The banquets have been coming one after another in the past few days, but the fine wines and delicacies have made Liu Qiming no longer feel any happiness, but only deep fear.
Because every night everyone goes to sleep unconsciously, and when they wake up, they find that someone is missing.
First it was Zhu Xiong, then others.
If you ask the servants of the Zhang Mansion or even the practitioners, the answer will be the same. They will only say that these people were sent to do tasks.
After a long time, the people in the Zhang family were too lazy to answer, and they stopped asking.
In fact, deep down in his heart, Li Qiming also hopes that he will be sent out to do tasks, so that he may not have to worry about it every day.
But someone seemed to be telling them not to leave the banquet or the room, as this was the safest way. So four or five days have passed, and most of the people who came here at the beginning have disappeared, but no one has thought about escaping.
This kind of enchantment, which was almost a psychological suggestion, finally made Liu Qiming suspicious despite the frequent occurrence of abnormalities, and he began to think about countermeasures.
"This is not the answer." Liu Qiming said to the only person he trusted in the room at this time, "We have to find a way to save ourselves."
"Brother Liu, what do you say, I will listen to you."
Liu Qiming was quite relieved. At least he was not alone. He solemnly said: "Tonight, we will escape from here!"
The remaining people were no longer in the mood to continue drinking and having fun and returned to their rooms, seemingly resigned to their fate and waiting for the "mission" to come.
Liu Qiming waited alone in the room until the agreed midnight before sneaking out, but his companion did not arrive as expected.
At first, Liu Qiming thought that his companion had betrayed him, and he couldn't help but cursed many dirty words. But after a while, the expected punishment did not come, and everything went as usual. He suddenly realized that something had happened to his companion.
His body trembled, but he was not grateful to have escaped. He secretly made up his mind to escape tonight even if he was the only one, otherwise he might be the next one to be killed.
…
The courtyard of Zhang's Mansion was so large that it seemed like a maze to Liu Qiming, who came from the countryside, so much so that he didn't memorize the roads even after staying there for so long.
He had never been lost in the mountains, and he was walking in the manor in a daze, not knowing where he was or which way he was going.
Fortunately, he seemed to be favored by God and had great luck. He did not attract the attention of the practitioners, escaped the intensive patrols on the roads, and left Zhang Mansion safely.
At this time, the sky was already bright, and it was only then that he thought seriously and decided where to go next.
Without the protection of Zhang Mansion in Zijun City, Liu Qiming would be a refugee at most, without a place of his own.
However, as the leader of the boatman refugees, he has his own base.
Liu Qiming followed his memory and walked into a dense residential area, passing by a simple and chaotic market. In front of him was a slum where refugees lived.
I thought that after robbing the county governor's house, the living environment of the refugees would be good, but when they arrived at the place, Liu Qiming was stunned on the spot.
The slums that were originally home to a large number of refugees have been completely turned into ruins, with not a single living thing among the ruins.
The kind people nearby saw Liu Qiming standing here in a daze and quickly pulled him down.
"Young man, don't go that way. The people in the slums have been killed by the practitioners if they offended any big shot. Don't be offended. Oh, what a bunch of pitiful people."
Liu Qiming didn't hear the next words clearly, he just felt his chest was clogged. He went crazy and asked around what happened, but no one dared to tell him the details. He thought it was the revenge of the county guard who had been sidelined, but he was told by kind people that it had nothing to do with him.
Then Liu Qiming had nowhere to go, so he thought for a while. Maybe he could find some clues by going to the dock where the boatmen worked. Isn't Zhu Xiong from there? Someone must be paying attention to the slums.
…
When he arrived at the dock, Liu Qiming didn't dare to say anything. As the culprit who cheated the port's civilian boatmen, he didn't dare to walk in openly.
He grabbed a handful of dirt and smeared it on his face, pretending he was looking for a job.
Although the work at the dock is all hard work, it is a good job for ordinary people to support their families. For the refugees who have mixed into the city, it is a treasure land for survival.
Therefore, boatmen in various regions have formed their own gangs to protect their only interests of working for rich masters.
A few days ago, Liu Qiming brought a large number of homeless workers, which made the business here bleak.
So when he first arrived, he was immediately approached. Some gangs who were short of men couldn't wait to come up and ask.
"Boy, where are you from? I have a good business to make money here, are you coming?" The speaker was a lame old man holding a pipe in his mouth. The tobacco leaves in it had been drained out long ago, but they were still in his mouth. He kept slurping in it, as if he could suck out the smell.
"Old man, I'm here to inquire about something." Liu Qiming directly explained his purpose.
"Who do you want to find? You join our gang first, and then we will help you find him together."
