Shi Qingxuan said seriously, "I want to try and see if I can handle it myself. Your Highness, you're more experienced anyway. If not, don't force yourself."
Shi Qingxuan had helped Xie Lian a lot before, and now he needed help urgently, asking for his help. Xie Lian couldn't just plead that he was busy and powerless at this moment. But Huacheng was a guest from afar, and he hadn't even been here for a few days. If he left, who would take care of Huacheng? Even if he wasn't very good at it.
While he was still pondering, Hua Cheng propped up his chin with one hand and said with a smile, "Brother, are you going to see that Baihua Zhenxian? If you don't mind, could you give me one? After all, he's a rare monster, and I've never seen one in person."
Xie Lian thought to himself, "Shame on you, Sanlang understands me." Deeply grateful for his thoughtfulness, he nodded. Shi Qingxuan had nothing to say. He knew Huacheng wasn't here to help him, but at least he wouldn't cause trouble. It didn't matter to him whether he showed up or not. Xie Lian added, "But that Baihua Zhenxian is so elusive. Who knows when and where he'll appear again?"
Shi Qingxuan said, "I don't know either. If it really doesn't work, I plan to go to the best restaurant in the imperial city and book a banquet. I'll drink for a hundred or eighty days, set off firecrackers and sing operas every day. It will eventually come out."
Xie Lian said, "That's one idea, but even if it comes out, there's no guarantee we'll be able to catch it. Knowing yourself and your enemy ensures victory in every battle. Master Feng, have you investigated its past prey? What are its patterns of action? See if there's any pattern."
Shi Qingxuan said, "My brother has certainly researched this a long time ago." He then pulled a scroll from his sleeve and unfolded it. Xie Lian leaned forward to take a look and exclaimed, "Impressive, impressive."
Goodness! This thing is so small that I wouldn't even bother to hook it. The names on the reel are almost all famous figures in the world, and all of them have met a tragic end. Every one of them ended in collapse and suicide.
Those who suffered a crushing defeat, slashing their own throats with swords to end their lives; those whose wealth was emptied overnight, their three-foot white silk thread wiping them clean; those who sought fame and fortune but could not, and were tormented by the ups and downs of life. These people were not defeated by Baihua Zhenxian, but by their own inner fear of "loss."
However, there were no emperors on the list. A true emperor, naturally protected by the aura of the Son of Heaven, was vulnerable to invasion by evil spirits. Generally speaking, those with the potential to ascend to the heavens also naturally possessed a layer of spiritual energy, which repelled these ghosts. Therefore, Xie Lian had a vague feeling that Shi Qingxuan's entanglement with that thing was more than just a simple matter. Perhaps someone was secretly plotting against him. If so, this person must be extraordinary. But Shi Qingxuan was only a baby when he was targeted. How could he have provoked such a powerful figure?
At this time, Hua Cheng asked, "Brother, can you lend it to me?"
Xie Lian handed him the scroll and said, “Look.”
Hua Cheng only glanced at it briefly and asked, "Who wrote this scroll?"
Shi Qingxuan said, "My brother. What happened?"
Hua Cheng threw the scroll onto the table and said, "Not very good. It's extremely wrong. I suggest your brother re-forge it."
Shi Qingxuan was about to make the final decision upon hearing this: "Blood Rain Tanhua!"
Xie Lian held him back and apologized, "Master Fengshi, please sit down. Please sit down. Forget it. Sanlang always speaks like this. He didn't mean it."
Shi Qingxuan sat down and wondered to himself, "'It's always been like this'?"
Xie Lian turned to Hua Cheng and asked, "Sanlang, what you said is outrageously wrong. What is wrong?"
Hua Cheng also moved closer to him, and the two sat much closer. Hua Cheng pointed at a few names and said, "These are wrong."
Xie Lian looked carefully. Those people were all evil overlords. He asked, “How did you know?”
Hua Cheng said, "Because I killed them."
“…”
Xie Lian asked, “Aren’t all these suicides?”
Hua Chengdao: "Before I took action, I sent someone to greet them first, and they ended their lives on their own. I wonder if this counts as my killing?"
I don't know if this counts as homicide, but it's probably pretty honest. Shi Qingxuan coughed uncomfortably a few times, his lips moving slightly as he said, "Can you please not openly describe how you killed someone in front of the priests? Can you please not discuss this openly with the priests in front of other priests?"
Hua Cheng pointed out a few more names and said, "These are wrong too."
Xie Lian asked, “Who killed this person?”
Hua Cheng said, "Hei Shui killed him."
Xie Lian was startled and said, “Isn’t that Black Water Mysterious Ghost always very low-key?”
Hua Cheng said: "That doesn't mean he won't kill people."
Then, he said to Shi Qingxuan, "The scroll your respected brother gave you is riddled with errors and omissions. He hasn't done any serious research, and instead, it seems to be just a bunch of rags that confuses the view. So, I suggest you tear it up and rewrite it."
Shi Qingxuan snatched the scroll back and said, "My brother wouldn't do that!" His words were weak and feeble, but his tone was resolute. Shi Wudu wouldn't be careless about his brother's affairs. So, there was another possibility. Xie Lian asked, "Everyone has their own expertise. Master Shuishi must have relied on the help of others during his investigation. May I ask who compiled the scroll?"
After hesitating for a moment, Shi Qingxuan said, "Spiritual text."
Xie Lian rubbed his brow and fell silent. While the Lingwen Hall was often criticized by the priests of other halls for its inefficiency, it wasn't exactly prone to making so many mistakes. It was simply a perfunctory draft. The relationships among the toxic group seemed quite good, at least on the surface. What the real twists and turns were, I'm afraid, were beyond the comprehension of outsiders.
