Strange Stories

Chapter 507: Zixiao Palace and the Purple Emperor
Last night’s long conversation seemed like a dream.

They first met by chance on the road in Huizhou, one seeking fame and title, the other seeking immortality. Later when they met again, one used martial arts to protect Taoism, the other used Taoism to protect martial arts. They subdued demons and protected the people. In a blink of an eye, the warrior rode his horse to conquer the whole world, and the Taoist also completed his practice and achieved enlightenment.

Looking at the entire world at this moment, there is no one higher than Mr. Luo. Even the four famous Taoist mountains and the four "real people" of the talisman school have to be respectful in front of an emperor, not to mention a founding emperor who conquered the world by himself.

But there was no emperor in front of the immortal.

There are no immortals in front of the emperor.

There was only one warrior and one Taoist priest, who had known each other for many years.

There was also the ease and joy of meeting an old friend, without any military or political interests involved, and without any deliberate flattery. Even a dull topic became interesting, and it was like giving him a cup of light tea, washing away the blood and hostility that had just emerged from a sea of ​​blood and a mountain of corpses.

Mr. Luo remembered that before dawn, all the food and wine on the table had been eaten up. The Taoist priest even said with a smile that he would bring him the Thousand Days Wine from Hammer Mountain next time, saying that it was a rare fine wine in the world, and then he said goodbye to him.

The two Taoists and the fox turned into breeze and left one after another.

I was in a trance for a while, then I took a short nap on the bed and had another dream. I dreamed that the warrior took advantage of his youth and vigor to go out alone and ride a horse to the south of the Yangtze River.

The warrior rode his horse and pointed to the distance and said:
"The mountains move silently, the world is in turmoil, and the country is destroyed."

Say:
"If a person moves from a mountain to a mountain, it means that the ruler does not follow the Way, the virtuous are not promoted, or the salary is gone, the public office rewards and punishments are not determined by the ruler's private family, and if he does not save them, it is time to change the dynasty and the name."

And said:

"My ancestors were originally a military family, but now they have fallen on hard times. I felt that this was a time of great change in the world, so I left my hometown and went to Beijing. I wanted to rejoin the army and make a name for myself in the world with my martial arts. Between life and death, I wanted to win a place for my Luo family again."

Young spirit and lofty ambitions.

How could I have imagined today?

When I woke up, it still felt unreal.

……

Just now at dawn the streets of the capital were very quiet.

The two men and the fox walked slowly along the street.

Looking around, the scenery is familiar.

The morning was cool and the footsteps were soft.

"I remember that at this time in the past, many vegetable vendors had already started to come into the capital, and there were servants waiting at the doorsteps of these wealthy families to buy things." The little sister stretched out her hand and pointed to both sides with the hilt of her sword. "Why are there so few people now?"

"After all, the war has just ended and the world is beginning to settle down." Lin Jue said, "I don't know how many years it will take to recover. I hope Lord Luo will bring a more peaceful and prosperous era."

He paused, turned around and asked:

"Junior sister, are you having success in finding the golden essence?"

"It went relatively smoothly. I didn't go looking for the monster that Senior Brother said might have hidden the top-grade gold essence, so as to avoid fighting and snatching it. I went to the mountain that Senior Brother Six said often gave birth to top-grade gold essence. I searched in the mountain for several months and finally found it."

"If you can't find anything, or if you have any trouble, you must come to me."

"That's beyond words."

While they were talking, the two had walked past the government office of Juxian Mansion and came to a Taoist temple that had just been renovated and looked unfamiliar.

"what?"

This is the original location of the Astronomical Observatory.

However, the entrance of the Taoist temple has changed a lot. Two ferocious stone tigers are placed there, and a plaque on the door reads "Zixiao Palace".

On both sides are written couplets:

The storm is coming, so take a rest for a while before heading to the Golden Palace again;
When the clouds begin to rise over the ridges, I see all things majestic and solemn, vying to embrace the purple void.

"Purple Sky Palace." The little sister looked up, "They used the original site of the Starry Sky Palace."

"We can't help it. There are only so many places in the capital, and they are already full. If we don't demolish other places, there will only be this piece of ruins. The planning of the courtyard wall is ready, so it's easy to build from here." Lin Jue also looked up at the gate of this palace, "But they are quick."

"Yes."

"Junior sister, do you still remember the first time we went to the Dajiao?"

"Of course I remember. The vegetarian food at the Yanxia Temple on Mingzhu Mountain was not very oily, but it was very delicious." The little sister said, "We even roasted a rabbit in front of their bamboo house."

"Does Fuyao still remember?"

The fox looked serious and stared at him intently with his head raised.

"The Taoist here should be from Yanxia Temple." Lin Jue said, "Let's go and take a look."

The main hall inside had not been repaired yet and there was no one in the temple.

The two men and the fox had no choice but to transform themselves into a breeze and enter through the crack in the door. The Taoist entered the Taoist temple to see the gods he had met before, without stealing or robbing, and was quite calm.

The layout inside is generally similar to that of the Guanxing Palace.

