It was completely dark when the three of them walked back. Zhao Tong was waving his fan in front, while Yao Pingzhong and Huang Gu looked like defeated roosters, with their heads and arms drooping and no energy at all.
This time I went out and gained nothing. I didn't meet anyone who took the initiative to come for a ride, nor did I meet anyone who chanted the same instructions as them.
Zhao Tong thought for a while. Under normal circumstances, people from the Ming Cult would definitely show up when preaching doctrines and wooing believers. But now they were so cautious and delayed in seeing them, because they must be afraid of Wang Qing and Li Zhu.
After all, this kind of poaching is intolerable to any force. Fortunately for ordinary people, these Green Forest people were attracted by Wang Qing using the arena. The cost was huge and the expectations were extremely high. There were also people in the military. If Wang Qing and Li Zhu knew that the army had begun to be infiltrated by the Ming Cult, they would probably become furious and hunt down Ming Cult disciples and believers all over the city.
However, this was beneficial to Zhao Tong, because Zhao Tong came to destroy Wang Qing, but he could not just watch the Mingjiao grow in power.
Since he planned to sneak into Wang Qing, the Mingjiao used a plan to drain the firepower. He would come up with a plan to drive away the wolf and devour the tiger. When the time came, he succeeded in the challenge and got a fake position, and then he would reveal the matter to Wang Qing and The people of Mingjiao are fighting each other.
This is also the reason why he wants to contact the Mingjiao. After all, if he wants to target the Mingjiao in the city, he must know where their home base is.
Although he returned without success tonight, Zhao Tong was not in a hurry. Both sides were fishing for this kind of thing, it just depends on who takes the bait first.
The arena on the third day was much more exciting than the previous two days. You could see some mysterious martial arts, but no real masters had shown up yet. From morning to night, there was still no one who could stay in the arena.
The Luzhou Tournament lasts for seven days. Zhao Yan estimates that the real master will appear in the next three days. He will have to enter the tournament according to the situation. If there is any trouble that makes it unsafe, then give up. As for defeating Wang Qing's army, he will think of other ways.
The three of them came back early that afternoon. As soon as they entered the small courtyard, they saw an extra kraft paper envelope on the ground. This time, there was more writing inside, and it began to describe various unreal things such as a bright world and castles in the sky. The words were very expressive. Even Zhao Tong felt that it was quite good at bewitching.
Dinner was eaten early, and before it got dark after dinner, there was a sudden knock on the courtyard door outside.
Yao Pingzhong was stunned for a moment and said, "Isn't this letter already delivered? Why are you still knocking on the door?"
Zhao Tong narrowed his eyes and said, "A distinguished guest has arrived, go and greet him!"
The two of them were puzzled and went out to see it together, but a soldier came in a moment later.
The soldier's face was full of smiles, as if he were smiling at Maitreya. He was wearing an ordinary soldier's clothes, not really armor, just a few rows of iron nails riveted on the outside.
As soon as the military man entered the door, he was greeted with a very special gift and said: "What a joy in life, what a pain in death. Here are some good men!"
Zhao Tong stood up in a hurry, but he didn't know that kind of etiquette. He just learned to say: "Life is so joyful, and death is so hard."
Although Huang Gu and I wanted to dig the ground with the toes of our boots, they still followed the words.
Seeing that the three of them seemed very satisfied, the military man smiled and said, "Xue Wen, have you not asked me the names of these three heroes?"
Zhao Tong introduced them one by one, then glanced at the kraft paper envelope on the table and whispered: "Are you a friend of Mingjiao?"
The military man also said in a low voice: "I am the envoy of the Ming Cult. I see that these three people are people of great fortune, so I came here to talk with you."
Zhao Tong suddenly became excited: "Mr.
The military man nodded: "Brother Li, I found that you are not only a man of great fortune, but also a man of great wisdom!"
Zhao Tan's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he hurriedly pulled Xue Wen to sit down, and then said: "Envoy Xue, what do you say?"
Xue Wen smiled slightly, and then began to speak in a low voice. More than half an hour passed after these words.
Zhao and the three of them all had astonished expressions, and their eyes seemed to be shining. Finally, Xue Wen looked at the three of them and said, "Three brothers, are you interested in joining our Ming Cult?"
Zhao Tong nodded fiercely, but Yao Pingzhong beside him muttered: "I would like to join, but we still have to compete..."
Xue Wen waved his hand: "No delay, no delay, the three brothers can join the religion, and they can go to fight at any time. To be honest with the three brothers, as long as the three brothers have martial arts skills, they will be different from ordinary disciples as long as they join the religion. , will be favored by Mingzun."
Zhao Tong said happily: "I just heard Brother Xue say that the Light Envoy is very obstructive. Can I do it?"
Xue Wen's expression froze when he heard this, and then he said with a smile: "That is not impossible. As long as your martial arts skills are high enough, your contribution to the sect is great enough, and you are loyal to Mingzun, it is naturally... possible."
