Exorcism

The small tent was dim and dim, with no other furnishings except a bed. Meng Xu paced back and forth in the narrow open space. When he turned around for the eleventh time, he stopped and said to himself: "I will never Hand over the inner elixir.

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Meng Xu himself was frightened by this idea. Handing over the inner elixir was not an order from Mu Xingqiu or a certain person, but a request from the entire Taoist tradition. Compared with killing everyone, this was considered magnanimous, but ——

Meng Xu recalled many past events: her surprise at being selected by Zhaoshan, her excitement when she condensed her Qi into a pill, the pride and excitement brought about by each advancement in her realm, and finally she encountered the Sighing Tribulation.

After joining Zhaoshan at the age of twelve, after 115 years of practice, Meng Xu, who was in the fourth level of smoking, suddenly felt exhausted. The road ahead was too long and difficult, and she had exhausted all her will. To be honest, confirm After she could no longer improve her level, her first feeling was not regret, but relief.

She does not need to feel ashamed. There are many Taoist priests who have stopped at the realm of dining and breathing. The fourth level of swallowing smoke can already rank among the upper-middle ranks. For ordinary Taoist priests, it means that another life begins. She He can live another four to five hundred years, work diligently in the field of elixirs, and maybe create a few new formulas, thus leaving his name in the Taoist books.

To start practicing again and experience pride, excitement and excitement again? No, no, Meng Xu does not have such a strong will.

"I'm hiding so that I won't be found by the Taoists or the demons. My inner elixir won't cause trouble." The more Meng Xu thought about it, the more he felt that this plan was feasible, but there was still the risk of becoming a demon to consider. "A few months Nothing happened to me. I am hiding in a deserted place. Even if I am possessed, who can I affect?"

The fear in Meng Xu's heart gradually disappeared. He glanced around and found that there was nothing to pack. The magic weapons were all gone. The materials for making alchemy were all in another snow house. "I won't take anything with me. I will return the elixir." I made it, that’s enough.”

Meng Xu felt more at ease, believing that he did not owe Taoist Mogong and Mu Xingqiu any favors.

She sat on the bed and waited patiently for dawn. The Taoist priests were more tightly guarded at night, so they would not be noticed during the day.

At this moment, how many people are unable to sleep at night or even carry out daily meditation because they have to hand over their inner elixir? Meng Xu felt that he would never be the only one. Maybe we can find some like-minded people to go with. Meng Xu almost got up to find someone. She knew that there were several demon-invading Taoist priests who might have the same idea as hers.

Not long after, she gave up the idea. This was a risky move. The Taoist priests believed in Mu Xingqiu and even relied on him. Someone might inform them, and the more people there were, the more likely their whereabouts would be exposed.

Meng Xu decided to act alone.

At dawn, Meng Xu waited for a while longer to avoid arousing suspicion. After two-quarters of an hour, she couldn't wait any longer and was so anxious that it reminded her of her eagerness when she was a child waiting for her mother to open the lid of the pot by the stove.

She made up a story. There were some rare herbs in the nearby mountains, and she wanted to collect some for reserve. She didn't need help... But she thought too much, and no one came forward to ask. She was the only swallow in the camp. Smoke Taoist priests have always been treated with the respect they deserve.

The Taoist priests outside the tent nodded to her, and two of them actually wanted to invite her over for a chat. They sensed that she was not interested and swallowed back the invitation.

After spending more than two months together day and night, Meng Xu developed some feelings for the Taoist priest, even more than she missed Zhaoshan. That was the place where she had lived for more than a hundred years, but she had no chance to have too much time with her fellow disciples during her practice. More contact.

Xiao Hao and Bald Man chased each other around the fleas, and they were the only ones in the whole camp who remained happy. This was not surprising, Bald Man was unintentional, and Xiao Hao had just reached the third level of inhalation, so handing over the inner elixir had little impact on them.

Meng Xu walked out of the camp, trying not to walk too fast, and climbed up a nearby mountain. She looked back at the top of the mountain. No demon-invading Taoist priest had noticed that she was about to escape. Everything in the camp was as usual. There was a demon statue standing in the spirit demon camp. Further west are the monster camps, which are larger and more lively inside.

When these demon clans hear about Dao Tui's plan, they will probably turn their backs immediately.

Meng Xu continued to move forward, quickening her pace, but did not fly up, which would attract unnecessary attention, and her main magic weapon was gone. Flying purely with magic power would consume too much, so she had to make long-term plans.

After noon, Meng Xu climbed over five peaks. When he turned back, he could no longer see the camp.

A red dot on the east hillside caught her attention. She knew from experience that it was a herb. Anyway, she had no special plan. Meng Xu walked towards the red dot.

A grand seven-petal snow flower is in full bloom. This flower blooms once every three years. It is usually white and blends in with the snow. It is extremely difficult to find. It only turns bright red when it blooms, attracting the attention of living things.

This is not a precious herb, but it is not something you can get if you want it. Meng Xu has only seen dried snow flowers, and this is the first time he has seen the living form.

She hesitated for a while and decided to take it away. In the lonely years to come, she would continue to make elixirs and make medicine.

There are many rules for picking herbs, and it is not as simple as reaching out to pick them. Since there is no magic weapon, I can only keep everything simple and cast the spell directly with my hands to remove the water from the entire plant, leaving only the dried essence, and then carefully uproot it. Dig it out. The advantage of doing this is that it can retain the aura of heaven and earth in the rhizome.

