After many years, Le Jing finally met Su Jian.
More than ten years had left a distinct mark on Su Jian. The boy had lost the carefree attitude he had when they first met, and now he was calm and indifferent, having seen a lot.
But human nature is difficult to change.
There is still a lion living in the boy's eyes, and the paranoid yet pure blood of youth still flows in his veins.
After a brief greeting, Le Jing closed his eyes, looked accurately at Lu Qingling's position, and asked, "Who is this female donor?"
Su Jian introduced: "This is Lu Qingling. Junior Sister Lu is the only daughter of our head, and also my most beloved junior sister."
Lu Qingling's face immediately flushed slightly. She glanced at Su Jian shyly and whispered to Le Jing, "Hello."
Le Jing originally wanted to find a random excuse to send the girl away, after all, he and Su Jian might go to the grassland to carry out a secret assassination. But after hearing Su Jian's introduction, he changed his mind.
Not only would he not drive Lu Qingling away, he would also take her to the grassland.
He and Su Jian's mission this time was mainly to investigate, and assassination was only incidental, because there were many variables in this mission, and no one knew whether the demons were behind the unusual movement on the grassland. If the assassination failed and they were trapped in a dangerous situation where they were besieged by the demons and almost died, Lu Qingling would be their best means of escape.
As the only daughter of the headmaster, Lu Qingling must have some unknown means of self-defense. And most importantly, the only daughter is in danger, Master Bai Yuan can't just stand by and watch, right?
Le Jing met Su Jian's calm eyes and realized that they all had the same idea.
If he really wanted to get away, Su Jian would have found an opportunity. But not only did he not do that, he also brought Lu Qingling here and made such a meaningful introduction, which was almost a clear indication.
Although he didn't say it out loud, Su Jian really did use Lu Qingling as a hostage to force Master Bai Yuan to intervene in the situation on earth.
To some extent, Su Jian and Le Jing are the same kind of people, who will do whatever it takes to achieve their goals. They are both idealists.
From this point of view, Su Jian is a qualified male protagonist of the Dian family.
Since the two of them had already reached a tacit understanding, Le Jing immediately smiled and said, "So the junior sister that Su Jian often mentioned in his letters is you. Seeing is believing. You are indeed a beauty. No wonder Su Jian can't forget you."
Lu Qingling looked at Su Jian in surprise, her clear eyes filled with burning affection. She asked softly, "You...you often mention me in your letters? What do you mention about me?"
Su Jian smiled and said as if embarrassed: "Don't listen to Le Jing's jokes. He doesn't mention you often, just occasionally."
Lu Qingling's face turned even redder. She lowered her head shyly and hummed softly.
Le Jing inexplicably recalled a joke that was circulated on the Internet in his previous life: The beauty of a man lies in his ability to lie like he had seen a ghost in broad daylight, and the beauty of a woman lies in her foolishness without regrets.
He smiled and was about to speak when his brows moved and his heavenly eye suddenly "saw" the scene outside the city. The heavenly eye was not a real eye, but a magical power in his sea of consciousness.
Buddhism has six supernatural powers, namely, the divine eye, divine hearing, divine mind reading, divine destiny reading, divine realm reading, and divine elimination. Le Jing's eyes that can see through the cycle of reincarnation are the natural destiny reading.
In the past ten years, Le Jing has also developed the ability of divine vision. When the divine vision is cultivated to the extreme, one can see the birth and death, suffering and happiness of all beings in the six realms, as well as all kinds of forms and colors in the world without any obstacles. However, Le Jing's practice is still in its infancy, so now he can only see things happening at a certain distance.
Su Jian had been paying attention to Le Jing's movements without making a sound. When he noticed that he was frowning, he immediately asked, "What's wrong?"
Le Jing frowned, "There's smoke rising from the direction of the city gate. I'm afraid there's an invasion from outside."
Su Jian was slightly surprised and asked quickly, "Who is it? Barbarian?"
Le Jing shook his head. "It's too far away. I can't see it."
