Chapter 569

Shu region customs record: "On the twenty-fifth day, legend has it that the Heavenly Emperor descends, people all eat vegetarian food and fast, and the market does not sell meat."

This day is the day to welcome the Jade Emperor.

According to the commoners, after the Kitchen God ascends to heaven, the Jade Emperor will descend to the mortal realm on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month to inspect the good and evil of humanity and determine the disasters and blessings of the coming year, so every household sacrifices to pray for blessings, which is called "Welcoming the Jade Emperor."

In short, one must be cautious in doing things on this day.

Everyone doesn't even say dirty words, let alone carry a blade to kill.

Therefore, Tian Qi Ye did not die unjustly.

He happened to catch it on the day before.

On this day, the snow fell a little less, but it still hadn't stopped.

Li Yan lowered his bamboo hat and turned his head again.

On the Fuhe Wharf, the clamor had returned.

After talking with the reincarnation of Erlang Zhenjun, Yang Chenghua, last night, he had tidied up the corpse; everything that should be taken had been taken, leaving only the corpse unprocessed.

Just as the sky was getting light, it was discovered by a passing boatman, who held a torch and went to report the case in a panic.

But the first to arrive were the guards of the Shu Prince's Mansion.

They neatly collected the corpse and processed the scene, gave the reporting boatman a few lashes, and stuffed him with some silver.

Afterward, a few yamen runners came leisurely, shook around a few times, and after warning the boatman, they left.

The wharf gradually became lively, but the events of last night had already been covered up.

All of this was seen by the two of them.

They did not stop it, but just watched coldly.

Some things will eventually have a conclusion.

Yang Chenghua can be considered a surprise move; Li Yan will not let him appear easily, after all, there are many old demons hidden this time.

Until the last moment, no one knows who the oriole is.

After bidding farewell to this reincarnation of Erlang Zhenjun, Li Yan did not rush back to the city, but detoured toward the Qingyang Palace.

Within Chengdu Prefecture, there are several Mystic Sect forces.

Du Men, the Cheng family, and the Confucian Sect have clearly stated their attitude, standing on the side of the Fifth Commandery Prince Xiao Jinghong, wanting to support his ascent, and are even willing to oppose the Shu Prince......

The Huang Ling Sect originally did not want to provoke trouble, but they were tricked by the Shu Prince's Mansion before, swallowed their anger, and now even the City God Temple has been infiltrated, which directly made them explode with rage.

Under the matchmaking of Ming Shanzi, they have already stood on Xiao Jinghong's side.

Mount Qingcheng is the same; the Shu Prince recruited so many evil path experts from the Southwest, the conflict between righteous and evil at Dujiangyan before was related to him, and even the Shu Prince himself is very likely to have been possessed.

Now, Mount Qingcheng can no longer sit idly by.

This is the general trend.

Now is not the chaotic times of the late Tang Dynasty; although demonic paths are rampant in Chengdu Prefecture and the demonic wind is thick, the power of the righteous path is even stronger.

As for the Qingyang Palace, it is an exception.

They do not belong to Qingcheng, but are of Laozi's lineage, acting low-key, with high prestige, and there are also many Mystic Sect practitioners cultivating in seclusion.

Starting from before the New Year, various prayer ceremonies will be held here until the fifteenth or sixteenth of the first lunar month, when the Chengdu Lantern Festival ends.

By then, there will be two focuses in Chengdu.

One is the various lantern festival activities at the Qingyang Palace.

The second is the martial arts tournament held by the Shu Prince's Mansion.

If possible, it is best to gather a large number of people before the matter ferments to take down the Shu Prince and eliminate the group of monsters.

But Li Yan knows that this is not realistic at all.

The Shu Prince is not only the Emperor's own brother, with a special status, but also has a large number of officials in the Shu region supporting him, and can command the army.

It can be said that one hair moves the whole body.

If not handled well, war will immediately break out in the Shu region, and the people will be plunged into misery, so every step must not have any errors.

According to the intelligence from Liang Yu of Mingxiang Pavilion, there are also abnormalities at the Qingyang Palace.

Not only is it related to the overall situation, but the ceremony to help the Dragon Lady condense incense will also be held here, so Li Yan naturally must figure out what is going on...

