No, gentlemen also guard against

Chapter 790: The one holding the hairpin is not hurt? Extremely insulting!
The wind in the bamboo forest stopped.

The piano music also stopped.

Time seemed to have stopped.

In the center of the bamboo courtyard, the old musician playing the piano looked down at his withered hands pressing the strings.

The inner side of the thumb and the second joint of the index finger of this withered hand have symmetrical callus marks, which are caused by the pressure when grinding the ink frequently. There are also blue-black palm lines penetrated by ink stains, which seem to be caused by the edge of the palm touching the inkstone when dipping ink frequently...

At first glance, you can tell that he is an old man who has been immersed in painting for many years.

Just like he is obsessed with music.

The old musician sighed, turned around, and said to Wu Daozi who was standing behind him:

"Didn't you say that you wanted to go back to the mountains, learn from your master, guard a Taoist temple, and never go out again?"

Wu Daozi narrowed his eyes, walked over to sit opposite the old musician, and suddenly recited a poem:
"The Three Pure Ones only want mud, but the Buddha wants a golden body. In troubled times, Bodhisattvas do not come to the world, but the old Taoist carries a sword to save the people."

"What troubled times, what common people are talking about?" The old musician shook his head and touched his sparsely haired forehead. "If I remember correctly, this is the third year of Tianyou in the Great Zhou Dynasty. It's not a troubled time, right?"

Wu Daozi pointed to the quiet bamboo forest outside the courtyard wall:
"Isn't it chaotic enough outside?"

The old musician's expression turned serious and he corrected:
"That's because of your trouble. Xunyang would be fine if you didn't come."

Wu Daozi looked calm:
"You have lived in the palace for a long time, playing music for the emperor and generals. Of course, you don't know the suffering of the people. You don't know that the people have suffered for a long time. Your music is not played for the common people."

The old musician shook his head:
"I am the son of a carpenter, how could I not know the sufferings of the people? I am not self-admiring. I like Xunyang's pipa. These days, I have consulted many poor girls who play the pipa by the Xunyang River. I understand better than you what ordinary people need. They don't want to change the world, nor do they want to be passionate. A stable and ordinary life is the most valuable."

"Old Yu, do you think everyone is like you, just getting by? When someone pushes you too far, you still greet them with a smile?"

Wu Daozi said with a smile, pointing to the surrounding courtyard and the luggage beside the old musician:

"No wonder you are under house arrest at such an old age, passively glowing and radiating heat. The fake emperor and the people of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau really have you under their control. It's really sad and lamentable for a swordsman like you."

The old musician shook his head and said, "It's not forced. It's what I promised. I am indeed lazy, but I never break my promise."

Wu Daozi seemed to be overjoyed and pointed to the main grotto not far away:
"Old Yu, turn left and walk forward to the grotto. Ask the Donglin Buddha to move down and you can sit on it."

The old musician was not annoyed, but just looked at his old friend's familiar and unchanged face and sighed continuously.

Wu Daozi suddenly said, "Old Yu, do you know what I hate most about people like you from the past to now?"

"You speak."

"I hate those of you who regard weakness and compromise as the mercy of saints the most. You always compromise, compromise and compromise again, and make endless concessions. You always pin your hopes on others, but you don't know that the promises made by those in power are all empty promises. You have an almost naive fantasy about them. As a result, they will only become more demanding, and you will only indulge them more and more, and finally you will have to accept the predetermined result."

The old musician stared at Wu Daozi, who had a sneer on his face, for a while and sighed:
"It seems that the events after Emperor Gaozong's death still had a great impact on you, and you still can't get over it."

Wu Daozi neither admitted nor denied:
"When I left the palace, I was indeed a little impulsive and a little disappointed, but that was not the reason for me to come down the mountain this time. Over the years, as I grew older, I gradually began to realize one thing, so I came down the mountain."

The old musician was curious: "What's the matter?"

