Chapter 125 Before Jingzhen, she briefly had a...
After eating the grilled ice cream, Li Zhou put the copper coin back on his hand, followed the direction indicated by the ice cream ball before his death, and walked into the sea.
Gills grew behind her ears and webbed feet grew on her palms. The separated sea water gathered together again, but it did not slow down her pace at all.
She even felt like a duck to water.
Everyone from Fangshen Sect hurriedly followed.
Miss Yu glanced at the wandering ghosts that had fallen to the ground. All of them had died along with the diviner, including the old owner Zhao Guihua.
She touched Zhao Sulan's head and wanted to tell her something, but in the end she said nothing and turned around to follow Li Zhou.
She witnessed Li Zhou's changes day by day in the simulator and had a bad feeling.
He cared less and less about the opinions of people around him and did things based on his own preferences.
The layer of humanity that the simulator had imposed on Him seemed to be running out.
She didn't know what she could do, but she couldn't feel comfortable doing nothing.
At least, she can still keep up with Him now...
Zhao Sulan led the young actors and kowtowed in the direction where Miss Yu left. Then, they carried the old boss's body on their backs and fled away from Wangjia Village while the Wang family members were still asleep.
Miss Yu and Mr. Fortune Teller have to do adult things, and the children can't help. They can only take care of themselves and not make things worse. That's good enough.
As fortune teller Li Zhou was walking, a blood-stained wooden sign flew behind her. She stuffed the sign back into the simulator.
The seabed is a downward sloping slope. Li Zhou walked along the slope, going deeper and deeper, and getting darker and darker.
Fortunately, Chu Shen was smart and caught a few small glowing sea monsters to use for lighting.
The sea monster whose home was stolen quickly chased after them. Just as he was about to get angry, he saw Li Zhou who was concentrating on catching seafood.
"!!!"
Li Zhou had already smelled the seafood and was not interested in this ordinary sea monster. He politely asked it, "Can you give us a ride?"
It has been wandering in the deep sea for many years and has seen many terrifying sea monsters. However, this is the first time it has sensed such a terrifying aura from Li Zhou. It quickly changed to a flattering tone: "Where are you going?"
Li Zhou jumped onto its back and pointed in the direction.
The sea monster nodded: "Sit tight."
The little sea monsters who were held up by the Fangshen believers: "..."Mom, didn't you come to save us?
The mother had no time to care about them and focused on swimming towards Li Zhou's destination, fearing that she might knock him off his feet.
Li Zhou stretched out his webbed hands, feeling the water flowing quickly, and suddenly fell into deep thought: Did she forget to wear a diving suit? Would she not suffocate later?
She looked around at the pitch-black sea. Only a small area illuminated by the sea monster was bright. She fell into deep thought again: I was so busy catching seafood that I didn't expect to have dived so deep. Logically, shouldn't I have suffocated to death?
On the simulator interface, "10 points of comprehension" and "superb insensitivity" both flashed, but seemed a little powerless. Li Zhou opened his hands, looked at the webbed hands, and frowned in confusion again.
"Master, look quickly." In the simulator, Miss Yu spoke for the first time, floating out and pointing at the neatly-shaped rocks in front of her, "There seems to be something on the rocks."
Li Zhou looked in the direction she pointed, and with the help of the light emitted by the sea monster, he saw the pictures carved on the rock.
Curiosity grew in her, and the sea monster quickly stopped so she could take a closer look.
Seeing that her attention had been diverted, Miss Yu breathed a sigh of relief, but the next moment, she was also attracted by the pictures on the rock.
These rock paintings seem to describe something that happened a long time ago.
In the first painting, a tall figure with bird feathers on his head and a white ribbon in his hand is dancing gracefully under the sun with mysterious steps.
She was surrounded by strange figures:
There was a dark shadow with eight goat legs growing out of it, its body just a mass of flesh, and sixteen smaller pigs' trotters attached to one of the goat legs, making it even more deformed;
There are strange creatures with faces made of curled roots and bodies that are irregular ellipsoids;
There are shells and filaments intertwined and entwined, and in each opened shell there is an eye...
