Chapter 190: Chang'an Night, The Fifth Watch

After that single sound of a sword ringing out, Cici Temple suddenly fell into a deathly silence, a quietness so profound it felt eerie. The monks hiding throughout the temple had listened for half an hour to the sounds of battle—the booming of divine and demonic spells and the deafening clamor. Now that it had suddenly gone quiet, many monks secretly peered through the edges of their windows.

They saw that at the Great and Small Wild Goose Pagodas, Qian Chen's figure had returned to the top of the pagoda, sitting upon that Zhaofeng.

This time, the beast-headed Zhaofeng was perfectly well-behaved, not daring to show even a hint of resentment; instead, it wore an expression of pride, as if it were an honor to carry him on its back.

On the open ground beneath the pagoda, many buildings had collapsed, and within a radius of several dozen zhang, it was like a ruin. A hundred or so gods and demons lay dead in the surroundings. Those beast-headed, human-bodied, and strangely shaped gods and demons—some had been shredded by sword Qi, their bodies scattered in pieces; some had been pierced through their vital points by ice blades and lay fallen on the ground; some had their heads rolled to the side; and some had not a single wound on their bodies, yet their faces were twisted in extreme terror.

The Erdao Shen darted back and forth among the corpses of the gods and demons. It collected the scattered broken feathers of the Garuda, hugged the single horn on the head of a Kinnara, and held the head—which was dozens of times larger than itself—up high. It rummaged through the peeling gold leaf of the stone Buddhas, and very quickly, it had gathered a bag full of trash.

The monks looked at the hideous corpses of the gods and demons strewn across the open ground; even the weakest among them could have slaughtered their way through the temple.

They immediately and obediently closed their windows and returned to their prayer mats to chant the Heart Sutra, and that is all that needs to be said of them.

Qian Chen reached out and cast the Heavenly Demon Reliquary. The round reliquary circled the temple once, and then it refined all the remains of the gods and demons. Whether it was the corpses of the beast-headed, human-bodied gods and demons, the remains of those like the stone Buddhas that had other vessels, or even those clumps of shadows that could not be dissolved, all had their vital energy, blood energy, and essence blood extracted by the Heavenly Demon Reliquary.

This was because there were simply too many gods and demons who had died here.

When too many people die, all sorts of sinister things are bred; how much more so with these gods and demons, who were filled with demonic Qi, perverse, hideous, tyrannical, and terrifying? The resentment and baleful Qi on their bodies were already enough to turn this place into a demonic lair, and no one knew what kind of terrifying demonic creatures might be bred. Therefore, even though Qian Chen did not wish to further refine the power of the Heavenly Demon Reliquary, he had no choice but to use this magic treasure to dissolve the demonic Qi.

To avoid endless harm.

At this moment, Sima Chengzhen, leading several dozen Daoist priests, finally arrived at Daci'en Temple. They climbed over the wall at the same spot where the group of demonic cultivators had previously entered, causing the Wu Hou who saw this scene to nervously cover his mouth!

Daoist priests climbing over the walls of a Buddhist temple at night—what kind of wild thoughts did this scene evoke? Was this the degeneration of human nature, a religious dispute, or perhaps the culmination of a long-standing feud between the two houses that had finally erupted into open warfare?

No matter which answer was correct, he, a lowly Wu Hou, could not afford to provoke them.

Sima Chengzhen frowned slightly. The commotion at Daci'en Temple earlier had alarmed half of Changancheng. If not for the night curfew, one could only imagine how many idle onlookers would have surrounded Daci'en Temple. The direction they had chosen to climb the wall was already very secluded, yet they had still fallen into the eyes of many arriving Wu Hou.

Tomorrow, when Daci'en Temple was nothing but ruins, there was no telling how the rumors would spread!

Just as they landed, the group of Daoist priests heard the *swish-swish* sound of sweeping. A dainty nun, holding a broom, stared at them from the nearby bluestone path. The group of Daoist priests couldn't help but secretly curse the monks for their shamelessness; why was it that monks could keep nuns in their temples, but Daoist priests couldn't get close to female Daoists?

The little nun gave them a cold glare, continued her sweeping, and walked away!

Sima Chengzhen gave her a thoughtful look, but in the end, he didn't dare to say anything.

The group of Daoist priests walked a few more steps and arrived at a place littered with debris. A dainty beauty's head lay rolled on the ground, and not far away lay her corpse. A young Daoist priest stepped forward, only to see that the 'beauty's' face had shriveled up! An older, more experienced Daoist priest lowered his head to inspect it.

