Bone

Chapter 122

That night.

The sky is full of stars among the clouds, and a full moon hangs high in the sky, surrounded by fluffy thin clouds, covering a circle of soft shadows, as if a gentle eye is silently looking down at the earth, spying on all kinds of things in the world.

And the evening wind seemed to be breathing softly, blowing across the high-rise buildings in the imperial capital, and tapping on the window lattices.

Even if the guards in the palace were extremely strict, they could not prevent the pervasive breeze. The red lanterns hanging under the eaves were swayed lightly by the wind, reflecting illusory lights all over the place.

On the eaves, Sanjiu was sitting next to a glazed animal head, shaking his legs habitually, looking at all the halls in the palace from a height, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the burnt ruins of a high tower beside Liuhua Lake. Jumping, hurriedly looked away as if the shock was still there.

The national teacher is no longer, the new emperor ascends the throne, there is no more pungent aroma inside and outside the palace, nor the smoky incense burning everywhere, but for some reason, there is still a feeling of emptiness and loneliness. The gloomy meaning is even more chilling than the underworld they visited half a month ago...

I thought they would go straight to Qingyuan after leaving Jucang, but they came to the imperial capital first—Sanjiu tilted his head, looked at Tan Fengyue who was silent beside him, and asked in a puzzled manner : "Xianjun, we...?"

Tan Fengyue stood near Sanjiu with his hands in a cage, with a look of sarcasm in his eyes, looking down at the emperor's bedroom, which was the most deadly in all the palaces, and only after a moment did he regain his usual calm face, flicking his green sleeves, he called Sanjiu lightly. Nine: "Go."

The night was silent, and the breeze blowing through the window swayed the lights by the window.

The night eunuch who was guarding nearby dozed heavily, his eyes narrowed just now, when he was awakened by the sudden movement of the dragon bed, he regained his energy, and hurriedly raised the lamp to shine on it——

He has been on duty for quite a long time, since he was the emperor or the crown prince, he has been at his side all the time, and he knows His Majesty's daily life very well, but for some reason... Ever since the late Emperor passed away suddenly and His Majesty ascended the throne, he couldn't sleep every night Anwen, people also lost weight quickly...

On the dragon bed, Ji Zhuoran, who was already the emperor, no longer saw the former Fengshen and handsome, as thin as a dry bone, wrapped under the brocade quilt, he could hardly see any ups and downs.

Like every night in the past few months, he was covered in cold sweat, his brows were tightly furrowed, his breathing was heavy, his hands and feet struggled lightly from time to time, but his eyes were still tightly closed, obviously being haunted by a nightmare.

Seeing His Majesty like this, it is inevitable to think of those terrifying ghost rumors in the past... As if even getting closer to His Majesty, he could feel a chill, the eunuch on duty at night shivered slightly, turned around Cut the wick of the candle short.

Silently, the candle flame was picked up by the night wind, and it flickered again.

...he woke up?

Do not……

Staring in a daze, he vaguely sensed that someone had brightened the lamp beside the bed. Ji Zhuoran was about to turn his head with difficulty, and shouted loudly, but his body seemed to be being pressed down by a brute force , so that he couldn't even move his fingertips, and his consciousness sank again in a blink of an eye, as if being pulled by countless hands, dragging him back to the endless nightmare.

——When you are in a dream, how can you know whether it is a dream or not?

The scene in front of him is so distorted and illusory, with thousands of changes, the only thing that can be seen clearly is the ferocious face with mouth open, and countless evil spirits are climbing on him, shackling his wrists and ankles, and sticking tightly to his side ear.

In the ear, the breath of the evil ghost was so cold, scratching his ears, and he laughed non-stop, "The emperor... His Majesty the emperor—"

Do not……

He is not……

His eyes were full of panic and hopelessness, Ji Zhuoran couldn't help struggling, trying to shout out, but it was useless, he couldn't make a sound, he could only climb up to him with a pair of cold ghost hands arms, caressing his neck——

……Do not……

He seemed to hear the cry of pain in his heart, and at the moment when he was about to fall into despair, in the blink of an eye, countless ghosts disappeared, and the hideous ghost in front of him disappeared and turned into a woman .

"..." Losing the strength to struggle for a moment, Ji Zhuoran stared at the woman in front of him in disbelief, his lips moved a few times, and he murmured silently, "...Mother Concubine?"

