Taiping Inn

The heavy rain filled the whole world. Under this vast rain and fog, an uninvited guest came to Nanshan Garden quietly in the stormy night and met the local owner Chen Guhong.

In Chen Guhong's study, the two sat opposite each other across a desk.

The visitor put the lantern in his hand on the desk, looked at his old friend sitting opposite him, and said: "Brother Chen, long time no see. Thinking back to the time when you and I worked together, it seems like yesterday. In the blink of an eye, twenty years have passed."

Chen Guhong glanced at the lantern and said slowly: "No one comes to see you for no reason. I think you are not here to reminisce about the past."

The visitor was Bai Chouqiu, the deputy governor of Qingluan Guard. He was originally from Liaodong and came from the Hun Tian Sect, one of the ten evil sects. The reason why he called Chen Guhong his senior brother was because the owner of Nanshan Garden, who was famous in Jiuhe Prefecture, actually came from the ten evil sects. Although the two belonged to different sects, it was not wrong to call him senior brother because the ten evil sects were of the same origin.

Speaking of the ten evil sects, we have to mention the twelve righteous sects. The two can be said to have the same origin.

After the Spring and Autumn Period, Zulong unified the world. After Zulong, Emperor Wen advocated Taoism's inaction. When Emperor Wu came to power, he adopted the advice of Confucian scholars, abolished all schools of thought and respected Confucianism alone. The Taoism, which was originally the most powerful, was suppressed by Confucianism and split into pieces.

As a result, Taoism was divided into two factions, one of which was headed by Zhengyi Sect, which was the orthodox one, and later merged with Buddhism, gradually forming the prototype of the twelve righteous sects in the future. The other school is based on Taoism, and combines witchcraft, alchemy, yin and yang, miscellaneous schools and other schools of thought to form its own school. Later, it left the Central Plains and went to Liaodong. Based on the region where it is located, it is divided into two major sects, the north and the south.

As the saying goes, Taoism is divided into yin and yang, and people have life and death. Both schools are based on Taoism, with the same origin, but with different emphases.

The Supreme Taoist Ancestor once said that "Heaven and earth are not benevolent and treat all things as straw dogs". There are also many cold-eyed and insightful words in the "Tao Te Ching", which shows that Taoism has the distinction between benevolence and unkindness, affection and ruthlessness. The unkindness and ruthlessness of Taoism were inherited and carried forward by the ten sects of the Northern Dao Gate. Its founder once said that "I will not harm the world for a little loss, and I will not take the whole world's worship for myself", which can be seen.

Because the ten sects of the Northern Dao Sect had helped the Golden Horde invade the Central Plains and slaughtered Confucian scholars, they were regarded as aliens by the Southern Dao Sect and called "evil ways". Over the years, there are the ten evil sects today.

The ten evil sects are: Wudao Sect, Female Sect, Zaoge Sect, Yinyang Sect, Daozhong Sect, Butian Sect, Wangqing Sect, Tianle Sect, Huntian Sect, Zhenchuan Sect.

Among the ten sects, Wudao Sect has the most people and is known as the Ten Elders. The former master of the Grand Master is one of them.

The second is the Female Sect. Most of the disciples in the sect are women. There are occasionally a few men, but most of them are not very successful. The women of this sect and the women of the Xuannv Sect who never marry are almost two extremes, either black or white.

The disciples of the Female Sect are good at the art of taking Yin to replenish Yang, forcibly seizing the true essence of others and taking it for themselves, so their cultivation progress is quite fast. In addition, they have many charm techniques. When they fight against them, many people who are higher in realm than them but weak in mind will often fall into their trap and lose. Therefore, the power of the Female Sect is second only to the Wudao Sect.

Among the ten evil sects, the Hun Tian Sect has the least momentum, and the Zhenchuan Sect has the least number of people.

From this point of view, the two have a lot in common.

