Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

"I'm not afraid of any reaction. The equilibrium barrier used in the capital to trap protons can no longer stop me. Leaving won't be a problem."

But who exactly attacked my gentle, kind, and sexy master?

The strategy should start small. First, use sweet words, then offer some gifts as a sweet treat!

Faced with this intentional or unintentional "praise," Zuo Qiuchi glanced at him a few times in surprise, but seeing no other sign of interest, he pretended not to notice how frivolous the praise was, after all...

That brat is telling the truth!

After thinking for a moment, Chu Mingkong said:

“Gao Nan was not the planner, but merely an executor. Moreover, such information is not difficult to obtain, and it shouldn’t be hard to find out which prince he’s aligned with.”

The power dynamics in the capital were complex, but the officials' stances were relatively simple.

There is factional strife in the court, but right now, regardless of factional strife, the current situation seems to be preparing for the establishment of a new emperor.

The key is to make the most of the time to build good relationships with the princes. Yashin is the emperor's right-hand man, but what if a new emperor comes and you lose favor and become marginalized?

It's admirable to be prudent and protect oneself, but the outcome is usually not good. If you want to live a good life, you still have to find a side to stand on.

Therefore, whatever happened during this period can be attributed to the princes.

Zuo Qiuchi kicked the eunuch's corpse next to her. When she ran out of the secret realm, she didn't forget to take this one with her.

“I can take this eunuch Gao to the Yunhai Taoist Temple and have that blind woman’s soul searched to get some information. It can even be used as evidence if necessary. But you won’t need the evidence anyway.”

Evidence is meant to be used to reason, but who in the capital would reason with him?

When Chu Mingkong heard Zuo Qiuchi mention the blind woman, he thought it must be that blindfolded Taoist nun.

To be honest, the blind woman's shouts were so awful. The blindfold was quite nice though. If Zuo Qiuchi wore it, it would probably look good too.

"In that case, I think it should be fine for me to go with my master, who has a slim waist and long legs, to stay at the Taoist temple for the night. I happen to have nowhere to stay right now."

“I think it’s fine, but that blind girl might not let us, master and apprentice, go up.”

"A man my age can even break through barriers. Leave the knocking to me, we can just go upstairs and stay!"

Chu Mingkong gave her a thumbs up, and then diligently pulled Gao Nanben's hair for her, so that her good master wouldn't have to do these rough jobs anymore.

The master and apprentice walked towards the Yunhai Taoist Temple, dragging a corpse with a broken leg behind them, like leading a dog.

Strolling leisurely, Chu Mingkong felt as if he were having a romantic rendezvous with Zuo Qiuchi.

Turn around.

Chu Mingkong glanced at the corpses scattered all over the ground. Although many civilians had been rescued, the lives of the elderly and children were fragile, and many had unfortunately died.

He had no intention of saving the world or becoming a great hero, but since someone had implicated him in such a heinous act, Chu Mingkong didn't mind helping these innocent people get revenge.

"What are you looking at?" Zuo Qiuchi asked when he suddenly stopped. "No one is watching us, and I haven't withdrawn my senses."

Chu Mingkong suppressed his heavy heart and followed the woman's steps: "Generous and kind Master, my injuries have flared up again, and I've become lustful again. May I hold your hand?"

"We've only known each other for almost ten years, and you already want to touch my hand? In another ten years, won't you be kissing my cheek?"

Chu Mingkong was stunned. Hadn't we all done even more outrageous things?

"What should I do? The injury is unbearable, ouch!"

"Put your arms around my waist."

"...?"

Chu Mingkong silently reached out his hand.

"Is that where you're holding my waist? Move it down a bit."

But that's a butt!

2

Chapter One: The Humanoid Abyssal Beast

"See this? It's a small protective array. It's from the same lineage as the large protective array of their Taoist holy land. Although its protective ability is weaker than that of the Taoist holy land, it has the advantage of being portable. Only some important Taoist temples can see this kind of protective barrier," Zuo Qiuchi introduced with dissatisfaction.

Her strikingly beautiful face was filled with displeasure; anyone who didn't know better would think someone had taken over her house and set up a barrier to prevent her from entering.

"Master, can't you break this barrier?" Chu Mingkong still supported Zuo Qiuchi's beautiful peach-like body.

However, there was a bright red handprint on his face—this was the result of Chu Mingkong's foolish pinching, which almost crooked his mouth.

There's no such thing as letting someone touch you but not pinch them...

Fortunately, she let Chu Mingkong continue to hold her.

“It can be broken, but it’s too much effort. Plus, Yun Nongyu is in the Taoist temple. What if she tries to put up a stalemate with me? Try using your Extreme Yin Fire Spiritual Energy to see if it works.”

"to make."

Chu Mingkong placed his hand on the protective barrier. He sensed a trace of extreme yang energy within it, which excited him even more. He wanted to test whether his extreme yin energy could overcome the barrier.

Unfortunately, the female Taoist priest named Yun Nongyu did not give him that chance. She let out a soft sigh from the cloud peak and opened the barrier on her own.

"...Master, isn't this your fellow Daoist? What did you do to deserve such disdain?"

"What did I do? You think it's my responsibility, not that this woman is being unreasonable, right? Get your trotters off me!" Zuo Qiuchi suddenly scolded.

