Fenxiang Valley.
Tianxiangju.
This is a quiet place deep in Fenxiang Valley, built close to the mountains. Surrounded by towering walls on three sides, only the main entrance is ajar, making it difficult to see the scene inside.
Although Fenxiang Valley has undergone such huge changes in the past few days, there are still no disciples of Fenxiang Valley around here, because this is the residence of the owner of Fenxiang Valley, Yun Yilan, and his place of retreat.
Ever since Yun Yilan started retreating, all Fenxianggu disciples were forbidden to enter here. Of course, the Fenxianggu disciples on the periphery naturally defended like a fortified wall. As for those who can enter Tianxiangju, apart from Shangguan Ce, whom Yun Yilan has always relied heavily on, only his personal disciple Li Xun can enter and leave here to meet his mentor.
As for others, including elders such as Lu Shun, they were also prohibited from entering or leaving.
Even when someone infiltrated the Xuanhuo Altar of Fenxiang Valley and released the nine-tailed sky fox that had been suppressed for 300 years, or even the Xuanhuo Jian, the treasure of the town in the legend of Fenxiang Valley, might appear, Yun Yilan He didn't even leave the customs, but let Shangguan Ce take charge of the overall situation.
What was he closing in that small courtyard
This question lingers in the minds of many Fenxianggu disciples from time to time.
The sky was getting brighter, and Shangguan Ce gently opened the door in the slightly humid air in the morning, walked in, and then closed the door.
What appeared in front of him was a small courtyard that he had long been familiar with. Several linden trees swayed gently in the morning breeze. Except for a path in the middle, the surroundings were green grass. Other than that, nothing more.
The leader of one of the three great sects of righteousness in the world seems to live in a simple place.
At the end of the path, there is a two-entry hut with white tiles and gray walls. It is built against the mountain. The door made of paulownia wood is painted purple, which is also ajar.
Shangguan Ce walked over, pushed the door open, and closed it again.
The surroundings suddenly became quiet, as if all the troubles of the world were shut out of the house with a gesture of his hand.
There was no one in the room, only a few pieces of simple furniture, and there seemed to be a thin layer of dust on the tables and chairs.
Shangguan Ce collected himself, went straight to the back room, came to a cabinet, opened the drawer on the left, put his hand in and seemed to turn something, a moment later, a low voice sounded from behind him.
The entire wall receded slowly to the right, revealing the hard rock of the mountain wall and the secret passage dug in the middle that only allowed one person to walk.
Shangguan Ce walked in without hesitation. Not long after his figure disappeared into the secret passage, the door slowly closed again, and there was no trace of it anymore.
In the dark passage, pebble-sized pebbles that emit light are inlaid every not far away for illumination. And while he was walking, he never felt stuffy. Naturally, there is another ventilation channel here.
This secret passage was not long, and he quickly reached his destination, a stone room about the same size as the inner room outside. There was nothing in the stone room, but there was a screen in the middle, blocking his vision.
Suddenly, from behind the screen, an extremely old voice came out: "Is it Junior Brother Shangguan?"
Shangguan Ce took two steps forward, stopped four or five steps away from the screen, and said respectfully, "Exactly, Senior Brother, are you alright?"
That voice seems to be Yun Yilan, the owner of Fenxiang Valley, who is famous all over the world. I don’t know why, the voice of this righteous giant who used to be as famous as Master Daoxuan of Qingyunmen and Master Puhong of Tianyin Temple at this moment sounds almost like It's like a dying old man with slack energy and lack of energy.
He seemed to laugh in a low voice, and said lightly: "My body? Is it okay? That's it, just wait for death slowly."
Shangguan Ce's expression changed, his expression was complicated, and he was about to say something, but was cut off by Yun Yilan's feeble voice: "How's the matter?"
Shangguan Ce pondered for a moment, and said: "It's probably been found out. The person who secretly provoked the murlocs that night was Jin Ping'er from the Demon Sect's Hehuan Sect. I think she came here because a member of the Hehuan Sect was killed by the murlocs in the Dead Marsh. So take revenge."
Yun Yilan was silent behind the screen for a moment, then her voice sank suddenly, and said, "Then, is she aware of the big thing we're secretly planning?"
Shangguan Ce paused for a moment, the voice behind the screen was suddenly full of majesty.
"Not yet, in my opinion."
"That's good," Yun Yilan obviously breathed a sigh of relief, "Otherwise if the matter leaks out, years of hard work will inevitably come to naught."
Shangguan Ce nodded and said, "Brother, don't worry."