Wu Daozi smiled and pointed to his hunched shoulders:

"Responsibility, the rise and fall of the country is the responsibility of every man. At this age, I can clearly realize that we, as the elders, must stand up and say something, or do something, to show the younger generations behind us. We can't continue to remain silent, and we can't directly pass the handle of right and wrong to those villains who are good at speaking and confusing right and wrong. Otherwise, it will be the greatest dereliction of duty."

The old musician seemed to think seriously and shook his head:
"That year of great change, I, like you, also experienced it... It's rare to be over seventy years old. I am a bit like you, and I have also suddenly realized some truths."

"What's the point?"

The old musician said word for word: "Any radical change will ultimately benefit the old and new dignitaries. Whether there is change or not actually has nothing to do with the common people. Rushing for change will only backfire."

After saying this, the old musician felt somewhat disappointed, and kept murmuring:
"Take your time, take your time. Slow is fast, slow is fast..."

"Still taking your time? Old Yu, you still have hope."

Wu Daozi chuckled, stood up and walked towards the courtyard gate.

The old man with narrow eyes walked across the steps in front of the courtyard gate, saying as he walked:
"Old Yu, the Great Qian Dynasty in your mind died more than a decade ago. What you are seeing now is just the process of the corpse rotting.

"When I went to Chang'an, I, like you, dreamed of a prosperous and peaceful era. One year after Emperor Gaozong left, did anyone care about the people who were suffering from the disaster outside the pass?
"No.

"Has anyone ever cared about the urgent need to expand the frontier?
"No.

"The whole court is fighting for the power vacuum. The aristocratic families in the inner city are scheming against the five surnames and seven noble families. The holy empress who is in charge of the world is fighting for the throne with the willful prince. Mother and son are at odds with each other. The Qigong practitioners of the Imperial Observatory are fighting for the dragon vein luck with the Qigong practitioners of the Zhongnan Mountain National Religion...

“Is there someone working?
"No.

"The current Great Zhou is nothing more than putting a thick layer of dead makeup on the corpse of the Great Qian.

"Is there any difference between doing anything about it and preparing for a secret funeral?

"nor."

Wu Daozi shook his head and was about to walk out the door:

"Don't play the harp anymore. You can't stop it. Instead of wasting your cultivation, you should save some spiritual energy and think about where to run to. That way, you won't be found by the false emperor who broke his promise and the Si Tian Jian again and be treated like a slave."

The old musician suddenly interrupted:

“Someone is doing something.”

Wu Daozi didn't hear clearly for a moment, and paused slightly: "Hmm?"

The old musician said seriously:
"I have seen people working hard along the way. At least in Xunyang, Jiangzhou, I have seen it with my own eyes."

The old man lowered his head and stroked the strings of the zither, with a look of reminiscence on his face, remembering that not long ago a girl in palace dress told him in a rare and excited manner about the commemorative inscription she had carved on the dome of the main cave.

The old musician smiled and said:
"Rong girl is one of them. I will leave, but not now. I will not stand idly by."

Wu Daozi was not surprised at all and continued walking forward towards the gate:
"Please do as you please. I also taught a half-disciple, so I can meet your girl-disciple for a while."

The old musician suddenly said:

"You are able to enter the painting, but it is not your real body. Where is your real body?"

"This body is enough."

Wu Daozi answered calmly and walked out of the courtyard.

As soon as he walked out of the yard, his figure disappeared without a trace...

On the south bank of Shuangfeng Peak, on the cliff of Nanfeng.

Yuan Huaimin stared blankly at Mr. Wu as he walked into the painting, and after a moment, he walked out of the painting.

This is a newly painted picture of the two banks of Shuangfengjian, in the style of ink painting, suspended in the air. However, the white mist across the river has been omitted from the painting, and the scenery on the north and south banks has become clearly visible.

Yuan Huaimin discovered a detail. Just after Mr. Wu walked into the painting, a little man in the painting who looked similar to Mr. Wu went to a bamboo forest somewhere on the north bank of the painting. It seemed that he was sitting cross-legged in a small courtyard in the bamboo forest with a little man in the painting who seemed to be an old man playing the zither, and they were communicating with each other...

