The second watch is coming......

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After entering Wurong, the sons of Shenxiao once made up rumors, saying that Du Jixiang had not offended Zoroastrianism at all, and Bao Chun, who fell off the cliff, was not a mistake, they were all deliberately killed, as for the reason, it was to destroy the reputation of Jingjiao. Essentially, these rumors were part of the Shenxiao Sect's efforts to obtain the Immortal Tree, and at that time, Zhang Yuanhe had also noticed these rumors and acted accordingly.

"Of course, the conclusion 'to destroy the reputation of Nestorianism' is wrong...... But, their description, is completely correct. ”

Whether it was Du Jixiang, Bao Chun, or the other people who had eaten the fruit of the immortal tree and left Wurong, what they encountered was not an accident, but a deliberate killing by the Zoroastrians.

"The purpose is to cover up the truth of the Immortal Tree."

With a very serious expression, Carmen told Zhang Yuankong that she was not sure whether the things to be talked about below were correct, because these were all things that had been handed down a long time ago and were already like legends, and even now, seeing these things that had long existed only on broken papyrus and parchment reappearing in the world, Carmen still had an extremely trance feeling.

"Nestorianism, they are not a particularly ancient religion, at the time of their appearance, our hometown already had countless religions, countless gods."

At that time, people believed that all things were animistic, from fine wine, to iron tools, people in different occupations and different places worshipped completely different gods, and the gods in the heavens, such as people in the world, constituted a huge and complex divine realm, and correspondingly, there were countless kinds of temples and temples on the ground.

"And it's growing every year."

Greedy empires, like all-devouring beasts, are constantly stretching out their hands and feet to pounce on the unknown: civilization after civilization is discovered, destroyed, and digested into the empire's body. including their land, their people, their customs, and...... Their gods.

"At that time, in the capital of the Empire, there was the most magnificent building, called the Pantheon."

The temple is dedicated to all the gods known to the Empire, and the images of the gods who have been discovered and plundered by the Imperial army are constantly added, and it is the grandest and most magnificent building of the dynasty, which entrusts the faith of all people.

"But now, there's no pantheon left."

The rise of Nestorianism, the destruction of the gods, from then on, there is only the Temple of Ten Thousand Demons in the world, and there is no Temple of Ten Thousand Gods.

"From god to demon, you mean ......"

Immediately thinking of what was happening in Wu Rong, Zhang Yuanhe frowned and asked Carmen, what was the relationship between gods and humans in that era?

"God is on earth."

Just like in the ancient times of the Great Xia legend, the gods dwelt in the sky, but they roamed the earth, some of them stolen, some blessed, some adulterous, some took forcibly, they fought with humans, sometimes defeated, sometimes victorious.

However, Nestorianism rose up and declared that all the ancient gods were not true gods, but demons that existed in the world.

"In the name of their true gods, they launched a divine war and pulled countless ancient gods down the altar."

It was not an easy war, it spread for thousands of years, and in the end, the Nestorian cultists, with the support of the true gods, suppressed all other pagan religions, banished many of the defeated ancient gods to hell, lost their incense offerings, and gradually degenerated, becoming trolls who lost their intelligence and even consciousness in the dark abyss.

“…… The above is Jingjiao's own statement. ”

In the history outside of Nestorianism, there has been another theory: the first generation of Nestorian missionaries had unparalleled humility and forbearance, and mastered the secret methods beyond that era, and they were able to pollute the minds of "gods", seize their minds, and make them "demons" who only knew how to eat and mate~ and acted according to instinct.

"In the earliest days, those temples and sects, they were not defeated head-on by the Nestorian Sect, but in the fierce battle, they panicked and found that their gods suddenly went crazy, and they could no longer communicate and rely on."

Seeing that the gods who had been worshiping sincerely for many years suddenly went crazy and attacked their own battle lines from the rear, this kind of spiritual impact was enough to crush the most loyal priests and warriors, and back then, I don't know how many sects collapsed and disappeared forever.

“…… Like, candle dragon? ”

Looking at Zhang Yuankong's suddenly realized eyes, Carmen nodded.

