Bai Xiaowen was comprehending his gains from this reading when suddenly, there was a knock on the door of the quiet room.
"What's the matter?" Bai Xiaowen could sense through the door that it was Elder Scribe Dong Zhao.
Dong Zhao's voice had a hint of urgency, "My lord, bad news. Old General Ma died at the inn! "
Bai Xiaowen suddenly stood up and opened the door.
Seeing Dong Zhao, there was a hint of suppressed uneasiness on his face.
Bai Xiaowen asked, "When did this happen? Is the news true? "
"Just half an hour ago. Taoist Priest Langyazi and Divine Doctor Zhang have already confirmed it. " Dong Zhao stole a glance at Bai Xiaowen's expression. Seeing Bai Xiaowen's calm face, he calmed down a little and narrated slowly.
"Does the Western Liang envoy know?"
"I have already ordered the soldiers of the inn to be brought here and sealed off the news," Dong Zhao said.
"Where are Langyazi and Zhang Zhongjing?"
"They are waiting outside the inner mansion."
"Invite them in."
When Dong Zhao heard Bai Xiaowen say "invite", he knew that Bai Xiaowen did not intend to blame the two. He quickly left and went to summon Ge Xuan and Zhang Zhongjing.
After Bai Xiaowen changed his clothes, he met the two in the main hall of the Grand Sima Residence.
Zhang Zhongjing's expression was normal, but Ge Xuan's face had a hint of shame.
Bai Xiaowen asked, "Both of you do not need to panic. Taoist Priest Langyazi, what is the process of this matter? "
Ge Xuan said, "I am also puzzled. Old General Ma Teng's curse can be lifted, but after I made a pill and fed it to him, the curse in Old General Ma's body suddenly reversed, causing his Qi and blood to become chaotic and his injuries to worsen! "
Zhang Zhongjing said, "I am not familiar with Dao techniques, but when I checked General Ma Teng's pulse, it was true that his Qi and blood suddenly went berserk after he took the golden pill. Many of his meridians were damaged and he vomited blood non-stop. At this point, there's nothing I can do. "
Ge Xuan sighed and said, "It's my fault. I didn't have the ability to handle this matter, causing General Ma Teng's death and Young Master's enmity with Xiliang."
Bai Xiaowen squinted his eyes and said, "Daoist Priest, you don't have to blame yourself. Life and death are decreed by fate. Ma Teng's death may also be Heaven's will. Cultivators only need to have a clear conscience. "
Ge Xuan shook his head and said, "I don't feel guilty toward Ma Teng. I only feel guilty toward Young Master."
Because Ge Xuan and Bai Xiaowen were friends, he addressed Bai Xiaowen as Young Master instead of Da Sima.
Bai Xiaowen then ordered someone to report the death to the emissary from Xiliang. He then asked Ge Xuan, "Before treating Ma Teng, Taoist Priest once said that if the person who performed the skill acted again, the treatment might fail. Have you foreseen this? "
Ge Xuan shook his head.
"Normally, even if the person who performed the skill acted again and caused the treatment to fail, General Ma Teng would not die directly. If the person had the ability to directly curse Ma Teng to death, why didn't he do so? This is one of the reasons.
"Secondly, to directly curse a general to death, the cultivation of this Praying Puppet Technique is probably close to Zhang Jiao's. Looking at the whole world, other than my elders, who else has this ability? Zhang Lu definitely doesn't have it. "
Bai Xiaowen said, "Maybe it was a person with a high cultivation who was buried in the countryside who did it."
