Sword Qi to the Sky

Chapter 21 Grandfather and Grandson
The old man lived on the edge of Lin'an County. Li Fan and Li Hongyi followed the old man for a long time.

Judging from the old man's pace, he had probably left home in the middle of the night to go to the City God Temple to pray for his granddaughter.

The houses in the old alley were in tatters, as if they could collapse at any time. There were puddles everywhere on the road. In a narrow, dilapidated courtyard, an old man sat on the floor outside a door that was about to decay, saying, "Xiao He, I went to the City God Temple again today to pray for you."

"You haven't recovered yet, probably because the merits from your offerings are not enough. Grandpa doesn't have the ability, so I can only accumulate them bit by bit. When the merits are enough, you will definitely get better."

"Today, Grandpa met two young people in the City God Temple. They were very polite and called me Grandpa. Although the girl had her face covered, her eyes were really beautiful. She was as spiritual as you and in good health. I wish you could be like her after you get better."

"There is a young man beside her, I think he is her husband. He is so handsome. When you get well, grandpa will find someone to match you up with. Can you also find a husband as handsome as her?"

As the old man spoke, there was some longing in his eyes, and he even smiled, a rare smile.

This fantasy picture is so beautiful.

The old man kept talking to himself, saying: "Xiao He, you must be hungry. Grandpa will cook for you."

As he said this, he got up with difficulty, walked to the side, picked up firewood, counted the rice grains and put them into the pot. After finally starting the fire, the old man was already sweating profusely. He walked to the side, picked up the bark next to him, and started to chew it.

But due to his old age and bad teeth, he had to gnaw it bit by bit, chewing it in his mouth and swallowing it with difficulty.

Li Hongyi couldn't bear to watch it anymore, so she walked inside. Li Fan pulled her arm. Li Hongyi glanced at him, and saw Li Fan walked in front of her, outside the yard, and shouted, "Grandpa."

The old man looked up and calmed himself down before he saw clearly that it was Li Fan and the other two. He supported himself and tried to get up, but saw Li Fan take a step forward and said, "Grandpa, just sit down."

"Why are you here?" the old man asked.

"I heard from you, grandpa, that your granddaughter has a strange disease. I have learned some medical skills, so I came here to see if I can help. Don't mind, grandpa." Li Fan said.

"The place is small and there is no place to sit." The old man felt a little restrained.

"It's okay, we'll just sit on the ground." Li Fan sat next to the old man, and Li Hongyi sat down with him.

"This thing is not good for your health." Li Fan said to Li Hongyi beside him, "Madam, go buy some food."

Li Hongyi: “?”

Are you addicted to acting?

"Okay..." Li Hongyi stood up and walked out.

"How can this be good?" said the old man.

"Doctors are kind-hearted, so don't mind it, Grandpa." Li Fan said.

The old man's eyes were red, and he looked at the beautiful couple in front of him and said, "That's great."

"But Xiao He is shy and doesn't talk during the day. I'm afraid he won't come out."

"It's okay, I can wait." Li Fan outside already understood what was going on.

Xiao He might know the truth about the City God Temple.

Not long after, Li Hongyi came back, carrying a lot of things in her hands, like a normal woman, not like the red fairy from Lin'an County at all.

"Oh..." The old man just sighed and wiped his tears when he saw this scene.

"I feel guilty, old man." said the old man.

"Old man, you said that you got better after your granddaughter went to the City God Temple last time. Maybe you were about to get better. Now that you have prayed to the City God many times and Xiao He is still not getting better, why don't you go there in the future?" Li Fan advised.

"Young man, there must always be some hope in life." The old man understood this, but what else could he do?

Besides this, what else can be done?

Li Fan understood that praying to gods and Buddhas was probably also for peace of mind and hope.

It’s a pity that what he prayed to was the evil god.

"Life is so tiring." The old man sighed, "But for Xiao He, I have to hold on. If Xiao He really gets into trouble, I will die with her."

Li Fan suddenly felt sad.

Li Fan did not break the old man's fantasy, which was the old man's hope to stay alive.

Li Fan was chatting casually with the old man. As the sky gradually darkened, the temperature in Lin'an City seemed to have cooled down a bit.

The old man waited until it was completely dark before knocking on Xiao He's door and saying, "Xiao He, the young man I mentioned to you is here. He knows medical skills and is here to help you."

No one responded.

The old man shouted a few more times, but still no response.

He felt a little disappointed, looked at Li Fan, and said, "Xiao He is shy, I'm afraid she doesn't want to come out."

"Grandpa, you go and rest first. I'll wait for a while. If Xiaohe refuses to come out, we will leave." Li Fan said to the old man.

"That's good. The county town has been in chaos recently. You must be careful when you go back." The old man reminded.

Li Fan nodded, and the old man went to the woodshed to rest.

"Miss Xiaohe, we want to ask you something." Li Fan walked to the door and said in a low voice without responding.

"About the City God Temple." Li Fan said again. Still no one responded, so he walked back to his original seat and sat down.

As the night deepened, the gloomy atmosphere in the dilapidated courtyard grew thicker.

Li Fan and Li Hongyi had no intention of leaving for a long time, so they just sat there waiting.

A cold wind blew, bringing with it a hint of chill, and the dilapidated door made a creaking sound.

When Li Fan turned around, he saw a figure standing silently behind them. Her hair was disheveled, covering most of her face. The half of her face that was exposed was pale, and her eyes were ferocious. It was actually a female ghost. "Xiao He?" Li Fan asked in a low voice.

The female ghost was stunned and pulled her hair to the sides, revealing her pale and bloodless face. She just stared at Li Fan.

Li Fan also looked at her.

Female ghost: "..."

