Exorcism

The power of food is so powerful and strange that people who are full of food and wine cannot feel it, people who are half-starved and half-full can feel it but may not dare to use it, and people who are hungry become completely slaves to this power.

This time, food not only aroused Mu Xingqiu's homesickness, but also calmed down the furious Qilin.

After the flea removed the gold and silver shavings from Mu Xingqiu's hand for the third time, it regained some of its previous docility. It did not remember Mu Xingqiu's identity, but regarded it as a food source that should not be removed, so it His eyes still flashed with hatred.

After Mu Xingqiu swallowed the third piece of dough, he raised his head and looked at the people around him.

Wearing fur coats and hats, these people look like a group of hunters living in the mountains. They use talismans but they are not like the talisman masters in Longbin Club. They seem to respect Shen Shang as their leader but often make fun of him.

Everyone sat together, and the "Orions" were obviously more interested in Mu Xingqiu, Jin Cu and Qilin, but they politely did not ask random questions, but listened to Shen Shang telling the experiences they already knew.

"After leaving Pangshan, I first went to the Shengfu Dynasty." Shen Shang had a small beard that was not very thick under his chin. He had not developed the habit of stroking his beard, and his voice did not have the wisdom and maturity of an old man. Probably because of this, he didn't get the respect of his companions, but he didn't care.

After wandering around the Shengfu Dynasty and various vassal states for more than half a year, Shen Shang felt quite bored. His only curiosity pushed him to go to the Country of Sacrifice, the only half-demon country recognized by humans.

"More than half of the country of Saishen is desert, and I don't know the way. I fly or walk. I haven't seen a human being for three months. In this way, I feel the horror of loneliness. So you can imagine that when I finally saw a human being, , how excited I am.”

Taoist priests don't get excited, but Shen Shang is a failed Taoist priest, so it's normal to have such a reaction. Mu Xingqiu was only surprised by one thing, "Human shadow? You mean the demonic shadow, right?"

"Of course, but I really regarded him as a human being at that time. Shen Shang always smiled, as if he was satisfied with everything he enjoyed, "It is the same now. "

Mu Xingqiu could see that the "people" around Shen Shang were actually demons. Most of them might be non-demon and some were half-demon. However, they were different from the demons Mu Xingqiu had come into contact with before. They are a little cruel and stupid. As Shen Shang said, they are really no different from humans.

"The Country of Sacrifice is very large, and its territory may be even more vast than that of the Shengfu Dynasty. The Country of Sacrifice is also very small, and there are very few fertile fields that can truly recuperate. I entered the most barren areas of the Country of Sacrifice and got to know some of the people who lived the most difficult lives. Demons and non-demon, they struggle to survive and know very little about the outside world. They have not even heard of Taoist priests, but I still changed my Taoist robes."

Shen Shang touched the dirty and old leather jacket on his body and was very satisfied with it. "But I can't change the heart of a Taoist priest. I still have random thoughts. At one time, I thought I had understood something, and even wrote all the thoughts in my mind one by one. I wrote down my thoughts, and then I realized that they were all meaningless nonsense, so I burned them all.”

"Don't you even know that the Ancestor Peak was destroyed?"

"I didn't hear about this until a long time later. To be honest, even if I had known about it at the time, I might not have come out to help. My power was too small. But I still got in touch with Pang Shan again. A younger sister occasionally exchanged letters with me, and it was she who told me that Tao Tong was about to retire. "

Not long ago, Mu Xingqiu would have been very concerned about Shen Shang's reaction, but now he is more curious about the identities of these non-demon and half-demon. Shen Shang noticed this, so he immediately changed the subject, "They all sacrificed their lives. The talismans in the country have learned the art of talismans through various channels, but they do not belong to any Longbin guild. Therefore, they are not talisman masters, but call themselves talismans - guests who borrow talismans. "

"Why are you learning talismans?" Mu Xingqiu was confused.

A middle-aged talisman customer with a simple and honest appearance smiled and said: "The talisman is a good thing. We use it to hunt, make fires, transport water, and farm. In short, we all rely on it to survive in the most desolate places.

Shen Shang added: "Not all demon clans have demon pills, and not all demon clans want to occupy human territory. They never participate in the internal and external wars of the demon clan, so you can't see Fu Luke in the demon army. ”

Mu Xingqiu nodded, "Your talisman is very special."

"That's because we don't know the most advanced talismans, so we have to stay close to the target to sacrifice the talisman." The middle-aged talisman master pointed at Shen Shang, "He taught us a lot."

"When I was idle and bored in Pangshan, I learned some talismans, but unfortunately I didn't take it seriously at the time." Shen Shang sighed, but the little talismans he learned were also valuable to the remote demon clan talismans. Very rare advice.

Mu Xingqiu understood that Shen Shang, a good-for-nothing Taoist priest in the Shen family of Pangshan, became an important figure in the desolate area of ​​​​the country of sacrifice. He fell in love with this feeling and even refused to retreat with Taoism, preferring to accept the method of re-annihilation and start anew. Practice inner elixir.

