Chapter 193

At this moment, the morning drum was about to sound. Sima Chengzhen transformed into a yellow sparrow and soared into the air, heading outside Changancheng. His voice came from mid-air: "I am going to meet An Lushan for a while. If possible, I will first eliminate this demon lord. You few fellow Daoists seem to be staying at the Yuzhen Temple. Whether the matter succeeds or not, let us meet again at the Yuzhen Temple!"

Changancheng was suppressed by a formation consisting of hundreds of temples and Daoist shrines, making it impossible for others to enter or exit using Daoist arts. However, as the Daoist Heavenly Master in charge of the grand formation, Sima Chengzhen certainly had a way.

Therefore, he did not avoid the gate restrictions and went straight out of the city!

Qian Chen, Yan Shu, and Ning Qingchen returned to the Ban Zheng Ward where the Yuzhen Temple was located. Just as they stepped into the ward gate, they saw Cen Can pacing at the entrance.

Seeing Qian Chen and the others ignore the ward gate and walk through the wall, Cen Can hurriedly offered up the Mysterious Yellow Ruyi.

Qian Chen asked with a smile, "Brother Cen, have you tried this Ruyi? How many gods and demons have you knocked down with it?"

Cen Can said with shame, "As soon as I entered the Long Xing Temple, I was met by the old abbot. After explaining the matter, I gained the old abbot's trust, and he acted on my behalf to imprison the group of gods and demons within the temple."

Qian Chen clapped his hands and laughed, "What a clever old monk! He borrowed our hands to subdue and convert the gods and demons the demonic path had planted there. He took all the benefits, while we are the ones bearing the burden of those gods and demons having backers among the nobles in Chang'an."

"But... this small matter, as long as it does not hinder the overall situation of demon-slaying, let us bear it for him! Whether it is Yang Guozhong or Imperial Consort Taizhen, to us, neither is worth worrying about."

"If they prick us for the sake of these demons, then we shall simply eliminate them along the way!"

Qian Chen's tone was calm, yet it carried a disdain that looked down upon the power-wielding Yang Guozhong and the Imperial Consort, making those who heard it feel a sense of awe.

The monk following behind Cen Can could not help but raise his eyes to size up this young scholar who had uttered such bold words.

Yet, seeing that although Qian Chen had an extraordinary bearing, he was dressed in simple white robes and did not even possess a scholarly title.

His expression immediately became surprised and strange; he clearly took Qian Chen for one of those mad scholars in Chang'an who would spout wild words after drinking two cups of turbid wine! He was even somewhat puzzled as to why Cen Can, a low-ranking official who already held a title and was on good terms with the frontier general Feng Changqing, would associate with such a madman.

Cen Can, however, had witnessed Qian Chen's efficiency in slaying demons as if slaughtering dogs. Although he also somewhat doubted that Qian Chen would dare to kill the current Prime Minister and the Imperial Consort, he was still startled and whispered, "Brother Taibai, watch your words!"

"Brother Cen, do you know where Wu Daozi lives in this Chang'an?"

Qian Chen remembered that he still had to go find Wu Daozi in a while and ask him to paint a hell to imprison the remaining gods and demons and protect the Chang'an formation, so he casually asked Cen Can.

Cen Can had also stayed in Chang'an for several years and had some friendship with Wu Daozi. He pondered slightly and said, "Wu Daozi loves wine; whenever he wishes to wield his brush, he must drink heartily. Today is the Qianqiu Festival! The Emperor will hold a grand banquet tonight, and Wu Daozi will surely attend; he might even wield his brush to paint at the banquet. So, at this time..."

Yan Shu laughed, "He must be at home resting his spirit, right?"

Cen Can shook his head and said, "He is surely in a flower house in Pingkang Ward, drinking through the night and exchanging cups. That way, by tonight, he will be just half-sober, in a state between drunk and awake. He can handle the task slightly without being dead drunk, yet without missing the joy of wine."

Yan Shu's spirit was stirred upon hearing this, and he said, "Truly one of our kind!"

At this time, the monk following Cen Can interjected, "I heard from the monks at Bodhi Temple that last night, Minister He summoned people to drink all night in Pingkang Ward. Wu Daozi is his good friend, so he must have been among them!"

