Volume 6: Summer Chapter 65: Deception
Jiang You helped Lin Yu, who was covered in blood, up the stairs.
Jiang You said: "Take a shower and change your clothes first."
As he said that, he walked into the room, took out a set of clean clothes, and handed them to Lin Yu. "After you wash, take a rest in my room and have a good sleep. I'll wake you up for dinner."
Lin Yu was still a little dazed, and his reaction became slow. After a few seconds, he replied, "Okay."
Jiang You watched Lin Yu close the bathroom door, then he turned and went downstairs.
Guan Qingtong stood beside the long table, looking down at the postcards spread out on it. When she heard footsteps, she looked up and asked, "Did you write all these?"
"Want to eat something, drink something?"
Guan Qingtong said: "It's raining, let's drink some hot tea."
When Jiang You brought out the brewed black tea from the kitchen, Guan Qingtong had already sat down at the long table. After putting down the cup, Jiang You also pulled out a chair and sat down. While putting away the postcard, he said, "It's only a little after two o'clock, and there are still six or seven hours."
"Are you so unwelcome to me?"
"Not very welcome."
Guan Qingtong took a sip of tea and asked, "Why?"
Jiang You did not answer Guan Qingtong's question, but asked in return: "You have been planning to seize the core since early on, right? So you moved the research institute to Laojin Mountain."
Guan Qingtong explained in a gentle voice: "It depends on your thoughts. I don't mean to force you."
"I only have so little property, and you guys are always thinking about me."
After saying this, Jiang You stopped talking.
He looked outside the door. The rain had lessened and the sky was a little brighter. So he stood up and walked to the door. The bluestone road was gleaming with water. The pomegranate tree had fallen, but its leaves were growing thicker. The rain had bent the branches and leaves, and the water was dripping down along the edges of the leaves.
…
Laojin Mountain.
Zhuang Zekun sat in the reception room of Baihe Temple, tapping his fingers lightly on the armrest of the chair. After a moment, he turned to look at Taoist Qingyang and asked, "Do you think there is something wrong with Meng Yuanbai?"
"Yes," Taoist Qingyang nodded, "I always feel that I have seen or heard of this person and his ruler somewhere."
"Where's the ruler?"
"In the hands of his grandson."
"What about Jiang You's tenant?" Zhuang Zekun asked.
"Yes."
Zhuang Zekun said: "I'll make a note of this."
Taoist Qingyang breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to speak, he heard a knock on the door. He stood up and walked to the door, opened it, and saw Tang Butian standing outside.
Taoist Qingyang was a little surprised. He asked, "Xiao Tang? Why are you here?"
Tang Butian pointed at Zhuang Zekun and said, "I'll go find him."
After saying that, she walked into the reception room.
After hearing her voice, Zhuang Zekun stood up. He looked at Tang Butian and asked, "Are you in any trouble?"
Tang Butian said: "I want to ask you something."
Hearing this, Taoist Qingyang said, "You guys chat first, I'll go out for a while."
Taoist Qingyang walked out of the reception room, carefully closed the door, and walked a few steps to the corridor. The wind blew the rain in, soaking a corner of his Taoist robe.
The cold voice penetrated the sound of rain and rang out in the reception room.
"What exactly is alien spiritual power?"
After hearing Tang Butian's question, Zhuang Zekun was stunned for a moment. He asked, "Why do you suddenly ask this?"
"Is the alien spiritual power related to what happened thirty years ago?"
"Where did you hear that?"
Tang Butian did not answer. She held the wooden sword in both hands and looked straight at Zhuang Zekun.
Zhuang Zekun hesitated for a moment, "This matter involves confidential information..."
Hearing this, Tang Butian turned around and was about to leave.
"Xiao Tang." Zhuang Zekun called her.
Tang Butian stopped.
Zhuang Zekun walked in front of Tang Butian and said, "Xiao Tang, you have a lot of misunderstandings about me."
Tang Butian said: "There is no misunderstanding. It involves confidentiality. You have no right to say it, and I have no right to know it. This is the fact."
