The last ray of sunset glowed on the top of the city. Countless lights lit up in the huge city, and the voices of people were still noisy and bustling.
People who want to cool off in the Furong Pond past Quchifang would occasionally come over for a walk, but if they got too close to the lake, patrolling soldiers would come and drive them away.
"The Imperial Master has ordered that ferocious beasts lurk in the water. Ordinary people are not allowed to approach at will. They can only watch from outside the fence. Those who disobey the order will be expelled from Furongchi!"
Several people who were stopped by Changbing waved their sleeves. One of them wanted to rush over, but when he saw the cold spear head, he hesitated for a moment and was held back by his companions, so he had to retreat.
"What's so great about this? Why would you release a ferocious beast into the Hibiscus Pond?"
"Stop talking about it. I heard there's a dragon living in the water. Don't mess with it."
"If we don't want to go near the water, then we can always go to the Taoist temple, right?"
"No, that won't work. The Imperial Master likes quietness, and the Wanshou Temple is not open to the public... Hey, why is there someone going over there?"
"Soldiers, soldiers, why don't you do anything about it!"
In the direction they pointed, a big man with a whisker ran over quickly, carrying someone on his back. The soldier looked back and said to them, "I'm not going to look at him any more. I ...
"They are people from the Imperial Master's Temple, and they have permission to come in and out! You guys should just wander around nearby."
The figure walking along the blue brick path was none other than Yan Chixia, who was carrying Zuo Zhengyang on his back. His legs were almost leaving an afterimage as he ran straight through the mountain gate and up the stone steps.
In the Taoist temple above, night insects were chirping in the grass. In the attic on the left, the lights in a few lighted windows were swaying slightly. The scholar, relying on the light of the fire, reached out and gently moved the wick, then continued to read the book that seemed to be wordless to outsiders.
Wow!
The paper page was turned over by his fingertips. The light of dusk illuminated his profile, and Lu Liangsheng slightly frowned his delicate eyebrows.
"… Hmm? The First Emperor once said, 'Live as long as the heaven, and live under the same ruler as the world?'"
With his other hand, he tapped the tabletop with his fingertips, recalling that he had talked to Yang Jian before about ghosts, gods, life and death, and the latter seemed to have said the same thing.
Then, he turned his head to look at the bed. The woman in the black dress was supporting her side face and staring at him straight. Lu Liangsheng seemed not to see it, and his eyes wandered to the short figure on the edge of the bed.
The Toad Taoist was bending one leg and placing the other on top, humming a tune and shaking his flippers. He was flipping through a small booklet that recorded delicious food. When he noticed his disciple's gaze, he pressed the book to his chest.
"Why are you looking at me like that? I'm not familiar with the First Emperor."
"Master, you misunderstood." Lu Liangsheng smiled, put down the biography of Lu Yuan, and explained: "... Actually, I want to ask, Master, do you know which emperors in this world want to live as long as the sky and be the same king as the world?"
The Toad Taoist did not answer. He put the book aside, sat up, moved to the edge of the bed, jumped down, and walked out with his flippers on his back.
"Master, what are you doing?!"
The wind blew in through the window gap, and the lights flickered. Lu Liangsheng asked, looking at the window paper, and vaguely heard the sound of people coming up the stone steps.
"Master, I'm going to go out and cool down, so you don't have to ask questions that I don't know." Toad waved his hand behind his disciple's back, walked towards the door with a clattering step on the smooth floor, muttering words that only he could hear.
"That's just a toad, why are you asking so many questions? It's a test of knowledge... It's ridiculous. You can't even read a book peacefully. Go find that pig demon and the little Taoist priest. It's not bad to talk about some wild game."
With his webbed feet on his back, he walked towards the door chattering non-stop, and heard a creaking sound of the door opening. He raised his head abruptly, and suddenly remembered the scene in Zhou's mansion that year. He kicked his legs and dodged in the opposite direction. The door opened inwards, and a figure rushed in quickly. Under the swinging robe, a step was instantly magnified in the Toad's eyes.
"As expected... I knew it would be like this..."
With a bang, it flew out into the air, bounced on the ground like a ball, rolled under the bed, hit the purple gold gourd hidden under the bed, and rolled into a ball.
"Hey, did I kick something?"
Li Sui'an subconsciously looked around to see if the short figure was still there. In his peripheral vision, he saw Lu Liangsheng, who was sitting at the desk, turned around and quickly stood up straight.
"Master, Yan Chixia is back, as is Zuo Qianwei, but he seems... seems to be poisoned."
Poisoned
After hearing his apprentice's words, Lu Liangsheng frowned, put down the book, and hurriedly took Sui An out and went down to the first floor. At this time, Lao Sun, Zhu Ganglie, and Shelong also came out, stood in a circle in the hall, looking at Zuo Zhengyang lying on two tables.
Lu Liangsheng had some knowledge of medicine, but he couldn't tell what the poison was at a glance. He raised his eyes and looked at the bearded man beside him inquiringly.
"What kind of poison?"
"It's corpse poison."
Yan Chixia didn't need to explain. The Taoist on the other side stroked his mustache and stared at Zuo Zhengyang, whose face was blue and lips were purple, with a serious expression.
"The poisoned person will stink all over, and it won't be long before he turns into a corpse."
As he said that, he quickly walked to the door and looked up at the night sky, his brows furrowed even further.
"There is a moon tonight. If the poison is not removed by midnight, Old Zuo will turn into a corpse. However, with his martial arts attainments and cultivation, and the Fire Spirit Pearl protecting his body, this shouldn't happen."
