Chapter 533: Two Ways (5k)
later? I met you in the scroll...
Zhao Duan muttered in his heart, but his face was not obvious:
"I rested in the county after the war. I wanted to meditate and breathe, but I thought about the process of summoning the water god, and I had some feelings about the realm of heaven and man. Under Pei Niannu's suggestion, I tried to visualize "The World" and wanted to try again to see if I could enter it."
Last time, he was in the palace and pretended that he could not enter.
"Have you entered?" Xu Zhenguan's slender jade hands in his sleeves were quietly clenched, leaning forward, and paying close attention to his spirit.
Facing the empress's "sight" and Zhao Duan frowned and hesitated, "I don't know."
"Don't know?"
"Yes, I feel like I have entered, but in a flash of my magical skill, I appeared in the small building behind the Martial Arts Hall."
Zhao Duan looked confused: "Then, we met Eunuch Hai and came to meet him."
After saying this, he observed the subtle changes in the empress's face with a little nervousness. The expected "suspicion" of him was not staged. Xu Zhenguan was frowning tightly and fell into deep thought.
The four influencing factors, including Tianren, Meteor, Zhao Duan, Zhang Hui... were mixed together at the same time, making it difficult for her to tell which factor behind this matter was playing a key role.
Hey... Zhenbao doesn't seem to associate me with Zhang Hui. Sure enough, there are other factors that interfere with her judgment?
Zhao Duan breathed a sigh of relief again and felt strong curiosity. After a while of silence in the room, he couldn't help but whisper:
"Your Majesty? Is this..."
Xu Zhenguan came to his senses, looked up at him, pondered for a while, shook his head and said in confusion:
"This matter is a bit complicated. Do you know what happened just now?"
Zhao Duan said honestly: "I saw the Imperial Heavenly Prison entering the palace."
Xu Zhenguan nodded, suddenly stretched out his hand, took the yellowed booklet on the table, placed it in front of him, and explained:
"This is a stargazing record in the Imperial Heaven Prison."
Zhao Duan's body cannot affect reality or "turn the page", but fortunately, the text date on the booklet is complete.
He lowered his head and glanced at him, and said in surprise:
"Is this a stargazing record six hundred years ago?"
Xu Zhenguan nodded and said:
"Strictly speaking, this is a record of stargazing in the destruction of Qi Dynasty. At that time, at the end of Qi State, wars broke out everywhere. Before Qi State was captured, a fire burned many precious files, but a small number of them were rescued. This is one.
According to time calculation, before the uprising broke out at the end of the dynasty, a special star passed over the capital at that time and was observed and recorded. In the records of Qiguo, this star was named "Disaster Star". It indicates that disaster will come.
In the following years, the world was in chaos and life was in trouble. Both the secular world and the world of cultivation were swept through it. It was the biggest disaster in nearly 1,500 years. ”
After a moment of pause, Xu Zhenguan stared at him with a serious look:
"And just now, the same 'disaster star' appeared again after six hundred years."
Reappear? What Halley Comet... Zhao Duan was stunned. As a modern person who received compulsory education, he was no stranger to the concept of periodic encounters of stars.
But considering that there is an idealistic "god" in this world... the setting that stars predict disaster is not difficult to accept.
"Can you say that this disaster star indicates this war with the Eight Kings?" Zhao Duan asked.
Xu Zhenguan sighed, stood up, paced in the room, with a melancholy look:
"Compared with the scale of the disaster six hundred years ago, the current struggle between the imperial court and the Eight Kings is far inferior."
Zhao Duan suddenly said:
"Your Majesty is worried that this war will not end easily? Or may it be just a guide to a bigger disaster?"
He hesitated: "Is this judgment too arbitrary based on just a so-called disaster star?"
Xu Zhenguan said bitterly: "I also hope that the war will not expand and it will be sank smoothly."
The atmosphere in the study was dull for a moment.
Zhao Duan thought about it and explained carefully:
"Your Majesty should relax, even if this disaster star really indicates the future? Are we still afraid of chaos?"
The empress was stunned for a moment, looked at him, and then seemed to have figured out something, and smiled relievedly.
Zhao Duan also laughed.
Yes, since the Xuanmen coup, the empress ascended the throne, she began to face endless troubles. In the battle of Fengshan, she almost died... She has overcome so many difficulties, so what if she is afraid of more?
What's more, it's just an unverified star after all, and it doesn't make sense for people nowadays to be anxious.
Even if there is a disaster in the future, what the king and his minister can do now is to quell the rebellion as soon as possible to deal with a bigger enemy. So, there is no need to worry, it is enough to do the present thing well.
Emperor Taizu of Dayu ended the disaster that swept the mainland six hundred years ago, and brought six hundred years of peace to the world.
