"When I was young, I went on a trip with my friends. We rode horses in the suburbs of Beijing. At that time, I thought that if such days could last forever, it might be a good thing."
The old emperor sat on the soft couch and told the past stories in a nostalgic tone. The clouds under his seat had been dyed bright red, and countless small tubes like thorns were squirming on them. The clouds seemed to come alive.
"In the spring of that year, we went to Jinming Temple and met an old man on the road. He was a wealthy man in the capital. He had a rich family and had children and grandchildren around his knees. He should have been carefree and enjoying family happiness, but instead he All my wealth was given to gods and Buddhas, just to live a few more years."
As the old emperor spoke, there was an indescribable irony in the expression on his face, as if he was mocking the old man, and also seemed to be mocking himself.
"Back then, I always felt that there was still a lot of time in my future life. For me, there were too many years and too many, so much that there would never be a day when I didn't have enough."
The old emperor shook his head in distress and said: "Now that I think about it, I am indeed young and frivolous. There is actually no difference between me and that old man. It's just that I can't leave this beautiful world."
The rising water vapor in the Zixiao Palace slowly became blood-red, and the dancing movements of the surrounding sacrificial messengers became louder and louder. The eyes under the masks of ghosts and gods were as wide as copper bells, and they were shouting frantically. Compared with "song", It's more like a wail coming from the depths of the soul.
This group of sacrificial envoys danced their limbs like crazy, screamed and roared in an unregulated rhythm, as if they were about to be swallowed up by the blood-filled hall, and everyone was struggling painfully.
Bathed in this scarlet, the old emperor's eyes were extremely calm. His two arms were connected with countless weird thin tubes, like rhizomes rooted in the soil, sucking cruel nutrients from this crazy world.
"In fact, I have no regrets in my life. I have gained the power of the world, the eternal reputation, the love of friends, the love of monarchs and ministers, and the love of beautiful women. I have gained them all."
As the old emperor spoke, his expression suddenly became gloomy. He sighed: "Times are merciless. Even if some people are far away from me, there is nothing we can do about it. I don't blame them."
The old emperor sighed, and the sadness on his face was replaced by a smile: "I have everything, but I only lack time. No matter what I have lost or missed, I will have a lot of time to make up for it in the future."
The old emperor seemed to be looking back on his life. His chattering might only be able to move him, because at this moment, except for him, no one else in the palace could think about the problem with normal thinking and logic.
Most of the seven people who were initially controlled have now passed out. After all, not everyone has such a strong psychological endurance and can watch their own blood being drained alive.
Perhaps thanks to his troublesome temper, even though the fourth prince's face was extremely pale, he still did not completely lose consciousness. He still held on to the hope of living.
Everyone knew that their father was crazy, but what frightened and despaired the fourth prince was that after his father went crazy, he actually planned to use their flesh and blood to seek immortality.
The fourth prince's sealed acupuncture points were not unlocked, but perhaps because of the flashback before his death, he was able to speak.
"Father, please forgive me. I don't want to die." The fourth prince struggled to speak, with tears streaming down his face. In his eyes, in addition to the fear of death, there was also the despair of being murdered by a loved one.
While he was speaking, drums seemed to sound in the hall, and the fourth prince began to look around with horrified eyes. It turned out that the envoys of the sacrifice were also crazy.
The seven messengers no longer danced, but slapped their bellies with their hands to make a drumming sound, and then started beating each other's bodies with the ritual vessels in their hands. After a while, the group of people were covered in bloodstains.
The ugly songs seemed to turn into whips and chains. The people who were whipped by pain screamed and danced crazily. The rising blood turned into a substantial curtain. In the haze, the slaughter turned into praising the immortals. The dance, the pain turned into chants praising gods and Buddhas, and the blooming blood flowers filled every corner of the hall like a dream.
This crazy scene made the fourth prince so frightened that he burst into tears. He tried hard to pull out the small thorn tubes stuck in his body, but it was to no avail. These tubes seemed to have some magical power. The more he struggled, the more they started to move crazily. Take his blood.
"No. I don't want to die."
