Chapter 349: I Want to Draw a Real Dragon for the Emperor
Hearing Li Shimin's words, Li Chunfeng immediately bowed and said, "It is all because of my incompetence that I cannot help Your Majesty solve the problem. Please punish me, Your Majesty!"
Li Shimin waved his hands and sighed, "My dear minister, please don't blame yourself. Although you are a rare genius of Louguan Dao, you have only been practicing for a short time. Moreover, when it comes to the art of exorcising demons and ghosts, Louguan Dao is naturally inferior to Longhu Mountain."
Li Daoxuan couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, what is going on?"
At this time, Li Chunfeng said, "Your Majesty has been waking up from nightmares recently and has been unable to sleep all night, which has made you mentally exhausted and your blood and qi weak. If this continues, I'm afraid the consequences will be disastrous!"
"You suspect that there is a demon at work. How is that possible?"
Li Daoxuan frowned.
The dragon energy on Li Shimin was so strong that it was as bright as the sun, and no evil spirits could harm him.
Li Chunfeng obviously knew that this statement was outrageous, but he said with a firm look: "The imperial physician took your Majesty's pulse and everything was normal. They prescribed drugs to calm your nerves, but there was no improvement."
"Besides that, there is one thing that makes me sure that this must have been done by ghosts and gods!"
"What's up?"
Li Chunfeng said solemnly, "I have suggested to your majesty that you order Generals Yuchi Gong and Qin Qiong to guard outside the gate. They are both brave generals who have fought many battles and have the aura of dragons and tigers. All evil spirits will flee at the sight of them ."
"In the past two days, everything was normal, but the two generals were also mortals and could not guard for long. So I personally painted their portraits and posted them in front of Your Majesty's bedroom, but I didn't expect that it was useless!"
Li Daoxuan's mind moved. Isn't this the origin of door gods?
In "Journey to the West", the Dragon King of Jing River was beheaded by Wei Zheng in a dream. His soul resented Li Shimin for not saving him, so he came to question him in his dreams every night, causing Li Shimin to have nightmares frequently.
Later, Generals Yuchi Gong and Qin Qiong were asked to guard the gate, which prevented the old Dragon King from acting rashly.
This is also the origin of door gods.
But now a lot has changed. The Dragon King of Jinghe River is gone, but Li Shimin still starts to have nightmares, and they are even worse. Even the picture of the general drawn by Li Chunfeng himself cannot suppress the unknown evil.
It seems that the cause of Li Shimin's nightmare was really an evil spirit?
"Taichong, I know you are busy with your practice and I didn't want to disturb you, but during this period, I have already looked for Master Dongyangzi of Xuandu Temple, but he was helpless."
Li Daoxuan nodded and said, "I already know about this. I will do my best to help Your Majesty eliminate the evil spirits."
After saying that, he opened his third eye and looked at Li Shimin carefully, and found that there was nothing unusual on his body. He then looked around and there was no trace of any demons.
This was also within his expectations . After all, the dragon energy was so strong that even the great demons in the Yangshen realm would not dare to set foot on it.
"What can Taichong see?"
Li Shimin asked.
Li Daoxuan shook his head and said nothing.
Li Shimin sighed. If even Li Daoxuan, who came from Longhu Mountain, couldn't see it, then perhaps all this was not caused by demons, but his...heartache.
There was one thing he didn't tell anyone, that was that the nightmare he had every night would feature the same scene, which was Xuanwu Gate.
He dreamed that he suddenly appeared in front of the Xuanwu Gate. His dead brother Li Jiancheng and younger brother Li Yuanji both had disheveled hair and were covered in blood. They were pinching their throats and cursing loudly.
Whenever he was about to suffocate to death, he would wake up from his dream.
Maybe all this is really a punishment from God?
After suffering from nightmares many times in succession, Li Shimin no longer had the fighting spirit he once had. He was exhausted, and coupled with the severe drought in Chang'an, even he, who was ambitious, felt a little discouraged.
Li Chunfeng seemed to have noticed that His Majesty was not in a good state. He stood up and said firmly, "Your Majesty, since ancient times, those who have accomplished great things have never been talked about by others."
