"You ......"

Li Xiangxue's body and tone began to tremble, "You are, Xu... Uncle Xu? ”

"It's me."

Xu Chong nodded.

It was confirmed that Rao is Li Xiangxue had experienced too much, and he was still confused at the first time.

"It's good that you're alive, hahaha, you're still alive......"

Li Xiangxue cried and laughed, and spoke incoherently.

"Yes, I'm alive."

Xu Chong nodded again, "Only I'm alive." ”

"Only ......"

Li Xiangxue muttered, and the violent surprise slowly subsided.

Yes, only Uncle Xu is still alive.

Faces and scenes flashed quickly in Li Xiangxue's mind.

Parents, Uncle Zhao's family, and the villagers of Canglong......

After a long time, Li Xiangxue wiped his eyes and said seriously: "Daddy, they definitely don't want to see you become like this." ”

The Xu Chong in front of him has changed a lot compared to what he remembers.

The slightly gray sideburns, the slightly wrinkled face, and the slightly drooping eyelids all prove that this is an old man.

"Why do they want to see you like this?"

Xu Chong shook his head.

Originally, he was incarnated outside the body to form three bodies.

The white robe entered the edict, the colored robe was in the Zhan Mansion, and the black robe came to the Spring and Autumn Tomb.

At the time, all three bodies were the same age.

Later, on the side of the Spring and Autumn Mound, under the rules of different intensities, it has experienced about thirty-four years.

At this time, he is close to sixty.

And Li Xiangxue is not?

If he followed the original trajectory, Li Xiangxue at this time should only be six or seven years old, and he was still studying with his master...... Maybe he's become a child.

"Uncle Xu, you said that Lou Youzhi is not my enemy?"

Worthy of the person who crawled out of the Shura field, Li Xiangxue quickly controlled his emotions and asked.

"It's a long story......

Xu Chong walked to the side and sat down, and said carefully.

From the son and mother of the blood light to seal the city and take their lives, to the design to kill Fu Yuanlong and Wei Wuxie, to join the blood clothes guard, get to know Jiang Zhihong, and then to take up the post to accompany the capital Qin Tianjian, watch the master die in front of him, and finally go to the locust plague in Yongzhou.

Throughout the whole process, Xu Chong was paying attention to Li Xiangxue's state with Yang Shen.

When he said that Lou Youzhi went to Yongzhou to really be a disaster relief, not a massacre, the black fog in Li Xiangxue's skull quickly weakened.

However, it was only about half the point, and the trend came to an abrupt halt.

The remaining black fog suddenly became chaotic.

If it weren't for the green net, I'm afraid it would have rushed to the whole body at this time.

"It's not that Lou has a knowledge......"

Li Xiangxue muttered, his eyes sometimes resentful and sometimes dazed, "Who killed the people in Yongzhou?" Who wants to kill the people of Yongzhou? ”

Xu Chong sighed secretly.

Really.

Inner demons can't be eliminated in a vacuum.

Although he is still alive, Zhao Liu, Li Mu, and many, many others died in natural disasters.

If this revenge is not avenged, Li Xiangxue's demons will not be eradicated.

Xu Chong no longer hesitated, and continued: "The appearance of natural disasters is predictable......

The inference about natural disasters was slowly revealed.

When the three words Emperor Yongtai appeared and occupied the main responsibility, Li Xiangxue's inner demons stabilized and began to grow again.

"From Shousuke to Emperor?"

Li Xiangxue felt ridiculous.

He still clearly remembers the set of things he learned when he was in the county school.

Those who are committed to Daqing are all the people of Daqing?

All the people of Daqing, if they have merit, they will be punished?

Where the people of Daqing are uneven, and there are injustices?

To tell the truth, before this, even if Li Xiangxue regarded Lou Youzhi as a lifelong enemy, he still longed for the world mentioned in Taizu's edict, and still had a good impression of the Daqing court.

He felt that officials like Lou Youzhi must be in the minority.

With Taizu here, more officials should be like Jiang Zhihong.

Whether it is the people of Canglong County or the other refugees surrounding Fenggu County, they are just unlucky and happened to meet such an executioner.

Can ...... now

The murderer is actually the emperor of Daqing?

It's ridiculous.

Li Xiangxue just showed sarcasm, and suddenly remembered another sentence Xu Chong said.

'If your enemy is not only not Lou Youzhi, but on the contrary, it is the master you think you owe a debt to?'

That's not right, Emperor Yongtai, with the master?

