At that time, Lin 'an City was in the midst of war. Everywhere one looked, there was blood everywhere, and there were broken walls everywhere.
Under the corrosive miasma of evil spirits, all the grass in the suburbs withered, and all the trees withered.
Before Mo Ran could come back to his senses, he heard a strange noise. He looked up and saw a fresh intestine hanging on the branch of an old pagoda tree not far away. More than ten black crows were pecking at it. Drops of blood and meat were constantly splashing down.
Under the tree, a middle-aged man's body was lying on the ground. His abdomen was torn open by claws. Dirty blood and internal organs flowed all over the ground.
No one knew whether his eyes were open or closed when he died. His eyeballs had been pecked out.
Mo Ran was not unfamiliar with this kind of scene.
In his previous life, he moved unhindered in the human world. He had once slaughtered 72 cities of the Confucian Wind School. At that time, blood flowed and corpses were everywhere. It was also a tragic scene.
But for some reason, the blood of his previous life made him very happy. Every piece of bone and flesh in his body was screaming wantonly.
However, at this moment, he suddenly saw a similar tragic scene. A layer of coldness rose in his heart. He felt half an inch of pity … Could it be that he had been pretending to be well-behaved for so long that he had unconsciously changed his nature?
While he was thinking, he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves. A cloud of dust rose up in front of him.
In this kind of chaotic world, those who could ride horses quickly were most likely not good people.
Mo Ran immediately pulled Chu Wanning behind him. However, the old road of Lin 'an was empty and there was no place to hide.
In the blink of an eye, a group of light cavalry appeared in the vast cloud of dust. When he looked closer, he found that the horses were not strong. Some of them were so hungry that even their ribs could be seen. There were more than ten people sitting on the backs of the horses, pressing on their heads.
Those people were wearing the same white robes with red and white feathers on their heads. Their eyebrows were tied with the Double Dragon Strangulation Headband.
Although their clothes were not very clean, they were very neat. Although their faces were very thin, they were still hale and hearty.
What was even rarer was that each of them had a strong bow and a full quiver of arrows on their backs.
In this chaotic world, the two most valuable things were food and weapons.
They were obviously not ordinary people.
Mo Ran didn't know whether the visitor was good or bad, friend or foe.
One of the teenagers, who was about fourteen or fifteen years old, screamed, "Father!
Father! "
The young man tumbled down from the horse's back and fell into the mud. He scrambled to his feet and ran towards the tree. He threw himself on the body of the dead middle-aged man and cried, "Father!
Father! "
The others also showed a pitiful expression, but they had obviously seen too many deaths, so much so that they were somewhat numb. Therefore, other than the youth who was holding the corpse and crying bitterly, there was no one else who dismounted from their horses to console him.
Someone noticed Mo Ran and Chu Wanning not far away. He was stunned for a moment and asked in Lin 'an dialect, "You're not locals, are you?"
Mo Ran said, "Yes … we are from Shu."
"So far?"
The man was shocked. "In this world, there are ghosts everywhere at night. How did you survive?"
"… I know some magic."
Mo Ran knew that the more he spoke, the more likely he would make mistakes. Seeing that these people didn't mean any harm, he pulled Chu Wanning out and said, "This is my brother. We passed by here and couldn't walk anymore, so we want to take a break."
When the riders saw Chu Wanning, some of them seemed to be stunned for a moment. Two of them even whispered a few words to each other.
Mo Ran was alert and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." The leading young man said, "Seriously.
If you want to rest, you can rest in the city.
Although there are no monsters here now, when night comes, there will be ghosts everywhere. Young Man's foster father went out to look for food in the daytime, but there was a rainstorm yesterday, so he didn't have time to come back before dark. You see … "He sighed heavily and didn't continue.
It turned out that Young Man was the crying boy, and the dead man under the tree was his foster father.
Such things always happened in troubled times. A family member would go out in search of food in the morning and never come back at night.
Although this had happened 200 years ago, the boy cried so hard that he almost cried blood. Mo Ran saw it and couldn't help but feel a little bitter in his heart.
However, after the slight bitterness, there was a sudden surge of fear in his heart.
In his previous life, he killed people without spilling blood. Why did he gradually become soft-hearted?
