Yin Ci collected the remaining ingredients, baked two vegetable pancakes for his master, and made a stir-fry. When he took the meal out, Yan Qing was eating steamed cake at a high speed, looking like he was about to choke to death. Su Si was half-kneeling on the ground, and Shi Jingzhi looked serious, as if he was thinking about something.
This master has an evil look on his face, and is quite intimidating when he gets serious.
"The killer from the Chigou Sect?" Shi Jingzhi asked slowly.
"Yes. I promised Sanzi that I would speak frankly. When you went to the forbidden area, I wanted to take him away."
There were many people who deliberately learned his body movements to conceal their identities. Yin Ci was not sure at first. But now that he saw it, Su Si did not seem to be lying, was he really a member of the Chi Gou Sect
Too tender.
The ancestor of the Chigou Sect shook his head and brought the food to Shi Jingzhi. Suddenly, Shi Huli's serious expression was about to collapse, but fortunately he managed to hold it back.
"You betrayed the sect before you even got in. You have a bad temper. It's too early to talk about recruiting you now. Let's see how you perform. Let's escape first." Shi Jingzhi waved his hand without putting on too much airs. "Aci is here, why don't we talk about Yan Budu first?"
Su Si raised his eyebrows. "The Red Hook Church's 'Three Killings Principle' does not apply to the defection of members of the church. The Red Hook Church has been hunting me down. If you accept me, you will definitely have endless troubles. How can you still 'watch my performance'?"
"Ah Si!"
"Wu shi, Third Son, just talk it out. I won't take advantage of your leader."
"No, you should at least be more careful with your tone, ah..."
Shi Jingzhi held the vegetable pancake in his mouth and turned his head calmly: "It's okay. I offended the Black Blood Po to death in the ghost tomb. She wanted me to go to the eighteenth level of hell. Even if she knew that I took you in, she would have to dig out the nineteenth level first."
Su Si had a complicated expression. Is this sect really reliable? Why does it feel like it will be destroyed by the Chihgou Sect in the next second? As someone who has to hide from the Chihgou Sect, would it be unwise for him to join now
Shi Jingzhi seemed to see through his thoughts and continued faintly: "So if you want to say who in the world wants to hide from the Red Hook Sect the most, it must be me. You just betrayed the sect and ran away, but I stepped on the face of their leader."
Su Si: “…”
No wonder Yan Qing had such a subtle expression when he heard that he was being hunted by the Chigou Sect—it turned out that the sect he wanted to join was not the Kushan Sect, but the Rat Family of the Sewer.
You know what, it’s quite suitable.
Seeing that the discussion was about to go off track, Yin Ci picked up a piece of food with chopsticks and put it into his master's mouth. Shi Jingzhi had a high consumption and was very hungry. Now that he had a delicious meal, he ate it up in no time.
Shi Jingzhi was speechless, and the two looked at Yin Ci again.
"The forbidden area destroyed my magic weapon of disguise." Yin Ci said perfunctorily.
Seeing his face, Su Si and Yan Qing didn't ask any more questions. A temporary master is enough to attract bees and butterflies, and his eldest disciple is also like this, so he should hide.
But the sight of the master and disciple sitting together, with their faces uncovered, made one feel dizzy.
Yan Qing: "Master, what should we do next?" As he said this, he looked at Master Bai with firm eyes, as if he was ready to give up everything.
Shi Jingzhi: "It's getting dark, I'll go to the goddess's residence to take a look. Ah Ci..."
Yin Ci's half-level status made it much easier for him to travel: "I'll go with you, and I can also take a look at the magic circle. When I see the villagers, I just have to pretend to be dumb and let Master explain everything."
Now the number of people who needed to play the role of a ghost turned into two. Su Si even turned out the white cloth that was used to wrap the sundries, and only then did he create two "immortals" in fluttering white clothes.
As night fell, the two "immortals" held their heads high and walked towards the goddess' residence in a dignified manner. In order to add to the atmosphere, Shi Jingzhi kept covering the flag with fire to ensure that the surroundings were radiant with golden light.
Unfortunately, the team of four was followed by a swaggering Mr. Bai, and their fairy spirit was immediately reduced.
