I want to embrace the moon for nine days

"Are you asking me to give Bao Zheng a message?"

Zhihua was originally in the yard, flipping through the underworld medicinal herbs that Su Yan had secretly stored in his private vault. He classified them into different categories, cut them into small pieces, and experienced their medicinal properties.

Unexpectedly, Su Hanshan and Ouyang Chun went out for a while, and when they came back, they suddenly mentioned that he should go find Bao Zheng.

He hesitated and said, "I don't like dealing with the government. Both Bei Xia and Brother Su don't seem to take the government seriously. Why do you suddenly bring this up?"

Su Hanshan pinched his knuckles and said, "There are too many people who are not doing their job here. I can't take care of them for now. Let me inform my helpers and ask them to take care of it."

As he spoke, Su Hanshan threw a bag he had brought back to Zhihua.

That was at Lu Kun's residence. Some instruments for burning incense and sending messages were found. They were used to contact the Xiangyang Palace, and traces of them could be found.

In addition, there are several treasures that assist in daily cultivation. They are all produced in the Bixia Palace of Little Penglai in the East China Sea. They are priceless, and will only be refined if people of noble status come in person to request a custom order.

Zhihua took a look and Ouyang Chun beside him added a few words about what happened. He also took out the ball of Ten-Sun Dazzling Magic Sand and showed it to others.

"Hiss, this matter is indeed very serious."

Zhihua's eyelids twitched. "I thought we only had to guard against Kunlun, but I didn't expect that the guy from the East China Sea was increasingly trying to interfere in the world."

"But, I am a lowly person with little influence. For such a major event, if one of you could come forward, with your cultivation status, that would be more..."

Su Hanshan sat down next to him, leaned back in a chair to rest, and said bluntly: "I want to practice martial arts, look at Taihu Lake, and wait for my friends. I have too many things to do and don't have time to run errands."

"Alas, I also need to recover from my injuries."

Ouyang Chun covered his chest with his hands, and his face seemed to turn much paler in an instant. He coughed weakly twice and forced a smile to Zhihua.

"Besides, brother, don't be too modest and underestimate yourself."

"There may not be many people in the world who can recognize the Sun-Changing Footwork, but I happened to have heard of it. In the past few hundred years, there should be only two people who have mastered this method."

"One is the old headmaster of the Wudang sect, Senior Jin Changjin, who was known as the old sword demon who stole the sky and changed the day. The other is the mysterious figure in the contemporary martial arts world, known as the black demon fox, that is you, brother."

"I heard that you have dealt with Lord Bao Zheng of Kaifeng Prefecture several times. It would be a pity if you don't use the existing friendship. This trip will make things smoother and gain people's trust."

"If Brother Su and I, two people with sensitive identities, were to go there, it might lead to some embarrassing things."

Zhihua looked somewhat helpless: "Well, I'll go on this trip then."

Since Bao Zheng served as the prefect of Duanzhou decades ago, he has been known as a god-like judge of cases. He also dismissed unnecessary officials and abolished the excessive taxes and levies of his predecessor, winning the hearts of the people.

Later, he became the prefect and grand secretary of Kaifeng. He often took the title of imperial envoy to inspect various places and punish those officials who were corrupt, perverted the law, and took human lives lightly. Wherever he went to a place, the people would rush to tell each other, creating a spectacular sight.

Therefore, in recent years, whenever Bao Zheng traveled, the news would spread hundreds of times faster than their traveling team.

Zhihua knew Bao Zheng's recent itinerary without even asking.

There are also some other rumors that Bao Zheng encountered more troubles on the road during this tour than before.

It's not just because officials pervert the law, people break the law, bandits cause trouble, and ghosts file complaints, it's also because of... monsters.

It was already evening on this day.

The waves are surging on the Yangtze River.

The sky was illuminated by the setting sun, with a mixture of gold and red.

Bao Zheng placed a full set of tables and chairs on the fleet deck, sat at the table, and looked through files and books while enjoying the river breeze and evening glow.

