Asking the sword, as the name suggests, means communicating with the spirit in the sword and asking what you want to know. There is not much emphasis on this method, but first of all it requires the unity of man and sword mentioned earlier. After all, swords don't have mouths. Even if they have spirits, they can only have a conversation with each other if their minds are connected.
Master Lintian has been with Duan Chenhuan for many years and has reached this level long ago. As long as this condition is met, Wenjian's requirements for formation, venue and weather are not strict. Immediately, the Heavenly Master crossed his legs, placed the sword across his knees, looked at the starry sky through the sparse shadows of the trees, and made some calculations with his eyebrows.
"The time is right, you can ask." He quickly came to a conclusion, and then sighed softly, "I just want to remind you that I may not be able to get the answer you need. The flaw of asking the sword is that the sword can only resonate with the sword , but it doesn't have much sensitivity to people. It's not a cloud mirror, and it can't directly find out the whereabouts of your companions. It can only tell me where the other six-path divine weapons are. I heard that the resentment in the six-path sword is on the nightmare dog. I can find its location for you. However, the Tengu may not follow its owner all the time, let alone Miss Ye, who may be locked up elsewhere. The Nightmare Tengu may be making trouble with the evil angels outside, or it may go its own way. It’s all unknown.”
The three of them nodded to express their understanding. Han Chang scratched his chin and realized a problem:
"So, do you have a way to know the location of all the Six Paths Divine Weapons? You also said before that if you can control these weapons and understand the Six Paths, you will be invincible. Since you know where they are scattered, why? Why didn't you take it back for yourself? If they were all in the hands of an enlightened person like you, there wouldn't be some of the chaos that is happening now."
"Tao follows nature. Except for Duan Chenhuan, since the six swords are not in my hands and have not been entrusted to me, they should be allowed to circulate in the world." Master Lintian shook his head slightly, "I should not interfere, and I have no reason to interfere with other swords. In the final analysis, those things do not belong to me, and it is no more reasonable for them to fall into my hands than to fall into the hands of others. If I use means to take them away by force, it is no different from others' robbery. .”
"But if there are evil people among the others, how should we deal with it?" Jiao Mo asked.
"Yes, you may know that some people have used the Six Paths Divine Weapons to cause chaos." Xie Zhe also frowned, "The evil messengers of killing are controlled by cutting blood and sealing throats, killing others and spreading the desire to kill. Resentment is here. On the Nightmare Dog, we also encountered an enemy who used a poisonous scimitar, which was quite difficult. Is it really reasonable for them to control these swords?"
"Well, I can understand your doubts. However, the root of evil lies in the evil people themselves. Even without the help of weapons, they will not simply change their evil ways. And these evil people will definitely get their own retribution for their evil deeds. Before that, we These people must still be allowed to exist. Evil has the power of evil, and good has the value of good. Good and evil in human nature are like the yin and yang of Tai Chi. There is yang within yin, and yin within yang. Yin and yang are intertwined and difficult to separate simply." Lin Lin The Heavenly Master considered the words, "Furthermore, when they hold weapons in their hands, they may not already be evil people. They will no longer be innocent until the day they commit evil. If you arbitrarily characterize a person because of a crime that has not yet occurred, how should you treat the sinner?" Treating him in such a way will only breed more sins. People are suspicious of each other and wary of each other for things that have not happened yet, which also goes against good intentions. "
"Besides, concentrating power in the hands of one person is not a matter of destroying the balance. Once the balance in the world is broken, even good people can easily become evil people - or commit evil deeds. After all, everyone has a different understanding of absolute good and evil. Everyone has their own definition, and once they have power, no matter whether they are good or bad, they may want to do something and bring about various changes. The greater the power, the greedier people will be. I cannot guarantee that if there is subversion, The power of sex, would I want to do something I wouldn't do otherwise. Others say that I have strong power, but I don't think so myself - or in other words, I don't allow myself to think so. The only way , I can control my possible greed. In the final analysis, I am also a human being of flesh and blood. I care about all the things in the world of mortals, so I don’t ascend to immortality. But all people are bound to have desires, biases, and inconsiderations. "
His calm eyes swept over everyone's face one by one. Everyone nodded or pondered, trying to understand the true meaning. Time was limited, Master Lintian stopped talking, closed his eyes and fell into meditation, trying to talk to the sword spirit.
The three of them came back to their senses and stared at his every move. Lintian Master did not perform any complicated and fancy tricks, he just closed his eyes and held the long sword with his palms upward. In his hands, the originally silent dead object trembled slightly, as if it was given life, with a heart beating and breathing causing ups and downs.
The process was not abrupt, but the changes happened quickly. The vibrations in Duanchenhuan gradually turned into floating, and then became stable dynamics. It slowly rose upward until it was suspended in mid-air, right in front of Lintian Master. Although Lintian Master did not make a sound, the trembling of the sword was intermittent, sometimes calm, sometimes even buzzing, making a sword chant, as if it was a living creature, talking to the sword master.
