I am about to die of old age, and I have awakened the character of longevity.

Chapter 144: There is something wrong with the bronze bell, behead the high priest!
That night, the full moon was high in the sky.

With the help of the bright moonlight, Xie An climbed up to a high place and looked far into the distance, and saw the whole picture of the village:
He came through the four courtyards, which he thought was where the high priest usually trained the golden, silver, and bronze corpses. Behind the four courtyards was a large square, at the end of which was the ancient tower.

But on the other side of the ancient pagoda, right next to a huge, eerie temple, the courtyard outside was filled with numerous statues of evil spirits and scattered wooden plaques. Judging by their shapes, they were likely used to carve spirit tablets. There were also discarded transparent containers and other bottles and jars.

Based on Xie An's knowledge, the palace should be a place similar to an ancestral hall.

A cult like the Corpse Refining Hall shouldn't be completely unscrupulous and fearless. They actually set up a shrine?
Xie An instinctively felt that something was wrong with this ancestral hall.

Because the ancient pagoda was located behind the temple, Xie An could not see the front of the temple gate, and thus could not obtain more information. However, Xie An's Qi sense had been cultivated to a considerable degree, and his keen sense... This ancestral hall seemed to be filled with something familiar.

Ok?
Xie An immediately practiced Mingyu Gong, pushing his Qi to its highest state, and looked carefully at the ancestral hall in front of him.

The familiar feeling became stronger and stronger, but I still couldn't see through it.

"Immortal energy?"

Xie An had an estimate in his mind, but he couldn't be sure.

The immortal energy is invisible and colorless, probably similar to the breath of human life. It can only be confirmed by Xie An's long life force at close range.

If the distance is too far, the longevity character cannot be stimulated.

In desperation, Xie An had to put aside all distractions and focus his attention on the large bronze bell in front of him.

With his previous experience with the Tong stele, Xie An had already anticipated the large size of the bronze bell, so he wasn't too surprised. After a quick scan around the bell, Xie An saw characters the size of a bowl carved into it, which together formed the complete content of the agreement:

In the 13th year of Jingtai's reign, the imperial court and the Corpse Refining Hall reached a non-aggression agreement lasting for a hundred years.

It was also agreed that no one should violate this agreement, otherwise it would be a contempt of imperial power, as well as other details.

"It turned out that this agreement was reached in the third year of Jingtai. Now it should be the one hundred and third year of Jingtai, and there are still ten years left before the expiration." Xie An estimated the time by counting on his fingers.

A piece of paper spans a century of time.

Even Xie An couldn't help feeling touched after reading it.

He recalled his past life, when he was born in the 1990s. It was already the 2000s when he started high school. At the time, Xie An was so familiar with the history of the Qing Dynasty, a century ago, that it seemed like an ancient calendar, several dynasties away from Xie An's time, a very long time ago.

This is the first time I have seen the agreement made a hundred years ago, and I feel a sense of sadness.

Gathering his thoughts, Xie An continued to read. There were three names written in the place of signature:

The one representing the imperial court was He Nanfeng.

Representing the Corpse Refining Hall was Li Changchun, but he was second in line, with the first being a man named Guang Chanzi.

"Who is Guang Chanzi? Is his rank higher than Li Changchun's?"

Isn’t Li Changchun the ancestor of the Corpse Refining Hall?
Is there a bigger one?
Xie An searched his entire brain but could not find any information about Guang Chanzi.

This made him keenly aware that something was not right.

Besides Guang Chanzi's point, there was another detail that exceeded Xie An's expectations: this was an agreement between the imperial court and the Corpse Refining Hall, not between He Nanfeng and the Corpse Refining Hall.

It can be seen that this agreement involves a lot of things.

No wonder Su Yuqing, the eldest princess, was suppressed by this agreement and dared not enter the mountain rashly.

Su Yuqing's extreme dislike for this agreement clearly indicates that it was controversial within the court when it was first established. However, He Nanfeng was a capable person and overcame those opponents.

"Logically speaking, if it were just Li Changchun and the high priest, the court wouldn't have agreed to such an agreement. After all, Li Changchun had only cultivated to the eighteenth stage of Mingyu Gong at the time, and was not even comparable to a martial arts master. However, He Nanfeng was already a martial arts master at the time. With the court also equipped with other masters, it shouldn't be a problem to encircle and wipe out the Corpse Refining Hall. The key issue... is this Guang Chanzi?"

