The morning sun was slightly dewy, and a ray of golden light emerged from behind the green mountains, reflecting the green grass bent by the night dew. A breeze blew by, and the heavy grass blades lowered their heads slightly, letting the crystal clear dewdrops silently
The ground moistens into the soil beneath your feet.
"Junior brother, let's set off."
Although he knew that Juchen, the corpse man, could not understand his words, Mu Zizhen still told him slowly. He extinguished the fire, carried his luggage, and then walked to Juchen, who was tied to the pine tree with iron chains.
He raised his hand and put on the black gauze hat for him, and then pulled up the sleeves of the other party's broad robe, covering his hands with black skin and protruding purple veins. After everything was sorted out, he untied them.
The iron rope on the tree trunk holds this end of the iron chain firmly in the palm of the hand.
"Kengcha...kengcha..."
Accompanied by the harsh sound of the iron chains rubbing against each other, Mu Zizhen picked up the corpse and embarked on the long road again to find a way to relieve the evil spirit.
Mu Zizhen heard that in Tianshui Town, more than 300 miles away from here, there is a thousand-year-old temple. The incense there is very popular.
Solve the riddle. It was precisely because of this rumor that Mu Zizhen took the corpse to the dust, crossed the roaring Yellow River, and came to the hinterland of the river.
If Mu Zi was a real person, he could fly with his sword and travel thousands of miles in a day, but because he was holding the struggling corpse in the dust, the three hundred miles took him most of the day. When he arrived at Tianshui Town,
At that time, it was the moment when the sun was high in the sky and scorching like fire.
As soon as he entered the town, Mu Zizhen felt something was wrong: Tianshui Town, which was originally a peaceful and peaceful town with only two to three thousand people, was extremely lively today. The streets were bustling with people and the roads were lined with stalls.
, the vendors shouted hard, and there was a dazzling array of everything from calligraphy and painting to rouge and gouache, from pots and pans to candy sticks and snacks. It was obviously the day of the temple fair.
When Mu Zizhen and Ju Chen walked into the town, they immediately attracted the attention of many people. When pedestrians on the street saw him holding an iron rope and a faceless man in a hat following behind him, they all cast curious looks. Some were even in their prime.
The man stepped forward, said "Hey" and greeted:
"Hey, sir, you don't look like a local. May I ask where you are from? What has this person committed?"
It turned out that when the man saw that Mu Zi was really upright and had a sword hanging on his waist, he thought he was a master of catching criminals. And the person he was holding was naturally a criminal prisoner who had committed a crime.
Hearing the man's question, Mu Zizhen shook his head slowly and explained in a deep voice: "No, I am not an official servant, nor is he a prisoner ordered by the court, but my brother-in-law. My brother-in-law is suffering from mania, so he used iron as a last resort.
I'm tied up with a chain, but I hope you'll forgive me."
The man said "Oh——" in sudden realization, then frowned and muttered: "Although your brother is sick, are you too cruel? This is your biological brother, tie him up with a hemp rope
The bundle is just a pawn, how could you use such a thick iron chain so cruelly?"
Hearing what the man said, the passers-by pointed at Mu Zi Zhen and started whispering. Mu Zi Zhen has practiced martial arts for many years, and his ears are very good. The comments of passers-by fell into his ears one by one:
"Looking at how talented he is, who knows he's actually a black-hearted man on the inside? He's so cruel to his own brother!"
"Yes, look at how they are dressed. They are all made of good materials and good clothes. They must be children of wealthy families. I think most of the elder brothers treat their younger brothers in this way deliberately to fight for family property."
"Yeah, who knows if this younger brother is really crazy or not? Maybe it was the elder brother who drove him crazy."
At first, they were just curious words, but as they went on, they changed their tone and turned into a complicated drama. For the townspeople, the appearance of Mu Zizhen and Ju Chen was undoubtedly a sign of
With this added topic for after-dinner talk, they could just talk nonsense and concoct some imaginary drama about "fighting for family and property", and think of Mu Zi as a treacherous villain with no flesh-and-blood ties. How would they know?
, what kind of mood did Mu Zi really have to put chains on Ju Chen, lock his hands, tie his shoulders and back, and take him all over the mountains and rivers?
