“It seems to be almost over.”

The bald monk picked at his earwax with his little finger as he spoke, then blew on his fingertip.

“It’s been so long.”

The dark-skinned girl was unhappy and continued, “For a host to keep their guests waiting at the door for so long, it’s really impolite. The flowers in my garden are more punctual; they bloom when they’re supposed to.”

“Heh, there aren’t many hosts left.”

The bald monk stood up and stretched.

“Hmm?”

“Let’s wait a little longer. Once it’s completely over inside, we can consider whether or not to visit the new owner.

This Xu Prefecture underground has completely changed color.”

“Changed color? Does that mean everything’s withered and died?”

“Pretty much, but something interesting happened. The person inside who’s trying to sever the Three Corpses seems to be having some trouble.”

“You Daoists and Buddhists are so strange, with all your convoluted methods.”

“If there weren’t so many convolutions, how could people spend their whole lives studying them? It’s all about leading you in circles, making you think you understand a lot, but in reality, you still don’t understand anything. When you buried your mother-in-law, you were actually severing your own past, you just didn’t realize it.”

“In that case, if I ever want to sever the Three Corpses or get rid of my inner demons, can I just bury a monk like you, or maybe a Daoist priest, and plant them?”

The bald monk suddenly shivered, put his palms together, and said piously, “Amitabha, Amitabha.”

The monk was genuinely scared because he thought that this girl probably said something similar to her mother-in-law.

But the monk figured that her mother-in-law probably thought she was being cute and innocent, maybe even patting her head and smiling at her, until she was buried in the soil herself, at which point her mother-in-law probably realized that the girl wasn’t just talking.

He dusted off his sleeves, straightened his kasaya, and the bald monk appeared a little more solemn.

“Are you going in?”

The dark-skinned girl shook her head and said, “When I was taking inventory to prepare the flowers for delivery, I discovered that the Tongcheng plantation had been destroyed.”

“Ah, that was a long time ago, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, but I forgot. I have to plant so many flowers and plants every day, how could I remember so many things so clearly?”

“That’s not right. This poor monk remembers reminding you at the time. A paper clone this poor monk left there was destroyed, causing all the greed, anger, and ignorance that this poor monk had deliberately left there to return, almost ruining this poor monk's secluded cultivation.”

“Oh, was there?”

“This poor monk remembers you even sent people to investigate.”

“Oh, was there?”

“Yes!”

“Then I must have forgotten. You know, I have to plant so many people every day, if I’m missing one or two, I just assume I accidentally planted too many. How could I remember everything?”

“Huuu…”

The bald monk took a long breath. He decided that wherever this girl was, he would immediately retreat three houses and never get close to her. Otherwise, he wouldn't know when he would be planted himself.

…………

Why, why, why is this happening!

Sever it, why don’t you sever it!

Why don’t you sever it!

The man in the black hoodie stood behind him, clenching his fists, wishing he could rush up and twist both of their heads off.

But that pen, that damn pen, began to tremble excitedly as if it were on drugs.

The pain from the wound was secondary. Even the branding of his soul, Ying Gou could endure.

The most important thing was that he sensed the mockery and schadenfreude emanating from the pen, as if it were deliberately responding to what he had said to it earlier.

It was mocking him!

Outrageous, outrageous!

At this moment, the two people who were originally sitting on the curb stood up together, as if the Salted Fish Summit had ended. The two had reached an important consensus, achieved significant communication results, and had a further understanding of bilateral relations.

Zhou Ze stood in place, watching the person in front of him slowly approaching.

The crowd was surging, and the two of them seemed like unique outliers.

He walked towards himself and entered himself again.

In the end, he gradually began to merge with himself.

As the fusion was about to end, that self seemed to leave a sentence:

“Stop here, wake up…”

The voice dissipated with the wind, and with it, the identical self also disappeared.

This time, it was not killing or destruction, but a fusion.

It was like two sides of a salted fish. It was still a salted fish.

There was no superposition of power.

For Zhou Ze, this dream was more like a thought, a re-selection of himself.

He still chose the current self, chose the current life.

When the distance was too far away, being a loafer became less difficult to accept.

Zhou Ze liked this sentence very much. It was said that this was said by Gao Xiaosong’s mother, and then Gao Xiaosong wrote it into a song.

There were fewer and fewer people on the street, as if the once-prosperous pedestrian street was also beginning to decline.

It started to snow.

The fewer people there were, the heavier the snow became.

Zhou Ze lowered his head and stayed still for a while. When he looked up again, all the idlers on the street had disappeared.

Looking around, it was very clear, very obvious, as if the vast land was a vast expanse of white, and only he and Ying Gou were left.

