Chapter 7

Hongjun stood there for a while. The three thousand drumbeats stopped and the whole city fell into darkness. He had no choice but to brace himself and knock on the door to ask for directions. After knocking on a few houses, he finally met a mute old man who held a lamp and waved it at Hongjun's face. Hongjun had no choice but to turn around and leave. The alleyway seemed to be an abandoned house. Nobody knew how long it had been since anyone had cleaned it up. The inside of the house was overgrown with weeds. Hongjun lay down on the ground. Ignoring the dirt, he was so sleepy that he fell asleep as soon as he hit the ground.

That night, dark clouds covered the moonlight. In the depths of Xingqing Palace, a chilly wind was blowing, causing the gauze curtains to flutter. The candlelight flickered in the wind.

A noblewoman wearing a black robe embroidered with Taotie patterns was sitting upright in the main seat of the hall. Three men were wearing cloaks that covered their faces. One of them was holding a tray, and on the tray was a blood-stained flying knife.

"What is this?" The lady asked.

"The Flying Mastiff was injured when it was hunting outside the city," the man said in a low voice. "I let it go to the Daming Palace so that it can recuperate first."

The noblewoman picked up the flying knife with her slender fingers and frowned. She looked at it for a moment, and her beautiful and dignified face was reflected on the Immortal Slaying Flying Knife.

"I've never seen it before." She threw the knife back onto the tray, and a clear "clang" sound was heard.

"Someone's coming," another man said.

"It's been so many years." The noblewoman said coldly, "You only came at this time. Tomorrow, I will present this knife to His Majesty and see what he has to say. Where is the person who used the flying dagger? "

"Li Jinglong caught up with him and the two of them fought." The third man reported, "We lost him, I'm afraid …"

"Hahahaha …" The noblewoman laughed wantonly and said, "It's a bit interesting. That crazy Li Jinglong, is he still dreaming about killing demons?"

"After last night's incident, the Flying Mastiff accidentally appeared on the city wall. There are rumors outside." The man said, "There are demons in Chang 'an."

"Oh?" The noblewoman smiled faintly and said, "There are demons in Chang 'an? This is the first time I've heard of it. The Holy Son of Heaven is on the throne, the world is at peace, where did demons come from? Tomorrow, I have to talk to him. Go down, let the Flying Mastiff don't show itself. Find the owner of the knife's owner. to find the owner.... to the Flying Mastiff..

Early in the autumn morning, the air was stuffy. After a few bird cries, the sound of flapping wings could be heard from the parasol tree outside the abandoned house. All the birds had flown away.

Suddenly, a loud noise came from the front yard, waking Hongjun from his sleep.

The Carp Demon suddenly woke up and was scared to death. After it got out of its bag, it flopped around on the ground and said, "What's wrong! What's wrong! "

Then it did a "carp jump" and stood up nimbly. It looked left and right and said, "Where is this?"

"Is there anyone here?" The man said and pushed open the door to the front hall and walked in.

Hongjun immediately raised his hand and covered his face. Under the hazy sunlight, he saw a nine foot tall skinny young man. He was wearing strange clothes and was looking at him with surprise.

The two people stared at each other for a moment. Hongjun saw the man's face clearly. His facial features were deep, his cheekbones were high, his eyebrows were thick and black like eagle feathers, and his lips were well-defined. His skin was a healthy bronze color from years of sun exposure. His thick black hair was combed into several small braids. There was a bow and a quiver of arrows on his back. He wore a sheepskin jacket, revealing his strong bronze right shoulder. He wore a pair of black hunting boots and a bag around his waist. He looked like a hunter.

The man's shoulders were wide and his waist was narrow. Even though he was wearing a sheepskin jacket, he still looked extraordinary.

"You scared the demon to death." The Carp Demon said.

The young man was shocked when he saw the Carp Demon. He pulled an arrow from the quiver behind him and immediately drew his bow.

Hongjun immediately stood in front of the Carp Demon and said, "This demon doesn't hurt people. I'm an exorcist!" He was afraid that the Carp Demon would expose him again. He shouted, "Zhao Zilong, stop talking nonsense!"

The young man put away his bow and looked at Hongjun with suspicion. He asked, "You're an exorcist? Why do you have a demon with you? Who … should I report this to? "

Hongjun was confused. "Report?"

The young man raised his hand and pointed at the top of Hongjun's head, indicating that he should look.

Hongjun looked up and saw a plaque hanging in the front hall of the abandoned house. The words "Exorcism Department of the Tang Dynasty" were written on it.

