Journey to the West: Begins with Tiger Vanguard

Chapter 124 Nightmare!

so easy.

Autumn is high and fresh.

It's another harvest season.

The capital of Chechi State was bustling with activity both inside and outside.

The streets are filled with laughter and joy.

The huge and majestic Jinshan Temple, located in the most prosperous area of ​​the inner city of the capital, is still very popular.

As the name of the National Master has continued to spread in Chechi Kingdom over the years, Jinshan Temple, the National Master Taoist temple, has long become the holy place of Chechi Kingdom. It is also the most famous tourist attraction and pilgrimage point in the entire country!

none of them.

The front gate of the Taoist temple was still extremely crowded, and fully armored guards assisted the disciples in maintaining order.

In the main hall in the front yard, a large number of people who came to worship and burn incense were extremely happy when they could get a seat or wait in line. After burning incense with great piety, they all relaxed completely, as if they had accomplished an important event in their lives.

Especially in the past year, as the rumor of Jinshan Temple becoming more and more effective spread, more and more people came from all over Chechi Kingdom to worship.

of course.

The eminent monk Tang Sanzang, who came from the Tang Dynasty in the East with three strange and scary disciples to pray for the souls of the people across the country, gained some fame in Chechi State because he traveled around the country to hold free prayer ceremonies.

As to whether it was the Buddhist monks' prayer ceremonies that worked, or the pilgrimage to the Golden Mountain Temple to worship the national master that was effective, it all depends on whether the people trust them or not.

But since this year, judging from the situation that people from all over the country have flocked to the capital to worship Jinshan Temple, Jinshan Temple, which has protected Chechi Kingdom for many years and the immortal national master behind it, obviously have more trust from the people.

Just after noon.

The front yard of Jinshan Temple is noisy and bustling with people worshipping incense.

backyard,

But it is quiet and peaceful.
Ordinary disciples are not allowed to enter the backyard without orders.

As for outsiders, they are even more stopped.

At this time.

The manager of Jinshan Temple, Xiong Er, who was stocky, ordinary-looking and dressed in an exquisite Taoist robe, walked from the front yard to the middle yard, then into the back yard, all the way to the deepest part of the back yard, amid the respectful voices of the disciples in the temple.

Between the backyard and the royal garden lake at the back, a door was opened under the tall and thick courtyard wall, and people walked quickly towards the lake in the distance.

soon.

Xiong Er walked to a big tree that was still green even in autumn, and stood not far from the tall figure in a black robe and black hair sitting under the tree fishing. He took out a wax-sealed letter from his sleeve and said respectfully, "Master, I just received a letter from Luo Yang."

"Oh"

Qi Hu, who was fishing, turned around and stretched out his hand: "Give it to me."

The henchman Xiong Er immediately handed over the letter with both hands, then stood aside respectfully.

Qi Hu took it, opened the wax seal, and unfolded the letter.
Read the letter promptly.

Qi Hu couldn't help but raise his lips slightly, and chuckled: "According to Elder Tang's current progress, it will take at least half a year to return to the capital."

The letter in his hand was sent by one of the most important members who accompanied the team to the national Dharma Assembly. In addition to leading the team along the way, he was also the link between Tang Sanzang and the local government.

Qi Hu sent a total of three such people to follow the team.

It is to know the progress and progress of the team.
Although Tang Sanzang successfully held a Dharma assembly wherever he went, the local government would send people to deliver messages to the court. When the letters arrived at the capital, Qi Hu knew the information faster than the king in the palace.

But it was ultimately not as timely as the letters sent by the people who were accompanying the team on the journey to the West.

Moreover, Qi Hu taught the three people to write this kind of letter openly at the beginning and told it to Tang Sanzang.

Because this kind of thing cannot be hidden from Sun Wukong at all, it is better to make it clear directly.

It just so happened that Qi Hu wrote back from time to time, and with the imperial seal, he could intimidate some local government officials who were not very obedient and cooperative.

Therefore, Tang Sanzang was not only not averse to this kind of behavior, but he would occasionally write a letter to Qi Hu and send it back.

This is also the reason why Qi Hu has been able to clearly grasp the movements of the pilgrim team over the past year.

I know that they were delayed for a long time due to heavy snow when they just set out last winter.

After the cold winter, the journey was quite comfortable.

Although Chechi Kingdom was not as vast as the Tang Dynasty, it was not small in size. In addition, it was close to the Tongtian River and had rich water resources. There were people and small towns in every corner of the country, which greatly delayed the progress of the team.

This caused Qi Hu to change his initial estimate of half a year, then to a year, and now to a year and a half.
From what we can see so far, the team has been blocked in Chechi Kingdom for a year.

