Under the sky

Chapter 145

Kunlun June Spring 90

Gulthas had a dream, which he began to have when he was young.

He walked on the corridors of Shengyana City. The place was dark and dilapidated. Sparse debris fell from time to time on the dilapidated corridor roofs. The mottled walls were gradually weathered, as if they were about to collapse in the blink of an eye.There was no moon outside the window, and the darkness was endless, but even without the lights, Gulthas could still see the corridor clearly, and even the fine sand diffused in the wind.His eyes are light, and the light is in his eyes.

He walked through the square, gardens, and corridors to the hall, and came to a huge, deeply closed ancient bronze door.The door was more than ten feet high and heavy and thick. Standing in front of it, he looked small.He pressed his hands on the huge ancient door and pushed it open effortlessly.

There is light behind the door.

The light comes from a mummy. The shriveled face is still clearly visible in the dazzling light, with a kind smile and holiness and solemnity.

Light shines from behind the door, illuminating the hall, spreading to the corridors, spreading to the wasteland outside the city, spreading to the sky, and finally lighting up the sun.The sunlight passes through the window, and the square shapes of light and shadow lie regularly and peacefully on the ground.The ashes gathered again and returned to their original belongings, the stone bricks were repaired, the rotten wood regained its strength, the crack in front of the holy city was closed, the trees along the road grew vigorously, and pilgrims came in an endless stream.

The Holy City is once again glorious.

Every time he comes here, Gulthas will wake up just like today.Nearly 50 years later, to this day, he still has such a dream every few months.Because it was so familiar, whenever he appeared outside the city of Saint Yana, he knew it was a dream.

He read through the classics recording the city of Saint Yana countless times, and he repeatedly visited it in his dreams. He knew every brick and tile, the pattern of the murals on every wall, and even the gaps between every stone.

One day he will return to the holy city to see whether the magnificent city of Sri Yana is as in his dream, and whether the remains of Sri Yanabhata are as holy as before.

Why did you have this dream today?Just after meeting Nadia and the young man who claimed to be the son of Sa God yesterday.Is this a coincidence, or is it something I was thinking about?
After morning worship, he put on his sacrificial robe and summoned Potu to offer sacrifices.Potu is his priest. He is steady and reliable, with firm beliefs. He is not neat in doing things, but he is cautious.

In the morning, it was time to meet with several officiants, including Hilidegg, and listen to what they reported to the Priesthood.

"Help me draft the article. I will ask the other four Batu Sasi to meet at the foot of the Holy Mountain."

Potu was stunned and asked, "Wouldn't you know about Arien in advance?"

Gursasi said: "Tucker will come in the afternoon."

Potu understood the meaning, bowed respectfully and stepped back.Twice a month there are meetings where Tak Yarian prays for blessings from Sasi.

Before the time arrived, Tucker was already waiting outside the palace, and Gulthas summoned him to come in in advance.

Tucker wore a golden-red robe today, with long golden hair hanging on a black short-haired shawl and a golden belt.Behind him was a brown-haired man, wearing khaki clothes, a sky blue robe, and a silver belt. He was his chief political officer Gao Leqi.As before, Gulthas' old eyes could still see Colachi's carefully groomed beard and hair, and smell the perfume he specially sprayed after bathing.As for Tucker, although he also took a bath and purified himself, he obviously didn't pay enough attention to the details.

Gurthas stood up, which was a sign of respect for Arion's status.Tucker walked five feet in front of the big bed, touched his heart with his left hand, bent down and said respectfully: "Tucker has met Gulthas."

Gao Leqi knelt on one knee and saluted.

Gulthas closed his head slightly and stretched out his withered right hand to signal Tucker to come closer.Tucker walked up to him, knelt on one knee, and Gulthas put his hand gently on top of his head.

"God Sa bless you, Nabu Badu and all his people."

Tucker stood up and respectfully replied: "Thank you Gulthas for your blessing."

Gulthas sat back on the edge of the bed, and two sacrificial guards immediately moved an armchair for Tucker to sit down.

"What's the matter?" Gulthas asked.

"Sa God has given you blessings, and everything is well in Batu. This year is a good harvest year." Tucker said, "Some villages in the north are suffering from drought, but it is not serious. There is no shortage of tithe tax." Tucker went on to say something about Batu. His current situation is nothing major.

Gulthas nodded slightly and said: "God Sa bless the people of Nabu Badu."

"My dear Gulthas, I heard something recently." Tucker said suddenly.He paused for a moment, as if confirming Gulthas's reaction.

"What's the matter?" Gulthas asked.

"There is a flame coming back from the pass." Tucker asked, "What happened?"

"Is this the news from the Priesthood?" Gulthas asked.

