"Squeak — squeak —"
The deeper the night, the noisier the crickets outside the house become. Their monotonous and hollow chirps are endless. This is their signal of courtship, as if they want to wake up the dead night.
But the darkness is still like a tide, boundless, drowning all colors and creatures.
She hates the dark, so there is an oil lamp in front of the mirror. Maybe the window is not closed properly, so the wind blows in. The slender orange flame flickers, but it is not extinguished. The flickering candlelight reflects the two figures in and out of the mirror.
She was naked in the mirror, and water droplets slid down from her wet, shoulder-length hair to her beautiful, white body, drawing beautiful curves along her body. Under the dim candlelight, the water droplets that had yet to dry seemed to cover her with a hazy halo, making her look like a pure fairy who had just come out of the bath.
But she knows that she is different from the figure in the mirror. She is not pure, but dirty, very dirty. Every time she wakes up from that mud-like dream, she has to take a bath. But no matter how long she takes, she still feels that she can't wash away the filth.
Still the dream would come flooding in like darkness, the ugly, malevolent, twisted faces, the fat, bony, mutilated bodies, and their triumphant laughter, shrill, harsh, greedy, like the chirping of insects outside the house.
But what was most unbearable was the woman in the dream. Her misty eyes looked down at her from above, covered her lips and chuckled, casting a sympathetic and pitiful look at her.
"Squeak — squeak —"
"Don't laugh anymore!" The crickets' chirping became more and more ear-piercing, making her unbearable. She pressed her palm against the smooth mirror, like a provoked mother beast, and growled at the mirror. "They are just some insects. They are just courting and mating. What's there to be proud of? Autumn is coming, and you are all going to die! "
"Hehe, only you are not qualified to say that." She growled at the mirror in a low voice, and her reflection in the mirror also responded with a hostile taunt. "You were once an insect, lowly and buried in the ground, unable to see the light, just like them. The only difference is that you are an insect that is not even qualified to make a courtship sound."
Not to be outdone, she countered, "So what? At least I'm still alive, and you're already dead. As long as I'm alive, I have a chance to turn things around and defeat you."
"You can win, I will wait for you …" Her reflection in the mirror smiled sympathetically and said softly, "But after so many years, do you see any chance of winning?"
His soft words made her face pale, as if she had been shot by an arrow. Her aggressive facade was shattered by an arrow. She held onto the mirror so that her powerless body wouldn't collapse like mud.
The person in the mirror continued to mock her, "Not to mention me, you can't even win against my shadow. No matter how hard you try to imitate me, it's all in vain. The more you chase after me, the farther away you are. Poor silly worm, after thinking for so many years, you still can't figure it out?"
The figure in the mirror bent down and whispered, "It's because I'm dead that you can't win. Think about it, no matter how hard you try, how can you win against someone who doesn't exist in this world?"
Yes, how can I win against someone who doesn't exist in this world?
In fact, she had long understood this principle, but she was always unwilling to accept it. But the struggle before death only brought her a mess. She buried her face in the crook of her arms and sobbed softly. This was a weakness that no one had ever seen.
But the person in the mirror was already used to it. She sighed faintly and was about to leave as usual.
"Then, can you come back to life?" At this time, she heard a different response. She looked back and saw her raising her head, begging humbly, "I beg you, come back to life. As long as you come back to life, I'm willing to fight for nothing. I'll be like before, a worm that can't see the light. Can you come back to life?"
The person in the mirror looked back at her outside the mirror and smiled as if she was giving alms. But her black pupils were dim, as if she could suck the other's life into her body.
She said, "Okay."
- = - = - = - =
The mottled scroll slowly unfolded, and 90,000 miles of mountains and rivers could be seen.
It was a map of the territory of the Tang Empire. There were 15 roads from east to west, 50 passes from north to south, cities, passes, mountains and rivers. All the importance of the country was reduced to a piece of paper.
"What a good map of mountains and rivers!" Ji Fengming couldn't help but exclaim.
Although Su Miaoyin didn't say anything, her eyes also flashed with surprise.
The battle for the Tomes of Arcane had been settled. But both the good and the evil had their own gains and losses, but they all knew that this was not the end. At this time, the righteous sects went upstream along the Min River, heading straight for the direction of Mount Qingcheng, where a new battle would begin.
After the battle, Su Miaoyin and Ji Fengming finished their work and came to Mu Zixuan's cabin to meet. And the first thing they did after arriving was to examine the hard-earned half of the Tomes of Arcane.
The Tomes of Arcane were split into two. What Mu Zixuan obtained was a map with beautiful mountains and rivers vividly displayed on the paper. If such a detailed and accurate map were to be seen by the imperial court, it would definitely be regarded as a treasure and kept in the heavily-guarded military warehouse as a top secret. At the same time, the person who touched the map would be imprisoned and supervised for the crime of drawing the map without permission, to prevent the map from falling into the hands of the enemy.
But the reason why Ji Fengming and Su Miaoyin, who were experienced and knowledgeable practitioners, was not only because of the accuracy of the map, but also because the map was alive.
After the map was unfolded, a translucent golden dragon shadow danced on it. Its tail rose from the Kunlun Mountains, crossed the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, coiled in Taiyuan, and finally stretched its head towards the East Ocean. Although it was only half the size of a table, it had a majestic momentum that could swallow the world and the wilderness. It was the manifestation of the Tang Empire's dragon vein.
On the dragon's spine, there were nine dorsal fin-like protrusions. If you looked closely, you would find that the dorsal fins were nine mottled copper cauldrons.
