The hustle and bustle of the city faded away in the wind. Among the woods, the branches and leaves rustled and a black shadow passed by.
After a moment, stop in an open space.
Ahem…
The donkey let out a heavy breath and grunted. A figure was thrown high into the air above its head, fell to the ground with a thud, and rolled out with a pile of fallen leaves.
Lu Liangsheng looked at the unconscious Fire-Praying Monk on the ground, fell silent, took out a folding easel and a blank scroll from the bookshelf, and set them up nearby.
Squeak...
The small door of the bookshelf compartment was pushed open, and the Toad Taoist covered his mouth to suppress the urge to vomit. He jumped down, staggered to the side of his disciple, and raised his toad face to look at the scroll spread out on the easel.
"Liangsheng... Aren't you interrogating me? What are you doing?"
“We are not good at torture to extract confessions… Ordinary interrogations would not have yielded any results.”
The scholar held the inkstone and gently rubbed the ink block, then glanced at the unconscious figure over there. He put his fingertips around the edge of his sleeve, took the brush with his other hand, dipped it in ink, and scraped it on the edge of the inkstone.
The blank paper opened and the voice said:
“… Then there is only another way!”
The ink glowed, and a night wind blew through the dark woods. The birds in the woods flapped their wings and flew around in panic.
Awooo~~~
The howling of wolves could be heard in the distance of the forest. Above the gaps between the trees, the night clouds dispersed, revealing a fluorescent yellow moonlight shining down.
Well…
The figure lying on the ground with fallen leaves slowly woke up, opened his eyes, covered his forehead and propped up his upper body in a daze. The moment his consciousness came back, he suddenly thought of something, and then he let out a long sigh of relief.
"I'm outside the city?"
The monk on the ground supported himself with his arms and stood up tremblingly. He looked around. The moonlight in the woods was clear, illuminating the hazy mist.
"What happened in the city must be reported to Mingzun as soon as possible."
With staggering steps, he cast a spell, wanting to contact the rest of the people in the sect, but suddenly found that he had no power at all. He frowned, withdrew his hand, and looked around.
"What's going on..."
Crash!
When the monk was surprised, the branches of the trees in the surrounding woods swayed wildly, mist rose in the moonlight, and a cold breath suddenly hit his face.
“Who is it?!”
He roared towards one side, and two figures appeared out of thin air, sliding across clusters of drooping branches and moving towards him, with the iron chains behind them clanging.
"The City God of Chang'an is here to handle this matter!"
The monk was stunned for a moment, and felt a chill running down his neck. He quickly bowed and said, "I am Fang Qingde, a mortal monk. I am honored to meet the two ghost messengers."
The two ghost messengers stopped a few steps away, and without waiting for Fang Qingde to react, they swung the iron chains in their hands and entangled his arms and shoulders.
"As a cultivator, you have transcended the mundane world, yet you are wreaking chaos in the city and destroying the peace of the people. Come back with us to see the City God!"
The City God is a heroic spirit from the mortal world that is worshipped by people. He possesses the power of incense and vows, and protects the people of a certain area from being harmed by evil spirits. Fang Qingde started practicing Taoism as a mortal, and he was also afraid of the word "City God".
But after all, he is a cultivator, so it is inevitable that he knows more.
"The City God is only responsible for dealing with evil spirits. How can he care about people like us who practice Taoism?"
"snort!"
The two ghost messengers didn't care. They dragged and pulled the iron chain in their hands. Fang Qingde only felt his body floating lightly. When he turned around, he was shaking with fear, but his body was still standing straight there.
"Now, the City God has the right to question you!"
After saying this, without waiting for the other party to refute, he pulled the chain, wrapped Fang Qingde's soul in the cold wind and drifted away.
Whoosh whoosh…
There was a faint sound of wind blowing past his ears, and Fang Qingde was being dragged through the sky in the mist. The woods and fields below were rapidly flying backwards in his sight. In the distance, a huge city with thousands of lights on came into his sight. The next moment, his field of vision tilted downward to the outskirts of the city.
The fragrance of sandalwood wafted over, and two ghost messengers pulled him along the white stone paved road and walked up the stone steps. There was a huge blue door plaque with the three characters "City God Temple" inscribed on it, which made Fang Qingde tremble with fear. On both sides of the temple, there were clay statues of judges that were used during the day, but now they were leaning over a long table with pen and ink in their hands.
In the first seat, the City God, wearing an official hat and official uniform, sat at the desk. With his hawk-like eyes, he quietly looked at Fang Qingde who was brought in, as if judging his crime.
The monk's soul came in, was pushed to the middle, knelt down, bowed his head... Just refuse to admit it, Liang Chenghuang can't do anything to me, as long as I wait for Mingzun to notice, he will definitely save me...
On the upper side, the judge of the Punishment Department made a stroke on a bamboo slip.
"The mortal cultivator Fang Qingde was directly punished to reincarnate in the underworld..."
Fang Qingde, who was still pondering over how to answer, was stunned and looked at the judge with his mouth slightly open.
"You don't ask me about my crime?"
"Why ask you? The merits and deeds of the City God are all recorded!"
While the judge of the Punishment Division was speaking, the City God, who had been silent all this time, narrowed his eyes and said, "As a cultivator in the mortal world, you imprisoned innocent women and used them as tools to vent your anger. This is against the laws of the mortal world and also violates the law of the netherworld. What else is there to say? Repaying retribution. Those who rape women will be raped. You will also suffer this in your next life."
