Not far behind him, the ghost king listened to Li Jinglong's report in silence, let out a long sigh, and stood up slowly.
"...that's how it is." After Li Jinglong said the last sentence, he waited for the ghost king's response.
Hong Jun looked down at Liu Fei's dry bones, and suddenly heard two crisp sounds of "dong, dong" in his ears.
Holding a rattle, the ghost king walked slowly towards the center of the snowy field strewn with corpses. The rest of the people stood up one after another and followed behind him slowly.
He put on the helmet seriously, and as the sound of "dongdong" continued to vibrate, the earth seemed to have undergone a strange change!
"Boom."
The war-dead ghouls that had been lying on the ground moved one after another.
Hong Jun took a few steps back and looked at the dead ghost king in surprise. He saw the ghost king standing still in the open space, and the nearly 200,000 dead ghost soldiers all came back to life under the sound of rattles!
They grabbed the weapons at hand and stood up one after another. Li Jinglong and others became nervous for a moment, and winked at Hongjun to let him come back. After all, no one wanted to be attacked by this group of dead ghosts again. But this time all the ghost soldiers seemed to be well-trained, they didn't attack indiscriminately, they only retreated like a tide after recovering their weapons, and stood in a phalanx at the bottom of the valley, sheathing their rusty and mottled weapons.
"Boom, boom—"
The sound of the rattle resounded through the snowfield, making it even more lonely and far away. For a while, everything was silent, and the breeze stopped, except for the rattle in the hands of the ghost king, rhythmically, like knocking on the sky, knocking on the earth...
Twenty cavalry commanders appeared in front of the phalanx, each named ten thousand commanders, and the thousand commanders rode their horses to gallop between the phalanxes, followed by the hundred commanders, ten commanders, and corps commanders. A total of 200,000 ghouls who died in battle quickly assembled amidst the sound of rattles.
Everyone in the Exorcist Department looked at each other with shocked expressions. Li Jinglong secretly said that it was really dangerous. The army fought randomly without any rules and tactics. If Xuannv really and completely controlled the ghost king, maybe the battle last night would not be so simple at all.
The sound of the rattle stopped, and the snow field was covered with darkness, and the mountains and plains were full of dead ghosts.
The ghost king was holding a helmet, and a captain rode forward, took off the wine bag he was carrying, and poured the spirits into the helmet.
"What is this for?" the carp demon asked.
"Shhh." Li Jinglong signaled, asking Hong Jun to come to him, and everyone stood side by side like this, looking at the ghost king and his 200,000 ghoul soldiers in the field, as well as Liu Fei's skeleton lying quietly under the stone.
At that moment, Hong Jun was vaguely looking forward to some kind of spell from the Ghost King to bring Liu Fei back to life.
Hearing the Ghost King's voice resounding through the snowfield, he said in a deep voice:
"At the beginning of ancient times, who preached? The upper and lower are not visible, so how can we test it?"
"Mingzhao is dark, who can do it?" After speaking, he raised his helmet as if holding a cup to the sky.
"Life and death are long, and there is no end, only a dream!"
In an instant, all the ghoul soldiers who died in battle knelt on one knee at the same time! Shaking the sheath with the sword, the sound was like a group of dragons screaming together, echoing in the valley for a long time!
Everyone held their breaths, watching the dead ghost king with their backs facing away, while Hong Jun felt strongly that just like the night when Liu Fei detoxified the corpse, the powerful force beyond life and death had returned!
Immediately afterwards, the Ghost King held the helmet in his left hand, dipped the fingers of his right hand into the bowl, and flicked it towards the sky.
"Respect the mighty sky, the beginning of all phenomena."
Another shot towards the ground.
"Respect this fertile soil of China, the end of all living beings' death."
The next moment, the ghost king let go, poured the wine in the helmet on Liu Fei's skeleton with a "splash", and said in a deep voice, "Respect me, King Jiangdu, I will finally be relieved—"
The 200,000 dead ghoul soldiers originally lowered their heads, but at the last moment, they raised their heads one after another. The wind blew up on the flat ground, and in an instant, the dead bones scattered into countless light spots, rising towards the blue sky in the strong wind.
The powder is like a galaxy, rising slowly, and like a puff of green smoke, under the gaze of everyone, it becomes a road to heaven, and finally disappears in the wind.
After a person dies, can he become a war dead ghoul and continue to live? Hong Jun couldn't help but think of his family members who passed away.
