In the perception of Gu Xu and Shangguan Jin, the waiter who looked very much like Wu Danggui, a former member of the "Shenji Camp", had neither the aura of a ghost nor the fluctuation of his true energy, and seemed to be a completely ordinary person.
However, this person's steps were silent and his movements were extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, he walked straight through the backyard and disappeared at the back door of the restaurant.
Even if Gu Xu and Shangguan Jin mastered high-level martial arts such as "Meteor Walking on the Moon", they still found it very difficult to catch up with him.
When the two of them left the shop and came to the alley outside, they were surprised to find that the mysterious shop waiter had completely disappeared from their consciousness.
Shangguan Jin narrowed his eyes slightly.
As a fourth-level monk, she possesses extremely majestic spiritual power, capable of covering a radius of several hundred meters.
But she couldn't sense the position of the waiter at all.
This undoubtedly means that that person either has the means to hide his aura, or has slipped out of a range of several hundred meters in an instant - no matter which method he uses, it shows that he is by no means an ordinary person.
"Fellow Daoist Gu, can you use divination to find where he escaped?" She turned her head and looked at Gu Xu beside her.
Because Luo Sishou once said, "The divination skills mastered by Gu Xu are very special", and because Gu Xu relied solely on a copper coin to lead her to this small restaurant hidden in a shady alley today, she was very interested in Gu Xu's divination skills. Have confidence.
However, before she finished speaking, Gu Xu had already knelt down, took out the copper coins, and did divination on the ground.
The copper coins currently used by the Daqi Dynasty are all engraved with the four characters "Tianxing Tongbao" on the surface. They are light red in color and have a lathe edge.
Gu Xu silently recited the names of "Tai Shang Haotian" and "Emperor Zi Wei", and asked in his mind: "Which direction did 'Wu Danggui' escape to?"
Then he gently tossed the copper coin.
Theoretically speaking, when the copper coin falls on the ground, the direction pointed by the word "天" in "天行通宝" is the direction in which "Wu Danggui" escapes.
However, unexpectedly, the copper coin actually stood upright on the ground - even if the ground was uneven and the cool wind blew by, the copper coin still stood tall.
Gu Xu pondered for a moment, then tried to change the way he asked the question, and asked:
"Where did the person who looked exactly like Wu Danggui escape to?"
"Where did the ghost who looked similar to 'Wu Danggui' escape to?"
"Where did that ghost disguised as a waiter in this hotel go?"
"..."
However, the copper coin still stood firmly on the ground and did not tell him the answer.
"Did that guy evaporate out of thin air?" He frowned, feeling quite surprised by this.
Then he put away the copper coins, stood up, and said to Shangguan Jin beside him: "Fellow Taoist Shangguan, I think this matter is quite strange - the aura fluctuations of this person who have no fluctuation power can escape our perception range in an instant; My divination skills also caused this weird reaction in him.
"His identity, his abilities... may be far beyond what we can handle. Reporting this matter to the Yamen and letting stronger people investigate this case may be the best choice."
Not reporting things to the Yamen without hesitation and never putting himself in danger easily. This is Gu Xu's style of work all the time.
Shangguan Jin was silent for a few seconds, then nodded.
Ever since she received this mission, she felt that there was an extremely strange atmosphere in it - the former members of the "Shenji Battalion" from nearly twenty years ago had reappeared in the world, and Luo Sishou's heavenly skills could not figure out the specific details. Due to this situation, Gu Xu's miraculous divination skills also encountered setbacks.
Now they have lost track of their target.
It is obviously difficult to continue the investigation.
But Shangguan Jin did not give up completely.
She returned to the small restaurant and found the proprietress of the restaurant in the backyard corridor.
The proprietress is a bloated middle-aged woman, wearing a greasy apron. The fat on her neck is like layers of waves. Sitting on the grass pier, she looks like a bulging balloon.
She was lowering her head and concentrating on sewing patches on a piece of coarse cloth.
When Shangguan Jin asked about the origin of the mysterious shop waiter who looked like "Wu Danggui", the proprietress raised her head and frowned slightly: "He started working here more than two months ago. I saw that he was homeless and looked like He was very pitiful, so he took him in here and gave him food to eat.
"I don't know about other situations."
Shangguan Jin nodded and kept the time "more than two months" in mind.
When she left, she did not forget to praise the landlady for being virtuous and capable - not only did she do good sewing, but she also managed the restaurant in an orderly manner.
As the recognized social master of the Exorcism Department, Shangguan Jin always habitually puts words of praise on his lips.
Moreover, she always pays attention to the details when praising people, and never seems hypocritical or pretentious.
