Chapter 263 If Madam Sun dies, Zhongli Ci will probably rebel.
Qingyang, the imperial capital.
The reforms of the mountains were piloted in Qingyang, and many sages gathered in the capital city of Qingyang. As a result, the patrols in the capital city were strengthened, and golden-armored soldiers led patrols day and night.
Besides the sages of Taiyi, there were also sages from Zhou, Dan, Taiyuan, and Nanjing, who spent most of their time in the Five Elements Communication Institute in Qingyang.
The Five Elements Academy contains Qingyang's largest mountain range, with signal coverage extending throughout the entire capital. It is located adjacent to the Royal Palace, separated from the inner palace by only a wall. Upon entering the Royal Palace, the Five Elements Qi received by some individuals using their Wind-Listening Rulers is then isolated separately.
People in the palace can receive messages from the outside, but the "listening horn" in the palace cannot transmit messages outwards.
The Qingyang Imperial Capital has lifted the restrictions on telepathic communication for some time now, and all tests have been conducted without any problems. The restrictions are being gradually lifted to allow communication with several neighboring capital cities.
The Five Elements Academy is arguably the busiest place in the capital recently, and also the place with the strictest entry and exit restrictions.
Within the four streets of the royal palace, there were the residences of court officials and their families.
The General's Mansion and the Five Elements Academy are neither too far nor too close. Zhong Lique stood on the Water Moon Viewing Platform in the mansion and looked up towards the Five Elements Academy. He could see the golden bell standing in the Five Elements Academy.
A massive bronze bell hangs at the highest point of the Five Elements Academy, looking heavy yet solemn. At sunrise, its light is a deep orange, like a rosy cloud covering the body; at night, its light is a deep purple, like a sea of stars falling.
Even from the General's Mansion, one could hear the sound of the golden bell from the Five Elements Academy; the sound was cool and clear, echoing throughout the four streets of the palace.
Zhongli Que knew from a young age that the sound of the golden bell meant the arrival of a distant wind and the approach of thunderclouds.
The moment it rings out, the world will change.
The golden bell only makes a clear, ringing sound when a stormy day with thunder and lightning is about to break.
Normally, it hangs in the Five Elements Courtyard, more like a painting that attracts the colors of heaven and earth. Zhongli Que often looks at Jin Duo from the Water Moon Viewing Platform, looking for colors to paint on it.
Standing here today, Zhong Lique couldn't help but think back to her childhood.
She and Yu Sui made a bet on the sound of the golden bell, and Yu Sui won every time.
Sui Sui always seemed to be able to predict when the golden bell would ring. Once it rang, dark clouds would soon gather overhead, strong winds would arrive, and it would be a thunderstorm.
Zhong Lique has recently been using the Golden Bell to practice his divination skills.
She whispered to Yu Sui on the other end of the Wind Listening Ruler, "I still can't control this power. When I meditate and try to sense it, I can't sense anything. But when I'm not consciously thinking about it, it suddenly appears."
Yu Sui was still lying on her bed in the dormitory. The academy's one-month surveillance period was not over yet, so she was behaving herself and did nothing but "recover" in the dormitory, while also observing the rubbings of the inscriptions she had snatched. She would only go to the instructor or Wu Huaiwei to report in the evening.
"Should we try getting the Divine Wood Token?" Yu Sui lay on the bed, without her hairpins on, her hair hanging loose beside the bed. She was fiddling with the coded text in front of her while chatting with Zhong Li Que. "I'll try to send it back to you in a few days."
"But won't it be obvious if I hold the Divine Wood Token?" Zhong Lique asked, troubled. "I'm afraid I won't be able to protect the Divine Wood Token."
Yu Sui laughed after hearing this, "It's the creature that's protecting you, not the other way around. Sparrow, don't be too afraid. As long as you don't speak, no one will know about your divination."
Zhongli Que looked at Jin Duo in the distance and said, "Recently, many saints have come to the Five Elements Academy. So many of them, yet their transformation of the mountains is not as good as yours alone."
Yu Sui asked, "Have they sealed off the Five Elements Academy?"
Zhong Lique said, "Yes, people without a pass cannot enter or leave the Five Elements Academy. Now, everyone who enters or leaves the Five Elements Academy will be recorded."
