Ten states

"Heng Liang, look, these are the trajectories of the earth spirit masters in Jingzhou during this period. Can you see anything from these trajectories?"

On the map of Jingzhou that Zhang Yuhong pointed to, several places were marked with a red pen. Those were the places where the earth spirit master had been haunted some time ago. It was Hongjing County.

Zhang Hengliang rubbed Guangshengsheng's chin with his hands, frowned hard and looked at the map. After pondering for a long time, he shook his head: "I don't see it, please guide me."

"Just now I have already told you what the earth spirit master did in these places. If you connect them, can you think of anything?"

"...The distances between these places are not close, and the directions are completely irregular. The earth spirit master is afraid that after he eats people in one place, the news will spread quickly, and the other places will be alerted by the wind, so they are so casual. Is it a random place?"

"No, he should be looking for someone. In other words, he should be waiting for someone to find him. This should be the countermeasure he and someone made before escaping from Longhu Mountain."

Zhang Yuhong pointed to the map and patiently explained to Zhang Hengliang.Because from today onwards, this son of the heavenly master will join his team in hunting down the earth spirit master.It seemed like a child's play to say it, but it happened to be the case, and he couldn't refuse it. "Since it is such an important matter, why don't the faction send more people to help Uncle Yuhong? The local spiritual master once learned the Taoism from his ancestor, and he did not hesitate to take risks to achieve the Yangshen Dharma Body to hide in the dark. Even if the uncle has a deep cultivation , Taoism is invincible, but it is too dangerous to deal with such an enemy? And the secret of the earth spirit master is related to the face of my heavenly master. How can the faction deal with it so casually?"

"The Celestial Master has his own reasons for his actions." Zhang Yuhong could only smile bitterly and meaningfully at that time.Of course, he could faintly guess the reason.But I can't say it, but I have to explain it for Zhang Hengliang. "Earth spirit masters are profoundly cultivated, come and go without a trace, no matter how many disciples of the ordinary sect with insufficient cultivation, it is useless. Tracking by one person is more able to adapt to the situation and respond freely." "How can this be done?" Zhang Yuhong frowned and refused without hesitation. "Earth spirit masters have strange methods, and their cultivation is profound and unpredictable. Even my uncle, I don't dare to say how much chance I have of winning. How can I put you in danger? You should go back to Longhu Mountain quickly with Uncle Liu Hongde Bar."

But Zhang Hengliang shook his head firmly and said: "Uncle, there is no need to worry. My father gave me a lot of talismans to defend myself before leaving. Even if I can't help you when facing the earth spirit master, self-protection is definitely no problem. This I felt a lot during the trip to Yunzhou. I feel that my vision and experience are really shallow. How can I make progress if I don’t experience ups and downs? It’s safe to stay in Jingnan every day, and it’s safe for myself. What benefit? Didn’t Master Uncle wander the world alone when he was young, going through all kinds of hardships and hardships in the world, and this is how he has achieved today’s cultivation?”…

"No, this matter is too dangerous, I will never agree to it." Of course, Zhang Yuhong flatly refused such a request.But at the same time, he also felt a little strange, this nephew seemed a little different from the past, as if he had really been stimulated by something.

At that time, Zhang Hengliang didn't say anything more.Knowing that it would be useless to persist like that, I quietly withdrew.But on the second day.Zhang Yuhong suddenly received a summons Fuhe from Longhu Mountain, which was written by Zhang Tianshi himself.The meaning of just a few words is to agree with Zhang Hengliang to stay by Zhang Yuhong's side, and hope that Zhang Yuhong will take care of him more and let him exercise in this rare opportunity.It turned out that Zhang Hengliang used the summoning talisman specially prepared for him by Zhang Tianshi that night, and sent back the matter here and his intention to stay, and Zhang Tianshi agreed, and immediately sent a message to Zhang Yuhong with the talisman .

