Yin Huan and Chen Xing were not the only ones who encountered such special opponents. In some inconspicuous corners of the world, there are indeed rumors of the activities of pottery, puppets, and humanoids. Rumors - yes, the court said so. There was no way, dealing with the spreading plague had consumed too much of their energy, and they really had no time to deal with more. Although it is not as good as before, internal and external troubles never stop for a moment, and there is no time to rest when fighting. Nowadays, the territory is vast, the country is strong, and most people live and work in peace and contentment. War does cost money, but it stands to reason that we shouldn’t spend too much money on the army now. So, where did the money go?
After removing corrupt officials, removing false and bad debts, and removing all artificial obstructions, there should still be money left that should be used to do things. But the problem is... there are too many people. With its vast territory and dense population, coupled with diverse terrain and uneven resources, contradictions still arise one after another. Today's emperor is relatively open-minded and has a long-term vision, and his assistant cabinet ministers do not engage in excessive infighting. Even so, many matters still cannot be discussed to a conclusion. Some people advocated land reclamation, some advocated immigration; some advised the emperor not to ignore the disturbances in the frontier and the civil strife, and to spend more money on the soldiers. Some people also said that there were still heavy winds and rains in many places, and the people were in dire straits, and there was no spare money... The people in power held their own opinions. word.
But the good news is that the spread of the plague is much slower than people expected.
In the past, officials were very fond of epidemics, because no matter how poor the place was, they could always get some profit if they squeezed hard. Things are different now. Rich places have to transport money to remote areas, and the authorities are very strict about it. In the early years, corrupt officials were too arrogant and deceived the superiors and subordinates. The successor of the emperor punished them severely, killing the chickens to scare the monkeys, and those moths became more peaceful. So if the plague spreads uncontrollably now, those places will not be the only places where the court will have to allocate funds. Preventing this disease is both easy and difficult. The only carriers are humans and animals - monsters seem to be immune to these.
"Nowadays, most of the court's money is spent on medicine and onmyoji."
“Treating the symptoms rather than the root cause.”
"It's too late to save people's lives. The national wealth evaporates day and night, and there is no time to follow the clues."
"Then you will miss the best opportunity. If it is burned to ashes, how can you find out who set the fire?"
"Who isn't affected? Monsters."
"You can't let monsters do things for people, right? According to this, the source of the epidemic may be caused by monsters."
"So the imperial court found the Wuyong clan."
"Huh? This is really interesting."
"Do we have to talk about this now?"
As soon as Shi Wuqi finished speaking, another pottery doll rushed forward. As soon as he lifted the handle of the fan, the force surged from his lower jaw to the Tianling Cap and penetrated two layers of clay at the same time. The person behind him was waving a water-splitting thorn, which was shining brightly in the sunlight, but was bright and dark at times, moving between humanoid bodies one after another like clouds and flowing water. Compared to Shi Wuqi's crisp and clean style, his moves are particularly gorgeous, but occasionally feel gimmicky. It doesn't matter, he can handle it on his own.
"Your cloak can cut my hair, why don't you consider taking it off temporarily?"
"That's quite an honor."
While talking and laughing, Kong Lingbei's cloak suddenly opened up. There is a skeleton in it, displaying a huge fan like a mechanism, and every stripe is like the eye of an evil beast. At the same time, countless sharp feathers flew out like a rain of needles. They penetrated many puppets, causing the false bodies to fall apart and turn into pieces of debris scattered on the ground, just like a mountain of pottery piled up with countless defective products broken in a kiln.
"There are many?"
"one."
"There is no moving person here, and there is no other breath." After saying that, he put away the gorgeous feathered face that spread behind him. It was pulled down instantly and turned back into its original long cloak.
"But there must be another one."
Shi Wuqi did not deny Kong Lingbei's statement. He raised his head and looked at a boulder. Indeed, he didn't notice anything wrong with the smell alone, but the sound of the friction of clothing there made him unable to ignore it. Too many monsters rely so much on their sense of smell that they ignore information from their other senses.
"Did you just say that the court found the Wuyong clan?" Kong Lingbei frowned, "Those bastards have a very bad reputation among monsters."
"The imperial court doesn't care about this. And judging from the current situation... it is only a matter of time before Wuyonglan succeeds as the head of the family."