"Yes, like a candle dragon."

But legends are only legends, the world of man and god has long ended, since Carmen remembers, she has never seen the gods who walk on earth, only those names who hide their real bodies behind incense, offerings, zakat, eleven taxes, and indulgences, and for her, those old things that have been passed down thousands of years ago as legends and stories, and have undergone various transformations, are no different from strange night talk.

"I can't even think about it...... I couldn't even think back to seeing the candle dragon appear, and seeing Aroben and them taking the opportunity to preach. ”

The one who finally reminded Carmen was one of those people who was saved by Zhang Yuankong in the chaos last night.

"His name is Kitsen, and he's a Cthulhu, and the craziest of the kind, but other than that, he's a good blacksmith."

Ever since the appearance of the candle dragon, Kisson has been in a state of great panic and agitation, and every day except for work, he has been chattering and preaching to the people he knows, telling them that the old rulers have returned to the earth, and that it is still too late to return to the side of truth, but of course, it is meaningless to those who have known him for many years. However, there are many people who discuss whether to go to Jingtang or Zoroastery to do their best, and some people feel that since they are in Great Xia, it should be more efficient to worship a local god like Sanqing.

"And then, yesterday."

In the chaos, the rebels attacked, and the most panicked person was Kisson, who everyone thought would definitely not be afraid of death.

He shouted and said that the matter had been revealed, and that he was going to be killed. Of course, others thought it was crazy, anyway, he had to say this kind of thing several times a day, either the messenger of the King in Yellow came with a secret talisman, or the master of the underwater city was coming to exchange bodies. ”

…… This time, however, Carmen was serious.

"Well, I heard something different...... There is no madness in that fear. ”

After that, Zhang Yuankong passed by and saved this group of people, and when the matter was over and the others were grateful, Carmen arrested Keeson alone.

"You don't care what I ask...... I asked anyway. ”

"What's wrong?"

Faced with Zhang Yuankong's question, Carmen looked at Zhang Yuanhe: "Erzhenren, what do you think?" ”

With a calm face, Zhang Yuanhe said: "Cthulhu Sect, is it raised by Aluoben?" Lu Zhizhang's death was killed by Aroben? ”

“…… Oh, yes. ”

Aroben's patronage of Cthulhu was as well known as his patronage of many other minor sects, but the message that came out of Kissen's mouth represented something completely different.

"Just like your judgment of the two true people, from the very beginning, the Cthulhu Sect was raised by Aroben, and there was nothing to support them, only the silver that Aroben secretly handed over to Lu Zhizhang."

"Because, what Cthulhu propagandizes, best meets their needs?"

When she knew that the Cthulhu Sect was secretly raised by Aroben, Carmen would no longer doubt what happened to Lu Zhizhang's death, and she would no longer have to doubt whether the candle dragon in front of her was an accident or an inevitable part of some plan.

"Actually, at this point, a lot of things can be clarified, but in order to be sure, I learned a few more things overnight."

Du Jixiang, Bao Chun, Hao Ma, Tian Xinyuan, Feng Gouguan...... One name after another, some of which Carmen had already remembered, and some of which she had only decided on last night.

"They have three things in common, first, they have all taken the fruit of the Immortal Tree, and second, they have all left Wurong."

“…… And thirdly, they're all dead, aren't they? ”

"yes."

Nodding, Carmen said, there was a fourth thing in common.

"The people around them also died in the rebellion of Yi Si Paxi. One of them was witnessed by you personally, and if you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have thought of it. ”

"Wait, so?"

Zhang Yuankong recalled that he had infiltrated Wurong City during the Yisi Baxi Rebellion, and had seen Du Jixiang's shop destroyed with his own eyes, if that was not accidental...... Is the real reason for the rebellion of Yisba Xi such a ridiculous thing?

"That's not it, but at least, Shenxiao sent them to advance step by step on the Immortal Tree, which must be an important reason for Yisi Baxi's mutiny."

