Refuse to trample on the pride of heaven

Chapter 339 Liu Jiqian Disappears

When the bloody setting sun falls into the valley, the clay statue of the goddess always glows with an eerie red. The broken copper bell hanging on the old locust tree at the entrance of the village rings without wind, making people's hearts tremble.

"Yesterday, the old woman of the Wu family hit her head in front of the shrine, and this morning there was a skinned snake demon coiled on the stove!" The lame peddler wrapped his patched gray cloth shirt tightly, and pointed his fingers like dead branches at the west end of the village, "Wang Quezi's father, who has been paralyzed for five years, was chopping wood in the yard with a cane last night!"

The bluestone slab was soaked with undried blood stains, winding like a talisman. The peddler's Adam's apple rolled, and his saliva mixed with the smell of dry tobacco splashed on the faded yellow talisman paper - the talisman paper was originally given by the immortal master, but now it has been crushed into the mud and wrapped with incense ash to make the base of the goddess statue.

Mr. Zhao, the owner of a silk shop in the town, donated three courtyards to serve as his ancestral temple. The sandalwood statue of the goddess was more than two meters tall.

The eyeballs are made of colored glaze from the Western Regions. When the moonlight shines on them, the flowing light can absorb people's souls. On the night of the consecration ceremony the day before yesterday, seventeen tenants saw with their own eyes that golden juice dripped from the fingertips of the statue and condensed into golden beans as big as lotus seeds.

A half-burnt peach wood sword was curled up at the foot of the wall of the dilapidated temple. No one knew which immortal master had left it behind. The kids in open-crotch pants used it as a fire stick to stir the boiling incense ashes in the cauldron.

The ashes were mixed with chicken blood, copper coins, and broken bones dug up from mass graves - it was said that the Empress loved this kind of tribute the most.

A heart-wrenching howl came from the depths of the dark alley. It must be that someone else has been reborn by the living dead.

But who cares? The widow holding the statue of the empress is smiling creepily, and the eye sockets of the clay statue in her arms are oozing with scented oil mixed with cinnabar. The copper bells on the eaves are suddenly ringing wildly, and the thirty-six copper tongues are colliding in a soul-stirring tune - this is the empress recruiting troops!

When the bloody setting sun splashed on the locust tree at the entrance of the village, there were always three or two old women squatting on the bluestone slabs, clutching faded cloth banners and muttering to themselves.

Their withered fingers repeatedly stroked the rough porcelain bowl rims, and a strange light danced in their cloudy pupils: "Yesterday, when the second girl from the Wang family in the west was carried back to the house by the empress with a lotus, her hands and feet were still warm."

The lame peddler who was basking in the sun at the foot of the earth wall suddenly straightened up and pounded the loess with his bamboo stick, saying, "Not only that! The other day I was delivering needlework to Sanshili Shop, and I saw with my own eyes that in the courtyard of the third courtyard of Mr. Liu's house—"

As he lowered his voice, a few black crows happened to fly over the crooked willow tree: "That shrine wrapped in golden nanmu wood is more than two meters high!"

The above remarks and scenes were so deafening to Lu Wensheng and the others' ears when they entered the so-called territory of "the Queen". It was as if "there is a problem" was written all over their faces.

Lu Wensheng held the communication jade slip in his hand, a trace of worry flashed across his eyes - Liu Jiqian sent a message back to the sect, saying that the queen might be the culprit of the village massacre, and guessed that those corpse ghosts and phantom demons were related to this... He came here after receiving the news, but could no longer contact Liu Jiqian.

When I finally got the news from Liu Jiqian, there were only three words - Shi Yubai.

If it is true as Liu Jiqian speculated, that "Empress" is the work of the demon clan, and there are more than one cultivator who came to this place, but he is the only one who found something strange, plus the appearance of Shi Yubai, all of this is probably for Liu Jiqian.

The only good news now is that in the sect, there was no reaction to Liu Jiqian’s life plate, otherwise Lu Wensheng would not be leading a team, but would be the leader of the cultivation world to fight against the demons.

Liu Jiqian's cultivation is now unimpeded, and the Grand Elder is also alive. The demons dare not do anything directly now - otherwise, if they are involved in the cause and effect with the Grand Elder, they will be courting death.

