The Taoist priest that Lu Liangsheng was thinking of was now flying towards this side at full speed. The morning light gradually rose above the sun. On the mountain side of the official road where pedestrians and merchants were traveling, a black shadow appeared in the woods like an arrow shot from a bow, rolling up fallen leaves. As the shadow passed by, leaves in the air fluttered down again.
Rustle…
There were two pieces of yellow paper with the magic of movement stuck to his knees and his legs took a step forward, leaving a residual shadow. After a moment, he jumped over a large bluestone, pinched his chest with his fingers, and his body disappeared into the earth, leaving only a Taoist hat on the ground.
In an instant, an arm stretched out again, grabbed the hat and retracted into the ground, and the small mound of earth then spread rapidly forward.
A small town called Ningxia could be seen at the foot of the mountain. The Taoist came out of the ground, covered with grass clippings and dirt. He casually took out two white steamed cakes and pulled them into his mouth as he walked.
"I was about to complete my golden elixir, but you insisted on giving me the way. You didn't even tell me... Luckily I knew where Lanruo Temple was."
After mumbling to himself for a while, Sun Yingxian pushed aside the branches hanging in front of him that were blocking the way, and saw an old donkey running happily, with the taut rope dragging the woman in black skirt past him.
Hehe… Hahahaha…
The woman actually laughed out loud.
"What's going on..."
The stone tablet with the word "Lanruo" written on it and the figure wearing a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat sitting cross-legged on it looked familiar to him. The Taoist walked over and lowered his head to take a look at the bamboo hat.
Zuo Zhengyang opened his eyes: "What are you looking at? Lu Liangsheng is inside."
"Can't I take a look? But, Lao Zuo, why are you here too?"
Seeing that the other party did not reply after saying this, the Taoist curled his lips and walked straight to the temple. Not far away there was a bearded man who was skinning a rabbit. He could not help but take another look at the other party's wooden box.
When he walked to the temple gate, he saw the Toad Taoist lying under the eaves. A smile immediately appeared on his face and he quickened his pace.
"Old Toad, basking in the sun again?"
The Toad Taoist leaned to the side, half-opened his eyes, and waved his webbed fingers at him: "If you don't bask in the sun now, are you going to wait until noon? Waiting to eat toad venom?! Go away, go away, don't block the sun."
In the temple, the sound of Yuwen Tuo and others reading could be heard. As soon as Sun Yingxian entered, Li Sui'an put down the book, moved his mouth to point to the attic, and then buried his face behind the book again.
The Taoist grinned and ran up the wooden steps. He saw Lu Liangsheng straightening a stone Buddha, leaning against the wooden railing, and taking a bite of a half-eaten steamed bun.
"Why did you ask me to come all this way? That monster is the one you brought last time, right? It was so stupid, being dragged around by an old donkey outside."
With a dull thud, Lu Liangsheng placed the heavy Buddha statue on the altar, glanced to see if it was aligned, then turned around and said with a smile: "Don't lean against the wooden railing, be careful not to fall down."
He dusted off his hands, walked to the Taoist's side, broke off a small piece from his hand and put it into his mouth.
"It wasn't anything to do, but I suddenly remembered something last night, and I wondered if you would."
He looked at the biscuit in his hand that had been broken into pieces, quickly stuffed it into his mouth, and replied while chewing:
"What's going on? Isn't it another case of separating souls?"
"no."
After a pause, Lu Liangsheng turned around and looked at the temple gate. He heard the sound of some women laughing and dragging their feet. He pondered for a moment and said, "You know that tree demon. She was once captured by the Fire Prayer Cult. I want to know other Fire Prayer Cult locations from her memory."
"Oh, the art of drawing souls and guiding dreams."
"You can?"
"No, I've heard of it, but it's not difficult."
At this point, Sun Yingxian felt a little embarrassed. This magic was considered simple, but it also depended on who the target was. From the scholar's painting, it seemed that he wanted to find clues about the Fire Prayer Cult from the tree demon's memory.