Yu Sui stared thoughtfully at the coded message before her. She sat up and asked, "Queque, can you go in?"
Zhong Lique blinked: "If you need me to go in, I can find a way to get in."
Yu Sui reached out and touched the ruler, pulling out a long scroll of golden mountain spirit script. She said, "I want to create a 'person' who lives in several mountains."
"People who live in the mountains?" Zhong Lique was confused.
“We can communicate with it directly and give commands without having to deal with the complicated Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches and the star sea, and the cumbersome encrypted data, which can save a lot of time.”
Zhong Lique listened attentively.
The fact that they could talk to each other was incredible to her.
“Shushan can automatically capture the Qi between heaven and earth. If Shushan were to have its own consciousness, it could freely control the direction and use of Qi.” Yu Sui stared at the completed mountain spirit script, his expression calm yet filled with curiosity. “Perhaps the Listening Wind Ruler will be more than just a tool for sending messages and transmitting sounds.”
"I have written the setting code to awaken the consciousness of the mountains, called Mountain Spirit. I will inject these Mountain Spirits into the mountains of various countries, and let them absorb, learn and tame them in the vast aura of the mountains. If it succeeds, the situation I just described will occur. If it fails, I will revise the Mountain Spirit code again."
“Okay!” Zhong Lique was still a bit rebellious and loved excitement. She lowered her voice, but couldn’t hide the excitement in her eyes. “I will definitely find a way to get into the Five Elements Academy and bring Shan Ling in.”
Yu Sui thought for a moment and then said, "There are too many Saints in the Five Elements Academy right now. Let's wait until they leave before we talk about it."
“But after they leave, the mountain spirits can no longer spread to the other countries,” Zhong Lique asked her. “Wouldn’t it take a long time for the mountain spirits to learn and be tamed in the mountains?”
“That’s true,” Yu Sui said with a troubled expression. “But I don’t trust you to do this, especially with the Five Elements Academy being so heavily guarded now.”
Yu Sui didn't want Elder Yan to help her with this matter; she still wanted to keep a secret from him.
The reason for wanting to expedite the process of the Mountain Spirits controlling several mountains is that it's difficult to find information related to Nangong Ming's actions relying solely on Qingyang's side. Yu Sui wants to expand the scope to the six kingdoms, because there are many, if not more, people watching the Nangong clan.
And the remaining world destroyers.
If the mountain spirit successfully evolves into the form she needs in the mountains, she can use the Wind Listening Ruler as her eyes to observe the "qi" of the people around her.
Therefore, even without the Wind Listening Ruler, the World Destroyer will still appear within the range observed by the Wind Listening Ruler.
Unless he is hiding in a remote, isolated mountain forest.
"Do we need to get close to the mountains?" Zhongli Que asked. "Wasn't it enough before to just deliver the Listening Wind Ruler near the Five Elements Academy?"
Yu Sui said, "This time is different. We need to let the Wind Listening Ruler, which carries the mountain spirit, enter the mountains. Otherwise, I could have directly put the coded message into the communication mountains in Qingyang from Taiyi."
Zhong Lique thought for a moment and said, "Then the only way is to bribe the people in the Communication Institute who can still get close to Shushan, and then switch the Listening Wind Rulers on both sides."
"Does it take a long time to input the mountain spirit into the mountains?"
Yu Sui replied, "About fifteen minutes."
Zhong Lique walked to the table and sat down, gazing in the direction of the Five Elements Academy as she pondered. She immediately told Yu Sui what came to mind: "There are also people from the Zhongli family in the Communications Academy. My maternal uncle is one of the directors of the Academy. He practices both medicine and Taoism, and my mother and I are always treated by him when we're unwell. He also participated in this mountain-climbing reform plan and has been busy at the Five Elements Academy for many days without returning home."
Nowadays, people from outside can't get in, and people inside can't get out of the Five Elements Academy.
Zhongli Que asked, "Do we need to be near those three great mountains, or are any other mountains acceptable?"
Yu Sui: "Either is fine."
