Chapter 77 Nine Righteous Men
The medical record folder in Li Mei's hand fell to the ground with a thud.
Several cultivators dressed in black Taoist robes stood solemnly, their robes fluttering even without wind.
One of them was Youxu.
The leader, Lingji Daoist, held a whisk, and the Spirit Gathering Pearl in his palm was emitting a strange blue light.
Three days ago, at Youmeng Lake.
The Spirit Gathering Pearl suddenly became hot in front of Lu Yao, and the starlight inside the pearl moved like a living thing.
What shocked Youxu even more was that the mysterious streamer actually called out the ancestor's childhood name in a soft voice - "Xiao Fuzi".
In all the records of the Lingxiao Sect, the founder is referred to as "Lingxiao Zhenren".
As for the secret that the founder was once a eunuch, it has always been the deepest secret of the Lingxiao Sect and has never been told to outsiders.
"Is that really how she addresses me?"
Youxu returned to his sect to report back and recounted everything.
The whisk of Youxu's master, Lingji Daoren, immediately became entangled in his wrist.
As the current leader, he is aware of the oath passed down through generations: "To guard the pearl for all eternity."
Before his master passed away, he told Lingji the biggest secret of the Lingxiao Sect.
The founder, Sun Fuxi, established the Lingxiao Sect in memory of his benefactor.
Sun Fuxi was a lowly eunuch in the palace. He was fortunate enough to serve the Imperial Preceptor and receive guidance from him, thus beginning his studies in metaphysics.
Later, the northern border suffered a severe drought for three consecutive years, leaving the land barren and people resorting to cannibalism.
The imperial advisor, unable to bear the suffering of the people, traveled to pray for rain, but he was unable to attend to all the matters at once, and his spiritual energy was depleted.
The Imperial Advisor observed the stars and discovered an unusual omen of "Mars guarding the heart." He set up an array and arranged the magic. On the seventh day at noon, seven golden rays shot into the sky, and dark clouds swirled and spread from the array's core.
She severed three of her immortal bones, causing blood to seep from her seven orifices.
When the torrential rain came, the heavens seemed to weep, the people prostrated themselves, and in unison praised the name of the national teacher, their cheers shaking the heavens.
The Imperial Advisor had performed an unparalleled feat, but returned to the capital in triumph, extremely weak.
Her own flesh and blood relatives took advantage of her vulnerability when she was at her weakest.
Her biological father pierced her dantian with a broken immortal hairpin, suppressing her with a vicious curse connected by blood.
Nine human-shaped stone tablets on the mountainside of Broken Soul Ridge form the Big Dipper Array, with bronze chains extending from their bases, piercing through the mountain and connecting to an underground coffin, ensuring eternal damnation.
By the time Sun Fuxi found out, it was too late.
At that time, he was too weak to reverse the situation.
They had no choice but to painstakingly improve themselves, establish the Lingxiao Sect, and guard the Broken Soul Ridge for generations.
Before his death, Sun Fuxi instructed his disciples: "For all eternity, guard the pearl and wait for its master."
He believed that the Grand Preceptor would one day awaken from beneath the Broken Soul Ridge.
Lingji Daoist poured his spiritual power into the Spirit Gathering Pearl. The Spirit Gathering Pearl, which had not given away any for thousands of years, trembled at this moment, drawing him to this place.
—The Fifth Mental Hospital.
When the Taoist priest saw the name "Lu Yao" on the patient list, his breath hitched.
This is precisely the name of the Imperial Preceptor, which is often avoided in classical texts.
“I want to visit this patient.” Lingji Daoist’s voice trembled.
As Lu Yao slowly emerged from behind Li Mei, the morning light gilded her edges.
Lingji's whisk suddenly fluttered without any wind.
The woman's delicate face gradually overlapped with the "Illustrated Scroll of the Imperial Preceptor Observing the Heavenly Secrets at Night" in the secret scrolls of the Sutra Repository.
"country……"
The honorific title that Lingji almost blurted out caught in Lu Yao's distant gaze.
"Miss Lu," he politely changed his address, "we've come to visit you."
Lu Yao nodded. "I understand. I'm fine now."
Li Mei looked back and forth between the two people with suspicion and uncertainty.
Suddenly, I remembered the Celestial Master that Lu Yao's father had mentioned.
Could these be the people?
Lu Yao turned to look at Li Mei, "Dr. Li, I am now an adult and have recovered. I think I can be discharged from the hospital."
“You can’t be discharged yet; I need to do a full set of tests for you,” Li Mei said quickly. “Besides, your family hasn’t arrived yet.”
Lu Yao chuckled, "Dr. Li is joking. My only family member, my grandmother, has already passed away."
Li Mei felt a tremor in her heart when she thought of Lu Yao's background.
"Dr. Li, thank you for taking care of me during this time. I need to speak with them alone."
