The lonely path of the hill leads to the distance, and the cicadas stop at the beginning of the twilight sky.

The remnants of the flowers are accompanied by the wind, and the fragrance is scattered at the beginning of the Buddha's face.

Jingyi followed a winding mountain road, and finally rushed to a temple before the sun set, looking at the vermilion walls and green tiles of the temple, Jingyi couldn't help but sigh that he finally didn't have to stay overnight in the mountains and forests. Although for people in the Daomen, every line and every move is practice, but she didn't enter the Tao in the first place to become an immortal, and she didn't pay much attention to these things, so she still prefers to live under the eaves.

Gently knocked on the door a few times, no one responded, and no one walked out of the temple, Jingyi had to knock a few more times, but no one came out to greet him, which made Jingyi have an ominous premonition in his heart. It's not the first time she has encountered this situation, especially in the past few days near the canal, due to a series of requisition measures by the imperial court, the people's lives are strong, and it is still difficult to maintain food and clothing, not to mention the temples that give alms, so many temples and Taoist temples in the wilderness are basically not visited.

Gently pushed open the door, and the place was really desolate, and even jagged green shoots appeared in the cracks of the gray bricks on the ground, but it was a place that could block the wind and rain, and he walked in with his feet up. However, as soon as she stepped into the courtyard, there was a gust of yin wind blowing in her face, and where the yin wind passed, Jing Yixiu's eyebrows were slightly wrinkled, but that was all. Jingyi combed the dusty dust in his hand and walked towards the temple hall step by step. This whisk was brought over by her master half a month ago, and it is difficult to move any dust things, but just now it was blown by the gust of wind and made a mess of silver threads, which shows that this small temple, I am afraid that there is something unusual.

Entering the main hall, I didn't find anything unusual, only to see some broken porcelain pottery thrown in the hall, and there were a few animal skins and some mottled blood stains around it, proving that someone should have lived here, and it also violated the taboo of Buddhism! After checking the main hall again without success, Jingyi turned her gaze to the apse, but as soon as she pushed the door open, she saw a corpse lying on the ground without any clothes, the corpse was described as withered, without a trace of life, and the dry hands were still half raised on the sides of the waist and abdomen, as if they were still doing something before they died. Jing Yi took a few more steps forward, and it wasn't until she saw the dry but still erect dust handle on the lower body of the corpse that she was sure of what she was thinking - practicing refinement and qi!

Refining and transforming qi is one of the many Taoist cultivation paths, which mainly uses human essence and blood as the source to refine the essence and blood into one's own spiritual power. Essence blood is the source of the life of living beings, from the life of life to the reproduction of life, to the maintenance of one's own life, the source of energy comes from essence and blood. The human soul can be reincarnated, but the human body can only be left in the world and turned into dust, and whenever the soul is reincarnated again, the body must be reshaped by the blood of the parents in this life, and the reincarnated soul can be established. Therefore, human essence and blood can be said to be the source of all souls. And in the cultivation of refining and transforming qi, there are also two different ways, one is that men and women cultivate on their own, men cultivate to obtain yang yuan, and women cultivate to obtain yin yuan, but because it is too one-way, the daily cultivation time should not be too long, and other ways to reconcile it. The other is double cultivation, in which both men and women tie the knot, harmonize yin and yang, and complement each other, which is in line with the natural principles of Taoism and is also the most respected one of Taoism.

However, the practice of refining and transforming qi is not unique to human beings, since the beginning of heaven and earth, the world has been pregnant with all things, all things have male and female, people are just one of the categories, it can be said that except for the ghost race, which has no body, other races all know some methods of refining and refining qi, especially the genus of demons, which is unique in this regard. The difference is that when the spirit clan cultivates twice, it pays attention to a continuous stream like people, and it can be stopped in moderation, while the demon often kills chickens and takes eggs, especially when the demon clan urgently needs to replenish the demon power, it will not care about people's life and death, and after inducing people to lose their energy, they will take it all out, leaving only a corpse that is described as withered! Therefore, for thousands of years, the world has hated monsters!

In fact, when she herself knew the method of double cultivation, she also thought that one day she could double cultivate with Yuan Tiangang, but after all, double cultivation involves men and women, and she didn't see these things at that time, so she always hoped that Yuan Tiangang would bring it up to her, but she waited and waited, but what she was waiting for was the news that Yuan Tiangang was going to marry another woman! Later, even if she cried and broke her heart, she could only blame herself for being too reserved.