"I only asked Gulthas for confirmation because of hearsay." Tucker responded respectfully, "If the news is false, I will severely punish those who spread the rumors."

Gulthas looked at the young king in front of him.He is only 33 years old and respectful. He is afraid of following in the footsteps of his grandfather Gu Lie, so he is extra careful, but he is not hidden deep enough.

"One came back, named Nadia, with news from the pass." Gulthas replied, "Three of the blind men of the Nine Families died and six were seriously injured."

"This is a victory worth bragging about." Tucker said, "Let the blind people know the power of the Sha God."

"I plan to summon the other four Badusas and declare this victory to them." Gursas said, "This is enough to make them shaken."

Tucker seemed stunned for a moment, then said after a while: "Gulthas, I think..." He hesitated for a moment, and then said, "They will not compromise."

"There is no need for so many Ariens on the grassland." Gulthas said kindly, "You should be the next Hajin. Adhering to correct doctrines is the only way to glorify the god Sa."

Tucker said respectfully: "Yes. But Da Kesasi of Atuli Batu will not give in easily."

"There isn't even Arien in Atulebatu." Gursasi asked back, "Do you want such a kind of Sasi to exist on the grassland?"

Tucker was silent and replied respectfully: "I just don't want the worst situation to happen."

"That's why we planned this assassination." Gursasi said, "We have been tolerant enough. The Tenggers Sutra says that we must let wisdom sweep through the grasslands, woods, mountains, and sky like fire. And the sea is also burning, glorifying the god Sa before annihilation comes."

In the teachings of Sa religion, Sa God represents light. The sun is Sa God's "initial grace" and the earliest grace that makes all things multiply. Fire is the origin of wisdom bestowed by Sa God on human beings and is a unique grace for human beings.In this world, only fire can emit light, and only humans can use fire. The transmission of fire is the transmission of wisdom, which is also the transmission of Sa Shen's teachings.

Therefore, in most Shaman religions, only the highest-level Shaman magic robes can be embroidered with the sun, and the lower-level ones can only be embroidered with flames.The circles and angles represent the sun, and the chaotic arcs represent light. This is the pattern of light and shadow reflected by sunlight on the water.

"Yes." Tucker said no more and respectfully replied, "Tucker listens to Sasi's wise advice."

Gulthas looked at Tucker, his green eyes seeming to look into his heart.

"The grassland must be united in order to spread the teachings and glorify the Sa god. This is Sal Ha Jin's ideal. Tucker, you must be strong enough to become the next Ha Jin."

"Tucker will study hard and live up to Sasi's expectations." Tucker replied.

After Tucker left, Gulthas thought of the man from yesterday again.

He heard that Yang Yan climbed up the Tengges statue, but he didn't want to pursue it.The son of Sa God can be true or false. Erecting him will be beneficial to unify the five major tribes, and it will have a certain impact even on Sumabadu who believes in the original religious sect.

However, this young man's character has not yet been tempered.Gulthas saw stubbornness in the eyes of fire and was difficult to tame, and Yang Yan's behavior proved that this judgment was correct.He needs to spend some time to tame Yang Yan. If he cannot tame him, Yang Yan will not be able to become the true son of Sa Shen.

So he allowed Yang Yan to stay in Naibubadu and become a civilian. He planned to send people to monitor Yang Yan, give him training and training, and most importantly, Yang Yan must learn to surrender.He knew the function of the Son of God Sa and the risk of backlash.Yang Yan must be in a clever position, Gulthas thought, where would this position be?Is it between himself and Arien, or under himself and Arien?

And Tucker...

Yes, Tucker didn't hide it secretly enough. Gulthas knew that Tucker was afraid of him.He believed that Tucker got up every morning and wondered whether he would die today.

He is really old.

He is so old that even his hands are rotten in his dreams, and he is so old that he can hardly walk down the long corridor.

But he will eventually walk into the corridor and walk in front of the holy face of Sri Yanabhata.

Gurthas slowly closed his eyes.

※ Tucker is not only afraid of Gulthas, but even resents Gulthas.Although Gulthas selected him from eight brothers and raised him to become Arien, he knew how his grandfather Gulie died who tried to challenge Gulthas's authority.He was deprived of the right to believe in the god Sa and became a refugee. He could only commit suicide. However, his father lived under the breath of Gul Sas all his life and died of fear.

The earliest Nabu Badu believed in the teachings of Yanavata. Since the surrender of the Light Chaser Muen Yalian more than 100 years ago, he changed to believe in the Tengus teachings. Now Nabu Badu is fanatical about Sarhajin. The belief is second only to that of Atulie Badu, who is also a Tengus sect. Those madmen are more fanatical believers further west, geographically the base of the early Tengus sect.

But he hated Sarhajin and refused to recognize the son of Sarhajin.