"There were also Jiao Sui, Cui Zongzhi, Su Jin, Zhang Xu, the Prince of Ruyang, and other drinking companions; I estimate they are all still in Pingkang Ward now!"

Yan Shu laughed heartily, "How about it, Taibai! Shall we go and meet this group of Chang'an wine heroes?"

Qian Chen shook his head slightly, restraining some of his wild nature, appearing scholarly and easy-going: "General, it is already this late. Do you still have the heart to drink?"

Yan Shu said with spirit, "It is precisely because it is this late that we must have a good drink! Slaying demons at night is satisfying, I only regret that there was no wine at the time to use the demons as a side dish. And I chopped off a pile of monks' bald heads..." He looked at the monk following Cen Can with ill intent, grinned, and said, "Enjoy the wine today, for tomorrow we may not even be able to keep our heads to drink!"

The monk sensed a trace of extremely dense malevolent qi and killing intent flash from Yan Shu, and he was so frightened that he retreated repeatedly, his face turning deathly pale, stammering, "Donor Cen, please pass on the message the Master asked me to bring! I will return first!"

Having said that, he took to his heels and ran behind him, diving into the Long Xing Temple.

"What are you running for?" Yan Shu said loudly, "I have always only killed bad monks to clear out the dregs for the Buddhist sect. If the Buddha knew, he would have to thank me! You haven't done any evil... what are you running for?"

After scaring the monk, he said to Qian Chen, "You don't have to go, just give me the gourd!"

Yan Shu smiled, "The wine I brought is all finished; the wine in Chang'an really lacks punch."

Qian Chen glanced at the red-skinned gourd at his waist and shook his head, saying, "That won't do; if we want to invite Wu Daozi to paint, we must rely on it!"

Yan Shu's expression changed, and he said nervously, "This is top-quality Western Kunlun Wine, which must be brewed with Western Kunlun's elixir spring. Except for the Grand Void Palace, it is a fairy wine that is worth ten thousand gold everywhere else. This pot I gave you was brought back by my Martial Uncle last time he went to Western Kunlun. Do you know that in those years, Xie Xuan, in order to drink a pot of Western Kunlun Wine, sent people to the Great River to use the art of water identification and magic treasure jade ladles to scoop up the elixir water from the source of the Three Rivers, and it took a year to gather enough for one pot to brew the wine..."

"Then such a fine item, as long as one is a guest of the cup, they will certainly not be able to refuse!" Qian Chen smiled, "Brother, are you willing to use it to exchange for the peace of Chang'an?"

Yan Shu felt a pang in his heart, then said, "If Qian Shidi goes, you must take me with you!"

"Why?" Qian Chen teased.

"Qian Shidi doesn't understand the mind of a drunkard. Giving wine to ask for something is low-grade... accompanying them to drink is the way to get what you want! Qian Shidi, you need a drinking companion to sit with... and I can also drink back half of this fairy wine!" Yan Shu smiled, not hiding his intentions at all.

Cen Can, standing to the side, was made to crave it!

He immediately thickened his skin and said, "May I, count me in too?"

"Brother Cen has learned to be bad!" Qian Chen pointed at him, and Cen Can did not mind: "Taibai, why do you think I am familiar with Wu Daozi?"

Qian Chen and his group returned to the Yuzhen Temple. The one opening the door was still the palace maid. Seeing Qian Chen and the others out for the night, and actually bringing two more people to the door, and even a woman with a slender figure, standing gracefully with a sword, whose bearing was not inferior to their own Princess. Her expression changed subtly, truly hard to describe.

As soon as Qian Chen saw it, he knew she didn't know what she was thinking about! He didn't pay any attention and walked straight in.

At this time, Si Qingchen heard the sound and led Feng Shi out the door, complaining, "You made such a big commotion last night, with such fun excitement, you actually didn't want to call me?"

Feng Shi leaped up and ran toward Qian Chen. Just as Qian Chen was about to grab it, he saw this big yellow chicken turn its head and actually run into Ning Qingchen's arms. This startled Qian Chen, Yan Shu, and Si Qingguo.

