Shi Jingzhi barely slept that night.
The Twin River is dry and cold, and the inn is old. As soon as the door was closed, the windows rattled in the cold wind. Shi Jingzhi's nose was full of the smell of dry straw and earth, and the old quilt on his body was heavy. He straightened his body again, vaguely having the illusion of being buried on the spot.
Yin Ci turned her back to him, lying quietly and breathing evenly. The scene was no different from the previous days, but Shi Jingzhi felt that there was a human-shaped soldering iron next to him. He could feel strong no matter how he lay down. The bed was given to the patient, and the floor was so big that even if the headmaster stood up to sleep, he would inevitably bump into each other. Yin Ci's long hair seemed to have become strands of evil troubles. Shi Jingzhi didn't dare to touch it and wished he could tie it up quietly.
Shi Zhongyu left, and Shen Zhu slept in the room next to him. Four men from the Kushan sect were crowded into one room, so it would seem guilty for him to move out alone. Fortunately, he thought that everything was ready and all he needed was the east wind. The east wind hadn't arrived yet, and everything he had just prepared set off a stormy sea.
At that time, the boss was tossing and turning like pancakes, half of his mind was devoted to business, and the other half was thinking wildly. He was thinking about what the centuries-old achievements of the imperial masters were, and he was thinking about Yin Ci's life for hundreds of years. What happened to him before he was rescued and raised as a fool
Thinking of this, Shi Jingzhi didn't even want to continue the cooperative relationship. He just wants Yin Ci'an to stand behind him safely and return to the mysterious mountain door that is always at ease, and it is best not to be stained with blood. It was okay when he was three years old, but now he thought of Yin Cifeng's madness in the forest. No matter how strong his heart was, he only felt sad and sad.
Yuzi's emotions were originally stronger than those of ordinary people, but after a few hours, the numbing heat in the back of his head still remained. Shi Jingzhi stared at the slight rise and fall of Yin Ci's body, and felt an unknown sullenness -
Sensing his embarrassment at that time, if Yin Ci didn't react at all, he could have put aside his emotions and turned into pancakes with pickled cabbage fillings in the middle of the night.
He is obviously very good at suppressing desires, but not very good at dealing with love.
In the end, Shi Pie couldn't bear it anymore, so he got up from bed and went to the yard to admire the moon alone - the moon was covered by dark clouds, so he admired the dark clouds to avoid trouble.
The population in Twin River City is not dense, and there are no idlers wandering around in the middle of the night. The courtyard is as quiet as Shi Jingzhi expected.
As soon as he took a few breaths, he bumped into Shen Zhu in the courtyard.
The sparrow demon attracted attention during the day, so he had to take care of it at night. Shen Zhu was busy feeding the live balls. The sparrow was sleepy at night, drowsy and staggering after eating, as if the millet she fed had been soaked in wine.
Seeing Shi Jingzhi going out, Shen Zhu nodded at him: "Your Majesty."
Shi Jingzhi weakly returned the greeting.
Shen Zhu is not Shi Jingzhi's die-hard loyalist. Although the difference in status is still there, she has no "loyalty" to Shi Jingzhi in the usual sense. There was no one else around, so her attitude was very casual: "I haven't been able to find the truth about Yin Ci, so please forgive me... He has a good way of hiding his past. If possible, can you tell me his origins?"
She seems to have a magical talent, which can be named "Which pot is opened and lifted".
Shi Jingzhi hummed twice in detail: "That's his private matter, I'll just say... Anyway, don't care about it, it's a matter of your ability."
Opposite him was an old man who had lived for hundreds of years, and Shen Zhu just stood there. If she could easily find out Yin Ci's origin, Yin Ci would have been captured by the Yinxian Society and treated as a rare beast.
Sure enough, Shen Zhu didn't really care about Yin Ci. She threw a handful of millet into the mud and said, "It's a pity. I delayed it for a few days, but I didn't catch up with Senior Chen."
"I heard some clues about what you want to know." Shi Jingzhi said, "Senior Chen also noticed the phenomenon you discovered at the beginning. He called it 'Heaven's Disgust'."
