248
The four of them walked along the long street of Zhengyang City. Du Heng asked blankly, "Where are we going now? Shenxu Palace?"
Jing Nan smiled and said, "Do you think Shenxu Palace is our backyard and we can go there whenever we want? Usually only people from the sect can enter Shenxu Palace. If others want to go there, they can only wait until the sect opens to accept disciples."
Feng Gui looked at the rolling hills to the west and added, "There is another way to get in, and that is to challenge the masters." Xuan Yu said, "With our current cultivation level, we will probably be stabbed to pieces by the sword masters if we challenge the masters."
Du Heng's mouth twitched: "So now we can only wait in Zhengyang City? When will Shenxu Palace open its doors to accept disciples?"
Jing Nan said, "Maybe next March? Don't worry, it will be soon. Look, it's almost the twelfth lunar month, time will pass in a flash." Du Heng's mouth twitched, "Don't make a fuss, it's only the light snow season now, and it's at least a month and a half away from the twelfth lunar month."
In this case, wouldn't they have to stay in Shenxu Palace for half a year? Where would they live for such a long time? The longer they stayed here, the more likely they would be exposed.
Feng Gui whispered to Jing Nan, "You can't fool him about the season." Jing Nan nodded, "I see."
Xuan Yu said: "In addition to the two methods they just mentioned, there is another method. That is to serve as a mission disciple and become a sect disciple. If successful, we don't have to wait until next spring, and we can retire after completing our mission."
Du Heng nodded repeatedly: "Yes, then let's go and do the mission! Shall we go now?"
Feng Gui stopped him and said, "Don't worry. Even if we are disciples on a mission, we can't just go there and do it. We still need to find a recommender before we can go."
Du Heng smiled and said, "Didn't we meet Xu Changge before? Wouldn't it be ok to let him be the recommender?"
Jing Nan said, "Well, that makes sense, but do you know how to find Xu Changge? Do you have a talisman that can contact him? If you come here rashly, you probably won't even be able to get into the Shenxu Palace."
Du Heng was stunned: "Then...what should we do?"
Xuan Yu said: "There is no rush now, let's go to our residence first and then make a long-term plan."
Hearing this, Du Heng and the others began to worry again. God knows what kind of place Xuan Yu has prepared as their temporary residence this time!
The house is located in the old street of East City, where many ordinary people live. Compared with the upscale West City, East City is a slum that monks don't want to set foot in.
Walking on the bumpy bluestone streets, looking at ordinary people working as ironworkers or buying groceries on the roadside, Du Heng was dumbfounded: "Is this... where we are going to live?"
Xuan Yu said calmly: "Yes, this place used to be very lively."
Thousands of years ago, before the city of Zhengyang was renovated, the east of the city was the most prosperous place. But later, a new city district was built, and wealthy ordinary people and powerful monks moved to the west of the city. The west of the city is close to Shenxu Palace. How does the saying go? The one who is close to the water gets the moon first. Whenever there is any movement in Shenxu Palace, people in the west of the city always know it first than people in the east of the city.
Jing Nan smiled and said, "I didn't see a single cultivator along the way. It's hard for you, Xiaoyu. You can actually find such a pure land in a city as big as Zhengyang City. It's not easy."
Jing Nan's words were so convoluted that for a moment Du Heng didn't know whether he was praising Xuan Yu or belittling him.
Xuan Yuquan thought Jing Nan was praising him: "When I bought the house before, this place was not so remote."
As they were talking, the four of them came to a remote alley. The alley had no name. In the alley, there was a tall weeping willow in the yard of a family. The willow covered most of the alley, and if you looked up, you could see the branches and leaves swaying in the wind.
Unlike the west side of the city, the east side of the city was not covered by a barrier. It was already early winter, and the leaves on the willow trees had all fallen. The road inside the alley was covered with willow leaves that had been rotten by rain. The alley exuded an old breath like an old man in his twilight years.
The alley was only three feet wide, just enough for two people to walk side by side. There were eight-foot-high walls on the sides, with mosses all over the top and a few grasses growing crookedly on the dark blue bricks. When Du Heng looked up, he saw a nimble black cat flashing across the wall. The cat's shrill cry scared Du Heng so much that his hair stood on end.
