…
In the eyes of the monks of Dayun Temple, every time Mr. Meng came to Dayun Temple, he would always discuss Buddhism with the abbot. Therefore, most monks thought that Meng Lie had lived in Dayun Temple for a long time, and they just felt that he was sympathizing with the abbot's passing, and did not think it was unusual.
After Wu Jue's death, Meng Lie was in despair and tried to find a way out for himself.
He realized that drinking was useless, so he tried to come to Dayun Temple and stay there in the name of cultivating his mind and character.
During the days in the temple, he saw Wu Jue's tomb tower being built and that there was only one monk left guarding outside the Tiannv Tower. The solemnity and martial law were no longer there as before.
When Wu Jue left, the meaning of the existence of the Tiannu Tower also left. All hope seemed to have disappeared and turned into nothingness.
While Meng Lie was numb and confused, he heard the Zen-filled voice of a monk in the temple. The monk told him that everything in this world is illusory.
He was trapped in this confusion. At night, he would lie on the bamboo couch used for cooling off in the Zen temple, gazing at the stars in the night sky with empty eyes, trying to comprehend what was vanity.
But he couldn't find the answer, so he could only let himself fall into the void, closing his eyes numbly, and for a moment he couldn't tell what day it was.
He was dreaming again, dreaming about those distant old things.
It was also a summer night, and because it was summer, the stench was even stronger. Someone was locked in a huge rusty and bloodstained iron cage, huddled up with his knees hugged, his hair disheveled, his clothes tattered, and his body covered with new and old wounds.
In the dream, he looked at it from the perspective of a bystander, but he could not tell that it was a "person" at all. It looked more like a real trapped beast.
He had been a trapped beast for many years. At first, there were many people like him, but gradually they all died, either from drug trials, blood-letting, or going crazy.
They were imprisoned here by a Taoist priest, who secretly made elixirs for many local dignitaries. In a place where no one could see them, they were just one of the "herbal ingredients" in the elixir recipe.
Among the people who were captured at the same time, he was the one who lived the longest. In the endless blood and terror, he only held on to one thought, and that was to survive.
But he will not be able to survive soon. Last time he heard two Taoists whispering that the situation outside is tense now, and in order to avoid the limelight, no new people will be sent here in the short term.
At that time, there were only two people left in this huge cage.
But just half an hour ago, only one of the two was left, and the other was now lying at his feet, motionless.
The man went crazy, rushed up to him crying and laughing, and bit him, so he had no choice but to kill him - in fact, the man had been locked up for less than a year, and at first the man had secretly invited him to help him find a way to escape, but he ignored him, and the man thought he had already been scared silly.
But after long-term imprisonment, being beaten, having his blood drawn, and watching the people around him die one after another... the last bit of his sanity was finally shattered today.
[There are only two of us left. If they come to take blood tomorrow, we won’t be able to hold on.]
[No, you can. Even though you don’t speak… you’ve lived the longest, so you must have a way, right? Please save me, please save me!]
[No, you won't save me... You will kill me. If someone must die tomorrow, it must be me!]
[You won't save me...] The other party repeated this sentence while crying, his eyes became chaotic and crazy, and then he pounced on him, and his uncontrolled hitting turned into crazy biting.
He remained motionless until he finally pinned the other person into the cage and locked his throat tightly until the other person's heavy and chaotic breathing completely disappeared and the cage returned to silence.
The reason why he can live so long is that he never does useless things. He will observe everyone carefully. He will desperately swallow all the food he can. He will never let himself be the weakest one, because there is no need to keep a person who looks weak and dying, and all his blood will be drained "first".
Not only that, he would also watch those people trying to escape or fight, and if necessary he would even secretly add fuel to the flames, because those who made mistakes and were restless would also be dealt with "priority".
In this small iron cage, he is the only one who can calmly understand all the rules. He has watched many people die here and has accumulated the most practical survival experience. But all these are no longer useful. Now he is the only one left and he is finally going to die.
But what he considered "inevitable" was suddenly changed that summer night because of the intrusion of a group of people.
The passerby walked in quickly with a torch in hand. When the torch was brought to the front of the cage, the passerby was frightened by the messy and horrible look of the man in the cage.
He heard the man say——[Your Highness, there are still people alive.]