The villagers pushed each other around, and no one had the courage to go up and ask questions, so they could only elect Sister Mian as a representative to be the first to inquire about the news.
"There are so many lights, thank you for saving me." Sister Mian's eyes were still red, "I heard that Yin Lang died down there, I really..."
At this time, the fox also made a sad expression: "We came here to rescue the gods of this place, and we also have a connection with the child. There is no harm in lighting the lantern, if Ah Ci knew about it in the afterlife, he would be relieved."
Yin Ci followed behind him, expressionless.
Sister Mian wiped away her tears: "From now on, every year on this day, I will definitely offer incense to Yin Lang. Immortal, is the goddess really a demon? I heard from Yindeng that the ascension to the immortal world is fake, so what is going on..."
Shi Jingzhi shook his head mysteriously: "Since you are here, just come with us and watch it."
The divine woman was gone, but her influence was still there. Su Si and Yan Qing had made a mess in the yard, and no one dared to clean it up.
At this moment, the night is as cool as water, the shadows of the trees are swaying, and the huge courtyard looks a bit gloomy.
The goddess set up a strong guard array near the bedroom. This array was extremely fierce and it was definitely not something that the two young men, Su Si and Yan Qing, could break. Shi Jingzhi and Yin Ci looked at each other, and the master and apprentice actually had some sense of collusion.
While Sister Mian wasn't paying attention, Yin Ci pulled his master to his side and said almost silently: "My grandfather..."
"Your grandfather taught you how to break a magic array, but breaking an array requires inner strength, which you don't have." Shi Jingyi understood it all at once, "Come on."
Yin Ci nodded with satisfaction. The master and the apprentice held the same flag. Yin Ci's hand was on the back of Shi Jingzhi's hand, and the other hand was lightly hooked around Shi Jingzhi's waist. In the battle in the forbidden underground, the two of them cooperated almost perfectly. The two people moved in unison, just like dancing.
Golden fire swirled, radiance scattered, the small array points of the magic circle were broken one by one. The violent wind blades scattered in all directions, without any blood, only white clothes swaying in the wind and black hair like silk.
The night turns bright and the scenery is like a poem. There is no more convincing proof of "immortality" than this.
The villagers were silent, except for Yan Qing and Su Si, who had blank faces, one looking up at the sky, the other looking down at the ground. Su Si hugged Bai Ye tightly and pinched his mouth, fearing that he would express his emotions through the scenery and make a few loud noises to ruin the atmosphere.
Mr. Bai stretched his neck angrily, his fleshy tentacles stretched straight.
Soon, the magic circle was broken. The master and the apprentice finally separated, and Master Bai regained his freedom. It twisted Su Si's trouser legs and did not let go until the four of them entered the goddess' bedroom.
There was elegant incense burning in the goddess' bedroom, but if you smelled it carefully, you could still smell a bit of the decayed smell that was unique to old people. The items in the room were tidy, and there were many calligraphy and paintings hanging on the walls. At first glance, there was nothing unusual.
The bedroom was quite large, with a shrine to the Emperor's House God at one end. The wall behind the shrine was painted red and covered with delicate reliefs.
Shi Jingzhi sniffed around and rubbed his palms against the wall repeatedly. After a while, the wall made a slight click and retreated to both sides.
Sister Mian took two steps back and almost collapsed to the ground.
is blood.
Behind the wall was an empty space, with dozens of wooden shelves, each filled with glass bottles filled with blood. Without the wall to block the smell, ordinary people could still smell the faint smell of blood.
Each bottle had a piece of wood on it, on which the villagers' names were neatly written. Shi Jingzhi did not tremble at this, he frowned and picked out two empty bottles.
There were wooden pieces with the words "Su Si" and "Shi Jingzhi" written on them hung on it, and there was still a slight smell of blood in the bottle, which showed that it had been emptied recently.
"Has the goddess taken your blood?" Shi Jingzhi checked it and put the empty bottle away.
Sister Mian looked at the hundreds of bottles filled with blood, and her scalp was throbbing. "Yes, yes. The village entry ceremony requires blood collection and taking magic herbs..."
