The wind at night is very cold. Fortunately, the paper crane Zongci rented had a protective cover on it. After paying the spiritual stone, he sat on the top of the crane's head and meditated, calmly adjusting his breath.
The thousand paper cranes flew slowly in the air all night, very smoothly. When it gets dark, you can open your eyes and see the towering city below that is crowded on the vast land.
Suzaku City is located on the edge of the northern border. It is an ancient capital city that has been around for a long time. There are many people who come and go with extraordinary abilities and strangers who travel in both worlds. It is a geomantic treasure land and the center of Dragon Vein.
This city was once the royal capital of a certain country. Later, due to divine punishment, the palace was filled with blood one night. People were so frightened that they rushed to tell each other. Gradually, the rumors became more and more intense, and later countries did not dare to set their capital here, wasting a great dragon vein. There are some casual cultivators who have no roots and sects and have come here specifically to live here and practice with the remaining dragon veins. It is much better than living in the wilderness.
It was early morning when he arrived. Standing on a high place and looking around, you can not only see the lanterns left on the river, but also the lantern riddles tied up in the flowerbeds on the street. They are all red, with colorful paper strips scattered on the ground. There are only a few pedestrians on the street.
"This is your first time coming to Suzaku City." The boss of Qianzhihe Station smiled and said: "Our city lord is also a cultivator. In order to accommodate the mortals and monks, the city held a Lantern Festival last night. The monks went to the river to light lanterns and pray for blessings. People go to the streets to enjoy the lantern riddles, which has always been our tradition. Every year, many literati from Zhao come to recite poems and write poems. "
"I see." Zong Ci nodded, walked down the stairs, and slowly walked from the station on the outskirts to the city.
Zong Ci has also been here before, or in other words, Zhuque City has an indissoluble bond with him.
Two thousand years ago, this was the capital of Qi State. Ling Yun, who had just built the foundation, was sneaked here by Qingxu Ziti, and was forced to massacre all the palaces, completely cutting off the worldly ties, and then entered the ruthless road.
For many years to come, although Zong Ci did not feel guilty, he was still a little disappointed.
The State of Qi was indeed the culprit that led to the demise of the State of Chu. Zong Ci would naturally want to take revenge if possible.
But revenge is revenge, and he has not yet reached the point where hatred has completely consumed his mind. Except for the monarch, ministers and generals of Qi, how innocent are the old, weak, women and children in the palace? If he also followed the example of the Qi army and bloodbathed Suzaku City, what would be the difference between him and those people who only knew how to burn, kill and plunder livestock? Innocent people should not have to suffer the suffering caused by the greed of those in power.
After he returned to Taiyan Sect, he never heard news about Qi again, and he didn't hear about it again until a long time later.
The only good news is that after Qing Xuzi led him to bloodbath the palace, Qi State did not directly perish. Some Qi ministers and generals seemed to have gathered around a new emperor and moved the imperial capital out of Suzaku City to another place with good feng shui.
This also made Zong Ci breathe a sigh of relief. At least the people of the Qi State would not be displaced like the people of the Chu State. When the surrounding countries saw the Chu State's destruction, they all wanted to take a bite. They were forced to do so by the war. Not to the point of leaving home.
Zong Ci walked towards the city while looking around.
The streets are neat and tidy, the eaves of the two weeks of buildings are high, and the lanterns are hung all the way in the air, making the city of Suzaku feel warm and cozy.
Lingyun cultivated immortality for nearly a thousand years, and another thousand years passed after his death. Two thousand years have passed. Not only has Suzaku City not declined, but it has become more prosperous as history progresses. Although the original Qi State eventually disappeared in the long river of history, the later Zhao State also managed this place very well.
The young man in white is as graceful as jade, with sword-shaped eyebrows and starry eyes, standing out from the crowd.
In the early morning, there were gradually more and more people on the street. Pedestrians still looked back frequently and secretly praised the young man from the street. He looked talented and lively. The female family member covered with gauze opened the bead curtain from the carriage. After just one glance, it was impossible to look away.
Zong Ci did not pay much attention to these.
The note didn't specify where to meet in Suzaku City, but he wasn't in a hurry.
Thousands of years have passed, and since Lingchou can become the master of the ghost realm, his cultivation is naturally different from the past. It is not a problem to expand his spiritual consciousness and cover several Suzaku cities. Now all he had to do was wait.
Simply, Lingchou seemed more anxious than him and didn't keep him waiting too long. While Zong Ci was casually wandering around the city, a mute servant came forward respectfully and led him all the way around, and the crowd became increasingly sparse.
They walked out of the city gate and headed towards the outskirts of Beicheng.
On a loess slope with sparse vegetation, a man in black robe stood in front of a stone tablet, exuding a strong ghostly aura. That is the aura that only high-level ghost cultivators have when they come to the mortal world.
He turned around, and when he touched the boy, his originally obscure and deep black eyes suddenly revealed a look of panic, which was extremely frightening. Lingchou subconsciously took two steps forward, but stopped one step away from Zong Ci, his brows filled with confusion.