When the nine cauldrons moved slowly along the water veins on the map, it caused the golden dragon to bare its fangs and brandish its claws.
"Just as we expected, the Nine Cauldrons of King Yu moved along the water veins, and their positions were not fixed. Without the guidance of the map, it would be extremely difficult to find them. The Northern Demons have gained nothing this time," Su Miaoyin said after examining the map.
"But it's different for the Six Dao …" Ji Fengming stretched out her finger and stroked the Kunlun Mountains on the map. She pointed at a cauldron and said, "The Kunlun Mountains are filled with the Qi of Heaven and Earth. This cauldron has always been fixed on the Kunlun Mountains, and has never moved. Now that the Six Dao has the method to break the Qi, I'm afraid this cauldron will be broken sooner or later."
"It's still too early to talk about this. Before Di Lingtian recovers, he won't have the energy to break the Nine Cauldrons. We still have time. Let's discuss how to deal with this hot potato first, "Mu Zixuan rolled up the map again and said with a look of disgust.
"Keeping it will only be a source of trouble. It's better to burn it." Ji Fengming said decisively. From her point of view, it didn't matter whether they got the Tomes of Heaven or not. The important thing was to prevent Bei Longtian and the others from getting the remaining half of the Tomes of Heaven. Therefore, destroying it was the best way to solve the problem once and for all.
"Great minds think alike. I thought so too at the beginning," Mu Zixuan added.
"Then what happened in the end?"
"In the end, of course, you came to burn it. Burning the Tomes of Heaven on fire is really comparable to the Ancestral Dragon burning hundreds of schools of thought. This kind of grand event will naturally be left to your Phoenix Flame!" Mu Zixuan said with a smile.
"You can't say that. As a Daoist, I value peace and quiet. It's better for the Alliance Leader of the Righteous Sky Alliance to do it personally," Ji Fengming said apologetically.
"Stop fooling around, you two." Su Miaoyin interrupted their nonsense, "I've read the records about the Tomes of Heaven in Mister Zhi Shi's' History Pavilion '. The appearance of the Tomes of Heaven is the mandate of heaven. Those who destroy the Tomes of Heaven can be said to go against heaven's mandate and will be faced with a disaster. More importantly, if the mandate of heaven is exhausted, the Tomes of Heaven will disappear by itself. If the mandate of heaven is not exhausted, even if it is destroyed by force, it will inevitably appear again. If that happens, it will only be a reenactment of the battle for the Tomes of Heaven, which is of no benefit to us at all."
"So, we can't destroy it if we destroy it, and it will attract people's attention if we keep it. Lord Su, only the Holy Buddha can take care of such an item that is related to the lifeline of the world. Please send it to the Buddhist Heart Temple and hand it over to the Holy Buddha," Mu Zixuan said and pushed the Tomes of Heaven to Su Miaoyin.
"Letting the Holy Buddha take care of it is indeed the safest way, but now is not the time." Su Miaoyin held the Tomes of Heaven that was pushed over and stopped her, "The Tomes of Heaven are very important. To prevent it from being robbed on the way, we need many experts to escort it to the Buddhist Heart Temple. But now the day of Palace Master Wei's recovery is near, and the Evil Destroyer of the Six Realms will most likely launch a large-scale attack. It is really not a good time to send troops now."
Ji Fengming also echoed, "That's right. If we divide our forces, we will be weak. Let's wait for my Master to recover. So now it is better for you to take care of it. With the strength of the leader of the Righteous Sky Alliance, he will definitely not lose the Tomes of Heaven."
Mu Zixuan also expected that they would say so. She was just pretending to be courteous. Now she tried to sound them out, "Speaking of strength, there is a great expert in the Righteous Sky Alliance. Why not let him take care of it?"
Ji Fengming and Su Miaoyin looked at each other and said nothing.
Mu Zixuan raised her eyebrows and asked, "Are you also on guard against the Sword Emperor?"
"Ha, you used the word 'also' well!" Ji Fengming chuckled and grasped the key word.
Mu Zixuan said, "Of course! If the Sword Emperor said that he wants to join the Heavenly Palace of Wanxiang and be your Junior Brother, let's see if you don't have any grudges in your heart? "
Su Miaoyin replied seriously, "Yue Cang Qiong is ambitious and ambitious. He never likes to be left out. If he didn't lose to Yu Wen Feng when he was at the peak of his power, I'm afraid the current situation of the cultivation world would be different. After he came out of his closed-door training, his behavior is very different from before. It is even more difficult to see through him. But no matter what, it is always good to be careful. It is indeed inappropriate to hand over the Tomes of Heaven, which is related to the fate of the Tang Empire's dragon veins, to a person who cultivates the Supreme Emperor Sword for safekeeping. Therefore, Alliance Leader Mu, since you are the Alliance Leader elected by everyone, this responsibility belongs to you. "
"Alright, since Leader Su has put it this way, then I won't refuse …" Mu Zixuan no longer pretended to be sincere. At this moment, they suddenly heard a slight and undetectable noise on the cabin roof.
"Someone is here!" Mu Zixuan's expression tightened. She hurriedly put the Tomes of Heaven into her bosom and opened the folding window to look outside the cabin.
What she saw was a slender figure rushing past. There was another figure under his arm, but it was as if he was walking on flat ground.
"It's them?" Mu Zixuan and Ji Fengming recognized the figure. They were shocked and wanted to chase after it to see what was going on.
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