Chapter 798 It's not too much for a scholar to pick up a "poor scholar," is it? (Thanks to book friend 2017...484, the Alliance Leader)
Below the lotus stone carving on the dome of the main grotto.
A lone arc hangs high in the sky.
It hangs above the heads of everyone in the grotto.
Time passed second by second, and by the time the old woman with the white eyes finished speaking with a smile and looked at Rong Zhen, ten breaths had already passed since she set up her sword.
The time it takes for Gui Qu Lai Xi to use his sword is still increasing.
A single cauldron and sword gradually took control of the situation, wielding the power of life and death.
After listening to the old woman with disdain as she tried to arrange the marriage, the atmosphere became somewhat awkward and quiet.
On the high platform, Yi Qianqiu remained silent, knowing in his heart that this Deputy Supervisor Song was cramming at the last minute, and had no choice but to do so.
The accounts of the schemes they set up with Wei Wu for the Xunyang Prince's Mansion that morning have not yet been settled, and they are at risk of being retaliated against at any time.
Perhaps when Ouyang Lianghan finishes his sword strike and is reaping the heads of Xue Zhongzhu, Wei Shaoqi, and the others, he'll also cut off their heads with a single sword strike. Afterwards, he can blame it on the rebels of Tiannan Jianghu, just like Lin Cheng and Wang Lengran, saying that they sacrificed themselves heroically for the Buddha.
The recent case of Wei Wu serves as a cautionary tale.
Song, the deputy supervisor, was assessing the situation carefully. Right now, only Princess Zhenxian was truly safe. She had just accidentally injured Ouyang Lianghan, yet he hadn't used his sword to kill her. It was obvious that he had ulterior motives. This blatant favoritism was obvious to anyone with eyes to see.
Before the young couple could clarify their relationship, Granny Song gave them a direct push, breaking the ice and proving her own future value. It seemed that surviving wouldn't be difficult for her.
As long as Ouyang Lianghan doesn't destroy the Buddha statue, he only needs to deal with the rebels in Tiannan Jianghu. The matter at Xunyang Grottoes today can be resolved later.
If it weren't for the fact that she couldn't bring herself to do it, and the fact that her cousin Yuan Huaimin was present, Yi Qianqiu would have joined in and made the same opportunistic statement as Granny Song.
As Yi Qianqiu's seemingly rough but actually meticulous mind raced through his thoughts, the old musician and Old Yang's expressions both became somewhat strange.
They all looked at Rong Yatou.
Wei Shaoqi, Du Shuqing, and others in the audience looked at each other in bewilderment. Why did someone suddenly bring up matchmaking when they were fighting?
Wu Daozi quietly looked up, sometimes gazing at the scholar-robed youth and the golden Buddha head, his gaze falling on the golden Kui Xing talisman that occasionally appeared on the golden Buddha head, and sometimes squinting slightly as he looked at the [Arc] a thousand feet away, which was frantically absorbing literary energy to form a sword.
Having grasped the general reason for today's events, the Fang sisters hesitated, their expressions suggesting they wanted to speak. They couldn't help but glance at the tall figure of the eldest empress, as if wondering whether they should also bring in their mistress to save the day...
As for Yuan Huaimin, he was still somewhat bewildered, looking around.
The gazes cast from all around were like scorching sunlight, making Rong Zhen feel burning hot all over.
She felt she had never experienced such a humiliating moment in her life, and that it would have been better if she had just been killed by that powerful female ruler with a single sword stroke; that would have been much more satisfying.
They noticed that Ouyang Lianghan on the golden Buddha head seemed to be looking over as well.
The girl in palace attire still had that blank expression on her pretty face, but she wished she could find a hole to crawl into and never come out to see anyone again.
"Eh."
Granny Song withdrew her gaze from Rong Zhen, who remained motionless and whose ears were flushed red. Seemingly at a loss with the girl, she sighed and prepared to continue speaking.
Rong Zhen suddenly raised her face, her small expression showing slight anger as she interrupted:
"Senior Song, don't you want to listen to what you're saying? It's all nonsense..."
The old woman with the white eyes shook her head with a smile. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, indicating a serious injury. She casually took out a small pill that looked like a healing elixir from her bosom and swallowed it. She then asked with a smile:
“Princess, if you didn’t care, why did you tell us not to chase after Master Ouyang when he left after a misunderstanding with us this morning? You even said it was to be careful of rebels attacking. In fact, you were secretly protecting him.”
