Chapter 68: Lin Jianguo

If he doesn’t tell me, there’s really nothing I can do.

He turned and walked towards the cabin, and I could only follow him in silence. Staying on the deck no longer made any sense. Was I supposed to just stare at the desolate scenery?

The cabin was quiet, and the middle-aged man had no intention of keeping me. I looked at the scenery outside the window with a look of resignation, and couldn’t help but ask the middle-aged man, “How long will it take to reach the destination? Is there no fixed number? I heard you muttering before, but you didn’t die, you didn’t change. In this strange thing, is time also stopped?”

But the cabin was still deathly silent. It seemed that the middle-aged man’s patience had run out and he didn’t want to answer any more of my questions… I felt bored and there was nothing I could do, so I walked down to the cabin in a daze.

But at this time, I heard the middle-aged man talking to himself in a very low voice.

I guess he didn’t want me to hear him, so he kept his voice down, but I’ve always had excellent hearing, so I could still hear his broken, indistinct voice: “Another one… When will it be… I’m getting weaker… Liu Er… Do you still believe in me…”

In fact, he said a lot of things, but these key words can also roughly guess some meaning. I heard it, but I subconsciously organized the meaning of his words, but I vaguely felt that there was a key point in the words that I had ignored with my full heart.

One step, two steps… I walked silently towards the cabin, but when the third step had not yet been taken, I suddenly stopped and then turned around, looking at the middle-aged man with some fanaticism in my eyes.

The middle-aged man was still frowning and muttering to himself, not noticing me at all, but at this moment, I suddenly felt that I was much more comfortable looking at this person.

I didn’t know how to start a conversation with him, and I blurted out, “Lin Jianguo!”

With a ‘pop’, the wooden sign in the middle-aged man’s hand fell onto the low table. He first lowered his head, as if to organize his emotions, and then suddenly raised his head. His originally calm face was filled with shock, and then he said bitterly, “Lin Jianguo… no one has called this name for many years.”

“Are you really Lin Jianguo?” My emotions suddenly became excited. There have been so many strange things in Shengcun, and my mind has never stopped. So I almost forgot about Lin Jianguo and Liu Er, who had mysteriously disappeared from the town. I never dreamed that I would meet them on such a strange bloody ship.

The scenery outside that kept repeating itself was no longer important. What was important was that life was like this. When you are at a dead end, you have already reached another point without realizing it. That is where the ups and downs of life lie. That is why it is so hard to forget the present and let go.

“How do you know I’m Lin Jianguo? In fact, even if the people in Shengcun know me, they only know me by another name, Lin Jingu… Could it be…?” Lin Jianguo thought of a possibility, frowned slightly, but immediately shook his head to deny it, saying, “No, it can’t be… you’re still too young.”

“There’s nothing to doubt. I’m from that town! I heard you call out Liu Er, so you must be Master Liu Er… that’s why I judged you to be Lin Jianguo.” I walked over and sat down across from Lin Jianguo, saying excitedly.

If it really is him, there may still be hope for breaking the deadlock. This man full of mystery may be the key to my one in ten thousand hope of breaking the deadlock.

Lin Jianguo looked at me with a slight excitement when he heard me say this. After a long time, he said, “It turns out that you really came from the town. That place once carried all my hopes, but it also became all my guilt… How is that town? No, you don’t need to tell me. It should be bad. I know what I can do.

It is indeed not good. When Lin Jianguo asked this question, the ebony plaque on the low table began to vibrate slightly. Before, it was restrained in its breath, so I never noticed this very smooth ebony plaque that had been rubbed. Now I discovered that it was emitting a strong spiritual aura… This… I looked closely and saw that this was… the finest soul-nourishing wood!

It is almost extinct, and it is truly unprocessed wood that has not been artificially treated. It is natural!

