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Kapitel 127

Upon hearing this, Wu Chushan smiled faintly and said, "We're all family, so it's only right that we suffer a little. However, with the commander's departure, I'm afraid trouble will arise within our own ranks in the future..."

Jia Shiming nodded in agreement, saying, "That's right. The commander is ruthless and will definitely not let this go. I'm afraid you won't be able to go back to Nanshan Village. Why don't you go to Blue Moon Valley instead?"

Here, Lan'er gently squatted down in front of Xiao Caihua and Momo, looked at her closely, and gently stroked her face with her handcuffed hands. With tears in her eyes, she whispered, "For so many years, we all thought you were dead. I never thought... Momo, you've grown up so much and become so beautiful. If your mother and ancestor were still alive, I don't know how happy they would be."

“My mother is still alive…” Mo Mo argued.

"The Ancestor is still alive?" Lan'er was stunned upon hearing this.

Lan'er glanced at Jia Shiming with surprise, then looked at Han Sheng with a questioning gaze.

"It's true, Lan'er. The Ancestor is not dead, but he is in a state of intermediate state. Master Jia and I are preparing to go to the capital to seize the 'Ghost Pot' so that we can summon the Ancestor's soul into his body and awaken him," Han Sheng explained.

"Where is the Ancestor now?" Lan'er asked anxiously.

“In Blue Moon Valley,” Han Sheng replied, while gently grasping Lan’er’s wrist, pondering how to unlock the handcuffs.

“Om Om Ho, Nangka Shana Taghahara…” At this moment, Chen Caihua suddenly chanted “The Heavenly Gate Opens”, raised his index finger and pressed it on the keyhole of Lan’er’s handcuffs. With a “click”, the Zhuyou True Qi was injected into the lock core, cutting the pin and easily opening the handcuffs.

Lan'er was extremely surprised. After not seeing him for several months, Xiao Caihua had actually learned such amazing kung fu. "Xiao Caihua, what kind of kung fu is this?" she asked in astonishment.

"The Lard Divine Skill," Shen Caihua replied proudly, then unlocked Wu Chushan's handcuffs.

"Where's Dudu?" Lan'er looked around.

The big parrot, embarrassed, emerged from behind Benben and blushed as it explained, "Actually... I sneaked out with Caihua to find... to find Momo..."

Lan'er smiled and said, "Dudu, Lan'er doesn't blame you."

After a moment of contemplation, Wu Chushanren said, "Hansheng, we can't go back to Nanshan Village. Master Jia is right. With the leader so seriously injured, he will never let this go. Rather than being slaughtered, we might as well all go to Blue Moon Valley to live in seclusion."

Han Sheng nodded and said, "Father-in-law is absolutely right. Please ask Master Jia to lead everyone back to the valley. I will go and retrieve the 'Ghost Pot' and then rush back to meet you."

Upon hearing this, Master Jia reminded him, "Hansheng, since the 'Ghost Pot' has already been stolen by the Woo-tou Barbarians, they must have already gone to Fengling Temple in Hedong and entered the Guanzhong Plain. There is no need to go to the capital anymore."

“Dad Hansheng, I know the entrance to the Guanzhong Earth Navel,” Shen Caihua volunteered.

"I...I know, I know." Dudu looked at Hansheng shyly.

"I want to go too," Mo Mo said, pleadingly, holding Cai Hua's hand.

Han Sheng thought for a moment and said, "Alright, I'll take Caihua, Momo, and Dudu to Fengling Temple in Hedong. I'll trouble Master Jia to escort my father-in-law, Lan'er, and Benben's family."

"Squeak..." The leader of the red-eyed shadow bats stretched out his claws and stroked the wrinkled "riding cloth" in a cute manner, indicating that he was also willing to lead the shadow bat family to find a new home.

“However, the passage to Blue Moon Valley only opens at 1:15 AM on the 15th of each lunar month, so I’m afraid you won’t be able to enter for the time being…” Han Sheng said hesitantly.

“Don’t worry, we can wait for you to come back at the foot of Meili Snow Mountain,” Lan’er said. “Or, we can go to Tabalin Temple. I haven’t seen Mingyue for many years.”

Han Sheng smiled and said, "Yes, it's been many years. I wonder how Mingyue, Ping'er, and Yuanmu are doing."

Wu Chushan pondered for a moment and then decided, “Hansheng, you, Caihua, and Momo should go and return as soon as possible, and then meet us at Tabalin Temple. We will enter Blue Moon Valley together at midnight on the fifteenth of next month.”

