Chapter 229 Close the case and return to reality (5k words, please vote!)
Gu Xu paid close attention to the battle situation and saw the two swords of Chu Fengge and Wu Ming spurting out, about to fly in the air intersection.
A surging momentum, carrying a resolute and decisive attitude, risking one's life and forgetting one's own life.
The other one looks poetic and picturesque on the surface, but is actually a bit stiff.
If we use painting as a metaphor, it is like a beginner copying the work of an art master - it looks similar at first glance, but if you look closely, you will find that it is missing some key details. .
It is these details that determine whether this painting is an "ordinary excellent work" or a "classic masterpiece handed down from generation to generation."
At this moment, the powerful comprehension ability given to Gu Xu by the "knowledge and strong memory" and the "unfortunate genius" - or to use the expression of the white-haired boy on the "Naihe Bridge", the "wisdom" power quietly disappeared. It started silently.
In his field of vision, Chu Fengge's movements suddenly slowed down, as if he pressed the pause button on a video and watched carefully frame by frame.
He took the opportunity to quickly analyze Chu Fengge's style of "Xiao Ying Waning Moon".
Previously, when competing with Chu Fengge in the "Realm of Discussing the Tao", Gu Xu had already understood the "Tao" of Luo Si Shou.
Luo Sishou's "Tao" for becoming a saint is "destiny" - he has always believed that even though things in the world are constantly changing, the fate of all living beings is ultimately under the watchful eye of God and moves along a predetermined trajectory.
The Taoist martial arts he created, such as "Leixing Jue", "Cloud Sea Galaxy Sword", "Meteor Walking on the Moon", etc., all contain his understanding of destiny.
"If that's the case, what does Chu Fengge's style of 'Xiao Ying Waning Moon' have to do with fate?" Gu Xu asked in his heart.
In the blink of an eye, another voice in his mind gave the answer: "The artistic conception of this sword style is desolate and melancholy, representing bad luck and misfortune, just like the way of divination and deduction. The combination of the hexagrams corresponds to the 'Weiji hexagram'
"'Weiji' means 'not getting through', which means that you are in a difficult situation after failure and you need to retreat temporarily until the right time comes. Start again.
"So, the true meaning of 'Xiao Ying Can Yue' is to retreat in order to advance."
Thinking of this, Gu Xu smiled and thought: With Chu Fengge's character, how could he know how to be forbearing? Want to retreat in order to advance? He will only move forward without hesitation and never look back until he hits the wall.
Since the power of "wisdom" gave Gu Xu far faster thinking than ordinary people, he ended his thinking in a very short period of time. By the time he came to a conclusion, the two sword intents had not yet had time to collide.
"Be careful! The enemy is coming from behind!" He shouted to Chu Fengge who was fighting.
Hearing what Gu Xu said, Chu Fengge felt a little puzzled.
As a fifth-level monk, he couldn't feel the presence of any new enemies behind him - Gu Xu was only a third-level monk, how could he detect an enemy that he couldn't even detect?
However, even though he was thinking this, his body still involuntarily took a step back and turned his head to look behind him.
There are no enemies behind you.
Gu Xu is a liar.
Chu Fengge was angry and wanted to scold him severely.
But the moment he stepped back and turned around, the killing intent in his sword energy was involuntarily restrained, becoming softer and more natural.
He suddenly found the feel of wielding a sword.
His movements changed from awkward at first to much smoother.
It seems like this trick "should be done this way."
At this moment, the sword intention of "She Shenjian" was like a powerful sandstorm, sweeping towards Chu Fengge; Chu Fengge's "Xiaoying Waning Moon" turned into a green forest, blocking He caught this murderous intention and quietly resolved it.
"That step back seems to be the key."
Vaguely, Chu Fengge seemed to have found the answer he had been searching for for a long time.
This surprised him greatly.
"Could it be that Gu Xu has mastered the 'Cloud Sea Galaxy Sword' a long time ago? The purpose of his lies is actually to take this opportunity to give me some advice?" A very outrageous conjecture came to his mind, But he was quickly dismissed from his mind, "No, this is impossible, this must be just a coincidence.
