Chapter 171

"We are late!" When Cen Can led Qian Chen and the others to Ren Xuanyan's residence in Guangde Ward, they saw from a distance several Martial Guards with long knives at their waists guarding the gate of Ren Xuanyan's residence, and Bad Constables entering and exiting the gate.

A Bad Constable pinched his nose and walked past Qian Chen and the others, complaining to his companion: "It's too disgusting! It is rumored that the owner of this place offended ghosts and gods, it must be so..."

Another dissolute Bad Constable said: "The Martial Guards don't want to do the dirty work, so they called us to clean up the corpse. What is this?"

Cen Can's expression was heavy as he whispered: "We are already late! I'm afraid that Ren Xuanyan has already unfortunately..." After saying this, he poked his head to look at the terrain and landscape nearby and whispered: "Now that there are Martial Guards guarding it, we shouldn't act rashly. Let's come back at night..." Unexpectedly, Qian Chen pulled him directly, and walked swaggeringly towards the Martial Guards guarding the gate with Yan Shu.

"Do you think you are hiding very well by peeking sneakily?" Qian Chen smiled: "That Bad Constable at the street corner has been watching us for a long time!"

"I guess that sentence was deliberately said close to us, just to see our reaction, whether we were curious."

Qian Chen patted Cen Can on the shoulder and said: "Let's go... we definitely won't be able to leave later! It's better to bluff them..."

Seeing Qian Chen and the others swaggering in front of them, the leading Martial Guard was a bit stunned, and then asked: "Who are you people, from which ward? Why are you here?"

Qian Chen took out his waist token and said: "We are guests of the Princess's mansion, ordered by Princess Yuzhen to invite the Daoist Ren Xuanyan to Yuzhen Temple to lecture on Daoist scriptures for the Princess!" The Martial Guard identified the waist token for a while, subconsciously piled a smile on his face, and hurriedly gave a wink to the Bad Constables beside him, letting them withdraw.

He complained in his heart: "It's involving power and nobility again... How did this Daoist Ren Xuanyan alarm so many people?"

"Just now someone from the Crown Prince came, and someone from Yang's family wanted to ask, and now even people from the Princess's mansion have come!"

He said kindly: "You two came at the wrong time. That Ren Xuanyan has already been killed by thieves. I trouble you two to report back to the Princess..."

"Killed by thieves..." Qian Chen pondered for a moment and said: "I haven't seen the person, so it's really hard to report back. Can I take a look at this person's corpse?"

"This..." The Martial Guard was in a dilemma. Power and nobility really couldn't be offended! But letting these guests of power and nobility, who came with waist tokens but no clear imperial decree, enter to view the corpse, he also had to bear the responsibility. He could only politely say: "Without a document, I really don't dare..."

"People from the Princess's mansion?" A young, handsome youth dressed in Daoist robes slowly walked out of the residence. He saw Yan Shu and nodded slowly: "So it is the swordsman Pei who has recently become famous in Chang'an for his sword skills." He turned his head to look at Qian Chen again: "Who is this?"

"I am Li Taibai from Jiannan Circuit. Because I offered poems and essays, I was favored by the Princess, and now I am a guest of the Princess's mansion." Qian Chen cupped his hands.

The youth turned his eyes to Cen Can again, and Cen Can said unconvinced: "I am a Metropolitan Graduate of three years, and was once a Record Secretary of the Right Wei Guard."

At this time, the young Daoist nodded and arched his hands: "So it is Secretary Cen!"

Cen Can's eyes flashed, and he said: "I have always considered my reputation to be meager. When I was in General Gao's staff, I was just an inconspicuous clerk. Now you can still call out my name in one breath, so knowledgeable and retentive. Are you Li Changyuan, the Hanlin scholar Li?"

Li Bi smiled slightly: "You want to see Ren Xuanyan's corpse? Can you tell me why?"

Cen Can said: "We have had dealings, although not close, but I should still take a look at an old friend." He said this, and even the Martial Guards beside him couldn't be deceived, let alone Li Bi, who had long since memorized Ren Xuanyan's resume. He didn't even need to recall carefully to know that Ren Xuanyan and Cen Can were just casual acquaintances, unlike the student Wang Huang who died in Luoyang earlier, who had a good friendship with him.

