Knife splashing

Chapter 395: Chaos in Shu, Dragon Girl Escapes
The night wind howled, blowing away the smell of incense.

The bodies on the hillside were already cold, and the ground was littered with broken limbs and mixed with mud, and the smell of blood was still strong.

"Hey, slow down!"

Sharifei held the torch and kept giving instructions.

Next to him, Wuba was carrying a cannon up the hill.

This cannon was exactly the one that belonged to the Longxiang Army. After it rolled down the hillside, it was retrieved by Sharifei at night.

The style of the cannon is a bit odd, with a short and thick bronze barrel, a tiger swallowing its mouth embossed on the muzzle, and two tiger claw brackets in the front.

This thing was forged with a mixture of metal spiritual materials and was very heavy, but Wu Ba used his brute strength to carry the tiger claw bracket effortlessly.

Li Yan was also cleaning up the battlefield.

The spoils of this battle were extremely rich.

The Longxiong Army was killed and their weapons and armor were abandoned. Many firearms were dropped, including ordinary muskets, two Vulcan guns, several new gunpowder packs, and even two Nether Fire Guns that had no time to fire.

In comparison, the odds and ends on the warlocks seemed unimportant at all.

Seeing Wu Ba carrying the cannon, Li Yan frowned, "Aren't there wheels? Why did you take them off?"

"That thing is superfluous!"

Sharifei shook his head and said, "This is called the 'Tiger Crouching Cannon'. The front paws are fixed, and when they are lowered, they are like a tiger squatting. It is suitable for fighting in mountains and forests."

"Originally, this cannon had average power and could not hit far, but the guys from the Longxiong Army actually used spiritual materials to forge it and added new gunpowder, which immediately increased its power."

"Originally this cannon didn't have wheels. The soldiers of the Longxiong Army couldn't carry it, so they added them randomly. With Brother Wuba, it won't be a problem!"

Li Yan became interested when he heard this, "How much ammunition do you have?"

Sharifei waved his hand and said, "I only found five medicine bags and not many bullets. I will try to get more. With these things to guard the mountain, let's see who dares to come up!"

His face was full of excitement. After asking Wu Ba to move the "Tiger Crouching Cannon" up the mountain, he went to search for new gunpowder bags with great interest.

Two people took over, and Li Yan was too lazy to look for it anymore. He came to the side of the battlefield, picked up some soil and burned incense, then took out the hook, held it in his hand, and chanted: "God saves people, strictly control Beifeng, the God receives the order, sweeps away all the ominousness, the eight powers spit out poison, the four fierce horses..."

Battlefields have always been home to many wronged souls. If left untreated, disasters will often ensue. In the Tang Dynasty, poet Li Hua wrote: “This ancient battlefield often overturns armies. Ghosts often cry, and you can hear them when the sky is cloudy.”

Even though these are enemies, Li Yan, as a Taoist, cannot ignore them. He must perform rituals to help the dead souls to be reborn.

Normally, these matters were handled by Wang Daoxuan, but he had to look after the altar, and climbing back and forth was quite time-consuming, so Li Yan handled it himself.

What he used was the "Northern Emperor's Disaster-Removing Technique", which could be used to remove curses and evil spirits, and could also be used to liberate the souls of the dead with the help of a warrant.

Call ~
As the spell was cast, a cold wind suddenly blew around.

Li Yan could smell cold air coming out from near the corpses, circling around them rapidly.

At the same time, a shrill cry was heard:

"I don't want to die, I don't want to die!"

"Where is this? It's so cold..."

"Mom, I miss you..."

When a person dies, everything comes to an end, leaving only one residual memory.

At the time of death, one often leaves behind the strongest obsessions of life; some are blown away by the night wind and disappear between heaven and earth, while others condense into evil spirits and turn into wronged souls and evil ghosts.

After awakening the power of ears, these wailing sounds can also be heard.

Immediately, Li Yan felt a cold breath rising from the ground, and the souls of the dead also became quiet, sank into the soil and disappeared.

As the evening breeze blew, the smell of blood seemed to fade a lot.

Li Yan was silent for a moment, shook his head slightly, and returned to the top of the mountain.

The wind was stronger on the top of the mountain at night. Sharifei had already lit a bonfire under a huge rock in front of the cave entrance, and the flames flickered in the wind.