He said to Sima Chengzhen, "Heavenly Master, the essence blood has been drained. There are traces of Blood Demon Dao divine abilities!"

Sima Chengzhen glanced at it and whispered, "Nine Nether Dao, Heavenly Demon Blood-Transforming Divine Blade!" After saying this, his expression became even more peculiar.

A Daoist priest excitedly picked up the corpse of a four-winged, pure purple scorpion from the ground. Although most of the scattered remains of the Gu insects were broken, he could still find many intact ones. Whether for soaking in wine to make medicine or for refining simple magic tools, these were excellent materials.

Another Daoist priest pulled a broken straight blade from a rockery. The blade's edge shimmered with a cold light, and even before touching it, one could sense its sharp, piercing Qi.

Someone else picked up a scattered page of a book, which was bound with high-quality green talisman paper. On the page was a painting of a military general riding a black Qilin. The painting had already captured the spirit; with a little contemplation, one could comprehend a spell from it. It was an even more superior contemplation diagram for summoning gods. Two Daoist priests quietly vied for it for a while, but it was a slightly older Daoist priest with a sharp gaze who scared off his opponent and tucked it into his pocket.

Those few older Daoist priests with profound cultivation who had already formed their Golden Cores were disdainful of these miscellaneous items, but when they saw a corpse in Daoist robes that had been punched in the chest—the fist mark visible even from the back—their expressions all changed.

An older Daoist priest went up to examine the face of the corpse in Daoist robes.

He whispered in shock, "Master Huantian! This is one of the people who does the dirty work for Prime Minister Yang!"

As he spoke, he unobtrusively tucked a purple jade hairpin that had been stuck in Master Huantian's head into his sleeve.

"Let me help you!" An older Daoist priest who had sharp eyes saw this scene and pretended to step forward to help. With highly skilled movements, he reached into the lapels and sleeves of Huantian's corpse. The two old Daoist priests quickly searched the corpse and fished out a few decent little items.

Only then did they cast their gaze on the lotus-headed whisk that had been broken in two not far away.

At this time, a mature Daoist priest quickly picked up the two halves of the whisk, stuffed them into his sleeve, and said with an unchanging expression, "These people are all evil cultivators patronized by Yang Guozhong: the Fourth Lady of the Flower Gate in Pingkang Ward, the defrocked monk Hu Tian of Wuxiang Temple, Master Huantian of Shuiyue Temple... These people are all experts among evil cultivators; otherwise, they wouldn't have been favored by Prime Minister Yang."

"At the very least, they were in the Penetrating the Law Realm. These few were all True Persons who had formed their Golden Cores. How did they end up dead here?"

An older Daoist priest said with a solemn expression.

At this moment, Seeing Yan Shu drove his sword light and flashed past above their heads.

Sima Chengzhen barked, "Go!" The group of Daoist priests flew forward and soon arrived at the location of the twin pagodas. By this time, Qian Chen was already standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Seeing Yan Shu in front of the Southern Pond. Seeing Yan Shu faced a lotus flower and laughed, "Junior Brother still likes to hide swords within lotus flowers."

Qian Chen shook his head slightly and said, "This time, the weak were too weak, and the strong were too strong; there was no place for this sword to be put to use."

After saying this, he reached out and plucked the lotus flower, tucking it into his sleeve.

"The Heavenly Master has arrived with his people too!" Seeing Yan Shu laughed. "Heavenly Master Sima, how is it on your side?"

Sima Chengzhen laughed, "I've cleared out several major Daoist temples in Chang'an; the array eyes should be safe! It's just that there are still a few places with female Daoists. It's so late, I didn't want to disturb them. But I imagine the Yuzhen and Jin Xian temples, which are the main array eyes, are both private residences of the current princesses. It should be difficult for any demons to hide there!"

"No need to worry about Yuzhen Temple!"

Seeing Yan Shu nodded and laughed, "I also killed the demons in three temples on my side. There was one other place that didn't have any gods or demons, but I had a misunderstanding with the monks in the temple, and I had no choice but to beat a few of them up, which is why I arrived a little late."

Sima Chengzhen whispered, "Including the gods and demons in half of Changancheng, they all gathered here and were slaughtered by Fellow Daoist Taibai. Most of the array eyes should be safe! Even if a few remain, they are not enough to break the entire Divine Capital Array!"

