The mood when I returned to my residence was extremely heavy, and even Bai Ya, who had always been as indifferent to the love between his children as water, said nothing.
The mother of the country has explained everything that needs to be said, including the monarch's heart ailments. When she first told what was going on, several people felt unbelievable because the statement sounded inexplicable. And she explained it very sincerely, without a hint of lies, so they had no choice but to believe it. Unless she and the forces behind her are masters of lying, specifically making up stories to deceive outsiders like them. But what benefits can they gain from this? The four of them didn’t question it for the time being.
No matter where the king spends the night, his followers will carry nine candles. The candles were slightly different in color, taller, shorter, fatter and thinner, but they burned out almost at the same time. These small differences are important signs that distinguish them. Before he goes to sleep, he has to light it himself in a certain order. A quarter of an hour later, he closed his eyes and headed to the dream world. If he is woken up, he has to click again. Now he does it himself, but in the past there were dedicated attendants to do it. But one day, a sloppy guy got the order wrong. When the king woke up, he was furious and dragged him out and beheaded him.
The mother of the country said that he was a wise king, at least he never looked down upon human life. But that time people were scared and she told him. The monarch angrily yelled at her, "You know nothing" and walked away. But no matter what he said, he still listened to what the mother of the country said, and he didn't let anyone else come after that. There must be a special secret about the candle, but he never told anyone. Apart from its appearance, people only know it for its fragrance. Maybe the order in which the aromas are emitted will affect the proportion, and thus affect his sleep or dreams? No one knew, except that the candle was given to him by the God of Incense. When you are done with it, you should bow respectfully three times and come to pick up the gift with you.
Only when the king fell asleep did he feel that he had returned to the real world. In that world were his hard-working parents, kind grandparents, and his loving brothers and sisters. And he is still the "idle" handsome young man. The mother of the country has heard his description of "dreams" countless times and what he experienced in the so-called reality. For him, becoming the king of Xiangji Kingdom, meeting the leader of Xiangyin Sect, and so on were all just a dream, including his beloved mother-in-law. In this illusory dream, he reviewed official documents, cared for the people, and looked down on all living beings from a height above ten thousand people. It's rare that he fulfills his duties in a dream. After this addiction, he has to go back to the ordinary, boring but "real" "reality".
The king said that the mother-in-law looked very much like his youngest sister, but she was even more beautiful. How could such a young beauty fall in love with a poor boy in reality? This must be a dream, I didn’t run away. Sometimes it's because he thinks it's a dream and he doesn't want to deal with those complicated official documents. At this time, the mother of the country had to coax him softly and let him maintain the operation of this small country. Even in the land of Xiangyin Sect's sovereignty, all this is just a formality. He had no real say, but he didn't care.
"It's really evil."
"is not that right."
After returning home, Bai Ya said this. Qi Huan probably knew what he was talking about, so he echoed it. Rather, no matter what happened, it was strange from beginning to end.
However, the other few people never spoke again. Except for the two girls muttering twice about other trivial matters. The medicine that Matsukawa Yang put in the wine was really strong. They all lay down before they heard the sound of guards moving in the courtyard. Although there wasn't much communication, at least they already knew what to do the next day.
Go and meet the leader of the Xiangyin Sect, the God of Fragrance Gandharva.
The Mother of the Nation had already told them the method, but she warned a few people not to tell the leader that the Mother of the Nation had leaked it to them. Although this method is almost a well-known secret in Xiangji Kingdom, it does a good job of keeping pagans and non-believers secret. This alone is enough to reveal something unusual. She said she couldn't tell the Incense God, someone else told them. If they can't tell who that person is, they and many other believers who are disliked will be in trouble.
Therefore, just let Liu Shenghan say that he figured it out by himself. As for how to convince the leader that she had this ability, Liu Shenghan was quite confident.
They slept until noon. It wasn't until someone brought food that they woke up in a daze. After the meal, they made some simple plans and then went out casually.
Xiangji State was very knowledgeable about burning incense. If the city lords of some city-states are believers, they will order people to build shrines for worship in the streets and alleys. It doesn't need to be exquisite and luxurious, even if it means something, it will be fine. In Xiangji Kingdom, although there is no shrine, one can see an incense burner not far away. Of course, this incense burner is much larger than the believer's hand burner. It is usually made of bamboo or wood. The porous structure can absorb the aroma more easily. When they came to Xiangji Country, they could occasionally smell the fragrant scent. Those tastes are not the same, most of them are bland, maybe they are too far away. The country of Xiangji is vast and sparsely populated, so unless it is in a particularly lively area, the fragrance will be weak.
However, after this period of time, they all felt that not only their clothes but also their hair also had a strange fragrance.
There are specific days for seeing the God of Incense, and only believers with a certain status can see the leader. But the day is not the key to "whether the door is open or not". If you insist on getting in, you can get in no matter what, but there is a time limit for believers. It's okay, go now to save yourself the trouble of being crowded with people and talking.
