Chapter 244 Returning to the Underground Palace, Exchanging Blessings
"Mukuro."
"Your subordinate is here!"
"After Liu Zilin and I leave, you protect Aqing."
“Look over there. Go north through this grove of trees for about 120 paces, and you will see an abandoned pavilion. Behind the pavilion is an open space. It was there that Qiu Shenji subdued me and the other brothers.”
"The brothers who were imprisoned by the sealed cave, the Burning Heaven Shark Oil, and Junior Sister's skirt knife are all left there. You can go and rescue them and retrieve the items later."
“My lord, we won’t leave. We’ll follow behind and find a chance to rescue you! I’ve already sent someone to contact Master Xie…”
"No need, don't follow me. Liu Zilin is easily frightened right now. If you come along, it will only make him more suspicious and drag me down."
"Rokuro, do me one last thing."
"Your Excellency, please don't speak like that, I'm frightened... What is it?"
"Give this skirt-shaped knife to my junior sister, and also pass on a message..."
"Just say, I'm sorry, as the senior brother, I'm afraid I'll have to break my promise again. I just promised her today that I would never leave without saying goodbye again, ha."
...
The official boat that Ouyang Rong, Liu Zilin, and their group of servants in blue robes were traveling on was provided by Yan Liulang and others.
Traveling by water, we went downstream from Butterfly Creek and soon arrived at Songling Ferry, not far from Dagushan.
About an hour later.
Dagushan, a remote mountain road.
Liu Zilin and his servants in blue robes were escorting Ouyang Rong, who had willingly become a hostage.
The group carefully stepped on the moss-covered flagstones, climbing the mountain one step at a time.
At present, smoke signals are rising from the upper reaches of Butterfly Creek, the Digong Sluice Gate is about to collapse at any time, and floods could come at any moment.
The people of Longcheng all gathered at the refuge camp on Dagushan Mountain.
Seemingly to avoid the people of Longcheng, Liu Zilin deliberately chose a secluded path up the mountain, carefully heading towards the underground palace of a temple that Ouyang Rong had pointed out.
"Young Master Liu looks so uncomfortable, could it be... that Wei Shaoxuan and the others have also come to Dagushan?"
Ouyang Rong suddenly chuckled.
Liu Zilin's back, which had been frequently glancing around, stiffened slightly. He turned around and said:
"Ouyang Lianghan, do you really want to die? Do you want Wei Shaoxuan to kill you?"
"Isn't it all the same? It's all in your hands." Ouyang Rong nodded.
"snort."
Liu Zilin turned his head back, squinted, and said:
"As long as you hand over the real object that contains the illusion and obtain the Ding Sword, I will naturally release you. Then, you can go your sunny path and I will cross my narrow bridge."
“Okay.” Ouyang Rong smiled.
Liu Zilin smiled as well.
Ouyang Rong withdrew his gaze from the ropes binding his hands and the blue-clad servants surrounding him.
He silently sensed the meridians in his dantian and tried to mobilize his spiritual energy. Although the spiritual energy could flow, his limbs still felt empty and weak.
Liu Zilin was wary of his ability to shrink his bones. Immediately after exchanging hostages, he let him smell a strange fragrance that caused his limbs to go limp.
Although the spiritual energy in the body can still circulate normally, the spiritual energy of a low-grade Qi cultivator cannot leave the body, so it is considered a temporary loss of mobility.
Thinking about it carefully, Ouyang Rong had a feeling that the effect of this strange fragrance was not legitimate. Could it be something that flower thieves used to pick flowers?
Ouyang Rong remained silent.
We were getting closer and closer to Donglin Temple on the mountaintop.
He suddenly asked:
"Liu Zilin, actually I've been curious since the beginning. How did you determine that there was no sword in the sword box that the old master gave to Wei Shaoxuan?"
Liu Zilin was silent for a moment, then sneered:
"The old man will not help the Wei family obtain the sword. On the contrary, he will use the Wei family to destroy our Liu family."
"The logic is simple: as long as the Wei family takes the sword box away, they will eventually find that there is no sword in the box, and all their efforts will be in vain."
