Exorcism

The fragrance of flowers in Chenyuan overflows, intoxicating those who hear it, but it cannot move the noses of high-level Taoist priests. A total of twenty-three spiritual Taoist priests gathered here, including eight masters. Since the war that ended with suspicion and division six years ago, After the Luanjing Mountain gathering, this was the first time that the masters of the eight Taoist traditions discussed major plans together. There were not many topics, but they were all full of arguments.

Mu Xingqiu stood alone outside the flower hall, quietly admiring the fruits of Shen Xiuming's labor, thinking about nothing, not even caring about all the accusations against him.

He just came back last night. It had been nearly two months since he set off from the imperial capital. During this period, too many things had happened. Even he himself found it unbelievable. He knew that it would be almost impossible to convince the Taoist priests in the flower hall. , his only option is to tell the truth and wait for their decision.

Shen Hao and Xiao Qingtao walked in a hurry and stopped when they were more than ten feet away from him. They encountered the restriction set by the Taoist priest and did not dare to move forward.

Mu Xingqiu walked over and smiled at the two of them through an invisible and powerful shield.

"Are they all true?" After being cleaned by the prohibition, Shen Hao's voice was a little strange, erratic and incoherent, as if the last sound of each word had been plucked out.

"There are too many things. Which one are you referring to?" Mu Xingqiu believed that the same was true when his voice came out.

Shen Hao thought for a while and asked starting from the most important thing: "Did you take the magic potion?"

"You mean the Demon Transformation Pill? We don't have any at the moment." Mu Xingqiu took out a small porcelain bottle from his arms, "I want to get the consent of the Taoist priests before I take it."

Shen Hao and Xiao Qingtao looked in disbelief, and it took a while for Shen Hao to speak: "Are you crazy?"

"I have a reason, but please let me explain it to the Taoist priest inside first." There was no trace of madness on Mu Xingqiu's face. The most difficult stage of choice was over. All he had to do now was to speak his mind. with a plan and then execute it wholeheartedly.

The two people outside the ban were silent again, and then Xiao Qingtao spoke, "Where is Yang Qingyin? I heard that she was kidnapped by a group of demons. There is also Xin Youtao and Ouyang Hao, there has been no news about them."

"They are all safe now. Mu Xingqiu comforted the two people opposite him more with his expressions than words, "Xin Youtao, Ouyang Hui and Shen Ji voluntarily stayed in Baizhang City as hostages, so that I can return to Pangshan smoothly. I'll be swapping them out soon. "

The two of them were even more surprised. Xiao Qingtao noticed that Mu Xingqiu was deliberately avoiding Yang Qingyin's topic, and asked instead: "Have you... met Pei Zihan?"

Mu Xingqiu nodded and put away his smile, "He made his own decision. He also knew what he was doing. There was another agreed-upon fight between him and me that did not go ahead."

Xiao Qingtao had a lot of questions that she wanted to ask, but she couldn't even say them out.

Shen Hao knew that Mu Xingqiu could not speak freely to the Taoist priests before accepting their questions, so he said instead: "Everyone from the Demon Slayer Guild is waiting for your return."

"How many people are here?"

"Less than 200 people, more than 40 people from Pangshan, and more than 150 people from other sects." Shen Hao has worked very hard, but the Demon Slayer Association is still deteriorating. If Mu Xingqiu is convicted of some crime , the situation will be even worse, and may even end without a cure.

"I want to see you all later today." Mu Xingqiu didn't know when he would be summoned, let alone when the questioning would end.

"Okay, most of them live in Duanliu City, so they are easy to recruit."

Two Taoist priests came towards the path in the distance. Shen Hao sped up and asked about the most important thing, "Yashan Zhao Zhijin..."

The two Taoist priests looked very far away, but in a blink of an eye, Shen Hao had no choice but to shut up, nodded to Mu Xingqiu, and left with Xiao Qingtao, only saluting one of the two comers.

The person who received the courtesy was Yang Qingyin's mother, and the other person was Yashan Taoist priest Shen Jiyi. He met the team escorting the people and followed them out of the demon clan's territory. This time he came to Pangshan to testify.

Shen Jiyi had already obtained permission and walked into the forbidden area calmly. He smiled at Mu Xingqiu as a greeting and then walked towards the flower hall.

Yang Qingyin’s mother looked at Shen Jiyi’s back until he disappeared at the entrance of the flower hall, then she said in a questioning tone: “You didn’t bring Yang Qingyin back.

"No, but she is not in danger for the time being."

"Please don't use such words to deal with me. Now I am not a Taoist priest, but a mother. I am willing to give up practice for the sake of my daughter. I can bear everything, but I cannot accept lies and ignorance."

Mu Xingqiu had only met this female Taoist priest a few times. In his mind, Yang Qingyin's parents were strict and rigid, and they were pure Taoist priests. How could their love for their daughter help her give birth to more talented offspring? But after the Battle of Luanjing Mountain, Yang Qingyin seemed to have never been under such pressure again.

Mu Xingqiu looked at the female Taoist priest who now only wanted to be a mother, and told the truth: "Yang Qingyin was forced to take the demon pill, and part of her memory was removed. She is now with the spirit demon transformed from the Pangshan spirit beast. Heading to the land of monsters.”

"She remembers it, but the memory removal and demon transformation had a greater impact on her than imagined. She is now more inclined to become a spirit demon."

The female Taoist priest fell into silence. She was not an ordinary person. She understood the power of magic. Her daughter's voluntary choice was just an appearance. The magic imposed on her must be very powerful. "What did you do for her?"

