After a pause, Duan Xu added: "And when I'm not with you, I worry about you beyond my capacity."
He Simu's eyes flickered. She walked closer to Duan Xu, looked into his eyes, and said word by word, "You also know that this is overestimating one's own abilities."
People are indeed fragile, but she is only experiencing life briefly. He should understand that he is the fragile living person.
She still remembered the offense he had done to her.
Luda said from a distance: "Excuse me, you two, can you come over and talk?"
He Simu turned and walked away, and Duan Xu followed her and walked to Luda and Yilir.
Luda's gaze turned to his father. His father, dressed in gorgeous clothes and jewels but with a pale face, was standing in a garden full of ashes, as if something had collapsed along with the glazed tower.
He held his father's wrist and asked calmly, "Aye, except for my eldest brother and me, why didn't my brothers and sisters grow up to adulthood?"
Being too smart is sometimes not a good thing.
Iriel cleared his throat and said in a panic, "It's just... I'm sick..."
Even at this point, he was still trying to hide his differences from his proud son.
Luda seemed to no longer hope to get an answer from Iril. He turned his gaze to He Simu and said, "Can you tell me?"
He Simu looked at the pitiful old man who was getting older and older, and said calmly: "If a person wants to worship the ghost, he needs to feed it with blood regularly to maintain the connection between himself and the ghost."
Luda was silent for a moment, and a rare look of anger and pain appeared on his face. He said to Iriel: "You gave them all to the ghosts in exchange for your, my brother's and my reputation? Benefits?"
Iriel opened his eyes and could not utter a word. His beard trembled, as if he wanted to speak but could not.
"Where is the holy relic you asked me for?"
Seeing that Iriel still didn't answer, Luda looked at He Simu again.
He Simu said: "Give it to the Ghost Palace Master to help him avoid my summons."
Luda lowered his eyes and then raised them again, staring into Iriel's eyes: "Aye, is that so?"
Iriel gritted his teeth and suddenly shook off Luda's hand. His pale face turned red because of his excitement. He raised his hand and pointed at Luda angrily and said, "I am your father! Who am I doing this for? Who am I doing this for? We are looked down upon by the king's court and driven to such a small town without any assets. If I hadn't made a deal with the ghost, how could our family have made a comeback? How could you and your brother have become officials in the capital? You think you are innocent, but now you come to question me!"
Lu Da looked at his father seriously and said slowly, word by word: "Aye, making a comeback is your wish, not mine, and certainly not theirs. Since Aye has betrayed Cang Shen, I should resign and leave the royal court."
Iriel became anxious upon hearing that, he stepped forward and slapped Luda in the face. Luda did not dodge and was cut by the jewel ring on Iriel's hand, leaving a bloody wound.
"What nonsense are you talking about... Resigning? You, do you want your brothers and sisters to die in vain? Do you want to piss me off to death? You are against the Ghost Palace Master... You are still helping them. If the Ghost Palace Master turns against you, what will happen to your eldest brother? What will happen to me?"
"I will protect you."
The situation was deadlocked for a moment. It was obvious that the father and son were talking at cross purposes. When Iriel was too angry to respond, Duan Xu interrupted.
He used his unique Tai Chi skills and said, "My master should be able to find the Ghost Palace Master soon. He will soon be reduced to ashes. Master Iril doesn't need to worry about him turning against you. You said that Luda is where he is today because of your deal with the evil ghosts. I don't think so. Why did the Ghost Palace Master choose you? Maybe it was because he found that you have a special physique and you might become the son of the Danzhi priest in the future."
This Tai Chi move made up for both sides. In order to confirm it, Duan Xu turned his head to look at He Simu and said, "Your Highness, do you think I am right?"
He Simu chuckled, without even looking at Duan Xu, and just asked Lu Da: "No? Any other questions? Then I'll take a rest. I'm really sleepy after doing this in the middle of the night."
After saying that, she turned her head and walked past Duan Xu without looking at him, as if she didn't see him. Duan Xu didn't say anything either, but just followed her happily.
Luda watched them leave, then looked at his frightened and angry father and said, "Aye, we need to have a good talk."
Duan Xu looked back at them. He thought that Luda would not get the regret and apology he wanted, and Iriel would not get the gratitude he wanted.
There is a blood connection between father and son, and their love is as heavy as a mountain, but there is a rift in their hearts and they have different desires. What is there to talk about
The biggest event of the year in Fujian City was a fire in Master Iril's house. The entire garden and the famous glazed tower were burned down overnight, and the sacred objects were also lost. For Master Iril, who always had amazing luck, this was probably the most unfortunate thing in his life.
People in the whole city were talking about it, some were regretful and some were gloating. Those who were gloating said that his wives had bad tempers and countless servants were beaten to death. This was really retribution.
Iril and Luda talked all night and didn't finish until noon the next day. No one knew what they talked about, but Luda didn't mention resigning again, and Iril proposed to hand over the gold mine to the royal court and go to serve in the Cangshen Temple in Shangjing.
Duan Xu and Lu Da stood in the courtyard, watching the servants busy cleaning the yard. Duan Xu smiled and said, "Young Priest, there is a fire in the backyard. This situation is exactly what the High Priest and my master were most worried about."
Iril, a Huqi noble, abandoned his own gods and worshipped Han ghosts. This was probably not an isolated case. For decades, Han and Huqi people lived together in the north of Guanhe River. The Han people outnumbered the Huqi people by more than 300 times, and their cultural customs had a great impact on the Huqi people. Over the years, the Huqi people's behavior became more and more like that of Han people, and even their beliefs were shaken.
