Li Shengyi stood in the courtyard and looked to the north, and saw a thick layer of clouds gathering in the distant sky, which was caused by the volcano's fire.
After a while, he returned his gaze to the courtyard.
He has two residences in Gaochang City. One is a residence used for official business and was the former monarch's palace. The other place is the current three-entry courtyard, located among the large residential areas in the south of the city. He never deliberately hides his whereabouts when he comes and goes, nor does he disturb the residents. The residents here gradually regard him as an ordinary resident with a special status. Except that he does not interact with each other, he is no different from ordinary neighbors.
The courtyard where he lives has a thin bamboo shallow pool, pebble paths and velvety grass. It is beautiful and quiet. When something is difficult to decide and is disturbing, he likes to take a nap here to clarify his thoughts. But something seems to have happened in the courtyard today. The changes made it impossible for him to calm down.
He listened to the low and melodious sound of the flute coming from outside the wall. Perhaps it was the female family members of a certain family next door practicing their playing. After a while, the sound of the flute stopped, and the woman's laughter was heard again, like a small silver bell swaying gently in the breeze.
These voices used to make him meditate and let him know that there are so many people living and working in peace and contentment under his rule. But it sounded useless today, and even made him more irritated.
He took a deep breath and waved his right hand slightly, causing a bead to fall from his sleeve into his palm. When he held the bead, he suddenly knew why.
In his heart, there was always a voice reminding him that these things in front of him were not his, but he was in charge of someone. The power and love he possesses are like a pavilion built on quicksand, with the risk of collapsing at any time. In the past, he had imagined that one day he would be able to consolidate the quicksand, but after hearing the news from the north bank of the Qianjiang River, even that fantasy disappeared.
This courtyard, the beautiful scenery, the breeze, the sound of silk and bamboo, and the laughter will one day belong to another person.
He clenched the beads and opened his palms.
The beads are milky white and translucent, with vein-like red blood threads inside them, exuding a slight fragrance. He remembered what Li Boxen said when Tao Chunxi presented the bead to him - "This thing is the flesh and blood of Beichen before he became a Taoist. If you want to be Beichen's successor, eat this thing."
Now he knew it was false. This was not made of Beichen's flesh and blood, but perhaps, it was poison. But out of a strange mentality, after many hesitations these days, he did not destroy or throw it away. He realized that he still had hope in his heart, just as he said to Abel just now, even if it is a secret spirit... Even if it is a secret spirit...
All the sounds around him suddenly disappeared - Li Shengyi only realized this after counting his breaths.
There was a warning sign in his heart, but it was immediately suppressed by a powerful yet gentle force. Power comes from the sky, from the ground, from all directions, seemingly everywhere. Along with power, there is also a "feeling".
It was like his own feeling, but also like the feeling of the world - wave after wave, slowly stirring up his thoughts. This made him feel his heart start to tremble slightly, as if he was moved for no reason.
After a moment, the power and feeling were gone. He heard the girl's laughter again and felt the gentle breeze in the courtyard.
Li Shengyi's body was stretched straighter than a gun. After a brief moment of confusion and confusion, two emotions of ecstasy and panic arose in his heart - it is impossible for a practitioner who is about to reach the realm of spiritual illumination to have such an illusion. There is no doubt that , everything I just perceived came from a more powerful and ancient existence...
From a secret spirit!
Is it because of this bead? !
As soon as his eyes fell on it, a strong desire immediately arose in his heart - to eat it and make it a part of his body!
At this moment, Li Shengyi knew that only a small part of this desire came from his own mind, and more was caused by the powerful force just now. He could even separate part of his thoughts to suspect that everything he felt just now and his current thoughts were caused by this bead and Li Bochen. He dedicated this thing to himself through Tao Chunxi, just for this moment. Maybe it's not poison, but it's connected to an evil secret spirit, so he becomes the master of the secret spirit... and loses the possibility of inheriting the orthodoxy forever!
He was suddenly startled, raised his hand and threw the beads out.
As soon as the beads left my hand, all desire disappeared instantly. Li Shengyi held on to the pillar and took a step back, breathing heavily while watching the beads fall into the grass. After a moment, he snorted coldly, turned around and walked back into the house.
But after taking two steps, he stopped and suddenly ran into the yard, picked up the bead and stuffed it into his mouth. He chewed quickly, getting down on his hands and feet, alerting his surroundings like a vigilant beast, with a lot of saliva dripping from the corners of his mouth. After swallowing the last mouthful, Li Shengyi passed out.
Then he started to dream - actually he didn't know if it was a dream or not.
His body lost consciousness, but what he had done just now was still vivid in his mind, and shame and fear arose in his heart. He realized that he was lying on the grass, with loyal guards just across the wall outside the courtyard, but he could not make a sound.
The next moment he was seized by a great emotion. There was no image or sound, but he felt an incomparable sense of reverence in his heart, as if the greatest and noblest thing in the world had taken over his body. Li Shengyi almost completely lost his consciousness. He couldn't help but think of the prayers he had memorized that were needed to communicate with the spirits and gods of the underworld, so he couldn't help but read them out in his dream.
The sky is clear and high, with almost no clouds.
But gradually, Li Shengyi felt that he seemed to see something in this background - an ancient and mysterious power opened an invisible door in the sky, and the prayers in his mouth flew up in the wind, so behind the door Something appeared.
Other words began to come out of his mouth without him realizing it. His eyes were focused on the sky, and his consciousness was focused on his body. He gradually felt his body, gradually heard voices, and gradually realized that the shaking figure in front of him was the guard who had rushed in and was trying to lift him up from the ground.
Now, he heard the voice in his own mouth——
The Lord of Beichen, the spirit of the great underworld, the nine flying stars, pay homage to the true spirit.
The Lord of Beichen, the essence of Kaiyang, Xuanying Yukong, and Tianzhu Weiling.
The Lord of Beichen, the essence of the sky, the birth and death of all the secluded beings, and the vitality of all spirits.
Li Shengyi regained his strength.
He stood up, gently pushed away the guards' hands, smiled in their frightened and doubtful eyes, and whispered: "The emperor has shown his holiness."
After a moment of silence, he slowly raised his head and said, "I am Beichen Orthodox."
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