But most Taoist temples are like this -

The first thing you see when you enter the gate is the outer courtyard, with low houses on both sides, used as guest halls to accommodate pilgrims. Of course, this is the capital, and although the new dynasty has just been established, there is no shortage of dignitaries. When the old ones are gone, new ones will come. Needless to say, the status of this Zixiao Temple in the future, there will be countless kings, princes, generals, dignitaries and dignitaries who will come here to seek peace after their busy schedules, and ordinary people cannot live here.

In front of us is the largest palace, Tianweng Palace.

But it was renamed Purple Emperor Palace.

"In ancient times, the main gods in the sky were called the Blue Emperor, the Yellow Emperor, the Black Emperor, the Red Emperor, and the White Emperor. Later, they were changed to the Heavenly Weng God. I heard that now this great emperor has changed back to the original name and still uses the Purple Emperor as the abbreviation."

The palace door was not closed.

Lin Jue immediately saw the statue of the emperor in the center, who was dressed in purple clothes and wearing a crown.

The original Tianweng was moved to the side.

It seemed like they had switched places.

There are two side halls on the left and right, both named the God Hall.

The temple on the left is the one Lin Jue is more familiar with. There is only a statue in the center of it. The statue is wearing black and gold scale armor inside and a colorful divine robe outside. It is about ten feet tall. It is the Lord Fu Chi.

It is almost exactly the same as the one in Yanxia Temple.

There are four large characters hanging above the statue:

Do you recognize me?

In the temple on the right are the two gods, Giant Fang and Long Snake.

One can imagine the status of Lord Fuchi.

Lin Jue looked at the god, wondering whether Emperor Zixu had fulfilled his promise and let the god resign.

Just as he was thinking about it, a statue of a god in the temple on the right suddenly gleamed with eyes and glanced at Fuyao.

Then the sound of thunder rang in my ears:
"Who are you? How dare you break into the Purple Emperor's palace!"

The two men and the fox noticed it at the same time and turned their heads to look.

I never thought that this newly built temple, before it even received any worship from the world, had already given birth to a spirit.

As expected of a newly rising god, and as expected of the newly built Zixiao Palace, the god’s diligence far exceeds that of the Stargazing Palace.

"General, don't be alarmed." Lin Jue bowed. "I am a Taoist from Yishan. My surname is Lin and my name is Jue. I have achieved enlightenment in the capital. I have been to Yanxia Temple and have seen the true appearance of Fuchi God several times. I have also been to this Guanxing Palace in the previous dynasty. I passed by here today and found that the palace was newly built, so I came in to take a look. This is my junior sister. This is the spirit fox I raised since she was a child. It has also seen Fuchi God."

In addition to stating his identity and not meaning to offend, it also means that even Lord Fu Chi, who had seen Fu Yao with his own eyes, had never made things difficult for him.

As expected, the light swept over the fox again, and the tone in the air gradually became more relaxed:
"Master Lin from the capital?"

"Exactly."

"Since you are an immortal, and you have come with an old friend, we should entertain you. However, the palace has not been built yet, so you should leave."

The light in the statue's eyes gradually dimmed.

Lin Jue maintained his courtesy and withdrew his gaze.

It seems that in addition to being more diligent than the previous Tianweng gods, they are also more sensitive to monsters - even a palace that has not yet been built has gods on duty in secret. Moreover, there is no demonic aura on Fuyao, and she has always been good at hiding her breath and sound, but she can still be detected by them. After noticing it, they immediately mobilized a god to show up.

Diligent on duty, keen perception and quick response.

However, it doesn't reach the point where they kill all the monsters as soon as they see them.

At least for now.

Lin Jue thought of Mr. Luo from last night again.

Lord Luo himself has an old relationship with the Zhenjian Palace. After all, they once fought side by side. He also knows Taoist Qingxuan well enough. In Lin Jue's opinion, he is likely to support the Zhenjian Palace and use the southern gods to balance the northern gods.

It is even possible that he had thought about balancing the influence of the Nine Heavenly Gods on the human court before last night, so he appointed the upright Master Nan Tian as the Minister of Juxian Palace, and invited a monk to be the Vice Minister of Juxian Palace. You must know that although Master Yun Chan has a kind heart and has known Lin Jue for a long time, he is not outstanding among the group of masters around Master Nan in terms of ability or merit.

I don’t know what the world will be like in the future.

"Let's go, Junior Sister is back just in time. I will officially accept those two as my disciples around the end of this month. Junior Sister needs to be there to witness this matter, to show her status as the uncle."

"It's time to give gifts!"

"I won't let you give it away for free. I'll have a meal with wine and meat." Lin Jue said, "I came back from Yunzhou earlier and brought back red rice from the terraced fields. It's white with a hint of red and is also soft to eat. I'll pick out a piece of good bacon in the market and buy some pickled mustard greens to make a pot of dried rice."

"That's good..."

"First, let me invite you to have a bowl of hot tea on the roadside." Lin Jue said, "It has been a long time since we had tea and porridge at a roadside stall."

"So good!"

The two men and the fox turned into a gentle breeze and left the palace.

There is a small stall outside the city selling morning tea.

Ziyun, Xu Yi and Pu Mei, who had spent a night in the capital inn, along with two Taoists and a fox that had transformed into a young girl, sat in a small stall and listened to passers-by talking vividly about what had happened yesterday.

(End of this chapter)