Ancient Demon Slayer Chapter 8

Early morning, Maicheng.

"The corpse has turned into a corpse!" Someone rushed over and shouted in panic, "Inside the government office, the dead have turned into a corpse!"

"Stop spreading rumors!" The soldiers stood at the gate of Maicheng and shouted to the surging people, "Go back! It's not true! It's all rumors! Rumors!"

In the government office, the county magistrate, a group of clerks, and local generals were staring at the living corpse of a Jin army officer and soldier imprisoned in a cage.

The zombie was dragging an iron chain, its eyes cloudy, and struggling in a large iron cage.

"We must quickly capture this monster..." the county magistrate tried to calm down, "take him to Jiankang and report back to the court..."

Maicheng County Gongcao said: "Sir, I think..."

"This matter cannot be suppressed!" The county magistrate came to his senses and shouted, "After the defeat of Xiangyang, hundreds of thousands of people died in the battle. If all of them turned into corpses, no matter how many living people you have, can they fight against the dead?! Escort them as soon as possible! Report to the court for a decision!"

Northwest of Longzhong Mountain, at the exit of the mountain.

The dog had been waiting there all night, and it came running, wagging its tail at Leo. The three of them stopped temporarily and found a place to sit at the end of the plank road. Feng Qianjun went to retrieve the horse that had escaped earlier, but fortunately it had not run far away, while Blake brought his own horse. Standing on the plank road, he pondered and looked at the mountain view in silence.

Feng Qianjun exchanged information with the two men. It turned out that the Jin army had known about the situation in Longzhong Mountain. After all, some people had escaped from the villages in the mountain not long ago and wanted to report to the authorities in Xiangyang City. However, Xiangyang was surrounded, so they had to turn to Maicheng. The officials in Maicheng were already on high alert because of rumors that the Qin army was about to attack the city in a large scale. They were afraid that it was another tactic of the enemy army to make a feint to the east and attack in the west. The people were also unclear about what they said, so they temporarily suppressed the matter.

"To be exact," Feng Qianjun said, "it was exactly forty-nine days until last night."

Blake turned his back to the two of them and never interrupted them.

"Would you like something to eat?" Leo took the initiative to greet Blake.

Blake just ignored him. Leo thought for a long time and replied, "The number 'seven' does have a reason. But you shouldn't have brought them over!"

Feng Qianjun replied: "I tried to stop it, but it was useless."

When the horses returned to Maicheng with the dead body of the Jin soldier, the people finally panicked. The county magistrate saw that the officers and soldiers sent to inquire about the news had not returned for two days. Now that he saw the body, he knew that he could not be negligent, so he quickly sent another team to enter Longzhong Mountain overnight. The leader had already known the location of the tomb from previous news. Feng Qianjun wanted to come alone to help Leo, but he tried to persuade him to no avail, so he had to follow behind.

The result was that all the Jin army soldiers died. After getting rid of the mysterious man in black, Blake set fire to the ground and burned all the corpses clean.

Now Leo's only worry was that Sima Wei, wearing black armor, would turn into a black fire meteor and fly away at the last moment. The situation must be quite complicated. Someone must be plotting something somewhere in the land of China. And they had no idea about it.

Nearly a hundred years ago, the successor of the Jin Dynasty was incompetent, and eight princes rose up to fight for the throne, causing the Central Plains to fall into war. In the civil war, the Han people attacked each other, causing serious internal consumption, resulting in the empty defense outside the Five Passes and famine for years. There were only a few tens of thousands of people who could fight, so the Huns took advantage of the situation and marched south, Guanzhong fell, and the Han people moved south, resulting in the current pattern of Han and Hu being divided into north and south.

According to historical records, King Sima Wei of Chu was only 21 years old when he died. He was tall and had extraordinary looks. He was executed for "falsifying an imperial edict" to raise an army to attack treacherous officials in the court. After his death, he was posthumously awarded the title of General of Cavalry and buried in the Feng Shui treasure land of Longzhong Mountain in Jingchu.

"Blake, do you know something?" Leo now felt that this series of bizarre and strange things were secondary. Blake's identity and motives were what he cared about most.

