[The second day of the second month of the second month of the tenth year of Daqian Jingyi, Haishi, Xufu Linglong Residence]

Soon after Yiqing and Murong Yan returned, they learned from Yao Zibei that Xu Ke was about to lead troops to attack Bashan. These two women also reacted in the same way as Yao Zibei, both of them were strongly opposed, but Xu Ke had made up his mind, no matter how they dissuaded him, Xu Ke shook his head and didn't listen.

For dinner that day, the five of them sat together in the front hall, and although everyone was facing a table of "food", they had little appetite. Xu Ke saw that the four women didn't use chopsticks much, so he had the heart to comfort him, but he didn't know how to speak.

......

Time just passed silently.

That night, Xu Ke stayed in Yao Zibei's Linglong Center. In the middle of the night, Yao Zibei suddenly woke up from her dream, she hugged Xu Ke hard, her face was full of tears, and she cried:

"Brother Xu, I'm so scared!"

"Silly girl, what are you afraid of?" Xu Ke reached out to wipe away the tears on Yao Zibei's face, patted her back gently, and comforted her softly.

"I had a dream just now, I dreamed of you, Brother Xu...... You're covered in blood, you're surrounded by monsters, and you're swinging your sword to the left and right, but you can't get out, and you're about to ...... I'm going to be eaten alive by those monsters...... It's terrible!" Yao Zibei felt a little uneasy in his heart.

"No, Zibei, don't worry, my life is very big, and I will never die like this easily!" Xu Ke said with a smile.

"Brother Xu, you don't know the terrible thing about that demon army, once you get a little demon blood, you will never recover!" Yao Zibei was still worried.

"Then I'd like to see how powerful these demons are. Didn't you say that you would be fine just by cutting off their heads, or crushing their bodies with heavy objects, or burning them with fire?"

"That's just one or two demons, if you encounter a large number of demon legions, and they are all well-trained demons, no matter how great you are, you don't want to defeat them!"

“......”

Yao Zibei thought about it for a long time, and finally sighed, as if he had made up his mind, and said quietly: "Brother Xu, Zibei thinks...... Why don't you go back?"

"Go back?" Xu Ke was a little puzzled, and after a pause, he realized that the meaning of Yao Zibei's words was to let him activate the power of the Cloud Shadow Bead, and at this time he would go back to ten years ago.

"Go back! You are Brother Xu ten years ago, why do you want to wade into this troubled water? This is already a demonic world, whether we people live or die, just leave it to fate, why do you sacrifice in vain?" Yao Zibei had tears in his eyes, raised his head, and looked at Xu Ke.

"Zibei, you don't have to worry! When I get to Bashan, I don't know who will kill the deer! If I am lucky enough to win them, Chang'an City will not be disturbed by poisonous smoke from now on, then for you, this future life will be much better......" Xu Kewu laughed to himself.

"Brother Xu, what the hell do you have to say before you are willing to go back!" Yao Zibei said hurriedly.

Xu Ke saw that Yao Zibei in his arms had tears in his eyes at this time, anxious, urgent, and his face was full of pleading, he thought about it for a while, and had to say:

"Okay, good, I promise you! When the time comes, I will definitely go back!"

"Then why don't you take out your bead!"

"Silly girl, even if I want to go back, I'm not in a hurry at this time!" Xu Ke stretched out his right index finger again, scraped Yao Zibei Yubai's pink green onion nose, and said with a smile: "When I get to Bashan, if I am really defeated, it will not be too late for me to take out the beads again...... At that time, I only need to infuse the Cloud Shadow Bead with true qi, recite the mantra, and I will be able to return to the Divine King Pavilion in no time. ”

"Silly girl, don't worry! Your brother Xu will never be fine!"

"Well, Brother Xu, you must protect yourself! After arriving at Bashan, as soon as you see that the situation is not right, hurry back to your God King Pavilion!" Yao Zibei hugged Xu Ke hard, and the tears in his eyes couldn't help but flow on his broad chest.

......

In the early morning of the next day, Xu Ke got up and had breakfast with the four women, but Yiqing took the initiative to invite, she wanted to take Xu Ke to the west of Chang'an City for a walk, and first familiarize herself with the terrain near Bashan.