The deserted and narrow alley, the tall willow trees, the slippery and soft touch underfoot, and the unexpected meowing of cats, Du Heng felt like he was walking in a haunted house. He couldn't help but hug Xiao Xiao tightly, and Xiao Xiao felt a little uncomfortable. He looked up and protested to Du Heng twice.
Xuan Yu quickly reached the innermost gate of the courtyard. A tattered copper lock hung on the rotten wooden door. Half of the wooden door was open, revealing the ground in the courtyard full of leaves. Du Heng discovered that the willow trees covering the alley grew out of the courtyard!
Even though the sun was high in the sky, the courtyard was still extremely gloomy under the willow trees. Du Heng looked around and asked, "Are we the only family living in this alley?"
Xuan Yu said, "It should be. There may have been residents there before, but they didn't live long enough." It would have been fine if Xuan Yu hadn't said this, but after he said it, Du Heng felt a chill on his back. He begged for mercy again and again, "Stop talking, stop talking."
If he continues talking, he will have nightmares tonight.
Xuan Yu reached out and took off the broken copper lock. He gently pushed the wooden door, and it fell down.
Xuan Yu, with his hands suspended in the air: ...
Jing Nan said happily: "Is this the sound of the yard welcoming us? Not bad, not bad."
After the five people entered the door, Xuan Yu even picked up the broken wooden door on the ground and put it on the door. Feng Gui said, "It's already rotten like this, let's make a new one."
Xuan Yu closed the wooden door and said, "There is no way to activate the formation if it is not closed."
Jing Nan looked around and saw that the narrow courtyard was square, and the main door was facing the main door. The main door was also half open, revealing the dark inside. He walked to the willow tree and said, "Is this the center of the formation? It has grown so big, can it still be used?"
Xuan Yu knocked on the willow tree three times. The trunk of the tree made a solid sound for the first three times. When Xuan Yu knocked for the fourth time, the sound of the tree changed. Du Heng heard the sound of water splashing, which was like the sound of a gurgling stream.
The tall willow tree turned into water and fell down with a bang. The huge water flow bypassed Xuan Yu and the other four and rushed to the ground in the courtyard and the walls on all sides. The place where the water flowed over underwent amazing changes. The ground covered with thick willow leaves turned into a clean and smooth bluestone ground. The tattered door turned into a bronze wooden door with a bolt, and the mottled courtyard wall covered with moss turned into a blue brick and black tile style, and even the height was raised a lot.
The open door of the main hall also became wider, and the dark room was bright. The best thing was that the willow tree that blocked the sunlight in the courtyard was gone, and the dilapidated and gloomy courtyard suddenly became a clean and tidy courtyard. Even the black cat that was screaming on the courtyard wall just now turned into a calico cat licking its paws and basking in the sun on the courtyard wall.
Du Heng's mouth widened: "Wow..." How magical! Is this the legendary illusion?
Xuan Yu's voice was very calm. He said, "All the properties I have set up have illusions. There are only a few of us in the alley, so no one will notice that we are here."
Feng Gui gave Xuan Yu a thumbs up: "Well, you are really careful. The properties I bought cannot be used. You are still more cautious." Jing Nan patted Xuan Yu on the shoulder: "You are thoughtful."
Du Heng praised Xuan Yu with all his might: "Xiao Yu is so amazing!"
Xuan Yu smiled and held Du Heng's hand: "Let's go in and take a look? If nothing goes wrong, we should be able to stay here for a while."
The courtyard that Xuan Yu bought was a typical Chinese courtyard with two entrances and two exits, which was more than enough for the four of them to live in. There was a formation in the courtyard, and there were rare spiritual plants growing inside. Jing Nan's eyes lit up when he saw it, and he had already started to dig out the spiritual plants from the stone slabs.
Feng Gui paced in the courtyard. He narrowed his eyes and asked Xuan Yu: "When did you buy all these properties? Why didn't I hear you mention it before?"
Xuan Yu said: "I bought these when I was traveling in the human cultivation world. Even if I am alone, I still want to have a place to stay. Firstly, it is convenient for me to do things, and secondly, I also thought that there might be an emergency one day. When these properties were purchased, only I knew about it, and the names I used were all pseudonyms, so I don't have to worry about anyone finding out."
Jing Nan finally dug out a pitiful spiritual plant growing in the cracks of the rocks. He pinched the leaves of the spiritual plant and smiled, "It's really rare for the three of us to be demon gods. If it were in other sects, why would we have to be so humiliated? We would have rushed to Shenxu Palace and grabbed the current palace master to force him to hand over the Hun Tianzhu."