Blake glanced at Leo, but his attention was not on him. He replied, "I just wanted to take the road to Chang'an, and I was meddling in other people's business on the way."

Leo asked curiously: "What are you going to Chang'an for?"

Perhaps it was because the three of them shared life and death last night that the estrangement between them was slightly removed; or perhaps it was because Leo's heart light proved that he was indeed a genuine exorcist, Blake's attitude had improved significantly.

Blake was looking at the mask in his hand over and over again. As soon as he turned to Leo, Leo subconsciously leaned towards Feng Qianjun.

"Don't bully me all the time!" Leo was a little afraid of Blake, so he said it stiffly.

"Hey!" Feng Qianjun was also a little afraid of Blake. After all, he couldn't beat him, so he said, "Don't bully little brother Leo. No one has provoked you."

"You didn't provoke me? You Han people didn't know right from wrong. You tricked me from Jinzhou to Jiangdong and have kept me there till now." Blake said lightly, "If Xiangyang hadn't been captured, I would have been a rotting corpse in prison. You'd better forget about wanting me to shed tears of gratitude to you."

Leo got angry when he heard this and said, "I don't know what happened to you! And didn't I rescue you? How can I make you grateful to me? Let me ask you, did you not believe what I said before? Do you believe it now?"

"Are you a Hu person?" Feng Qianjun took a look at Blake's face and immediately held back the second half of his sentence, "Not really." He guessed that Blake didn't like being questioned about his identity, so he hurriedly said, "Let's talk it over! Don't use force!" He quickly smoothed things over and said, "Well, since we're all going to Chang'an, let's go together."

Blake said nothing more, got on the horse, and rode away. Leo was halfway through his rations when he said, "Wait! You haven't told me what you're going to Chang'an for..." Feng Qianjun had no choice but to put the dog next to the saddle bag, packed up his things, and rode away.

Blake kept a distance from them, riding his horse in front. Leo and Feng Qianjun lagged behind by more than ten feet. While riding their horses side by side, the two were still discussing in a low voice.

"Your guardian doesn't look like a bad guy," Feng Qianjun said. "Believe me, he won't stab you with a sword if he disagrees with you."

"Yes, he only knows how to throw money at me." Leo said.

"That gold ingot was a test of my skills," Feng Qianjun said. "He had already noticed that I was behind you. Even if you didn't dodge, it wouldn't have really hit you."

"Thank you so much for showing mercy." Leo disagreed, thinking that this guy was a ba5tard who even stole my things.

Leo frowned, observing Blake not far ahead, and said to Feng Qianjun: "What is he going to Chang'an for?"

"Looking for tribesmen." Feng Qianjun said, "Isn't this obvious? The Hu people are all in the north, and Chang'an is the territory of Qin Emperor Marcus..."

Leo suddenly remembered the sentence "guess he is a military officer" on the list that Graham showed him. Maybe he made this inference based on the valuables he confiscated when he captured Blake? Who is he? A captain? A lieutenant? The position he can hold at the age of 20 must not be too high, and he can't be a general.

Feng Qianjun: "But I don't think he has the slightest intention of being your protector."

Leo said indifferently: "I've felt it for a long time."

Leo thought about it and remembered Sima Wei's body that turned into black fire and flew away. The direction it flew was northwest. It happened to be the direction of Chang'an, but there were also Liangzhou and other places farther northwest. There must be a huge force behind the black-clothed masked man. Who knows where they are hiding and what they are plotting... What do they want to do with a body that was nearly a hundred years old and had turned into bones?

The power of the heart lamp disappeared for more than three hundred years as all things returned to silence. Is it because of this hidden power that is plotting now? Leo frowned and said nothing along the way, then looked up at Blake in front of him. Blake's explanation for this was just that he was just passing by and meddling in other people's business, but Leo always felt that he seemed to know something.

But since he knew, shouldn't he have talked to me seriously? Leo was completely confused. Fortunately, Blake did not cause them any trouble along the way, just as Feng Qianjun had guessed. On the journey to the northwest, they stayed in hotels and slept outdoors when they were in the wilderness.

