A glance at the spring breeze

About half an hour later, Director Zhang came over suddenly and said that His Majesty asked him to go to Huanghe Temple to discuss matters.

The Yellow Crane Temple was the dwelling place of Taoist Priest Xuanmo next to the palace.In order to welcome Taoist Priest Xuan Mo to move in, it is said that Yin Jian specially renovated this Taoist temple up and down, which cost a lot of manpower and money.Thanks to the stability of the world now, otherwise Yin Jian would have to be sprayed all over by the official historian who recorded the emperor's words and deeds.

Ruan Lan then followed Manager Zhang to the corridor in front of the Yellow Crane Temple.At first glance from the outside, the Yellow Crane Temple is very quiet and elegant, not as "magnificent" as it was many years ago.When Ruan Lan was young, she came to the Yellow Crane Temple once or twice. Although it was only a pure and inactive Taoist temple, the decorations in this Taoist temple were much more gorgeous than now.

Didn't it mean that Yin Jianhua renovated it once with a lot of money? Where did the flowers go?

There is a thick green sandalwood tree in the temple, surrounded by about three people. The tree has lush branches and leaves, covering the whole yard with greenery, even blocking the hot afternoon sun from the outside of the temple.The view is lined with green trees, and the shade under the trees is cool.He remembered that more than ten years ago, there were only some low trees in the Yellow Crane Temple, and the thickest and largest ones were only as high as the roof of a two-story building. How did they become so strong after all these years?

Ruan Lan suddenly felt that this tree looked familiar.

"Ruan Lan."

At this time, he heard Yin Xian's voice calling him.

Hearing the sound, he looked around and saw Yin Jian and Taoist Xuan Mo walking towards him.Daoist Xuan Mo is still dressed in white clothes with a fairy style, his white hair and beard fluttering slowly in the breeze, holding a slender dust whisk in his hand, sweeping it lightly on his sleeve, and smiling at Ruan Lan With a voice, he said: "Lord Ruan, since the farewell, we have not seen each other for many days, how is your lord doing?"

Ruan Lan first bowed to Yin Xing, and then impatiently walked up to Daoist Xuanmo, looked around the Daoist a few times carefully, and after making sure that the Daoist looked unscathed, he said: "Daoist, I , I thought you...didn't expect the Taoist priest to come back safely."

Daoist Xuan Mo stroked his beard as usual: "Hehe. Although the secret way has been taught by someone, but if you want to hurt the poor way, the way is too shallow."

"That's good." Seeing that Daoist Xuan Mo returned safely, he finally breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

Yin Xiandao: "I know that Aiqing is always worried about Taoist Xuanmo, so as soon as Taoist comes back this time, I will ask you to come and catch up with Taoist."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Xuan Mo said, "Since it's reminiscing about the old days, let's stop standing outside and go inside."

Afterwards, Ruan Lan followed Yin Jian and Xuan Modao into the room.As soon as she stepped into the doorway, Ruan Lan felt that the room was filled with a delicate fragrance, which was not as calming as the sandalwood burning in Buddhist temples.

Two allusions are written on the two wooden pillars of the top beam.One sentence is: Ziqi comes from the east.Another sentence is: Tao follows nature.

Ruan Lan glanced around, and found that the furnishings inside the house were simpler than the outside, and it was hard to tell that it was a royal Taoist temple.

After the three sat down, Yin Jian looked out the window and asked Ruan Lan, "Ai Qing, where do you think you have seen this tree before?"

"Yeah." Ruan Lan nodded, "During the adventure of Qiumang Mountain, Your Majesty and the minister accidentally fell into a mansion, and there was such a tall green sandalwood in that mansion."

"That's right, it's just that the green sandalwood is dead, but this one is still alive."

Ruan Lan asked: "Your Majesty means, is there any connection between these two trees?"

The tree on the Qiumang mountain was burned to death, and the people beside the tree were also burned to death. If the two are related, wouldn't it be that the people in the palace would also be...

Ruan Lan didn't dare to continue thinking about it.

"Exactly." Yin Zhen said, "After Yin Cheng killed himself, I found a secret letter from his clothes."

