Nightwatcher

It was agreed that the old man narrowed his eyes when he heard the words, moved his eyes away from Xu Qi'an, and looked at the distant scene.

There is a sense of stagnation in him, staleness is not a derogatory term, but people yearn for new life, so this word is often not in line with people's preferences.

The stagnation on the old man's body is the aura of more vicissitudes than the vicissitudes of life, precipitated by the years. .

He was the same age as Guo, born in the Great Weekend period, and witnessed the rise and fall of two dynasties.

He rose up in troubled times and led volunteers to overthrow tyranny. He has experienced too many things and seen too many people.

Twilight naturally soaked into the bones.

The strange thing is that Xu Qi'an didn't see such despondency in Jianzheng, Arhat, or even the two extraordinary masters such as King Kong.

Is it because he has always been in the world of mortals, or is it because he is a vulgar martial artist... Xu Qian thought to himself.

After a while, the old man said slowly:

"When Emperor Wuzong rebelled and usurped the throne, I hadn't retreated yet. At that time, Emperor Dafeng was close to treacherous ministers, and the government and the people were messed up.

"Of course, the momentary political turmoil is nothing, compared with the chaos at the end of the dynasty, it is not worth mentioning.

"Wu Zong is the grandson of Gaozu. His talent is not inferior to that of his grandfather, and his personality is the same. He is a hero with great talent and strategy. He took advantage of the dissatisfaction of the ruling and opposition parties with the faint and treacherous officials at that time. He recruited troops and launched a rebellion under the name of the Qing emperor.

"It's very smart, if he directly rebels, he won't win the hearts of the people, and he won't get help from people of insight.

"At that time, he was only a third-rank martial artist, and it was as difficult as going to heaven to rebel under the nose of the first supervisor.

"So, he cleverly recruited three helpers: Confucianism, Buddhism, and contemporary supervisors."

Hearing this, Xu Qi'an had to interrupt, and said in surprise:

"But I heard that when Emperor Wuzong rebelled five hundred years ago, Confucianism stood by and watched from the beginning to the end."

The old man laughed and said:

"Standing on the sidelines is the greatest help. Otherwise, with the background of Confucianism at that time and the addition of an early supervisor, Wu Zong can succeed? Unless the Buddha himself takes action.

"Confucianism has long been dissatisfied with the emperor at that time, but the first generation of supervisors was in it to check and balance, leaving Confucianism helpless."

He waited for a while, seeing that Xu Qi'an had no doubts, he continued:

"Emperor Wu Zong didn't have enough soldiers and horses at the beginning of the uprising to compete with the entire Dafeng, so he turned his idea to the Wulin League.

"And the person responsible for lobbying me to send troops is the current supervisor.

"I didn't agree at first, but if this matter is over, what benefits can I get? It is impossible for Wu Zong to cede Jianzhou to me. If I lose, the Wulin League, which I have painstakingly managed for more than a hundred years, is likely to be destroyed in one day.

"You might as well guess how he persuaded me."

Xu Qi'an's heart moved: "Is it related to this agreement?"

The old man nodded, then shook his head again:

"To be precise, it's a deal.

"In the more than 100 years since I returned to Jianzhou and founded the Wulin League, I have already been promoted to the peak of the third rank, but I still can't get along.

"The most frightening thing in the world is not the difficulties and setbacks, but the lack of hope. The surname Ji was similar to me at the beginning. After becoming the emperor, luck increased, and his cultivation improved thousands of miles, and finally stepped into the ranks of first-rank martial arts.

"I'm not convinced, so I haven't been ashamed to ask him for his experience in the Dao Realm."

What a shame to ask, you old man, you have taken all the bamboo shoots from Mount Quanrong. Xu Qi'an complained silently in his heart.

"At that time, I didn't know the rule that people with good luck could not live forever. Decades later, before I had time to convince myself, the person surnamed Ji became a short-lived ghost and died unexpectedly."