In the face of everyone's criticism, Mu Zizhen turned a deaf ear and made no excuses. He clasped his fists and said "goodbye" to the man, then stepped onto the bluestone road and walked in the direction of the temple.
However, there are some evildoers who are unwilling to let them go. A seller of oranges with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks was the one who speculated on the rumor that "the elder brother drives his own brother crazy". At this time, in order to prove that what he said is wrong
Xu, he rolled his eyes, picked up the leftover orange peel on the stall, and secretly threw it towards Ju Chen's black bamboo hat——
Hearing the sound of the wind, Mu Zizhen darted to Ju Chen's side. He raised his two fingers, caught the thrown object, and dropped it to the ground. This series of actions was completed in an instant, like a ghost.
The speed shocked the vendor, and the onlookers were also amazed. Mu Zizhen raised his eyebrows, and his pair of deep black eyes were firmly locked on the man, with an undoubted warning in his eyes.
Seeing him glare at him, the citrus vendor shrugged his shoulders and hid in the crowd dejectedly, not daring to stand out again. When Muzi saw that he was restrained, he didn't say a word, just turned around and started on the road again.
But just this moment of attack and defense aroused more people's attention. The adults did not dare to step forward to make trouble for the sake of face and the sword on Mu Zizhen's waist, but the children
But I couldn't care about that many. The children who were looking at the clay dolls in front of the clay figurine stall saw the previous scene, and their big eyes flickered, full of curiosity. One of the boys was the tallest, and he seemed to be from here.
The leader of the children, he winked at his companions. The children nodded hurriedly, and then swarmed into the small street:
"Oh oh oh oh -" the children shouted happily while running in twos and threes on the path, passing by Mu Zizhen and Ju Chen.
Mu Zi really only thought that the children were naughty and ran away, fearing that they would collide with Ju Chen, so he pulled the iron rope and pulled his former junior brother closer to him. How could he have thought that these little dolls were coming for them. Several children gathered together
When he came to Mu Zizhen's side and made a face, the leader of the children took advantage of his companion to distract the swordsman, took out a small stick for pulling a top from his sleeve, and exerted a force towards Ju Chen's black gauze bamboo hat.
top--
"Snapped."
The bamboo hat fell off, revealing a fierce face. The rotten black color, the stretched veins, the sharp fangs, and the red eyes were exposed to the blue sky and white sun.
Aware of the gazes of the children and the crowd, the corpse man in the dust opened his purple lips, revealing the bright red blood marks in his mouth, and roared angrily at the child leader:
"fool!!!"
Although the kid was cunning and bold, had he ever seen such a terrifying scene before? He was so frightened that his legs softened on the spot and he fell to the ground. Tears flowed from his eyes and he started to cry in panic:
"Oh my god, there's a ghost!"
This cry made passers-by look sideways. When they saw the ferocious and strange face of the corpse man Juchen, everyone was stunned and ran away, shouting "Help", turned around and ran away.
They dispersed like birds and beasts. But in the blink of an eye, the originally bustling and bustling temple fair street became an empty alley. The stalls that were too busy to clean up in time were scattered there, and the goods were messy.
It was unbearable and the place was in a mess.
Although most people ran away timidly, there were still a few brave ones who stood up tremblingly in the face of monsters and alien creatures. The strong man who asked the question earlier was one of them. He hurriedly walked out of a nearby house.
He picked up a hoe by the wall, held it tightly in his hands, put on a defensive posture, and asked in a trembling voice: "You, who are you! What is your relationship with this monster? What on earth do you want to do, and why are you here?
We are in Tianshui Town!”
Before Mu Zi could really answer, the corpse man saw that the man was thick-skinned and thick-skinned, and his eyes suddenly burst out with a strange red light. He twisted and struggled and lunged forward, his teeth clicking up and down, wishing he could pounce.
He went to the man and bit off a piece of flesh and blood. His bloodthirsty and cruel behavior made the man take a few steps back in shock, and he almost couldn't even hold the hoe in his hand.