Is there any relationship between the two?

Li Xiangxue looked at Xu Chong inquiringly.

"The name Lin Mad you heard is the last generation of the Taoist Master of Taiping Dao, who ...... more than twenty years ago."

Xu Chong continued.

He knew that the truth might make Li Xiangxue's inner demons swell to a stronger level than before.

But he only had that choice.

Continuing to conceal it, Li Xiang learned to become the knife of Emperor Yongtai and stabbed Lou Youzhi.

Only helping Lou Youzhi to exonerate the guilt will not only fail to eliminate Li Xiangxue's demons, but on the contrary, it will make Li Xiangxue mentally confused.

And only talking about Emperor Yongtai and not mentioning Ji Qingzhi, there is no reason to stop Li Xiangxue from going back to Ji Qingzhi.

Once Li Xiangxue is allowed to meet Ji Qingzhi again, it is likely that he will be exposed on the spot, and then Ji Qingzhi will be executed on the spot.

After calculating it, Li Xiangxue's demons have never been eliminated.

Since it can't be eliminated, then simply let the demons return to the right direction.

"So, your master, Taiping Daoist Master Ji Qingzhi, is actually Emperor Yongtai, the Emperor Yongtai who used natural disasters to harm all people."

Xu Chong's last sentence slowly spit out: "He wants to use you to kill Lou Youzhi who obstructs him." ”

At this time, Li Xiangxue's expression was completely frozen on his face.

And in the Yang God's field of vision, the black mist entrenched in Li Xiangxue's Purple Mansion was growing wildly.

From thin to full-bodied, to shrinking and condensing.

In the blink of an eye, the black mist condensed into a complete humanoid shape only the size of a soybean - Li Xiangxue, who was dressed in black, with complete facial features and tyrannical eyes.

And it's still growing.

"This demon ......"

Xu Chong remembered the demons he encountered when he first entered the Purple Mansion.

At that time, the inner demon had the exact same face as him, wearing a black robe, and looked like a black-robed yang god.

However, the style of the black robe is completely different, and the demon in his heart is worshipped, and he is completely free from any control.

In addition, there is the most critical point, the heart demon Xu Chong has always been very indifferent.

From beginning to end, he didn't show the slightest bit of tyranny like Li Xiangxue's inner demon in front of him.

Comparing the two together, it is obvious that Li Xiangxue is more in line with the appearance of the demons.

"Sure enough, it's not just the demons ......"

Xu Chong's heart sank slightly, "I'm afraid it's really like I thought, with the original mind in it." ”

At this time, Li Xiangxue's inner demons had stopped growing and were stable at the size of pigeon eggs.

The green web was like chains, wrapped around the surface of the inner demon's body.

Looking at Li Xiangxue himself, his eyes were clear, only the anger and hatred after learning the truth, and there was no strong killing intent that could not be concealed at all.

This made Xu Chong breathe a sigh of relief, and at the same time, he became more vigilant about the green net.

"Your demons are stronger, but you're still bound by that unknown power."

Xu Chong's face was solemn, "I suspect that this is the power of the Dao Heart Demon Cultivator. ”

"So he can control me anytime, anywhere?"

Li Xiangxue's eyes flashed, and he didn't know what he thought.

Xu Chong didn't pay attention to this, and said to himself: "It's not impossible...... Originally, I had a way to try to uncontrol you, but I didn't dare to try. ”

"If it doesn't work out, that's fine."

"In case it succeeds, not to mention whether Ji Qingzhi will perceive it, I can't judge whether the demon that is free from the shackles will instantly devour your mind."

After speaking, Xu Chong paused, and his expression became serious: "So, don't get involved in anything anymore, when the time comes, I will arrange for you to hide." ”

"Hidden?"

Li Xiangxue frowned.

"I know what you're thinking."

Xu Chong shook his head, "But the strength of Emperor Yongtai is beyond the imagination of any of us, and it is definitely not so easy to deal with." ”

"No matter how much you hate him, you must not act recklessly."

"In addition, although I don't know what the ultimate goal of Emperor Yongtai is, I am already sure that I can prevent the locust plague in Yongzhou from happening again."

"On the Fang family's side, because the Spring and Autumn Tomb is about to collapse, and they plan to use you to deal with Emperor Yongtai and seize the Hundred Herb Garden, you need to be false and reckless for the time being, and cooperate with their plan on the surface to ensure your own safety in the Spring and Autumn Tomb."

"Leave the rest to me."

