Pawn Crossing the River

Qi Xuansu only felt that he was swaying, as if he was flying into the sky.

Everything went dark before his eyes, and the surroundings became very quiet.

At this moment, he almost thought he was having that strange dream again.

But this time it was obviously not the case. There was no black mountain, only endless darkness.

After an unknown amount of time, the darkness turned into a vast void, and a palace was floating not far away.

The next moment, Qi Xuansu floated towards the palace uncontrollably.

When Qi Xuansu got his feet on the ground again, he found that he was in an unknown place.

It is difficult to describe this place in words. It seems to be the interior of a large hall, but there is a lot of fog around it, and everything is hazy and blurry, making it difficult to see clearly. There is no dome above, but a vast starry sky.

Qi Xuansu looked down at himself, and his whole body was wrapped in heavy smoke.

At this moment, a figure also wrapped in mist floated towards Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu subconsciously took a few steps back, but when he saw the figure pointing, he immediately reacted and tentatively said, "Qiniang?"

"It's me." Qiniang's slightly distorted voice sounded.

Qi Xuansu breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Qiniang, where is this?"

Qiniang replied: "This is the second-class assembly of Qingpinghui."

"Is this..." Qi Xuansu looked around, "Is the soul leaving the body?"

"No." Qiniang shook her head and said, "You should know about the alchemist's dream state, right?"

Qi Xuansu said: "I know, the so-called dream state, as the name suggests, is the ability to travel with the Yin spirit and use the Yin spirit to enter other people's dreams. I heard that there are people with bad intentions who, after reaching such a state, specially enter the dreams of women. During the period, he was having fun with the woman. When the woman woke up, she thought it was just a dream, and she didn’t suspect that someone was doing something wrong. "

Qiniang reached out and tapped Qi Xuansu: "You just like hearing stories like this, right?"

Qi Xuansu coughed lightly and pretended not to hear.

Qiniang said: "Entering other people's dreams with the soul is just a simple use of entering the dream state. It is said that after the alchemist reaches the realm of ghosts and immortals, he can make others fall into dreams, such as the widely circulated Huangliang dream. Lu Sheng came to Beijing to take the exam. As a result, he met Lu Weng in an inn on his way back home. Lu Sheng lamented his poverty, so the Taoist priest Lu Weng took out a porcelain pillow for him to rest on, and he fell asleep and married Meimei. The gentle and gentle wife of the Cui family in Qinghe was awarded the Jinshi, and was promoted to Shaanzhou Mu, Jingzhao Yin, and finally was promoted to the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue and the Censor, Zhongshu Ling, and his five children were also named Dukes of the State of Yan. He was a high-ranking official and married into a high-ranking family. He had many children and grandchildren, and enjoyed great wealth. When he was eighty years old, he finally died after being ill for a long time. He woke up with a start, turned around and sat up, and looked around. , Lu Weng is still sitting next to him, and the rice cooked by the shopkeeper is still in the pot. "

Qi Xuansu asked in confusion: "What does this have to do with us?"

Qiniang smiled: "Don't you understand? You and I actually met in a dream."

Qi Xuansu was startled at first, and then he was shocked: "It's not that the soul is out of the body, but it's a dream?"

Qiniang said: "That's right. Your and my soul are still in our bodies, but just like Lu Sheng, we entered a dream. But this is not our own dream, but someone else's dream."

Qi Xuansu became more and more shocked and said slowly: "Other people's dreams? Qiniang, you mean that we were in different places and entered other people's dreams through that ritual spell, and then met each other in the dream."

Qiniang nodded and said: "Strictly speaking, we enter our own dreams first, and then use magic to connect our own dreams with this dream, just like building a bridge, and then we come to this dream through the bridge. This is a bit Similar to the Fang-shi system, our own dreams are each 'Fang', and this dream is a 'City' connected with many Fangs. "

Qi Xuansu asked: "How many people are there in the second-class assembly?"

Qiniang thought for a while and replied: "Probably hundreds of people."

Qi Xuansu didn't say anything for a long time.

The dreams of so many people are connected to the same dream, so what level of cultivation should the owner of the dream be?

Is this the strength of the Qingping Society?

Qi Xuansu suddenly remembered something and asked: "Then what we said in the dream here, doesn't the owner of the dream know it?"

Qiniang said: "You can say that, but the premise is that the owner of the dream wants to know. Under normal circumstances, he doesn't care about this and just provides a place. And I always feel that he sleeps very hard. This dream is like a deep dream." There is a bottomless lake. We are just floating on the surface, while the consciousness of the dream owner is hidden deep in the lake. "

Qi Xuansu asked again: "What if the owner of the dream wakes up?"

"Why do you have so many problems?" Qiniang was a little impatient, but she still explained, "So far, the owner of the dream has not woken up. It is said that he has been asleep for more than a hundred years."