"Hansheng, put this on Caihua." Lan'er removed her outer garment, revealing the white and green talismanic robe underneath, and then handed it to Hansheng. It was several months ago when her husband instructed her to put it on little Caihua before he left. Unexpectedly, he and Dudu secretly ran away from home the very next night.

"No, I don't want it. I'll leave it for Lan'er's mother to wear." Shen Caihua insisted on not wearing it.

With no other choice, Han Sheng handed it back to Lan'er and said, "Let's talk about it when we get back to the valley. Father-in-law, we're leaving now."

"Be careful on your journey," Wu Chushan instructed.

Han Sheng walked away with Cai Hua, Mo Mo, and Du Du. On the cliff, Lan'er watched their departing figures silently with tears in her eyes.

At this moment, a bright moon hangs high in the sky, the night is hazy, and the ancient snow-covered plateau is desolate between heaven and earth...

Chapter 194

Moonlit night, Fengling Temple in Hedong, Shanxi.

From the branches of the thousand-year-old ginkgo tree in the temple, a human head slowly emerged. It had a dark face, a large nose, and sunken eyes. It squinted and stared at the moon for a long time, muttering, "It's been two hundred and fifty years, and the moon is still so round..." Then, a neck more than two meters long rose from the tree hole below... This person was none other than Guo Ruchang, the old worm-headed barbarian from the navel of Guanzhong.

Since Nizi left, he had been unbearably lonely. In addition, he had fulfilled his duty of guarding the underground palace. Finally, on a full moon night, he quietly slipped out of the underground palace and came to Fengling Temple through the underground secret passage.

With a "whoosh," Guo Ruchang landed silently on the ground. He shook his head, and with a series of crisp "crackling" sounds, he pulled his neck back. He tiptoed up the stone steps. The main hall was pitch black, but he could see clearly, having been underground for over two hundred years.

"Why isn't there a single monk here?" Guo Ruchang searched inside and outside the hall, but couldn't find a single person. "Forget it, I'll just go back to my old home in Fenglingdu and take a look." With that, he leaped over the wall, his limbs touching the ground, and he hopped forward, leaping three or four zhang at a time with great speed.

In the dead of night, the people of Fenglingdu Town were all fast asleep, and the streets were deserted. Guo Ruchang vaguely remembered the appearance of a few old houses with blue bricks. He identified the direction and headed straight for the east of the town.

The old locust tree still stood alone under the moonlight, its trunk appearing even thicker and taller. A crow's head peeked out from its nest atop the treetop, about to caw loudly at the uninvited guest, but then quickly withdrew its neck in fright. Beside the locust tree stood an old house with blue bricks and tiles; despite more than two hundred years of weathering and vicissitudes, its appearance remained unchanged.

“‘Ghost Embracing Incense’…” Guo Ruchang murmured to himself, his eyes filled with tears, “I’ve finally come home.”

The old house's dark gate was tightly shut. Guo Ruchang put his hands on the ground, then lightly leaped over the high wall and landed steadily in the courtyard.

Nizi once said that a town mayor named Guo Youcai had seized this old house. Humph, that's outrageous! Did he think the Guo family was powerless? I'll see if this mayor has three heads and six arms…

The cool moonlight shone quietly into the courtyard. The main house, facing south, was where he had once lived. Guo Ruchang was immersed in memories of the past as he walked up the steps one by one.

"Heave-ho, heave-ho..." Indecent sounds from a man and woman came from inside the house. Guo Ruchang blushed upon hearing this. This man not only occupied the old house, but also dared to do such a filthy thing in his bedroom. He was furious...

Just as Guo Ruchang was about to break down the door, he suddenly heard a change in the sounds coming from the bedchamber, which were different from what he had heard years ago. Curious, he continued to listen.

“The revolutionary masses have power… Heave-ho, we are not afraid of hardship or death, heave-ho…” The man’s voice was bold and rhythmic, which greatly amazed Guo Ruchang.

Curtains hung inside the window, with only a small gap at the top. Guo Ruchang shook his head, making a series of soft, crisp sounds, stretched his neck, and squinted to peek into the room through the gap... He vaguely saw two pale, fleshy bodies intertwined on the bed inside, their breathing rising and falling incessantly.

Qin Ruhua lay on her back on the bed, her gaze inadvertently drifting to the window. To her astonishment, in the moonlight, a long neck and a head were cast on the curtains, peering into the room…

"A ghost!" Qin Ruhua screamed in terror, her face pale.

At this moment, Guo Youcai was at the peak of his excitement, about to ejaculate, when he was suddenly startled, his kidney essence flowed backward, and he was struck by the most feared "reverse horse madness" in ancient and modern sexual techniques...

