Li Qingshan replied indifferently, "Since I'm in the secular world, how can I not be disturbed by its atmosphere?"
Monk Huang Yang slowly raised his head to look at him and suddenly said something irrelevant, "Since His Majesty is in the palace, why aren't you in the palace?"
"Rules are inanimate, and people can't be bound by inanimate things. His Majesty is in the palace most of the time. Do I have to be detained in the palace every day? You can hide in the Wanyan Tower to cultivate every day, but I, as the leader of the South School of Haotian Taoism, also have many things to do. Moreover, who in Chang 'an City can harm His Majesty? "
"The South School of Haotian Taoism …" Monk Huang Yang repeated in a low voice with an inexplicable smile on his face. He sighed softly and said, "Our Tang Empire has forcibly separated the South School from Haotian Taoism. I really don't know how you can resist the anger of those Great Divine Priests when you return to West-Hill every year."
Li Qingshan said proudly, "I close my eyes, sit on the Divine Hall, and don't look at the old faces of those Martial Uncles. I'm deaf, and stand on the peach mountain without peach trees, and don't listen to the solemn bell in the deep mountain."
"The South School has paid a penny of silver every year. What else do they want? Do they really want to condemn me as a traitor and kill me? Then those old Taoists in West-Hill must destroy our Tang Empire first. "
Monk Huang Yang smiled and said nothing more.
The South School of Haotian Taoism was the product of balance between the Tang Empire and the West-Hill Divine Palace. In fact, it represented the biggest victory of the Tang Empire in the secular religious war. The longer it existed in the world, the more embarrassed those Taoist sublime beings in West-Hill would be. Monk Huang Yang cultivated the skills of Buddhism, so it was really not suitable for him to express too many opinions on this kind of thing.
"Vermilion Bird woke up last night."
Li Qingshan brought the conversation back to the original topic, looked at Monk Huang Yang coldly and said, "Whether I want to disturb myself or not, I have disturbed many people. As the Nation Master of Tang, it's impossible for me to face the questions of the imperial court without giving an answer."
Monk Huang Yang looked at the Buddhist scriptures on the table in front of him and the bright red ink marks moistened with cinnabar. After a moment of silence, he replied, "So you come to me to find the answer?"
"Before Vermillion Bird woke up, a sword master in the Southern City was beheaded."
The tower was cramped. Li Qingshan made his way around the small, wooden table and arrived beside the tower in just two steps. His gaze passed through the tiny, glazed window and gazed out of the tower. He passed through the forest and the summer heat, landing on the steaming south of the city.
"The dead swordsman used to be a document appraiser for the military. Only a few people knew that he was a disciple of West-Hill and that his sword formula came from Haotian Taoism. That's not the point. I'm not interested in denouncing the Empire on behalf of the West-Hill Martial Uncles. What I'm interested in is that the Sword Master tore the murderer's clothes before he died, but the murderer didn't bleed. "
Upon hearing this, Monk Huang Yang seemed to be lost in thought and slowly replied, "An expert at the peak of Martial Arts?"
Li Qingshan turned his head and tucked his sleeves behind him. He looked at the monk quietly and said, "It's impossible for the martial arts masters of the empire to make a move. The martial arts masters of the South Jin Kingdom, the Great River Kingdom, and the Yan Kingdom are all under the surveillance of the imperial court. Therefore, the possibility of this happening is very small. Therefore, I suspect that the ascetic monks of the Yuelun Kingdom have snuck in and gone crazy."
"That's why you came to ask me." Monk Huang Yang smiled and repeated what he had said before.
"It's said in the world that you have been to the Unknown Place in the Wilderness. I know it's not a legend, but a true story. In that case, I certainly have to ask you about the ascetic monks of the Yuelun Kingdom. "
"I'm from the Pingzhou Prefecture of the Tang Empire." Monk Huang Yang stopped smiling and replied quietly, "And I don't believe that the monks of the Yuelun Kingdom would take the risk of sneaking into Chang 'an City to kill people for no reason."
"Then how do you explain the bloodless clothes on the murderer's clothes?" Li Qingshan looked into his eyes and asked.
Monk Huang Yang's eyes were peaceful and he replied slowly, "The Vermilion Bird wakes up due to anger and condenses the Breath of Heaven and Earth into the Nameless Fire. The fire is powerful enough to burn everything, let alone some sticky blood stains. Maybe the murderer has already been burned to ashes. "
This younger brother of the Emperor of the Tang Empire, a monk who had advanced in Dharma, was really amazing. He had actually guessed the truth of the matter so easily.
However, this couldn't completely explain all the problems.
Li Qingshan frowned and asked, "Even if you and I do our best, we can probably only make the painting lazily open its eyes to take a look. How many people in the world can believe that the Vermilion Bird wakes up and gets angry? If he really is one of those legendary predecessors, why did he come to Chang 'an City to kill people? Why did he take the risk of provoking the Vermilion Bird's anger? Why didn't he show any signs? "
Monk Huang Yang smiled and said, "Again, the Divine Objects left by the previous Sages have their own meanings in their movements. How can we ordinary people understand them? If the predecessor who may have come to Chang 'an City has really surpassed the Knowing Destiny State and has the ability of Tianqi or the Limitless Thought, then his purpose is not something we can guess. "
Sages, Divine Objects, Tianqi, Limitless — these words echoed in the cramped space at the top of the Wanyan Tower. Even the Master of Tang Empire and the Exquisite Buddha could not help but fall into a long silence in the face of these extraordinary existences.
