After the little bluebird finished speaking, it lay down on the table, as if it was going to sleep. The owner of this bluebird probably didn't have a good soul-condensing technique, so the little bluebird disappeared very quickly.
The man picked up his pen and recorded today's practice on the bamboo slips.
For several days in a row, a blue bird would fly in, chirp a little, and then disappear.
On the seventh night, the man had just sat down at the desk in the quiet room when a little blue bird flew in. Its wings were unstable and it landed directly into the inkstone in front of him. When it jumped up, it left a row of small inky paw prints.
"Master, it turns out that this kind of epidemic has been prevalent in Linzhou before... Someone has discovered a way to cure it, which is to use the blood of the spirit bird Jiaosi as a guide to eliminate the epidemic! There were many of these spirit birds in the mountains and forests of Linzhou before, but since the last epidemic, there have been fewer and fewer of them! My brother and I are going to go into the mountains of Linzhou to look for this spirit bird!"
After the little bluebird finished talking about the main business, he started talking about some random things.
"Master, Master, it turns out that Linzhou used to be rich in sugar pills! And they were sugar pills of various flavors! There were fruit flavors! There were also licorice flavors! I heard there were also ginger flavors! But ginger-flavored sugar pills... should be weird, right? Wouldn't it irritate my tongue?"
The man lifted the scroll to avoid being left with claw marks by the little bluebird. He was about to wave his hand to disperse the bluebird's soul-condensing technique, but the bluebird's soul dispersed on its own.
The scroll stayed in mid-air. The man looked at where it disappeared, then lowered his eyes and continued to record today's practice as if nothing had happened.
In this pitch-dark night... No, it was pitch-dark night, Lu Xiaochan was walking in the forest, throwing fried soybeans into her mouth while holding Kunwu's belt.
When the wind blew, there was a rustling sound everywhere and the shadows of the trees swayed, like countless withered claws, trying to grab them.
"Brother... why don't you go into the mountains to look for spiritual birds during the day? Aren't you afraid that what you encounter in the middle of the night is not a spiritual bird, but an evil spirit?"
Lu Xiaochan continued to crunch on the fried soybeans. Kunwu frowned and said, "It is recorded in the medical book that the spirit bird Jiaosi forages for food at night. How could you find it during the day?"
"oh."
"Can you please stop eating soybeans? How much wind have you let out on this journey? Even if I had any beautiful thoughts, I would have been suffocated by you!"
Kunwu wanted to hit Lu Xiaochan on the head again with disgust. Lu Xiaochan stepped back subconsciously, but forgot that her hands were still on his belt and untied them in an instant.
Fortunately, there was almost no moonlight and the starlight was very dim, but these did not prevent Lu Xiaochan from seeing Kunwu's anger clearly.
"Lu Xiaochan—I'll beat you to death!"
"Brother! Brother! Your pants fell off! Your pants fell off! Don't hit me! Don't hit me!"
Who knew that Lu Xiaochan would suddenly step on empty air and roll down.
This frightened Kunwu so much that he slid down to look for Lu Xiaochan.
"Little bastard? Little bastard, are you there?"
A moment later, Kunwu heard the crackling sound of frying soybeans.
Kunwu immediately got angry and said, "You kid still want to eat soybeans!"
Who knows, Lu Xiaochan made a hissing sound and used his own spiritual energy to light up a little spiritual light.
Only then did Kunwu discover that right next to Lu Xiaochan, there was a little bird with sparse fur, but this little bird had three long white tails and fluorescent blue eyes - it was the chick of the spiritual bird Jiaosi!
It seemed like it hadn't eaten for a long time, and was pecking at the soybeans scattered by Lu Xiaochan.
"What's going on? Jiao Si loves her young bird very much. It looks like it has been hungry for a long time. Where are its parents?"
Kunwu stood aside, carefully examining the young Jiaosi bird, and then he heard the sound of horse hooves.
There were only four or five people holding magic swords, and on their horses were hung a dozen Jiao Si Ling birds, their fluorescent blue eyes had all lost their luster... and their necks were all broken.
Lu Xiaochan and Kunwu were both stunned. Kunwu had never seen such a cruel method used against a spirit bird. Just as he was about to rush forward, he was stopped by Lu Xiaochan.