Li Bi pondered for a while and said: "Then come in!"

Even if there was no other effect, it would be good to involve Princess Yuzhen. Now the Crown Prince is being forced by Yang Guozhong and is in a precarious situation; he desperately needs someone to share the pressure.

Qian Chen didn't care about Yang Guozhong or the Crown Prince at all. He cared even less about involving Princess Yuzhen. Even if he fell out with the Xuan Emperor, he had some confidence in protecting his friends and killing his way out of Chang'an. Now Qian Chen had already figured out the flaws in Chang'an's great array. As long as he had the time of an incense stick, he could break through several layers of obstruction and kill his way out of the inner city.

The two followed Li Bi into the mansion openly and honestly...

The Martial Guard led several people into a side room in the residence, and Qian Chen finally saw the Daoist Ren Xuanyan there. He was lying on his back on the bed, his abdomen was bloody and blurred, and a transparent hole had been stepped out. Through the fragments of scattered intestines, one could see the bottom of the shattered spine. There was a huge and pitch-black footprint on his shoulder, and just a few finger marks occupied half of his chest.

Qian Chen measured the thumbprint, which was about the size of his fist.

The Martial Guard said tremblingly: "Scholar Li, we also have small arts, can judge Yin and Yang, can usually see ghost objects and human souls, and investigate the clues of the cause of death but... but today, we couldn't find any trace of the Daoist Ren's soul! Could it really be that the Daoist Ren offended the Northern Heavenly King and was stepped to death?"

"Heavenly King?" Qian Chen sneered several times: "Just a Yaksha that eats ghosts!"

"The demon king of endurance looking for a replacement has finally found him!"

Li Bi said in a deep voice: "Daoist Ren practices Daoist methods, and his magic power is not weak. He is in the Realm of Penetrating the Law. Ordinary evil ghosts and Yakshas simply cannot do anything to him. Even if they could kill him, they would absolutely not be able to do so without alarming the Martial Guards and Bad Constables patrolling nearby."

"What if he had no precautions?" Qian Chen raised his eyebrows.

The Martial Guard shook his head: "There are magic mirrors and sandalwood incense in this room, as well as precious swords and divine talismans. What kind of evil ghost could enter without the Daoist Ren noticing?"

Li Bi smiled: "His meaning is not that he didn't notice, but that the Daoist Ren was already accustomed to this ghost, so he had no precautions. As for why he could be accustomed to ghosts and gods by his side, perhaps there is a technique of prohibition and impeachment."

The Martial Guard suddenly realized: "The ghost and god that the Daoist Ren prohibited and impeached lost control and stepped him to death... Then why would someone see the Dharma body of the Northern Heavenly King nearby?"

Qian Chen smiled: "Perhaps the Daoist Ren couldn't bear to see an old friend in trouble, and snatched a soul of an old friend who had turned into a Yaksha from the Northern Heavenly King in Luoyang. The Northern Heavenly King followed the traces of the evil ghost, and because the Daoist Ren had no precautions, he was killed by the evil ghost?"

The Martial Guard had also heard the story of Wang Sheng in Luoyang, and suddenly realized: "It must be so. It turns out this is a murder case by an evil ghost. The evil ghost that committed the crime should also have been caught by the Northern Heavenly King! That's why no trace could be found... That Yaksha evil ghost can eat ghosts and devour souls, so the Daoist Ren's soul must have been devoured by it."

"In this way, the case is solved!"

The Martial Guard pushed the boat with the current and said: "Wait for me to write a document to send this case to the City God Lord Zhong Fujun! Order him to pursue the Yaksha evil ghost from the Northern Heavenly King."

When the Martial Guard sensibly exited the room, leaving Qian Chen, Yan Shu, Li Bi, and Cen Can in the room, facing a corpse that was miserable and dead in a bizarre and unpredictable way. The heavy smell of blood, combined with a somewhat rotten stench, stimulated people's sense of smell, but several people seemed not to hear it.