………

"Little lay disciple, excuse me, please let me pass~"

A hoarse voice sounded, and Li Yan hurriedly stepped aside.

He saw an old porter carrying a load of tea squeezing through the crowd.

Li Yan could clearly smell that the tea was Old Lord Tea from Mount Qingcheng; it couldn't be considered precious, but it was exquisitely packaged, with each seal tied with red silk.

This is tea used for offering to the gods.

Commoners love to follow the trend; as long as someone buys it for offering, it will always drive others to do the same, otherwise they will feel a loss in their hearts.

In reality, even if bought for a thousand gold, it is of little use, nothing more than psychological comfort.

Every year at this time, tea merchants can always clear out a batch of inventory.

After letting him pass, Li Yan looked up and watched.

Just as he expected, the current Qingyang Palace is extremely lively.

Today is the day to welcome the Jade Emperor, and from the high officials and nobles of Chengdu Prefecture down to the common people, there are people coming to offer incense and pray for blessings.

But looking outside the mountain gate, under the huge "Qingyang Palace" plaque with gold characters on a black background, it was already crowded with people, a sea of heads, even blocking the main gate.

The Daoist priests of the Qingyang Palace seem to have long been accustomed to this.

They guarded the gate, and regardless of the clamor around them, they remained indifferent, letting in a batch and then letting in another, so as not to be too crowded inside the palace.

The sky was still early, and Li Yan was not in a hurry to go in.

He narrowed his eyes and looked outside the gate, while simultaneously forming the Yang Seal.

Outside the mountain gate of the Qingyang Palace, there are statues of the Earth God and the Azure Dragon on the left, and a White Tiger statue on the right, and there are Seven Star Piles.

On the Seven Star Piles, Heavenly Book Cloud Seals are carved, arranged according to the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper in the middle of the sky, called the Northern Dipper Seven Star Piles.

Ordinary people cannot perceive it, but as a Mystic Sect practitioner, he can clearly smell that the scent of incense is mixed with gang energy, wrapping the entire Qingyang Palace.

Li Yan was somewhat surprised and nodded slightly.

In the Shu region, Qingcheng and Emei have the greatest fame, but in the Mystic Sect martial arts world, some places are not inferior at all.

For example, the Guangde Temple in Suining is the "First Zen Forest of the Southwest."

This Qingyang Palace in front of him is known as the "First Daoist Temple of Western Shu."

Its history is long, founded in the Zhou Dynasty.

In the "Records of the King of Shu" by Yang Xiong of the Han Dynasty, it is recorded: "Laozi wrote the 'Dao De Jing' for the pass commander Yin Xi, and at parting said: 'After a thousand days of practicing the Dao, look for me at the Qingyang Market in Chengdu'."

Three years later, Laozi descended to this place, Yin Xi arrived as promised, Laozi revealed his dharma image, sitting on a lotus platform, and Yin Xi heard the Dao for the first time.

Since then, the status of the Qingyang Palace was established.

During the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Xizong entered Shu to avoid the chaos of Huang Chao and stationed here.

He saw a red light like a ball enter the ground in the temple, dug up a jade brick, on which was carved ancient seal script: "Taishang calms disasters in the middle of harmony," and regarded it as an auspicious omen.

Regardless of whether it was man-made, the Qingyang Palace received funding from the imperial court for construction, and since then it was changed from a "Temple" to a "Palace," finally having its current scale.

Precisely because of this, the status of the Qingyang Palace is special.

They participate more in secular affairs, do not buy the account of the more prosperous Mount Qingcheng, and also have a close relationship with the Shu Prince's Mansion.

If they have also been infiltrated by the Shu Prince, it is truly a big trouble.

Thinking of this, Li Yan lowered his bamboo hat, used the Dragon Snake Token to restrain his aura, and bought some incense and offerings from a nearby stall, pretending to be a pilgrim and mixing into the crowd.

After waiting for a long time, he finally passed through the mountain gate.

Entering the Qingyang Palace, the flow of people inside was equally dense.

The layout of the Qingyang Palace is the Three Pure Ones Hall and the Bagua Pavilion at the front, and after passing through, there are the Hunyuan Hall, the Doumu Hall, and the Jade Emperor Hall, etc.

That is the focus of offering incense today.

He saw pilgrims stepping on the snow, surging toward the Three Pure Ones Hall.

