Chapter 448: Those who regard the people as chess pieces will be overthrown by the people!
After hearing the laughter, Li Daoxuan felt his trouser legs tighten. He looked down and saw a chubby pink and white little boy grabbing his ankle, with a hint of joy of reunion in his dark eyes.
Li Daoxuan was about to speak when the little boy disappeared. Then he felt a heaviness around his waist, as if someone was hugging him.
He reached for his waist, but the little boy climbed to his neck again, giggling as if he was playing hide-and-seek with him.
Li Daoxuan sighed and said, "Okay, I have something to talk to you about, so stop fooling around."
The Nightmare Boy still wanted to dodge, but Li Daoxuan's palm suddenly accelerated, grabbed his pigtails, lifted him up, and looked carefully at the Nightmare Boy who was very different from before.
After being caught, the nightmare boy stopped struggling and just looked at Li Daoxuan with a very innocent and pitiful look, as if he was trying to get away with it by being cute.
"You have gained some weight and become a little whiter."
Li Daoxuan smiled, put him down, and tapped him lightly on the head as a punishment.
It seems that Yan Tong is living a good life. He has gained weight and the resentment that was lingering on his body has long dissipated, replaced by a mysterious and majestic smell of incense .
Only the dark blue pupils still retained some of the appearance of the former ghost baby.
The Nightmare Child was naturally very affectionate to his savior. He hugged Li Daoxuan's legs and said in a baby voice, "The Queen... took good care of me, and the people in the Qingming Realm... were also very nice."
After a pause, he complained again: "Only Grandma Que... always teases me."
Li Daoxuan was stunned, and it took him a long time to react. The Grandma Que he was talking about was the Fairy Que.
Li Daoxuan's mouth twitched. If you call her grandma, how can she not tease you?
Recalling the first time I met the little bird, I called it the bird fairy right away, which immediately gave me a high favorability. Only then could I pluck the bird's feathers unscrupulously.
Until now, there are still several real feathers of little birds in the Three Realms Gourd that have not been used up.
"Yan Tong, I need your help with something now."
Li Daoxuan pointed at Li Yuan, who was snoring loudly on the bed, and said, "I want you to take me into his dream. Can you do it?"
Yan Tong glanced at Li Yuan, and immediately patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, benefactor, I will definitely do it!"
He held Li Daoxuan's hand and activated his innate magical power. The figures of the two began to become blurry, as if they turned into wisps of faint light and disappeared into Li Yuan's head.
Outside the room, Li Shimin saw bursts of strange light coming from the window. He walked forward and took a look, but was surprised to find that the room was empty.
Taichong disappeared.
In addition, Li Yuan, who was sleeping soundly on the bed, twitched slightly. His originally loud snoring suddenly stopped, and his eyelids trembled slightly, as if he was about to wake up, but he returned to calm the next moment.
The snoring sounded again.
…
Li Daoxuan only felt that the scene in front of him was distorted. It lasted for a few breaths before it finally became clear.
"Long live the emperor!"
Li Daoxuan appeared in the Taiji Hall. It was a court meeting at that moment and all the officials were bowing their heads. Only Li Daoxuan and Yan Tong were standing there. They were very conspicuous and seemed out of place.
The jade seal in Yan Tong's hand became a little dim. This was his divine seal. It had obviously invaded Li Yuan's dream, which had consumed him greatly.
"How dare you, Your Highness, not kneel before me?"
An angry roar came from the dragon throne, which was quite majestic.
Li Daoxuan looked up and found that it was not Li Shimin, but Li Yuan with a head full of white hair.
But compared with reality, Li Yuan in the dream was wearing a dragon robe, was in high spirits, looked majestic and not at all listless.
Li Daoxuan stared at him quietly and said something shocking.
"Mora, how does it feel to be the emperor in my dream?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Li Yuan, who was sitting on the dragon throne, looked deep, his anger and majesty disappeared, his temperament became calm and evil, as if he had suddenly become a different person.
He waved his sleeves, and the surrounding scene changed again. The Golden Throne Hall turned into an ancient temple in the mountains. Fallen leaves were everywhere, and an old Bodhi tree was shining and standing tall and graceful.
A black lotus blossomed, and on it sat a handsome man in black clothes and black hair. His facial features were rather feminine, and his evil temperament had a hint of Zen.
"Li Daoxuan, I didn't expect you to find this place so quickly."
Moro raised his eyes, his voice gentle and calm.
He swept away the fallen leaves on the stone with his sleeves, revealing criss-crossing lines and two black and white chess boxes.
"Since you're here, why not play a game of hands?"