Retracting his mind from the past, Jingyi turned his gaze to the two side halls, and after entering to investigate, he found another corpse in each side hall, and his death method and death appearance were exactly the same as the one in the middle. From this, she probably judged that the other party should be a seriously injured demon clan, and the demon power was greatly damaged, so she needed to consume the essence blood of three people at a time! But where is the other party now, and how can she find and end her sins? Jing Yi pondered, and his eyes also looked at the pile of clothes on the ground, which was a pile of men's clothes, and judging from the appearance, it should be the clothes of soldiers.

――――――

The long sail fell, and the cold night sky was as sad as ink.

Liao Liao's remnants are like a clue in his heart.

I remember the old days, but I see each other coldly now.

Listen to the joyful song, break the thought and sigh the lonely heart.

One after another, all with the flowing water gently passed.

At that time, it was a bone and blood, and now the sword points to the dust and evil.

Under the moonlit night, Xiao Zhuo watched Li Mi being summoned into the Shengshang Bedroom, and his heart was mixed, although he knew that the current queen was a cat demon, but because he was not sure how the cat demon was impersonating his aunt's identity, he had always hoped that his aunt was not dead, and he would be able to rescue his aunt one day. However, as Li Mi entered the Shengshang Cabin, he and Yuan Tiangang's suspicions about Li Mi were basically confirmed: Li Mi's life was greatly changed, and it was indeed thanks to the queen! But it is precisely because of this that Xiao Zhuo has a trace of sadness in his heart.

Li Mi's life has changed, but why is the queen willing to change his life for him, there must be some deal between the two, and now that Li Mi has been summoned into the sleeping cabin again, Xiao Zhuo doesn't have to think about it to know what he is going to do. Yuan Bao'er was killed by him last night, although he didn't know how to come back to life, but his strength and cultivation must be greatly damaged, and the damage needs to be replenished, and the fastest way is to refine people's essence and blood, but His Majesty's body is not good, and they still need to rely on His Majesty, so they should not absorb too much, so they will find Li Mi instead. But did Li Mi just provide essence blood for Yuan Bao'er? Did his aunt also have this kind of relationship with Li Mi before? The Xiao family has been scholarly for generations, passed down to filial piety, when his aunt married the current saint, how to say that she was also married by the Ming media, but now she is controlled by demons and evil to marry others, even if she can be liberated one day, presumably his aunt will feel shameless to see the ancestors of the Xiao family!

Xiao Zhuo hesitated outside for a long time, wanting to go in and pull Li Mi out, but he couldn't pass the guard of the hatch, His Majesty's cabin is a dragon ship, and no one can enter without a summons, even if he is nominally the queen's nephew, he does not have this right. And just as he hesitated, another figure came out of the hatch, and with a little identification from the faint light of the fire on the ship, Xiao Zhuo recognized that it was Zhu Gui'er.

"Isn't the concubine supposed to rest in the cabin? , how can you be in the mood to come out and blow the wind? After Xiao Zhuo finished saluting, the person also walked to the side to make way for her. And when Zhu Guier first came out, he didn't say anything to Xiao Zhuo, but after the two of them were away from the guards, Zhu Guier raised his hand and stroked his sideburns and hair, which actually laid a spiritual curtain around the two of them, blocking the voices of the two.

"Sister asked me to come out and watch you, save you from making trouble, Sister Bao'er is in urgent need of recovering her cultivation now, and there is no room for mistakes." Zhu Guier told the truth, in fact, she also knew that she couldn't hide it from Xiao Zhuo.

"Then can I ask, how did Yuan Guifei come back from the dead?" Xiao Zhuo had to admire the meticulousness of the queen's work, knowing that cultivators could not kill the spirit clan without permission, she actually deliberately let Zhu Gui'er drag herself, but how could she think that Zhu Gui'er would definitely be able to hold herself back?

"Cats have nine lives! The cultivated cat clan, when the cultivation has passed the 1,000-year mark, they can cultivate an extra life every 100 years, and my sister just lent her extra life to Sister Bao'er, which is not a thing against the sky. Hearing Zhu Gui'er say this, Xiao Zhuo finally understood in his heart, and during the day he was still thinking: Yuan Bao'er came back from the dead, why is there nothing abnormal between heaven and earth for such a rebellious act? Now it seems that it is just a shallow knowledge!

