mchenry-crisis.org Chapter 439 He drew his sword and killed
Chapter 439 He drew his sword and killed
Mo Chengyue pushed the Yuhua sword onto the threshold with his left hand, the tip of the sword lifting the end of the cloth strip, so that the old silver light was reflected right below the boat sign.
The three debts on the ship's nameplate sank simultaneously, the wet black characters began to distort, and the water stain between the debts of "one soul" and "one eye" was cut by the old silver aura, as if a dividing line had been drawn on the account book.
Manager Hu stared at the cards, not daring to read aloud.
"It stopped."
"Um."
Why?
"Ah Sui's old silver aura doesn't recognize the seventh eye."
The words on the ship's nameplate continued to change. The four characters "欠魂一盏" remained, but "欠眼一" slid to the side, with black water seeping between the strokes, as if an invisible pen was rechecking.
Shopkeeper Hu's breathing became erratic, and he quickly pressed his sleeve to his mouth to prevent water from dripping onto the box.
"Is it checking accounts?"
"Under inspection."
"Can it be detected?"
"If the account name doesn't match, it has to be blocked."
The unlit boat outside the gate did not move backward, but its bow sank slightly, revealing four new characters on the wet, dark boat sign. The characters were deeper than before, as if they were emerging from the wood.
The account name does not match.
When Manager Hu saw those four words, his eyes instantly reddened, but he didn't let the tears fall.
"It admitted it."
"It's just stuck."
"It's enough if it gets stuck."
"Not enough."
"What else do you want?"
"Force the person issuing the tickets to come out."
Manager Hu followed his gaze to the bottom of the broken ship in the abandoned shipyard. The black mud that had been dormant there began to bulge upwards, and a wet laugh came from under the rotting planks. The laughter was not the soft sound of a young girl, but only the cold, damp sound of water squeezing out of the wooden hole.
The voice of the Seventh Eye came from beneath the black water.
"Are you using her anger to test me?"
Shopkeeper Hu tensed up, protecting the small box even more tightly. The lamplight flickered on the side of the box but did not fall to the ground.
Mo Chengyue looked at the wrecked bottom of the boat, and used the tip of his sword with his left hand to pick up the strips of cloth and prevent the old silver from being exposed outside the door any longer.
"Come out and explain the situation."
The seventh eye is laughing underwater.
"She was me all along."
Manager Hu spoke in a cold voice.
"You are not."
"Sister, why don't you understand?"
"Don't call me sister."
"She has been in my lamplight for twenty years. The shore she has seen, I have also seen. The hearth fire she remembers, I also remember. The pain she fears, I also know. When she cries, I cry for her."
Shopkeeper Hu gripped the edge of the small box with his fingers. He was about to curse, but when he saw the old silver light inside the Soul-Sealing Talisman shrink back, he suppressed his voice.
"You dare claim what you stole as yours?"
The seventh eye's wet smile circled up from the bottom of the boat.
"Steal? The Red Lantern Boat gave her the light, gave her the vision, and gave her the chance to stay together for twenty years. Without me, she would have been drowned long ago."
Mo Chengyue placed the Yuhua Sword across the threshold, his face expressionless.
"It sounds like the accounts of a shady old shopkeeper."
Manager Hu glanced at him.
Who are you insulting?
"I didn't insult you; you're not that bad."
"You're still so clear-headed at a time like this?"
"The accounts must be clearly separated."
The laughter of the Seventh Eye subsided, and half a red thread emerged from the black mud at the bottom of the wrecked ship. The red thread was wrapped around the rotten wood, and something seemed to be pushing upwards from under the cracks in the wood.
"Mo Chengyue, do you really think the No-Light Ship will listen to you?"
"It won't listen to me."
"Then what are you doing all this time?"
"It listens to the account."
Who wrote the accounts?
"Whoever issues the invoice is responsible."
The Seventh Eye's voice turned cold.
"Ah Sui's soul is in my lamp, her name is on my boat, her eyes are here with me. It is only right and proper for me to take her back to my boat."
Mo Chengyue looked at the still-present mismatched account name on the ship sign outside the door, and the blood-stained talisman on his right palm was still hanging from the black water. He pressed down on the hilt of his sword with his left hand, causing his shadow to retract into the talisman ash.
"You can't say it's just common sense."
The Seventh Eye Question.
"Who should calculate it?"
Mo Chengyue raised his chin.
"The accounting office is outside the door."
The words on the sign for the ship without lights sank after this sentence, leaving the sign blank for a brief period before new, wet, black characters reappeared.
Eye examination.
Manager Hu's expression changed immediately upon seeing those two words.
"It needs to see."
"Um."
"Whose?"
"The Seventh Eye."
"What if she takes Ah Sui out with her?"
"So don't let the box leave your chest."
Shopkeeper Hu held the small box against his chest, with the white paper lamp pressed tightly against the side of the box. He used his other hand to cover the edge of the soul-sealing talisman with his sleeve, not allowing even a sliver of light to leak out.
