Longevity begins with slaying demons and eliminating demons

Chapter 285 Treasures in the Imperial Treasury
"Huansha Lane" is the place where Mrs. Qu, Zhao Yan's mother, was killed many years ago.

Every time she came to Beijing, Zhao Yan would come here for a walk, stepping on the blood-stained bluestones under her feet, imagining the bloody storm in her mind.

"The majestic lady, a sixth-level powerhouse, died at the hands of a group of unknown assassins in Luojing City, which was protected by the 'Tianlong Formation' and the capital defense team."

If such a thing is spread to the people, it will definitely be regarded as a ridiculous joke, and it is impossible for anyone with a little common sense to believe it easily.

But it did happen.

Thinking of this, Zhao Yan stopped and stood quietly in the narrow alley for a while.

The breeze lifted her black hair, made her clothes rustle, and also blew the dust on the ground.

Not far away can be heard the chatter and laughter of passers-by, the cries of hawkers, the sound of children playing and playing, and the sound of sparse and messy horseshoes... The sound gathers together, creating a scene of hustle and bustle, full of fireworks.

But Zhao Yan turned a deaf ear to these voices.

She was completely immersed in her inner world, while silently evaluating the strength of those assassins back then, while thinking about how far she had to cultivate in order to have a chance of defeating them.

"Let's go!"

About a quarter of an hour later, she suppressed the complicated emotions in her eyes, and said to the maid beside her, Qiuyan.

Immediately, she got on her horse and walked out of this long and cramped alley along the way she came.

She looked very calm.

The sun shone on her body, dragging her shadow very long.

At first glance, she looked like an ordinary tourist who accidentally went astray.

…………

"Did you find any new clues about the case back then?"

That night, in a small attic in the Jiaofang Division of Luojing City, Zhao Yan asked in a casual tone.

At this moment, she was resting her chin on her hand, lying on her side on a carved fine wood imperial concubine couch, with her black hair hanging down like a waterfall.The bright red silk dress wrapped her body, outlining a graceful curve, like mountains and mountains, graceful and charming.

Behind a bead curtain, there is another woman kneeling on a bamboo mat, bowing her head and silently playing the piano.

This woman is Liuli, the oiran of Jiaofang Division.

She was dressed in a white dress, with beautiful eyebrows and eyes, delicate makeup, and a high bun. She was also a rather outstanding beauty.

Just staying with Zhao Yan, but lacking a bit of the unique flirtatious temperament, seems to be suppressed by Zhao Yan from the aura.If this kind of picture is seen by people who don't know, maybe they will think that Zhao Yan is the real oiran, and Miss Liuli is just a servant girl serving her.

"Not yet, miss." Miss Liuli replied succinctly.

Zhao Yan gave a faint "hmm", then closed her eyes and continued to listen to the piano.

Liuli's answer did not exceed her expectations.

If the murderer who killed her mother could really be found easily, then she wouldn't have to worry about it for years.

The Guqin piece played by Liuli is "Pheasant Chaofei" that Zhao Yan personally ordered.

Legend has it that this tune was composed by a hermit hundreds of years ago.The hermit, old and without a wife, saw pheasants and birds flying in the sky, so he was moved by the scene and lamented the fate of his life, so he wrote this song.

At the same time, the hermit also sang a song, which read: "The pheasants fly towards each other and sing in harmony with each other, the male and female fly in groups on the mountain, I am alone and I have no room, it will be twilight, but what can I do, sigh, twilight But nothing." (1)

This qin piece is melodious and continuous, like a mountain spring meandering from a deep valley, flowing slowly.

Zhao Yan listened silently, without any emotional change on her face.

She didn't open her eyes until the sound of the piano stopped abruptly, and said softly: "Liuli, I need you to help me investigate someone."

"Who is it, Miss?" Miss Liuli raised her head and asked respectfully.

In Zhao Yan's mind, the figure in the blue shirt and blurred face that she met in the lava field river appeared.

Although she couldn't see the man's appearance clearly at that time, she was particularly impressed by the airy, non-human aura of that man.

Of course, Zhao Yan is also very clear that for practitioners, such things as appearance and temperament are imaginary. After all, there are many kinds of tricks or magic weapons that can be used to disguise appearance in this world.