Du Heng asked, "Is Shenxu Palace so powerful?" When he was in his hometown, he read those cultivation novels, which said that sword cultivators were the most powerful kind of cultivators, and their combat power was stronger than that of magic cultivators. Could it be that Jing Nan and the other three were afraid of the sword cultivators of Shenxu Palace?
Feng Gui said, "Yes, it's powerful. They are the number one sect for sword cultivators. There are countless Jindan Yuanying cultivators in them. Their sword formations alone can make a cultivator who has reached the Out-of-Body state unable to return. Add to that their demon-slaying formations, and it really gives us a headache."
Du Heng asked doubtfully, "Demon-slaying formation?"
Jing Nan introduced: "It is one of the two soul-killing formations handed down from ancient times, which is specially used to deal with powerful demon cultivators. The location of Shenxu Palace is right in the middle of the human cultivation world. According to historical records, once the formation is activated, most of the human cultivation world will be shrouded in the demon-killing formation, and all the demons in the formation will suffer a devastating blow.
"Of course, the Demon-Slaying Formation is not as powerful as recorded in history books now. However, even if it is activated, it will be enough to give the three of us a hard time."
Xuan Yu said: "It is precisely because of this that the three of us had to find a way to sneak into Shenxu Palace. We should try not to alarm them if possible to avoid causing any trouble."
Du Heng nodded, not quite understanding: "So that's how it is." It was too difficult for Xiaoyu and the other three, but as long as they could take out the Huntian Pearl and find out the situation in the forbidden area, it would be worth it to endure temporarily.
Feng Gui said: "Let's take a day off today. Tomorrow the three of us will go outside the Shenxu Palace to explore and see if we can become a quest disciple for the outer sect."
Jing Nan put his hands in his pockets and sighed, "What a sin! Back then, the Palace Master of Shenxu Palace begged us to come but we refused to come. Now we have to sneak in secretly. Sigh..."
Du Heng said, "It's okay, it's okay. Didn't Wen Tingzhi from Tianyi Sect say that before? He said that we must be very powerful as mission disciples. I believe in everyone's ability, and we will definitely be able to become mission disciples smoothly tomorrow!"
As soon as the words fell, everyone stared at Du Heng. Du Heng scratched his hair in confusion: "What...what happened?"
Xuan Yu straightened Du Heng's collar and said gently, "It's nothing. You are right. But you don't have to go. You and Xiaoxiao should walk around the area and get familiar with the surrounding area."
Wen Tingzhi was right, they were indeed very powerful, but Du Heng was not included. After they became mission disciples, they would find a way to bring Du Heng to Shenxu Palace!
249
The next day, the sun was shining brightly, and Du Heng walked aimlessly on the long street holding Xiaoxiao in his arms. In the basket on his back were many of the food he had bought, the most common of which were water chestnuts and water chestnuts with mud on them.
It was amazing that there were a lot of aquatic plants in Zhengyang City under the Golden Seal barrier, among which water chestnuts and water chestnuts were everywhere. However, only ordinary people and spirit beasts would eat these things, and the monks disdained them.
Du Heng was now walking on South Street. The main reason why he was here was because there was really nothing to see in the east of the city. It took Du Heng two incense sticks to reach the south of the city, and suddenly there were more people in the south of the city.
The sun had just risen when Du Heng came out. After walking around, he thought it was time to go home. He didn't know if Xiaoyu and the others had made any progress in finding a job near Shenxu Palace...
Just as Du Heng was distracted while holding Xiao Xiao, the sound of gongs and drums came from the end of the long street. Du Heng looked in the direction of the sound and saw a high platform covered with a red carpet at the end of the long street. On the high platform stood two Taoists in the Qi Refining Stage wearing gray robes.
The two Taoists were domineering, one was tall and thin, the other short and fat. The tall and thin one held a golden ring-shaped magic weapon in his hand, while the short and fat one stood in front of him with his hands behind his back.
An enthusiastic voice came from the magic weapon: "Neighbors! Neighbors! Good news, Shenxu Spirit Animal Park and the dining hall are now in need of handymen! Five taels of silver per month, and three days off! The salary is generous, and there will be extra rewards for outstanding performance! Come and sign up! No matter if you are male or female, young or old, as long as you come, we will use you!"