"It is very dangerous for a Taoist priest to transform into a demon. Six Taoist priests died because of this, and none of them were really successful. So I asked for a medicine for her that can delay the process of transforming into a demon. Now she is still a human being, and her life is not in danger for the time being."

Mu Xingqiu did more than that, but he didn't want to reveal those things that had no results yet.

But this was enough. Yang Qingyin's mother's expression quickly softened, and she even smiled, "If I had expected today's worry, I would never have given birth to her. Many Taoist priests refused to have offspring, but I overestimated With my own abilities, I thought I could easily cut off the love between mother and daughter, but in the end I couldn’t survive this physical calamity. I must admit that I am just a mediocre smoke-eating Taoist priest, and I stopped practicing six years ago, so I will wait for you to go again. When rescuing people, I want to go with you."

Mu Xingqiu bowed to Yang's mother in a Taoist manner and said, "Okay."

Hearing the call in his mind, Mu Xingqiu saluted again, turned and walked towards the flower hall, to face the twenty-three spiritually focused Taoist priests.

Yang's mother stood outside the ban and suddenly said loudly: "You are no longer Pangshan Taoist priest, and Yashan has never been Pangshan's ally!"

This was the only reminder she could give. Mu Xingqiu happened to walk into the flower hall, and she didn't know if her words were conveyed.

The flower hall is a tall and spacious wooden shed, with vines climbing on the shelves. Twenty-three Taoist priests stand around it, with no discernible priority. During this gathering, they did not talk in a fugue way, but faced each other, showing that they have a deep understanding of each other. attention to the gathering.

Mu Xingqiu entered the flower hall and reached the center in one step, like a newborn lion cub being inspected by dozens of adult lions from the entire group.

He saw Zuo Liuying and Pangshan's new grandmaster. Only these two showed clear faces to him. The faces of the other Taoist priests who were paying attention were all blurred. Mu Xingqiu couldn't see clearly even though they were more than ten steps apart.

The new grandmaster's name is Yang Yannian. He comes from the Danyang Department and is a member of the Taoist Yang family. He is also a close relative of the previous acting grandmaster Shen Jixian.

Mu Xingqiu didn't see Shen Jiyi who came in first. The Yashan Taoist priest was sent away after he handed over his memory to testify.

Among the many high-ranking Taoist priests in the flower hall, Yang Yannian was at the lowest level. He had only reached the first level of concentration less than a year ago. However, he was Pangshan Grandmaster and had the status of the host, so he spoke on behalf of everyone.

Yang Yannian looks to be about forty years old. He is tall, has high cheekbones, sunken cheeks, and a beardless chin. His whole face has a majestic look like a skeleton.

His voice matched it, as unquestionable as an oracle.

"We have found out the truth about the death of Taoist Zhao Zhijin in Yashan Xingluo."

Before Mu Xingqiu could even explain himself, the investigation was over. He had no choice but to listen and accept.

"The following is the decision jointly made by our twenty-three Taoist priests." Yang Yannian continued. Even the most severe sentence issued by the most severe judge in the world could not produce the impact of his plain words. So frightened, Mu Xingqiu had to cast a spell to keep himself calm.

Soon, this shock turned into real pressure, coming from all directions, and Mu Xingqiu could only protect Santian.

"Yashan Xingluo Taoist Zhao Zhijin wanted to take back a drop of water from the sword-washing pool. He was not at fault. However, he set up a trap to secretly take Pangshan disciple Mu Songxuan away. This violated the Taoist principle of mutual trust and ultimately led to his death. Therefore, Taoist Mu Xingqiu is not responsible for this matter."

This was a fair verdict. Mu Xingqiu could not hope for a more reasonable result than this. However, he tried his best to contend with the shocking atmosphere in the flower hall. He could not speak and could only nod reluctantly.

"The whereabouts of Pangshan disciple Mu Songxuan are unknown. All Taoist families have promised that no matter which family discovers his whereabouts, he will be sent to Asan."

Bald Zi and Bai Qing, a female Taoist priest from Luanjing Mountain, disappeared together. Mu Xingqiu wasted some time in Xijie Country because of this, but even the demon clan did not discover the whereabouts of these two people.

This decision is also reasonable. It involves the treasure of Yashan. Even if the bald man is a complete Pangshan Taoist priest, he still has to be sent to Yashan. Mu Xingqiu had been prepared for this, just hoping to get a guarantee that he would not harm the bald man, but he could not speak. As he resisted, the unknown, unknown purpose, and unknown source of magic became stronger and stronger, like A huge mountain was pressing down, and it was difficult for him to even nod.

"Taoist Mu Xingqiu, you need to explain clearly all your experiences in the past period."

The pressure was getting stronger and stronger, and the Taoist priests paid attention not only to let Mu Xingqiu tell his experience, but also to directly see the memories in his mind.

This is what he hates and cannot accept the most. Knowing that there is no hope of resistance, he still keeps increasing his magic power. He will never hand over his memory until the last moment.

Suddenly, the pressure was gone, as if another force was pushing it away.

Mu Xingqiu didn't know whether this was a concession from the Taoist priests or someone helping him, but he finally returned to normal, shook his body twice, took out six inner elixirs and six small cloth bags, and then asked the Taoist priests to spoke in front of them.

"I will start with the art of transforming demons, and also mention the true illusion and the soul. Finally, I will talk about the origin of Taoism as I understand it."

The last time Mu Xingqiu surprised the Taoist priests was when he announced his intention to withdraw from the Pangshan Taoism. This time, what he aroused was incomprehensible and a little contempt: a young Taoist priest actually wanted to challenge the most powerful group of people in the Eighth Taoism. Lecture.