The whole process took nearly two-quarters of an hour. Meng Xu almost forgot about her escape plan. When she put the complete Snow Flower into the Qiankun Bag, she felt satisfied and felt that it was worth the time.

When she straightened up and was about to move on, she was stunned for a moment and her heart almost stopped beating.

On a snowdrift just ten steps away, an old man in Taoist attire sat, staring at her unblinkingly.

"This is the eleventh time it has been opened and the first time it has been picked." The old Taoist priest said. His voice did not sound old, but it had no characteristics and it was easy for people to forget it after hearing it.

"You mean this Snow Hidden Flower?" Meng Xu was extremely surprised. This Taoist priest could tell the age of the herbal medicine at a glance, which was much better than his own, a disciple of the Alchemy Department. "You are a Taoist priest who has come to collect the inner elixir." of?"

Meng Xu's heart almost dropped to his lower dantian.

But the old Taoist priest shook his head, "There is a demon statue nearby. I came over to take a look, and happened to find this snow flower. I wanted it, but you beat me to it."

Meng Xu immediately summoned the snow flower that he had worked so hard to dig out, holding it in both hands, "Please accept it, consider it a gift from me."

The Taoist priest didn't make any move, and the dried snow flower automatically left Meng Xu's hand and flew in front of him.

The Taoist priest looked at it intently for a while, then suddenly opened his mouth and swallowed it whole from the flower to the root. He did not chew a little bit, but went into his stomach in one bite. The snow hidden flower was more than two feet long, but he did not seem embarrassed at all.

Meng Xu was extremely surprised, and became more and more convinced that this was a high-level Taoist priest, probably a Taoist priest.

"Seven hundred years ago, a snow leopard died here. The body was covered in ice and snow and slowly rotted. The seeds of this snow leopard came from five hundred miles southeast and drifted in the wind for a whole year before landing on the snow leopard's body. , absorbed the last bit of its flesh, lived for thirty-three years, bloomed eleven times, and was picked by you today.”

Meng Xu stood blankly for a while, and then said respectfully: "Are you Taoist fellow Taoist Li Huashi from the Hongshan Alchemy Department?"

There are only two Taoist priests in the Department of Alchemy. One is Yang Yannian, the master of Pangshan, whom Meng Xu has met before. At that time, Yang Yannian was still in the Xingluo realm and was detained by Luanjing Mountain. The other is Li Huashi of Hongshan, Meng Xu. Never seen it before.

The old Taoist priest still didn't answer, but continued to mutter to himself, "It's a pity that not enough demon seeds have been injected into it. The golem can only be a golem and cannot become a real demon. It's too late. Alas, it's too late." In one step, the devil's heart has been destroyed, and the use of the golem will be reduced. Maybe we can use another method..."

The old Taoist priest chattered endlessly, but it all sounded unpredictable to Meng Xu. After listening to it for a while, she couldn't help but ask: "Why does Taoist tradition hide? Taoist tradition has indeed declined, and it has not obeyed Rimang Taoist priests, but With more numbers and more powerful magic weapons, they may not be weaker than the demons."

The old Taoist priest was still talking about the demon statue. After a while, he suddenly changed the topic and answered Meng Xu's question, "...There is nothing strange about this. The tricks of the Taoism are the same as those of the demons more than 130,000 years ago. The demons The clan was tired of killing Taoist priests one by one, so they deliberately showed weakness, so all the Taoist priests hiding in various places came out and decided to have a decisive battle. In the end, the Taoist clan won because there was a traitor within the demon clan..."

"Traitor? Didn't Dao Tong rely on his own strength to defeat the demons?"

The old Taoist priest seemed not to have heard Meng Xu's words and continued talking on his own, "The Taoists are going to repeat their old tricks. They don't plan to have another long war, but to deal with all the demons at once."

"That's not right. Once the demon-suppressing clock is broken, all the demon species will pour out from Wangshan. There is no need to plan to gather them together."

It was impossible to talk to the old Taoist priest. He raised a finger and was completely immersed in his words, "The nine treasures are the key. Over the past hundreds of thousands of years, they have accumulated more and more power, and they have already exceeded the entire The power of Taoism, but how to activate the power inside is a big problem. If it is too easy to activate, it will bring danger to Taoism. If it is too difficult, it will lose the opportunity to defeat the enemy. Therefore, Taoism must hide as a whole. It must have something to do with it.”

The old Taoist priest thought for a while, "But what is the solution? Oh, I have a headache. I need to eat a Taoist priest to find the answer."

Meng Xu stepped back and asked in a trembling voice: "You are not a Taoist priest. Who are you?"

"There is a Taoist priest right in front of me." The old Taoist priest stared at Meng Xu for a while, even his eyes were featureless. "It's a pity that she is too ordinary, she doesn't know anything, and her food is tasteless."

"Are you Mr. Yishi?" Meng Xu finally came to his senses. All the behaviors of this old Taoist priest were very similar to the legendary Mr. Yishi.

The old Taoist priest stood up, and his appearance underwent a series of changes. One day he was a Taoist priest, another time he was a monster, and another time he was a beast. Like a series of overlapping shadows, he said, "Only one who knows everything is a god. This is the only difference between me and a god." , but I am working hard, I want to know everything, so I have to find a Taoist priest who knows about it to eat it."

The figure flashed continuously, and the old Taoist priest was about to disappear, and suddenly said, "The soul is a rare delicacy, I'd better start with it."

(End of this volume)

Volume Thirteen The Frozen Eve