Chapter 380 Another Hope

The skinny, dark-skinned old man dragged his dirty grandson and guarded two piles of self-woven straw hats. He hoped to sell the goods quickly, but also hoped that no one would see him. He regretted entering this strange place with tall towers. His mind was blank and he had completely forgotten how he walked here step by step.

Mu Xingqiu saw the grandfather and grandson when he came, and took a special look on the way back. None of the straw hats were sold. They were piled up on the street like two small towers. They came to the wrong place. This is where talisman masters gather. Ordinary residents are either rich or noble. No one needs shabby straw hats. Moreover, the old man hid behind the pile of straw hats, and the pedestrians who hurried by could not see him at all. It was a miracle that he could stay here for so long without being expelled.

These were not the two most miserable people in the imperial capital at this moment, but they left an impression in Mu Xingqiu's heart. He had walked over, turned around and came back, "How much is one?"

"Hmm? Straw hat... copper coin... one..." The old man answered in a panic, looked up at the young man asking the price, and tightly grasped his grandson's hand.

Mu Xingqiu opened the treasure bag on his waist and took out a small piece of silver from it. This was the silver that Xin Youtao gave to everyone when a group of Zhiyong disciples went to kill monsters and practice under the leadership of my mother many years ago. The past events were vivid in his mind, but half of the people at that time were missing. Several people were missing when the monster tribe invaded, and most of them had died at the hands of the monster soldiers.

"Is it enough? I want all these straw hats."

The old man and the child stared blankly at the small, glittering white thing, and did not speak for a long time.

Mu Xingqiu had to use a telepathic magic to let a dark and thin hand take the silver. "Don't stay in the Imperial Capital. Buy some food and go home immediately. Don't come to the Imperial Capital again in the next few days."

The magic aroused an urgent mood in the old man's heart. He wanted to go home, right away. He didn't want to drink water or eat food, and he didn't even look at the toys that his grandson pestered him to buy. He just wanted to go home.

The old man picked up his grandson and ran for his life, not even taking the shoulder pole.

In this way, Mu Xingqiu returned to Pangshan Dojo with two piles of straw hats, put one on his head, and stood at the gate, like a woodcutter who had just walked out of the mountains.

Everyone was waiting for him to come back in the yard, and saw him like this. They were all stunned. The bald man flew over and grinned, "Haha, Brother Xiaoqiu is going to let the horse go again."

The bald man still remembered that this was Xiaoqiu's image in Yelin Town before. Shen Hao also remembered it, and laughed, "This... If you don't become a Taoist priest, you don't need to become like this, right?"

Yang Qingyin and Xiao Qingtao looked at each other, and both disagreed with Mu Xingqiu's change.

Yang Qingyin said: "Is this your 'General's Crown'? Do all those who join the Demon Slayer Association have to wear one?"

Mu Xingqiu smiled and shook his head, "I happened to see someone selling it, and I didn't expect it to be quite comfortable to wear. By the way. Xin Youtao will come tomorrow."

"The Xin Youtao we know?" Shen Hao asked.

"Well, it seems that his soul has not been abandoned."

Xiao Qingtao let out a long breath, muttered something in her mouth, and her expression immediately became cold again. She has not forgiven Xin Youtao for leaving without saying goodbye. At that time, his soul was intact and everything he did was out of his own will.

"Who does the emperor's grandson represent? The Shengfu Dynasty or the Longbin Association? Do you have his support?" Shen Hao continued to ask.

"Representing both of them, we talked for a while, and he is willing to help me build an army. But there is a condition, I must recruit 500 Taoists first."

"Five hundred? There are not so many Taoists in the whole Imperial Capital. He is clearly perfunctory." Shen Hao and his team's original goal was to attract 800 low-level Taoists to join the Demon Slayer Association, but after Mu Xingqiu withdrew from Pangshan. He felt that it was difficult and was afraid that he could not even recruit 100 people.

"So I hope everyone will go back to the Taoist sect, think about their decision, and persuade others."

Yang Qingyin has decided to withdraw from Pangshan, but she is not optimistic about the prospects of the Demon Slayer Association. "I will be away from the Taoist sect for at least three years. If I follow you to fight, do you know what this means? It's almost like being imprisoned in the Cliff of Repentance. It's a waste of time and I have to risk my life. After finally returning to the Taoist sect, I won't get any rewards. It's very likely that I will fall behind fellow Taoists who have condensed their pills at the same time. Mu Xingqiu, in addition to the straw hat and lofty words, you have to find better reasons to persuade."

Mu Xingqiu was about to speak when the bald man next to him suddenly said, "Brother Xiaoqiu, the chief monk wants to see you."

Mu Xingqiu hummed, left the two stacks of straw hats at the door, and walked to the backyard.

The bald man asked Yang Qingyin in a low voice, "I want to withdraw from Pangshan with Brother Xiaoqiu. I can't be their voice transmitter anymore. What should I say so that the chief monk won't be too sad? "

Shen Jixian would not be sad. Although his room was also very simple and without any superfluous things, it was brightly lit and did not feel dark when walking in from outside. It was completely different from Zuo Liuying's room.

Shen Jixian pointed to a cushion in front of him and motioned Mu Xingqiu to sit down. Like everyone else, he stared at the straw hat on Mu Xingqiu's head, "I have seen people wearing this kind of thing in Jinghu Village."

"I used to wear a straw hat when I was herding horses in Yelin Town. It was made by my father. It is different from this one. It is not as good as this one. It will be tattered after wearing it for a day."

