In the eyes of the monks in Dayun Temple, over the years, whenever Meng Dongjia came to Dayun Temple, he would always talk about Buddhism with the abbot master. Therefore, most monks only regard Meng Lie as a sentimental person who has stayed in Dayun Temple for a long time.
The abbot, the abbot, passed away without noticing any difference.
After Wujue's "passing away", Meng Lie was in despair and tried to find an exit for himself.
He realized that drinking alcohol was useless, so he tried to come to Dayun Temple and stayed here in the name of cultivating his mind and nature.
During these days in the temple, he saw endless tomb towers being built, and saw that there was only one monk left guarding the Temple of the Goddess, and there was no longer the solemnity and martial law of the past.
Wujue is gone, and the meaning of the existence of Tiannv Tower is also gone. All hope seems to have died with it and returned to the void.
When Meng Lie was numb and confused, he once heard the Zen-like voice of a monk in the temple. The monk told him that everything in this world is inherently false.
He was trapped in this confusion. At night, he lay on the bamboo couch used for cooling in the monastery, looking at the stars at night with empty eyes, trying to understand what illusion was.
But he couldn't find the answer for a long time, so he could only let himself fall into the void, numbly closing his eyes, and for a time he couldn't tell what night it was.
He dreamed again, dreaming about the distant past.
It was also a summer night at that time, and because it was summer, the stench was even stronger. Someone was locked in a huge rusty and bloody iron cage, huddled up with his knees in his arms, his hair was disheveled, his clothes were ragged, and his body was covered with old and new wounds.
Adhesion.
In the dream, he looked at it from the perspective of a bystander, and he couldn't tell it was a "person", but it looked like a real trapped animal.
He had been a trapped beast for many years. At first, there were many people like him, but gradually they all died, either from experimenting with medicine, from bloodletting, or from going crazy.
They were imprisoned here by a Taoist who secretly refined the elixir for many local dignitaries. In a place where no one could see them, they were just the "medicinal materials" in the elixir.
Among the people who were captured in the same batch, he was the one who survived the longest. In the endless blood and fear, he only clung to one idea, and that was to survive.
But he will soon be unable to survive. Last time, he heard two Taoist priests discussing quietly that there is a strong wind outside, and to avoid the storm, no new people will be sent in a short period of time.
At that time, there were only two people left in this huge cage.
But just half an hour ago, only one of the two people was left, and the other was lying at his feet, no longer moving.
The man went crazy and rushed up to bite him while crying and laughing, so he had no choice but to kill him - in fact, the man had been imprisoned for less than a year, and at first the man secretly invited him to work together to find a way to escape.
Go, he didn't pay attention to it, and the other party thought that he had been frightened out of his wits.
But after being imprisoned for a long time, being severely beaten, having his blood taken, and watching the people around him die one after another... the last trace of reason on the other side was finally defeated today.
[Only you and me are left. They will come back tomorrow to take blood, and we won’t be able to hold on.]
[No, you can. Although you don’t speak... but you have lived the longest, you must have something to do, right? Please save me, please save me! 】
[No, you won't save me... you will kill me. If one person must die tomorrow, it will definitely be me! 】
[You won't save me...] The other party cried and repeated this sentence, his eyes became chaotic and crazy, and he rushed towards him, changing from uncontrollable slapping to crazy biting.
Without moving, he finally pressed the opponent into the cage and locked the opponent's throat until the opponent's heavy and chaotic breathing completely disappeared and the cage became silent.
He can live long because he never does useless things, he will carefully observe everyone, he will try his best to swallow all the food he can, and he will never let himself become the weakest one, because
It seems that those who are weak and about to die do not need to be raised, and all their blood will be "prioritized" to be drained.
Not only that, he will also watch those people try to escape and fight, and if necessary, he will even secretly encourage them, because those who make mistakes and are restless will also be dealt with "priority".
In this small iron cage world, he is the only one who can calmly figure out all the rules. He watched many people die here, and thus accumulated the most practical survival experience, but these are of no use.
Now he is the only one left, and he is finally going to die.
But the "inevitability" in his eyes was suddenly rewritten that summer night because of the intrusion of a group of people.
The pedestrian walked in quickly holding a torch, and the torch came close to the cage. The visitor was startled by the horrible mess in the cage.
He heard the man say - [Your Highness, there are still people alive. 】
【Your Highness】Who is it?