Shen Zhu snorted coldly, showing a hint of disgust at those two words. She lowered her gaze: "Your Majesty is interested."
Shi Jingzhi looked at her wiltedly for a while, then steeled himself: "Miss Shen has been investigating the Immortal Induction Association for a long time, has she ever found any information related to the 'Hundred Years of Great Cause' and 'Desire'?"
"Zeng, went to the Lingjiao this time. I have other important matters to investigate. Now that your disciple knows..."
"Now that I know?"
A gentle voice broke in.
Shi Jingzhi was not a thief, but he felt guilty for no reason. He had never realized that living was such a thrilling thing. His whole body exploded on the spot, and all the hairs on his arms stood up: "Aci, are you awake?"
Yin Ci's eyes flashed and he resolutely ignored the question. He leaned against the door panel and asked bluntly: "What a century-old undertaking and what desire? Now that you and I are cooperating, you haven't told me yet."
Just by looking at his tone, Yin Ci seemed to have returned to his casual and casual appearance. It would be more like it if he stared at Shen Zhu without warning.
Shi Jingzhi understood his subtext and hurriedly said: "Miss Shen and my teacher have the same interests, which is credible."
Then he took a long breath and briefly introduced his subordinates.
Shen Zhu had an almost deep-seated hatred for the Yinxian Society, but when Shi Jingzhi approached Shen Zhu, it had nothing to do with her personal love and hate. He just saw a strong obsession in this person - it is better to find a helper with a clear purpose than to find a fool who is obsessed with fame and fortune.
The Yueshui Pavilion is similar to the Taiheng sect, with money invested by the imperial court behind it, and branches all over the country.
It is divided into three parts: heaven, earth and human beings, and is not focused on collecting intelligence on the world. The "Human Resources Department" is responsible for observing anecdotes from the rivers and lakes and folk anecdotes, as well as observing public opinion, and is also willing to take on some tasks of helping people investigate. The "Earth" collects farming and weaving magic tools and finds new crops, livestock, and even mineral deposits. "Tianbu" has the fewest people, and it's full of lunatics who love to dream. They are going to find out what unsolved mysteries there are in the world, whether they are of use to the human world or not.
Although the "Tianbu" occasionally makes shocking discoveries, 90% of its members usually do nothing in their lives and have to travel to the most dangerous places and endure hardships that ordinary people are not willing to endure. In addition to enjoying the highest information access rights in Yueshui Pavilion, Tianbu is the most difficult to please. However, most of the people who get in are self-proclaimed, and the threshold is extremely high.
Shen Zhu is one of the members of Tianbu. To be able to squeeze into the sky with eyes above the top as a female prostitute, she must have the depth to be beaten up by the Mercy Sword.
Yin Ci was speechless: "Interesting."
Along the way, he didn't see even a single fuel-efficient lamp around the Kushan Sect.
Shen Zhu reacted very quickly. Seeing Yin Ci's reaction, which was like a surprised ordinary person, she changed her tone. The frivolity when they first met disappeared without a trace, and her tone became more sincere: "I have been investigating the matter of the Immortal Entrainment Association, so as not to worry about it. In order to explore some clues about ghosts and gods, the leader wanted to find the way to immortality, so we divided our forces. I gave him the legend of immortality, and he gave me the legends of immortals and Buddhas, and we each took what we needed."
Yin Ci understood.
Shi Jingzhi planned to hide it again, but wanted to share all the information with him. My own investigation of the Meat God Statue happened to have a subtle overlap with what Shen Zhu was investigating, and I might be able to get useful clues - after all, in the eyes of mortals, the members of the Immortal Guild are no different from half-immortals, and they are inseparable from the legend of immortals.
The "Invitation of Immortals" is not only an event held every ten years in Yidu, but also the management organization of imperial temples in various places. On the surface, it seems that every ten years, it will invite a group of heroes or demons who have achieved some success to join in and win people's hearts with their magical wine. Then they just pretend to engage in rituals to invite gods and hold sacrifices. In recent decades, as the lineage of national masters has received divine grace, the Yinxian Association no longer even conducts rituals to invite gods, and focuses on keeping its tail between its legs.