He immediately pulled Chu Wanning and said goodbye to the young riders.
The leading man said, "When you enter the city of Lin 'an, find a place to stay first.
Lin 'an is about to move the whole city to Putuo. There is abundant Spiritual Qi there, and it hasn't been attacked by the ghost for the time being.
You are alone, so it's better to go with us. "
"Move the whole city?"
"Yes."
Speaking of this, the man's eyes were shining, and his face seemed to be shining. "Thanks to Childe Chu's good strategy, all the people in the city can survive.
Let's not talk about it. We have to search the suburbs before dark to see if there are any survivors who can be brought back to the city. Alas, Young Man, let's go. Let's go. "
He called Young Man, but Young Man was still holding the body of her foster father and crying. She didn't look back.
Mo Ran sighed, pulled Chu Wanning, and whispered, "Let's go.
Let's go to the city first. "
Chu Wanning nodded and suddenly asked, "You said they moved the whole city. Did they succeed?"
Mo Ran held his cold little hand and said, "Do you want to hear the truth or the lie?"
"Of course, the truth."
"It's better for children to listen to lies."
Chu Wanning said, "They didn't succeed."
"Yes."
Mo Ran said, "You see, you know what the truth is, but you still ask again. It's as if you can change the result by asking me again."
Chu Wanning ignored him and continued to ask, "Do you know why they didn't succeed?"
"You ask me again. I'm not an old demon who has lived for two hundred years. How can I know?"
Chu Wanning didn't say anything. After a while, he said gloomily, "Almost all the people in Lin 'an city have died in the past two hundred years."
Mo Ran, "…"
Chu Wanning said, "Not many escaped."
"No, Junior Brother, you are so young. How do you know all this?"
Chu Wanning rolled his eyes at him, "Elder Yu Heng has talked about it more than once in the old history books. You don't listen in class and instead ask me why I know so much. It's really hateful."
Mo Ran was a little speechless. He thought to himself, I was absent-minded in my Shizun's class. He hasn't even scolded me yet. Why are you scolding me? But after thinking about it, he didn't want to lower himself to the child's level and let him be happy.
The two talked as they walked. Unknowingly, they passed the city gate and came to the main city of Lin 'an.
This ancient city, which stood on one side of the Qiantang River, was already fortified and deserted. Exorcism fortifications were all over the walls and the edges of the city.
Outside the city, countless corpses were piled up. They were all full of evil ghost curse marks. If these corpses were not dealt with, they would rise at night.
The Taoist priests took advantage of the noon sun to come out and spread incense ashes. For those with particularly deep curses, they dipped cinnabar in wine and drew talismans to dispel them.
There were two guards standing in front of the city gate. They were dressed exactly the same as the group of young people they had just seen outside the city. They were also dressed in white with red edges. They had a double-dragon strangulation ring on their foreheads. They had bows on their arms and a quiver full of arrows on their backs.
"Stop, who are you?"
Mo Ran explained again according to what he had just said. The two guards didn't mean to stop people from entering. They just wanted to register. So after recording the two of them, they let them in.
Before leaving, Mo Ran remembered the "Master Chu" that the young man on the horse had just mentioned. Since that person said that the migration of Lin 'an was a good idea of "Master Chu", then the key to breaking the virtual array should be this Master Chu.
"Sorry, I want to ask you about a person." Mo Ran said.
The guard raised his eyes, "You came from Shu. Do you know anyone?"
Mo Ran said with a smile, "No, a few soldiers we met on the road just now mentioned a Master Chu. They said that he would take the whole city to Putuo in two days. May I know who this Master Chu is?
I know a little about magic. If it's possible, I'd like to help. "
The guard looked him up and down. Perhaps he felt that Mo Ran should be quite capable since he was able to bring a child all the way here unscathed, so he said, "Young Master Chu is the eldest son of the governor.
A month ago, the Ghost King came and the governor unfortunately died. Since then, Master Chu has been leading us to fight against the enemy. "
"The governor's son?"
Mo Ran and Chu Wanning looked at each other. Mo Ran said, "It's strange. Does the governor's son also know magic?"
"What's so strange about it?" The guard glanced at Mo Ran, "Only big sects are allowed to cultivate but not ordinary people?"
