Longevity begins with slaying demons and eliminating demons

Chapter 249 Is he going to hand in a blank paper?
Thunder roared, and it rained heavily.

On this day, Hong Wei, the photo mill officer in charge of sending and receiving administrative documents in the headquarters of the Exorcist Division, was much busier than usual.

Every few minutes, someone would come to him and ask him, "Has the latest mansion news arrived? Is there any news from Longmen Academy?"

To this, Hong Wei always responded with a straight face: "No, I haven't come yet!"

However, don't look at Hong Wei's calm face on the surface, but in fact he is more panicked than anyone else in his heart.

Because one night a few days ago, he got drunk, and at the instigation of a group of cronies, he bet his two months' salary in a gambling house.

The merchants in Luojing City never miss any opportunity to make money.

They had set out the odds on today's much-anticipated battle of Talismans early on, attracting the crowd to place money and place bets.

From the ever-changing odds, it can be seen that at the earliest time, Luojing residents were most optimistic about the long-established Talisman Master Zhao Xinran, and the least optimistic person was Gu Xu.

the reason is simple.

Although Gu Xu is in the limelight, he is still just a young man who has not yet been crowned.

In the eyes of laymen, he is like an outstanding "child from other people's family"-maybe he has made some achievements in the Tao, but there is still a big gap between him and the real "authority".

For a young man like him, going to Longmen Academy to be a student is not bad, but teaching is a bit outrageous.

However, later, with some things like "the national teacher strongly recommended Gu Xu", "the head of the Exorcist Division Luo Chuan personally went to the academy to see Gu Xu draw talismans", "Gu Xu already knew how to improve talisman seals a few months ago". The news gradually spread, and a group of officials from the exorcist department who admired Gu Xu came to support him, and the wind direction of the gambling house changed quietly, and Gu Xu's odds began to gradually decrease.

Until this morning, Gu Xu's odds were only higher than Zhao Xinran's, and much lower than Mo Li's and Shen Qiu's.

In this cloudy and rainy day, Hong Wei has been closely watching this competition, and his mood may be much more nervous than Gu Xu himself.

After all, once Gu Xu wins, Hong Wei can also take this opportunity to get rich overnight—well, "get rich overnight" sounds a little exaggerated, but at least the money he won will allow him to go to restaurants a few more times, Buy the rouge and powder that she dreams of for his wife, and buy a few more catties of meat for his son.

But if Gu Xu loses...then he will have to save money and drink the northwest wind for the next two months.

"Master Gu, my future fate will be decided by you," Hong Wei repeated in his heart while arranging the documents on the desk, "You must let the group of Longmen Academy see it well. You are really capable, but don't be merciful!"

…………

The different atmosphere in the yamen naturally infected Shi Xiaohan.

This morning, after watching Gu Xu's carriage drive into the distance, she originally planned to go back to her room to practice quietly, trying to climb a few more steps on the "Homesick Ridge".

So far, Shi Xiaohan has already stood on the 280th sixth step—although her speed of climbing the stairs is not small compared with that of Gu Xu, but among the monks of the same level in the Daqi Dynasty, she is considered outstanding , can almost reach the level of the top 20.00%.

Although she didn't deliberately experience the smell of the mundane world and her own emotional fluctuations like Gu Xu did, her climbing process was smoother than expected, and she didn't encounter too much hindrance.

She once asked Shangguan Jin about this in a perplexed mood.

Regarding this, Shangguan Jin smiled meaningfully, and explained: "Because you are already in the mortal world, your heart has long been restless."

This sounds a bit mysterious.

Shi Xiaohan still hasn't fully understood its meaning.

But today, amidst the rumbling thunder and the crashing rain, her heart really couldn't calm down.

She sat cross-legged on the mat and swallowed a "Duredan", but she was still unable to enter the dark world of darkness.

As long as she closes her eyes, the scene of Gu Xu calmly boarding the carriage will appear in her mind.

"The competition at Longmen Academy... is it coming to an end now?"

"How is Gu Xu doing?"

"I heard that his opponents are very good."

"Although I believe in his talisman level...but now all the monks in the capital are paying attention to him, even the national teacher, the chief minister and that annoying princess all went to Longmen Academy to watch him. Will it be a little bigger?"

"..."

Shi Xiaohan's mind was filled with messy thoughts.