"When did you first see death?" Li Jinglong asked him suddenly.
They rode side by side, following behind the ghost king who died in battle. The 200,000 troops were repatriated, and only twelve personal guards accompanied the ghost king. Mo Zhigen rode his horse with Lu Xu in his arms, followed by Artai and Ashinaqiong Ghost King, gallop to the end of the snow field.
They didn't ask where the ghost king was going, and everyone remained surprisingly silent, especially Mo Zhigen and the others, as if seeing this transcendence technique that straddles the two worlds of life and death for the first time, everyone couldn't help but think of many mysterious and mysterious things. question.
Hong Jun slowed down his horse. If you don't count the time when you witnessed the death of your parents in your dream when you were a child, the first time you knew death was in Yaojin Palace.
"... At that time, I brought a bird back from the mountain." Hong Jun said, "It was very old. I asked Chongming to save it. Chongming said, 'All living beings are bound to die. Fate'. That was the first time I knew death."
"What do you think death is?" Li Jinglong asked again.
When Hong Jun was asked this question, he couldn't help but think of his parents again, and his face became a little sad.
Li Jinglong hurriedly said: "It's just a casual mention."
When Hong Jun raised his eyes, he suddenly saw that Li Jinglong's expression was a little uneasy, as if after waking up from a dream, he felt a subconscious sense of alienation from him, which made Li Jinglong always feel a certain embarrassment that was not expressed in words. She seemed to be looking for a few words to say to him, but nervously mentioned something he didn't want to mention.
"Death is turning into a butterfly and returning to the sky." The ghost king who died in battle suddenly said, he slowed down his horse and said in front of him: "It is snow that turns into water and returns to the earth; it is a drop of water that sinks into rivers, lakes and seas. From then on you can no longer tell yourself, or the whole world."
A stretch of stone wall appeared in the distance, near dusk, it was a section of a stone mountain, the section was more than ten feet high, and in the center of the stone wall was embedded a huge tall building with red lacquer railings and painted green, with nine floors.
"Wow, Mogao Grottoes!" The carp demon answered Hong Jun's unspoken question.
The ghost king and all the guards got off their horses, and there were only a few soldiers on duty outside the nine-story building. Seeing a crowd of people waiting, they took up weapons and shouted: "Who is it?!"
Li Jinglong immediately showed his waist badge to reveal his identity, but the ghost king strode into the nine-story building with his cape flying.
"Come in." The ghost king ordered, his tone seemed unquestionable.
In the nine-story building is a huge sitting Buddha - Maitreya with one hand flat in front of his knees and the other hand hanging outside his knees. The ghost king is more familiar with this place than his own. He is holding a rope in his hand, and a The jade tablet flung around a few times, the jade tablet dropped from his hand, drew an arc, and flew towards Maitreya's flat palm with flashes of light, and landed in his palm with a "ding".
"Ghost King." Li Jinglong was about to ask, but the Ghost King raised his hand, stopped everyone from talking, and climbed up the side wooden ladder. layer, it turned out to be the height of Mogao Grottoes. It was cold and windy, and the Ghost King led everyone into the Yimingming Hall. There are no statues or images in the hall, only colorful murals and futons on the ground.
"How do I call you?" Li Jinglong asked.
"I can't remember my name for a long time." The ghost king said in a deep voice, "Just call me the ghost king. Sit down and do whatever you want. This is the holy place for my family of the living dead."
Mo Zhigen held the unconscious Lu Xu, and the ghost king said, "Put him here."
After he finished speaking, he pointed to the murals in the hall, and Mo Rigen placed Lu Xuping in front of the murals. The ghost king took off his cape and covered Lu Xu's body.
Li Jinglong looked at the murals, remembered what Sand Snake said, and asked, "Where are the murals where the Xuannv, the plague god and the demon king are in contact?"
"The reptiles don't dare to come again." The Ghost King replied in a deep voice, "As long as I wake up from my dream, I will have absolute control over this place. As long as you are in Mogao Grottoes, you will be absolutely safe."
Li Jinglong let out a long sigh, suddenly feeling extremely tired.
Artest asked: "Since you have such a great ability, why are you still controlled by the monsters under the demon king's hands?"
The ghost king turned his head and looked at Lu Xu who was lying in front of the mural, the meaning was clear at a glance.
"White Deer was supposed to be reincarnated eighteen years ago to guard the night of the world." The ghost king said slowly, "However, he was set up by the black dragon 'Xie Prison' and took away two souls and six souls, leaving only one soul and one soul. Reincarnation..."