One hundred and sixty-seven years ago, the power of the Sas did not overwhelm the royal power. It was not until Sarhajin's reforms and the establishment of the Priesthood and the Sacrifice Military Station that the priests completely controlled all the power in Badun. What changed was not just faith and doctrine. , and power distribution.

Grandpa, who was unwilling to have his power taken away, took advantage of Gurgang's tenure as Sa Si to launch a rebellion, but ended in failure.

Gulthas hopes to unify the five tribes, although he always says that he wants to become the real Hajin.No, that's not his goal, so what about Ha Jin, he's just a servant of Sasi.

He has always been afraid of Gulthas, and even though Gulthas was kind and caring to him, he was still afraid of him.He understood that his throne was only within the other's breath.

■

"The situation is too critical now!" Su Yinzheng slapped his hands on the table hard, his voice was unbelievably loud, and his hands hurt unbelievably.But she refrained from shouting and continued her speech.

"Three of the heads of the Nine Families have died. Huashan, the Beggar Clan, and Dian Cang are not convinced by the new leader. The world will be in chaos, and there will be great chaos! If Songshan is ignored, it may be destroyed at any time!"

Xiao Qinggu's eyes widened, she didn't expect that this young aunt would actually care about the important affairs of the sect.

"We can't sit still and wait for death! Songshan must take action!!" Su Yinzheng shouted loudly, "I have a way to ensure peace in Songshan!"

"What can I do?" Su Yilin finally couldn't help asking, maybe because he wanted to give his sister a step down.

"Marry me to Qingcheng, Mr. Shen!" Su Yinzheng wiped his tears, looking like he was crying, "Wrap me up in Qingcheng, a strong supporter, to protect Songshan Mountain!"

"Dad, eldest brother, brother-in-law, don't be reluctant! Just pretend that my daughter is gone!" Su Yinzheng howled a few times, wiped away the non-existent tears from the corners of his eyes, and used the opportunity to hide the smile on his lips, "Let my daughter do her best for Songshan and for her parents. Mental strength!”

"I said..." Su Changning shouted with a livid face, "Now that we are discussing politics, who let her come in and cause mischief?!"

Almost roaring to break the window.

Xiao Qinggu pressed her head and picked up the struggling Su Yinzheng from the chair. The little fairy couldn't help shouting: "Father! Mother! Don't be reluctant to let go of your daughter! You must let her go without discrimination!"

Xiao Qinggu threw Su Yinzheng out of the meeting hall and said with a smile: "Aunt Tianyan, why did you change your temper after a trip to Qingcheng? You don't care about the indiscriminate situation and you are so anxious to marry Mr. Shen?"

"I'm thinking about Songshan, why don't you take it seriously!" Su Yinzheng puffed up his cheeks angrily, "I sacrificed myself and got married regardless of the color!"

"What about your brother Jingfeng?"

"Shh, keep your voice down! Uncle Qin is inside, it's not good for him to listen." She actually warned Xiao Qinggu, "Jingfeng and I are not related, and he is interested in the second girl of the Shen family."

"You know again?" Xiao Qing asked.

"I knew it!" Su Yinzheng raised his head with confidence, "This is called observing words and expressions, do you understand?"

"Okay." Xiao Qinggu stroked her head, "I'm listening to your serious nonsense here. Don't you think my head hurts enough? Go and stay with your sister! You're already an aunt, but you're still so childish."

Xiao Qinggu returned to the meeting hall after instructing the guards to take away Su Yinzheng who was pouting unwillingly.

Something big had happened this time, and Xiao Qinggu was feeling uneasy in her heart.There were only four people discussing the affairs this time. In addition to my father-in-law and eldest brother, there was also this Taoist priest in his fifties who was wearing a Taoist robe and a crown and had gray hair.He is Qin Boyang, the current leader of the Taishan Sect, and the brother of Qin Kunyang who was assassinated by Li Jingfeng.After Qin Kunyang's death, he temporarily handed over the sect to his disciples and came to Songshan to take over as deputy head.

"Dian Cang and the Beggar Clan refused to accept the consensus, and Huashan stationed troops at the border of Qingcheng." Su Changning said: "Jinan is thousands of miles away from Hanzhong, so it is difficult to send people. I plan to dig some surplus from the warehouse to help Huashan pay for the army."

"Dad, this is inappropriate." Xiao Qinggu immediately stopped him, "Songshan belongs to Shaolin. Only Shaolin can make the decision on what we should do and who we should help. I feel that the abbot has not given any instructions yet."

