Chang'an at night is more gorgeous than during the day.
Beautifully carved wooden lanterns hang from the branches of trees and under the eaves. The crowds are bustling with people from all over the world. The accents of people from all over the world intersect with each other. This noisy and lively scene seems to never dissipate.
Li Ang was walking in the narrow alleys. Thanks to the Chang'an Water Canal renovation project completed at the beginning of this year, the streets became much neater and cleaner, and there was no sewage flowing freely across the street.
After passing Xiuzhengfang and Qinglongfang, we came to the bank of Qujiang Pool.
There were many painted boats parked on the river as always. Li Ang walked along the river for a while and found a boat with four red and two white lanterns hanging as mentioned on the Zhaoming token.
It was docked on the shore, and bursts of laughter and cheers from silk and bamboo could be heard from it.
Li Ang picked up the medicine box on his shoulder and stepped onto the ship.
The waiters on the boat didn't show anything strange when they saw him. They smiled and bowed to greet him: "This way, Mr. Lang."
Li Ang stepped into the cabin. There were two rows of tables in the cabin. Several scholar-bureaucrats and charming women were laughing and drinking, without looking at Li Ang at all.
Boom——
The boatman used a bamboo pole to prop up the shore twice, and the boat quietly slid into the mirror-like river water and sailed towards the south side of Qujiang Pool.
"Is this your disguise?"
There was still laughter and laughter on the boat. The young man who was busy at first stuffed the towel into his belt and asked Li Ang calmly with his hands on his hips.
"yes."
Li Ang nodded. He put on a series of disguises after going out, including wearing height-increasing insoles.
The bridge of the nose is thickened and the cheeks are shaded under the cheekbones, making him look more mature and three-dimensional, and he looks more like a young man in his twenties.
In order to enhance the camouflage effect, he also put two soybeans on the soles of his shoes - this would passively change his walking posture, which was more than enough to deceive the bad guys in Wannian County, Chang'an.
"Good make-up. But it's better to wear this again."
The young man in Yajiu's tone nodded, took out a leather mask from his arms and threw it to Li Ang, "We are going to the ghost market. Wear a mask to avoid being recognized by my junior brother and the people in the ghost market."
Snapped.
Li Ang took over the leather mask, which still had the face of a middle-aged man, but it was different from the face he used last time.
"Your junior brother?"
Li Ang put on a mask and asked.
"Another disciple of my teacher Jun Qianzi. You can call him Wu Huo."
Yajiu said calmly: "This time we will act together with him.
Your identity is that you are a doctor who has part of the inheritance of the former Sui sect, Lihua Valley. "
"oh."
Li Ang nodded, his thoughts changing rapidly, what does "avoid being recognized by my junior brother" mean? Doesn't Yajiu's junior brother know Li Ang's true identity?
Or is it that Yajiu recruited him to join the gang and gave him the Zhaoming token without Jun Qianzi's permission?
Or is it just that the brothers Yajiu and Wuhuo simply hate each other and dislike each other?
Moreover, why did Yajiu arrange for himself the role of a doctor in Lihua Valley? You even asked yourself to bring a medicine kit, could it be that you wanted to treat someone...
"Plus, there's this."
Yajiu took out something from his belt pouch and threw it to Li Ang.
It was a tapered sharp claw tied with gold thread. It was dark and translucent, reflecting a warm luster under the candlelight.
Kind of like touching a golden charm.
"Level 2 monster, even with the claws of a mountain rat."
Yajiu said: "Constant the burrowing technique, use it after injecting spiritual power, and it can be released up to three times.
Because it is a monster talent, it is more effective than the burrowing technique released by the monks in the Cloud Patrol Realm, and can be used to save your life.
Pay attention to the timing of release. If you run out of times deep underground, you will be trapped there alive. "
Is this the reward for being paid in advance?
The burrowing technique can melt the soil and travel underground. If necessary, you can save your life by burrowing underground. It can also be used to escape or move forward in hiding. It's indeed a good alienation item - and it has no negative effects.
Li Ang had seen the item information in the Academy Library, nodded to Yao Jiu, and put the Mountain Rat Claw into the pouch on his belt, "What do I want to do?"
Judging from Mo Si's emotional perception, the boatman in front of him was not Yajiu's true form.
But since the other party can provide the second-level alienated item as an advance payment, he should not cheat or embarrass himself.
"Sut up the wound."
Following Yajiu's words, the painting boat docked at the shore again.
A heavy snapping sound sounded outside the window,
A long boot stained with mud climbed onto the ship's deck.
Tap tap tap.
The footsteps gradually approached, and a strong young man with thick eyebrows and bronze skin boarded the ship and walked towards the cabin.
He had a lazy expression, his right hand reached into his open arms and scratched his well-defined abdominal muscles, while his left hand was carrying a huge and heavy iron box.
"I brought the stuff."
The young man named Wu Huo threw the iron box on the cabin floor.
