Longevity begins with slaying demons and eliminating demons

Chapter 186 Flower Market Lights Like Day

Soon, Princess Zhaoning took a green-curtained sedan chair carried by two people, walked through the bustling Tianjie, and returned to the Princess Mansion on the edge of Luoshui.

The scenery here is unique, quiet and peaceful.

The princess got off the sedan chair, walked through the gate, walked along the long corridor, and walked into her study.

On the way, she saw the fourth prince Xiao Shangzhen and several servants' children climbing on the rockery, playing and playing.

She smiled and didn't bother them.

As the saying goes, "Life has gains and losses."

While Xiao Shangzhen lost his cultivation, he also lived a happy life that he had always longed for.

It's just that Princess Zhaoning can't predict how long his simple happiness will last.

She followed the steps and entered the study.

This is an open and bright house with no partition in the middle; several rows of bookshelves are placed against the wall, and hundreds of half-old books are displayed on them. The pages of the books are slightly yellowed, and the corners of the books have traces of curling.

There is a marble table in the center of the house. On the table are neatly placed pens, inks, papers and inkstones. In addition, there are several pen holders filled with brushes.

On the wall to the west of the study, there are several simple and freehand black and white landscape paintings.

There is a pair of couplets hanging on the left and right, written by Princess Zhaoning herself, the handwriting is tall and vigorous, quite imposing.

Its contents are as follows:
Shanglian: For learning, we know that books are delicious;

The second couplet: Watch the heart and feel the light in the room.

Under the service of the maids, she took off the thick crane cloak and the heavy hair ornament on the top of her head.

Then he sat on the wooden chair behind the desk and began to read the memorials delivered to the princess' mansion within today.

She has long known what happened in Qingzhou Mansion, and she has long guessed that the memorial sent today must be related to it.

However, when she saw the contents of the memorial, she was still extremely surprised.

The first memorial: "Luo Chuan, the head of the Exorcism Department, hopes to promote Gu Xu, the experience of Yishui County, to be the head of the sixth rank..."

The second memorial: "National Teacher wants Gu Xu to serve as a 'guest lecturer' at Longmen Academy, teaching the academy students to draw talisman seals in his spare time..."

The third memorial: "The Ministry of Rites proposes to confer a title on Gu Xufeng..."

"..."

Princess Zhaoning quietly flipped through the memorials in her hand, feeling that the frequency of the word "Gu Xu" appearing between the lines today seemed a little too high.

To be precise, since she saw Gu Xu's perfect theoretical test paper in the promotion assessment three months ago, she has often seen or heard "Gu Xu" in the official documents on the desk and in the words of others. the name.

At first she just felt a little appreciation for the well-read teenager.

But as time went by, when Gu Xu solved the case of Lu's haunted house that had plagued Qingzhou Prefecture for many years, and then climbed to the top of Laoshan Mountain to obtain the inheritance of Kongxuan Sanren, she had a vague premonition that this young man would become the rising star of the Great Qi Dynasty. A rising star.

Now, her premonition seems to have really come true.

Gu Xu actually survived in front of the ghost of the "fierce god" level, and also prevented the "fierce god" from planning a promotion plan for decades.

This made Princess Zhaoning feel very unbelievable.

Under normal circumstances, even monks in the fifth and sixth realms may not be able to escape unscathed when encountering "violent god" level ghosts.

Not to mention that Gu Xu even destroyed an altar in front of that "fierce god".

Moreover, according to Luo Chuan, the head of the Exorcism Department, the "fierce god"-level ghost was transformed by Kongxuan Sanren using a special spell after his ascension failed.

It must be much stronger and more cunning than ordinary "fierce gods".

Princess Zhaoning racked her brains, exhausted her knowledge and imagination, but she couldn't imagine how Gu Xu could solve this fatal situation at that critical moment.

"According to the memorial, after Gu Xu destroyed the altar in the depths of Mount Yi, he was brought to Luojing City by Chief Luo. In the past few days, he should have stayed at the headquarters of the Exorcism Division..."

"I really want to see him..."

Not long ago, Princess Zhaoning very much hoped to recruit a young genius like Gu Xu to the fourth prince Xiao Shangzhen's command, as Xiao Shangzhen's follower, to help Xiao Shangzhen compete for the "Tai'a Sword".