Salt merchants in silk-padded jackets threw silver ingots into the merit box, and the copper coins hit the bottom of the pine wood box, making muffled sounds...

Old women carrying bamboo baskets took out frozen rice cakes from the baskets, trembling, and offered them on the table......

Large and small incense sticks were dense, blue smoke curled up, rising and ascending, making the "Qingyang Scenic Area" plaque look hazy. Li Yan first entered the Three Pure Ones Hall to offer incense.

Like other places, entering the hall, the power of incense was thick, and combined with the layout below, it directly isolated divine abilities.

Although Li Yan could use his Heavenly Official identity to expel it, the commotion would be too great, so he just pretended to be an ordinary pilgrim, offered incense respectfully, and left.

At the same time, he was still paying attention to the movements around him.

According to the intelligence Liang Yu gave, the statue of Laozi in the Qingyang Palace shed bloody tears, which is an ominous sign, but the Daoist priests in the palace did not seem to be affected...

Li Yan felt strange in his heart; after leaving the Three Pure Ones Hall, he followed the crowd through the corridor on the left side of the main hall, and another palace appeared before his eyes.

That is the Hunyuan Hall, mainly worshipping the Hunyuan Patriarch, Taishang Laojun.

Li Yan walked with the crowd, but his gaze drifted to the other side.

There was a Bagua Pavilion, with double flying eaves and owl-tail ridges, surrounded by tortoise-patterned partition doors and cloud-flower hollow windows, also filled with offerings, with a pile of commoners worshipping.

Inside was Laozi riding a green ox.

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The one that shed bloody tears was this god statue.

However, Li Yan just took one look and ignored it.

Although the styling was ancient, that statue of Laozi riding a green ox had already been swapped; it could deceive ordinary people, but it couldn't deceive him.

Inside the Qingyang Palace, someone deliberately suppressed this matter!

Li Yan thought thoughtfully and followed the crowd toward the Hunyuan Hall.

After walking a few steps, his ears suddenly moved, and carrying the bamboo basket with offerings, he pretended to be careless and walked toward the other side of the main hall.

He saw a warrior statue crouching under the eaves of the corridor stone platform, its head and shoulders covered in accumulated snow, showing a bit of simplicity.

A child wearing a tiger-head hat pointed at the warrior statue and called out, and a poor scholar wearing a patched cotton robe hurriedly covered the child's mouth: "Don't dare to offend, this is a Mystic Sect protector."

Having said that, he explained: "This warrior was originally the incarnation of the Imperial Guard commander who held a halberd to protect the Dao when Emperor Xizong of Tang fled."

Li Yan's heart moved, and pretending to be curious, he stepped forward and bowed to ask for advice: "Sir, I don't know what the story is behind this statue."

The poor scholar saw someone asking, and immediately began to show off, "The guest must be from far away; if you want to talk about this statue, it is also a strange story."

"Back then, Emperor Xizong of Tang fled, and a demonic Daoist chased him here; his guards forcibly held him back, and heavenly thunder descended, striking the demonic Daoist to death."

"See its arm?"

"That was the scorch mark from when it struck the demonic Daoist with thunder."

Li Yan looked over when he heard this; sure enough, there was a scorch mark on the right arm of the stone statue, and although it was long ago, the color was obviously different from the surroundings.

After the poor scholar finished speaking, he bowed and left with the child.

And Li Yan approached without changing his expression, his ears moving.

From within this stone warrior statue, faint shouts came:

"Evil demon, retreat! Retreat!"

Li Yan narrowed his eyes and left without a word.

This evil demon was definitely not talking about him.

The stone statue was struck by thunder and has been smoked by incense until now, so it has likely developed spirituality and become a mountain gate protector, but its abilities are limited, and the Daoist priests cannot understand the language of ghosts and gods.

What exactly is going on in this Qingyang Palace...

Li Yan did not change his expression and followed the commoners to offer incense in turn.

It wasn't long before he arrived outside the Jade Emperor Hall.

Today is the day to welcome the Jade Emperor, and it was even more crowded here; in front of the hall, a high altar had been built, banners were fluttering, and incense candles were curling with blue smoke in the wind and snow.

More than a dozen Daoist priests stood with their backs turned, guarding, forbidding others from approaching.

