The author of the book "The Book of the Dead"

Chapter 104: Ever-changing, My Name is Sword Immortal

At the end of the third year of Jianwu.

Emperor Liu Ziye died of illness, and because the crown prince died earlier, the throne was inherited by the crown prince Liu Rong.

Reign: Yuanhui.

The court was in chaos and various parties were plotting.

At the Liang family's ancestral home in Jiankang, on this day, the young men were carrying their bags, ready to set off.

"Liang Yan, what are you doing again?" Liang Yan's father Liang Zheng scolded, "Why are you running around? You must get married this year!"

Liang Yan, dressed in light and tight clothes, said, "Dad, I promise to come back within six months. I haven't been out to play yet."

Hearing his son say this, Liang Zheng couldn't help but sigh. The children of the Liang family have always been unreliable and often travel around. Liang Yan took over the family business early and indeed never went out to play once.

"Let's go. You are the eldest son of the Liang family. Don't show off on the road and don't bully others by taking advantage of your status."

"It's very simple. I just need to change my name."

After saying this, Liang Yan left, changed his name to Xiao Yan, and traveled around.

In the early morning, the frost and dew have not yet dried.

A cool breeze blows on your face in Qingshan Garden.

Li Hongwen stood beside Liang Yue.

"Hongwen, get ready to go. Li Hu will be in charge of looking after the house."

"Li Hu?" Li Hongwen was a little worried.

Liang Yue's mind moved, and a stone the size of a millstone emerged from the water.

Looking closely, it turned out to be the turtle Xuanwu.

Liang Yue stepped forward and injected true energy into him.

The turtle slowly shrank to the size of a palm, and then placed the Xuanwu in Li Hu's palm.

Li Hu touched the turtle shell carefully, wanting to play but being afraid.

“You know how to take advantage of it.”

For smart people, there is no need to say more.

"Disciple understands." Li Hu's mind turned, and he already had a hundred ways to cheat people.

The master made stronger smoke and lime for himself, and even the king of heaven would be affected.

Outside.

Liang Yue dropped two chopsticks, and the chopsticks turned into a black horse.

Li Hongwen rode on the black horse, kept touching the mane, and said, "It really looks like it."

"Haha, of course it looks like that."

The two men rode away on horseback.

A black horse can travel a thousand miles a day. If it travels day and night, it can reach the Wulao Peak of Mount Lu in one day.

On the way, Liang Yue suddenly asked:
"Hongwen, is there any news about Heyun?"

He Yun is definitely dead, but her whereabouts remain a mystery.

"I don't know. According to the information I know, Miss He Yun should have been successfully transferred, and she also took away most of the Black Guards and the royal secrets. As for where they are, I don't know."

"That's good."

……

The Five Old Peaks of Lushan Mountain are majestic and precipitous. The five peaks touch the sky and have different postures, like a poet chanting, a fisherman fishing, or an old monk sitting cross-legged.

After many years, I came here again.

The master and his apprentice, one old and one young, climbed the mountain on foot.

Liang Yue looked around and saw that the Taoist temple that Zhang Wenzhi had burned down seemed to have been rebuilt on the original site.

"Who? Could it be Tao Yuanming?"

Liang Yue thought of this old friend, who died earlier than himself. In his later years, he hardly moved, never left the house, and only wrote poetry.

"After living in a cage for so long, I finally get back to nature."

Liang Yue was reciting Tao Yuanming's poems and walking along the mountain path, feeling quite relaxed.

He was dressed like a scholar, with a scarf and a robe, like a scholar from the academy going on an outing.

Soon, we reached the top of the mountain.

A new palace stands on the mountain.

There is a cliff in front of the temple and a solitary grave standing on the side. Liang Yue was stunned when he saw the words written on the grave.

It turned out to be Xie Xuan’s tomb.

"It's Senior Xie Xuan?" Li Hongwen asked in surprise.

"Old man, so you hid here in your later years."

Liang Yue conjured up Xie Xuan's favorite green ant wine and poured half a bottle down.

"Who are you two?"

At this time, a middle-aged Taoist priest walked out of the palace.

"I am Lingbao." Liang Yue bowed.

"My name is Tongxuan, and we are master and disciple."

"So it's Senior Tongxuan, Fellow Taoist Lingbao. I'm Tao Hongjing, living in seclusion here." Tao Hongjing was a little surprised when he heard the Taoist name Lingbao. In recent years, not many people have used Lingbao as their Taoist name.

"No. I am the disciple."

"Oh?" Tao Hongjing was surprised.

The young master and the old disciple are a wonderful pair who are not bound by worldly matters.