The largest figure stretched out countless soft tentacles, dripping disgusting mucus. Countless maggots could be seen in the mucus, almost grabbing the dancing tall figure.
Miss Yu endured the dizziness and looked at the second rock painting.
In this painting, a tall figure is holding a long sword, and all the strange figures around her have fallen down, including the huge tentacle that almost grabbed her.
In addition to the sun, there was a full moon above her head.
Just as Miss Yu was about to continue looking at the third painting, she suddenly saw Li Zhou touching the tall figure and seemed to be lost in some memories.
She didn't know whether she should interrupt Him. She glanced at the simulator panel, and seeing that there was no response, she shut up.
Li Zhou vaguely felt that the tall figure in these rock paintings looked familiar, but he couldn't remember who she was.
She touched the patterns on the rock paintings and looked at the third painting, recalling the past as she read.
The tall figure and the strange figure disappeared, the sun and the moon were still hanging in the sky, and two figures in Confucian robes appeared and handed a book to the people. There was a word written on the cover of the book:
"surname."
The common people knelt on the ground and stretched their hands above their heads to take the book, but they did not see that inside the scholar's robe was a human figure made of maggots, and in the shadows behind the maggots, there was a faint tentacle.
The largest monster in the previous painting did not actually leave with the other monsters, but hid in the shadows, put on a Confucian robe, and then exerted its power.
In the fourth rock painting, a huge round ball appears, with the shadow of a human-faced fish behind it. Under the cover of the shadow, the ball fights with maggots wearing Confucian robes. It tears off the robes, revealing the disgusting maggots, which are then pushed away by the villain, symbolizing the common people.
In the fifth rock painting, which is also the last one, the human-faced fish has also disappeared, leaving only a huge round ball lying on the beach, staring at two figures who have changed into royal clothes but are still filled with maggots.
The last two pictures correspond exactly to the narration of the divine warrior. It seems to be telling the story of the divine warrior preaching on behalf of Emperor Taizong, but being repelled by the gods who rule this land. He can only sleep at the bottom of the sea, waiting for his return.
Miss Yu had witnessed the divine power of Tianzun with Li Zhou, and knew that this maggot was a symbol of Tianzun's divine power.
It turns out that the Marquis Xianying and King Zhenhai worshipped by the Wang family were also identities stolen by Tianzun?
No wonder they did so little to protect the Wang family after Li Zhou arrived.
He probably didn't dare to show too much strength in front of Li Zhou, so as not to attract his attention.
As Miss Yu was thinking, she suddenly heard Li Zhou's surprised voice, as if she had met an old friend after a long separation.
She quickly turned around and saw Li Zhou walking back to the first two paintings and calling out, "Li?"
Li Zhou remembered one thing. Before Jingzhen, she had a friend for a short time.
But that was a long, long time ago.
Capital city.
Carrying the letter from Master Lechen and his teacher's relics, Jin Mingda, who brought news about the underground kingdom, reluctantly handed over the meteor hammer and followed the demon hunting chief Chi Yangzi into the Zi Chen Hall.
People who practice Taoism are exempted from the kneeling ceremony when meeting the emperor. Just as Jin Mingda was about to bow, he saw Chi Yangzi on the side kowtowed swiftly, without any reserve and integrity of a cultivator.
Jin Mingda was stunned, and suddenly understood why most practitioners disliked the Demon Hunting Bureau.
Fortunately, the emperor didn't care about these things. He smiled and said, "You don't have to imitate him. Your name is Jin Mingda, right? Come closer and let me take a look."
The emperor was about the same age as his teacher. Seeing her gentle attitude, Jin Mingda couldn't help but feel close to her. He bravely took a few steps forward and looked at His Majesty.
His Majesty carefully examined her features and nodded affirmatively after a long while: "Indeed, they look alike."
Like? Like what?
Jin Mingda was a little confused. Wasn’t she here to report on the affairs of the Great Yan Dynasty?