Xie An pondered this line of thought for a while, but with so little information to draw conclusions, he couldn't come up with an answer. However, he felt that this agreement must involve some significant secret that he was unaware of.

Even if it wasn't because of Guang Chanzi, there must be other reasons.

At this moment, Yuhe's voice came from below.

"Master, are you in trouble? Do you need Yuhe to come up and help?"

Xie An finally came to his senses and said to the people below: "Yuhe, have you ever heard of Guang Chanzi?"

Yuhe shook her head, "No."

Xie An was sure Yu He would not lie to him. Even Yu He did not know about it. It was obvious that Guang Chan Zi was hiding something very deep. It seemed that only Su Yu Qing knew about it.

Xie An said, "Yuhe, I'm about to start. It might make a big noise soon."

Yuhe said, "It's okay. I have someone light a fire in a forbidden place far away. It will soon burst into a huge fire, and most people will rush over to put out the fire. We have enough time to leave."

Hearing this, Xie An no longer hesitated. He turned his back to Yuhe and took out the magic box from his inner pocket.

buzzing.

as predicted--

Just when it was three meters away from the big bronze bell, the magic box began to vibrate violently.

The vibration amplitude is much greater than the last time we faced the Tongbei.

This gave Xie An hope of breaking the big bronze bell. He took a deep breath and slowly moved the magic box closer.

When it got close to two meters, the fairy box began to tremble violently and made a buzzing sound.

When it got one meter close, the fairy box turned into a prehistoric beast, opening its bloody mouth as if it was about to eat a delicious meal.

Click!

Xie An touched the magic box to the big bronze bell.

Suddenly, thunder roared from the ground. An unimaginable and terrifying force surged out from the large bronze bell, rushing madly towards the surroundings. The entire ancient pagoda was shaking, and the surrounding ancestral halls and squares were also shaking violently.

However, even such a terrifying force could not pass through the palm-sized fairy box and was swallowed up by it.

Fairy Box, as always, performs stably.

call!
Xie An took a deep breath.

He knew that the national seal on the large bronze bell would most likely be shattered.

All it takes is time.

A burst of white light shot up from the large bronze bell, shocking everyone in the surroundings. It was then absorbed by the Immortal Treasure Box.

The two sides entered into a tug-of-war.

Yu He, who was on the first floor of the ancient pagoda, saw this scene and couldn't help but widen her eyes and exclaimed in surprise, "Master is amazing."

Countless bronze, silver and gold corpses around heard the noise here and rushed here.

They shouted in anger.

"Someone broke into the roof of the ancient tower and tried to destroy the big bronze bell."

"That damned thief must be torn into pieces. Follow me, and kill him."

"That's the lifeblood of our Corpse Refining Hall. This thief wants to destroy it. We must not let him off."

"Kill the thief."

Almost at the same time, the forbidden area caught fire.

The corpses that were rushing forward stopped one after another and looked back at the raging fire in the forbidden area in the distance.

"And there are thieves burning forbidden areas. How despicable!"

"This is how to do?"

"Let's go separately. You, you, you... go to the forbidden area to put out the fire. You, you... and you, bring the others with me to protect the bronze bell."

The zombies were smart enough and immediately decided to split up their forces.

However, the ancient tower also caught fire.

A huge fire.

This is hard to deal with the zombies. After all, they are not human.

"Oh my god...it's on fire again. What should I do?"

"Put out the fire first, and put out as many as you can."

……

the other side.

At the foot of Dayin Mountain, on the Huaihe River outside Gupo Village.

A pleasure boat was floating on the river.

The two-story pleasure boat wasn't small. But there was no boatman or helmsman. The boat simply sat on the river. On the second floor, in the open air, stood a mahogany tea table.

A woman in a slim-fitting, aqua-blue dress sat quietly at the tea table, lighting a stove to brew tea. Fine porcelain cups and tea sets were placed on the table. As night fell, a gentle river breeze rustled the woman's flowing hair. A few strands brushed past her lips, making her look a bit disheveled. But the woman didn't seem to mind, concentrating solely on brewing tea.

