Exorcism

As winter turns to spring, the Jiehe River thaws and rushes southward again. However, Duanliu City, less than a mile away, shows no sign of melting, and the ice layer becomes even thicker.

On the day when the river was flowing, Mu Lie spent his nineteenth birthday alone. The gift was to cut three more wooden stakes than usual. He insisted on practicing his sword and never took a day off. The sword he originally brought was already unusable. There is no shortage of weapons near Duanliu City. The holy talisman soldiers are gone, but all the supplies are left. All kinds of talismans and swords are at his disposal.

At dusk, he walked to the bridge - even the bridge was built by the Holy Talisman Army, and it was already shaky due to the lack of maintenance by the talismans - and looked towards the other side, where greenery appeared in the wilderness, and across the bridge, there was Like two seasons, two worlds, this made him deeply appreciate the power of magic.

Not far from the bridge, there are more powerful spells demonstrating their power. The Patriarch Tower stands by the river. Whenever the sun sets and the angle of the sun is right, a large number of flowing talisman patterns will appear on the tower, and occasionally there will be a beam of light. Or a puff of smoke rises into the sky, often accompanied by a few shaking sounds. Sometimes there is a big black bird hovering on the top of the tower, like dark clouds covering the sun, and the entire Duanliu City seems to be darkened by this.

Mu Lie was used to seeing such scenes, and still found it thrilling.

A greeting came from the distance, and Mu Lie turned to look. It turned out to be Yin Buchen and his monkeys, stacked in a long line, stepping on a piece of ice that had not yet melted and floated from upstream.

"Spring has returned to the earth, and the setting sun is shining brightly. Silly boy, are you feeling nostalgic for the spring by guarding the lone bridge?" Yin Buchen jumped to the shore, and none of the monkeys on his body fell off.

Mu Lie laughed a few times. He was very happy to see this monster. Duanliu City was too quiet. Apart from the sound of running water and the sound of wind, almost no one spoke. The west and east of the city had never interacted with each other, even if they were the ancestors who lived together. Mu Xingqiu and Yang Qingyin from the tower rarely made any sound.

Only Yin Buchen loves to chat. He doesn't live in Duanliu City. He often goes away for four or five days with the monkeys. When he comes back, he vividly recounts what he has seen and heard outside. Listening to what he means, it seems like he is thousands of miles away.

"Where did you come back from?" Mu Lie asked loudly.

"I went to the South China Sea and came back with some sea-breaking pearls."

Mu Lie smiled and said nothing. He had never been to the sea, but he knew that it was far away from Duanliu City. Yin Bushen might be bragging, or he might actually have such a spell. He had no way of judging.

"Don't you believe it? Hey, ordinary people, I can't explain it to you." Yin Buchen counted for a while, "Today is March, right?"

"The fourth day of March." Mu Lie counts the days every day.

"It's your birthday, right?"

Mu Lie's eyes widened, "How do you know?"

"This is called omniscience - in fact, you were talking in your sleep, and the monkey heard it."

Mu Lie was dubious, "Do they come into the city at night? I have never heard their voices."

"What can you hear? The night the Spirit King arrived, Duanliu City almost collapsed. You were fast asleep, did you hear any sound?"

Mu Lie shook his head in embarrassment. He really didn't notice it at the time. When he woke up the next day, he was really surprised to see two large gaps in the city wall.

"Well, let me give you a gift."

Mu Lie's face suddenly turned red and he waved his hands, "No, no, it's just a birthday, and...and..."

"And you are a human and I am a demon. You don't want my things."

Mu Lie's face turned even redder and he said seriously: "I probably have demon blood, so why would I look down on you? It's true... no one has ever given me a birthday gift."

"Where are your parents?"

Mu Lie scratched his head, "They will cook me a delicious meal, but there will be no gifts."

"I do know how to cook a few dishes, which are all Laojun's favorites. They are definitely not to your taste... Do you like gold, silver and jewelry?"

Mu Lie shook his head, "No need really."

"In these days, gold, silver and jewelry are not as good as swords, guns, swords and halberds. Do you want to learn magic?"

Mu Lie was stunned. He could see the miracles of magic every day in Duanliu City. It was impossible not to be moved at all. After thinking for a while, he shook his head again, "Thank you, but I heard that if you want to learn advanced magic, you must I can't do it without being ruthless and giving up my desires.

"You know how to use swords?" Mu Lie was a little surprised. He thought that those who knew magic would never need swords.

"The road is made step by step." Yin Buchen reached out and snatched the knife from Mu Lie's hand, took a few steps back and performed a few tricks. The monkeys surrounded him, imitating and shouting to increase their momentum.

Mu Lie's eyes widened. Yin Buchen's sword skills were much better than his, especially Yin Buchen's magic power. He could learn every move.

Mu Lie did not hesitate and said loudly: "I will learn, I will learn this!"

Yin Buchen stopped and laughed loudly: "It turns out that it's not that I don't want a gift, but I want a gift that goes well with me. Come with me."

Yin Buchen strode towards the north of the city, and Mu Lie followed closely behind him without being polite.

The ice and snow three miles north of the city had melted. At the foot of a hill, Yin Buchen danced his sword again. This time the move was complete. Mu Lie felt itchy when he saw it. Suddenly he saw a knife appearing in front of him. It turned out that several monkeys came to find him. There are many swords, one for each monkey, and Mu Lie also has a share.