So Yin Ci had little interest and did not continue to investigate further. As the leader of the Immortal Enlightenment Association, the National Master still has a mortal lifespan, and he has to die after death, so it is of no use to him. At present, the goddess Yuan Xiancun is in front, and the statue of the emperor's flesh god is in the back. The Yinxian Society hid such a huge secret, it was time for him to pick up the matter and investigate.
It's just that Shen Zhu is not a simple person, so it's hard to keep his backhand behind. Yin Ci thought for a moment: "This place is not very suitable at this time. Since the girl wants to follow my actions, I would like to find a quiet place, and you can explain it in detail."
... As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Yin Ci felt a little uncomfortable.
Before changing, he didn't care about Shen Zhu and Shen Mo. Shi Jingzhi picked the person himself, and Yin Ci didn't bother to intervene. When something went wrong, he would just slip Shi Jingzhi away. Now that he has become extremely suspicious out of thin air, he is about to find out all three generations of Shen Zhu's ancestors.
Shi Jingzhi couldn't resist the nestling complex, and his desires were as heavy as those of a mortal, so Yin Ci just treated him as if he was in a wrong mood for a while. This person was only three years old when he set his desires, and his original desires were probably related to romance. There is a major matter of life and death ahead. After the heat of three sticks of incense has passed, Shi Jingzhi will be able to handle it clearly.
So Yin Ci decided that his problem was more difficult - he had always been a smart moth, only keeping warm and putting out fire. As a result, his wings were now burning, and the smoke made him feel dizzy.
But he still couldn't let go.
Yin Ci had indeed been a demon , but he was still a bit shameful. So he showed the self-control he was proud of and said calmly as if nothing had happened: "I'm going to be in a hurry next time. It's better to rest first today."
"So I was the one who woke A Ci up?" Shi Jingzhi rolled his eyes on his face, asking persistently and carefully.
Yin Ci: "..." Thanks to the fact that they talked about serious matters, the boy still hasn't forgotten the topic that was left aside.
Yin Ci glanced at Shen Zhu next to him, smiled softly and said, "I'm tossing and turning in sleep. Master, do you want to hear this?"
Shi Jingzhi immediately stood there with his mouth open and his whole body slowly turned red, as if he had been steamed by the night.
"It's just trivial stuff, Master, don't take it to heart." Yin Ci smiled and made a point.
Since someone has made up his mind that he is not his son, there is no reason to be funny. If you keep it secretive now, it will be more troublesome in the future. Shi Jing's restraint was broken for the first time, and he was emotionally unstable. After being so open for a while, the subtle affection will eventually dissipate on its own.
Yin Ci successfully convinced himself, and then turned around leisurely, leaving Master Shi with an innocent back.
Near Yidu.
Shi Zhongyu was wounded all over and almost killed Jianma. When she rushed back to Taiheng headquarters, the night was still dark.
The lights were on in the headmaster's room all night long, and headmaster Qi was still lingering on the bed, his sallow face adding a bit of deathly gray. He was suffering from high fever, and his usually strong body was reduced to a skeleton.
Jin Lan was holding a bowl of soup of life and death, her eyes were swollen like peaches. He took on the most troublesome job and insisted on feeding the old man every two hours, cleaning up his feces and urine, and turning him over to wipe himself. The room was filled with refreshing incense, but the elegant fragrance suppressed the putrid smell of the dying patient.
Shi Zhongyu didn't rest, she pursed her lips at the empty head room. After a moment, she briefly told Jin Lan a few words and activated the disaster-blocking talisman in one breath.
The raging heat swept over her, and her whole body felt like she was falling into a pool of fire. There was half a bowl of soup left, half of which went into Shi Zhongyu's throat.