In contrast, the best way to identify a practitioner is to practice exercises, martial arts moves, magical powers...even natal objects and appearances.

"That person is practicing fire-attribute skills, at least middle-grade, maybe even top-grade," Zhao Yan said slowly, "Besides, he is also very good at concealing his appearance, hiding his breath and escaping spells. .”

"It seems that he is a cautious and secretive monk," Liuli responded, "Miss, do you know his cultivation level?"

"I guess his cultivation base should not be lower than the fourth level," Zhao Yan pondered for a moment, recalling the huge and swift vortex in the lava field river at that time, and replied, "It may even be stronger than me. In the When investigating him, you must be extremely careful, try not to be noticed by him, so as not to cause trouble."

Liuli nodded, keeping Zhao Yan's words firmly in her heart.

Ms. Zhao's attitude was very serious when she spoke, and it could be seen that she attached great importance to this unidentified monk who practiced the fire attribute technique.

"In addition, before the 'Luoshui Conference' officially starts, I hope you can give me a list of all participating monks," Zhao Yan continued, "It is best to have everyone's identity, origin, cultivation level, Cultivation skills, good moves, and so on."

"Yes, miss." Liuli nodded again.

Then she paused for a moment, and asked back: "I saw that the lady's eyes are firm, it seems that she is determined to win the leader of this 'Luoshui Conference'?"

"That's right," Zhao Yan said in a flat tone, as if it was a matter of course, "According to the news revealed by the court, the monk who won the championship in this 'Luoshui Conference' will have the opportunity to enter the inner circle of the Daqi royal family. Library, choose a precious magic weapon.

"This is a unique opportunity. I must seize this opportunity, enter the inner vault, and get the 'Flint'."

Liuli lowered her head and stopped talking.

"Flint" was once a precious magic weapon of the Great Yan Kingdom.

Although it is not a "famous utensil", in the eyes of the people of Great Swallow at that time, its meaning was beyond that of a "famous utensil".

In the legend of Yan State, it was once a sacred object left by the god of fire in the world.

After Vulcan stole the tinder, he realized the profound meaning of fire from it, and used it to create a "flint" that can produce flames by knocking.

In addition, "Flint" can also help the "flame spirit body" who "returns to the ancestors" like Zhao Yan to further activate the blood, and stimulate the full potential in her body.

It is said that in the dark period when the method of practice was not yet born, Vulcan used "flint" to make one of his disciples with the "flame spirit body" fully awaken the power of blood, thus giving birth to a monster that can instantly burn ghosts into ashes "Fire Phoenix Wings".

When Vulcan was struck to death by the gods above the nine heavens with thunder, the young disciple became the new leader of the human tribe, protecting the human race from the invasion of demons and ghosts in the long dark night.

The people of Dayan once honored her as "Holy Maiden" or "Huangnu" and enshrined her on the altar together with the God of Fire.

Zhao Yan had fantasized more than once, if "Flint" is still in the hands of Youzhou Zhao, then as a "flame spirit body", can she awaken a pair of flames condensed like the "Holy Maiden" back then? The formed phoenix wings have the powerful power to protect everyone around them.

However, after the last king of Yan surrendered to Emperor Taizu of Qi, he had to offer "flint" to Taizu of Qi to show his submission.

Later, Emperor Taizu threw the "Flint" of Dayan Kingdom into the royal treasury together with many other collections.

As far as Zhao Yan knows, the treasures in the imperial treasury of the Great Qi Dynasty, in addition to "flint", also include the jade seal of the Great Chu Dynasty, the skull of a certain khan of the barbarians in the Northwest, and so on.

"Miss, I believe you will be able to get the 'Flint' successfully!" After a short silence, Liuli said to Zhao Yan seriously.

"I accept your good words." Zhao Yan smiled lightly.

Having said that, she slowly stood up, casually tied up her long black hair that was scattered like a waterfall with a wooden hairpin, then turned and left the small attic.

Miss Liuli, the oiran of Jiaofang, sat quietly on the spot.A moment later, she raised her red lips slightly, and softly recited a mantra in her mouth, and soon a golden light lit up on the wooden floor, condensing into complex golden patterns.

In the next second, Liuli also disappeared in place out of thin air.

The whole room returned to its original state.