The old man shook his head, sneered and said:

"That bitch from the first generation is probably crying, hahaha. I have always suspected that he is a rabbit. Ahem. In short, I have been at the peak of the third rank for many years, unable to break through, and have no hope of breaking through.

"Until that day, the contemporary supervisor came to me. He said that as long as I was willing to send troops to help Wu Zong win the throne, he would help me to be promoted to the second rank."

Xu Qi'an laughed out loud:

"I understand, old man, you were imprisoned by the prisoner. I didn't expect that the prisoner was also an old politician back then."

The old man glanced at him, with a half-smile:

"I used to think so too, but now, I have indeed been promoted to the second rank."

In the ten seconds after this sentence was finished, the smile on Xu Qi'an's face remained unchanged at first, then he seemed to think of something, the smile froze a little bit, froze on his face, and finally disappeared slowly.

If there is a camera to film the whole process at this moment, his "acting skills" are simply amazing.

Xu Qi'an looked at the old man with dull eyes, moved his lips, and spoke with difficulty:

"You mean, nine-color lotus root, no, my help means that the supervisor is fulfilling the original promise?"

The old man said "hmm", "I can't think of a better explanation than that."

thump! thump! thump!

Xu Qi'an took three steps back, staring blankly at the old man, his expression suddenly distorted, unable to tell whether it was surprise or fear.

Or, both.

Outsiders have no way of knowing his inner activities. Beneath his sluggish face are overwhelming emotions and explosive information.

What does it mean if things are true as the old man said?

"I remember Xu Pingfeng said that a Destiny Master has the ability to spy on the secrets of the heavens, and can predict the future to a certain extent. Because of this, the supervisor cannot interfere with what he foresees. He can only arrange it secretly and influence it from the side.

"It is against the heavens to spy on the secrets of the heavens. If you leak the secrets, you will be directly punished by the heavens. But this is still not the key point. The key point is

"Five hundred years ago, Jianzheng was not a Destiny Master, how could he predict the future, how could it be possible!!!"

Xu Qi'an's face became extremely ugly, as if his three views had collapsed.

"What do you seem to think of?"

Seeing that his face was very strange, the old man asked with a frown.

Xu Qi'an didn't reply, maintaining an ugly expression, it took a long time to calm down.

Then, based on this information, he derived three guesses and one doubt.

Guess 1: It was not the supervisor who predicted the situation five hundred years later, but the first supervisor.

If this is the case, the secrecy involved is terrifying.

Guess 2: There is a problem with the identity of the current supervisor, and he is probably the first supervisor. The original disciples may be the vests of the first generation.

But if this is the case, why did the first generation take such pains to engage in a "suicide", what is the purpose?

In addition, Buddhist Bodhisattvas participated in this matter, and each Bodhisattva has magical powers that surpass the heavens and the earth. It was very difficult for the first generation to hide their vests from them.

Guess 3: Both of the above are incorrect. The contemporary supervisor can predict what will happen five hundred years later because of his own problems.

As for doubts

Thinking back to the warlock system now, there is actually a paradox in the curse of the apprentice backstabbing the master.

How terrible the current prison is, how terrible the first generation was.

The current Jianzheng can predict the future, and so can the first generation. He can definitely find a way to get rid of him before Emperor Wuzong rebelled.

Even if the Destiny Master can't interfere with the future, Xu Qi'an believes that Emperor Wuzong's military life must have been close to death countless times.

As long as the first generation Jianzheng seized the opportunity and exerted influence from the side, Emperor Wuzong would die.

Don't doubt it, the first generation supervisor can definitely do it.

There are many similar methods, and the first generation of Jianzheng is fully capable of preventing Emperor Wuzong from finding a chance to rebel.

At first glance, this paradox seems to verify guesses 1 and 2, but it can also verify guess 3.

If contemporary supervision itself has problems, it can indeed break the paradox.

"Another explanation is that the first-generation supervisor foresaw the contemporary backstab, but did not prevent it, and chose to play against him. Just like the contemporary supervisor's attitude towards Xu Pingfeng.