Chu Mingkong stopped talking and quickly took the blame, saying with annoyance, "It must be the extremely yin aura on my body that displeased the female Taoist priest on the mountain, even causing my master to be disliked!"

Only then did the woman with a slender waist and shapely hips allow Chu's pig's trotters to continue hanging on her body.

Ascend the winding stone steps, pass through the sea of ​​clouds high in the sky, and reach the highest point of the mountain, where a simple and elegant Taoist temple suddenly appears before your eyes.

Ancient pines stand on sheer cliffs, towering into the clouds.

Chu Mingkong was still thinking about whether to greet the Taoist priest outside and wait for him to greet him before going in. Zuo Qiuchi stretched and swayed her curvaceous body a couple of times before lifting the beaded curtain and entering.

He hung the eunuch's body on the branch of a crooked pine tree and then went inside.

The interior of the Taoist temple is slightly larger than it appears from the outside, but not by much; perhaps the residents don't like overly large rooms.

Each area of ​​the room was separated by curtains. Through one of the curtains, Chu Mingkong could vaguely see the back of a graceful woman. She pulled up her Taoist robe to cover her fair back and took a white blindfold to tie it up.

Although there were "uninvited guests" in the Taoist temple, she maintained a steady and orderly pace.

When she came out, Chu Mingkong gave her a proper bow and said some polite words such as "I'm sorry to have disturbed you."

"If you truly possessed such courtesy, you wouldn't have tried to use your extreme Yin power to attack the barrier on my mountain just now," Yun Nongyu said calmly.

Chu Mingkong was embarrassed and couldn't respond for a moment.

The main issue is that I'm not familiar with this female Taoist priest yet, and I'm unsure what level of greetings she can accept.

It's definitely not appropriate to pat someone on the butt upon first meeting.

Zuo Qiuchi spoke up for him: "Hey, the kid's just itching to play, why are you making a fuss?"

"What do you want?" Yun Nongyu asked.

“There’s a corpse hanging on a branch outside. Would you mind performing a soul search to find out which way his backside was turned, and then ask him about his understanding of extreme Yin power, and how he sealed that power inside a bead.”

After saying that, Zuo Qiuchi hoped the other party would take it seriously, so he added, "The last point is very important."

"can."

Zuo Qiuchi glanced at the blindfolded female Taoist priest with surprise at her quick and decisive agreement.

After Chu Mingkong arrived, her attitude became so decisive; before, she was reluctant to do anything for me.

The female swordswoman tentatively asked, "Have you decided on mating?"

Yun Nongyu replied irritably, "Vulgar!"

Upon hearing these subtle words, Chu Mingkong became intrigued and pricked up his ears to listen carefully, but unfortunately, there was no further explanation.

To prevent Zuo Qiuchi from making any more shocking statements, Yun Nongyu reluctantly explained:

"Do you remember the killing calamity I mentioned to you before?"

"I didn't think much of it, but I vaguely remember it."

“I mentioned before that the calamity was near you, but I couldn’t be sure whose it was. It was an ominous line; the darker the color and the more lines there were, the stronger the killing intent and the harder it was to avoid.”

Ominous?

Chu Mingkong could only think of the ominous red-haired monster in his later years. He didn't make any jokes and listened to the lecture silently.

“This level of calamity usually occurs to ordinary people because they are too fragile and have no ability to withstand calamities. After working hard for ten years, a serious illness can wipe out their savings. If they cannot be cured, it will also cause the fortunes of those around them to decline.”

At first, I thought that the calamity was caused by that young man you casually pointed out in the marketplace, Zuo Qiuchi. Later, he died, but the calamity remained, so I guessed that the calamity must be between you and the Crown Prince.

Chu Mingkong could understand what the female Taoist was saying.

When the owner of the breakfast stall, Xiao Hu, met with misfortune, Yun Nongyu appeared once. It turned out that she had come to confirm the murder.

Zuo Qiuchi said with dissatisfaction, "You woman are too heartless. You know that I am in danger, why don't you go and help me?"

Yun Nongyu rolled her eyes—okay, this was just Chu Mingkong's imagination. Even if she really rolled her eyes, she wouldn't be able to see it with those eye patches on.

"I cannot be involved in your karma for the time being. I cannot help you and will only make you sink deeper into the mire."

However, the calamity may not necessarily be yours; it could also be the Crown Prince's. You and your master are so close; how could it be so easy to distinguish between you?

In short, all those 'lines' are gone now.

This is the most unexpected part for Yun Nongyu.

It's not that the higher one's cultivation level, the stronger one's ability to avoid calamities. When the line symbolizing fate is stained with an ominous color and becomes tangled and messy, it will be difficult for anyone to deal with it easily.

If one could truly avoid such things at will, then fate wouldn't be in such a chaotic state.

The Yin energy within the Bronze Man's Secret Realm was so dense that she couldn't discern what was happening inside.

All Yun Nongyu could glimpse was the initial opening of the bronze statue formation by Chu Mingkong, and the situation where the demonic power of the Buddhist scriptures bewitched the common people and caused them to squander their life force.

Then everything went blurry, and I couldn't see anything anymore. The power of extreme yin is truly unreasonable.

Therefore, she was curious about the specifics.

If given the chance, she would like to find a way to break through the illusion of extreme yin.