Pawn Crossing the River

After several shocking cannon shots, the iron ship that was originally sailing had stopped.

Qi Xuansu put away his dagger and slowly rose from the river, then walked on the waves.

Although several of Wang Baoyue's cannons were extremely powerful, he dodged them all and was not injured, but they gave him a great shock.

The world is developing, and Western warlocks are no longer the ancient figures who only hold staffs and recite incantations. The "alchemy arcana" they have developed is no less than the creation of Taoism.

What if Xuansheng did not integrate Taoism more than two hundred years ago, nor did he defy all opinions and start the creation project based on the legacy left by his predecessors, but instead stood on his own laurels and continued to despise firearms and creation as Confucianism did, treating them as strange skills and ingenuity , even though there are various methods spread, but practice depends entirely on the individual. It depends on aptitude and time. So what should the situation be like facing the West today?

Even though the high-end combat power is almost the same, the underlying foundation is completely different. Swords vs. firecrackers, cavalry vs. artillery, how to win? Will the Holy Court at that time still be a friend and trading partner of Taoism? Will they still be so polite?

Qi Xuansu had heard that Westerners were massacred in the New World, and the natives had no power to fight back. They were either reduced to slaves or directly exterminated.

It can be seen that these lustful people are not good men and women. If the Central Plains today is still as weak as it was in the late Wei Dynasty, will Westerners speak well? I'm afraid that the army has marched into the Central Plains, and the real mountains and rivers have changed their colors.

At this moment, Xu Kou leaned out half of his body from above: "Are you okay?"

Qi Xuansu came to his senses and jumped onto the deck.

Xu Kou also jumped down from the gap on the third floor and asked, "What's going on?"

Qi Xuansu roughly told what happened.

"Well, the Qingluan Guards in Luzhou are all doing hard work." Xu Kou shook his head, "But they are lucky to have escaped. If they had found out this person, their lives would have been hard to save. "

Xu Kou changed the topic: "Speaking of which, Brother Wei is really quite capable. If it had been anyone else, he would have died in the hands of this person long ago."

"Brother Xu is overly praised." Qi Xuansu changed the subject, "By the way, where is Xiaohu?"

Qi Xuansu was not completely defenseless. This had nothing to do with whether Qi Xuansu saw through Wang Baoyue's identity, but was a habit. Before he went to drink, he asked Liu Hu to find Xu Kou, so he saved it and asked Xu Kou to help look after Liu Hu. Xu Kou's thoughts, anyway, Xu Kou was just drinking, not just drinking to relieve his sorrows with a little effort. What's more, Xu Kou is an old acquaintance of Qi Xuansu, so he still understands him and feels more at ease.

"The little girl is still in the small hall on the second floor and is very obedient." Xu Kou said.

At this moment, the captain came over in a hurry, surrounded by many crew members, with an ugly face.

Qi Xuansu said softly: "Tiangang Hall is more prestigious, and Brother Lao Xu is the one."

Xu Kou nodded slightly. When the boat owner approached, before the boat owner could speak, Xu Kou had already taken out his Taoist ultimatum and Tiangangtang waist badge: "Dock the shore immediately and notify the local Qingluan Guard Baihu Station. There must be no mistakes. !”

Two hours later, in the living room on the ship.

The owner of the boat sat with him, and the guests and hosts enjoyed themselves.

Qingluan Guard's Qianhu Station is far away from Fucheng, and there are only one hundred households in the whole local area. After hearing the news, Baihu, the palm-printer, boarded the ship aggressively without any good looks. However, after learning Xu Kou's identity, he immediately changed his face, temporarily commandeered the shipowner's reception room, served him with fragrant tea, and talked to Qi Xuansu in a very warm manner. , Xu Kou’s conversation had absolutely no intention of interrogating him at all.

Although Xu Kou is only a fifth-grade Taoist priest, he is the head of Tiangang Hall in his position and is by no means a minor figure.

"So, this person is the pirate leader required to be apprehended in the sea arrest document?" Qingluan Guard's Palm Seal Baihu put down his tureen.

Qi Xuansu said: "This man possesses the Western's 'Alchemy Arcana'. This kind of thing is very rare in our Central Plains. Only pirates who have been at sea all year round may have access to it."

"That makes sense." Palm Print Baihu nodded.

At this moment, a member of the trial household walked into the reception room, looked at the others, and hesitated to speak.