As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked. This coincided with Li Jinglong's speculation earlier, and Mo Zhigen suddenly became nervous, but Li Jinglong immediately signaled Mo Zhigen to calm down.
"Sit down." Seeing that Hong Jun was still looking at the mural, the Ghost King ordered.
Hong Jun glanced at the ghost king, nodded and moved the futon, but he didn't go to Li Jinglong's side, but sat next to Ashinaqiong, who was on the outermost side.
"Come here." Ghost King Yun Dan casually pointed to the empty seat beside Mo Rigen.
Hong Jun was silent for a moment, and the ghost king said again: "I and Chongming are old acquaintances, you can afford to call me 'uncle', are you so disobedient at home?"
Now it was Hong Jun's turn to be surprised, and asked, "You..."
"If you want to ask anything, I will naturally tell you." The ghost king's voice faintly carried the majesty of an elder. Hearing this, Hong Jun had to do as he said, and sat beside Mo Zhigen.
When Hong Jun sat down, the ghost king's eyes followed him all the time.
"When will Lu Xu get better?" Mo Zhigen asked.
"Maybe soon." Ghost King said slowly, "Maybe it will never get better, it depends on how you decide."
Mo Zhigen was the first to understand, and asked: "What should I do?"
The ghost king didn't answer, but Li Jinglong got to the point of the question accurately.
Li Jinglong: "What happened to the remaining two souls and six souls?"
The Ghost King frowned slightly, pressed his knees with one hand, sat cross-legged, and muttered: "The remaining two souls and six souls have fallen into demons. This matter starts from the obsession with resurrecting the heavenly demon during the life of Xi Prison. It has been nearly 400 years since I got out of trouble, and in these 400 years, there has never been a real king... "
Hong Jun had a premonition that what the ghost king said would be closely related to his own life experience, so he immediately held his breath and listened quietly.
The monster clan in the land of Shenzhou originally had no king, or many little monsters would regard certain existences as kings. For example, the ghouls killed in battle, the nine-tailed sky fox, the kun, the golden-winged roc, and other giant monsters with great power, profound background, and high mana.
The four big monsters are also often called "demon kings", but this king is different from the other "kings". So they came and went for nearly a thousand years, and the Yaozu was like a loose sand.
"This is good." Artest said, "Without fighting, there will be no death."
Ashinaqiong shook his head and smiled wryly.
"The monster race is different from you people." The ghost king said slowly, "After ten or a hundred years of cultivation, the process of obtaining spirituality is extremely difficult, so the monsters also cherish their lives very much and are unwilling to give up their cultivation easily. But on top of the monster race, there are still There is no doubt that there is one who has absolute power... the Heavenly Demon."
When everyone heard this, there was a "click" in their hearts.
"The demons are transformed by the hostility in the world." Li Jinglong said calmly, "I reincarnate every thousand years, but I don't understand why the demons must obey the orders of the demons? Live their own lives and continue to practice, isn't it good?"
"Because the Yaozu is different from you people." The ghost king replied, "Except for the nine-tailed sky fox, the Yaozu is inherently unable to resist the erosion of the demons. We don't want to, but we have to surrender."
Hong Jun: "Why?!"
"Let's talk about this topic in detail." Ghost King pondered, "It's getting long, are you sure you want to hear it?"
Hong Jun hesitated for a moment, Li Jinglong replied: "Let's talk about it later."
The ghost king thought for a while, and then said: "The monster race is full of hostility. Although they are cultivated as human beings, their nature is still hard to get rid of the bloodthirsty and greed rooted in their hearts. Humans are different. Many people, in a desperate situation, But he still has his own persistence.”
"But as long as you are dedicated to goodness, you can always cultivate..." Mo Rigen comforted him.
"To become what?" Ghost King asked back, "To become a saint? To become a Buddha?"
Hong Jun looked up at the mural, and everyone understood the ghost king's doubts. Although all living beings have Buddha nature, all monsters who have cultivated to this level will no longer be monsters.
"One thousand years is one cycle." The ghost king said again, "When the heavenly demon comes to the world, it will be the doom of all living beings. We have nothing to do. Although we don't want to surrender to the heavenly demon, we can't. , but took the initiative to propose a plan, he wanted to unify the monster clan, take him as the respect, and the remaining four kings as assistants, before the birth of the demon, integrate all the monsters in the land of Shenzhou for him to drive."
