There was thunder across the sky in the distance. Chen Yuan walked around the cauldron and pushed open the palace door. He bowed to the six statues as usual and asked about his doubts.
"Second Master, and everyone, something happened last night that puzzled me."
In the empty hall, Chen Yuan fluttered his sleeves and leaned against Guan Yu's altar. He casually sat on the ground and told the story in his voice, as well as the doubts in his heart.
"Since the opening of the Senluo Palace, apart from seeing Zhong Kui's Dharma in my dream and the impermanent soul hook last night, I have not seen him, and there is no response from anyone in the palace. What else is needed? Does the Senluo Palace need the support of more outstanding people?
"
Except for Xiang Yu who did not move, the other five colorfully painted statues rolled their eyes and looked neatly at Chen Yuan on the ground.
Guan Yu's dharma sound rang out from the statue.
"Don't be worried. Heaven, earth, and people are intertwined with each other. There is no underworld without people, and there is no way to measure the sky without land. Although the Yin God in Senluo Palace is unruly, he will not act randomly, so you can rest assured."
Chen Yuan stood up and snapped his fingers: "Understood! With Second Master's words, Yuan is confident. When they show up, it will be up to them."
With that said, he walked to the front door and braved the gusty wind to go straight to the Senluo Hall. Before he could get closer, a celadon-glazed porcelain vase had been placed in front of the Senluo Hall.
A gloomy voice floated over.
"The souls of the local people are sent by others. You should be careful. That person is under the Demon Suppressing Stone Monument."
Being sent on a mission?
Chen Yuan's first thought was Chang Wei from Yongxiang, but he was rejected later. The other party didn't know anything about his troupe, let alone inquire about it.
According to Chang Wei's book, there are such underground abyss in the other five places. A big sacrifice is held every ten years to feed the demons so that they cannot cause chaos. There should be someone behind the scenes who is behind the scenes.
Chun Gu's group should have been the other party's subordinates before.
'These days, the other party should be trying to figure out my origins. After all, Linjiang County has built a shrine for me. It is not difficult to trace my origins. Knowing that I have become a puppet, I naturally set my sights on it.
The troupe... didn't come to me directly, probably because there are Tianshi Mansion in the Central Plains and the North, so they don't dare to take risks and expose themselves!'
'Repay him with his own way.'
Chen Yuan looked at the porcelain vase in his hand and handed the souls of the people inside to the Tianshi Mansion, which would provide them with clues to the underground demons. In this way, those people would have no time to pay attention to the troupe.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, I went to explore the mountains and rivers to see if I could find some spiritual trees to give Second Master and his companions new bodies.
If it were made into a magic weapon and then carved into a puppet, would it be even more powerful?
After making up his mind in a short period of time, Chen Yuan held the porcelain vase and bowed in the direction of Senluo Hall: "Thank you for informing the local people, but I don't know whether you are the seventh master or the eighth master?"
"My last name was Fan."
The gloomy voice came, followed a moment later by another sentence: "...Don't burn sandalwood next time, the smell won't be pleasant to you."
The moment he finished speaking, Chen Yuan closed his eyes and opened them. He was already on the bed in the inn. Next to him, the old man was squatting on the bed, with tears on his old face, looking back and forth at him while sobbing.
"Master, what are you doing?"
"Master, I thought you were dead..." The crazy old man cried twice while wiping his tears, then straightened his face and made serious gestures: "I was just talking about what kind of coffin I should put in for you, and you came back to life."
"The disciple is just sleeping deeply, but he is not dead. Master, there is no need to panic next time." Chen Yuan said with a smile, and found that there was still a small porcelain bottle in his hand. He immediately got up from the bed and took the master out of the inn.
Rush to the small courtyard where the Taoist priests of Tianshi Mansion stay.
The courtyard door opened, and a little Taoist priest with a Taoist bun looked behind the door. He knew that the people outside the door were friends with Qingxu, Mingguang, and Yuchen, but he was still wary of the evil aura and ferocious cultivation.
.
"Master Chen, please come in." The little Taoist priest opened the door and let Chen Yuan in. He walked in front and led the way to the middle hall before leaving.
In the room, Qiaoer's laughter could be heard. She was wearing a tailor-made placket that reached her legs and wrists. She danced with two wide sleeves and shouted "Ulala" as she trotted out. She looked back from time to time to see the bright light chasing her.
In the middle hall, I suddenly saw Chen Yuan standing at the door with a smile on his face, his eyes turned into crescent moons, and he let out a sharp cry.
"Big brother!"
"In the Tianshi Mansion, which is feared by all monsters, only Qiao'er dares to be so presumptuous." Chen Yuan said with a joking smile, and touched the little girl's head, then blocked the bright light that came in from the side door, and the latter also clasped his hands.
Returning the gift, he started laughing: "Senior Brother Qingxu said that Qiao'er's life is hard, so he should take more care of him. I took this placket from another disciple's cabinet and altered it. It didn't fit as expected, but it made fellow Taoists laugh."
"What a joke, I like it too, right? Qiaoer."
Chen Yuan pinched the little girl's cheek, and after sitting down with Mingguang, Qiao'er obediently went to bring two cups of tea, and then sat quietly not far away, holding her chin up, dangling her two little feet, and just looked at him and talked.
Chen Yuan.
"This is the thing that killed several people in the troupe. Taoist Priest, please take a look."