Zhao Tong touched his chin and thought for a few breaths: "My martial arts skills are quite high. After these few days of enlightenment, I yearn for the bright world. I always feel that that is where I belong. I must be loyal to Ming Zun. That's it." contribute……"
"Hey, Brother Li, don't worry about contribution. As long as you are good at martial arts, isn't it easy to contribute?" Xue Wen looked at his expression and said.
"Yes, brother is right. As long as your martial arts skills are high enough, you can't make any contribution!" Zhao Tong said with his hands.
Xue Wen then looked at Huang Gu and the other two: "I wonder how good Brother Li's martial arts skills are?"
Zhao Tong unfolded the folding fan with a swish and lowered his voice: "I may not know that my younger brother has a nickname, called Jade-faced Flower Butterfly, and the Fragrance-stealing Young Master. If his martial arts skills are not high enough, how can he survive to this day? Moreover, I am particularly good at Qinggong, and ordinary masters cannot catch up with me."
Xue Wen's eyebrows jumped. It's not uncommon for him to brag like this, but no one is a real master, but it's hard to tell at this moment. His position as a guide in the Ming Cult is only higher than that of ordinary believers. He just picks people up, and does nothing else. No matter, attracting disciples is considered meritorious. As for the number of people with martial arts skills, it is equal to ten. As long as the three in front of you really have martial arts skills.
He said casually: "Since Brother Li is so skilled in martial arts, is it possible for him to get a ranking in the Luzhou Tournament?"
Zhao Tong nodded: "Of course I am sure, otherwise I would have been in the competition to become famous, why would I wait until now?"
Xue Wen couldn't believe it, and said with a smile: "If Brother Li can really get the top three rankings, he can get the official position in the Huai Dynasty, which can be worthy of his contribution. Although the Light Envoy is still not good, being a Flag Envoy is enough. !”
There is a strict hierarchy within the Mingjiao. As Xue Wen just introduced, Zhao Tong remembers in his heart that the highest person is the leader of the Mingjiao. Below him are the four great light envoys, then the five great Dharma kings, the six great Sanren, and then the seven-color flag envoys. These They are all considered to be the upper echelons of the church. As for the middle level, there are more, and the bottom level are the ordinary members.
He said: "From this point of view, I am determined to be the flag envoy. By the way, Brother Xue, it is not so simple for the three of me to join the Ming Cult. The three of us haven't met with Ming Zun yet?"
When Xue Wen heard this, a trace of vigilance appeared on his face, but it passed quickly and he said: "Brother Li, don't be anxious. After I report the names of the three of you, I will naturally take you to meet Mingzun, and then you will become the official disciples of Mingjiao. Everyone We are all brothers!”
Zhao Tong said: "That's very good, then I'll bother you."
Xue Wen smiled and said: "No matter what trouble we are talking about, we all yearn for the light and want to return to the bright world as soon as possible. We were originally a family, but we met later."
Zhao Tong said yes, and Xue Wen stood up at this time: "Brother, I will leave first, and I won't bother you again until the names of the three brothers are reported."
After seeing off Xue Wen, Zhao Tong thought for a while. The so-called meeting with Mingzun did not refer to the leader of Mingjiao, but Mani Light Buddha. Maniguang Buddha was also called the Great God of Light and Great Mingzun in the Central Plains Mingjiao.
This visit is to pay homage to the image of Ming Zun. It is impossible not to worship the image of Ming Zun when entering the Ming religion, and it is impossible not to even know the image of Ming Zun.
If you go to see Ming Zun, you can follow the clues to find the Ming Cult's lair in Luzhou City, and then find an opportunity to drive away the wolf and swallow the tiger, and defeat it in one fell swoop.
Zhao Tong thought about it for a long time and felt that there were no mistakes. Then he said to Huang Gu and Yao Pingzhong: "What do you think of Tiefo Temple?"
He has always felt that there is something wrong with the Iron Buddha Temple, not because of anything else, but because this temple is also called the Mingjiao Temple, which makes people think wildly. Although the meaning of "Mingjiao" is actually not the same as the Mingjiao of Manichaeism. Related, but always inappropriate.
There is also the iron Buddha in the temple. It is rare to make a Buddha made of iron, and its shape is so weird. The Buddha's light is all over the body, which is clearly showing the light.
Yao Pingzhong said: "This temple is old, but the Buddha looks strange. I only went there once, but I didn't see anything else."
Huang Gu shook his head. He didn't know much about the temple.
Zhao Tong glanced at the sky outside, it was still early, and thought: "I always feel that there is something wrong with this Iron Buddha Temple, and it may be related to the Ming Cult. I didn't go to visit it before because I was afraid of alerting the snake, but now that I have connected with people from the Ming Cult, I am no longer afraid of being exposed. Found it, let’s explore the Iron Buddha Temple tonight.”
Yao Pingzhong said: "How to find out?"
Zhao Tong said: "From the outside to the inside, let's take a walk around the Iron Buddha Temple first."
Huang Gu said: "There seem to be many ordinary people living around the temple?"
