Chapter 176: On the Sand River

The reason why Zhongzhou is the center of the world and the ancient dynasties chose to establish their capital here is because Zhongzhou is flat. Not to mention compared with the mountainous Jiangnan, even compared with Jiangbei, the originally flat Jiangbei seems to have too many hills and undulations. It is conceivable how flat and boundless Zhongzhou is.

Walking on this vast plain, the sky and the earth are empty, and it is inevitable to feel boring. But suddenly, a dark wall that seems to be higher than the sky appeared in the sight, and it seemed like dark clouds were hanging in a place that seemed far and near, which was extremely shocking.

Walking on the flat plain, a dark mountain like a dark cloud suddenly rose from the ground. This is a completely different feeling from seeing steep peaks in a place with continuous mountains.

There are many mountains in the south of the Yangtze River. Among the mountains, no matter how dangerous or strange the mountains are, they are not surprising. There are many hills in the north of the Yangtze River, which are like step-by-step, rising layer by layer. Even Mount Dongyue can hardly show its majesty. Only on such plains, a high mountain rises from the ground, like a tall building on flat ground, without any paving and ups and downs, and the extreme drop can show the ultimate shock.

This is Zhongyue.

Jingchan Temple is located on Zhongyue.

A long river passes through Zhongyue, just as Taoism is also called Xuanmen and Buddhism is also called Shamen, so this river is called Shahe.

It was winter, and a large amount of floating ice floated on the surface of Shahe River, sometimes colliding, stirring up a crystal.

A figure slowly emerged from the water, climbed up a huge floating ice with difficulty, then turned over, lying on it in the shape of a "big" character, facing the sky, panting.

He felt as if he had swallowed a piece of red-hot charcoal, burning his entire trachea and chest as if on fire, and his breath was full of a strong smell of blood.

This man who had escaped by chance was in a miserable state. There was a shocking huge scar on his bald head, and the flesh and blood were turned over, revealing his skull. There was also a hideous wound on his face, which cut open his left cheek, and even his gums and white teeth could be seen. The tattered monk's robe was stained with blood, and even after being soaked, there was no sign of melting.

This person was Monk Yanxiu. After leaving Yulan Temple, he wandered around for a while before deciding to return to Zhongzhou Jingchan Temple. As a result, he was ambushed and killed by a group of unknown people as soon as he arrived in Zhongzhou. If he had not had the life-saving treasure given by Buddhism, he would have died.

Even so, he still paid a very heavy price to escape here.

Seeing that they had already entered the range of Zhongyue, no matter how brave this group of people was, they dared not pursue rashly and could only retreat helplessly.

Monk Yanxiu, who escaped with his life, couldn't help but think deeply, where did this group of people come from? The leaders had high cultivation, not ordinary people in the return to the truth stage, and the others were not mediocre. If they hadn't had the idea of ​​​​capturing me alive at the beginning, I was afraid that I would not have time to use the treasure to escape and would have died on the spot.

Who are these people? What is their purpose?

He only recognized one of them, who was one of the two women who fought fiercely in Yulan Temple that day. Did they come for the matter of Yulan Temple? But this group of people is obviously not from the Taoist sect, but from the secret society.

Although the Buddhist sect has actually supported the secret society to deal with the Taoist sect, the secret society is just a general term. If you really want to break it down, the major secret societies have their own positions, and there are even conflicts and struggles between them. It is really difficult for me to determine where this group of people came from.

In other words, this group of people chose to set up an ambush in Zhongzhou, which means that they had already found out my background and knew that I was a monk from Jingchan Temple. Knowing that I was a Buddhist, I still acted so boldly, which was probably unrelated to Buddhism.

However, the top priority now is to return to Jingchan Temple, heal my injuries, and save my life. As for other things, let's leave it for later.

He drifted with the floating ice for a while, until he regained some strength, then he slowly got up, jumped, stepped on the floating ice of all sizes on the river, and walked towards Jingchan Temple.

...

Little Qin Wang and Xie Qiuniang stood on the bank of the Sha River, and the end of their sight was the majestic Zhongyue.

The Sha River is very long and runs through several states, but if you go further, you will be within the scope of Jingchan Temple. With their identities, it is not good to enter it openly. Once they are caught by Buddhism, they will be doomed.