"Brother... Let's figure out what's going on first!"
Those were all disciples of Xuanmen. They looked arrogant and relied on the magic swords in their hands, looking very superior.
“Senior Brother Gao! Look! There are two kids here! They are probably here to look for the spirit bird too! Hahaha!”
"Hmph, if ordinary people can also find spirit birds, what are we doing?" Senior Brother Gao, who was in the lead, looked arrogant.
"How did you catch so many spiritual birds?" Lu Xiaochan asked.
Senior Brother Gao lowered his head and smiled maliciously at Lu Xiaochan: "The little fellow is quite cute. Why don't you come and serve me, and I'll tell you!"
Kunwu clenched his fist and was about to punch the other person in the face, but Lu Xiaochan grabbed him again and continued to ask this "High Immortal Lord".
"I wonder where the immortal's palace is?" Lu Xiaochan asked respectfully.
The other party stretched out the hilt of the sword and poked Lu Xiaochan's chin, with a smile that made people feel uncomfortable.
"Our immortal residence is in Zhuxu Mountain, only one hilltop away from here. If you come and stay with me for a night, I will give you a spirit bird!"
Several fellow disciples behind him started to make a noise, and their smiles made Lu Xiaochan feel like vomiting.
"You captured the spiritual birds to cure the plague! Just cut their ankles and let some blood flow, why do you need to take their lives?" Kunwu asked.
"Who said we want the blood of these birds? The whole Linzhou is plagued by diseases, and many disciples of the various Xuanmen sects have also been infected! How many magical instruments can we exchange for these spiritual birds! These birds have violent temperaments. If you don't want their lives, will they let you bleed them obediently?"
"you… "
Kunwu gritted his teeth, but Lu Xiaochan held him down and watched them ride away.
"Why are you stopping me? Let me cast a healing spell and make their intestines fight!"
"Brother, we are disciples of Tailing Pavilion. The Four Directions Xuan Sect regards our sect as the orthodox one, so we naturally have some status. Tomorrow we will go to Zhuxu Mountain in person and listen to their leader's explanation to us!"
Kunwu thought about it and realized that it was true. Let's see how their leader responds to the violence of his disciples!
If this was the Sect Leader's instruction, they would report the matter to Nanli Jingtian's Sword Sect and let the Sword Sect deal with them!
"And the baby bird?"
Kunwu then remembered that if the young bird was discovered by Zhu Xushan's people, its life would be in danger.
"Here it is!" Lu Xiaochan pointed to her bag of soybeans. The young Jiao Si bird ate everything in the bag.
They returned to the inn and washed the dust and mud off the baby bird. Kunwu then cast a healing spell to heal its injured claw.
While humming a tuneless little song, Lu Xiaochan made a small basket out of hay. She could put the young bird in the basket so that outsiders could not see it and it would not suffocate to death.
Lu Xiaochan poked the young bird's forehead with her finger and said, "Why do you like fried soybeans so much? You might as well just call yourself 'Little Soybean'!"
When the young bird heard the word "soybean", it immediately started cooing.
Lu Xiaochan picked up the young bird and put it in the straw basket. "Let me tell you, the whole Linzhou is plagued by disease. The soybean farmers are sick, the soybean fryers are sick, and the soybean sellers have gone home! You won't be able to eat soybeans anymore! Just stay here!"
After saying that, the young bird suddenly lifted up its tail feathers and released a gust of wind. Lu Xiaochan took a sniff and almost fainted from the smell!
"How dare you fart! You eat my food! You drink my water! And you still fart at me!" Lu Xiaochan deliberately put down the lid of the grass basket, intending to hit the young bird on the head, and the young bird immediately shrank back.
Kunwu put a medicine bag between his nose and said with a look of disgust: "You are what you are! Do you know that you made me unable to sleep last night because of the fumes from my quilt?"
"Are you blaming me for this? I shared the fried soybeans with you, but you refused to eat them! Otherwise, if I fumigate the quilt and you fumigate the quilt too, then wouldn't we be even? No one needs to look down on anyone else!"
"Get out! Get out! Get out!" Kunwu opened the window to get some fresh air.
Kunwu deliberately put a plant of "sleeping grass" in the grass cage, and the young bird fell asleep immediately.