"Wait until you see the abbot's order? It will be too late." Qin Boyang said, "If Shaolin wants to help Hengshan, Songshan will be disobeying if he doesn't help, and he will be acting under orders if he helps. What's the benefit of Hengshan accepting Shaolin's favor from Songshan? The abbot hasn't taken it yet. The idea, whoever I help is Songshan’s own favor.” Qin Boyang said, “Even if Shaolin’s ideas later conflict with Songshan’s, it can still be inferred that Shaolin was forced to do so, and the resentment is on Shaolin.”

This was reasonable and even planned for Songshan. Xiao Qinggu looked at the leader of the Taishan Sect. Qin Boyang was much higher than his younger brother in terms of talent and knowledge.

Xiao Qing said: "This is not good for Songshan, it is just a waste. Songshan is not the Nine Families, and you will not get beaten if you don't stand up."

"People will beat you up even if you don't show up." Qin Boyang said, "Withdrawing the wanted list for the murderer of my younger brother, the Taishan sect cannot even issue a complaint of revenge. Isn't this hammer loud enough?"

Xiao Qinggu was speechless for a moment. It was not that he didn't think of reasons to argue, but these reasons seemed weak.Qingcheng and his party originally had a strong momentum, but ended up suffering the most.Under Shaolin's order, Songshan Taishan withdrew Li Jingfeng's wanted order and revenge warrant. This was the first time in 50 years that Shaolin intervened in Songshan's political affairs, and the Songgao League became even more arrogant.

"What if I make the wrong choice?" Xiao Qinggu looked at Su Yilin, "Brother, what do you say?"

Su Yilin thought for a long time and said: "No matter what, I have to help Huashan."

Xiao Qinggu said in astonishment: "Why do you say that too?"

Su Yilin said: "It's easy to give money, but you can't spend it all at once. You have to be careful of two things. One is Shaolin's attitude. Don't let Shaolin hold Huashan back. The other is the attitude of other companies, especially Qingcheng. Qingcheng If the city helps Dian Cang, the Tang Sect will have to help Dian Cang, and the position of leader Li will be returned. The details can be discussed with Head Yan. If necessary, I will go to Huashan and have a chat with Head Yan. "

Su Changning said thoughtfully: "I wrote a letter to Abbot Juejian, telling him that Head Li's position is unfair and I can't believe him." After a while, he said again, "Let's just say it straight and say that Songshan is not convinced."

Xiao Qinggu said in surprise: "Master!"

Su Changning said with a livid face: "That's it. Yilin, I'll leave this matter to you."

Xiao Qingguo wanted to talk about it again, so Su Changning said: "It's okay, you go back to accompany Wanqin. Hug your son more, he is of Songshan blood, a pure Songshan person."

Xiao Qinggu felt that there was something in her father-in-law's words, and was even more shocked. After the meeting, she was still depressed.Songshan's move was an overreach. As a vassal of Shaolin, Shaolin should be the one to follow the lead. Why did it instead speak out first and deepen the conflict between Songshan and Shaolin?
"Brother-in-law." Su Yilin caught up with Xiao Qinggu.Xiao Qinggu asked: "What?"

"Dad is not very happy." Su Yilin said.

Of course Xiao Qinggu could see that his father-in-law was dissatisfied, and he must have felt that he was favoring Shaolin, so he said: "I was born in Shaolin, but I also plan for Songshan."

"You have no plans for Songshan." Su Yilin shook his head.

Xiao Qinggu felt unhappy and said, "I didn't..."

"There is no need to argue, there is no use convincing me." Su Yilin said, "You only care about the good of the two families, and you have never thought about what Shaolin thinks? We ate a hammer in Qingcheng, and now we have to pay back the hammer and tell Shaolin Songshan It’s not easy to bully, otherwise, they can really bully the boss.”

"We are all a family, how can we not allow this step?" Xiao Qing said.

"What's the use of Songshan just giving in? Brother-in-law, you want to be more careful. Juekong just wants Songshan to be consumed. If Shaolin really joins the war and sends Songshan as a pawn, can Songshan refuse?"

"Juekong has spent decades supporting the Songgao League and causing internal strife in Songshan. Will he let us go? It's not that we want to go against Shaolin, but that if we don't go against him, we will be left as human beings. If you want to repay evil with kindness, will Juekong do that?"

"You can trust Shaolin, but Songshan can't trust Juekong."

"To protect itself, Songshan must express its stance first, otherwise it will be led by Juekong and become even more isolated and helpless. We want to help Huashan."

"When necessary, I have to disobey orders and not hesitate to fall out with Shaolin." Su Yilin said, "In order to let Songshan survive."

"What if Dian Cang loses?" Xiao Qing asked, "Songshan will be destroyed immediately."

"It's better than not helping each other." Su Yilin said, "As long as Juekong is still in Shaolin for one day, brother-in-law, ask yourself, am I right?"

Xiao Qinggu was speechless again.

(End of this chapter)