Chapter 121

As if he had slept for an entire lifetime, Hongjun opened his eyes amidst the chirping of birds.

"He's awake! He's awake! "Qiu Yongsi's voice said," Quick, call Chief Shi. "

As soon as Hongjun moved, his entire body hurt unbearably. Following that, footsteps could be heard one after another. Almost everyone in the Exorcism Division swarmed in.

"How do you feel?" Li Jinglong opened his red eyes and asked with concern.

Hongjun groaned, "It hurts …"

"The effects of the medicine have worn off." Mo Rigen mixed some herbs and said, "Eat some more."

Hongjun smelled that it was the pain-relieving and sleepy Corydalis rhizome. He said, "You can't eat too much …"

Mo Rigen then reduced the dosage. Li Jinglong took it and very carefully fed it to Hong Jun. Everyone then said that it was good that he woke up, it was good that he woke up, and each of them dispersed, leaving Lu Xu looking on worriedly.

"Is everyone okay?"

"We're fine." Li Jinglong said with a smile, "Da Ming Palace didn't ask for compensation. You don't have to worry anymore."

Hongjun said, "Only Zhao Zilong isn't here, right?"

Li Jinglong didn't expect that the first thing Hongjun asked about when he woke up was Zhao Zilong. He could only say, "Yes, no one blames it."

"Jinglong, you already knew that Zhao Zilong was a Xie Yu person, right?" Hongjun asked again.

"A Xie Yu fish." Ashina Chong corrected.

Hongjun, "…"

Li Jinglong didn't say anything. Lu Xu was afraid that Hongjun would be angry and said, "Chief Shi has been waiting for you for three days and three nights without sleeping."

Hongjun turned his head with difficulty and forced a smile at Li Jinglong. Li Jinglong's eyes were wide open and red from fatigue. He gently held Hongjun's hand and lowered his head to kiss it carefully.

"I'm sorry, Hongjun." Li Jinglong said.

"This isn't anyone's fault," Hongjun said. "I can only blame myself … for being too stupid."

Lu Xu said, "Have a good rest. Everything is … considered settled. We'll talk about it again when you get better."

Hongjun grunted. Li Jinglong, who was lying on the side, asked, "Does it still hurt? Where does it hurt? "

Hongjun's five viscera and six bowels were convulsing in pain. He knew that it was the process of rebuilding his meridians after being destroyed. In the past, Chong Ming had used Phoenix True Power to help him open up his meridians once, and he had encountered such pain. But fortunately, there were still remnants of Chong Ming's power in his body. Under the protection of Li Jinglong's Mind's Lamp, he was able to rebuild his meridians.

Now that he thought about it, Yang Guozhong had used up all of his cultivation in that attack. He wanted to cripple him and bring him back.

And the only one who could have survived at that time was Hongjun. There was no need to think about it. After Yang Guozhong absorbed the Devil Qi and recalled the Snake Spirit, the rest of the people from the Exorcism Division would have been slaughtered by him.

"I guess the only thing he wanted to keep was your life." Li Jinglong lay on the edge of the couch and looked at Hongjun like a child. He said, "Why didn't he kill us? It's because he wanted to slowly torture the rest of us to death after absorbing the Devil Qi."

Hongjun couldn't help but shiver in his heart. He asked again, "Then … where's Xie Yu?"

"He escaped." Li Jinglong said, "He must have found a place where no one is around and hid to recuperate."

After the fierce battle at Da Ming Palace, An Lushan was greatly frightened and fled. And Xie Yu's Devil Qi was completely expelled by Li Jinglong. The Snake Spirit was not summoned back and was instead heavily injured. That night, he disappeared without a trace. The Carp Demon that Hongjun was most concerned about also disappeared without a trace. After he was injured, he was brought back by Li Jinglong. Everyone in the Exorcism Division did their best to treat him. Atay, who was left to investigate the scene, did not find the whereabouts of the Carp Demon. He guessed that it had escaped.

"What do we do next?" Hongjun said.

"Let's wait for your injuries to heal first." Li Jinglong was still very optimistic. He said, "Of Xie Yu's three souls, two have already been destroyed by us. The remaining soul, An Lushan, still has one soul and his Devil Qi. I expect that there will be a hard battle to fight, but compared to the beginning, it's already much better."

Hongjun thought about it and agreed. Under Li Jinglong's strategy, they were getting closer and closer to the final victory. Although they paid a great price, they also successfully defeated the enemy.

Li Jinglong looked at Hongjun attentively. The two quietly looked at each other for a moment. Hongjun said again, "How can you do this?"

Li Jinglong was startled. He knew that Hongjun was talking about him burning his True Essence to summon the Immovable Wisdom King or the Dipankara Divine Spirit to fight with An Lushan.

Li Jinglong sighed. Hongjun asked again, "Who taught you?"

"Kun Shen." Li Jinglong replied, "It was that day, when you were lying on his back and fell asleep."