"That will inevitably lead to their anger being directed at the Liu family. In that case, I, the only surviving third son of the Liu family, will also die without a burial place. Old sir, you've killed two birds with one stone."
"While he was alive, he witnessed the three brothers of the Liu family killing each other. After he died, someone will clean up the Liu family for him. Hahahaha, the entire Liu family will be buried with him."
Ouyang Rong asked curiously, "What did you do to make this old man hold such a grudge?"
Liu Zilin did not answer, but continued to speak to himself:
"Moreover, when Wei Shaoxuan left with the Mo family's sword box, the eldest female ruler of Yunmeng Sword Marsh did not stop him at all. It was obvious that she knew that the Ding Sword was not in the Mo family's sword box. In her eyes, Wei Shaoxuan was like an ant, not worth paying attention to. So what if he ran away?"
Ouyang Rong frowned slightly:
"According to you, why did the old master hand over both Dingjian and Aqing to Yunmeng Jianze? What was their relationship, and why did he go to such lengths to do this?"
Liu Zilin suddenly shut up, turned to look at Ouyang Rong, whose eyes showed suspicion as he climbed more than halfway up the mountain:
"Why would you bring the precious beads that the old gentleman gave you all this way to this godforsaken place? Pure Land Palace? What kind of bullshit place is this?"
Ouyang Rong remained calm and composed:
"It seems that the people in your Liu family who were keeping watch weren't very competent. They didn't even know that I hadn't gone back to my hometown a few days ago, but had instead come to Donglin Temple to eat vegetarian food and stay overnight?"
Ouyang Rong had previously told Liu Zilin that the old gentleman had not only given him a blue butterfly paper flower, but also a precious pearl, which he had taken.
At this moment, Liu Zilin gripped the Moonlight Sword at his waist, stared at Ouyang Rong for a while, and slowly nodded:
“Ouyang Lianghan, I’ve had enough. You should know the consequences of lying to me. Hmm, you wouldn’t be sacrificing yourself to save that little girl, would you?”
Ouyang Rong smiled.
Liu Zilin, who was looking at him, also smiled.
Unfortunately, the meanings of laughter are all different.
Soon, the group finally reached the end of the mountain path, and the ancient temple came into view.
The group scaled the wall, carefully entered the temple, avoided the monks, and headed towards the Beitian Charity Home.
Along the way, Ouyang Rong frowned slightly and fell into deep thought.
In fact, he didn't have any so-called precious pearl at all.
That senior fellow did indeed only give Aqing a blue butterfly paper flower back then, and I don't know what it was for.
Moreover, it now appears that it is not a mere "empty shell".
There is still one point of doubt.
Liu Zilin clearly knew some of the inside story between the senior and Yunmeng Jianze, which is why he was so certain that the senior wanted to give the newly forged Dingjian and Aqing, who was a hot-tempered person, to Yunmeng Jianze.
The sudden arrival of the eldest female ruler of Yunmeng Sword Marsh today is likely due to receiving a message from a senior figure.
The problem is, if we follow Liu Zilin's explanation exactly:
The cauldron sword had been forged long ago, and it was secretly given to Aqing in a container made of blue butterfly paper flowers and other items.
Why not just notify Yunmeng Jianze and take Aqing and Dingjian away together in advance?
This won't affect our actions today. After pretending to have successfully forged the sword, we can still safely kill Liu Zian and Liu Zilin, and make fun of the Wei family.
The older generation didn't do that.
Based on the available information Ouyang Rong possesses, there are only two possible conclusions:
First, the relationship between the senior and Yunmeng Jianze is not as close and tacit as imagined; on the contrary, they may be indifferent to each other and have very little communication.
My strongest desire is still to forge the cauldron and sword.
Of course, under the watchful eye of the Liu family, the elder must have had very little contact with the outside world and focused solely on forging swords.
It's just unknown why the old master wanted to give the Ding Sword and A Qing to Yunmeng Jianze before he died.
However, it was clear that the elder was only doing his best and not forcing things. Otherwise, the power of Yunmeng Sword Marsh should have intervened in the sword-making matters of the Liu family and the Wei family long ago, instead of only sending people today.
