Zhang Duanjing came to the back door of the Hou Mansion, and a white-haired old man was waiting here as expected.

"How is Zhao Xiao's condition?" Zhang Duanjing asked.

"It's still like that, meditate all day long in front of the wall." The white-haired old man laughed a few times: "That look, almost exactly the same as you after Zhao Ziliang's death, I can't wait to dig a pit and bury myself." ”

Zhang Duanjing kept a straight face and didn't speak, and walked quickly to the backyard, which was deserted and lonely, overgrown with weeds among the bricks and stones, and withered and glorious in the flower beds, as if no one had taken care of them for a long time.

"Don't look at me." The white-haired old man was stared at by Zhang Duanjing, and defended: "Zhao Huang is not allowed to enter the backyard, he faces the wall day and night, and he doesn't know what method he is practicing. ”

Zhang Duanjing sighed silently, he sensed that the main room in the backyard was shrouded by a prohibition, and the charm on the door loomed. He raised his hand to make a false book, such as a mortise and tenon fit, and unlocked the key, and broke the ban accurately.

"Reverse the Five Elements Lock?" The white-haired old man was surprised: "That is, you master and apprentice like to do this." ”

"You go outside and watch, don't let people come close." Zhang Duanjing said.

The white-haired old man walked with a cane, his feet were not dusty, his steps were windless, and his figure flashed outside the hospital.

Zhang Duanjing slowly pushed open the door, and after entering, he saw Zhao Huang sitting on the ground, facing the empty wall. The breath was so deep that it almost stopped, making people mistakenly think that it was a dead body sitting cross-legged on the ground.

"It is useless to sit and sit dry." Zhang Duanjing looked at Zhao Xiao's back, and his tone was a little reprimanding: "Even if you sit on the dry sea, the dead cannot be resurrected, and the mistakes that have been made cannot be reversed." ”

Zhao Xiao's voice was low: "Teacher, whenever I close my eyes, the dead always appear in front of me, lingering. They cried out and asked me why I hadn't been able to save them. ”

"When Xuanzhu ascends into the mud pill from the Jiang Palace, it will give birth to all kinds of illusions and disturb the mind." Zhang Duanjing said: "You have practiced the Dharma refining for the fallen soldiers, and if they have a spiritual response, they will also come with their wishes to protect their lives and lives, and there is no reason to do anything." ”

"I'd rather they don't die and live well." Zhao Xiao said, "Teacher, do you know? The ritual of refining the ritual of the salute is not only to settle the soul, but the soul of the dead even has to be turned into food for maintaining the discipline and law, isn't this a kind of torture? ”

Zhang Duanjing was silent for a long time and asked, "Are you sure that's the case?" The Zhao collection does not record this incident. ”

"I reflected on the rituals and rituals I had studied in the past, and only then did I realize the truth." Zhao Yan said: "I'm afraid that my grandfather may not know, and the predecessors of the praise official may deliberately conceal it, or the descendants may misinterpret it." ”

"I don't think it's torture." Zhang Duanjing said: "The souls of the dead are turned into discipline and law, so as to suppress evil spirits, and it is precisely to bless the living in the world. ”

Zhao Xiao asked rhetorically: "Teacher, on what basis do you think that the dead want to shade the living?" If the ghosts and ghosts in this world are ignored, they are psychic and mischievous for years, perhaps this is the true face of all beings in the world, fighting each other endlessly, killing endlessly, and finally everyone is the enemy of everyone, everyone is divided and defended, only waiting for others to show their weakness, they will be like a pack of wolves rushing up and eating everything. ”

Zhang Duanjing frowned and said in a deep voice: "How could you have such an idea?" If everyone is self-controlled, let alone anything else, how can we do the hard work in this world alone? It is precisely because of the limited manpower in the world that it is necessary to gather a wide range of people and work together. ”

"Thousands of people work together, but they are still invincible to the evil gods." Zhao Xiao said: "I've been thinking about how to deal with that evil god ghost candle these days. But no matter how hard I wrestled, I couldn't think of any way. If it weren't for the evil god's deliberate childlike play, I'm afraid I'd have died a long time ago, and I would have been able to drag someone else to save me? ”

"You're wrong, you're very wrong." Zhang Duanjing's words were loud: "The so-called concerted efforts are by no means tens of millions of people fighting with blood and flesh alone, but everyone shows their strengths and performs their duties. If a demon god is born, it will naturally be dealt with by the cultivators, rather than driving the common people to waste their lives! ”

"But what if the cultivators are masters and cause trouble to the world? Who restricts them? Zhao Huang asked again: "What's more, what if the immortal family interferes in the mortal world and implicates countless living beings for their own wishes and the heart of propagating the Dharma?" ”

Zhang Duanjing didn't answer, and his face rarely showed a look of dazed loss.

"I don't know." Zhang Duanjing finally confessed to Zhao Xiao: "You are confused at the moment, I have also experienced it. ”

"Did the teacher find the answer?"