"Brother...you are here."
The voice of the Lord of the Ghost Realm was hoarse, and his eyes never moved away from the young man's face, but it made the mute servant following Zong Ci shake like a sieve.
This is Lingchou, not through the water mirror. The man was in a hurry at night, and his identity was revealed. Zong Ci's mind was like a mess, but now he had completely figured it out and calmed down.
His eyes passed over the man's face, and he felt a little confused.
Lingchou is more mature than she was a thousand years ago. In other words, with the tempering of time, now that Zong Ci looks at this face carefully, he can still feel the ruthlessness and coldness like a knife, and the thick sinisterness around him.
Along the way, Zong Ci's mood was very calm, just like the last time he stabbed the water mirror without hesitation. But when he really saw Lingchou, he felt uncontrollably sad inside, as if he was twisting his internal organs. , sinking uncomfortably.
He is not a cold-hearted, desireless iron man. Although he is determined to cut off these insignificant pasts, he is still sad.
Qing Xuzi watched Ling Yun grow up. Ling Yun watched Ling Chou grow up.
Lingchou has always been a very well-behaved child. Although he was taciturn when he was a child and liked to wear dull black clothes, he really didn't need his elders to worry about him. He occasionally said a few words and was very sweet and well-behaved.
For those who practice Taoism, the closest thing to them is their master. The master is like a father, and the junior brother is like a biological brother. Zong Ci once had a father and a brother, but none of them survived that night, so he cherished these hard-won feelings even more.
They were once close friends who talked about everything, brothers who were famous in the world of cultivation. They also traveled to the ends of the earth with swords, drank in the fields of moonflowers, and walked countless times in the world together.
At any rate, Rong Lian still didn't know about his deep love. But there was no misunderstanding between Lingchou and him.
But Lingchou still did that.
He didn't know what the other person looked like behind the mask of obedience, and he didn't know the struggle and pain he heard that night after he was drunk.
He thought they were close friends, but in fact their hearts were far apart.
—He has never understood this junior brother.
"I told you, don't call me senior brother. You have betrayed the school and have nothing to do with me anymore."
The young man in white brushed away the non-existent dust on his clothes with a very indifferent expression, "This is the last meeting between you and me. No matter what happens in the future, dust will return to dust and soil will return to soil. I have no intention of pursuing the past anymore."
At this point, Zong Ci felt his throat felt dry and sore, so he lowered his head and coughed twice.
"Tell me, you come out to me, what's the matter?"
He raised his eyes and inadvertently glanced at the stone tablet behind the man in black.
The corners of the stone stele have been weathered and become pitted, and the original sharp strokes have become blurry and difficult to identify with the passage of time.
Zong Ci stared at the stone tablet for a long time before he saw what the word was.
The former site of the Imperial Palace of Qi State
After hundreds of people died tragically in the imperial palace of Qi State overnight, Qi State's old ministers and generals evacuated from Suzaku City.
The people in the city couldn't hear any sound in the palace that night, and even the Forbidden Forest Army guarding outside the Qi Palace couldn't notice anything unusual. When I opened the palace door the next day, I saw a river of blood, like a hell on earth.
It is said that the blood soaked into the floor tiles for several feet, and it rained heavily for three days and three nights, but it could not be washed away.
It is precisely because of this that rumors spread among the neighbors that the king of Qi State had angered the gods in the sky and was punished by heaven. From now on, the former site of the Qi State Imperial Palace was also regarded as an unknown representative. As a result, the entire Zhuque City was moved several kilometers southward. Over time, the former Imperial Palace of Qi became a deserted place. The blackened palace pillars stood alone, and there were broken walls and ruins everywhere. Even those who lived on the outskirts of the city Children are afraid to come and play. It is said that women can be heard crying every night, and there are many rumors of hauntings.
Two thousand years have passed, no matter how glorious it once was, it can only be reduced to a barren slope of loess with sparse weeds.
Just as Zong Ci was staring at the stone tablet, the hoarse voice of the Lord of the Ghost Realm sounded.
"Before joining the Taiyan Sect, my surname was Li."
Li.
This is not a common surname. The most famous surname Li is the surname of the emperor of Qi thousands of years ago.
The boy in white's heart suddenly jumped, and an almost absurd and unbelievable premonition emerged in his heart.
Zong Ci suddenly remembered that Qing Xuzi brought him to the Qi Palace a thousand years ago. When he regained his consciousness and threw away his sword and knelt on the ground, the man in green robes said something coldly.
"There is still one person who is not dead. Ling Yun, pick up your sword and kill him."
And how did he do it
Zong Ci looked at the blood staining the world, knelt on the ground, and said that his earthly connection was broken.
He didn't want to be stained with unnecessary blood anymore.
And now...
Zong Ci's face had long since lost the cold expression. He raised his eyes in shock and looked directly at the black-clothed ghost cultivator in front of him.
Li Chou closed his eyes, his brows filled with pain that had been suppressed for a long time.
"Senior brother, I am the crown prince of Qi."
"He is the only person in this palace who has survived."
