At this time, night fell. Li Jinglong suggested, "Let's wait here and see." Thus, he made a bonfire and took out some dry food for Hongjun. Hongjun had no appetite for the whole day and was listless. He drank some water from the stream and lay down.
"You've worked hard." Li Jinglong said, "This case is tentatively confirmed to be a demon. When it's over, I'll take you guys to have fun."
Hongjun lay on the meadow and looked sideways at Li Jinglong. He asked, "On the way down the mountain to Chang 'an, I slept like this every day. I'm used to it. But how did you know? "
Li Jinglong said thoughtfully, "A bodyguard suddenly killed everyone in the caravan on the last day before arriving at Chang 'an. In the end, he even committed suicide. Don't you think this is very unreasonable?"
Hongjun said, "But the demon didn't kill them personally. What is he doing here?"
Li Jinglong answered, "Maybe this is the key clue."
Hongjun thought hard and couldn't figure it out. Li Jinglong said, "After going back and discussing with them, we might have a clearer conclusion. Think about something happy. Where do you like to go to play? "
"I'm not going to Pingkang," Hongjun said casually.
"Did you find it boring to stop you last time?" Li Jinglong said lightly.
Hongjun didn't know why, but he suddenly thought of what the Carp Demon said yesterday. Following Li Jinglong, he not only knew how to eat but also knew how to play. There were many new things every day. If this continued, it was as if his life became happier.
Li Jinglong, "?"
Hongjun suddenly pointed at the stars in the autumn night sky and said, "Changshi, look at the stars. They're so beautiful."
Li Jinglong said, "Mm." He simply lay down and the two of them looked at the stars together.
"I don't like Qin Wu." Li Jinglong said, "Are you a little jealous?"
Hongjun's heart suddenly started beating violently for no reason. He said awkwardly, "No … there is!"
"Look, I'm worried about him." Li Jinglong said seriously, "You don't feel good in your heart, right?"
Hongjun immediately turned around and lay on his side, not responding.
Li Jinglong continued, "He and I were good friends, it's just that I couldn't bear to see him fall into such a state …" While saying that, he looked up at the starry sky again. Lost in thought, he said, "Although I have known you for less than a month, the way you talk and act, it's obvious that you are an immortal. The way he conducts himself is incomparably clear. How can a mortal compare to him? "
When Hongjun heard Li Jinglong praise himself like this, he was immediately overjoyed. He turned around, looked at him and said, "Really? I'm so happy with your praise! "
Li Jinglong said happily, "Just take it that I'm coaxing you."
Hongjun was a little sleepy. He said in a daze, "Sometimes, when I look at Du Hanqing and Little Fifth, I can't help but think, if I didn't grow up in Yao … in my family. Maybe I would've done worse than them. So the advantage I have is that I was reincarnated into a good family. "
"That's not necessarily the case." Li Jinglong said, "Everyone has their own nature. Some people disdain doing many things even if they are down and out all their lives. That day, you said that you like Chang Shi … "
Hongjun grunted. His eyelids were heavy, and tiredness hit him. He didn't hear what Li Jinglong said after that. Li Jinglong was very surprised. Why did he fall asleep just like that? He reached out and shook Hongjun. He called out to him, but he didn't ask for an answer, so he could only give up.
The bonfire gradually extinguished, and the world fell into darkness.
Hongjun suddenly woke up in the darkness and screamed again. He felt that his body was covered by clothes, but before he could struggle, Li Jinglong, who was next to him, immediately reached out and pressed him down.
Li Jinglong had unknowingly moved over and was lying side by side with him. The two of them were covered by his outer robe and were leaning against each other.
"Did you have a dream again?" Li Jinglong asked with concern. "Why do you always have nightmares?"
Hongjun panted lightly and said, "I dreamed of monsters killing … killing people."
He dreamed of the corpse he saw during the day hiding behind a rock and trembling. A black shadow emitted fog and came forward. It stretched out its hand, and the blood on the ground turned into living worms that danced and finally gathered in its hand.
"Don't be afraid." Li Jinglong whispered, "Are you sensitive to resentment? I wanted to ask you today. "
Hongjun grunted. He felt Li Jinglong's strong body and a strong heartbeat coming from his chest. There was an extremely faint light in his heart pulse, which made him yearn for it. He leaned over slightly, and his soul that was disturbed by the nightmare gradually settled down, and he fell asleep again.