The old fellow had already started boiling broth in an iron pot, and there were a few pancakes baking next to it, which gave off a fragrant aroma.

"This thing is hard to hold... Wuba, seeing that you can lift it with one hand, how about I help you modify it and make a hand cannon?"

Sharifei touched the tiger squatting cannon and thought about all sorts of things.

As for Wu Ba, he didn't care about anything and just squatted beside the fire, staring at the soup in the pot, his saliva flowing to his chest.

Seeing Li Yan coming back, Sha Lifei quickly raised his head and said excitedly: "Brother Yan, I suddenly have a good idea..."

"Shh!"

Before he finished speaking, Li Yan made a gesture for silence and then nodded to the side.

There was another person lying there, who was the Emei disciple who had been captured before.

Sharifei spat, "Hey, you over there, stop pretending to be dead now that you're awake, and stop those little movements with your hands."

The man lying on the ground stiffened, then slowly opened his eyes, looked at the fire, and remained silent.

Li Yan just glanced at it and didn't ask any questions in a hurry. Instead, he stirred the broth in the pot with an iron spoon. Seeing that the meat was stewed, he nodded to Wu Ba.

Wu Ba stood up immediately, hurriedly picked up his large basin, asked Li Yan to fill it up, and then began to eat it happily with the hot pancakes.

Li Yan laughed in silence, handed the spoon to Sharifei, then turned forward, drew out a soul-breaking flying knife, and stabbed it down fiercely.

The man was about to close his eyes and wait for death, but he felt his hands lighten; the cowhide rope that bound him had been cut.

Seeing his puzzled expression, Li Yan shook his head and said, "Come and eat something. Even if you are going to die, you would rather die of hunger on your way to the underworld."

The man gritted his teeth, stood up, walked to the fire, took the meat soup pancake handed to him by Sharifei, and ate it with big mouthfuls under Wu Ba's dissatisfied look.

For a moment, everyone fell silent, with only the sounds of eating and drinking.

After he finished eating, Li Yan asked, "I'm very confused. How come you, a disciple of the Emei Sect and a direct descendant of the Sword Cultivator, got mixed up with the Longxiong Army?"

Upon hearing this, the man lowered his head and remained silent.

Li Yan looked calm, looking at the darkness all around him, and said calmly: "Some things are better spoken out. If you feel aggrieved, no one will know even if you die."

Upon hearing this, the man clenched his fists tightly but remained silent.

Just when Sharifei was getting impatient, the man finally spoke, "My name is Wu Faluo, I come from Huimen, and I practice Taoism at Qingniu."

A gleam of light flashed in Li Yan's eyes, "Fengdu Qingniu Temple?"

The three holy places in China are Shaolin, Wudang and Emei.

These three places are not only holy places of martial arts, but also gathering places for Taoist masters, such as Shaolin Zen Sect and Wudang Zhenwu Palace, which belong to Buddhism and Taoism respectively.

Emei is somewhat special. It has both Buddhism and Taoism, and is located in the southwest. It has a huge influence, and there is a saying that "one tree has five flowers, and the five flowers have eight leaves."

The so-called "one tree" refers to Mount Emei.

It's not just Mount Emei, it also includes the entire Bashu area.

The word "Wuhua" refers to five regions.

Qingniu Temple, Tiefo Temple, Huangling Sect, Dianyi Sect, and Qingcheng Sect occupy five locations in Sichuan: east, west, south, north, and center.

The Eight Leaves refer to the eight major sects of Seng, Yue, Du, Zhao, Hong, Hui, Zi and Hua.

The five flowers and eight petals together contribute to the fame of Emei Mountain.

Among them, there are Taoism and Buddhism, and the harmony is not so harmonious. For example, the Qingcheng Sect is famous enough to be on par with Emei in the Xuanmen, and they are usually called Qingcheng and Emei together.

There is also the Monk Fist, which has many disciples and countless people have learned its boxing techniques. The Monk Fist is practiced everywhere in Shu.

The "Hui Men" that Wu Faluo mentioned is proficient in various magical boxing and martial arts, with the five-word formula of swallowing, spitting, sealing, transforming and sticking.

The Qingniu Temple is even more remarkable.

It was built during the Qin Dynasty and is very old. It is said to be closely related to Laozi. This person probably learned sword skills from Qingniu Temple...