Li Daoxuan was about to walk over when Yan Tong pulled the corner of his clothes, hid behind him and looked at Moro carefully, his eyes full of anxiety. It was obvious that he felt the other party's terror.
Moro glanced at the nightmare child and smiled faintly, "The ghost baby has the ability to enter dreams and has also been conferred by Qingyi. It's quite a good fortune."
Li Daoxuan touched Yan Tong's head, signaling him not to worry, and then walked over and sat down opposite Moro.
"You are a guest, please come in."
Moro extended his hand and invited Li Daoxuan to go down first, politely and calmly.
Li Daoxuan was not polite either. He played with white and moved first, placing a piece at random.
Moro made a move right after that and asked calmly, "When did you discover the connection between me and Li Yuan?"
"I just figured it out."
Li Daoxuan raised his eyes, looked directly at him and said, "The drought in Chang'an in the past and the heavy rain today are all man-made. As Yan'er was not attacked by the dragon energy, the Black Mountain Old Demon was able to sneak into the palace and snatch the queen's soul..."
"All of these things are indicating the same thing, that is, the person behind the scenes can not only avoid the dragon energy, but can even slightly obscure the perception of the dragon energy and provide cover for others!"
Whether it was Yan'er or the Black Mountain Old Demon, they should have been the targets of the dragon's energy attack, but in the end, neither of them alarmed the dragon's energy. This was too unusual.
You know, even the reigning emperor Li Shimin was only passively protected by the dragon energy. Later, he recovered the imperial seal and was able to barely mobilize the dragon energy.
Why Moro?
This question had been bothering Li Daoxuan until he saw the "ten" written by Guichu. At Li Shimin's unintentional reminder, Li Daoxuan thought of Li Yuan, the retired emperor who had been imprisoned in Hongyi Palace and had no sense of existence.
At that time, an extremely bold idea came into his mind.
What if Li Yuan and Moro join forces?
Master Sanle once said that Mara's state is very special. He has no physical body and lives in the dreamland of the universe. If he wants to influence the real world, he must have a medium.
Li Daoxuan once fought with Moro during the Fengshan Ceremony. That strange eye that looked like the way of heaven was seen by everyone in Chang'an.
This means that Moro has found his medium to influence the human world, and that medium is extraordinary and closely related to dragon energy.
Naturally, Li Daoxuan thought of Li Yuan.
"You're smart, but you're still wrong about one thing."
Moro said frankly.
"What's up?"
"Li Yuan is not willing to join forces with me."
Moro sighed and said, "The human heart is the most complicated thing in the world. Li Yuan was imprisoned by his own son and lost his throne. But when I said I would help him take everything back, he refused immediately out of caution."
After a pause, Moro said, "Unfortunately, although he refused, he still felt frustrated. He often drank and dreamed about his anger. Over time, his guard gradually decreased. Later, I showed him a little kindness, which helped his old body recover some vitality and gave birth to some children. Li Yuan then became more convinced of me."
Li Daoxuan was stunned. He finally understood why Li Yuan, who was in his sixties, could still give birth to more than thirty children within a few years. Such vigorous energy was not his innate talent, but a gift from Moro.
It can be imagined that Li Yuan was very wary of the man who called himself Moro at the beginning. As the founding emperor, Li Yuan was by no means the same kind of person as Li Yuanji. He wanted to take back everything he had lost, but the prerequisite was that the Li Tang dynasty must be named after the Li family!
No outsiders are allowed to interfere!
However, as the feelings of dissatisfaction and frustration gradually accumulated, and Moro demonstrated his magical skills, Li Yuan finally began to have ideas.
Moro continued to make moves. He didn't seem to have to think at all. Every move was calm and confident.
"But what Li Yuan doesn't know is that I never intended to join forces with him from the beginning. What I want is his body, the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty."
"After gradually gaining his trust, I paid a price and finally took over Li Yuan's body. Not only can I ignore the dragon energy, but I can also use my own magic power to block part of the dragon energy's perception, so as to lay out a plan in the Taiji Palace."
After a pause, Moro smiled and said, "Li Shimin is conceited about his intelligence, but he doesn't know that every time he sits in front of me, I can easily take his life."
Li Daoxuan sneered and suddenly dropped a piece.
"But you dare not, because Li Shimin is destined to be the true dragon emperor, and he is favored by destiny. If you kill him, you will definitely suffer the backlash of the destiny of heaven and earth. The price is too high, even you can't afford it, so you bewitched Li Yuanji and wanted him to kill Li Shimin for you and bear the backlash!"
Li Yuanji was a complete tragedy. He was played around by Moro from beginning to end.
