Pawn Crossing the River

The results of the investigation on Zhao Jiaowu have not come out yet, but there has been great progress in the Jiashen Lingguan.

Because Cihang Zhenren personally asked about this matter, the person involved in the last Western Region war was quickly found. This person is a second-rank Lingguan named Jiang Biecheng. He once served as the deputy of Jiashen Lingguan and also participated in the attack on the Western Court of the Golden Horde. He may know a lot of inside information.

Speaking of which, it took some effort to find Jiang Biecheng, because after the end of the Western Region war, Jiang Biecheng did not follow the Lingguan troops to move to another place, but chose to withdraw from the ranks of active Lingguan and go home to enjoy his old age.

In fact, Jiang Biecheng is not old, but in his early fifties. Although his physical strength has begun to decline, his combat experience is at its peak. The Lingguan Mansion does not want to let him go, but Jiang Biecheng is a hero in the Western Region war, and he resigned on the grounds of physical injury and mental fatigue. The Lingguan Mansion can't say anything and approved his request.

Jiang Biecheng handed over the Lingguan armor, handled the resignation procedures, and returned to his hometown in Qizhou. Tiangang Hall was looking for him this time, but they couldn't find him at the first time, because Jiang Biecheng's parents had passed away, he hadn't married in these years, and he had no children, and his whereabouts were uncertain. In the end, it was the Qizhou Daofu who helped to find him.

Because this matter had nothing to do with Taiping Dao, Taiping Dao was also very concerned in order to clear the suspicion. More importantly, Taiping Dao was not so stingy.

After the person was found, Cihang Zhenren sent someone to bring Jiang Biecheng back to Yujing. At this time, Jiang Biecheng was still on the way to Yujing. Qi Xuansu couldn't wait and simply came to Yujing to see him in person.

After arriving in Yujing, Qi Xuansu found that Yujing was still the same. Although the front-line battlefield was closer to Yujing and farther from the Daxueshan Palace, the atmosphere in Yujing was more relaxed.

Perhaps this is the confidence and self-confidence of Taoism's dominance in the East for many years. The Holy Court is the only opponent of Taoism, and Buddhism is just a minor disease, which is nothing. Since the Dao Sect established its capital in Yujing, no one has been able to attack the city, so the people in Yujing are naturally not nervous, let alone worried.

Perhaps the only thing that can make Yujing nervous is the upcoming election.

In fact, this is what most people are paying close attention to.

Qi Xuansu noticed that there were many unmanned boats patrolling back and forth on the Taixu River surrounding Yujing, with flags on them, with large characters of "Zhengyi", "Quanzhen" and "Taiping" written on them, and small characters behind the large characters, corresponding to "Cihang", "Donghua" and "Qingwei" respectively. It seems that the preliminary work of electing the Grand Master has begun.

Zhang Yuelu couldn't help but sigh: "'Cihang' and 'Donghua' are both new faces, and it is said that 'Qingwei' is always there."

Qi Xuansu said: "In terms of family strength alone, the Li family is indeed the first family of Taoism. It is not something you can envy or force."

After entering the city, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu did not rush to see their respective masters, but went home first. Although they were the masters here, they lived here together only a few times a year, and this time it was a rare trip back.

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu will stay in Yujing for a few days this time. Xiao Yin can't help much, but he can't be idle. He needs to strengthen his studies, so Zhang Yuelu assigned homework to Xiao Yin. She personally selected several classics and asked Xiao Yin to read these classics, be able to recite them, and have a deep understanding of them, and write a reading experience of no less than 3,000 words.

I have to say that Lao Zhang is still very useful. In the next few days, Xiao Yin was very obedient and did his homework every day.

Qi Xuansu glanced at her when he passed by, and couldn't help but sigh: "I am very happy, very happy."

Xiao Yin, holding a book, glanced at Qi Xuansu and said nothing.

Her face was full of seriousness.

If you don't know, you might think she is a lady from a wealthy family. She is full of etiquette and rules, careful at every step, always paying attention, unwilling to say a word or take a step more easily, for fear of being laughed at.

However, Qi Xuansu's family style is not very serious. It has been like this since the source, Qi Niang. If the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked. Although Zhang Yuelu is very strong, he can't turn it around, and it is difficult to remedy it.

Qi Xuansu knew at a glance that Xiao Yin was pretending, pretending to be Xiao Heshang, and was addicted to acting.

As expected, Xiao Yin couldn't hold back after a while. Seeing Qi Xuansu not leaving and staring at her, she cleared her throat and said, "Xiao Qi, do you think the tea will pour into the cup by itself when I'm doing my homework?"

"You kid!" Qi Xuansu scolded with a smile, but he didn't get angry. He poured a cup of tea for Xiao Yin, "Drink slowly, don't choke. As long as you study hard, I'd be happy to plant tea trees now, not to mention pouring tea for you. When you become successful in the future, find a good job, and marry a wife, Lao Zhang and I will be happy. Satisfied. By then, you can bring your wife back to see us often, and it will be worth it for Lao Zhang and I to work hard to support you to study. "

Xiao Yin said loudly: "That's enough. Are you okay? Don't bother me if you are fine, otherwise I will tell Lao Zhang that you disturbed my study and prevented me from studying well. "

Qi Xuansu waved his hand and said: "Okay, okay, I won't disturb Xiao Yin's study, I'll go, I'll go, isn't it okay?"

