At five o'clock.
Before daybreak, civil and military officials waiting to attend court had already gathered outside the imperial city.
Min Changwen also arrived at the city gate on time. He got off the carriage, greeted and exchanged a few words with several familiar colleagues, then walked to the side and waited for the gate to open before entering the palace.
Civil and military officials gathered together, each in his own circle, and usually at this time they would put aside their prejudices and exchange information.
"Have you heard?" "What happened?"
“…The Protector of the Nation has moved into the palace.”
"This is ridiculous! How can a monk live in this imperial city? It's so disrespectful!"
"That's right. I don't know why His Majesty allowed a monk to stay here..."
There were also such whispered conversations nearby. Min Changwen took a breath and continued to close his eyes. In fact, he had already known the news before going out, but he felt somewhat numb in his heart.
"Evil and treacherous bring disaster to the country!"
Inside the official's sleeves, his fists were trembling, and he could only squeeze out these two curses.
"Wait a minute, there will be a quarrel in the court."
Soon, the palace gates opened, and the gathered civil and military officials entered the palace path one after another and assembled in the Guangzhao Hall. While they were waiting, eunuchs and palace guards came over to search them.
This was a common practice, and it became even more stringent after learning that Lu Liangsheng had returned to Southern Chen.
As usual, Chen Shubao came out from the back hall, walked up the imperial steps, spread his wide golden sleeves, brushed the armrests, and sat on the dragon throne. The eunuchs who accompanied him bowed and took three steps forward, shouting to the outside of the hall:
"Go to court!"
A group of civil and military officials then filed in, found their seats in the hall and stood in order. After discussing state affairs as usual, the emperor waved his sleeves and announced the end of the court session.
But this time, before Chen Shubao could even open his mouth, someone stood up.
"Your Majesty, I heard that the Protector of the Nation moved into the Imperial Palace. Is this true?"
The person who spoke was the Minister of Revenue Gong Gong, who was quite familiar with Min Changwen and the two often interacted in private. When he was reinstated and transferred back to the capital, he was the one who coordinated and lobbied, playing a huge role.
"That's what happened."
Chen Shubao brushed his dragon sleeves impatiently, stood up and walked towards the back hall, talking as he walked.
"I know what you are going to say, but shut up now. If anyone among you can protect me, I can bring him to live in the palace."
"But your majesty! The imperial palace is a place of great value. There are your majesty's concubines and relatives, as well as the crown prince. You must not lose the dignity of the royal family."
"I am the authority! I have the final say over the palace!"
In the court, just as Min Changwen had expected, people started arguing about this matter. Chen Shubao, who was about to leave, had to stay and argue with them. Finally, he left the hall in a huff.
"What do you barking ministers know—"
The court meeting ended in unhappiness. Min Changwen walked out of Guangzhao Hall. It was bright outside and the sunlight poured down, making him squint his eyes. With Lord Shuhua gone, he felt lonely and desolate, as he didn't even have anyone to talk to or make decisions with.
"Mr. Shuhua..."
He sighed softly and left with the civil and military officials.
Just like an ordinary and prosperous day, as time goes by, the stars dot the night sky, creating a starry sky.
A thin mist was rising between the palace buildings. Patrolling palace soldiers walked through with torches in hand. A warm yellow light shone from a nearby attic.
Namo Ami... Namo Ami... Namo Ami...
Amid the lights, Pu Du Ci Hang, who was sitting cross-legged on a cushion, moved his lips rapidly, and the flying insects that followed the lights avoided him from afar amid the Buddhist chanting.
Now he is no longer an ordinary monster. Once upon a time, he was stuck in the psychic stage for many years and already had the same wisdom as humans. Unfortunately, not every monster with spiritual awareness can take a step further.
If the young man had not accidentally pointed him out, he might have died of the five decays of heaven and earth. After that, he found a wild temple and entered a clay sculpture to accept people's offerings. With the power of incense and vows, as well as chance, he broke through the spiritual realm. As the saying goes in the human world: If you don't make a sound for three years, you will be a surprise when you do.
After breaking through the spiritual connection, his cultivation deepened at an unimaginable speed, but he also became dependent on incense and vows, and ordinary cultivation could no longer satisfy him.
Moreover, new ideas came to mind.
Transform into a dragon!
Instead of transforming into a human form and becoming a demon cultivator, it is better to practice with the help of the emperor's dragon energy. One day, you will turn into a dragon and ascend to the sky, overlooking the mountains and rivers winding above the nine heavens.
This is the greatest ambition of the monsters who stay in dark caves and underground all year round.
And the alchemy energy in his body will also be complete on August 15th. This is the last step, and he will make use of the dragon's might and the noble official spirit to transform himself.
It's just that the dragon energy of the Chen Dynasty emperor had already been sucked away by him. But it doesn't matter, the emperor still has his son, and all the civil and military officials...
The sound of Buddhist chants echoed in the air, and the skinny figure dragged on the wall, turning into a huge black shadow, shaking its long beard, wandering out of the light and immersing into the darkness.
Across the brightly lit city, on the dark fields, there were countless black shadows winding underground, surrounding from all directions. At a certain moment, the floor tiles of the streets of the government offices in the city became loose, and black shadows emerged, crawling around, climbing over the wall of a house, and heading towards the backyard.