[Your Highness] Who is it? He just shrank deeper into the cage.
Until the cage door was opened, he saw many people walking towards him through the messy hair in front of his eyes. Those people quickly made way to the sides. A boy who looked about fourteen or fifteen years old walked over, bent slightly and looked at him.
The young man had a pair of extremely bright and quiet eyes, and his whole body was filled with natural nobility, which was totally out of tune with the darkness, dampness, stuffiness and stench of this place.
[Come out.] After staring at each other for a moment, the young man spoke in clear Mandarin.
After a while, he dragged the chains on his feet and climbed out carefully and cautiously. After leaving the cage, he still knelt on the ground and did not dare to stand up rashly, because in his survival cognition, that would be provocative and dangerous.
He heard the young man ask: [What is your name? Where are you from? How old are you? How long have you been imprisoned here?]
He answered in a hoarse voice: [Meng Lie, a criminal slave from Ganzhou, twenty years old, was brought here at the age of twelve, and it has been eight years.]
After a while, he heard the young man say to the people around him: [Deputy General Chang, he seems to be very powerful.]
The man called Deputy General Chang said, "Hmm." [After being imprisoned for eight years, his mind is still so clear. He must be a man of strong character.]
Not long after, a soldier dragged the leading Taoist priest over. The Taoist priest struggled and begged for mercy, saying that he was only following orders.
【Kill him.】
Hearing the boy's normal words, he looked up at the sword in front of him. Moving his sight upwards, he saw the boy turned his head to look at the corpse in the cage, and then said to him: [Revenge for yourself and for them.]
At that moment, he was suddenly shocked. The words "and avenge them" seemed like a powerful forgiveness that eliminated the many evil deeds he had done in order to survive.
He took the sword tremblingly and pulled it out clumsily. He stepped forward with both hands clenched and pierced the Taoist's chest, spurting warm blood.
He knelt on the ground again, held the sword high in his hands and returned it to its owner.
He followed the young man barefoot and left the dark room. It was night outside, but there was a bright moon and stars, the sound of wind and the chirping of insects.
His tears suddenly surged silently. The vigilance and numbness that had been tense for eight years were removed at this moment. Tears washed away the old blood stains. He looked at the young man in front of him who jumped lightly onto the horse under the moonlight. When he grabbed the reins, he said to the person beside him: [After daybreak, let the governor of Ganzhou come to see me.]
Then, he looked at him and said, "Take him with you."
After that, he became Meng Lie and one of the personal guards behind the young man.
He quickly gave birth to new flesh and blood, and he worked hard to learn all new things. A few years later, he was able to step out of the shadows and into the light, running the predecessor of Dengtai Tower for His Highness, responsible for collecting and delivering news.
It was very sudden and accidental to learn the secret that His Highness was a woman, but that was not important to him. It did not matter whether he was a man or a woman, or whether he was right or wrong. Only His Highness herself was important.
Ever since he escaped from the iron cage that summer night in Ganzhou, following and serving His Highness has been the only thing he wants to do in his life.
So, when His Highness said he wanted to disband the Intelligence Building, he had no way of obeying the order, so His Highness left him half a token and asked him to wait in the capital.
He waited for three years and finally received the news of His Highness's death.
But he still didn't think it was the end.
The eight years of imprisonment made him understand some strange and evil magic in the Western Regions, so he traveled to the Western Regions, stubbornly seeking the secret method.
The Pagoda of the Heavenly Maiden was completed, Chang Kuo brought back the remains of His Highness from Beidi, General Cui found the jade for the statue, Wu Jue started the formation... They pieced together everything, trying to pave a way for His Highness to return home.
But in the end it failed, Wu Jue died, and the formation became useless.
But this still won't be the end! Meng Lie turned around from his dream, opened his eyes, and suddenly sat up from the couch, his eyes regained their firmness.
He will go to the Western Regions again. No, not only the Western Regions, he will travel all over Dasheng to find new secrets! The world is so big that nothing is impossible. God, please give your Highness, who has protected the people with his own body, a glimmer of hope! Meng Lie looked up at the night sky, as if praying for God's mercy, and seemed to be determined not to fight against God's will.
The next morning, he left Dayun Temple.