Just like the mother and concubine in his childhood memories, Concubine Rong smiled so beautifully and gently, and the jade bracelets on her wrists as delicate as jade hit each other, and she held his face softly and kissed him intimately. Touched his cheek, "However——"

Then tears fell from his eyes.

"...Why are you crying?" Seeing his tears, Concubine Rong hurriedly wiped them for him, and said softly: "Don't cry, don't cry, how old you are, why are you still crying, it's a joke—"

But the hot tears couldn't be wiped away.

Ji Zhuoran just looked at her blankly, as if he couldn't see enough of her, wanted to caress her cheek in a trance, but she grabbed her raised hands again, and smiled softly when she heard her voice Chen: "Really, why are hands so cold..."

Suddenly, a hard object seemed to be stuffed into his hand, he couldn't help being taken aback, looked down, and saw that he was holding a poisoned short dagger in his hand, and all the sharp blades of the dagger had been sunken into a piece of moon white ——

Do not……

don't want……

The blood color spread rapidly, and Ji Zhuoran's pupils trembled in fear, and he raised his eyes suddenly in a panic, but Fu Duanshui's face was reflected in his pupils.

……Do not!

In an instant, the surrounding scene suddenly changed, and countless evil spirits came back. They fell beside Ji Zhuoran, but they didn't get close to him. Instead, they just sneered and chanted: "The Emperor—— "

"The organs are exhausted, and the gains and losses are hard to come--"

"Fantasy bubbles, all become clouds of smoke—"

The lyrics and laughter are stretched sharply and long by the dream, it is noisy and unpleasant, and it seems to tear people's mind to pieces.

Amidst the ear-piercing laughter, Fu Duanshui knelt down on Ji Zhuoran's body, ignoring the pain of the poisonous dagger piercing his body, raised his hand to strangle his neck, and looked at him without anger or hatred, only coldness.

Do not……

don't look at him like that...

He did not want……

With his neck choked, Ji Zhuoran helplessly looked into Fu Duanshui's eyes, only to see that his light-colored pupils were filled with indifference, and he couldn't reflect himself anymore, and was about to suffocate for a while.

No, that's not the case...

it's not true...

……

...yes, that's not true! !

That day, in the burnt National Teacher Pagoda, scorched marks were everywhere, ashes were flying, and two figures suddenly appeared——what did the man in green say?

—— "How do you know that what you see is not a dream?"

——"Have a nightmare?"

Suddenly, two identical voices sounded at the same time, one in a dream, one in reality——

Ji Zhuoran opened his eyes suddenly, his whole body was drenched with sweat as if soaked in water, and he met the eyes of the man in Tsing Yi who was standing beside his bed in astonishment.

The lights flicker, and then again.

As if he didn't pay much attention to the old prince and the new emperor, Sanjiu held the lamp in one hand, and lifted up the revealing talisman affixed to his forehead by the immortal with the other, lying on the edge of the dragon bed wantonly, poking his head He looked Ji Zhuoran up and down by candlelight, then gasped in amazement, turned his head and talked to Fengyue and said, "Hiss, it's been a long time since I saw him, why is there..."

Contaminated with such a heavy cloud?

Tan Fengyue shook the silver fan in her hand, the cold light was frightening, and her voice was still so cold and indifferent, "At the beginning, when the national teacher used the spell, mortals needed to consume Yang Qi as a guide. His Royal Highness only asked how to use it. Asking about the harm, I don’t know that it is the most difficult for mortals to make up for the loss of yang qi, and they are easily infected by yin and evil things... Isn’t that the way it is.”

Even though the bad feeling in the dream hadn't faded away, he could still hear the insinuation in his words, Ji Zhuoran's face was extremely cold, and his five fingertips were deeply pinched into the palm of his hand.

After waking up from the dull pain and confirming that he was in reality, he breathed a sigh of relief unconsciously, and said for a moment, "I don't know, you two... why did you trespass on the palace late at night?"

After all, he is the emperor, and he no longer always has a smile on his face. Now that he is weak and weak, he still carries a sense of intimidation without anger.

It's just that Fengyue has never even paid attention to Yan Luo, the king of heaven, let alone this mere emperor, who only lowered his eyes modestly, and gave him a hard head with his own identity: "I don't want to hide it from your majesty, I am really a fairy!" Gong Fengshi, the sky and the earth, I really don’t know where else I can’t go.”