It can be said that his mission this time has been secured. Next it depends on how much he has accomplished in the mission. The longer the team is delayed, the higher his degree of accomplishment will be, and the happier he will be.

I was looking forward to seeing Zhang Daoling, Zhang Tianshi, again next time.

I don't know this time
I was lost in thought for a while.

Qi Hu came back to his senses and casually handed the letter to Xiong Er, the henchman beside him, and instructed: "Write back to them and ask them to do a good job for Elder Tang."

In addition to asking the three people to write a letter to inform us every time they lead the team to a new place.

Qi Hu's reply was basically to help the team solve general problems, and at the same time to ask the three people to work honestly for the team. There was nothing else. He certainly didn't ask the three people to do any small tricks, such as slow down the work, deliberately delay the trip, etc.

Because Qi Hu knew very well that those actions would only make Sun Wukong suspicious of him and would not have any other benefits.

Qi Hu never dared to doubt Sun Wukong's intelligence.

"Yes, sir."

After taking the letter, the evil ghost Xiong Er turned around and left.

Xiong Er left quickly.

Qi Hu looked at the float on the lake not far away, raised his hand and picked up the fishing rod, and saw a lively fish hanging on the fishing line.

Take the fish, put on the bait, and throw the fishing line into the water again.

I looked at the empty little iron bucket and finally found the first fish.

Qi Hu was in a good mood.

Speaking of which, he was a fisherman before he traveled through time.

The reason I traveled through time was because I ate poisonous mushrooms at a roadside restaurant while fishing, and that’s why I came to this world.

After coming into this world, he was still very interested in fishing at first and wanted to cast his rod here and there.

But at the beginning, when I was still a little demon, I had no time to fish.

Now that he has become a slightly bigger monster and some time has passed, his thoughts have become dull again.

Now, as he had nothing to do while waiting for the pilgrim team to return, he thought of fishing again.

This time when I went fishing again, I regained some of the fun I had fishing in my previous life.

Of course, his fishing skills were limited in his previous life, and they remain the same in this life.

Just watching him fishing from this morning till now, he could see schools of fish swimming around in the lake from time to time, and he could even tell there was only one fish in the bucket.

When it comes to fishing, he not only has poor talent, but also bad luck.

But he didn't cheat. Otherwise, as long as he put a little thought into it and wrapped a little bit of spiritual energy on the fish food, no fish would be able to refuse it and it would have exploded long ago.

"what"

At this time,

As soon as I went down, the float moved again.

Qi Hu was happy that he had good luck today.

In the distance behind, the sound of the private back door of Jinshan Temple opening was heard again.

Qi Hu lifted the fishing rod again and watched the fish on the hook jump out of the water and then break free from the hook, fall into the water and escape.

At this time.

The evil ghost Xiong Er also quickly came to the big tree, next to Qi Hu.

"What's the matter?"

Qi Hu changed the fish food and spoke without turning his head.

"master"

The henchman Xiong Er stopped and said immediately: "The king of the palace is here."

"Oh"

Hearing this, Qi Hu was a little surprised and asked casually, "Your Majesty, what is the matter?"

The ghost Xiong Er: "Your Majesty didn't say anything, but I can see that your Majesty doesn't look very well, as if you are sick."

“I’m sick”

Upon hearing the voice, Qi Hu paused his movements and his eyes narrowed slightly.

If it is a common illness, there are imperial doctors in the palace.

They will only notify Jinshan Temple if the imperial physician finds the situation difficult.

And if it was caused by other things, he would always have the one-eyed bear demon in the late spiritual realm following the king.

Ordinary ghosts have no chance of getting close to the palace.

Even in the capital, he let the female demon and female ghost Hongye wander around the streets. Usually, he would eat up any ghosts and wandering spirits that were born unexpectedly.

No matter how powerful the other ghosts and monsters were, he had been in Jinshan Temple for the past year and had not noticed them at all.

But generally speaking, the king would not come to Jinshan Temple easily.

Combined with what Xiong Er said now.
There must be something going on here.
Quick thoughts here.

Qi Hu waved his hand, and the evil spirit Xiong Er immediately turned around and left.

Qi Hu carefully threw the replaced bait into the lake, then raised his hand and inserted the fishing rod deeply into the trunk of a big tree nearby.

Then he took a step forward and disappeared on the spot.

next moment.

Qi Hu's figure instantly appeared in the backyard of Jinshan Temple.

"Owner."

Another bear demon hidden in the dark, the one-eyed ghost, immediately appeared and knelt down to salute Qi Hu.