"The 13th year of Tianqi … is really not peaceful."
Li Qingshan sighed softly and turned to look at the sky outside the glass window, which was confined to the size of several palms, the floating clouds in the sky, and the noisy birds on the clouds. He said leisurely, "Nothing serious, but there are always some small things that make people uneasy. I am thinking whether I should make a divination or not."
"Buddhist disciples practice Zen, not life." Monk Huang Yang looked at his back and said calmly, "I have never believed in the Han divination. Please don't forget how much trouble the Imperial Astronomer caused when he observed the stars. Now it seems that the judgment of 'the night covers the stars and the country will be restless' is really absurd."
Li Qingshan gazed at the clouds behind his back and said indifferently, "The clouds have a mind, and the stars have a mind. Any deduction of fate that seems absurd and nonsensical right now will be discovered in the end when fate reaches the next juncture. It's not that the deduction is absurd and nonsensical, but that fate has always been very easy to become absurd and nonsensical."
"Even if what you said is right, don't forget the comments made by the Divine Priest from West-Hill when he taught you Taoism. Even if you have the ability to see the sky, you have to pay for it with your life. When the Imperial Astronomer's stargazing caused countless disturbances, the Empress begged you to do a divination in order to cleanse herself, but you refused. Are you going to shorten your lifespan today because of a slight emotion in your heart and an inexplicable feeling? "
"The mysteries of heaven are unpredictable. I, Li Qingshan, still want to see the prosperity of the Tang Empire for a few more years. How can I shorten my life painstakingly?" Li Qingshan slowly frowned and looked at the bustling peddlers under the tower and outside the temple shouting against the heat. He said, "But even at the risk of being seriously ill, I also want to see what kind of variable has fallen on this chessboard."
Monk Huang Yang sighed softly in his heart and no longer tried to stop him. He moved away the Buddhist scriptures, brush and ink on the table, took out the black and white chess pieces and a chessboard from the box, and put them on the desk.
Li Qingshan turned around and walked to the desk. He did not make any complicated and mysterious movements, but just flicked his sleeves, grabbed two black and white chess pieces, and threw them on the chessboard casually.
Dozens of matte chess pieces hit, rolled and rotated on the wooden chessboard, making a crisp sound. After a long time, they gradually calmed down. Following the will of fate, they silently fell in their positions and did not move anymore.
Li Qingshan and Monk Huang Yang's eyes fell on a black chess piece on the chessboard at the same time. This chess piece did not move in a straight line, nor did it control the Tianyuan, nor was it confined to a square. It just fell in a slanted position, randomly and weirdly.
The vertical and horizontal lines on the chessboard were like the narrow roads in the human world. The chess pieces were like the carriages of travelers, stopping at the crossroads and asking each other questions. They were either friends or enemies, or they would not meet again after drinking two cups of tea. It was peaceful as usual, and the disputes were as usual.
Only one carriage stood in the middle of a broad road, neither moving forward nor backward, neither exchanging greetings with the travellers on the side of the road, nor trying to break through everything. It just stood there in silence, blocking the road.
It was this block that suddenly made the crisscrossing and intersecting narrow roads strange. People going south could not go south, and people going west could not go west. Enemies who wanted to draw their swords and fight each other could not see each other through it. Lovers who wanted to love each other could not hug each other through it. The peace became stiff, and the disputes became chaotic.
"Is this the variable on the chessboard?"
Looking at the black chess piece and the silent carriage in the crisscrossing narrow roads, Li Qingshan, the Nation Master of Tang, still looked calm, but his face turned pale at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if he was suffering from a serious illness at this moment.
There was a dead silence at the top of Wanyan Tower. No one knew how long the silence lasted, but it was finally broken by Li Qingshan's hoarse and tired voice. His voice was empty, without any emotion of sadness or joy.
"This variable … is going to die."
Monk Huang Yang heard this and was slightly stunned. Looking at the black chess piece, he slowly put his palms together and showed mercy.
At this moment, Li Qingshan raised his eyebrows and a strange color flashed in his eyes. He said, "No, there is another variable."
…
…
The night came, but the heat had not subsided. The cicadas were still singing outside the window. It was quiet on the second floor of the old library of the Academy. No one knew when the delicate and delicate female professor by the east window had left. Under the west window, the seriously injured teenager was still sitting against the wall. His face was pale and his eyes were closed, as if he would fall into an eternal dark sweet dream in the next moment.
Not far away, there was a row of bookshelves against the wall. The complex decorations on the side of the bookshelves shone slightly and then slid away silently. A moment later, a fat teenager in the summer robe of the Academy squeezed in, panting.
Just as he was about to squat down with difficulty and pull out the book Wu Zhanyang's Theory on Haoran Sword from under the bookshelf, the fat teenager suddenly frowned. A trace of suspicion appeared on Aokiji's white and tender face. He turned around and looked.
Looking at the teenager who was motionless against the wall not far away as if he was asleep, his knitted eyebrows gradually relaxed. He smacked his thick lips and sighed, "When did the Academy have a guy who is more desperate than Ning Que?"
…
…
(Finally, it's earlier than two days ago. I'll try to finish the second chapter before two o 'clock.) (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it and vote monthly. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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