"I know you're going to backstab me, but I won't stop it, we'll fight to the death in the way of warlocks.

"In Xu Pingfeng's words, this is the curse of the warlock system, which cannot be avoided, unless the warlock system is to be cut off, as long as it wants to pass on, it must accept apprentices, and then accept the apprentice's backstab.

"Common name - the rules of the road!"

In addition to the above three guesses and one doubt, Xu Qi'an still had a reasoning in line with reality.

There are not so many conspiracy theories in this reasoning. The truth is that the supervisor was indeed an old politician back then, purely fooling the old man.

As we all know, politicians in the world always negotiate a good price in advance, and then they all go whoring for nothing afterwards.

Anyway, when the time comes, Jianzheng will be promoted to the first rank smoothly, afraid of revenge by a vulgar martial artist?

As for five hundred years later, the old man really relied on the nine-color lotus root to be promoted to the second rank. It may be that after many years, Jianzheng found that he could use the nine-color lotus root to fulfill his promise, so he made an arrangement.

In essence, there is no such thing as predicting five hundred years.

In all fairness, Xu Qi'an felt that this was the truth.

The reason is simple, the ability to accurately predict something five hundred years from now cannot be achieved by a first-rank monk.

Not even super.

He is not a rookie who has just arrived. He has killed the second-rank Joan of Arc and defeated the first-rank Dharma.

Gathering his scattered thoughts, Xu Qi'an asked:

"How do seniors judge that the promise that the supervisor said is me?"

The old man sighed:

"The old guy once said a word: live well, the day you get together, is the time when the people of the Central Plains need you.

"Of course, maybe it's just an excuse. Warlocks are always talking about it. But since I've successfully advanced, it's his fulfillment of his promise."

Xu Qi'an's scalp was numb.

At this time, someone skimmed up to the top of the cliff, stopped in the distance, cupped his hands and said:

"Old ancestor, junior Wen Chengbi."

The old man looked slightly confused.

Xu Qi'an helped to introduce:

"This is the deputy leader of your martial arts alliance."

The old man nodded suddenly and asked, "What's the matter?"

Wen Chengbi talked about the troubles the Wulin League was facing, and tentatively said:

"If the military town is used as the core of the headquarters to expand, it will indeed save a lot of manpower and material resources. Leader Cao was hesitant and ordered me to seek your opinion from the old ancestor."

The core problem is that the funds are not enough for Xu Qi'an to make a conclusion.

In the era of underdeveloped equipment, large-scale construction projects are very costly in terms of money and manpower. In the history that Xu Qi'an is familiar with, there are many examples of country subjugation due to large-scale construction projects.

Sui and Qin are examples. Although there is no one reason for the demise of a dynasty, there must be other factors, but this reason can be crowned by later generations.

It is enough to show how laborious and costly infrastructure projects are.

The old man muttered:

"There is nothing wrong with the silver. The old man will be responsible for searching for the silver that is buried at the bottom of the mountain. The headquarters is still built on the mountain, there is no doubt about it."

Xu Qi'an understood what he meant, chaos was approaching, and the headquarters of the Martial Arts League was like a dangerous pass, where retreat could be defended and advance could be attacked.

If it is built in a military town with flat terrain, the enemy cavalry will be defeated in an instant.

Wen Chengbi said in a deep voice:

"But in this way, I'm afraid that the alliance has saved for many years. It's nothing more than a normal day. At most, the brothers are frugal. But now that disasters are everywhere, and there is no money to relieve disasters, the situation in Jianzhou may also be chaotic."

The old man immediately said: "Then let the brothers and soldiers in the alliance do it together."

Wen Chengbi shook his head: "There are still not enough people."

The old man frowned, thought for a moment, then turned to look at Xu Qi'an, and said:

"What do you think?"

Xu Qi'an said unhappily:

"It's such a simple thing, it's not enough to use work as relief, call the victims, build the headquarters, and don't give money but only food. It can not only solve the food and clothing of the victims, but also save money."