"This kind of magical herb?" Shi Jingzhi picked up a blood bottle at random, pulled out the stopper, and handed it to Sister Mian.
There was not only fresh blood in the blood bottle, but also something like grass roots soaked in the blood. It was slightly swollen by the blood and exuded a strange sweet smell.
Sister Mian nodded, her face turned pale, as if she was about to vomit at the next moment.
"It's twin roots." It was Su Si who spoke this time. He pulled a long face and stopped pretending to be a female voice.
Yan Qing looked at him in confusion.
"It's normal that Sanzi doesn't recognize it. This is something that only the demon sect uses. It is similar to the acacia bean, and both use blood as a lure. However, the demon bean can only be used to check the status, but this one can kill people."
Su Si took a few steps forward and examined the grass roots carefully.
"The twin roots are split into two, one is soaked in the blood and flesh outside the body, and the other is given to the blood master to consume, and the blood guide is formed. With this blood guide, the two roots are connected, and they live and die together."
"If I put poison in this blood bottle and kill this ball of roots, the blood master will also die from the poison. If I take this ball of roots and burn it with fire, the blood master will also be burned to death. This thing is a curse that controls people, and it is a very precious one. Even in the Demon Cult, it is only used to control top masters."
Although she was mentally prepared for the possibility of "strange things happening when ascending to heaven", Sister Mian was still shocked when she heard these words and stood there in a daze.
Shi Jingzhi took over the conversation and said in a reassuring manner: "Don't worry, this is not something from the immortals, there must be a way to break it."
Yan Qing was still thinking: "In other words, whether it is the death within three days of leaving the village, or the so-called three-day injury, it was all caused by the goddess herself?"
"I'm afraid that when the time comes, she will mix monsters into the corresponding blood bottles. For example—" Su Si looked around the blood bottles and found a wooden box. "For example, this ball of worry hair, or something like worry hair? Does anyone recognize this thing? Isn't worry hair intangible?"
A group of green filaments were squirming in the box. They tried to climb Su Si's hands, but were covered by Su Si's box.
"No matter what it is, take it with you. It will keep them away from the blood bottle." Shi Jingzhi made a prompt decision.
Su Si picked up the box and put it in his pocket.
Shi Jingzhi lowered his eyes for a moment and quickly sorted out the current situation: "Yan Qing's guess is correct. The goddess uses the twin roots to corrode the human body and make living flesh to build her statue. But she needs living people for a long time, so there is the saying of 'three-day injury' - she only needs to deliberately injure a few people, and then she can successfully obtain the materials without causing panic."
As long as the villagers believe that "the death is their own fault" and that they can avoid it by living a cautious life, who would question anything else
"As for the saying 'Children and women giving birth can obtain magical medicine', they don't need to suffer three days of injury. Probably because children have less flesh and women need to give birth, she didn't use demons to harm people... Sister Mian, you didn't 'die after suffering three days of injury', but 'because the goddess wanted you to die, so she relied on three days of injury to cover it up', the order is wrong."
Sister Mian was speechless.
"Judging from the age of the houses in the village, the village seems to have maintained a relatively constant population." Shi Jingzhi looked at the shelves, his tone gradually becoming complicated. "Uncle Liu and Aunt Liu will die because Su Si and I have a destiny with immortals, and he is young, so he can replace the two of them."
“But, but the goddess has only been here for more than fifty years,” Sister Mian said tremblingly, “The saying of three-day injury has always existed and has been passed down for hundreds of years!”
Shi Jingzhi put on his mysterious look again: "Yes, there is more than one demon here. That's why the Emperor's House God sent us here..."
Yin Ci let the fox pretend to be a mysterious big-tailed wolf and search around.
Are you kidding? The elixir is still nowhere to be seen.
Even if the three-day injury is fake, according to the goddess, the elixir that can cure all diseases does exist. Since there is an elixir, it is possible that it can turn into a strange poison. On the road to death, Yin Ci has always been extremely active and enthusiastic.
Unfortunately, the goddess was cunning, and Yin Motou couldn't find her after searching for a long time. He thought for a moment, and then stretched out his evil black hand to Bai Ye. While everyone was fooling Sister Mian, Yin Ci grabbed the goose's neck and lifted it up.