For example, when complimenting a girl with beautiful appearance, she will not simply say "You are very beautiful", but will say "This hairpin on your head matches your temperament very well. It reminds me of the girl in the opera "The Immortal Comes to Earth". Protagonist".
Today, she stared at the needlework fabric in the hands of the landlady with a smile, praising her fine sewing skills - she chose threads of similar colors, sewed from the inside out, and finished in a circular motion so that the threads could be tied together. Hidden, the traces of sewing are not visible from the front.
Hearing Shangguan Jin's words, the landlady raised her head with a smile on her face - she usually helped her husband sew clothes every day, but her husband disliked her old age and beauty, never sympathized with her hard work, let alone noticed that she was hiding Delicacy in needlework.
Unexpectedly, a stranger who met by chance today could reveal her good intentions with just one word!
She was vaguely moved.
The depressed mood that had been interrupted just now disappeared without a trace in an instant.
After hearing the conversation between the two, Gu Xu couldn't help but sigh in his heart: Shangguan Jin's little mouth is really like honey. No wonder she is so comfortable in the officialdom, and Luo Sishou is more willing to take her with him to deal with it. Daily affairs, not Chu Fengge, who is more talented and has higher cultivation level. If she uses this ability to deal with men in the future, I am afraid that most of the young elites in Luojing City will fall under her pomegranate skirt.
…………
After leaving the restaurant, the two of them wanted to board the carriage and return to the exorcism department's office.
However, at this moment, Shangguan Jin suddenly narrowed his eyes slightly and pointed to a simple wine shop nearby: "Fellow Daoist Gu, have you seen it? There are several soldiers from the Capital Guard who have left their posts without permission in that shop."
Gu Xu looked in the direction she pointed, and indeed saw several soldiers in light armor sitting drunkenly in the tavern, holding a wine bowl as big as a basin and pouring wine into their mouths.
The turbid wine seeped out from the edge of the bowl and flowed on them, making their bodies smell of alcohol.
The metal helmets were placed at their feet and kicked around like balls by passers-by, without them noticing.
Two of them were even drunk, lying unconscious on the table, snoring in an extremely indecent manner.
Seeing this situation, Shangguan Jin frowned.
Before Gu Xu could respond, she walked up to the drinking soldiers in three steps and said to them in a stern tone: "Which captain are you under? Do you know? According to the laws of the Daqi Dynasty, as a city defense soldier, if you leave your post while on guard, you will be punished with a cane?"
In fact, these soldiers' armors have their names marked on them.
Shangguan Jin could just remember their names in his mind, go back and look through the files, find out which team they belonged to, and then tell their commander about the situation.
But Shangguan Jin is a compassionate person after all.
She knew very well how terrible the "stick punishment" in the army was.
In the history of the Daqi Dynasty, there were by no means a few soldiers who were crippled or even beaten to death by torture sticks.
Considering the lives of these soldiers and the families behind them - Shangguan Jin felt that it would undoubtedly be a better choice if they could be persuaded to go back and avoid punishment.
However, the soldiers were still drinking and ignored her words.
Only one person waved his hand towards her and said in a dazed manner: "Our school captain...he is also drinking in the pub opposite...he will not punish us..."
Shangguan Jin suddenly felt a headache: I wonder if this is because the upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked? The chief and his subordinates neglected their duties together?
She frowned and said, "With your drunken appearance, if a ghost suddenly breaks into Luo Jing City, wouldn't they all become meat on the chopping board?"
While pouring the wine, the soldier laughed and said: "With Emperor Taizu's 'Tianlong Formation' here, how can the ghosts attack it?"
Listening to his tone, he seemed to think Shangguan Jin was a fool.
"What if?" Shangguan Jin straightened his hair and said coldly. In her mind, the figure of the shop waiter who looked exactly like the former member of the Shenji Battalion "Wu Danggui" appeared again involuntarily.
"If the ghosts and monsters really attack, they will be supported by tall men..." The soldier continued to smile drowsily and said, "Our captain once said that mortal soldiers like us are just a group of decorations, just a formality. The significance is far greater than the actual significance... When the critical moment comes, we still have to rely on the monks of the Exorcism Department..."
Shangguan Jin didn't speak again for a while.
She lowered her head and caught a glimpse of the name engraved on the soldier's armor - "Zhou Tieniu".
Zhou Tieniu's drunken remarks could be said to be very improper in attitude; but after Shangguan Jin thought about it carefully, she found that what he said actually made sense.
She sighed softly, took out a few sobering pills from the storage magic weapon she carried with her, and woke up the drunken soldiers and the lieutenant in the pub opposite.
