I don't know if it was the light rain in the sky that caused the sky to be slightly gray, or because of the scarcity of people in the city.

Yanggua City, after all, is not lively.

In the middle of the city, there is a Taoist temple.

According to legend, it is the eye of this Jiuyang Bagua Array.

In the Taoist temple, there are not many furnishings, only a nine-story tower covered with yellow charms.

Although there is a plaque at the door, it is empty, and it is uninhabited, so the door is closed all the year round, and the people living around have never seen incense floating in the temple.

The untended courtyard wall was covered with moss, and the kind-hearted old man who had faith wanted to help clean it, but was warned not to act rashly, and over time, the people in the city became accustomed to this sloppy Taoist temple, so that they were not surprised.

It's just that today, the people passing by suddenly found that for some reason there was a little green smoke rising from the nine-story tower in this view, and there seemed to be two figures in the tower, which were imprinted on the window pivot by the faint candlelight.

Among the markets, rumors are the fastest.

Many people came when they heard the wind, and some of them were more pious, but they only thought that the immortal king appeared and bowed their heads.

For a while, it added a little vitality to this lifeless city.

On the ninth floor of the tower in the view, there are two Taoist priests, one of whom is wearing a blue and white Taoist robe, holding snow-white floating dust, holding a Taoist bun on the top of the crane's hair, and two white eyebrows hanging down next to the face full of red light.

The other person, whose robe was already so black that he couldn't see the original color clearly, and the dust in his hands was so bald that there were only a few left, hanging down, and at this moment he was putting his hands in his sleeves and standing respectfully behind the former, which was in stark contrast.

The crane-haired old Taoist priest of the Dao bone fairy wind sighed as he looked at the growing crowd under the tower along the window pivot covered with talismans.

The down-and-out Taoist followed his gaze, only to see the dense kneeling under the tower, and chuckled: "These people, who regard Shizun as an immortal monarch, are so devout and begging to worship." ”

Old Hefa shook his head and said silently: "Heaven and earth are not benevolent, and all things are used as dogs. To be born in this city is fate, and to grow up in this city is to be doomed. With these kung fu to worship an ethereal immortal monarch, it is better to be busy with some livelihood, which is also good. ”

The down-and-out Taoist smiled: "With the cultivation of the master, I am afraid that those immortals in the sky may not be able to compare to you." It's useless for them to worship the immortal monarch in the sky, worship you, but it works tightly. ”

If this is heard by others, it is inevitable to laugh off the big teeth, so many martial arts practitioners in the world practice and practice, all in order to one day, to be able to reach the immortal realm, shatter the void and go, and see what the outer heaven is like that day.

This down-and-out Taoist said at this moment that even if he descended from the earth, he might not be able to compare with the crane Daoist in front of him, and he said so eloquently and swore so much.

The old man did not pay attention to the praise of the apprentice, still looked at the tower, and said indifferently: "I have not asked about the world for many years, and I can't help them, but you can." ”

The down-and-out Taoist is still referring to his identity as the national teacher of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and let himself go to the emperor to say a few words for the people of this Yang Gua City, and then responded: "When I return to the capital, I will go to Your Majesty and speak for the people in this Yang Gua City, and it is good to reduce or reduce taxes a little." ”

When the old man heard this, he shook his head: "The yin qi of this Yang Hexagram City is too much, ordinary crops can't grow, and the people's food and clothing need to be imported from outside, which is too laborious and costly, even if you go to Beijing and reduce some taxes for these people, it is only a way to cure the symptoms but not the root cause." ”

The down-and-out Taoist was stunned for a moment and asked, "What can the master do?"

"The Jiuyang Bagua Array, after all, is just a suppression, just relying on the door of death, when will it be able to cross these millions of souls. ”

Old Hefa looked to the north, stared at it for a long time, and then said: "Don't you want to take in an apprentice?" Go to the north, find a woman named Shantai Yangyue, take her as an apprentice, stay until September 9 next year, and bring her here!"

"September 9 next year, in the north, in the sun?"

The down-and-out Taoist chewed on the name carefully, and suddenly asked, "Is it a Lu woman?"

To the north of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the annexation of the Yu tribe was nearing the end, and there were still three major tribes left, with relatively similar strengths, and it was difficult to distinguish the winner for a while.

One is Shentai, the second is Shentu, and the third is Huyan.

The people of the Central Plains do not have the surname of Shantai, so the Yangyue of Shantai in the mouth of the old road of Hefa must be one of the three major tribes of the Yu, the woman of the Shantai tribe.

"Not bad. ”

As expected, Hefa nodded and said: "This woman is the daughter of the leader of the Tantai tribe, she was born on the day of the Nine Extremes of Yang in early September. ”

The down-and-out Taoist people's arrangements for the master are naturally all obedient, but there is one thing that he can't figure out, and he wonders: "Why her? ”

The old man said indifferently: "The people born on the day of the ordinary extreme sun naturally can't survive this endless soul. She is from the Shantai family, and she has been extremely yang for three generations in a row, and besides, she is ...... Zhao Nan is the same, with a trace of heaven and earth luck. ”

"I see. ”

Although the theory of heaven and earth luck is illusory, for these two Taoist priests with extremely high Taoist cultivation, they know a little more than ordinary people.

The people of the captive tribe are in the same boat as the people of the Central Plains, but this crane is an old way to understate the apprentice to collect the pearl of his leader's palm, as if this thing seems to others to be a little incredible, for him, it is just a hand.

