Chapter 669: Death of Ning Caichen, the truth behind A Chinese Ghost Story
"Mediating fate... This body is still too weak, otherwise it would not be unable to see through this magical power."
Facing Li Daoxuan and the other two who were safe and sound, although Ning Caichen knew that he had fallen into a trap, he still remained calm and composed.
"I suddenly became curious. When did you discover me?"
He asked proactively.
Now it seems that Li Daoxuan has already suspected him. On the surface, he wanted to capture the Black Mountain Old Demon, but in fact he was plotting to test him.
This made him a little confused. He thought his performance was perfect without any flaws, but it was easily seen through by the other party.
Li Daoxuan looked at the moonlight, smiled faintly, and said: "At first, I didn't doubt you because your performance was so natural. There was only one place that made me feel a little strange."
"Where?"
“It’s the wood carving.”
Ning Caichen was slightly startled.
"When we first met, there was already a crack on the wood carving, indicating that it had been triggered. Of course, you were very smart and used the Luoyang ground fissure more than ten years ago as an excuse to perfectly dispel my suspicions."
Li Daoxuan had to admire this man's quick wit. You know, he suddenly appeared in front of him at that time. Faced with the sudden situation, he was not at all panicked. Instead, he covered up the only flaw perfectly.
"Later, as the secrets of Lanruo Temple were gradually revealed, a question always lingered in my mind."
Li Daoxuan looked at him and asked, "Why did the person behind the scenes want to recreate the story of A Chinese Ghost Story?"
Hearing the words "A Chinese Ghost Story", Yan Chixia and Chen Ziyu were a little puzzled. They didn't understand what Li Daoxuan was talking about. Only Ning Caichen was calm and indifferent, as if he was not surprised at all.
"You really know everything."
Li Daoxuan stared at him closely, secretly guessing his true identity.
Recalling what Li Zhi had mentioned, that he had accurately predicted many things, including the time of Li Shimin's death, Li Daoxuan couldn't help but have a suspicion, could it be another time traveler?
Possibly, but unlikely.
Because he does not have the temperament of a time traveler. Instead, he is more like those high and mighty ancient gods. His sense of vicissitudes is even greater than that of the Queen Mother of the West.
Ning Caichen said frankly: "Many of the things I know have actually been changed by you. For example, Li Shimin was supposed to die of poisoning from taking the elixir of immortality in April, but he died at Hulao Pass in June due to your influence. For example, Changle, she was originally a beautiful woman with a tragic fate, but she became a Yang God."
After a pause, he looked at Chen Ziyu again and said calmly, "And her, her original fate was to be reincarnated by Zhang Qianyang in the ghost village, and then reincarnated as Nie Xiaoqian. After her death, she was controlled by the tree demon and finally met Ning Caichen. Unfortunately, everything changed with your arrival."
Hearing this, Li Daoxuan was shocked.
It turns out that if he had not intervened, the master would have saved Sister Yu, and after her reincarnation, she turned out to be Nie Xiaoqian in A Chinese Ghost Story!
"Who are you?"
Li Daoxuan asked, being extremely wary of him.
Apart from Taiqing Daode Tianzun, this was the second time he encountered someone who he could not see through at all. It was obvious that the other party knew that he was not from this world.
Previously in the painting, he also said that he wanted to send himself away from this world.
Ning Caichen did not answer this question, but looked at him quietly and said, "You haven't answered my previous question yet. How did you find me?"
Li Daoxuan thought for a moment and said, "Strictly speaking, I'm not completely sure that you are the person behind the scenes. I just have a suspicion. What arouses my suspicion is still the same question as before, that is, why are you so obsessed with recreating the story of A Chinese Ghost Story?"
"I believe that you will definitely gain some benefits by doing this, and you are not greedy for Sister Yu's Lotus Dharmakaya, so what is your real purpose?"
Li Daoxuan smiled slightly and said, "I couldn't figure it out until you revealed a flaw."
Ning Caichen raised his eyebrows slightly , as if he remembered something, and asked, "Is it a tree demon?"
Li Daoxuan nodded and said, "Yes, the tree demon rushed towards Sister Yu at that time, and you stepped forward and killed it with the wood carving. It seemed reasonable, but it always made me feel that it was too coincidental."
The tree demon has had close contact with the person behind the scenes. If her soul is searched, she will definitely reveal many clues.
But just when the truth was about to come out, as luck would have it, Ning Caichen silenced her.
"This incident made me start to pay attention to you, and I began to wonder, what if you are the one behind this?"
"This is a great thought. Many puzzles suddenly become clear."
Li Daoxuan sneered and said, "For example, why was the tree demon so shocked and resentful when she was killed by you? It was because she never expected that she would be ruthlessly abandoned by you like this."
