"Are there another rebel army coming over?"
Zhang Yao's heart moved slightly as he listened to the conversation of several Taoist boys.
After staying in Qingping Palace for almost a year, he had a new understanding of the chaos of this world.
He could often hear news about refugees, bandits, and rebels. He used to be nervous, but now he didn't care much about it.
The refugee army half a year ago only made a few waves and then disappeared without a trace. No news was heard again.
In today's world, villages and towns have regiments of rural warriors led by big families, and even forts are built. There are even government soldiers and Xiang troops guarding the city. Although the Qingping Palace is relatively small, it is not easy to mess with.
Unless a large-scale natural or man-made disaster breaks out and the Qingping Palace is completely unable to withstand it, he is not too worried about his own safety.
To take a step back, if the turmoil really reaches that level, the senior officials of Qingping Palace will definitely have received the news in advance, and they will not be able to just sit back and wait.
"This world is in chaos. People are like ants and lives are like grass. When will we be able to grow up?"
Zhang Yao sighed, but didn't take it to heart and continued to work.
Anyway, in this situation, he is not going to go down the mountain. He will hang out in Qingping Palace for decades first.
…………
Several days passed.
The progress of Taiyi Zhuang Gong is still slowly improving, but the alchemy skill is advancing by leaps and bounds.
Under the guidance of Master Guanlu, Zhang Yao had already tried to make alchemy for the first time. Although the result was not very good, Master Guanlu was not disappointed.
For things like alchemy, if you want practice to make perfect, you need a lot of medicinal materials to smash it, even a genius of alchemy is no exception.
And just when Zhang Yao thought that such peaceful days would continue, an accident happened.
"What, Qinghong is missing?"
Master Guanlu frowned.
"right."
The Taoist who came to report the news said nervously: "Normally, Junior Brother Qinghong would have been back an hour ago."
"But the dining hall was closed today, and Junior Brother Qinghong never came back. We searched around the nearby hills in the dark, but couldn't find it."
"this……"
When Master Guanlu heard this, he immediately became silent and thought to himself.
"Master."
Zhang Yao on the side also changed his expression slightly and said, "Could it be that some kind of beast attacked Junior Brother Qinghong?"
In today's world, Qinghong would leave Qingping Palace and sneak down the mountain unless he lost his mind and went crazy.
Zhang Yao guessed that either Qinghong had done something bad and had no choice but to escape; or he was eaten by wild beasts such as jackals, bears, and tigers.
"Well, it's possible..."
Master Guanlu slowly opened his mouth and said: "The bears, tigers, leopards and other beasts on the nearby mountains have been killed to extinction by the previous palace masters long ago. Even the beasts further away do not dare to approach here."
"But we can't rule out that a ferocious beast came here to look for food when it was desperate and starving to death, and was hit by Qinghong."
At this point, he made a decision and immediately stood up and said: "It's too late now. If we want to mobilize people to search farther mountains, we have to wait until tomorrow."
"I will personally go to the Zangzhen Pavilion to report the matter to the Du Guan Zhenren and check if anything is missing in the library pavilion."
"Qingxu, just go back and rest early."
"Yes, Master."
Zhang Yao stood up, bowed respectfully, and watched Master Guanlu leave in a hurry.
After he left the main hall of the Alchemy Hall and prepared to return to the small courtyard of his dormitory, he was still thinking about this matter.
"Did Qinghong really get eaten by a wild beast?"
As a Taoist boy of Danding Hall, Qinghong's life is very simple, and he doesn't have much entanglement with Yamashita. Reasons such as love, hate, and hatred can be basically ruled out.
Therefore, the first reaction of Guanlu Master was to suspect that he had stolen some money and treasures from the palace, and fled the Qingping Palace.
Otherwise, he would not have thought of checking Ku Ge.
But the problem is, how can he, a little Taoist boy affiliated with the Alchemy Hall, find the way to steal things from the vault of Zangzhen Pavilion? There is no way there is a traitor cooperating with him, right?
"I hope he is still alive..."
Zhang Yao didn't have much of a clue, so he could only suppress his doubts for the time being.
After returning to the dormitory, I found that all the Taoist boys were discussing this matter, and they all looked a little scared.
Zhang Yao wanted to learn alchemy today, so Master Guanlu deliberately stayed him after dinner, but he was the last Taoist boy to know about it.
"Senior Brother Qingxu!"
Seeing Zhang Yao's return, all the Taoist boys rushed up, talking in a flurry of words, their tone full of worry.
They are not like Zhang Yao, who often go into the mountains to collect herbs. If a wild beast really comes from the nearby mountains, wouldn't they also be in danger?
"Don't worry, everyone."
"Master and a group of real people and palace masters will handle this matter."
Zhang Yao could only comfort everyone with a few words, and finally dispelled the worries in the hearts of many Taoist boys.
But when it was time to go to bed, Zhang Yao tossed and turned in his bed, but couldn't fall asleep, feeling vaguely uneasy in his heart.
"What exactly is going on?"
As time passed, the uneasiness in his heart grew stronger, like the depression before a storm on a summer night.
Just when Zhang Yao couldn't help it and was about to get up to find Guanlu Master to ask what happened:
"ah!!"
A scream came faintly from a distance.
Although the sound was already very faint when it hit my ears, in the quiet night, it was as harsh as the sound of gongs and drums.
"not good!"
Zhang Yao's expression suddenly changed, and he suddenly turned over and sat up. He only had time to tear off his short coat, jumped off the bed, and rushed out of the room.
"problem occurs!"
"Damn, what's going on?"
None of the remaining Taoist boys in the room were really asleep. Upon hearing the screams, their expressions changed, and the smarter ones rushed out after Zhang Yao.
Zhang Yao rushed out of the room and arrived outside the small courtyard in a few steps:
"ah!"
"no, do not want……"
"Help!"
"Master, save me..."
More and clearer screams and begging for mercy, mixed with shouts of death and roars, drifted from the night.
That direction is exactly the direction of the atrium of Qingping Palace, not far from Danding Palace.
"Someone is coming in!!"
Zhang Yao's head buzzed, but his body suddenly became cold.
He never expected that someone would attack Qingping Palace at night and massacre in this Taoist temple.
Where is the palace owner of Qingxiu in Shangqing Pavilion? How many real people are there? How could you not be prepared at all? !
"Bang!"
The door of the small single-family courtyard next to it was knocked open.
The real person in Guanlu didn't even wear a Taoist robe, his hair was disheveled, he was holding a long steel sword in his hand, and his expression was extremely frightened and angry.
"Go quickly!!"
When he saw Zhang Yao, he immediately roared, raised his hand and threw a small gray package to Zhang Yao, then without saying a word, turned around and rushed towards the atrium with his sword in hand.
"Master!"
Just as Zhang Yao had time to scream, the small package hit him in the chest. The hit made him take two steps back and his chest hurt.
He caught the gray package, and the touch between his palms made him immediately understand what was in the package - silver ingots!
During this great change in the palace, Master Guanlu actually threw a package of silver ingots at him.
Without having time to think about it, Zhang Yao grabbed the gray package in his arms, gritted his teeth, turned around and fled towards the back door.
Now, he can't help at all. He can only escape first and save his own life.