"Ghost, ghost, where is it..." Guo Youcai shakily propped himself up, his eyes fixed on the spot, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth, and asked indistinctly.

Seeing this, Qin Ruhua became even more terrified. She hurriedly reached out and pulled the pull-cord switch hanging on the wall above the bed. With a "whoosh," the 100-degree light bulb hanging in the room suddenly turned on, dazzlingly bright...

Guo Ruchang saw the woman wave her jade-like arm, and instantly felt a golden light pierce his eyes. His vision went completely white, and then he could see nothing at all. Oh no! This woman's hidden weapon is incredibly sharp… He endured the pain in his eyes, bent down, and leaped up with great force, soaring over two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) high, clearing the rooftops, and then fled frantically towards the back of the house. After a while, he felt branches gradually brushing against him, becoming increasingly dense, so he stopped.

Under the hazy moonlight and amidst the chilling breeze, Guo Ruchang sat atop a small hill deep in the woods, his heart filled with despair. Now blind, he couldn't believe that such vicious hidden weapons existed in the martial world of later generations. No wonder Ni Zi had been driven from her home; that woman must have been a top-tier martial arts master.

"Is that Father? Ke'er greets you..." Just then, a faint sigh suddenly reached Guo Ruchang's ears.

Guo Ruchang was stunned upon hearing this. The voice was both strange and familiar. Strange because more than 250 years had passed, and familiar because it was the voice of his daughter whom he had longed for day and night all his life...

"Ke'er..." Two hot tears slowly streamed down Guo Ruchang's face as he murmured, "Ke'er... is it really you?"

"Father, your daughter is unfilial. Since entering the He family, I have not been able to come back to visit you even once. Waaah..." Guo Ke'er sobbed mournfully.

"Ke'er, where are you?" Guo Ruchang reached out and touched the air.

Guo Ke'er continued to complain to her father: "Ke'er came to Beijing in the fifty-ninth year of Qianlong's reign. Five years later, in the first month of the fourth year of Jiaqing's reign, her husband Heshen was sentenced to death by the emperor. Fortunately, Grand Secretary Liu Yong spoke well of him, and the emperor pardoned the entire Heshen family, more than a hundred people, and Ke'er escaped a calamity. At that time, all their wealth had been confiscated, and everyone avoided them like the plague. Ke'er was just a weak woman, and the capital was far away from Hedong. Moreover, she had no money and had no face to see her father again... Waaah."

“My dear daughter, where are you? I miss you so much…” Guo Ruchang said anxiously.

"Ke'er is inside the moonlight stone coffin under Daddy's bottom," Ke'er whimpered.

Guo Ruchang was shocked: "Ke'er, are you dead?"

"Father, although my body has decayed, my soul has not dispersed. Please open the coffin and release me..." Ke'er replied pitifully.

Guo Ruchang finally heard clearly that the voice was coming from underground.

Under the moonlight, Guo Ruchang shook his head, and after a series of loud "clucking" sounds, he stretched his neck to reveal his true form as a wriggling barbarian. His hands, like steel claws, plunged into the soil with a "plop" and he began to dig frantically. Not long after, a "thump" was heard, and his fingers touched a hard object—the moonlight stone coffin.

Guo Ruchang quickly brushed away the loose soil from the stone coffin, saying, "Ke'er, Daddy's here to save you." Afraid of startling his daughter, he quickly pulled his long neck back, regained his composure, and then forcefully lifted the stone coffin lid with both hands…

"Father..." Ke'er happily rushed into Guo Ruchang's arms.

“Ke’er…” Guo Ruchang, who was blind, quickly reached out and stroked his daughter’s hair, just like when she was little.

Suddenly, Guo Ruchang exclaimed in utter surprise, "Hey, Ke'er, why are you bald?"

Ke'er sighed and said, "Father, Ke'er's soul has been attached to a bald farmer named Tian Erxi in Fengling Ferry..."

"Oh, I see." Guo Ruchang felt relieved. He took Ke'er's hand, and the father and daughter sat on the stone coffin and talked about their respective circumstances after they parted ways.

"Father, so the change in your appearance was caused by the wriggling barbarian inside your body!" Ke'er looked at Guo Ruchang's dark face, high nose, and sunken eyes, and suddenly realized.

"Yes, otherwise how could Father have lived such a long life?" Guo Ruchang sighed.

In the distance, roosters were already crowing in the town. Ke'er said, "Father, after dawn, I will hide inside Tian Erxi's body and will not be able to speak to you anymore. We need to find a place where there is no sunlight quickly."