Sharifei, who was standing by, was also quite surprised when he heard this. "You coward, you have such a bright future ahead of you, why did you rebel? Did your brain get squeezed by the door?"

"A promising future?"

The middle-aged man Wu Faluo clenched his fist fiercely, his eyes full of resentment, "What kind of Xuanmen orthodox religion is this? They don't distinguish between right and wrong. I'm already a wanted criminal of the imperial court, so I don't have any choice!" Li Yan frowned slightly, "What's going on?"

Wu Faluo stared at the fire, a trace of confusion flashed in his eyes, "Speaking of which, there are many things that I still can't figure out..."

"The Qingyang Temple in Chengdu holds the 'Flower Festival' temple fair on February 15th every year. It is also the birthday of the founder Laozi. All the Taoists in Sichuan and Shu gather at the Qingyang Temple to worship.

I went with my master to participate and stayed overnight at Qingyang Palace. In the middle of the night, the Sutra Library suddenly caught fire. After a flurry of activity, we learned that someone had set the fire and stolen the treasures of Qingyang Palace.

After putting out the fire, I left with my master and slept in a deserted temple on the way. When I woke up, my master had disappeared. Then disciples from Qingyang Palace chased after us, saying that my master and I had stolen treasures.

Seeing that I couldn’t explain it clearly, I could only flee back to Qingniu Temple and wanted to report the matter to the elders in the sect, but after I told them, they imprisoned me instead and refused to listen to my explanation…”

As he spoke, a trace of fear rose in his eyes, "I have a feeling that those elders seem to have become different people!"

Li Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, "What do you mean?"

Wu Faluo trembled and gritted his teeth, "The skin hasn't changed, the voice hasn't changed, but it's like something has possessed me!"

"impossible."

Sha Lifei had a look of disbelief on his face. "What kind of place is Qingniu Temple? It's the ancestor's territory. How dare evil spirits cause trouble there? You must be imagining things!"

"If this is true, why don't you report it to the Law Enforcement Hall?"

Wu Faluo said angrily: "I reported it, but no one believed me. Instead, the court offered a reward for me. I also ran to Emei, but Emei also had problems."

Li Yan frowned and asked, "What's wrong with Emei?"

Wu Faluo sneered: "What else could it be? It's nothing more than an internal strife. They are only concerned with fighting for power and profit. Why would they care about a nobody like me?"

"Since Emei, I have been hunted down. I fled to Ezhou under a false name and took refuge in the Longxiang Army..."

Li Yan thought thoughtfully: "Emei is not good, what about Qingcheng?"

"Qingcheng is also full of troubles."

Wu Faluo sighed, "Originally, Bashu had the sword immortal Cheng Jianxin in charge, but he has been in seclusion for many years and has never shown up. Some people even rumored that he is dead."

"Because of this, some people in Emei have started to fight for power. At the foot of Qingcheng Mountain and near Dujiangyan, there are even masters of good and evil fighting each other. I don't know what they are fighting for, but Qingcheng has no time to care about these things."

Having said this, his eyes were dim.

Li Yan and Sha Lifei looked at each other, both with serious expressions.

They were going to Sichuan later, but they didn't expect the Xuanmen there to be so chaotic. It seemed they had to be careful then.

Of course, they didn't rush to offer help.

There are many suspicious points in this matter, and I'm afraid there are a lot of inside stories. There are already a lot of things to do, so why should I bother to meddle in other people's business?

"You go."

Li Yan suddenly spoke up and waved his hand, "I'll spare your life this time, but don't get involved with those people. They won't last for a few days. I won't show mercy if I see them next time!"

After saying that, he reached out and pulled out the copper needle from his acupuncture point.

Wu Falu was silent for a moment, then he stood up, clasped his fists, picked up his sword, and went straight down the mountain, soon disappearing from sight.

"What kind of person is this? He can't even say thank you."

Sharifei spat in dissatisfaction, "Brother Yan, I think this kid is probably not telling the truth."

"No need to pay attention."

Li Yan shook his head slightly, and suddenly something moved in his heart. He looked towards the southeast, his eyes became solemn, "Don't worry about him, be careful, I feel the evil spirit rising over there, the Shenkui tribe is probably making trouble again..."

At the foot of the mountain, Wu Faluo walked with a sword in his hand, looking towards the southeast and frowning.