But... Damn it, that tree demon is a thousand-year-old demon. Even if it is unconscious, it cannot surpass the other party's cultivation level. If it retaliates, it will be no different from seeking death.
There was a hesitant expression on the Taoist's face. Lu Liangsheng looked at his expression and roughly guessed what the Taoist was worried about.
"I'll do it."
"Well, that's what you said."
Lu Liangsheng nodded: "I said so."
Soon after lunch, Lu Liangsheng let the three disciples go out for a walk, and took the Taoist to the foot of the mountain to buy incense, candles, and yellow chickens. Taking advantage of the bright midday sun, the two of them set up a magic circle in the attic of the temple, and asked Yan Chixia to assist them.
The confused tree demon sat in the formation. The Taoist cut the chicken's throat and let the blood drip on the talisman paper and the demon-subduing mirror, and then tied a red string around the tree demon's neck and fingers.
And let one of them take away the bronze mirror.
Lu Liangsheng lit a stick of sandalwood and inserted it into the incense burner in front of the Buddha statue, then sat cross-legged facing the bronze mirror.
"Remember, once your spiritual consciousness enters the bronze mirror, if anything goes wrong, get out!"
Although the Taoist had been somewhat evasive in his words before, when the time came, he still used the bronze mirror left to him by his master as a medium. If the tree demon's soul was touched, he would have something to resist.
After hearing the Taoist's instructions, Lu Liangsheng slowly closed his eyes. With the experience of his soul leaving his body, his consciousness followed the silk thread pulled by the magic power and extended through the air to the bronze mirror opposite.
The originally bright yellow mirror surface suddenly formed a circle of ripples, and turned a deep black. The originally ignorant and curious tree demon seemed to be hypnotized at this moment, and closed his eyes and calmed down.
Whoosh…
There was a slight breathing sound.
'Into a dream.'
The moment the thought came to mind, in Lu Liangsheng's dark vision, a faint light bloomed at the end, and then a dazzling white light shot out, pushing away the darkness that extended from the end of the sky, and instantly enveloped him.
The light flashed and the vision became clear. We were standing on a high slope. The fields were lush and green, and the green forests on the mountain ridges swayed in the breeze.
"Is this the memory of the tree demon?"
Lu Liangsheng seemed to feel the mountain breeze blowing on his cheek. He stretched out his hand and a petal fell into his palm. The next moment, a huge noise came from the top of the mountain on one side, shaking the hillside under his feet.
The flower petals on my palm floated away. When I turned my head to look, I heard a woman screaming miserably.
"Big sister, let's go—"
A beautiful woman in a pink flowered dress was burning with flames all over her body, leaving a trail of fire in Lu Liangsheng's sight. She then crashed into a nearby mountain wall with a bang, and countless peach petals flew away under the impact.
Peach demon
Lu Liangsheng moved over, but before he got close, a figure in a black dress dropped from the sky. She was as graceful as an ordinary woman and passed straight past him, trying to use her magic power to put out the fire on the woman who was on fire.
"Sister, go! They want to catch you!"
The flames on the Peach Blossom Demon's body were not ordinary fires. Despite his shrill screams, they could not be extinguished at all. All his magical powers evaporated in the flames, and his original tree form gradually appeared. In the blink of an eye, it was burned black.
The tree demon in the black skirt raised her head and looked behind her. Lu Liangsheng followed her and saw several figures flying down from the hilltop. The leader of them had a neat bun and a dignified face. He wore a red robe with gold edges and embroidered fire patterns, but his eyes were cold.
"Show your true form and follow me!"
At the foot of the cliff, the woman in the black dress stretched out her arms, and her hands turned into roots that drilled into the ground. Her eyes were equally cold as she looked at the man.
"I will kill you and drain all your cultivation!"
“… and crush the Fire Prayer Sect!”