The two didn't talk again, but quietly looked at the water, the Yingying River, reflecting the sky and the moon, as if this rare calm was what the two of them had been looking forward to in their hearts. It wasn't until a gust of night wind blew and blew out the candle flame in the lampshade next to him that Zhu Gui'er asked, "Xiao Zhuo, are you thinking about someone?" ”

"Hmm!" Xiao Zhuo replied subconsciously. When he reacted to his gaffe, Zhu Guier had already asked, "Does she look like me?" ”

Zhu Gui'er was a little shocked when Xiao Zhuo asked! He really thought of Jin Ruo just now, and Zhu Guier's appearance was similar to Jin Ruo, so he thought that Jin Ruo was accompanying him to watch the stars and snow moon, but Zhu Guier could guess what he was thinking, which was too unreasonable! Moreover, why did Zhu Guier accompany herself here to blow the wind like this? Xiao Zhuo was still hesitant in his heart, but Zhu Guier revealed an even more surprising information: "In fact, more than five hundred years ago, she was my master!" I have witnessed all that you are: you are in love but you are separated; can be with each other for a lifetime, but in the end he dies alone; Obviously, they can follow each other in the world, but they fall apart! If I had met you when I first arrived in Chang'an six years ago, I would never have agreed to my sister to be His Majesty's concubine, but unfortunately the world makes people, but you have left Chang'an at that time! ”

Let Zhu Guier talk to herself, but Xiao Zhuo's mind only echoed her first sentence: More than 500 years ago, Jin Ruo was Zhu Guier's master! This explains why they look so similar. And more importantly, he and Jinruo actually concluded a relationship five hundred years ago! What happened 500 years ago? What has happened in the last 500 years? He was eager to know about the entanglement between himself and Jinruo, but just as he was about to ask Zhu Gui'er, another figure came behind him, it was the figure of Queen Xiao Meiniang.

"You're so interested!" Xiao Meiniang's graceful figure moved to Zhu Gui'er's side, and asked Xiao Zhuo again: "Zhuo'er, are you still chatting happily?" ”

"TOEFL!" Xiao Zhuo didn't bother to ask about Jinruo again, and looked at Xiao Meiniang with a wary expression, and the hilt of the sword was raised slightly, in case the queen provoked trouble.

"Don't worry, there are so many people here, I don't want to cause unnecessary trouble, not to mention that you still have magic weapons in your hands, if you really start to do it, I won't be able to clean you up for a while. As for Bao'er, she herself was killed by you for not listening to advice, and I don't blame you. But Xiao Zhuo, I hope this matter ends here, in the future, you and I will each give way, I will restrain my people not to harm mortals, and you will also show mercy to their subordinates, how about it? ”

"Impossible!" Xiao Zhuoyi replied rhetorically. "Unless you hide in the mountains, and do no more trouble in the world! But you just want to stay in the world, resulting in a lack of righteousness, a lack of prosperity in the zodiac, a sharp turn for the worse in the Great Sui Kingdom, and a misery for the lives of the people, how can you let me stand idly by? Moreover, even if you do not cause trouble in the future, then the sins of the past are not sins? The Jiang family in Wuliuzhuang has been wronged for 80 years, how did they die? Jiang Yingxue can't be reincarnated until now, who is the initiator? Do you think these can be written off? ”

"You actually found Jiang Yingxue?" Xiao Meiniang didn't expect Xiao Zhuo to mention Jiang Yingxue.

"The sky has eyes, although you painstakingly created a magic circle to drag Jiang Yingxue from having time to find her face, but you missed her husband. The love of the world, although there are many unkind and unrighteous people, but there are also people who are very affectionate and beloved, and thanks to the cultivation methods you taught her, she can protect the safety of her husband's life. After Xiao Zhuo finished speaking, he thought that the queen would be moved, but the queen just said lightly: "Oh! Speaking of which, the person to blame for this incident is your senior brother, if he hadn't ruined my last face, why would I borrow Jiang Yingxue's face again. ”

The last face? Xiao Zhuo was shocked to realize that if you trace back to the cat demon's cultivation, it is indeed very unlikely that the cat demon has been using one face for more than a thousand years, so how many faces has she used in the past thousand years? Xiao Zhuo counted in his heart all kinds of major events that have plagued the country and the people for more than a thousand years, and as a result, there are no less than dozens of them, aren't these things all because of this cat demon?

