In the distance, thunder rumbled across the sky. Below, the mountains rose and fell in the darkness. Amid the rustling sound of the wind, lightning flashed through the gaps between the trees, casting a bluish-white light.
A cloud of purple smoke descended above the swaying forest, and a short figure jumped to the stone steps dragging a token. He slightly raised his toad face and looked at the temple shrouded in darkness in front of him. He slowly climbed the stone steps covered with fallen leaves with webbed feet and walked into the temple step by step.
Boom—
Thunder roared in the distance, and in the bluish-white lightning that illuminated the sky and the earth, the temple door was slightly ajar. The Toad Taoist climbed over the threshold and squeezed inside. There was still smoke rising from the furnace, and the ground was clean and tidy. The temple keeper's light snoring could be heard faintly from the gatehouse.
He walked to the main hall and gently pushed open the half-closed door. Amid the creaking sound, the dim light illuminated the toad's short figure. In the middle of the hall was a clay sculpture of the altar. A perpetual oil lamp was placed alone on the tribute table, with a flickering flame, shining on the slanted shadow coming in from the doorway.
Ding ling bang bang…
The metal made a loud noise as it touched the cold ground, and the token engraved with a green-faced, fang-toothed ghost head was thrown to the ground. The toad raised his head to take a look at the clay statue of the old mother with closed eyes on the altar, then walked slowly to the cushion, casually put the purple-gold and black-patterned gourd on his back aside, sat down, and called softly.
"Mother."
In the empty hall, a solitary lamp swayed, and the colorful silks hanging on both sides of the altar moved suddenly. In the quiet Old Mother Hall, a kind and gentle voice suddenly sounded.
"The disciple left, and the master came again. You two, master and disciple, really think that I am here for fun."
The ethereal voice echoed and gradually became real and friendly. An old woman walked out slowly from the back of the hall with a cane. Seeing the toad sitting cross-legged on the cushion, she shook her head, walked aside, and produced a duster in her empty hand and swept away the dust in the hall.
On the cushion, Taoist Toad turned his back to the old woman and was silent for a while, then slightly turned his face to the side.
"Mother, whose side are you on?"
“I’m not on either side.” The old woman shook off the dust on her duster and smiled. “I’m on the side of Heaven. Whatever he says is what it is… Otherwise, I wouldn’t have dissuaded E Lai and Fei Lian from coming down to the mortal world.”
He paused, turned and walked to the other side of the candlestick, his eyes swept across the token next to Toad Taoist.
"In your previous life, you were a piece of the stone that repaired the sky. You were carved into a stone toad by the Wa people here. You absorbed the essence of the heaven, earth, sun and moon. You also received incense from my old mother temple. You are also blessed by heaven. If you really open this underground imperial tomb and release the Yin army, you will be committing a great sin. Don't you think about it carefully?"
Under the light, Toad Taoist shook his head.
"No."
Looking at the ever-burning lamp, it seemed as if there was a person's figure reflected in the light. The corners of his mouth were stretched so wide that they almost reached the back of his neck. He laughed, "I accepted an apprentice who always makes me lose money..."
“It’s so hard to be a master.”
He smiled and said this, then stood up, took the gourd and put it on his back, jumped onto the offering table, took a stick of incense, lit it on the oil lamp, inserted it into the incense burner, and put his hands together in worship.
The old woman came over and swept the incense ash on the table, smiling kindly: "Have you thought it through?"
The Toad Taoist opened his eyes, turned around and jumped to the ground, dragging the token with him, jumping over the threshold with his flippers, and walked outside. Thunder filled the sky and the toad's eyes blinked at the night.
"No way, I am your master, so I have to accept it."
Behind him, the old woman walked out of the door, slowly raised her cane and touched the toad's head.
"Since you have thought it through, I will not ask any more questions. Go. From now on, you are Ying Zheng and Ying Zheng is you. When two souls come together, it is hard to predict whether it will be a blessing or a curse."
He tapped the staff lightly, and ripples spread out in a circle around the Taoist Toad. He closed his eyes, looking at the sky, and the tide of darkness obscured his vision. Suddenly, he saw a magnificent palace in the distance, and a heroic and majestic king, majestic and solemn, being bowed to by the dark crowd below.