Yun Yilan paused for a moment, then said: "Have you found out about the person who sneaked into the Xuanhuo Altar and let go of the evil nine-tailed sky fox?"
Shangguan Ce said: "Nephew Li Xun and Ke Ruhui tracked down Jin Ping'er near Tianshui village last night, and I heard him come back this morning to tell that Ghost Li of the Demon Sect Demon King Zong also appeared there, plotted against him, and caused Ke Ruhui to be attacked and died. Fortunately, Lu Xueqi from the Qingyun Sect, who came to Nanjiang to represent Daoxuan Daoxuan to inquire about his brother last night, passed by halfway and gave him a helping hand, so he was able to get rid of the attack of the two demons."
"Ghost Li?" Yun Yilan's voice paused, and said: "Could it be that Zhang Xiaofan who betrayed Qingyun ten years ago?"
Shangguan Ce nodded and said: "It's that person, Zhang Xiaofan rebelled against Qingyun when the Battle of Qingyun Mountain caused a sensation in the world, and in just ten years, his Taoism has advanced by leaps and bounds, and now he is the number one general under the King of Ghosts."
Yun Yilan snorted, and said: "Old guy Daoxuan is getting old, and his head is a little confused. He has such a talent but he can't use it."
Shangguan Ce smiled, and then said: "Nephew Li Xun came back and said that he suspected that the person who sneaked into the Xuanhuo Altar and made trouble that night was Gui Li, and to rescue the Nine-Tailed Sky Fox, there is no secret spell from our Fenxiang Valley. Only by using the Profound Fire Sword of the Essence of Ten Thousand Fires can the imprisonment of the Profound Fire Chain be released. From his point of view, the Profound Fire Sword is probably on Ghost Li's body."
Yun Yilan was silent for a while, then suddenly said: "What do you think?"
Through the screen, Shangguan Ce's face changed, and after a while he respectfully said: "I also think it's very possible."
Yun Yilan's voice came leisurely from behind the screen, saying: "When I met Taoist Daoxuan back then, he claimed to be famous and upright, and he always held the idea that he would rather let it go than kill the wrong one, and he praised me for it. ,do you remember?"
Shangguan Ce was startled, he didn't know why Yun Yilan suddenly brought up such a long-term matter, but he could only nod his head and said: "That's right, I was also with senior brother at that time, and I remember clearly, Master Daoxuan really said so."
Yun Yilan smiled lightly, and said: "But I see ten years ago, on the Tongtian Peak of Qingyun Mountain, what was his mood when he used the ancient Zhuxian sword to strike at the disciple named Zhang Xiaofan? I am afraid that Ning Shacuo, Don't let it go!"
Shangguan Ce remained silent.
Yun Yilan gave a low laugh, and then said, "Go! I'll let you preside over the matter here."
Shangguan Ce hesitated for a moment, but still asked: "That Ghost Li..."
Yun Yilan's voice came clearly from behind the screen.
"It's better to kill the wrong one than to let it go!"
Shangguan Ce's facial muscles moved, then he nodded and said, "Yes."
After all, turn around and leave.
Not long after, his figure disappeared into the secret passage, and a moment later there was a low sound of a mechanism, obviously he opened the secret door and went out.
In the silent stone room, Yun Yilan's laughter suddenly resounded, with a hint of desolation and a hint of mockery: "You put all your thoughts on Xun'er, saying that he imagined it, thinking that I Don’t you know? Three hundred years ago you neglected your duties and lost the Xuanhuo Jian, but three hundred years later, junior brother! You still haven’t made much progress!”
"Hehe, hehe..."
The desolate and desolate laughter slowly echoed in the cold stone room.
※※※
After leaving Tianxiangju, Shangguan Ce walked out of the door. For some reason, with his level of practice, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
He settled down, pondered for a moment, and then walked outside. The familiar twists and turns along the way came to a rather majestic hall. There were three words on the plaque:
Mountain and River Palace.
This name is paired with this tall and majestic hall, and it really looks like looking down on the world. I don’t know if it was because when the ancestors of Fenxianggu built this hall to meet guests, they also thought that one day, they would be the best in the world. taste.
Shangguan Ce thought in his heart, and walked in slowly.
There were people sitting in the hall, except for the disciples of Fenxianggu who were standing at the side, the guests here were mainly people from the righteous way who came to greet them, there were about a dozen of them, and Li Xun was sitting with them to accompany them.
In the eyes of Shangguan Ce, the most important of them is actually the two people sitting on top.
Lu Xueqi.
Dharma phase.
