Chapter 642: Chaos in Luoyang

"The Lushena Great Buddha was damaged, and he took the initiative to request repairs..."

"The patterns on the Buddha's body are all micro-carved with Buddhist scriptures; I'm afraid they have already been tampered with..."

Master Kuzhu quickly recounted the matter and said urgently: "It is rumored that back then, the Yique demon dragon stirred up trouble, causing the river water to backflow into the Divine Capital. Tang Minghuang ordered the 'Three Great Masters of Kaiyuan' to bless the Great Buddha to suppress the demon dragon. Later, Chen Shoujing released the demon dragon, and the old monk thought the restrictions on it had long been destroyed."

"But hearing Helmsman Pei say that 'Soul-Collecting Ships' appeared on the Yihe, it should be related to this matter. That demonic person has lived in the temple for years, I'm afraid he will take action against the monks and laypeople in the temple. The poor monk will go back now..."

Before this old monk could leave, his subordinates from Pei Niangzi Pei's side rushed over, their faces full of panic.

"Chaos, chaos!"

"The Maitreya Sect is causing chaos in Luoyangcheng, and the Yamen has been burned!"

…………

The twilight was heavy, and a restless atmosphere permeated the streets and alleys of Luoyang.

"Maitreya descends to the world, good fortune comes naturally!"

Hundreds of men in coarse cloth and hemp clothes shouted loudly in front of the Chenghuangmiao.

They waved yellow paper talismans in their hands, and more commoners were gathering toward this place.

"It's here, the City God is suppressing our good fortune!"

"Luoyang is now withered, it's all because of this thing!"

"Smash it, only then can we get liberation!"

In the crowd, a sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked man suddenly raised a stone and smashed it fiercely at the temple gate.

"Bang!"

The originally mottled and paint-peeling wooden door was instantly smashed into a dent.

Although it didn't smash open, it was like a command.

The commoners all around picked up stones and threw them one after another.

Clatter, clatter!

For a time, falling stones were like rain, and the wooden door was soon smashed into pits and bumps.

All the commoners, regardless of men, women, old, or young, had nothing but fanaticism on their faces, except for resentment.

Over the years, the situation in Luoyangcheng had become worse and worse.

There was the general trend of the era; since opening the sea, the focus of the imperial court was now entirely on the coast...

There were natural disasters, the great plague ten years ago, followed by the Yellow River backflow, three years of drought, and now the celestial phenomena changing...

There were man-made disasters, the King of Luoyang was a wine-sack and rice-bag, good at harming the commoners, and all forces in the city were exploiting...

In short, the commoners all had a breath of resentment in their hearts.

The laws of the Great Xuan Dynasty were strict, and the officials in Luoyang were overbearing, usually enough to suppress this breath of resentment.

But suppressing it didn't mean it didn't exist.

Once it erupted, it was no different from the Yellow River bursting its banks.

Colluding with the Maitreya Sect was a capital crime.

But when life was crushed, the commoners had no more scruples.

Even the number of Maitreya Sect members gathering this time was not many, far less than the Guanzhong Rebellion ten years ago.

Most of them were ordinary commoners following along to vent.

Soon, the Chenghuangmiao gate was smashed open.

What made them strange was that the Chenghuangmiao was silent.

The Taoists who were usually there had already left, the hall door was wide open, and inside was the cold corpse of the temple keeper.

This situation, no matter how you looked at it, was not right.

However, the commoners didn't bother to pay attention at all, rushing in to smash, grab, and burn.

The towering City God and judge statues were pushed over and smashed.

Curtains, yellow talismans, and red cloth were all ignited.

The copper incense burners and ritual vessels used for sacrifice and worship were snatched up competitively.

In the chaos, no one noticed.

On the rafters of the main hall, there were pressure-suppressing coins stained with filthy blood...

Inside the smashed statues, there were filthy things like rotten mud, with white maggots wriggling inside...

All the black wandering soul jars used to worship the Sheling soldiers were bound with straw ropes and white talismans. After being smashed by the chaotic mob, it seemed that black Qi surged, drilling into the bodies of nearby commoners, and coupled with the snatching of copper vessels, the chaotic crowd actually began to kill each other...

……

The chaos in the Chenghuangmiao was just a corner.