Not far from Ying Gou, there was also a roasted sweet potato stall. The stall owner was also gone, but the two gasoline barrels were still emitting steaming white smoke.

Ying Gou was wearing a black hoodie, most of his face hidden under the brim of his hat.

The two looked at each other for a long time.

Ying Gou said, “Aren’t you leaving yet?”

Severing the Three Corpses was not completely clean, which was a pity, but also a blessing.

The number of great derivations is fifty, and its use is forty-nine, and one is hidden.

Perhaps, perfection itself is a kind of imperfection.

Zhou Ze touched his pocket and forgot that he didn’t bring cigarettes.

But this was a dream.

He touched his pocket again and took out a pack of cigarettes.

That was the advantage of being in a dream.

Taking out two cigarettes, Zhou Ze threw one to Ying Gou, who was standing across the road.

Ying Gou didn’t catch it.

The cigarette landed at his feet.

He clenched his fists, his body trembling.

Obviously, his anger was suppressed to the extreme.

This idiot, he, he, he handed him a cigarette?

Coffee, newspaper, and sugar, plus a cigarette?

Ying Gou raised his head, revealing most of his face.

Because of the coexistence of souls, Ying Gou’s face was exactly the same as Zhou Ze’s current face. Of course, this was just a representation.

“Do you believe that if you push me, I will pull you down with me even if it means self-destruction?”

“I believe it.”

“Pa!”

Zhou Ze lit a cigarette with a lighter and blew out a smoke ring.

“Hehe, but you won’t say it if you really plan to drag me down with you.”

Ying Gou’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Zhou Ze reached out and flicked the ashes and continued, “Many people envy a lazy and aimless life, wanting to be a salted fish. But they have the pressure of life, the pressure of family, the pressure of secular ethics and morality. They have the will, but they are not free. Those who can truly be comfortable salted fish are basically from wealthy families.”

Ying Gou listened quietly and said nothing.

“Think about it from another perspective, it’s a good thing I have you living inside me, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to live so comfortably.”

Zhou Ze got straight to the point, oh no, he directly began to be shameless.

Severing the Three Corpses was not completely successful, but it was not without gain.

“Hey, you know, there’s a lawyer in our bookstore who likes to give people pep talks. I just experienced his feelings, the feeling of sitting across from me watching me bask in the sun. But since the Xie Zhi clone came out at the gate of the Public Security Bureau that night, he hasn’t said anything to me anymore.”

Zhou Ze shrugged and pointed at Ying Gou.

“You know the reason.”

Ying Gou still didn’t speak. He was so angry that he couldn’t speak.

“With you inside me, if I don’t live a little more comfortably, if I don’t live a little more like a salted fish, wouldn’t I be letting myself down too much?”

Dropping the cigarette butt, he stepped on it on the ground.

Even in a dream, Boss Zhou abided by public morals.

The lesson he learned last time when he crossed the road without waiting for the red light and was bombarded by a relic was too great.

“Are you done?”

Ying Gou asked.

“No, there’s one more sentence.”

Zhou Ze waved to Ying Gou:

“Peace.”

…………

The leather-pants woman looked at Zhou Ze walking towards her in horror.

She forgot to resist.

She also forgot to fight back.

She didn't even have the courage to move or make a sound.

She had already resigned herself to her fate. She had been completely conquered and whipped over and over again by fear. The fact that she had not collapsed at this point was already commendable.

Zhou Ze walked up to her.

The two stood facing each other.

They were less than a centimeter apart.

The leather-pants woman could feel Zhou Ze’s breath hitting her face, and she subconsciously held her breath, not even daring to offend him in the slightest!

Zhou Ze put his head on the leather-pants woman's shoulder.

The leather-pants woman trembled, but she still didn’t dare to move.

Her originally delicate and attractive face was now stained with tears.

Fear, helplessness.

Who would have thought that a ghost messenger could also have these emotions?

After all, everyone had died once.

However, the expected attack and pain did not appear.

"Pa!"

The leather-pants woman felt that her rounded, upturned bottom, tightly wrapped in leather pants, had been slapped hard, causing a ripple of flesh.

The man chuckled, “I have to say, women in leather pants are quite a sight to behold.”

The leather-pants woman mustered her last bit of courage and tilted her head slightly, only to find that this terrifying man had actually opened his eyes at this moment, no longer like before, always closing them as if he were sleepwalking.

“Yingying!”

Zhou Ze waved and shouted to Yingying on the other side of the pond.

“What’s the matter, Boss!”

“Go back and get a set of this outfit too.”

“Okay, Boss!”

——————

The fifth chapter is delivered. Long is almost losing consciousness…