"And this lotus stone carving above, none of our names are on it, only the princess's and his name are on it. The princess said a long time ago that she wanted to give it to him as a souvenir. This gift was almost destroyed by that beast just now, and it was you, princess, who risked your life to protect it..."
"There are many similar cases. Do I need to continue? Princess, it's only natural for men and women to be attracted to each other. There's nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary, it's you who should continue to be so aloof and arrogant."
Rongzhen was refuted and had no way to defend herself.
Her ears turned bright red under the strange gazes of the people around her.
She flung her purple sleeves violently, gritting her teeth:
"You...you're talking nonsense!"
Granny Song turned around and gestured with her chin toward the white-robed female officials from the Imperial Observatory below the stage.
Previously, the Imperial Observatory and the two Imperial Guards suffered heavy casualties from the one-sided massacre by Xue Zhongzhu and Bai Jiao. Now, the last remaining force gathered around the high platform to put up a stubborn resistance is almost one in ten. Among them are female officials in white, soldiers from the White Tiger and Black Tortoise Guards, and the Wei clan's death squads who were brought in by Wei Wu.
As Granny Song gestured to the female official in white, Yi Qianqiu, who had been standing silently behind Rong Zhen, also quickly raised his hand and gestured to the remaining White Tiger and Black Tortoise Guards below the stage.
The white-clad female official and her trusted armored warriors drew their swords in perfect unison, joined forces, and slit the throats of the Wei clan's assassins around them one by one.
A dozen or so streams of blood splattered onto the steps of the high platform.
Granny Song, her body hunched over and wrapped in a white robe, didn't even glance at the still-warm corpses below the stage. She craned her neck and earnestly addressed the young man in the scholar's robe above:
“Young Master, in today’s events, Commander Yi and I have been wrong and offended many people. We blame Wei Wu, that lackey, for spreading falsehoods and misleading the public. We were almost fooled and dragged into this mess. Now that Wei’s lackey has been beheaded, it is a great relief to the people… Commander Yi and I have also seen through the true nature of the Wei family and have abandoned darkness for light.”
"It is also thanks to the Princess's good discipline that I and Commander Yi did not do anything foolish, and we did not harm the Xunyang Prince's Mansion in the slightest. The Princess can testify to this... I hope you will forgive the previous misunderstandings."
Rong Zhen noticed out of the corner of her eye that Ouyang Lianghan's gaze had left her. He stood tall, tilted his head back, and sipped his wine, without saying a word immediately.
Rongzhen bit her lip tightly, about to say something to explain, when she suddenly felt someone tugging at her sleeve.
Looking back, I saw Yi Qianqiu standing behind me.
This female general, who was usually short-tempered and rarely showed a kind face to anyone, now looked at her with a serious and pleading gaze.
Yi Qianqiu tilted his head slightly, gesturing to the Donglin Buddha.
Granny Song also turned around, and Chao Rongzhen, who seemed a little anxious, gave her a meaningful look.
The girl in palace attire lowered her eyes slightly and pursed her lips.
She certainly understood what Deputy Supervisor Song and Commander Yi meant.
Granny Song glanced at the arc hanging high above the main grotto and pointed towards the area below the platform:
“Young Master, these rebels must not be allowed to live. If there is anything the Princess, I, and Commander Yi need to do, please tell us… By the way, could you please put the Buddha head back at your feet? A headless Buddha is not a good omen, haha. Young Master may not believe in Buddhist monks, but the Sage does. It’s better to believe it than not to believe it…”
The old woman with the white eyes tried to grin, but with her wrinkled face and vacant white eyes, the smile looked rather eerie.
Perhaps sensing this as well, she suppressed her laughter, narrowed her eyes slightly, and said in a somewhat suggestive tone:
"Once we deal with them, the Buddha statue will be unharmed. As for the subsequent situation in Xunyang, you, as the governor, have the final say. We will follow your instructions on how to report. You will undoubtedly receive the greatest credit. Is that alright?"
Hearing this almost appeasement and conciliatory gesture, a constable in blue robes, not far from the stage, clutched his sword and sneered.
Ouyang Rong put down his wine gourd and looked at the old woman who was speaking sincerely but with a disdainful look in her eyes.
He stood on the golden Buddha head, a faint smile playing on his lips, without speaking immediately.