"Ah Chen, stop!" Mu Zizhen shouted sternly. Seeing the corpse Ju Chen was furious and agitated, he immediately flipped his wrist, and the iron rope seemed to have spirituality, wrapping around Ju Chen's shoulders and making another circle. Mu Zizhen
With a strong tug, he tightened his palms, and the iron chain bound Juchen tightly, locking him so that he could not move.
"Hiss...hiss...bluff..." Corpse Man Juchen struggled angrily, but couldn't hold the iron rope open even half an inch, so he could only let out a shrill roar.
Seeing the demon being bound, the man gained courage again. He picked up the gravel on the ground and threw it at the corpse and the dust:
"Monster! Get out of our Tianshui Town!"
"Get out! Get out!"
"Where did the evildoer come from? Don't dirty our town!"
For a moment, the crowd was furious. The townspeople who had not had time to run away saw that the demon was tightly chained and unable to break free, so they turned back again. The men picked up hoes and shovels, and the women grabbed
They picked up pots and clubs and protected the children behind them. While cursing angrily, they picked up scattered fruits and vegetables, broken bricks and broken tiles, and smashed them hard against the corpses.
Although Mu Zizhen was unparalleled in swordsmanship, he could not take action rashly and draw his sword at these frightened and angry ordinary townspeople. Even if he had three heads and six arms, he could not block these hundreds of filthy things one by one. He could only
He took a step forward and stopped in front of his former junior brother.
"Crack." - With a tiny smashing sound, an egg was smashed on Mu Zizhen's forehead, and viscous liquid flowed down. Then, there were rotten vegetable leaves, and the sour and smelly leftover water of sour soup.
, and the thick phlegm spit out viciously, making him look sloppy. Someone wrapped a stone in rotten vegetable leaves, and the sharp corner of the gravel was hitting Mu Zizhen's forehead, cutting open the flesh and leaving traces of blood.
Sliding down. The bright red blood droplets, mixed with the residual soup and sour water, slowly dripped down his hair.
In the past, Mu Zizhen was respectfully called "Elder Brother" by the disciples of the Four Demon-Slaying Alliances. Mu Zizhen was evaluated by many seniors as "excellent talent, and he is actually a dragon and phoenix among men." This once magnificent and high-spirited member of the Tianxuan Sect
The chief disciple is now like a beggar fished out of a swill tank. There is no clean spot on his body. Faced with the disgusted eyes of countless people, he remained silent and just stood firm.
He was still, motionless as a mountain, using his straight back to hold up a narrow space for the corpse behind him.
"This man is an accomplice of the monster! He is protecting the monster, kill him!"
"Smash him to death! Smash him to death!"
Mu Zizhen didn't say anything, didn't argue, didn't argue. Juchen had lost his humanity and turned into a demon. The townspeople were afraid of him and hurt him. This was really out of instinct and there was no fault in the slightest. In the eyes of the townspeople, he protected him.
The demon's actions were tantamount to being the accomplice of a tiger, and he deserved to die. He had no way to argue or explain, he could only endure it silently.
A black object passed through the air and plunged into Mu Zizhen's left shoulder with a "pop" sound. It immediately opened a long bloody mouth and blood gushes out. It was a rusty broken scissors, which was cut by someone unknown.
Throw it out while it's in the mess.
"Clang! Clang!"
The corpse behind him, Ju Chen, suddenly became furious. He heard the iron chain being lifted up and made a "crack" sound. Ju Chen's eyes flashed fiercely, the veins on his face swelled, and he twisted his body violently. Suddenly, there was an explosion.
With the sound, the thick chain was broken by him.
"Hiss...hiss...master..."
Untonaled syllables were squeezed out of the throat intermittently, but Mu Zizhen was suddenly startled: Ever since Juchen became a demon, he could only roar and hiss, never uttering a word of human language. But in that brief moment just now, he
It seemed like he heard half of the word. Could it be that he heard it wrong, or...
A torrent suddenly exploded in his chest, and the slight hope like a firefly brought a wave of ecstasy like a sea. Mu Zizhen turned around in a hurry, gripped Ju Chen's shoulders tightly, and tried to escape from the rotten black
Texture, you can see something from those red blood eyes.
