The lights are like dragons, and the voices are gradually fading away.
Two quarters after the Hour of the Pluto, the night bell of Chang'an rang. On both sides of the street, vendors extinguished the steam rising from their stoves, and pedestrians strolling around also hurried past in twos and threes.
Brothers Yang Yong and Yang Guang touched their slightly swollen bellies. Naturally, Yang Yong refused his brother's suggestion to go to the brothel.
"Go back quickly, otherwise when father comes back and sees you and I are not at home, he might punish you according to the family rules again."
The little man walking in front held the cheese cherry and put it into his mouth bit by bit. This after-meal dessert of cheese and sugarcane syrup has always been Yang Guang's favorite.
Hearing his brother's words, he raised his little face and turned slightly.
"Hmph... Brother, what are you talking about? If I have to hit you, I'll hit you. I was brought up by you."
"you!"
The corner of Yang Yong's mouth twitched, and he pointed with his finger suspended in the air, but finally he shook his sleeves and let them fall. It was really difficult for him to get angry with his younger brother.
"… My brother's idea is that when the night bell rings, it's time to go home. If we run into a bad guy, who can escape, you or me?"
"Who in Chang'an City dares to do that? My father's status is there. Even people in the palace have to go around us brothers."
The little face looked up as if speaking seriously. Then, it picked up the cherry, licked the cheese on it, and squinted its eyes to feel the sweetness blooming on the tip of its tongue.
There were still quite a few pedestrians on the street. After hearing the conversation between the adult and the child, they found the pair of brothers interesting.
"Oh, oh, brother, when we were having dinner, cousin Li Yuan said he met a master. Is that true?"
"It might be fake. How can a master say that he can meet someone just by chance and give them treasures?"
Yang Yong sneered, twirling his sleeves behind his back, looking at the vendors around him who were packing up their stalls and leaving, and slightly raised his chin.
"Speaking of experts, I do know one. Someone wants to recommend him to father through me. His name seems to be Lu Liangsheng, and he is a tribute scholar of the Southern Chen Dynasty."
At this point, Yang Yong suddenly stopped talking. He could vaguely hear the sound of tiles breaking. He subconsciously raised his head and looked through the lanterns intertwined above the long street. He murmured, "… What sound?"
On the side, Yang Guang had an expression of 'disbelief' and snorted: "Will an expert let someone recommend you? It must be someone below you who is fooling you."
Bang!
A thumb-sized piece of debris fell on the street and bounced to Yang Guang's feet. The little guy stopped talking, frowned slightly, and followed his brother's gaze to the roof on the right.
…
At the north gate of Chang'an, the sound of hoofbeats shook the ground as more than a dozen horses galloped towards them.
"Open the city gates! The Prime Minister wants to leave the city!"
There were soldiers shouting and waving their weapons. A man from the cavalry suddenly tightened the reins.
"Oh~~"
Yang Su reined in his horse, turned his head sharply and looked back at the city, shouting, "Brother, there is a change in the city! There are Taoists practicing in the city—"
Hey, hey!
Ahead, horses neighed loudly.
The warhorse that stood up raised its hooves. Yang Jian turned the horse's head and saw that his cousin's expression did not seem to be false. He turned his head and said to Li Yuan who was following him:
"You must not spread the news of your encounter with the Immortal. Return to the city first!"
Immediately, he drew his sword and shouted loudly.
"Follow me!"
With his cloak lifted up, he galloped through the streets on his horse, followed by Yang Su, Li Yuan, and his personal guards.
…
The streets are brightly lit, pedestrians are hurrying by, and all the noise is gradually dying down.
"The last two pancakes, buy one get one free, we'll close the stall when they're sold out!" "Lamb cakes, lamb cakes, hurry up and buy them, there's still some hot lamb soup to be had."
Amid the final noise, as Yang Yong asked, "What's that sound?", Yang Guang looked in the direction where he could see a loud bang from above the building with lanterns hanging on it.
The next moment.
A black shadow streaked across the long street like a cannonball, piercing through the branches of the big trees on the roadside. Strings of lanterns were dragged on the shadow and slammed heavily onto the street. The remaining force hit the curb and bounced up, rolling on the ground for several times before stopping when it hit the door of a closed shop.
The broken lantern was then lit up by the light, illuminating half of the long street. The pedestrians and vendors around were stunned for a moment, then they reacted, dropped everything in their hands, shouted in panic, and ran away, keeping a distance.
"Murder!" "There's a vendetta, run."
"Notify the authorities immediately!"
Yang Yong also thought that he had encountered a gang vendetta, so he pulled his brother back. Yang Guang was reluctant to leave, as such a thing was rare, so he looked back from time to time.
On the rooftop before, two figures appeared, one in front and one behind. The one in front descended to the street, and the other stood on the rooftop, his robe rustling. Suddenly, the sound of hooves was heard on the street, and an old donkey carrying a bookshelf was running towards this side.
Lu Liangsheng stared at the Fire Praying monk who was descending below. He stretched out his hand from his sleeve and made a move. On the back of the old donkey, the bookshelf made a few "clang" sounds, and seven magic swords were unsheathed one by one and rushed into the sky.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh…
As he flew past the brothers' field of vision, his clothes and hair were blown into a mess, and Yang Yong fell to the ground with a cry of "Ouch".
At the side, Yang Guang stood there blankly, his mouth open with difficulty closing.