Yan Shu hesitated and said, "Has Feng Shi changed its nature?"

Qian Chen was also a bit puzzled. He shook his head: "As the saying goes, rivers and mountains are easy to change, but nature is hard to move. There must be something tricky about this... Ning Ning Shimei, what do you think?"

Si Qingguo nodded and said seriously, "I think it's because Feng Shi left Yan Shixiong Sister for so long for the first time, so true feelings conquered desire!"

At this time, Feng Shi stretched its beak and nipped, pulling a thin bag out of Ning Qingchen's arms, scratching with its claws to rummage inside, and soon pulled out a three-foot-long centipede with a dark blue back.

Ning Qingchen said with a wry smile, "This is a strange insect demon I killed at Ananda Temple, thinking Feng Shi might like it..."

"Sure enough, nature is hard to move..." Qian Chen sighed.

Si Qingguo whispered, "Sure enough, Yan Shixiong Sister is the one who truly loves Feng Shi. The insect demons Yan Yan Shixiong killed must be a hundred times more than Yan Shixiong Sister's, but he never thinks of Feng Shi's rations!" After using Ning Qingchen as a tool, Feng Shi indeed immediately turned to Qian Chen's embrace. The Ear-Dao God on Qian Chen's shoulder was eager to try, desperately pointing its finger at the inner pocket of Qian Chen's sleeve, indicating there were spirit pills inside.

Feng Shi hesitated and looked at the Ear-Dao God, not believing it had such good intentions.

Qian Chen took out the inner pocket, which contained the incense pills he had rolled with the prepared Spirit-Startling Incense... At this moment, Feng Shi immediately used the speed of lightning to nip and take the incense pill. Ning Qingchen was startled and hurriedly went to pry open Feng Shi's beak. Feng Shi immediately tilted its neck and swallowed it.

Ning Qingchen went up nervously to check, but saw Feng Shi was full of spirit, not at all like the listless state of the Ear-Dao God after waking up, let alone sleepy!

Qian Chen said strangely, "Feng Shi is not a ghost or god, it has a physical body to protect it. This Spirit-Startling Incense can only turn into a stream of fragrance, slowly nourishing its spirit. It only has benefits for it! And the Ear-Dao God fainted for a while, it's not necessarily a bad thing. It has eaten too many spirit pills and accumulated a lot of medicinal properties. Over time, I'm afraid it will be pickled and flavored!"

"After being startled into a dream once, dreaming all the way from this projected world back to the Wei and Jin dynasties, and dreaming all kinds of things about the future, its innate supernatural powers will also change. In the future, this little monster won't just be able to talk about some trivial things in the future!"

The Ear-Dao God didn't care about that much. What if its supernatural powers evolved? Could it eat an extra bowl of rice?

It only cared that it had suffered a loss but hadn't pitted this annoying big yellow chicken. It immediately sat back on Qian Chen's shoulder, somewhat listless.

Several people were talking to each other about what happened last night. Si Qingguo whispered, "Last night I felt a bit stuffy in my heart, as if a big stone was pressing there."

Qian Chen calculated after hearing this, but his method of calculation was not very proficient. However, the Ear-Dao God gestured for a while, and Ning Qingchen translated: "The Ear-Dao God said, this is because the karma of you occupying this body is taking effect!"

"The remains of Empress Zhaocheng?" Si Qingguo was startled and said, "Could it be that something happened to the remains?"

Hearing this, Qian Chen put down the half-baked heavenly calculation method in his hand that was sometimes effective and sometimes not, and said solemnly, "This time I have learned many old stories about the Li Tang dynasty. The death of Empress Zhaocheng is definitely not that simple. The Empress was a Great Heavenly Demon of the Demon sect, a peerless demon lord who was the last to ascend to the Nine Heavens,"

"If Consort Dou was killed by her, and the Emperor has had overwhelming power all these years, yet still cannot find his mother's remains, then it is understandable!"

"The Empress's mind is unfathomable, who knows what she will do with these remains?"

"Ning Ning Shimei, go get an old item of Consort Dou! I will cast a spell to search for the whereabouts of her remains!"