Xu Zhenguan wanted to imitate his ancestors, but at worst he could clean up the old mountains and rivers again.
Thinking of this, the haze suddenly dissipated in her heart, her whole body was much lighter, she nodded and smiled:
"You are right, just a star, there is no need to worry about it. However, the review records of the Imperial Heavenly Prison show that Emperor Taizu was addicted to astrological signs in his later years. He spent a lot of time watching stars in the Imperial Heavenly Prison, trying to see the future rise and fall.
Taizu read this record of disaster stars very often, and it was recorded in the royal family that Emperor Taizu had referenced the record of the Imperial Heavenly Supervisor when he was portraying the mural of "The World". ”
Did Lao Xu still indulge in astronomy? Zhao Duan was stunned and said:
"That's why your Majesty doubts that I can appear in the capital from the mural, which is related to this disaster star?"
This logic is a bit tangible...
Xu Zhenguan shook his head, his eyes shining with a wise light:
"No, I guess, the reason why you can manifest your spiritual consciousness and walk out of the mural is that it has little to do with this disaster star. It should be that you have experienced the realm of heaven and man, combined with the dragon soul in your body, and you have a wonderful change. After all, you are already extremely destined to be in the royal family inheritance."
Zhao Duan errats, has no way to refute, and then says:
"What did your Majesty mention the disaster star just now?"
Xu Zhenguan's eyes became brighter and brighter. She was a little excited, as if she was sharing a big secret:
"Because this involves another change, just now, I also visualized entering the "Human World", and I finally found the clues of the practice left by Emperor Taizu. He was a man in the painting, and called himself "Zhanghui"...
After I entered it, it was suspected that there was an "identity" in the world in the painting, and the person in the painting contacted me with this identity... Well, it is similar to "The Great Dream Scroll"..."
She talked about her experience with great enthusiasm.
Women always have a strong desire to share, but as an emperor, she has too many secrets to tell others, and can only hold them in her heart.
And Zhao Duan is undoubtedly a good person to talk to.
Moreover, Zhao Duan will also enter "The World" sooner or later. Xu Zhenguan believes that the experience he has explored can be shared with him, so that he can familiarize himself with the next chapter in advance...
The empress did not notice, and Zhao Duan's eyes became more and more bizarre.
‘Well... Zhenbao, you are so smart, you can actually make up for such a reasonable explanation... Because Emperor Taizu referenced the astrological signs when he was carving the murals, and the disaster star happened to pass over the sky, which led to some changes in the murals...
Well, although this logic is not rigorous, it involves the practice of the gods and man level, which is full of a lot of mysteries and uncertainties... It is indeed easy to make people associate. ’
The key point here is:
The empress succeeded the throne abnormally, and she was not clear about some secrets of the royal family that only emperors of all dynasties knew.
So many things, especially when it comes to practice, require her to explore a little bit.
Just like she didn't know where the dragon soul existed at the beginning.
In the empress's judgment, compared with the outrageous possibility of "Zhao Duan is Zhang Hui", it is undoubtedly a change caused by a disaster, which is more "reasonable".
Well, it may not be that complicated at all. It was just that I had just entered "The World" for a long enough time. After meeting some conditions, the leader Zhang Hui appeared... Xu Zhenguan guessed in his heart.
"So that's how it is." Zhao Duan took the opportunity to get off the donkey and suddenly realized, "So this is how I can come back."
After the king and his ministers talked about this conversation, the empress's mood improved a lot, let alone the bad omen of disaster stars.
Whether it is the great victory on the Western Front, the appearance of Zhang Hui, or the wonderful way Zhao Duan returns... they are all happy events.
"How long can your state last? Can you return?" Xu Zhenguan began to care about his state.
Zhao Duan said:
"I didn't feel any discomfort, but I had a feeling that one was that I couldn't leave the mural too far... The other was that I should be able to go back from the mural, but it was uncertain whether I could come back again and I needed to try it."
Xu Zhenguan nodded seriously:
"It is not easy to be careless when it comes to the field of cultivation. I cannot be sure whether there is any problem with staying here for a long time. To be on the safe side, I will send you back first."
Will you leave now?
Zhao Duan was silent for a moment and looked straight into the empress's eyes:
"I can't bear to leave Your Majesty, I can sit for a while."
Xu Zhenguan's cheeks turned red, and a warm feeling surged in her heart. Even though Zhao Duan was not physical at this moment, his eyes seemed to have a scorching temperature, which made her want to avoid it.
The empress hesitated for a moment and still said softly, which was acquiescent.
Zhao Duan smiled and simply stood up with courage, walked to the empress, and tried to attack with his hands.
Then, as expected, "washed" it over.
