The internal strife between Sun Kewang and Li Ding continued, and Liu Jiankuan tried to mediate many times but could not stop it, so he wanted to return to Shu and ask Yang Zhan to come out.

Three years have passed, and it’s time for Yang Zhan to leave seclusion.

Liu Jiankuan rode over thousands of mountains and rivers, taking shortcuts, and soon returned to Chongtong Temple in Meizhou.

This is a place he has been familiar with since he was a child. For some reason, the closer he gets, the more uneasy he feels.

I feel even more timid when I'm close to my hometown, and don't dare to ask anyone.

The vermilion door is still closed as before. The difference is that there are no soldiers guarding it.

Bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, Chongtong Temple is empty and silent like all temples and Taoist temples destroyed by war.

The door you have sealed must be opened by yourself.

"Crunch..."

The figure he expected did not appear, and the pavilions were covered with leaves and bird droppings.

What is placed in front of the four-eyed immortal statue is the fruit from three years ago. The color is still the same, but it has lost its moisture.

The white crabs at the mouth of Lao Lao Quan are still crawling among the purple mushrooms.

He jumped into the deep pool, and the bottom of the pool was as silent as it had been in the ancient times. As ordinary as he was, he still couldn't find the entrance to the Crane Cave.

He went to the back mountain again and found that the master's grave was lonely and hidden among the pines and cypresses that had grown into towering trees.

Thousands of cranes rise and fall in Tooyi Mountain.

He went to the Jiangxiang Pavilion next door again, and it was the same as when he left.

So, senior brother hasn’t left seclusion yet?

He sat under the Zhennan tree at the entrance of Chongtong Temple, looking at the sunset over the river, unconsciously sinking into the past.

Gradually, the moon rose.

It was a waning moon, and the desolate moonlight had not yet shone down on the world, but had been swallowed up by the night.

Jian Kuan's heart trembled with coldness, and he felt an inexplicable sense of sadness that the country would be shattered.

Unconsciously, he let out a long roar without any reverberation, and the river flowed quietly in the dark night.

Meizhou City on the other side was also dead silent, as if the entire Shu Kingdom was asleep.

He thought of the magic lamp tree, the lamp that once brought hope to the people of Shu, but it had not been lit for more than three years.

He got up and went to the main hall, found a lamp, lit it and hung it on the magic lamp tree. The dim light passed through the dark night, conveying hope to the distance.

In the middle of the night, a rhythmic knock on the door woke him up, and he excitedly ran over and opened the door.

"Amitabha!" It turned out to be two monks, Guanzhi and Dichen.

Both parties looked disappointed when they saw each other, and they both thought the other party was Yang Zhan.

Liu Jiankuan was waiting for Yang Zhan to turn the tide and rescue the cause of the anti-Qing Dynasty. The monks were worried about the Shu Kingdom and its people who were in dire straits, and only Yang Zhan could protect them.

Guanzhi teased: "General Liu, you are famous far and wide now, and you are about to show your prowess on the battlefield against the Qing Dynasty. Why did you return to Shu? Now you are a popular figure next to Emperor Yongle and King Qin, why should you bother me anymore?

The life and death of the people of Shu!"

Dichen closed his eyes and chanted Buddha's name. He had witnessed Liu Jiankuan's anger in Jiading, and he couldn't talk nonsense in this situation.

Sure enough, Liu Jiankuan heard something from Guanzhi's words and asked: "What's wrong with the Shu people? Aren't they good? Didn't Liu Wenxiu drive away the Qing army?"

Guanzhi sneered: "Did you come back all the way and not see the changes in Shu?"

Liu Jiankuan was stunned. At that time, he was focused on returning home and was only on his way. Although he also saw some tragic scenes, he didn't take them seriously. He just thought it was an isolated phenomenon.

He invited the two monks into the hall and said humbly: "Two masters, I left Shu for Guizhou and Huguang in compliance with the order of my senior brother Yang Zhan. In the past year and a half, all the changes that have happened in Shu are

I learned from the brief reports of Mr. Jing Xin and Liu Wenxiu. What kind of situation is it now, please tell the truth from the two masters."