"Boy! I'm really too lazy to talk to you so much, since the words are not speculative, then you can do it yourself, if you dare to hurt my people again, don't blame me for being ruthless! After Xiao Meiniang finished speaking, she pulled Zhu Gui'er and walked back, leaving Xiao Zhuo to keep sorting out her thoughts in her heart.

――――――

The moon is dark, the wind blows the shadows, the lights are sparse, and the ghosts are called.

I am often afraid of the night shadows, and I am also worried that the sound of the road is not my own voice.

Wang Shichong sat alone in the room and didn't dare to fall asleep, he was afraid that Yuan Ziyan, who lived in another courtyard, would call him, because when he set off this morning, he turned back to the temple where he stayed last night because he left something behind, but found that in the apse where Yuan Ziyan lived, there were three dead bodies described as withered, and judging from the clothes left on the ground, the three dead people were the people he sent to help Yuan Ziyan clean up the room last night. That night, when he found that the three people did not come back to restore their lives, he also asked Yuan Ziyan where they were, and according to Yuan Ziyan, they were sent back by Yuan Ziyan to the dragon boat to report the safety of the saint, but he didn't expect that it turned out to be a tragic death at the hands of the concubine, and Yuan Guifei's murderous methods were so cruel and vicious, so he had to wonder what the queen sent him to escort Yuan Ziyan back to Chang'an.

However, although he knew that Yuan Ziyan was by no means a good type, Wang Shichong still had a fluke, because there were not a few people in their group, if Yuan Ziyan needed it again, he could still send someone else to her, as long as he could persist until Luoyang, then he could keep his official position that he had finally won, and maybe he would be promoted because of his meritorious escort. Thinking about it, he finally got the Qionghua map from Yan Lide a month ago, and rushed thousands of miles from Jiangdu to Luoyang to present it to Emperor Yang Guang. But although his plan was very good, he couldn't stand Yuan Ziyan's various delays, either he was too hot or he was not feeling well, for a while, the group stopped and stopped, and they couldn't travel more than 100 miles in three days! If it goes on like this, I'm afraid that before he reaches Luoyang, all his people will die!

Knock knock! Three knocks on the door pulled Wang Shichong back from his worries, "Who?" Wang Shichong asked, for fear that Yuan Ziyan would come to ask for someone.

"My lord, there is a Taoist aunt outside the hospital, saying that she wants to spend the night here, I don't dare to make the decision, so I came to ask." The knocker replied.

Aunt Dao? Wang Shichong looked at the night, it was almost time, and the Dao aunt who was not afraid of death was still wandering around in the mountains. Wang Shichong followed him to the door to take a look, only to glance, he was reluctant to take his eyes away, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart: If all the Taoist aunts in the world are born like this, then he would still be a monk!

"Donor, the poor road is walking late at night, passing by the treasure temple, please spend the night, I hope to be forgiving, I am grateful! Donor? Donor? Jingyi said, waving the dust in his hand, Wang Shichong finally came back to his senses.

"Ugh! Girl...... No! Michigan please! Wang Shichong introduced Jingyi into the door, and said: "But the Taoist, the front yard is full of us big men, and the backyard is ......."

"Then I'll live in the backyard!" Jingyi interrupted Wang Shichong's words, and the person also walked towards the backyard, as if she was the owner of this courtyard. And Jingyi, she really didn't take Wang Shichong and these people seriously, since Wang Shichong said that the front yard was all male, then the backyard was naturally where the demon was, she drove for a long time to find this group of soldiers, but she couldn't let the tiger return to the mountain, she had to solve it as soon as possible.

Wang Shi returned to the room with a lingering mood, his mind was still reflecting the quiet appearance, and he just wanted to pour himself a cup of tea to quench his thirst, when he heard a terrible cat meow suddenly sounded in the backyard, and he hurried out of the room in fright. But seeing the green light blooming in the backyard, drawing various arcs at the same time, a cat meow also sounded, and when he arrived with someone, Jingyi had already put away the sword and walked towards the room casually, leaving only a dead cat lying on the ground.

[Plot Follow-up]

"General Su, the last general Xue Wanjun, is willing to advance and retreat with the general!"

No one objected to the proposal formulated by Su Dingfang, but in terms of implementation, Su Dingfang rejected Xue Wanjun's first statement: "General Xue, you ...... Can't stay here. ”

"Why?" Xue Wanjun asked.

"Old General Xue, what do you see?" Su Dingfang turned to Xue Shixiong.