Across the table was a scholar wearing a square scarf, with gray hair on his temples and a handsome face. He was using a small stove to cook porridge, occasionally opening the lid and stirring it carefully. The porridge was fragrant and the juice was thick.

The light of the setting sun shines on the chopsticks, and you can see that the soup is as thick as honey, which whets your appetite.

"almost."

The scholar smiled and called into the cabin, "Guard Zhan, Mr. Gongsun, would you two like to eat hot or cold?"

Inside the cabin, two people were playing chess.

A man wearing a blue robe, with a dignified appearance and extraordinary heroism, is Zhan Zhao, who is known as the "Southern Hero" in the martial arts world. Because he admires Bao Zheng, he becomes his bodyguard.

The other man, with his hair tied up with a wooden hairpin, eyes as dark as lacquer, three long strands of beard, looks elegant and calm, holding a feather fan, but only wearing a cloth robe. He is Bao Zheng's aide, Gongsun Ce.

Zhan Zhao turned his head to look at the deck and said with a smile, "Mr. Fan, what are you talking about? Sweet porridge with red beans, lotus seeds, purple rice, peanuts and other ingredients should not be eaten while hot to taste the fragrance?"

"That's a bad word."

Boss Fan shook his head. "If it's thin porridge, it's just a bowl of water and a few grains of rice. It's true that it's more fragrant when eaten hot. But for good porridge like this, the more ingredients you use and the thicker it is, the more you can eat it at any time."

"You can eat it hot or cold, and even if you eat it as ice cubes, it still tastes different."

The old man put down his chopsticks and stroked his beard, feeling quite pleased with himself. "When I was young, I loved to freeze porridge into ice cubes before eating. At that time, studying was hard, so I froze a bowl of porridge into ice cubes and cut it into pieces. I would take a bite from time to time, which made me feel refreshed. I thought I was a master at it."

Gongsun Ce said: "I heard that someone wrote an article specifically about the deeds of the young man Fan, and it was talked about with great relish among many scholars. It was used to spread the word in the village, so that everyone should be willing to endure hardships, endure more hardships, and only those who endure more hardships are capable people."

"is it?"

Fan Zhongyan shook his head slightly. "I studied when I was young so that I would not have to endure hardships. If I just keep preaching that people should endure more hardships and let the villagers endure hardships for their whole lives, I am afraid that some people have bad intentions."

“The correct way to govern the world is to allow those who have suffered to have something sweet to eat instead.”

He sighed and looked at his porridge pot, "I still don't put enough sugar in this porridge!"

Fan Zhongyan grabbed a handful of sugar and was about to throw it into the porridge pot when he suddenly felt a breeze blowing beside him and a blue robe fluttering by.

Zhan Zhao suddenly came to the bow, holding a sword in his hand and with a serious expression.

Fan Zhongyan was stunned for a moment, and then he realized that something was wrong on the river.

About ten miles ahead, I saw that the river water flowing downstream suddenly tumbled in the opposite direction, surging up waves like broken jade and snow.

One wave was higher than the other, and the roaring sound of the waves, mixed with a strange wind, blew towards us.

The large sail on the ship was blown backwards, and the whole ship slowed down suddenly.

Fan Zhongyan looked carefully and found many strange shadows rising from the waves.

Some have fish heads and human bodies, some have human bodies and crab claws, some are wearing turtle shells, and some look like humans, but when they open their mouths, they spit out long snake tongues.

Some of them looked exactly like humans, but they were two or three feet tall, wearing heavy iron armor, holding iron hammers that were bigger than an average person's body, and their roars were like the roars of thousands of hippopotamuses. They stepped on the river, waved flags and shouted, slapped shields with long swords, and strong men beat drums to cheer them on. There were clusters of them in the east and west, and strange clouds and waves covered almost the entire river.

Just a cursory glance reveals that there are at least tens of thousands of these monsters.

"Another monster."

Fan Zhongyan sighed, "Empress Dowager Xiao's methods are truly extraordinary."

Not long ago, Bao Zheng was ordered to go on a diplomatic mission to the Liao Kingdom, where he was responsible for discussing the extension of the contract between the two countries.