Outside the Hanjiacang official granary in the east of the city, the granary gate, which was usually heavily guarded, had now been rammed open by the mob.

Grain bags were torn to shreds, and millet mixed with muddy water paved the bluestone floor.

Maitreya Sect members held torches and shouted:

"The official granary accumulates grain, while starving people are everywhere! Grab these dog-day things!"

"Grab!"

Looking at the full granary of grain, the commoners' eyes turned blood-red, and they swarmed up.

"What... what are you doing?"

The grain official stepped forward to stop them tremblingly.

Pfft!

After taking two steps, the Maitreya Sect member with a fierce face stepped forward and stabbed him to death with a knife.

However, at this time, the commoners couldn't care about paying attention.

They scrambled to tear open the grain bags, only to find that they were full of gravel and dust underneath.

Only a layer of grain was spread on the surface to deceive people.

"Dog-day things, the grain has been stolen!"

"No wonder they didn't open the granary to release grain when disaster struck a while ago!"

After discovering this, the commoners became even more angry.

No one saw that the "Maitreya Sect member" who just killed someone had mockery in his eyes...

……

South of the city, Anle Nest, Du family residence.

As a wealthy family in Luoyang, the Du family naturally had high walls and deep courtyards.

They even spent a lot of money to invite guards from the Gua Zi Sect.

However, at this moment, the Du family's vermilion gate was wide open, and thick smoke was rising from the roof.

Blood flowed out along the door cracks, covered with bloody footprints.

Inside the courtyard walls, it was full of heart-rending wails.

Master Du was paralyzed on the grand master's chair with a knife stuck in his chest, watching helplessly as his concubine was dragged into the room by the "servants."

The ones who took action were actually the beggars who used to help his family pour night soil...

……

Beside the Bell and Drum Tower in the center of the city, the Luoyang Yamen.

The grievance drum at the door was smashed into a hole, and the entire yamen had fallen into a sea of fire.

In the public gate, there were quite a few good hands who knew martial arts.

However, the cook mixed in gave everyone croton after receiving the order.

One by one, they had diarrhea and had no strength to resist.

The yamen runners who usually bullied people were hacked to death by chaotic knives.

The Luoyang prefect who didn't have time to escape was hanged on the rafters.

With his long tongue sticking out, the corpse was burned into charcoal by the raging fire.

The grain shops and markets on Xiguan Street were in a mess, with firelight soaring into the sky.

Outside the Ying'en Gate in the north of the city, the soldiers gathered at the post station were fighting with a group of black-clothed experts.

Even inside the Luoyang Wang Palace, there were Ghost Emperor's subordinates setting fires everywhere.

Looking from afar, the entire Luoyangcheng was emitting thick smoke everywhere.

When Li Yan and the others arrived,

what they saw was this scene.

"Go, can't care about it!"

Elder Yin Jiuge sighed slightly, "If we don't find the formation eye, the entire Yuzhou will face a great calamity."

After saying this, he took the lead and rushed into the city.

Li Yan led the others with cold and solemn faces, following closely behind.

After learning of Wang Xuanmo's whereabouts, everyone immediately headed to the Longmen Grottoes.

Unfortunately, that Ghost Emperor had already left, making everyone return empty-handed.

This Lushena Great Buddha was indeed one of the nodes.

I don't know who chose the place back then, it happened to be above the stone chamber connecting the Qin Gong fake Underworld.

The stone chamber inside had been opened by Buddhist masters back then, carved full of the "Shurangama Mantra."

This is the strongest evil-suppressing divine mantra of the Buddhist sect, known as the "King of Mantras."

Not only that, the passage leading out of the stone chamber had also been sealed.

Unfortunately, it had been dug open again, and the scriptures inside were also scribbled messily.

Seeing this, everyone decided to act separately.

The people of Shangqing Palace and Xiangshan Temple took out the treasures of their sects, fully suppressed the nodes, and sent people to White Horse Temple and various Mystic Sect Dharma lineages to warn them, and gathered manpower...

The people of the Heluo Chamber of Commerce, with the help of Yue San'er, suppressed those "Soul-Collecting Ships," and sent people to Yamen in Kaifeng and other places to seek reinforcements...

As for Li Yan and the others, they followed Elder Yin Jiuge to find other nodes in the city.

