Your surname is Mu?
When the general and I reached the gate guarded by the imperial guards, the soldiers on duty saluted the general and said, "General Mu."
“Hmm,” the young general nodded, “Help me register. I’ll go with this astrologer to investigate the seal.”
I squinted and asked, "Your surname is Mu?"
"Yes," he said, glancing at the soldier registering the information, and then asked me, "What, young lady, do you know anyone from the Mu family?"
"I don't know him. I've only heard of General Mu Qi."
"Oh, that's Grandfather."
"You're already a grandfather?" I lowered my eyes and asked curiously, "I wonder which family your grandmother belonged to?"
"Oh, she's the daughter of a former Grand Secretary."
It wasn't one of the people he met on the battlefield? I sneered, thinking to myself, "Life is unpredictable."
By then, the guards had already registered everyone, and the young general came over and asked me, "Do you know my grandfather?"
"I don't know him. I just heard that he was not afraid of imperial power and wanted to marry the woman he met on the battlefield. I'm just curious about what happened to that woman."
"Oh, I'm not too clear about the entanglements of the past, but my grandmother was indeed the daughter of a former Grand Secretary, and I've never heard of a woman on the battlefield."
It seems that the woman I met on the battlefield also became a predecessor like me! It seems that it was wise of me not to insist on marrying him back then.
Feeling at ease, I didn't ask any more questions and headed straight for Qingli Palace.
With the weather fine and General Mu leading the way, we passed through all the forbidden gates without any hindrance and soon arrived at our destination.
On the road near Qingli Palace, I reached out and stopped General Mu: "You wait here, I'll go take a look."
I walked around Qingli Palace. Although I don't understand formations, I didn't see any black ghostly energy coming out of Qingli Palace. Logically speaking, there shouldn't be any problem with the formation.
I simply opened the gate of Qingli Palace and went inside to take a look. It was full of black ghostly energy, but it was all contained within the walls of Qingli Palace. It moved back and forth within the walls and courtyard, but it couldn't break through.
From what I can see now, the formation should not have been loosened. So how did those Imperial Guards get tainted by ghostly energy?
I walked out of Qingli Palace, closed the gate, and said to General Mu, "General Mu, after you go back, gather the unconscious people together and ask them if they have any common experiences, then give me feedback."
“Okay, I’ll ask when I get back,” he said, then looked over my shoulder at the palace behind us and asked, “Is there anything inside?”
“Yes,” I raised an eyebrow. “Would General Mu like to go take a look?”
"Oh, then there's no need."
Hmm, that's pretty smart. "Then let's go back first."
I had only taken a few steps when I heard a sinister shout from behind: "Let me out."
I turned my head and shouted, "Shut up!"
"Let me out, let me out..." She continued to shout, still unwilling to give up. I turned to look at the stunned General Mu and stretched out my hand: "Let me use your sword for a moment."
“Okay,” he nodded, took off the bag, and handed the sword to me.
I smeared a layer of cinnabar on it and then rushed back to Qingli Palace. At that moment, the ghostly energy in Qingli Palace was churning and bubbling like boiling water. I quickly saw that the most concentrated ghostly energy was at the very back of the palace. I charged in with my sword raised and slashed at the palace maid who was staring at me menacingly.
She dodged, turned, and charged at me again. I raised my sword and thrust it at her, but she dodged again. Good, she's quite agile. I turned and slashed in the direction she had fled, striking her foot. She screamed and fell to the ground, her empty eyes staring blankly at me, unconsciously chanting, "Let me out! Let me out!"
"Get lost..." I raised my sword and thrust it straight at her. She had just injured her foot with cinnabar and struggled twice but couldn't break free. I stopped when the sword was only an inch from her eyes. Her resentful eyes looked straight at me, past the sword in front of her.
I sheathed my sword, not knowing if she could understand me: "I'm not killing you because I can't, I just want to resolve your issues completely before letting you go to reincarnation. Don't be ungrateful."
Having said that, I ignored her and left with my sword. Once the gate behind me was completely closed, Qingli Palace returned to its tranquility.
General Mu stood on the palace path, looking at me solemnly. He even hesitated for a few moments before taking the sword I offered him. He murmured, "I think I heard something..."
“You heard me right,” I nodded, “it was that ghost inside that made a few noises.”
He looked me up and down a few times and asked, "Miss... are you alright?"
"What could possibly happen to a skeleton like me?" I glanced at him and said, "Let's go. We'll bring someone who can perform rituals to deal with her tonight."
"In the evening?" General Mu interjected, "Then when should I come again in the evening?"
I turned to look at him and explained, "I just told myself that I would bring someone to deal with her later tonight. You're just a mortal without any protective powers, so there's no need for you to come. You should find out what those unconscious guards were doing as soon as possible!"
“Alright,” he replied, catching up with me. “My name is Li, Mu Li. How shall I address you, young lady?”
"Little White Bone".
"Oh, White Bone Maiden."