Dichen glanced at Guanzhi, who was very straightforward, so he poured beans into a bamboo tube and started talking about it in detail.

It turned out that with the invasion of the Qing army as a turning point, the Shu Kingdom entered a state of warlord separatism.

After Liu Wenxiu returned to Yunnan, Yang Jingxin had no control at all. Whether it was the Daxi Army or the various departments of the Shu Army, they established their own mountains, divided borders, and engaged in mercenaries at every turn on the grounds of protecting the people in their jurisdiction.

Dashun's army in the east of Kui was wise and did not cross Kuimen. Ta Xince, who was guarding Chongqing, had already captured Xuzhou.

Regardless of eastern Sichuan, southern Sichuan, western Sichuan, or northern Sichuan, no place is peaceful.

Yang Jingxin tightly guarded Chengdu and couldn't control it, so he didn't care.

The Shu people who lost their protection became the lambs exploited and exploited by warlords from all walks of life.

Peasants no longer farm, merchants no longer open markets, young people randomly choose a warlord to join the business, and the elderly, women, and children have no choice but to wait to die.

The once prosperous Shu Kingdom, once known as an oasis in troubled times, is now desolate, with corpses everywhere and thorns blocking the roads.

The pavilions and pavilions of the past are now the foxes, rabbits, and pendants; the clothes and cultural relics of the past are now the rubble of birds and mice; the mulberry, linen, and millet of the past are now the wild smoke and vines.

Liu Jiankuan was so furious after hearing this that he rushed to Chengdu overnight. Guanzhi and Dichen held him tightly and persuaded him: "General Liu, what can you do now? Use the fire of your anger to destroy those warlords? That way.

What kind of disaster will it bring to the people of Shu?"

Seeing Kuan stamping his feet, he said angrily: "Senior brother should not have entrusted the Kingdom of Shu to Liu Wenxiu in the first place!"

Guanzhi said: "Without Liu Wenxiu, the Kingdom of Shu would have belonged to the Qing army. However, you and Mr. Yang must not have trusted him enough, so he returned to Yunnan to avoid suspicion. If he had stayed in the Kingdom of Shu, this would not have been the case.

situation."

Jian Kuan snorted, "You mean you want me to invite him back?"

Dichen interjected, "It won't change anything if he comes back. For the current plan, we can only invite the general. Monk Miaofeng said that he would practice in seclusion here for three years. Just recently, we saw the magic lamp tree light up.

Lamp, I thought..."

Jian Kuan then remembered and asked, "Where did Monk Miaofeng go? I thought he and Daban Ya were guarding here."

Guanzhidao: "I don't know why, but Monk Miaofeng always said that Liu Wenxiu was the one who protected Shu. When he returned to Yunnan, he followed him to Yunnan and taught him meditation. As for the monkey, I don't know if it is

Follow."

Dichen responded: "Since General Yang hasn't left seclusion yet, let's go back to the temple and wait. When the time comes, General Liu will remember to send us a message."

After seeing off the two monks, Liu Jiankuan no longer felt sleepy, so he meditated under the statue of the Four-Eyed Immortal.

In the hazy state, the master came over and scolded him: "See mercy, see mercy, I see you are addicted to fighting! If a soldier has no eyesight, the people will suffer after all. Why are you learning martial arts? For

Go to the battlefield to show off? From tomorrow on, you are not allowed to go anywhere. Just concentrate on practicing Taoism in this temple, and wait for your senior brother to come out and help him save the world and save the people."

The four-eyed immortal in front of him spoke, "His own cultivation is not enough. He must open the gate of Chongtong Temple, recruit homeless people, and revive the prosperity of our Taoist Temple."

Jian Kuan asked weakly: "If I listen to you, will Senior Brother be able to come out?"

Ge Baohu grimaced and said nothing. The four-eyed immortal smiled kindly and nodded.
Chapter completed!