Everyone shuttled along the remote streets and alleys, avoiding the mob, and soon arrived at the Chenghuangmiao.

The chaos here had long since ended.

The statues in the temple were smashed, the rafters were burning, and incense ash was scattered everywhere.

Li Yan frowned and suddenly raised his left hand.

Clank, clank~

The Demon-Suppressing Coins on the "Qian Nian" arm guard rang in unison, and Yin evil Qi gathered.

Almost instantly, a wild wind rose in the hall, frost condensed on the ground, and the remaining fire was also extinguished.

This arm guard "Qian Nian" was obtained from Shu, with "Heaven and Earth are misty, all things are mellow" embroidered on it.

This treasure imitates the grotto-heaven with warp and weft lines, which can gather Gang evil Qi, but its greatest function is to nourish spiritual objects.

Li Yan sewed all the Demon-Suppressing Coins on it and nourished them on weekdays.

Although it would take a long time to become a spiritual object, the arm guard could already help a lot.

This treasure could temporarily gather Gang evil Qi to bless the power of spells.

Gathering Yin Qi to extinguish fire was naturally easy.

The fire was extinguished, and blue smoke rolled from the pitch-black rafters.

Li Yan formed the Yang seal with his left hand, took a deep breath, smelled a fishy smell mixed in the incense, shook his head and said in a deep voice: "Tampered with, the incense has been polluted."

Immediately, he looked at the rafters above.

He leaped up, borrowed strength by stepping on the wall, leaped into the air with a swoosh, and simultaneously drew the Dust-Breaking Blade.

Ding, ding, ding!

With a few crisp sounds, the burnt copper coins fell to the ground.

Although this thing was nailed to the rafters and burnt black, it couldn't escape Li Yan's nose.

Elder Yin Jiuge picked up one, wiped off the filth and blackness on the surface, but saw the back of the copper coin engraved with the Big Dipper, and the front written with the four characters "Forbidden Incense and Suppress Evil" in seal script.

"'Forbidden Incense and Suppress Evil' coin?"

Elder Yin Jiuge frowned, somewhat surprised, and said: "How can this thing still exist?"

"During the Huichang destruction of Fomen in the Tang Dynasty, twenty-six thousand monks and nuns returned to secular life, and the imperial court ordered the destruction of Buddhist temples and the melting of bronze statues to cast coins. This coin was a 'Suppression Buddha Coin' secretly cast at that time, which cooperated with the 'Intercepting Pulse Technique' of Zhao Guizhen, a master under the Emperor Wuzong, and destroyed many famous Buddhist temples. Later, because it was too vicious, it was all destroyed."

"Perhaps someone kept it privately?"

"Impossible, the Buddhist sect hated this deeply, not only issued a high reward for purchase and destruction, but also released the news that anyone using this treasure was an enemy of the Buddhist sect, so it has long since disappeared."

"It came from overseas!"

Li Yan interrupted the conversation.

Only to see him take out a few iron pieces from the brick cracks at the base of the statue.

On them, lotus patterns were carved, and there were some East Ying incantations.

Vaguely, one could see it written: Incense broken, wishes cut off, Buddha and demon are one, seal the world into iron...

"Coming from East Ying, that's not strange."

Elder Yin Jiuge said coldly: "During the Great Tang, many Japanese people came, bringing back many things."

Saying this, he took out a compass to check left and right, nodded and said: "This is also one of the nodes, the old man will set up an altar to drive away the evil."

With everyone's help, he quickly set up a Dharma altar, took out five-colored soil from the leather pouch at his waist, scattered it in all directions, then burned incense and lit candles, treading the stars and chanting incantations.

As a Five-Direction Yin Sacrifice of the Nether Sect, he naturally had good treasures in his hands.

Elder Yin Jiuge placed a tiger talisman with a Yin-Yang diagram engraved on the back on the incense table.

Li Yan saw clearly that the tiger talisman was engraved with small seal script and was a treasure from the Qin Gong.

Hum!

As the Dharma altar was established, incense smoke rose, and the tiger talisman trembled slightly.

A burst of scorching Gang evil Qi suddenly rose from the ground.

Everyone couldn't see it, but felt the backs of their feet starting to heat up.

Li Yan formed a seal, took a deep breath, and shook his head: "Can't smell it, there should be a secret room below, at least three zhang down."

