Longevity begins with slaying demons and eliminating demons

Chapter 239 Going to the Academy
On the twenty-fourth day of the first lunar month, the weather changed from sunny to cloudy.When it was evening, there was another drizzle in the city of Luojing.

Gao Longqing, the Shaoqing of Honglu Temple, had been having nightmares for many days in a row.

Every night, when he closes his eyes and falls asleep, he sees a deserted cemetery.

The sky was dark, the clouds hung low, and the sedges with luxuriant stems and leaves swayed in the strong wind.The tombstone was dilapidated, covered with moss, and had clear cracks.

In the sky above the cemetery, there are a few clusters of green will-o'-the-wisps floating - if you observe carefully, you will find that there are vague figures hidden in these will-o'-the-wisps with hideous expressions.

Gao Longqing hurriedly walked in this cemetery every night, eager to escape from this eerie area.However, no matter how fast he runs, he ends up just going around in circles.

Sometimes, the figures in the green will-o'-the-wisps would surround Gao Longqing, reaching out to him and begging for him.Only when Gao Longqing took out his belongings and handed them over to them would they leave.

Otherwise, they would have been following behind Gao Longqing, muttering words that he couldn't understand in eerie voices, and even stretched out their hands to strangle him around his neck.

Because of this, Gao Longqing often woke up from his dream in the middle of the night.He would jump out of bed screaming, covered in cold sweat, with his heart pounding, and would never be able to sleep again.

As time goes by, his spirit is getting more and more haggard, his complexion is getting worse and worse, his head is dizzy every day, and he becomes more forgetful than the old people. When his superiors ask him to draft official documents, he forgets them when he goes out; his subordinates report to him Work, he abruptly asked the other party to repeat it three times.

Fortunately, Honglu Temple is not a busy department.

It is in charge of affairs such as court meetings, national ceremonies, and sutra banquets.Since Emperor Tianxing hadn't been in court for many years, and didn't go out to meet his officials, the post in Honglu Temple was almost recognized as a leisurely job, and Gao Longqing barely had time to make up for his mistakes in work.

However, the much-anticipated "Luoshui Conference" is coming soon.

The workload of Honglu Temple is about to double.

Gao Longqing was very worried that because of this nightmare, he would not be able to keep up with the pace of work, and would eventually be demoted.

He had also sought many famous doctors in Luojing City to help him see a doctor.

But doctors said there was nothing wrong with his body other than lack of rest.

He also wondered if it might be caused by ghosts.

But his wife, his children, and his colleagues all said in unison: "How could there be ghosts within the scope of the 'Dragon Formation' in Luojing City?"

The "Dragon Formation" is a magic formation arranged by the Emperor Taizu himself, and it is integrated with Luojing City.It uses the "Tai'a Sword" as the eye of the formation, and is on guard against offense and defense, which can isolate ghosts and ghosts from outside the city.

In the minds of most people in Daqi, the emperor who controls the "Tai'a Sword" is almost a god-like existence.For the emperor, they all have an almost blind worship.

Naturally, they all firmly believed in the efficacy of the "Tianlong Formation".

After thinking about it, Gao Longqing felt that what they said made sense.

He felt: If there were really ghosts in the capital, the monks of the Exorcism Department's Heavenly Mystery Technique should have been able to figure them out long ago, and it was even more impossible to escape the eyes of Chief Luo—the Exorcist Department would definitely have sent someone to solve them long ago.The reason why I have nightmares must be my own fault.

Until the night of the twenty-fourth day of the first lunar month, an unexpected visitor came to Gao Longqing's mansion.

It was a woman in black and a hat.

She is of medium height, and her appearance is not beautiful. She is the kind of popular face that can't be found in the crowd.

But her eyes were extremely sharp, like a sword drawn from its sheath.

"Master Gao, you are haunted by the tomb ghost." Standing at the bottom of the steps outside the door, she looked up at Gao Longqing and said in a voice without any emotional fluctuations.

"Tomb ghost?" Gao Longqing frowned slightly.

Although it is not correct to question the effectiveness of the "Tianlong Formation" in Luojing City; he also doesn't understand the "tomb ghost" in the woman's words.

But deep in Gao Longqing's heart, he faintly felt that what this woman said was correct.

"The tomb ghost is a kind of ghost that often haunts the cemetery." At this time, the woman in black continued to say in a flat tone, "It has the ability to dream. When it lacks property, it will harass people through dreams. Hope to send sacrifices to them.

"'Tianlong Formation', there is still a loophole..."

Then she paused for a moment, and stretched out her hand to Gao Longqing: "Master Gao, do you have a pen here?"

"Pen?"

Gao Longqing didn't know what she wanted to do.

But driven by a certain intuition, he went back to the house and fetched a writing brush for the woman in black.

"Do you need ink?"

"No need." The woman in black shook her head.

Holding a brush in her hand, she climbed the steps and came to the door god's portrait pasted on the gate of the Gao Mansion.