These two outstanding disciples of today's two famous giant sects represent the sects behind them, so although they are not as old as some other old people, they are in the top position.
The Faxiang is still in the moon-white monk robe, with a kind smile on his face, and he talks to Li Xun with a smile, and responds appropriately. And Li Xun and Fa Xiang had known each other for a long time, and they were quite happy when they met, and they talked happily, but between talking and laughing, his eyes glanced at Lu Xueqi who was sitting next to Fa Xiang from time to time.
Shangguan Ce saw all this in his eyes, when everyone saw him walking into the hall, they all stood up one by one. Shangguan Ce returned the salute with a smile, walked to the seat, and unexpectedly glanced at Lu Xueqi and Fa Xiang.
The two saluted him at the same time, Lu Xueqi remained silent, Fa Xiang smiled and said: "I haven't seen you for many years, Uncle Shangguan is as healthy as ever, it's really rare."
Shangguan Ce shook his head and said with a chuckle, "I'm old, I'm old, I'm useless." After saying that, he stretched out his hand and invited everyone to sit down.
A thought came to his mind. Over the years, Faxiang's reputation in Tianyin Temple and the righteous way of the world has been in full swing. All parties believe that he is the next successor of Tianyin Temple's presiding officer, so this time he came here on behalf of Master Puhong of Tianyin Temple , not surprisingly.
But as for Qingyun Mountain, it seems that Xiao Yicai, the eldest disciple, is the most valued young disciple by Taoist Daoxuan. Of course, Lu Xueqi has been very dazzling and powerful in recent years, and her peerless beauty has been talked about by all cultivators all over the world. .
Thoughts turned in Shangguan Ce's mind, and he secretly guessed that Qingyunmen sent Lu Xueqi for some other purpose, but of course it would not be revealed on the surface, everything was as usual, and he said to everyone with a smile: "Everyone, I am here, Shangguan Ce, thank you all very much Comrades are concerned about Bigu, the eruption of the volcano a few days ago is indeed a normal change in the world, thanks to everyone, Bigu has not been damaged."
Dharma Xiang smiled and said: "Amitabha, it's best to be like this. However, after hearing these rumors, the owner of Fenxiang Valley, Senior Yun Yi Lanyun, seems to have something unexpected. His old man came to greet him."
As soon as he said this, he expressed the thoughts of most of the people present. After all, Fenxiang Valley is acting strangely here, especially after such a big incident, the owner of the valley, Yun Yilan, has never shown up, which is really strange.
All of a sudden everyone agreed and all focused their attention on Shangguan Ce.
Shangguan Ce smiled and said: "Actually, I will tell you that I just came from the owner's residence 'Tianxiangju' just now."
The voices of "ah" and "oh" from the crowd suddenly rang out, and Shangguan Ce waited for everyone to calm down a little, stood up, bowed his hands to everyone, and said with a smile: "Everyone cares about your kindness, and I have reported it to the owner of the valley one by one. The Lord is very grateful in his heart. It's just that Senior Brother Yun is indeed retreating at a critical time, so he doesn't come out to meet guests, and he is rude, so please forgive me."
After finishing speaking, he smiled and cupped his fists, and Li Xun beside him also stood up and saluted with him.
Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, and after a while, Faxiang stood up, smiling, and said, "Since Shangguan's benefactor has said so, I think Senior Yun will be in good health, so we can rest assured. I am really disturbing you here."
Shangguan Ce and Li Xun said at the same time: "Where, where."
Fa Xiang glanced at Lu Xueqi who was beside her, but saw that the face of the woman beside her was expressionless, almost as cold as ice, especially from the look of her face, it was almost as pale as transparent, with a hint of depression.
Fa Xiang smiled wryly in his heart, knowing that Lu Xueqi would not take the initiative to speak no matter what, he had no choice but to take Lu Xueqi's share for her, and said: "Senior Yun is in good health, it would be best. In addition, what brother Li Xun said just now This time, there seems to be a demon cultist taking advantage of it to mess with ghosts, do you know if there is anything that needs our help?"
Shangguan Ce pondered for a while, and said: "The devils are scheming and love to make troubles. It is really hateful to take advantage of natural disasters to attack Bigu secretly. Fortunately, we have tight defenses and drove them out of the valley. Although this matter cannot be let go , but we can't find them for a while now. Fenxianggu sent out many disciples, so far, except for some small people, only Li Xun's nephew and Lu Xueqi and Miss Lu tracked down Jin Ping'er from the Demon Cult's Hehuan Sect last night. She ran away. Now I don't know how to track it down?"