Why don't they run?

"Xiao He, is that you?" the old man's voice came. The female ghost looked flustered and said, "Grandpa, don't come out."

"Okay, grandpa won't come out. They are here to help. Xiaohe, just chat with them." said the old man.

"it is good."

The female ghost responded obediently. She stared at Li Fan and Li Hongyi and said in a ferocious manner, "I don't need any help."

"Miss Xiao He, we are cultivators." Li Fan responded. Xiao He was stunned, then knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Li Fan, saying, "I have never harmed anyone. I beg you to spare me."

No wonder Li Fan was not afraid. Maybe he was here to deal with her. If she was gone, grandpa wouldn’t be able to bear it.

"Miss Xiaohe, we are not here to hurt you. We just want to ask you something." Li Fan said, "Shall we go out and talk?"

"Okay." Xiao He nodded and straightened her long hair. She no longer had the ferocious look she had before, but instead looked a little weak, appearing to be only fifteen or sixteen years old.

Li Fan was stunned when he saw that the other person was younger than himself, then walked out silently.

The two of them took Xiao He to the rooftop nearby. Li Fan asked, "Miss Xiao He, we saw your grandfather kneeling down to worship the City God in the City God Temple today. After asking, we learned about your situation. Is your death related to the City God?"

"Sir, I know nothing." Xiao He knelt down again in fear, his ghost body trembling slightly.

Li Fan wanted to say something, but saw Li Hongyi walking forward.

"Miss Xiaohe, we are cultivators. We have nothing to do with the City God, and we don't believe in ghosts or gods. A number of women disappeared the other day, and I suspected it was related to the City God, so I went to the City God Temple to check." Li Hongyi said softly, "Is it the City God?"

Xiao He's body trembled even more violently. Li Hongyi said again, "Xiao He, it takes Grandpa half a day to go from here to the City God Temple and back. His body can't stand it. Do you want to continue to torture Grandpa like this?"

Hearing Grandpa's words, Xiao He couldn't hold it anymore and knelt on the ground and said in pain: "I don't want to go either. I have tried to persuade Grandpa, but Grandpa insisted on going. If Grandpa knew the truth, he would definitely go to the City God Temple to ask for an explanation. I will kill Grandpa."

"Grandpa is weak and can't stand the wind and waves. I shouldn't continue to exist in this world, but Grandpa is old and I can't worry about him. If I am gone, Grandpa will not be able to live..."

"Xiao He, tell me what happened?" Li Hongyi asked.

Xiao He looked up at Li Hongyi, still a little hesitant, but seeing Li Hongyi's sincere eyes, she finally spoke: "That day I went to the City God Temple to pray for grandpa, and it was late so I stayed in the temple to rest. That night the City God appeared in front of me, asked about my family situation and took me to the basement of the City God Temple. It turned out to be a prison there. The City God, he, he..."

Xiao He fell into painful memories and said, "That was the City God, a deity. He actually imprisoned women to take their Yin energy. After being humiliated, I was also imprisoned. I was so angry that I crashed into the prison and died. I don't know how I became a ghost and escaped back to Grandpa. I just wanted to accompany Grandpa one last time."

Li Fan and Li Hongyi fell silent after hearing this. They thought that Xiao He must have turned into a ghost because of the heavy resentment and negative energy.

"Let's go." Li Hongyi suddenly turned around and said.

"Where are we going?" Li Fan asked.

"City God Temple." Li Hongyi said.

"No hurry." Li Fan looked at Xiao He and said, "Miss Xiao He, you can go to Fulong Villa to find Sister Xiu and Mr. Liu. Just tell them that Li Fan asked you to go. Maybe they can help you."

"Okay." Xiao He didn't know if she had heard it or not, and said to Li Fan: "Sir, can you please not reveal that it was me?"

"Don't worry." Li Fan nodded. Xiao He knelt down to thank the two of them and then returned home. She found the old man sitting outside. He smiled kindly when he saw her come back.

"Xiao He, you're back."

"Grandpa." Xiao He nodded.

"Xiao He, come to Grandpa."

"Grandpa, I'm cold."

"It's okay, Xiaohe, come here." The old man waved his hand. Xiaohe hesitated for a moment and sat down one step away from the old man.

The old man looked at his granddaughter, and his eyes became redder and redder. Xiao He asked, "Grandpa, what's wrong with you?"

"Xiao He, tell grandpa, are you dead?" The old man's eyes were bloodshot.

"Grandpa..." Xiao He stood up in shock.

"It has been very cold at home since you came back. You refused to go out during the day and only came out at night." The old man said, "Those two young men are obviously not ordinary people. They are not afraid of the cold at all and stay out at night. Maybe they are immortals flying around."

"Grandpa is not stupid, it's just that grandpa doesn't want to think about it." The old man cried bitterly: "Xiao He, grandpa failed to take good care of you. I'm sorry for you and your parents."

"Grandpa." Xiao He knelt beside her grandfather and cried.

"Xiao He, let grandpa hug you." The old man stretched out his hand tremblingly. Xiao He knelt down and walked to the old man. The old man hugged her gently, his hand passing through Xiao He's body.

The old man smiled, held his hands in the air, closed his eyes and said: "Xiao He, don't be my granddaughter in your next life. Remember to marry into a good family."

"Grandpa, Xiaohe will be your granddaughter in the next life." Xiaohe said crying.

When she looked up, she saw that her grandfather's eyes were closed and he was dead, but he was still holding her.

"Grandpa, let's go together." Xiao He rested her head in the old man's arms, and her body gradually disappeared.

In the small courtyard, two shadows appeared, one old and one young, holding hands, and gradually disappeared between heaven and earth.

(End of this chapter)