Lianghe Town is located at a transportation hub, with prosperous businesses and lively markets.
What is rare is that the streets here can still be kept clean and orderly, and the public security environment is also good. Not only are there few thieves who steal chickens and dogs, but there are not many beggars begging on the roadside. The nearby merchants Laohe like to gather in this town to do some safe business.
Obviously the local official who governs this place is a capable official.
Yuan Xianger and the others were walking along the street, and when they were about to reach the Heshen Temple, they saw a doctor in a pharmacy carrying a medicine box and was hurriedly dragged out by a patient's family.
The passers-by who watched the lively by the side talked a lot.
"Which family is this? There are so many people with this disease recently."
"It's the only son of the old Wu family in Jiekou. The person who was fine last night seems to have lost his soul this morning, and he fell asleep for no reason. The family is in a mess now, and they are asking for doctors everywhere."
An old man clapped his hands and sighed: "Look at the number of people this is. It's useless to ask a doctor. If I want to say, I have to ask an expert to come and take a look."
"Who said it wasn't," said the person beside him, "I heard that Lord Xianzun invited a mage from the Qing Yi Sect in Kunlun Mountains, and is now checking it near the River Temple."
"Oh, why is it a Master of the Qingyi Sect?" Some audience members were curious and leaned over to discuss, "How could such a big event not invite a real person from the Dongxuan Sect of the state religion."
The person who spoke first lowered his voice: "You don't even think about it, once the Dongxuan Sect is disturbed, it is equivalent to letting the officials know. Now that the triennial exam is approaching, our town has done a very good job in all aspects of performance. How can the gentlemen let these bad things go to the sky at this juncture? Naturally, it is better to suppress them secretly."
Everyone showed a look of sudden realization.
Yuan Xianger was a little surprised to hear this,
Qing Yi Sect is a sect with a completely different style from Dongxuan Sect.
Compared with Dongxuan Sect's strong style, it has a prominent reputation. Many of the teachers of Qingyi Sect lived in seclusion in the Kunlun Mountains and practiced ascetic practices. Unless by chance, very few people can ask them to come forward.
When Yuan Xianger was dealing with General Qiu Yueming, he met a monk of Qingyi Sect in Mobei. The monk named Qingyuan had a sphinx apostle who used Zhuyandan and Yanshouwan. Yuan Xianger's exchange for Nanhe has always been fresh in Yuan Xianger's memory.
When we arrived near the River Temple, it turned out that at the intersection of the temple, the yamen of the county government had already blocked the entrance and exit.
"What does this delusional disorder have to do with the River Temple? Why does the mage come to this small temple instead of the patient's home?"
"The outfits of these mages are too shabby, aren't they swindlers who cheat money?"
"No, the magistrate has always been wise, I just wait for the people to watch the fun with peace of mind."
Is there anyone, like myself, who noticed something wrong with the River Temple? Yuan Xianger held Donger and squeezed into the crowd. She couldn't get in, and couldn't see clearly from a distance, Nan He jumped out of her arms and stepped on the roof to a high place.
"Can Dong'er tell me, why did you say that Lord River God is gone?" Yuan Xianger squatted down and asked the little girl beside her.
Dong'er thought for a while, "Sister, you can see it too, right? My mother brought me to the River Temple, and I often saw a white-bearded grandfather and an uncle in black playing chess in the temple, but other People can't see them. I think that's the river gods, but they've disappeared recently, and the whole temple is dead."
"Dong'er was frightened by your father last night?" Yuan Xianger touched the little girl's head and comforted her. Usually, a child of this age would easily leave a shadow in her heart when she faced domestic violence.
Dong'er hesitated for a moment, "No, it's not my father, it's my mother,"
She raised her head and looked at Yuan Xianger: "Mother, she seems to have become another person, last night..."
She was about to speak, when a screeching sound came from the River Temple,
"Where did the monster come from, be bold!"
I saw a mage in the temple jumped on the roof. The mage was wearing a hydration suit, with a silk sash around his waist, holding a patterned bronze sword, wearing double-eared hemp shoes, and a long mustache. Appearance of an adult.
He held a sword in one hand and paralleled his fingers in the other, facing a silver-white puppy squatting on the roof like a big enemy.
The puppy rolled his eyes, jumped off the roof, and with his petite stature, squeezed into the crowd and quickly disappeared without a trace.