Speaking of which, Zhang Yuankong roughly understood what Carmen wanted to say, Zhang Yuanhe silently thought about it for a while, and felt that the front and back could be regarded as a close fit, and there were no obvious flaws.

"There's one more thing to ask."

With a serious look, Zhang Yuanhe wanted to know: In Carmen's opinion, what is the relationship between the Sanyi Sect?

"The 'one true god' that Aroben keeps saying should be their own god, right? What does it have to do with Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism? ”

"It's just huddle together to keep warm."

Everyone in Wurong's religious circle knows that Aroben once put forward the idea of "three religions into one", intending to blur the doctrinal disputes between the three schools, and to construct a consensus around the "monotheism" recognized by the three religions, calling God or Ahura or Ahura, one god and each other, and shelving the controversy.

"For the sake of preaching, the Sanyi Sect is in Great Xia, just as you are in Wurong."

This point does not need to be reminded by Carmen, the three brothers are very clear: no matter how hard the Sanyi Sect tries, after all, it has missed the golden age of Buddhism's large-scale entry into the summer, as a distant guest sect, they have almost no influence in the entire Great Xia, in the face of such desperate oppression, the low-level disciples will not say that it is indeed possible for these people to face the reality and make some more flexible decisions.

"Of course, from the current point of view, among the two religions, the relationship between Zoroastrianism and them is probably closer."

Carmen's judgment is not without cause, in fact, it is easy to draw on it in retrospect.

"At that time, I thought of what you have been ~ going through, starting from Hongmen Pass...... Zoroastrianism, they are always present everywhere. ”

In retrospect, although the incident before the closure of Hongmen was made by the Zoroastrians, it was actually to solve the problem for the Nestorian Sect, and for reasons that are not clear for the time being, those who have eaten the fruits of the immortal tree are killed one by one.

"I think so, probably."

As for why he wanted to cut off these people who had taken the fruits of the immortal tree one by one through the Zoroastrian elite, Carmen's judgment was that there should be a big problem with these healing fruits, either they were just a false health, or they couldn't get too far from the immortal tree, in short, they wanted to cut off these dangers in advance before the matter was revealed.

"I even suspect that this is the work of the Zoroastrians."

Thinking back to what she saw before the Hongmen Gate, Carmen was very sure that when the Sun Daoist made a move, he did not hurt Du Jixiang in any way, and the flames that burned him alive to fly ashes did gush out of Du Jixiang's own body. Perhaps, from the beginning, when he took that fruit, he was destined for this moment.

"It was then that I began to suspect Jugo Nasu."

When she began to suspect that the matter of the candle dragon was a rebellion between the three Yi sects led by the Nestorian Sect, Carmen's thoughts no longer stopped at the Nestorian Sect, and Jugonasu, who had disappeared since I don't know when, immediately aroused Carmen's suspicions.

"Last night, I went to the morgue overnight."

It was a terrible experience to enter the morgue in the middle of the night: in the dim moonlight, the dogs lay quietly on the ground--- their eyes were open, and the green light flashed in the night.

"But not moving, not moving, not screaming."

Not barking, not moving, the once vicious and indifferent dogs, as if something had been sucked away, languished on the ground. After examining several dogs, Carmen found that each dog had a small hole one finger deep in the back of its head, and the hole was smooth and clean, with no blood or brain plasma coming out.

“…… Exactly, can it hold the next nail? ”

"yes."

Once with Zhang Yuankong, he had seen Zhu Ganasu use nails to control the dogs and stimulate their potential, and Carmen immediately thought that this was Zhu Ganasu, who left for some unknown reason, and also gave up control of all vicious dogs.

"I withdrew again to check, and the crows were the same, stiffly hanging from the tree, with all the nails on their heads removed."

At this point, Carmen was hard to believe, but even harder to suppress his suspicions: Jugonasu mysteriously disappeared and took all his nails with him, judging by the traces left behind, this incident was roughly parallel to the rebellion of Yisba Xi, long before the appearance of the candle dragon.