"Stand up and speak." "What happened, Your Majesty?"

Qi Hu said as he walked towards the guest room courtyard.

“I don’t know.”

The ghost with one eye immediately stood up and followed and said: "But from what Your Majesty said, it seems that Your Majesty had a nightmare before."

"nightmare."

Hearing this word, Qi Hu paused slightly, saluted by several elite guards at the door, and walked into the guest room.

I saw the figure of the national teacher in black robe and with extraordinary temperament appear at the door.

In front of the tea table in the guest room, the middle-aged king, who had been frowning, immediately stood up, and hurried forward as if he was looking at a savior and a backbone, and said anxiously: "State Master, I am going to trouble you again."

"Your Majesty, please be patient."

Seeing the middle-aged king's face was indeed pale and ugly, with a faint black line between his eyebrows, Qi Hu immediately spoke in a gentle voice to comfort him.

And hearing what the national teacher said.

The king, who had been feeling very anxious, suddenly felt much more comfortable and quickly said, "Master, I."

"Don't worry, Your Majesty."

Qi Hu interrupted the king and immediately pointed to the bench next to the tea table, smiling gently, "Please sit down first."

The king, who had been anxious and impatient before, did not become impatient at all after hearing these words. Instead, he felt the anxiety in his heart quickly dissipate like ice and snow melting, making him a little more sober.

He also listened to the words of the national teacher very naturally and sat on the bench obediently.

At this time.

Qi Hu, who was sitting at the table opposite the king, said again: "Bring tea."

"Yes, sir"

The ghost manager Xiong Er who was waiting outside the door immediately responded and walked in, and started to make tea on the tea table nearby.

Xiong Er's henchman was extremely efficient and quickly made a pot of hot tea and brought it over. After pouring a cup each for Qi Hu and the king, he quickly and consciously left the room.

Qi Hu looked at the king, whose complexion had improved a little, and said in a gentle voice, "Your Majesty, please give me some tea."

The king obediently picked up the teacup and blew slowly on the hot tea. When the tea was hot enough to drink, the anxiety on the king's face was obviously gone.

Qi Hu then looked at the king and said, "Your Majesty, you can speak now."

"call"

Hearing Qi Hu's words, the king put down the teacup in his hand, let out a long breath, and his face finally came to his senses. Then he slowly said: "Today, after I reviewed the memorials, I took a nap in the imperial study, and then I had a nightmare."

At this point, the king's expression changed slightly, and he immediately looked at Qi Hu beside him and said, "Master, do you know who I had a nightmare about?"

Qi Hu smiled slightly: "Who did your majesty have a nightmare about?"

The king took a deep breath and said, "I had a nightmare about the five concubines who were abducted by the monster."

Speaking of it.

Recalling the nightmare scenes, the king's face immediately showed some fear, and then he immediately thought of something, looked at Qi Hu and asked: "Does the national teacher know about this?"

Hearing the king's words.

Qi Hu picked up the teacup and took a sip, then nodded and said, "I know a thing or two. Your Majesty, why don't you explain it in more detail?"

The king nodded immediately, picked up the teacup and took a sip, calmed down, and continued: "That happened more than 20 years ago, before the arrival of the national teacher. At that time, the drought had already started. One day, a black wind suddenly blew up in the mountains and forests outside the city, rushed directly into the imperial city, swept up my five concubines and left!"

"It's a pity that the evil villain didn't have a solution to the drought, and he didn't do anything about the monster that kidnapped several of my concubines."

"From that time on, I decided to replace that bald donkey Ben Zhen!"

"After that, Ben Zhen came late, saying that he was delayed by something, which led to the rampage of monsters. It will never happen again in the future."

"And I no longer have any trace of the five concubines. Even though I sent people to inquire about them, there was no news. I knew that they must have been killed by the monster."

"But just last night, I dreamed of those five concubines. They were covered in blood and looked like evil spirits. They asked me why I didn't save them, saying that I had killed them and wanted me to pay for my life!"

"Originally I thought they were just tired, but today, not long ago, I had nightmares about them again, and they looked clearer, more frightening, and even closer to me!"

"I can feel that they will come again."

Speaking of it.

The king still had a look of fear on his face. He immediately looked at the imperial master who seemed to be always calm and composed and said, "I dare not delay, so I quickly found the imperial master. Please save me!"

Done.

The king immediately stood up and bowed to Qi Hu.

Qi Hu raised his hand and helped the king up. Then he said gently, "Your Majesty, don't worry. I can solve this problem. Have some tea first."

"That's good"

"It's good that it can be solved!"

After hearing Qi Hu's words, the king felt relieved and his expression improved a little.