Zhang Yuhong was surprised.The communication talisman crane is not easy to make, and there are strict regulations on its use in the teaching.Even if Zhang Hengliang's status is special, the communication talisman crane on his body should be the only one used in special circumstances, but he used it on this kind of problem. What's even more strange is that Zhang Tianshi actually agreed Yes, and immediately sent a message with Fu He.

It has long been heard that Zhang Tianshi and Tianshi's wife love this only son very much, but it seems a bit inappropriate to love to this extent.There should be some other purpose in this arrangement.Zhang Yuhong could faintly feel something strange.

But no matter what he thinks or feels, since the Heavenly Master's will has arrived, he has to accept it.Zhang Yuhong could only try his best to convince himself that this might not be a bad thing.As a young man who is likely to inherit the position of Celestial Master in the future, it is indeed necessary for him to gain more knowledge and experience when he wants to. Zhang Tianshi even prepared a talisman crane for him, so other magic weapons for protection are not enough. It will be missing, as long as you are careful.

"Looking for someone to meet him? How is this possible? The Earth Spirit Master has been imprisoned in Longhu Mountain for hundreds of years without seeing the sun. Longhu Mountain has condensed the hearts and beliefs of the entire Jingnan people for hundreds of years. The mountain is connected with the celestial masters of the past generations, even when the demon sect was raging, it was impossible to sneak in and make trouble, so how could someone make an appointment with the earth spiritual master in advance?"

Regarding this question, Zhang Yuhong also stroked his beard and frowned and said: "I am also puzzled by this point. Normally speaking, this is indeed unbelievable, but Fellow Daoist Xia's analysis makes sense..."

Zhang Hengliang's expression was a bit complicated, as if he deliberately made a somewhat disdainful expression: "Hmph, is that guy from the Maoshan faction? He is just from a small branch of the sect, how can he know something about my Longhushan? Young, with a slick look on his face. I guess it's just talking nonsense."

"Heng Liang, if you look at people and things with your own emotions, what is the difference from being blind? Daoist Xia is not much older than you. But he has a lot of experience in the world, and he is also smart and righteous. His insights are unique. Jizhu is a conclusion that I can't think of when I'm in the game. How much do you know about him? Just make assumptions like this." Zhang Yuhong's voice could not help showing a bit of sternness, and then pointed to several places marked on the map explain. "Have you seen that? After the earth spirit master left Jingnan, the distances between the several places he chose to haunt are almost the same, and even if it is not a prosperous place, it is definitely not a small village or small town. Once there is something After the incident happened, the news can be spread to all directions. It is also because of this that we can grasp the approximate trace of the earth spirit master."

"I just told you what the earth spirit master did in these places. It is similar to the troubles that happened in Hongjing City. They all attract the attention of the people with their status as high-ranking people, and he chooses the ones who are strong, strong and energetic among them. If it is only for the purpose of eating people, there is absolutely no need for the earth spirit master to create a big or small disturbance every time. With his scheming and cunning, and his natural nature is more cautious, this is a bit inexplicably ostentatious The style definitely has another purpose. After discussing with fellow Daoist Xia about the location of these locations, I think he most likely wants to spread the news and tell someone who he doesn't know the exact location and identity of where he is now. Only those who have a certain agreement and tacit understanding in advance will understand such a cryptic communication method.”…

"...After all, these are just speculations without empirical evidence. How can they help our actions today?"

"Unless we can find any real evidence. This inference is the only direction we can rely on now. Since the last place where the earth spirit master appeared was Hongjing City, we will wait here for the time being and wait and see what happens." Zhang Yuhong Hand caresses the long beard on the lip.There was a flash of light in his eyes. "I have a feeling that the biggest weakness of the earth spirit master is the person he is waiting for..."

"By the way, Uncle Master." Zhang Hengliang asked in a very casual tone as if he suddenly remembered. "Shifang monk of the Pure Land Temple, will Miss Mingyue still be with us? The matter of the earth spirit master is related to my Longhu Mountain secret, and now they know it all. I don't know what the uncle thinks about this matter?"