In the garden of Xingqing Palace, the sky outside the wall was cloudy and stuffy. Li Longji hugged Yang Yuhuan but felt it was too hot. He separated from her but wanted to stick to her again. After a while, the two of them were sweating all over. They drank iced sour plum soup and had to hold each other's fingers. Madam Guo peeled lychees and put them in a colorful glass bowl with ice cubes. Yang Guozhong grabbed the peeled lychees and ate them.

"The captain of the Long Wu Army, Li Jinglong, was just patrolling the city at night and took the opportunity to visit a prostitute. His men got drunk and fought. When he woke up the next morning, he found that he couldn't deal with them, so he made up a big joke," Yang Guozhong said with amusement.

"We have to deal with this person." Madam Guo said, "He is not strict with his subordinates, neglects his duty, deceives the emperor, and spreads rumors. What can we do?"

Yang Yuhuan suddenly thought of something and asked, "Isn't Li Jinglong … General Feng's cousin?"

"That's him." Yang Guozhong said, "A few days ago, Changqing returned to the court and recommended his younger brother. He wanted to take him to the battlefield and make contributions. In my opinion, he is just idle. He should be exiled and serve in the army for a few years. Then he won't cause any trouble. "

Li Longji nodded. Just as he was about to speak, Yang Yuhuan looked at his expression and couldn't bear it. She said, "General Feng just made a great contribution to the country and exiled his cousin just like that … In the end, young people are hot-blooded. It's not a big crime."

"… Back then, Di Gong was old and muddle-headed. He kept muttering about demons and demons." Li Longji recalled the past and said, "Back then, he even set up a division called the Exorcism Division. It was directly managed by Ping Zhangshi. When the capital was moved, it was also moved here. "

Yang Yuhuan said, "I still remember when I was a child …"

"I knew you were going to talk about the white fox again." Madam Guo smiled faintly.

Li Longji said, "Speaking of this, when I was a child and went to worship heaven with them, I also saw the back of a black dragon in the Luo River."

Yang Yuhuan said with a smile, "That's an auspicious sign! People don't know its beauty, so they think it's a demon. Isn't an auspicious sign the proof that Your Majesty has the mandate of heaven? "

"That's right." Li Longji answered, "… Yes. I suddenly thought that since Li Jinglong is so talented, why don't we send him to take charge of the Exorcism Department? "

Yang Guozhong, Yang Yuhuan, and Madam Guo were all stunned. Then Yang Yuhuan laughed. The corners of Madam Guo's mouth twitched slightly. She didn't know how to answer.

Li Longji said seriously, "Let's do that. We don't know where the Exorcism Department is, but it should be there. This person probably can't stay in the Long Wu Army. Send him to guard the Exorcism Department. From time to time, he will tell the people of Chang 'an about' auspicious signs', which will fulfill Feng Changqing's wish. When the time comes, you will be in charge, Guozhong. "

Yang Guozhong: "…"

In the abandoned house, Hongjun and the handsome young man looked at each other. They never thought that this would be the place! However, this place had obviously been abandoned for many years. The front hall was full of cobwebs, and there were three entrances and four courtyards. The interior was actually quite spacious. After turning the corner of the front hall, there was a wide patio. There were a few rotting boxes, but there was nothing in them.

The young man's name was Mo Rigen, and he was from the Shiwei Empire. He was also an exorcist who came to report. He asked for a report letter from Hongjun and was reading it outside. The general idea of the two letters was that the Chang 'an demons were entrenched. The disciples of various exorcist families were invited to Chang' an to report to the Exorcism Department of the Tang Dynasty.

While Mo Rigen was reading the letters, Hongjun was wandering around the abandoned Exorcism Department. In the courtyard, there was a parasol tree that was taller than the eaves. There were a lot of paulownia falling from the tree. As soon as Hongjun saw the parasol tree, he felt a sense of familiarity. The courtyard was connected to the east and west rooms by two corridors. There were rusty wind chimes hanging on the corridors, and there was a screen wall at the end of each corridor. The doors and windows of the twelve rooms were rotten. Rats scuttled around, making squeaking sounds.

The innermost room was a spacious hall, which was the main hall. There was a wide bamboo couch in the hall. There was a tea table in the middle of the couch. After a long time, everything was broken. There were also a few broken porcelain cups under the wooden table.

There was a stable in the backyard, and there was also a sealed back door.

"Hongjun." In the front hall, Mo Rigen finished reading the letters and quickly walked in. His head almost hit the lintel of the door. He said, "Our letters are the same."

Hongjun said, "That's strange …"

In his imagination, the Exorcism Department of the Tang Dynasty should be a place with people. It was not like the legendary government office, which was most likely the size of a relay station. But now, it was empty. There was not a single person. Who sent the letters?