Qi Xuansu was just passing by, he was going to go out to Tiangang Hall, because Jiang Biecheng finally arrived in Yujing.

Cihang Zhenren had already met Jiang Biecheng and let him rest for a night.

Qi Xuansu came to Tiangang Hall with ease, and the gatekeeper Lingguan did not stop him at all and let him go directly. Zhang Yuelu personally led Qi Xuansu to see Jiang Biecheng.

When Qi Xuansu finally saw Jiang Biecheng, he was still slightly surprised.

At this time, Jiang Biecheng was in a very bad condition, with a haggard face and a dazed expression. It was unimaginable that less than ten years ago, he was a second-grade spiritual officer who participated in major battles in the Taoist sect. No wonder he said he was exhausted when he resigned.

Qi Xuansu asked Zhang Yuelu softly: "What did Master Cihang say?"

Zhang Yuelu replied: "Master has asked people from Huasheng Hall to conduct a comprehensive examination on him. The results will probably be available tomorrow."

Spirit officers are a very special group. They are not mortals without cultivation. In fact, they have cultivation. However, compared with Taoist priests of the same level, these cultivations are not worth mentioning, and it is difficult to convert them into combat power. They must use the spirit to Only the official armor will do.

In other words, the exercises they practice are specially prepared for the Lingguan Armor. Taoist priests have higher cultivation levels, but they can't use the Lingguan Armor.

Fundamentally, when Taoism designed the spiritual official system, it also referred to the Buddhist initiation method.

The purpose of initiation is to pass on experience and cultivation to disciples. Before the initiation, the disciple must first undergo a series of rigorous preparations, empty his body and mind, and regard himself as an empty container. He must regard the guru as a living god and Buddha whom he wholeheartedly respects and believes in, and must never have the slightest doubt about anything about the guru. , can we fully accept everything given by the guru.

To achieve this, the key is not understanding, but piety, which indeed greatly reduces the requirements for entry. It is equivalent to having the guru lay the foundation for you, and inheriting the guru's experience and insights in full, so it is called Convenience method.

In short, the lower limit is very high, the threshold is very low, and the upper limit is also restricted.

The same principle applies to Taoist spiritual officials, but it turns the small workshop-like process of Buddhism into an assembly line, with "Thirty-Three Days" centralized and unified "initiation" and mass production.

There is an advantage in this. The spirit officers have their own cultivation. After losing the spirit officer armor, although they have no fighting power, they can accept the treatment of Huashengtang and take most conventional elixirs.

Qi Xuansu nodded: "That's good."

It was only then that Jiang Biecheng, who had been in a daze, noticed Qi Xuansu's presence and stood up to greet him.

Qi Xuansu stretched out his hand and pressed it lightly: "No need to be polite, let's sit down and talk."

After that, Qi Xuansu sat down opposite Jiang Biecheng. The two sat opposite each other, while Zhang Yuelu sat aside, between them, like a referee.

"I am Qi Xuansu, and I am currently serving as the acting head of the Taoist Government in the Western Regions. You must already know the purpose of my visit today," Qi Xuansu said.

Jiang Biecheng said: "Chief Zhang mentioned that Master Taiwei wanted to know the specific circumstances of the attack on the Western Court of the Golden Tent."

Qi Xuansu said: "In that case, let's not beat around the bush. You were the deputy of Jiashen Lingguan at the time and accompanied him into the West Courtyard immediately. As far as I know, whether it is the West Courtyard Protector's Mansion or the North Courtyard The Protectorate has encountered many strange things in Xiting City, what about you? "

Jiang Biecheng was silent, and after a long time he slowly said: "I dare not deceive Master Taiwei. The reason why I am what I am today is all thanks to him."

Qi Xuansu's heart moved and he immediately asked: "What does this 'qi' mean?"

Jiang Biecheng said: "It is the 'Eternal Life Heaven', but this 'Eternal Life Heaven' is not the Immortality Heaven that Shamanism has believed in for generations."

Qi Xuansu knew that he had found the right person this time, and Jiang Biecheng was indeed an insider.

Qi Xuansu said softly: "Tell me in detail and don't miss any details. This is very important."

Jiang Biecheng nodded and said: "Actually, there is nothing much to say about the war itself. We first besieged the city for many days, then launched an attack, and deliberately surrounded three people and one was missing. Our Dao Sect's Lingguan troops were the first to invade the city... …”

"We were blocked by Golden Horde soldiers. I thought these Golden Horde soldiers were a little strange at the time. Although they looked like living people and would die when killed, they always gave me a false feeling that they were not like living people. That It’s hard to describe this feeling in words, but the situation was urgent and I didn’t think about it in detail. I was more thinking about how to catch Batu Khan.”

"The West Courtyard is one of the four royal courts of the Golden Horde. There is a huge aristocratic area here. The Jiashen Lingguan is responsible for the command. I am more responsible for charging into the battle. When I was chasing a Golden Horde general, I accidentally entered A strange aristocratic area."

"The reason why I want to hunt down this Golden Horde general is because he doesn't have that unspeakable false feeling about him. He is more like a real living person. I instinctively want to catch him."