Thunder and lightning flashed, and the sound of rain became heavier again.
"Thirty years ago," Zhuang Zekun sighed slightly, "Thirty years ago, there was no special section, and the institute had not yet separated from the Academy of Sciences. At that time," he looked at Tang Butian's overly young face, "I was only a few years older than you are now. Teacher Xie brought us young people. Some of us had family backgrounds in the field, like Guan Nuo's mothers and her brother Guan Kang. Wangshu and I were selected from some orphans."
Zhuang Zekun observed Tang Butian's expression and continued, "At that time, there was little communication between the mountain and the secular world. As for the people..." He sighed again, "There were not many cases related to metaphysics, but there were thousands of cases in the whole of China every year. Some people wanted to use the power of metaphysics to gain wealth and status for various purposes, so the government had to establish a framework system to cultivate its own talents and absorb talents from the people."
"What you said has nothing to do with me."
"Do you know how we learned it?" Zhuang Zekun raised his voice slightly.
"have no idea."
"We have no shortage of exercises. We have collected many of them. The people from the Academy of Sciences have counted and analyzed them and summarized several systems. They have also studied the energy needed for cultivation, that is, spiritual power, and developed the first generation of spiritual power supplements. We began to practice. We don't have a teacher. We explored together with the researchers, solved problems together, and endured the side effects of the drugs together. One of my good friends, Zhan Bo, was possessed by a demon. At that time, Teacher Xie went to the mountain for help. A man came down from the mountain and cured Zhan Bo. Then he told us that our way of cultivation was wrong and our path would not work."
Tang Butian pursed her lips.
"There are thousands of metaphysical cases every year, people who want to use metaphysics to gain financial power, and foreign metaphysical forces that have always wanted to infiltrate China. Xiao Tang, you have been the head of the Special Operations Department for three years. If there is no Special Operations Department, who will solve these problems? Rely on the spontaneous organization of civilian forces? Or rely on the mountains?"
Tang Butian said: "I understand the significance of the existence of the Special Operations Department. I don't understand the significance of you telling me this."
"Thirty years ago, the Buddhist sect believed that the way of heaven would change, and alien spiritual power was discovered at that time. The Academy of Sciences invested a lot of energy in this." Zhuang Zekun took a few steps back and took a sip of the cold tea on the coffee table. "When the disaster began, everyone linked the alien spiritual power with the disaster, so much so that some real clues were missed."
"The real clue?"
"Yes," Zhuang Zekun looked at the wooden sword held by Tang Butian, "In order to drive this wooden sword, many of us died, maybe, maybe," Zhuang Zekun's voice was trembling, "Those who sacrificed to end the disaster were all living people who grew up with me, practiced together, and endured pain together. And ten years ago, the research institute discovered the truth about the alien spiritual power," Zhuang Zekun took a deep breath and said, "At that time, I was forced to leave Tangjiang. If we hadn't taken a detour and given us more time, maybe they wouldn't have to sacrifice."
"So the alien spiritual power is meaningless?"
"It makes sense, but," Zhuang Zekun hesitated, and said, "Keep investigating. Once you find out the reason, maybe you will know the truth then."
Tang Butian lowered her hands and said, "Thank you for letting me know."
Zhuang Zekun smiled and said, "If you have any questions in the future, you can come and ask me directly. If I'm not in Tangjiang, you can call me or ask Yu Lan more."
"good."
"I also happen to have something to ask of you."
"you say."
"The technique that Xiao Nuo is practicing now is newly developed by the research institute. It is safe enough in theory. Our generation is old, and if we can't follow this path, then we can't follow it. Xiao Nuo is still young and has just started to formally learn these techniques. I hope he can continue on this path and not sacrifice his lifespan for the sake of temporary strength."
"You want me to watch him practice?"
"Yes."
Tang Butian thought about it and said, "Half a day a week, starting next week. I'll end it when I think there's no problem."
"Okay, okay. Let me thank you on behalf of Xiao Nuo."