Facing this sudden question, Zhang Yuhong frowned deeply, looking at Zhang Hengliang for a while, not knowing what to say.

# # #

dusk.In a small town about 100 miles south of Hongjing City, Liu Hongde led others to live in the only small inn in the town.A group of more than ten celestial masters.The shopkeeper of the inn hurriedly came to receive him in person, and vacated several good rooms to invite all the celestial masters to stay.The other passengers living in the inn also looked sideways.

After resting in Hongjing City for a while, everyone is no longer in such a depressed state. Knowing that neither the Yunzhou barbarians nor the Tang family will chase here, they no longer have the slightest panic. See They all looked like celestial masters who were full of energy and personable, especially the younger ones who still retained the pride and excitement of seeing the snake demon queen in Hongjing City.

Only Liu Hongde, the leader, looked ashamed and numb. It wasn't that he hadn't recovered from the exhaustion of the previous journey, but that he was numb after death. He didn't wear Taoist robes like the others, but a whole body.

"Senior Brother Liu, what happened? Did Senior Brother Yu Hong say something to you? Zhang Hengliang wants to stay there by himself, so what does he have to do with you, Senior Brother?" Two middle school students who were close to him Taoist Nian naturally discovered what was wrong with him a long time ago, and asked several times along the way, but he just shook his head and refused to say anything.

After staying in the inn room, the junior brother in the same room asked again, but he still shook his head and gave a weak and wry smile: "It's nothing, it's purely my own business, but it has caused several junior brothers to worry about it. Junior brother, let's rest first Well, I'll go out and walk around to relax."

I've been walking for a whole day, so I don't need to walk around to relax.Liu Hongde just didn't want to stay there to face the inquiries of the juniors, or just wanted to stay as far away from them as possible, especially those young disciples, Liu Hongde felt uncomfortable just seeing them now.

Walking alone to a small stream outside the small town, listening to the gentle sound of the stream, and feeling the gradually darkening silence around him, Liu Hongde felt a dead silence in his heart, but there seemed to be something invisible in the deepest part of the silence. Roaring unwillingly.

Zhang Yuhong has already told him what happened in Tianshijiao before this.The escape of the earth spirit master, and the arrangements for the people in the church to deal with him after he escaped.and the question of who should be held accountable for this.In the end, it was a very unbelievable result. It was him who was obviously in the depths of Yunzhou, thousands of miles away, to bear this responsibility.

Liu Hongde had no doubts about this incredible result.Not only did he know that Zhang Yuhong would not lie to him, but also because he had been teaching for more than forty years.From the lowest level of handyman Taoist, he stepped up step by step without relying on any background support, and watched how Zhang Yuanling stood out from the crowd of uncles and brothers to inherit the position of celestial master.He is too clear about everything up and down in Longhu Mountain, and he understands that this seemingly unimaginable result is actually a kind of necessity.

Now that the earth spirit master has escaped, the most important thing for the heavenly master, especially the elders, is not what is the reason behind this, but who should bear the responsibility.This responsibility is too great, it can almost be regarded as the biggest leak in Longhushan since he joined the religion, no matter who takes this responsibility, it will not be easy.Abolishing his cultivation base and expelling him from the mountain gate is probably the lightest thing.

The existence of the Earth Spirit Hall is very strange. The core disciples of the faction strictly guard it. The earth spirit master guarding this temple has never made the slightest mistake. If it weren't for the blood food that was sent regularly every year, everyone would have thought that the earth spirit master had actually died.So this has been passed down from generation to generation, and guarding the Earth Spirit Hall has become a seemingly heavy responsibility, but it is actually very easy.In the teaching, the meritorious salary for guarding the Earth Spirit Hall is very generous, so in the end the only ones who are qualified to guard the Earth Spirit Hall are the disciples and nephews of the elders and celestial masters.These disciples and nephews are not just close friends of elders and heavenly masters.It is their face, and it is even related to the balance of power among the elders.You must know that once such a major responsibility is implemented, it is very likely that it will not be a problem of one or two people involved.