The emperor saw her doubt and his eyes fell on Pei Jizai, the Palace Lady Pei, who was standing beside him.
Pei Shanggong nodded in understanding, took out a portrait painting that she had prepared long ago, walked up to Jin Mingda and slowly unfolded it.
A girl in a yellow dress with a flame pattern between her eyebrows and familiar facial features appeared in front of her.
"……This is……"
Jin Mingda looked at the portrait in confusion, and for some reason he felt a sense of admiration in his heart.
Pei Shanggong said softly: "This is your teacher's mother. You may call her grandmother."
Jin Mingda blinked, met Pei Shanggong's loving gaze, and suddenly realized: "The teacher is actually my mother? This is my mother's mother?"
Pei Shanggong nodded, put away the portrait, glanced at the emperor, and seeing that she had no intention of changing her mind, she took Jin Mingda's hand as they had agreed beforehand and told him the story of the past.
It turned out that three years ago, a fire broke out in the capital city. The fire spread from the city gate to the Purple Palace and burned through most of the capital city.
As a family of fire control, the Wei family had an obligation to do their part. Jin Mingda's grandmother led the clan members and rushed into the fire.
"With the help of the Wei family, the fire was finally brought under control and the damage was within an acceptable range. The Wei family made great contributions and should have been rewarded." Pei Shanggong said, "But the bad thing was that the Wei family at that time clearly rejected the solicitation of the right prime minister and refused to join forces with other noble families to fight against your majesty's new policies. The new policies wanted to expand the scope of the imperial examinations and promote the simplified Chinese characters left by an immortal, which were easier to read. Your grandmother believed that this was a good policy that would benefit the country, but other noble families were only worried that the children of poor families would take their places, and they firmly opposed the new policies."
Chi Yangzi, who was standing silently by, looked up at the emperor, knowing that without her permission, Pei Shang Gong would never explain it in such detail.
However, in this passage, the emperor glorified the imperial power and the Wei family as white lotus flowers that are untainted by the mud, as if everything he did was just for the country without any selfish motives.
An old official like Chi Yangzi immediately noticed something wrong, but Jin Mingda was just a little girl who had lived in the mountains since childhood and could not perceive the subtleties of these words.
She just guessed that her family was harmed by other families because of this, and her eyes turned red.
As expected, Pei Shang Gong sighed and said with regret, "After your grandmother and her clansmen put out the fire, they were ambushed by He, a subordinate of the Right Prime Minister. Twenty-three of the most outstanding sons of the Wei clan all died in this battle. Not only that, He also left evidence of arson by the Wei clan. The Right Prime Minister then ordered the Dali Temple to find out the source of the fire and obtained the evidence."
"The remaining members of the Wei clan were arrested by the Dali Temple and tortured. Unexpectedly, there was not a single coward in the Wei clan, and no one confessed under torture. Your Majesty ordered the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice to handle the case together. The three courts held a joint trial and finally found out that the so-called evidence was fabricated, clearing the Wei clan. Unfortunately, the Wei clan members suffered too much torture in prison, and soon after they were released from prison, they all died of illness."
Pei Shanggong looked at Jin Mingda who clenched his fists and said with relief: "Fortunately, your grandmother had foresight and had already prepared for this game. Eighteen years ago, she sent one of her daughters to the countryside. No one knew of her existence, so she escaped this disaster."
Jin Mingda paused for a moment and asked tentatively, "That daughter... is my mother?"
"That's right." The emperor took over the conversation. Concubine Pei stood sideways and watched the emperor walk around the imperial desk and walk in front of Jin Mingda. "Your mother also has the blood of your grandmother. She took you to lurk outside Fujiao City where He was. If it wasn't for sealing the icy aura leaked from Dayan, perhaps she would have taken revenge on He."
Jin Mingda lowered his head to look at the teacher. No, it was the ring left by his mother. There was a flame mark engraved on the ring, which was the same shape as the center of his grandmother's eyebrows.
She brushed the ring with her fingertips, and the Qi in her body poured out, and the word "Wei" appeared on the originally dull ring.