"Hey, where did the goblin run!" The Master shouted, jumped up and chased, accidentally knocked down a few people watching the fun while running, leaving his apology along the way,
"I'm sorry, fellow, I'm sorry, fellow."
"Why are you yelling like this? Shouldn't it really be a magician?"
"Oops, bumped into someone!"
"Why did the mage run after the dog?"
…
After chasing them out of the city for several miles, the long-bearded mage caught up with Nan He.
"Look... see where you're going!" He panted and pointed his sword at the little wolf demon in front of him.
The little wolf of unknown breed turned around in the white reed field and looked at him indifferently,
The bright sky suddenly darkened.
The gate of heaven opens, and the stars appear in the daytime.
A small wolf the size of a milk dog dragged a huge and simple animal shadow from behind.
The mage was terrified and knew that he had encountered an unprecedented powerful enemy, but at this time, he could not turn around and run away. He had no choice but to grit his teeth, bring out his magic weapon, and was about to launch an attack.
"Eh, eh, don't do it." A man in the distance rode a monster that resembled a lion, drifting leisurely from the white reed flowers.
When I got closer, I realized that it was a very young mage, also wearing a simple hydration Taoist uniform, with a silk sash around the waist, hemp shoes on his feet, and a blue hat on his head.
If Yuan Xianger was here, she would probably say a coincidence. This mage was the Qingyuan she had met once in the north before.
The over half-hundred-year-old Master Longbeard saw the young man, but bowed his head respectfully and said, "Master."
"I said emptiness." The real Qingyuan squatted on one leg, one leg hung down, sitting leisurely, "You have been practicing with me for so many years, can't you even distinguish the apostle? This one has nothing to do with this matter, he An apostle to someone else's family."
The mage named Xuji was taken aback, and then he looked carefully, and sure enough, he found a flash of the seal of bond between the wolf demon's eyebrows.
Qingyuan rode on the back of the demon and looked around Nanhe for a while, "Hey, the last time we met, you were still in the period of separation. I didn't expect you to become an adult so soon, it's really excellent."
He touched his chin and looked at Nan He seriously, "I said to you, would you like to be my apostle? If you are willing, I will always be able to exchange you from your master at any cost."
"No." Nan He only said one word.
"Don't be so quick to refuse, follow me back to Kunlun Mountain, where there is delicious food every day, you can take a hot spring every day, I will send a special person to comb your hair and massage your skin..."
"Do not."
"Is she that good?" Qingyuan didn't give up, "Look at me, how can I not be as good as your master? I look so good and live longer than her."
The words "live longer than her" hit Nan He precisely. He couldn't help but raise his head. Qingyuan looked very young, but he had a forty or fifty year old apprentice, which must be a secret technique for prolonging life.
Qingyuan grasped his momentary change in mentality, "No matter how good she is, she won't be able to accompany you for much time. Come to me, I'm different, I can still walk a long way with you."
He bent down and stretched out his arms towards the little wolf on the ground.
"I said that this fellow Daoist is too despicable to secretly pry other people's apostles while others are away." Yuan Xiang'er arrived in time.
She glanced at Qingyuan angrily and stretched out her hand towards Nanhe. Nan He trotted a few steps, jumped onto her palm, and was embraced by her.
Qingyuan showed a look of disappointment, and wrote to Yuan Xianger: "What a coincidence, I said goodbye in a hurry last time. I never thought that I would be able to meet fellow Taoists again in such a place."
Yuan Xianger bowed back, "My residence is not far from here. Fellow Daoist may tell me, what happened in Lianghe Town?"
"Of course," Qingyuan said of the news he had heard from local officials, "a few days ago, the residents of this town suddenly fell into a coma for no reason. The county magistrate therefore asked Kunlun to come to Kunlun, and I came to see it. Look."
When he talked about the serious business, he finally looked serious, "I checked the patients, and all of them lost their souls, leaving only a body that can breathe. If you can't find the reason, these people will die within a few days. It will gradually wither and die, time is running out, and we haven’t gotten any new news yet, so it’s a bit tricky. If fellow Daoists are also interested in this matter, you can communicate with us.”
Just when Yuan Xianger and Qingyuan were discussing the illness, in the Zhang family courtyard, the Zhang family daddy woke up from a hangover.
