Seeking immortality in a deceitful way starts by making oneself into a puppet

"Brother, could it be that his surname is Zhu?"

After entering the mansion, Sheng Yuzhou patted the snow on his body and looked at the mansion. It was a bit old and there were cobwebs hanging between the beams and pillars.

"I don't believe Zhu, my surname is Cheng."

The scholar held the candlestick with one hand, a little confused.

"Why is this brother asking this question?"

"I heard that the most famous local surname is Zhu. There was a great scholar named Zhu Zi in the previous dynasty, and his descendants have lived on the Xihuang Road for generations. The surname Zhu is regarded as a popular surname."

"That's Sage Zhu Zi."

The scholar, who was dressed in tatters, gave a wry smile.

"My little brother, I am just a child from a poor family. How can I be worthy of the Zhu family name?"

"That was my presumption."

Sheng Yuzhou smiled: "I don't seem to be the only guest in this village, right?"

"Brother, why do you say that?"

The scholar asked again.

"When I arrived, I saw that there were still some ruts on the mountain road outside Zhuangzi, as well as traces of people and horses crossing..."

Sheng Yuzhou expressed his guess.

"That's right."

The scholar nodded.

"It's strange to say that in this kind of weather, there would be inexplicable wind and heavy snowfall in June, and there would still be people rushing through the snow to go into the mountains to collect herbs."

"Could he be a herbal collector?"

"It doesn't look like he's dressed up."

The scholar shook his head. He stretched out his hand and pointed to several lit rooms nearby.

"There is a couple who are looking for relatives, and they live in that room."

He pointed to several other rooms.

"There is also a group of people here, who say they are going to Longxiu Mountain to collect ginseng. There are also two men and women on horseback on the other side. They say they are brothers and sisters. They look like people from the world."

"A man from the Jianghu?"

Sheng Yuzhou touched his beard.

"Both men and women carry swords on their backs, and they don't look easy to mess with. The three horses outside the door belong to them."

The calligrapher chuckled.

"Is that so?"

Sheng Yuzhou nodded.

"By the way, brother, you can live in the room at the end!"

The scholar smiled and said: "My father is old. He fell down a few years ago and became paralyzed after a stroke. He needs my care every day."

He pointed in the direction of the lobby. There was an old man there, sitting on a chair. He was tall, handsome, and had a heroic aura. He must have been a great man when he was young, but if he looked carefully, It can be seen that his eyes are dull and he seems to be unconscious.

The old man thought he was having a meal before, and there was food on the octagonal table. At this moment, the old man, who was sitting motionless on the chair, must have felt someone coming in. He opened his mouth and pressed it with his hand. The armrests of the chair seemed to be struggling hard, and the mouth was making "ho ho ho..." sounds, and saliva was dripping from the mouth.

"Eh...he's sick again."

The scholar was helpless and walked quickly into the lobby, took out a handkerchief and wiped the saliva from the old man's mouth.

"Your Majesty has had a stroke. Have you called a doctor?"

Sheng Yuzhou walked slowly to the lobby.

"To be honest, brother, I have also learned a few medical skills in the past. Can you let me feel the pulse?"

"Oh, no need."

The scholar flatly refused.

"I have invited several doctors. In fact, my father has improved a lot, so I won't bother the guests. It's getting late now. Brother, you'd better go in and rest early."

"good."

Sheng Yuzhou didn't say much, turned around and entered the room where the scholar pointed him out. The scholar looked at his leaving figure silently, sighed quietly, turned around again, and picked up the bowl from the table next to him. Chopsticks, continue feeding this old man.

…

Sheng Yuzhou walked into the wing. It was an empty room with few household items, except for a bed in the corner and a somewhat dirty cotton quilt.

After he walked in, he looked around, found an oil lamp, took out the fire breaker, and lit the lamp.

Sheng Yuzhou did not lie on the bed, but sat on a chair, closed his eyes and began to think.

"The people who come to Zhuangzi are not people from the world of martial arts. They should be people from the spiritual world. Has the information about Long Xiushan been leaked? If so, it should be the experts of the Zhu family who have blocked this place. Could it be that the Zhu family Something must have happened over there..."

Although he had various thoughts in his mind, he was not impatient. It was because the old god was there and he had already planned the situation in Long Xiushan.

…

At the same time, in a nearby wing, someone was also secretly observing the guests visiting Zhuangzi.

"Senior Brother Chu, who is here?"

There was also a woman in the side room. She was wearing a black dress, and her face was as cold and proud as a plum blossom. She was sitting cross-legged on the bed. She was practicing martial arts when she suddenly heard something going on outside, so she asked this question.

"I can't tell where it comes from..."