Xu Chong put his hand on Li Xiangxue's shoulder, his expression was extremely stern, "Listen to me." ”

“……”

Li Xiangxue hesitated for a while, and finally showed a light smile and nodded: "Okay." ”

"Also, don't enter the Spring and Autumn Hall again."

Xu Chong said, walking outside the tomb, "The old Li family still relies on you to shine on the lintel and inherit the incense." ”

Li Xiangxue watched Xu Chong's back disappear, his eyes were inexplicable.

Glorious lintel, inheritance of incense?

Indeed, this is the deep-rooted obsession of every ordinary person.

But the problem is, whether it's my father or my mother, they never told me about it.

What they told me over and over again was another thing.

……

……

Capital.

Lou Youzhi knew as usual, and went straight back to the house after the dispersal, and went down to the underground palace from the secret passage of the study.

As soon as he entered the central hall of the dungeon, his footsteps stopped suddenly, and his attention fell on the table in the hall.

There, I don't know when an extra letter came out.

"Someone has been here!"

Lou Youzhi instantly confirmed this.

Since the construction of the underground palace, for more than 20 years, he has not relaxed his vigilance for a single day.

The entire mansion, the entire underground palace, there are extremely subtle arrangements everywhere, which is enough for him to know for the first time whether anyone has come to the backyard and whether anyone has approached the study.

However, from his return to the mansion, to the back garden, to the study, and then to the lower palace to the main hall, he did not notice any signs of abnormality during the whole process.

"Without touching my arrangement, he put a letter in the dungeon...... Is it Dou Tianyuan? ”

"No, it's not Dou Tianyuan, he doesn't know the existence of this underground palace."

"And other people who know about this place won't do that......"

Lou Youzhi narrowed his eyes, but he didn't see any movement, and the letterhead flew over automatically and floated in front of him.

Then, countless tiny thunderbolts surfaced on the surface, blocking everything.

After doing this, Lou Youzhi controlled the letterhead and slowly unfolded.

！！！

With just one glance, Lou Youzhi's pupils shrank to the extreme.

'With the same bloodline of the Lord of the Cave Heaven as a guide, sacrificing ten times the human race can delay the decline of the Cave Heaven. ’

There was only one sentence on the letterhead.

And it was such a sentence, but Lou Youzhi searched through all the ancient books he could come into contact with, but he didn't find anything.

"The same bloodline of the Lord of the Cave Heavens?"

Lou Youzhi narrowed his eyes.

In the next moment, the letterhead suddenly spontaneously combusted, and in an instant it turned to ashes, and the ashes were blown away by the breeze and blown in all directions.

A moment later.

Lou Youzhi appeared in a secret room connected to the underground palace.

There was only an old man with a white beard and plain clothes, and a dozen or so bookshelves crammed to the brim.

The old man is none other than Gu Chengren, who resigned directly in front of hundreds of officials.

Seeing Lou Youzhi come in, Gu Chengren shook his head with some disappointment: "I have studied the ancient books you found twice, and there is still no clue to the decline of the cave." ”

"Maybe we're going in the wrong direction."

Lou Youzhi said, walked to a bookshelf, raised his hand and took down a booklet.

Gu Chengren leaned over curiously and looked at it, and said with some doubts: "Isn't this a transcript of the household record?" It's all numbers, so I didn't look at it much...... There's a clue here? ”

It turned out that under Lou Youzhi's arrangement, the household department, the official department, and the Qin Tianjian department, and the records related to natural disasters in the three government offices were indeed destroyed by the celebrant eunuchs.

However, before it was destroyed, the manuscript was left behind.

It was these manuscripts that helped Lou Youzhi retain Gu Chengren, who was about to return to his hometown.

"Yongtai Seven Years ......"

Lou Youzhi turned the page, and after a while, his eyes flashed: "Sure enough!" ”

"You make it clear."

Gu Chengren frowned, a little unhappy.

"Someone in the middle hall left me a letterhead with a way to delay the decline of the cave."

Lou Youzhi rubbed his temples.

"What?!"

Gu Chengren exclaimed.

"Gu Lao, look at this."

Lou Youzhi put the booklet on the table and pointed to one of the columns.

"At the end of the seventh year of Yongtai, there were more than 6 million people in Binzhou......"

Gu Chengren read it out, still puzzled, "Is there any problem?" ”

Binzhou is the smallest province in the whole Daqing, and it is close to the sea, most of which is not suitable for the growth of crops, so it has always been the least populated among the 30 provinces.