It was like countless little bugs flying around in her mind, making it impossible for her to let go of her mind and enter the state of cultivation.

So she shook her head and chose to give up.

Then she walked out of the room and found that the officials in the entire yamen were the same as her—whether it was the "Meditation Pill", "Changming Pill", "Du Er Dan", or the special magic circle in the retreat room, they couldn't Let them calm down to practice.

They all gathered in the corridor, discussing this battle of talismans far away in Longmen Academy.

"If Mr. Gu can win, I will go to Qianqian's house tomorrow to propose marriage!"

"Today, I can't calm down to practice at all. In order to prevent myself from going crazy, I will reward myself to relax a little... If Mr. Gu can defeat those powerful opponents, then I will go to retreat tonight, and I will never leave until I break through the second realm." close!"

"You may not know that I bet a full 15 taels of silver on Mr. Gu... If he loses, my wife will definitely kill me tonight! Wait until tomorrow, and I'm afraid you will never see me alive again gone."

"..."

…………

At the same time, Longmen Academy.

After Zhao Xinran left, the remaining three candidates were still sitting in the "Si Qi Hall", silently thinking about the design of the talisman.

The sound of wind, rain, thunder and lightning, and people's discussions outside the house seemed to have nothing to do with them.

Another quarter of an hour passed, and Shen Qiu also started to write.

In the period of time just now, more than ten ideas popped up in his mind, but he didn't feel very satisfied.

However, with the passage of time and the strong stimulation of Zhao Xinran's "handing in the paper in advance", Shen Qiu took a deep breath, gave up the plan to continue pursuing perfection, and chose a There are bright spots, but there are also some flaws in the program.

"Shen Qiu, Shen Qiu, if you don't start writing, I'm afraid it will be too late." He laughed at himself, and said to himself silently in his heart, "Anyway, you will definitely not be able to win against a genius who transcends common sense like Gu Xu, and there is a high probability that you will not be able to compare with Zhao Huan. For an experienced Talisman master like Xinran...even if he tries his best, what's the use of it?"

As the bastard son of a powerful family, Shen Qiu often feels like a superfluous person, and feels that his life is meaningless.

The clansmen placed high hopes on his direct brother, Shen Hua, and disciplined him severely, but they didn't have any requirements or expectations for him, and allowed him to grow up freely and fend for himself... Only when he was in trouble, would he be called in as a firefighter Tool man.

Whether it is cultivation, drawing talismans, studying, or doing business... In the earliest days, it was all for him, not a career.Because he found that no matter how well he did, it was difficult to get the recognition and attention of his tribe.Over time, I lost interest.

This time he came to Luojing City from Jinling all the way. After he was completely disappointed with his family, he tried to find a new way out for himself, looking for a stage where he could display his talents.

However, when he arrived for the first time, he found that there was a high mountain in front of him, blocking the road ahead.

The name of this mountain is "Gu Xu".

Shen Qiu originally thought that he was quite talented in the art of talismans - he had just been involved in talismans for three years, and he was able to break away from books and create brand new talismans.

But Gu Xunian was only eighteen, and he was already able to sit and discuss with the national teacher; but he could only get an understatement of praise from the national teacher.

Such a situation once made Shen Qiu feel extremely frustrated.

But after resting for half an hour, his mood has calmed down a lot.

"Amulet" is not his dream, nor is it his most proud skill.

If one path fails, change to another.

He glanced at the rain outside the window, then looked at Gu Xu, who was not far away, lean and handsome, with a straight waist, and then thought: Actually... it is not a blessing to meet such a person in my lifetime matter?If you look at it from another angle, maybe this majestic mountain is also a potential avenue?

Immediately, he sighed softly, and the tip of the pen fell on the white paper, full of ink and ink, like dragons and snakes leaping, crowds playing in the sea, dancing cranes swimming in the sky.

After the mind is unblocked, his brushwork also becomes swift and unrestrained. Its shape, color, thickness, dryness and wetness, intermittent and repeated, thick and thin, hidden and dewed are all variable, and the atmosphere is myriad.

…………

After some time passed, Mo Li also started to write.

Compared with Shen Qiu, his speed of drawing talismans was much slower, and his brushwork was much stiffer.