Lu Yao looked at the anxious crowd of Lingxiao Sect members.
Li Mei left, filled with doubt.
Lu Yao closed the door to the ward and gestured for Lingji to come in alone.
"You..." Lingji's Adam's apple bobbed, her voice hoarse and unlike her own, "Are you really the Imperial Preceptor?"
Lu Yao did not answer.
She took the Spirit Gathering Pearl from Lingji's hand and gazed at the light flowing within it.
—A thousand years of time have condensed into tiny starlight within it.
The spiritual power that each sect leader infused before their death transformed into a steadfast commitment to protection.
The blood oath deepest inside was particularly striking; it was Sun Fuxi's handwriting:
"Your disciple Fuxi is willing to offer a thousand years of incense offerings in exchange for a chance to save your life."
Lu Yao sighed softly, and a thousand years of time fell silently in her sigh.
"Tell me what has happened over the past thousand years."
Diviners can foresee the fate of all living beings, but they cannot predict their own calamities.
Lingji then recounted her family's secret history, which had never been shared with outsiders.
The nine human-shaped stone tablets in the deadly trap of Broken Soul Ridge are respectively the Heart-Piercing Tablet, the Eye-Gouging Tablet, the Love-Severing Tablet, the Throat-Locking Tablet, the Bone-Shattering Tablet, the Soul-Burning Tablet, the Death-Ending Tablet, the Deceiving Heaven Tablet, and the Immortal-Burial Tablet.
Each stele is cast from the ashes of evil spirits who have been saved by Lu Yao, mixed with black iron, and bound with soul-locking chains. Each link is engraved with the inverted text of the "Scripture of Salvation".
This shows how much her parents hated her.
At the foot of the mountain, the people who had benefited from Lu Yao's kindness gradually gathered.
The refugees who survived the drought, the merchants who had been guided through the difficulties, and the relatives who had helped the souls of the dead to find peace.
They looked up at the mountains that suppressed Luyao, their tears mingling with the rain, soaking their clothes.
"Crying won't help."
A clear, crisp female voice pierced through the rain, and Qiao Fuling, dressed in plain clothes, stood before the crowd.
Qiao Fuling's voice was not loud, but every word was firm and resounding: "If one lamp goes out, thousands of lamps can relight it."
Three days later, shocking news came from the capital:
Lu Xuan, the newly appointed Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery, encountered bandits on his way to his new post.
The masked men were skilled in their work. When they tore him apart, they even unfolded a painting called "The Imperial Preceptor Praying for Rain" in front of him.
The sedan chair of the birth mother, Lady Yin, disappeared on the way to Huguo Temple.
A month later, the hunter found the body of a woman in fine clothes in the dry well, the well walls covered with gruesome scratch marks.
The death of the new emperor, Xiao Yuanxiu, was the most mysterious.
The palace maids on night duty all said that they saw the curtains of His Majesty's bedchamber moving without any wind that night.
The next morning, only a headless corpse remained on the dragon bed, with nine red threads wrapped around its neck, just like the soul-locking chains on Broken Soul Ridge.
His head was later found in the stable, but it had been trampled beyond recognition.
These high and mighty people will never understand the power that can be unleashed when the ants they see come together.
"A single spark can start a prairie fire."
The revenge is complete, and everyone will reunite in seven days.
Qiao Fuling knelt at the foot of Broken Soul Ridge and offered the new emperor's head on the altar.
However, no matter how much she tore her enemy to pieces, Lu Yao could never come back.
Sun Fuxi proposed a shocking plan, which was an ancient method he had found after searching through ancient books.
"Nine people are needed, each to claim a stele and commit nine lifetimes of karma to shake this formation."
"I accept the Heart-Piercing Stele!" Qiao Fuling was the first to step forward, her voice clear and bright like the ringing of a sword. "I will break this formation at all costs!"
Next was Bai Li, the frail woman who had been saved from the plague by Lu Yao, who resolutely bowed and said, "This humble woman will break the Death Stele for my benefactor."
Jiang Jinshu, Ji Nian'an, Wang Ziying...
One after another, the nine righteous men swore an oath in blood.
Sun Fuxi used a secret method to link the fates of the nine people with that of Lu Yao.
This astonishing plan is maintained by the thousand-year-old incense offerings of the Lingxiao Sect.
A thousand-year cycle of reincarnation, nine lifetimes of cause and effect, have finally brought about today's opportunity to break the deadlock.
Tears suddenly streamed down Lu Yao's eyes, which had been dry for a thousand years.
It turns out that her awakening after a thousand years was not a coincidence, but a miracle that nine people exchanged for through countless lifetimes.
Lu Yao gripped the Spirit Gathering Pearl tightly, and the starlight within the pearl suddenly intensified, illuminating the entire ward.
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