Since there is a convenient tool, why not use it
Mr. Bai let out a hateful cry stuck in his neck, his eyes filled with anger, as if real.
"You don't want to drink my toast, so I can't do anything about it." Yin Ci showed a cold smile, trying to intimidate the goose in his hand. "The elixir is very important to me. If you don't cooperate, I will burn you into a snack sooner or later."
The momentum of three hundred years is not fake. Although Master Bai would rather die than surrender, he can still bend. I don't know how a goose made such an expression, but Yin Ci saw a hint of "It's never too late for a goose to take revenge" on its face.
After being released, Master Bai reluctantly walked to the goddess' bed, then sat down on the ground, looking at Yin Ci hatefully.
This goose monster is born to seek good fortune and avoid evil. Although it cannot point out a specific location, one direction is enough.
The goddess' bed curtains were decorated with a large amount of jadeite. Yin Ci looked carefully and found something strange - she actually wrapped the emerald liquid in transparent jade to make fake jadeite, and hid it under everyone's noses.
Yin Ci took off the fake jade, hesitated for a moment, and took a few more pieces.
His master didn't want to stay here forever, so he studied this elixir and maybe he could get a glimmer of hope.
… Although it was because Jin Huo missed this person and he had been alone for a long time, Yin Ci was still not used to the state of constantly missing another person.
Never mind, the gain outweighs the loss, it’s just a fleeting moment.
This trip was extremely smooth and fruitful. However, Shi Jingzhi could not relax and his face was full of worry.
"Ah Ci, this went so smoothly." Shi Jingzhi took the elixir and murmured. "This went so smoothly. There will definitely be something wrong next time."
Yin Ci: “…” Why are you still so anxious? I should have given it to him after I got out.
Unfortunately, Shi Jingzhi's premonition was correct.
Sister Mian walked out of the goddess' bedroom first, and everything was normal. But when Shi Jingzhi stepped out of the door, something unexpected happened.
A demonic wind erupted from under everyone's feet, and the calligraphy and paintings in the house instantly fell to the ground, and then were torn to pieces. The wind array expanded rapidly, and the wind pressure made it almost impossible to breathe. Countless wind blades poured down, and energy surged from all directions. The four people from Kushan Sect were pinned to the ground, as if they were stuck in a quagmire, unable to move a step.
This formation had occurred without any warning, and even Yin Ci was unable to detect it. It seemed to be connected to the formation outside the village, extremely ancient and powerful.
That's right, Yin Ci thought. They took away the elixir and the troublesome monster, and they were outsiders, so they had bad intentions.
This is murder to silence the witness.
Anyone who sees through the truth of the village will never be able to leave this room alive. The large and small formations outside the goddess's house are just baits to confuse the enemy. Yin Ci had been on guard against this move. Before entering the house, he even explored the surroundings, but failed to discover this overly large formation.
This only proves one thing, that the formation setting is more powerful than his and more knowledgeable than him.
… and perhaps outlive him.
However, Yin Ci was still on guard. He pulled the fox with a look of "I knew it" over and pressed him under him. Then he crushed a fake jade filled with "supposed elixir", drank half of it, and poured the rest behind him.
Finally, he pressed Jingzhi's head and said, "Master, use Yang Fire!"
Among the several people present, only Shi Jingzhi's inner body was able to break free from the pressure of the spirit. However, the wind blades around him were too strong, and if Shi Jingzhi broke free, the gate would be wide open, and he would be seriously injured at best, or killed on the spot at worst.
The cheap master was too young and had a strong desire to survive. In a split second, it was inevitable that he would make a wrong judgment.
You have to keep an eye on him.
Shi Jingzhi always reacted quickly. He raised his Yang Fire and used his energy to resist the wind blade energy. However, he wanted to escape with Yin Ci, but Yin Ci pressed him down and he began to struggle subconsciously.
Shi Jing's internal energy was full, and his body was quite large. The wind blades were densely packed around him, so Yin Ci couldn't press his acupuncture points, so he had to bite Shi Jingzhi's earlobe: "Be honest, I just drank the elixir, it would be a waste if I don't use it."