He looked towards Sichuan again, gritted his teeth, a hint of determination flashed in his eyes, and quickly headed southwest...

At the same time, in the dense woods in the southeast, Guo Xiu was running away quickly with a look of fear on his face. Behind him, there were dark shadows in the dense forest and the screams of soldiers continued to ring out.

He didn't expect that after finally gathering the remaining hundred or so people, he had the misfortune of running into the Shenkui tribe out hunting.

At this point, the last of the family’s assets were completely lost.

Guo Xiu only felt confused and sad in his heart, and ran towards the Tiansheng Sect camp like a stray dog.

He didn't want to see those people, but the world was so big that there was nowhere else to go.

Suddenly, the wind whistled behind me.

Before Guo Xiu could react, a giant white-haired hand grabbed his head. Then he felt a pain in his neck and his head was bitten off.

In a trance, Guo Xiu recalled his father's words:

"Father, look at my poems, I can be a scholar..."

"Bang! You bastard scholar! Remember this very well. We are descendants of the Daxing royal family. We will take back this kingdom sooner or later!"

…………

"Be careful on the road."

"Thank you, Mr. Lu. Please tell Mr. Li that I will send the information back as soon as possible and ask him to be careful..."

Outside Longtanhu Village, Captain Gong Xun of the Duwei Division waved his hands and clasped his fists, then turned around and left quickly, disappearing into the night.

By the time he got here, he was already familiar with the territory and could easily bypass the battlefield and return to the Baokang County camp.

Seeing the other party leave, Lu San turned and went towards Longtan Village.

From a distance, you can see a fire by the lake.

When Lu San approached, he saw that the altar had been set up next to Longtan Lake, with all the three kinds of livestock and five kinds of animals, as well as the five offerings. The people from the entire village had come out to burn incense and pray.

Taoist Yun Lingzi, whose face was still pale, stood in front of the altar. After he respectfully lit three incense sticks, he turned to Lu San and said, "Master Lu, after the dragon sacrifice ceremony, this matter can be resolved."

"I will leave Longtan Village soon. If you come to Chengdu in the future, please remember to come to Qingyang Palace. I will do my best to entertain you."

Lu San frowned and said in a muffled voice: "Can you do it?"

Yun Lingzi's injuries had not yet healed, and he was obviously a little weak, but he smiled and said, "It's okay. The ritual of offering sacrifice to the dragon requires sincerity. If the dragon girl takes revenge, I will not be able to escape this disaster even if I am not injured."

After that, he looked at the sky and said, "It's midnight, let's get started!"

The dragon-suppressing piles driven in from below have been tied with chains and dragged to the shore.

At the command, Zhou Lizheng immediately led the men, women, young and old in the village to pull the chains together and pull them back like a tug-of-war.

At the same time, Yun Lingzi also opened the altar, holding the tablet in both hands, and chanted the Dragon King's Precious Edict:
"With all my heart, I bow down to you. The sea is my palace, and the Yao Island is my blessing. I am the descendant of the heavenly race, the commander of the vast land. I hold the three heavens, and command all spirits..."

The sound of scriptures and the shaking of chains.

With the joint efforts of men, women, young and old in Longtan Village, one dragon-suppressing pile after another was pulled out from the bottom of the lake.

Yun Lingzi's forehead was also covered with beads of sweat, but he continued to recite the Dragon King's Precious Edict, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

Bang!
As the last dragon-suppressing pile was pulled out, the lake surface suddenly became turbulent with mud, the wind was howling, and mist was rising and surging on the lake surface, as if some huge object was flying up and down.

Wow!
There were rocks falling from the surrounding cliffs.

Lu San's ears moved slightly and his body tensed.

He seemed to hear the roar of a dragon.

Just when the people of Longtan Village were frightened out of their wits, the lake finally calmed down and ripples appeared, as if everything just now was just a dream.

"Dragon Lady, be merciful!"

Yun Lingzi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his face full of relief.

The people of Longtan Village were unaware of the true situation, and if he untied the dragon-suppressing stake, he would surely be forgiven by the dragon girl, but he couldn't say it.

Fortunately, the Dragon Lady did not seem to have cast a curse.

At the same time, Li Yan, who was on the top of Shennongjia Mountain, was curled up beside the fire, his eyelids trembling wildly, and he fell asleep again...

(End of this chapter)