She is indeed a descendant of the Wei family.
"mother."
Jin Mingda blurted out, with a hint of sob in his voice.
The emperor gently embraced her and said, "My dear child, your mother has made great achievements again. I will never wrong a loyal and heroic woman again. Are you willing to change your surname to Wei, serve as the head of the Wei clan, revive the Wei clan, and fulfill your mother's last wish?"
Jin Mingda leaned on the emperor's shoulder and cried heartily. She had never imagined that her life experience was so rough, and she had never thought that she would be appointed by the emperor himself.
She was about to answer, but the emperor wiped her tears and told her: "This matter is not as simple as you think. In the current Great Zhou, women can take the imperial examinations, become officials, marry into a family, and become the head of a family as a mother or grandmother. However, there has never been a precedent of a married woman returning to inherit her natal family business, let alone a married woman's daughter. Although your Wei family has fallen on hard times, if you want to take on this surname, you will inevitably be attacked and attacked by other families."
Jin Mingda clenched the ring with the Chinese character "Wei" inscribed on it in shock: "I just want to change back to my mother's surname. What does it have to do with others?"
The emperor let her go and said solemnly, "The fact that you changed your surname is enough to alarm the noble families of the entire Great Zhou! And these families..."
She looked at Chi Yangzi, the leader of the Demon Hunting Division.
Chi Yangzi stepped forward, recalling the instructions in the Great Zhou Treasure Scroll, and said to Jin Mingda: "The clan is the biggest anchor of Tianzun in this world. The clan forces continue to steal the output of every inch of land. They steal the harvest of people's labor, the taxes that should have been paid to the treasury, and the power of the court to control the local areas... These actions continuously provide power for Tianzun, the god who holds the power of theft."
"The most important thing for the Great Zhou now is to resist the invasion of the Heavenly Lord. Since you have learned about the history of Dayan, you should know that mortals are simply no match for the gods. The Great Zhou is lucky that a force more powerful than the Heavenly Lord has arrived in advance." Chi Yangzi said, "Although we cannot directly participate in this war between gods, there are always some things that mortals can do."
Jin Mingda seemed to understand what she heard. She could never have imagined that she would be directly connected with such an important matter as resisting the gods.
She wanted to agree immediately, but she was worried that she was not capable enough and would hold everyone back.
The emperor saw that she was uneasy, but he smiled again: "I tell you in advance just to make you think carefully before making a decision, but don't worry, I just want you to be the breakthrough point, I won't let you fight alone."
She stroked her hands, and a high-ranking official in a purple robe and a golden belt appeared from behind the screen. She said to Jin Mingda, "This is the Right Prime Minister."
Jin Mingda's mind buzzed and he was suddenly stunned. Didn't the Right Prime Minister lead the He family to suppress the Wei family and oppose the new policy?
Why did His Majesty call her over as well... Hey, why did she think that the Right Prime Minister should be a young man instead of the old lady in front of him?
Jin Mingda, who didn't know that history had undergone a change, had his head almost filled with all kinds of questions.
The right prime minister saw her confusion and smiled: "Not only me, but also the He family, you have to hold your nose and ally with them."
After all, Jin Mingda had only heard about the history of his family's downfall from other people, and he did not have too strong hatred towards the He family who had harmed his family.
She looked at the emperor's expression, calmed herself down, and knew that she must have a reason for doing this: "Did something happen during this period that made the Right Prime Minister and He Shi return to the right path? Even so, I am not qualified to forgive on behalf of my mother and grandmother... But if it is for the sake of the overall situation, I... I..."
"In fact, even I don't know why I opposed the new policy before and why I support it now. I can only feel that this world has undergone some changes that mortals cannot know." The right prime minister handed over a blood-stained jade tablet and said softly, "I have sent all the descendants of the family who may succeed the patriarch to the Dali Temple. They will never have a chance to come out again. Wei Mingda, you have to take on this family name. From the moment you rebuild the Wei clan, the old clan will completely become history."
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