There are thousands of talismans in the books in his mind-these talismans seem to be engraved in his soul, as long as he lifts the pen, they will appear in his vision, and he can't get rid of them at all. .

There are many symbols in the book, which can help the weak deal with ghosts.

But now, the national teacher asked him to get rid of the books and design it himself.

His mood at the moment is like a copywriter who is suddenly asked to write an original work, or a painter who is accustomed to copying is asked to put aside references and draw entirely by imagination.

This made him at a loss for a while.

"How about I just make a little modification on the basis of the predecessors?" Mo Li thought silently, "This should be regarded as a reference, not a copy...as long as I can incorporate some of my own ideas..."

Just now, in the second session, he had already handed in a blank paper.

If he turned in a blank paper again, I'm afraid his cousin, Dean Li, would be so angry that he wanted to drive him out of the house.

The talisman that Mo Li borrowed is called "Surviving New House Sneaky Talisman", and the description in the book is "If ghosts appear in any newly built house, it is advisable to use this talisman to suppress them."

Of course, under normal circumstances, it can only suppress "wandering spirit" level ghosts.

After being modified by Mo Li, this talisman became the "Evil Ghost Entering the House and Disturbing Talisman" - compared to before, it can not only deal with "wandering souls", but also deal with weaker "wild ghosts"; No longer just "suppressing" ghosts, but directly destroying ghosts that invaded houses.

As long as it is pasted in the house, it can largely prevent the houses from being attacked by ghosts—after all, even after the long night, the most common ghosts in the wilderness are still "wandering spirits" and "wild ghosts"; The level of "evil spirits" and "fierce gods" cannot be dealt with by a mere talisman.

However, after Mo Li made modifications to the "Sneaky Talisman of the New Town House", the complexity of the talisman seal has greatly increased, and the amount of real energy required in the process of drawing the talisman has also increased significantly.

If we say that the original talisman can be easily drawn by only a first-level beginner.

Then after improvement, it needs a talisman repairer with at least the second level and a certain amount of experience to draw it.

Mo Li narrowed his eyes slightly.

Holding the thinnest brush, he carefully dipped in the ink, and every stroke he drew was extremely cautious.

It's like walking on thin ice. If you are not careful, you will step through the ice layer and fall into a bottomless lake.

But even so, he still shook his hand and drew a wrong line.

So he tore off the paper in his hand and started drawing symbols again.

The second time, his nib was dipped in a little more ink, and he accidentally dropped two drops on the paper.

So he tore it up again and repainted it.

For the third time, an arc he drew deviated half an inch from what he expected, causing the rune to fail to take effect.

So he tore it up again and repainted it.

……

After going back and forth, drawing a total of fifteen times, Mo Li finally successfully designed his "Amulet of Repelling Evil Ghosts and Disturbing Houses".

A brilliant golden light burst from the paper in front of him.

At this moment, it is less than 5 minutes before the time stipulated by the National Teacher.

Mo Li's right hand holding the pen was already stiff and numb, and his palm was covered with sweat.

He put down his pen and shook his hand violently, trying to relieve the soreness in his wrist.

At the same time, he raised his head and looked left and right, wanting to observe the performance of his competitors.

Shen Qiu's seat was empty—that ugly dwarf had already drawn a talisman and left "Si Qi Tang" before him!
Gu Xu was still sitting at the desk, meditating.

Mo Li stood up quietly, walked to Gu Xu's side and took a look, and found that the paper in front of him was still blank, and the tip of the brush was dry.

This obviously proves that Gu Xu hasn't started writing yet.

"The time is coming soon, isn't he in a hurry?" Mo Li felt a little strange, "Could it be that he hasn't figured out a solution to the problem yet?"

Mo Li remained calm on the surface, but deep down in his heart, he felt a little secretly happy.

Gu Xu's performance in the first two sessions was too outstanding and unbelievable, like a god shrouded in halo, which brought great psychological pressure to Mo Li.

But now, the halo on Gu Xu's body seems to be extinguished - he will be like an ordinary person, facing the talisman, helpless.

What people love to see the most is the fall of genius from the altar.

"You hand in a blank paper, I hand in a blank paper, we two are standing on the same starting line again." Mo Li looked at the handsome young man who was immobile in front of him, thinking to himself, his mentality instantly balanced.

However, at this moment, Gu Xu suddenly picked up the brush.

(End of this chapter)