Unexpectedly, Empress Dowager Xiao of Liao deliberately beat around the bush and asked him to help investigate major unsolved cases in various states of Liao. With the help of Bao Zheng, she eradicated many cancers among the Liao nobles.

In this way, Empress Dowager Xiao's own power was further consolidated, her majesty was profound, and she could issue decrees at will, while retaining a hint of human touch for the remaining Liao nobles.

Bao Zheng was concerned about the people of Liao, 90% of whom were Han Chinese and lived in poverty. Some of them could only keep warm in manure pits in the winter. Every winter many farmers became beggars. Bao Zheng could not bear to see this, so he took action.

After such a cooperation, the Song Dynasty only gained the continuation of the peace treaty between the two countries, while the Liao Dynasty gained much more advantages.

But Empress Dowager Xiao was still not satisfied. She wanted to eliminate Bao Zheng, but it was difficult to do so. Finally, she decided to create more trouble for him through other means, so she sent people to spread rumors.

The rumor claims that the Pure Land of Wenquxing of the Song Dynasty was passed down from Guo Wei, the founding emperor of the Later Zhou Dynasty, through Chai Rong, the Emperor Shizong of the Later Zhou Dynasty, Zhao Pu, the prime minister of the early Song Dynasty, Kou Zhun, the prime minister of the previous generation, and Fan Zhongyan, the former prefect of Kaifeng, and others, and has a profound foundation.

The most rare thing is that he met Bao Zheng, the prefect of Kaifeng this generation, who was gifted and was simply the incarnation of the God of Literature, born specifically for the Pure Land of Literature.

His Pure Land has already merged with his body, and all the essence of the Pure Land has been discovered. His essence and blood contain incomparable literary talent. If the demon clan obtains some of it, their spiritual wisdom will be greatly increased, and the defects of their demon body when it transformed will be repaired.

Empress Dowager Xiao herself was a demon fairy. After she took control of the Liao Kingdom, her cultivation became increasingly advanced. Among the thousands of mountain demons on land, she was honored as the "Red-bearded Dragon Mother". Her prestige was self-evident.

She spread the rumors herself and fabricated a lot of information to support them, which naturally attracted thousands of monsters in the world to make trouble.

First in this world, humans practiced cultivation, then spiritual thoughts settled in the underworld, and later spiritual thoughts penetrated from the underworld to the human world, nourishing wild beasts and plants, and giving rise to the demon race.

Therefore, the cultivation methods of the demon race are all based on those of humans. However, the demon body is very different from the human body, so the first thing in cultivation is to learn how to transform.

More than 99% of monsters, after successfully transforming, still have some differences in their bodies from humans. This does not normally have an impact, but the more advanced the practice, the more awkward it becomes, gradually forming defects, affecting the progress of practice, and even threatening to shorten one's lifespan.

Many great demons who have cultivated to the level of demon immortals are unable to completely eliminate this drawback.

If Bao Zheng's blood and essence really had such miraculous effects, how could the demons and immortals from all directions not be tempted?

At first, Bao Zheng wanted to explain, but the monsters refused to believe him and thought he was deliberately deceiving them. Some of them were too weak to use force and just begged. Some of them were too ferocious and were used to eating humans, so they wanted to make a surprise attack and take their blood, but were killed by Zhan Zhao's sword.

On the way back from the Liao Kingdom, Zhan Zhao's Juque sword drank the blood of countless famous monsters. It was not until everyone returned to Kaifeng that they finally calmed down for a while.

As a result, when Bao Zheng went on tour this time, the monsters in various places began to move strangely again.

"I see two large flags in the monster army formation. It seems that Lei Yungong and Zheng Zhizhou are leading them."

Gongsun Ce also came to the bow and looked at the monster army on the water. "Lei Yungong was already famous in the previous dynasty. It is said that he was a water ape who became a spirit. He was particularly lustful and harmed countless women. Later, he was severely injured by an authentic Emei swordsman, who cut off his evil roots and fled into the sea. There has been no trace of him for hundreds of years."