"At least we have begun to understand each other. I will meet with him frequently in the future to discuss some details."

"You guessed that there are six or seven people who have mastered the soul-changing talisman, which scared them."

Although Mu Xingqiu was no longer a Pangshan Taoist priest, the record of his conversation with Fu Meng was immediately sent to the senior Taoist priest by Long Binhui. When Mu Xingqiu was walking on the road, Shen Jixian already knew the entire conversation.

"This is the beginning of understanding each other."

"You have to be careful. For a small organization that deliberately keeps secrets, understanding each other is a dangerous thing. Now you will be a huge threat to Long Bin."

Mu Xingqiu smiled, and suddenly remembered that it was not polite to talk while wearing a straw hat. He had been a Taoist priest for so long that he almost forgot the rules of mortals, so he took off his straw hat and put it next to him, "They are afraid that I will leak the secret, or are they afraid?" Did I take their lives?"

"There are seven of them. Not only did you know the number, you also roughly guessed their soul-changing trajectories, so you are now one of the few people who can catch them all. Long Binhui and Daotong have known each other for tens of thousands of years. You still have your heart. Doubts, and you've only met them once. They just feel terrible."

The soul-changers of Longbinhui have become accustomed to the gaze of high-ranking Taoist priests, and regard this gaze as sunshine and no need to be wary. But suddenly, when a pair of unfamiliar eyes stare at them, they will of course feel uncomfortable.

"At least we save the process of testing each other. I hope I can make them let down their guard in the future."

"There will be a coup in the capital tonight. What are you going to do?" Shen Jixian changed the subject. He had already given the necessary reminders, and all other matters depended on Mu Xingqiu himself.

Mu Xingqiu learned about the coup from Master Pan, so he speculated that the leaders of the Longbin Society did not have the energy to deal with another Taoist priest. This was the most important reason why he was confident in rescuing Xin Youtao, "I bought some straw hats, Do nothing else."

Sending his grandfather and grandson away to avoid the upcoming military chaos was Mu Xingqiu's only intervention. He really didn't plan to do anything else.

"Qu Xungui and his family are the 'treacherous ministers' carefully cultivated by Long Binhui over the years. This great talisman master has lived up to expectations. He has tried every means to seize all power and wealth, and has greatly angered the court and outside. Through this Coup. If the Shengfu Dynasty can continue for a while, the resentment of mortals will be greatly reduced. Long Binhui really understands mortals better. If it were Taoism, it would never be able to think of such a complicated and effective method. "

Mu Xingqiu didn't want to comment on this. He had known that Qu Xungui would be the victim and had no sympathy in his heart.

This was just a casual chat, Shen Jixian said with a straight face, "I have been entrusted by seventeen Taoist priests to learn more about your plan."

No matter how confident you were before. After hearing this, Mu Xingqiu felt much more relaxed. The high Taoist priest was considering his plan, which was no small achievement.

"What do you want to know, Sir?" Mu Xingqiu's tone also became more formal.

"You want every Taoist family - of course, except Lookout Mountain - to give you one-tenth of the supplies, including magic weapons, elixirs, books, mounts, etc."

"This army composed of Taoist priests must have the ability to fight for a long time, and it must minimize casualties. When we were in Duanliu City, a dozen Taoist priests would need hundreds of various magical weapons. Ordinary low-level Taoist priests would not be able to obtain them at ordinary times. Looking at these things, they have at most three or four magical weapons, which are not enough to fight against the demon clan. "

"You also hope that each Taoist family will transfer one tenth of the annual offerings from Longbinhui to you."

"It only takes three years. After three years, I will figure out a way myself."

"In this way, you are equivalent to establishing another Taoist lineage in addition to the Nine Dao Taoist orthodoxy. It is said that you are withdrawing, but in fact it is parasitism."

"It is precisely because the Nine Dao Traditions are becoming more and more similar to each other that a completely different direction is needed. We are just a group of low-level Taoist priests. No matter how many magical weapons we possess, we cannot threaten any Dao Tradition. Moreover, my Dao Tradition ' is unstable. Except for myself, every Taoist priest who has experienced the tempering of war will eventually return to his own Taoism. They will become stronger, more confident, and more assertive, just like they have been for 130,000 years. The first batch of Taoist priests in the past may be able to solve the deteriorating situation of the Nine Dao Tradition. I hope that some of them can become Fu Rimang Taoist priests."

Shen Jixian felt that he should show a little dissatisfaction with the word "deteriorating", but he just smiled and said, "There is little hope. You took away real supplies from the Taoist tradition, w. took away the most precious young disciples, and promised them to senior The Taoist's is only a slim hope."

"But it is a hope after all, and it is a hope that high-level Taoist priests cannot provide. For a hope that no one knows, the founder closed the Lookout Mountain. For his hope, Zuo Liuying almost opened the void passage and released a large number of demon species. Every family Every high-level Taoist priest in Taoism is working hard for a certain hope. Since the hopes cannot be unified, why not add another one?"

"Your plan is too simple and full of loopholes. Your hope is illusory and has no possibility of realization." Shen Jixian made this judgment on behalf of the senior Taoist priests. Then he thought for a while, "Note that the Taoist priests have not made the final decision yet." decision, but you can reveal the entire plan to ordinary Taoist priests and attract them to quit the Taoist order and join the Demon Slayer Club."

"Thanks."

"But Taoism has a condition."

"Please tell me."

"You can't stop any Taoist family from finding and seizing Qin Lingshuang's soul. It doesn't belong to you."

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