“Fengling Temple,” Guo Ruchang said, “Ke’er, come with your father to the navel of Guanzhong. There is no sunlight there all year round, and your father will never be separated from you again.”

“As you say, Father,” Ke’er helped Guo Ruchang up and asked, “Is it the Fengling Temple where I went to make a wish with Father when I was little?”

“Indeed, the trunk of that old ginkgo tree in the temple is hollow, and inside is the entrance to the navel of the earth,” Guo Ruchang replied.

“Ke’er knows the way.” Guo Ke’er led her blind father, and the two headed straight for Fengling Temple.

As the moon shone brightly and the stars were few, Guo Ruchang and his daughter arrived at Fengling Temple. From afar, they could hear someone pounding loudly on the temple gate.

"Who is knocking on the mountain gate in the dead of night?" Guo Ruchang asked in a low voice as he approached.

"The monks in the temple are sleeping soundly. I've been knocking for ages, but not a single one will come out," the man said, turning around with a distinct Northeastern accent.

“There is no one in the temple at all,” Guo Ruchang replied coldly, sniffing the air as a look of surprise suddenly appeared on his face. “Who are you? What brings you to the temple so late at night?”

This person was none other than Secretary Xing, who had fled Beijing in a panic.

After boarding the train from Beijing to Xi'an, Secretary Xing sat in a window seat in the hard-seat carriage. As the train started moving, he finally let out a long sigh of relief, and his tense mood gradually calmed down. Alas, his perfectly good life had been completely ruined. Now he was a fugitive, wanted for a crime, and his beloved wife back home in Huanglong Prefecture was in dire straits; he feared he would never see her again in this lifetime. Life is full of disappointments, and how could he have ended up in this situation… Thinking of this, Secretary Xing couldn't help but feel deeply saddened.

In the stuffy hard-seat carriage, Secretary Xing, dressed in a crisp navy blue woolen Zhongshan suit, stood out from the other passengers. Not only was he impeccably dressed, but he was also tall and imposing, clearly an official.

In the early hours of the morning, the train stopped at Pingyao Station. The passengers in the hard-seat carriages were already drowsy, and Secretary Xing was also extremely tired, so he closed his eyes and dozed off.

An elderly man in a gray robe and a Taoist turban, with three long tufts of beard, boarded the train at Pingyao Railway Station and sat down opposite Secretary Xing. He placed a large paper bag on the coffee table, squinted at Secretary Xing, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face. He opened the bag; inside were chopped Pingyao braised beef, its rich aroma filling the air and making mouths water. Then, he untied a gourd from his waist, bit off the cork, took a swig, and began to drink and eat.

Secretary Xing twitched his nose a few times, slowly opened his eyes, and subconsciously swallowed. After tossing and turning all night, his stomach was so hungry that it rumbled several times.

The old man clicked his tongue, swallowed a large piece of beef, glanced at Secretary Xing, and then muttered to himself, "This is 'Xinsheng Lei' beef from Pingyao Confucian Temple Street. It's fatty but not greasy, lean but not dry. Emperor Jiaqing personally bestowed upon it the title of 'the finest delicacy in the world.' Back then, when the Eight-Nation Alliance captured Beijing, Empress Dowager Cixi fled to Pingyao. After tasting Pingyao beef, she praised it highly and ordered local officials to send it as tribute every year. It truly is extremely delicious..."

Upon hearing this, Secretary Xing felt even hungrier, but as a county party secretary, he could not bring himself to beg for food and could only silently endure it.

Chapter 195

"Comrade, it seems you are a Taoist priest?" Secretary Xing asked deliberately.

"My surname is Wei, and I am a Taoist priest from Maoshan Mountain in Jurong," the old man replied, while simultaneously popping a piece of beef into his mouth.

"Oh, it's Master Wei. Are you here in Pingyao on official business?" Secretary Xing glanced at the beef in the paper package and tried his best to get closer to him.

"Not at all. I made a special trip to Pingyao just to buy this time-honored 'Xinsheng Lei' beef, hehe." Master Wei said, taking another gulp of wine.

As Secretary Xing watched the dwindling amount of bright red beef in the paper package, he grew anxious. A quick thought struck him, and he calmly asked, "Has the Master ever tasted the braised beef from Huanglongfu in Northeast China?"

Master Wei, a renowned gourmet from Maoshan, immediately stopped talking upon hearing Secretary Xing's words and asked, "Braised beef from Huanglongfu in Northeast China? This is the first time I've heard of it. I wonder what it tastes like?"