"This is also a controversial topic among humans, isn't it? It doesn't mean that he is not the eldest son in the family, or even the heir of the main wife. The dozen or so people before him all died in bizarre circumstances, and they said that no manipulation was done, even me I don’t even believe this monster.”
"I don't believe it either. Although Wuyonglan is reserved and low-key, he is actually a radical in family affairs. Some elders and many young people agreed with his ideas, so he was able to grow his power and get rid of those who hindered them. In addition to human life , they also ignore many traditional rules and taboos in magic, and only want to move forward on a more dangerous and extreme path. In the past, their reputation was not very good, but it was not bad either. Now..."
Seeing that he had been looking in that direction, Kong Lingbei also looked over and asked, "Is this the result of your investigation in the human world? Do you mean that these puppets are related to the Wuyong clan?"
"Not necessarily. If the Shikigami were made by the Wuyong clan, they wouldn't be so rough. These are really too ordinary."
"I'm talking about you guys. You've been talking about things that are good and bad since just now, and now you are criticizing other people's things from a high position... Isn't it too rude?"
The man was finally willing to appear from above.
"Male? No...female?" Kong Lingbei frowned, "High and mighty, who are you talking about?"
Fei took a few steps forward and stood on the edge of the boulder, looking down at them from a high place. The pendant made of red stone was still hanging on her chest. It was no wonder that no one could detect her aura. Now she was pretending to be a man, hugging her shoulders and looking down at the two people below - or should I say, the two monsters.
"You seem to be too arrogant. Do you know who we are? How dare you set up an ambush?"
"Of course I know Lord Bai Skeleton, but you really haven't heard of it. It looks like you still have some money. Can you give me some flowers?"
"If you were on my territory, you would have been torn apart by my men long ago."
"Hey, who can't tell lies?"
Kong Lingbei sneered, spread his hands and looked around: "These are your methods? What is your relationship with the Wuyong clan?"
"What does it have to do with anything? It's really weird. They are all monsters. Why can't I understand what you are saying?" Li picked up his chin with one hand, tilted his head and looked at the debris on the ground, and said, "The weapons this time are really not that good. It’s not as good as the original one.”
Shi Wuqi looked at Kong Lingbei and said: "Perhaps she really has nothing to do with the Wuyong clan. After all, we still know nothing about the origin of these puppets. The Wuyong clan's method of making shikigami should be inconsistent with it... They pursue effectiveness and efficiency and don’t waste time on the human form.”
"You mean someone offers these things?"
"Hard to say."
"Who knew there were so many bad things in human beings? Wouldn't it be better to sit back and enjoy peace and quiet in my house? You really came out to find sin. No, I didn't find the whereabouts of Kanna-kun for my friends, nor did I find out the living corpse for Utsuki-kun. It's about you. I was willing to help you because you said you were exploring the reason why there were so many living corpses everywhere."
Shi Wuqi wanted to say, "Actually, it doesn't matter whether you help or not," but he probably couldn't help the young prince's face, so he didn't say much. It is true that they have traveled such a long distance together because they have similar goals and the other party is acquainted with Utsuki-kun. However, he also told Kong Lingbei that Shen Wujun had always been pursuing Wu Yonglan's traces, and the direction was at least the same.
"It's okay if you don't pay me, but you can't let me leave empty-handed? Doesn't that young master know where Mr. Uoyue is? Tell me and I won't pester you anymore."
"What do you want to do? You're dreaming!" Kong Lingbei suddenly shouted at her, which shocked Wu Qi. However, Shi Wuqi thought about it and roughly guessed what was going on. He knew that Lord Uoyue had a treasure in his hands, and Piao obviously knew it too.
Perhaps the two of them had been chatting arrogantly for too long, and Pi's patience finally reached its limit. She clapped her hands, and in this wilderness, countless dark figures came from nowhere. They were wrapped in ragged long black clothes, their ends fluttering and trembling in the high-altitude wind, like ghosts. For me, the original shikigami is the best.
"You don't have any other tricks?"