The next morning, when he woke up, nothing had happened. Li Jinglong patrolled one more time, and with Hongjun, he spurred the horse back to Chang 'an City. When they arrived at the Exorcism Department, the three of them were lying in the main hall and sleeping with their clothes on. It was obvious that they had checked the case files all night.
"There was a new case last night." Atay said sleepily, "A murder case, a monster. There were also witnesses. "
Li Jinglong pondered for a moment, and then said, "Let's put this case aside first and listen to the results of our investigation. Hongjun, it's your turn to speak this time."
"Ah?" Hongjun had almost forgotten about it, and said, "Yesterday, I ate two bowls of braised goose noodles …"
"How dare you!" Atay said angrily, "We're working ourselves to death in the Exorcism Department, and you're going out to eat delicious food?"
Li Jinglong really did make things worse, and said angrily, "Get to the point!"
Relying on his memory, Hong Jun recounted what happened in detail. When he talked about vomiting, everyone, including the carp demon, said in unison, "Serves you right!" Finally, when he mentioned the Ping He Liang, everyone's brows were deeply furrowed. They began to ask questions one after another. This time, it was Li Jinglong's turn to answer. He explained the cause and effect clearly in an organized manner, and then said to Hongjun, "Did you forget something?"
Hongjun did not remember. Mo Rigen said first, "The first three cases might not necessarily be a monster, but the last one must be strange."
"You also included Qin Wu," Li Jinglong said.
"Do you feel that there's something in common between these four cases?" Atay muttered.
"Is the common point that even the Supreme Court could not solve them?" Qiu Yongsi said.
Everyone: "…"
Qiu Yongsi waved his hand and said happily, "It's related to blood."
Hongjun: "That's right."
"Other than the doctor who escaped from the city, there are no more clues." Li Jinglong said in a low voice, "The remaining cases, whether it's the crime scene or the method used to commit the crime, are all abnormally intense."
"This can't be considered a similarity." Mo Rigen frowned and said, "Murder cases are always covered in blood."
Li Jinglong said again, "The murderers all lose their rationality at some point."
Qiu Yongsi: "When people are angry, they will do impulsive things, and when they are driven by their inner demons …"
"Inner demons." Li Jinglong directly pointed out the word that Qiu Yongsi said.
Everyone fell silent again.
"Only Qin Wu is like this, right?" Hongjun said, "After all, we haven't seen the other murderers."
Li Jinglong reminded, "The bodyguard who committed suicide."
Hongjun immediately remembered that the expression of the suicide victim was something that he found out himself.
"We have to find the blacksmith who killed his wife," Mo Rigen said, "If it's similar to Qin Wu, there might be a problem."
"The blacksmith's neighbor should know him, right?" Atay asked.
"It's in the case file, he's an honest man." Li Jinglong gestured for Atay to see for himself.
When the topic was about the blacksmith, Hongjun suddenly thought of something. He took out the half-moon iron piece that he found in the blacksmith's house and said, "I feel that this …"
"Wait!" Qiu Yongsi immediately leaned over and quickly grabbed it. As he held it in his hand, his breathing quickened.
"What kind of magic weapon is this?" Hongjun asked. When he saw the iron piece, he felt that there was a faint demonic aura on it, but he couldn't tell where it came from. Among the five people, Qiu Yongsi was the most experienced and knowledgeable. Since he recognized the Sword of Wisdom, he might know the origin of this item.
"This isn't a magic weapon." Qiu Yongsi muttered, "This is a scale …"
The next afternoon, the jailer brought the people from the Exorcism Department and the Supreme Court Official Lian Hao to the deepest part of the prison.
"They've all been interrogated, they confessed to everything. They only mentioned that they were possessed when they killed the man. "Lian Hao asked the jailer to use the key to open the prison door and let them in.
The murderer was hiding in a dark corner. He was a blacksmith in his fifties. He was cowering, his hair was disheveled, and his mouth was full of gibberish. He was already delirious.
