Chapter 48: Ping An and the Second Little Blue Dragon
The capital city was prosperous, with pearls and silks everywhere and houses filled with silk and satin. Even from far outside the city, the atmosphere became lively with people coming and going.
In order not to disturb the common people, Xue Yingxue and the others dropped their swords early and walked towards the city gate.
The weather was getting warmer. Although the monks did not feel the heat, they saw the people wearing light clothes and busying themselves in the bright spring sunshine. Surrounded by the smell of fireworks, they also felt happy unconsciously.
Zhao Qilian sighed softly after a long moment, "It's been almost ten years, and this place hasn't changed at all."
He looked at the lush vegetation and familiar scenery, and sighed, "...If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have practiced bird cultivation."
Dong Yuzhuo was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Brother, are you from Shangjing City?"
Zhao Qilian casually said "hmm".
Dong Yuzhuo raised his eyebrows in surprise and said with sincere admiration, "Wow! Born in the mortal world, yet he can enter the Taihua Jade Ruins. That's truly remarkable!"
Taihua Yuxu is extremely strict in selecting disciples. If you don’t have outstanding talents, you can’t even see the mountain gate. Even these outer disciples are top young geniuses in ordinary sects.
Therefore, most of the disciples of Taihua Yuxu are from aristocratic families. They have been exposed to the practice of immortal arts since birth and have been instructed by their elders since childhood. Only then did they have some chance to join the world's number one sect.
The disciples in the sect are either from aristocratic families or children of various sects, and there are almost no disciples who are from common families.
Several horses galloped past, raising clouds of dust. Zhao Qilian was stunned for a moment, pointing at the official road and saying, "Back then, I was also a playboy, often riding hawks and running dogs here with a few friends. But now, those young men who rode with me have probably already started families and careers..."
Since he had entered the immortal sect, his life span was naturally longer than that of ordinary people. Ten years had passed in a flash since he entered Taihua Yuxu. He still looked like a teenager, but his former playmates in the capital were probably already middle-aged.
Xue Yingxue said, "Now that you're back, why don't you go home and visit after this matter is over?"
Zhao Qilian simply said, "Now that you have entered the Immortal Realm, you should give up everything in the mortal world, not to mention..."
When he was leaving, his mother said, "If you dare to abandon your family and career to pursue the path of immortality, then just treat him as if you don't have a son. After all, immortals are also pure in nature."
He had been away for more than ten years and had never received a single letter from home.
At this moment, suddenly a few young men in brocade clothes were seen riding away on horseback, laughing loudly, leaving behind a trail of flying dust.
Zhao Qilian let out a long sigh and said, "Forget it."
He was usually cheerful and cheerful, so it was the first time they saw him looking so dejected. They didn't know what to say. After a long moment, Zhao Qilian resumed his usual eccentric demeanor and raised an eyebrow, "Hey, why do you guys look like that?"
They smiled at each other and walked towards the city gate.
These people had outstanding appearances and were very eye-catching. Wherever they passed, passers-by stopped and looked sideways. Seeing this, they were afraid of alerting the enemy, so they used magic to change their appearance and transformed themselves into ordinary people. They hid in the crowd, entered the city, and headed towards the Xiaoqinglong Temple in the west of the city.
The city is bustling everywhere, worthy of being the number one capital in the world. The bustle here is far beyond that of Tiejian Town.
These mortals had never seen any magic, but they paid more attention to the sophistication of the mechanisms. Even the small toys sold on the street made Dong Yuzhuo stare.
He simply said, "I thought that life would be very boring for these mortals without magic!"
Zhao Qilian snorted, looking quite accustomed to it: "What's the big deal? It's just something that ordinary people play with. Those geniuses in our palace—"
He suddenly stopped talking and didn't say any more.
Dong Yuzhuo was young, and had been raised in the Lingyun Sect since childhood. On weekdays, he only saw fellow disciples drinking dew and chewing fairy grass, going out in the wind and rain. Suddenly seeing this prosperous world, he couldn't help but envy it, and said with longing: "Actually, being a mortal is not bad!"