####
The night is long.
At the top of Taiyan Sect's main peak, Qing Xuzi finished his meditation.
Just now, he once again tried to mobilize his whole body's spiritual energy and rush into the obscure part of the sea of consciousness, intending to break through his mental barrier in one fell swoop.
This is extremely dangerous. Even if he is a powerful person in the tribulation stage, irreversible accidents may occur due to reckless actions.
But Qingxuzi didn't want to wait any longer.
He fell asleep last night after a long time, but he couldn't help but dream of that scene again.
The sword master in white fell from the clouds, his spotless clothes dotted with specks of blood. Just like his face as handsome as cold jade, the corners of his lips bloomed with gorgeous red plums.
None of this stimulated Qing Xuzi. What really made his eyes darken completely were the scarlet eyes of the sword master in white.
He was possessed.
Only those who are possessed by demons will have red eyes and black fairy bones.
This was not the first time Qing Xuzi dreamed of Ling Yun being possessed by a demon, but every time he saw him, he still couldn't restrain his raging anger.
After forming the Nascent Soul in Lingyun, he went down the mountain and traveled around the world, leaving the first disciple without hundreds of years of cultivation. Only when he returned to the sect did he find out that Ling Yun had a great chance encounter in an ancient secret realm. He had directly passed through the late Mahayana stage and reached the transcending tribulation. He was soon preparing to transcend the immortal tribulation, surpassing his master's achievements of thousands of years.
Seeing Ling Yun again, Qing Xuzi suddenly realized that he had transformed from the little prince in white clothes into a sword master who could destroy everything with one sword and cut off Hongmeng with one hand.
It stands to reason that after so many years, the memory should be blurred. But it wasn't until now that Qing Xuzi realized that all of this was still vivid in his mind.
He could clearly remember Ling Yun's appearance, expression, and the gradually extinguishing light in his eyes.
Let's do it.
There seemed to be a voice urging him.
This should be the case, after all, Qing Xuzi has been dragged into this memory more than once during these thousand years. In the first three hundred years, he raised and lowered his sword without hesitation. Six hundred years later, although he hesitated, he never stopped.
Perhaps it was a mental block that was hard to get rid of. In the past hundred years, Qing Xuzi deliberately suppressed himself and never dreamed about it again. He didn't expect that today would be so sudden.
At this moment, the sword master in white raised his eyes and smiled.
That smile was extremely bewitching, turning all living beings upside down, and paired with those blazing red devil eyes, it was like a silent temptation.
He put his hand on his heart, opened and closed his lips and teeth, clearly saying: Master, I feel so much pain.
The man in green robe suddenly had sharp eyes.
Qing Xuzi knew better than anyone that Ling Yun could not show such an expression, let alone say such words.
But his hand holding the sword was still shaking, starting from the tiger's mouth, spreading to the palm of his hand, to his fingertips, and finally he could barely hold the sword firmly.
A sword cultivator can't hold the sword steadily. What does this mean
It means that he is not sincere, his heart is not good, and he can no longer draw the sword.
If it happens again, the possessed Ling Yun falls from the clouds, and Qing Xuzi will not be able to use that sword again.
Because... Ling Yun is his biggest inner demon.
Qing Xuzi suddenly roared, shattering the illusion like crazy.
The Tsing Yi Taoist boy woke up on the futon, his whole body soaked in sweat, his majestic spiritual power spurted out, his body grew, and he returned to the posture of a man.
This should be the first time in the past thousand years that Qing Xuzi has been in such an embarrassing situation since he became famous. It's a pity that this time I tried desperately to break through the mental barrier, but it still seemed like nothing.
The man's pale eyes were dim, looking at the faint skylight outside the window, he suddenly seemed to remember something and frowned.
The Taiyan Sect in the spiritual consciousness is normal, and the disciples in Tianzi Cave Mansion show no signs of returning. The residence of the Tianji Sect Master on the other side is still as usual. Qing Xuzi's cultivation level is lower than that of the Sect Master, so nothing can be found.
Last night was the Lantern Festival, and Zong Ci sent a message to him before going down the mountain, saying that he was going down the mountain to put out lanterns and would leave the cave for a while.
But it’s just a simple light. It’s almost bright today, why haven’t you returned yet
Qing Xuzi once wanted to train a disciple who would inherit his legacy, but unfortunately Ling Yun disobeyed him. Maybe for thousands of years, he has been holding on to his heart and developed inner demons, which is also the reason why his wishes have not been realized.
If it were to happen again, with the same seedling, could he...
To untie the bell, the person who tied it must also be tied. Since the problem lies with the apprentice, maybe accepting another apprentice will help him break through the mental barrier.
However, remembering the faint ghost energy on the young man last time and the explanation given by the Law Enforcement Hall, Qing Xuzi closed his eyes, pinched a spell with his backhand, and activated the sound transmission spell that had been left on the boy in white. This technique allows him to hear what's going on on the other side.
He wanted to see what a disciple in the Qi Refining Stage could do if he stayed out all night.
He couldn't be... a spy from the Ghost Realm.