Li Jinglong lightly touched him, and the blacksmith immediately let out a heart-wrenching scream, roaring, "Ghost — —! Ghost! "
Mo Rigen knelt on one knee and went in front of the blacksmith to observe his expression.
"What did you see?" Mo Rigen asked, "Don't be afraid, tell us."
The blacksmith couldn't stop trembling, his face contorted, and his throat made gurgling noises. He didn't say anything. Li Jinglong frowned deeply and glanced at Hongjun. The two of them had a tacit understanding. They both remembered the expression of the bodyguard who slaughtered the entire caravan before he died.
"Ghost, ghost …" The blacksmith tossed and turned, only saying this sentence.
When everyone left the prison, Hongjun inadvertently glanced and saw Qin Wu locked up in another prison cell. Qin Wu was wearing a death row prisoner's uniform, handcuffed, and shackled. He was lying on the ground covered with straw, asleep.
There was the sound of iron chains, the jailer unlocked the door. Hong Jun went in and slapped Qin Wu awake. Qin Wu suddenly became a bird startled by the twang of a bow, he grabbed Hong Jun's wrist tightly.
"Save me … save me …" Qin Wu said in a trembling voice, "I shouldn't have done that … I was wrong …"
Hongjun frowned and said, "Little Wu, tell me, what happened?"
Qin Wu's eyes were full of fear and he was about to cry. He said, "I don't know … I don't know … there was a shadow following me … I didn't want to fight … save me …"
Outside the prison, everyone's expression froze.
Li Jinglong entered the prison cell, knelt in front of Qin Wu, and looked at his expression.
Qin Wu said in a trembling voice, "After killing them, a shadow came in …"
Hongjun was shocked. Li Jinglong asked, "What did the shadow look like?"
Qin Wu shook his head and begged, "I don't know. I didn't look carefully. I ran away. I didn't dare to stay here any longer …"
That night, Qin Wu still hadn't calmed down from his bloodthirsty madness after killing his enemy's whole family. He felt a cold wind blowing around him. His blood seemed to have a life of its own. It gathered into worms on the ground and crawled around. In an instant, his shock and madness were replaced by fear. He held his sword and stumbled all the way out.
"It must be an illusion." Lian Hao frowned and said, "Many murderers are delirious after committing a crime. There are very few who can stay calm."
Hongjun remembered the calm Qin Wu he saw that day. He was completely different from the panicked Qin Wu he saw after killing people. He couldn't connect the two.
That night, the autumn moon shone brightly. Everyone stopped in front of the Nine Zigzag Bridge in silence.
Hongjun turned the dragon scale back and forth between his fingers, from his index finger to his middle finger, then to his ring finger, and back to his index finger.
"Don't cut your hand." Mo Rigen reminded him.
"A dragon?" Li Jinglong said, "He instigated Blacksmith and Qin Wu to kill people. Why? What was his motive?"
"It must be related to some kind of sorcery." Qiu Yongsi analyzed, "Although the one in Hongjun's hand is a dragon scale, the dragon has nine sons. Each of them is different. The possibility of it being a real dragon is very small."
"Yes." Hongjun said, "Dragon scales and phoenix feathers all contain the power of powerful spiritual beasts. This might be a dragon's scale, but it's definitely not a real dragon. "
At that moment, the sound of water came from the Nine Zigzag River. The Carp Demon crawled out from the water and answered, "The river is murky. I can't see anything. But at the innermost edge of the Golden Pool Lake, there are traces of something big crawling here. It pushed the edge of the lake askew a lot. "
As long as it was a member of the Water Clan, even if they cultivated into a real dragon, they would often need water. For those with low cultivation like the Carp Demon, they would often need to soak in the pool. Li Jinglong guessed correctly. Since there were aquatic demons, then there would definitely be traces left behind in the waterways of Chang 'an.
"Split up and check all the waterways." Li Jinglong said, "If you find anything unusual, report it immediately."
Everyone then split up and went to every corner of Chang 'an. Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Chang 'an area had been known as "Gaojing". Since the Han Dynasty, there was a saying that "Eight Rivers Surround Chang' an". The Jing River and the Wei River flowed through this thousand-year-old ancient city. The tributaries were tangled and complicated like a water net. The Shang Lin Yuan and other places were almost ten feet deep.
