Strange Records of Xijing

The aroma of rhinoceros sinensis slowly rises from the smoker cage, and spreads to the whole room along with the warm breath.

The national teacher cleared his throat and said, "Young Master Pei, please come this time..."

Pei Jingxing interrupted him: "National teacher, Huaiyu said you have a way to find Su Yan, what is the way?"

The national teacher said with a smile: "Young Master Pei, don't worry, listen to me slowly."

Pei Jingxing raised his right hand and said simply, "Long story short."

It is rare for the national teacher to show embarrassment, but now that he has something to ask Pei Jingxing, he has no choice but to tell the truth: "Your Majesty is gone."

"It's gone?" Pei Jingxing didn't believe it, "If it's gone, what should I do in the morning?"

The national teacher sighed: "That's a puppet."

He glanced at Pei Jingxing, saw the vigilance in the latter's eyes, and quickly added: "I didn't do it, it was the abolished prince."

"The puppet was originally driven by the waste prince. He used the breath of His Majesty's hair to confuse the public, and I didn't even notice it at first. But you sealed the waste prince and his old ministry. Without his power support, the puppet quickly Just stop running." When the national teacher said this, he paused, clenched his hands and let go, and then continued, "The country cannot be without a king for a day. Your Majesty is missing now, and the prince's body is occupied by the deposed prince. However, we can't find his soul now. Xijing has just passed a catastrophe, if this news gets out, I'm afraid the whole country will be in turmoil. I can only continue to use my power to drive the puppet and hide it."

Pei Jingxing understood a little bit: "So, you think that Su Yan and them were plotted by the deposed prince, and their souls are likely to be in the same place now."

The national teacher nodded and said: "That's right."

Knowing that Pei Jingxing missed Su Yan, he didn't want to be polite to him. He opened the drawer, took out a brocade box, pushed it in front of Pei Jingxing, and explained: "According to the records in ancient books, there is a place called ghosts."

Pei Jingxing just got along with Su Yan. Hearing this name, he couldn't help asking: "Ghost? Isn't that a kind of monster in legends?"

"Yes." The national teacher affirmed, "but there is still a mysterious place, which is also called ghosts in ancient books. The ghost emperor holds the ghost seal in his hand and commands the ghosts, but will the ghosts die again?"

Pei Jingxing narrowed his eyes: "What do you want to say?"

The national teacher said: "We people call the death of a ghost a ghost. But according to the records in ancient books, after a ghost disappears completely, it enters a ghost world. It is a dead world, there is no time and space, and there is no There is no sound or smell, only eternal solitude."

Pei Jingxing asked him: "How sure are you?"

The national teacher smiled bitterly: "To be honest, I'm not sure."

Before Pei Jingxing got angry, he said again: "But, we have no other way. Mr. Pei, you have stayed in Taixuan Temple for so long, and Zhou Daoyou has been helping you find clues, but you have not gained anything, have you? ?”

Pei Jingxing couldn't believe him, and made his own request: "Give me the ancient books."

The national teacher seemed to have expected that Pei Jingxing would say this, without hesitation, he took out an old book from the drawer, put the brocade box away again, and reminded: "The ancient books are fragile, and the pages recorded in ghosts Just put it inside, and please be careful, Mr. Pei. When Mr. Pei trusts me, come to me again."

Pei Jingxing didn't answer, he gently picked up the ancient book, got up and left.

The national teacher reminded behind him: "Young Master Pei, this is a big matter, you should know what not to say."

Three days later, Pei Jingxing met with the national teacher again.

The national teacher looked haggard, forced a smile, and asked, "Young Master Pei, do you trust me this time?"

Pei Jingxing folded his arms and said, "I don't believe you, but I'm going to Ghost God."

The national teacher didn't care that Pei Jingxing didn't trust him, and said: "I want to maintain the operation of the puppet, so I can't go with you. But don't worry, I have already invited an eminent monk to go with you."

Pei Jingxing wanted to refuse at first, but on second thought, he was just a martial arts practitioner. Although he had mastered the ability to control Yasha in the confrontation with the deposed prince, he only had a half-knowledge about Taoism and ghosts.It is very difficult to go to the ghosts alone, so it is better to have a monk to go with you.

Thinking of this, he no longer refuses.

Seeing that he acquiesced, the national teacher took out the brocade box again and signaled Pei Jingxing to open it.

When Pei Jingxing opened the box, the first thing he saw was a Xuanwu twisted seal.

"Ghost Seal!" Pei Jingxing couldn't help exclaiming.Their thoughts suddenly went back to the beginning, they found the ghost seal, and they got hit by the trick. Gao Zekai was killed by Zhao Shimin, who was taken away by the monster.Leaving him and Su Yan behind, they were plotted against, and the Guixi Seal was also taken away.

Now, the ghost seal actually appeared in the hands of the national teacher!

The national teacher knew that Pei Jingxing was full of distrust towards him, so he said sincerely: "I found this ghost seal in the dark room of the East Palace. As for who left it, I don't know. But my senior brother is Taoist Wan. He used to go in and out of the East Palace, I suspect he left behind."

Pei Jingxing sneered: "There is no proof of death."