Xu Zhenguan glared at him angrily: "Have you been here?" "There is no outsider here, Eunuch Hai is guarding outside." Zhao Duan muttered. After saying the serious things at this moment, the atmosphere between the two was no longer the monarch and minister, but something else.
The empress didn't say anything, but felt the phantom trying to pass through her over and over again, and she seemed to be smiling:
"You can't even saliva like this, what else can you do?"
"..." Zhao Duan retreated in frustration.
So, in the last moment, the king and his minister just sat quietly in the study and said a while.
Afterwards, although the empress was a little reluctant, for his safety, she took him back to the old building behind the Wugong Hall.
Standing in front of the mural, he said:
"You try to go back first. If you can return again, you can come over again. If you can't do it, send the message back from the front line.
The news of the great victory on the Western Front will surely boost the confidence of the civil and military officials in the court. However, the alliance between King Jing and King Mu will become closer and closer. You and Xue Shence must act carefully and do not be greedy for merits and make progress. ”
The empress made a farewell advice.
Zhao Duan nodded and smiled:
"Don't say it's like seeing off. I have a premonition, I can come over again. I will report to Your Majesty when the battle on the front line ends."
Xu Zhenguan smiled and said, "Okay, I'm waiting for you to come back."
Zhao Duan stepped forward, and his figure slowly sank into the stone wall and disappeared.
Xu Zhenguan watched his breath disappear completely. The white-clothed empress stood alone in the old building, and the afternoon sun shone in from the window.
Her eyes were filled with gloom and she felt lost.
...
...
Linfeng, in Ning'an County.
In the closed house, Zhao Duan, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed, opened his eyes suddenly, feeling the sky was spinning, and a strong sense of fatigue surged into his heart.
In the sea of consciousness, the green lotus swayed, spreading out a hazy light, replenishing the consumption of the soul.
"Are you back? So tired... Sure enough, just like last time, it will be very tiring to enter the world, but it should be caused by entering the painting. The impact in the palace is not great, because a lot will grow in the next period..."
Zhao Duan covered his forehead and his temples thrust and thrust. He simply took out a few pills that refreshed the mind and swallowed them, which made it better.
"I'm so tired. I need a rest for a while before I can try to visualize again. I have a premonition, and visualization immediately will fail directly."
Zhao Duan felt the turmoil of the sea of consciousness and the tiredness of his spirit. He breathed heavily and gave up the idea of trying to "go to the sky" immediately and returning to the capital.
"So long has passed?" Zhao Duan stepped out of bed and looked at an hourglass placed on the table:
"Yes, the time in the scroll is difficult to estimate, but the time I spent in the palace to see Zhenbao is real. I wonder if Xue Shence has returned, and there is also the Jade Sleeve Priest..."
Zhao Duan had no intention of resting, so he put away several weapons on the table and pushed open the door.
Outside the door, Song Jinxi abides by his duties and sees him coming out and says:
"Sir, are you going to rest... OK?"
The worshipper had a weird expression and always felt that it had been a while since he entered, so why did he seem to be even more tired?
"Has the Jade Sleeve Priest come out?" Zhao Duan didn't explain, and looked at the inner hall while asking calmly.
With a creaking sound, the door opened, and the jade sleeves walked out of the inner hall. The goddess's eyes were swollen, as if she had cried, and her expression was quite excited, which was very different from the previous indifferentness.
She came over and saluted Zhao Duan very seriously:
"I just saw the adults resting, so I have never disturbed you."
No... I won't see you later, why are you so polite to me? Zhao Duan said suspiciously:
"What happened?"
Yuxiu signaled him to enter the inner hall and spoke with a step.
Zhao Duan ordered Song Jinxi to guard the gate, and he and Yuxiu returned to the inner hall, and saw that Nie Yurong had been untied.
The female killer who pointed directly at the embroidered clothes was crying, and her eyes were swollen, but there was a smile on the corners of her mouth.
Seeing him come in, she stood up with a similar appearance to Yuxiu and suddenly knelt down to Zhao Duan with a sincere tone and indifferent to the hostility:
"The sinner Nie Yurong thanked Governor Zhao for his great kindness!"
Zhao Duan:? ?
...
Two quarters of an hour later.
"So, Nie Yurong and Taoist Master, are you sisters who have been separated for many years?"
Zhao Duan sat in the hall, holding a half-bitten apple in his hand, with a wonderful expression, feeling confused as if he was spilled at eight o'clock.
The story is not complicated:
Yuxiu and Nie Yurong were originally sisters born in Yunfudao. They have been very good at urinating since childhood. Because evil sorcerers colluded with bandits to cause trouble, the sisters fled with their family. On the way, their parents and family members were killed by bandits, and the sisters were also dispersed.
Because of his excellent practice, Yu Xiu was attracted by the priest who went out to eliminate evil Taoist sorcerers in the Heavenly Master Mansion, and brought it back to the Heavenly Master Mansion to train and become a disciple.
