Shangguan Jin left in a hurry, not to return to the Yamen to deal with official duties, nor to be busy with an urgent ghost-killing mission.
She was just confused.
Her face was tense, and the corners of her mouth were stiff because she was pretending to smile.
She found that when talking to Gu Xu in person today, it was difficult for her to maintain her flawless smile and elegant and calm demeanor as before.
At this moment, she was following her intuition, walking aimlessly through the streets and alleys of Luojing City.
Spring is coming, and the warm breeze is blowing.
The sunlight dyed the masonry on the ground a brilliant golden color, as if coated with a layer of honey.
Passers-by were chatting and laughing, and vendors were shouting, mixed with the sound of wind and horse hooves, forming waves of sound that poured into her ears one after another.
But all the noise around her seemed far away from her.
She still seemed stranded in the cold winter.
Unknowingly, she came to the north bank of Luo River along the crowded stone arch bridge.
Compared with the South Bank, where powerful bureaucrats live together, the houses here are crowded, the streets are messy and dirty, and the air is filled with the complex smell of food, soot, garbage, sewage, horse manure, etc.
Shangguan Jin was very familiar with this aura.
Because this is where she grew up.
There is a small and simple inn on the roadside. The plaque hanging on the door has long faded and the words on it cannot be clearly read. A few boys and girls were running the waiter and greeting guests inside, and they were so busy that they were sweating profusely. The shopkeeper slumped lazily on an old bamboo chair, cursing and urging the guys to work faster.
Many years ago, Shangguan Jin was also one of these guys.
When she was a child, she was an ugly girl who was dark, fat, and her facial features had not yet grown. Her peers often laughed at her because of her appearance and gave her ugly nicknames such as "Sow" and "Black Bear". The shopkeeper He also dislikes her and often finds excuses to punish her and dislike her clumsiness.
It was undoubtedly a dark and gloomy day.
Such an environment made her sensitive and withdrawn for a time, and also filled her heart with a desire for "beauty" and yearning for beautiful things in the world.
She once thought that as long as she had "beauty", she could get rid of the cynicism of others and become popular and liked by others.
Until Luo Chuan, the head of the exorcism department, found her and took her to the Yamen.
She suddenly transformed from a busboy in an inn, to an official of the Qi Dynasty, to a monk with extraordinary power.
That day, she saw the former arrogant shopkeeper, servile and frightened in front of Luo SiShou; that day, she saw the group of playful and smiling companions, trembling and silent in front of Luo SiShou; that day, everyone saw Her vision had undergone earth-shaking changes - the burly young man who had bullied her the most was crying and begging her to show mercy and spare her life.
So from then on, Shangguan Jin understood that in addition to "beauty", "power" and "strength" could also make her popular and respected by others.
Thinking of this, she shook her head slightly, cast "Meteor Walking on the Moon", and left this place full of bitter memories.
After a while, Shangguan Jin arrived at the courtyard of the Yamen, the headquarters of the Exorcism Department.
This can be said to be her second home, a place where she works, practices, grows, and hone herself.
Because she had seen others being arrogant and respectful, she worked harder and worked harder than anyone else in the yamen.
Before dawn, she would be in the courtyard facing the morning breeze, waving her sword and dancing; at midnight, she would stay in the quiet library, silently reading various books related to spiritual practice.
In addition, she also strictly controls her diet, studies the art of makeup and how to treat others.
The past days left a deep shadow in her heart.
She wants to get ahead, hope that her future life will be full of light, and she will never face the cold shoulder of others again.
Then one day, Luo Sishou called her and Chu Fengge in front of him, and in a not-so-serious manner, tried to predict their future fate using astrology.
He said that Chu Fengge's destiny was "Tiankuixing", which is the star of noble people. He has an aura of greatness, is keen on helping the weak and supporting the poor, and paving the way for others.
Chu Fengge recognized the term "awe-inspiring spirit", but disagreed with "paving the future for others" - he felt that he was the number one in the world in the future, and no one else in the world was worthy of his assistance.
Shangguan Jin looked at him with contempt, saying that with his stupid mind and low abilities, he probably couldn't even take care of himself, let alone help others.