But I still won't believe it...... Until, I found something. ”

Strictly speaking, what Carmen found could only be called "a fragment", it was a piece of parchment that had been burned to the point where only a little bit could be distinguished, but it fell into the hands of Carmen, who was proficient in almost all the spells and legends of Zoroastrianism, and it didn't take long for her to frown, and from the few words that remained, she pushed back the contents of the parchment.

“…… The Immortal Dahaka, recorded on that piece of paper, is how to summon the Immortal Dahaka. ”

When the parchment records were confirmed, all of Carmen's suspicions were dispelled: compared to the manifestations of the candle dragon since its appearance, and the images of the Zoroastrian demons in his memory, Carmen finally reduced the possibility to only one.

"Immortal Dahaka, one of the six strongest demons subdued by the Zoroastrians, in its full form is a three-headed dragon, although I don't understand how they did it, but from the back, I didn't judge wrong."

The structure of Zoroastrianism and Nestorianism is similar, in the legend of Zoroastrianism, with Ahura as the supreme god, in the years of divine warfare, Ahura has defeated and subdued "10,000 kinds of demons", these are also the most important fighters in various spells of Zoroastrianism, before, the three brothers have also seen, in fact, there is no entity, but to confuse the believers, stimulate their internal potential, so that there are all kinds of strange situations, or not afraid of gold and iron, or run over the horse, and defeat the yak, but in fact, except for the special exception like Zhu Gonasou, in most cases, It's really insignificant, even if it includes Suluch, it is worthy of the words "but so".

"Although the immortal Dahaka is far stronger than the other Ashma and Vidat generations, there is no difference in essence, they are all summoning demons, and they are all controlling each other to stimulate their potential, but the candle dragon is too strong, so Zhu Ganasu has to sneak in and execute it himself."

When this judgment was made, it was already dark, and Carmen wanted to rush to inform Zhang Yuankong as soon as possible, but after all, he was one step too late, and in the end, when he witnessed Aroben picking the fruit of the Immortal Tree and activating Dahaca, Carmen understood that he had only one choice left.

"But in reality, it's not me who chooses, it's you."

If it weren't for Zhang Yuankong's righteous and courageous actions in Hongmen Pass, Carmen would not have paid attention to entanglements such as the Immortal Tree at all, and would not have followed them back to Wurong. If it weren't for Zhang Yuankong's hesitation, groping and decision in Qingxi Cave, Carmen would not have had such a serious communication with him. If Zhang Yuankong hadn't let the Taiping people leave in order to save the slaughtered mountain people, Carmen would not have rescued him from the chaos in the end.

"And, in the end, you finally came to the rescue."

In this regard, Carmen's explanation is that if Zhang Yuankong hadn't saved those people, he would not have been able to know the clues from Kisen's mouth, and it would have been impossible to discover so many things behind it.

"But it also feels good."

“…… I think that's how we were back then, forcibly destroying the world of kings and priests. ”

Thinking back on the past, Carmen couldn't help but smile proudly, but was immediately interrupted by Zhang Yuankong with a little rudeness.

"How heavy are your injuries, and what do you need us to do?"

Stunned for a moment, then slowly covering her mouth, Carmen chuckled under her breath.

"I can't die...... We rebels are lawless and hard-willed. ”

However, Carmen confessed that after that, she was not able to help anything, this was Carmen's last remaining strength, and there were no more comrades around her, and it was better than she expected to be able to do it today.

"But I haven't been able to solve the problem, you still have to go and completely destroy the magic circle of the Three Yi Sect and the immortal tree."

Separating Jugonasu from Dahaca, Carmen believes that neither Aroben nor Suluchi can manipulate the candle dragon, but that obsession will still drag it towards the immortal tree, and as for the people of the houses on this road, it is a meaningless thing for the candle dragon.

"You've done a lot."

Slowly, Zhang Yuankong calmed down again, his eyes gradually clarified, his expression was calm and calm again, without the excitement just now, he bowed to Carmen seriously and expressed his gratitude. At the same time, Zhang Yuanhe also reminded that the time is not early, and if you want to go to the meeting of the Taishou Mansion, it is almost enough to go out now.

"Now, it's up to us to solve the problem ourselves!"