Dolphins jumped out of the water in the Dahuai River and seagulls circled.

The woman didn't care and just focused on making tea.

Finally, a bamboo raft slowly approached from a distance. In front of the raft stood a little girl in a red cotton-padded jacket. She didn't use a bamboo pole to paddle, but the raft moved forward on its own, slowly approaching the pleasure boat.

The little girl seemed to be in a good mood and was humming a song.

"The Great Yin Mountain is a treasure. There are endless treasures to be found on the mountain. If you find ginseng, you will find protected plants. If you find protected plants, you will find precious beasts... The Three Thousand Huai River is also a treasure. If you find porpoises, you will find fish monsters. If you find fish monsters, you will find the Dragon King..."

When it was approaching the pleasure boat, the small bamboo raft suddenly stopped. The little girl jumped onto the second floor of the pleasure boat and came to the woman.

The kettle next to the woman had already boiled, making a "exposure" sound.

The woman reached for the kettle and began to brew tea. "The high priest has lived here for a hundred years, and has completely integrated into the local environment. He sings beautifully."

whee.

The little girl walked over with a smile and sat down opposite the woman. "I've heard that the eldest princess is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. I took your comments seriously. I wonder how the eldest princess brews her tea."

At that moment, Su Yuqing brought a cup of tea to the little girl and said, "How good is my tea-making? The High Priest will know the taste of it after taking a sip."

The little girl didn't drink her tea, but smiled and said, "Ever since the eldest princess came to Nanyang Prefecture to take charge of the Demon Suppression Division twenty-four years ago, the evil cults in Nanyang Prefecture have been obedient and peaceful. Although I have never seen the eldest princess take action, I know that her methods are extraordinary. She is quite like He Nanfeng in his youth. Could this cup of tea be the beheading tea that the eldest princess wants to give me on my journey?"

Su Yuqing poured herself a cup of tea and took a sip. "I have only heard of the last meal before execution, but never heard of the last tea before execution. If I really want to do this, I will invite the high priest to dinner today."

whee.

The high priest suddenly smiled, picked up the teacup and took a sip. "I live in poverty and have never tasted good tea. I can't compare to the luxurious life of the princess. But I can taste it... This is good tea. Thank you, princess, for the gift."

Su Yuqing poured her another glass, "Then drink a few more glasses."

The high priest drank two more cups before speaking, "The princess sent a message to me the other day, inviting me here to meet her. She also said there was something important to discuss. Now that I'm here, I beg the princess to give me some advice."

Su Yuqing said, "The High Priest has toiled for the Corpse Refining Hall for a hundred years. I wonder what his plans are next?"

The high priest didn't hide anything when faced with such a crucial and profound question. "I am also a human being. I just want to keep my men alive. I have also heard some of the eldest princess's remarks. I know that she sympathizes with the people. I have three questions for her."

"It doesn't hurt to just say it."

"The eldest princess once said that the roots of Daqian lie in the wild, not in the court. She also said that all those living on Daqian's land are its people. So, I want to ask, does my Corpse Refining Hall count as a citizen of Daqian?"

"Calculate."

The high priest nodded and said, "Since the princess feels that my Corpse Refining Hall is also a citizen of Daqian, then my Corpse Refining Hall... deserves the same care as other citizens, right?"

"worth."

The high priest didn't expect Su Yuqing's answer to be so direct and straightforward. He was shocked and paused for a moment before asking his third question, "In that case, can you give the Corpse Refining Hall a chance to survive?"

"can."

Su Yuqing gave the answer without even thinking about it.

The high priest opened his eyes wide, looking at the elegant princess in front of him in disbelief.

Just yesterday, Su Yuqing found a golden corpse and had it deliver a letter to the high priest, asking him to come here to discuss the future of the Corpse Refining Hall.

Since the eldest princess personally spoke, the high priest naturally had to come.

Before coming here, the high priest had even taken the trouble to read Su Yuqing's lectures. He felt that this princess was different from the other Demon Suppression Division leaders. He had a vague feeling that... there might be a way out for the Corpse Refining Hall.

Although Li Changchun had gone to Nanzhou City, he hadn't returned in a long time. This showed that the negotiations there weren't going as smoothly as expected. Meanwhile, Su Yuqing was in Qingwu County, constantly eyeing the Corpse Refining Hall.