Below my feet is a seated Donglin Buddha statue, its majestic head missing, its lonely fingers forming a delicate, almost eerie gesture.
Granny Song craned her neck and waited for a long time, her aged and wrinkled face almost stiffening with emotion, but Ouyang Rong still didn't say anything, he just looked at her.
As the young man in the scholar's robe stared at her, for some reason, the old woman with the disdainful eyes gradually felt a chill creep up her neck and down to the top of her head.
She always felt that the smiling young man in the scholar's robe seemed to see right through her, and the smile on his lips seemed to be a mockery.
On the other side of the platform, Rongzhen squatted down and waved her sleeve to put away the broken personal Buddha.
The stunningly beautiful girl in palace attire seemed to be angry. She flung her sleeves and left, taking a few steps towards the audience. Then she quietly stopped and secretly watched the scholar in Confucian robes above.
We also wait.
Granny Song was getting impatient and was about to speak when...
Ouyang Rong's curious voice came from above:
"What kind of Imperial Observatory is this? Is it a matchmaking agency?"
Granny Song suppressed her anger and gave a dry laugh:
"Ha, Master Ouyang is joking."
Ouyang Rong suddenly turned his head and spoke in another direction:
"If we don't run now, the sword will fall, and it will be too late."
Everyone subconsciously followed Ouyang Rong's gaze and found that he wasn't speaking to Xue Zhongzhu, Wu Daozi, or Wei Shaoqi, but seemed to be speaking to... Du Shuqing.
The dull-witted youth had closed his eyes at some point, with a bronze longsword stuck in front of him. Almost at the same time as Ouyang Rong spoke, Du Shuqing's face turned pale. The white dragon that had been shrinking and standing still suddenly raised its head, and its body once again radiated various colors of spiritual energy, as if a new tide of spiritual energy was surging in.
At this moment, various spiritual energies from hidden places and heroes in the Tiannan Jianghu are being injected into its blood bronze body through different Yunmeng Tokens.
The white dragon seemed to sober up as if it were a drunkard. Its vertical pupils were sharp, and its tail swept across the spot with a "bang!" kicking up a cloud of dust.
Dust filled the air, obscuring the view of the people on the high platform as they stood there in a daze. They could only vaguely see the white dragon's bronze body writhing rapidly within it.
On the golden Buddha head, a young man in a scholar's robe smiled as he watched this scene.
A blue moon-like arc hangs overhead, poised to fall.
Suddenly, a dragon's head burst forth from the cloud of dust on the ground. The white dragon shot out like an arrow released from a bow.
However, this arrow did not fly through the air, but rather dragged along the ground. The direction in which the white dragon charged was none other than the Xunyang River not far away.
Above the white dragon's head, there were four figures: Xue Zhongzhu, Wu Daozi, Wei Shaoqi, and Du Shuqing.
Du Shuqing sat on the ground, his eyes tightly closed, his brows furrowed, as if he was trying to control something.
Xue Zhongzhu's figure appeared somewhat reluctant, as if he had been forcibly taken away by Bai Jiao, possibly due to Du Shuqing and the others acting on their own initiative.
The Yunmeng Queen turned her head defiantly and glared angrily at Ouyang Rong on the other side of the Buddha. Against the backdrop of her snow-white Wu-style clothing, her mixed-race face was flushed red, as if she had suffered some kind of humiliation.
The shame of deliberately running away.
But a mythical cauldron sword, suspended high above the cloth sword, could not stop it at all. If this continued, there would only be one way out: death.
At this moment and in this place, it is impossible to fly or teleport.
The white dragon, carrying several people, bravely rushed to the riverbank and swam away.
Ouyang Rong put down the wine pot, narrowed his eyes slightly, and a curious voice, like a resounding bell, emanated from the golden Buddha head, echoing throughout the entire venue:
"What did Miss Zhi Shuang just say?"
Everyone in the room was stunned for a moment. Those with good memories realized that Xue Zhongzhu's most recent remark seemed to be asking him to come down from the Buddha's head and fight one-on-one...
A young man in a scholar's robe, standing atop a Buddha statue, with eighteen seeds coiled in his left palm, stepped out and into a painting before him.
In the next instant, he appeared above the white dragon's head, standing in front of Xue Zhongzhu.
The young man in the scholar's robe seemed to possess immense power, like a nail, firmly pinning the white dragon's head to the spot, causing the dragon's chin to slam heavily into the ground, sinking into the soil.