However, the two Taoists outside the magic weapon were not enthusiastic at all. They stood on the stage with frowns, their expressions full of disdain. However, even so, a lot of people quickly gathered under the high stage in front of them: "I sign up! I sign up!"
Du Heng and Xiao Xiao looked at each other, and Xiao Xiao gave two encouraging chirps. Du Heng was very happy. Xiao Yu and the others were still thinking about breaking into Shenxu Palace, so they specially kept him at home. Maybe he will be the first person to enter Shenxu Palace!
After figuring it out, Du Heng also squeezed into the crowd: "Take me with you!"
When Xuan Yu and the others came back at noon, they all looked unhappy. Looking at the delicious dishes on the table, the three of them looked a little sad. The three of them sat at the table listlessly, and Du Heng smiled and said, "Today I made braised lion's head! I added water chestnuts to it, it will be very crispy, everyone come and try it."
Xiaoxiao promoted Du Heng by burping with the taste of lion's head dumplings: "Chirp, chirp!" They were delicious. He ate two and was so happy.
Du Heng served rice to everyone. The warm rice had a fresh fragrance and each grain was distinct. This kind of rice was the best. Du Heng happily passed the chopsticks in his hand to the three people: "Lion's head with rice warms the stomach and the heart. Don't just stand there, eat quickly."
As he said this, he uncovered the casserole on the table, and saw eight lion heads floating in the casserole, each bigger than a fist. Usually the lion heads are braised, but this time the lion meat is stewed, weighing half a pound each. There are also fresh bamboo shoots and green vegetables in the soup, which looks like an enlarged version of the meatballs in the green vegetable meatball soup we had before.
In addition to the braised lion's head, there is also braised pork with water chestnuts on the table. The water chestnuts, which have been free of dirt and skin, are dyed a beautiful reddish color by the braised pork soup, and look like potatoes. However, as long as you take a bite, you will know that they are completely different from potatoes.
Today he also made a stir-fried water chestnut. This dish is sweet. The diced water chestnuts are drizzled with a thin layer of starch, and it tastes crispy and sweet, just like eating fruit.
In addition, they specially made roasted pigeons for Nan Nan. The reddish-brown pigeons squatted on the plate with their heads raised, just as excited as Du Heng was.
Xuan Yu picked up the bowl and called Feng Gui and Jing Nan: "Let's eat first."
Feng Gui exhaled a breath of foul air and said the first sentence after returning home: "I am so angry." Jing Nan said nothing. He scooped a spoonful of lion head soup and took a sip: "Home is still the best."
Du Heng asked Xuan Yu quietly: "Are you wronged?" Xuan Yu gave Du Heng a soothing smile, and said slowly: "Eat first, and then we can talk slowly after you finish eating."
The braised lion's head made by Du Heng was very large, and it was a bit difficult to eat it in one bite. Jing Nan picked up a lion's head and split it in half, but he couldn't put one half into his bowl, so Jing Daxianer had to split it in half again.
After taking a bite, Jing Nan's eyebrows relaxed: "So tender, what's the crispy thing inside? Bamboo shoots? It doesn't look like it." Jing Daxianer obviously didn't listen carefully to what Du Heng just said, otherwise he wouldn't have asked this question.
Du Heng and Xiao Xiao looked at each other and then laughed even more happily: "It's water chestnuts. This can be eaten as fruit. I'll peel it for you to taste after dinner."
The stewed lion's head meatballs are even softer than the meatballs in the green vegetable meatball soup I had before. Du Heng specially selected half fat and half lean meat as the stuffing. After the meatballs are made with starch and seasonings, they are stewed on vegetable leaves. Although it is not complicated, it still requires a lot of thought.
Xuan Yu ate most of the meatballs in one breath: "It's delicious. Is this soup chicken soup?"
Du Heng nodded: "Yes, I used chicken soup to enhance the flavor. If you like it, eat more."
Du Heng secretly glanced at Feng Gui's face. Feng Daxian first poked at the water chestnuts in the braised pork. After taking a bite of the water chestnuts, he looked a little depressed. After he took a chopstick of stir-fried water chestnuts, he looked even more depressed.
Du Heng quickly brought the chili sauce: "Come on, Xixi, dip it in the chili."