The "Senior Brother Chu" shook his head. His name was Chu Wenzheng, and he was a disciple of the Daoxuan West Jieshan lineage. The woman's surname was Yu, with the character "Mei" in her name, and she was also his junior sister.

Chu Wenzheng and Yu Mei are both disciples of Shang Yuge, the fairy of Lingbo in Xijie Mountain. A hundred years ago in Daoxuan Xijie Mountain, due to various internal disputes, their power was not as strong as before. Several elders in the sect fought for it. There was a big fight on the throne of the Lord of Daoxuan in Xijie Mountain.

There is also an episode in this, that is, Meng Tianfang, who was originally scheduled to be the next master of Daoxuan, was lost in the ancient formation in the far north.

Meng Tianfang was a prodigy of the Daoxuan lineage, and was deemed qualified to break through to the realm of manifesting the gods. Everyone in Xijie Mountain thought he was dead. After learning the news, some people took the initiative to compete for the position of the leader of the faction, which also led to Daoxuanxijieshan was torn into pieces.

The current Daoxuan master of Xijie Mountain is named Qu Yingguang. Qu Yingguang's own strength is not bad, not inferior to Meng Tianfang. However, he went to challenge the leader of the Dragon Worshiping Cult Xie Chongsheng outside the territory, but was beaten by the opponent with an Ashutuo dragon punch. He couldn't stop vomiting blood, and his vitality was severely damaged.

Qu Yingguang, who had suffered a great loss, decided to go into seclusion. If he did not break through to manifest his spirit, he would simply die in the fantasy cave of seclusion. He had been in seclusion for more than a month, which can be regarded as a typical example of letting go of things.

After Qu Yingguang died in seclusion in Xijie Mountain, it split into two factions: the Southern Sect and the Northern Sect. Under the mountain gate, there were also large and small circles with various banners, such as the Yan family in Jucheng, Yuanshui, which was divided into two groups. As for the branch that came out, the Yan family was relatively more obedient to the Xijie Mountain branch.

A little further away, Xie Shidi, the leader of Yama Island, and Fanwo Lei, the leader of Fuyu Kingdom, were squeezed by the northern and southern factions, or because they were young heroes who were too outstanding, they were hated by their fellow sects, and they had to travel far away in spite of their hatred.

Lingbo Fairy Shang Yuge is Ji Quji's junior sister. She is a Taoist master, but because she was tired of the constant fighting within her sect, she simply moved out of the Nanzong Headquarters in Xijie Mountain and came to Mijin Chiqing in Xiaolian Mountain to recuperate. Chu Wenzheng and Yu Mei is the most outstanding disciple she has accepted.

Recently, Lingbo Fairy Shang Yuge received a letter asking for help. It was a request for help from a master of the Zhu family who had a good relationship with her.

The Zhu family is a common surname, and its clan belongs to the lineage of Pingxi King. It has branches and leaves at the bottom, and there are different branches of the Zhu family in various parts of Xihuang Road.

The Pingxi Wang Zong family has special responsibilities. Members of the clan in the past generations are not allowed to easily leave Zhonghang Mountain where they live, cannot enter the court as officials, and cannot travel in the world. The entire Pingxi Zong family almost lives in seclusion. If the family is divided, , he would have to give up his noble status as King Zhu of Pingxi, and would not be allowed to ask for help from the Zong family at will in the future.

Those Zhu family members who were not willing to live alone in the mountains and forests left Zhonghang Mountain as separate families. After settling in various places on the Xihuang Road, these separate families gradually made their names. Among them, the Yuenan Zhu family and the Longxiu Zhu family The four branches of Zhu family, Pingshan Zhu family and Yuhu Zhu family are the most prosperous.

The Zhu family surname of Longxiushan is also very famous in the local area, and even the local officials dare not neglect it. However, due to an incident recently, children in the family have been dying inexplicably, and no reason can be found up to now. .

Although the Pingxi Zhu family has established rules that strictly prohibit other branch families from coming to the clan to ask for help, in fact they are just talking and talking. If something happens, they will definitely take action just because the court has an urgent matter. The contemporary King of Pingxi Zhu Tianzhan I have something to do, so I have no time to pay attention to the situation here.

The head of the Longxiu Zhu family had no choice. On the one hand, he notified the people of the Evil Slayer Division, and on the other hand, he could only look around for old friends in the practice world and ask for help.

Fairy Shang Yuge of Lingbo was an old friend of the Longxiu Zhu family. After hearing the news, she immediately sent two disciples to investigate, and she herself would arrive there.

When Chu Wenzheng and Yu Mei rushed over, they realized that it was already a step too late. The Longxiu Zhu family had almost all died. And judging from various signs, the Zhu family's deaths were a bit bizarre. They continued to investigate, I came to the area around Longxiu Mountain and stayed in this village.

