Chapter 161 Puppetry
Yishui County, the lobby of the exorcism department.
"Master Chen, this is the most important newspaper of the imperial court." Wang Yang held a document in his hand and nodded to Chen Jisheng who was sitting behind the desk.
During the Chinese New Year, as a homeless orphan left behind in the government office, Wang Yang took on more responsibilities than usual.
Things like sending and receiving files have been done by him recently.
Chen Jisheng lowered his head and did not respond.
Wang Yang raised his voice slightly and repeated what he just said.
"Put it on the table first!" Chen Jisheng ordered lightly, still not looking up.
Wang Yang was very curious as to what Mr. Chen could be so fascinated by. But of course, he didn't have the guts to peek.
So, he carefully placed the Di newspaper on the table, then turned and left the Yamen lobby.
Chen Jisheng is reading the letter written by Gu Xu.
Because the Daqi Exorcism Department has special mailing channels, it took less than a day for this letter to arrive in Yishui County from Laizhou Prefecture.
In the letter, Gu Xu described the ups and downs of his trip to Laoshan in concise words.
The twists and turns, like a wonderful story, firmly grabbed Chen Jisheng's attention.
In the past few days, Chen Jisheng has been worried about Gu Xu's safety.
Although Gu Xu carries life-saving items such as "Breaking Sky Beads" and "Stand-in Bracelets", Laoshan Mountain is a relic left by immortals after all, and the rules there are likely to be different from the outside world - the magic weapons and tricks that can be used by the outside world , may not be useful in the Laoshan ruins.
But after reading this letter from Gu Xu, Chen Jisheng finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Moreover, when Chen Jisheng saw that Gu Xu had become the only one to successfully reach the summit, he was filled with joy and pride deep in his heart.
"Oh, those direct descendants of sects and heirs of powerful families usually look more impressive than the last, but in the end they were stepped on by that kid Gu Xu." Although there was no expression on his face, he still tolerated it in his heart. I couldn't help but think a little awkwardly.
Unfortunately, it is Chinese New Year time, and the yamen is deserted, with not many people.
Otherwise, Chen Jisheng would have to spend his savings to set up a few banquets in a restaurant and invite all the officials from the yamen there to have a feast.
Yishui County has not produced such a promising young man for many years.
How can you not celebrate him with such good news?
…………
At the same time.
Shi Xiaohan was still sleeping in at home.
Actually, she woke up two hours ago.
But since she has a day off today, and sleeping next to the warm stove in the winter is an extremely happy thing.
So after she woke up, she yawned, turned over, buried her head in the pillow and continued to sleep soundly.
It’s just that the girl’s sleeping posture has always been very restless.
When the maid Chenxi walked into her bedroom with the letter from Gu Xu, her pillow had already fallen to the floor.
As for Shi Xiaohan herself, she was lying carelessly on the bed. The quilt had already been kicked to the corner by her and only covered one of her feet.
She was wearing a pale pink bellyband and trousers, embroidered with patterns of mandarin ducks playing in the water, revealing her porcelain-white and smooth arms and calves; her long, fluffy hair was also spread down, covering half of her breasts. Face.
On the cabinet beside her bed, there was a delicate hairpin, a clean white handkerchief, and a small cookie box.
"Miss, it's time to get up!" The maid Chenxi came to her side and called softly, "Someone sent you a letter this morning."
Chen Xi's words interrupted Shi Xiaohan's sweet dream.
She snorted gloomily, her eyes still closed and motionless, as if someone had sealed her in this soft big bed with a spell.
"Miss, this letter is sent to you by Mr. Gu from Laizhou Mansion." Seeing that Xiaohan was still lying in bed, the maid Chenxi smiled and continued.
Hearing the words "Master Gu", Shi Xiaohan was shocked and stopped pretending to sleep.
“Show it to me quickly!”
Before Chen Xi could answer, she kicked the quilt to the ground, sat up suddenly, and snatched the envelope from Chen Xi's hand. There was no trace of sleepiness in her big eyes as clear as apricots.
Then, she carefully opened the envelope, took out the letter from it, and saw Gu Xu's delicate and elegant handwriting at a glance.
She knew that Gu Xu’s calligraphy was the most beautiful.
But in this letter, Gu Xu wrote in regular script fonts that were straight and straight.
"He must be trying to make it easier for me to read it!" She thought silently, sitting cross-legged on the bed and began to read the letter carefully word for word.
Soon, she read about how the fourth prince Xiao Shangzhen disguised herself as a girl to deceive her opponents in the "Realm of Taoism" and was called "Qilin Girl" by her companions in the "Shenji Camp".