Dust covered everything, obscuring the view.
The sudden arrival startled Wei Shaoqi and the others, who managed to control their bodies and avoid being thrown off by the jolt.
"They've fallen for our trap! Don't let him get away!"
Wu Daozi was the first to react and suddenly spoke.
Wei Shaoqi steadied himself, stood firm, and immediately took out the scroll.
Du Shuqing tried to close his eyes and used the bronze longsword to control the white dragon and escape.
With a flick of his vermilion brush, the squinty-eyed old man wiped away the dust that had been obscuring his vision, as if a giant hand had swept it away completely.
Ouyang Rong appeared and stood beside Xue Zhongzhu.
It's not like enemies fighting one-on-one, but more like walking into an old friend's house without knocking, and admiring the distant mountain scenery together.
He had somehow acquired a string of coins in his right hand, which he was tossing idly into the air.
He played with a string of eighteen beads in his left hand. These eighteen beads seemed to be coated with a layer of dark gold powder, with dark gold Kui Xing symbols moving around them, mysterious and strange.
Ouyang Rong and Xue Zhongzhu stood side by side, ignoring the others, as if they were unaware that they were surrounded.
Xue Zhongzhu, already embarrassed and angry, was stunned for a moment, until the calm young man beside her threw a string of copper coins into her arms, hitting her puffed-up chest and bouncing it away. Her fiery temper exploded like gunpowder.
"You little brat, you're asking for it!"
A whooshing sound rang out.
The tall, blonde woman drew her sword with a backhand motion, slicing open Ouyang Rong's face.
But they came up empty-handed.
The young man in the scholar's robe was covered with gold trim.
Upon closer inspection, a dark golden light, as solid as flowing water, was emanating from the eighteen seeds and enveloping him.
The young man in the scholar's robe was unharmed, but due to the ethereal state of the golden light, he "leaked" down from the floor beneath his feet.
Compared to the enormous body of the white dragon, his slender body was like a thin needle, piercing through its bronze head and landing on the ground like a dragonfly skimming the water.
The candle in the snow missed its target upon striking it.
Wu Daozi raised his sword finger to wipe his eyes, carefully examined the ethereal figure of the scholar-robed youth, and spoke solemnly:
"He can't maintain the Emperor Wen's supernatural powers indefinitely! In fact, he only has seventh-grade spiritual energy in his dantian. Apart from the endless strange sword energy of that [Ding Sword], when he uses Confucianism, he is constantly mobilizing the power of the Peach Blossom Sword Formation and the [Emperor Wen], just like Rong Zhen and the others just now. However, he is more skilled in the fake Ding Sword than Rong Zhen and the others. I don't know why he is so proficient and skilled, and he can concentrate all the power of this Peach Blossom Formation without any waste, temporarily fixing it in one place."
The squinty-eyed old man spoke extremely fast, quickly elaborating:
"No matter what, the Buddha Formation will eventually run out of power. Besides, a strange no-flying decree was just issued. Although we don't know how much it has been depleted, the consumption is definitely not small. Take advantage of his overconfidence and don't let him escape! I will seal the scroll, and you can exhaust his golden light before you kill him!"
Wu Daozi sat cross-legged next to Du Shuqing, holding a paintbrush, and writing and drawing in the air in front of him with his eyes closed.
Above the Buddha, a stolen painting trembled as if some struggle or tug-of-war was taking place.
The white dragon unleashed a powerful tail sweep, passing over Ouyang Rong's supposed location, but still just passing through the afterimage.
However, this time, the white dragon... or rather, Du Shuqing had learned his lesson and followed Wu Daozi's instructions. The white dragon's bronze body curled up, surrounding the scholar-robed youth in the very center. The golden light phantom on the scholar-robed youth's body had to remain unchanged, otherwise, once the phantom ended, his flesh and blood would be embedded into the bronze!
Xuezhongzhu drew his sword and moved forward, sealing off the area around Ouyang Rong.
Wei Shaoqi also sighed, holding the bronze scroll and silently reciting the sword incantation.
In the next instant, a sky-blue sword aura emanated from the ink paintings of peach trees, boats, farmhouses, and children on the paper.
A faint, ethereal sword shadow slowly rose from the paper.
I couldn't see what the sword looked like; I could only vaguely make out that it had no hilt.
The azure sword shadow hung high above Ouyang Rong's head.