"Please take a seat, both of you."

Tao Hongjing invited the two to come in and rest.

"Do you two know Xie Xuan?"

"Who in the world doesn't know Xie Xuan?" Liang Yue asked with a smile. Another celebrity. Through the art of qi-gazing, he found that this person was also a martial arts master.

"That's true." The three of them were chatting, and Tao Hongjing said, "This place was built by Xie Xuan, and then inherited by my master and my disciples."

Tao Hongjing's master's name was Baishou Zhenren, and his teacher's name was Sun Youyue. He did not often come to live here, but spent most of his time traveling around the world, looking for immortals and medicine.

After chatting for a while, Liang Yue and the other man stood up, said goodbye and left.

"Fellow Daoist Tongxuan, uh...Senior Lingbao, take care."

Tao Hongjing watched the two of them leave.

In the courtyard behind the palace, a white-haired old Taoist was meditating and regulating his breathing, his breath as strong as a dragon.

"Who's coming?" asked the old Taoist with white hair.

"Two fellow Taoists, one of them is quite interesting, his Taoist name is Lingbao."

The white-haired Taoist's ears moved and he asked again, "How old is this person?"

"Less than twenty."

"Humph, crazy student."

The old Taoist priest no longer pays attention.

Liang Yue came to the valley behind the mountain.

The place that Zhang Wenzhi sealed back then is still intact, but the mountain wall is covered with vines, and it is impossible to tell where the original cave entrance was.

"Hongwen, please wait here."

"Yes!"

After saying that, Liang Yue walked through the wall.

On the right is the tomb of the ancestors of Qinglian Temple throughout the ages, and on the left is a cave passage leading to the depths.

Liang Yue held the eternal lamp and came to a stone wall.

Remember there is a restriction deep in the stone wall, a restriction that can be communicated with through spiritual thoughts.

Whoosh!
The figure disappeared and entered the stone wall.

Inside is a vast space, with stone carvings on the wall inscribed with Liu An's thoughts. In the center is a golden mask as tall as a person, with four eyes, two of which have holes, and it is said to be the mask of Fang Xiangshi.

"Exactly this."

Liang Yue thought.

The golden mask might be a more powerful treasure than the six treasures of Heavenly Master. I found it before, but I didn’t know how to refine it.

Of course, I still don’t understand it now.

His purpose was actually the remains of Dayu, three thousand feet underground.

Liang Yue looked downward.

He scanned the surroundings with his mind, made sure there was no danger, sat cross-legged on the spot, closed his eyes and regulated his breathing.

Whoosh!
The soul left the body and a translucent figure suddenly appeared.

The soul looked around, picked up the mountain ghost jade pendant, attached the earth escape talisman, and then drilled into the ground.

In fact, the main body can also stick a talisman to go underground, but the depth of three thousand feet underground is too deep. If the talisman fails, then no one can help.

The soul is rapidly descending.

The soul itself is not material, so no matter whether it passes through the soil or enters the water, it will not consume extra energy. The Mountain Ghost Jade Pendant is a real object, but it is not large in size and can be easily passed through.

Soon, we reached three thousand feet underground and could sense the underground space.

Liang Yue transformed into Taoist soldiers, and three Taoist soldiers entered the underground space.

The space is not too big, much smaller than the cave above.

There is nothing in the cave, which is completely different from the imagined paradise or fantasy world.

It's just an ordinary cave.

The surroundings are covered with various runes and murals. The walls of the cave must have been reinforced with magic. Several years ago, they might have been able to resist the invasion of souls and divine thoughts.

The mural depicts a scene of an ancient wizard performing a sacrificial ritual. The wizard wears a golden mask and performs a strange dance, surrounded by hundreds of demons. The green smoke from the burning mugwort goes straight into the sky, communicating with the heavens. Under the altar, bloody humans are being sacrificed.

The wizard changes his form from time to time, into a crane, a giant bear, a tiger, a flying bird, etc.

Until one day, the wizard turned into a real dragon and never came back.

Liang Yue walked into the depths of space.

I saw a huge bronze coffin standing in the depths.

Two meters high, two meters wide and three meters long.

Cast in bronze, there are eight kinds of relief sculptures of mythical beasts, including a dragon, a crane, a flying swallow and a tiger. These reliefs are filled with blood-red cinnabar, but perhaps due to their age, large pieces of the cinnabar have fallen off.

This was the largest coffin Liang Yue had ever seen. There were three or five skeletons scattered around the coffin, as if they had committed suicide.

Further away there are piles of bones, which should be human sacrifices from ancient blood sacrifices.

clack clack...

