Evil spirits are generally naturally generated. They are objects of resentment and evil. They are extremely filthy and are rejected by heaven and earth.
It is said that the appearance of monks and evil spirits actually have some causal relationship. According to legend, it was precisely because evil spirits were causing chaos everywhere that the ancestors of the human race began to specialize in the basic cultivation methods obtained from special places, and then improved and became stronger bit by bit. Their original purpose was just to resist the ravages of evil spirits.
Nowadays, this responsibility still lies on the shoulders of monks. As long as any monk who follows the right path sees evil spirits or hears traces of evil spirits nearby, he will definitely take action to exterminate them.
However, later the Jing Dynasty established the Xuanqing Guard, which took over all matters related to evil spirits in the cultivation world, and took the initiative to place the heavy responsibility of maintaining world peace on its own shoulders. On the one hand, this is the spirit of Jing Jiu Dynasty, and on the other hand, it is also a declaration of ownership to the world.
The whole world is full of royal soil. The word "earth" is not supported by the people on the ground. Therefore, dealing with evil spirits will be of great benefit to the Jingjiu Dynasty.
However, although the focus of Xuanqing Guard's duties is to guard against and eliminate evil spirits, their understanding of evil spirits has always remained superficial.
At most, we can understand the origin of evil spirits and some superficial habits, but there is nothing deeper. Those who truly understand evil spirits are those evil monks who often deal with evil spirits and regard evil spirits as "part of their spiritual strength."
The reason why evil monks are beaten up by everyone is largely because of their close relationship with the evil spirits, their mutual dependence, and even enslaving the evil spirits and raising them like vicious dogs.
When Shen Hao was still a small flag officer, he had seen cases where evil spirits were controlled by evil monks, and he even killed one with his own hands. So this time, the two cases in Hegeng and Zhuxi made him naturally think of the word "manipulation". Only in this way can he explain the many weird points in these two cases that were not in line with the evil habits.
"But what's the reason? What's the purpose of manipulating this evil cultivator behind the scenes? Is it just to kill people and steal their hearts? Provoking the Xuanqing Guards of Fengli City like this is not the usual sinister style of the evil cultivators!" Shen Hao just left the river. He came out of the temporary mortuary built in Zhuangzi, muttering quietly.
The problem that Shen Hao discovered was actually that people from Qianhu Institute had made similar judgments before, but like Shen Hao, they were unable to discover the reason why the evil monk behind it did so.
Of course, the purpose is primarily "provocation", and it may also be to put pressure on Xuanqing Wei. If this is the case, then the cause is probably inseparable from Shen Hao's recent evil-killing plan launched on the border of Jingxi. At the same time, it also means that if the evil-killing plan is not recycled or compromised, the tragedies in Zhuxi and Hegeng Zhuangzi will definitely continue to happen, or even become more intensive.
This is related to Shen Hao. However, Shen Hao could only sneer. In his heart, he had no intention of compromising with the evil monks. When they met on a narrow road, the brave would win. The more he retreated, the more miserable his death would be.
Moreover, the Execution of Evil campaign was an important display of political achievements that he had planned for himself. If he gave up halfway or pretended, wouldn't he be hanging himself on the wall, unable to get up or down?
"Remember, I'll send word to Mr. Kuang that the current evil spirits case is definitely being controlled by evil monks. Therefore, the current pursuit target can not only be limited to the evil spirits themselves, but also investigate living people inside and outside the city. My judgment is that the evil monks who secretly operated and committed these two cases must still be around Fengri City. It is unlikely in the city. We can mainly check in various villages around the city."
Shen Hao was not suitable to intervene in specific investigation matters, but since Kuang Shengyuan asked him to help, he still had to say what he should say. According to his opinion, the evil cultivator behind the evil spirit most likely did not escape after the Zhuxi Zhuangzi tragedy because of "provocation", and would definitely hide somewhere around Fengri City and wait for opportunities.
Fengri City is heavily guarded, and it is easy to be exposed when entering and exiting. The scattered farms outside the city are the best hiding places, and it is also convenient to find a suitable place to continue committing crimes.
In fact, it is much easier to investigate in Zhuangzi than in the city. The city is densely populated with people from all over the country, with mixed identities and great mobility, making investigation difficult. On the contrary, in Zhuangzi, whenever a new face appears, the banker will notice it. Even if he does not stop in Zhuangzi, he can use this as a clue to trace.
When it comes to arresting people, Xuan Qingwei is much more confident than pursuing evil spirits.
After leaving the river ridge, Shen Hao rode his horse and galloped towards Zhuxi Village, which was eighty miles away. He hoped to run back and forth before dark, and at least touch the corpses and every household in the two villages. You have to at least have an idea of what clues to find.
There is another point that Shen Hao did not express, that is, he found that the corpses in the Hegeng mortuary were exactly the same as those of his colleagues who died when he narrowly escaped death. They all had no pain in their expressions and maintained the same appearance as before, but The heart was ripped out. This is the reaction paralysis caused by illusion. Although Shen Hao's cultivation level was low at the beginning, he was much stronger than ordinary people. He couldn't avoid the intrusion of this illusion, let alone these ordinary farmers in the farm?
Shen Hao had a hunch that the evil monk who was provoking wantonly outside Fengri City this time was probably the one who almost took his life back then. Even if not, there was definitely a connection between the two.
After leaving the river ridge, the horse followed the official road to the west. After galloping for more than 40 miles, he got off the official road and onto a small road. This side is commonly known as "Zhuangzi Road". It was a dirt road paved by the farm's own labor, and there were also a few stones. At the end of the day, you can pass horse-drawn carriages and ox-carts, but you don’t dare to run too fast when riding alone on this kind of road for fear of losing your horse.
"My lord, there is a horse resting station at the col in front of you. Can you stop and have a rest and drink some water?"
Seeing that it was already past noon, the guard reminded Shen Hao that there was a water source and a shed at the horse station in front of him, so he could take a rest, so he ordered cold water and pancakes to satisfy his hunger.
Shen Hao nodded. He didn't have to eat, but the guards who had been running around with him for most of the day had to eat. Besides, there was no need to be in such a hurry.
So the guards sent two cavalrymen to go ahead and prepare, followed by Shen Hao and the six cavalrymen around him.
However, as he got closer to the mountain col, Shen Hao suddenly felt an inexplicable irritability in his heart, as if he didn't want to stay there. He couldn't explain why.
When we arrived at the col, there was a small horse station next to it. There were some water troughs for the horses to drink. There was also a stream and a simple thatched shed. The two guards who arrived first had filled the water, lit a fire in the fire pit nearby, and started baking pancakes.
Shen Hao dismounted, frowned, and looked around: "Move quickly, and leave as soon as you finish eating."
