Gu Xu and Ma Qin walked along the riverside path, walking in this crowded Jiangnan town in the "Old Pot".

The sun stood motionless and hung high above the sky, casting its golden light onto the earth.

The crane-haired old man is leisurely fishing, the graceful girl is focusing on the raccoon, and the roadside wine shop is shouting loudly, scrambling to greet passers-by.

Everything seems to be bustling and thriving.

It's too good to be true.

"Master Chu just said that the illusion in the 'Old Pot of Warmth' records all the cases that really happened," Gu Xu said to Ma Qin beside him as he walked, "In that case, Brother Ma, can you guess where this town is in our Daqi?" ”

Machin shook his head and said, "I don't recognize it." ”

From his birth to the present, Machin has never left the confines of Jiaodong Province. In his cognition, all the towns in Jiangnan look the same.

Gu Xu said: "It's a disappearing town - Taoyuan Town.

"Ten years ago, a fisherman discovered this town in the peach blossom forest, and since then the Great Qi Dynasty has incorporated it into the administrative map.

In the years that followed, many out-of-town civilians and even exorcist officials mysteriously disappeared in this town, no one alive or dead. But at the same time, the area of Taoyuan Town is constantly expanding, and the population is gradually increasing.

"Until five years ago, Taoyuan Town was inexplicably destroyed by a meteorite from the sky, and none of the residents survived. Since then, this thriving town has ceased to exist. ”

"How do you see that?" Machin looked at him with surprise.

In yesterday's theoretical assessment, Ma Qin had already seen that although Gu Xu was young, he was well-versed in scriptures and knowledge.

But he didn't expect that Gu Xu would even remember this little-known unpopular knowledge clearly.

Gu Xu replied:

"It is recorded in the classics of the Exorcism Division's library that the clothing of the residents of Taoyuan Town looks very similar to the outside world at first glance, but in fact it is closer to the style of fifty years ago - for example, our current clothing is mainly based on stand-up collars and round necks, but the residents of Taoyuan Town prefer the matching collars that were popular fifty years ago; For another example, the straight jacket we wore was slit on both sides, but the straight jacket worn by the men in Taoyuan Town did not have a slit.

"In addition, the buildings in Taoyuan Town are basically taboo in feng shui - for example, the structure of the house has many sharp angles, but the corners are bad; The presence of a well in the house is a sign of the last days; Opening windows in the courtyard wall is a 'venting window', which will cause good luck to leak out and attract bad luck......"

Ma Qin looked around, compared the surrounding landscape and pedestrian clothing with the description in Gu Xu's words, and found that what Gu Xu said was indeed right.

"Brother Gu Xian observed really carefully." He praised from the bottom of his heart.

"Basic Operations." Gu Xu smiled faintly.

Then he paused for a moment, pointed to the surrounding crowd and houses, and said to Ma Qin: "Lord Chu also said that as long as we kill all the ghosts in this illusion, we will pass the assessment. Brother Ma, you don't have to guess anymore, where are the ghosts in this fantasy world hiding? ”

"I think...... All the inhabitants of this town looked very wrong. After listening to Gu Xu's introduction, Ma Qin's mood suddenly became nervous.

"I feel the same way." Gu Xu patted him on the shoulder and said with relief.

At this moment, the bell of the temple in the distance came from afar, and the aftermath was endless for a long time.

A canopy boat floated slowly across the river, and the boatman sang loudly as he propped up his penny.

A group of children, shirtless in their pants, laughed and jumped into the water one after the other to play.

An old woman quarreled with a vegetable vendor over the sudden increase in the price of vegetables.

Xiao Er, a shopkeeper from a restaurant on the side of the road, ran in front of them, stared at Gu Xu with straight eyes, and said with an extremely enthusiastic attitude: "Guest officer, have you eaten?" The wine and braised pork in our shop are the most famous in the whole street, and all the customers who have come have praised the deliciousness......"

And Ma Qin, who was next to him, was completely ignored.

Seeing the smiling appearance of the shopkeeper, Ma Qin couldn't help but slander: Gu Xu, this kid, is indeed handsome and charming-but the problem is that he can win the favor of the girls, why are all the young men of the same age eager to come to him to offer affection?