" He has been practicing for at most one year and has never learned swordsmanship. And I started practicing this 'Cloud Sea Galaxy Sword' several years ago, and I can barely be considered an expert. How could he have the ability to advise me on such a matter? ”
After the "Sacrifice Sword" was blocked, Wu Ming's true energy was completely drained, and he completely lost his fighting ability.
He collapsed to the ground weakly, his face was frighteningly white, blood flowed from the corners of his mouth, and his limbs were soft and weak.
He looked at the three unfamiliar subordinates with desperate eyes.
He could feel that Chu Fengge, or "Zhang Potian", was not only pure and powerful, but also used extremely exquisite swordsmanship. He was the best he had ever seen in his life. Martial arts.
The origins of these three people are absolutely extraordinary.
"I probably won't be able to escape from them today," he closed his eyes and thought silently, "but no matter what, the secret must not be leaked."
Thinking of this, he thought about it and prepared to commit suicide. The meridians will die by themselves.
"Don't let him commit suicide." At this moment, Gu Xu noticed his intention and ordered lightly.
Shangguan Jin responded very quickly.
As soon as Gu Xu opened his mouth, she cast a spell, disturbing Wu Ming's thoughts and stopping his actions.
Wu Ming slowly opened his eyes, his heart filled with despair.
He realized that in front of these demonic figures, even death became an impossible thing.
Gu Xu squatted down, flattened the map in his hand on the ground, and showed him a faint smile: "Master Wu, can you tell me the story about this map now?"
Wu Ming sighed and said: "You are not 'Wen Yannian', who are you?"
Gu Xu calmly replied: "A person who helps him get justice."
…………
Subsequently, Gu Xu learned the whole story behind it from Wu Ming’s mouth——
In the Daqi Dynasty, every once in a while, officials would be given credit for their contributions. Political performance will be evaluated, and those with merit will be promoted, while those without merit will remain where they are or even be demoted.
The Exorcist Department is no exception.
When Wu Ming came to Anshun Prefecture to become a member of the Qianhu household, he first had the intention of making a contribution.
He wanted to kill all the ghosts near Anshun Mansion so that the residents could live and work in peace and contentment.
But many practical problems he encountered during his career as an official gradually diminished his lofty ideals.
Insufficient manpower, insufficient money and food, insufficient elixirs and weapons, subordinates are lazy and slippery...
Even, because he wanted to change some reward and punishment systems in Anshun Prefecture, he annoyed some people, causing them to pick up The small group tried every means to squeeze him out.
Reality smoothed Wu Ming's edges day by day.
One day, he led a team to go out to kill ghosts in person, but unexpectedly he was surrounded by ghosts.
The leader of those ghosts and monsters is the "Lord of Yelang Kingdom". All the ghosts and monsters in this entire mountain and forest are under his jurisdiction.
The "Lord of Yelang Kingdom" used the Dark Swamp to kill all the subordinates Wu Ming led at that time, but only spared him.
At this time, the "Lord of Yelang Kingdom" proposed a deal -
It hoped that Wu Ming could give up the protection of some village residents outside Anshun Prefecture, so as to provide a fixed source of food for the ghosts; In exchange, the "Lord of Yelang Kingdom" will take the initiative to send some disobedient ghosts to the city wall to gain Wu Ming's achievements.
"The Lord of Yelang Kingdom" said that he and his people have long been accustomed to a peaceful life, and are content as long as they have enough to eat; however, every time they try to eat now, an exorcist monk will come to the door with a sword, making Casualties continued among his loyal people.
He didn’t want to kill Wu Ming. To a certain extent, he also wanted to avoid trouble and alert the more powerful exorcist monks.
Wu Ming hesitated for a long time.
He is afraid of death and does not want his life to end.
But he also understood that if he agreed to the deal with "Lord Yelang", he would become the kind of person he hated most before.
At that time, he also raised his doubts: "Will the transaction between us be discovered by those monks in the capital who know the magic of heaven?"
"The Lord Yelang" laughed loudly: "Do you think the magic of heaven is real? Equivalent to omniscience and omnipotence? ”
The desire for life finally defeated the persistence of the bottom line.
