Chapter 1011: Unmoved Heart

The valley became a crowded town, with houses and tents transformed by magic everywhere. The population expanded several times. There were monks or Taoists flying in the sky, soldiers with swords and talisman masters wearing high crowns patrolling on the ground, adults were busy making fires with simple cooking utensils, and children were shouting and running on the narrow and winding paths.

Most of the thick ashes on the ground disappeared, and the rest were trampled into mud. The whole valley looked dirty, but it exuded a vigorous vitality. This was a rough and barbaric vitality, like weeds growing on scorched land, like strange trees growing on rugged cliffs.

In the past few days, Shi Hanyuan traveled thousands of miles back and forth, searching for special babies, gathering practitioners and protecting mortals he met. His achievements were greater than Jinchu and Mu Xingqiu, saving more than 40,000 people, including nearly 100 Taoists and more than 300 monks and talisman masters.

Facing a devastating crisis, Shi Hanyuan, who had accidentally killed a large number of Taoists and monks in Yelin Town, finally gained some people's understanding.

Zhao Chuye summoned the five elements of the calamity within a radius of hundreds of miles to besiege the valley, which attracted Shi Hanyuan's attention. He first led some Taoists to come, but did not dare to use the teleportation technique. On the way, he ran into Zhao Chuye, who was in a state of dismay. Seeing the ancestral tower in his hand, he immediately captured him.

The nine great treasures have all been in the hands of the Taoist ancestors. Whoever holds one of them means that he has surrendered to Kun Dun.

When Mu Xingqiu walked out of the room, a group of people immediately surrounded him and bowed to him. They had been reminded that General Mu did not need anything. They stayed here just to see with their own eyes whether he was really recovered.

Mu Xingqiu's legs were still a little weak, and he returned the greetings to everyone, calling a follower named Yao Que'er to take him to find Shouque.

His appearance caused a commotion in the valley. Whether they had seen him or not, many people looked over here. Even the flyers in the sky stopped and looked down. If someone whispered the word "horse demon", they would be severely reprimanded by others.

The family of three of Luo Laohan in the town kept bowing to him in the crowd.

Shouque did not live in the house. Yao Que'er led Mu Xingqiu to the edge of the valley. Along the way, like the people on both sides of the road, he kept turning his head to look at General Mu.

Yao Que'er was in his twenties, with thick hands and feet and rosy cheeks. He used to work part-time in and outside Duanliu City, hungry and full, and had no fixed place to live. In his own words, he was "like a loach tumbling in the furrows", but he was arrogant and always wanted to do something. One day, he listened to "General Mu" preaching. During the period, people came and went, asking questions or playing, but he stood there just listening, not leaving or asking questions. Finally, he threw down the pole in his hand and vowed to become a follower.

He felt that General Mu was a little strange now, but he didn't dare to guess.

The hillside was still bare. Mu Xingqiu saw Shouque from afar. She stood on the ridge with her back to the valley. She didn't look far away, but lowered her head slightly, looking at something under her feet.

"Will the general preach in the future?" When they were almost at the foot of the mountain, there were fewer people watching. Yao Que'er seized the opportunity to ask in a low voice. After following General Mu for several months, this was his first question.

"Preach?"

"Well, the general once said that he would preach once a day and set it as a religious rule. He didn't preach yesterday, and today... he won't preach, right?"

"It's over." Mu Xingqiu stopped and said to his persistent follower, "The Ancient God Religion and the Way of the Weak are not in the hands of anyone. Everyone can get it and everyone can preach it. You are good."

Yao Que'er blushed all of a sudden, thinking that General Mu was mocking her. When she looked up, the general's expression was serious, "I, I can't."

"Did you participate in the fight for the position of array master and awakening Shouque?"

"I participated."

"Becoming the array master ?”

“It worked a little bit… but that’s nothing. Many people succeeded, at least half of them. In the end, the formation was messed up, but it saved Miss Shouque.”

“Everyone who becomes the master of the formation is qualified to preach. This time you can save more people. Mu Xingqiu left this sentence and stepped up the mountain, leaving Yao Que’er standing there alone, as if she had realized something.

The mountain soil was soft, and there were many pits of different sizes. Mu Xingqiu, who had weak magic power, had a hard time climbing. Halfway through, he met Fu Lin who was guarding the mountainside, so he stopped for a while and took the opportunity to take a breath.

“How many secrets does the talisman have?” Fu Lin looked stupid and asked questions as soon as he met him, and he didn’t even care about General Mu’s recovery. “Why can the blood of the general and Zhao Chuye strengthen the talisman, but ordinary Taoist priests can’t? I’ve read the records. Long Binhui tried it a long time ago.”

“The reason is very simple. You haven’t tried the blood of high-level Taoist priests.”