Such a situation.It is inevitable to find a less important person who does not belong to any faction to take on this responsibility.It so happened that Liu Hongde was such a person.Since he worshiped at the gate of Longhu Mountain since he was young, he has no blood relationship with the Zhang family at all, and he has never taken the initiative to approach any elder and deacon of the Zhang family, which can be said to be an anomaly.Just because he is really practical and capable, and it is rumored that a younger brother is an elder in Zhenwuzong, the elders and celestial masters in the sect entrust him with important tasks repeatedly.

But in the face of such an extraordinary situation, he can only be found as an 'outsider' who has some relationship with the Earth Spirit Hall, so the last 'heavy task' can only fall on his shoulders like this.

Zhang Yuhong actually told him.Let him just bring the boy who was traveling with him back to Jingnan, instead of following him back to Longhu Mountain.Find a reason to find a place to live in Jingnan temporarily, and after he settles the matter with the spiritual master, he will go back to the mountain with him.We must find a way to fight for justice for him.He agreed to this on the surface, but he could only smile wryly behind his back.In fact, the suspicion and ostracism that this well-known Daoist Fumo suffered in Longhu Mountain is unimaginable to outsiders. He may not even realize how much Zhang Yuanling, a celestial master, fears him.Therefore, Liu Hongde is sure that Zhang Yuhong's intentions are full, but you don't need to guess how effective it will be.

Thinking that he has been proud of his hard work and ability for many years, without relying on any background and relying on his own efforts to walk all the way up the Dragon and Tiger Mountain of this family, Liu Hongde suddenly laughed, tears welled up in his eyes .

Laughter spread far away alone in the wilderness.After laughing for a while, Liu Hongde stopped laughing abruptly. There was only a dull silence around, not even the sound of insects, as if the world had died suddenly.Liu Hongde only felt that his whole body was light and unsteady, and he didn't know where his Taoism and inner energy had gone after years of hard training.

Suddenly there was a rush of footsteps rushing towards here from far to near, the speed was quite fast, Liu Hongde immediately cleared up his mood after years of experience in walking the rivers and lakes, he could tell that these were not just human footsteps.

A crescent moon has already hung on the edge of the sky that is not completely dark. With the vague skylight, Liu Hongde can see that a young woman is running towards him, followed by two black figures like leopards. .Obviously it was his own laughter that attracted the woman who was running for her life.

The woman's lightness skills are good, but only good, the distance between the two shadows behind her and her is gradually shortening.The woman was running with her last breath, not even daring to call for help, lest she let out her breath and slow down her body.But even with a distance of tens of feet, Liu Hongde felt that he could clearly see the fear and pleading in the woman's eyes in the twilight where things could only be seen vaguely.

Liu Hongde drew out the long sword at his waist and ran towards the woman.As the woman and the two shadows following behind her approached.There was also a faint smell of corpses in the air. The instincts developed by the Taoist priests taught by Tianshi for more than 40 years allowed him to know what he should do without even thinking about it.

The two shadows swooped one by one.Seeing that he was about to jump on the woman in front, Liu Hongde shook his hand, and the two Celestial Master Talismans turned into two yellow lights and hit the black shadow.He has a lot of experience in fighting in the rivers and lakes, whether it is fighting people or fighting monsters and ghosts. He doesn't have the habit of disdain to use talismans like ordinary celestial masters and Taoists, and he just came back from Yunzhou and other places that need to be careful. , with the talisman that he usually made.

Two talismans hit the black shadow, and two phantom golden bronze bells flashed in the air.There were two explosion sounds like Huang Zhong Dalu, and the two black shadows were also blown out. At the same time, there was a sizzle sound from the whole body as if being splashed with boiling oil, and a dead rat that seemed to be rotten The stench like being burnt permeates, and the person wants to vomit.