Nie Yurong was accidentally taken away by the people from Prince Mu's Mansion and was trained to look directly in embroidered clothes.
Since then, the two sisters are thousands of miles apart and it is difficult to meet again, but they are all looking for each other. But after too many years, there have been no clues.
The Yuxiu Priest was much more stable at this moment. She sat opposite Zhao Duan, holding her sister's hand, and explained with a smile:
"I have a secular family surname Nie, but after entering the Tianshi Mansion, I changed my name to Taoism. I have been practicing in the capital a few years ago. I was not until I became a master and could travel around the world, so I went to Yunfu Road.
One of the reasons why I have been walking in Yunfu Dao, and even the territory of the Liao human race, and the eastern and western boundaries of the southern borders over the years is that I am trying to find my sister's whereabouts. ”
Nie Yurong's tears have not yet been erased, and she is now holding her sister's hand tightly and is excited:
"I was attracted by the Mu Palace. I was trained secretly. The embroidered clothes pointed out that the organizational discipline was extremely strict and I could not move freely. The priests in the Tianshi Mansion were too far away from us. I didn't expect that my sister became a priest and a disciple of Tianshi."
Zhao Duan said curiously:
"Master, have you never asked Master Zhang Tian to help find it?"
Yuxiu understood what he meant, nodded and shook his head, and smiled bitterly:
"I have indeed asked for help from Master, but although Master has a high level of cultivation, my younger sister also worshipped a little god in Prince Mu's Mansion to practice concealment techniques, and her existence is protected by magical magic, so Master cannot know it."
After a pause, she suddenly said:
"However, when Master sent me to follow the Lord to come to the throne, I vaguely told me that this trip might get what I wish. I was puzzled at the time, but now I think about it, I am afraid that Master has vaguely seen that I and my younger sister will meet again."
Such a huge world, decades have passed, and meeting again is not easy?
Zhao Duan was originally still worried about whether there was a fraud here, but he felt relieved when he heard that Lao Zhang had already suggested it.
Well, I can accidentally meet Pei Niannu's "descendants", Princess Jing Lu Yan'er.
The reunion of the Yuxiu sisters is not special.
"Mr. Zhao," Yuxiu suddenly stood up and said seriously:
"I know that my younger sister is in Prince Mu's Mansion, and in terms of national laws, she is an enemy. Now she should be a prisoner and should be severely punished. But I dare to ask the Lord to raise her hands. This kindness should be remembered in my heart and will be repaid."
Zhao Duan smiled, waved his hand, indicating that she didn't have to do this, and pondered for a moment and said:
"This time the priest came with the army. He first defeated the young master of the White-Yuan Sect, and then killed the Fanlong of the Shenlong Temple. With only these two items, it should be considered the favor I owe you. However, if I am a direct envoy of embroidered clothes, if I let it go, it would be contrary to the national law..."
Yu Xiu suddenly became nervous, but Nie Yurong was not afraid. She smiled and suddenly said to Yu Xiu:
"The reason why I have survived those cruel training in the Mu Palace over the years and lived to this day, not for fame and fortune, but just wanted to look at my sister.
Now that my wish is fulfilled, there is no regret. As a priest, my sister should be impartial. I collude with the evil sorcerer of the king's mansion, and I don't have to plead for me. ”
She looked at Zhao Duan and said calmly:
"What should we do? Please don't ask the governor to give us kindness outside the law. Everything is treated by the national law."
She doesn't want to affect Yuxiu's future because of her background!
Nie Yurong knew very well that she could no longer live an ordinary life in her life, and as a killer, she could not turn back.
But Yuxiu still has a bright future.
Even though the Tianshi Mansion was transcendent, Yuxiu was involved in the political struggle of the dynasty, and especially pleaded with the extremely dark-hearted, insidious and cunning powerful minister in the rumor... This is something she didn't want to see.
Yuxiu was anxious and her expression changed: "What nonsense are you talking about?"
Zhao Duan smiled and looked at the two of them arguing, and suddenly smiled:
"Let's do this, I have two choices to give you."
He raised a finger to Nie Yurong:
"The first way, I will help you completely wash away this identity. In the future, you will be "dead". You can live anywhere. As long as you are in the area controlled by the court, I will keep you safe.
Yes, the premise is that you will not commit any more. At the cost, the Jade Sweet Priest had to help me do things for a while. ”
"On the second way, you continue to be your embroidered clothes and help me do something. At the same time, you will become the shadow guard of the court. After doing it, you will make contributions and pay for your own sins. You will earn the merits and redeem them for your own sins."
Nie Yurong did not hesitate and stepped forward before her sister: "I will choose the second way!"
(This chapter ends)