"Qin Shi Huang once burned books and buried scholars, but he conquered the six kingdoms and achieved the great cause of unification. Liu Bang once killed meritorious officials, but he founded the Han Dynasty, which lasted for 400 years. Although Emperor Wu of Han issued an edict of self-blame, he rode his horse across the desert and drove the Xiongnu across thousands of miles of yellow sand. How can the merits and demerits of later generations depend on the words of people at one time?"
Li Daoxuan clapped his hands and praised, "Brother Li, you said it well, Your Majesty. I once heard a great saying, 'Fighting against the heavens brings endless joy.' Even if it is really God's will, so what? Since the beginning of time, our human race has eaten raw meat and drank blood, and drilled wood to make fire. Haven't we encountered many natural disasters? But haven't we still achieved today's prosperity?"
"Fighting against the sky brings endless joy..."
Li Shimin savored this sentence and was moved by the great spirit contained in it. At the same time, he also looked at Li Daoxuan deeply.
With his blood boiling in his heart, Li Shimin suddenly felt much more energetic. At least the previous depressed mood had disappeared, and he felt refreshed and refreshed.
"I understand. They say Wei Zheng dared to speak out. I think you two are not inferior to Wei Zheng at all, haha!"
Li Shimin laughed loudly, his voice was loud and powerful, and he had regained his former spirit.
"Taichong is right. Fighting against the sky is a lot of fun. This time, I really want to fight against the sky!"
Whether it was the severe drought or the nightmare, it seemed to be a manifestation of God's will. However, Li Shimin refused to believe it. He not only wanted to be an emperor, but also a rare good emperor in history!
At this moment, Li Daoxuan's voice sounded again.
"Your Majesty, I am not helpless. I have a method that you may want to try."
Hearing this, Li Shimin immediately looked at him with hope in his eyes.
Although his fighting spirit was rekindled, if he did not resolve the nightmare problem, his body would be dragged down sooner or later, and he would fail to accomplish his great cause and die young.
"What is the solution?"
Li Daoxuan smiled faintly and said, "Didn't Lord Li paint portraits of Yuchi Gong and Qin Qiong for Your Majesty? I would also like to give Your Majesty a painting."
"What painting?"
"dragon."
…
After a while, the pen, ink, paper and inkstone were all ready.
Under Li Shimin's expectant gaze, Li Daoxuan began to draw a dragon with his brush splashing ink.
Li Chunfeng's eyes were solemn, not missing any details.
The dragon is a divine beast of heaven and earth, and it carries its own majesty. If it is painted with great skill and its form and spirit are captured perfectly, it can also be used to ward off ghosts and evil spirits.
It is said that Zhang Sengyou, a great painter of the Liang Dynasty, once painted dragons on the wall of Anle Temple in Jinling. The emperor found that the two dragons had no eyes, so he asked Zhang Sengyou why.
Zhang Sengyou replied: "If you paint eyes on them, they will fly away."
No one believed it, so the emperor insisted that he paint eyes on one of the dragons. Zhang Sengyao had no choice but to paint eyes on one of the dragons. Suddenly, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and the dragon actually flew away!
Therefore, there is only one dragon left on the wall of Anle Temple.
Li Chunfeng 's painting skills were naturally far inferior to Zhang Sengyou's, but he was also a master of painting, and the portraits he painted had reached the level of both form and spirit. He didn't believe that Li Daoxuan, who was so young, could surpass him.
Unless the other person has reached the realm of Zhang Sengyou, it is useless to draw anything!
So he stared at Li Daoxuan's painting carefully, not missing any details. Li Shimin did the same, thinking that Li Daoxuan was about to paint a masterpiece.
However, before long, the expressions of the two became increasingly strange.
Li Chunfeng's face was full of black lines. Looking at those messy lines, even his body was shaking slightly.
“Ridiculous… Ridiculous!”
Li Shimin coughed and his expression suddenly became very embarrassed.
If he agreed with Li Chunfeng, Li Daoxuan would certainly feel ashamed. He valued this young Taoist master very much.
But if he were to deny it and speak for Li Daoxuan...
Li Shimin thought about it and decided to give up because he couldn't live with his conscience.