The fourth prince weakly begged for mercy. Looking around, he saw that all his brothers and nephews were dying. The entire hall was like a resurrected tomb, dragging them all into the abyss of death.
The old emperor's rambling was not over yet, but when he wanted to recount his heroic deeds while walking in the rivers and lakes, he suddenly heard Cao Yuan's voice.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty——"
The old emperor seemed to have woken up from a dream. He suddenly raised his head and saw the dawn in the sky. Thousands of rays of light shone in front of him. White cranes were flying high in the distance, phoenixes were singing in the sky, and mountains and rivers were nearby. Immortal music was playing. , he stepped on the auspicious clouds, like a god or an immortal.
"His Majesty."
Another call from Cao Yuan brought the emperor back to his senses. He looked at the chief eunuch beside him in surprise. The wrinkles on his forehead had disappeared, and his young face looked as if he had returned to decades ago.
The emperor lowered his head suddenly, and the auspicious clouds under his feet turned into a clear spring, reflecting his long black hair and a handsome face like a boy.
"I, this is what I am." The emperor stroked his young face and was speechless.
"Congratulations to Your Majesty, you may live forever and enjoy eternal blessings!" Cao Yuan laughed and bowed down.
"I have achieved immortality?" The old emperor seemed a little unbelievable. He looked down at his reborn body, and the curvature of the corners of his mouth continued to expand.
"Okay-! Hahaha!"
The old emperor's laughter could not be suppressed. He waved his sleeves and robes, and the three mountains and five mountains were under his feet. He stepped a little, and the Jiuxiao Galaxy was close before his eyes.
He looked around, and all the nine states congratulated him in unison. As soon as he opened his mouth, all things in the world bowed their heads and obeyed his orders. At this moment, the world's great roads could no longer do anything to him, and everything was already in his hands.
"Eternal life is the gift of taking away the heaven and earth. Even if I am the Son of Heaven, it is still a great sin to take away the shortcomings of heaven and earth and make up for one's own excess. However, now that the path to immortality has appeared, I have achieved eternal life."
The old emperor exhaled a breath and slowly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he had returned to Zixiao Palace.
Seven princes and grandsons knelt down to congratulate, seven sacrificial envoys loudly praised, and Cao Yuan waited beside him with his hands down. Although there were drastic changes outside the palace, as long as the emperor's order was issued, the chaos in the world would be calmed down immediately.
boom!
The door of Zixiao Palace was pushed open, and the person standing outside was Meng Yuan. His eyes were full of surprise and disbelief. The emperor looked up and saw the other man, and he couldn't help laughing.
"Ayuan, you came at the right time. Come with me quickly. We won't come back until we get drunk today!"
The emperor was in high spirits. He stepped forward and raised his arm to hug the other person. However, when his hand fell on Meng Yuan's shoulder, he suddenly staggered.
"Um?"
The emperor looked down at his empty hand in surprise, and saw only a broken flower leaf falling on his palm. When he raised his head again, everything no longer existed, the light and shadow were hazy like a dream, and he was in a sea of flowers. .
Meng Yuan pushed open the door of Zixiao Hall, and the scene in front of him made all the courtiers who came with him lose their voices. The solemn palace was dyed red with blood, and seven complete corpses were lying on the ground. They were the princes.
In addition, there were seven mutilated corpses. They were people wearing masks of ghosts and gods, and the ritual utensils in their hands were stained with disgusting flesh and blood. Their bodies were intertwined strangely, creating a pattern on the ground. A twisted painting.
The body of Cao Yuan, the great eunuch of the Palm Print, was in front of them. The other party seemed to want to escape from this hell. Unfortunately, judging from his bloody hands, he was unable to open the door and eventually died under the door.
And the last, and most important, body of His Majesty himself lay crookedly on the soft clouds in the center of the hall. His death was extremely horrific, as if all the blood vessels in his body had burst, and the skin all over his body was covered with blood. All covered with terrible cracks.
A ray of sunlight above his head fell miserably on him. The emperor's eyes were still wide open before his death. He grinned, and his death posture full of joy and pleasure was deeply imprinted on everyone. bottom of my heart.