They even paid little attention to or helped Ah Qing, who was so hot-tempered. That blue butterfly paper flower now seemed more like a cruel joke.
This senior colleague is actually quite cold-hearted.
Indeed, after all, everyone around him coveted the sword he had forged, and no matter who it was, one would gradually become indifferent to human nature.
As for the second conclusion...
The Dingjian sword was indeed successfully forged at noon today, not before.
The reason is simple: the extraordinary phenomenon of the birth of the Dingjian is too great, and the abnormal rise of the Yunmengze today cannot be concealed, nor can it fool the Qi cultivators who can observe Qi.
Moreover, as previously analyzed, if the cauldron and sword could be secretly forged in advance, the elders would have many more options.
The truth is, the Liu and Wei families have always controlled the elders and the Jia-type sword-forging furnace. Only today, with the successful creation of the Ding Sword, will there be no further accidents.
This old man, whose grudge is unknown, is why he launched his revenge so thoroughly at noon today.
Ouyang Rong sighed.
So here comes the last question.
According to Liu Zilin, Wei Shaoxuan and others, to gain the recognition of the Ding Sword as its master, one needs a ninth rank, a sword manual, a true name, and "an object for displaying illusions".
Since there are no real swords in the Mo family's sword box.
So where exactly is this "illusory thing"?
Or, to whom did the old swordsmith truly give it?
Why was the Great Queen of Yunmeng so certain that there was no sword in the sword box?
Excluding the fact that his real name was revealed to A Qing beforehand, before the old swordsmith threw himself into the furnace and died, he turned to face Ouyang Rong, Wei Shaoxuan, Liu Zilin, A Qing, and other people of the ninth rank or below at the door and said their "real names".
To put it more bluntly, this "illusory object" that truly contains the cauldron and sword should, in principle, be obtained by at least one of these four people.
Otherwise, without a real name, wouldn't this new Ding Sword never be able to reveal itself?
Perhaps it was the lack of important information, or perhaps it was the senior's thought process that he simply couldn't understand.
Ouyang Rong frowned.
He racked his brains, but his thoughts were a jumbled mess.
"This is the Pure Land Palace you mentioned?"
Liu Zilin suddenly turned his head, pointed to a dry well in front of him, and asked in confusion.
Ouyang Rong snapped out of his daze and nodded calmly: "That's right."
Without encountering any unexpected setbacks along the way, Ouyang Rong was brought by Liu Zilin and others to the backyard of the Beitian Aid Home. The servants in blue stood in front of the dry well, looking around warily.
Liu Zilin looked down into the well and gestured for his men to fetch a rope ladder.
He turned around, stared into Ouyang Rong's eyes, and said:
"If you're alright, why did you put the pearl down here?"
"It's quiet down here. I like to sit quietly. I climbed up yesterday, but I forgot to bring my precious pearl."
Ouyang Rong remained calm and said that he went first, put down the rope, and slid down with practiced ease.
"Let's go, stop dawdling. What you want is down there. Hopefully, no outsiders have taken it."
Liu Zilin frowned, waved his hand, and led his subordinates to follow, sliding down the rope into a dark underground palace.
Down in the well.
When the person returned to the underground palace, it was like coming home; their landing maneuver was skillful and effortless.
Liu Zilin glanced sideways at Ouyang Rong's practiced movements, and the suspicion in his eyes lessened slightly.
It seems like a regular customer.
"Let me introduce you. This is Master Buzhi... well, you can also call him Xiuzhen."
"Amitabha Buddha, esteemed benefactors, this place is a lotus flower... Ah!"
A withered monk with a compassionate expression walked out of the darkness, let out a scream, and was knocked down with a punch, lying on the ground, his life hanging in the balance.
Liu Zilin shook his loosened right fist and gestured to his subordinate with his chin, "Drag him away."
Ouyang Rong: ...
"Your friend?" Liu Zilin asked, glancing sideways.
“I don’t know him, he’s a crazy monk.” He paused, then added, seemingly superfluously, “The abbot’s beloved disciple.”
Ouyang Rong remained calm, turned around, and walked straight to the stone lotus platform in the center of the underground palace.