Lu Xiaochan put the straw basket on his shoulder and said, "Brother, we can set off now!"
The two went to Zhuxu Mountain, and when they arrived at the mountain gate, they saw the disciple guarding the mountain sitting on the steps holding a sword.
"You're lazy and sleeping in the broad daylight. Zhu Xushan's disciples are worse than you, brother!"
Kunwu patted Lu Xiaochan on the head again: "What nonsense are you talking about? Master clearly asked you to watch the medicine furnace, but you slept so hard that you ended up burning the thousand-year-old elixir!"
Lu Xiaochan spread her hands: "I don't remember!"
Kunwu pretended to hit Lu Xiaochan on the head again, but Lu Xiaochan hid behind the disciple guarding the mountain. Unexpectedly, the disciple fell to the ground with a crash, and the sword in his hand fell to the side.
Lu Xiaochan quickly stepped back: "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it..."
At this time, Kunwu frowned. He turned the disciple guarding the mountain over and felt his neck, only to find that he had no breathing or pulse.
"Is he dead?" Lu Xiaochan also squatted down beside him.
"Um."
"How did he die..."
"Can't you see?" Kunwu asked back.
Lu Xiaochan imitated Kunwu and probed his spiritual energy into the disciple's body to sense his internal organs. The result made him fall to the ground.
"He... He died of the plague! It's as if his internal organs have melted and turned into a pool of pus in his stomach!"
"But this disciple looks peaceful. People who are truly infected with the disease often experience high fever, exhaustion, and meridian failure. From contracting the disease to death, it takes at least three days, and at most half a month! But look at this person, how can he look like he has ever been weak?"
"It's like... I suddenly got sick while I was asleep... And I was immediately seriously ill..."
Lu Xiaochan raised her head and looked towards the steps leading to the mountain gate of Zhuxu Mountain.
The whole mountain was very quiet. No insects or birds could be heard, and even the wind seemed to be still.
It is daytime now, but the top of the mountain seems to be shrouded in some kind of thick black air. The higher you look up, the more dead it seems.
"Brother...what should we do?"
"What else can we do? We can only go up and test the waters. Zhu Xushan is considered a famous family in Nanlijing. If something goes wrong, it will be a big deal."
"Well, let's go!"
Lu Xiaochan sniffed, adjusted the waist of his pants, and was about to take a big step forward, but was grabbed by Kunwu.
"Wait a minute. I'll send a letter to Master via Bluebird to tell him about the situation here. In case anything happens to us, Master won't know where to find us."
Kunwu's spiritual energy transformed into a blue bird and flew away.
Lu Xiaochan also closed his eyes and transformed into a blue bird. He said silently in his heart: "Master, Master, I will follow you to Mount Zhuxu! I think this mountain gate doesn't look like a fairy gate, but more like a ghost gate! Master, if you have time, you must come to save me and my brother!"
After saying this, his blue bird also flew away.
Kunwu walked in front and Lu Xiaochan followed behind him.
As we walked along, the branches of the ancient trees on both sides of the stone steps became lower and denser.
The originally large expanse of sunlight turned into clusters of light spots, and then became increasingly sparse. When you passed halfway up the mountain, there was almost no sunlight to be seen.
Lu Xiaochan looked at her own and Kunwu's shadows on the ground and felt that they were not shadows, but rather a large mass of black fog following them.
Lu Xiaochan tugged at Kunwu's clothes and whispered, "Senior Brother..."
Kunwu turned around and asked quietly, "What's wrong?"
"It doesn't seem right to me."
This time Kunwu did not pat Lu Xiaochan on the head, but instead held his hand.
"I also feel that something is not right. How is it possible that for a sect as big as Zhuxu Mountain, we didn't even see a single disciple patrolling the mountain from the top to the foot of the mountain?"
"Otherwise, let's go down the mountain and wait for the master to come and find out the truth."
Lu Xiaochan felt that if something happened to Zhu Xushan's disciples, it would be irreparable. Even if they reached the top of the mountain, they couldn't save themselves. If they lost everything, it would really be a waste.
Kunwu was also worried that he could not protect Lu Xiaochan, so he nodded and said, "We should not go there knowing that there are tigers there. Let's go back..."
