Is that Xu Yingshi who was hiding?"
"Doesn't look like it... Could that be the so-called chanting monk?!"
"Why did such an important figure like the chanting monk only appear on the fifth day! Why didn't she show up earlier to guide us! From this height... surely she broke her legs!"
"Let's go take a look..."
"..."
Seeing disciples walking towards her, Bai Fangsui could hardly tolerate her own wretched state. She bit her lip until it turned pale and forced herself to stand up, enduring the severe pain in her ankles.
She absolutely refused to be helped, and absolutely refused to be discovered.
Restraining herself from stumbling, she walked step by step toward the gathered crowd under everyone's gaze.
Everyone was awed by her unique entrance. Once they recovered, they were about to ask, "Are you the chanting monk?"
Bai Fangsui acted as if she hadn't heard them, only saying in a hoarse and cold voice, "Smash the Buddha statue."
She still held onto her bamboo hat. Beneath her robes, her agonizingly painful legs trembled slightly, but she refused to let anyone notice.
"What are you doing? Tolerating an evil Buddha, letting it stand unharmed for days?!"
Her words sounded to the crowd like the reprimand of a master. Clashing with the evil spirit's threats, it actually made them unable to lift their heads in shame.
"Smash the Buddha statue!" Bai Fangsui repeated, suppressing her anger.
A few disciples who had already voiced complaints about the altered evil Buddha yesterday subconsciously walked over, but most remained motionless.
Duan Qinghe frowned, stepped forward to offer a Buddhist greeting, and asked in a low voice, "Are you also a disciple?"
Bai Fangsui did not respond to him. Instead, she turned her head and snatched a stonemason's small hammer from her side—its presence here was particularly incongruous, but no one laughed at it, because Bai Fangsui was wielding the small hammer and smashing it viciously against the giant Buddha's ankle!
The small hammer collided with the stone statue, but it did not produce the crisp sound people expected.
"...?!"
The crowd's astonished gazes fixed on Bai Fangsui's intercepted hands—what caught her was actually a stone-cast bone spike!
At the moment of impact, the originally compassionate female statue had rapidly transformed. Right before everyone's eyes, it turned into a giant evil spirit statue with a twisted face, exuding an ominous black aura!
Someone in the crowd cried out in alarm, but not at the giant statue, rather at the sky.
Incredibly abruptly, the dim yellow above the courtyard suddenly went black for a moment. Unlike the gradual, layered transition when night usually fell, the darkness of that second was completely without warning and absolute, as if the sky's light source had been switched off with a snap by a giant hand.
Dead silence.
Even Bai Fangsui froze, the knuckles of her hand gripping the small hammer turning white from exertion.
"Th-this is..."
Someone's teeth chattered.
"...It's an evil Buddha, what are you waiting for, smash it!"
The fear in Bai Fangsui's eyes was quickly replaced by a more fiery anger.
She pulled the stone hammer out from the bone spike, raised it high, and smashed it down again. Her voice cracked with agitation: "Are you still not making a move? Are you really this foolish? This is no Buddha, but an evil spirit usurping the Buddha's throne! If we cannot eradicate it during the day, then we might as well fall into the endless hell forever!"
Her words echoed in everyone's ears, and the terrifying transformation before their eyes clearly confirmed her claims!
In a panic, everyone hurriedly grabbed anything at hand that could serve as a weapon—small hammers, stones, wooden sticks, even charred wood picked from the ruins—and lunged at the giant evil spirit statue that emanated a suffocating sense of oppression.
More striking sounds rang out.
The surface of the evil spirit statue squirmed and resisted like a living creature, emitting muffled sounds that made one's scalp tingle.
With every heavy blow, the sky flickered, as if the pain and anger of this evil statue were directly polluting the daylight of this place.
There was no evening bell, no rules to stop this madness, only the darkening sky and the increasingly loud, increasingly dense sounds of hammering.
Duan Qinghe's face was deathly pale. He tried to pull back a disciple rushing out beside him, but was shoved away.
"Brother Duan! Can't you see clearly yet? How could the essence of the trial really be for us to cultivate Buddhism? Eradicating evil right now is the key!" the disciple said resolutely.