"Look at it again."

Lou Youzhi turned the page, "At the end of the eighth year of Yongtai, there were more than 1.8 million people in Binzhou. ”

"The sea boiled in Yongtai for eight years, killing 4.2 million people in Binzhou......"

Gu Chengren sighed, "I know this, but didn't you say that the natural disaster in Binzhou has nothing to do with Your Majesty." ”

"It's true, but the problem is that Binzhou Hai Boiling did kill so many people!"

Lou Youzhi explained, "Using the same bloodline of the Lord of the Cave Heaven as a guide, sacrificing ten times the human race can delay the decline of the Cave Heaven...... This is the content of that letterhead. ”

！！！

Gu Chengren was shocked.

It's exactly the same as Lou Youzhi's reaction before.

The same bloodline of the Lord of the Cave Heaven......

Put it on Your Majesty, that is the folk blood left by Taizu!

What Your Majesty wants to kill is not a refugee, but the blood of Taizu?!

"Impossible, right?"

Gu Chengren's face was ugly.

"I thought it was impossible, so I calculated it according to the drought in the state."

Lou Youzhi sighed faintly, "Eight million people died in the drought in Bingzhou, according to half of the calculations, that is 400,000 blood. ”

"It has been 18 years from the drought in Bingzhou to the boiling sea in Binzhou."

"If you calculate it in this way, it is 400,000 bloodlines, plus 4 million people, which can delay the decline of Dongtian for more than 18 years."

"Almost 20,000 bloodlines can be delayed for less than a year."

"And Binzhou Hai boiled to death 4.2 million people, and the blood line is about 210,000...... From the boiling sea in Binzhou to the locust plague in Yongzhou, it was eleven years. ”

"The same 20,000 blood descendants have been delayed for less than a year."

"The number of bloodlines in this is only an approximate estimate, and it is definitely not accurate enough, plus the possibility of delaying it in advance......"

Lou Youzhi took a deep breath, "It should be that every 20,000 Taizu bloodlines are used as a guide, and 200,000 human races are sacrificed, which can delay the decline of Dongtian for one year." ”

“……”

Gu Chengren's heart fluctuated, and after a long time, he gritted his teeth violently, "Just two natural disasters can't prove anything...... I continued to check. ”

As he spoke, he turned back and reported a thick stack of books from the shelf.

In this way, the two began to calculate the number of deaths from natural disasters over the years.

An hour later.

Gu Chengren closed the booklet and looked at the page that was already full of small characters for statistics, "This doesn't correspond, we are almost counting to 10,000 bloodlines and delaying it for two years......"

Truly.

As the two of them extrapolated back to the past, the rule of '20,000 bloodlines to delay their demise for a year' became less and less applicable.

Lou Youzhi did not respond to Gu Chengren, but closed his eyes and thought hard.

Half an hour later, a flash of lightning flashed through my mind.

"Nope! It's not that it can't be corresponded! ”

Lou Youzhi opened his eyes suddenly, "It's that we have overlooked a key point!" ”

"The key point?"

Gu Chengren was stunned.

"Didn't Elder Gu find out that the proportion of using bloodlines to delay decline and death is gradually increasing......

Lou Youzhi said slowly, "If it doesn't correspond at all, then why is this proportion gradually increasing, instead of getting bigger and smaller?" ”

"This ...... There is indeed a problem! ”

Gu Chengren thought for a moment, and his expression became solemn, "What did you think of?" ”

"Our calculation is based on the fact that if we don't kill people, the cave will collapse immediately."

Lou Youzhi's eyes flickered, "But what if this cave itself still has enough lifespan?" ”

"What do you mean......"

Gu Chengren's expression was difficult to look at, "As early as many years ago, when even the decline and fall of Dongtian was not urgent at all, my emperor of Daqing had already begun to prolong the life of Dongtian?" ”

"That's right!"

Lou Youzhi pointed to the manuscript page, "Let's start with Leizhou first." ”

"In the twentieth year of Zhengfeng, the Tianhuo in Leizhou killed seven million people, of which the blood descendants were about 350,000."

"According to the conclusion we deduced before, it can delay the decline of the cave for more than seventeen years."

"But the next natural disaster will be a full sixty years away from Zhengfeng's twenty years!"

"In other words, in these sixty years, forty-three years are the lifespan that Dongtian already has!"

"Let's look down ......"

With Lou Youzhi's recalculation, after a while, the two came to an astonishing conclusion.

