On the ninth day of the lunar new year, the guard of honor left the palace and headed east.
On the 21st, Shengjia traveled to Fenggao County at the foot of Mount Tai, and ordered people to go out of the city to build three altars for worship, Dengfeng, and Zen.
From the first day of the first lunar month, the emperor opened the altar and enshrined Zen.
There are three days in the Fengchan Grand Ceremony. On the first day of junior high school, the sage led all the people to worship at the altar of worship at the foot of Mount Tai; The Zen altar sacrifices to the gods of the earth, and the ceremony where the queen ascends the altar to offer sacrifices is also held on this day.
As for the martial arts conference, which is known as the world's most grand martial arts event, I don't know if these gangsters specially chose Suran Mountain, where Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sacrificed to Hou Tu, in order to imitate the Han Wu's ritual of enshrining Zen.
Suran Mountain is located at the northeast foot of Mount Tai, only a few miles away from Daiding, where the present-day sage enshrined Zen.
New Year's Eve, Chang'an.
The horseshoes galloped down Zhongzheng Street, and the neighborhoods behind them lit up with flames, and the guards shouted: "Who dares to ride a horse late at night!" "Stop!" "Come on, come on and stop him—"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Sirens rang through the streets and alleys, but the black horse galloped past the magnificent vermilion gate of Ci'en Temple without stopping.
The young man in black with a sword on the horse's back leapt forward, and suddenly pulled himself up from the horse's back. His figure volleyed over the high courtyard wall, leaving the roaring pursuers far behind.
Outside the Zen room.
Master Zhiyuan's withered figure moved, and he withdrew his gaze from staring at the night sky, picked up the teapot, and slowly filled the two empty cups in front of him with tea.
Footsteps sounded after a while, Master Zhiyuan didn't turn his head, and said hoarsely: "...Xin Chao."
Shan Chao's figure flashed out of the darkness, his shoulders were tense and his eyes were bloodshot. Although the corners of the knife-like mouth showed a kind of sternness, but there was a hint of madness in the whole person's expression.
Anyone who rides a horse for three days and three nights without sleep after being swallowed up by the "mirroring flowers and water moon" will become like this.
"I've been waiting for you..." Master Zhiyuan looked leisurely at the sky and asked, "Did you see that star?"
Shan Chao walked up to him and glanced back without saying a word. An extremely bright star in the night sky is moving slowly, rushing towards the mid-heaven in an unstoppable manner.
"When I saw that star, I knew it was time for you to come." Master Zhiyuan looked at the tea in front of him, shook his head and showed a hint of sneer: "Of course...other people who should know can also know."
Shan Chao ignored the stars above his head, looked down at his master for two years, and said, "I'm here to ask you something."
Master Zhiyuan didn't answer.
"When you rescued me from the monastery two years ago, I forgot everything about my past. It was because I was stabbed with a golden needle in the back of my head. We all know that there are very few people in the Jianghu who are proficient in the secret art of golden needles, so except for the one who did it In addition, I really don't know who else can help me take out the needle; after thinking about it, only two years ago, when you helped me heal my injury, Master Zhiyuan, you used a golden needle to penetrate the spine and relieve the pain in the meridians in one fell swoop. cure..."
Shan Chao raised his hand to press the back of his head near the cervical spine, and said slowly: "If the master can help again, Shan will be very grateful, and he will be rewarded in the future."
But as expected, Master Zhiyuan shook his head, his aging face was extremely tired in the shadows, and said: "The poor monk can't do it."
Shan Chao asked: "Master, can't, or can't?"
This time Master Zhiyuan was silent for a long time before saying: "I can't."
Shan Chao lifted the hem of his clothes, and sat down firmly behind the table, staring at Master Zhiyuan's cloudy eyes with eagle-like gloomy eyes.
"Someone once tried to kill me."
After saying this, he paused, because outside the neighborhood in the distance, the sound of the city guards shouting and searching was coming through the night, and then he went to the farther Suzaku Avenue.
But Master Zhiyuan on the opposite side didn't seem to have any thoughts of shouting, and gently moved a finger to turn a prayer bead: "So?"
Shan Chao loosened his grip on the hilt of Qixing Longyuan's sword.
"That person wanted to kill me twice in a row, and he was serious. But since I lost my memory and lived in seclusion in the Temple of Mercy, he clearly knew that I was here, but he never thought of killing me again, and even tried his best to protect me. " Shan Chao asked, "Does Master know why?"
Zhiyuan shook his head and said, "I have to ask that person who once wanted to kill you has anything to do with the poor monk."
But Shan Chao kept chasing after him: "Since it has nothing to do with the master, why is the master unwilling to take out the needle he stabbed in my brain? Is it because he is afraid of him, or because he is with him?!"