He has always had complete faith in the abilities of the Imperial Master!
If the Imperial Master says it can be solved, then it can definitely be solved.

Looking at the king who had a calm expression.

Qi Hu's mind raced rapidly: "No wonder the bear demon's one-eyed henchman didn't notice anything."

"No wonder I couldn't detect it. It turns out that the other party was using the Nightmare Technique."

This kind of magical spell is not difficult to break for the time being. Just let the king stay in Jinshan Temple. Under his mighty power, even nightmares cannot invade the king's dreams.

In fact, this also shows that the person who uses this magical power should not be very strong.

Otherwise, the king would have already passed away by now.

Moreover, the opponent can directly rush into Chechi Junior High School, so there is no need to use nightmares to deal with the king again and again.

However, although Qi Hu could infer that the opponent's strength would not be too strong and it would be easy to break the opponent's magical powers, it was not so easy to completely eliminate the opponent.

Because he didn't know who the other party was, nor did he know the other party's exact location!
But he had to get rid of him. The king couldn't stay by his side forever, and he couldn't stay in Chechi Kingdom forever.

However, all hatreds usually have cause and effect.

Those who want to kill the King of Chechi must have some connection with him, so we should be able to start from here.
Thinking of this.

Qi Hu put down the teacup in his hand, looked at the king and asked, "Your Majesty, have you ever made enemies with other people before, especially those outside the world?"

"start a feud."

Hearing Qi Hu's words, the middle-aged king immediately frowned, and after thinking for a long time, he said, "I don't remember many people who have made enemies with me. As for the outsiders, there are no more except that thief bald donkey Benzhen, but Benzhen has been killed by the national teacher."

"I can't think of anyone else who has a grudge against me."

Hearing this, Qi Hu also frowned slightly. As the king of a country, he would have killed almost all those who had grudges against him. There was no way he would have kept them alive until now.

As for people like him who are not from the world and are practicing cultivation, if they have no hatred, they probably won't easily want to kill the king of a country. After all, most countries have immortal gates to look after them, or they have their own guardian national masters.

Benzhen was already dead; he saw it with his own eyes.

Even if the other party reincarnated as quickly as possible, practiced cultivation, and tried to awaken his past life memories to take revenge, it would definitely not be enough. Twenty years is far from enough.

Moreover, considering all the things that guy had done in the human world, he absolutely did not believe that he would not go to the eighteen levels of hell after going to the underworld.

So authenticity can also be ruled out.

But the king said there were no other enemies.
this moment.

Qi Hu couldn't help but frown.

If his cultivation was stronger, he might be able to trace the source directly through the nightmare, but his cultivation was far from that level.

The Green Bull Demon, the One-horned Rhinoceros, could certainly do it, but there was no way he could bring the king to see him.

As for Sun Wukong from the pilgrimage team, he would certainly be able to do it, but it would take at least half a year for them to return, and Qi Hu did not want to take the king to meet them.

After all, he had been operating in Chechi Kingdom for so long just to make things difficult for Sun Wukong and Tang Sanzang.

If they were here now, they could ask the other party for help.

But if he wasn't there, Qi Hu definitely couldn't go up to him like this, because that would affect the impression he made in the eyes of Zhang Tianshi behind him.

When this difficulty was about to be completed perfectly, Qi Hu really didn't want to create any more twists and turns.

But beyond that?

All of a sudden.

Qi Hu fell into deep thought.

at this time.

The king suddenly said, "Master, do you think my concubines are restless in the underworld? Should I burn some paper money for them?"

The king had not yet finished speaking.

There was indeed a flash of lightning in Qi Hu's mind immediately!
"Yes!"

"Those concubines!"

Thinking of this suddenly, Qi Hu put down the teacup in his hand, looked up at the king and asked: "Your Majesty, do you still have the belongings of the five abducted concubines? As long as they used them often, it will be fine?"

The king was stunned.

Then he immediately said: "I don't know, I will send someone back to the palace to find it!"

Seeing the Imperial Master nod, the King immediately called out, "Someone come!"

A guard immediately walked in quickly and knelt down to salute.

The king immediately ordered, "Go, return to the palace right now and tell the queen to find the items used by Concubine Jing and the other five when they were alive. You must find them and send them here!"

The guard left quickly.

Less than two cups of tea.

The guard who had left earlier came to the guest room in the backyard of Jinshan Temple with a female official and an exquisite box.

"Your Majesty, I found it!"

When the female official opened her mouth, she presented the box and opened it.

Qi Hu looked at a small bronze mirror in the box and nodded immediately.

(End of this chapter)