"That's right." He didn't like the two-faced and three-faced prince very much. Sanjiu neither feared him nor respected him. Da Lala sat down on the dragon bed and chimed in: "I see the Prince's Palace, ah no, Your Majesty the Emperor!" , you'd better be more polite to my Xianjun."

"..."

Facing Tan Fengyue's pair of golden pupils with a faint aura, Ji Zhuoran's complexion was complicated, and he suddenly fell into silence, speechless for a long time.

Since it is silent, is it because he is planning in his heart?

Tan Fengyue felt cool in his heart, and sat down on the edge of the dragon bed, but when he spoke again, his tone slowed down a bit, "But that being said, the two of us have taken the liberty to come here this time, but we have something to ask for." emperor."

After the words fell, before Ji Zhuoran had time to answer, Sanjiu showed a surprised face: "Huh?——"

You must know that he secretly recorded all the bad debts that caused the death of the two little leaves on Ji Zhuoran, and he was not happy when he heard Xianjun's words, "Why is it 'begging'?"

Tan Fengyue raised her eyebrows slightly, and tapped him lightly: "When getting along with others, you have to pay attention to a person's sophistication. Anyway, we have had some friendship with His Majesty, of course we have to 'ask' first. yes."

The implication is that if you can't ask for it, what will happen next is self-evident.

It is ironic to call him "Emperor" first and then "Your Majesty".Ji Zhuoran calmly endured the two's accompaniment and singing, and after a few rounds of thinking, he regained his composure in a short while, propped himself up with a little difficulty, and half leaned on the soft pillow.

A single movement that couldn't be simpler had consumed most of his strength, but his face didn't show any strangeness, he just looked straight at Tan Fengyue, and also raised his eyebrows: "Your Majesty is really the Wind Envoy of the Immortal Palace." , I don’t know what else I can ask for?”

Such a calm and able to advance instead of retreat, even Tan Fengyue couldn't help secretly admiring in his heart, saying that this Ji Zhuoran really deserves to be a member of the royal family.

It's just that... He slightly hooked the corners of his lips, but he was not in a hurry. He lowered his eyes and fiddled with the silver fan in his hand, and said slowly: "I want to ask His Majesty to issue a decree to order the construction of Jiuling Tianzun Temples in various places, so as to facilitate the construction of the temple. The common people offer incense. ——For His Majesty, it’s just a matter of lifting a finger.”

"Oh?"

Ji Zhuoran turned his head slightly as if puzzled, and smiled slightly, "Why?"

The question was not why it was built, but why he wanted to help.

Still not in a hurry to answer him, Tan Fengyue only caressed the "Tan" surname engraved on the fan bone, and continued: "Also, when your majesty sacrifices to heaven and earth every winter solstice, he will sacrifice to Jiuling Tianzun together to show Pay attention to."

"Well, as for why..." He raised his eyes to look at Ji Zhuoran, and the smile on his lips finally became more real, "Emperor, tell me, is it a good feeling to be frightened every night?"

Then without waiting for him to answer, he added another sentence: "——Guess again, how many years do you have left to live?"

Ji Zhuoran's face turned cold for a moment, and he looked at him silently, his tightly clenched five fingers were about to pinch the already scarred palm to bleed again.

The atmosphere that could barely be called easing suddenly became tense, and even Sanjiu was startled by Xianjun's sudden words, staring at a pair of round eyes dumbly, daring to speak, his gaze staring at the two of them at a loss. Human face tour.

However, Tan Fengyue held out a golden-red light ball from her sleeve with a calm expression, and held it in her hand with all her precious weight.

When Guichai handed over this strand of soul to him, it was still lustrous and dull, shapeless, after he carefully cultivated it for more than half a month, it stabilized a little bit, and it seemed to be alive, slowly twirling between his fingers.

With a slight hook of the fingertips, the plump and round ball of light trembled slightly, as if in a daze, and after a while, it slowly and actively stuck to the side of his finger, rolling softly in his palm.

Tan Fengyue looked down, with a bit of tenderness and a bit of pain in her eyes, but she hid all her emotions in her eyes in a moment of breathing.

Ji Zhuoran didn't know what that ball of light was, but he knew that as soon as he touched the warm light from the ball of light, the coldness around his body seemed to be dispelled, and his whole body seemed to be embraced by a warm current, and his expression changed. Leaning forward slightly, "This is..."

Tan Fengyue interrupted his question: "Now, I will answer you 'why'."