"Still looking." Zhang Duanjing sighed: "But I never expect to find the answer, everything must be done in person, instead of sitting and dreaming, as if there is really some great way to fall from the sky." ”

"I see." Zhao Xiao slowly got up, tied up his loose hair at will, turned around, and revealed a thin face, although the mustache around his mouth was trimmed, the white hair between his temples was faintly visible, and it was the first to show his decay.

Even if his heart was as strong as iron, Zhang Duanjing was a little unbearable, he suddenly regretted that he had let Zhao Huang out of the Huaiying Pavilion, and could only ask:

"It's been more than a month since you returned to Dongshengdu, and you sit facing the wall every day, why do you suddenly think of these things? A person who has achieved cultivation knows the way of life, even if he has a perverse temperament, he will not cause trouble for no reason. ”

"What if it's for a reason?" Zhao Xiao asked rhetorically: "Facing the wall for many days, what I think about is not others, but myself." The teacher came, presumably because Gao Pinggong had an accident. ”

Zhang Duanjing looked at himself as a student, but he didn't expect that Pujiaguan's experience would make him change so drastically.

"Gao Pinggong's father and son changed and devoured each other, did you really do it?" Zhang Duanjing asked.

Zhao Xiao simply admitted, nodded and said, "Not bad." I expected that after this incident happened, the news would be transmitted back to Dongshengdu, and it would be difficult for others to notice it for a while, but only you, the teacher, could see through it at a glance. ”

"Why?" Zhang Duanjing asked: "You are not the Wang Miaoshou in Chengyang County, killing Gao Pinggong is not good for you." ”

"I'm not reconciled!" Zhao Xiao's expression was gloomy: "Back then, letting people like Gao Pinggong preside over Pujia Pass made military affairs slack and people's livelihood decadent, which can be called a disaster for the country and the people!" Now that Jiuli has withdrawn from the army, he should work harder, and the lord of the country still ordered Gao Pinggong to sit in Pujia Pass? I can't tolerate this, and I can't sit idly by and watch the soldiers and people in the border towns fall into hardship again. ”

Zhang Duanjing said: "Do you know what the consequences will be once this matter is investigated and discovered by the masters? ”

"I will bear any responsibility." But Zhao Xiao then snorted coldly: "What if you find out?" An incompetent clansman, dead and dead. Without him, it is the luck of the people. ”

"Such thoughts should not be indulged." Zhang Duanjing seriously dissuaded: "I understand that you don't like Gao Pinggong, but the conspiracy and assassination are not enough to change the situation, it is nothing more than venting personal anger for a while." ”

Zhao Huang didn't understand this truth, there were some things that he couldn't change by himself, and all he could do in the end was to vent his personal anger.

Originally, Zhao Huang planned to realize some of his ideas in Pujia Pass, but he was defeated by the evil god Hidden Candle first, and after being transferred back to Dongshengdu, he ushered in the impeachment of hundreds of officials in a blink of an eye, Zhao Huang was really physically and mentally exhausted, and he felt powerless.

Unlike Zhao Xiao's distress, Ling Xiao thought that Zhao Huang should carefully appreciate this powerlessness, and sharpen his mind with the help of illusion internal disturbance, so he asked him to close the door and sit facing the wall, until he was not moved by the illusion, so that he could improve.

But this process was really too torturous, and Zhao Xiao felt that his mind was like a piece of red-hot iron billet, which was put on an anvil and forged countless times, so that it looked withered on the outside.

"You have excellent sorcery skills, which shows that your brain is sharp and your perception is sharp. But being too sensitive is not conducive to Qing cultivation, and once you encounter a major event, you will be deeply shocked, and your mind will be unbearable. Ling Xiao said bluntly: "The so-called layman Zhaozhao, I am alone in a faint, and if the seven orifices of chaos are opened, I will die." The rise of the Xuanzhu leads to the internal disturbance of the illusion, and the person who is tested is not inside or outside, and your quiet skill is greatly lacking, and you cannot sink without using fierce medicine. ”

Having said that, but when he really practiced in practice, Zhao Xiao worked hard every day, as if he had been walking on a cliff, there was no moment to relax, and he couldn't see the end.

If it weren't for Zhang Duanjing coming to lift the ban today, Zhao Huang would probably have to continue to endure the illusion, the kind of torture that goes straight to the most fragile in his heart, he can't avoid it at all, tearing the scars in his heart over and over again, and announcing Zhao Xiao's incompetence countless times.

"You're probably thinking more than just yourself." Zhang Duanjing said.

Zhao Xiao slowly walked out of the main house, looked around the courtyard with grass and trees, and sighed: "I have gradually realized recently that the real trouble in the world of Liang Guoshi lies in the fact that his Taoist kingdom in the world is not based on the common people, although it is a grand wish, but it is only the selfish wish of Liang Guoshi.

If sentient beings benefit from this, it is nothing more than a temporary fluke. If it does not follow its heart and does not conform to its interests, there will be no life. This is not the work of Shinto to help people with things, nor does it lose the truth of the immortal way. ”

"You also realized these words yourself?" Zhang Duanjing was skeptical.

Zhao Xiao thought about it again and again, and said: "I really got the guidance of a master. ”

"Who?"