Su Jian closed his eyes and analyzed calmly, "It shouldn't be the barbarians. You defended Hanyang City the day before yesterday, and there are so many corpses still piled up in the city. The barbarians have learned their lesson and should be quiet for a while. They won't restart the war in such a short time. Moreover, this is Beihuang City. If it is an unknown small city, it would be fine. There are tens of thousands of troops stationed in Beihuang City. If the barbarians attack the city, it would be equivalent to rebellion!"
Although the barbarians had occasionally extorted money before, they only targeted nearby small towns and had never besieged Beihuang City, so Su Jian thought so.
Le Jing doesn't think so.
From Lu Qingling's perspective, the blind monk's mouth curled slightly, and his gentle smile inexplicably had a hint of sarcasm. "Daliang is weak right now. This is the best opportunity that comes once in hundreds of years. It would be strange if the barbarians didn't rebel."
He didn't expect the barbarians to move so quickly. They were still a step too late. This was a charge from nomadic civilization against agricultural civilization, and the outcome of the war could even affect the fate of the country for hundreds of years.
Su Jian was silent.
Lu Qingling interrupted curiously and asked, "Are the mortals going to fight?" Her eyebrows curved, with a hint of curiosity and excitement: "I have never seen mortals fight. They don't have magic or magic weapons, so I don't know how they fight."
Le Jing asked, "Do you want to see it?"
Lu Qingling shook her head, her innocent smile showing the usual coldness of a cultivator, "That's a matter for mortals, it has nothing to do with us, why should we go over there and add to the karma?"
The habitual smile on Le Jing's lips gradually disappeared.
here we go again.
Le Jing didn't know how many times he had heard this familiar argument.
What a peaceful and tranquil world of cultivation, unaffected by cause and effect.
Even though he has the ability to change the world, he ignores the people of the world and is only concerned with cleaning up the snow in front of his door.
Because they want to cultivate immortality, they cannot be involved in cause and effect, and cannot interfere in worldly affairs. Therefore, the turmoil and changes of dynasties in the world have nothing to do with them.
The moment they stepped into the world of cultivation, they seemed to have become superhuman beings. Mortals were just ants to them, so who would care about the life and death of ants?
Le Jing stood up and said to Su Jian, "Let's go."
Su Jian followed in silence.
Lu Qingling was stunned for a moment, looking confused: "Where are you going?"
It was at this moment that the blind monk slowly opened his eyes.
Lu Qingling was caught off guard and met a pair of crystal clear eyes.
How to describe these eyes? They are so magical that no words can describe them.
Lu Qingling's mind went blank. For a moment, she seemed to see the ebb and flow of the tides, the overturning of the sea and the mulberry fields, the birth and fall of stars, and the beginning and end of all things.
In her trance, she vaguely heard the monk's clear and calm voice: "Go and defend the city."
Lu Qingling came back to her senses and was horrified. "Defend the city?" She looked at the two of them in confusion. "Why do we have to defend the city? What does this have to do with you?"
Su Jian didn't even turn his head: "I came from the mortal world."
Le Jing smiled calmly: "I am originally a mortal."
This answer was beyond Lu Qingling's expectations. She opened her eyes wide and said in disbelief, "You are all cultivators now. What happens in the mortal world has nothing to do with you! And Su Jian, you have already severed your ties with the mortal world, so you should not get involved in the affairs of the mortal world!"
Su Jian tilted his head slightly to glance at her, and said calmly: "If practicing Taoism means that you must ignore your relatives, be cold and heartless, and be restricted, then it is better not to practice Taoism." After that, he ignored Lu Qingling's persuasion and left the inn without looking back.
Lu Qingling stood in the inn, looking confused.
She didn't understand why Su Jian suddenly changed his temperament and insisted on intervening in the war in the mortal world. Her father had told her since she was a child: "The way of heaven is constant, it does not exist for the sake of Yao, nor does it die for the sake of Jie", so they, the monks, should be quiet and inaction, follow the will of heaven, not indulge their desires, and not change the laws of the development of all things in the world according to their own wishes.
Just like this war, this is a universal law that has existed in the mortal world since ancient times, and it is part of the "time of heaven". If they, the monks, want to intervene, they will be entangled in huge cause and effect, and may even be punished by heaven and end up with a tragic ending of death.
