Chapter 609
In late spring in March, petals fall everywhere.
Fu Shaoping was walking on the ground covered with peach blossoms, with a few pink and white petals on his green shirt. He held a green-bladed long sword in his right hand, and held his Taoist partner Nangong Wan tightly with his left hand. The two walked lightly, but both frowned slightly - their purple palaces had been damaged for half a year, and their cultivation had fallen from the peak of the purple palace to the late stage of foundation building, and they have not recovered yet.
"Shao Ping, the fog ahead is getting thicker. I'm afraid it's the 'soul barrier' mentioned in ancient books." Nangong Wan said softly. She was wearing a plain white dress and only had a wooden hairpin in her hair, but it couldn't hide her innate cold temperament.
Fu Shaoping nodded and took out a yellowed scroll from his arms: "It is said in the "Records of Strange Herbs" that the Xuanyin grass grows in the "place where peach blossoms block the eyes and the source of the Jiuqu River". This fog came in strange ways, it seems like..."
"It seems like someone deliberately set up a formation." Nangong Wan took over the conversation, gathered a little spiritual light on his fingertips, and gently tapped a certain part of the leather scroll. The spiritual light spread like water, revealing a few lines of hidden handwriting: "Look here - 'Turn left when encountering fog, split when encountering water, advance three times and retreat three times, and then you will see the true source'."
The two looked at each other and turned to the left in tacit understanding. The fog gradually faded, revealing a path shaded by peach blossoms. After turning three times, the view in front of them suddenly became clear.
Thousands of peach trees are in full bloom, and the petals are falling like rain. In the distance, houses are neatly built, and the roads are connected, and the sounds of chickens and dogs can be heard. There are farmers working in the fields and children playing by the stream, just like a paradise.
"This..." Fu Shaoping's pupils shrank slightly, "Could it be..."
"Peach Blossom Spring." Nangong Wan whispered the name, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, "The secluded secret place recorded in ancient books actually exists."
Just as the two were in doubt, an old man wearing a peach branch on his head and walking with a cane came over with a kind smile: "Dear guests, are you lost?"
Fu Shaoping secretly used his spiritual power to investigate, but found that the old man had no fluctuations in cultivation, and he looked like an ordinary mortal. He bowed and saluted: "Excuse me, old man. My husband and I traveled around the mountains and rivers and came here by chance. I don't know where this place is."
"I am the head of this village, and this place is called 'Taoyuan Village'." The old man said with a smile, "Today is the 'Spring Festival Ceremony' held in our village once every sixty years. If you two don't mind, would you like to watch the ceremony?"
Nangong Wan keenly noticed that when the old man mentioned "Jia Zi Yi", a strange color flashed in his eyes. She whispered to Fu Shaoping: "Be careful, there is something strange in this village. How can an ordinary mortal village use Jia Zi to record the years?"
Fu Shaoping nodded slightly, but on the surface he agreed happily: "Thank you for bothering me."
Following the old man into the village, the two found that the village was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations everywhere, and offerings made of peach blossoms were placed in front of every house. What shocked them even more was that those seemingly ordinary villagers, who walked lightly, actually had cultivation bases above the foundation-building stage, but they deliberately concealed their auras.
"Shao Ping, look at that well." Nangong Wan suddenly sent a message. Fu Shao Ping looked closely and saw several strong men building an altar next to an ancient well in the center of the village. There was a faint black gas rising from the well, which was suppressed by some force.
"Yin Qi?" Fu Shaoping's heart trembled. After his purple palace was damaged, he was particularly sensitive to the evil energy.
In the evening, the sacrifice officially began. The villagers dressed in colorful clothes, holding peach branches, and danced around the altar in a simple and ancient dance. The village chief changed into a sacrificial robe embroidered with strange runes, stood by the well and chanted loudly:
"Spring comes and goes, flowers fade and bloom again. I swear to guard the border for a thousand years and never let the evil spirits come!"
As the chanting sounded, the black gas in the well surged more violently. Suddenly, four strong men pulled out a thick iron chain from the well, which was covered with yellowed talisman paper. The iron chain made a rattling sound, as if it was tied with something heavy.
"Open the coffin!" the village chief gave the order.
An ancient bronze coffin slowly rose from the well, with nine iron chains wrapped around the coffin, engraved with ancient evil-suppressing runes. When the coffin was completely exposed from the well, Nangong Wan's body suddenly shook.
"This smell is so familiar."
Fu Shaoping quickly held her hand and found that her palm was cold: "Wan'er?"
Nangong Wan's eyes were dazed: "I seem to have felt this kind of breath somewhere before"
At this moment, a sudden change occurred!
With a "crack", one iron chain suddenly broke. Then, the second and third chains broke in an instant. Seven of the nine iron chains broke, and the bronze coffin shook violently. Black gas poured out from the cracks like a tide!
"Oh no! The border guards are going to lose control!" The village chief was horrified, "Quickly call for the 'Zhen Yin Drum'!"
The villagers were in a mess. Several old men hurriedly brought out a large animal-skin drum with a bloody Bagua painted on the drum. The village chief bit his finger, dripped blood on the drum, and then hit it hard.