Then, Luo Sishou said that the main star of Shangguan Jin's life palace is "Tian Yue Star", which is also the star of noble people. He is gentle, kind, compassionate, and likes to help others secretly.
This time it was Chu Fengge's turn to laugh at her.
Chu Fengge glanced sideways at her and said sharply that if people like her could be called "gentle and kind," then everyone in the world would be a merciful saint.
Luo Sishou ignored the two people's quarrel.
He continued to tell them about the weaknesses of "Tian Kui" and "Tian Yue".
The shortcoming of "Tiankui" is that he is conceited and stubborn. Once he goes astray, he will easily go to the dark side and never look back until he hits the wall.
The problem with "Tian Yue" comes from its peach blossom attribute. Once feelings arise, it is easy to be trapped by love and fall into a quagmire, making it difficult to extricate oneself.
Upon hearing this, Shangguan Jin frowned and remained silent.
She considers herself to be a selfish and cold-hearted person. From the day she entered the Exorcist Department, she has been making use of all available people around her and trying her best to climb higher.
She didn't think she would be emotionally attached to anyone.
However, she didn't dare to take what the Chief Secretary said seriously.
As a person who is ruthless to her enemies and even more ruthless to herself, she secretly made up her mind that if a fire really broke out in her heart, she would put it out as soon as possible.
She couldn't allow herself to have weaknesses.
It was on that day that Lord Si Shou handed the two swords "Tian Kui" and "Tian Yue" into their hands respectively, and they became their respective natal objects.
"Remember what I said today," Luo Sishou said in the end, "You are going to do a big business in the future, and you must always reflect on yourself."
A few months ago, Shangguan Jin saw Gu Xu for the first time on the observatory at the Exorcism Department headquarters, through the magical bronze mirror of Chief Luo Chuan that could tell everything in the world.
What she was thinking at that time was: "This boy is so good-looking."
As the saying goes, the more people lack something, the more they care about it.
As an ugly duckling, Shangguan Jin pays special attention to beauty. When she encounters good-looking people, she can't help but take a second look at them.
And Gu Xu is exceptionally good-looking.
Not just pure, not just handsome, not just pretty.
Rather, he is handsome, sparse, and lonely.
Shangguan Jin once described Chu Fengge's appearance as "delicate", Princess Zhaoning as "graceful", and Zhao Yan as "enchanting".
In her eyes, Gu Xu possesses an "immortal spirit" that transcends the worldly world. He is like a banished immortal who has fallen into the mortal world. He seems to be free from the world - and as his realm gradually improves, This temperament is becoming more and more obvious and intense.
In the subsequent interactions, Shangguan Jin also discovered that Gu Xu was not only outstanding in appearance, but also talented and intelligent.
He was rising rapidly in the Daqi Dynasty with a shining attitude, from an unknown petty official in Yishui County to a highly anticipated genius in Luojing City.
Appearance, strength, talent, fame...
He seemed to have everything she had always desired.
However, people like him, who are deeply favored by God, work harder and harder than her in practice.
Looking at the way he was forgetting sleep and food, and staying up day and night, it was as if someone was urging him from behind with a whip, and he would be beaten to death if he didn't practice hard.
"Why is he so desperate?"
Shangguan Jin suddenly became very interested in this young man.
She searched for all the news about him within the scope of her authority in the Exorcism Department, got close to him during the trip to the Laoshan ruins, asked Shi Xiaohan about his past while he was recovering from his injuries, walked with him on Lantern Festival Night, and took the initiative to invite him to participate in the "Review of the Past" During the trial of the "pot" illusion, I accompanied him to buy Luo Jing's new house, and even followed him to Lin'an City...
Intentionally or unintentionally, she created many opportunities to get along with him, just to clear away the fog that shrouded him and get to know him better.
Then she discovered more shining points in him——
For example, being calm and calm in the face of crisis, being helpful to the people around you, treating princes, generals, ministers and ordinary people equally and equally...
She originally thought that her feelings for him were just curiosity.
She has also known for a long time that Gu Xu and Shi Xiaohan have a close relationship and share weal and woe. No matter what happens in the future, they will form a golden marriage.
