He began to actively listen to the tone of the bell and distinguish the scent of the oil.
Due to the nature of Li Lan's work at that ti, as a child, he followed her to many venues and units. Bells, a common type of magic artifact, could produce different sounds depending on their material and craftsmanship.
As for the scent of the oil, it was even more particular. Different formulations used by various religious temples and offerings from different groups of believers would result in differences in the fragrance.
Soon, a figure of a monk from Esoteric Buddhism erged in Li Zhiyuan's mind.
The monk held a silver-stringed bell wrapped in pastry skin, with the scent of oil emanating all around him.
Beijing had always been a place where various sects gathered, and the Qing Dynasty was the zenith of the feudal system. The rulers saw sects as a ans to strengthen their rule, so many temples from distant frontiers had smaller replicas here, and at the very least, their branches were linked.
The young boy rembered him.
He had once stroked his head, held his hand, and introduced him to those ancient artifacts inside glass cabinets, but it was only a brief acquaintance.
As it turned out, he had t him for a second ti.
He had co here before, ca behind him, shook the bell at him while he sat there, and led him forward.
Unsure exactly how long they walked, Li Zhiyuan observed the changes in the surrounding palaces and realized he had "followed" into the Ningshou Palace Zhen Shun Gate.
In the corner of the small courtyard ahead, a well appeared, surrounded by a white railing. The wall of the well protruded, and the wellhead was very narrow.
This is... Zhenfei Well.
In the first two days when Li Lan started working here, she utilized the gaps before and after work to guide and explain this place to him.
At that ti, Li Lan still retained the appearance of a normal mother.
However, she probably sensed that as long as her son had seen or heard sothing, he would rember it, so she was reluctant to continue playing with him. She then threw him into the palace and went off to do her own work.
This well beca particularly famous because Cixi ordered Zhenfei to be thrown into it, and many tourists who ca for a visit would co to take a look.
In fact, the wellhead used to be large, not as small as it is now. The current narrow wellhead would make it impossible to throw a person inside.
After the founding of the nation, seventy-four wells in the palace were modified for safety reasons. What can be seen now is actually the wellhead stone.
Why was I originally brought here?
The question arose in his mind, and soon, Li Zhiyuan received further perception.
"Splash..."
It was as if he heard the sound of water, and imdiately, a terrifying sense of suffocation and boundless despair surged towards him like a tide.
Li Zhiyuan fell to his knees, reaching up with his hands, instinctively trying to grasp sothing.
All the painful feelings from the journey earlier seed to have beco a prelude, only for this mont's explosive outbreak!
"Ah..."
Although Li Zhiyuan was still outside the well, this sensation of drowning felt so detailed and real. Although rational mory was lost, the emotional aspect retained.
However, this feeling usually couldn't be manifested or searched for; it could only be triggered again in a corresponding environnt.
I once fell into this well.
No,
It wasn't that I accidentally fell; at that ti, I couldn't have moved the wellhead stone. Coupled with the sound of the bell and the scent of oil, I was thrown into this well by soone.
The terrible tornt continued, and the most despairing part was that you didn't know when it would end.
Li Zhiyuan's vision began to blur. He seed to see Alii shaking him continuously, concern in his eyes. But gradually, Alii's figure beca blurry, and his surroundings darkened.
In the dim environnt, lamps illuminated, casting a faint light on sothing, like a talisman paper of a morial tablet.
And where Alii originally stood, a white figure in palace dress took its place. She was also at the bottom of the well, one leg standing straight, the other bent.
Before the Eight-Nation Alliance attack, Cixi ordered Zhenfei to be thrown into the well before fleeing Beijing. A year later, after Cixi's return to Beijing, Zhenfei was finally retrieved from the well. In other words, Zhenfei had soaked in this well for over a year.
Just then, Li Zhiyuan saw the white blurred figure starting to proactively approach him.
As the distance closed, she raised her arms, and with both hands, she clamped around his neck.
But she wasn't trying to strangle him; instead, after grasping him, she began to pull backward.
It was as if she wanted to take him away, yet he remained motionless.
In the next mont, as the white figure retreated, Li Zhiyuan personally saw "himself" being taken away by her.
An exact duplicate of himself.
Soon, an even more astonishing scene unfolded. He saw that the "himself" being taken away was also looking at him.
Li Zhiyuan lowered his head and found a pair of eerily white hands still around his neck.
The two "selves" now exhibited an eerie sense of symtric mirroring.
Finally, with a non-existent "splash," he seed to breach the water's surface.
Li Zhiyuan began to gasp for air, much like his forr self had once done.
Suddenly, the scent of the oil intensified, an incomprehensible hallucinatory feeling besieged him.
His eyelids beca heavy and droopy, and his consciousness slowly descended.
Simultaneously, a conversation was heard:
"Was it successful?"
"Mr. Li, you asked to help your son exorcise his Heart Demon, but I did not see the existence of a Heart Demon within your son."
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