The man covered his aching head, looked at the messy home, and walked out vainly. The many pieces of porcelain on the ground were smashed by him when he got angry last night, and the meteorite that suddenly fell from the sky smashed the roof of the house and is still inlaid on the floor. The whole night passed, and the house was still so messy, the man couldn't help but feel anger in his heart.
Perhaps there was still some guilt in his heart when he first acted on his wife. His wife was submissive and powerless to resist, and he gradually discovered the joy of wanton venting. Having accomplished nothing, he seems to have regained his confidence as a man from the raging violence.
Let's continue, anyway, venting your emotions doesn't need to bear any consequences, and the other party can't escape his own palm.
"It's bad luck," he said, looking at the leaky roof. "I don't know who brought such bad luck."
He took a few steps and saw his wife sitting calmly in front of the dressing table, dressing in the mirror.
"Smelly lady, your husband is awake, and he doesn't know how to step forward to wait on him, and he is still sitting here carelessly?" He took a few steps forward, raised his palms, and wanted to give Lin Shi.
The wrist was caught in the air.
The person who grabbed his wrist was actually his always gentle and virtuous wife.
The wife's skin is very white, and her fingers are on her wrist, and the weak whiteness is particularly conspicuous. But at this moment, the fingers that were supposed to be soft were tightly clamped around his wrist like iron tongs.
"What's the matter, you... let go, let go first." Zhang Dalang's wrist hurt, his momentum weakened, and he shouted in a guilty conscience.
Lin shi just held his wrist and looked at him, her green jade arms, delicately scratching her head, and a faint smile with bright eyes.
His wife has always been Duanfang and old-fashioned, even if the affair between husband and wife is very difficult to let go, far less charming than those little ladies in Huajie. Zhang Dalang had never seen her look so delicate and tender, and his heart tickled again.
He softened his voice, "Miss, let go first, or I won't hit you. Let's go back to the couch together and do something merry."
Lin's smile became brighter, she held Zhang Dalang's wrist, slowly pulled him towards her, and suddenly pressed him to the ground with a backhand,
"You don't beat me anymore? But I promised her that she would give you a meal."
"Let go... Let go first, you hurt me, let's go back to the couch, I'll let you do whatever you want. Hehe."
Lin reached out and picked up a wooden ruler on the dressing table for cutting clothes, and weighed it in his hand, "That's what you said."
The thick ruler carried the strong wind and slapped Zhang Dalang's back fiercely.
Zhang Dalang let out a howl like a pig,
But his always gentle wife picked up the filthy cloak that had been thrown on the ground and shoved it into his mouth, blocking his voice.
"Don't start shouting so quickly, husband. When you beat me on weekdays, I didn't even shout."
The flexible wooden ruler, placed in this woman's hands, turned out to be as tough as an iron bar. He slapped Zhang Dalang's back and legs hard again and again, and the pain didn't kill him.
Zhang Dalang has been lazy all his life, and he can't do anything unless he succeeds in writing. The pain made him cry. He wanted to resist, but the force of the woman pressing him was so strong that he had no room to struggle. I wanted to ask for mercy, but I had no choice but to make a humming sound.
At this moment, he suddenly knew what it was like to be bullied under his body and have nowhere to ask.
The woman around him seemed to be an emotionless creature with a face, and the wooden ruler in his hand fell like raindrops. The pain caused him to die and live countless times, and the pain seemed to never end.
Woo... woo... Forgive my life, I will never dare again. Zhang Dalang cried and begged for mercy with his eyes.
It was not until the wooden ruler snapped into two pieces that Lin stopped and stood up.
Zhang Dalang looked at the woman in front of him with snot and tears, and prayed that her anger would be extinguished as soon as possible.
As long as I pass this level and this time, I will definitely put this crazy woman to rest, he thought fiercely in his heart.
"It's so boring, what's the point of such a man?"
Zhang Dalang heard a strange sound coming from the air. The sound that was clearly coming from his wife's mouth was like another person.
The man bent over and picked him up, ignoring his writhing request, dragged him all the way across the rubble and pushed him onto the bed,
"Don't you want to have fun with me?"
The familiar and unfamiliar face bent down to look at him, with red lips and tender lips, like drinking blood,
"Send you to Elysium now?"
A man's voice sounded in the air.
Zhang Dalang felt that there was a strong force pulling him forward. He seemed to have left his body, drifted forward in a daze, and was sucked into a dark bottomless abyss.