It turned out that after Yuan Kun had revealed the future for the two of them that day, when Hongjun had entered the dream, Yuan Kun had taught Li Jinglong another move on the way back to Chang 'an. It was a spell that burned one's True Essence as a sacrifice to temporarily raise the power of the Mind's Lamp to the highest level. It could even break through the upper limit of a mortal's flesh body, allowing one to become a demigod for a short period of time.

Once this move was activated, Li Jinglong's True Essence would rapidly dissipate and become the fuel that connected the lamp to the wick.

"I must hurry and purify all of the Devil Qi before Xie Yu arrives." Li Jinglong said, "This way, I might be able to succeed in one strike."

"Then what should I do?" Hongjun's eyes were filled with tears. Suddenly, she felt completely disheartened. She said, "When you did this, did you not think about me?"

Li Jinglong did not say anything.

Hongjun suddenly said, "Forget it."

Li Jinglong said, "Hongjun."

Hongjun turned her head with difficulty. Her tears flowed down and landed on the couch.

Li Jinglong said, "Yes, I was wrong. I already expected that you would be angry, but I also thought it through. This was my own decision. It came from the bottom of my heart. I won't find excuses."

"I want you to live well. After the Devil Qi is successfully exorcised, the world will be at peace. If I die, the Exorcism Division will also be disbanded."

"I know that you will definitely be angry with me. Angry that I sacrificed myself to disperse the Devil Qi. But as long as you live, I don't care …"

"Because you love me. As long as you love me, everything can be forgiven. In the next few months, you will go crazy with anger. You will feel so uncomfortable that you want to die. But everyone will take good care of you and persuade you. I even left you a letter. After reading it, after a year or two, you will slowly calm down and not be angry. "

"When you think about us being together, you'll feel sad. But five years later, you'll think of our love as a beautiful memory … Ten or twenty years later, you'll still remember it, but you won't even remember what I look like. At that time, you'll start a new life …"

"After all, you still have a long life … and nothing can beat time …"

"Don't say anymore." Hongjun choked. "I hate you."

Li Jinglong said to himself, "I love you."

Only the sound of Hongjun's gasping could be heard in the room. After a long time, when he calmed down, Li Jinglong said, "Can I come up and sleep for a while? I'm really sleepy. "

Hongjun's sadness eased a little. He replied, "No."

Li Jinglong ignored Hongjun's refusal. He climbed onto the bed and hugged Hongjun a little. His movements were always light, afraid that he would hurt Hongjun.

"We're finished." Hongjun said calmly, "I'm angry. I'm going to divorce you."

Li Jinglong carefully put his arm under Hongjun's neck. He kissed his cheek and kissed away his tears.

"I'll buy you food." Li Jinglong said, "We'll be together for a long, long time. You see, everything is almost over now. You'll be my wife for many years …" Li Jinglong hugged Hongjun sideways. Hongjun couldn't move at all. He could only let Li Jinglong manipulate him.

"I'll take you to Yangzhou, to Bashu … to every place. Just like when you were young, we'll live in a place for a few years until you're tired of it … This time, no one will come to trace your whereabouts. You can live as long as you want …"

Li Jinglong used his sleeve to wipe the tears on Hongjun's face. He murmured. Then he leaned on Hongjun's shoulder and began to snore softly.

Hongjun turned his head and looked at Li Jinglong. Li Jinglong's forehead still had a wound from an unknown time. It seemed that he had been cut by a knife during a fierce battle. His face was almost ashen, and his glabella was dark. He looked like a dying man. Hongjun couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He choked with sobs again.

Li Jinglong just slept soundly and didn't say anything else.

Qiu Yongsi stretched lazily under the sunlight. Ashina Qiong's voice drifted out from the hall. "Let's eat, let's eat. Everyone has been tired for a long time."

After the Xie Yu case ended, everyone didn't relax at all. Instead, they busied themselves with cleaning up the mess. Li Jinglong kept watch over the unconscious Hongjun. He didn't listen to anything anyone said. Mo Rigen could only lead everyone to deal with the aftermath. This included reporting to the Supreme Court to investigate Yang Guozhong's whereabouts and find the Carp Demon.

Yang Guifei's birthday celebration ended with singing and dancing. Li Bai and Li Guinian went to the palace and stayed there. That night, the weather changed. Li Guinian saw the black gas disappear and knew that An Lushan had been defeated. He casually made up an auspicious sign and coaxed Li Longji.

However, no one could explain Yang Guozhong's disappearance. After a day, the Yang Family panicked. Li Longji wasn't stupid. He vaguely felt that it had something to do with the incident outside the Great Mercy Temple. When he summoned Li Jinglong to ask, Mo Rigen came.

The Exorcism Division said that they didn't know anything.

Yang Guifei's birthday celebration had just passed, and the country's Prime Minister had disappeared. The Regional Commander had run back to his hometown without any warning. The Emperor didn't even know what had happened! The Crown Prince sent people to the Exorcism Division to investigate, but they found that the alley was like a ghost going around a wall. No matter who you were, you were all rejected.

As a result, the birthday celebration ended in a mess. Yang Guozhong's disappearance happened to release the discontent of the various ministries in the imperial court. First of all, in three days, the imperial treasury had spent four hundred thousand taels of silver. In the city of Chang 'an, there were also countless thieves, robbers, and other criminals. The resentment of the six armies boiled over and reached a peak for a while.