These have been vividly displayed in the paintings.

The smiling old man walked out of the painting and patted his sleeves.

Almost as soon as he landed, the sound of a zither rang out from the bamboo forest again, echoing across the entire Shuangfeng Peak. Wu Daozi said to the dull young man who was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed not far away:
"Continue. Old Yutou didn't fake the Ding Sword. He has always been secretly suspected by the false emperor. Now he is no longer the sword master and can't exert much of the [Emperor Wen]'s magical powers. What he is consuming now is the remaining sound of [Emperor Wen] that he had intercepted before."

Du Shuqing held the special Yunmeng Order in his hand, injecting spiritual energy into it continuously. A bronze sword was suspended above his head. The two swords, one for each man, seemed to be vaguely connected.

Hearing this, Du Shuqing nodded without opening his eyes.

Above their heads, Wei Shaoqi was holding a scroll of the Peach Blossom Spring, his sleeves fluttering and his eyes closed quietly, looking somewhat similar to the state of the girl in palace dress on a high platform somewhere.

Wu Daozi put his hands behind his back, raised his head, and squinted at Wei Shaoqi.

Yuan Huaimin, who was a little unknown at the side, reached out and touched his arms, and couldn't help but said to the old man:
"What was Mr. Wu doing just now? When will you bring Qiu Niang and Liang Han here?"

Wu Daozi came back to his senses, said "hmm", and turned to look at the painting of the Twin Peaks floating in front of him, as if he was looking for something. However, the old painter was obviously absent-minded. As he searched, his eyes fell on the figure of an old man playing the piano in the bamboo forest and bamboo courtyard on the north bank of the scroll.

He suddenly said, "Let me take him back later."

Yuan Huaimin was puzzled.

Du Shuqing said nothing, just nodded.

At this moment, inside the main cave.

Yi Qianqiu, Wei Wu and others, who had felt as if they were falling into an icy cave, were delighted when they heard the familiar sound of the piano returning again.

This time, the sound of the piano was more melodious, and golden light emerged from the Buddhist beads in the sleeves of Yi Qianqiu and others, enveloping them, and the same was true for Rong Zhen's figure on the high platform.

Amid the sound of the zither, golden light spread out, gradually covering the high platform and the Donglin Buddha...

The injured white dragon, whose body was covered in deep bronze, was also undergoing strange changes. It was emitting colorful aura halos, blue, red, and purple... It seemed as if it had been injected with vitality again.

The white dragon seemed to have regained its energy, becoming more lively and agile. Its tail swept across the platform, and its ferocious head rushed towards the Donglin Buddha.

"Boom——!"

After a loud bang, the white dragon passed through the high platform and the big Buddha and crashed into the cliff behind it. For a moment, the earth shook and many secret sentries on the cliff were knocked down.

However, the high platform and the Donglin Buddha, which were shrouded in a faint golden edge amid the sound of the piano, were not harmed.

The same is true for Yi Qianqiu, Wei Wu and others who hold Buddhist beads.

They also began to hide on the high platform, guarding the girl in palace dress who had her eyes tightly closed.

"Wow!"

The white dragon let out a long roar, and without getting discouraged, rushed towards the platform and the big Buddha again.

However, Yi Qianqiu and others gradually discovered that the golden light on their bodies became fainter and fainter with the passage of time and the increase in the number of attacks by the white dragon.

Like it's about to disappear.

Yi Qianqiu and others felt depressed.

Now the white dragon could no longer be stopped and was wreaking havoc in front of him.

Yi Qianqiu turned his head and looked up into the sky.

In that cloud of mist, Nanny Song and Xue Zhongzhu were still fighting.

However, it seems that Nanny Song was seriously injured, but Xue Zhongzhu became more and more courageous in the fight, which is not a good sign either.

The True Immortal Princess on the high platform still had her eyes closed.

She was fighting with the middle-aged scholar on the distant South Peak.

No one knew where the two men fought, nor what the situation was.