With a thud, the solid wooden planks of the cabin were smashed into heavy dents visible to the naked eye.
Innate warrior.
Li Ang smacked his lips imperceptibly. Yajiu and this so-called Wu Huo both had the strength of the Cloud Patrol Realm, and it was unknown what the two of them were planning.
Wu Huo sat down cross-legged carelessly, raised his head slightly, looked at the taciturn Li Ang, and casually asked Ya Jiu: "Is this the doctor you found? Is it reliable?"
"More reliable than you."
Yajiu replied lightly, squatted on the ground and opened the iron box.
The inner wall of the iron box is engraved with complicated runes, and the bottom of the iron box is covered with a thick layer of straw to prevent collisions and falls.
In the middle of the straw, there was a piece of arm quietly placed.
Li Ang's pupils shrank slightly. The material of the arm contained in the box was neither flesh nor gold nor wood.
Starting from the broken surface of the arm, it shows a lifeless gray-white color, until the fingertips turn into waxy yellow.
It was like an entire arm began to petrify from the fracture surface.
"The right arm of the awakening monk..."
Yajiu spoke calmly, picked up the arm in the straw through a layer of white cloth, and turned it over.
The severed arm looks as solid as a stone sculpture, and there are dense black words on the back of the arm.
It is not Chinese characters or the fonts used in Xi Jing and Southern Zhou Dynasties, nor is it any kind of writing seen in the books of the Academy.
Release the monk...
Li Ang's heart moved. Shi Xing was an "eminent monk" from Chang'an a hundred years ago. He was born in a small town on the border between Jing and Yu. He showed Su Hui when he was three or four years old and was considered to be the reincarnation of the sages.
Monk Chu Ming, who was the abbot of Baima Temple in Chang'an at that time, made a special trip to bring him back to Baima Temple and taught him carefully.
Monk Shi Xing was handsome and knowledgeable. At the age of thirteen, he was able to silence his opponents in monk debates.
At the age of fifteen, he reached the Xunyun realm, almost breaking Su Zi's practice record two hundred years ago.
In ink painting, silk and bamboo vocal music, as well as tea ceremony, poetry, museum, etc., Shi Xingseng has shown extraordinary excellence.
So much so that Qiu Zhibai, the mountain chief of the Academy at the time (also the teacher of the current mountain chief Lian Xuanxiao), wanted to make an exception and accept him as an outer disciple. But he was rejected by Shi Xingseng.
The reason is "I hope that the three generations will serve Buddha."
According to the normal development process, Shi Xingseng will become the youngest abbot in the history of Baima Temple. However, no one thought that he would find a copy of the "Dayun Sutra" from the Northern Liang period from the vast sea of Buddhist scriptures, re-annotate it, compile it into the "Dayun Sutra", and present it to the Holy Queen.
The "Da Yun Sutra" records the story of a woman who became a king and was promoted to Buddha. It highlights the theme of the Holy Mother God and the Emperor receiving orders from the Buddha and Haotian, and strongly implies that the Holy Queen should change her dynasty.
The reputation and status of the monk Shi Xing, as well as the tacit approval and even fueling of the Holy Queen herself, caused a large number of good men and women and Buddhist monks to come forward to request for copying as soon as the "Da Yun Sutra" came out.
The Holy Queen was pleased to see this success and ordered all states to build Dayun Temple to store this scripture. The final result was that praises and praises for the Holy Queen were everywhere in the Yu Kingdom, helping the Holy Queen to ascend to the throne of justice.
Because of his initiative, monk Shi Xing received many awards, including a title and a purple cassock. From then on, he was able to legitimately enter the palace to give lectures - this behavior also made some people suspect that he was the face of the Holy Queen.
For the next ten years, the Holy Queen showed great favor to Monk Shi Xing, until one day the Holy Queen suddenly issued an order to kill Shi Xing with the torture of splitting a chariot into pieces, and also executed the disciples of Shi Xing in White Horse Temple.
The sudden change in the attitude of the Holy Queen caused many opinions in later generations. Some people say that the Holy Queen was disgusted with Buddhism and wanted to use it to awaken people.
Some people say that after reading a book left by the Sword Immortal, Shi Xingxing went crazy like the Sword Immortal and told the Holy Queen false lies, which frightened the Holy Queen and hurriedly ordered him to be killed. .
Others say that Seng Xingxing is the reincarnation of the Buddha. He has long expected that he will die, but he just returned to reincarnation early through the hands of the Holy Queen.
Regardless of the possibility, it is an extremely strange thing for Monk Shi Xing to be torn apart by a car and die - his talent for cultivation is far beyond that of ordinary people. He reached the Xunyun realm at the age of fifteen, and reached Zhuxiao at the age of thirty.
A strong person in the Zhuxiao Realm will not die silently even if he faces several opponents of the same level.
However, Shi Xingseng surrendered and allowed the Queen's men to tie him up, imprison him, and tear his carriage apart. He died with a kind smile on his face.