When she woke up again, it was already broad daylight, and she didn't know how many days had passed. Shi Zhongyu stood up in confusion, only to find that he was in his bedroom, above the Taiheng lobby - the Taiheng lobby was extremely spacious, elegantly and solemnly decorated. She has been watching it for more than ten years and is very familiar with it.
Now she was half-sitting in the middle of the lobby, covered in sweat, and the high fever had boiled her brain into chaos.
Is it a dream? This kind of formation usually requires accountability.
Shi Zhongyu looked around in confusion and saw familiar faces. Elder Taiheng all had heavy expressions on his face, while the younger disciples stood with their heads bowed. Only Qu Duanyun looked at her with complicated eyes and a hint of regret on his expression.
Only then did Shi Zhongyu raise his head. Sitting in the position of the head of Taiheng was the scrawny Qi Xundao. He was holding the unattractive disaster-proof talisman in one hand, with a look of bitterness and exhaustion on his face.
"Absurd." After a moment of silence in the lobby, Head Qi sighed clearly.
Not even the heat could cover up the coldness behind Shi Zhongyu. She had thought of many possibilities, but they did not include such a serious punishment. The wounds on her body were still aching, and the smell of the ointment was pungent, like some good medicine—she clearly did not receive the original treatment.
"I have heard about the tragedy at Jianchen Temple. In order to monopolize the clues to the body inspection, the Kushan sect killed two eminent monks, Jue Fei and Juehui, and the Jianchen Temple has been closed to this day... Yesterday, an urgent secret message came from the Mishan Sect, He said that you and the Kushan Sect destroyed the Mishan Secret Code. Otherwise, you allowed the Kushan Sect to steal the core secret of the magic weapon and kill Chen Qianfan and Wei Chun. Is this the case? "
Shi Zhongyu opened his mouth but said nothing. The servant next to her handed her half a cup of cold tea, and she managed to speak out her smoky voice: "... I don't know who unlocked the secret code, and suddenly attacked us, so I had no choice but to fight. As for Senior Chen and Granny Wei, … Are they dead? I don’t know!”
She suppressed her dizziness and continued resolutely: "Master Shi went to seek medical treatment this time and had no intention of secret scriptures. He got along very well with Senior Chen, and he was a man of kindness and righteousness... He even took the initiative to communicate with his younger brother. Map rubbings can kill people for just a few clues.”
"Have you seen the end?" Qi Xundao smiled bitterly.
"Brother..." Shi Zhongyu was speechless for a moment. After a fierce battle with the secret code, she almost lost consciousness and indeed did not retain much memory. When she woke up, she was in Shuangchuan, and she didn't know the whereabouts of Chen Qianfan and Wei Chun.
"The Mishan Sect also killed an elder who rushed to help. I believe it was not you who killed him, but you and the Kushan sect were the only ones who visited recently. Zhongyu, if you say you were deceived by the Kushan sect gangsters, Taiheng can still protect him. Get off you..."
I don’t know why, but when he said this, Qi Xundao had a trace of inexplicable sadness in his eyes.
Shi Zhongyu supported his sore body and said word by word: "Master once taught me that I must see and think about everything with my own eyes. Before entering the Mishan Sect, Shi Jingzhi had a chance to get rid of me. If he had any intention The heart will definitely do this.”
It takes an expert to unlock the restrictions in the secret code, Shi Zhongyu thought drowsily. Chen Qianfan happened to be an expert, and he wanted to rely on the Kushan faction to activate the secret code. It only made sense that "when Shi Jing's plan was discovered, Chen Qianfan activated the secret code and killed him."
But she didn't see such a thing. She was a witness, the only witness of the Kushan Sect. If you lie here to protect yourself, the Karesan sect will definitely receive a basin of dirty water.
"My brother was not deceived by bad people. The situation is not clear and there is no suspicion of guilt. I will tell nonsense."
Qi Xundao was silent for a long time. His face was expressionless, his breath was weak, and he seemed to have aged ten years, and seemed to have gained some kind of relief.
