Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1339: Tian Gang Returns to Heaven
As Lu Ning was unable to see, the sounds in her ears became increasingly confusing. She heard some fragmented words mixed in with the whispers.

"...The Eyes of the Drowned Shadow, connected to the Nether River..."

"Looking at the shadows of the past and present, she can see..."

“…to see the true face.”

Lu Ning raised her head suddenly, and large patches of color slowly moved before her eyes. The turbid spots of light turned into clusters of frosted glass-like shapes, and then as she gradually restrained herself, they began to return to normal.

Fortunately, in this scene, there was no situation like before where people turned into monsters when the perspective changed. However, there were a few who appeared in different forms in Lu Ning's eyes, with various strange limbs growing on their bodies, which were the characteristics of demons.

"Lu Ning, is it possible to take action?" Dong Zai asked.

"Reporting to Your Majesty... can we find the demon?" Lu Ning shook her head. Her vision had not yet recovered, but she could already reach out and give instructions.

"good."

As Dong Zai said this word, the atmosphere in the whole hall suddenly changed, and all the civil and military officials showed a murderous aura. Then, Lu Ning slowly raised his hand and the first person he pointed at was Tong Yuquan who was still standing in the hall.

"Eight hands under the ribs, three feet in the belly, a demon with many limbs, and no bones in the body."

Tong Yuquan raised his head slightly, and his two eyeballs suddenly fell out of his eye sockets, and a pair of slender but sharp claws rushed towards Dong Zai who was sitting in the seat. But with a flash of cold light, the claws were cut off, and Cao Yuanen had walked in front of the emperor without knowing when, with light and quiet steps, holding a ribbon-like weapon in his hand.

"We heard that a good person emerged in the soft soldier competition, and we wanted to see him, but unexpectedly he was just a demon." Cao Yuanen said with a fake smile, "Big demon? Do demons nowadays take the dignity of the Heavenly Family so lightly?"

Tong Yuquan immediately tore open his clothes. Just as Lu Ning said, there were eight hands on the ribs and three feet sticking out from the navel. Once this evil body appeared, Lu Ning felt his head hurt more and more. But Cao Yuanen shook his wrist, and the silver ribbon stretched straight in an instant, slashing down like a sharp sword.

The demon roared, pulled out a whip from his waist, and pulled it back with his backhand, but Cao Yuanen's skill in controlling the ribbon was obviously perfect. The ribbon circled in the air and entangled the whip. The sharp edge of the ribbon shredded the outer skin of the whip, revealing the interior connected by bones.

"What a good weapon! It can't even be hurt by our Silver Frost Fish Sword." Cao Yuanen praised, "Everyone, please save some strength. We want to see how much more power this demon has."

The ribbon wrapped around the demon's bone whip. As Cao Yuanen pulled it, the demon also resisted with force. The two sides began to wrestle. Lu Ning lowered her head, not looking at the demon's body. She stretched out her hand and pressed her temple, trying to calm her mind. She felt as if her palm and the jade ruyi were stuck together, and every demon here, no, everyone could not escape her demonic gaze.

Just as she was still adjusting, a ray of warm light entered her field of vision in the distance.

The light was not particularly bright. Compared to the various colors that kept flashing, it was stable and dim. The warm light hung in front of a car, dimly illuminating the outline of the vehicle.

When Lu Ning noticed the warm light, the colors in front of her eyes began to fade as if in fear, and her vision slowly returned to normal. However, the distant old chariot was once again blocked by the trees and palace walls when her vision returned.

"Uh……"

Lu Ning struggled to get up, but saw that Tong Yuquan had been entangled by Cao Yuanen's ribbons. After a seemingly slight pull, the demon's body was cut into eight pieces and scattered all over the ground in an instant.

"Ms. Lu Ning, please point out the next one." Cao Yuanen retracted the ribbon and looked at Lu Ning.

Lu Ning took a deep breath. She knew that now was her most important choice.

"This." She pointed at a fat official among the civil servants. The official immediately broke out in a cold sweat. He waved his hands hurriedly: "She made a mistake! I am not, I--"

Chi.

The bloody sword blade pierced through his chest. Tian Lubai, the governor of the imperial guards, flashed out from behind the civil servant and slowly pulled out the sword. At the same time, a short demon fell out of the civil servant's stomach, already dead.