"Huh? It's really the magic corpse puppet technique?" Liu Hongde was slightly startled.Although the Demon Sect was destroyed back then, there were quite a few different techniques and methods that were handed down. In addition to the supreme Five Strategies of the Heavenly Demon, there were more heretical and evil methods, such as refining corpses and extracting souls, raising Gu and demons, etc. The numbers are all re-improved by the Demon Cult's collection of various insidious tricks.Although these methods are not as miraculous as the Five Strategies of the Heavenly Demon.But the advantage is that it is easy to learn and extremely powerful. Even if the imperial court cooperates with all major forces in the Jianghu to suppress it, there are always people who learn it secretly in the Jianghu.But this is the first time I have seen it so close to Jingnan, the root of Tianshijiao.

Although it seems to have been bombed badly.But the two black shadows just rolled on the ground and stood up again, but they ignored Liu Hongde who attacked them, and the four dead white eyes stared blankly at the woman who took the opportunity to run away.These are two dog-shaped corpse puppets, about the size of a leopard, with carrion and dry flesh strewn across their bodies like those air-dried corpses that have been placed for a long time, but there is no stiffness in the movements of ordinary zombies, and the agility and strength of movement can be seen from the movements Powerful, it does not appear to be inferior to ordinary ligers.

"Hmph, this corpse puppet is really good at acting." Liu Hongde snorted coldly.Just now he discovered that this might be a corpse monster.The two evil-suppressing celestial master talismans used have the effect of destroying evil and eliminating filth, but unexpectedly, they cannot win with one blow.It seems that the people who made this thing are not ordinary people.

But that's all.Even if he has practiced Taoism and martial arts in Tianshijiao for more than forty years, he has not stepped into the innate realm.However, Liu Hongde's cultivation was not inferior to that of any guardian Taoist anywhere, and his experience in fighting and dealing with these monsters and ghosts was extremely rich.He took out two more talismans and threw them into the air. With a touch of the sword tip, the talismans turned into two groups of burning golden flames suspended in the air.

The two corpse puppets did not show the slightest fear or ferocity. They are puppets under the control of Taoism. Some of them are like the organs of Shenjitang. They will only act according to the intention set by the creator. It's just that it is much more agile than pure dead things like organs, at least no matter how exquisite the organ beasts are, they can't chase and kill their targets on their own like these two corpse puppets.

But since it is a dead thing, there are clever ways to deal with it.As soon as the two golden flames were released, the two corpse puppets jumped up and rushed towards them, as if the golden flame suddenly became more attractive than the target they wanted to kill.

Liu Hongde flicked the sword with one hand, and at the same time let out a low moan, mixed with the clear sound of the sword, the movements of the two corpse puppets in mid-air suddenly froze, and they missed the two balls of golden fire , when it fell, it fell flat on the ground.The impact of this reverberation on the corpse puppet seems to be very short. After the corpse puppet fell to the ground, it regained its ability to move. It turned over and was about to stand up, but Liu Hongde moved his sword like the wind, and the two swords provoked the two golden flowers The fire pierced deeply into the corpse puppet's chest respectively.

The corpse puppets didn't stop moving, they still stood up swiftly and swiftly, as if they were about to make a gesture to pounce on Liu Hongde, but their bodies all melted and deformed like the wax beside the stove, and they couldn't even stand up in just a few blinks of an eye. He couldn't stand still, and after shaking for a while, he fell to the ground, and soon turned into two puddles of extremely smelly black water.

At this time, the woman who was running away also saw the situation from a distance, and boldly turned around and walked back.Liu Hongde put his sword back into its sheath and glanced at the woman. In the dim twilight, it was vaguely visible that this was a young woman about 30 years old, with a slender and graceful figure, an embarrassed expression, and a beautiful look even in a panic. There were several scars on the woman's shoulders. , which seemed to be left by the corpse puppet before, and was still holding a small rattan box in his hand.

The woman came closer, opened her mouth as if to say something, but fell to the side as soon as her body softened, and Liu Hongde quickly hugged her.It was soft with vigor and vitality, and at the same time, a refreshing faint fragrance came, which made Liu Hongde's dead and indifferent heart tremble slightly.