The Monkey King

Leaving Huashan and flying in the direction of Nantianmen, Qingxin was silent all the way.

Nezha followed him all the way, his brows furrowed tightly, always keeping a distance of three feet.

One after another, just a few days later, he really couldn't figure out what happened under his nose in the past few days, and why Qingxin seemed to be a different person.

Fortunately, we are finally going back to Nantianmen. Once you get through this, whatever happens next will be nothing to you.

But don't let anything happen on this road again.

Along the way, Nezha worked hard and watched the changes around him vigilantly. It wasn't until he saw Nantianmen from a distance that Nezha felt a little relieved.

Back at Nantianmen, Qingxin met Li Jing directly and told Li Jing bluntly that she had found what she wanted and that she would do what Li Jing asked her to do. Of course, she still had to follow her rules.

Before Li Jing could figure out what was going on, Qing Xin had already turned around and left. Only Nezha and Li Jing were left. You looked at me and I looked at you, not knowing why.

After leaving Nantianmen, Qingxin went straight to the thirty-third heaven and returned to Tushita Palace.

Several Taoist boys who were guarding outside Tushita Palace gathered around him when they saw Qingxin arriving. The leader in purple robe cupped his hands and said: "Junior sister Qingxin, the master is in the palace."

Qingxin stood quietly, staring down at the empty ground, his expression looking a little dull.

Several Taoist boys looked at each other.

"Master said...if you have any questions, you can go to him."

Qingxin pursed her lips and looked up at the Taoist boys. He took a deep breath, put on a smile and said, "No."

She smiled brightly, but it was very different from usual. She no longer had that arrogant aura, and it was more like wearing a mask.

"without?"

"No." Qingxin shook her head and said, "I'm a little tired... I don't want to see him yet."

Saying that, without waiting for Zipao's answer, Qingxin walked past him and walked towards her small house in Tushita Palace.

Looking back at Qing Xin's back, Zipao frowned slightly.

"What's wrong with her? What happened?"

"Did you suffer something?"

"Probably not. If he suffered somewhere, he would definitely be clamoring to go back for revenge. Just like last time."

Zipao thought for a moment and said, "Don't talk too much."

The other Taoist boys quickly closed their mouths one by one. No more words.

…

The breeze caressed the branches. The sun shines through the gaps in the leaves, leaving spots on the shady path.

Qingxin lowered her head slightly, held her breath, pursed her lips, and gradually quickened her pace.

The fellow apprentices who met by chance saw her pass by before they could say hello to her.

In a blink of an eye, she had arrived at her small room next to the attic where Lao Jun lived. She entered without saying a word and closed the door.

…

It's in the attic not far away. Lao Jun frowned and looked up at the roof, not knowing what he was thinking.

Beside him, Que'er sat quietly on her knees, making tea.

The tea cup placed in front of Lao Jun, the tea in it was cooled and changed again and again. After so many times, Lao Jun slowly closed his eyes and sighed leisurely: "Forget it. If you don't want to drink tea, don't Busy work."

"No busy work, as long as the master doesn't dislike Que'er for wasting tea leaves." After a pause, Que'er continued: "If you don't make tea and have your hands free, you will feel a little panicked."

After taking a deep breath, Lao Jun patted her hand gently and said, "I'm sorry for you."

Que'er lowered his head. Silent.

…

Sunlight shines through the window lattice, forming interlaced light and shadow in the room.

Qingxin was like a little girl, leaning against the door and covering her face.

The memories of the third life, all kinds of mixed emotions swallowed up the reason in an instant, and tears burst out of my eyes...

…

At this time, the monkey group was passing through a fertile plain.

On the edge of the plain, they saw a stone tablet with the words "Boundary of the Black Chicken Country", but as they gradually went deeper, they did not see the thriving scene that this fertile land should have.

Instead, they saw a living hell.

According to the map Xuanzang obtained from the people along the way, they went deeper into the plain step by step. Within a mile, they saw a mutilated corpse lying on the roadside.

Judging from the situation, he must have been dead for many days. His face had been chewed by carrion crows until he could not see clearly, and his limbs had been torn into pieces. He could only be roughly distinguished as a middle-aged man.