If there were aquatic demons, there would most likely be traces of movement at the mouth of each canal, river, and fence. Hongjun and the Carp Demon walked all the way to the west through the Lishui Bridge. The city was already under curfew, so there was only the sound of a human and a demon conversing in a dark alley.
"Some demons are born as dragons, but some demons have to cultivate for thousands of years before they can become a dragon." The Carp Demon said, "Don't you think it's unfair?"
Hongjun held the Five-colored Divine Light in his hand and illuminated the surroundings. He said to the Carp Demon, "I feel that the carp is the unfair one. He is clearly not related to the Dragon Clan, but he can become a dragon just by jumping the dragon gate."
"In your dreams." The Carp Demon answered, "The children's books are all lies. Do you understand? You have to accumulate merit first. After accumulating enough merit, you can jump the dragon gate and become a dragon. "
"Shh." Hongjun stood outside a waterway in the west of the city. He held the Five-colored Divine Light and shone it inside. The sound of water dripping down dropped by drop. The Carp Demon hurriedly hid behind Hongjun.
In the darkness, the surroundings were silent. The Lishui River flowed underground and flowed out of the city walls into the city moat outside Chang 'an. However, this was the city wall of East Chang 'an built by Qin Qiong during Li Shimin's reign. It was built on a hill. When there was a drought, the water outside the city flowed backwards into Chang' an, causing the water level to rise. When there was a drought, the water in the city flowed towards the Wei River and flowed towards the plains of Qinchuan. It was once a water conservancy project that irrigated the city.
After Wu Zetian moved the capital to Luoyang, this place had been abandoned for a long time. It had not been repaired for a long time, and the Ministry of Works did not take care of it. Even the underground waterway was filled with silt and was surrounded by thick iron fences. Under the fences, something seemed to be shining under the light.
The Carp Demon ran over to pick it up. Hongjun said in surprise, "It's another piece! Why does it look different? "
Hongjun placed the two pieces of iron scale side by side and compared them. He saw that one was dark gray and the other was blue. There was a clear difference.
"There's more than one." Hongjun said in a deep voice.
Hongjun tried to lift the iron fence, but the fence weighed two thousand pounds. He did not have enough strength, so he could only take out a throwing knife and cut off one of the fences. Holding the broken fence in his hand, he entered the waterway.
"Hongjun, don't act rashly. The throwing knives are not together. I'll call them over first!" The Carp Demon said.
Hongjun did not know whether to laugh or cry, "You're looking down on me too much."
Although Hongjun had bumped into many things along the way, he still had some strength. However, compared to his companions from the Exorcism Division, he was still lacking. The Carp Demon turned around to inform his companions. Hongjun then slowly moved forward in the dark waterway.
The tunnel was spacious and deep. The sound of dripping water continued to be heard. It was so dark that one couldn't see their fingers in front of them. A gust of wind blew past at the end, followed by a creaking sound. It was as if someone was pushing a wooden door.
"Who is it!" Hongjun said in shock.
Without hearing a response, Hongjun stood alone in the darkness and snapped his fingers. Magic light shone in all directions, and the shape of a Phoenix's wings could be vaguely seen. It burst out with true flames and turned into dozens of meteors, shooting towards the two walls of the tunnel. The sound of being lit rang out continuously. The torches inserted into the walls lit up one by one, and the tunnel regained its light.
With another creaking sound, Hongjun slowly walked in the direction of the sound. After turning a corner, he found an extremely spacious underground space. There were many abandoned warships inside, and the river gurgled. A stream of water fell from above, pouring onto a rotten waterwheel. The waterwheel made a sound every time it turned half a circle.
Hongjun was about to turn around when a hand suddenly pressed down on his shoulder from behind. A gloomy voice whispered in his ear, "Hi, Ma, Hou, Bi …"
Hongjun was instantly enraged. He almost chopped off Atay's hand with a flying knife. When he turned around, Atay immediately signaled him to be quiet. The Carp Demon found Atay nearby. The others had not arrived yet.
"What does this sentence mean?" Hongjun was scared out of his wits.
"It means' Hello, little Hongjun 'in Persian.'" Atay held the jeweled folding fan and smiled calmly.