Seeing that Yiqing rarely took the initiative to invite him, Xu Ke immediately readily agreed. The two of them walked out of the west gate of Chang'an City together, traveled five miles to the northwest, and came to the former Xuandu Temple.

Since no one has rebuilt it, the former Xuandu Temple is still in ruins at this time. The Taoist temples and pavilions of the past have now all been reduced to a piece of rubble. Yiqing led Xu Ke to a high ground, and the two looked to the northwest, and there was Bashan Mountain in the distance.

At this time, the huge magic cave on the top of Bashan Mountain was still spewing smoke into the sky endlessly. The black smoke was like a great net that swallowed the sky, and everywhere it went, the sky was completely obscured, and the earth was covered with it.

Yiqing found a boulder and sat with Xu Ke in pairs. She pointed to the Bashan Demon Cave in the distance and asked:

"How are you going to attack Bashan?"

"It's not clear at the moment, it's all General Shen planning. ”

"What do you think...... Can you win?"

"Even if you don't have much chance of winning, you have to give it a go!"

"It's not that you don't have much chance of winning, but you don't have a chance of winning at all!" Yiqing suddenly faced Xu Ke and shouted loudly. Looking at her solemn expression, I don't know whether she is blaming Xu Ke for acting recklessly, or if she can't bear the predicament Xu Ke is about to face......

"Miss Yiqing, how do you know that we have no chance of winning?"

"Don't call me 'girl', call me second sister!"

"What 'second sister'! You should call me 'Uncle Taishi'!"

"You...... You're mad at me!"

"Okay, okay! Don't be angry, don't be angry

You don't have to call me 'Uncle Taishi', and I don't call you 'Second Sister', in the future, I will call you 'Yiqing', and you still call me 'wood'...... Let's settle the matter, shall we?"

"Wood? hee-hee...... Even you think you're just a piece of wood?" Yiqing couldn't help but smile when she was amused by Xu Ke, and her face softened a lot.

"You say I'm wood, how dare I deny it?" Xu Ke scratched his forehead and said with a wry smile.

"Ahem, you sick wood, what are you crazy about with the emperor! Why do you want to take on this errand! Do you know who is guarding the Bashan Demon Cave?"

"I heard Shen Huan say that it was a demon called the 'Tsing Yi Demon King'. ”

"You know it's him, you're still going?!"

"That Tsing Yi Demon King, is it so powerful? As for making you, the famous 'Exorcist Dao Master' of Chang'an, also scared like this?"

"You ......! Ahem, this kung fu is still a poor mouth! Let me tell you, as far as I know, under the seat of the Demon King, there are four demon kings of 'red, white, gold, and green'. Everyone said that the strongest force was the Red Flame Demon King, the most poisonous mind was the White Rat Demon King, and the most arrogant was the Golden-winged Demon King. As for the Tsing Yi Demon King, he is usually inconspicuous, and everyone thinks that he is the weakest. In fact...... He is the most terrifying of the four demon kings!"

"What's so terrible about him?"

"It's the 'Demon Legion' under him! I heard that over the years, the Tsing Yi Demon King has been training this army of demons day and night. Those demonized people had lost their minds and would only go berserk and bite indiscriminately, but after years of training, they had become a well-trained army!"

Xu Keqi said: "Yiqing, how can you know these characters in the demon clan so clearly?"

"I ...... Of course, I heard from people!"

"Who are you listening to? How could he know so much about these monsters?"

"I ...... I heard from my second senior sister!" Yiqing suddenly looked a little strange, as if he was deliberately hiding something. It's just that Xu Ke didn't pay attention to her momentary skewness.

"Your second senior sister...... Sister Yichen: She's always been good, where is she now?"

"Well, my second senior sister is very good, she is now in Shushan. ”

"She went to Shushan?"

"Yes, didn't you send me two famous swords? One of them, a double-strand sword, you gave it to me. There is another famous sword 'Tianyun Sword', but it is the treasure of my Shu Mountain. After my senior sister thanked you for her kindness, she immediately took it back to Shushan in person......

"So that's the case......" Xu Ke couldn't help but fall into deep thought again.

It seems that his second brother Zhu Wuneng really lived up to his trust, brought the two famous swords to Chang'an, and handed them all over to him. And the 'self' back then did not delay, turned around and sent the two famous swords to Yichen and Yiqing. It's just that after hearing that Yichen had rushed back to Shushan, Xu Ke couldn't help but have doubts again. It is said that the sect in the world is "there are few mountains in the north and Shu Mountain in the south", since the Shushan sect is a major sect in the Dao realm, why has it never done anything in this demonized world?