Canopy walked over with his nose covered, examined the body carefully, and looked around carefully, and said: "He killed him with a knife and cut his throat. He didn't have any luggage, maybe it was robbery."

"Robbery?" Xiao Bailong looked back and said, "It's okay to say that the mountainous and forested areas are fine, but this is all plains, how can it be so uneven?"

"Maybe this country is not peaceful to begin with."

The deceased was hastily buried, Xuanzang briefly recited a Buddhist sutra in front of the grave, and the group set off on their way again.

After a while, they saw a village that had been marked on Xuanzang's map.

Among Xuanzang's luggage, there are three recipients of letters who live in this village. According to Xuanzang's plan, the group would stay in this village for one night. On the one hand, it is necessary to deliver letters; on the other hand, it is also necessary to replenish dry food through alms.

However, as they got closer to the village, they began to notice something was wrong.

The endless fertile fields all around us were filled with weeds. It was the busy farming season, and not even half of the villagers were seen working in the fields.

As we get closer and closer to the village, there are more and more crows, and our ears are filled with unpleasant "croaking" sounds.

"What's going on with the people in this place? They don't need to eat food? Have they all become immortals?" Xiao Bailong looked around and murmured to himself.

Soon, they suddenly discovered that there was no one in this entire village, with dozens of houses!

A breeze blew. Pick up a few fallen leaves.

Several people were walking on the village road in surprise.

Canopy quickly picked up the pace and searched house to house.

The monkey also released his spiritual consciousness and quickly explored the entire village. He sighed helplessly and said: "There are no more living ones, and there are still twelve dead bodies. From young to old, they are all available."

"What's going on? Are you escaping?" Xiao Bailong asked.

"Do you think this place has been hit by a disaster? There are no floods or droughts. What a good year."

While he was talking, Canopy had returned.

"How's it going? Is it a plague?" the monkey asked.

Tianpeng looked around and said calmly: "It's not a plague. Most of those corpses either starved to death or were killed. Only one died of illness. It was due to old age and lack of care."

"It seems that there was a military disaster." The monkey plucked his ears and looked back at Xuanzang: "It seems that the letter you want to send cannot be delivered. What will you do next?"

Xuanzang held the Buddhist beads and frowned.

After hesitating for a while, he replied: "Let's stay here tonight, and by the way... we can also bury all these unjust deaths."

"Okay." The monkey shouted. He turned his head and winked at the little white dragon and the black bear spirit, and said, "Did you hear that? Please help me quickly."

"Why me?" Xiao Bailong shouted immediately.

"How about I go?" Monkey asked expressionlessly.

"No... Great Sage, you'd better rest. I'll go. I'll go." He sighed helplessly, and Xiao Bailong had no choice but to follow the black bear spirit and Tianpeng and start looking for corpses from house to house.

Busily until sunset, they buried all the corpses left in the village in a cemetery at the entrance of the village.

Xuanzang took out several magical instruments and placed them in front of the grave, and began to recite the scriptures one by one.

This thought continued late into the night. Several other people were so bored that they yawned.

Although they are all immortal cultivators. He is not as taboo about ghosts and gods as ordinary mortals, but staying in a cemetery is still uncomfortable.

After reciting the scriptures, the group settled down hastily in the village and set off again the next morning before dawn.

After just half a day, they arrived at the second village marked on Xuanzang's map. The bad thing is. This village is exactly the same as the previous one!

"Hey." The monkey reached out to pick up the wooden spoon that was randomly discarded in the grass by the roadside, and sighed leisurely: "What's going on here?"

"Didn't you say there was a military disaster?" Xiao Bailong asked.

"If it were a military disaster, it would be too thorough."

Reluctantly, everyone followed the previous method and gathered all the corpses scattered in the village for burial. This time, the sky was set until the sun set.

As a result, everyone could only settle in this second abandoned village.

Xuanzang looked gloomy all night.

The next day we continued westward and saw the third and fourth identical villages.

It seemed as if the entire plain was shrouded in the shadow of death.

They walked all the way, and on the fifth day, they came to a small town marked by Xuanzang.