"City God! City God! Wait a minute!!!"
Fang Qingde didn't feel anything about the first half of the sentence, but the second half made his hair stand on end. Even if he became an animal, he would only live for a year or two before his life ended and he would be reincarnated again. But if he turned into a woman and became like that... he would be unable to live or die.
"The City God is wise, I didn't imprison the woman. It was the bandits under my command who couldn't stand the loneliness and abducted her to vent their anger."
On the side, the judge snorted disdainfully: "You cultivate the Tao and cultivate the world, but do not focus on moral behavior. Instead, you gather mortal warriors and do not restrain them. The crimes they commit will naturally fall on you."
Around them, several ghost messengers with gloomy faces retreated to the left and right, and a tall and thin figure wearing a hat to hide his face floated over swaying.
Fang Qingde glanced at it out of the corner of his eye, his soul was trembling, and he kowtowed quickly.
"City God and Judge, please understand that they are not under my command."
"oh?"
An ambiguous voice made the monk below tremble. He only heard the sound of turning pages of a book. He raised his head slightly and looked out of the corner of his eye. On the long table, a book of magic light was flashing. Fang Qingde could roughly guess that it was the book of good and evil merits of the City God.
After a moment, the City God raised his head and said, "You are a member of the Fire Prayer Cult. The evil you have done should be blamed on the people above. Tell me where the Fire Prayer Cult is!"
At this point, he paused and added, "Don't worry, you are a ghost now, and you are within the power of the City God. The restrictions on you will not work."
You even know this
Then why don’t you know where my religion is… That’s right, the City God of each place is responsible for investigating the affairs of that place, and my Holy Religion is not here.
But... should I tell you or not
Fang Qingde looked hesitantly at the City God above, and saw the reincarnation ghost wandering not far away. His clenched teeth loosened and his forehead suddenly touched the ground.
"Reporting to the City God, the Qihuo Sect is in Yingshi Mountain in Huaiyi Prefecture, and I am the Holy Fire Master..."
The words suddenly stopped, Fang Qingde trembled all over, felt a burning pain, and raised his head suddenly. The scenery around him was distorted and broken, and the color of night re-entered his eyes. An old donkey, a scholar, and a toad were standing not far away.
"You...you guys...uh..."
He suddenly pulled up his collar, revealing his chest. Five fireballs on it emitted a bright light that gradually illuminated the surroundings. Fang Qingde staggered back two steps, screaming miserably. Seeing the scholar opposite him, he couldn't help but shouting, "Save me..."
Then... with a bang, a blood mist exploded, and bloody organs and minced meat flew everywhere, hitting nearby trees and slowly falling down, some of which were directly hung on the treetops.
"This... doesn't count as my killing, right?"
Lowering his wide sleeves that covered his face, Lu Liangsheng withdrew his magic spell, flicked his finger, and a piece of flesh and blood that was almost as long as the tip of his shoe flew away. He turned around, put away the easel and the painting "City God Trial" on it, and put them together on the bookshelf.
"Now we know where they are. The leader should be very powerful. Master, what countermeasures do you have?"
The Toad Taoist looked at the debris on the ground, swallowed, retracted his gaze, and walked back to the rope hanging from the bookshelf with his white belly bulging. As he climbed, he said:
"If he is too powerful to be defeated, just secretly take back my things and leave... You good-for-nothing, why don't you help him rest in peace this time?"
"What I hate most is men who bully women. They are not like human beings."
Lu Liangsheng rode on the old donkey, opened the gourd, took a sip of wine, and urged the old donkey to go forward: "There is no need to bury it like a human."
"You use your father as the standard."
"Ha ha!"
The scholar laughed, turned his head to look at the open compartment, then turned his head again, lay down gently on his back, and watched the dense branches pass by his field of vision.
"Not all of them. Master is among them."
The Toad Taoist hugged his flippers, turned his head and looked out into the night forest. In the darkness, the faint lights of the village were reflected in his eyes.
It took a long while to speak.
"I... don't have any attachment to the relationship between men and women."
As time passed, the night grew darker. War horses from afar neighed loudly, and men stood up on the cliffs while their hooves stopped.
Xilulu-
On horseback, Yang Su's short beard fluttered in the wind. He squinted his eyes and looked at the woods and fields in the cold moonlight, as if he could see something that ordinary people could not reach.
After a moment, he pulled the reins and changed direction.
"drive!"
Carrying a long sword on his back, he rode down the mountain.
…
Leaving Chang'an and heading southeast to Huaiyi Prefecture, the summer rain continued for two days. After traveling for two consecutive days, Lu Liangsheng felt that his whole body was full of moisture and he was extremely uncomfortable.
In the past two days, the old donkey seemed to be sick. He was in a state of collapse, refusing to eat or drink, and farting continuously, which smelled extremely bad. Forcing the Toad Taoist to come out of the small cubicle and lie on his disciple's shoulder.
We passed by a village near the official road. There was an inn in the village, but unfortunately it was already late at night and most of the owner and waiters had gone to bed. No one answered after I called out several times.
"Forget it. I won't disturb your sweet dreams. Tomorrow morning, I'll buy some fodder from the store and give it to it. Let's see if it eats it."
After taking care of the old donkey crawling on the ground, Lu Liangsheng casually scattered the dust under the eaves and lay down with a piece of chopped firewood as a pillow.
"Let's just rest under the eaves tonight."
When you are away from home, you are used to sleeping in the open air.