Copper Coins

In front of Songjiang Mountain where Daze Temple is located, there is a black rocky beach lined with pinnacles, and beyond the black rocky beach is the endless river.

At this time, there were densely packed people lying on the Black Rock Beach, roughly counting, there were nearly 200 people.They looked pale and bloodless, their eyes were closed, their brows were slightly frowning, and they were all unconscious. At first glance, they seemed to be dead, but they were not stiff.

Judging from the clothes these people wore, most of them were ragged and ragged, exuding a sour smell that hadn’t been washed for a long time. They were either pure beggars or refugees who were far away from their hometowns due to famine.

There are still some clothes that are in good condition, but it can be seen that they are not made of good materials. Looking at the calluses and cracks on the hands and the dry black skin formed after years of sun exposure, it can be guessed that they must come from poor families.

However, among these people, there are a few people who seem to be living a good life, most of them were captured here because they were alone or in the wild, including Shi Shi, who was waiting for someone in the tea shop. Zhang and Lu Nianqi.

If they were awake at this moment, they would definitely be startled by the current battle.Because the nearly 200 people were arranged in a circle from the inside to the outside, and the circle was circled, and finally formed a circle of living people.

In the center of the circle is a stone sculpture one person tall, roughly carved into a monk standing on a lotus seat.Seen from behind, the monk's robes are flowing, and he looks like a stone Buddha.However, when you walk around, you will find that you can't see the monk's facial features at all, because there is a mask with animal patterns on his face, which looks strange and solemn, and also reveals a faint evil spirit.

What's even more weird is that the robes of this stone statue are engraved with complicated runes. At first glance, they are the same as those engraved on the central stone carvings in the small formations in Daze Temple, Wanshi Mountain and Dongting Lake. The only difference is that, There are some ancient characters mixed between the runes on the stone statue. At first glance, it looks like a self-created script handed down by a certain tribe.

If Xue Xian was present at this time, he would definitely recognize that these characters have the same origin as those on the stone wall of Baichong Cave, but the strokes are slightly different.The difference is so tiny that even the person who writes it can't tell the difference even if he is a little dazed.

The rosette of this stone statue is covered with oily and yellow paper symbols.

And under the lotus seat, a circle was also drawn with blood.

These nearly 200 people all have their heads facing the stone statues, and their feet are facing outwards. Although their appearances are different, rich or poor, there is one thing that is the same-there is a small blood spot on their foreheads. At first glance it looks like a blood mole.

The wind and waves on the river were violent, one level rushed straight to the shore, and with the heavy rain pouring into the sky, it seemed that if one more wave was raised, they would rush to Jiangsong Mountain.

However, the circular formation formed by nearly 200 people seemed to form a copper and iron shield.The wind, so strong that it could cut flesh and tear off robes, raged past, but the paper talisman on the rosette of the stone statue remained motionless.The heavy rain flooded the river bank in the blink of an eye, but not a single drop fell on these people's robes.

Outside the circle, there was a group of people in gray clothes kneeling on one knee. They all wore masks. At first glance, they looked a bit similar to those in the Taichang Temple, except that those in the Taichang Temple were mainly red. The masks of these people But it is mainly green and black, like yin and yang, one bright and one dark.

In addition, they all had a mahogany pendant around their waists, which was exactly the same as the one worn by the man hiding under the Xuan Min Bamboo Building.

"There are a total of one hundred and eighty people who match the horoscope, one is not many, one is not many, ninety Yin and ninety Yang." The leader of the man in gray reported, his voice hidden under the mask It was a bit boring, and it was broken up by the heavy rain at the time of the exit, and it sounded blurry.

The person they were kneeling on was standing between the two black stone peaks, facing Jiangsong Mountain, with his hands behind his back.He was wearing a snow-white monk robe, spotless.The heavy rain was silent at a distance of a few millimeters away, and it didn't leave a speck of wet marks on the monk's robe.

This man is tall, with a slender and tall figure, and there is an aura of passing away from the world just from the back, which makes people dare not look at him or approach him.

His face was covered with a silver mask, and no one else could see his face, except for a pair of piercing black eyes.At this time, he was slightly raising his face, his eyes fell on the top of Songjiang Mountain, and there seemed to be something beside him in his calmness and indifference.

Hearing the words of the gray-clothed leader, he rubbed the fingers behind his back slightly, but his gaze remained motionless.

The gray-clothed leader glanced up at him, then lowered his head in panic, keeping silent, waiting for the white-clothed monk to speak.Even such a slight groan made these gray-clothed men feel uneasy, as if they were covered in fallacies and had done a bunch of absurd things.

But in fact, the monk rubbed his finger, then said lightly: "Have you ever bothered the irrelevant people?"

His voice also revealed a natural indifference, like slightly frozen water.

But such a simple question made these men in gray tremble slightly.The leader hurriedly said: "Never, never, we only picked people from remote places to take captives, but we also brought all the random people nearby, and we didn't leave any clues."

The monk rubbed his fingers again, and said neither happy nor angry: "Abduction?"

The leader changed his words again and again: "No, no, invite someone."