With 20,000 bloodlines as the guide, sacrificing 200,000 human races can indeed prolong the decline of Dongtian for one year.

Previously, I was just misled by the lifespan that Dongtian already had, but now I have removed the lifespan that Dongtian already has, and everything is compromised.

However, this conclusion made both of them a little unacceptable for a while.

"Hehehe......"

Gu Chengren sneered nervously, "In other words, as early as the twentieth year of Zhengfeng, when Dongtian's lifespan was obviously several hundred years, Emperor Zhengfeng had already begun to commit murder...... Delay? No! This is clearly feeding! ”

"To be exact, we calculated two hundred and seventy years."

In comparison, Lou Youzhi is much calmer and deeper, "In addition, this is not important anymore, it has completely lost its life......"

In the period of Emperor Wenchang, all the natural disasters that occurred were very consistent with the law of '20,000 for a year'.

In other words, Dongtian has reached the critical point of decline.

If no one dies in the next natural disaster, the cave will collapse completely.

"yes, it doesn't matter."

Gu Chengren sighed, and his eyes fell on the last booklet, which had not yet been used, "The important thing is the future." ”

That booklet was also a copy of the household dossier.

The reason why it was not used just now is because what is recorded in it is the locust plague in Yongzhou, which is not used in the calculation just now.

"Yongzhou ......"

Lou Youzhi's face was stunned, because he remembered how many people there were in Yongzhou.

The situation in Yongzhou is somewhat different.

Even among the thirty provinces, the population of Yongzhou is not even average, but after all, it is dead.

No, not more.

In addition to the people of Yongzhou, hundreds of thousands of disaster relief teams have even been involved.

Even if he is only counted 18 million, there are nearly 900,000 Taizu bloodlines.

In other words, it can delay the decline of the cave for forty-five years.

In forty-five years, I'm afraid I'll die of old age a long time ago, right?

When the time comes, who else will remember this?

Thinking of this, Lou Youzhi suddenly had a feeling.

Did you really hide your actions from Emperor Yongtai?

Du Qianchuan, Yan Fang, Gu Chengren......

These people or things that fall to himself, or die because of himself, or help himself, is Emperor Yongtai really unaware?

Or does Emperor Yongtai know, but doesn't care?

Lou Youzhi looked stunned, and suddenly he was a little weak and a little frustrated.

"What's wrong with you?"

Gu Chengren glanced at Lou Youzhi strangely, "I feel like you suddenly lost your spirit." ”

“…… It's nothing. ”

Lou Youzhi shook his head, reached out and stuffed the last booklet into his arms.

This action made Gu Chengren inexplicable.

"Old Gu, thank you for Ning's help these days."

Lou Youzhi got up and bowed solemnly to Gu Chengren, "In a few days, I will arrange for you to return to your hometown and live for the rest of your life." ”

"You ......"

Gu Chengren reacted quickly, his brows furrowed deeply: "The population of Yongzhou ...... I won't live to that time? ”

"It's worthy of Gu Lao."

Lou Youzhi shook his head and laughed at himself: "I shouldn't be able to live." ”

“……”

Gu Chengren's face stiffened, and the depression that had been in place for many days was suddenly messy, unable to dissipate, and there was nowhere to put it.

After a long time, Gu Chengren said quietly, "Since this is the case, let Shi Zheng take over from you." ”

"Shi Zheng is Jiang Zhihong's favorite student."

Lou Youzhi wanted to refuse.

"It is precisely because of this that he dared to risk great disapproval and provide food to Zhihong."

Gu Chengren's expression was solemn, "Because of this, as long as you tell him the true cause of Zhihong's death, he will definitely be confused about this matter." ”

“…… But that's his heir. ”

Lou Youzhi still hesitated.

"Huh."

Gu Chengren didn't care and smiled lightly, "The heir to the mantle, does Zhihong care about this?" ”

"Don't say it, do you care about this?"

"After so many years, the mansion is empty, except for the subordinates."

"Have you ever thought about leaving a mantle and a legacy?"

Gu Chengren shook his head, "I am Zhihong's teacher, and I have watched you and him go from confidant to breakup, and then obviously not getting along, but after all, you are moving in one direction...... You are not only classmates and fellow villagers, but also fellow believers, and I think you should know him better than I do. ”

Fellow?

That's a good word.

Lou Youzhi suddenly laughed.

Whether it is the powerlessness of the party or the frustration, it is just swept away.

(End of chapter)