Before going down the mountain, Qing Xiong did not tell him where the letters came from, nor did he mention which family he was from. But now it seemed that someone had copied the letters and sent them out one by one. Moreover, the letters were signed by "Di".

"Is the sender Di Renjie?" Mo Rigen said. "Hasn't he been dead for many years?"

"Look at the wall." The Carp Demon stood in the main hall and said with his head tilted.

Hongjun said, "Huh?"

Hongjun went forward to wipe off the dust on the wall, revealing a mottled mural. On the mural was a sitting official in a purple robe. In front of the mural was an incense burner covered in rust.

"This should be him," Mo Rigen said.

"Could it be that the Exorcism Department moved?" Hongjun asked.

"The letter said that it was here," Mo Rigen said. "And look, it has been abandoned for many years. It doesn't look like a temporary move."

The two of them stood in front of the mural for a while. Hongjun finally arrived at the destination after traveling thousands of miles. However, he found that it was completely different from what he had imagined. He suddenly felt a sense of disappointment, as if he had climbed half of Mount Tianshan only to find that there was nothing at the top of the mountain. At this moment, he suddenly heard a voice from the front yard.

"Oh, the door fell. Is anyone there? "

A young Hu man wearing a luxurious dark red martial arts robe and carrying a zither on his back stood in the yard. He was in the middle of withdrawing money and sending away two porters carrying large and small loads to put down the luggage in the yard.

The young man had a high nose and deep eyes. He had curly hair and wore four rings on his fingers. His skin was milky white like milk. He held a sapphire blue fan and shook it open to block the sun. He looked left and right with a confused expression.

Mo Rigen and Hongjun walked out of the front hall.

"Hey, hey —!" The barbarian youth shouted, and both of them were startled.

"Hey, Monkey —!" The young Hu man opened his arms and shouted enthusiastically, "My dear friends from the Tang Dynasty! Hello —! "

Then, the young man quickly walked forward and hugged Mo Rigen first before hugging Hongjun tightly.

"I'm Telopotamia? Homihok? Hamorabi. "The young Hu man said," You can call me 'Atay'. "

After introducing himself, the young Hu man named Atay put his hands in front of his chest and slowly stepped aside. Then, he elegantly bowed and said, "Excuse me, is this the Exorcism Department of the Tang Dynasty? This is my letter of recommendation. Who is the official in charge? "

Mo Rigen and Hongjun were both dumbfounded. But before they could ask, someone else came in.

"Is anyone there?"

The three of them turned their heads at the same time and saw a tall scholar poking his head in from outside the yard to look around.

"This humble one is Qiu Yongsi, from Jiangnan …" The scholar cupped his hands and smiled, "I was recommended by my grandfather and came specially … What's wrong? Why do your expressions look like … "

"This … is … strange??? Huh? Why are there demons in the department?! "

After a quarter of an hour, everyone held a letter and looked at each other.

"This is not right. Are you all here to report? Does the Supreme Court care? "The Shiwei man, Mo Rigen, asked.

The scholar, Qiu Yongsi, said, "Before coming here, I went to the Supreme Court first, but they did not care."

The Hu man, Atay, said, "I asked at the Honglu Temple, but they did not care either."

The four of them sat in a circle and fell into silence. All four of them had received reports, but they had come to a desolate and overgrown exorcism department. What was going on?

"I think there is something very suspicious." Atay snapped his fingers and paced around the hall. He looked at Mo Rigen and muttered, "I am in Tocharia, and brother Mo Rigen is in the Hulunbuir Plains. This beautiful brother …"

"My name is Hongjun. Hongjun," Hongjun said.

"Where do you live?" Atay asked with a smile.

"Taihang Mountains."

"And you?" Atay asked the scholar called Qiu Yongsi.

"West Lake," Qiu Yongsi said.

Atay said, "We are near and far, and we received the letters at different times. Why did you all arrive at Chang 'an on the same day?"

"That's right!" Hongjun said.

"Oh?" Qiu Yongsi said, "You all just arrived as well?"

"Yes." Mo Rigen nodded slowly and said thoughtfully, "As long as we find the person who delivered the letters, we will know the truth."

Hongjun thought that if this person could deliver the letters to Qing Xiong, did that mean that he knew he was in Dazzling Golden Palace? If he knew, then perhaps he knew Di Renjie and his father, Kong Xuan? At least the messenger knew about the past?

Hongjun hesitated for a moment and suddenly had an idea. "Do you all think that someone will come later?"

Atay nodded and smiled slyly. "That's right. Perhaps all we should do is wait."