"An old man blindfolded." Zhao Xiao looked at Zhang Duanjing, his eyes blazing.

Zhang Duanjing showed a look of surprise, but he didn't ask any further, and after a few more words, he hurriedly left the Hou Mansion.

"Are you testing Zhang Duanjing?" Lingxiao asked.

"There are some things that the teacher didn't say explicitly, and I can't ask directly, let alone ask others." Zhao Xiao sighed with his hand: "It's just that I didn't expect you to push the show one step ahead of me." ”

"In Huaxu Country, Huaiying Pavilion is good at refining magic weapons, and he can easily use a large number of Yunjin to refine the Gangfeng Post Banner, and his identity is about to come out." Lingxiao said: "I didn't break it at the beginning, just to inspire you to think. You won't believe this kind of thing, and only by figuring it out yourself can you dispel your doubts. ”

"In this way, the person who conspired with Yang Liujun to refine the divine sword should be the teacher." Zhao Xiao was not shocked at this time, but was relieved.

At the beginning, Pujiaguan was busy with military affairs, and Zhao Huang was not allowed to think about these things. Now that he has calmed down and reflected on the past, Zhao Xiao has realized some of the keys that he has ignored in the past.

"Zhang Duanjing cast the divine sword, there is no doubt that he wants to kill Liang Tao, but this matter should not be taken lightly." Ling Xiao said: "Xingluo County, you set up a prayer ritual to suppress the divine sword, so that Yang Liujun fell short, and also made you yourself valued by Liang Tao. Now Zhang Duanjing agrees with the great plan of the Taoist country in the world, thinking that it is a hypocrisy and a wrongdoing, so that Liang Tao will let it go, and finally fall into his calculations. ”

"I finally understand now why the teacher didn't let me leave the Huaiying Pavilion in the past." Zhao Xiao couldn't help but feel remorse in his heart.

Lingxiao said, "Remorse is useless now. ”

"I understand." Zhao Xiao smiled bitterly: "It's just that when I know that I have failed the teacher's kindness, I go back and look at the arrogance of the past, and I am always unbearable, if I can start all over again......"

"This thought is the most useless." Ling Xiao simply interrupted: "If you can look back and come back, you are gone today, and today's achievements will be in vain." The greatest delusion in the world is to imagine a new one. ”

"Yes." Zhao Xiao vaguely realized, but he always felt that he couldn't break through through a layer of window paper.

Ling Xiao sensed Zhao Xiao's thoughts, and asked instead, "Can you guess how Zhang Duanjing forged the Divine Sword?" ”

Zhao Xiao fell into a memory: "The teacher is good at refining magic weapons, but the edge of the divine sword is too strong, and it can be refined by ordinary means. Glowing Stone, Dragon's Blood Lipid...... I guess the teacher used rituals to summon a specific qi machine to refine the divine sword. ”

"You have also sacrificed and practiced magic swords, but you don't have this edge." Lingxiao said.

Zhao Xiao pondered: "It is estimated that the origin of the sword fetus is extraordinary, and the teacher practices the law and sacrifices, and the intention may not be to cast a sword, but to open the edge for the sword." But this kind of divine sword is sharp enough to counter the person who wields the sword. I just don't understand, why did the teacher let the swordsman show up to save me? ”

Now that Zhao Huang has known that the swordsman is not assigned by the three elders of Chiyun, the appearance of this person must be related to the teacher.

"The evil god descended on the mortal world, even Zhang Duanjing may not be able to defeat him, he arranged the divine sword on the side, it is nothing more than to keep his hands behind." Lingxiao said.

"Don't you know what happened?" Zhao Xiao asked.

"Don't forget, my true spirit resides in the depths of your brain palace, and I want to use your ears and eyes to know about foreign affairs, you are unconscious, and I don't know what the swordsman has done." Ling Xiao explained: "But it stands to reason that what you did in Xingluo County at the beginning almost overturned Chiyun and raised an incident in the local area, and this swordsman may not have much kindness to you. ”

"Regardless of good intentions or bad intentions, this swordsman is the last resort against Liang Tao, if he insists on avenging Yang Liujun, then wait until Liang Tao is killed." Zhao Xiao waved his hand, and the foehn whistled out of thin air, and the weeds in the courtyard were swept away, but the rest of the things were not burned and ignited.

Ling Xiao asked, "Have you made up your mind to deal with Liang Tao?" Didn't you still have some recognition of his human Dao kingdom before? ”

"What he is trying to do is not to benefit the common people." Zhao Xiao said unceremoniously: "How many times have I been calculated by him?" If you don't take the lesson, then you are really ignorant! Didn't the teacher say that I vented my personal anger? Then vent your anger! ”

"But with your cultivation, how can you deal with Liang Tao?"

"I'm waiting." Zhao Xiao's expression became cold: "I have been closed recently, not only waiting for the news of Gao Pinggong's death, but also waiting for Liang Tao to come to the door." He also needs my help to arrange the rituals at this moment, and since he has something to rely on, then I can take advantage of it. ”