The door god on the portrait is a burly figure, wearing a helmet and wearing a fancy war robe.

However, since these two portraits were bought casually in the market, their paintings are not very exquisite, the lines are relatively rigid, and they lack the charm they should have.

The woman in black pondered for a moment, then picked up the brush and tapped lightly on the door god's eyes.

The eyes of the door gods suddenly took on a look—sharp, majestic, like a lion whose territory has been invaded.

Immediately afterwards, two door gods walked out of the portrait holding their own weapons.

Gao Longqing stood there in shock.

Although he, as an official of Luojing City, had witnessed the process of monks fighting magic or exorcising ghosts before, but those monks were either chopping with swords or muttering curses with paper talismans. Through this mysterious technique displayed in the form of painting.

In the blink of an eye, the two door gods turned into phantoms and floated into Gao Longqing's mind.

His consciousness returned to the horrible cemetery again.

But this time, facing those green will-o'-the-wisps, Gao Longqing no longer felt afraid.

Because beside him, there are two protectors on the left and one on the right.

One was holding a spear, the other was holding a big knife, and ran towards the "grave ghost" in the cemetery, hacking and slashing openly.

There were piercing weeping in the cemetery, and then fell silent.

All the green lights were extinguished.

Gao Longqing's consciousness returned to the real world.

He turned his head to look at the gate of his house, and found that the two door gods were still fixed on the portrait, motionless, with stiff brushwork and dull eyes.

Everything that happened just now seemed to be his hallucination.

"From today onwards, the 'Tomb Ghost' will never come to haunt you at night again." The woman in black said lightly.

"Who are you?" Gao Longqing hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help asking.

"Tongjifang Zhao Xinran." The woman in black answered briefly.

Then she turned and left, and soon disappeared into the night, never to be found again.

"Zhao Xinran? Is that the famous Talisman master?" Gao Longqing scratched his head, "I seem to have seen this name in the mansion newspaper recently, it seems that she will go to the Longmen Academy to teach in a few days..."

However, before Gao Longqing recalled who this "Tongji Fang Zhao Xinran" was, he felt that his memory was gradually disappearing.

Soon, he forgot about the "Ghost of the Tomb", the woman in black, the nightmare that plagued him, and even the fact that there might be loopholes in the "Dragon Formation".

"For you, it's better not to know some things." In the vast night, the woman in black sighed softly, then turned the corner and walked straight towards the southwest suburb of Luojing City.

…………

The twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month.

This is the day when Gu Xu went to Longmen Academy to participate in the teaching selection.

When it was just dawn, he finished his all-night practice, then straightened his clothes, and went to the yamen kitchen for breakfast.

Recently, through word of mouth among the officials, almost everyone knew that Gu Xu was going to have a face-to-face contest with several well-known talisman masters in the capital.

They are looking forward to it.

When Gu Xu was sitting at the table eating steamed buns and drinking soy milk, many officials came to him to cheer and bless him.

Perhaps it was because the various auras on Gu Xu's body were too dazzling.

The monks in the Exorcism Division had great confidence in him, and they were already fantasizing about Gu Xu beating all kinds of opponents, trampling all the talisman masters in the capital under their feet.

It seems that in their eyes, Gu Xu's attainments in Talisman and Dao are no less than that of Da Qi Guoshi.

"Gu Xu, how are you preparing?" Shi Xiaohan sat in front of Gu Xu with a large steamer containing ten meat buns in his left hand and a large bowl of beef noodles in his right hand.

"It's okay." Gu Xu smiled.

"I heard that the teaching salary at Longmen Academy is very good," Shi Xiaohan said while stuffing a steamed bun into his mouth, "If you can win, remember to invite me to eat a few roasted mutton meals by the Luo River."

"no problem."

As a sixth-rank official, the Department of Exorcism has a special carriage to take Gu Xu to Longmen Academy.

Shi Xiaohan has not officially entered the school yet, nor has he been invited by the academy, so he can only temporarily stay in the Yamen of the Exorcism Department, waiting quietly for news of him.

…………

When we left the yamen, there was still light rain in the sky, making the bluestone pavement wet.

Luo Jingcheng hadn't woken up from his sleep at this time.

In this tranquil atmosphere, the sound of wheels, horseshoes, and even the sound of rain falling along the eaves can be heard very clearly.

The carriage moved smoothly along the Luo River without hindrance.

Soon, it passed through the capital, drove out of the city gate, and came to the official road outside the city.

Gu Xu leaned out of the window.

In his field of vision, he could already see buildings with white walls and gray tiles in the distance, surrounded by mountains and rivers.

He knew that it was Longmen Academy.

In this continuous rain, it is like an ink painting with thick ink and light color.

…………

Inside the academy.

Dean Li's cousin, Mo Li, rubbed his eyes and stood up from the desk.

He read his talisman notes all night again.

At this time, although he was physically tired, he was very excited mentally, and he felt full of confidence, as if any problems in the way of talisman could not trouble him.

PS: There is one more chapter later.

(End of this chapter)