"You added the last part yourself, right?" Hongjun said expressionlessly, and threw another dragon scale to Atay. Atay signaled him to look at the ground. Then he waved his fan, and a few flames burst out from his ring and flew out, illuminating the quiet riverbank.
A group of footprints appeared on the riverbank. The two of them looked at it for a moment, then raised their heads together and looked at the calm water of the pond.
"Maybe he's hiding in the water." Atay whispered. "Let's take a gamble?"
Hongjun whispered, "I think this monster might not be at home."
Atay raised his eyebrows, wondering where he got this information from. Hongjun whispered, "The murders have been happening at night for the past few days, right?"
"Smart." Atay smiled. Then, without any warning, he waved his fan and stirred up the water of the underground river!
"Wah!" Hongjun hurriedly said, "I'm just guessing! "
Atay turned on the fan in his hand. With a loud noise, all the water in the river was swirled into a huge whirlpool. Then, with a splash, it collapsed. The walls of the cave were full of flowing waterfalls.
"Little baby, you guessed right. He's not at home." Atay said casually, "Shall we each search one side? You first? "
Hongjun turned around and started searching along the walls of the cave with Atay. At this time, the decaying wood of the battleships was scattered everywhere. He carefully stepped on the deck of a ship.
"Atay!" Hongjun said, "Come and take a look at this."
Atay quickly leaped over the bows of a few ships and landed beside Hongjun. Hongjun found a magic circle carved with runes on the deck. In the center of the magic circle was a copper plate. In the copper plate, there was a strange drop of bright red liquid. The liquid was constantly wriggling.
The two of them looked at each other, then raised their heads and looked around.
"It looks like a temporary altar," Atai said with a frown. "Is it for sacrifice? What's the meaning of this magic circle? "
"Why aren't they here yet?" Hongjun asked.
Atay felt that something was not right. He said, "Take it and leave."
Atay gestured for Hongjun to pick up the copper plate. He took out an extremely small glass bottle, pulled out the stopper and pointed it at the drop of blood. Immediately after, the drop of blood seemed to have a life of its own. With a "swoosh", it turned into a thin film. It covered the two of them!
"Be careful!" Atay shouted.
Before Hongjun could react, Atay instantly shook his folding fan. A gust of wind swept out and sent the two of them out of the magic circle! However, in the next moment, the drop of blood shot into the river. Instantly, the river turned blood red and rushed towards the two of them!
Hongjun shouted, "What is this?!"
Atay shouted, "Leave this place! Go and ask for help! "
Immediately after, Atay used all his strength and waved his fan, wanting to send Hongjun out of the sky full of blood. In an instant, a figure appeared at the entrance of the cave and blocked Hongjun's path!
The sea of blood covered the sky and covered the earth. Hongjun was in mid-air when he saw a figure rushing towards him. The cloak behind him fluttered, revealing a ferocious face. It was Yazi! Yazi's face was full of fierceness. He bared his fangs, flicked his sharp claws, and pounced towards Hongjun!
"Atay —!"
Hongjun shouted. Atay had already been swept into the sea of blood that had gathered into a wave. Immediately after, Hongjun threw out his throwing knives with both hands. Two throwing knives clanged against Yazi's sharp claws! Yazi opened his mouth, and his bell-like eyes flashed with a strong light. Hongjun was not afraid at all. His body trembled.
The Five-colored Divine Light rushed out in an instant and slammed into Yazi. Yazi never expected that it couldn't do anything to this young man. It had underestimated its opponent previously, so it was immediately sent flying backward. It slammed into the rotten ship, broke the mast, and fell into the blood sea in an earth-shattering manner!
Hong Jun's Five-colored Divine Light was originally the most valiant defensive magic weapon in the world. Flying sand, raging fire, black ice, wild thunder, it could almost block all things. It focused on defense and not on offense. If he were to chase after Yazi, even if he could not do anything to it due to the incomplete flying daggers, he could still block a demon.
"Atay!" Hongjun shouted.
A hurricane rolled up, and the sea of blood retreated to both sides. Icy light shot out in all directions. Sometimes, there was fire and lightning. Obviously, Atay, who was swept into the sea of blood, was struggling. However, the sea of blood had no shape. It was all waves. The hurricane fan could seal the front but not the back. Atay kept jumping at the bow of the ship, but he was hit by a huge wave and was almost knocked down again!