Lu Wensheng's guess is not without basis. The demons did not dare to harm Liu Jiqian's life directly. It was probably related to the general trend of the game between immortals and demons. Otherwise, they would have tried every means to assassinate Liu Jiqian long ago. Why are they still arguing? The original novel would not be like that...

The system is very powerful. The power of will in its hands is considerable. In addition, due to the relationship between Liu Jiqian and Lu Wensheng, it can sense Liu Jiqian's situation.

[It seems that Liu Jiqian is in good condition now, and he is in good health, but for some reason, he seems to be very...irritable?] Liu Jiqian, who is as emotionally stable as Capybara, would also... The system looked at the light spot that symbolized Liu Jiqian's emotions, which was red and fiery, jumping up and down like a small firecracker. It was a bit difficult to describe.

"Irritable? Isn't it like being angry or sad?"

[No, it’s just annoying. ]

Lu Wensheng breathed a sigh of relief, as long as the person was fine.

Yan Qingshu has been researching a new type of elixir recently, and Wei Xun and the others accompanied her to do odd jobs. Lu Wensheng came with Tang He, Yu He, Wu Feipeng, and Duan Jiashu. On the way, they met Zhang Miao's team who were dealing with corpse ghosts, so they went together.

However, why did Qin Xiao from the Piaomiao Valley's Regulation and Correction Department also come? Lu Wensheng remembered that he was not very familiar with Qin Xiao.

Qin Xiao snorted: "Don't welcome me?" He was just curious about what kind of person was able to suppress Wu Feipeng's gang of black-hearted people.

Lu Wensheng: "...Welcome, welcome."

Everyone dispersed to inquire about Liu Jiqian's affairs.

Lu Wensheng straightened his sleeves, relaxed his expression, and walked towards the group of old women who were chatting under the earth wall. When they saw him approaching, the old women all hurriedly stood up and saluted, lowering their heads and looking submissive.

He bowed slightly, with a gentle smile on his face, and tried to make his tone sound cordial: "Excuse me, ladies, I want to ask you about someone. Have you ever seen a man with silver hair and golden eyes?"

When the old women heard this, their originally relaxed faces suddenly tensed up. They looked at each other, with a hint of vigilance in their eyes.

One of the shriveled old ladies tightly grasped the cloth banner with her skinny hands. Her cloudy eyes were full of vigilance. She stammered, "What silver-haired and golden-eyed person? I've never seen one before. The people coming and going in this village are all ordinary people. How can there be someone with such a strange appearance... Master Immortal, are you going to arrest this person?"

Lu Wensheng was confused but did not show it. He still said patiently, "Mother-in-law, he is my fellow disciple and is very important to me. He came here some time ago. If you have seen him, please tell us something. We will reward you handsomely." As he spoke, he took out a spiritual jade that exuded a warm and shiny color from his sleeve and shook it in front of the old women.

The other old woman couldn't help licking her cracked lips. A trace of greed flashed in her eyes, but she quickly concealed it and shook her head, saying, "No, no, Master Immortal, please don't embarrass us old ladies. This village is small, and we know about any disturbance, but we have never seen the person you are talking about."

Lu Wensheng frowned slightly, feeling that these old ladies were hiding something. He looked up at the lame peddler who was leaning on a bamboo stick to bask in the sun not far away, walked up to him, and said with a bow, "Big brother, I would like to ask you something, have you ever seen a silver-haired, golden-eyed immortal master? He was wearing a plain robe, with a sword hanging from his waist."

The peddler's eyes dodged instantly, not daring to meet Lu Wensheng's gaze, and he muttered, "I'm busy walking around the streets every day, so how can I have the time to pay attention to these things? Master, please ask somewhere else." After that, he lowered his head, pretending to tidy up the sundries in his cart, and no longer paid attention to Lu Wensheng.

Ordinary people are polite in their words and respectful in their behavior, but these people are not like that. They look polite, their eyes are evasive, and they are actually a little impatient - I'm afraid they have something to rely on, which may be related to that "Empress".

Lu Wensheng became more and more certain that these people must know Liu Jiqian's whereabouts, but were unwilling to reveal it for some reason.

He looked around and found that after he asked, the villagers around him deliberately avoided his sight and went about their own business, but there was an unnatural panic in their expressions.