"Secret letter?"

The former prince Yin Cheng was accused of witchcraft, and he was quickly buried within a few days after committing suicide.Ruan Lan did not expect that the prince would leave a message after his death, and this message was suppressed by Yin for nearly ten years.

Yin Jian took out a curled and yellowed note from his bosom.The note is already very thin, and it seems that it will be torn off with a little force, but when you turn it over to the other side, you can clearly see a trace of dark red lines stained on it.It seems... This is the blood stain left by Yin Cheng when he killed himself.

Yin Jian ordered Manager Zhang to pass this note to Ruan Lan, who opened it carefully, and saw that there were only two lines written on it: "The towering giant tree will shade the sun."

"Go to sea."

"My humble minister is dull, I don't know what is said in this secret letter?"

Ruan Lan read it twice in a low voice, but didn't understand these two lines.

Yin Jian shook the "No Ji Tai Lai" in his hand, and a faint fragrance came out.

"In the beginning, I didn't know what it meant, so I withheld this note for the time being. After I ascended the throne..." Yin Jian turned his head slightly, and looked at the towering tree outside the window, " In the Yellow Crane Temple, which had not been inhabited for several years, a sapling suddenly began to grow wildly without anyone noticing. After only a few months, it grew into such a giant tree with lush leaves and deep roots. I saw it with my own eyes When I saw this giant tree, I suddenly remembered the note that the second brother put on his body when he committed suicide."

——"The towering giant tree will shade the sun."

Ruan Lan followed Yin Jian's words: "So, this tree must be related to the former prince?"

"That's right, I thought so too at the beginning. I couldn't sleep for a while, and thought that maybe this giant tree was an ominous thing, so I sent someone to cut it down."

Ruan Lan was suspicious, and glanced out the window. Isn't the tree growing well now?

Yin Jian was aware of Ruan Lan's doubts, and continued: "However, I found that no matter how I cut it, no matter whether it was cutting its roots or its branches, the tree would return to its original appearance the next day. The part that was cut off will grow back before the sun rises on the second day, not a single cent is missing. If you try to remove its roots, on the second day, it will be like two feet Usually move back to the original place."

Ruan Lan was stunned.

There is such a strange tree in the world, no matter how much it is cut down or pulled up, it will not die?

Ruan Lan took the tea from Manager Zhang, but held it deep in thought, and didn't move for a long time. When she came back to her senses, she realized that her fingertips and fingertips were hot red.

If it is not a coincidence, then the sentence "the towering giant tree will shade the sun" has predicted the situation of the tree outside the house.

It seems that the two lines written on the note by the former crown prince Yin Cheng should have a lot of background.

"Your Majesty, what does the second sentence in this secret letter mean?" Ruan Lan couldn't help but think of the simple two words "go to sea".

"Aiqing, don't worry, it's a long story, let me talk about it slowly." Yin Jian kept shaking the fan in his hand, and said calmly, "Facing such a strange tree, I don't believe it. I was helpless, and then remembered that there was another sentence in the secret letter, and I guessed, maybe... Yin Cheng knew how to cut it off, and the method was—""Go to sea!" Ruan Lan continued.

Yin Xian nodded: "But the sea is so vast and boundless, where should we go to find it? I remembered the rumor that there are fairy mountains in the East China Sea, so I sent 300 people to the East China Sea, but as soon as we sailed, the big ship hit a rock. It is a matter of the royal family. Maybe the immortals of the East China Sea saw that I sent my servants and felt that I was not sincere, so they let the waves knock down my boat. So the second time, I took care of the court affairs and followed a group of soldiers to personally It took only two days to go out to sea... finally arrived at a fairy mountain, and found Daoist Xuanmo."

"I see." Ruan Lan shifted her gaze from Yin Jian to Daoist Xuan Mo.Daoist Priest closed his eyes slightly at this time, a bunch of snow-white floats were pressed against his arms, as if he didn't hear Yin Jian talking about him.

But Ruan Lan still felt that there was something strange, Yin Jian seemed to be hiding something.

Forget it, let Yin Jian continue to speak.