Hearing this, the carp demon suddenly said: "Later he was beaten away by Chong Ming."
"Exactly." The ghost king said casually, "In order to prove that he is qualified to be the demon king, Xie Prison issued a war letter to the master of the Yaojin Palace. In that battle, both sides were wounded. Phoenix was poisoned by fire and made an oath, Stop meddling in the affairs of the world, Xie Prison has become the nominal master of the monster race in Shenzhou, but it has been hurt enough, and there will be no more disturbances in the remaining two hundred years."
Li Jinglong murmured: "Until twenty years ago..."
"Exactly." The ghost king nodded, and replied, "It is reasonable to say that there are still more than a hundred years before the demon's resurrection, but the prison has already found the host of the demon in advance..."
Speaking of this, Mo Zhigen glanced at Hong Jun unconsciously, and Hong Jun's heart beat wildly.
"Who is it?" Li Jinglong asked.
"I don't know." Ghost King replied, "but it is certain that this body is in his hands."
When he heard this, Hong Juncai was really relieved, and Mo Zhigen smiled at him and nodded, expressing that he was fine.
Li Jinglong saw it in his eyes, didn't say anything, and asked after a while: "Why do you say that?"
The Ghost King replied: "The second time Xie Prison appeared in front of me, he was able to control the demon energy and erode the rest of the demon clans freely. The Nine-Tailed Sky Fox willingly surrendered to him, and many demon clans in Shenzhou have also become him." followers."
"But he failed to recruit you." Ashina Qiong said after looking at the ghost king.
"Shenzhou monster clan, in terms of age, apart from the three sages of Yaojin Palace and Beihai Kun God, I am the oldest." The ghost king said contemptuously, "Xie prison is just a snake with less than five hundred years of practice. What can I do?"
Li Jinglong instantly thought of the "Kun God" whose eyes were covered with black cloth, and his thoughts turned. He and Hong Jun were involved in such a complicated monster clan dispute. , and how much is the careful layout of these big monsters
When the Nine-Tailed Fox was about to die, the appearance of the Golden-winged Roc, and then the Kun God specifically asked him for "a corpse" and "a soul", which still puzzled him. , You have to ask to understand.
What happened next is self-evident, Xie Prison was unable to subdue the ghost king who died in battle, so he captured Bailu's soul instead, and in the past ten years, used demon energy to kill Bailu's two souls and six souls. Repeated refining, slow erosion, and then twists and turns, sneaked into the dreams of the ghost king and Liu Fei, to achieve the purpose of manipulation.
"There will be a battle between you and Xi prison." The ghost king thought for a moment, and then said loudly, "No matter when and where this battle happens, I will lead the army into the Central Plains and take back Liu Fei's revenge, everyone. Exorcist, please forgive me."
Although he said "forgive me", the ghost king's words cannot be refuted. Li Jinglong smiled wryly in his heart, even if I don't forgive, can I stop you
Mo Zhigen finally asked: "So, how can I restore Lu Xu to be a white deer?"
He picked up the two horns of the stag that were at hand. Although Hong Jun chopped off the horns, the antlers were still pitch black.
"His horn was cut off by you, and he has lost his magic power. After he wakes up, you must try to expel the evil energy in his body." The ghost king replied, "As far as I know, there are only two ways in the world. The power of the lamp illuminates his soul; the second is the combination of Fudo Mingo's six organs and shoots into his heart."
Everyone looked at Li Jinglong together, Li Jinglong was a little flattered, and said, "Do you work hard? As long as I can do something, I will definitely not refuse, but what should I do?"
The ghost king said seriously: "How many times have you and Bai Lu had a friendship of life and death?"
Li Jinglong was at a loss, for some reason, but subconsciously glanced at Mo Rigen, then at Hongjun.
"Friendship?" Mo Zhigen asked.
"If you want to illuminate his soul with the lamp of your heart, you need to believe in him and make him believe in you." The ghost king replied, "The only thing that can be polluted by the devil's energy is desire. People have desires because of emotions. Thoughts arise from desire, all things arise from one thought, and the world moves because of one thought... "
"Wanting and asking, but not getting what you ask for, will generate hostility, and the hostility will be deep, turning into a demonic obstacle."
"If you want to expel demonic obstacles, you have to surrender your emotions and desires, and then use your own heart lamp to remove the hostility in his emotions and desires."
Mo Zhigen: "..."
Li Jinglong: "..."