"My name is Shangguan Jin, the doctor of the Exorcist Division." She folded her hands on her chest, standing next to the black carriage with the logo of the Exorcist Division, and introduced herself expressionlessly.
Upon hearing her self-introduction, the captain and his men were all frightened out of their wits.
For them, a fifth-grade official of the Exorcism Department like Shangguan Jin is undoubtedly a big shot that is out of reach on ordinary days.
But today, such a big shot appeared in front of them, and he happened to catch evidence of their absence from duty.
They all thought in unison: It's over now.
However, Shangguan Jin did not embarrass these mortal soldiers in the end.
She said lightly, "I won't do it next time." Then she got on the carriage and told the driver to drive back to the Yamen.
At this moment, Gu Xu was sitting opposite her, quietly looking at the scenery outside the window, looking at the busy figures in the streets and markets - the boys carrying goods, the women at the barbecue stalls, the vendors setting up shelves... …
Shangguan Jin looked at his calm and handsome face and couldn't help but ask: "Fellow Daoist Gu, what do you think about this matter?"
Gu Xu knew that she was talking about soldiers leaving their posts without permission to drink.
He thought for a while and said softly: "Actually, if there is such a day in the future, Luo Jing City is attacked by foreign enemies, and these mortal soldiers have to take up arms to defend themselves against the enemy... That will be a really bad moment!"
Shangguan Jin was thoughtful.
…………
The black carriage quickly left the alley and came to the spacious street.
Gu Xu suddenly heard a loud drum sound.
He stuck his head out and looked out the window, and soon saw the towering north gate of Luojing City shining with bright golden light.
There are three door openings in Luojing North Gate.
On weekdays, only the left and right door openings are opened.
Only when important events occur or important people come and go, the door in the center will be opened.
The city gate of Luojing is also part of the "Tianlong Formation".
Its opening and closing does not rely on human power, but is completely controlled by formations and mechanisms.
At this moment, accompanied by brilliant light, the doorway in the center slowly opened.
An honor guard composed of dozens of people, surrounded by several gorgeously decorated carriages, slowly drove into the city from outside the door.
On one of the carriages, there was a crystal clear white jade stone several meters high, shining brightly in the sunlight.
With his spiritual perception far beyond ordinary people, Gu Xu was able to glimpse the four characters "Jiangshan Yonggu" engraved on the jade stone.
"People from the Jinling Shen family are here too." Seeing this scene, Shangguan Jin next to him said softly.
"Are you here to attend the 'Luoshui Conference'?" Gu Xu asked.
"That's right," Shangguan Jin smiled, "As one of the three great families, the Chen family and the Zhao family have already sent candidates to participate in the meeting, and the Shen family is naturally not far behind.
"However, the more important purpose of their trip is to offer auspicious blessings to His Majesty the Emperor."
"Auspicious? Is it that big stone?" Although Gu Xu usually reads the Di newspaper, he rarely spends time paying attention to news that has nothing to do with practice.
Shangguan Jin nodded: "The Shen family reported in a memorial not long ago that they dug this big stone out of the mountain - the words on it were originally on the jade stone, not carved on it by them.
"This shows that today's emperor is a saint, and everyone is looking forward to it. Even God sees it, so it sends such auspiciousness."
Gu Xu did not respond immediately.
He had seen a lot of this kind of "offering auspiciousness" routines in history books in his previous life, and most of them were ways to please the emperor.
As for the "auspiciousness" of this world, he didn't know whether it was true or false.
But he heard that the relationship between the three great clans and the emperor has been somewhat tense recently——
Part of the military power of the Zhao family was taken back to the court.
Many industries owned by the Jinling Shen Group were also found to have a large amount of tax evasion some time ago.
Perhaps the Shen family wanted to use the method of "offering auspiciousness" to ask Emperor Tianxing for his help, thereby solving their own crisis.
At the same time, Gu Xu also noticed that when the light on the north city gate flickered, many people on the street fell to their knees with a plop and worshiped in the direction of the city gate, mumbling words and looking particularly pious.
"What are they doing?"
"In the eyes of these common people, the 'Tianlong Formation' set up by Emperor Taizu is the greatest miracle in the world, which is sacred and cannot be desecrated," Shangguan Jin explained, "Because of the existence of the 'Tianlong Formation', they You can live and work peacefully in the city without having to face threats from ghosts and monsters all the time.
"So many times, they are more willing to dedicate their faith to this great formation right in front of them than to worship 'Tai Shang Haotian' and 'Emperor Zi Wei' who are far away in the nine heavens."
ps: 4400-word chapter. After spending a few days, I finally re-wrote the follow-up outline. It should not be easy to get stuck next time.
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