This is common sense for every cultivator who has embarked on the journey of cultivation. Su Jian, as a natural Taoist, should know this better than anyone else. Moreover, he has already cut off his worldly ties and resolved the cause and effect, so logically speaking, he should not have any extra attachment to the mortal world.
However, Su Jian was willing to intervene in the mortal war for the sake of some stranger mortals, even at the risk of having his cultivation destroyed and receiving retribution.
Why did Su Jian do this? Couldn't he see that it would do no good?
Lu Qingling couldn't figure it out and couldn't comprehend it.
"So, you have never known Su Jian."
Lu Qingling was slightly startled, and then she realized that the young monk did not leave with Su Jian. At this moment, his eyes were curved, and there seemed to be stars twinkling in his eyes, and he looked at her with a smile.
Lu Qingling turned her eyes away as if she had received an electric shock, not daring to look directly into Le Jing's eyes.
“…”
She was silent. She just realized that she might never know Su Jian.
"You understand, right?" She put her eyes on Le Jing's chest, trying not to look into those strange and terrifying eyes. "Can you tell me why you and Su Jian are defending the city?"
There was a clamor of voices all around, with guests from all over the world sharing their experiences from afar. The young man's elegant and ethereal voice blended in with the noisy worldly fireworks, indistinguishable from each other:
"You need to see it with your own eyes. After watching it for a long time, you will naturally understand it." Le Jing asked again: "Do you want to go and see it?"
This time Lu Qingling nodded hesitantly.
…
Lu Qingling stood on the Lotus Platform, Le Jing's flying magic weapon, and looked down from above. The pedestrians on the ground were stumbling all over the place, people and horses were falling, and they were running around in a panic like headless flies. "The barbarians are coming! Run!"
“It’s fatal!”
"Dad! Mom! Where are you?"
The people in the city were at a loss and filled with panic. They wanted to escape, but there was no way to do so. The barbarians were at the gates of the city. It was truly a situation where there was no one to turn to for help, even to God.
"This child may die soon, how pitiful." Lu Qingling looked in the direction of Le Jing's sight, and saw a little girl sitting on the ground crying loudly. The monk's cold and sharp voice came into her ears: "Once the barbarians enter the city, the best case scenario is that the men will be slaves and the women will be prostitutes. This child has no parents to protect her, and in troubled times, she will just die. Of course, if the barbarians choose to massacre the city, this child will not be lonely on the road to the underworld."
Lu Qingling pursed her lips, her eyes were turbulent for a while but soon returned to calm. She said calmly and almost cruelly: "There is a will of heaven in the dark. It is the will of heaven. We can only say that she has a bad fate."
Le Jing seemed to be curious and asked her: "So in your opinion, if God wants to destroy people, then people should obey their fate and not resist?"
Lu Qingling nodded heavily.
Le Jing looked at her with a sneer, "If that's the case, then we shouldn't practice Taoism. People only live for a hundred years, and practicing Taoism is about longevity, which is against the will of heaven. How can we say that we are following the will of heaven?"
"How can they be the same? I don't know why you Buddhists practice Taoism." Lu Qingling raised her eyebrows and replied, "The purpose of our Taoist practice is to know more about the principles of heaven and earth, so that our actions can be more in line with the will of heaven, return to nature, become one with heaven and earth, and achieve the ultimate state of Taoism. At that time, man is all things, and if all things are immortal, then man is also immortal."
Le Jing sighed and laughed, without refutation again.
If you don't share the same ideals, you can't work together. Why waste your breath on it?
The issue of world views is the most difficult to reconcile in the world. It is as unrealistic as a fantasy to expect a person to change his world views with just a few words.
Lu Qingling’s view is also the mainstream view of the Taoist sects in the current world of cultivation.
The Buddhist sect believes that the monks should be pure in their six senses, abide by their original intentions, and recite the Buddha with one heart. Even if there are one or two sects that practice Mahayana Buddhism and make great vows to save all living beings, they only want to help the victims transcend after death and ascend to paradise. The Buddhist sect practices reincarnation and the afterlife.
I don’t know if it was a coincidence or a tacit understanding, but both Buddhism and Taoism chose not to interfere in worldly affairs.