And just when Mu Zizhen turned his back and stared at Ju Chen, among the crowd behind him, the sharp-mouthed hawker from before grabbed the three-pointed knife from the meat stall next door and quietly approached Mu Zizhen's back...
"Wait a minute! Pāluāṇa reveals the truth, Bodhisattva...put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha immediately."
A loud voice recited Sanskrit scriptures, sounding like thunder. Everyone followed the sound and saw at the end of the road a monk wearing cassocks and holding a Zen staff. He had twelve ring scars on his head and a snow-white beard hanging down to his head.
Although his face was wrinkled and weathered, and he seemed to be an old man, his eyes were still bright, his voice was as loud as a bell, his complexion was excellent, and he was energetic.
"It's Master Huiwen!" A woman called out the monk's name.
In this Tianshui Town, Master Huiwen of Tianshui Temple is quite prestigious. Even people who do not believe in gods and Buddhas respect this wise old man. Seeing him coming, passers-by gave way to a passage, and the tangerine vendor also
He hurriedly threw the butcher knife back to the butcher shop, and defended Master Huiwen with a smile on his face: "Master, I'm not afraid of monsters hurting people. Okay, okay, if you tell me to put it down, we will put it down."
Master Huiwen nodded lightly, smiled slightly, and then walked towards Mu Zizhen and Ju Chen. He didn't care that Mu Zizhen was covered in rotten vegetables, and stretched out his withered and deeply grooved right hand, and put it on Mu Zizhen's hand.
shoulder, and then announced to everyone in a deep voice:
"This knight is the chief disciple of Tianxuan Sect. As a leader of the sect, he is also one of the four heroes of the Demon-Slaying Alliance. Over the years, he has eliminated evil and evil, and has been guarding the peace of China all the time. And this young knight is also the leader of the sect.
The disciples of Tianxuan Sect were controlled by demonic energy and temporarily lost their nature. Fellow villagers, please do not blame the good people wrongly."
Master Huiwen's words made passers-by look at each other in astonishment. Immediately afterwards, the surprise turned into regret and uneasiness. The strong man threw away the hoe in his hand, the women put down their rolling pins, and everyone brushed the floor.
Looking at Mu Zizhen, who was dirty and bleeding, he gradually showed a look of shame.
"Brother, I'm sorry." The man was a straightforward person and was the first to apologize.
However, Mu Zi really didn't care about his apology or the changes of passers-by. At this moment, all he could think about was Master Huiwen's words "temporarily lost his nature". The word "temporarily", for him
It ignited the fire of hope. Mu Zizhen didn't even have time to pull out the scissors on his left shoulder. He quickly raised his fists and bowed deeply to the old monk in front of him:
"I dare to ask Master, do you know the method to remove the evil spirit? Please give me some advice."
"Yes, I know a thing or two," Master Huiwen nodded and said slowly, "But this method is really difficult..."
Seeing Master Huiwen's expression of embarrassment, Mu Zizhen immediately clasped his fists and bowed his head, intending to bow down: "Master, please make it clear. As long as Ju Chen can restore his humanity, Mu Zizhen will not hesitate to take this life and go through mountains of fire and seas of swords."
"This can't be done. Please get up quickly." Master Huiwen held Mu Zizhen's arm and lifted him up with force. Then he nodded and said with a smile: "It's hard to explain this matter. Please follow me back to Tianshui Temple, knight."
I know everything about how to eliminate evil spirits, and I will tell you everything."
After receiving Master Huiwen's promise, Mu Zizhen felt his heart widen and a warmth welled up in his chest. He couldn't help turning his head to look at the corpse man Juchen. Although the junior brother in front of him still had a black face and fangs, Mu Zizhen
But from that ferocious and terrifying face, he could see the shadow of his former junior brother.
The corners of his lips were slightly raised, and a faint smile bloomed silently. In the past few months, Mu Zizhen felt a little relaxed for the first time, and felt a little happy for the first time. For a moment, he only felt that his limbs and bones had gathered strength again, and even
The wounds on my forehead and shoulders no longer hurt at all.
I saw Mu Zizhen holding the iron chain with his left hand and holding Ju Chen, making a "please" gesture with his right hand, and then followed the footsteps of Master Huiwen and walked towards the ancient temple in the town.