Monk Shi Xing died seventy years ago. The cause of his death was strange, and no one knew his body or graveyard. How did the Zhaoming organization find this severed arm? What do these words on the back of the severed arm mean? Why did Yajiu ask me to suture the wound? Is it possible that someone wants to transplant the broken arm of Shi Xingseng? Venus? He is. '
Li Ang's mind suddenly changed. The case of Shi Xingseng was full of doubts, and it also involved the mystery of the Holy Queen's rule. There was not much information even in the Academy. After all, the Holy Queen was able to take the position in the first place, and she had a close relationship with Qiu Zhibai, the head of the Academy Mountain at that time. Maintaining a neutral attitude has a lot to do with it, but it doesn't look very glamorous now.
"Get dressed."
Yajiu glanced sideways at Wu Huo, who snorted coldly, lazily pulled off his clothes, lay down on the stool and pretended to be drunk and asleep.
Li Ang also played the role of a guest on the boat, smiling and drinking wine with Yajiu's puppets.
The painting boat passed the Qujiangchi Pass smoothly, sailed out of Chang'an City, and stopped by the river.
Several other puppets of Yajiu have prepared carriages and are waiting by the river.
Li Ang and Wu Huo each boarded the carriage and headed eastward to a mountain col.
The shadows of the trees in the mountain col are longing, and from time to time there are strange sounds of birds and beasts roaring.
Not surprised, Wu Huo jumped out of the carriage and went straight to the river. He lightly lifted a boulder that was as tall as a person, revealing the dark entrance to the cave below.
The ghost market in Chang'an extends in all directions, and it is no exaggeration to say that it is like a cunning rabbit with thousands of burrows.
Yajiu abandoned the other puppets and, as a boatman, walked down the cave carrying the iron box containing the broken arm of the monk Shi Xing.
Li Ang followed closely, and Wu Huo also jumped down from the cave and moved the boulder back to its original place.
"follow me."
Crow Jiu pinched his fingers, lit a small flame on his fingertips, and waded along the winding river.
He obviously knew the topography of this area very well. After passing several corners and climbing over several seemingly insurmountable waterfalls, the height of the top of the rock wall in front of him suddenly increased. The air was no longer dull, and there was even a vague density. Firelight.
That's...a real ghost market.
Li Ang narrowed his eyes slightly and saw that the terrain ahead suddenly became clear. The top of the rock wall was a hundred meters high and the river bed was more than ten feet wide.
The wide river bed makes the underground river water no longer violent and turbulent, and is as calm as the surface of a lake on the ground.
The ground on both sides of the river bed is also paved with neat bluestone slabs, and ever-burning lamps are inserted on the walls.
Countless figures walking in the flickering candlelight,
Vendors sit in low shacks made of wood and bamboo, hawking like ordinary vendors in Chang'an and other cities.
only...
"Sheep meat, fresh sheep meat—"
"The anchovy demon is worth a thousand dollars."
“Beef liver is considered meat, and eating it can improve your eyesight!”
Boom!
The tall and muscular butcher stall owner swung his meat cleaver and split the three-eyed sheep head in half.
The soup shopkeeper next to him casually picked out a colorful two-headed snake from a cage full of venomous snakes. He used a dagger to cut open the belly of the snake and picked out the snake's gall. He threw the snake's gall into boiling water and washed it. Cut it into pieces and pour it into the soup to make snake gall soup.
The owner of the bird and beast seller shouted and hit the iron cage with his bamboo stick, causing the dog-like monster in the iron cage to bark loudly and spit out a ball of dark flames like a cough.
The moist water vapor mixes with the smell of spices, food, birds and animals, etc., turning into an indescribable and strange smell.
The entire ghost market is crowded, noisy, chaotic and dirty, but it also reveals a strange order - there is even a group of soldiers wearing ghost masks and armor similar to Jinwu Guards, patrolling along both sides of the river to maintain order.
This is a completely different scene from Chang'an City and the Academy. Li Ang followed Yajiu and could vaguely feel that most of the people here were practitioners, with high or low cultivation levels.
Many people are wearing disguise masks,
Those who did not wear masks also used thick raincoats to cover their faces, or they were so unkempt that their original appearance could not be seen clearly.
"Young man, do you want to buy flowers?"
A stooped old woman came towards Yajiu with a flower basket, and slowly raised her face, revealing a face that was half old and half young.
Her flower basket contains a layer of black soil, and the flowers that grow from the soil are gray in color, with slender and stretched petals, and bursts of fragrance, which is very pleasing.
But if you look closely, you can see what kind of flowers are planted in the soil. They are clearly dry human hands. And the so-called slender petals are nothing more than overgrown, narrow nails.
"Need not."
Yajiu rejected the other party with a cold expression and strode past.
When Li Ang passed the old woman, he glanced at the flower basket, shook his head, and whispered softly: "If you have onychomycosis, one person will infect two people..."