"We practice cultivation over and over again, and even though our lifespans may be longer, it's not necessarily more interesting than theirs."
Zhao Qilian sighed for a long time and said, "It is indeed so."
Xue Yingxue frowned and said, "...You two, do you want to think about what we are here for?"
Zhao Qilian didn't care at all: "The master sent out fakes like us, how difficult can this mission be? Once we get there, won't it be easy for us to complete it——"
Xue Yingxue chuckled and said, "Junior brother, since you know so much about Shangjing, why don't you tell us about the Little Azure Dragon Temple?"
Several people came here just for this temple that was rumored to be a place where people eat people.
Zhao Qilian frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and then said, "If I were to start from the beginning, I would have to start with the Imperial Preceptor..."
"In this city, there were originally two temples with the most incense, one large and one small, both built by Master Ping An."
The larger one is called Ping'an Temple and the smaller one is called Qinglong Temple.
Commonly known as Da Ping An and Xiao Qing Long.
One in the east and one in the west, facing each other from a distance.
The Ping'an Temple was not originally in a prosperous place. When the national teacher was in power, the people worshipped him as a god and flocked to the Ping'an Temple to seek his protection. For a time, the land prices soared, and the area around the Ping'an Temple gradually prospered and became the most lively place in the city.
But since the sudden disappearance of National Master Ping'an more than 20 years ago, the Ping'an Temple has been closed down by the National Master's disciples and sealed tightly with a formation. No one has entered for decades.
Ever since the disappearance of the imperial teacher, strange things have been happening in Ping'an Temple.
Even the emperor issued an edict, stating that no living people were allowed within a ten-mile radius of Ping'an Temple.
People were naturally unhappy about having all the residents and merchants expelled to the periphery, and there was a lot of discussion about it.
Rumor has it that every night one can hear strange noises coming from this temple, as if something is scratching something with its sharp claws, trying desperately to break the seal, with bloody hatred, and the number of them is so huge that it is outrageous. It takes at least thousands of pairs of claws scratching the barrier at the same time to make such a sound.
The people were instantly horrified and spontaneously moved away.
The center of gravity in the city gradually shifted, and the area around the temple became deserted. Furthermore, various rumors about the Imperial Master began to spread...
Gradually, the reputation of Master Ping An declined. Some people said that the master was murdered and his wronged soul was trapped in the temple, and was about to come out to claim lives from all over the world.
Some even said that he saw with his own eyes the wronged souls in black robes wandering in the night…
However, although the whereabouts of Master Ping'an were suspected, Xiaoqinglong Temple remained as prosperous as ever.
Because although this temple was built by the national master, the deity enshrined there was not the national master, but a lucky god from heaven.
It is said that making a wish to the god Naji is extremely effective and almost guaranteed to come true.
The tradition of worshipping this auspicious god has been passed down from the previous dynasty. Although dynasties have changed for many years, this god has become more and more powerful.
Except for Shangjing, almost every place where a temple can be built will have a Jishen Temple built.
What is strange is that what is enshrined in this Ji Temple is not a statue of a god, but a green dragon.
Therefore, the people respectfully called the god Naji the Green Lord.
Everyone says that the true form of this auspicious god is the Azure Dragon, who loves the people and responds to every request.
But in fact, the Immortal Alliance believes that this Azure Dragon is just the mount of the God of Fortune.
After all, this Lord Jishen was still a human a thousand years ago, and he ascended to the upper realm. This is clearly recorded in the history of the Immortal Alliance.
It was natural to build such a Qinglong Temple for praying in Shangjing. Although it was built by the national master, it had nothing to do with it.
Therefore, even if the national master encountered some trouble, it had nothing to do with the auspicious god, so everyone should still worship him, and even burn more incense.
But recently, strange things have been happening in this small Qinglong Temple.
…
The letter sent to the capital said that the Xiaoqinglong Temple became an empty temple overnight, and the pilgrims and Taoists who stayed there disappeared without leaving any trace.