Wu Ming agreed to the proposal.
From then on, he no longer tried to make any changes to the Anshun Exorcism Department, nor did he try his best to kill ghosts as before. He only needs to stay quietly in the city, and ghosts and monsters will come to his door in a steady stream, which will become his meritorious deeds.
For his achievements, his superiors praised him highly and assured him that they would give him the opportunity for promotion once a position becomes vacant.
Wu Ming has never experienced this kind of easy life, like pie in the sky.
The only victims in this transaction are the people living in the mountains and forests outside the city.
They spent every night in fear, afraid that ghosts would suddenly appear and take away their parents, wives and children.
They are holding funerals with increasing frequency.
But they waited for a long time, but they could not wait until the plot in the elders' story happened in reality - "The monks of the Exorcism Department are all heroic figures with great magical powers. One day, they will fly flying The sword comes here to save us from the sea of suffering.”
At the same time, Wu Ming often has nightmares when he rests at night.
He dreamed that when the incident was revealed, he was ruined and beheaded at Caishikou. His head was hung on the city gate. When every citizen passed by, they would throw a rotten egg or rotten tomato at him and curse: "Official dog, give back my father, mother, husband, wife, child..."< br>
……
Not long ago, his subordinate Wen Yannian accidentally discovered this secret transaction.
Fortunately, Wen Yannian is a simple young man. He firmly believes in Wu Ming's image of a model official who cares about the country and the people. He feels that someone is fabricating evidence to frame Wu Ming, and he wants to help. Wu Ming found out the situation.
On the surface Wu Ming was grateful to him, but in his heart he was thinking, "The secret cannot be leaked, this person must die."
So, he drew the wrong location on the mission map - if Wen Yannian completes the mission according to the map, he will walk in front of the "Lord Yelang" and the "Lord Yelang" will take away his life.
The real Wen Yannian in history died because of this.
But now, the person in front of Wu Ming is not the simple and weak Wen Yannian, but Gu Xu.
He turned his back on the guest and exposed Wu Ming’s hidden secrets in front of everyone.
Wu Ming was ultimately ruined.
…………
“There is only an inch in the heart, and there are storms day and night.”
After hearing the whole story, Gu Xu had to say that the poem on the jade charm really matched this case very well.
The human heart is complex and unpredictable.
Sometimes, they are even scarier than ghosts.
"Do you regret it?" He looked into Wu Ming's eyes and asked seriously.
Wu Ming thought for a while and replied: "I do have some regrets. If I had refused to trade at that time and died in the hands of the 'Lord Yelang', there would be no such mess as today."
Having said this, Wu Ming paused for a moment, then changed the subject and said, "But have you ever thought that the merits I have gained from cooperating with ghosts and monsters are much more than my active and serious work? Isn't this a very ironic thing? "
Gu Xu nodded: "A little bit indeed."
Hearing his affirmation, Wu Ming raised his tone and became more and more excited: "My lord, you are. You must understand that if I can have more people and materials when I actively kill ghosts; if I want to change the status quo, there will be less resistance from the court; if every monk who desires to slay demons and eliminate harm for the people can Being able to get a basic guarantee of cultivation resources... maybe everything will be different!"
Gu Xu was silent for a while and said: "There is indeed some truth to what you said. The current Daqi Dynasty does exist! "Many disadvantages."
He thought of some information sent to his mind by Kongxuan Sanren: the powerful sects account for more than 90% of the cultivation resources, and the low-level monks have to work hard for a small "quiet mind pill". Mission: Ghosts are rampant in remote areas and harm the people, but the powerful are still immersed in a comfortable environment and even withhold supplies...
The "Nine Infant Snake Demon" is the product of popular resentment.
Although its strength is not the strongest among the "fierce gods", the saints could not completely eliminate it even if they joined forces, so they had no choice but to seal it underground again in Qingzhou Mansion.
The reason is very simple. If the people’s resentment does not disappear, the Nine Infants will never die.
"What will you do when you encounter these ills?" Wu Ming stared into Gu Xu's eyes, becoming more and more excited, "If you want to change it, you will be blocked at every turn, and in the end you will have no choice but to Go with the flow..."