"From today on, among the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, I will take the title of Emperor, to show that there is no one before me and no one after me. I am the only emperor in the history!"
… It turns out that the magnificent palace that I saw back then was here.
The scene seemed to be very close at hand, and Toad Taoist wanted to see it more clearly. In the solemn hall, the emperor who was sitting at the first seat slowly turned his head, and the moment his eyes met his, it was like a drop of water falling into the calm water, creating a circle of ripples.
“Gugua~Gugua~Gugua~”
Toads chirped everywhere, and the scene flashed by. The water rippled. From the bottom to the top, the sight lurking at the bottom of the pool looked out beyond the distorted water surface. A dirty little girl was squatting barefoot by the pool, wiping her tears and crying softly.
It's been many years... The face that I almost forgot appeared before my eyes again. The Toad Taoist moved, slowly climbed out of the bottom of the pool, walked silently to the girl and sat down. Together they watched the sunset reflected in the pool become distorted in the ripples.
"I haven't seen you for many years, and I finally remember what you look like..."
He whispered something, and the wind blew, rustling in the forest. The sobbing sound beside him disappeared, and the girl's figure also disappeared. Instead, the first emperor in a black robe and a crown came over. The man and the toad sat side by side, bathing in the sunset...
…
The rumbling sound of thunder rang in my ears. After an unknown amount of time, the toad standing under the eaves slowly opened his eyes. The red dots in his eyes slowly faded away, and they became clear and majestic.
boom-
A loud bang exploded in the night clouds, and blue-white lightning burst out from the gaps in the clouds, illuminating the sky and the earth in an instant. A short figure stood under the eaves, and his shadow was cast diagonally on the ground. It was a majestic figure wearing a crown, with his head held high and his sleeves folded, falling on the window frames and walls.
He stretched out his webbed feet, and the ghost mask token on the ground flew over, hovering above his palm, and slowly turned. The Toad Taoist stretched out his webbed feet, and the moment he caught it, the ghost mask's eyes ignited with green fire.
A majestic voice resounded over the temple.
"The ghost who traded with me back then... I'm back!"
Dark clouds rolled and gathered, and streaks of lightning danced wildly, rushing towards the temple on the top of the mountain. The dull air and cold wind blew over, and the darkness seemed to extend endlessly to the rocks under the temple and even deeper inside. The wind blew into the winding and orderly corridor. A black shadow stood still in the darkness, holding a weapon. His eyes gradually turned green, and more figures behind him lit up with pairs of fireflies that quickly spread along the corridor.
There was a strong wind blowing in the temple on the top of the mountain. The short figure holding the token spoke with a majestic and roaring voice!
"stand up-"
The token hummed, turned into a stream of light and sank into the ground.
"… Fight for me—"
The rumbling sound was no longer thunder. On the distant east wall of Chang'an, soldiers were running back and forth, and they could feel the vibration under their feet. The emperor who was patrolling, along with Yuwen and his son, Li and his son, and the soldiers of the Imperial City Division in the city felt the movement and all looked ahead to see the mountain shaking in their sight.
"It's Mount Li... shaking."
"The earth dragon turned over?"
"Protect His Majesty and remove the city wall!!"
"I won't leave. I want to see what it is?!"
Yang Guang pushed away the guards who came over, drew the Emperor's Sword from his waist, leaned on it, and stared at the shaking mountain without blinking. He could vaguely hear someone's voice, and it seemed like the voices of countless people were coming.
"Wind... Wind..."
The emperor's eyelids twitched wildly and his whole body felt numb. Except for the Grand Tutor Yuwen Tuo and Li Yuanba, everyone else could not help shaking. In the howling wind, like an auditory hallucination, there were the sounds of iron horses, countless footsteps, people's shouts, and the vibration of armor and weapons, all mixed together and came in an instant.
Dong~~
Dongdong~~Dong~~
There was a dense drumbeat coming from somewhere, and countless footsteps took the lead, stepping on the drumbeats. It was a simultaneous "boom, boom, boom" sound, slowly advancing.
The next moment, someone lit a rocket and shot it into the night sky. It drew a long arc and faintly illuminated the distant fields. In the eyes of the emperor behind the parapet, there were countless black figures holding long spears and driving chariots, stretching endlessly in everyone's sight.
The huge earthquake that passed through the wilderness seemed to shake the whole city.