Pawn Crossing the River

Qi Xuansu collected his thoughts and began to examine his surroundings.

Li Gui was included in the "Xuan Jade of Death", and nothing was left, mainly the snake demon.

The huge corpse of the snake demon lay quietly on the ground, with broken scales and bloody flesh. After a while, a thin layer of white snow fell, but it was not as miserable as before.

Legend has it that monsters have demon pills, but Qi Xuansu has never seen it before. He came to the snake corpse, inspected it carefully, then opened the snake's mouth, and saw a green bead rolling out.

If nothing else, the poisonous gas that was sprayed on Qi Xuansu just now came from this.

The beads were not big, slightly smaller than chickens. Qi Xuansu remembered that the snake demon had brought a box with him when he came, and returned to the house. As expected, the box was still on the table and was not affected by the fight.

Qi Xuansu opened the box, and a puff of smoke blew into his face.

However, Qi Xuansu was already on guard, holding his breath and jumping back at the same time.

After all, the speed of the smoke dispersing could not be compared with the wind, and it did not touch Qi Xuansu at all. But if Qi Xuan is so lustful that he loses his guard, he will probably not be able to escape, and he will end up capsized in the gutter and die unjustly.

"There are so many tricks." Qi Xuansu picked up the box and saw that there was a layer of silk inside. Since this box can hold smoke, it must have some magical uses. Qi Xuansu stretched out his hand and pulled out the silk, then went back outside the house, wrapped several layers of green beads in silk, and put it into his satchel.

After doing this, Qi Xuansu cleared his throat, became angry and shouted: "Come here!"

The sound of this voice can be heard hundreds of miles away, but at least the entire Xiang residence can hear it clearly.

Xiang's house, which had been silent and dark, finally heard voices, and the lights slowly turned on.

…

Qingshui Temple is named because it is close to Qingshui Station and belongs to Liangzhou Daofu.

Taoist mansions in Taoist sects can be divided into three levels, namely states, prefectures and counties. Needless to say, the Taoist temple itself corresponds to the state level, and the two levels of prefectures and counties below it are called Taoist temples. The difference is only in size. People who have been inside the Taoist sect for a long time can easily distinguish them, but outsiders are easily confused. Why is it that this Taoist temple has to obey orders from another Taoist temple?

Qingshui Temple is a small Taoist temple at the county level. Unlike the county magistrate, the Taoist temple does not manage civil affairs. It mainly targets demons who preach and confuse the people and ghosts and evil spirits that harm people. This is one of the reasons why the Taoist sect and the imperial court have coexisted for many years without incident. .

Taoist Zhou is the Taoist deacon of Qingshui Temple. He has great power and is living a pretty good life. Although Liangzhou is located in the northwest and is not as prosperous as Jiangnan, probably because there are fewer people in Liangzhou, the secret society is not very noisy. If you think about it carefully, the demons in the secret society are also human beings and cannot escape human nature. Who doesn't want to go to the prosperous Jiangnan? There are many people there, and it is easier to develop believers. The key is to enjoy it.

Not only are there moths inside Taoist sects, but there are moths inside those secret societies as well. There are many members of secret societies who take advantage of the opportunity to develop followers, covet enjoyment, ask believers to contribute funds to support themselves, and also seize the wives and daughters of believers. Weng's life, as for this true king and that god, are just their signs.

Many secret societies, including the Ziguang Society, the Zhiming Sect, and the Lingshan Witch Sect, are also troubled by this problem. The "Tianting" problem is especially serious. Although it is very powerful and has the largest number of people, its internal corruption is also the most serious.

Even the Qingping Hui, which takes the elite route, still has members like Qi Xuansu who are in the Qingping Hui Taoist sect, which is evident.

Therefore, Taoist eradication of these secret associations is still very popular.

The heavy snow was falling, and Taoist Zhou was also elegant. He put on his crane cloak, invited a few friends, and cooked wine around the stove in a small pavilion while enjoying the snow.

It corresponds to the famous poem "Ask Liu Nineteenth" by Shi Mo.

Green ants make fresh fermented wine and a small red clay stove. It's snowing in the evening, and I can't help but drink a cup.

Good mood, good mood.

Just when Taoist Zhou was enjoying his drink, someone came over in a hurry, and his mood suddenly changed.

Taoist Zhou said displeased: "You are so panicked, what happened?"

The person who reported the news was a Taoist priest in a Taoist temple. He said anxiously: "Deacon, there is a monster! It seems that it even eats people!"