Liu Zilin kept his right hand on the sword hilt, looking around the unfamiliar underground palace with curiosity.
The servants in blue robes around them tacitly went to the murals in all four directions to investigate. After confirming that the underground palace was safe, they took up positions as sentries in all four directions.
Inside the empty underground palace, Liu Zilin and his servants in blue robes surrounded Ouyang Rong.
If you can't hand over the goods, you won't be able to escape.
"We've arrived. Where's my sword?" Liu Zilin asked gently.
"What's the rush? It's down here. Let me look. It looks like it fell down here."
The young magistrate sat upright on a lotus throne in a meditative posture.
He bent down as if no one else was around, reaching his hand into the dark shadows beneath the pedestal to grope around.
At the same time, he silently closed his eyes and glanced inward at the remaining merit points in a certain merit tower.
"After spending 10,000, is there still so much merit left..." He sighed, looking down.
With a clang, the sword flashed.
"What merit? What are you talking about?" Liu Zilin drew his sword, startled and questioning.
As his fingertips touched the rough, cold four-character stone carving below once more, Ouyang Rong looked up and gave Liu Zilin an embarrassed smile.
He suddenly realized that fate had played a cruel joke on him.
He wanted to leave, but he couldn't.
When you don't want to leave, you have to.
Ouyang Rong was silent for a moment, then sighed, "I said... I found it."
Liu Zilin quickly stretched out his palm: "What did you find? Where is it? Ouyang Lianghan, my patience has its limit, hand it over to me!"
But the next second, he was startled, rubbed his eyes, and realized that he wasn't seeing things. Ouyang Lianghan in front of him... had purple eyes?
Liu Zilin suddenly took a step back in fright.
Ouyang Rong's eyes shone with a purple aura, his face as calm as death:
"I've found my way home, so let's make the exchange today... Let's go home!"
He gave a soft shout.
Slowly close your eyes.
Inside the Pagoda of Merit, a row of cyan-gold numbers rapidly decreased... all 10,000 merits were completely wiped out!
Clang—!!!
A deep, resonant bell rang in Ouyang Rong's ears.
This was the loudest and most resounding blessing bell he had ever heard.
All of this highlights the special and extraordinary nature of this expensive blessing.
From the initial awakening in the underground palace and the discovery of the "Return Home" stone inscription, to now being forced to exchange the "Return Home" blessing with a knife to his throat.
Thinking about it carefully, it seems like almost half a year has passed in the blink of an eye. He went down the mountain to accumulate merit, met a group of like-minded partners in Longcheng, and did a lot of things that benefited the country and the people.
There was joy, there was regret, and there were people I couldn't bear to part with.
But life is unpredictable; no one knows where they will be tomorrow, what they will be doing, or who they will meet.
Look ahead.
In the final moments, the young man, who had been eagerly anticipating returning home to take the postgraduate entrance exam, looked up with reluctance in his eyes.
He looked up at the wellhead above him, the one he had once hoped would lead him home and to liberation, and gazed at the blue sky beyond the wellhead, exactly the same as in his previous life.
But this gaze lasted for a very long time.
Ouyang Rong kept his head up for a long while.
But the well in my field of vision is still the same well, and the sky is still the same sky.
There was no change or movement around him.
Ouyang Rong frowned and looked around.
The underground palace remained completely still.
Wait a minute, what about his 10,000 merit points and blessings?!
What happened to the promise of returning home?
Is the wind-up animation so slow?
Come quick!
Ouyang Rong sat on the lotus throne, waiting with a slightly anxious expression, looking around.
Then he met the strange gazes of Liu Zilin and his group behind him.
"..."
Everyone looked at him with displeasure.
I'm afraid the air will suddenly become quiet like this.
Whoosh! A cold sword blade radiating a hazy moonlight caused a few hairs on his neck to fall out.
Ouyang Rong stiffly turned his head, meeting Liu Zilin's cold and terrifying gaze, who managed to squeeze out a few words:
"Ouyang Lianghan, what are you pretending to be some kind of ghost about?"
Ouyang Rong: ...
(End of this chapter)
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