He had heard his master and the high priest discussing this matter. They had many complaints about the Han customs in the royal court, fearing that the country would no longer be a country and the Huqie would no longer be the Huqie. Therefore, they attached great importance to the Cang God and the Cang Yan Sutra, believing that these were the souls of the Huqi people and should be kept pure with all their efforts and not be defiled by foreigners.
"What I think is different from what our two masters think." Lu Da replied: "Why can only the Huqie people believe in Cangshen? Why can only the Huqie people read Cangyan Sutra? Whether it is the Han people or people of other ethnic groups, they should all be protected by Cangshen. The Huqie people a hundred years ago were very different from those a thousand years ago. The Huqie people who lived with the Han people should also be very different from the Huqie people on the grassland. Running water never stagnates, so it must change."
Duan Xu was a little surprised, but Lu Da saw his surprised expression, as if he had expected it. He smiled and said, "Are you curious about how I recognized you? Actually, I saw you building a sand castle in the back sea of Tianzhixiao Villa."
He lived with the high priest for a while. When he sat on the cliff at night and meditated, he always saw a boy sneaking out to build a sand castle on the beach. The sand castle would be washed away by the high tide every day, but the boy would come every night and build a sand castle again in the same place.
Out of curiosity, he once secretly observed the boy from a distance. The boy was often covered in wounds and sometimes staggered, but even so, he never stopped and was always very focused.
He remembered this child, and when the leader who knew about it that day introduced their new disciple Seventeen to them, he recognized him at a glance. This was the child who built sand castles in Houhai that year.
This boy was not a bird in a cage after all, he flew out and became an eagle.
Duan Xu was stunned for a moment, and the long-faded memory became clear again. He smiled brightly and said, "Accidentally? I let you see it."
Accidentally? You saw Duan Xu in the gap of Seventeen.
But he is not Seventeen. Logically, all the disciples of the first batch died, and the last one who survived was given a number. He saved Han Lingqiu, and there are still two disciples of that batch alive in the world, so there is no real Seventeen in this world.
This was also one of the reasons why he took great risks to ensure Han Lingqiu's survival.
Luda said: "Although the chief said you are very pious, I always feel that you don't believe in Cang Shen, right? What are we in your eyes?"
Duan Xu was silent for a while, then asked, "Then what is Cang Shen in your eyes? Do you really believe in the so-called power of Cang Shen?"
"Cang Shen is actually a kind of belief. Seventeen, you also have belief, and you should know that this power is extremely powerful, comparable to all the magic weapons in the world. The power of Cang Shen is the unanimous belief of millions of people. It doesn't matter whether the gods really exist. What is important is the agreement between us and the gods, and this agreement does not require a response from the gods. As long as those who believe in Cang Shen are still alive in this world, Cang Shen will not perish."
This was the first time Duan Xu heard from a Huqi that "it doesn't matter whether the gods really exist or not", and it was actually said by the young priest. If the master and the chief priest heard it, they would probably be furious.
Duan Xu chuckled: "One million people share the same belief... Haha, in the Cangyan Sutra, the greatest blessing from the God of Cang is to allow the descendants of the Huqi people to spread to every corner of the world. For this reason, you marched south to invade Han territory and massacred more than one million people. Is this what you did for your belief?"
"Wars have never stopped since ancient times. How can we distinguish between good and evil? When the Han people fought civil wars and expanded their territory, how many people were killed and wounded?"
Lu Da was silent for a while, then turned to look at Duan Xu: "I know there is deep hatred between our two tribes. Only time and fairness can resolve the hatred. This is why I want to reform."
Duan Xu did not answer.
The crowds of people coming and going in the courtyard were noisy, but there was only silence between Duan Xu and Lu Da. Lu Da sighed and asked, "Shiqi, how did you die? Was it an injustice?"
Duan Xu couldn't help laughing when he heard this. He was silent at first, but now he laughed loudly and said, "Why, I have been wronged and you want to clear my name? Then will you redress the 90 or so people who died at the same time as me? And the hundreds of disciples and slaves who died in the Heaven Knows? Won't the Cang God protect them?"
As soon as Danzhi was established, it was divided into different classes. Cangshen would not protect everyone equally. Luda had a beautiful wish to be high above others, and he might be a kind person, but he did not have the ability to realize his wish.
His wish will only become the freshest means of enslavement.
"In the future, we will be enemies, fighting to the death." Duan Xu said.
Lu Da was a little confused, as if he was wondering why he was still talking to him about life and death when the person was already dead. But he still smiled and said, "Before that, we can be friends, the kind that we just met by chance."
Duan Xu was silent for a moment, then smiled and patted Lu Da's shoulder and said, "Master Junior Priest, I hope we won't meet again in the future. Thank you for not exposing me back then. Now that we have parted ways, take care of each other."
At the same time, on the other side, He Simu was sipping tea in the room. The pearl she placed on the table was glowing. A familiar young male voice came from the pearl, sounding a little anxious.
"Ancestor!"
He Simu said calmly: "Why, your talisman insect reacted?"
"Yes, but..."
"Where did the Ghost Palace Master hide?"
The man on Mingzhu's side sighed and said, "If my talisman bug is not mistaken, that guy is in Nandu now."
"Nandu?"
"And in... the palace."
He Simu paused while drinking tea. She put down the teacup and laughed, "How interesting. You, the Imperial Master, are so derelict in your duty that you actually let the evil spirit sneak into the palace."