Palm Print Baihu said: "They are all members of our own family, there is nothing to avoid."

Zhan Baihu said softly: "One of the three corpses was seriously damaged, but judging from the tattoos on the other two corpses, it was definitely pirates. As for the scene...there were indeed traces of shelling, but no shrapnel was found. "

Palm Print Baihu was silent for a while and said: "Although this animal has jumped off the ship and fled, there are people in black searching and patrolling along the canal. He should not run too far and is probably hiding somewhere."

Xu Kou suddenly asked: "How is the ship?"

The ship owner showed some hesitation, glanced at Baihu, and then said: "After all, it was bombarded and needs a few days for maintenance. Many guests are frightened and need comfort. They can't leave for the time being."

Xu Kou laughed and said, "You are asking us to help arrest people, right?"

Palm Print Baihu coughed lightly: "This is the best, after all, we are a family."

Xu Kou did not comment, but turned to look at Qi Xuansu and asked, "What do you think, Brother Wei?"

Qi Xuansu thought for a moment. The reason why he took the boat was to avoid the Taipingdao people he might encounter on land. Naturally, it was not easy to abandon the boat and go ashore at this time. It was not impossible to help capture the escaped Wang Baoyue. . He is actually quite interested in the so-called "alchemical arcana", just as he is very interested in going to sea.

"What exactly is the so-called 'alchemy arcana'?" Qi Xuansu asked.

Xu Kou pondered for a moment and said: "I stayed in Qizhou Daofu for a period of time, and Western tourists often visited Qizhou, so I still know a little bit about the Western 'alchemy arcana'."

"When it comes to 'alchemical arcana', we have to mention Western arcana. What is arcana? In the words of Western warlocks themselves, it is a spell derived from a certain mystery, which is called 'arcana'. Its fundamental power It comes from knowledge, which is somewhat similar to Confucianism's reading and nourishing the spirit, but it is not exactly the same. Warlocks believe that through the accumulation and research of knowledge, they can then deduce the application of certain rules and laws, such as chanting incantations and matching certain gestures. With the corresponding materials, you can cast the corresponding arcane spells, which are quite similar to our spells."

"But unlike our spells, arcana has so-called occultism. Warlocks call it 'secret knowledge', or 'concealed knowledge'. Warlocks say that secret knowledge cannot be explained or understood, which is probably What we say is that we know it but we don’t know why. After all, I am a martial artist who does not practice magic. I don’t understand it very well. It is said that it has the power to distort reality and rules. "

"Corresponding to arcane magic is divine magic. Divine magic is the power obtained by communicating with the gods. It is somewhat similar to our witchcraft, both of which rely on external forces. There is also the so-called magic, which means the devil's magic. In fact, it is the same as divine magic. There is no essential difference, the fundamental thing is that the objects of the power are different, so magic is considered to be a spell used by the power of the devil. Under the suppression of the Holy Court, magic has declined, but the devil is not dead, and the magic is endless. There is essentially no difference between believers and Taoist spiritual officials, but there is a difference in stance.”

Qi Xuansu nodded slightly. He was not surprised that Xu Kou knew so many secrets. If Zhang Yuelu had the favor of the Earth Master, then Xu Kou had the favor of Master Qingwei, and even had an encounter with Li Tianzhen. This was also the reason why he dared to provoke Zhang Yuelu in the first place, but it was another matter if he had not beaten Zhang Yuelu.

Xu Kou continued: "Alchemy and the alchemy of our Huasheng Hall are quite similar. The ultimate goal is the elixir of immortality. Our emperors in the East make elixirs to seek immortality, while emperors and kings in the West believe in alchemy to seek immortality. Different paths lead to the same goal. The so-called 'alchemy and arcana' is a synthesis of alchemy and arcana, which is very similar to the creation project of Huashengtang. However, because alchemy and arcana can only coexist and balance in the human body, they are derived in two directions. "

"The first is to modify the human body and replace the corresponding parts of the human body with specific alchemical items. Warlocks call this 'complementation'. The pirate leader replaced his own arm with a cannon."

Qi Xuansu's face remained calm, but his heart skipped a beat.

He thought of his "secondary intention" and also thought of Sanren's "finishing point".

"The second is to create life, create new life directly through alchemy, and then give it a soul with arcane magic. According to the warlock, this is a process that is perfected through death and resurrection."

Qi Xuansu thought again of the eight secret societies, the three major evil objects, and the legendary god-making project.