Hua Cheng leaned back and continued, "How do you distinguish true from false? I'll tell you one more thing: Once a White Talk Immortal sets his sights on a prey, he'll completely destroy it. Not only will the prey collapse and die, but their family and friends will also be affected. So, those who claimed that only they died, while their family and friends are still alive and well, are all wrong."
Upon hearing this, Shi Qingxuan's face paled for a moment. Then, he perked up again and said to Ming Yi with a dry laugh, "Doesn't that mean you're in danger too, Brother Ming? You're my best friend!"
Mingyi sat a little further away from him, with a look that said "How can I not have you as my best friend". With this move, he sat closer to Xie Lian, and Huacheng glanced at him with a glare as sharp as a knife. Seeing that Shi Qingxuan still made a joke at this time, Xie Lian couldn't help laughing, but he also vaguely saw the uneasiness of the Wind Master. It's better to say that it was precisely because of the uneasiness that he had to use doubly excited to restrain himself. Shi Qingxuan opened the Wind Master Fan, fanning it five or six times faster than usual, his black hair messed up in the strong wind, and said: "Let's go now! Let's go to the most gorgeous high-rise building and live a life of luxury. I want to see if it dares to come out with so many of us. We are many, hahahahahaha..."
"..." Xie Lian said, "Master Feng, please calm down for a moment. I have some small matters to take care of in the temple."
He didn't know how long he would be gone. With two children to feed and a ghost possessing a living person, he couldn't just leave them alone. He wanted to find a reliable family in the village to help look after them, but Hua Cheng, who understood his every thought, said, "If you insist on going, go ahead. I have help. After you leave, someone will come and look after you."
Xie Lian breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you, Sanlang. It would be better if someone could watch over this place."
Hua Cheng also smiled and said, "Yeah. It needs someone to keep an eye on it."
Their "looking" and "staring" clearly didn't mean the same thing. However, no one pursued the matter. Mingyi moved the altar aside and drew a thousand-mile-shortening formation on the ground. Shi Qingxuan fanned faster and faster, his afterimage almost disappearing. He said, "By the way, Your Highness, I forgot to ask, who is that at the door? I provoked him, and when he opened his mouth, did he speak like a human being?"
It was a surprise that this question was only casually asked at the very end. If Qi Rong heard this, she would have another heart attack. Xie Lian thought that this was indeed not human language. He took Ruo Xie and Fang Xin, who were leaning in the corner, and said, "Hasn't he already introduced himself?"
Shi Qingxuan said, "Why, is that really the Green Ghost? Is that his character? Seeing is believing, seeing is believing!"
Xie Lian rubbed his brows and briefly explained the situation, urging him to keep it secret, especially not to let Lang Qianqiu know. In between these words, Ming Yi finished a Thousand Miles Shrinking Earth formation with a few strokes. Nan Feng's last sketch had taken ages and was crude, but Ming Yi's was the complete opposite. He painted quickly, yet meticulously, with each stroke, the circle he drew freehand was even neater than one drawn with a ruler, and the characters were as neat as engravings. Xie Lian couldn't help but marvel at it.
The formation was completed, Mingyi said, "Let's go." Shi Qingxuan took a deep breath and blew out the candle.
Huacheng walked in front and was the first to push the door. The small door creaked open, and outside was also pitch black, as if it led to an old house that had been abandoned for many years. The air was filled with the smell of mold and dust.
Following behind Hua Cheng was Xie Lian, who quietly thanked Hua Cheng for leading the way. Then came Shi Qingxuan, and finally Ming Yi. After he emerged, he closed the door behind him.
Just as the door was about to close, a voice suddenly rang out from behind the darkness, saying coldly, "The place you are going to will become a nightmare you never want to remember again!"
Upon hearing this voice, Xie Lian kicked out.
He kicked the door down on the spot, but the formation had lost its effect after its use. Behind the door lay not the Puqi Monastery but a pile of scrap metal. His violent movements sent a cloud of dust flying. Xie Lian coughed, feeling somewhat relieved that he hadn't broken through Hua Cheng's door. He covered his face with his sleeve and asked, "Was that the Immortal Baihua just now?"
Shi Qingxuan clenched his whisk and wind-master fan and said, "That's its voice! Has it... been following me all along?"
Xie Lian brushed off the dust and denied it, "No. There were three priests and a ghost king in the room just now. If something had been following you, how could we not notice it? It must have arrived just now."
Mingyi also said, "Calm down."
Shi Qingxuan said, "Calm down. I'm very calm. I've been calm for a long time!"
Hua Cheng, however, said leisurely from the front, "You need to stay calm, but it doesn't mean you'll be alright. Does anyone know where this is?"
Xie Lian looked around and said, "Aren't we going to the best restaurant in the Imperial City?"
No matter how you looked at it, this abandoned old house didn't look like the restaurant Shi Qingxuan had described. The four of them wandered around and found the main door, only to find it locked with several large padlocks. Xie Lian kicked it again, breaking the locks and letting the door fly open. After opening the door, what appeared before them wasn't a sea of fire or swords, nor was it some mysterious and sinister scene, but rather an ordinary, unremarkable town.
Hua Cheng raised an eyebrow and said, "The imperial city shouldn't look like this."
Xie Lian felt the same way. The imperial capital's grandeur was in no way comparable to that of a small town. He turned around and asked, "Master Geomancer, did you draw the formation incorrectly?"
Ming Yi said, "It's not drawn wrong. The original connection point is not here."
Xie Lian understood immediately. This meant that the creature had tampered with the place. It had sent them here.
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