Li Bi and Qian Chen looked at each other, and he made a gesture of invitation with his right hand and said: "Please!"

Qian Chen grabbed the Affectionate Sword in his hand, faced the corpse of Ren Xuanyan, and slowly pulled out the sword blade. This was the first time Cen Can saw this divine weapon of Qian Chen unsheathed. The sword light like snow illuminated the whole room with coldness. Even the Martial Guards hiding outside felt a tremor in their hearts. A nameless sharp Qi made the hair on their backs stand up, and they looked at each other, not daring to enter the room.

Li Bi saw the sword light, and his eyes couldn't help but shrink, his body couldn't help but avoid the edge of the sword Qi by himself.

The Affectionate Sword turned in Qian Chen's hand, the sword light revolved like a bright moon, and he shook off a sword flower in his hand. Qian Chen raised his long sword flatly, suspended above the corpse of Ren Xuanyan, and seven stars lit up on the sword blade in turn, outlining the shape of a ladle handle.

Li Bi's eyes shrank slightly, staring at the seven stars in the sword light.

"The pivot of the Big Dipper, returning to life and noting death. Where the Heavenly Gang points, day and night always rotate... The Big Dipper pivot guidance method! Are you a person of the Daoist Sect?"

The Big Dipper seven stars on Qian Chen's sword intercepted a bit of the life number of Ren Xuanyan. The seven stars floated on the sword light, making the long sword in Qian Chen's hand faintly point in one direction...

"Found it!"

Qian Chen stopped talking nonsense and said to Yan Shu: "Let's go!"

The two rushed directly to the range pointed to by the sword light, not even willing to go around the door, directly using the light body flying method, flipping over the wall. Li Bi and Cen Can followed closely behind. Qian Chen and the others ran all the way along the sword light, shuttling through the streets and alleys of Chang'an. Several people all had cultivation, and only a shadow remained along the way, which passersby could not see.

After running all the way, they arrived at Shengdao Ward in a short while. Because this ward is located in the southeast of the outer city, it is very desolate, so the south street is full of ruins and graves, and no one lives there at all.

It is a rare desolate place in the prosperity of Chang'an city.

Arriving at a place that didn't know whether it was a grave or a desolate house ruin, the starlight on the sword stabilized.

Qian Chen looked around, suddenly held the sword and faintly drew a sword circle near the desolate house, reached out and untied the silk ribbon from his waist, and hung it on the elm tree next to it.

Li Bi was startled by his strange behavior, couldn't help but think about various things, and couldn't help but think strangely?

Before facing the evil ghost, first untie the belt. What kind of method is this to subdue the evil ghost?

Could it be that he wants to tie the ghost with a belt and let it do whatever it wants?

Stepping into the ruins, I saw the house door half-covered, and the inside was overgrown with weeds. Li Bi shook his right hand and didn't know where he took out a talisman. Now the talisman slowly turned into smoke and burned. He sneered coldly: "The evil ghost is inside, leave it to me." Qian Chen stopped him and said: "Who said to leave it to you? We found this ghost, you just watch."

Li Bi was stunned for a moment and said: "This ghost is unusual."

"Just watch!"

Qian Chen pushed open the half-covered gate and heard extremely hidden crying coming from the ruins of the desolate house. Several people followed the sound, but in the side room, they saw a woman tied up and trembling. The woman looked like she was only twenty years old, weak and beautiful. Seeing them, she hurriedly begged: "I am the daughter of the Metropolitan Graduate Xie Ao, kidnapped here by an evil ghost, and I hope you all will reach out to save me!"

Li Bi turned his head to look at the talisman in his hand, which was still burning slowly, without any change.

Only then did he relax a little precaution and asked: "Where did that evil ghost go? Why is there no ghost official patrolling to detect the evil deeds of this ghost?"

Miss Xie said: "It hides during the day and only appears at night. As for whether there are ghost officials, I don't know either. Perhaps there is a blindfold method covering this place."

Qian Chen nodded slightly: "There is indeed a blindfold method!"