"…"
There were independent cultivators, but they never made a difference.
Mo Ran thought to himself, could it be that Master Chu was stupid enough to come up with ideas that harmed the lives of the people in Lin 'an City?
However, as Mo Ran followed the guard's instructions and walked towards the Governor's Mansion, he immediately realized that he was wrong.
That Master Chu, who happened to have the same surname as his master, was obviously not a person with mediocre skills.
Because he saw the Shang Qing Barrier.
The Shang Qing Barrier was a very strong barrier of purifying air. It could block all evil aura within the barrier.
As long as this barrier was open, not to mention ordinary ghosts, even a thousand-year-old malicious spirit would find it difficult to step in.
However, the barrier's protective range required the caster to be inside and be the eye of the array.
Moreover, the barrier covered a very small area. Even a great master like Chu Wanning could only use the Shang Qing Barrier to cover half of the peak of life and death.
But at this moment, this Master Chu from two hundred years ago created a Shang Qing Barrier that covered a radius of ten miles around the governor's office. Although it was far inferior to Chu Wanning's, it was definitely not something that ordinary people could compare to.
The two of them walked towards the gate of the governor's office. Mo Ran originally wanted to try his luck and let someone report that there was a cultivator asking for help. He wanted to see if the governor's son would be willing to give him face.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he turned a corner, he saw three long lines in front of the governor's office.
Six female attendants dressed in the same clothes as the guards placed large wooden buckets on the ground. Several hundred old and weak women and children gathered in front of the government office and were receiving porridge as alms.
After receiving the porridge, the people came to a begonia tree in front of the office.
Under the flowering tree stood a white-clothed man. His long black hair was loosely tied into a bundle. He was distributing talisman paper after talisman paper to everyone and carefully warning them about the things they needed to pay attention to.
His back was facing Mo Ran so his face could not be seen clearly.
However, those who received the talisman paper all thanked him gratefully, "Thank you Master Chu for your kindness, thank you Master Chu for your kindness …" After that, they left.
So this is the governor's son?
Mo Ran was curious and pulled his junior over to take a look.
With just one look, Mo Ran's eyes widened as if he was struck by lightning.
Isn't this Chu Wanning???
Not only Mo Ran, but even Chu Wanning himself was stunned. Looking from afar, the governor's son had a thin face, sword-like eyebrows, phoenix-like eyes, and the curve of his nose was very gentle. Even his white clothes were very similar to his own!
Chu Wanning, "…"
Mo Ran, "…"
After being stunned for a long time, Mo Ran said with a trembling voice, "Junior Martial Brother."
"Yes."
"Don't you think … this Master Chu looks very similar to someone?"
Chu Wanning said dryly, "He looks like Elder Yu Heng."
Mo Ran slapped his thigh, "Of course!
What's going on?
Who is this person?
What's his relationship with Master? "
"… How would I know if you ask me?"
"Weren't you paying attention in class?" Mo Ran was very anxious.
"I won't talk about this in class." Chu Wanning was very angry.
The two of them stopped talking and lined up in the queue. They slowly moved forward and stared at the young master without blinking.
When they took a closer look, they realized that Master Chu and Chu Wanning did not look the same.
This young master's face was more gentle and elegant. His eyes were not as long and narrow and his pupils were gentler. His gaze was also much gentler than Chu Wanning's.
Mo Ran looked at them and suddenly made a sound of surprise. He lowered his head and looked at his junior martial brother.
"Let me take a good look."
"What …" Chu Wanning couldn't help but feel guilty and turned his face away.
When Mo Ran saw that he was dodging, he became even more persistent and reached out to pinch his face, forcing him to turn around.
After a while, he suddenly realized something and muttered, "Aiya."
Chu Wanning forced himself to remain calm. "Wh-what's wrong?"
Mo Ran narrowed his eyes. "No wonder those people whispered to each other when they saw you outside the city. I suddenly realized that you look a little like Master."
"…"
Chu Wanning hurriedly shook him off, but the tips of his ears turned red. "Nonsense."
"But it's so strange. Why were those guards able to tell at a glance, but I couldn't for a long time?"
Chu Wanning: "…"
Just as he was puzzled, a crisp sound was suddenly heard. A child's voice called out, "Father."