She immediately held her stomach and laughed non-stop, rolling around on the big bed like a kitten.
“Oh, I really didn’t expect that His Highness the Prince of Daqi could do such a thing...”
After a few minutes, the girl finally calmed down and held her hand with one hand. Go ahead and lie down on the bed and continue reading the following content.
The black hair as black as clouds is scattered on her smooth and delicate back, and the pink rope belt of her bellyband is vaguely exposed; her white and tender feet are hanging in the air, dangling unconsciously.
When she read that Gu Xu had overcome many obstacles and climbed to the top of Mount Laoshan, she suddenly opened her eyes wide and couldn't help but exclaimed: "He is so awesome!"
However, the next second, , she saw that Gu Xu had written something in the letter: "Xiaohan, do you think I'm awesome?"
She immediately stopped her smile, said "poof", and secretly commented in her heart: "This bastard is really awesome. "Yeah!"
Next, she saw that Gu Xu used a lot of words to describe the process of getting along with her father, and his words were full of praise and admiration for her father.
A bright smile once again bloomed on the girl's face - like the ripples of a clear spring, overflowing from the dimples at the corners of her mouth and spreading all over her face.
Shi Xiaohan was sincerely happy that Gu Xu and her father were getting along well.
Finally, she saw that at the end of the letter, Gu Xu asked about the magical powers she had gained when she broke through.
“Humph, I’ll tell you when you come back!”
As she said this, she stuffed the letter paper back into the envelope, and then placed the envelope on the bedside cabinet, along with the hairpin and Handkerchiefs and biscuit boxes put together.
At this time, she raised her head and looked at Chen Xi beside her: "What breakfast did you prepare today? Did you make preserved egg and lean meat porridge and soup dumplings as I asked?"
The maid Chenxi smiled slightly and responded: "Miss, it's time for lunch."
Shi Xiaohan was stunned for a moment.
She felt very sad that she had missed a meal because she snoozed.
Later, with the help of Chen Xi, Shi Xiaohan put on a pink dress, combed her hair into a hanging bun, and wore a gilt hairpin with mandarin duck patterns and pearls. She looked both delicate and expensive. gas.
While helping her comb her hair, Chen Xi pretended to ask casually: "What did Mr. Gu write in the letter? To make the young lady so happy?"
"How can you tell that I'm happy?" Shi Xiaohan frowned slightly and replied, "That arrogant guy Gu Xu just climbed up Mount Laoshan and felt that he was very amazing.
"If this heroine also enters the 'Shenji Camp', it is impossible for him to be so arrogant! "
"What the young lady means is that Mr. Gu is actually not very powerful at all? "Chen Xi said in a teasing tone.
"You are not allowed to say that about him! "Hearing this, Shi Xiaohan slammed the table angrily.
Because she had just broken through the third realm, she was not yet able to completely control the majestic true energy in her body.
So under her powerful power, this expensive and exquisitely crafted mahogany table instantly shattered into sawdust with a bang. Shi Xiaohan was startled and jumped up from his chair.
"Chenxi, please don't tell my father about this!" She stretched out her hand and tugged on Chenxi's sleeves, raised her head and looked at her, her bright eyes like water waves. Yingying.
Chen Xi smiled bitterly and shook his head helplessly.
She was thinking: Miss, you have destroyed such a big table. If the master really asks, I can’t hide it even if I want!
…………
Laizhou Mansion, Tongfu Inn.
Gu Xu is sitting next to the window, holding the secret book of "Puppetry" left by Kong Xuan Sanren in his hand, and is studying it attentively.
At this time, he was wearing a Xiaoyao scarf and a new set of clothes. He looked majestic, handsome and handsome.
He was very fortunate that the exorcism department officials could replace their damaged uniforms for free at the Yamen.
This undoubtedly allowed him to save a lot of money.
According to the description in the secret book, Gu Xu learned that Kong Xuan Sanren's "puppet manipulation" spell is very different from other puppet techniques.
General puppet spells use true energy or spiritual power to control puppets.
There is often an obvious connection between monks and golems.
In this way, enemies with advanced cultivation can trace the location of the monk's body through the puppet.
But this "puppet manipulation" spell uses "threads of cause and effect" to control puppets.
Compared with true essence and divine consciousness, things like "karma" are obviously much more mysterious and much more hidden.
Unless you meet a high-level monk who is proficient in the art of cause and effect, it is impossible to expose the relationship between the puppet and the monk.