"Brother... Brother... what is flying over..."
Yang Yong, who was sitting on the ground, swallowed his saliva and said, "It seems... to be a sword."
As they were talking, the scholar on the rooftop in front of their sight waved his arm and put two fingers between his eyes. Since he had achieved minor success in the Golden Elixir realm at Qishan and his magic power had expanded, he seemed to be much more adept at controlling the magic sword.
call…
The wind blew through the street, and the monk who was running to his companion turned around. The light of a sword flashed across his eyes. In his shrinking pupils, he saw seven magic swords crossing the sky above the long street and then falling down.
"Sword wielding technique?!"
At this moment, the red-headed staff in his hand slammed to the ground, with fire patterns wrapped around it. The magic power spread out from the head of the staff and supported the top of his head. Seven swords fell down with a buzzing sound, and the sound of the hitting turned into ripples that spread out in all directions.
“Ahh…”
The monk's arms were shaking constantly, his face was red, and he roared. The next second, he withdrew his magic power, kicked off his feet and pounced to the side. Long swords spread along his rolling body, and the ground where they were nailed burst open. The debris flew to the side of the street and hit the wooden pillars on the eaves, shaking them.
The two brothers and a vendor who were hiding behind a cart were stunned by this scene.
"Brother, look, the man upstairs is coming down."
The lantern burned, and in the area illuminated by the fire, Lu Liangsheng landed lightly on the ground. He raised one hand, and the magic sword that was inserted vertically into the ground picked up the stone debris and pulled them up again one by one.
…
In the distance, another monk who had been knocked into the street woke up, his face covered in blood. He staggered to his feet, looked at the scholar with a sword hanging around him, swallowed his saliva, turned around and ran away.
He took two steps and then stopped suddenly, his expression stunned. In front of him, he saw a toad wearing a short coat standing on the ground.
"I can't beat that guy... How dare a toad demon stop me!"
He also held a magic sword in his hand, and he roared harshly. The moment he stroked the sword with two fingers, the toad that was not even as high as his knees appeared in his sight as if it were an illusion. The toad's head became extremely large, and its mouth opened to the extreme.
On the ground, flames spread, casting shadows that dragged on the walls of the street. The shadows of people's feet were kicking in the air, while the upper body merged into the huge black shadow.
The Toad Taoist had two webbed feet on his back and was chewing something with a sizzling sound in his mouth. His eyes drifted towards the silhouette of his disciple not far away on the street. He stopped swallowing for a moment, and his head became huge again, opening his mouth to the side.
"Hoo-teh!"
A figure spurted out of his mouth and stuck to the wall on the street with a "pa" sound. The sticky liquid slowly slid down along with the monk.
“The taste is really bad…”
The Toad Taoist put his flippers on his back and turned to leave.
…
Tap tap tap…
The sound of horse hooves could be heard faintly from the north side of the long street.
Lu Liangsheng turned his head slightly to listen, then turned his head to see the tumbling monk getting up from the ground in a panic, and the magic weapon in his hand fell several feet away.
After all, the cultivator was not injured. As soon as the Fire Prayer Sect cultivator stood firm, he heard a sharp sound breaking through the air.
The cloth on his body sizzled a few times as it was pierced by the sword, then tightened and pulled backwards, hitting the door of a street shop with a bang. The monk looked up and saw several magic swords coming towards him -
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
One by one, they nailed him to his limbs, wide sleeves, trouser legs, armpits... The whole person was stretched out in a big letter shape. The last sword shot out with a swish, penetrated the hem of his robe, and nailed him to the buttocks, sinking half an inch into the shop front.
The Fire-Praying Cult monk lowered his head, glanced downward, rolled his eyes, and fainted.
At this time, Taoist Toad also came over and climbed up the bookshelf along the old donkey's rope. In the distance, the sound of horse hooves and the light of torches were getting closer and closer.
"Liangsheng, take him outside the city for questioning!"
"Um."
Lu Liangsheng naturally knew that he had alerted the soldiers in the city, so he waved his robe sleeves and put the seven magic swords back into the scabbards on the bookshelf. He reached out and grabbed the person from the Praying Fire Sect, and floated onto the old donkey's back.
A pat on the donkey's butt.
"Walk!"
At the same time, there were voices shouting, “Sir!”
Among the horsemen who rushed forward first, Li Yuan had excellent eyesight and saw Lu Liangsheng's profile from a distance. However, when he passed by, the other party had already used magic to disappear in the street on the other side in an instant.
Oh~~~
Yang Jian stopped his warhorse and was stunned for a moment when he saw that even an old donkey could run so fast, then he came to his senses.
"Alas, I missed the chance to meet a master..."
"Don't be upset, brother!"
At the side, Yang Su turned his horse's head and bowed to his brother, "I will catch up and invite him here for you!"
After saying this, he kicked the horse's belly and chased out of the long street. The sound of hoofbeats gradually disappeared.
Here, the street was controlled by the infantry who had arrived. Yang Jian naturally saw the corpse covered in mucus and the two brothers hiding behind the cart.
After saying, "Thoroughly investigate the origin of this corpse," he looked at Yang Yong and Yang Guang who were walking slowly towards him and snorted.
"I'll settle accounts with you brothers when I get back!"
The two brothers shuddered at the same time, causing Li Yuan to hold back his laughter and turn his face away.