Qiniang pointed at the smoke covering Qi Xuansu's body again: "It's hard for members of the Qingping Society to reveal their true identities, so they are all codenamed by their name. Which fish talisman you use to come in will determine your identity here. This layer of smoke is your dream state. The body in it is also used to cover the appearance, which comes from the "returning incense" you light up, so you can only stay here for one stick of incense. The incense stick I use lasts longer than your incense stick. Longer, of course, the price will be more expensive.”

Qi Xuansu understood it completely, and had to sigh that the Qingpinghui's methods were so miraculous that they could come up with such a way of concealing the truth. They really didn't know it, because it was a meeting in a dream, not an out-of-body experience. Even Yujing None of the formations can stop it.

How incredible this is.

No wonder Qingping has been named several times by Taoists. He is indeed unique.

The two of them were now in a corner of the hall. There were twelve huge pillars in the hall. Each pillar required ten people to hug each other. The top could not be seen at a glance. Looking into the starry sky above the hall, Qiniang turned around and walked towards one of the pillars.

Qi Xuansu followed Qiniang and asked, "What is the specific use of this place?"

"The Qingping Society is not a Taoist sect, but more like a loose alliance. Most of its members have dual identities. Everyone has secrets and must have some reservations, so this place is mainly used to exchange information." Qiniang replied, "Some loners , if you encounter a difficult errand, you will also seek help here.”

Qi Xuansu nodded, feeling that this was not of great use to him, because his partner had always been Qiniang, and Qiniang was responsible for everything in this regard.

Qi Xuansu asked again: "Since this is a dream, everything is fake. What if you want to barter or buy or sell things?"

Qiniang said: "This will test your eyesight. You can make an agreement with someone in advance in a dream, and then trade it in the real world. If you are wrong, it is common to encounter evildoers. So many people will choose one The compromise is to find a reliable, reputable middleman with a fair commission, hand over the money and goods to the middleman, and then the middleman will deliver the money and goods to the other party respectively. "

Qi Xuansu looked Qiniang up and down and asked, "Qiniang, are you one of the middlemen?"

"That's right." Qiniang said with a smile, "This kind of business is not done in vain. I am not only a middleman, but also a moneylender. Moreover, my interest rate is half a cent cheaper than the interest rate of a serious loan from Taiping Bank. Small profits but quick turnover. "

Qi Xuansu now knew how his flying sword was sold, and maybe the "Dragon Hand Gun" that almost belonged to him had also been sold by Qiniang.

Qiniang remembered something and said: "You are here for the first time today. It is mainly to familiarize yourself with the second-class assembly. There is no need to rush to communicate with others. The materials I bought for you can be used ten times, so save it at ordinary times." If it is used up, I will mail it to you via Xinke, and the cost will be deducted from your coffin book."

The so-called letter guests are similar to the postmen and postmen of the imperial court. They can also be regarded as Taoist post stations. They are responsible for sending letters and items and delivering messages. They are open to the outside world, but like flying boats, they have to charge a fee.

While talking, the two came to the huge pillar, and Qi Xuansu discovered that there was a huge hourglass two people tall.

A hourglass is a clepsydra, and like a sundial, it is used to tell time.

Qiniang pointed to the hourglass and said: "The time in dreams is different from that in the real world. You can't just rely on your feelings, so you have to look at this."

"In addition, I will come here on the first and fifteenth day of every month. If you need to see me for anything, you can choose to come here on these two days. If there is something urgent, you should use the 'Mother and Son Talisman' to contact me."

Qi Xuansu nodded to note it.

Qiniang glanced at Didi: "It's time for you to go back."

Qi Xuansu asked: "How to go back?"

Qiniang said: "How do you usually end up in trance? How do you wake up now?"

Qi Xuansu understood and cut off his connection with the dream.

In an instant, everything around him receded like a tide. Qiniang and the main hall became blurred, and finally disappeared like bubbles in the water.

Qi Xuansu once again experienced the feeling of being like a feather. The surroundings became extremely silent, without any sound, and then quickly fell back to the "ground".

Qi Xuansu woke up suddenly, still in the study, but with a headache, as if he was hungover.

The incense sticks in the incense burner have burned out, leaving only a fragrant ashes.

The two candles, one black and one white, had been extinguished at some point, but they did not burn much, and the candles did not shed many tears. Under the candlestick are some ashes after burning two talismans.

To Qi Xuansu's surprise, the array pattern drawn with imitation candle dragon blood on the ground had disappeared, as if it had never existed. Only the fish charm made of silver and decorated with crimson was left lying quietly between the two candlesticks.

Qi Xuansu looked around and after confirming that no one had come in, he put these weapons

All the tools and materials were put into the Silver Fei Fish Talisman, and then the Silver Fei Fish Talisman was placed close to the body.