He took a few seconds to bite, and Shi Jingzhi took a breath: "You—"
"I'm fine. Yuzhong is indeed a magical medicine."
Yin Ci had long been accustomed to the pain of separation from his loved ones. He supported himself on the ground with both hands, looking calm. Shi Jingzhi was protected by him, so he could not see his torn back.
"Master, just use fire to drive away the wind. I will protect you."
Blood soaked Yin Ci's white clothes, dripped down his shoulders and neck, and was split by the wind blade, splashing on Shi Jingzhi's face. Shi Jingzhi stared at Yin Ci for a while, then raised his hand and wiped the blood off his face.
Is human blood so hot
The golden fire rose silently.
Seven or eight steps away.
Yan Qing and Su Si walked behind, and had not yet left the shrine. Yan Qing did something very stupid—he had just been fixed by the magic circle, and the wind blade had not yet spread. He quickly tore off the shrine curtain, took a roll of the blood bottles on the shelf, and held the bulging blood in his arms.
Su Si cursed loudly.
He was much more cunning than Yan Qing. Seeing that the situation was not good, he simply pulled the goddess's "jade" bed curtain and covered the two of them with it like a quilt.
Su Si took all the spiritual medicine stocks of the goddess in one go, so the spiritual medicine here was quite sufficient. However, the two young men were not good enough in martial arts, so they were chopped by the wind blades. While they were bathed in the rain of spiritual medicine, they were chopped and screamed.
Fortunately, the two of them had some martial arts skills, so they were not weak. If the one who stayed behind was a commoner like Sister Mian, her bones would have been chopped into pieces.
As the only one who didn't suffer, Shi Jingzhi gathered all his strength, and the yang fire dyed half the sky golden. He used pure strength to fight against the wind blade head-on.
Suddenly, dark clouds pressed down, the earth and rocks collapsed, and a golden and fiery wind swirled, and all things seemed to fall into a fiery hell.
Shi Jingzhi couldn't express his feelings.
The disciple sacrificed himself to protect the master, which was indeed a manifestation of "worldly bond". Logically, he should feel satisfied or touched, but he was not happy at all.
It is said that the ties of worldly ties bring comfort and peace of mind, but his first bite tasted bitterness.
Even if Yin Ci acted as if nothing had happened, Shi Jingzhi heard the sound of the wind blade entering his flesh and smelled the blood rushing into his nose. For a moment, he even felt a little confused.
The world is vast, but he only wants a corner of it. There are three thousand rivers, but he only takes a scoop.
This is true for all living beings. He follows the path of the ordinary, and what he wants is nothing more ordinary. Over the past twenty years, he has never doubted this point - he only wants a glimmer of hope, and even if he doesn't get it, he wants to experience the world in the end.
What went wrong
Isn't what he wants enough
This was clearly what he wanted, so why wasn't he satisfied at all after getting it
Shi Jingzhi felt a dull pain in his brain, as if something was trying to struggle out. He groaned, curled up his body, and focused all his consciousness on fighting against the wind blade.
This is not the time to think about anything else, Shi Jingzhi clenched his teeth.
Two sticks of incense passed, and the wind blades finally dissipated. The roof of the goddess's house was gone, and the surroundings were in a mess. The villagers who had watched ran away without a trace.
These two incense sticks seemed as long as two lifetimes. Not to mention Yan Qing, Su Si had never suffered such a hardship. The two young men hugged each other in a bloody heap, looking quite embarrassed and fainted. Yin Ci breathed a long sigh of relief and let go of Shi Jingzhi.
"This move was cruel enough. If Yan Qing hadn't reacted quickly and protected the blood bottle, everyone in the village would have been shattered to pieces." Yin Ci pushed the two fainted young men away.
"Ah Ci."
"Su Si is quite capable. He hooked the spiritual medicine curtain over in time. Otherwise, there would be only two of us left in Kushan Sect... Now the spiritual medicine is only the few pieces in Master's hand. Master, please take them well."
"Aci!"
"Um?"
"Although you have changed in appearance and have kept many secrets from me, I still have something to say."
Shi Jingzhi's tone was extremely serious, even more solemn than when he was in the ghost tomb.
"…Listen carefully, I will never let you down."