The down-and-out Taoist has never thought about how he abducted this captive woman as an apprentice as a national teacher of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, just because of his trust in the master, the master let him accept the apprentice, and he will definitely be able to bring it into the door, thinking of this, the Taoist smiled and asked more: "The master stays in this nine-storied pagoda all the year round, why do you know so much about the affairs of the captive people thousands of miles away......

Hefa Lao Dao didn't want to answer, just glanced at him lightly, and then scared the down-and-out Taoist into a hurry to silence, after a while, seeing that the master was not angry, he changed the topic, and said haha: "Anyway, the little prince has arrived in Yanggua City, isn't the master gone......?"

"Not necessarily!"

Old Dao Hefa interrupted in a deep voice: "If it weren't for the sake of guarding this Jiuyang Bagua Array, I should have broken the sky and left, and I don't need to mention the past." ”

After that, the figure of the bone fairy wind became fainter and fader in front of the eyes of the down-and-out Dao people, until it turned into nothingness.

The down-and-out Taoist obviously knew that the master was in the tower, but this tower that covered a small area and only had nine floors, with his strength close to that of a grandmaster, no matter how he perceived it, he couldn't find the slightest trace, and after a while, he muttered in a low voice: "Anyway, I haven't seen what the immortal monarch looks like, the master is so powerful, it must be no worse than the real immortal in the sky......

"Bang!"

Before he finished speaking, the down-and-out old man was inexplicably slapped, and a "cautious words" came from his ears, and then he smiled, and went to the underground tower without taking it seriously.

Xu Zhaonan and his entourage entered the city gate, and saw that the city was full of peach trees along the way, but it was supposed to be the season when the peach blossoms were in full bloom, but there were only dead branches on the trees.

The people who came and went were also expressionless, and they didn't seem to be angry at all, giving people a sense of the walking dead.

I found a restaurant to live in at random, and in this lifeless Yanggua City, there are many idle courtyards, which can also meet Kong Fan'er's request to live in a separate courtyard.

In fact, according to the original plan, the group was going to enter from the Shengmen and exit from the Jingmen, and arrive at the next city to rest before sunset, but when Xu Zhaonan stepped into the city gate with one foot, he suddenly changed his mind and proposed to stay here for one night.

Everyone is headed by him, and naturally everything is not followed.

In the evening, everyone had dinner under the service of the restaurant shopkeeper with a stinky face.

Xu Zhaonan stood in the small courtyard, withstanding the light rain, reaching out and gently stroking the peach branches in the courtyard.

The dry branches in the courtyard under the rain curtain are quite poignant.

A call came from behind him: "Childe is thinking, why don't the peach trees in this city bloom?"

Xu Zhaonan turned his head to look at Kong Fan'er, who was holding a red umbrella in his hand and dressed in red, this bright red, in this city with gray as the main color, did not seem very real, and asked softly: "Is there anything else to say here?"

Kong Fan'er moved the umbrella above his head to block him from some wind and rain, and then nodded, and said: "This Yang Hexagram City is very heavy in yin qi, and it is difficult for ordinary grains to survive, let alone such delicate peach blossoms."

The Jiuyang Bagua Array is made of nine kinds of things that are to the sun, and this peach tree in the city is one of the yangs, which was planted by the Zhenyuan Dao people with great mana, but the yang energy in the tree is absorbed by the big array, so this peach tree has never been able to bloom. ”

"Is it because of this big array?"

Xu Zhaonan smiled at Kong Fan'er's heart-warming move, suddenly remembered what he had seen before, and wondered: "Why are the people in this city so lifeless, even the shopkeeper doesn't look like a businessman?"

Kong Fan'er seemed to be affected by the surrounding environment, and instead of smiling, he said softly: "Yanggua City does not see the light of day all year round, and living in this gloomy city, the people are inevitably affected by it and become silent. ”

No longer the coquettish appearance on weekdays, Kong Fan'er, who has always been happy to move and not like to be quiet, is holding an umbrella in the slanting wind and drizzle at this moment, because of insufficient cultivation, after all, he was wet with some sideburns by the rain, and his hair was attached to his pretty face, adding a little softness, which made Xu Zhaonan feel moved, and hurriedly turned his head away, continued to stroke the peach branch, and asked: "If this is the case, why don't you move the people out of this city, wait until the souls are exhausted, and then move the people back to live?"

"It's easier said than done. ”

Fortunately, Kong Fan'er also paid attention to the dead branches in this garden, and did not notice his abnormality, shook his head, and replied: "The yin qi in the Yanggua City has been spent for two hundred years, and it is still like this, and I don't know when and what month it will be to see the world again, this city is located in the middle of the wind and roar, and it is the thoroughfare of Yizhou, and it is impossible to let it go unoperated for such a long time."

Moreover, when the Zhenyuan Daoist set up the formation, he said that if you want to suppress these millions of souls, the nine suns in the formation are indispensable...... In addition to the peach trees in this city, there is also a yang, which is the yang energy of tens of thousands of people in this city. ”

Xu Zhaonan, who turned his back, frowned and muttered, "The yang energy on the bodies of tens of thousands of people?

Kong Fan'er knew what he was thinking, and said softly: "There is a saying in Taoism, heaven and earth are not benevolent, and all things are used as dogs, and saints are unkind, and people are used as dogs. Perhaps for the head of Zhenyuan and His Majesty the emperor at that time, it was a cost-effective thing to use the lives of tens of thousands of people to ensure the peace of the party. ”

"Taiyi, that Tianzun...... Little girl, didn't Mrs. Confucius teach you, what kind of crime should you be guilty of talking about the first emperor in vain?"

............