However, not long ago, when she really heard the news that the two of them were engaged, she felt inexplicably restless, as if she staggered and her soul fell off the cliff and into the abyss.
"It turns out that this is the fate of Tianyue Star," thinking of this, she shook her head gently, with a helpless smile on her face, "What was supposed to come, will come after all."
At this moment, a ridiculous idea came to her mind. On the day of his wedding, she wanted to ride a horse and carry a sword, like those northwest barbarians who are keen on "robbing the bride", to swagger and cut off the sedan chair. Lift the pole.
But she quickly pushed the thought out of her mind.
Since "being trapped by love" is Tianyue Xing's weakness, she should do her best to suppress it and avoid it.
So she stretched out her hand to straighten the wind-blown hair on her temples, crossed the threshold of the Yamen, walked through the long corridor, and walked straight towards her own retreat room.
On the way, many colleagues saluted and greeted her.
She nodded and smiled at them, but there was no smile in her eyes.
After entering the ashram, she took out dozens of exquisite meticulous paintings from the storage magic weapon.
She once said in a casual tone in front of Gu Xu that she would use her "heavenly calculation" magical power to draw the entire Luo Jing City and record the beautiful scenery in every corner.
She is actually doing this.
Every place in the painting is special to her.
The Star Observation Deck of the Exorcist Department, the courtyard of Zhengpingfang, the pavilion of Longmen Academy, the tall and majestic North City Gate... they were all places where he and she had stayed together, leaving their common footprints.
As a fourth-level monk, Shangguan Jin has vaguely felt the opportunity to break through to the fifth level recently.
She knew that if she used the simplest and crudest method of "cutting off the seven emotions" to break through the situation, using the fire of true energy to burn all the scrolls in her hand, thereby cutting off the "love" among the seven emotions, she would be able to step into " Meng Po Pavilion", Jin entered.
Her qualifications are only at the fourth level, which is not comparable to geniuses like Chu Fengge, Su Xiao, and Zhao Yan.
But she just relied on her own efforts and did not fall far behind them in cultivation.
She only needs to take one more step forward to get rid of the weakness of "Tian Yue Star" and become one of the most dazzling geniuses in the Da Qi Dynasty, earning the admiration, envy and even awe of others.
That was undoubtedly something she had longed for.
She sat cross-legged on the mat, staring at the scroll in front of her, motionless.
The sunlight passed through the carved window lattice and shone on her face, stroking her inky black hair and outlining her slender outline, thin willow-like eyebrows, and quiet eyes.
Time passes slowly.
The bells of Luojing City rang several times, and the sunlight also quietly rotated and moved in the room.
But the fire of true energy in Shangguan Jin's hand has not yet been ignited.
When dusk fell and the sunlight in the room completely disappeared, she sighed quietly, straightened her clothes, stood up slowly, and put the scroll back into the storage magic weapon.
She finally gave up her plan to use "Zhan Qi Qing" to break through the situation.
"What are you thinking about, Shangguan Jin," she raised the corners of her mouth slightly, showing a complicated smile, and said to herself in her heart, "'Zhan Qi Qing' is a flawed method, it can make you walk faster. , but it may not allow you to go further. Your ideal has always been to become a high-profile figure in Luo Jing City. How could you choose to take a shortcut just for the sake of a temporary breakthrough speed?
"It's better for me to calm down and find a more perfect way to break through the situation without any consequences!"
That being said.
But Shangguan Jin knew deep down that this was just an excuse.
In fact, she just couldn't let go.
…………
at the same time.
Gu Xu returned to the house and took out the gift from Shangguan Jin from the box.
This is a pair of golden scissors.
Scissors were a common gift in weddings during the Daqi Dynasty.
On the one hand, scissors can be used to cut clothes, which symbolizes the daughter-in-law's ingenuity, and also represents that the newlyweds will have no worries about food and clothing after marriage, including silks and satins; on the other hand, scissors are used to cut things, which symbolizes the connection with the past life and past relationships. Make a clean break and enter a new life.
"Thank you." Gu Xu said softly, while putting the scissors away and placing them with the engagement gifts given to him by others.
Afterwards, he sat cross-legged on the mat, took the elixir, and entered a state of extremely focused cultivation.
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