"Daoist Xuanmo is worthy of being an immortal of the East China Sea. As soon as I stood in front of the Taoist priest, the Taoist priest knew why I came here. The Taoist priest said that this tree was not an ordinary tree, but was sent by an evil thing. It’s not a tree, it’s more of an icon.”

"That's right." The Taoist priest who had been silent for a long time finally opened his mouth, "Pindao came to this mainland of China this time to capture an evil thing called Chenxi. This evil thing is good at manipulating people's hearts, and knows that people's most important The weak part takes pleasure in disrupting the world. But he rarely takes action himself, and it is rumored that as long as he plants a towering tree somewhere, there will be people willing to slaughter all the living beings here for him."

Ruan Lan was shocked, and hurriedly put down the teacup in her hand, only to hear the sound of "thump", he said: "If you are willing to slaughter all the living things here, then if this tree is planted outside the palace, wouldn't all the people in the palace be in danger... ..."

"That's true." Taoist Xuanmo said seriously, "Pindao has heard about what His Majesty and Lord Ruan experienced at the back of Qiumang Mountain before. The one who slaughtered all of them should be the former prince Yin Cheng, and Yin Cheng used his own power to secretly delete all the files in the Qiumang Mountain area, so His Majesty could not find Banfen and Qiumang in the Ministry of Households. Information about the mountain area.”

Ruan Lan's fingers trembled.It's not that he hasn't thought about this possibility, but after all, he grew up with Yin Cheng, and knowing Yin Cheng's character, he really doesn't want to doubt him, but now, so many clues overlap... Ruan Lan shook her head, Prince Oh prince, why do you want to do such a wicked thing?

Ruan Lan suddenly remembered that when she and Yin Jianluo were in the yin house on Qiumang Mountain, she dreamed that everyone in it was killed, burned to death, and fell to death, all of them died tragically, so she asked: "Please ask the boss, I seem to be able to Why is it that I can see in my dream what happened on the day before their death?"

The Taoist priest said: "If there are no accidents, it should be that someone wanted to tell you what happened here, so it fell into your dream."

Ruan Lan was taken aback: "Who?"

The Taoist priest sighed: "Besides a tree there, what else is still fresh in your memory?"

"And..." A flash of light flashed into Ruan Lan's mind, "A pile of moving bones!"

Yin Jian over there said: "Alan, you...I hope you can hold on to what I'm going to say next, after all, you and Yin have a deep relationship."

Ruan Lan smiled bitterly: "It's come to this point, what else can I not accept."

Yin Jian and Daoist Xuan Mo looked at each other, and then said: "After returning from Qiumang Mountain, I ordered people to dig Yin Cheng's tomb quietly, but found that there was nothing in the coffin. So, I thought... the pile of The white bones should be... should be—"

"Impossible—" Ruan Lan stood up excitedly.

Xuan Mo said: "My lord, do you know how the evil tree planted by the dust rhinoceros will die? It can't be cut by a knife, it can't be burned by fire, only when the person who lives with that tree dies, it will die with it. And The person who is reborn is the one who is willing to burn, kill and plunder for Chenxi, and after he dies, he will become the servant of the evil Chenxi, who will live forever, even with his soul and bones, and will never change."

After Ruan Lan listened, she resigned herself to her fate and closed her eyes.

"So...the crown prince entered my dream." Ruan Lan's voice was trembling uncontrollably.

"He wants you to save him." Daoist Xuan Mo shook his head, "He regretted it."

Ruan Lan slumped on the seat, her lips had lost all color.

"Then... Daozhang, can the prince still be saved?

The Taoist priest swept the whisk and shook his head again: "He has become a part of Chenxi. I'm afraid there will be no turning back."

"The prince is fine when he gets along with me. Why is he so stupid." Ruan Lan whispered.

Daoist Xuanmo replied: "When getting along with outsiders, he can hide part of his ferocity and evil thoughts in the tree that has made a contract with him, so that outsiders can't see it. But...as for why the former prince wanted to help Chen Xi?" To kill someone, I’m afraid he has to ask himself.”

There was a long sigh from inside the house, and I don't know who made it.