He just shrank deeper into the cage.
Until the cage door was opened, through the disheveled hair in front of his eyes, he saw many people walking over. Those people quickly moved to the sides. A young man who looked fourteen or fifteen years old came over and bent slightly to take a look.
Look at him.
The young man had a pair of extremely bright and quiet eyes, and his whole body was naturally noble, which was incompatible with the darkness, dampness, heat and smell of this place.
[Come out.] After looking at each other for a moment, the young man spoke in clear official Chinese.
After a while, he dragged the chains on his feet and climbed out carefully and defensively. After getting out of the cage, he was still kneeling on the ground and did not dare to straighten up rashly, because in his survival awareness, that was
Provocative and dangerous.
He heard the young man ask: [What is your name? Where are you from? How old are you? How long have you been locked up here?]
He answered in a hoarse voice: "Meng Lie, a sin slave from Ganzhou, is twenty years old. It has been eight years since he was brought here when he was twelve years old."
For a moment, he heard the young man say to the people around him: [Vice General Chang, he seems to be very powerful.]
The man who was called Lieutenant General Chang said "Hmm" and said, "You can still have such a clear mind after being imprisoned for eight years. He is a tough-minded person."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Not long after, a soldier dragged the leading Taoist over. The Taoist struggled and begged for mercy, saying that he was only following orders.
【Kill him.】
Hearing the young man's usual tone, he raised his eyes blankly and looked at the sword handed to him. Moving his eyes upward, he saw the young man turning his head to look at the corpse in the cage, and then talking to him.
He said: [Avenge yourself and them.]
At that moment, he was suddenly shocked. The words "Avenge them too" were like the same powerful words of forgiveness, which eliminated many of his evil deeds in order to survive.
He took the sword tremblingly, pulled it out clumsily, stepped forward with both hands clenched, and pierced the man's chest, causing warm blood to spurt out.
He knelt on the ground again, held the sword high with both hands, and returned it to its owner.
He followed the young man out of the darkroom with bare feet. It was dark outside, but there was a bright moon and stars, the sound of wind and the chirping of insects.
His tears suddenly surged silently, and the vigilance and numbness that had been tight for eight years were removed at this moment. The tears washed away the old blood. He looked in front of him and looked at the young man in front of him. He jumped onto the horse lightly under the moon and grabbed the reins.
At this time, he said to the person beside him: "After dawn, let the prefect of Ganzhou come to see me."
As he said that, he looked at him and said, "Take him with you."
After that, he became Meng Lie and became one of the personal guards behind the young man.
He quickly gave birth to new flesh and blood, and he worked hard to learn all new things. A few years later, he was able to walk from the dark to the light, and ran the predecessor of Dengtai Tower for His Highness, responsible for collecting and delivering news.
Learning that His Highness was a woman was sudden and accidental, but it didn't matter to him. It didn't matter whether he was a man or a woman, whether he was right or wrong. Only His Highness himself was important.
Ever since that summer night in Ganzhou, when he escaped from the iron cage, following and being loyal to His Highness was the only thing he had to do in his life.
Therefore, when His Highness said that the Intelligence Building was to be disbanded, he could not obey the order, so His Highness left him half a token and asked him to wait in the capital.
He waited for three years for news of His Highness's death.
But he still doesn't think that's the end.
The eight years he was imprisoned made him familiar with some weird magics in the Western Regions, so he went to the Western Regions and stubbornly searched for the secrets.
The Tower of the Goddess was built, Chang Kuo brought His Highness's remains from Beidi, Governor Cui found the jade of the statue, Wujue launched the formation... They pieced together, trying to pave a way home for His Highness.
But in the end it failed, Wujue died, and the formation was useless.
But this still won't be the end!
Meng Lie turned around from his dream, opened his eyes, and suddenly sat up from the couch, his eyes regained their determination.
He will go to the Western Regions again, no, not just the Western Regions, he will travel all over Dasheng to find new secrets!
The world is so big and full of wonders, God is above, and He should not hesitate to give His Highness a chance to protect all people with his own body!
Meng Lie looked up at the night sky, as if praying for God's mercy, and as if he was determined not to be afraid of competing with God's will.
Early the next morning, he left Dayun Temple.
He sat in the carriage and opened the box he was carrying. He had lived in Dayun Temple for half a month, and it was indispensable to carry clothes and study items with him. At this moment, he opened the box containing paper, pens and books.