"The second one." Cao Yuanen smiled, "Very accurate, Miss Lu Ning, can you find the next one?"

Lu Ning didn't know why, but among those monsters, some of them looked almost indistinguishable from humans, they all looked at her with rather cold eyes, which was not noticeable at all among the current group of civil and military officials.

But she couldn't point out these demons. Under the current situation of checks and balances between the two sides, if she really thwarted some of the demons' plans, she might fall into the royal sacrifice and become a sacrifice.

Lu Ning pointed out the last demon whose strength was not very strong. Just as the demon was about to escape, several generals nearby chopped it into a meat paste with their swords.

"Congratulations, Miss Lu Ning, oh, no..." Cao Yuanen took a step back, and Dong Zai had already pulled out the token and threw it down.

The silver light sank into Lu Ning's forehead, and she really felt a foreign object entering her mind. The energy released by the foreign object suppressed the whispers in her mind, and also weakened her personal consciousness. Fortunately, Lu Ning did not feel that she had completely lost herself.

At this time, some eunuchs had come out and started cleaning the hall. The death of the three demons did not cause any reaction from the truly dangerous demons in the crowd, and Lu Ning did not dare to look over there.

"Take him out." Dong Zai said.

Several people from the Imperial Observatory led the people out just as they had led them in. They even chatted leisurely with each other. What happened in the hall was normal to them.

"Everyone, please wait here. After today's imperial competition is over, we will naturally lead you back and no longer restrict your movements." said a person from the Imperial Observatory.

"No restrictions?" Gong Shangzhi said with some awe, "But we have already been banned from official positions..."

"Don't worry, as long as you are in Xingyin City, this official position will be useful at any time. Of course, when the emperor's army returns to Beijing, you will not be left out of the benefits." The person from the Imperial Observatory smiled and gestured, allowing them to enter the crowd.

Lu Ning naturally walked over to the few friends she met yesterday.

"Noisy is forbidden here." Gu Tong said in a low voice, "How about a competition in front of the emperor?"

"Yes, I have achieved the position of Tianman Star." Lu Ning replied.

Compared to their previous conversation, the two of them seemed much more dull. Fang Zichuan, who was standing next to them, was delighted: "I have the star of loss. The emperor doesn't mind my physical disability, but only cares about my ability. I am so grateful for his selection of talents." "Hey, I also think the emperor is very good." Monk Jiuchan patted his stomach lightly, and his tone was less wanton and frivolous. "If the emperor really wants to rebuild the country, I will also help him. Why not?"

"Are you all not going to Saibei?" Lu Ning asked.

"Grand Tutor Qin is also a minister of the Emperor. Serving Grand Tutor Qin is also serving the Emperor." Hou Sanli said in a muffled voice, "It's all the same, there is no difference..."

Lu Ning glanced at Gu Tong, and he was actually still nodding.

It seemed that everyone had slightly changed their stance, although it was not so obvious. Lu Ning didn't know whether her stance had changed in the eyes of others, because she had difficulty judging her own thinking mode.

After the sun went down, someone took them back to their residence. The person leading the team, the Imperial Observatory, looked very satisfied, and his voice was slightly raised when he spoke.

"Today, you have been granted star positions, which is a great joy. However, the Three Palaces, Twenty-Eight Mansions, and Thirty-Six Celestial Beings should all belong to the heavens. Today, we are temporarily borrowing their power to go down to the mortal world. You should use your abilities with caution. Tomorrow, you will all return and take care of your personal affairs. You can report to the Imperial Observatory and you will have your own tasks."

"Are we considered subordinates of the Imperial Observatory?" Jiu Chan asked loudly.

"Haha, I don't deserve to be your subordinate. How dare the Imperial Astronomical Bureau treat you as subordinates? I am only temporarily arranging your activities. The only one who is truly qualified to give you orders is the emperor."

The official finished speaking, bowed, and left. Everyone returned to their rooms. Surprisingly, no one seemed particularly excited. This group of warriors seemed to be very calm.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Lu Ning also felt that her emotions were suppressed. Perhaps it was a side effect of the thing in her mind. As a product of this era, it was inevitable that some aspects would appear rough. For example, while suppressing all kinds of weirdness, it would also suppress things like emotions, making people's thinking tend to be purely rational.