“Then I have a plan,” Zhong Lique said. “Sui Sui, if I put the mountain spirit into Uncle’s Wind-Listening Ruler first, can you control Uncle’s Wind-Listening Ruler and then put the mountain spirit into the mountains?”
“That’s possible,” Yu Sui said thoughtfully, “but how will you get your uncle out of the Five Elements Academy?”
Zhong Lique stood up and said, "Then I'll have to ask my mother for help."
That evening, Yu Sui went to Zhong Lishan and said that she had brought some small trinkets back to Zhong Lique, but due to the relationship between the two families, it was inconvenient for her to send things to the Zhong Li family.
Zhong Lishan didn't care. Seeing that Yu Sui had packed some bracelets and beads that girls liked in the box, and there was nothing shameful about it, he sent them back to the General's Mansion in his name.
Since he figured he might as well give a gift to one person anyway, Zhong Lishan added a small gift for himself, preparing one for his mother and one for his sister. When he saw Yu Sui's gift box, he thought of Su Feng again, so he added a gift for his good brother Su Feng as well, and sent them all back to the General's Mansion.
The gift was delivered to General Qingyang's residence two days later.
After sunset, the golden bell of the Five Elements Academy rang out with a clear sound that echoed throughout the four streets of the capital. Moments later, dark clouds covered the sky above the capital, and a rainstorm was imminent.
That evening, Madam Sun slipped and fell into the water due to the heavy rain, falling into a critical condition and unconscious. Everyone in the General's Mansion was busy and anxious about the matter.
People outside were saying that Madam Sun was critically ill and about to die. Several doctors had been invited, but none of them could do anything. So the Zhongli family went to the Five Elements Academy to ask Zhongli Qi for help.
Outside, the rain was pouring down. The Zhongli family members negotiated with the people of the Five Elements Academy, half threatening and half pleading. In such terrible weather, they cried and said that their wife was critically ill and about to die, which moved the onlookers to tears.
That's Zhongli Ci's wife. If Madam Sun really dies of illness on such a miserable rainy night because the Five Elements Academy won't release her, Zhongli Ci might rebel.
Dean Zhou of the Five Elements Academy dared not take the responsibility. He sent someone to report to His Majesty while summoning Zhongli Qi to come out and rush to the General's Mansion to rescue the people.
If His Majesty says that they are not allowed to leave, then we can just call them back.
On a rainy night, a group from the General's Mansion who came to the Five Elements Academy to demand someone happened to run into Changsun Zi, who was out for a walk.
After hearing the whole story, Changsun Zi said to Dean Zhou, "Let him go, I'll go with him."
Zhong Liqi was also very anxious, fearing that if he arrived too late, the person would be gone. He immediately bowed to Changsun Zi to express his gratitude.
Dean Zhou breathed a sigh of relief. With this master of magic and skill accompanying him, everything would be fine. Even if His Majesty blamed him, the master would be there to protect him.
Zhong Lique, who was waiting at the General's Mansion, originally did not intend to release the person when she first went to the Five Elements Academy, so she went there in person the second time.
Who would have thought that they could bring people back in one go? Not only did Zhongli Qi return, but they also brought back a sage of magic and divination from Taiyi.
Zhong Lique gazed at the woman in purple, who was walking under the rainy night sky with an umbrella. Her eyes, visible through the veil, were dark and bright, and she surveyed the scenery ahead with a cold and calm demeanor.
Zhong Liqi rushed forward anxiously: "How is Madam's condition?"
"Uncle, who is this?" Zhong Lique reached out and grabbed the anxious Zhong Liqi from under the eaves.
Zhong Liqi then introduced, "This is the sage of magic and skill from Taiyi, the sage Changsun."
He composed himself, turned around and cupped his hands to Changsun Zi, saying, "Thank you for helping me out tonight, Saint Changsun. If it weren't for your help, I'm afraid I would have been delayed at the Five Elements Academy for a long time."
Zhong Lique's heart skipped a beat. She bowed her head to thank Changsun Zi, and when she looked up again, her eyes were filled with tears.
Changsun Zi stopped and stood in the pouring rain. When she spoke, her voice was clear enough to drown out the sound of the rain and reach the ears of everyone present: "Saving lives is the priority. There's no need for further words. Go inside."
[Author's Note]
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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