Soon, a scream was heard, startling the yellow dog in the yard and starting to bark.
Woof woof… Woof woof woof…
The dense clusters of centipedes under the black shadow crawled rapidly, spreading from the mansion engraved with the plaque with the word "Min". Amidst the barking sounds, they climbed up the courtyard wall, descended, and followed the wall base to avoid the patrolling guards carrying lanterns, and quickly moved away.
In the side room, there is a bright study with warm yellow color. At the desk in front of the window, Min Changwen is concentrating on writing stroke by stroke. He probably wants to summarize the arguments in the court today and present them to the emperor.
Woof woof woof—
Hearing the barking of a big dog in another house not far away made him stop writing. He frowned slightly and raised his face. The neighboring house where the barking came from was separated by a wall and was the residence of Gong Gong, the Minister of Revenue.
"What's going on?"
Min Changwen put down the brush, adjusted the wick, raised the oil lamp on the table in his hand, pushed open the door of the study, and faintly smelled a fishy odor.
Phew~
The fishy wind howled, and the camphor trees in the yard rustled.
He covered his mouth and nose and walked out of the door. At this moment, he heard a "clicking" sound in his ears. On the wall, a long shadow with a pair of tentacles danced back and forth, crawled down the wall, and reached the back of the human neck.
The next moment.
On the other side of the wall hung a framed painting with several large characters "Glorious Qixia..." lighting up one after another. Before the black shadow could open its mouth, it struck it with a bang. The long insect body flew sideways and hit the wall, then fell to the ground with another bang.
"This is… "
Min Changwen turned around hurriedly, the light of the lamp in his hand flickering, and he saw a huge centipede that was more than two people's length struggling and twisting, with green smoke coming out.
His expression suddenly changed, and he backed out of the study, shouting:
"Someone come quickly!"
Lights were lit in many rooms of the mansion, and there were frequent sounds of doors closing and footsteps. Servants and guards came over with knives and sticks in hand following the master's voice.
"Inside, the thing is inside!" Seeing the servants coming, Min Changwen finally calmed down a little and pointed to the study room and asked people to go in and check.
Inside the house, the servants and guards carefully raised their lanterns and peered inside. In the dim light, they saw a long pool of thick water accumulating on the ground. It emitted a foul odor that made people cover their mouths and noses.
"Master, what is this?"
"It stinks! Others, don't come over here, it's poisonous!"
Min Changwen was escorted by the guards to a farther place and stood still. He looked at the thick water in the firelight and was silent for a moment: "Let's go to Gong Mansion!"
He immediately fetched a long sword, and quickly walked out of the mansion with more than a dozen guards beside him. On the long street, a thin mist rolled close to the ground, and the barking of dogs became more frequent in the government offices around.
Walking up the stone steps with lanterns hung on them, Min Changwen asked the guards to knock on the gate of Gong's mansion. Soon, the gatekeeper half showed his face and saw the figure in the torchlight outside the door. He naturally recognized him and hurriedly opened the door.
"I greet the Minister of Personnel."
"Is your Lord Gong here?" Min Changwen listened to the barking of dogs inside and walked in.
"Yes, yes, he should be in the study. My master came back today and was angry. He locked himself in the study and didn't want to be disturbed."
The doorman didn't dare to stop him and could only follow behind to explain a few words. Besides, the man in front of him was also a Shangshu, who had a close relationship with his master and was familiar with the place because he often came to the mansion.
"You don't have to follow me, I'll go there by myself!"
After waving away the doorman, Min Changwen held down the hilt of his sword and led two guards across the porch in the front yard. The barking of the dogs became clearer and louder.
"Be careful."
He instructed the guards behind him and went to knock on the door of the study in the side yard. With his fingers slightly bent, he smelled a familiar stench before he knocked.
Min Changwen immediately lowered his hand, pressed the hilt of the sword, turned around and left.
"Go back home immediately and wake up the young lady."
He returned to the front yard, and under the doorman's puzzled gaze, he went straight out of Gong's house and returned home, changed into a set of close-fitting clothes, and left the house with a long sword hanging from his hand.
Outside the door, torches were everywhere and more than a dozen guards gathered. Among them was a woman in a light pink tight-fitting casual dress, with a pretty face and a high bun. When she saw the old man coming out, she hurried forward and spoke with some anxiety.
"Dad, what happened?"
"There is no time to elaborate. Follow me out of the city immediately."
"What about mother?"
"It doesn't matter. As long as the father is not around, she will be fine."
The mansion was brightly lit with flames. Soon, a dozen fast horses gathered at the back door. On the horseback, a woman wearing casual travel clothes looked at her father opposite.
Min Changwen turned his horse around and could vaguely hear screams coming from the main street of the government offices. He took a breath, raised his whip and whipped it hard.
"There is an old friend of mine at the South Gate. Let's go south to River Valley County! Go—"
The horsemen stamped on the ground and galloped out quickly. The woman and the other guards were afraid that he would get into trouble, so they followed him and ran towards the south gate.
The flames were subdued in the hands of the people, passing through the streets, and soon someone opened the city gate, rushed onto the official road, and headed south.
…
At the same time, in the East Palace of the Imperial City, the flickering lights suddenly shook, and a huge black shadow flashed past the window.