Xu Ke immediately asked: "Yiqing, at present, this demonic world is already dark, and the demons are in power. Why haven't you Shushan faction seen any master come to the rescue of those people in the world who have no way to make a living?"

"What 'you Shushan faction', sick wood, aren't you also from Shushan? You learned a swordsmanship from my Taishi and Uncle Zu, and you have used it until now, don't tell me, you have nothing to do with Shushan!" At this moment, she seemed to have forgotten that if it was confirmed that Xu Ke was also from Shu Mountain, she would have to change her words immediately and call Xu Ke "Uncle Taishi".

"...... me?" Xu Ke scratched his forehead, not knowing how to answer for a while.

"How do you know that no one in our Shushan will make a move? It's just that my senior sisters, as well as the master, uncle, and uncle, didn't rush to Chang'an! Right now, they are in the south, and they are also fighting monsters to keep the people safe......" As Yiqing spoke, he turned around and looked in the direction of the south, as if he remembered the people and things of many years ago.

"I heard that the Kunlun Yuansheng, the head of Shu Mountain, is the supreme of the Dao Realm, and he is invincible in the world with his divine skills! If his old man makes a move, wouldn't these 'red, white, gold, and green' demon kings have all been wiped out long ago?"

"Nonsense! If there is a head Immortal Venerable here, these monsters are naturally not opponents! However, I have never seen an Immortal Venerable appear when I am so big! Sometimes I wonder if there is such an Immortal Venerable in Shushan?"

"Huh? this ...... Wouldn't it?" Xu Ke scratched his forehead again and wondered.

"What nonsense is it with you! I forgot the main topic...... Let me ask you, what would you do if you encountered the Demon Legion of the Tsing Yi Demon King?"

"Naturally...... Fight them to the death!"

"Hmph, if there are only three or five demons, it's okay. You only need to rely on the sword qi of the Kunwu Sword to split them into two pieces from a distance. But if there are three or five hundred demons surrounding you, no matter how powerful your swordsmanship is, you can kill them all, but when the sword qi is flying and the flesh and blood are flying, it is difficult to guarantee that you will not touch the demon blood in their bodies. If you get even the slightest bit of demonic blood, you'll soon become a demonic like them!"

"This ......"

"When you also become a demonized person, you are no longer you, but you are still you! You are already a master of swordsmanship, if you are demonized, although your mind is lost, but your swordsmanship still exists. When the time comes, the 'you' who have been demonized will slaughter human beings in turn and become another powerful 'demon king'......" After saying this, Yiqing's clear and bright eyes looked at Bashan Mountain in the north, and his eyes were full of worry.

"......" Hearing this, Xu Ke didn't

I gasped, and for a while, I was speechless.

He never imagined that if he unfortunately failed, the loss of his life would be a trivial matter, and he might even be able to turn himself into a new "demon king"! If he really reached that point, the whole person would seem to be dead and alive, and his humanity would be completely lost, and his demonic nature would be rampant, and he would only know how to slaughter and kill human beings frantically...... That's horrible!

......

Both also fell into a long silence. In fact, even Yiqing himself didn't know how to persuade Xu Ke at this time. Neither exhortation, discouragement, comfort, nor encouragement seems appropriate. She knew that the emperor had issued an edict, and it was inevitable that she would attack Bashan in two days. But how to face the terrible "Demon Legion"? And how to crack the poison of the "Demon Blood"? Yi Qing was also helpless in his heart. For this military action, which was even more terrible than suicide, Yi Qing explained that it was powerful, but he was still helpless.

......

After a long time, Yiqing suddenly faced Xu Ke and asked, "Sick wood!, do you know the 'Jiazi Twelve Lines of Life Wheel'?"

"What ......is that?"

......

......

"Report to the general, something is wrong!" suddenly came the shouts of soldiers from the silent cave.

Xu Ke immediately opened his eyes and got up, and his thoughts also shifted from the memories of the past just now to the underground stone chamber in front of him. When he saw that the man who shouted was the sentry he had sent to one of the intersections, he hurriedly asked, "What is the alarm?"

"Report to the general, there seem to be a lot of monsters in front of us in that cave!"