Master Zhiyuan's eyes fell on the cold cup of tea in front of him, and he let out a long breath after a while: "...Xinchao, you haven't had tea yet..."
Shan Chao said coldly: "No, Master, please answer me first."
Zhiyuan's hand reaching for the teacup stopped, and after a while, he finally said slowly: "You said that person protected you...how did that person protect you?"
"On the day when the prince came to Ci'en Temple on the Zhongyuan Festival, the master chose me, a disciple who had only been in the temple for two years, to show up in front of the hundreds of monks in the temple, and presented the bowl of sour fruit soup that had been poisoned in advance to the prince. .I should have been poisoned immediately after drinking the sour fruit soup, but the night before..."
Shan Chao took a breath, and a similar Chang'an moonlit night and falling snow-white robes seemed to appear in front of his eyes.
He closed his eyes and said, "The night before, at the gate of Ci'en Temple, I 'coincidentally' met the commander of the Beiya Imperial Guard who was passing by, and drank a bowl of snow lotus tea poured by him himself..."
Master Zhiyuan burst into a long laugh, but for some reason there was a strong sense of sadness in that laughter: "I see... I see! Xie Yun had already made you drink the invulnerable snow lotus, so you escaped." Dead!"
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly raised his glass and drank the cold tea in front of him in one gulp!
Shan Chao couldn't stop him, and Master Zhiyuan coughed twice, pointing to the cup of tea in front of Shan Chao: "Xin Chao, it's your turn."
Shan Chao twitched his eyebrows, and suddenly raised his hand to sprinkle the cold tea on the flowers, only to hear a slight rustling sound, and the branches and leaves that were splashed with the tea turned black and withered in an instant!
Black blood suddenly appeared from the corners of Master Zhiyuan's wrinkled lips. Knowing that the situation was over, his face immediately became black and blue visible to the naked eye.
"Why!" Shan Chao shouted angrily.
"Xie Yun has long... seen through Liu Bingjie's... poisonous plan, and knew that I might take the opportunity to get rid of you to avoid future troubles...so I fed you the unique snow lotus in advance..."
Zhiyuan leaned over the table and coughed repeatedly, each blow brought out highly poisonous blood foam, Shan Chao got up and pressed his hand on his chest, the pure qi of life and death surged in, only to hear Zhiyuan intermittently Shaking his head with a wry smile: "Then what if I... I don't ask you to come up to offer tea? What if I don't want to kill you? Xie Yun is really... completely safe, even the slightest risk..."
Shan Chao gasped slightly in disbelief, and said sharply, "Why did you kill me, master?! You took care of me for two years! You saved me from the gate of Ci'en Temple!"
However, Zhiyuan struggled to raise his cold hand, and grabbed Shan Chao's wrist that was pressed against his heart. It was a gesture that wanted him to let go.
"I've been coerced for too long, we've all been coerced for too long..."
"Who is coercing you? Xie Yun?!"
Master Zhiyuan gasped violently, his body convulsed, and there was a gurgling sound in his throat, which was the reason why the blood choked back into the trachea. His eyes drifted away, and finally he looked at Shan Chao's face that was getting closer but was becoming more and more blurred.
"Everyone was involved in this matter because of you... because of your birth..."
"The golden dragon soars from Mobei, the golden dragon... from Mobei..."
Shan Chao's pupils constricted instantly, and then dilated sharply.
"He won't kill you, because he still wants to use you..." Master Zhiyuan propped his head up with the last bit of strength, as if he wanted to get close to Shan Chao's ear, but his voice was already very vague and hoarse, almost a whisper.
"Be careful, be careful..."
"Be careful, thank you... Yun..."
Black blood gushed out suddenly, Master Zhiyuan lowered his head and closed his eyes.
Shan Chao's hands trembled slightly, and after a long while he finally put down Master Zhiyuan's already cold body, and took half a step back. In the shadows, his chest rose and fell violently, and it took a long time to stop. The starlight outlined the straight nose bridge and tight thin lips, like a stone statue with sharp swordsmanship.
Finally, he bowed deeply to Master Zhiyuan, turned around and left, and disappeared into the vast night of Chang'an's New Year's Eve in an instant.
In the sky, the crape myrtle of the Big Dipper is shining brightly, pressing towards the sky.
·
The next day, the first day of the first lunar month, Mount Tai.
The gate of the city opened suddenly, guards of honor rushed out, and all the mountains and fields were filled with bright yellow embroidered dragon banners.
The emperor left Fenggao County in this magnificent guard of honor that spread for more than ten miles, and climbed up to the altar of consecration all the way. Empress Wu led all the civil and military officials to kneel and kowtow, shouting long live, and all purple, gold and jade belts looked around.