The moment he looked back, Kunwu suddenly discovered that the road down the mountain was filled with a large patch of black fog, which was surging.
On the branches of the ancient tree, countless dark red dots of light flickered, like countless eyes looking at them with murderous intent.
"Is there an evil spirit here? I guess it doesn't want us to leave."
If it was an evil spirit that was at work, it would not be difficult to explain the cause of death of the disciple guarding the mountain.
"If it is an evil spirit, it must be the work of Demon Lord Yisou. We at Tailing Pavilion may not be good at dealing with other evil demon lords, but we are experts among experts when it comes to dealing with Yisou."
After saying this, Kunwu concentrated his mind and chanted a spell, which glowed with spiritual light as he rushed towards the black fog.
But when the spell faded, the black fog did not dissipate, and the countless pairs of blood-red eyes on the trees did not change. On the contrary, they became denser and denser, as if they were about to drip blood and flood the entire Zhuxu Mountain.
"Isn't it an epidemic?" Kunwu stood there in a daze.
Or is it that my cultivation is not enough to deal with this evil spirit
Lu Xiaochan swallowed his saliva and pulled Kunwu's arm: "Brother, you see the way up the mountain has not been blocked by the evil spirit. Since we are here, we might as well make the best of it... Let's just go up the mountain and see what happened. Maybe we can find the reason and figure out what evil spirit is causing the trouble!"
"It has come to this, and this is the only way."
After saying that, Kunwu cast a medical spell and tapped his shoulder. Instantly, a medical spell in the shape of spiritual energy appeared on the back of his clothes.
Lu Xiaochan followed suit and drew one on his back.
This way, if the evil spirit attacks them from behind, the healing spell can resist it.
They went up all the way and came to the main gate of Zhuxu Mountain. There were three words written on it, but they were not clear because of the heavy shadows of the trees.
Lu Xiaochan lit the tinder, and as the flame flashed, three words "Zhu Xu School" appeared.
These three words looked like they were scratched out by claws, and there seemed to be blood flowing out.
Kunwu knocked on the door and said, "I am Kunwu, a disciple of Tailing Pavilion. I am passing by Zhuxu Mountain and would like to ask for your stay for one night!"
Lu Xiaochan took a breath.
But no one answered the door for a long time.
Kunwu knocked on the door again, a little louder than before.
But still no one answered the door.
Kunwu exhaled and glanced at Lu Xiaochan, who nodded and stepped back to the side of the door. Kunwu put his hand on the door and was about to push it open when it creaked open.
Lu Xiaochan had already cast a spell and was about to push it through the door, but found that there was no one inside.
After swallowing their saliva, Lu Xiaochan and Kunwu looked at each other.
"Brother, is this a haunted house..." Lu Xiaochan asked.
"Xiao Chan, you stay outside to meet me, I..."
"Come on. If you go in and I stay outside, we'll both be alone and vulnerable. We can be easily defeated separately. We should go in together and leave together."
Kunwu nodded, and the two of them walked together and entered the Zhuxu Sect.
The atrium is a large gravel area with ancient trees planted in the four corners.
In the center is a stone-paved road that extends from the entrance to the main hall of Zhu Xu Sect.
The moment his feet touched the ground, Lu Xiaochan seemed to hear the shrill and desperate cry of birds in his ears.
One sound after another, connected into one, pouring into Zhu Xu's faction from all directions, their ears felt like being pierced by millions of needles into their brains.
Lu Xiaochan covered her ears, but she felt terrible pain from her brain to her body.
He turned his eyes and found that Kunwu was already kneeling on one knee on the ground, his shoulders shaking violently, and then he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Lu Xiaochan looked up. The door of the main hall was open, and the doors and windows around were closed. The main seat was at the innermost part, just out of the light from the main door. She didn't know if it was an illusion, but Lu Xiaochan always felt that someone was sitting on the main seat, as if waiting for them to come.
Lu Xiaochan exhaled and asked herself: Lu Xiaochan, what senses or desires in your heart are easily controlled
It's not the desire to kill.
It's not greed.
Not obsession.
Not hungry.
It's not about profit either.
Since you entered Zhu Xu Sect, what has been your weak spot that could be controlled by evil spirits
…is fear!