"It is true. But, you have to believe me, this time, you and I are on the same journey, and we both want to find the lost soul." The national teacher continued, "According to the records in ancient books, the ghost seal is the only key to unlock the ghost. I'll give you this key, and I just ask Mr. Pei to find Su Yan's soul, and find His Majesty's soul for me, or... the physical body."

Pei Jingxing picked up the brocade box: "Do your best. Also, Daoist Zhou also wants to go with you."

The national teacher didn't mind: "It's good that Zhou Daoyou is willing."

With clues, Pei Jingxing didn't want to stay in Xijing to waste time.

The ancient books only mentioned places like ghosts and monsters, but did not specify where the specific entrance was.According to the guess of the great monk named Ming Dao, he can go to the ghost market to collect information first.

The ghost market that Ming Daokou mentioned was not the Xijing ghost market that Pei Jingxing had been to, but a place called Fengyang all the way to the north.

The three set off in a few days, trekking through mountains and rivers for half a month, and finally came to Fengyang.

Fengyang was the old capital of the former dynasty, but the river was diverted more than 100 years ago. Losing the running water is like losing the lifeline. This former capital was first abandoned by the royal family, and then by the rich and noble families. In the end, the severe water shortage forced us to survive. of ordinary people left their hometowns.

When Pei Jingxing and the others arrived in Fengyang, it was already a completely empty city with more than half of the city wall collapsed, and the few families took out the stone bricks from the city wall and built shelters not far away to shelter them from the wind and rain.

The combination of a monk, a general and a military general has attracted the attention of a family.The child is the most curious, patting the ball vigorously, tentatively trying to move forward, but is held tightly in the arms of the nervous mother.While watching the three of them vigilantly, the mother slowly backed away.

Ming Dao was slightly chubby, and his cheerful smile was able to capture people's favor. It would be best for him to step forward at this time.

"Don't be afraid, benefactor." Ming Dao stood five steps away from the woman, and stopped coming forward, "We just happened to pass by here. It's getting dark now, I don't know if benefactor knows where we can lodge?"

The woman held the child in her arms, shook her head, and did not speak.

Ming Dao saw the half string of Buddha beads exposed under her clothes, and asked in a low voice: "Benefactor, I see the evil spirit inside, is it..."

"No!" The woman suddenly yelled, attracting the attention of other people nearby.They were obviously very unfriendly to outsiders, and surrounded them one by one with hoes and axes.

Ming Dao hurriedly moved away from the woman to show that he didn't mean to hurt anyone, and continued: "Don't be alarmed, all benefactors, we just want to borrow a night. If it is inconvenient, please do so and tell us this Is there a place to stay nearby."

The tall man at the head held his hoe and answered: "We can't accommodate you big Buddhas. There is no one in Fengyang City, but if you are brave, you can go to the imperial city and be emperors for a few days." Refreshing."

Ming Dao smiled: "That's interesting. Benefactor, have you ever been emperor before?"

The man was furious, raised his hoe and swung it towards Ming Dao.Ming Dao pretended to be panicked, and fled to the side in a hurry.

Zhou Yuyi stepped forward at this time and stood in front of Ming Dao.Seeing the sword hilt behind him, the man spat, waved his hand, and signaled everyone to make way.

After the three of them entered, the man called a tall, thin man and told him, "Wait, go to the dog cave in two days and see what you can pick up."

Then, he picked up the wooden stick next to him, and beat and cursed at the woman holding the child: "Sangmen Xing! I can't even look after a child!"

The woman yelled and protected the child, crying and begging for mercy.But the child in her arms didn't panic at all. He watched his father beat his mother coldly, and continued to play with the bamboo ball in his hand.

Pei Jingxing stood in front of the abandoned city gate, with the only setting sun behind him, he glanced left and right, and asked, "What do you two think?"

Ming Dao said with a smile: "I've come here, of course I went in."

Zhou Yu nodded in agreement: "That's right. At night, when the ghosts walk around at night, it's a good time for us to inquire about the news."

The three of them entered the city gate. The originally wide main road was full of large and small stones, and occasionally there were some wild animal corpses and bones. The putrid smell was mixed in the dust, which stimulated the sense of smell of every visitor. .

"Be careful." Zhou Yu reminded in a low voice.

Ming Dao expressed his opinion: "I'm afraid there are hundreds of ghosts, big and small, in this ghost city. They will all come out to move around when the sun goes down. In my opinion, let's find a place to settle down first, and wait for them to come out. Find another chance to get in."

Pei Jingxing looked at the bones on the ground, and suddenly stepped forward quickly, picked up a white bone and examined it carefully.

Ming Dao and Zhou Yu caught up with him and asked, "Young Master Pei, did you find anything?"

Pei Jingxing put down the bones: "It's a human bone."

Zhou Yu frowned when he thought of the few houses he saw earlier: "Fengyang has been abandoned for nearly 100 years, and all the houses that can be moved have moved away."

Ming Dao continued: "Are they really too poor to move, or can't they?"

"There are many ghosts and monsters in Fengyang, and there is a perennial ghost market. We come to the ghost market to find things, and other people will come to find things." Pei Jingxing looked at the scattered bones and said, "If they have walked in here, then they Where will it be now?"