The three of them were silent for about half a stick of incense, and Ruan Lan finally calmed down and spoke first: "There is one more thing, I want to tell His Majesty and the Taoist priest."

Yin Jian asked, "What's the matter?"

Ruan Lan told all about the meeting with Qi Mo yesterday and the strange things Qi Mo showed.

Daoist Xuan Mo frowned in a rare way: "It is said that Chen Xi is the best at manipulating people's hearts, but he has always disdained to erase the love and hatred of mortals himself, but likes to understand the fragility of people's hearts, bit by bit. These weaknesses were magnified, and finally turned them into his servants who caused troubles in the world. But now, hearing Master Ruan's words, Pindao felt that this Qi Mo must have been erased by him part of his love, hatred and memory. Otherwise, how could it be Turn a blind eye to the death of your own brother?"

"What the Taoist priest said is very true." After thinking for a long time, Ruan Lan couldn't find a more reasonable explanation than Taoist Xuanmo, and then turned her head to look at Yin Jian, "What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Yin Jian had already put the "No Ji Tai Lai" in his left hand, and lightly tapped the bone on the pulp of his right index finger.He thought for a while, and then said: "According to what the Taoist priest said just now, those who made an oath with Chenxi must surely die in the future, right?"

After hearing this, Ruan Lan said thoughtfully: "So, Chen Xi wants to save Qi Mo's life?" But he thought wrong again, "Then why Qi Mo has been hunted down, not to mention that he is covered with cuts and bruises all over his body?" ..."

Daoist Xuanmo said: "It's too early to draw conclusions at this time. No matter what, the creatures around this tree, Pindao will definitely do everything possible to keep them from surviving."

"Thank you, Daoist." Yin Jian glanced at the sky outside the window. Even though most of the light was covered by the big tree, he also saw a fiery red sunset glow appearing in the sky. He said: "It's getting late. Ruan Lan will not bother the Taoist priest anymore."

"Wait a minute." Taoist Xuan Mo said, "Your Majesty, Pindao and Master Ruan have something to say."

Yin Jian shifted his gaze to Ruan Lan and said, "In that case, I will leave. I will send you back to your residence later."

"Wei Chen respectfully sends His Majesty."

After Yin rolled away, Taoist Xuan Mo closed the door.

He turned around, his face sank in the shadow of the backlight, but his pupils were shining slightly.

"My lord, there is one thing that Pindao wants to tell you."

"what?"

Is there anything that can only be said without Yin Jian?

"Do you still remember that time in the secret path, Pindao used his mana to rescue you, but Pindao himself disappeared?"

"of course I remember."

"Actually, that's because Pindao is not from the mainland of China. You can't use mana to change your fate. If you use it, you may suffer backlash. Therefore, that time, Pindao was sent thousands of miles away because of using mana. , It took several days to rush back."

When Ruan Lan heard this, she admired the Taoist priest very much. Just as she was about to bow to pay her respects, she was stopped by the Taoist priest: "Oh, don't be in a hurry to thank the poor Taoist, the poor Taoist wants to tell you, It's not about this."

Ruan Lan had a premonition that what Taoist Xuan Mo wanted to tell him might be extremely serious.

"Pindao once gave His Majesty some knowledge about ghosts and ghosts, and also taught him some spells, but His Majesty would not know how to break the barrier of Mount Qiumang - there is a barrier set by a dust rhinoceros on Mount Qiumang, if there is no The people in Qiumang Mountain took him in, and His Majesty would not be able to get in no matter what."

"But His Majesty went in," he recalled, "and was alone."

Daoist Xuan Mo stretched out his hand and lightly touched Ruan Lan's waist with two fingers. Suddenly, a pattern lit up on Ruan Lan's skin. In front of the two.

Daoist Xuan Mo laughed: "That's right. With this seal, no matter if Master Ruan goes to the ends of the earth or to mountains of swords and seas of fire, he will be able to find you."

Ruan Lan looked down.

This pattern was personally branded to him by Yin Jian with a piece of Jindi meteorite that had been burned for 49 days when he was in prison nine years ago.