Zhao Tong said: "The spread of Mingjiao probably started from these common people. If it weren't for Wang Qing's Luzhou challenge this time, where would the people with fists, feet, guns and sticks come from? Normally Mingjiao would never have such a chance."
The two nodded in agreement. After a while, they went out and saw that there were still many people in front of the inn, and they were all talking about today's competition.
This time there was no need to talk about joy or pain, the three of them walked slowly towards the Iron Buddha Temple.
It was earlier than yesterday, but there were already people sitting in front of the temple in twos and threes, and there were hawkers selling needles, threads, and needles. They specialized in street business, and they only went to the crowd of women. Thanks to their eloquence, they made a few deals. , but even if there were no more customers, he would not leave. His eyes would just glance around, and his mouth would start to get fancy.
The three of them were walking around and looking around. Suddenly they passed by the gate of the temple. Several groups of people were sitting there. Suddenly a young woman shouted, "You guys with thick eyebrows and big eyes, why don't you talk nonsense today?"
Huang Gu sounded familiar. He turned his head and saw that it was the young woman who had spoken to him yesterday, looking at him with a pair of watery eyes.
He was suddenly embarrassed, and Yao Pingzhong whispered from the side: "Huang Sheng, this little lady must have taken a liking to you, so hurry up!"
Huang Sheng glared at him: "Why don't you come!"
Yao Pingzhong said happily: "It's not me that people are interested in. If I do it, wouldn't I be looking for scolding?"
Huang Gu snorted coldly and chased Zhao Tong forward, but heard laughter coming from behind.
"Mrs. Zhou, could it be that you have fallen in love with this fool with thick eyebrows and big eyes?"
"Second Sister Zhu, don't be ridiculous, I am the one you are married to."
"Sister, I'm not joking, but it's true. Your man goes out on business and only comes back once every six months in March. Now the war is going on. I don't know when he will be able to come back next time. It's a pity that Mrs. Zhou is alone in the empty house."
"Second Sister Zhu said nothing but some things, but I didn't listen. I'm so embarrassed."
"Oh, why didn't you feel a little shy when you were chatting with someone just now, and now you feel ashamed when someone walks away?"
"Don't listen, don't listen..."
Zhao Tong laughed as he walked, and Yao Pingzhong kept holding his stomach. The three of them were sharp-sighted and listened to everything that was said behind them. Huang Gu had an ugly face. He didn't know what evil happened to him this year, but he was always embarrassed by women. Even if he left, There are also right and wrong on every road.
The three of them bypassed the temple gate and walked towards the back of the Iron Buddha Temple. This was actually a residential area for ordinary people, interspersed with alleys and alleys, with large courtyards and small courtyards adjacent to each other.
The three of them walked in casually, aimlessly, just wandering around. Suddenly they saw a small courtyard at the end of an alley. This small courtyard looked much more exquisite than the others. What was even more rare was that it was not connected to the other courtyards. , is an independent building.
The crimson mottled old courtyard door, with peach charms hanging on both sides, looks no different from other courtyards, except that there is a white mark painted on an inconspicuous place on one of the doors.
Zhao Tong frowned slightly as he looked at the white mark.
It was the mark of the Ming King's Fire. I don't know what material was used to outline it. Although it was in an inconspicuous place, it shone slightly with silver light.
He made a gesture of silence towards the two of them, then stood in front of the door and listened carefully, but he faintly heard music coming from the courtyard.
The music was very unfamiliar. It was not any musical instrument he was familiar with. It was full of nonsense tunes. Zhao Tong listened carefully and found that the music was cheerful and clear, and it seemed that someone was dancing on the ground.
After glancing at Huang Gu and Yao Pingzhong, Zhao Tong whispered a few words and then knocked on the door.
He knocked on the wooden door of the small courtyard, and the music inside stopped suddenly, and it became quiet for an instant, as if no one was inside at all.
Zhao Tong continued to knock a few more times, but still no one answered or opened the door.
Zhao Tong sneered in his heart. He just didn't open the door when there was someone there. He didn't even want to answer. There must be something wrong. He stretched out his hand and pushed the courtyard door. If no one came out, he didn't mind pushing the door open.
At this moment, a delicate voice suddenly came from inside: "Who is it?"
Zhao Tong listened to the girl named Xiang and said, "Anyone passing by, please ask for a drink of water."
A voice in the courtyard said: "Go to another house to ask for help. Women live here, so it's inconvenient."
Zhao Tong smiled and said: "We are good people, as long as there is a water ladle to give us saliva, we don't go in."
The voice from the courtyard said: "There are courtyards on both sides. Why come to my house to ask for water? I said it's inconvenient. Why are you so stubborn? Let's go."
Seeing that Zhao Tong couldn't open the door, he pushed hard again until the wooden door creaked.
Rapid footsteps sounded in the courtyard, and the voice became angry: "What on earth do you want to do? You said it's not convenient to open the door, why do you still want to force your way in!"
(End of chapter)