"Doesn't matter."

Elder Yin Jiuge said in a deep voice: "The Chenghuangmiao has many people and eyes on weekdays, I estimate Wang Xuanmo's subordinates didn't dare to dig randomly, so they could only use this method to pollute the incense. The old man has stabilized the earth Qi, but someone needs to defend it."

"I'll do it."

Long Yan'er suddenly spoke, her face calm: "Leave it to me, no one can come in."

Hearing this, Li Yan nodded without hesitation: "Good, Sister Long, be careful."

Back then, Xu Fu left the node bamboo slips. Although they didn't see them, there were definitely more than one in Luoyangcheng.

They still had to continue searching, so they could only leave people to defend.

Although Long Yan'er was low-key, her Gu technique was strong enough to make Li Yan feel at ease.

They didn't waste words and left the Chenghuangmiao quickly.

And after everyone left, Long Yan'er came outside the hall and took out a flute from her sleeve to blow.

Whoosh~

Yin wind blew, and a stream of black smoke flew out from the leather pouch at her waist.

Looking closely, it was all tiny Gu insects, scattering into the air, no different from dust.

After releasing these Gu insects, Long Yan'er still didn't stop.

She continued to play the flute, and dense "Frost Moths" also flew out with it.

It was already dusk, and the fireflies behind the "Frost Moths" flickered, like stars all over the sky, covering the outside of the Chenghuangmiao.

Strange things happened. There were still mobs running around on the street.

However, in their eyes, the Chenghuangmiao was still the same as before, and they would subconsciously ignore it...

…………

At the same time, other places were also busy.

Mangshan Cuiyun Peak, Shangqing Palace.

Inside the Three Pure Ones Hall, dense lotus lamps were like stars.

On all the walls and pillars,

The "Dutian Five Lei Fu" left behind by Zhang Daoling had already been damaged, so they could only win by quantity.

Outside the main hall, three altars were distributed according to the positions of Heaven, Earth, and Man.

Dan Qingzi and several old Daoists presided over the ceremony, while the surrounding disciples of the temple all chanted incantations while forming hand seals.

"Five Thunders, Five Thunders, following step by step; Five Thunders as one path, thunderbolts flying everywhere..."

This was the Mystic Sect's Five Thunder Incantation. Although the arrangement left by Zhang Daoling had been destroyed, it pointed out the direction for them.

Combining the Five Thunder Talismans, they used the Five Thunder Incantation to suppress it.

At this moment, the sky was overcast, which could be considered as seizing the heavenly opportunity.

Zzz~

As the several old Daoists opened the altars to perform the rites, electric arcs flickered on all the iron objects inside the Three Pure Ones Hall.

It seemed as if a force was rising from underground.

One after another, the Five Thunder Talismans turned into charred ash, but there were always Daoists to replace them in time.

Gradually, the Five Thunder Talismans stopped being destroyed...

Inside the Longmen Grottoes, it was equally busy.

In every area of the Great Vairocana Buddha, there were monks sitting in meditation and chanting scriptures.

Although this place had been damaged, just like at Shangqing Palace, the predecessors had also left clues.

All the monks were chanting the "Shurangama Mantra."

And inside the stone chamber, the monks were holding vajra pestles, re-carving...

Rumble!

Above Mount Mang, thunder light surged.

Perhaps because several nodes had been repaired in succession, the blood-red light had clearly faded quite a bit...

Above the Yihe, the waterway had long been blocked.

"You must not let them reach the shore!"

"Get more peach wood arrows!"

Following Yue San'er's loud commands, the people of the Heluo Chamber of Commerce were also busy.

Dense swarms of peach wood fire arrows flew out, setting the "Soul-Collecting Ships" on the river ablaze.

At this moment, no one dared to be careless.

Because as it grew dark, everyone could vaguely see the human figures appearing and disappearing on the ships.

However, Yue San'er's brow remained furrowed in solemnity.

"Senior, could something go wrong even if we burn them?"

Pei Niangzi Pei nearby hurriedly asked.

Yue San'er shook his head, "Something is not right."

"The Soul-Collecting Ship is the trump card technique of the Yin Talisman Sect. I saw one back then, and I almost lost my life."

"With so many Soul-Collecting Ships, where did the Yin souls on the ships go?"

(End of chapter)