After years of war, the area from Jingbei to Hanzhong had been robbed many times, and nine out of ten houses were already empty. When they couldn't find a shop, the three of them could only spend the night in an abandoned house without a roof. Leo looked at the stars in the sky and counted the days on his fingers. His birthday was in late autumn in October. There were less than three years and eight months left. Next, he had to find the ruins of the Exorcist General Office in Chang'an as soon as possible, hoping to find the reason why all things returned to silence.

The best outcome is to do my best to use the remaining years of my life to recover the lost human magic power, and then pass down the lineage of exorcists, so that we can deal with the appearance of the demons in the future. Unexpectedly, one wave after another arose, and the twists and turns of the man in black appeared out of nowhere. And there was no clue. The more Leo thought about this matter, the more irritated he became. He tossed and turned, and had to get up and go out for a walk.

Under the moonlight, Blake was seen in a stream behind the dilapidated village, wearing long trousers and wiping his upper body with cold water. Leo took a look and walked to the stream. Blake did not avoid him and just stood there.

When he was rescued from prison, Blake was extremely thin, but now, in just ten days, he has almost recovered. The moonlight shines on his wet shoulders, as if it has coated him with a layer of shimmering silver light.

"You're much better than before," said Leo.

Blake had fair skin, and after building up his muscles, he was thin but not exaggerated, showing flowing lines. When he stood naked, he didn't look like a Hu warrior at all, but rather had a kind of elegance. Without clothes, this was the standard body shape of scholars, and Leo just felt it was very strange.

Along the way, Blake occasionally took the dry food that Leo gave him, but never ate the food that Feng Qianjun handed him. When resting and setting up camp, Blake would go out hunting from time to time, sometimes bringing back deer, sometimes wild goats. He had to eat a lot of meat in one meal, and that was why his body recovered so quickly.

"What are you going to Chang'an for?" When the two of them faced each other, Blake finally took the initiative to speak to Leo.

"Work." Leo sat on a rock beside the stream and answered, "I am an exorcist, I have my responsibilities."

Blake walked to the shore, put on a single piece of clothing, pulled the laces with both hands and tightened them. The white clothes highlighted the broad lines of his shoulders and back, with a hint of restrained threat.

"I want to ask for an explanation," Leo said, "you have decided not to be a Dharma protector, right?"

Blake raised his eyebrows.

Leo explained to him that exorcists have always had a "guardian" around them to protect them from interference when exorcising demons. The great exorcist who sits in the General Office has a guardian with a resounding name, "Martial God".

Now, Leo is the only exorcist left in the world, so naturally he is the "Great Exorcist". As for the God of War, Xin Deng pointed out Blake as the guardian for him, and Leo himself had no choice. He wanted to explain the spell again, Shenzhou...

"Go find someone else." Blake said casually, "You saved my life, I saved your life, we're even."

Blake saved Leo more than once, especially when Leo was careless in front of the Chu King's Mausoleum. If Blake hadn't acted quickly, he would have been burned to death by the black fire. Although it was not certain whether the black fire would burn him to death, wasn't this what a Dharma protector should do?

Leo was not angry after hearing this. In fact, for a man who had not much time left and could only live for three years and eight months, many things would not cause him any stimulation. At most, he would just feel a little unhappy.

"Okay." Leo watched Blake leave and said, "I didn't hold much hope, but I have to respect your idea. Since you've rejected it, we can go our separate ways after we get to Chang'an."

Blake left, leaving Leo facing the stream, feeling very melancholy. He had many things he hadn't had time to explain to Blake, including the relationship between exorcists and guardians. It also included the fact that more than three hundred years ago, when exorcists were at their peak, guardians were people who accompanied exorcists through life and death.

On the way from Mount Huashan, Leo had imagined more than once the appearance and temper of this protector, as well as how to explain it to him after they met. At least he had someone to accompany him for the remaining four years. He dared not think of more, but at least he would not feel lonely.

Jupiter's luck solved all his problems except for Blake's. Or perhaps even Jupiter was powerless to solve this problem, which was related to the heart lamp and the destiny of China.