On the contrary, the Taoists can use the introduction of Yulan Temple to enter the temple openly and even go to the temple to ask for people. After all, Taoism replaced Confucianism as the orthodoxy in the world, and won the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism, forcing Buddhism to sign a humiliating alliance. Not to mention the Western Regions, they still have the confidence in the 19 states of the Central Plains.

"Strange. The Taoists have not made any moves yet, and they are swallowing their anger. When did the Taoists become so easy to talk to?" Xie Qiuniang said softly, "Or do they plan to wait until the New Year is over before dealing with this matter?"

The little King Qin did not give a clear answer, but just said: "Wait for the news from Hua Jianyi."

Soon, Hua Jianyi came to the two from not far away - she just avoided the two to receive the Taoist mother and child talisman.

The young King of Qin asked, "Is there any news over there?"

Hua Jianyi's face was not looking good: "We have found out that two people from the Taoist sect have arrived at Shangqing Prefecture, because that is the core area of ​​the Zhengyi sect, and there is also unrest within the Taoist sect. Qi Jiao, the Immortal Master Wanmiao, is leading 36 high-ranking Taoist priests from the Quanzhen sect to Yunjin Mountain to pay homage to the Grand Heavenly Master, so the entire Shangqing Prefecture is heavily guarded, and the Li family is fearless, but our people were unable to follow them."

Xie Qiuniang immediately sensed something was wrong: "Two people from the Taoist sect? Who else is there?"

Hua Jianyi was silent for a moment and said slowly: "Qiu Niang, the person you are talking about may not be dead."

"How is that possible! Under the mighty power of the gods, except for dead things, all living things cannot escape, unless he is a genuine heavenly being. But if he is a heavenly being, then the one who died should be the monk Yanxiu." Xie Qiuniang He said immediately.

King Xiao Qin fell into deep thought.

The two women looked at King Xiao Qin in unison. There was a cooperative relationship between the three of them. There was no clear idea of ​​who was the leader. It was somewhat similar to the three deputy heads of the Dao Sect, Da Zhenren, but King Xiao Qin was the mastermind.

After a while, King Xiao Qin put forward a conjecture: "Is it possible that 'Xuanyu' actually fell into the hands of that person, and he survived the divine power precisely because of 'Xuanyu' ”

Both women fell silent immediately.

This statement is indeed very credible, and at least it can be justified.

Xie Qiuniang said slowly: "If this is really the case, our attempt to ambush Monk Yanxiu was in vain."

"You can't say that." King Xiao Qin shook his head and said, "After all, it is just a conjecture without any real evidence. It may be due to other reasons."

"Then, can we still find the Taoist disciples?" Xie Qiuniang knew that there was little hope, but she couldn't help but ask.

King Xiao Qin smiled bitterly and said: "Compared to going to Yunjin Mountain to find people, it is more reliable to attack Jingchan Temple by force, but the result is the same, only one death."

Xie Qiuniang added: "Then wait until they leave Shangqing Mansion..."

Hua Jianyi said with a solemn expression: "It is very likely that they will not return to Yujing by land, but directly return to Yujing by flying boat from Shangqing Palace. And it is more likely that they have handed over the 'Xuanyu' to the Great The Zhenren Mansion has fallen into the hands of the Heavenly Master or a certain Zhenzhi Zhenzhen, and there is no hope of regaining it."

Xie Qiuniang stopped talking and just waved her hand, causing a large cluster of water splashes on the river.

King Xiao Qin sighed: "It seems that whether it is Yunjin Mountain or Jingchan Temple, it is difficult for us to take action in a short period of time. This mission to fight for the 'Xuan Jade' is considered a failure. But we still invite the flower girl Pay more attention, you may encounter these people in the future, and it may not be a turnaround.”

Hua Jian nodded in agreement.

King Xiao Qin asked again: "By the way, what's the news in the recent meeting?"

Hua Jianyi said: "When I was discussing business with Qiniang, Qiniang gave me a piece of news that was going to be out of date soon, saying that the great master of Taiping Dao had left Penglai Island and set off for Yujing, preparing to meet with all the people in Yujing. The Great Master of the Zhen Dao will take over and assume the role of the Great Master of the Quanzhen Dao. At that time, the Great Master of the Quanzhen Dao will also return to the Wanshou Chongyang Palace in Difei Mountain. In the next six months, the National Master will be the leader of the Taoist sect. "

King Xiao Qin laughed: "It is indeed news that will be out of date soon. In a few days, it won't be worth half a peace coin."