However, Xiao Shangzhen was assassinated by Du Jingjing, a partner of the "Shenji Camp", during the process of climbing Laoshan, and lost all his cultivation and the possibility of competing for the succession to the throne.

So now, Princess Zhaoning wants to get to know Gu Xu just out of curiosity.

"It's just that after Gu Xu came to the capital, I haven't gotten any news about his appearance in public. It is estimated that he has been staying in the headquarters of the Exorcist Division to practice silently. In this way, it is not convenient for me to come to disturb him... …

"However, the Lantern Festival is coming soon.

"Because the 'Luoshui Conference' will be held in Luojing City, this year's Lantern Festival night should be very lively. In addition to traditional activities such as guessing lantern riddles and lion dances in previous years, young talents under the age of 25 in the Daqi Dynasty will gather together Gathered by the banks of Luoshui, climbed into the arena to compete in martial arts.

"I don't know if Gu Xu will also go to that ring to show his skills.

"Perhaps, on this Lantern Festival night, I can go wandering around Luoshui, join in the fun by the arena, maybe I can meet him..."

Thinking of this, Princess Zhaoning silently made up her mind.

She stood up, walked to the bookshelf in front of the wall, took out a delicate wooden box from a drawer, and opened it.

Inside the wooden box is an exquisite white jade bracelet, which glows lustrously in the sunlight and contains the power of spells.

…………

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it is the fifteenth day of the first lunar month that everyone is looking forward to.

This is the day when the earth rejuvenates, and it is also the first full moon night of the year.

In Luojing City, the Lantern Festival seems to be much more grand than New Year's Eve.

Not only folk households are making colorful lanterns, but even the Daqi government recruited many folks to make lanterns and prepare for the lantern festival.

It is said that 150 lanterns were lit in Luojing City last year, and there were many kinds of lanterns. The emperor ordered people to build a giant lantern tower, with a width of [-] rooms and a height of [-] feet.

During the festival, the citizens of the capital gather in the streets, singing and dancing, a hundred operas, and thaumaturgy are lined up in the two corridors, and the music is melodious.There are players who hit pills and kick the ball, and there are also performances of puppet shows, magic tricks, zaju, history lectures, monkey shows, fish jumping over swords, calling bees and butterflies, etc. In short, the activities are so rich that it makes people sleepless all night.

Under the care of Shangguan Jin, Shi Xiaohan recovered quickly from his injuries.

On the morning of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, she jumped out of bed excitedly, jumping around the room like a bunny.

It has to be said that the life of lying in bed and not moving for the past few days has really suffocated her, making it impossible for her to release her vigorous energy.

"By the way, where is Gu Xu now?" Of course, Shi Xiaohan did not forget to ask Shangguan Jin this very important question.

"In the past few days, he has been staying in the 'Qingxiang Pavilion' of the headquarters yamen and has not gone out," Shangguan Jin replied with a smile, "Three meals a day are delivered directly to his room by the yamen servants. It is estimated that he is busy practicing!
"Actually, I really admire him. Luojing City is so lively during the New Year, but he can ignore all temptations and practice diligently. I have only seen this level of self-discipline in ascetic monks in Lingshan Temple."

"He's really cultivating..." Shi Xiaohan was not surprised by this answer.

When he was in Yishui County, Gu Xu was basically either practicing or doing tasks to accumulate meritorious service every day.It was very difficult for her to invite him to Piaoxianglou for a meal.

At that time, she thought that Gu Xu simply loved to practice and wanted to become stronger.

But now, she finally understood Gu Xu's difficulties.

If he doesn't become a saint, he can only live to be 30 years old.

Therefore, in order to prolong his life, he will race against time to practice.

Whenever thinking of this matter, Shi Xiaohan's nose will be sour.

Gu Xu, an annoying guy, has been hiding this matter from her.

If he had told her earlier, she would have given him all the elixirs at home—in this way, he would no longer have to go to work on ghost killing missions to earn meritorious service.

"I don't know if he will go to Luoshui to watch the lanterns with me today according to the previous agreement," Shi Xiaohan thought silently, "Of course, if he breaks his promise, I won't blame him... He really needs to seize all the time to practice now..."

With such thoughts in mind, Shi Xiaohan did not go to the "Qingxiang Pavilion" to disturb Gu Xu.

In the next period of time, she stayed quietly in this room for recuperation, and Shangguan Jin combed her hair and made up for her.

Shi Xiaohan seldom applied makeup before.