The evil spirit statue trembled under the siege. Fine cracks began to appear on its body, oozing some dark red liquid... It was already dripping with blood, proving enough that it could be injured and could perish! Seeing their progress, the crowd smashed even harder.
"...What are you doing?! Stop!"
This distinct cry failed to attract anyone's attention.
Until the person shouting stumbled and threw herself at the feet of the evil spirit statue, using her frail body to block the continuously falling weapons from the stone statue.
The moment Yingshi opened her eyes, her heart was racing with severe panic. There was no one beside her, and the daylight was shining outside. She instinctively ran out, only to find the sky above her head flickering between light and dark.
When she caught sight of what the disciples gathered around the Giant Buddha were doing, her blood ran cold, and her vision went dark for a moment!
Get away, are you all crazy?! She pushed at the hands that were continuously smashing against the evil ghost statue, crying out, Stop smashing it! The Buddha statue was clearly almost finished...
She did not know what had happened prior, but it was enough to piece together the beginning, middle, and end of the event from the current scene.
Everyone must have discovered that the Buddha statue bore her likeness, so they decided to smash it... but now, what was being struck was the evil ghost statue!
The evil ghost could not appear during the day; it was Shuangjian forcibly influencing the daytime world. Was he trying to use this method to protect the Buddha statue that was originally hers?
Was the seeping scarlet liquid Shuangjian bleeding from his injuries?
Yingshi broke down and cried, Stop smashing it! Go away, all of you, go away, I beg you! The evil ghost is not the target to be killed; as long as it is suppressed, there will be no problem. The core test of this world is the balance of good and evil, not eradicating the evil ghost! I do not believe that none of you are so-called wandering souls. If you are, you will know that what I am saying is true...
Countless words that should have been silenced by the rules flowed smoothly from her lips, because she was indeed about to become part of the rules. But why did she still feel so powerless?
Stop talking! You might as well answer us, why did the Buddha statue turn into your likeness?
Because I am suppressing the evil ghost. As long as I feed the ghost with my body so that the evil ghost no longer commits evil, the energy here can be balanced, and the goal of building the Buddha can be achieved...
You still have not explained clearly, why are you the chosen one for this?
Because I was the one who discovered the rules!
Yingshi wanted to say more, but Bai Fangsui shouted loudly: Xu Yingshi!
She stared at Yingshi's stubborn appearance, her chest heaving violently a few times. She withdrew the last trace of pity from her eyes and said murderously to the other disciples: Do not be confused by her words. She is only saying this to make us let the evil ghost go. Do not forget, she is also the source polluting the Buddha statue, the incarnation of the evil Buddha, and the minion of the evil ghost!
She raised the small hammer in her hand again. This time, the hammer head was no longer pointing at the bleeding evil ghost statue.
It was pointing at Yingshi.
The sky went completely dark.
...
It is over.
A middle-aged male voice said lightly.
With him pointing it out, the other immortal elders looked at each other, their expressions gloomy and unclear.
Perfected Lord Suhua stared blankly at the intertwining streams of light in the pool, a bitter smile appearing on her face.
Fangsui, she... She weighed her words, and after a long while said, Her temperament has become too extreme.
While the second round of the test was ongoing, the observing teachers and elders could not see the actual scene inside the Wujian Temple, but they could glimpse the changing energy fields through the pool.
I am afraid no one will pass, White-browed Elder sighed. Originally, the trend looked very good.
Yes... but the variables were also sudden, one person chimed in. Looking at it this way, the evil ghost is bound to break the seal, and the field will definitely collapse. In this year's Tiangang Martial Gathering, would it not be inappropriate if no one enters the final test?
Perfected Lord Suhua pursed her lips: Although it will end up in a situation of mutual destruction, there are still a few disciples who performed brilliantly. We do not need to worry about not being able to select people to send to the final test.
... That makes sense. I see that those few disciples who achieved comprehension are quite good.
The man whose eyes had been locked on the pool motioned for everyone to be quiet and look into the water again.
Do not worry, there are still variables. He raised an eyebrow and said, Let us keep watching.