Carefully push open the coffin, and inside is a golden coffin.

There was a thick layer of jade chips around the coffin, as if it was some spiritual object that had lost its spiritual energy.

There are also two or three stone carvings with ancient oracle bone inscriptions on them, and the words can be vaguely recognized.

One side is engraved with the method of refining the golden mask, and the other side is engraved with an inscription.

"Fang Xiang's tomb, Sun, Xian, and Ling buried him. Three thousand blood sacrifices were made. The spiritual energy revived and the ancestral spirit was resurrected."

"The sky collapsed and the earth split, and the earth turned into stars."

He jumped out of the coffin, threw in a soybean, and ordered the Taoist soldiers to push open the coffin.

Lying inside was a two-meter-tall, naked demon with a human body and animal feet.

Lifelike, as if sleeping.

"Demon? This must be the ancient Nuo god Fang Xiang. It seems that in ancient times there were also gods and demons planning to resurrect." Liang Yue thought to himself, just as he guessed, now is the best time to rob a tomb.

It is unknown how this person faked his death and fell into a dormant state, intending to be resurrected before the spiritual energy revived.

The cave outside is probably a decoy to avoid human disaster during the thousands of years of slumber.

"It's a pity that you met me. It's better for monsters and ghosts to rest in peace."

In order to prevent any further complications, Liang Yue took out the Sword of Heaven and cut the ancient wizard into pieces.

"Ok?"

After killing the wizard, the coffin actually became sensitive.

So he used his soul to refine it, and during this time he used the He Shi Bi to replenish his qi and blood. The coffin gradually shrank, and it turned out to be a magical storage weapon that he carried with him.

Back above, Liang Yue refined the golden four-eyed mask according to the method.

This mask is called the Eight Birds Mask. As the name suggests, the body transforms into eight birds and possesses the ability to transform into the corresponding abilities of beasts. As the cultivation level increases, corresponding magical powers can be born.

outside world.

The night is deep and the stars are arrayed.

Li Hongwen waited with a sword in hand, mosquitoes and flies dared not land on him, and he was not stained by dust.

At this moment, footsteps were heard behind me.

Li Hongwen pretended not to know, secretly grasping the sword in his hand, ready to wait for the man to make a move and then counterattack.

The Wandering Dragon Sword Technique has amazing power.

"Fellow Daoist, what brings you here so late at night? Where is the other fellow Daoist?"

The white-haired Taoist behind him asked.

The Taoist priest in white hair was also secretly on guard. These two people came to this remote wilderness, perhaps to look for Zhang Daoling's secret treasure.

Li Hongwen turned around and they both exclaimed at the same time.

"Brother Hongwen?"

"Bao Zhao? You're not dead?"

After so many years, we meet again.

The White-shou Immortal is none other than Bao Zhao, the leader of the Xiaoyao Sect who faked his death and escaped from the world.

The first generation was Xie Lingyun, the second generation was Liang Ren, and the third generation was Bao Zhao.

"Hey, Brother Hongwen, you have suffered a lot over the years."

"You're about the same, right? They're looking for you too?"

"Not even a moment's pause." Bao Zhao smiled bitterly.

The two exchanged pleasantries for a while, and Bao Zhao suddenly asked:
"Is that young man a descendant of my senior brother? Or a descendant of the Liang family?"

Li Hongwen smiled mysteriously and said, "You'll know in a moment."

As soon as he finished speaking, a swallow flew out from the cave wall.

Phew! ! !
The swallow let out a long cry, circled for several weeks, and then fell from the sky.

Three feet in front of the two men, he transformed into a human.

He was wearing a white robe and a black crown, his eyes were as bright as stars, he was wearing an ancient golden mask, and the sword of the Heavenly Sword was at his waist. His identity was obvious.

Bao Zhao's old body suddenly shook, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.

The man stood in the air, his robe fluttering, with the bright moon as his companion and the stars guarding him.

The man took off his mask, revealing a handsome face with a faint smile on his lips. He said:
"Pour the water onto the flat ground, flowing east, west, south, and north... Bao Zhao, long time no see."

Bao Zhao seems to be a few years younger than Li Hongwen.

"Grandmaster!" Bao Zhao's voice trembled. This was not some crazy young man at all; it was clearly the real person who had returned.

Under the moonlight, Liang Yue landed.

"Come with me to Lingnan and settle the previous accounts."

"Yes, Master!"

Liang Yue put on a golden mask and his sword began to hum.

The frosty blade is tempered with mysterious light, and the stars disappear into the vastness.

"From now on there will be no Liang Yue, only... Sword Immortal."

(End of this chapter)