After the ceremony, the saint went up and down the altar, and under the escort of Yin Kaiyang behind him, he smiled and walked towards the ministers waiting above the gate tower.
Empress Wu turned her face slightly, and asked Xie Yun softly, "Where's Shan Chao?"
Behind Xie Yun, the position that should have been the deputy commander was empty, and it had been empty for several days—since Shan Chao left without saying goodbye the next day when he learned that Xie Yun was going to fight for the position of martial arts leader, he has never appeared again. He must have finally become disheartened and resolutely left his master who was obsessed with power.
The corner of Xie Yun's lips twitched coldly: "I don't know."
Empress Wu was still about to say something, but at this moment, she only heard Yaoyao's voice: "Report—"
The warrior from the secret sect came on a galloping horse, leapt up to the altar, put his toes on the horse's back, used his strength to go straight up to the gate, and knelt down behind Yin Kaiyang: "Report to the sect master! The first round of the Suran Mountain Martial Arts Conference will decide the winner, Kong Donglu Tongsheng, Huashan Wang Kangyu, Emei Shen Yunsheng, Qingcheng Zhouyu, Huainan Nineteenth Daoist Chen Haiping won, and we agreed to fight again tomorrow!"
The Holy Majesty couldn't help but ask sideways: "How are these people's skills?"
"Nobody." Yin Kaiyang casually said, and ordered the warrior: "Decree the gods and ghosts, and tomorrow Jingling will clear the audience, and those who resist will be killed on the spot."
"yes!"
The samurai jumped down from the gate tower several feet high, landed on the horse in an instant, and quickly disappeared along the way he came from.
The Queen's eyebrows slanted into the clouds suddenly raised, and after a while he hesitated to ask Xie Yun: "... is he really a nobody?"
Xie Yun didn't answer, Yin Kaiyang behind the emperor calmly raised his eyes and glanced over.
——The head of the secret door is wearing a brocade robe with a black background, and the dark silver embroidered python pattern is hunting in the wind, which is in stark contrast to Xie Yunxue's white uniform of the imperial army; on the side of the empress, one black and one white, the atmosphere is tense and Tit for tat.
Xie Yun said lightly: "You won first before you say this."
·
On the second day, the sage climbed to the top of Dai, sealed the jade policy at Dengfeng altar, and announced it to the world.
At the same time, on the top of the awe-inspiring mountain dozens of miles away, a tall pole that could hardly be embraced by two or three people was erected beside a giant altar, with flags fluttering on the top of the pole, and the four "World Martial Arts" vigorously The large characters of stood upright under the gloomy sky.
The high altar was filled with disciples from various sects, and the five candidates who won the first battle yesterday stood in the open space, only to hear the voice of Chang Qingzi, the head of Wudang, echoing across the mountain: "... The sect is in charge, oppressing the martial arts in the Central Plains, all the decent sects are gathered here today, to join hands in the great plan to eradicate the evil way!... "
Suddenly the crowd on the outer layer erupted in terrified cries, Chang Qingzi looked up, and the sound stopped suddenly.
I saw that the valley was covered with iron chains at some point, and hundreds of masked men in black clothes were holding on to the iron chains, roaring from all directions, and in an instant, they climbed to the top of the solemn mountain, surrounded World Martial Arts Field!
Changqingzi shouted loudly, "Who is here?!"
"Since the martial arts from all over the world are gathered together, why is there no such thing as my god and ghost sect?"
Everyone looked back in shock, only to see hundreds of men in black stepping out of the way, a young man with huge double hooks, fiery red hair and handsome face came out more and more, climbed up to the altar with a smile, and hugged the crowd .
"Jing Ling, the first disciple of the Shengui Sect, heard that you are choosing the leader of the world's martial arts, so I came to join in the fun and ask you for advice."
Everyone was stunned for a while, and when they came back to their senses, discussions and cursing erupted in the audience.
"It's the crusade against your gods and ghosts, and you still have the face to run for the leader of the martial arts?!"
"I am extremely arrogant! I really think that there is no one in the Central Plains martial arts!"
"Get him out, get him out!"
Changqingzi stomped the vajra stick, then raised the end of the stick to point at Jing Ling, and said coldly: "The Shengui sect ran rampant, burned, killed and looted, and the destruction of more than a dozen small sects is all related to you, let alone not so long in advance." The massacre of the Forging Sword Village was also caused by you! Today is the place where famous and righteous families gather, and it is not the place where your gods and ghosts should come, so hurry up and disperse!"
However, Jing Ling looked at Chang Qingzi and smiled slightly:
"This doesn't make sense. Since the leader of the martial arts competition is the final conclusion, all martial arts practitioners in the world can participate, and the gods and ghosts are naturally included in it. Unless... the elder already knows in his heart that no one can beat me in the field, so..."