In Le Jing's opinion, all the cultivators in this world of cultivation are sophisticated egoists. "Every man has his share of responsibility for the fate of his country" and "The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility" are all "jokes" that they sneer at.
He suddenly remembered a very interesting anti-feudal superstition post he had seen on the Internet in his previous life. The poster took a different approach and used a tricky angle to prove that there were no gods in China.
'If gods really exist, why didn't our gods appear when so many Chinese died during the Anti-Japanese War?'
Now Le Jing can answer this.
Gods probably do exist, but they are all sophisticated egoists. Compared with the gods who have infinite lifespans, the replacement of dynasties in the mortal world is just a matter of a blink of an eye. Humans don't care about the lives of ants, so gods don't care about the lives of humans either.
The Bible says, "God does not save."
So when the flood came, they didn’t ask the prophets, but dug canals themselves to clear it;
When diseases are prevalent, do not seek miracles, but try medicines and cure them yourself;
If someone drowns in the East China Sea, fill it up; if someone is burned by the sun, shoot the sun down.
Whoever wants to be the chosen stone, let him go; whoever wants to be the prostrating lamb, let him go;
Whoever wants to kneel before the emperor or the powerful ministers can go, and whoever wants to ask ghosts and gods instead of the people can go;
Between the sky and earth split by the axe, there are people everywhere who do not want to be slaves.
That’s why the Internationale sang: “There has never been a savior, nor do we rely on gods or emperors! To create human happiness, we must rely on ourselves!”
——This is the backbone of the glory of all mankind, which cannot be covered up, erased or taken away by any gods or Buddhas.
…
Le Jing and Lu Qingling flew towards the city gate with their magic weapons. As the distance got closer, he could slowly see clearly what was happening at the city gate.
As expected, the city was surrounded by barbarians, who were attacking the city with siege engines. The city gate was in chaos, and the defenders were at a loss, helpless, and the only thing to be thankful for was that the city gate had not been breached.
Su Jian was standing in the sky with his sword, his blue robe fluttering in the wind, looking extremely noble.
Le Jing stopped the magic weapon beside him, and the two stood side by side, looking down at the aggressive barbarian cavalry in silence.
Logically speaking, cavalry has strong mobility but is not good at siege warfare. Beihuang is a big city with tens of thousands of troops stationed there, so they should be able to rest easy.
But that is not the case.
Not to mention the corruption in the army, how much water has been added to the number of the tens of thousands of garrisons after years of empty salaries, just say that the guns of the soldiers guarding the city are all rusty, how much combat effectiveness do they have. The general guarding the city is now in the brothel, and by the time he rushes over, the city may have been broken. So the defenders at this time are a mess.
On the other hand, the barbarians came fully prepared this time, bringing with them siege weapons such as ladders, logs, and catapults. They came with great force and caught the defenders off guard.
Su Jian asked softly: "How long do you think it will take for the city gate to be breached?"
Le Jing replied: "No more than an hour."
Su Jian let out a long sigh.
Lu Qingling looked down at the intense battle below with an expressionless face, as quiet as a transparent ghost.
Because of the sleight of hand, neither the attacker nor the defender below knew that someone was standing more than ten meters in the air, silently watching their every move.
Lu Qingling suddenly spoke up, lowering her head, not knowing whether she was talking to herself or trying to dissuade Le Jing and Su Jian: "As long as mortals exist, war will never end. You can save the people of this city, but can you save the whole world? Besides, mortals have a short lifespan. Even if there is no war, at most a hundred years is nothing more than a handful of dirt. They will die sooner or later. There is no point in you saving them now."
The voice in Su Jian's mind also echoed, "This little girl is right. You can't be so confused any longer! What does the war between mortals have to do with you? Don't make the same mistake over and over again. It's not too late to stop now!"
Su Jian laughed sarcastically: "A mortal gave birth to me, a mortal gave me food and clothing, a mortal taught me to read and understand, a mortal raised me for 16 years, a mortal is me, I am a mortal, how can it have nothing to do with me?"