As for the more than twenty talisman guests, it can be seen from their uncontrollable excitement and nervousness that they followed Shen Shang out to see the world.

Has Shen Shang told them what it means to retreat from the Taoist tradition? In ten years at most, the demon clan will sweep over the entire world. Can the desert still protect these demon clan with low requirements?

Mu Xingqiu didn't ask, and he didn't let himself think too much. In a world that was on the verge of collapse, everyone had a way of dealing with themselves, and turning a blind eye was one of them. There was no need for him to expose it.

"Thank you for the cake." Mu Xingqiu stood up, "If you want to sever ties with the Taoist tradition, you have to go to Yang Qingyin. If you want to rebuild your inner alchemy, go to Zuo Liuying. I can't help you."

Shen Shang also stood up, a whole head shorter than Mu Xingqiu, "Well, Jin Cu has already told me. In fact, I'm not very interested in rebuilding the inner elixir. I only need the method of destroying it once and for all - the thought of opening my mouth to my mother Please help, I really have a headache."

Shen Shang scratched his head and laughed a few times, "But she will always agree, but I still want to see you and give you a piece of advice."

"Since you have severed ties with Taoism, Zuo Liuying and Yang Qingyin, you might as well join us. Except for hunting, Fu Luke does not participate in any wars. He can support himself. The place he lives in is full of barren mountains and rivers, and he has never been coveted. There you can live quietly without any interruption, and no one forces you to practice martial arts, and no one requires you to become a leader.”

Mu Xingqiu was slightly moved, but still shook his head and refused, "I want to walk around first, and we'll talk about it later."

Shen Shang did not continue to persuade, "It's always good to take a walk, and you also need to find out the truth about Yelin Town. When you want to find us, go to the Ghost Desert Mountains of Sheshen Country, fly west along the mountains, and find a There are very few settlements in this place called Sanshuiling, so you can always find one. We welcome you.”

"I will consider it." Mu Xingqiu nodded to Shen Shang and all the Talisman guests, and unconsciously moved his fingers to signal Qilin to follow him.

The flea followed him unconsciously, but kept staring at the treasure bag on his waist, feeling even more insatiable than before.

Jin Cui followed silently a hundred steps away. Mu Xingqiu walked as he walked, and Mu Xingqiu flew as he flew, always keeping this distance.

A few miles later, after passing through a forest, Shen Shang and others could no longer be seen. Mu Xingqiu turned around and rushed to Jin Cu, looking at him coldly.

Jin Cuu did not hide away, but also looked back coldly, like Mu Xingqiu in the mirror, but without wearing a Taoist robe.

"What made you leave? If you want to please Yang Qingyin, you should stay with her. Why do you have to pester me?"

"Wait until I see you through." The look on Jin Cu's face was that of pride that she knew nothing about but thought she knew everything.

"If you weren't too young and the son of an old bay red horse, I would have punched you flat." Mu Xingqiu raised his fist. He now prefers pure physical strength, even if he can still use his third... He didn't really want to use the seventh level illusion either.

Jin Cui was silent for a while, "Even if you become selfish, you are not a bad person."

The spirit demon nodded slightly, as if it had completed the first step of its mission and had seen through the first layer of Mu Xingqiu's mask.

It was this look that made Mu Xingqiu furious, and he punched out, hitting Jin Cuo's chin. The spirit demon jumped into the air and fell heavily into the woods.

The flea got excited on the side and raised its hooves to catch up and add another corner to the brocade cluster. Mu Xingqiu forcefully pulled him back. He was indeed not a villain. He only wanted to be free. He didn't want to save others, but he didn't want to hurt them either. who.

Sometimes being right is more annoying than being wrong. Mu Xingqiu understood this deeply, so when he found Jin Cui following him again, he didn't look back to chase him away.

In order to avoid the embarrassing fall caused by the demon-transformation reaction from happening again, Mu Xingqiu tried his best to walk in the snow, constantly coaxing Qilin to spit out the crystal eyes, but Qilin could not listen to a word and only stared at Treasure Bag, when it was really in a hurry, let out a threatening growl.

In the crystal eyes, Yishi Jun seemed not to want to return to Mu Xingqiu's hands, but he did not encourage Qilin to fly away.

Mu Xingqiu had no choice but to wander aimlessly with the fleas, thinking that there would come a day when Qi Shijun couldn't bear the loneliness, and he would automatically spit it out from Qilin's mouth, and then make a series of conditions.

At the same time, Mu Xingqiu was still reading Yi Shijun's many memories, hoping to find some useful clues. They were the trophies Zuo Liuying grabbed in the battle of magic and were stored in more than a dozen magical artifacts, but the contents were too large. It is so complex that it would take decades to read it all.

Jin Cui was like a shadow that couldn't be shaken away, stubbornly following him a hundred steps away. Mu Xingqiu slowly got used to his presence and stopped driving him away or talking to him.

Five days later, just when Mu Xingqiu felt that he had left most of the past and burdens behind, he discovered that there was another mysterious stalker behind him.