"Boom!"
The drums sounded like thunder, and the black air stagnated. But then, the last two iron chains broke, and the coffin lid flew open!
A "corpse" dressed in an ancient Taoist robe stood upright. Its skin was blue-gray, its eyes were closed, but its chest was rising and falling slightly, as if it was still breathing. The strangest thing was that there were strands of black air wrapped around it, which moved like a living thing, and sometimes turned into a hideous ghost face.
"Zombie?!" Fu Shaoping took a breath. He had seen records in the ancient books of the sect that this was an evil creature made by a dying person using secret methods. It was between life and death and could mobilize Yin energy for its own use.
The zombie suddenly opened its eyes, with no pupils in its eyes, only two balls of green ghostly fire. It opened its mouth and let out a scream that was not like a human voice, and the black air in the well suddenly surged out, rushing around like a flood!
"Retreat quickly!" Fu Shaoping pulled Nangong Wan over and swung his sword to slash out a stream of sword energy, splitting the black energy that was rushing towards the children. However, when he used his spiritual power, his old injury in the purple palace immediately broke out, and a trace of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.
"Shao Ping!" Nangong Wan exclaimed and hurriedly supported him. At the same time, he made a gesture with his left hand and a clear light barrier unfolded in front of the two of them, temporarily blocking the black air.
Seeing this, the village chief burst into tears: "It is God's will! The border guards have suppressed the Yin Meridian for thousands of years, but in the end, their minds have been eroded."
The black gas was getting thicker and thicker, and some villagers had already fallen to the ground, groaning in pain. Zombies were floating in the air, and the black gas around them turned into countless tentacles, frantically destroying the buildings in the village.
Fu Shaoping endured the pain and said in a deep voice: "Wan'er, we must do something."
Nangong Wan looked at those innocent villagers, then at the zombies that were out of control in the air, and suddenly made up his mind: "I sensed a trace of heavenly fire in that zombie. Perhaps my blood can temporarily suppress it."
Without waiting for Fu Shaoping to stop her, she flew up, her white clothes flashing like a stream of light in the black air, and rushed straight towards the zombies!
"Wan'er!" Fu Shaoping's eyes were red with anger. He didn't care about his injuries and forced the remaining spiritual power in his purple palace to follow closely.
Nangong Wan stood in the air, facing the zombies, and suddenly took off the wooden hairpin, her long black hair falling down like a waterfall. She bit her tongue and sprayed a mouthful of blood on the wooden hairpin, and the ordinary wooden hairpin suddenly ignited a golden flame!
"With my blood, I will call upon your spirit!" She shouted and threw the burning wooden hairpin at the zombie's forehead.
The zombie's movements froze, and the green ghost fire jumped violently, as if it was fighting against something. Taking this opportunity, Nangong Wan formed seals with his hands, and a fiery golden light appeared around his body, forming a huge flame seal in the air!
"Heavenly Fire Demon Seal!"
The golden talisman pressed down on the zombie, and it screamed in pain. The black gas around it melted quickly like snow meeting the scorching sun. But it immediately counterattacked madly, and a black gas that was as solid as a substance shot towards Nangong Wan's heart like a sharp arrow!
At the critical moment, a green sword light came across the sky and cut off the black arrow. Fu Shaoping stood in front of Nangong Wan, his face as pale as paper - he forced his spiritual power to crack.
"Shao Ping." Nangong Wan's voice trembled. "I'm fine." Fu Shao Ping forced a smile, but the long sword in his hand trembled slightly, "Let's go together."
The two stood side by side, one blue and one white, standing out in the dark air. Nangong Wan's Heavenly Fire Power and Fu Shaoping's Sword Qi intertwined, temporarily suppressing the zombies' rampage.
At this moment, the zombie suddenly stopped attacking, and the green ghost fire stared at Nangong Wan. Its cracked lips moved and a hoarse voice came out:
"Nangong."
Nangong Wan was struck by lightning, and froze in place: "Does it recognize me?"
The zombie's chest rose and fell violently, as if it was fighting against some kind of power in its body. It raised its hand with difficulty, pointed to a place outside the village, and then fell to the ground with a bang, and fell into silence again. As it fell, the black air in the well gradually subsided, and was pulled back to the bottom of the well by some kind of force.
The villagers were still in shock, but the village chief knelt in front of the zombie with tears in his eyes: "Guardian, you have finally waited for it."
Fu Shaoping supported the shaky Nangong Wan and found that her face was as pale as paper, but her forehead was as hot as fire. What frightened him even more was that a flame mark appeared between Nangong Wan's eyebrows at some point, flashing a faint golden light.
"Wan'er, you..."
Nangong Wan leaned weakly on his shoulder, his voice as light as a whisper: "I saw it. The memory fragment of the zombie is from my Nangong family's ancestor."
He was in a coma for three days.
Fu Shaoping stayed by the bamboo couch, his eyes wide open. He held his Taoist partner's slender wrist, his fingertips always on that weak pulse. The peach blossoms outside the window bloomed and faded, and the fallen petals floated in through the window, stained his clothes, and then slid down silently.