Taoist Zhou was startled, and his drunkenness immediately disappeared without a trace: "Monster?! It's not a monster, but a monster?"

"It's a monster. It's in Xiangjiabao." The Taoist priest said, "There are still lives. I saw that Qingluan Guard's test hundred households have brought people over."

"Good fellow, let's set off quickly. Hurry, greet our people and bring everything together. Don't leave everything behind when you start." In his desperation, Taoist Zhou no longer cared about being arty and had no gentility at all. Rather, he looked like a bandit leader preparing to do business.

The Taoist priest took the order and left.

After a while, Taoist Zhou led a large group of people from the Taoist temple to go out and go straight to Xiangjiabao.

By the time Taoist Zhou arrived at Xiangjiabao, it was already early noon, and the group went straight to Xiang's house. At this time, there were many people watching the excitement outside Xiang's house, and they were talking a lot. There were also two Qingluan guards with swords standing at the door.

Today, the Qingluan Guard is no longer like the secret service agency of the previous dynasty. Instead, it has replaced the functions of the Six Gates. It arrests thieves, captures monsters, and handles various murder cases. It is also independent of the local government and is different from the criminal investigation. Envoy, general judge, county captain.

Seeing the Taoist priests arriving, the crowd of onlookers parted ways.

The Taoist priests were all acquaintances with the Qingluan Guards. The two Qingluan Guards did not try to block the way. Instead, they took the initiative to greet them. Taoist Zhou got off his horse and asked, "Has Master Baihu arrived?"

"We're here, we're here, we're waiting for the Taoist priest." A Qingluan guard responded.

Taoist Zhou threw away the reins, straightened his clothes, and then walked into Xiang's house.

The house was in a mess and people were in panic. There were Qingluan Guard warriors along the way, but it saved Taoist Zhou the trouble of asking for directions and just followed the Qingluan Guard.

When we arrived at the place where the incident occurred, we saw many people standing here. But the most eye-catching thing is the huge snake corpse on the ground. Even if there is a layer of white snow, it is still very scary.

At this time, there were three people standing next to the snake corpse. They were not juxtaposed with the others. They were obviously people who spoke with weight.

One of them is an old acquaintance of Taoist Zhou, who is the test hundred households of Qingluan Guard, and the other two are both adult men. An older one, dressed as a gentleman, and a younger one, wearing a cloak.

Taoist Zhou came to the trial household and asked softly: "What is the specific situation?"

Shi Baihu said: "I just arrived not long ago."

Taoist Zhou looked at the other two people.

The man dressed as a gentleman said: "I am the master of this place."

Xiang Rulin's face turned pale, wondering if he was frightened.

The other person was Qi Xuansu. He took out his waist badge and said, "I am a soldier of General Loulan, Wei Wugui."

Taoist Zhou originally wanted to take the belt card and check it, but he heard Baihu whisper, "I've seen it, it's true."

"It turns out to be a man in black." Taoist Zhou immediately gave up the idea of ​​looking at the waist badge. As a Taoist, he would never be more discerning than Qingluan Guard, especially when it comes to identifying imperial tokens.

Qi Xuansu repeated what he had said before, how he went to the Huzhou Prince's Mansion in the name of the general, how he passed through this place, and how he stayed overnight when the road was blocked by heavy snow. In the middle of the night, a snake demon turned into a woman and came to harm people. However, he saw through it and beat him to death.

Taoist Zhou said in surprise: "Monsters that can transform are at least in the Yuxu stage. Brothers can kill monsters, so I think they are not weak in cultivation."

Qi Xuansu smiled: "Not worth mentioning, he is just a martial artist in the Yuxu stage."

Taoist Zhou was stunned. General Loulan was so impressive. An unofficial soldier under his command had a level of cultivation at the Yuxu stage. However, he then thought about it. Most of the confidants of important people could not be judged by ordinary reasoning. He, a deacon, When a Taoist priest meets the Taoist boy serving beside the palace master, shouldn't he be respectful? Don't think it's just a rank-and-file soldier, he might not even be replaced by a guerrilla. Maybe this person was not a man in black at all, but a personal follower from the royal palace, so he became a rankless personal soldier.

Shi Baihu said: "Now that the Taoist priest is here, if you don't have any objections, I'm going to start the autopsy."

Taoist Zhou came to his senses and said quickly: "Okay, autopsy."

Trial Baihu took a pair of gloves from his subordinates and put them on his hands. Qingluan guards swept away the snow on the snake carcass and began to examine the body.