"For example, in A Chinese Ghost Story, who is the biggest beneficiary?"
Li Daoxuan pointed at him and said, "Of course it's you, Ning Caichen!"
"After A Chinese Ghost Story, Xiaoqian will definitely be devoted to you. If you send her back to her right now, Sister Yu will no longer remember me after she wakes up. She will only think that she is Nie Xiaoqian and will obey you from now on."
"Your real goal has never been Sister Yu, but me. You want to plant a nail next to me, a hidden knife. Who else would be more suitable than Sister Yu?"
This would explain why that person wanted to extract Sister Yu’s soul.
Because the human soul carries memories and emotional abilities, and because it has lost the protection of the physical body, it is more easily influenced by others.
Sister Yu has achieved the status of an immortal, and her soul is far superior to that of ordinary people. Ning Caichen cannot directly tamper with her memory and can only seal it. In order to completely make this goddess of Xiaoxiang his own supporter, he directed and acted in this A Chinese Ghost Story himself.
"What you didn't expect was that I would find Lanruo Temple so quickly and meet you directly. This drama has been completely disrupted by me before it even started."
"You might as well take advantage of my trick and deliberately make friends with me, and adapt to the situation."
Li Daoxuan smiled slightly and explained all his reasoning.
He had no evidence and was worried that he had misunderstood Ning Caichen, so he designed this picture-within-a-picture play to lure the snake out of its hole.
As it turned out, the moment he exposed his entire back to the other party and was completely defenseless, the other party really couldn't hold back.
After listening to Li Daoxuan's story, Ning Caichen sighed softly.
"It's a pity that Chen Ziyu has already become an immortal, so we can't forcibly tamper with her memory. We can only influence her consciousness subtly. Otherwise, why would it have dragged on until today and failed?"
"After all, that tree demon is just too useless."
Li Daoxuan was about to speak when suddenly a paper crane flew over. He reached out to take it. It was the handwriting of his apprentice Changle. After reading it, he could not help but sneer and threw the letter to Ning Caichen.
"There is always a loophole in a hundred precautions. Take a look for yourself."
Ning Caichen took it and glanced at it.
"Master, be careful, Ning Caichen is lying!"
"On April 3rd of the 17th year of Zhenguan, the ground in Xiuwenfang, Luoyang, cracked at Chou time. But three days before that, Ning Caichen and his family had already moved out of Luoyang and taken refuge with their cousins in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The account books of the escort agency are proof of this!"
Although it was an insignificant old incident six years ago, it was uncovered in just two days thanks to the efforts of the entire Tang Dynasty court.
"The first crack on the wood carving was not caused by the crack in the ground, but by you!"
Ning Caichen remained silent.
…
Half a month ago.
Ning Caichen packed his bags and set out for Beijing to study at the Imperial College full of hope. Before leaving, his mother forced the wood carving that had been enshrined in their home for many years on him and told him to carry it with him.
Ning Caichen had never been interested in matters of ghosts and gods, but he had no choice but to do as his mother told him to do.
After sailing for thousands of miles, they would reach Luoyang in a few days. He planned to go ashore to rest and visit the scenic spots in Luoyang.
But at this moment, a man came from the other side of the river.
The man looked exactly like him, but he stood above the water, staring at him quietly with deep and calm eyes.
The rowing boatman ignored it.
Ning Caichen was about to speak when he saw the man suddenly turn into a faint light and penetrate into his eyes, ears, mouth and nose, and his consciousness gradually fell into darkness.
At this moment, the wooden sculpture in his arms suddenly moved, and a golden sword energy flew out, slashing towards the dim light.
But compared with that, the sword energy was nothing but a drop in the bucket and did not cause any waves.
In the blink of an eye, Ning Caichen became a different person.
He stood on the boat, reached out and took out the wooden sculpture in his arms, looked at the familiar face and the crack on it, and sneered.
Everything is going as planned.
As for the tree demon, its influence on Xiaoqian is growing, and she has agreed to participate in the hunt.
And Li Daoxuan might still be searching for Chen Ziyu's soul all over the world like a headless fly...
Soon after, the boat docked.
However, just as he got ashore, the wooden sculpture in his arms seemed to be pulled by something, trembled slightly, and fell out automatically.
He dropped his eyes and pretended to stagger.
Just as he was about to pick up the wood carving, a slender white hand helped him pick it up.
"Brother, this wood carving is quite interesting. Do you want to sell it?"
Ning Caichen raised his head, appearing calm on the surface, but his heart was shaken violently.
Although the man in white clothes and a gold belt had changed his appearance, he still recognized him at the first sight.
Li Daoxuan!