Yi Qianqiu could only see the girl in palace dress’s brows gradually furrowing.

All the energy of the Donglin Buddha formation was drawn to Wei Shaoqi.

Yi Qianqiu glanced at Wei Wu next to her. The confidant of the King of Wei, who was dressed in the clothes of a groom, had a blank expression on his face. He was sizing up the situation on the field just like her, with a serious and gloomy look in his eyes.

Perhaps noticing Yi Qianqiu's gaze, Wei Wu turned his head, and the two looked at each other for a moment, the latter forced a smile:
"Don't worry, Commander Yi. The situation may not be as bad as we thought. We have already withstood the attack. Besides, the princess has prepared some backup plans... If things get worse, we still have the preparations of the Prince of Wei's Mansion..."

Just as Wei Wu was trying to comfort her, the thick fog in the sky suddenly exploded.

Nanny Song flew backwards and landed on a high platform. A Han-style palace lantern fell at her feet with a clang, and her purple gold palace skirt was torn into rags.

Fortunately, the golden light took her in and protected her temporarily.

Looking at Nanny Song who returned in a dishevel, Wei Wu was choked with words and looked grim. Yi Qianqiu and others looked somewhat shocked.

The strength of this Yunmeng Lady has increased so quickly? During the last Xingzi Lake Buddha incident, it didn't seem to be so exaggerated.

The hearts of the people on the platform gradually grew cold.

Xue Zhongzhu walked out of the gradually dissipating clouds and mist coldly, stood on the head of the white dragon, and injected purple energy into its bronze body.

With the blessing of the purple energy of a top-grade Qi-refining master, the white dragon flew directly into the air, like a dragon, riding on the clouds and mist, looking down at everyone.

When approaching the dome, the huge white dragon seemed to dislike the small space for activities in the main cave, and it rammed its head against the top of the cave impatiently. Suddenly, many cracks appeared on the lotus stone carvings on the ceiling, including the circle of inscriptions, which was about to break.

Rong Zhen had his eyes closed and his hands clenched with white jade Buddhist beads. When he heard the noise, he suddenly opened his eyes.

She first quickly made hand gestures to stabilize the crumbling formation, and then, blood gushed out of her tightly pursed pink lips... as if she had suddenly escaped from the backlash from the fight between [Emperor Wen] and [Han Shi].

"Get away from me! Don't touch it!"

Rong Zhen's lips were bleeding, but her voice was hoarse and shrill. She didn't care about much else. Her petite body suddenly flew into the air, using the big Buddha behind her as a foothold. She jumped on its body continuously and rushed all the way to the dome of the cave.

Everyone in the audience looked at her petite figure in shock, like a moth to a flame.

This True Immortal Princess was so anxious that she broke away from the protection of the golden light and risked her life to protect the lotus stone carving.

The tall blonde Hu Ji put her hands behind her back and watched the scene with cold eyes. The white dragon under her feet immediately opened its bloody mouth and wanted to swallow this suicidal woman in one gulp.

But the next second, he was kicked on the forehead and Bai Jiao immediately closed his mouth.

The long sword hanging in the air beside Xue Zhongzhu flew out with a "whoosh", as fast as lightning, but he deliberately avoided the sword tip and only used the hilt to hit Rong Zhen's abdomen, knocking the slightly crazy girl in palace dress away, blood spurting out of her throat, and she fell back to the platform the same way she came.

Yi Qianqiu, Nanny Song and others hurriedly caught her petite body in the purple skirt.

At this time, Rong Zhen and the others on the high platform heard the eldest lady's rude and elegant words from above:

"There is a jade hairpin. I promised Seventh Junior Sister that I would not kill you for now."

Everyone looked sideways and saw that the girl in palace dress had her hair slightly crooked with a jade hairpin inserted diagonally on it.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Rong Zhen was stunned for a moment, then he didn't know what he was thinking about, his pitiful and beautiful face suddenly became a little angry.

It was like... I had been insulted like never before.

(End of this chapter)