Li Longji was busy comforting the remaining ministers. On the third day, rumors began to spread in the imperial court. They all said that Yang Guozhong was also a demon and had been killed by Li Jinglong and his subordinates. As a result, the attention of the imperial court was focused on Yang Guifei. Rumors about the Yang Family siblings had already spread throughout Chang 'an.

As Mo Rigen headed to the Supreme Court to close the case, he led people to track down Xie Yu's whereabouts. After Xie Yu's escape, it rained twice in Chang 'an. It was as if the city had turned over a new leaf. Just like after the nine-tailed fox was executed, the city regained its vitality and was no longer oppressed by a faintly discernible evil aura.

After busying himself for three days, Hongjun finally woke up. Everyone could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Mo Rigen went in to get a bowl of noodles and sat down with everyone to eat in the porch.

Atay picked a few noodles and said, "It's too salty."

Lu Xu said, "The beef wasn't grilled."

Qiu Yongsi said, "I don't eat scallions." He picked out the scallions and threw them to the porch.

Only Mo Rigen didn't utter a word. He ate the noodles noisily.

"If you think it's disgusting, make it yourself next time!" Ashina Chong said, glaring at him.

Everyone hurriedly praised how delicious the noodles were, and only then did Ashina Chong calm down. Usually, it was the Carp Demon who cooked, so everyone was used to it. Now that the Carp Demon wasn't around, they suddenly felt that eating had become a big problem.

"What do you think is wrong with Boss?" Atay said.

"He's been undercover for a long time." Qiu Yongsi smiled and said, "Before he met us, he was already Xie Yu's man … Xie Yu's fish. He's dead because he joined us."

Lu Xu said, "Let's find him when we're free. I quite like him."

Everyone sat in a row in the porch. They couldn't help but feel melancholy when they thought about how they might have to eat Ashina Chong's cooking every day in the future. They sighed in despair in unison.

Ashina Chong said, "Don't you Han people have a saying? It's a blessing in disguise. At least we can eat braised carp in the future."

Everyone was speechless.

When Mo Rigen heard this, he spat out all the noodles in his mouth. Lu Xu smacked him on the back of the head. After everyone finished eating, they threw their bowls aside and said, "Let's get back to work!"

They had to close the Supreme Court case, apply for their salaries in advance for the next four months, find out about Xie Yu's whereabouts, find Guo Ziyi to discuss An Lushan's matter, and see if he had any movements … there was a pile of trouble.

Mo Rigen sat by the well and buried his head in washing the dishes. Lu Xu was in the courtyard drying clothes. Everyone had left.

Mo Rigen looked up at Lu Xu as he washed the dishes. Lu Xu thought of something and turned his head. Mo Rigen immediately lowered his head and pretended to look at the flowers and grass to avoid his gaze.

"Why are you all wearing black now?" Lu Xu said as he looked at Mo Rigen's uniform in his hands.

Mo Rigen didn't say anything. Lu Xu muttered to himself, "It's too hot to wear black in summer."

Mo Rigen asked, "What are you going to do in the afternoon?"

"I'm not going out," Lu Xu answered. "I'm staying at home to accompany Hongjun."

Mo Rigen wiped the dishes with a cloth and said seriously, "Elder Shi will accompany him. You don't have to interrupt."

Lu Xu said, "Hongjun's heart is very uncomfortable."

Mo Rigen said, "Give him some sweet dreams and let him forget about Zhao Zilong."

Lu Xu mocked, "You think you can change anyone's memory?"

Mo Rigen said, "If you can't solve the problem, you'll change his memory in his dreams. Isn't that your favorite trick?"

Lu Xu said, "Do you need a beating?"

Mo Rigen said, "No, my face is swollen because of you."

Lu Xu said, "The bowl in your hand is so clean that it can be used as a mirror."

Mo Rigen hurriedly changed the topic. Ever since that day in the bathtub where the two of them had their unspeakable intercourse of spirit and flesh, Lu Xu had no idea what kind of relationship she had with Mo Rigen. He clearly felt that there was no barrier between the two of them, but the next day after that fierce battle, Mo Rigen acted as if nothing had happened and didn't mention the past at all. At first, Lu Xu thought that this guy would nervously look for him to talk things out … but he didn't.

Not a single word.

Lu Xu couldn't help but get angry. He thought to himself, I'll wait for you. Let's see how long you can hold it in.

After Mo Rigen returned to the team, he was back to his old self. The only difference was that he didn't pretend to be stupid and didn't seem to be bothered to hide anything. Instead, when he was alone with Lu Xu, he would occasionally be a little glib-tongued.

According to Qiu Yongsi's evaluation, "the wolf's tail that used to be tightly tucked away is finally showing."

But everyone in the Exorcism Division was used to not talking about their colleagues behind their backs. They didn't care who was with whom or who was going to Pingkang. They were all experienced and knowledgeable. As long as Mo Rigen was back, they were each other's family. No one cared about anything else.

In any case, Li Jinglong would worry about it.