“All the important people in my life, my family, my friends… the only shelter I can provide is this. Do you know? My second daughter and my youngest son are sleeping inside, as well as my wife, my brother-in-law… and my only friend, Liu Er. Liu Er, since you’re so excited, come out and meet me.” Lin Jianguo lovingly picked up the ebony plaque and said softly to it.

A soul-nourishing wood like this is almost too luxurious to house several spirits. I don’t doubt what Lin Jianguo said, but I still can’t help but feel sad about what he said. All the important people live in the form of spirits in a wooden plaque. How sad is that?

“Calm down,” Lin Jianguo said to me, and then asked with concern, “Can you feel Liu Er?”

“Actually, you don’t need to open your third eye. It has lived in the soul-nourishing wood for so many years, and it is powerful enough. I can see it vaguely and hear it.” I said seriously while suppressing my breath.

“Oh, I forgot, you are a cultivator, and only cultivators can sit on this ship.” Lin Jianguo’s tone returned to its usual flatness, but it was much kinder to me.

Soon, I saw a figure appear behind Lin Jianguo. Was it Liu Er, who had always been on the righteous path? Although I could only see his appearance vaguely, I could clearly see the square-jawed look between his eyebrows. Even though it was a soul that belonged to the yin, it was still like that.

“Master Liu,” I called out respectfully, but I didn’t know what to say after that.

“Is the town… is the town okay? My… my family… friends…” But Liu Er, who was standing behind Lin Jianguo, didn’t notice my respectful attitude at all. As soon as it appeared, it excitedly mentioned the town and the people it knew in the town. Because it was too emotional, its soul was a little unstable, and it felt like it was about to dissipate.

Of course, this was not really going to dissipate, but was just caused by excitement. I thought of everything that had suppressed the town, and for a moment I didn’t know how to open my mouth to look at Liu Er.

Seeing my attitude, Liu Ershu was silent for a long time, and then sighed and said, “I expected this. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have taken the risk of letting Jianguo take me back to deliver a letter. You can tell me. I can handle it.”

At this point, I really had no need to hide anything anymore, so I organized my thoughts and began to tell him everything about the town…

The journey was like a never-ending one, and the color of the sky never changed. I don’t know how long it took, but by the time I finished speaking, I was dry and thirsty, and Master Liu was standing there in shock!

The atmosphere became unusually silent at this time. After a long time, Liu Er’s soul suddenly bent over and slapped his knees, crying out in grief, “My son! My poor little boy…”

The voice was exaggerated like a drama, but in fact it was the sound of true sorrow. What was even more unbearable was that it was so sad. In my eyes, his face was blurred and even his expression was distorted, but not a single tear came out. Why was such a punishment given to such a good person?

Is it because the heavens are unjust? Or is it because a person who is about to reap the fruits of his actions is destined to endure more trials and hardships? Only then can he pass the harsh test of the heavens?

I have no answer, and the heavens are not something I can speculate on. Lin Jianguo and I were both silent, allowing Liu Er to vent. After a long time, Liu Er probably felt that he could not bear it anymore, and in a situation that neither Lin Jianguo nor I had anticipated, he went straight back to the soul-nourishing tree.

In some cases, people really need to be alone.

“I am the only hope that the town sent out with my life.” I looked at Lin Jianguo and said solemnly.

Lin Jianguo was silent, and his eyes inexplicably revealed a hint of sadness.

“And I also carry the one-tenth hope of my friends, and another person who is very important to me is trapped in Guidaowan. Because I just couldn’t remember something, and now I finally remember it. I’m afraid our destination is Guidaowan, right?” I added.

“Yes!” Lin Jianguo said briefly.

“Help me, you’re the only one who can.” I said seriously.

“Help you? Why me?” Lin Jianguo’s expression was a little dazed.

“You just said that all your important people are in the soul-nourishing wood, your second daughter, your younger son, your wife, your relatives, your friends… but you didn’t mention your eldest son.” I looked at Lin Jianguo, and my eyes wouldn’t let him avoid them.

Lin Jianguo’s whole body shook inexplicably!