On the one hand, because she is already pretty, with rosy skin, big and bright eyes, she doesn't need makeup to decorate herself;

On the other hand, she has always called herself a "hero", she has always been careless in doing things, she also wolfs down meals, and rarely pays attention to her own image.

So today, when Shangguan Jin dressed her up seriously, she almost didn't recognize herself in the mirror.

"Where did this fairy come from?" Shangguan Jin pointed at her reflection in the mirror and joked with a smile.

At this time, Shi Xiaohan, after dressing up, lost a bit of childishness, and added a bit of graceful nobility.

She is no longer that carefree heroine, but more like a real rich lady.

"Sister Shangguan, don't make fun of me..."

"I'm not kidding you, I'm telling the truth," Shangguan Jin said seriously, "According to the old custom, on the day of Shangyuan Festival, all the girls in Luojing City will dress up beautifully and go to the edge of Luoshui Look at the lanterns. From a distance, it is a beautiful landscape.

"However, I believe that with Xiaohan's current appearance, even among them, she is the most outstanding."

"But I'm going to fight in the ring today, there's no need to dress like this..."

"Sister Xiaohan is as beautiful as a fairy now. The moment your opponent sees you, they might put down their weapons and surrender directly."

"..."

…………

At the same time, Qingxiang Pavilion.

Gu Xu opened his eyes, stood up slowly from the bamboo mat, took a deep breath, and finished his practice.

He had to admit that climbing the 99 steps of "Sixiang Ridge" was completely different from his previous cultivation process in the first and second realms.

It went very well at first.

Under the effect of "Duedan", he climbed up more than 200 steps almost effortlessly.

However, when he climbed to the 240th step, his pace began to become extremely slow.

The howling ghosts and howling wolves around became more piercing, more dizzying than before.

The fog on the mountain became thicker, making it difficult for him to see the road in front of him clearly; the temperature gradually became colder, as if even his consciousness could freeze.

Sometimes, phantoms appeared in front of him, affecting his judgment on the road in front of him.

Under such circumstances, Gu Xu felt that if he was not careful, he would fall into the terrible abyss next to the mountain road.

For the sake of caution, he temporarily stopped his progress.

At this time, Gu Xu remembered what Chen Jisheng had said to him before: Practitioners who climb the "Wangxiang Terrace" need to find their own mortal heart as an anchor, so as to avoid losing their way on the road of practice in the future.

"Fanxin..." Gu Xu repeated the word silently.

As expected, the road of practice becomes more and more difficult as you go further.

Even today, with his understanding far beyond that of ordinary people, he still hasn't grasped the true meaning of the word "fanxin".

Like Chen Jisheng, his cultivation has stagnated at the peak of the third realm for many years.

It wasn't until he risked his life to climb Yishan Mountain and entered the territory of Xuenv to pick off the snow ginseng that he suddenly had an epiphany and found his "mortal heart".

"Perhaps, I should take a break for a while and go out to find inspiration," Gu Xu thought silently in his heart, "It's not a good idea to stay bored in the room and practice.

"If you only practice and don't play, smart children will also become stupid.

"This sentence is definitely a wise saying for monks who want to break through the 'Wangxiang Terrace'!"

At this time, he remembered that today is the Lantern Festival.

"That girl Shi Xiaohan should still be waiting for me to see the lantern!"

Thinking of this, he smiled, then opened the door and walked out of Qingxiang Pavilion.

Then he walked along the corridor towards the house where Shi Xiaohan was recuperating.

When the officials at the headquarters of the Exorcism Division saw him, they all talked beside him.

"Master Gu is finally willing to walk out of the 'Qingxiang Pavilion'..."

"I thought Mr. Gu was so strong because of his great talent. I didn't expect him to work so hard."

"People who are more talented than me also work harder than me. Ordinary people like me don't have to live..."

"I don't know if I will have a chance to see Master Gu make a move in the arena by Luoshui tonight...it must be very exciting..."

PS: The new monthly pass has been released!The title is "Married Life", you can find it in the catalog, and you can unlock it by casting a monthly pass!It's the end of the month, ask for a monthly ticket~
…………

Notes:

(1) "For the sake of learning, I know that books are delicious, and the mind is clear and the room is full of light." ——Ji Ouyang led the rewriting of Liquan inscriptions into a couplet

　Thank you for my 5000 tip for walking in the dark, and thank you Yuanzi for your 500 tip!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)