"'If you are poor, you can be alone, and if you are wealthy, you can help the world.'" Gu Xu thought for a moment and replied, "I can't even take care of myself now, and I'm not qualified to think about 'changing the status quo. 'For such a question... you can only ensure that you don't do anything against your conscience.
"Perhaps, when I am strong enough, I may be able to solve these problems easily!"
This sentence did not seem like he was saying it to Wu Ming, but more like saying it to himself.
Wu Ming fell into deep thought.
Not far away, Shangguan Jin silently recalled the words "If you are poor, you can be alone, and if you are rich, you can help the world." She only felt that it was very philosophical, and there was something strange in her eyes when she looked at Gu Xu. look.
Chu Fengge is still thinking about "Xiao Ying Can Yue" - to be precise, he is wondering whether Gu Xu knows this sword technique.
As for the officials of the Yamen... they stood in the courtyard in a daze, unable to recover from the shocking information for a long time.
After a while, Gu Xu calmed down the expression on his face and said to Wu Ming: "But whether you stick to your original intention or you go with the flow, these are your own choices... Anshun should not be left alone The people in the villages outside Fucheng paid for your actions with their lives."
After saying this, he turned to look at Shangguan Jin and said calmly: "Watch him for me, don't let him seek death."
Wu Ming is an official of the imperial court. Gu Xu does not have the power to kill him or execute him. He needs to be handed over to the relevant agencies of the imperial court for processing - the chief minister is still watching from outside. Gu Xu can do this on this matter of principle. No mistakes can be made.
Shangguan Jin smiled slightly and deliberately imitated the tone of his subordinates: "As you command, Lord Gu."
Then, Gu Xu looked at the officials around him and asked, "Which of you can take me to the communication circle in this yamen?"
The officials looked at each other.
After a while, a short, fat young man walked out of the queue tremblingly, saluted Gu Xu respectfully: "Sir, I can take you there."
At this time, this The young man looked at Gu Xu as if he were looking at a terrifying monster.
"Don't be nervous, I can't eat people." Gu Xu chuckled.
Hearing this, the pudgy young man trembled even more.
…………
A few minutes later, Gu Xu walked through the corridor, climbed up the stairs to the attic, and came to the communication circle.
He activated the magic circle, connected with Feng Biyu, the commander of the Exorcism Department of Guizhou Province, and reported everything that happened in Anshun Mansion, including the story told by Wu Ming, to Lord Feng.
Feng Biyu was shocked and angry about what Wu Ming did. He did not expect that an official would do such a dirty thing in private.
He said that Wu Ming would be punished as he should in accordance with Daqi's legal procedures; at the same time, he also claimed that he would take the time to deal with the "Lord Yelang" and his ghost army, and completely eliminate this scourge in the mountains and forests of Anshun Prefecture. .
Feng Biyu spoke in a calm voice, just like the NPC responsible for issuing tasks in the previous game.
Gu Xu smiled and used a few official words to deal with it.
What happened next has nothing to do with him.
After finishing the conversation with Feng Biyu, he felt that the scene around him gradually became blurred, and then all the colors blended together and rotated rapidly like a kaleidoscope, making him dizzy.
He seemed to have lifted his feet off the ground, floated into the air, and quickly shuttled through a colorful tunnel.
He knew that the purpose of this trial was not to let him kill powerful ghosts, but to find out the truth and understand the complexity and unpredictability of the human heart.
Now that the case has been closed, he will soon return to the real world.
…………
Exorcism Department Headquarters, Star Observation Deck.
Chief Executive Officer Luochuan stretched out his hand and lightly tapped the bronze mirror placed in front of him.
The dynamic picture on the bronze mirror disappeared instantly.
The corners of his mouth raised, revealing a faint smile.
“It’s time to go see him.”
PS: I originally only wanted to write 2,000 words for this chapter, but I got so emotional that I couldn’t stop writing 5,000 words. Sorry it took me until now to finish.
PS2: Because I have things to deal with in the morning in the next few days, all updates starting tomorrow will be postponed to 8pm!
(End of this chapter)