As he spoke, Chen Yuan took out the porcelain bottle. The Taoist priest Mingguang suddenly narrowed his eyes and felt the strange aura. He took it and looked at it for a moment: "It's so weird. It's very different from ordinary demons and ghosts. But the underground demon's aura is very different."
?”
If it were an ordinary monster, fellow Taoist Chen in front of me would probably be killed immediately, so why bother showing it to him?
"Even if it's not an underground demon, it must be related." Chen Yuan blew a sip of tea stems floating in the cup, "I heard that the Heavenly Master wanted to track down the demon, so I happened to start with this monster, but..."
Chen Yuan paused, "However, if I send it here like this, will the Taoist priest think that I intend to let the two sides fight?"
"No, even if he does, the Heavenly Master will still look for demons in the ground! The Heavenly Master's Mansion personally received the gift from the court, and even if fellow Taoists don't send this thing over, they won't just sit idly by and ignore it."
Mingguang put a piece of talisman paper on the porcelain bottle, wrapped it and put it aside. He looked at Chen Yuan: "Besides, I am a poor Taoist and a fellow Taoist. Don't worry about this matter. The underground demons and Tianshi Mansion will unite themselves."
The rest of the practitioners will exterminate them together."
"As for the matter of monsters, I leave it to the Taoist priests of the Tianshi Mansion."
Chen Yuan stood up and cupped her hands towards Mingguang: "I'll take this opportunity to walk around."
"That's how it should be. If you leave, fellow Taoist, there will be less trouble."
"What does Taoist priest mean?"
"The imperial court wants to build a shrine for you, so it is inevitable that some narrow-minded people will come to harass fellow Taoists. However, these people are not very capable and will only use some shady means."
"Haha, it just so happens that I have many tricks up my sleeve."
Ming Guang was stunned for a moment, remembering that the person in front of him knew a lot more complicated side magic, so there was really nothing to be afraid of. The two of them joked for a while, then Chen Yuan left, waved to the reluctant little girl, and returned to the inn.
Inside, he called San'er who was settled in another room and sent him five miles outside the city.
"I can't blame you for this. After you go back, share the money in your bag with some of the dead helpers' families. We can't let them lose. The rest is enough for you to reorganize a troupe and walk out in the future. Be more careful. Late at night
When you meet a beautiful woman, child, or scholar, you should be more careful. It is best to turn around and leave without paying any attention to them."
At the pavilion outside the city, Chen Yuan patted the thin man on the shoulder, walked with him to the roadside, and gave him another warning.
"Also, for those wooden sculptures with names in the troupe, you should offer them morning and night with a stick of incense. If something like this happens again, maybe they can keep you safe."
San'er looked gloomy and came out in high spirits, but he went back alone. Even if he compensated his family with two taels of silver, he felt sad when he thought of Lao Jiu and his family crying.
He got on a donkey cart, dragged the carriage, bowed his hands to Chen Yuan and said goodbye, enjoying the sun rising above the clouds, and gradually went to the far distance of the official road.
Looking at the donkey cart driving away, Chen Yuan shook his head and sighed. He finally cultivated a person who could spread stories. I hope he wouldn't lose his energy after returning.
After the donkey cart was out of sight, he slowly walked back to the city in the bright sunshine. After only two miles, he heard the sound of horse hooves coming from far and near behind him. Chen Yuan turned around and glanced,
As he walked to the roadside, several fast horses carrying young people with fluttering robes galloped past him.
I don’t know if someone sensed that Chen Yuan was a cultivator. He stopped his horse with a shout, turned around and said, "Does this fellow Taoist also want Luodu?"
"Exactly."
Chen Yuan nodded towards him and glanced at the four people in the group. The men were handsome and the women were pretty. Judging from their attire, they were disciples of a large sect traveling together, but she suddenly stopped him, wondering what was going on.
Over there, the young man on horseback was well-mannered and did not have that condescending air. He smiled and said: "That's not as good as the same way. I heard that the court is going to give a person a shrine. I'll wait and see who it is."
Chen Yuan's eyelids twitched, hey, this is coming to find him.
Judging from their qi senses, they were similar to her own. Two of the women were only in the realm of qi training. Probably because they did not want to get involved with these young and energetic monks, Chen Yuan said with a smile as she walked:
"The imperial court will establish an official position for whomever it wants. What's so good about that?"
"The barbarians are going south, and I am waiting for Lihuo. There are also many people in Juling who help the people escape. Why is that the only one who gets this honor?" The two men and two women were filled with indignation.
After all, he is young, and he is so similar to himself when he was in Canglan.
Immediately, Chen Yuan shook his head and continued to dissuade.
"You should stop going. Travel around the mountains and rivers, seek immortality, or bring benefits to the people. This is what people in the Taoism do. Why bother worrying about fame and fortune, instead of falling behind?"
Several people over there also nodded.
"What this fellow Taoist said is that we almost lost our minds, but after taking a breath, we did what we wanted. Don't worry, fellow Taoist, we won't hurt anyone randomly. We are just playing tricks to see how good he is."
"Do you guys know his name and where he is now?"
"I know it."
Seeing that Chen Yuan did not want to go with him, several people did not try to force him to join him. They all lowered their hands, raised their whips, and rushed to the city ahead.
"It's rare to see such lively cultivators..."
Chen Yuan clasped his hands behind his back and walked along the official road, enjoying the cool breeze blowing in the fields and walking slowly back to the city.