The high priestess had to consider Su Yuqing's attitude. She thought that if she could get Su Yuqing's promise before the great blood sacrifice was successfully completed, the corpse refining hall would be safe.

Therefore, the high priest took the risk to come here to meet Su Yuqing secretly.

She knew that Su Yuqing was a martial arts master, but she had already mastered the Mingyu Gong and possessed strength comparable to that of a grandmaster. She was not afraid that Su Yuqing would attack her here.

She just wanted to find a safe way out.

After staring at Su Yuqing for a long time, the high priest slowly stood up and bowed to her, "The princess cares about the world. Please be considerate of the people in the Corpse Refining Hall. If the princess is willing to give the Corpse Refining Hall a chance to survive, I am willing to negotiate any conditions."

Su Yuqing poured a cup of tea for the high priest in a cold and desolate manner. "No hurry. I came here tonight to consider the future of the Corpse Refining Hall. Sit down and talk slowly."

The high priest saw hope and was in a good mood. He sat down and slowly drank his tea.

Su Yuqing looked up from time to time in the direction of the Dayin Mountain Corpse Refining Hall.

She chose this meeting place after careful consideration.

First of all, this place is not far from the Corpse Refining Hall, and you can hear the bells coming from the Corpse Refining Hall.

In addition, it would only take Su Yuqing a hundred breaths to get to Dayin Mountain from here.

Seeing that there was no movement from the Corpse Refining Hall, Su Yuqing started chatting: "I remember the high priest's surname was Jin, and she was Guang Chanzi's daughter. Is Guang Chanzi okay now?"

The high priest was not too surprised when Su Yuqing said the three words "Guang Chanzi". He said casually: "My father is in Nanyang. Although he is over 200 years old, he is in good health."

Su Yuqing said, "Good health is a blessing. Twenty years ago, I actually met Guang Chanzi in the capital. He was indeed in excellent condition. As expected of a former imperial teacher, his legacy remains."

The high priest just smiled and said nothing.

Just then——

when!
A clear and melodious sound of a bell came from Dayin Mountain.

When the high priest heard the voice, he immediately stood up, turned his head to look in the direction of Dayin Mountain, his face shocked.

This bell has not rung for hundreds of years.

No one can ring the bell.

With the high priest's knowledge, he naturally knew...something might have happened in the rear.

She suddenly turned around and looked at Su Yuqing, "It's you!"

Su Yuqing quietly took a sip of tea, then slowly stood up. "You asked me three questions just now, and I answered them all sincerely. But there's one thing you might have misunderstood—whether it's the demons of the Corpse Refining Hall or the demonic beasts living on the land of Daqian, they are all considered citizens of Daqian. But precisely because of this, they must abide by the laws of Daqian. Any violation will be unacceptable. If the Three Departments can't handle it, the Demon Suppression Department will."

After saying this, Su Yuqing slowly took off the small metal ball hanging around her neck. "I've heard that if one cultivates the Mingyu Gong to the nineteenth level, one can be on par with a contemporary martial arts master. I wonder what level the high priest has reached?"

The high priest took three steps back and stared at Su Yuqing warily, "Nineteenth floor."

"That's perfect. I've practiced swordsmanship." Su Yuqing squeezed the small metal ball, placed it in her palm, and then slowly opened her palm.

The previously motionless metal ball suddenly moved. Like a ball of yarn, the metal filaments wrapped around it continuously expanded and unfurled, transforming into countless fine threads that enveloped the entire pleasure boat, blocking all escape routes for the high priest.

The high priest was stunned. "It's sharp enough to cut iron like mud, and soft enough to bend around a finger ring. This is a sword pill! You've actually cultivated your sword skills to this level."

brush!
The high priest seemed to have seen something very scary, and without thinking, he immediately retreated and fled.

Su Yuqing slowly walked to the bow, looked at the high priest who had jumped onto the bamboo raft with a flying shield, and raised her right hand. "I came to Nanyang and cultivated my sword for twenty-four years. I have done this just to break the century-old deadlock. I can slay demons and evil spirits, and even martial arts masters. Jin Hai'er, you can't escape!"

(End of this chapter)