Fa Xiang frowned, the others were also speechless, and the Demon Cult is now very powerful, Jin Ping'er is a well-known troublesome woman in the world, and some righteous people with low morals may not just want to provoke her.
As for Fenxiang Valley, due to various reasons, they actually do not want other factions to intervene.
At that moment, Shangguan Ce gave Li Xun a wink, Li Xun understood, took a step forward, cupped his hands and said: "Thank you for your kindness here, but Fenxianggu has tried its best to investigate this matter even though it will take time, so I will Don't trouble everyone..."
"Wait!"
Suddenly, a cold voice came from beside him.
Everyone was startled, and when they looked back, it was the Frost woman Lu Xueqi who had been silent all this time.
This cold woman who stands high in the eyes of the world has a face as cold as frost, but there is a faint glint in her originally cold eyes at this moment. I don't know what is going on in her heart
"Those monsters from the Demon Cult," her voice echoed in everyone's ears, "most likely went to a place called 'Qili Cave'."
Others immediately started talking, only Li Xun was shocked, and suddenly there was a strange expression in his eyes looking at Lu Xueqi.
"Last night when I was fighting with those monsters from the Demon Cult, Senior Brother Li Xun and I both heard the demon girl Jin Ping'er confront..." Her voice paused for a moment before returning to normal, and said, "To the ghost of the Demon Cult ghost Wang Zong!" Li said the word 'Qilidong'."
Shangguan Ce frowned, and glanced at Li Xun. For some reason, Li Xun didn't tell him this news.
Above the main hall, everyone's eyes fell on Fenxianggu and the others for a moment, Shangguan Ce turned his mind, and then smiled and said: "Unexpectedly, Miss Lu has a clue. If so, Bigu will immediately send someone to investigate. In fact, there is no need to go, after all, this is the southern border, and you are only here to greet our valley owner. Therefore, everyone's thoughts are appreciated."
Everyone agreed.
Amidst the voices of the crowd, Li Xun quietly stood behind Shangguan Ce, looking at Lu Xueqi. He followed Jin Ping'er last night, firstly, Jin Ping'er's morality is not inferior to his, and secondly, Jin Ping'er has always been cunning, and after repeated tricks, he finally got rid of him. When he was annoyed, he remembered that Lu Xueqi was still in the ruined village of Tianshui, confronting Ghost Li of the demon king's sect, and hurried back.
Unexpectedly, on the way, he ran into Lu Xueqi who was returning with a sword. After the meeting, he couldn't help being shocked. At that time, Lu Xueqi seemed to have lost her soul, her face was so pale that there was no trace of blood, and she was dressed in white. A little dark red, just the traces of blood.
In panic, he shouted repeatedly, which seemed to call Lu Xueqi back from the strange mood, but he just looked at him silently, and went straight back to Fenxiang Valley.
What happened between this cold woman and that Ghost Li who used to be with her in the deserted Tianshui village
Is it a fight? Is it talk
For some reason, once Li Xun thought of this, an inexplicable anger surged in his heart.
His complexion changed according to his mind, and none of these escaped the eyes of Shangguan Ce and Fa Xiang.
It's just that these two people didn't say a word, they were smiling and talking happily.
In the end, the sects who decided to greet other people turned around. And because of the deep acquaintance with Fenxiang Valley, and the news was provided by Lu Xueqi, Lu Xueqi and Faxiang stayed and went to Qilidong with the people sent by Fenxiang Valley to check it out.
※※※
And almost at the same time, Ghost Li and Xiao Bai brought Xiao Hui and appeared in front of the Horse Head Mountain.
Looking at this high mountain shaped like a horse's head, Xiaobai smiled sweetly and said: "It is said that there is a deep cave on this mountain, and in the cave there is a dog god believed by the Miao people. There is a narrow mountain road at the foot of the mountain, which can only allow one person to walk. , which is Qilidong, where the Miao people live together.”
Gui Li looked at the high mountain in front of him blankly, without saying a word, and walked forward silently. From last night until now, he hasn't even said a word.
Xiao Bai stood at the back, watching his back, but there was a slight smile on the corner of his mouth, he turned his head and patted Xiao Hui who was lying on his shoulder, and said with a smile: "Then let's go."
Xiao Hui squeaked twice, grinned, jumped off her shoulders suddenly, ran forward in two steps, jumped onto Ghost Li's shoulder with a whoosh, sat down, turned around and waved to Xiao Bai.
Xiaobai slightly shook his head and chuckled, and followed.