“Indeed, Long Binhui has no chance to get the blood of Taoist priests above Xingluo. What’s the difference? "

Mu Xingqiu raised his hands to his chest. They had been injured many times and were covered in blood, but now they have recovered as before, just a little pale. "High-level Taoists have abundant magic power, which overflows from the three fields, breaks through the meridians, and soaks the blood, flesh, and bones of the whole body. They are different from ordinary Taoists. This is my guess, but I don’t think there will be any other reasons. "

Fu Lin nodded repeatedly, "General is right, but the Fire God Seal and the inner elixir, as well as people, pens, ink, and paper..." He glanced at Shouque on the top of the mountain, stopped talking about talismans, and instead reminded: "Miss Shouque has changed again, please... pay attention, it’s best not to get within ten steps. "

Shouque was still wearing a white dress and white clothes, her hair was neatly tied into a bun, with a sword-shaped wooden hairpin inserted in it, and her waist was straight. She was different from the Shouques in Mu Xingqiu's impression. At this moment, she had a bit of a master's demeanor, like a master.

Mu Xingqiu stopped ten steps away, one foot up and one foot down, his face slightly red, panting, climbing the mountain almost exhausted his little strength.

"It's not easy to be a mortal, right?" Shouque said without turning his head. His voice did not change, but his tone was no longer cold and arrogant, but more calm and natural.

"Well, it's not easy to be a hero either." Mu Xingqiu's eyes turned to Shouque's feet. A green sprout grew in the turned-up soil, no more than two or three inches high, weak and fragile. Shouque stood in a position that just blocked the wind for them.

Shouque turned his head and indeed aged a little, from seventeen or eighteen to about thirty, with no childishness at all, but his appearance had not changed much, and his eyes had a sharpness that penetrated people's hearts, which was somewhat similar to Zuo Liuying. Mu Xingqiu was very surprised. The main formation and the burning Dharma body had a great impact on cultivation. Shouque's realm might have dropped to just past the state of infusion, but she looked like she had risen a lot.

"No, it's not difficult at all." Shouque's tone was a little mysterious and free and easy, just like a master talking to a new disciple, "I am a hero not for myself, not for all living beings, but only for one person, so it's not difficult at all, because there is nothing that cannot be abandoned or sacrificed."

"You have only known him for three days."

"If there are things you spend your whole life looking for, when you finally find them, will you think it is not precious enough because the time is short?"

Mu Xingqiu was speechless.

"My soul has lost some of its spirits, but my memory has recovered a little: I was once a disciple of the Nianxin Department, practicing illusions, and targeting the human mind. I have seen countless states of mind and played with them at my fingertips. The hearts of mortals are chaotic and lustful, like bubbles rising up, while the hearts of Taoists are pure but unnatural, with traces of chiseling everywhere. I have always wondered, is there no truly pure state of mind in this world? It's like a gem that doesn't need to be decorated. Now, I have found it."

Mu Xingqiu was still speechless. In his impression, Jinchu's heart didn't seem so pure.

Shouque smiled, "Oh, the perfect gem in my mind is different from what you imagine. It doesn't need to be big, complete, or transparent. It just needs to be tough, so tough that it can't be shaken by any illusion in the world. General Mu's heart is like this. He has had a chaotic mortal heart and a carved strong heart. After many temperings, only one original heart is left."

"His name is Jinchu." Mu Xingqiu was unwilling to take the credit for others.

"I know that his mind is strong, but his defense is average. I have read his memory." Shouque smiled again. That was something she did out of innocence. "I understand him, so I also understand you a little bit."

"Me?"

"You are a mortal, Mu Xingqiu. By chance, you have extraordinary powers. Your heart is still the same as a mortal, chaotic and lustful. Your calmness now is just because you have lost your memory. Please believe me, chaos and lust are not worse than the purity carved out. From the perspective of illusion, the former is not magnificent, but more colorful. The latter seems unbreakable, but in fact they are all the same. A flaw in one state of mind is a flaw in all states of mind. Taoist priests from other departments, especially high-level Taoist priests, do not like mind-reading illusions, because we can see through the details of the Taoist priests' hearts. That calm lake reflects not only everything in the world, but also their hidden emotions. The disciples of the mind-reading department were just a little bit away from catching the flaws of the high-level Taoist priests, but we were locked up in the Demon-Exorcising Cave."

Shouque seemed to have really remembered a lot of things.

"Do you know what the fire I'm thinking of is?" Mu Xingqiu asked. Finding that fire means regaining memory. This is what Zuo Liuying said. He seemed to know something, but he refused to reveal it.

Shouque shook his head, "I don't know you to that extent, but I know that you will take on the responsibility of General Mu in the past. Keep going. Maybe the fire you are looking for is among them. I will help you, not for anything else, just for them."

Shouque looked down at the young shoots that were trying to grow.

Mu Xingqiu was silent for a long time, watching the sunset, the mountains disappearing, and the valley behind him was noisy, just as Shouque said-chaotic and colorful.

"Is your illusion still working?" Mu Xingqiu asked.

"My magic power has declined, but people's hearts are simpler in my eyes."

"This time you have to deal with the hearts of the Taoist priests. You have to make them believe that I can stop the attack of the Taoist fire."

"Can you really do it?" Shouque shook his head as soon as he said it, "No need to answer, I know the character of 'General Mu'."

She blinked.

There were less than two hours left before the attack of the Taoist fire at midnight.