Feng Gui's expression softened a little. He picked up a piece of braised lion's head with chopsticks and pressed it into the chili sauce. When the white lion's head was covered with red chili, he scooped it up and put it in his mouth.
The taste of the chili aroused Feng Gui's appetite. He finally felt the desire to eat and talk: "How is it made?"
Du Heng quickly realized that Feng Gui was asking about the method of stewing lion's head, so he quickly said, "Oh, just take half fat and half lean meat, add appropriate amount of scallion and ginger water, salt, sugar, pepper, and add eggs and starch to beat it. Then put the rounded lion's head into the chicken soup to shape it, cover it with a few cabbage leaves, and stew it for an hour!"
After Du Heng finished speaking, he asked, "Do you want more details?" He also had the formula weighed out using the Tianhu scale. If Feng Gui was interested, Du Heng could also give him his manuscript paper.
Feng Gui smiled and shook his head: "No need, it's already very detailed." He just wanted to listen to Du Heng talk to calm himself down.
Food cooked with care can always soothe people's hearts, and Feng Gui quickly forgot about the unpleasantness. He pointed to the water chestnuts in the braised pork and said, "This tastes very special. What is this?"
Du Heng smiled and said, "Tzu mushrooms, I saw many people selling them in the city. There are many aquatic plants in Zhengyang City, some of which I have never seen before."
Xuan Yu picked up a piece of pigeon from Du Heng's bowl and said slowly, "Gold produces water. There is more water where there is a gold seal barrier, and they can complement each other."
Jing Nan took a bite of the taro and said, "It tastes pretty good, pink and a bit like taro." Feng Gui said, "I think they are completely different."
Xuan Yu indeed preferred sweet things. Du Heng noticed that Xuan Yu had eaten most of the plate of crispy and sweet fried water chestnuts.
Halfway through the meal, everyone finally felt relaxed. Jing Nan drank his soup and said, "You don't know, there are at least 300 monks queuing outside the Shenxu Palace to be disciples on a mission. We queued for the whole morning, but in the end we couldn't even get into the gate of the Shenxu Palace. They actually looked down on us, saying that I'm too delicate and tender to be hardworking."
Jing Nan was angry: "How can I not be hardworking? I am very hardworking. If you don't believe me, ask Xiaoyu and the others. I am the most hardworking person in the village!"
Feng Gui choked: "Well, you are the most hardworking." Xuan Yu remained calm: "Yes, as long as you are happy."
Feng Gui sighed: "I thought that changing my appearance would at least hide my charm, but I didn't expect that my charm is still unmatched."
Du Heng was confused by the roundabout words, and he asked Xuan Yu quietly: "What did Xixi say?"
Xuan Yu whispered to Du Heng: "Xixi was teased by someone." Du Heng was caught off guard and choked, then burst into a violent coughing fit. Xuan Yu could only pat his back to help him breathe.
Feng Gui touched his face in frustration: "I have made my face so rough, this is outrageous, I can't stand it if it gets any rougher."
Jing Nan quickly comforted Feng Gui's broken heart: "You are fine the way you are, you can't change anymore. It's not your fault, they have never seen a beauty. It's definitely not your fault."
Du Heng asked Xuan Yu, "Were the three of you eliminated together? Xiaoyu, why were you rejected?"
Xuan Yu hesitated, but before he could speak, Jing Nan revealed the mystery: "They said Xiaoyu was a big fool, and you can tell at a glance that she is inflexible and stubborn. But they do have some truth in what they say. Xiaoyu is indeed the most stubborn one among us."
Xuan Yu drank the soup: "That's persistence."
Du Heng laughed so hard that his belly hurt. Why wasn't he there? It was not common to see the three demon gods being disliked at the same time.
Feng Gui said: "If it doesn't work, we can go again tomorrow with a new look. I don't believe it. Let's improve our cultivation tomorrow!"
Du Heng cleared his throat: "Actually, I have good news to tell you all." Without waiting for anyone to ask, Du Heng placed a palm-sized diamond-shaped jade plate on the table. There was a circular pattern in the middle of the jade plate, and an ancient word was engraved in the pattern: God.
The three of them were stunned: "Shenxu Palace's sign?"
Du Heng and Xiao Xiaoxiao's eyes narrowed: "Yes, I will go to work in Shenxu Palace starting tomorrow! I am the first person in our family to enter Shenxu Palace!" "Swish, swish, swish~"
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