I pursed my lips. What kind of nickname is this? I said with disdain, "Just call me Little White Bone."
“Oh,” he nodded, “Senior White Bone.”
I sighed helplessly, ignored him, and returned to the Imperial Observatory in silence.
The Director was still drinking tea. I noticed that ever since Wu Zihe and Yi Qing left, and the Imperial Observatory had undergone a complete reshuffle, the Director seemed to have entered a state of retirement. He spent his days brewing and drinking tea in front of his small hut, waiting for people to come to him, and he almost never left the courtyard.
I smacked my lips, feeling a bit tempted to drink, and asked the supervisor, "May I drink?"
"Sure!" The supervisor took a new cup from the tea tray, poured some tea, and handed it to me: "Drink."
I took a sip with some skepticism, and instantly felt the tea leak from my chin, soaking my clothes. I sighed, while the supervisor next to me laughed heartily and asked indignantly, "How can you call this drinking?"
"How can this not be called drinking? Little Xu Yi? Hahaha..."
Okay, he was just teasing me.
I went back to my room, took off the clothes, put on a large cloak that covered my entire body, and lay back down in the recliner under the eaves, sighing, "Sigh... I finally have some human desires and needs, but drinking and eating are both futile. What a mess I've made..."
"Life is inherently empty—drinking is empty, eating is empty, even this human skin and flesh are empty. Little Xu Yi, you're already close to enlightenment. Keep it up!"
I didn't quite understand, so I could only reply vaguely, "Okay, okay, I'll try my best..."
I wonder what I can do with that 'Tao'... I silently grumbled to myself.
Not long after, Ah Shi came looking for me. As soon as he came in, he asked me, "Auntie, I heard you're going to Qingli Palace tonight?"
“Yes,” I nodded. “You will come with me tonight. The one at Qingli Palace is currently delirious. We need to calm her down and dispel her resentment before we can ask her why she is wandering in the mortal realm, and then we can discuss how to send her to reincarnation.”
"Me?" Ah Shiyi pointed to herself, her face pale. Only after I nodded did she resign herself to her fate and say, "Okay...okay, I'll go with Aunt tonight."
Evening arrived quickly, and I took Ah Shi and a cultivator who knew formations directly to Qingli Palace. Unexpectedly, General Mu was also there. He had brought more than a dozen imperial guards who had surrounded the roads around Qingli Palace. When he saw me, he cupped his hands and greeted me, "Senior White Bone, the imperial guards have guarded the palace roads around here. If there is anything else we can do, please feel free to speak up."
See? I told you, sometimes, even before the whip strikes, just seeing its shape makes a big difference. Didn't they immediately learn to cooperate?
I nodded and said politely, "General Mu has thought things through. The Imperial Observatory will also state in its memorial that the Imperial Guards are disciplined and will not tarnish their reputation."
Upon hearing my words, not only General Mu, but all the Imperial Guards around me beamed with joy. I glanced at the various people with happy expressions, then led A-Shi and the monks through the path they had cleared for us.
Human desires are so obvious.
Qingli Palace remained quiet, so quiet it seemed like a true ruin...
After examining the formation and confirming that nothing was missing, I asked him, "Can this encirclement formation be expanded or reduced at will?"
The cultivator paused for a moment, then shook his head: "The arrangement of the formation is fixed. If the range needs to be changed, the formation needs to be rearranged. You can't arbitrarily change the size of the formation once it's been set up."
“In essence, an array is a manifestation of energy. If we prepare and store the array in advance as needed, and then retrieve it from the temporary storage location to spread it to the surrounding ground when needed, wouldn’t that be better?”
"This... I haven't tried it, and there's no record of it in any books. But I can ask my fellow disciples when I get back to see if this method is feasible."
"Alright, if you need anything, just ask the supervisor."
The monk's eyes widened when he heard the name of the supervisor, and after a long pause, he finally replied, "Okay."
"You stay here and prevent mortals from getting close. If the one inside accidentally breaks out, use the formation to suppress her and prevent her from escaping." I looked at the cultivator who knew formations: "Can you stop her?"
"Don't worry, senior. I may not be able to win her over, but I can definitely stop her."
“Okay,” I nodded, and pulled Ah Shi, who was hiding to the side, to push open the door of Qingli Palace.
The Qingli Palace was still shrouded in an eerie atmosphere, making the sky above it appear somewhat gloomy.
The palace maid had clearly learned her lesson; this time she didn't scream or emit any ghostly energy. Qingli Palace was unusually quiet... I turned to A-Shi: "Go, close the door properly, and put up another talisman. We absolutely cannot let her escape."
Ah Shi was stunned for a moment, then reacted and went to close the door. At that moment, the surrounding ghostly energy suddenly surged, and the palace maid appeared three feet away from the door. Although Ah Shi was very close to the door, in the few breaths it took for the palace maid to rush to the door...
I rushed towards the door, reaching out to grab her, though I wasn't sure if I could even touch her. The maid's head was about to pop out of the door...
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