The sea of blood continued to rise. Atay was already panting. The place where he landed was almost disintegrated, becoming an isolated island in the sea of blood.
Hongjun shot out his hook rope and wrapped it around the top of the cave. He pulled the hook rope with one hand and ran quickly around the circular cave wall. He stepped sideways and then turned around. He opened his arms and jumped at Atay in the air, shouting, "Catch —!"
The sea of blood rushed at Atay from all directions. Atay roared and spun on the spot. A gust of wind broke out and rolled the wall of waves that swallowed him into a whirlpool. He then somersaulted and waved a hurricane at the ship, using the recoil to rise to the top of the cave.
The ship collapsed under the force. Hongjun jumped down from the air and grabbed Atay tightly. Atay turned around and waved his fan. The gust of wind blew and sent the two of them to the entrance like arrows!
The sea of blood swallowed all the space and rushed up the cave wall. It turned around and surrounded the two of them! Hongjun shook his left hand. The Five-colored Divine Light rose from the ground and formed a wall. The sea of blood crashed into the wall, but it could not pass through!
Atay was panting. Hongjun flipped his hands and pushed the Five-colored Divine Light forward again. Atay shouted, "Good job!"
The sea of blood was pushed back by Hongjun. The sea of blood collapsed and was blocked just like that. Then, an ugly monster appeared from the water and crashed into the Five-colored Divine Light's barrier!
The Yazi finally appeared, but it still could not break through Hongjun's super magic weapon. Looking at this scene, the whole cave seemed to have turned into a glass fish tank. A light barrier that was dozens of feet wide blocked the blood-stained river water that weighed more than ten thousand pounds. There was also a terrifying giant beast inside that was crazily attacking the barrier!
"How long can you last?" Atay asked.
"If it's spells … I should be able to last until tomorrow morning," Hongjun said. "It's just that my hands are sore."
"If I say retreat, you retreat," Atay said. "Then turn around and run. If I say stop, you stop. Then use your magic weapon to block it."
"Okay," Hongjun answered. "Be careful."
At that moment, the Yazi rushed toward the Five-colored Divine Light again and crashed into the barrier. Then, the Five-colored Divine Light shone and bounced it back.
"Retreat!" Atay shouted.
Hongjun withdrew the Five-colored Divine Light and the sea of blood suddenly rushed over like a landslide. Then, Atay opened his arms and jumped back. He shouted, "Run!"
Hongjun turned around and ran. When Atay jumped back, he opened his hands and the ring on his left hand burst out dense fireballs. With a wave of his right hand, the fireballs suddenly whistled toward the sea of blood!
Coincidentally, at that moment, the Yazi rushed out of the sea of blood and rushed toward the two of them. Atay shouted again, "Stop!"
Hong Jun turned his head and caught a glimpse of Yazi's gaping mouth. However, what awaited him was an endless stream of dozens of fireballs. In an instant, the fireballs whistled as they all filled Yazi's mouth!
Hongjun bowed and pressed his hands together. The Five-colored Divine Light barrier rose again.
There was a muffled sound as if someone had crashed into a wall. The fireballs swallowed by the Yazi exploded in its abdomen. The power of the explosion blew a bloody hole in its abdomen. Then, it collided with the Five-colored Divine Light and stirred the sea of blood into a turbid state. It flew backward behind the barrier.
Hongjun laughed, "Hahahaha —"
He only felt that the scene was very funny. Atay panted and said, "Let's retreat."
Hongjun pressed his hands against the Five-colored Divine Light and sealed the tunnel, blocking the surging sea of blood. The Yazi was long gone. Strangely, the sea of blood gradually calmed down.
The two of them took a few steps back. The color of the sea of blood gradually faded. The bright red color seemed to be alive and kept shrinking in the water. Hong Jun recalled the first time he saw the wriggling blood on the plate, so he tried to remove the divine light barrier. The dirty water flowed down with a "splash" sound.
On the wet ground, a smear of bright red blood was slowly twisting. The Yazi's abdomen was pierced and it had escaped somewhere.
Hongjun frowned and looked at Atay.