At the same time, downstairs in Jiaofangsi, there was a handsome young master dressed in brocade robes, and was dragging a maidservant while he was drunk, and kept shouting, "Why doesn't Miss Liuli want to see me? Isn't the money Xu gave enough?"

"Master Xu, Miss Liuli is receiving distinguished guests tonight, so I cannot meet you."

"Your guest? Where did you come from? How much money did he give me?" Mr. Xu hiccupped, and at the same time took out a few more banknotes from his pocket, smashed them heavily on the table next to him, and issued a There was a loud "pop", causing the liquid in the wine glass on the table to shake violently, "If it's not enough, I'll give some more. The most important thing I need is money."

The servant girl was startled by his posture.

"Sorry, Mr. Xu, that distinguished guest has a special status," the maid took a deep breath, trying to maintain a polite attitude, "She is Miss Zhao from Youzhou."

"What? Miss? Miss also come to this kind of place?"

"She is Zhao Yan from Youzhou."

Hearing this name, Mr. Xu seemed to sober up instantly.His eyes were wide open, like a mouse seeing a cat.

Before the maid could react, Mr. Xu turned around and left the Jiaofang Division.

"Mr. Xu, you forgot to take your silver ticket!" The servant girl hurried out of the door and shouted loudly at Mr. Xu's back.

Her voice pierced the silence of the night, and made many curious passers-by turn their heads.

But Mr. Xu didn't look back for a moment.

So the servant girl understood that Mr. Xu must be a victim of Miss Zhao's men a few years ago.

…………

That night, after dealing with the affairs of the elixir workshop, Gu Xu came to the headquarters of the Exorcist Division, and went straight to the library, wanting to find some information about "Astrolabe".

Although the time for dispersing the office has passed by now, there are still many monks sitting quietly at the desks in the Library Pavilion, reading books intently, studying various martial arts and spells.

Gu Xu has long been used to the introverted environment of the Luo Jing Exorcist.

Especially now that the "Luoshui Conference" is coming, many monks from the Exorcist Department have signed up to participate, and they are gearing up for it, eager to try, hoping to take advantage of this rare opportunity to become famous in one fell swoop.

When Gu Xu entered the Zangshu Pavilion, some monks raised their heads and glanced at him with surprised expressions on their faces.

They couldn't help but think in their hearts: such an excellent genius as Mr. Gu actually wants to do a pre-match assault with mediocre people like us!This really does not give us a way out!
Of course, Gu Xu didn't care what they thought.

He quickly held more than a dozen thick books, randomly found an empty seat and sat down, picked up the top book, and spent a few minutes turning it over from beginning to end .

Immediately afterwards, he picked up the second book and turned from the first page to the last at an equally unimaginable speed.

Then the third, the fourth, the fifth.

His movements of turning the pages of the book seemed to flow like clouds and flowing water, which was exceptionally smooth.

With the power of "wisdom", he only needs to glance at the content of each page of the book, and he can firmly remember it in his heart, and he will never forget it.

The monks next to him couldn't help being dumbfounded when they saw this scene.

"Master Gu... is he really reading a book?"

"He reads so fast, can he really understand the content of the book?"

"Oh, the gap between a genius and me is even greater than the gap between a human and a dog!"

"..."

In less than half an hour, Gu Xu looked through all these books, but he didn't find any word related to "astrolabe" in any book.

It's as if the "astrolabe" is a concept invented by the white-haired boy out of thin air, and it doesn't exist in this world at all.

He sighed softly, put these books back to their original place, and then prepared to find a few more books and continue searching for information on the "Astrolabe".

However, at this moment, a familiar figure suddenly appeared in front of him.

It was a simple and elegant woman with an oval face, willow eyes, and wearing a green skirt, smiling slightly at him.

"Gu Daoyou," Shangguan Jin handed a piece of letterhead into his hand, "Master Chief thinks that you should be very interested in what is written on this letterhead, so he specially asked me to send it to you."

"Thank you!" Gu Xu took the letter and thanked him politely.

Then he lowered his head, unfolded the letter, and saw that it read:

"A noteworthy collection in the imperial treasury of the Great Qi Dynasty."

PS: Ask for a wave of double monthly tickets! !

…………

Notes:

(1) Warring States · Qi · Mingxuan "Pheasant towards Flying Song".

(End of this chapter)