"See clearly." Yin Buchen practiced for the second time, slowing down his movements and explaining every detail of the technique and the distinction between virtual and real.

Mu Lie's understanding of swordsmanship was so good that he almost didn't need to explain it to Yin Buchen a second time.

After four or five times, Mu Lie had almost learned it. Yin Buchen sat on a rock at the foot of the mountain and threw away the knife. "Master, lead me in. Cultivation is personal. I have finished teaching. The rest is up to you." "Practice diligently and use it frequently. In the end, when Zuo Liuying kills you, you may still have time to blink."

Mu Lie didn't care about the sarcasm, he just felt that the sword technique was exquisite and suited his own liking. He threw down the sword and knelt down to Yin Buchen, "Teach me the sword technique, and I will worship you as my teacher."

Yin Buchen somersaulted behind Mu Lie, "I won't accept you as my apprentice. If you really want to challenge Zuo Liuying, won't I be implicated?"

Mu Lie stood up and said, "Not just in case, I will definitely challenge Zuo Liuying. I understand what you mean, I will not worship you as my teacher, but I will remember your kindness."

"I can't remember how long." Yin Buchen walked towards Duanliu City, suddenly turned around and looked at the top of the mountain, "Who is he? He is sneaky, he seems to be a Taoist priest."

A Taoist priest really flew down from the top of the mountain. He had white beard and hair and a majestic appearance. After landing, he circled around Mu Lie, and then looked at Yin Buchen coldly, "You are a half-demon Yin Buchen."

"You are Pangshan Taoist Shen Jixian."

The monkeys gathered around.

"Pangshan? I've heard of Pangshan." Mu Lie said.

"Pangshan is gone." Shen Jixian said sternly, still staring at Yin Buchen, but he said to Mu Lie: "You are not allowed to learn this sword technique."

"Why?" Mu Lie asked in surprise, his intimacy with Pang Shan completely gone.

Shen Jixian ignored Mu Lie and said to Yin Buchen: "This is the Taoist Five Elements Sword Technique. It is not taught to non-Taoist disciples. Who taught it to you? Mu Xingqiu? Yang Qingyin? Or Qin Lingshuang?"

Yin Buchen laughed loudly, "Pangshan has been destroyed a long time ago, the Taoist tradition has been torn apart, and death is not far away. You actually still care about a sword technique? This sword technique can only be learned by disciples who have not condensed the pill, right?"

"The Taoist tradition is still there, and the Taoist rules are still there." Shen Jixian looked at the Patriarch Tower in the east of the city.

"Okay, you go and enforce the Taoist rules. Mu Xingqiu and Yang Qingyin are both in the tower. Oh, by the way, you can't beat them."

"Rules are rules. If I can't enforce them, someone else will of course enforce them."

"Shi Hanyuan? It's too weak. Could it be that your Hongshan Taoist group has defected to Kun Chaos?"

Mu Lie felt embarrassed and interrupted: "I don't practice sword skills just..."

"You have to practice, and you have to practice now." Yin Buchen has been very angry recently, "The Taoist tradition can't even protect the lives of mortals, so what qualifications do you have to point fingers? Kun Chao is the founder of the Taoist tradition, right? He destroyed the world, and he is the most guilty of all. For a Taoist priest, it’s okay if you don’t apologize, but you still want to follow the rules, which is really ridiculous.”

"We will correct the mistakes made by the Taoists ourselves." Shen Jixian looked at the large bright mirror in the east of the city and murmured: "There is a Taoist priest here."

"Haha, aren't you yourself a Taoist?" Yin Buchen glared at Mu Lie, "Why don't you practice swordsmanship? Are you starting to be lazy now?"

Mu Lie immediately wielded his sword, but his heart was not at ease, and his eyes always looked at the white-haired Taoist priest.

"I am just a Taoist disciple now, not a real Taoist priest." Shen Jixian looked around, "You two are not worthy of my action, but the Taoist rules will eventually be restored together with the world - I advise you to be careful. good."

"If the Taoist order recovers, will they let us monsters go? No, you still have to slay demons, so what should I be careful about?" Yin Buchen spread his hands, expressing his fearlessness.

Shen Jixian had some impressions of Yin Buchen, and couldn't help but wonder, when did the little demon next to Mu Xingqiu and Yishi Jun become fearless? He relied on his identity and did not want to argue. He snorted and said to himself: "Is it Qin Lingshuang? But she is just a soul, not even her body... How is this possible?"

"Hey, old Taoist, what are you mumbling about? Although Taoist Qin only has a true and illusory body, her cultivation is much deeper than yours. If anyone in the world can be called a true Taoist, I will only choose her." Yin Bu Shen still remembers what Yang Qingyin said and spoke highly of Qin Lingshuang.

"A true Taoist priest..." Shen Jixian thought for a while and suddenly asked: "Does she have the heart of a Taoist priest?"

"There's no need to ask." As a witness of that fight, Yin Buchen could say this with confidence, "The emotional calamity has been over, and there is no obsession at all. Taoist Qin has the heart of the only Taoist priest in the world. "

Shen Jixian didn't believe in the demon clan, but he had to believe in his own eyes. The magic light emitted by the large bright mirror was the clearest evidence.

"Does the thirty-ninth generation patriarch really belong to her?" Shen Jixian was confused and excited.