However, for the caster, this might actually be an advantage. After all, after sealing the star, one would not want to have a group of impulsive subordinates. It would be better to have strict discipline.

Just like that, the next day arrived.

The water and land ceremony will certainly not end in these few days. In fact, the overall arrangement lasts for fourteen days. This time, the imperial ceremony only sends the first group of people to the emperor.

When Lu Ning left the palace, the bustling scene in Xingyin City made her feel a little uncomfortable.

The crowd was bustling - even with so many secret rebellions, the number of people in Xingyin City had reached an unprecedented level. Every competition venue was surrounded by people, who shouted and cheered for the people on the stage, not knowing what was happening behind the scenes.

"what……"

Lu Ning exhaled, and the cold air condensed into white mist in the air. After leaving the palace, the weather seemed to be a little colder than the previous few days.

The demon eye twisted, taking in everything around it. The question she had been pursuing for a long time finally had an answer. With the help of Yu Ruyi, the demon eye could now clearly distinguish between humans and demons, and even see through their inner situations to a certain extent. This undoubtedly brought great convenience to Lu Ning. She could even see the differences between people - for example, the disease in some people's bodies, and the trajectory of the disease gathering outside the city.

Something in her mind urged her to solve this matter, and Lu Ning also wanted to solve it. She didn't know whether she was influenced to do so or because she wanted to seize this opportunity. But after thinking about it, Lu Ning still took action.

She patted a man on the shoulder and knocked him unconscious with one hand the moment he turned his head.

Being named Tianmanxing, Lu Ning had the power to enforce the law in the city by killing first and reporting later. The manifestation of this power in her was that even if she knocked someone out and dragged him away in the street, no one cared.

"Power" - this is the most core point in the ritual displayed by the emperor. Power is regulated layer by layer. As long as you rise up the social ladder within this range, all your actions are reasonable.

Lu Ning dragged the man to a house next door. When the people in the house saw Lu Ning come in, they greeted each other with a smile and left the room on their own initiative.

"Humph……"

After Lu Ning dragged the man into the house, she pulled off the string of problematic copper coins from his body, looked at it carefully, then sneered and tossed the coins in her hand. She could clearly see the trajectory of the diseased energy on the coins - leading directly to the outside of the city.

At the same time as Lu Ning took action, almost all the sealed stars also began to take action on their own initiative. They might not be good at catching monsters, but each of them could maintain order in the field they were good at. However, their fixed way of thinking made this "stability" become very cruel and unreasonable.

But the results are remarkable.

The slender girl outside the city quickly realized something was wrong.

"Sir, the emperor has already given us a countermeasure." Xi Yao bowed to Qu Hongzhu, "Now the infection I set up in the city is being cleared. They have curbed the chaos we created with forced order, and the emperor has not consumed too much Canglong Emperor Qi..."

"Normal, you are just a demon general. If you can assassinate the emperor with the ability of a demon general, then the demons would have occupied the world long ago." Qu Hongzhu didn't care. "Things like assassination always confuse the eyes first, and then carry out the final decapitation operation. Even if it is a day or night tour, it will return in vain. Even Qin Chen was just trapped and could not be killed?"

"Yes, then what should we do next? Although those who entered the city with gold and silver as the medium are more difficult to catch, it is difficult for those who used money as the medium to make any unusual moves. They are just mortals and cannot fight against the heavenly soldiers and generals."

"Then follow the rules." Qu Hongzhu said, "I'm going to go into the city."

"Ah? This is very dangerous..."

"Don't worry." Qu Hongzhu touched his face, "I have a way to make no one recognize me. But you need to pay more attention to things here, Xi Yao. If someone comes looking for you... fight if you can, otherwise leave quickly. Painted Skin has lost contact, and Yangshi has not responded recently. I feel that something big is happening in the city that I don't know about."

"Yes Yes."

"Wait for my signal."

After saying this, Qu Hongzhu's body shattered into pieces of earth, and her real body had already disappeared into the distance.

Xi Yao sighed slightly, then stretched out her hand to calculate, and suddenly felt a wisp of miasma floating around, as if a deep gaze was peering at her along the miasma it spread.

"Well?"