Bai Chouqiu said: "Since the last Saint King attained enlightenment and ascended to heaven a hundred years ago, no one in our ten evil sects could succeed the Saint King, so they were torn apart and in decline. If it weren't for the Saint Girl's efforts to maintain it over the years, I'm afraid I wouldn't even be able to set foot in the Central Plains."

Chen Guhong said calmly: "What about the ten sects? What does it have to do with me?"

Bai Chouqiu said: "You are from the ten sects, how can you say it has nothing to do with you?"

Chen Guhong sneered: "When I was hunted by the people of the Zhengyi Sect, where were the people of our ten sects?"

Bai Chouqiu said softly: "In the current court."

The expression on Chen Guhong's face suddenly Then he paused, and asked in confusion: "The imperial court?"

Bai Chouqiu nodded and said: "You have been living in seclusion in a corner for many years. You don't know the major events that have happened. Under the integration of the Saint, except for the Wudao, Female, Daozhong, Zaoge, and Yinyang Sects, the other five sects have all entered the pass and entered the capital in the fifth year of Tianbao and obeyed the orders of the Saint."

Chen Guhong sneered, "What about the five most powerful sects? I'm afraid they are all in the northwest! They split the land in the northwest and crowned the king, and nominated Tan Taiyun as the new Saint, but our five sects can only survive under the eaves of others."

Bai Chouqiu's face was slightly embarrassed.

The ten evil sects are naturally not a monolithic entity, and the various disputes among them may not be worse than those of the twelve righteous sects. The ten sects originated in Liaodong, but the five major sects among them moved to the northwest one after another, and the time was even earlier than the establishment of the Wei Dynasty, which led to today's northwest uprising.

After a moment of silence between the two, Chen Guhong spoke again: "Okay, let's not talk about this. I don't think you came to see me this time to tell me about the situation in the capital. If you have anything to say, please speak directly."

Bai Chouqiu no longer beat around the bush and said directly: "As far as I know, you received several guests."

Chen Guhong said playfully: "So what?"

Bai Chouqiu said: "They are wanted criminals of the court. I am following the order of the governor to arrest the wanted criminals. Now they are hiding in your Nanshan Garden, so I would like to ask for your help."

Seeing that Chen Guhong was indifferent, Bai Chouqiu added, "This is not only the governor's meaning, but also the saint's meaning."

Chen Guhong chuckled and said sarcastically: "Saint, what is a saint? The ancestors' teachings are clearly stated. Saints must uphold chastity, not be bound by the world, cannot have feelings, and cannot have desires, but our saints Which one did the female adult do? She has married and had children, so how can she still afford the word "saint"? "

Bai Chouqiu was suddenly silent and speechless.

Logically speaking, if the Holy Lord is not here, the Holy Maiden is the ruler of the entire ten evil sects. But it is precisely because the Holy Maiden has already married, that the other five sects can be made public. He disobeyed the order of the saint and even recommended Dan Tai Yun as the new saint king, and publicly became enemies of the saint.

However, Bai Chouqiu would not retreat because of this. Since it is impossible to talk about feelings and talk about justice, then it is just a coercion. In his words, he hid his needle in his mouth and said, "Senior Brother Chen, you can't help you, and I can't do anything to you, but this errand is The commander of the Governor will be investigated in the future, and it will be difficult to be good."

Chen Guhong sneered, "Since Qingluan Guard is so powerful, why ask me for help? Besides, I have never been afraid of the big Zhengyi Sect back then. Are you afraid of your Qingluan Guard today? I'm not going to be afraid of your Qingluan Guard? You have to see how you can't be good."

Bai Chouqiu saw that Chen Guhong did not give in at all. After all, he had requests and could not force others, and could tempt others, so he calmed down again, "Do you want to re-establish the true tradition of your lineage?"

Chen Guhong had no expression on his face.

Bai Chouqiu added another sentence, "With the support of the court."

Chen Guhong still didn't have too many expressions on his face, but his pupils suddenly became bigger at this moment.