There are people in this small town, but it looks like a run-down scene.

Refugees in ragged clothes and dying under the shade of trees can be seen everywhere on the streets. The door panels of many houses' windows have fallen off and are hanging on the walls, making it look like no one has lived in them for a long time. The market on the street looked as if someone had just smashed it up. All kinds of wooden boards and fallen leaves were scattered on the ground, and no one was cleaning it up.

When the residents of the town itself saw the monkeys and the group, they all evaded, with fear in their eyes.

That kind of look was different from the fear of monsters they had seen on the road before, but an indescribable and somewhat neurotic fear.

What's even stranger is that the black bear spirit and the monkey, two figures that are obviously monsters, walked into the town... If it were normal, the whole town would have come out, bringing torches and weapons to surround them. Xuanzang had something to say. , and finally finally subsided. But here, no one even asked, everyone just avoided it.

"What are you doing?" Monkey turned away and looked at Xuanzang and asked, "Is there any letter here to send?"

Xuanzang took out a crumpled letter from his arms and said: "This is the farthest letter. There is only one."

The monkey took the letter, glanced at it briefly, and walked quickly towards a dull-looking young man standing on the street corner, shouting from a distance: "Hey, you! It's you, don't look around! Ask... …”

Before he finished speaking, the young man had already run away.

With quick eyes and quick hands, the monkey stretched out his hand and used his spiritual power to forcefully pull him to his side from five feet away.

Before the monkey could speak, there was only a sound of "boom, boom, boom", and the windows on the second floors of the buildings on both sides of the street were closed one after another. The refugees who were slumped on the ground all around also fled one by one. Only one of them was left. I don’t know whether he was too old to walk or was so frightened that his feet were weak and he was crawling slowly not far from the monkey. He let out waves of feeble wailing: "Monster..."

"Damn, I'm a monster... Why didn't you run away just now?" Lowering his head, Monkey found that the young man he had grabbed had collapsed on the ground. As soon as he let go, he fell down with a "thud".

"Fainted?" Monkey was speechless for a moment.

Tianpeng hurriedly walked to the man and squatted down, felt his breath, checked his pulse, and said: "He fainted from hunger. It has nothing to do with you."

The monkey shook his head and said, "I wonder why you are so scared."

Little Bailong stretched his head and said: "It seems that asking for directions is not possible. What should I do now?"

"It doesn't matter whether you ask or not. The address is written on it. How big is the town in total?"

"What should he do?" Xiao Bailong asked, pointing to the person lying on the ground.

The monkey looked back at Xuanzang, rolled his eyes and said, "Let's carry it together. Since he is hungry and faint, there is still some dry food in the bag, so give it to him."

"okay!"

This town is indeed not big. There are only two main streets, one running north-south and one running east-west, which just form a cross. There are road markers on the road and archways at the entrances of the alleys. It is really easy to find a place. Not long after, the group found the address written on the envelope.

Unfortunately, what they saw was a half-closed door, and the door panel on the other side was simply missing.

Xuanzang stood at the door and knocked for a long time, but there was no response. After entering the courtyard and seeing a ruin-like scene, Xuanzang finally believed that the house had been abandoned.

Holding the letter, Xuanzang didn't know what to do for a moment.

"What's next?"

"It's better...stay here. It's getting late, so stay here first and make plans tomorrow." Xuanzang looked around, hoping to find some more clues, but he couldn't find anything.

"How about I catch a few and come back to ask what happened?"

Xuanzang glanced at the young man carrying the black bear spirit on his back and said: "No, don't disturb other people anymore. Just ask him when he wakes up."

Looking at this situation, the owner of the house must have been so nervous when his family left that he didn't take many daily necessities with him. Xiao Bailong even found some broken silver in the secret compartment at the bottom of the drawer. Perhaps the only thing missing in the whole house is food.

After settling down hastily, Xuanzang took out the little dry food he had, soaked it in water and boiled it into a paste, and fed it little by little to the young men who picked him up along the way.

In a daze, the man swallowed everything. However, it was not until late at night that he slowly opened his eyes. (To be continued ~^~)

PS:  Thank you for your support~Thank you for your support~