Lu Xiaochan suddenly opened his eyes and immediately cast a great curse—the Tai Ling Zhenshi Curse!
The spell was filled with spiritual light and spread out in an instant, illuminating almost the entire atrium of the Zhu Xu Sect. Those soul-piercing sounds disappeared instantly, and sunlight shone through the thick fog behind them, illuminating the atrium bit by bit.
Kunwu, with his hands on the ground, took a breath. He opened his eyes and looked at Lu Xiaochan beside him.
He looked calm and composed, not like a teenager at all.
"Brother, it's fear. We don't know what kind of evil spirit has invaded here, how powerful it is, or what has happened. In addition, there has been no signs of life along the way, so we believe this journey is dangerous, and so we are afraid."
Kunwu stood up, and after a long while, he said: "Junior brother... you are different from before..."
"No matter how different, you are my senior brother and I am your junior brother! Let's go and see what's going on!"
Lu Xiaochan did not hide behind Kunwu as before, but stepped into the main hall of Zhu Xu Sect.
When he took the first step inside, he could faintly hear a faint heartbeat and breathing, indicating that there was someone inside.
But he was very weak and dying.
Kunwu flicked his fingertips, and spiritual energy flowed through the main hall, knocking open all the windows.
In an instant, sunlight poured in, and the main hall suddenly became bright.
The scene before them shocked Lu Xiaochan and Kunwu.
Sitting on the main seat was none other than Zhu Yuting, the head of the Zhuxu sect. His face was dull, and he slumped on the seat with his face tilted to one side, his hands hanging limply at his sides.
On both sides of the main hall, the people in the first six positions seemed to have a certain status and did not look like disciples of Zhu Xu's faction.
"Xiao Chan, go check on them! I'm here to see Sect Leader Zhu!"
Kunwu came to Zhu Yuting and grabbed his wrist. Lu Xiaochan also went to check on the other six people.
Lu Xiaochan examined these six people and found that they all had spiritual energy. Although they were not outstanding, they were not ordinary either.
One of them was lying on the table, and the wine and food were spilled all over the floor.
As Lu Xiaochan moved his body, she saw a jade plaque hanging around his waist, on which was written: Cheng Ziqiu of Shuyang Mountain.
"Brother! This person is from Shuyang Mountain! He is not from Zhu Xu's sect! His name is Cheng Ziqiu!"
"Cheng Ziqiu? He is the head of Shuyang Mountain!"
Lu Xiaochan took his pulse and found that although his pulse was weak and his Danhai was drying up, he was not dead yet, and his internal organs were all infiltrated by evil spirits.
If this person's cultivation was not weak, his internal organs would have melted like the disciple guarding the mountain at the foot of the mountain!
Lu Xiaochan went to check on the other people and found that they were in similar conditions. They were basically barely breathing and were in a serious state of illness. If it weren't for their cultivation that was holding them up, they would have become cold, rotten corpses.
Lu Xiaochan came to Kunwu, who was taking Zhu Yuting's pulse.
Zhu Yuting suddenly opened his eyes and grabbed Kunwu's wrist with his backhand. Kunwu dodged very quickly, but Zhu Yuting's target was not Kunwu, but Lu Xiaochan who was watching on the side.
Zhu Yuting was so strong that he squeezed Lu Xiaochan's bones to the point of breaking them.
Kunwu was about to step forward, but was hit by a stream of spiritual energy released by Zhu Yuting.
However, this spiritual energy had been dyed black by the evil spirit, and enveloped Kunwu completely.
Kunwu was trapped and cast a healing spell to resist, but he couldn't break free for a while.
"What do you want...to be free from illness? Or all the wealth in the world?" Zhu Yuting tilted his face to the side with a wicked smile on his lips.
Those eyes were filled with dark evil spirits. What else could it be but an invasion by evil spirits
Lu Xiaochan was about to step back to avoid him, but unexpectedly the other party sat up straight. Lu Xiaochan could hear the sound of his bone joints, which was particularly loud in the empty main hall.
"why do not you answer me?"
Lu Xiaochan's heart skipped a beat, and he thought that it seemed that the evil spirit's target was not his senior brother, but him, Lu Xiaochan
Why