"Shaoping." The village chief came in with a bowl of medicine, hesitant to speak, "You should rest now."
Fu Shaoping shook his head, his eyes never leaving Nangong Wan's pale face. The flame mark between her eyebrows flickered, like a candle in the wind. What frightened him most was that whenever the mark lit up, a little golden light would shine through Nangong Wan's purple palace - that was the heavenly fire running on its own, repairing her damaged meridians.
"Father," Fu Shaoping said hoarsely, "How is the zombie now?"
The village chief put down the medicine bowl and sighed, "It has been resealed in a bronze coffin and temporarily suppressed with eighty-one newly written evil-repelling talismans. But," a worrying look appeared on his wrinkled face, "seven of the nine black iron chains have been broken, and the remaining ones will not last more than seven days."
Fu Shaoping's pupils shrank slightly. He remembered the scene of the black air on the night of the sacrifice. If the seal is completely broken
"What will happen if the Yin Meridian explodes?"
The village chief was silent for a moment, then walked to the window and pointed to the misty mountains in the distance: "Taoyuan Village is located at the place where the 'Nine Yin Meridians' converge. Thousands of years ago, the demon monks set up a large formation here to draw the Yin Qi from the ground to practice evil skills. At that time, Master Nangong, who was passing by, used himself as bait to draw the Yin Meridians into his body, and then used secret methods to transform himself into a guardian."
When he turned around, his old eyes were filled with tears: "If the seal is broken, the area within a thousand miles will turn into a ghost area. What's more terrifying is that the Yin Meridian will spread like a plague, and eventually sweep across the entire cultivation world."
Fu Shaoping felt as if a huge rock was pressing on his chest. He lowered his head to look at Nangong Wan—the lines on her forehead suddenly lit up, and her eyelashes trembled violently.
"Wan'er!"
Nangong Wan suddenly opened her eyes, and her eyes were actually glowing with a faint golden light. She grabbed Fu Shaoping's hand, her nails almost digging into his flesh: "I saw it. I saw it all."
Her voice was filled with vicissitudes that did not belong to her, as if it had traveled through thousands of years: "Nangong Yu, my ancestor, voluntarily jumped into the Yinmai Spring. He used the Heavenly Fire as a guide and his body as a lock."
Before she finished her words, she suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, the golden light suddenly went out, and she fainted again.
"Wan'er!" Fu Shaoping hurriedly checked her pulse and found that heavenly fire was running wildly in her purple palace, which was a sign of her becoming possessed.
The village chief hurriedly took out a small peach wood bottle from his arms: "This is the 'Qingxin Lu' taken from the ancient well, give it to her quickly!"
Three drops of crystal liquid fell between Nangong Wan's lips. After a while, her breathing became steady, and the mark between her eyebrows turned into a gentle light gold. Fu Shaoping let out a long sigh, and then he realized that his back was soaked with cold sweat.
"She is connected to the Guardians by blood," the village chief whispered, "and the memory resonance is too strong for a mortal body to bear."
Fu Shaoping gently wiped the blood from Nangong Wan's lips, and suddenly realized something: "Wait, you said 'mortal body'? Could it be..."
The village chief looked at the tattoo on Nangong Wan's forehead meaningfully: "With the awakening of the Skyfire bloodline to this extent, she has already stepped half a foot into the immortal gate. However..." He hesitated for a moment, "The prophecy left by the border guards that year said, 'The descendants who come with fire will continue the thousand-year oath.'"
Fu Shaoping felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave. He remembered the direction the zombie had pointed to at last, and what Nangong Wan had said before he fainted, and a terrible guess emerged in his mind.
"No," he held Nangong Wan's hand tightly, "there must be another way."
The village chief seemed to want to say something but stopped himself, and finally just shook his head and left.
At dawn on the fourth day, Nangong Wan finally woke up.
When she opened her eyes, Fu Shaoping was leaning against the couch and taking a light nap. The morning light shone through the window screen, casting tiny spots of light on his well-defined face. Nangong Wan stared at his Taoist partner's tired face, feeling sad, and gently stroked his frowning brows.
"Are you awake?" Fu Shaoping woke up instantly and grabbed her hand. "How do you feel?"
Nangong Wan smiled and nodded, her voice still a little weak: "Much better." She pointed to the peach blossom forest outside the window, "I want to go out for a walk."
Fu Shaoping wanted to object, but seeing the determination in her eyes, he finally sighed and carefully helped her up.
The peach blossoms were falling in the forest. Nangong Wan stepped barefoot on the soft petals, her white clothes were whiter than snow, and the golden seal between her eyebrows shone in the sun. She walked slowly, but her goal was clear - to a valley outside the village.
"What's there?" Fu Shaoping asked.
Nangong Wan stopped and lightly touched the trunk of a peach tree with her fingertips. An incredible scene happened - her fingers actually passed through the trunk, causing ripples like touching the water.
"Illusion?" Fu Shaoping held the hilt of the sword vigilantly.
"No, it's a memory." Nangong Wan said softly, "The memory left by our ancestors can only be seen by the Nangong bloodline." (End of this chapter)