"My serious illness is not caused by evil spirits or evil people, but my destiny has arrived. The sect is in troubled times, but you lead the people to forcefully prolong my life, which consumes countless manpower, gold and silver. You personally protect me from disasters, you are deeply affectionate and righteous, but for By going astray and joining forces with evildoers, I have lost my original intention of being Taiheng.”
Qi Xundao stared at Shi Zhongyu with a pair of dry eyes: "Zhongyu, do you have something to say?"
Shi Zhongyu propped up his sick body, half-kneeling on the ground, with his back straight.
"Brother, I have no regrets."
Qi Xundao looked around, seeing anger or sadness on some of his disciples' faces, but they did not dare to say a word. He sighed, and then said: "As the leader of a sect, and considering your original intention of protecting the teacher, I will temporarily expel you from Taiheng, leaving you in name only. If you want to set foot in this door again, you must think carefully."
Shi Zhongyu maintained a half-kneeling posture and spoke stubbornly.
"As an ordinary old man, I am indeed blessed to be able to live a few more days. You can take the pot of white orchid in my house out - oh, remember to change the pot. The pot is Taiheng's property."
As he talked about it later, Qi Xundao's voice became softer and softer. He couldn't tell whether he was disappointed or filled with emotion.
"Master..."
"Let's go." Qi Xundao said calmly, "I am a mortal person, and I can waste my Yangshou life without mercy. It has been windy and rainy recently, and you have been dragged down by my illness. Remember to put on more clothes."
Shi Zhongyu was helped out of the hall by Jin Lan. As soon as she stepped onto the first step, the heat in her body suddenly disappeared. Shi Zhongyu froze in place, feeling extremely hot and then extremely cold all over his body. The many days of running around, suffering, and worrying were all turned into a pile of ridiculous ashes at this moment. For the first time, she couldn't straighten her back, and her whole body seemed to have been evacuated by something, and was filled with the cold wind of the Northland glaciers again.
Once the disaster-blocking talisman is activated, it will be easily destroyed. The disaster prevention effect disappears, leaving only one possibility.
Qi Xundao died after cutting off his meridians.
Half an hour later, in front of Taiheng Gate.
"Senior Sister, you...don't be too sad. The leader has not completely removed you from Taiheng. When the chaos is over, you will definitely be able to come back." Jin Lan sniffed and handed her the basin. Orchids—according to Master Qi’s instructions, that was the only thing she could take away. The head of the family was newly mourned, and there were countless matters to be dealt with within Taiheng. No one came to see her off except Jin Lan.
Shi Zhongyu stretched out his hands, carefully inserted the flower pot, and took out the orchid and the soil in the pot.
"I..." As soon as she started speaking, her heart suddenly jumped.
At the bottom of the pot of soil, she touched something hard and cold.
Shi Zhongyu pondered for a moment: "Jin Lan, please return the basin. There are many things going on in the faction now, so don't worry about me... I won't go far away for the time being. You and I will get together some other time."
Jin Lan turned around and walked away. Her swollen eyes were getting worse and worse. With no one around him, Shi Zhongyu wrapped the orchids and soil, and then quietly wiped the cold things with his sleeves -
The moment she saw the thing clearly, her eyes were sore and she almost bit her lip.
Taiheng Niyang order.
The head of Taiheng wears the Zhengyang Order, while the Niyang Order is controlled by the person whose status is second only to the head. By holding the Niyang Order, you can use this order to command the Taiheng Clan members to correct their words and deeds when the head of the family is unruly, or...
Simply abolish the leader.
Qi Xundao has been in charge of Taiheng for decades and is highly respected. In order to show respect, the order has been returned to Qi Xundao alone. Taiheng has been stable for so long that they almost forgot that something else existed.
Head... No, her master understands, she thought. Qi Xundao might have seen through something, but he was extremely weak and surrounded by countless people, but he had no opportunity or time.
Jianchen Temple has been closed for a long time, strange things happened in Mishan Sect, and Taiheng Sect was unable to change its leader at this time.
The storm is about to come, and the peace that has lasted for hundreds of years in Dayun Jianghu may not last long.