"In that case, let's go in and try it!" Gu Xu glanced at Ma Qin and nodded with a smile.

Then he was the first to walk into the door of the restaurant.

Ma Qinben hesitated.

He thought: If nothing else, this Taoyuan Town should be a haunted town, so can you really enter the restaurant here casually?

However, he thought about it, Gu Xu was well-informed, maybe he had a plan in his heart, so he might as well take a look at what kind of medicine was sold in this kid's gourd first.

Anyway, Ma Qin has long lost his thoughts about competing for official positions.

Even if he really fell into the trap of the evil ghost, he could crush the jade talisman and leave the illusion.

So he still chose to keep up with Gu Xu's pace.

…………

Yamen lobby.

Chu Feng sat lazily on the Taishi chair with her cheeks crossed, glanced at Gu Xu and Ma Qin who were in the corner of the wall with their eyes closed, and then looked at the "old pot" in front of her.

At this moment, on the surface of this jade pot, a clear image emerged.

Gu Xu and Ma Qin's every move in the illusion was completely displayed in front of Chu Fengge.

"I really didn't expect that Lord Si Shou would specifically propose to let Gu Xu's guy go to Taoyuan Town for the assessment," Chu Fengge thought to himself with jealousy while looking at the image, "Even if he is really a genius who has not been met in a hundred years in Great Qi, he will not have so much confidence in him!" ”

But at the same time, he was also gloating about whether this kid Gu Xu would be like himself at the beginning, and he was deflated again and again in this paradise fantasy.

Many years ago, when Chu Fengge was still a First Realm cultivator, he also entered the Taoyuan Fantasy Realm.

He was trapped for three days and three nights, and in the town where he couldn't find a way out, he killed a steady stream of ghosts and monsters who came back from the dead over and over again, until he was covered in bruises and his true yuan was exhausted, and he never got a glimpse of the truth and found a way to break the game.

"The head of the division mistook me! The ghosts in this fantasy world can't be killed at all! He had roared with wrath.

In the end, the head of the department saw that he was exhausted and fished him out of the pot.

And this experience, in the months that followed, became a lingering shadow in his heart.

He also learned a profound lesson that "seeing is not necessarily believing".

But Chu Fengge's nemesis, Shangguan Jin, successfully broke the game in less than a day.

After she came out of the illusion, she kept chattering in front of Chu Fengge.

"Senior Brother Chu, you are talented and profound, the little woman admires you," she muttered in front of him in a crisp and soft voice more than once, "But in Taoyuan Town, it's not enough to have brute strength, you have to use your brain more!" ”

Her implication is undoubtedly: Senior Brother Chu, you don't have brains.

Chu Fengge was angry at that time.

But as a loser, he couldn't argue with Guan Jin, so he could only sulk alone.

"Heh, I don't know if this talented Gu Xu has a smart enough brain."

Chu Fengge yawned and continued to stare at the image on the pot.

Yesterday, the head of the department also summoned him to tell him that Her Royal Highness Princess Zhaoning proposed to rebuild the "Shenji Battalion".

Her ideas have been supported by the Cabinet and the Department of Exorcism, and she is currently secretly searching for talent across the country.

Chu Fengge knew that many years ago, the "Divine Machine Battalion" was once a place where the whole country gathered proudly, and the young monks of Daqi were proud to enter the "Divine Machine Battalion".

But in a vicious battle later, the "Shenji Battalion" was completely annihilated, and since then it has become an indelible scar in the history of Daqi.

"It seems that in the next period of time, Daqi will no longer be calm," Chu Fengge sighed in his heart, "However, it may also be an opportunity for me Chu to become famous all over the world and soar to the sky." ”

…………

Luo Jing, the headquarters of the Exorcism Division.

Luo Chuan, the head of the exorcist division, sat cross-legged on the stargazing platform.

Shangguan Jin obediently knelt beside him and poured tea for him.

In front of the two of them, there is a plain bronze mirror.

The bronze mirror also shows the images of Gu Xu and Ma Qin in Taoyuan Town.

Shangguan Jin stared at Gu Xu's figure in the mirror for a long time, and couldn't help but sigh: "He looks so good." ”

Luo Chuan glanced at her, and sighed helplessly in his heart: Child, you are focusing on the wrong point.