Jing Ling's beautiful face, which was enough to make the heart of a boudoir, was shining with undisguised evil and cruelty at the moment.
Chang Qingzi tightened his grip on the stick, but Jing Ling turned his head and looked at the five candidates in the field. Obviously his voice is not loud, even a little soft, but every sound is packed with internal force, and every word is as sharp as a knife: "Why, all the heroes and heroes are all shrinking their heads, are you really scared?"
Among the five, Qingcheng Zhouyu and Chen Haiping had confronted Jing Ling head-to-head in the massacre of Duanjian Village a few months ago.
Only Lu Tongsheng of the Kongtong Sect, because this sect had a long-standing enmity with the Shengui Sect, and Jing Ling killed many disciples in the Jianjianzhuang, at this moment, the enemy was extremely jealous when they met, and immediately stepped forward to be angry Said: "You devil! If you dare to challenge the heroes of the world today, I will definitely let you..."
"Brother Lu, no!"
Zhou Yu and Chen Haiping coincided with each other, they shot together, one left and one right blocked Lu Tongsheng.
At the same time, a cold light came towards him, the speed could not even blink. In an instant, Lu Tongsheng felt his head was pressed down by Zhou Yu and Chen Haiping at the same time, and then Li Feng slashed his hair close to him!
- snatch!
Lu Tongsheng was startled, and turned his head suddenly, only to see that an iron hook half a man's height had been deeply chopped into the flagpole behind him!
Everyone on the field suddenly drew their swords, and Chang Qingzi said angrily, "How dare you hurt someone!"
But Jing Ling flicked his wrist as if nothing had happened, and said with a smile: "It's a pity... I just took today's first head to sacrifice to the flag."
He walked towards the flagpole as if there was no one else present, and everyone subconsciously avoided in front of him, only to see him smiling without looking back: "The rivers and lakes have been peaceful for too long, so long that you feel that playing a game of house can sit The Great Central Plains Wulin can sit back and relax in the glory of the past... In the peaceful and prosperous age, singing and dancing are peaceful, someone should come out to stir up this muddy water, and let you see what a real storm is."
Lu Tongsheng tremblingly said: "What do you want... what do you want to do?"
Jing Ling stood in front of the flagpole, turned her head and curled her lips, looking arrogantly.
Immediately afterwards, he drew out another iron hook on his back, turned his wrist and slashed horizontally, smashing mountains and rivers with force!
Boom—long—
The iron hook swept out a powerful force, and slammed on the flagpole, cutting the huge log that was difficult for the three people to hug into two sections.
The logs fell slowly under the unbelievable stares of everyone, and the banner of "Tianxia Wudao" cut through the sky, and smashed hard on the ground with a loud bang!
"How!" Amidst the loud noise of the shaking of the mountain top, Jing Ling sternly shook the four fields, and shouted: "Is there no one to fight yet!"
Everyone suddenly stood up and shouted angrily!
In contrast, the Wudang sect leader, the five candidates, and the elders of the various sects in the audience all looked ashen, and exchanged glances with each other, unable to say a word for a long time.
"If no one comes to fight," Jing Ling leaned over and pulled out the iron hook that had been pierced earlier from the collapsed flagpole. With both hooks in his hand, he was condescending, his eyes gradually became crazy and cold, but his voice was very soft: "Then Anyway, there is no need for you to live."
Changqingzi and the others changed their expressions drastically, only to hear him suddenly shout: "The gods and ghosts are listening!"
The men in black who surrounded the Tianxia Martial Arts Platform started at the same time, all over the mountains and plains, swords and soldiers came out together!
"—Everyone on the scene, kill them on the spot until someone comes up to challenge!"
"If everyone can't shrink back, this place will be slaughtered today, and no one will be left behind!"
The elders of all sects stood up at the same time, and even Chang Qingzi couldn't bear it anymore, and strode forward with his stick!
But at this moment, Jing Ling suddenly smiled and raised the iron hook, pointed the tip of the hook to a certain place in the crowd of audience with incomparable precision, and said coldly to his subordinates: "—Just be careful when you do it, don't accidentally hurt this person!" one person… "
"Are you safe and sound, Yunshi?"
The crowd suddenly looked around, under the watchful eyes of everyone, the martial arts disciples all around dispersed in astonishment, leaving a figure who was sitting silently under the stage.
He was dressed in a white robe, with a brocade belt around his waist, and his hood covered his hair, only a strand of long black hair hanging from his ear to his side. The veil blocked the lower half of his face, revealing only a pair of beautiful and cold eyes, facing the cold lighted hook not far away.
— That's Xie Yun.