Ge Xuan said, "Usually, a Taoist master with such a cultivation would pay attention to accumulating merits and would not do such a vicious thing. Besides, it's difficult for Ma Teng to come into contact with such a person, not to mention enmity. "
Bai Xiaowen sighed. "It seems that the world is in chaos. After Zhang Jiao's death, other cultivators caused chaos in the world. They cursed Ma Teng to death just to frame me, provoke discord between the Xiliang Army and the imperial court, and take advantage of it. This time, the responsibility does not lie with Taoist master. If the Xiliang Army resents me, let them resent me. "
Ge Xuan sighed. "I have already formed the karma. If I retreat, how can my cultivation progress? I am willing to follow you until I help you find this demon. Only then can I be at ease. "
Bai Xiaowen was overjoyed. "With Taoist master's help, why worry about not getting rid of the demon?"
Bai Xiaowen immediately wanted to confer Ge Xuan the position of Libation, but Ge Xuan firmly refused and could only give up.
The younger generation of Xiliang, such as Ma Dai, Ma Xiu, Ma Yunlu, and the others, all cried when they saw Ma Teng's corpse.
Bai Xiaowen asked Zhang Zhongjing to explain the cause of Ma Teng's death. The Xiliang envoys had different attitudes. Ma Dai was skeptical, but Ma Xiu was more skeptical.
After all, in their hearts, Zhang Lu was their number one suspect.
Now, Bai Xiaowen told them that Zhang Lu did not have this ability. It was another person with profound Taoism who used the Praying Mantra to cause Ma Teng's death. It was difficult to make the grieving younger generation of the Ma family quickly change their preconceived notions and believe Bai Xiaowen's words.
Ma Yunlu, on the other hand, believed Bai Xiaowen. He clenched his fists and said, "If I find the demon who killed my father, I will definitely cut him into pieces!"
Bai Xiaowen said, "Old General Ma Teng unfortunately passed away early. The court and the common people deeply regret it. I will ask the Emperor to confer Old General Ma Teng the title of Former General and Marquis of Huaili. His title and military position can be inherited by his eldest son, Ma Chao. I hope that the Xiliang Army will be fiercely loyal to the court. "
After Ma Dai came back to his senses, he thanked Bai Xiaowen. "Thank you, Da Sima. We will definitely tell Big Brother these priceless words. Now that Uncle has passed away, we need to bring his coffin back home to be buried as soon as possible. "
Bai Xiaowen nodded and said, "Then I won't keep you."
The Ma family then took their leave.
Before leaving, Ma Yunlu looked back at Bai Xiaowen and saw that the latter had turned back to the inner hall.
Ma Yunlu was grieving over Ma Teng's death. Naturally, he did not have the mood to be sentimental. He escorted Ma Teng's coffin back to Chang 'an with Ma Dai and the others.
Speaking of the three auxiliary lands, Bai Xiaowen did not have the nerve to talk about taking it back because he had killed Ma Teng. Because he knew that things were not that simple. The person hiding behind the scenes, cursing Ma Teng to death was only the first step. There must be a backup plan.
Chang 'an.
In front of Ma Chao, a slightly plump middle-aged scholar entered to pay his respects.
"I am Jian Yong from Zhuo County. I am here to pay my respects to Old General Ma under the orders of my lord, General Hanzuo and Imperial Uncle Liu Bei."
Ma Chao said, "Emissary, please rise. My father is not in Chang 'an. I thank Imperial Uncle Liu on behalf of my father for his kindness. "
After Jian Yong got up, he looked around and said curiously, "I heard that Old General Ma was injured by a demon's curse and is bedridden. My lord, Imperial Uncle Liu, is also an official who carries imperial edicts. He feels the same way and is very worried. Therefore, he specially ordered me to come and pay my respects. Why is Old General Ma not recuperating in Chang 'an? "
Ma Chao heard this and said, "The Mi thief, Zhang Lu, harmed my father greatly! I heard that Da Sima, Yuan Xi, is also a cultivator. He killed Zhang Jiao and his Dao is profound. Therefore, I ordered my brothers and sisters to escort my father's carriage to Yedu to seek medical treatment. "
Jian Yong heard this and sighed, "Little General, you are sending a sheep to the tiger's mouth!"
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