He thought he could cause Li Shimin's mental breakdown through nightmares, and then take the opportunity to take over the Tang Dynasty. However, he didn't know that even without Li Daoxuan's intervention, he could not become the Tang Emperor he dreamed of.
The moment he successfully replaced Li Shimin, the backlash of the destiny of heaven and earth would cause his soul to fly to pieces. By then, the crown prince was young, and Li Yuan's direct bloodline had all died. The Tang Dynasty was leaderless, and the civil and military officials would naturally remember that there was still a retired emperor in Hongyi Palace who was still in his prime and full of energy.
Li Yuan, or Moro, would only need to raise his arm to easily ascend the throne of the Tang Dynasty and rule the empire.
"What a good trick of killing someone with a borrowed knife!"
Li Daoxuan's eyes narrowed slightly, and he became more alert to the evil man in black clothes and black hair, sitting on the lotus pedestal in front of him.
Moro lightly placed a piece, and in a calm and peaceful manner, the situation on the chessboard became increasingly favorable to him.
“Is this the only step you’ve seen?”
He seemed to be asking about chess, but also seemed to be asking about something else.
Li Daoxuan dropped a piece and said, "Of course it's not just that. After you ascended the throne, you urgently need to do something great to stabilize people's hearts and establish your prestige. After all, everyone in the court and the country is still Li Shimin's man."
"This great deed is to pray for rain."
"Just imagine that Li Shimin killed his brother and imprisoned his father, which angered the gods and caused a severe drought in Chang'an. But as soon as the emperor ascended the throne, a sweet rain fell in Chang'an. What would people in the world think then?"
"I'm afraid that all the hard work and achievements Li Shimin has made over the years will vanish in an instant, and Maha, who is responsible for praying for rain, will naturally become the imperial teacher of the Tang Dynasty and control the court for you. After all, your goal is to become the only god in the world, not just an emperor."
Bang!
Moro looked indifferent as he placed another piece, pressing forward step by step to encircle Li Daoxuan.
"You are indeed very smart. Even if you don't get all of them right, you've got eight out of ten right."
Moro looked at Li Daoxuan with an undisguised admiration in his eyes, as if he was looking at an unpolished jade.
"I never give anyone a second chance, but I want to make an exception for you."
Moro smiled and said, "Leave the dream now and pretend that nothing happened. The conditions I promised you before will not change. When I become the supreme true god one day, the world will be left to you to rule."
Li Daoxuan shook his head and smiled: "It's the same old saying, if we are on different paths, we can't make plans together."
Moro sighed softly and said, "That's such a pity."
"It's a pity that I didn't turn to you?"
"No, it's a pity that you're going to die."
Moro looked at Li Daoxuan with eyes full of pity and regret, without a trace of affectation or falsehood, honest and sincere.
"If I give you some more time, when you grow to Zhang Zhiyan's level, maybe you can really play chess with me. As for now..."
Moro made another move, completely forcing Li Daoxuan into a dead end. At this point, the outcome was decided.
"You are still a little short of that now."
Li Daoxuan was not surprised or disappointed at all. He stared at Moro and asked, "I have one last question for you."
Moro seemed to be somewhat interested and said with a smile: "Oh? If there is anything else you don't understand, you can tell me."
Li Daoxuan said word by word: "What about Yan'er? She didn't kidnap Changle as you ordered. Was she killed by the water corpse ghost under your command?"
Hearing this question, a hint of disappointment appeared in Moro's eyes.
"Li Daoxuan, I overestimated you after all. You are smart enough and possess Lü Dongbin's Sky-Escape Sword Intentions, but you still can't escape those false benevolence and morality."
He sighed and said, "How can the jade of Jingshan be covered in dust?"
Li Daoxuan looked at him coldly and said, "You like playing chess and treating all living beings as chess pieces that you can discard at will. But in my opinion, people who like to be high and mighty and treat others as chess pieces..."
He put his fingers together to form a sword, and the unyielding sword intent soared into the sky. The fallen leaves around him turned into pieces in an instant, and the vertical and horizontal sword energy cut off the head of the giant Buddha who was sitting with a flower in his hand in the ancient temple.
clang!
The hanging ancient bell made a dull sound, and the mottled bronze began to develop cracks under the sharp sword energy, spreading like a spider web.
Carrying a three-foot sword in a box on my back, I stand before the heavens to show my injustice to the people!
Li Daoxuan cut the chessboard with a sword, chopping the black and white chess pieces into powder, which dissipated in the wind.
“I always believe that those who are high and mighty and use others as pawns will one day have the chessboard overturned by others.”