There are cauldrons and swords three feet above one's head.
Furthermore, the white dragon was strangling and entangling him, and Xue Zhongzhu's domineering sword energy sealed off the surroundings, causing the golden light on Ouyang Rong's body to be rapidly consumed.
In the distance, the Kui Xing symbol on the golden Buddha head kept appearing and disappearing.
It seems to be flowing continuously, but in fact it is gradually decreasing.
Upon witnessing this scene, Wei Shaoqi and the others showed joy, and Wu Daozi also breathed a slight sigh of relief, becoming more composed and looking at Ouyang Rong with increasing certainty.
Xue Zhongzhu's sword aura intensified, his eyes fixed on the very center of the bronze dragon's body, waiting for Ouyang Rong to give up and end his escape.
Under a vision filled with the crushing weight of bronze, the young man in the scholar's robe smiled, raised his left hand holding the eighteen seeds, and gently snapped his fingers.
"Boom—!"
The next instant, a strange movement came from the direction of the main grotto, accompanied by the snap of fingers.
On the high platform, Rong Zhen, whose eyes were full of concern, along with Yi Qianqiu and the others, suddenly noticed that rocks had fallen off the mountain behind them, and dust filled the air.
The billowing dust only buried His bare feet.
In front of the cliff at the deepest part of the main grotto, a headless Buddha who had been sitting for a long time slowly stood up, lowered his orchid-like fingers, embraced the golden Buddha head in the air, and installed it on the spot where his head had been severed.
The body and head were joined together.
The Donglin Buddha stepped down from its lotus platform, passing over the heads of Rongzhen and the others who looked as tiny as ants. Amidst the stunned silence of the crowd on the high platform, it left the main grotto and headed towards the Yangtze River.
Under the warm, yellow sunlight of the afternoon, the Buddha statue, towering over a hundred feet tall, with its kind and benevolent expression, exudes a solemn and dignified aura.
He walked to the white dragon's side, lifted it high at its seven-inch mark, and slammed it into the ground with a punch.
The Buddha beats the dragon... If there were any monks here at this moment, witnessing this outrageous scene, they would surely be horrified.
Before Wu Daozi and the others could even react in surprise, they seized the opportunity and, without giving Ouyang Rong a chance to rest, launched a series of attacks to deplete the golden light of the Emperor Wen.
The white sword energy, like a continuous snowfall, swept over Ouyang Rong's location, causing the golden light on his body to never cease.
During a brief moment when she was exhausted, Wei Shaoqi took over, and the Peach Blossom Spring scroll had already been set up with a sword.
A sky-blue sword shadow hovered above the young man in the scholar's robe, about to fall but not quite.
Ouyang Rong suddenly did something strange:
He put away the eighteen seeds, the Kui Xing talisman disappeared, and the golden light around him faded away.
The azure sword shadow fell towards his hair ornament.
Ouyang Rong didn't look up, his eyes fixed straight ahead. Somewhat silently, he took down his wine gourd, tilted his head back, and took a sip. With the wine in his mouth, he seemed to mutter something:
"In my youth I had no taste for worldly ways, and by nature I loved hills and mountains."
A sky-blue sword tip paused a fraction of an inch in front of the dark pupils of the scholar-robed youth who was drinking with his head tilted back.
Wei Shaoqi, who was controlling the only counterfeit Ding sword of the [Humble Scholar], suddenly opened his eyes. His expression was initially puzzled, but in the next instant, he seemed to sense something and his face was filled with horror.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the bronze scroll that Wei Shaoqi was holding suddenly shot out and landed in the hands of the young man in the scholar's robe. The latter, preoccupied with drinking, did not catch it, and it landed at his feet.
The whole scene looked as if Wei Shaoqi had deliberately thrown out the Peach Blossom Spring Map. Everyone looked at Wei Shaoqi with surprise and doubt, and Wu Daozi also showed an expression of disbelief.
The young man in the scholar's robe put down the wine pot, bent down to pick up the bronze scroll, weighed it in his palm, and nodded with some satisfaction.
He turned around, brushed the dust off the bronze scroll, and said to the crowd with a serious expression:
"For a scholar, it's not unreasonable to pick up a poor scholar's belongings, is it?"
——————
(Thanks to reader 20170429160217484 for being the Alliance Leader! You're awesome, bro, I'm so happy!)
(End of this chapter)
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