According to Kong Xuan Sanren, the "line of cause and effect" is created through the method of "naming".
“Causation is a kind of bondage.”
These are the original words written in the secret book by Kongxuan Sanren.
He claimed that when a name gives a person an identity, it also makes a person bound by his or her identity.
For example, if you have the status of a minister, you must be loyal to the monarch, and if you have the status of a child, you must honor your parents.
In addition, even things that are invisible and intangible can be created and bound by "naming".
For example, if a man likes a woman and a woman likes a man, the name "love" can be used to bind this relationship.
The essence of "puppet manipulation" is to create a master-slave relationship between monks and puppets through "naming" - just like the slave owners in the old days would brand their slaves and give them a code name to prevent Slaves escaped and claimed it as their own.
There are many ways to construct the "line of cause and effect".
You can use spells, talismans, formations, or go through specific rituals.
Gu Xu pondered for a moment, and an idea gradually came into his mind.
He took out the booklet he carried with him from his pocket, tore off a page and folded it into a small paper crane.
Then he took out the "Jinghong Pen" and began to carefully draw symbols on the wings of the paper crane.
In all the talisman books he had read before, he had never been taught a painting method similar to talisman seals.
But with his amazing understanding, after he read the first volume of the secret book "Puppetry", he already had the prototype of this "naming" talisman in his mind.
Although not necessarily completely correct.
But he understood that the truth can only be obtained by repeated attempts.
After a few minutes, he stopped writing.
The seal script has been completed.
But Qianzhihe didn’t react at all.
So Gu Xu knew that his first attempt failed.
However, he did not feel discouraged. Instead, he calmly started folding the second paper crane and made his second attempt.
At the same time, he kept taking notes in his notebook.
"Experiment time: the third day of the first lunar month in the 24th year of Tianxing;
"Experiment content: study the drawing method of 'naming' talisman seals (for 'puppet manipulation');< br>
"Experimental process record:
"First time: Paper crane did not respond and failed;
"The second time: Qianzhihe did not respond, failed;
"The third time: Damn Qianzhihe, how dare you come to peck my eyes? Don't you know I'm your father? Okay, I accidentally painted the 'master-slave relationship' as a 'hostile relationship', failed;
"The fourth time: Qianzhihe suddenly set himself on fire and turned into a puddle of ashes, failed (really really A paper crane who would rather die than surrender, would rather commit suicide than be my puppet, this kind of spirit is worthy of respect);
"The fifth time: the paper crane flew into the wastepaper basket by itself, and then disappeared. Move, fail (you are already a mature garbage, you have to learn to get into the trash can by yourself);
“…
"The fourteenth time: The Thousand Paper Crane finally followed my idea and made it fly around the room in a horizontal, sideways, and upside-down attitude. Then it made several dives, rolls, and jumps. , Sharp rise and turn... It feels really cool.
"It's just that this thing consumes too much real energy. Although my true energy is much richer than that of monks in the same realm, I only used this 'puppet manipulation' spell for an hour today, and I felt like I was almost exhausted.
"But this is not a surprising thing. Because the 'puppet manipulation' spell itself is not for second-level monks."
"Note: It seems that I want to Start preparing to be promoted to the third level.”
Writing this, Gu Xu closed the notebook.
At this moment, he has mastered the most basic use of the "puppet manipulation" spell - at least it will be of great use for him to detect intelligence in the future.
“Maybe I should go home.”
Unknowingly, Gu Xu once again had the idea of returning to Yishui County.
Although Chen Jisheng had asked him not to go home, the longer he stayed in Laizhou Mansion, the more concerned he was about the situation there.
“Anyway, I have the ‘Breaking Sky Bead’ in my hand. Even if the snow girl really kills Yishui County, I can escape safely.
"And with Mr. Chen's character, I'm really afraid that he will risk his life for others again... I have to go back and keep a close eye on him."
Of course, besides this, there is another important reason. .
He wanted to go back and see Shi Xiaohan.
He wanted to know about her situation.
Thinking of this, he began to pack his luggage and put all the items he had brought into "Xianyun Residence".
Then he left Tongfu Inn and planned to go to the Yamen to find a carriage to take him back to Qingzhou Mansion.
As a second-level monk, no one can help him fly with a sword, so riding a carriage is the best mode of transportation he can think of.
However, at this moment, an unexpected person suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Where are you going, Daoyou Gu?" Shangguan Jin, wearing a light green skirt, approached leisurely with a faint smile on her face, "Do you need me to give you a ride?"
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(End of this chapter)