"How many monsters are there, what kind of monsters, are they demons?" asked Xu Ke.

"How many monsters, small ones...... The small one didn't see clearly. However, it doesn't seem to be a demon, it's all some long-horned red-haired monsters, and there are some other monsters. The sentry chief replied.

"Let's go!" Xu Ke took out the Kunwu sword on his back, turned around and walked towards the entrance of the cave.

"General, you wait, I'll go too!" Zheng Kai, the temporary guard captain beside Xu Ke, also woke up. At this time, he heard that Xu Ke was going to go to the cave to kill the monster in person, so he immediately jumped up, took a spear, and followed Xu Ke inside.

A dozen soldiers had also woken up, and when they saw this, they each took their swords and followed the main general into the cave.

Xu Ke thought about those monsters in the cave, he was worried about whether it would be the demon army of the Tsing Yi Demon King, and he didn't bother to pay attention to the dozen or so sergeants who followed behind.

The night guard led the way, and Xu Ke and more than a dozen sergeants behind him followed all the way. Everyone walked into the cave for less than half a moment, and the chief in front suddenly made a gesture and whispered to Xu Ke: "General, look, those monsters are in front of you......"

Xu Ke looked according to the gesture, and sure enough, he saw three long-horned red-haired monsters lying on his stomach in a slightly spacious cave in front of him, as well as a few three-headed big black wolves. However, at this time, those monsters seemed to be hiding in the cave to rest, and although they found a trace of humans in the distance, they were still lying in place, and they were not in a hurry to jump and pounce......

Although there are not many monsters, after all, they are all big and thick. Xu Ke didn't dare to slack off, hurriedly held the long sword, stepped forward with an arrow, and shouted in his mouth, "Break the golden potential!" The true qi in his palm burst out from the tip of the sword, stirring up gusts of wind, and where the sword qi reached, the first three big black wolves bore the brunt, and the three huge wolf heads were all cut off by the sword qi.

A long-horned red-haired monster next to him let out a "whoop", hurriedly jumped up, and pounced on Xu Ke with a pair of blood-red eyes wide. Xu Ke's sword was lifted, and then he shouted, "Cut off the water potential!" The sword momentum was like wind and lightning, and the sergeants behind him saw a flash of lightning, and the red-haired monster was separated in an instant.

Xu Ke only attacked two swords, and the two huge monsters had fallen to the ground suddenly. The other two long-horned red-haired monsters and the four three-headed big black wolves did not dare to fight, so they were so frightened that they turned around and fled. Xu Ke saw that none of these monsters were demons, and he was relieved in his heart, where could they escape at this time? He jumped forward, and the sword body swung down diagonally, and it was another move, "Open the wood momentum!" The fierce sword aura was almost invincible, and another three big black wolves roared, and fell to the ground and died.

Xu Ke rose up to kill, so he didn't want to leave a living monster behind. Holding a long sword in his hand, he secretly took a breath of true qi, spread his legs and chased desperately, vowing to kill these monsters without leaving a single piece of armor!

"General, watch ahead!" Zheng Kai shouted, also carrying a spear, and followed closely behind Xu Ke. The more than ten sergeants behind him were greatly encouraged when they saw Xu Ke being so brave, and they all followed their own commanders and tried their best to catch up.

However, Xu Ke was in such a hurry that he forgot to take a torch. At this time, in his entire ranks, only the commander who had served as a sentry had a torch in his hand. Although Xu Ke's light skills are good, those sergeants are just ordinary martial artists, where can they catch up!

Xu Ke spread his legs, only ran for less than half a moment, and gradually lost the light of the torches behind him. Originally, those monsters were right in front of him, and he only needed to swing his long sword to kill them instantly. But as the light of the torches behind him gradually faded, his pace of catching up slowed down......

In such a pitch-black cave where he couldn't see his fingers, Xu Ke didn't dare to hold it too big. He had to stop and wait for the rest of the soldiers to arrive. After he took the torch from Shi Chang's hand, and then took a look forward, at this moment, where was there still a trace of half a monster in this bottomless cave?

Xu Ke was thinking about whether to continue to chase, but suddenly heard a burst of mournful shouts not far behind him. Those voices were like a ghost crying and a wolf howling, and when they were heard in the dark night, they couldn't help but make people tremble and tremble......