But there is an extra box that was not there when it came.
The box was covered with black cloth, and Meng Lie placed it properly again and again before closing it and locking it again.
He closed his eyes and rested his mind in the car, ready to leave the capital today.
The experience that year made him forge an extraordinary vigilance and tenacity, but it also made it difficult for him to trust others. He was extremely defensive and cold-blooded in his bones. Even if he treated Chang Kuo and others, he would not dare to do anything.
Xin. Because of this, he has been alone all these years.
A person is also good, free from worries, he can do what he wants to do, even if he dies on the way, it is his best destination.
Meng Lie returned to Dengtai Tower and asked his personal servant to pack his luggage.
Seeing that he was no longer as depressed and hopeless as before, the servant quietly breathed a sigh of relief and did not ask him where he was going. He only turned around and picked up the letters and other things that had been sent from various places.
While the servants were packing their luggage, Meng Lie picked through the letters. The first one was from Qiao Yang. In the letter, Qiao Yang told him about "A Wu", invited him to come and have a look, and promised him a promise.
, if he saw that puppy, he would definitely believe in the theory of reincarnation.
"..." Meng Lie frowned, showing disgust, and threw the letter aside.
He also reviewed and processed the secret messages of various intelligence operations one by one. Over the years, he never neglected the true role of the Dengtai Building.
Finally, Meng Lie saw another pear wood box. When he opened it, he saw a palm-sized square brocade box and a letter inside.
Perhaps because the handwriting of "Meng Lie's Personal Letter" written on the envelope was too familiar, he subconsciously opened the letter and read the signature first. When he saw that it was written by Chang Sui Ning, he felt lost for a moment, but then he saw it again.
As expected.
He also knew that the girl from the Chang family was good at copying His Highness's handwriting.
After getting rid of the unspeakable feeling of loss, Meng Lie read the overly concise content in the letter. The letter said that he had something important to discuss with him, but he did not say it directly. Instead, he said that he would reply after he read the token.
More details later.
Meng Lie was keenly aware that the purpose of this letter was to "explore the road."
What path is the Chang family girl exploring with him?
What is a token?
Meng Lie thoughtfully picked up the brocade box, opened it and saw clearly what was inside, his expression suddenly froze.
He took out half of the token in disbelief. After a moment, he suddenly turned around and walked to the inner room, unscrewed the indoor mechanism, and took out his half of the token with a slightly hurried movement——
Then, facing the hot sunlight outside the window, he slowly put the two halves of the token together until they complemented each other's incomplete parts... and indeed there was no difference at all!
This is the token that His Highness split with him back then!
His Highness said back then that if he was given any orders in the future, he would bring the other half of the token to him...
There was a time when he thought that he would never have the chance to see the other half of the token again!
But how could the things belonging to his old owner end up in the hands of a girl from the Chang family?
Is it what His Highness left for her back then? Or is there some other inside story?
Meng Lie hurriedly read the letter again, and when he saw the line "I will elaborate more after replying to the letter", he immediately said: "... Feng Xin, get the pen and ink!"
The servant had just come in after hearing the sound, but he heard Meng Lie say: "No need! Are you ready to salute?"
Seeing the servant nod, Meng Lie immediately walked out.
The reply was too slow, and the matter was extremely urgent. If he wanted to go to Jiangdu, he should go to Jiangdu first!
It was noon when Meng Lie got on his carriage and left the capital.
Classes had just ended in the Imperial College, and Qiao Jijiu returned to his residence. As usual, he first went to hug the puppy.
When eating, he also prepared a separate seat for the puppy and poured goat's milk into the dog's bowl.
Qiao Yumian was in the hospital hall, while Qiao Yubai was with his classmates. The brother and sister did not come back to have dinner at noon. Now there were only Qiao Jijiu and his wife at the dinner table. Mrs. Wang had become accustomed to seeing her husband's outrageous behavior in taking care of the milk dog.
After pouring the goat's milk for the puppy, Qiao Jijiu poured himself a cup of wine, smelled the aroma of the wine, then looked at the puppy who was immersed in drinking milk, and sighed: "I told you to do your duty and do a good job."
Monk, you must have refused to listen...now you know you regret it, right?"
"Ah Wu" seemed not to hear anything and concentrated on drinking milk.
But Wujue, who was thousands of miles away, sneezed solidly.