"More than 300 people from the Longxiu Zhu clan died overnight. The cause of death of all members of the clan was obviously affected by Dao Ran. What happened?"

Chu Wenzheng couldn't help but think about it. He couldn't judge the reason yet, but he had to admit that this matter had a lot to do with the depths of Longxiu Mountain.

…

"There's obviously something wrong with this damn place."

In another wing, a scarred-faced man sat down on a chair. He scratched his butt and said in a deep voice: "You guys, what do you think?"

"The superiors... just asked us to investigate."

Another man dressed like a herb collector smiled softly: "Then we will do a little research. The situation in Long Xiushan may be a bit complicated, and we cannot be involved in danger even with our strength."

"What kind of dangerous method?"

There was a young man next to him.

"You arrived before me and went into the mountain to explore, so you should just treat it as something you discovered, right?"

The herb collector nodded.

"When I went into the mountain before, I found a man who looked exactly like Scar in the snow in the mountain. He ran towards the depths of the mountain. If I hadn't suddenly heard Scar calling me from behind, I might have been led away by him. .”

"Wait a moment."

The scarred man also came to his senses.

"This happened... No wonder you looked weird before, but why didn't you tell me about it then."

"There is something extra in the mountains. If you tell me about it, you might alert others."

The herb collector is also a veteran, so how could he not know these situations? It was also out of consideration in this regard that he kept silent.

"By the way, who is the new guy?"

the young man asked.

"I can't tell, but the man and woman are probably monks. In addition, there is also the young couple. I'm afraid they are not visiting relatives, but a man and woman who have eloped..."

The herb collector said calmly: "But these things have nothing to do with us."

"There is something wrong with Zhuangzi. Before we came here, we had never heard of such a Zhuangzi in the mountains."

The scar-faced man also chimed in.

"Also, the scholar and the old man in Zhuangzi..."

"Okay, let's talk about this today!"

The young man interrupted him and shook his head: "There is indeed something weird here in Long Xiushan, and this Zhuangzi is also. Take care of yourself first, and don't make a decision in a hurry when you see other things. Let's rest first. Tomorrow Let’s go into the mountains again to investigate.”

"Yes, I know." The herb collector nodded.

The three of them each had their own thoughts, so they blew out the lights and each found a place to rest in a corner.

…

Scarface suddenly woke up. He felt a strange chill and stood up. At this moment, he was surprised to find that the wing was empty and he was the only one left.

"What the hell? Where are the others?"

The doors and windows were opened, and the wind blew in. Even with clothes on, it felt a bit chilly. Outside, the snow didn't stop. There was snow dust on the ground and tables and chairs near the door and windows.

"How could the two of them... act rashly and leave me alone?"

Scarface had a bad idea. He was very familiar with his two companions. The two of them had experienced many abnormal situations and would not have made such an unwise decision. Maybe something happened.

He took a deep breath, took out the fire seal, and lit an oil lamp on the table.

Then, holding the oil lamp in one hand and holding the knife tightly with the other, he boldly walked out of the door of the wing.

Scarface, the medicine collector and the young man were all good players in the Evil Slaying Division, and they came to Longxiu Mountain to inquire about the situation after receiving orders from above. What happened to Longxiu Zhu's family had already aroused the alarm of the three of them.

The snow seemed to have been falling all night, and the surrounding area was covered with a layer of snow. The snow was still falling, giving it a hazy feeling.

Scarface went out and unexpectedly found that there were lanterns hanging in Zhuangzi's hall, and bursts of dim light illuminated the living room in a blur.

squeak.

There was a sound of the door being pushed open from the direction of Zhuangzi's hall facing the main entrance.

"Who is there!"

The scar-faced man yelled and chased after him. Only then did he realize that there was a small door on the right side of the hall. He pushed open the small door and found a room inside.

There was a chair in the room, and sitting on the chair was a tall old man, who seemed to be the owner of the village.

"You bastard...could it be you who is doing this?"

Scarface rushed forward, reached out and pushed the old man hard, but found that he was motionless, like a statue.

"There's something wrong with this person..."

Out of doubt, he walked around behind the old man, stretched out his hand, and found a bloody gash in the old man's back. It seemed that all the internal organs, heart, and liver had been hollowed out.

"Damn it!"

Suddenly, the door at the exit was pushed open by someone.

A shadow walked in stiffly. Because of the dim light, he could hardly see who the person was. But vaguely, he seemed to be able to see that the person's eyes were dark, like two holes.

"You...you are..."

As soon as he opened his voice, his throat seemed to be stuck and stopped suddenly.

Bang!

Suddenly, the door closed.

The oil lamp in Scarface's hand suddenly went out, and everything fell into darkness.