This is to hold the ritual to welcome the Jade Emperor, and the surrounding commoners are all waiting.

Li Yan carried the basket, mixed into the crowd, stood in the corridor of the West Corridor, and looked up to see the paintings between the archways: Xuan Tian Shang Di with disheveled hair and bare feet stepping on a tortoise and snake, surrounded by the seventy-two Earthly Fiend Star Lords.

Exquisite, ancient, with a long-lasting charm.

It is hard to make people believe that any evil demon would dare to approach.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

Suddenly, three bell rings swayed the snow curtain.

A group of elderly Daoist priests in dharma robes, holding hu-tablets and gilded Jade Emperor statues, stepped out of the Jade Emperor Hall with square steps.

Amidst the drum music, accompanied by chanting, they stepped onto the dharma altar in turn.

After placing the Jade Emperor god statue, they swung the Jade Emperor banners, stepped on the gang steps, and chanted dharma spells, with the copper bells on the banner tails constantly echoing.

The Daoist priest beside the offering table kept throwing yellow paper into the copper basin.

Blue smoke curled and ascended, actually forming the four characters "Wind and Rain in Harmony" in the wind and snow, and was then rolled by the wind, sweeping over the tops of the commoners' heads.

"Heavenly Venerable bestows blessings!"

The wealthy merchants in luxurious clothes in front suddenly shouted with tears in their eyes.

"Heavenly Venerable bestows blessings!"

In the blink of an eye, the commoners in the courtyard all knelt down, and the sheepskin, cotton clothes, and satin cloaks spread out like a colorful scroll on the snowy ground.

When Li Yan saw this, he frowned.

This is not a divine miracle, but a strange phenomenon caused by dharma techniques.

Ordinary commoners cannot see the flow of gang-sha energy, so when wandering martial arts practitioners handle matters for people, they always create some wonders to avoid being called liars.

Even they have done such things.

But the righteous Mystic Sects are different.

Unless necessary, there is no need to create such a scene.

The Qingyang Palace is not lacking in incense, nor is it afraid of being ridiculed.

With all the commoners in the courtyard kneeling, Li Yan, who was still standing tall, was revealed, attracting many gazes.

Li Yan's expression was calm, and he turned to leave.

He naturally would not kneel, but he also did not want to provoke trouble.

"Young Master... Li?"

Just then, a clear voice came from the left.

He saw a Daoist priest walking over with people; after seeing him, he was stunned for a moment, then a smile appeared on his face, "Young Master Li has come to the Qingyang Palace, why didn't you look for me, so I could fulfill the duties of a host."

Li Yan was helpless, so he had to turn around and bow:

"Greetings, Daoist Yun Lingzi."

The person who came was precisely the Daoist priest he met in Longtan Village outside Shennongjia.

This Daoist was ordered to suppress the Dragon Lady, and the matter regarding the River God Great Lord and the Dragon Lady was informed by the other party.

After the Shennongjia matter ended, the Dragon Lady no longer moved, and the other party left Longtan Village and returned to the Qingyang Palace to report.

When he left, he also invited him to come to Chengdu for a visit.

If it were before, Li Yan would have definitely visited first if he came.

But these days, the more he thought about it, the more wrong it felt.

The Qingyang Palace in Chengdu was so attentive to a Dragon Lady in an inconspicuous village far away in Shennongjia, I fear it is not just out of concern for the world.

His attitude was neither cold nor hot, but the Yun Lingzi opposite seemed not to see it, full of enthusiasm: "Go, go, go, I have some good tea, just right to invite Young Master Li to taste."

Having said that, he stepped forward and held Li Yan's hand.

It looked enthusiastic, but he squeezed it hard.

Li Yan understood, and also smiled: "In that case, I will trouble you, Daoist."

The two left the main courtyard rapidly, and the drum music and chanting were gradually left behind.

It wasn't long before they arrived at a small courtyard.

Yun Lingzi turned around, his expression calm as he instructed the little Daoist priests: "You all go get busy, I am gathering with an old friend."

"Yes, Uncle Master."

The little Daoist priests bowed and left.

Yun Lingzi then led Li Yan into the tea room.

Just after entering, he immediately closed the door, his expression ugly, and gritted his teeth as he asked: "Young Master Li, something big is wrong!"

(End of chapter)