Le Jing calmly answered Lu Qingling's question: "As long as you are not an immortal, your life span will eventually come to an end. If the people guarding the city below were your parents and relatives, and they would all be slaughtered after the city was captured, would you still be able to say this?"
Lu Qingling's eyelashes trembled, and the color on her face faded little by little. She trembled her lips, but could not say anything to refute.
If her parents and relatives were there, she would definitely not stand idly by.
Su Jian gave her a look of infinite sarcasm, "In our mortal world, there is a saying that can describe what you just said and did - it's easy to talk without any pain in the waist."
The sarcasm and ridicule from her lover dealt a fatal blow to Lu Qingling. Her face turned as pale as paper, her eyes were filled with tears, and she looked particularly pitiful.
Unfortunately, the two straight men present were not the kind of people who would sympathize with women.
Le Jing looked at Su Jian: "Shall we go?"
Su Jian nodded heavily: "Let's go!"
…
The defenders on the ground were fighting fiercely.
Han Yong gritted his teeth, aimed the arrow at a barbarian who was climbing the ladder, pulled the bowstring into a beautiful arc, and then released it hard. With a clear whistle, the arrow brushed the barbarian's cheek and fell to the ground.
"Damn it!" Han Yong cursed fiercely, but he didn't have time to continue regretting. He reached for the quiver again but found nothing. He suddenly looked down and found that all the arrows were used up!
"I'm out of arrows! Bring me more arrows!"
Han Yong's roar was drowned out by the voices of his comrades as soon as they uttered it:
"Where are the reinforcements? When will they arrive?"
"Damn it, the spear head is rusty, the arrow handle is moth-eaten, how the hell can I use it to fight?"
"It's been a year since the fire started. I'm not guarding a shitty city!"
"Where's the general? Where the hell is he? He's hiding away and having a good time, making me work for him!"
"Brothers, stop fighting. Your life is your own. Let's hide and wait until the barbarians leave!"
Han Yong's eyes were bloodshot, and he shouted in his almost hoarse voice: "We can't run! The villagers are all behind us! We can't do something that will make people poke our backs!"
However, amid the excitement of the crowd around him, Han Yong's weak voice was like a small stone thrown into the sea, which sank without even a ripple.
Soon, one soldier turned around and walked down the stairs, followed by two, three... ten... Most of the soldiers guarding the city soon ran away, leaving only Han Yong and dozens of other soldiers still struggling to hold on.
However, there was a shortage of arrows, and their spears were rusty. With their mediocre skills, they were no match for the barbarians who were used to drinking blood on the edge of a knife. Soon, several barbarians climbed up the city using ladders.
Almost at the same time, there was a loud noise at the city gate, and for a moment it seemed that countless voices shouted: "The city gate is broken, run!"
Han Yong was completely desperate.
Is today the end of Beihuang City?
When barbarians enter the city, they are like vicious wolves entering a flock of sheep. Even if they are full, they will bite all the living sheep to death to satisfy their vicious desires.
He could almost see the bloody scene of the barbarians entering the city and burning, killing, looting and committing all kinds of atrocities. It was a real hell on earth.
At this moment, Han Yong suddenly saw two streams of light, one yellow and one blue, falling from the sky. The blue light fell beside him, and the yellow light fell outside the city.
The light dissipated, revealing the true faces wrapped in the flowing light: a monk in yellow and a Taoist priest in blue.
The yellow-robed monk holds a rosary in one hand and a pestle in the other. His face is as white as jade, his features are gentle, and the corners of his mouth are slightly raised. His smile gives people a feeling of being bathed in a spring breeze, making people forget their worries when they see him.
The blue Taoist priest holds a long sword, has sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes, his gaze is sharp, he is gentle and handsome, his temperament is cold and otherworldly, as bright as the moon in the sky.
The defenders were in an uproar:
"who are they?"
"When did they show up?"
"From the sky! I saw them flying down from the sky!"
"Heaven... Damn, they are not gods, are they?"
"Is this true? What kind of god? Is this a magic trick?"
Han Yong stared blankly at the magical scene in front of him, his heart was in turmoil, his mind was blank. Tears burst out first with his consciousness.
If it's really a god...
There is hope.
Beihuang City is saved!