"Zheng Zhizhou is a goat that has turned into a spirit. He is a pretentious person. He once passed the imperial examination and was named the top scholar in the Song Dynasty. He was called out outside the Donghua Gate and was sent to serve as an official. However, he is all show and no substance, and he is a disaster to the people. He is also like-minded with Lei Yungong. After Lei Yungong got into trouble, he took the initiative to disappear."

"Now it seems that these two evil creatures have been accompanying each other for many years after escaping into the sea. This military formation was obviously trained by the two of them together."

Fan Zhongyan also saw the clue and nodded, saying, "Yes, there are traces of our Song Dynasty's army formation in it. I think it must have been passed down by the governor Zheng."

"Ha ha ha ha!!"

A wild laugh came from the river, and huge waves surged. Two water columns erupted and condensed into two thrones ten feet above the river.

There was a monkey over ten feet tall, wearing imperial clothes, sitting on the throne on the east side, and a scholar in a white robe, a folding fan, and flowers on his temples, sitting on the throne on the west side.

"You are quite knowledgeable. After a hundred years, you still know our reputation!"

The monkey had a sharp voice and laughed like a broken gong. He shouted shamelessly, "Back then, the dog thief from Emei cut off the precious pestle under my crotch. For so many years, I have been too uncomfortable in the sea and have never been able to enjoy myself."

"Finally I heard that the blood of the god Wenquxingjun, the governor of Kaifeng, has aphrodisiac effect and can heal my old injury."

Lei Yungong slapped the armrest of the throne and said, "If you know what's good for you, send that Kaifeng prefect out quickly. We brothers are so kind that we will only eat him. Otherwise, we will sink all your dozen ships and kill 1,800 people."

Zheng Zhizhou opened his folding fan to cover the lower half of his face and said softly, "Brother Lei, don't underestimate them."

"Since Bao Zheng's blood essence has miraculous effects, his own cultivation must be quite good. He also has a Lu Xingxian guard by his side. If they attack him by surprise, he might escape and injure our men instead."

Lei Yungong was still laughing, but secretly using a secret method to transmit his voice.

"Don't worry, my dear brother. I am just pretending to be careless and rude. In fact, I am concentrating and not relaxing at all."

"We have practiced for so many years, divided our essence and blood, and raised our military formations. Once we join forces, we can fight even against the top land-walking immortals who have survived the first disaster."

"After all, the people on the boat are just two young people, especially the one practicing Land Walking Immortal. He is only in his twenties and has no great master. How much power can he have?"

"It's good that they don't have the intention of a surprise attack. If they really want to take advantage of my carelessness to launch a surprise attack, it will be their death. You and I can kill them immediately in a blink of an eye, which will save a lot of effort!"

After hearing this, the goat demon nodded secretly under his folding fan, and couldn't help but glance at his own army formation, feeling very proud.

His formation was based on Zhao Kuangyin's Yanming Formation, and he added some magic changes to it. He spent a hundred years planting his own essence and blood into the bodies of his soldiers.

The two great demon fairy masters, combined with this great formation, used their vital energy, which was overwhelming and several times more powerful than the power of a single demon fairy.

When the moves flow and spread out, they become ten times more complicated, seamless and impeccable.

"It's the Wild Goose Singing Formation!"

On the bow of the boat, Gongsun Ce gestured twice with the feather fan. First, he tilted it to the west, and the outline of the feather fan just happened to be the same as the military formation in the west. Then he tilted it to the east, and they overlapped again.

The feather fan flapped twice, like the wings of a wild goose, and then the whole fan fell apart, with feathers flying around in the air.

Gongsun Ce stroked his beard and watched, occasionally raising his hand to flick away a feather and change the formation.

In just a few breaths, he waved his sleeves and gathered all the feathers into a fan. He turned to look at Zhan Zhao and asked with a smile, "Guard Zhan, what should we do about the wild geese blocking the river?"

Zhan Zhao had just seen all the changes in the feathers, and only left four words, leaving the scabbard in the air, and the man drew the sword and left.

"Cut his throat first!"

(End of this chapter)