There was a rustling sound in the woods outside at night. The wind blew into the inner room, fanning the candlelight. Lu Liangsheng and the others also had the same doubts as the Taoist. With Zuo Zhengyang's strength, even if his cultivation was still shallow, his martial arts were not something that ordinary cultivators could have. How could he be poisoned by a corpse
Everyone looked at Yan Chixia, who threw the wooden box aside and shrugged his shoulders like a Taoist priest.
"How should I know? I was already poisoned when I met him."
As he spoke, the big man frowned, "But that corpse demon is no small matter. It sucked human blood and became invulnerable to swords and guns. It also knows Taoist magic, which is somewhat similar to the magic in the Six Dings and Six Jias."
Everything else was fine before, but when Lu Liangsheng heard the four words Liu Ding Liu Jia, he couldn't help but think of someone in his mind—Chen Jing's master, Chen Fu.
'Could it be that after being seriously injured by me, he turned himself into a zombie and continued to live? This old man would do anything to restore his country, so this is really possible.'
Thinking of this possibility, Lu Liangsheng pulled Yan Chixia over and asked him where they met the other party. He learned that they met in Jinzhou, which is adjacent to Chang'an. He guessed what the other party was going to do all the way north. Apart from killing the emperor, Liangsheng could not think of any other possibility.
"Sui'an, take my warrant and go to the palace to tell His Majesty about this and strengthen precautions."
"Enter the palace?"
It was Li Sui'an's first time to go to the palace and he was very happy. He took the token handed to him by his master and turned around to leave. As for Zuo Zhengyang, nothing would happen to him since his master and the others were there.
After the people left, the hall was quiet for a while. Lu Liangsheng turned to look at Lao Sun and said, "Where's your glutinous rice? Give it to Qianwei first to suppress the corpse poison. I'll try to see if I can pull the poison out."
The Taoist stood there motionless, hesitating to speak and chuckling twice.
"Hehe, it's gone... Last time I ground it into glutinous rice flour with the old toad, steamed it into cakes and ate it... I haven't had time to buy new ones yet."
Lu Liangsheng: “…”
Yan Chixia: “…”
Shelong was confused and looked around. The fat Zhu Ganglie next to him pushed him aside, grabbed Sun Yingxian's collar and pulled her in front of him.
"At the critical moment, you ran out of food?! Why didn't you call me, Old Pig, when you were eating!"
The scholar didn't want to talk any more. He looked at Yan Chixia and the bearded man shook his head.
"I ate mine too... Bah, he's used up all of it. I can only go to the rice shop outside to see if I can buy some. But I'm not sure if I can remove the poison from this corpse. The poison gas from the corpse is so strong that generally no one can cure it..."
Having said this, Yan Chixia looked at Zuo Zhengyang who had his eyes and mouth tightly closed, and suddenly slammed his palm, startling the Taoist priest and the old pig who were twisted into a ball over there, and they turned around to look.
"Friend Lu, I have another method. I wonder if it can be of use."
"What's the solution? Tell me now."
The Taoist priest, whose collar was tightly tied, shouted hoarsely. Lu Liangsheng raised his hand to shut him up. On the other side, Yan Chixia was silent for a moment and said, "Fight poison with poison! Use equally toxic poison to resist the corpse gas..."
Equivalent toxicity
Lu Liangsheng looked at the others. The Taoist, Zhu Ganglie, and Shelong also looked at each other thoughtfully. How could there be a poison as poisonous as this corpse poison...
On the stairs behind him, the sound of frog webs fell down, and the Toad Taoist slid down step by step. As soon as he turned around, he saw a group of people in the hall looking at him.
My heart suddenly skipped a beat and a sense of uneasiness arose.
"Why are you looking at me like that?!"
He turned around, waved away his flippers, and climbed up the stairs. However, the shadow cast by the person behind him with the candlelight extended and covered him. Under the shadow, Lu Liangsheng smiled.
"Hehe, Master..."
…
Bang~~Bang~~
A thin mist covered the streets, and the night watchman walked through the streets with a lantern stuck on the back of his neck, knocking on a gong.
"It's dry, be careful with fire, check doors and windows, beware of thieves and Chang's cousin."
Bang bang~~
The night was as quiet as water. The bustling city voices gradually died down. The sound of clattering clattered music faded away into the long street. At a certain moment, there was the rustling sound of tiles on the roof. A figure leaped into the air, flew like a kite, and then fell down again, standing at the entrance of a deep alley, listening to the noise of people, dogs, and wind within a few miles.
Weiwei bared his fangs: "No one will sleep peacefully tonight..."
The moonlight shone coldly on the long street. Amid the occasional barking of dogs, at the end of the misty street, four figures holding lanterns stood close together and walked towards this side.
"The substitute hasn't come down yet, what should we do, brother?"
"Looking for Lu Lang again? It's really shameless."
"Humph, pedantic. If you become a high-ranking official, won't your face be restored?"
"But why are you out so late at night?"
"How would I know? Maybe I'm used to it..."
"What if I see a ghost? I'm a little scared!"
"What are you afraid of? You're not even afraid of losing face, but you're afraid of ghosts. We're reading books by sages!!"
"Then why are you so close?"
Chatting among themselves, the four of them carried lanterns and walked towards the deep alley ahead. From afar, they seemed to see an old man standing there with a slightly hunched back, which gave a rather desolate feeling.