Painter

Chapter 14: Peach Branch

Ripples appeared on the jet-black water surface, first there were two hazy white lights, and then two figures floated out with the sound of water.

Guo Xun leaped vigorously, landed on the shore like an osprey, and steam was forced out of his drenched clothes. Li Lier looked at the water and asked, "What's down there?"

Guo Xun's face was serious, "Mr. Pushui is dead, as if he was killed by a sword."

"Cut to death with a sword?"

"That's right, that sword mark is more than two feet long and three feet wide. Looking at the two ends of the scar, it's the wound made by the tip of the sword, not the cut by the blade."

"It's the practitioner who made the move." Li Chan's abrupt words made the three of them fall silent.

Li Li'er glanced at Li Chan, and asked Guo Xun, "Pushui Mansion Lord was originally a mirage, and I was trapped by mirage when I came here, but you said that Pushui Mansion Lord is dead, what's going on?"

Guo Xun replied: "When I went into the water, I saw that the body of Lord Pushui was split open by a sword. There was only a skeleton inside the mirage, and the flower stems on the water grew out of the skeleton. The skeleton was small and exquisite, with a rounded skull. , narrow shoulder bones, about a girl in her teens..."

Guo Xun's words reminded Li Li'er of the clay sculptures he saw in the Goddess Temple during the day.

"goddess?"

"It's probably her. Judging by the underwater situation, Lord Pushui has been dead for a while. Lord Pushui's body disappeared, and a demon fetus was born in the bone of the goddess. According to Mr. Xiaolang, the demon can also control the mirage. The context of this incident can probably be guessed to a certain extent.”

Li Li'er thought for a while, and probably deduced the situation, but still said to Guo Xun, "Tell me first."

Guo Xun didn't answer, and first ordered all the demon hunters: "You guys, go back to the center and prepare the dragon elephant technique, bring ropes and carts, fish up the things from the bottom of the river, and transport them back to Shenzhasi before dawn! Don't let them go. People have seen it! You guys, invite all the spiritual blessings and general affairs in the Temple of the Mansion and the Temple of the Goddess to Shenzhasi!"

There were more than two hours before dawn, and all the demon officials disappeared into the night.

Then Guo Xun explained to Li Li'er, "The monster was born from the goddess's bone, and it should be transformed by a little of the goddess's true spirit. But the body of Lord Pushui disappeared. The inner wall of the mirage shell is full of roots, presumably, the goddess ate Pushui Mansion Lord, and in this way, she also obtained Pushui Mansion Lord's supernatural powers, able to swallow mirage."

What Guo Xun said was basically consistent with Li Li'er's thoughts, but there are still many doubts about this matter. Lord Pushui was beheaded to death with a sword, who made the sword?Why did the person who drew the sword kill the Lord of Pushui, but leave the Goddess alone?Then why did the goddess want to devour the body of Lord Pushui and turn into a demon?
"What about the other clues?"

Guo Xun lowered his head: "There are no other clues for the time being. We have to examine the two demon bodies at the bottom of the river tomorrow, or what we can find out from the mouths of the spirit blessings in this temple."

Li Lier looked at Guo Xun.

"If the goddess became a demon voluntarily, there must be resentment in her heart! It is said that this goddess is a mortal girl who became a god, and a mortal girl became a god, why do you have resentment? You are the captain of Shenzha Si, and you can't find out about this matter?"

"This..." Guo Xun showed a troubled look.

Li Chan suddenly said, "This bridge was donated by the Cui family."

Li Lier's eyebrows twitched, and Li Chan said again: "When the bridge was being built, the mirage made trouble. The Cui family invited a seal to make the mirage Lord of Pushui. They also sent a girl to serve as Lord of Pushui. Sending her life is the Goddess of today. How can a mortal become a god? Abandon the body and save a little of the true spirit to be enshrined in incense. As for where the body of the Goddess has gone, Guo Duwei has just seen it."

Guo Xun remained silent, Li Li'er was stunned when he heard the words, and his eyes were angry, "There are monsters making trouble, why don't you kill the monsters and eliminate the demons, but make you a god?"

Guo Xun bowed his head and said, "Exterminating monsters is like suppressing bandits. If you want to go to war, it's better to promise it with profit and take it for your own use. After the Goddess Bridge was completed, the Lord of Pushui Mansion has protected you for 20 years..."

"Ridiculous!" Li Li'er reprimanded, but fell silent.

More than 20 years ago, although Dayong was chasing demons to the west, his vitality was seriously injured and he had to recuperate.It seems absurd to confer this mirage spirit into a god, but it can guarantee that there will be no other monsters in this water area, so how can we praise or criticize it?

Li Lier took a deep breath, forced himself not to think too much, and said coldly: "It doesn't matter if you add a wild god, why should you confer this goddess?"

Guo Xun sighed, "Mr. Xiao Lang was born in Yujing, and I have never seen anything like this. Wild gods and monsters are difficult to tame. Even if they are ordered to do so, they may not necessarily change their ways, but with someone close by their side, they can understand human nature, and it is also convenient. communicate."

"That's why you gave this girl to Pushui Mansion Lord? This is feeding demons with humans, feeding demons with humans!" Li Li'er couldn't suppress her anger after all, and scolded: "If she wanted to become a god in the first place, why would she be willing to become an incarnation?" Demons! Absurd, ridiculous! In the whole world, only our Dayong Kingdom vowed not to coexist with demons. How many soldiers risked their lives to expel the demons from the country? Isn't the Goddess who feeds the demon my subjects of Dayong!"

It seemed that he had used too much force when he was yelling, the handle of the beech lantern was snapped into fluff, and the flame inside the lantern skin was also extinguished by invisible energy.

Li Li'er threw away the lantern, snorted heavily, strode to the bank of Pushui, looked at the water with his hands behind his back, his chest was still heaving a little, but he didn't say a word.

There are nine surnames and thirteen Wangs in Dayong Kingdom, and the Cui family in Xiangbei is at the forefront of them. The head of the family, Cui Shilian, is the right minister of Xitai.

Guo Xun was secretly startled, the majesty of this young man when he was angry made him dare not speak out.

The frosty moon hung high, and the young man gradually suppressed his anger into his heart. He looked at the pitch-black water surface, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw peach branches reflecting the moon beside him.

By chance, he reached out and broke off a branch of peach blossom, threw it into the water, looked at the peach branch flowing westward, and meditated.

"You're learning and using it."

Li Chan took the lantern and walked to the shore.

Li Li'er was still looking at the water, and said in a deep voice: "The goddess turned into a flower demon, and after eating mirage essence, she can breathe out mirage air. It didn't seem like you took much effort to get rid of her."

After a while, Li Chan didn't hear any answer, but Li Li'er didn't have the intention to press the question, and just murmured: "If someone killed this mirage spirit in the first place, why would there be anything later?"

Li Chan looked at Li Li'er.Once upon a time, he also had similar emotions.

But he just looked at the peach branch going west along the water, and said softly: "The monster that can be killed, the heart that can't be killed."

(End of this chapter)