Leo was full of expectations at first, intending to entrust the remaining four years to him, but expectations gradually turned into disappointment. He had many things to explain to Blake, but what was the point? Blake didn't care at all, didn't care, and didn't bother to pay attention to him.

What should I do next? Change it? Will Ke Xin Deng change it for me? This is not a love story, I can't change it at will. Leo wanted to relax and relieve his worries, but it made him more worried. He had to go back to his room and sleep, but he couldn't sleep for a while. After thinking about it, he had only one idea:

It's all this ba5tard's fault.

After a few days, Leo simply stopped talking to Blake. That night, Feng Qianjun knew that he went out in the middle of the night, but he didn't ask any more questions. There were more and more popular villages along the way. In spring, birds were singing and flowers were blooming. It was easier to find a place to stay. Silver and copper coins had a place to circulate. The three of them passed through Wuguan. With the documents issued by Maicheng, Leo took the two of them through the customs. After a few more days of traveling, they arrived at Chang'an City.

Chang'an has gone through more than a hundred years of war. Every time it changed its owner, it was looted and burned. However, this city, named Haojing since the Zhou Dynasty, has stood in the west of China since that era. This ancient city surrounded by eight rivers is like a giant tree that nourishes the earth. It has shown amazing vitality in repeated burning and destruction. It is lush and green, with singing and dancing, and the sight is full of prosperity.

While the Guanzhong area and even the front line of fierce fighting with the south were in turmoil, Chang'an was peaceful. Even though ten miles away were the people from the Central Plains who were fleeing, dying of starvation or disease on the roadside and in the wilderness, the high walls of Chang'an blocked the plague, hunger, disaster and war.

It also blocked death.

It is like a vibrant oasis in the desert, a world of its own.

The golden and jade mansions were visible from the eaves, the tiled roofs were adjacent to each other, the magnificent Weiyang Palace was filled with purple air, but the palace had already changed its owner. The flowers in Shanglin Garden were in full bloom in spring, and they were incomparably brilliant.

The Hu people rode horses and fought cocks in the streets, the people were laughing and talking, the Han and the Hu people lived together, the Hu people with high noses and deep eyes came and went, no matter Han or Hu, they all wore bright and gorgeous clothes, and the Di language, Jie language, Xianbei language, Tiele language, and Xiongnu language were heard constantly. The market was full of goods, and scholars were wearing green scarves and hats like clouds.

The last time he came to Chang'an was when he was five years old. His memory of Chang'an had long been vague. Now when he saw this scene, Leo suddenly felt an indescribable feeling.

"Although Marcus was a Hu emperor, he governed Chang'an quite well." Leo said sourly.

Feng Qianjun, Blake and I had been traveling for nearly half a month, and we were all dusty and exhausted, and we looked like bumpkins when we entered Chang'an. Blake was still wearing the hunter's clothes, but he didn't care much. He looked at a group of Hu people on the street not far away, as if he heard the local accent and was attracted by it.

Feng Qianjun said: "Yes, I think we should just spare his life for now."

The three of them ordered a bowl of noodles each at a noodle stall on the street in Chang'an as a farewell meal for temporary travel companions. After the meal, Leo asked the waiter for information. Feng Qianjun went to pay the bill and said, "Since we are in Chang'an, I think we might as well..."

Feng Qianjun hesitated again, looked at Leo, and asked, "How about you stay at my brother's place for a few days?"

Leo knew that Feng Qianjun was being polite. Although they took care of each other on the way, they were just casual acquaintances after all. He hurriedly said, "Don't bother Brother Feng. I have somewhere to go. I just found out that he is indeed in Chang'an. He happened to come to Chang'an to seek refuge with an old friend. Please help me take care of the puppy for a while. I can't take care of it for the time being."

"That's fine." Feng Qianjun took the dog away and said cheerfully, "If you have anything to say, send a letter to Songbaiju in the west of the city. It looks like you will have to stay in Chang'an for a while."

As for Blake, Feng Qianjun didn't ask him, but just whistled at him and said, "Tianchi is in your care."

Leo thought it had nothing to do with him, so Feng Qianjun put on a bamboo hat, walked into the street with his hands in his sleeves, and disappeared into the crowd.