"I'll stay here."
Mo Chengyue stared at the bottom of the wrecked ship.
"Seventh Eye, the accountant is calling roll."
There was no immediate response from the black water. Only the sound of rotting wood being pushed aside came from the bottom of the boat. Half of the sleeve of the red wedding dress emerged from the mud, draped wetly over the edge of the broken boat, and below the cuff was a hand that had turned white from being soaked in water.
Manager Hu instinctively reached down to look at the small box, but Mo Chengyue immediately spoke up.
"Don't look inside the box."
"I didn't see it."
"She can imitate Ah Sui's way of playing the box."
Shopkeeper Hu's hand, which was already nearing the lid of the box, immediately withdrew his fingers from the lamp handle upon hearing this.
Sure enough, two soft knocking sounds came from the small box, the rhythm almost identical to when Ah Sui woke up earlier.
Manager Hu bit his lip and did not respond.
The Seventh Eye chuckled softly underwater.
"Sis, you're not even asking if I'm in pain?"
Manager Hu stared at the hand at the bottom of the wrecked boat, the hatred in his eyes shining brightly in the lamplight.
Whether you're in pain or not is none of my business.
"But Ah Sui is in pain."
"Ah Sui is in the box."
"Her eyes are on my face."
The lamp in Manager Hu's hand almost went out of control, and Mo Chengyue's sword immediately pressed down on her shadow.
"Stay calm."
Manager Hu's shoulders and back were tense, and he remained kneeling on the ground without moving.
"What did she say?"
"She's using her eyes to lure you in."
"Is that eye really Ah Sui's?"
"Let's see if she dares to let the accountant verify it."
The Seventh Eye's hand gripped the edge of the wrecked boat, and she lifted up the black mud bit by bit. Half of a red wedding dress was pulled out from the bottom of the boat, half of the fabric charred black, and the other half still retained the dark red of the burnt wick. The red veil was gone, and the exposed face was pale from being soaked in water.
When Manager Hu saw that face, he forced the words out of his throat.
The face was incomplete; the left side still held the cold, blank expression of the seventh eye, while the right side contained half of a living person's eye.
The eye was half-open in a wet, red socket, with a light-colored pupil and a small old scar at the corner of the eye.
Manager Hu recognized the wound.
Those were marks left by the red silk frame when Ah Sui fell near the woodpile as a child.
The white paper lantern swayed in her hand, the light almost illuminating her feet. Mo Chengyue used his left hand to tuck the back of his sword against the hem of her clothes, forcefully pinning her dragged shadow back behind the dry leaf line.
"Manager Hu."
Manager Hu's voice was terribly hoarse.
"I saw it."
"Don't admit it."
"I know."
"Don't shout."
"I know."
"Don't let her look at the box with that eye."
Shopkeeper Hu immediately turned the small box to his chest, using his shoulder and lampshade to block the soul-sealing talisman, preventing the half-eye on the seventh eye's face from looking at the box lid.
Seventh Eye lay by the wrecked boat, black water dripping from half of her red wedding dress. The half of her eye, which belonged to Ah Sui, slowly turned toward Manager Hu's arms, the old wound at the corner of her eye gleaming faintly silver in the lamplight.
She laughed, but her voice returned to the soft tone of a young girl.
"Sis, I'm here."
Shopkeeper Hu closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, the white paper lantern in his hand had stabilized.
"You are not her."
The seventh eye's face was pressed against the edge of the boat, a wet light flashed in half of its eye, and black water slid down from its eye socket.
"Then why don't you dare look at me?"
Shopkeeper Hu held the small box even tighter and spoke slowly, word by word.
"Because I was afraid of dirtying her eyes."
Upon hearing this, Mo Chengyue finally extended the Yuhua Sword across the threshold with his left hand, the tip of the sword pointing at the half-eye on the Seventh Eye's face. At the same moment, the words "Eye Examination" on the signboard of the unlit boat outside the door sank into the wood grain.
A line of wet black characters reappeared in the blank space of the ship's nameplate. Just as the strokes began, a cracking sound came from the bottom of the broken ship.
The seventh eye suddenly looked at Mo Chengyue, the old silver light in its eyes was swept up by black water, as if it wanted to press the new words on the ship's nameplate back.
At this moment, the red patterns on Mo Chengyue's right palm lit up, and Yu Linhong's lingering spirit took the opportunity to rush outward, trying to drag his hand toward that eye.
Manager Hu asked urgently, "What does the ship's license plate say?"
Mo Chengyue looked at the unformed words outside the door, then at the seventh eye crawling out from the bottom of the broken ship, and steadily pressed the tip of his sword against the ash on the threshold.
"It's going to write up the false accounts."
The seventh eye raised its face, half of the red wedding dress spread out in the black water, and the half eye that belonged to Ah Sui stared at the small box in Manager Hu's arms, a cold, wet smile seeping from the corner of its cracked lips.
"Sister, once the debts are settled, I really can't go back."