The young Taoist replied coldly: "I am not a deity. I came from the mortal world to guard the city."
At the same time, several young barbarian generals who had finally climbed up the city wall with ladders under the threat of flying arrows and overcoming all obstacles had just shown their heads when they were silently pierced through the chest by flying swords and fell heavily from the city wall to the ground.
The young monk stood guard at the city gate and said loudly: "You want to try and see what it means that one man can block the passage of ten thousand men?"
What answered them was the deafening sound of iron cavalry and the crazy roars of the nomadic peoples.
The war between the two men and tens of thousands of cavalry officially began.
…
Blood, blood everywhere.
Lu Qingling had never seen so much blood in her life.
She stood on the city wall and looked into the distance.
The setting sun in the sky was blood-red, the air was filled with a strong smell of blood, and the stench of rust could be smelled with every breath.
There was billowing smoke, flashing swords and sabers, broken walls and ruins, the sound of killing was deafening, and blood flowed like a river.
There were piles of corpses on both sides of the city gate, and the blood had dyed the city gate scarlet.
She had never imagined that wars among mortals could be so brutal.
In the midst of the blood, there stood a spotless monk in yellow robes and a young Taoist priest in fluttering blue robes.
The monk's face was as pure as jade, and the mountains of corpses and seas of blood did not make his expression look strange at all. On the contrary, his eyebrows were clear and peaceful, and there was a smile of compassion on the corners of his mouth. The hem of his light yellow monk's robe moved without wind, and the sandalwood scent was hidden.
He ignored the mountains of corpses and seas of blood around him, ignored the cavalry rolling in front of him, and flicked his rosary beads, the demon-subduing pestle in his hand stained with blood, closed his eyes and chanted Buddhist scriptures softly, as if praying for the dead. He looked so elegant and sacred that it seemed as if this was not a bloody battlefield, but a Zen temple with lingering Buddhist music.
If an uninformed person sees this scene, he might think of the great feat of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva who vowed not to attain Buddhahood until hell is empty.
And her beloved, the natural Taoist of Linqing Sect, Su Jian, was dressed in fluttering blue clothes. Even though he was exhausted, his back was still straight. He stood stubbornly in front of the city gate, holding the long sword in his hand tightly. The sword was sparkling with blood, leaving a winding bloodstain on the ground.
One of the two men was guarding in front of the city gate, and the other stood on the city gate. Their position was the dividing point. In front of them were broken limbs, mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and an endless stream of barbarian armies. Behind them was the standing Beihuang City.
Two people, protect a city.
Even if there are tens of thousands of people, I will still go.
Even though Le Jing and Su Jian were both cultivators, they still pale in comparison to the almost endless barbarian cavalry. Two fists are no match for four hands, and even they are now exhausted.
But their steps did not deviate at all, and they defended the city without letting the barbarians set foot inside.
After suffering heavy casualties, even the most fearless and brave barbarians now realized the gap in military strength between the enemy and us.
The barbarians stopped in their tracks, staring in doubt and amazement at the monks and Taoists in the city walls who looked like gods descending from heaven.
The once noisy battlefield returned to silence.
But the strange thing is that even with such heavy casualties, the barbarians were not scared away. Although they were a little panicked because of the tragic casualties, they remained calm and did not lose morale and flee in panic.
A turbulent undercurrent is brewing in the silent silence.
The barbarian who looked like a leader had a solemn expression on his face and said something loudly in the barbarian language.
Lu Qingling subconsciously held her breath, her heart beating wildly, and she vaguely realized that something dangerous seemed to be about to happen.
After a few breaths, a sharp voice suddenly came from the sky.
"Who do I think you are? You are just two little kids who have just established their foundation. How dare you be so arrogant? It's your bad luck to meet me today. Prepare to die!"
Lu Qingling looked up and saw a purple-robed Taoist with shifty eyes sitting on a magic weapon that looked like a lampstand.
Evil spirit is rampant and demonic energy is everywhere.
This is actually a giant demon that has transformed into a human form!
The author has something to say:
The little mouse climbed up the lampstand, but couldn’t get down.
①From Baidu Encyclopedia
①Answer from Zhihu user Phoolean.
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