Wen Chengbi's eyes lit up suddenly, and he said in surprise:

"Xu Yinluo has a great idea. As expected of Xu Yinluo, he can come up with such a clever plan."

This is not a clever plan, it is a tradition... Xu Qi'an nodded reservedly.

"Unruly!"

The old man frowned.

There is no precedent for work-for-relief these years. The victims drank the porridge donated by the court or wealthy families with peace of mind, waiting for the disaster to end and the earth to recover.

Even if there are occasional small-scale food-for-work incidents, it is difficult to become mainstream.

"Ancestor, this plan is very clever." Wen Chengbi said hastily, "In an extraordinary time, we should act in an extraordinary way. Please agree with the old ancestor."

The old man just waved his hand, too lazy to care about these trivial things:

"Go."

Watching Wen Chengbi leave, Xu Qi'an said:

"Old man, I am now a third-rank, and the next step is to join the Tao. But I don't know the true meaning of joining the Tao."

The old man knows everything:

"He Dao is the transformation of "intent". I call it the completion of one's own martial art. Every fourth-rank martial artist can only comprehend one "intention", which is the martial art of his own choice.

"Mind is the embryonic form of Tao.

"Perfecting the way one walks is the true meaning of the two-rank combination. However, it is easy to say, but it is difficult to sit up.

"In my whole life, I have practiced swordsmanship hard, gathered the masters of various swordsmen, and melted them into one furnace. But in the end, I was still stuck at the peak of the third rank, and almost failed to die."

Xu Qi'an hurriedly asked: "How did seniors get along?"

"There are thousands of ways of the sword, and you can join the way if you understand the true meaning. But there are countless roads to the true meaning. During my retreat, my body turned into pieces of meat. Every piece of meat represents a different way of the knife. They have their own ideas. Everyone thinks they are right.”

"Nine-color lotus root can help people get together?"

"Nine-color lotus seeds can enlighten all things, and the lotus root can naturally do the same, even stronger. Its role in it is to enlighten the thousands of "I" who are trapped in the quagmire, and determine a dominant "I". Lotus seeds are not effective enough to achieve this effect, but nine-color lotus root can. This is why Qingyang wanted to win nine-color lotus root for me back then."

Nine-color lotus root is equivalent to a stabilizer, which plays a catalytic and stabilizing role. Xu Qi'an roughly understands it.

I still have a small piece of nine-color lotus root, um, let Nan Zhi continue to cultivate the lotus root for me. In this way, if I step into the second rank, maybe I don't have to take away her spiritual resources.

Before Xu Qi'an handed over the nine-color lotus root, he cut off a small piece and kept it by his side, just like the nine-color lotus root back then.

Such a natural and earthly treasure must make it sustainable.

Saying goodbye to the old man, and returning to the military town, Xu Qi'an found a courtyard and invited Mu Nanzhi and Chai Xing'er. The latter was imprisoned in the Pagoda of the Buddha for a long time, resulting in Qi deficiency and frailty. Xu Qi'an planned to release them for a while.

She is still useful, the tomb guarded by the ancestors of the Chai family can be paid attention to by Xu Pingfeng, the owner of the tomb is not unusual.

Mu Nanzhi was wearing a plum-colored padded jacket and a plain pleated skirt, exuding the aura of a young girl and a rich wife.

Even though her appearance is mediocre, it is difficult to hide her unique charm.

The little white fox took advantage of Xu Qi'an's walk away and hurriedly said:

"Auntie, I need to pee."

Without saying a word, he jumped out of Mu Nanzhi's arms, and ran away like he was having fun.

It displayed its natal supernatural powers, turned into a white shadow, flickered a few times in the military town, then moved away from the buildings, and then plunged headlong into the forested and vast Quanrong Mountains.

In the time for a cup of tea, Bai Ji sneaked into the deep mountains and old forests, away from the main peak of Mount Quanrong.

It glanced around and picked a high rock to jump on.

The empress comes in a row.

PS: My brain hurts, I went to look through the previous content again today, looking for some forgotten pits