After he hastily corrected it, he didn't hear the order for a while, so he couldn't help but secretly raised his head and glanced, and saw the monk in white still looking at the top of Jiangsong Mountain quietly.Although he couldn't see his eyes, the gray-clothed man felt that he seemed to have a rare emotion, as if this remote and nameless Songjiang Mountain had some relationship with him.

The gray-clothed man stared in a daze, and for a moment he was so bold that he opened his mouth and asked: "This place is remote, nameless, and ordinary, why did the national teacher choose this place?"

As soon as he said this, the man in gray wanted to slap himself to death here.He was educated by Warlock Songyun since he was a child. He started to help Songyun and the national teacher with troublesome things at the age of 16. It has been seven or eight years. Over there, I got things and ran around.But even though he had little contact with him, he still knew the temper of the national teacher——

This one has always been moody, and is very disgusted that people in the lower class don't know the heights of the sky and the earth, and ask things that shouldn't be asked.

As for what should not be asked, in fact, this person never said it clearly, but as far as the gray-clothed people understand, it means "don't ask anything".

This person has his own reasons for his arrangements, so they can't intervene.

Unexpectedly, the national teacher was not angry when he asked this question, and even answered him: "Many years ago, I met a noble person here."

That was really... so long ago, so long that even he couldn't remember exactly how old he was, what he looked like, who his parents were, and why he was abandoned in this remote place. in the mountains.If it wasn't for that noble man, he might have been reincarnated several times, so how could he get what he is doing now.

Hearing his answer, the man in gray was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head and said, "That is a truly noble man with discerning eyes, otherwise, how could there be peace and prosperity today."

"Wisdom eyes and pearls..." The national teacher seemed to find this very interesting, and seemed to be a little mocking, "Is it peaceful? If it is peaceful, I don't have to do such troublesome things, and I don't have to stand here today. Please come here Some hardworking people."

The man in gray didn't know what to say for a while, but the national teacher was always reticent, it was rare for him to say such words, wouldn't it be even more embarrassing if he didn't answer.So he thought for a while, and then said: "It's us fools who can't share our worries."

Hearing this, the national teacher's eyes moved, glanced over them indifferently, and landed on Jiangsong Mountain again. After a long while, he said lightly: "There is always something useful, so don't underestimate yourself."

He looked at the deserted temple on the top of the mountain, and suddenly raised his hand in a Buddhist salute.

For him, this life begins here, so it should also "die" here, which can be regarded as having a beginning and an end.What's more, what he is doing now somewhat violates the original intention of that one, so it is a peace of mind to repent before he "die".

I believe that if the other party is alive, he can understand his painstaking efforts.

When he finished the Buddhist ceremony and raised his eyes again, in the circle of hundreds of people, the paper talisman on the lotus base of the stone statue suddenly trembled.

One is facing Daze Temple, one is facing Dongting, and the other is facing Wanshi Mountain.

The three sheets of paper shook at the same time, making a "wow" sound, like the slapping sound of a battle flag being stirred by a gust of wind.

Immediately afterwards, the blood circle under the rosette suddenly lit up, and the blood that was about to dry up seemed to suddenly become fresh, even slightly flowing.

The national teacher turned around, raised his sleeves and swept away, and heard the sound of a wind knife sweeping over the circle, a cut was suddenly opened on the left thumb of a hundred people in the formation, and bright red blood immediately flowed from the cut It flowed down, landed on the ground, and as if attracted by something, it meandered towards the stone statue.

It was an extremely terrifying scene. Hundreds of blood threads quietly crawled towards the stone statue like a long snake, and melted into the bottom of the stone statue in the blink of an eye.

Although the people in gray were prepared, they still felt a little chilly when they saw this scene.They stared dumbfounded at the blood staining the entire rosette dark red, and it seemed to be alive again, walking along the stone statue from the feet up.

It seemed that the entire stone statue was going to be dyed bloody.

How much blood would it cost, the man in gray didn't know.They only know that the blood of the people in this circle will eventually be drained, and none of them will survive.

And just when they were in a daze, the national teacher glanced at them lightly, and raised his sleeve to strike another wind blade.The man in gray only felt a tingling pain in the thumb of his left hand, and before he could react, his entire left hand was slammed to the ground with a tremendous force.

It was so powerful that it was impossible to resist.The men in gray were all caught off guard, and they even lay on the ground in embarrassment, watching the dark red blood gurgling from under their fingers, and went straight to the stone statue.It seems that what is flowing is not blood, but vitality.

They were stunned for a moment, subconsciously struggling crazily, but no matter how much force they used and what methods they used, their left hand was still firmly nailed to the ground, motionless, and blood was still flowing forward.

The leading man in gray suddenly realized something, he looked up at the national teacher in astonishment, and happened to meet the national teacher's lowered gaze.

There was no waves in those dark eyes, as if what he was looking at was not a living person at all, but just the grass and trees in the world.

Through those extremely calm eyes, the man in gray suddenly understood the deep meaning of the previous sentence: There is always something useful, so there is no need to underestimate yourself.

He even understood the reason why it is rare for the national teacher to talk too much, because in his eyes, it might just be talking to himself, and no one could hear it at all... After all, if you die, you will be a bone, and you can't be considered a human being.