Artest and Ashina Qiong looked at each other, Artest said: "This is a bit difficult."
Hong Jun said: "I don't quite understand, what do you mean?"
"Happiness, anger, worry, fear, love, hatred, and desire." The ghost king explained, "They are the seven emotions. Lust, appearance, majesty and posture, speech and sound, delicateness, and mutuality are Six desires. If you just want to condescend to redeem him, it won’t work, you can’t find out why all this happened. Unless you wait for him to wake up, assimilate him with your seven emotions and six desires, and then release the heart lamp, then you can be purified.”
For a moment, everyone's expressions became very strange. Li Jinglong and Mo Zhigen looked at each other, with a hint of confusion in their eyes.
Hong Jun: "Oh, that is, to find these polluted places?"
The carp demon said beside him: "So Chang Shi has to wait for him to wake up, to like him, to be angry with him, to worry about him, to be afraid of him, to love him, and to hate him, Gotta want him…”
"Stop, stop!" Li Jinglong and Mo Rigen shouted at the same time.
Hongjun: "..."
But the carp demon has already said like a cannonball: "You have to fall in love with him at first sight, and you have to be obsessed with his appearance, his every move, every gesture, like listening to his voice, touching his smooth body, and finally 'that' What's wrong with him."
"Shut up!" Li Jinglong roared angrily.
Artest and Ashinaqiong burst out laughing suddenly, Mo Zhigen was going crazy, Artest laughed and said: "I'm sorry, Mo Zhigen, I should worry about it with you, but this is too much." Funny... ”
Li Jinglong said: "Impossible! Ghost King, I have eliminated many... many demons, even when I awakened you with the Wisdom Sword, I have not touched the emotions and desires..."
The ghost king replied: "Exorcist, now the devil energy does not simply exist in his body, but exists in his soul, which is different."
Hong Jun couldn't believe it, it was too unbelievable to say.
"But if he wants to get rid of the demon..." Hong Jun said again, "Don't you have to love him, touch him, and what else?"
Li Jinglong cried bitterly: "Stop talking..."
The King of Ghosts replied: "It is also possible to use King Ming's six magic weapons and kill the monster with one arrow, causing it to disperse into the veins of heaven and earth. But now, the soul of the White Deer is completely dark. If you are willing to kill it, you can kill it yourself. When it's done."
Hearing this, everyone looked at Lu Xu again. At this moment, Lu Xu was lying alone under the mural, looking very pitiful.
"That's all for now." Ghost King said, "You can figure it out yourself." After all, he got up and left.
Artai put his hand on his forehead, and said, "The King of Ghosts is really terrible. As soon as he came up, he dismantled two pairs of our Exorcist Division, and even brought them in exchange. Hong Jun, why don't you think about our eldest prince?"
Hong Jun: "What are you talking about, Artest!"
"I agree!" The carp demon replied with his hands held high.
Li Jinglong: "..."
Mo Zhigen looked at Li Jinglong, already dizzy, and said after a while: "This is impossible."
"Can I give you my heart lamp temporarily?" Li Jinglong replied.
Ashina Qiong was laughing so hard that he could hardly straighten his back. Looking at Lu Xu, Hong Jun felt both sad and helpless. For some reason, thinking of what the carp demon said earlier, he felt a little uncomfortable. He couldn't help but look at Li Jinglong, and then thought that Lu Xu came here without two souls and six souls since he was a child, and his nose immediately became sore.
"I can't give it." Hong Jun said, "I wanted to take it out too."
Mo Zhigen said: "I'll take it easy first, there must be another way... there must be."
Mo Zhigen let out a long breath, got up, and walked out of the hall. The rest of the people found excuses and dispersed one after another, leaving Hongjun sitting opposite Li Jinglong.
Li Jinglong said: "This... Hongjun?"
Li Jinglong saw Hong Jun sitting sad with mixed feelings, his expression became different. While observing him, he bowed over, pulled a futon, sat opposite him, and was about to explain a few words, but Hong Jun Absent-minded, always thinking about the ghost king, this big monster who has lived for more than a thousand years knows too many secrets in the world.
"I'll go out for a walk too." Hong Jun said, "You... think about it first."
Speaking of which, Hong Jun also turned around and went out, leaving Li Jinglong speechless for a while, while the carp demon leaned against the door, looking at Li Jinglong with one side of his eyes like a thief, and said, "I too... go out to blow some air."
"No one cares about you!"
Li Jinglong finally couldn't bear it anymore.