Jiaomo and Hanzhang were fascinated by it. Although they didn't know the mystery, they had never seen such a simple method to make weapons react like this and talk to them. Come to think of it, this is the so-called simplicity. Xie Zhe was also observing carefully. Although he said nothing, compared to his companions, he seemed to vaguely notice something strange.
Asking the Sword did not last long. After about a cup of tea, Duan Chenhuan calmed down and fell back into Master Lintian's hands. The latter opened his eyes and gently brushed the sword.
"The Nightmare Dog is in the south. From here, you have to continue walking south."
Xie Zhe and Han Zhang looked at each other and nodded tacitly. What Master Lin Tian said was consistent with the instructions of the Divine Bird. It seems that the Nightmare Dog is on the territory of the Wuyong family, and Ling Quan is also likely to be detained there.
"Okay, then, let's go south." Han Chang thought, "On the way to the south... we will pass by where my family is. However, if time is tight or there are other matters, we can't make a detour. If so, I don’t have to go back to visit.”
Jiao Mo seemed a little concerned, and she quickly said:
"Since my family is here, it's better to go back and take a look."
Han Chang smiled, patted his chest, and said quite proudly: "An Xin, they are all very capable, I feel very relieved."
Having said that, when he finished speaking, he felt somewhat uneasy. Jiao Mo could understand that he was just trying to persuade himself not to think about it, lest he be too nostalgic and delay his business. But it seems that his family really makes him feel at ease.
Xie Zhe made a vague "Huh" sound.
Han Chang felt a little strange, because according to Xie Zhe's temperament, he might be persuaded to go home and take a look. But now, his mind was obviously somewhere else and he was a little distracted. Indeed, Xie Zhe was still thinking about what he had seen before. Master Lintian turned his eyes to him and raised his eyebrows. He didn’t mince words, he said bluntly:
"I can see that you have clairvoyance and can observe things that are difficult for ordinary people to detect. When I asked Jian just now, what did you...see?"
"I saw...a person? He was right opposite you, sitting on the ground with his legs crossed, as if he was in trance. But except for me, no one seemed to see him."
Xie Zhe frowned, recalling the seemingly real and illusory scene in his eyes just now. The man was a man, with a peaceful appearance, nothing special about him. His long hair was as thick and black as pine smoke, soft and shiny, and was tied high into a ponytail. His clothes are blue-gray, but the style does not look like those of this dynasty, and he is also tied with a forehead smear of a similar color. But before Xie Zhe could elaborate, Master Lintian said:
"You read that right. That is Duan Chenhuan's sword spirit."
"Sword spirit? It's actually...a sword spirit in human form?" Xie Zhe was a little surprised.
"Yes. The sword spirit is a kind of monster, slightly different from the fusangshen. Things used as weapons, including musical instruments, will generate special consciousness depending on the owner's spiritual power. These consciousnesses are some The predecessors of Fu Sangshen were mostly intangible and formless because they had no physical form. Naturally, there are very few weapon spirits in human form."
They suddenly thought of Xue Miyin. Is Amiao, whose misyin resides in the shamisen, a weapon spirit, a fusangshen, or something else?
Lintian Master paused and then said: "But what you see... is just the appearance of that person. Because Duanchenhuan was originally an unfinished work, and it was Fu Songfeng who finally forged the sword with his own body. Forging it into what it is today.”
“So that’s—that’s the swordsmith Sui Wu-kun?!”
Master Lintian smiled slightly and asked, "Are you surprised?"
"Well, there is a point. In my eyes, he is more like a man of letters... rather than someone who wields swords and swords. At least that's not what I expected based on those legends."
"People should not be judged by their appearance." The Heavenly Master shook his head gently, "But the sword spirit is not the swordsmith himself. It just has his appearance because of this origin."
Xie Zhe expressed his understanding. After a while of silence, he heard Master Lintian sigh softly.
"I don't often ask about swords, precisely because of the sword spirit. After all, if you face phantoms for too long and indulge in illusions, it is easy for people to lose sight of reality... But illusions will not be real after all. The people and things that have passed away will never be looked back.”
Several people looked at each other speechlessly. In Master Lintian's short words, he concealed a lot of helplessness that he had witnessed and experienced. Everyone understands the truth, but even so, aren't there still many people who miss their deceased loved ones in the paintings and cry silently? Reality is too cruel, so people tend to chase after those illusions. If a spirit body with an appearance like Fu Songfengdai could be seen, I don't know how many people who lack self-control would lose their minds for the non-existent person and not be able to distinguish between black and white. People can never stand the test, and no one can use such things to test people's bottom line. Thinking about it, Master Lintian can still stay awake to this day, which shows how determined he is. Even so, he must always remind himself not to indulge in illusions, lest he be unable to extricate himself... let alone ordinary people.
The next day, they parted ways. Master Lintian is extremely benevolent and has to do what he has to do to save the people who should be saved. After parting ways with their one-day mentor, Xie Zhe and the others embarked on a journey to find their friends again.