Probably in response to Kong Lingbei's taunt, the black grass figures swarmed in, covering the sky and the ground, blocking out the clouds and the sun. Shi Wuqi probably already knew that for Fei, the so-called "robbery" was just a cover. Since she knows her identity, she probably also knows that the incense burner is on her body. He noticed that although Pi was not overjoyed, nor did he reveal his purpose, his sharp eyes never left him, revealing greed. People who can become evil messengers are difficult to deal with no matter how superficial they seem. Sometimes that's just their personality. He thought of Tao Zhu, that crazy woman who was much more exaggerated than this one. So Fei can be regarded as the restrained one - even though her target is probably the magic weapon. Shi Wuqi had heard that greedy evildoers always pursue rare things and dare to challenge no matter what kind of opponent they are. I'm afraid she already knew that Kong Lingbei had met Mao Yuejun. Shi Wuqi also knew that he couldn't easily conclude that she was foolhardy. Maybe this was just a test.
But he doesn't have that much patience.
"It should be almost time."
"What?"
Kong Lingbei didn't understand what he meant. I saw Shi Wuqi pushing back one side of his long hair, revealing a weird eye. Although Kong Lingbei had never seen it before, he knew that the rumored Bai Skeleton Master was a one-eyed monster. But what is that? The dark yellow and transparent color is wrapped in a strange outline, which seems to have wings... an insect?
The sky seemed darker, but it was midday. However, the number of straw men in Pi should not be so large. Kong Lingbei set up his position and prepared to fight, but saw a dark cloud approaching, and at the same time there was a noisy buzzing sound. He could see clearly that those were bees of some kind... all of them. When did Shi Wuqi start preparing? He didn't know. I saw the bees swarming towards the straw man in an organized manner, the ground was shrouded in gloom, and the expression on my face changed.
"Don't come here just now," Shi Wuqi glanced at him, "If we accidentally injure friendly troops, it will be difficult."
"when will you……"
Shi Wuqi raised his right arm and made a simple gesture with one hand. The bees received the command and viciously attacked the straw man in the sky. Although some things are small, they are very flexible, not to mention the absolute advantage in quantity. At first there were injured bees falling slowly to the ground, like a drizzle of bugs. But soon, the black straw was torn apart and covered with the bee's body. The ground was soon covered with black gauze, but the blackness of the sky gradually became sparser, like wisps of sunlight passing through dark clouds.
The "dark clouds" completely dissipated, leaving only black straw on the ground.
"What other tricks do you have? Just use it, I'm in a hurry." Shi Wuqi looked at her indifferently, "If you really think that the incense burner is such an easy thing to hold, I suspect that I have overestimated your vision. .”
He frowned, not because he felt troublesome, but because he felt irritable. She suddenly sneered and said:
"It's really more than just a few tricks."
As she spoke, she slowly raised her arms and muttered something. If they were too far away, they would naturally not be able to hear what the formula was. But at this moment, every straw on the ground seemed to have heard the order, stood up tremblingly, and gathered together again. There are many inconspicuous red threads on the ground. They are also given life, and they are wrapped around the straw like snakes. Soon, they gathered back together to form a tightly tied straw man. However, the tattered black cloaks that covered the body were abandoned on the ground and spread out in a mess.
Kong Lingbei rolled his eyes: "It's really endless."
"I'm annoyed." Shi Wuqi also had a bad temper.
While they were complaining, they suddenly felt a heat wave coming from the distance. There was a burst of black smoke like a line, slowly approaching here. At the same time, a pungent burnt smell wafted over. Standing high up, Qi could see clearly that her expression suddenly changed.
"what happened?"
"Is it fire?"
It is indeed fire. I don’t know what ingredients are soaked in the straw, but the burning fire is golden and almost white, which is inconspicuous in the daytime. But the fire was indeed coming, spreading to every straw. The newly formed straw man started to burn before it even stood up, and the sound of wind and burning passing through the cracks in the grass was like the roar of a monster. Some straw men hurriedly took off into the air, but fell down a lot of grass clippings, not to mention the flames had spread to their feet. They make the same sound in the air and dissipate quickly. Black ash fell like snow.
"You two gentlemen seem to be in trouble?"
The person walking along the fire turned out to be a human woman. She was wielding a long stick and had a child beside her.
Kong Lingbei looked at the tall stone again, and he had disappeared.