Unhurriedly, he said: "Before the matter of the national teacher, the court was empty, and the emperor had a nightmare. It was like this at the top, so what about the bottom? If things go on like this, I'm afraid that the people will live in dire straits. With Jiuling Tianzun as the town, we can ensure that the weather will be smooth for one side. The prosperity of all industries is actually an act of benefiting the country and the people. Furthermore, your dragon body, Emperor—"

After a short pause, he twitched the corners of his mouth coolly: "It's better to sit longer, longer, and more securely for the seat you finally earned. Isn't it?"

Even though it was clear that he was just trying to provoke himself with words, he was still inevitably poked into the dark wound in his heart. Ji Zhuoran couldn't hold back for a while, his face was ugly, and blood was oozing from the palm of his hand .

It's just that even like this, he still didn't let go, just looked at Tan Fengyue coldly, thinking about it.Although it is true that he no longer hears the faint ghost voice that is endless day and night, it gave him a moment of hard-won peace, but how did he know that after this person left...

As if guessing what he was thinking, Tan Fengyue smiled clearly, flicked the ball of light in her palm, which made the ball of light stunned again, and pushed his hand softly, "I just said that, mortal yang Qi loss is the most difficult thing to make up for. The emperor is too weak now, even if he shines on the aura of Tianzun, it can only protect you from Yin Qi until the winter solstice, and it is impossible to guarantee that there will be no worries in the future—"

Since he is the envoy of the Immortal Palace, how difficult is it to get rid of his abnormalities and avoid future troubles forever?But he wanted to use this to restrain him... Ji Zhuoran's eyes changed several times, and he finally let go of his tightly clenched hands, pursed his lips lightly, "... this morning, I made people draw up an order."

"That's all right." Tan Fengyue smiled, folded her palms together and put away the ball of light in her hand, "Your Majesty is reasonable, serving the country and the people, he is indeed a wise king."

Unintentionally flirting with him again, Ji Zhuoran no longer responded to his words, only to see the spiritual light gradually disappear, and he still didn't hear the ghost voice in his ears, it seems that the yin energy in his body was indeed dispelled temporarily, so he was at ease make up your mind.

Ji Zhuoran didn't respond to his words, and he didn't have much to talk about when he talked about Fengyue. Seeing his eyes calm down, he knew that he was not a person who went back on his word, and would fulfill his promise for the country, the people, and himself. , then grabbed Sanjiu, who had been yawning and wandering, and got up to say goodbye.

Ke Fang stood up, but heard Ji Zhuoran hesitantly say: "...he...is he okay?"

"--he?"

Tan Fengyue paused for a moment, and suddenly realized: "Fu Duanshui?"

"..."

Zhenzhen couldn't hold on to his usual composure any longer, Ji Zhuoran looked at him a little anxiously, even the red mole at the end of his eyes seemed to be a little brighter.

Tan Fengyue lightly tapped her palm with a silver fan, gave a thoughtful "huh", and said unhurriedly: "He... for some reason, there was a sudden demonic energy in the room, and he was arrested by Zong. People suspected that he had a different heart and wanted to cultivate the way of the devil, so they took him into the torture room——Jade Smoke Sect, you should also know that the precepts are quite strict, and there are ice and iron chains. On the bone..."

Every time he said a word, Ji Zhuoran's face turned pale until his lips lost all color, and his five fingers unconsciously curled up into fists again.

Tan Fengyue changed the topic: "But he didn't suffer from it. On the contrary, because he was locked up, fortunately he was not able to participate in a fierce battle, and he survived... Well, generally speaking, it's not bad. "

"..."

Ji Zhuoran gritted his teeth tightly, and the sight he cast seemed to be able to nail people through, but Tan Fengyue pressed his fingertips on the fan bones without realizing it, and counted them one by one, "There was a big battle, and the elders of all sects died. Now, Fu Duanshui is the only one in charge of Yuyan Sect, and Yuyan is still the head of the sect..."

After a short pause, he looked up at Ji Zhuoran with a half-smile, "The first suzerain, the one above ten thousand people, isn't his destiny."

Ji Zhuoran was startled when he heard this.

The tingling pain in the palm seemed to become real at this moment, reaching directly to the heart, bit by bit eating away all kinds of thoughts that were usually piled up in his heart, leaving only pain and emptiness.

Outside the window, the sky was twilight, and the morning bell was ringing, one sound, one sound, the burnt-out lantern under the eaves was swayed by the morning wind, Ji Zhuoran regained consciousness for a long time, the two people had disappeared before his eyes.