He sat in the carriage and opened the boxes he had brought with him. He had lived in Dayun Temple for a full half month, so he had to carry clothes and stationery with him. At this moment, he opened the box containing paper, pens and books, and found a box inside that was not there when he came.
The box was covered with a black cloth. Meng Lie put it carefully again and again before closing and locking the box again.
He closed his eyes and rested in the car, ready to leave the capital today.
The experience of the past made him more alert and tough than ordinary people, but it also made it difficult for him to trust others. He was very cautious and cold-blooded. Even when he treated Chang Kuo and others, he did not dare to trust them. Therefore, he has been alone all these years.
It is also good to be alone, without any worries. He can do what he wants. Even if he dies on the way, it is his best destination.
Meng Lie returned to Dengtai Tower and asked his personal servant to pack his luggage.
Seeing that he was no longer as depressed and hopeless as before, the servant breathed a sigh of relief. Without asking him where he was going, he turned around and brought over the letters and other things that had been sent to him from various places in recent days.
While the servants were packing, Meng Lie picked out the letters and read them. He started with the one from Qiao Yang, in which Qiao Yang talked to him about "A Wu" and invited him to go and see it. He also solemnly assured him that if he saw the puppy, he would also believe in reincarnation.
"..." Meng Lie frowned with a look of disgust and threw the letter aside.
He also reviewed and handled the secret letters from various intelligence operations one by one. Over the years, he has never neglected the true purpose of Dengtai Tower.
Finally, Meng Lie saw a pear wood box. When he opened it, he saw a square brocade box the size of a palm and a letter.
Perhaps because the handwriting of the four words "Meng Lie Qinqi" written on the envelope was too familiar, he subconsciously opened the letter and read it first, looking at the signature. Seeing that it was written by Chang Suining, he felt a moment of disappointment in his heart, but it was expected.
He also knew that the girl from the Chang family was good at copying His Highness's handwriting.
After getting rid of the unspeakable feeling of loss, Meng Lie went to read the overly concise content of the letter. The letter said that there was an important matter to discuss with him, but it did not state it directly. Instead, it said that he would tell him in detail after reading the token and replying.
Meng Lie keenly realized that the purpose of this letter was to "explore the way".
What is the girl from the Chang family trying to find out from him?
What is a token of trust?
Meng Lie picked up the brocade box thoughtfully, and the moment he opened it and saw what was inside, his expression suddenly froze.
He took out the half token in disbelief, and after a moment, he suddenly turned and walked into the inner room, unscrewed the mechanism inside, and took out his half token in a slightly flustered manner.
Then, facing the scorching sunlight outside the window, he slowly put the two halves of the token together until they complemented each other's incompleteness... As expected, it was exactly the token that His Highness had split in half with him!
His Highness once said that if he had anything to tell him, he would send someone to bring the other half of the token to see him...
Once upon a time, he thought that he would never see the other half of the token again in his life! But how could the thing of his former master be in the hands of the Chang family girl? Was it left to her by His Highness? Or was there another secret?
Meng Lie hurried to read the letter again, and when he saw the line [I will explain more after I reply], he immediately said, "... Feng Xin, bring me some writing brush and ink!"
The servant just came in when he heard the voice, but then he heard Meng Lie say, "No need! Have you prepared your luggage?"
Seeing the servant nod, Meng Lie immediately walked out.
The reply was too slow, and this matter was extremely urgent. He had to go to Jiangdu first! It was noon when Meng Lie got on the carriage and left the capital.
The class in the Imperial College had just ended, and Qiao Jijiu returned to his residence. As usual, he went to hug the puppy first.
During meals, a separate seat was prepared for the puppy and goat milk was poured into the dog's bowl.
Qiao Yumian was in the medical clinic, while Qiao Yubai was with his classmates. The brother and sister did not come back for lunch. Now there were only Qiao Jijiu and his wife at the dinner table. Wang had become accustomed to her husband's outrageous behavior of taking care of the puppy.
After pouring the goat milk for the puppy, Qiao Jijiu poured himself a cup of wine, sniffed the aroma of the wine, looked at the puppy drinking milk, and sighed: "I told you to be a good monk, but you didn't listen... Do you regret it now?"
"A Wu" seemed not to hear and concentrated on drinking milk.
But Wu Jue, who was thousands of miles away, sneezed loudly. (End of this chapter)
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