Suspected of being swallowed by a monster, he hopes for help from the Immortal Alliance.
At first, the people thought that the temple had been looted and the pilgrims had been kidnapped.
But when you think about it carefully, hundreds of people disappeared without a trace, without making any noise, without even traces of blood or resistance, how could it be man-made...
Gradually, rumors spread, and everyone said that this temple was practicing cannibalism.
A Taoist priest said seriously that temples are often contaminated by human traffic, and evil spirits are nurtured. Devouring people is not uncommon. These pilgrims and Taoist priests must have become offerings that nourish the evil spirits.
The letter sent from Shangjing to Taihua Yuxu was vague in its meaning and only mentioned this incident. The Immortal Alliance thought it was just an ordinary monster causing trouble and did not take it seriously, so they sent out three idiots.
The three of them arrived in Shangjing and asked around, only to learn that what frightened the people even more was that someone had personally witnessed the evil spirits raised in the temple.
He looks exactly like the national teacher who has been missing for many years.
…
No one has ever known the origins of the Imperial Master, what he looks like, or whether he is a man or a woman.
This person was covered with a black cloak, like a dragon whose head could not be seen but whose tail could not be found.
But these pilgrims were so sure that they had seen him because the statue enshrined in Ping'an Temple was modeled after the image of the national master himself.
Someone accidentally looked inside through the wide-open temple door at night and saw the dark shadow—
Among the ghostly shadows, a loose black robe covered the body, leaving only the mouth exposed.
It is exactly the same as the statue of the national teacher.
The only difference was that the statue in the temple had its mouth pursed into a serious line, while the black shadow they saw had a seductive smile on its lips.
The moment I saw that thing, an evil aura hit me—
This is definitely not something from the immortal way.
Could it be that the national teacher they worshipped so devoutly has always been so evil...?
Could it be that the Imperial Master is the evil spirit that devours pilgrims?
…
Xue Yingxue and the other two stood outside the temple and saw that the temple door was wide open and there was no sound from inside.
Looking inside, one could only see the dark hall and could not clearly see the Azure Dragon statue inside.
The temple seems to have a big open mouth, with the pharynx and intestines clearly visible, as if waiting for food to jump into its stomach.
Dong Yuzhuo suddenly felt a cramp in his calf and was about to retreat. He said, "...Brothers and sisters, why do I feel like this is not a simple matter?"
The man-eating temple spirit is not scary, but what if the evil spirit is not transformed from the building?
With their cultivation level, they can only deal with the monsters breeding in the temple, but if the evil spirits are from outside, they will be absolutely helpless and will lose their lives in vain.
Moreover, demons are rampant nowadays, and Master Ping An is famous for suppressing demons. Could this matter be related to demons?
Not only did these people have low cultivation levels, they had barely been out on field missions. On weekdays, they would just fight a few goblins and pull out some weed monsters. But now, standing in front of the temple gate, they felt a blackout.
Zhao Qilian snorted and said, "What are you standing there for? Why don't you go in?"
Xue Yingxue grabbed her junior brother who was about to rush in and said, "Don't go. I don't think we can handle this."
"Let's send a message to the master and make a decision."
Zhao Qilian said, "You don't even have a master, who do you want to send a message to? Who would care about us?"
"They don't treat us outer disciples as human beings!"
He wanted to save face, so he said, "Since that's the case, and no one is watching us, wouldn't it be even more embarrassing for us to act like such cowards?!"
Xue Yingxue was a mature young man with a clear mind. She simply said, "Don't be so impulsive. At least send a message to Senior Brother, right? Otherwise, if something really happens to us, wouldn't we be walking into a tiger's mouth?"
Zhao Qilian exploded when he heard this: "Sinking the boat?!"
"You mean the guy with his nostrils pointing to the sky? He cares about you. I'm going to eat shit—"
"Junior brother." Suddenly a voice came with a smile.
Suddenly, a strong smell of alcohol wafted over. The three men turned around and saw a man holding a gourd in his hand. He sneered, "When are you going to eat shit?"
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The author has something to say: I finally have a holiday
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