As they were speaking, two rays of light, one gold and one silver, darted to Qian Chen's feet. The two children, Gold and Silver, hugged Qian Chen's calves and tilted their heads, waiting to be rewarded. Qian Chen retracted the Thunder-Light Electric Lock and the Magnetic Light Bottle, shaking the Magnetic Light Bottle in his hand. There was a faint sound of water inside. Qian Chen took a look; it was all pure essence refined by the thunder sand, which could be used for alchemy in the future.

Ning Qingchen also arrived on her sword. Her sword light was much purer, carrying a trace of an elusive chill.

At this moment, except for Cen Can and Li Mi, everyone had arrived at Daci'en Temple.

…………

In the Wei Chenghuang's Mansion, Zhong Kui's expression suddenly changed. He bowed and knelt in the direction of Great Ming Palace, saying, "Your subject, Chang'an Prefecture Magistrate Zhong Kui, respectfully welcomes the Heavenly Envoy!"

At this moment, a eunuch with a kind face walked into the Wei Chenghuang's Mansion with a whisk held in his hand and a face full of smiles. He had delicate features and hurriedly stepped forward to help Zhong Kui up, saying, "Why does the Prefecture Magistrate offer such a great ceremony? Before His Majesty issued the decree, he specifically asked me to inquire after the Prefecture Magistrate's well-being. This is merely His Majesty's oral decree, spoken as if to a member of the family!"

"To think that General Gao himself came to proclaim the decree—how could I treat it lightly?" Zhong Kui did not dare to be negligent.

This General Gao who came to proclaim the decree was none other than Gao Lishi, the favored minister before the Profound Emperor.

He walked straight into the Wei Chenghuang's Mansion, showing no fear before Zhong Kui. He was, surprisingly, a great cultivator with the cultivation of a Yin Spirit. Gao Lishi cupped his hands in the direction of Great Ming Palace and said, "The Sage says: Chang'an is full of trouble tonight, disturbing my peace; it must stop!" After saying this, he bowed slightly and said, "Prefecture Magistrate, tomorrow is the Thousand Autumn Festival; let the city rest early!"

"Guarding the Chang'an Array is Sima Chengzhen's duty; the Sage knows this, and he does not blame him. But guarding the peace of Changancheng is also the Prefecture Magistrate's duty!"

Zhong Kui said, "Is it Yang Guozhong?"

Gao Lishi shook his head slightly: "It's more than just Yang Guozhong; there is also the Crown Prince... It is fortunate that there is the Crown Prince; otherwise, how could it have ended so lightly?"

"The good thing this time is that you didn't ask right from wrong and cut down both sides!"

"His Majesty did give some tacit approval to Yang Guozhong, but whether he succeeds or not depends entirely on himself. Now, what His Majesty fears most is losing the balance. An Lushan is entering the city tomorrow! Since you have already killed the Crown Prince's dog and beaten Prime Minister Yang's people, An Lushan's arrogance is also too rampant. It is hard for me to tell the Sage, but I think... An Lushan has a rebellious bone."

"Tell Sima Chengzhen that within Changancheng, it is enough!"

"If this continues, His Majesty will be displeased! The struggle between the Dao and the demons cannot be like the reigns of the Supreme Emperor and the High Emperor, endless. He must learn to stop at the right time!"

Zhong Kui said solemnly, "Even you think An Lushan has a problem?"

Gao Lishi whispered, "I am also of the Demon Dao! In the time of the Empress, everyone practiced the Demon Dao; how could I not feel the changes in the Demon Dao?"

"Tomorrow, help me test An Lushan! I regret recommending him to replace Li Linfu back then. Li Linfu, this Heavenly Demon Prime Minister, is like a Heavenly Demon, but even more like a Prime Minister. And this fellow An Lushan is entirely like a demon lord! Without any scruples, difficult to fathom... Such a demon lord is truly difficult to control." Gao Lishi whispered, "I leave this matter to the Prefecture Magistrate!"

Zhong Kui said solemnly, "It is all for the Great Tang!"

Gao Lishi smiled, cupped his hands, and said, "It is all for His Majesty!"

After Gao Lishi left, Zhong Kui pondered for a long time, and finally rose in person and headed toward Daci'en Temple... He did not bring a single ghost soldier or ghost official; he disappeared into the darkness as a lone ghost. ===== CHAPTER 191 =====