"I have relatives who once sneaked into the city and lived in the slums. I came to join them."
"What? Slums? I think you're not here for a job, you're here for trouble. Gungun, don't even think about getting me involved. If that Zhu Xiong hadn't bewitched a group of people to escape, I'd still see your body. Not yet."
The old man's attitude immediately changed and he turned to leave. When Li Qiming heard this, he hurried forward and asked, "Husband, what happened to my relatives? Can you tell me where the people in the slums have gone?"
"Hmph, they have died long ago. Do you want to find them? Find a place to hang yourself and go to the underworld to find them."
Liu Qiming was stunned when he heard this. He recovered and immediately caught up a few steps and grabbed the old man's arm.
"What do you mean by this, are they really all dead?" Liu Qiming was so excited that he inadvertently revealed his cruelty, frightening the old man.
The old man became more and more bored with Liu Qiming. Instead of answering him, he called a few young people over.
"Ouch, you, a young man, still want to beat me up, come here, someone is coming to our Donghe Gang to beat someone up."
Liu Qiming was no match for these people. He was beaten into a pig's head and thrown on the roadside.
After a long time, a supervisor-like figure came over and woke Liu Qiming up.
"Who are you?" Liu Qiming asked.
"My eldest brother Zhu Xiong once said that you are a person, so I hang out with you."
"You know Zhu Xiong, but now his life or death is uncertain. It was me who harmed him."
The man did not answer, but continued to talk to himself: "You are good at wine and meat, but you don't know the suffering of the people outside. All the brothers have been killed."
"What? No, sir, you said we are still useful, so why would you kill us?" Liu Qiming was incoherent. He couldn't bear the tragic death of so many people.
"What's the use of crying for father and mother here. If you really want to do something for everyone, go and take revenge."
"What can I, an ordinary person, do?"
"You only need to go to Tianfu Temple to file a complaint. There are people who are killing people to refining magic weapons. This is within the jurisdiction of Tianfu Temple. If you go to ask for help, someone will help you. You just need to turn the wind chime with your own blood to find them. .”
Liu Qiming's eyes gradually became firmer, and he was determined to make these monks pay the price.
…
When Liu Qiming came to Tianfu Temple, of course there was no one here.
Following the instructions of his brother Zhu Xiong, he went directly to the temple, knelt down before the tablet of God Qi Youtian, and prayed for protection.
The gods even choose people to respond to their own believers. It is impossible for ordinary people to impress the gods with their requests to kneel down.
But unexpectedly, a miracle happened, and the gods responded to Liu Qiming.
A voice sounded, and he could hear the words clearly, but he couldn't identify the source of the voice. That voice existed between heaven and earth, reverberating in all directions. The echoes not only did not make people irritated, but also made Liu Qiming feel refreshed.
Such a holy and cool voice could not be a product of the mortal world. Liu Qiming confirmed that it was the voice of a god the moment it came out.
"God" told Liu Qiming that as long as he drops his blood essence into the wind chime on the incense table and shakes it, he can find the location of everyone in Tianfu Temple.
Liu Qiming never thought about how he could refine the blood essence without practicing. He just followed the instructions and bit his finger. A stream of blood flowed down without stopping. It was not until half a quarter of an hour later that the wind chime was fully activated.
The wind chimes ring softly, and the sound is the same as the voice of the gods, holy and cool, guiding the direction.
Liu Qiming followed the wind chime step by step, with a few strands of white silk hanging from his head.
…
"We succeeded. Go and report it to your lord."
The speaker was dressed in red robes and bearded. The people opposite him were dressed in white clothes and carrying two swords behind their backs. They were Zhao Ji and Zhuo Cai.
In front of them was a phantom formation, which simulated Liu Qiming's day and night experience in just one hour.
The two of them need to keep an eye on Liu Qiming at all times to ensure that he completes his training in the illusion and activates the wind chimes to help them find the remnants of Tianfu Temple.
"Don't be anxious. Your Excellency can use the Five Elements Formation to understand the situation here in time. Let's escort this kid first so that there won't be any mishaps on the road."
"I really don't understand why you don't just sacrifice a few people and just turn on the wind chimes to find Tianfu Temple. Instead, you go to great lengths to cultivate a mortal within a few hours."
"We just have to obey your Lord's orders. There must be a reason for this. Perhaps for a treasure like the wind chime, only true hatred and sincere revenge can make people willingly sacrifice their whole body essence and blood to stimulate its power. .”
Although the two chatted constantly, they did not delay escorting Liu Qiming.
It was only then that Liu Qiming truly walked out of Zhang Mansion and headed towards the new stronghold of Tianfu Temple.