Those incense burners that look like shrines are the "doors" to the temple of the incense god. It is called Xiangyuan. The door will only be opened on the first and fifteenth day of each month, and between Xu and midnight on the same day. It is said that it was the moment when the flower in the pan bloomed, which was a bit short-lived. The spices given to them by the Mother of the Nation also contain the ingredients of epiphyllum.
It was already dark, so they found a remote shrine. The spices are very special, and many of the ingredients are native to Xiangji Country. The incense is burned in the shrine and a set of mantras are recited. If several people visit together, their hands should be tied with a rope woven from vanilla, otherwise something bad will happen. In the aroma, people will become drowsy. At that time, you will enter the fragrant garden like a castle in the air with your body.
When he finally checked the vanilla on his wrist, Qi Huan had a serious face. Liu Shenghan noticed it and asked him what was going on. He shook his head and said he didn't want to mention it, it was an annoying thing at the beach. Bai Ya and Jun Aoyan looked away as if they couldn't hear.
That spell is stinky and long. They couldn't get a piece of paper to write on, so they vaguely remembered the outline. Fortunately, Qi Huan had a good memory and kept repeating it to them patiently. Bai Ya seriously suspected that those parts involving praise were false. Only the unfamiliar parts that they couldn't understand just by listening to the voice were real and effective. In fact, many syllables do not have these words in their cognition.
The aroma filled the air from the small stove in the shrine, and the faint smoke made the dark scene in front of him even more hazy. The four of them sat in a circle around the shrine, and no one showed any signs of sleepiness. The surroundings were quiet, with the occasional chirp or two.
Does this method really work? Bai Ya thought to himself. The mother of the country should have no reason to lie to them, but she helped them so much without asking for anything in return. After all, they were unable to confront the king head-on, and it was even less likely that they would fight with the Gandharvas right from the start. Although he has a straight temper, he is not impulsive to that extent. In the end, it still has to be outsmarted, which is really troublesome. But even if the Xiangyin Sect's status in the country is destroyed, how can the monarch be restored and let him believe the facts? It's not that he doesn't help, but the relationship is too complicated. If it cannot be done, it will be a waste of the favor of the mother of the country. Bai Ya doesn't like to owe favors.
After thinking about it, he and his friends appeared in front of a courtyard. The exquisite hollow wooden door is wrapped with colorful flowers, all glowing and fragrant. The flower vines stretch to the long fences on both sides, and the glowing flowers make the night no longer monotonous and dark. The direction of the fence is straight, with no end in sight, extending into the diffuse milky white mist. The mist was the same as the one under their feet. It was cold and cold around their ankles, not chilling them. Standing here is like standing on the vast sea of clouds.
The wooden door suddenly opened to them, and what they saw was another wonderful world. The moment they stepped into the courtyard, the sweet sound of music flowed into their ears, adding to the magnificence of everything. The timbres of strings, wind instruments, and percussion instruments cooperate with each other, as if they have been rehearsed thousands of times and are smooth and natural. There are many people playing musical instruments, and none of them look like ordinary people. Most of the humanoid ones are female, and they are so beautiful and fragrant that they look like they have stepped down from the murals. The rest have the bodies of cows, horses, birds and other animals, but they all have human heads. They all perform their duties, and their bodies are light and airy. They move in front of them as if they are riding on the wind. Some people occasionally pass by them and touch their faces, scratch their hair, and tease them a little. Bai Ya was a little irritable.
None of them were surprised by this. There is a palace-like building in the courtyard, and behind the building is a huge mountain of treasures, studded with all kinds of gems, gold and silver, which shines in the dark and dazzles people's eyes. After walking a few steps, they came to the building. The building has no doors, and the ground has smooth masonry extending inwards.
Although speaking at this time seemed to destroy the artistic conception, Qi Huan couldn't help but said:
"...Um, do any of you still remember how we got here?"
"It seems like he suddenly appeared here." Jun Aoyan said, "But... I don't seem to feel anything wrong."
Liu Shenghan summarized it as "like a dream". In fact, that's what it really means.
After they stepped inside the building, the music suddenly changed completely, without any excess, and the sounds outside completely disappeared. Compared with the imposing feeling before, it is now slightly cleaner and more melodious, dominated by the sound of flutes.
The people here are more like human beings, still handsome and beautiful, but more well-behaved than outside the palace. They lined up on both sides, their eyes lowered and their brows lowered. The place is decorated with carved beams and painted buildings, bricks and jade tiles, and is so magnificent that even the imperial palace of Xiangji Kingdom is not even half as beautiful.
A handsome man sat on a jeweled throne, wearing a shiny black octagonal crown. He opened his eyes slightly, but turned a blind eye to them.
He was playing a slender jade flute.
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