Chapter 1520 - 818: Lu Ying? (Double Chapter)

The man holding her hand beside her... Who is he?

As the sedan chair moved, a gap appeared in his half-closed eyelids when he heard the servant's reprimand and more noisy sounds outside, and his eyes shot out two icy glints.

The scene of the two sharing sugar paintings, their intimate actions reverberating in his mind, his daughter seems very reliant on that man... Chaotic thoughts came and went, but Chen Qingyang knew that compared to the safety of Donggong Ruoshu, these matters were insignificant. So he took a deep breath, calmed his thoughts, and pondered again.

"Were those from the Han Prince's Mansion just now?"

Chen Qingyang slightly tilted his head and asked.

"Yes."

In the shadow under the blue curtain of the sedan chair, there was a ripple like water and then a faint voice came.

Chen Qingyang's long eyebrows furrowed, his pale hair and beard straight like a sword, his face unfamiliar, and his aura... also concealed, definitely not something an ordinary peasant or wandering Daoist could possess... Could it be the rumored Chen Yi?

Are they mingling with the people from the Han Prince's Mansion? Does that brute Yu Wen Yuan know her identity? Or perhaps...

Now the world is about to change, while Chang'an seems still adorned with flowers on the surface, in reality, there are already many variables, and the political scene is undercurrents. Rumor has spread in the court that Emperor Jianji intends to follow the advice of several Prince Xian and replace the elder with the younger. The Chen Family, famous for its scripture heritage and having gained power for a century with the Western Jin-Tang system, would definitely be the first to suffer disaster if the rumor is true.

This is not alarmist. If the Han King becomes the Crown Prince, then expands its territory and unifies the nation, it would surely rely on the grassland cavalry as the main force, the Han system would have to be abolished, and even if the Chen Family had the merit of assisting the empire to its demise, they would also perish within three generations, let alone seek the title of Lord.

And recently, the Broken Swordman has been missing for a long time, though he usually appears and disappears like the Divine Dragon, but not a single trace for two full years, making Chen Qingyang uneasy.

"Follow them and see what they do." Chen Qingyang said.

"Yes."

The shadow under the curtain rippled like water and then calmed, as if something disappeared from within.

..........

On the other side, Chen Yi led Donggong Ruoshu, pushing through the crowd, directly entering the temple.

Inside the hall, the light was tinged yellow and diffuse due to countless candle flames and swirling smoke, and at the center, the painted statue of the Dragon King overlooked the masses, its solemn expression carrying a hint of obscurity, the golden lacquer flickering in the smoke.

He lowered his gaze, pondered for a moment, and when he looked up again, golden light emerged in his eyes.

Instantly, the world before him transformed, the bustling incense customers' figures faded away, the hall was filled with countless streams of smoke heading towards the statue. Red for prayers, yellow for reverence, blue for repentance, white for hopes... interwoven with colors, like countless small rivers rising from each worshipping believer's shoulders and heads, finally converging into the enormous bronze incense burner before the statue and evaporating upwards. Some will blend into the hazy glow of the Dragon King statue, most, however, will rise to the emptiness of the temple's ceiling, gradually thinning. This is the typical scene of incense fire Divine Dao, where believers bestow Desire Power, and deities receive and accept it.

People offer incense to deities, usually making wishes, hoping to bestow their wishes through incense fire to the deities, this is called "making a wish," and after some time, return and offer incense again to retrieve the wish, this is called "fulfilling a vow."

Unlike general thinking among people, fulfilling a vow does not mean returning the wish to the deity, but rather the deity returning the wish containing incense fire Divine Power to you, so often people miss the efficacy by not fulfilling a vow.

On top of the slowly piling incense burner, there were three large incense sticks, and their smoke suppressed the rest of the incense fire.

Upon seeing this, Chen Yi's eyelids slightly twitched.

Indeed...

Under the Heavenly Eye's observation, the smoke rising there appeared anomalous. The multicolored smoke converged above the incense burner and did not spread evenly but was seemingly drawn and compressed by some invisible force. The closer it got to the incense burner's mouth, the deeper its color turned, shifting rapidly from pale hues to dark black, then forced into the Dragon King statue.

Moreover, the incense smoke was unnaturally dense and did not ascend naturally but erupted repeatedly as if suppressed. A large amount of incense fire was crammed into the Dragon King statue by invisible force, then spewed out, only to be pressed inside again. There seemed to be something inside the Dragon King statue impatiently swallowing and disgorging, yet the surging incense fire was too abundant and rapid, almost stuffing and choking the thing inside.

This dense dark incense fire was mixed with an unusual stench.

The scent... the black gas was ominous and filled with a foul stench, evidently the taste of Demon Blood...

Chen Yi held Donggong Ruoshu's hand, advancing slowly and said, "Stay close."

Before the words were finished, he had pushed aside the incense customers in front, heading straight toward the Dragon King statue.

Approaching the Dragon King statue, Chen Yi had no incense in his hand and showed no intention of offering incense.

The temple priest stood beside the Dragon King statue overseeing the ceremony, praising each incense customer with joy, but when he turned his sharp eyes, he saw a young lord directly reach into the incense burner, grasping those three large incense sticks, looking to pull them up.

"You! What do you think you're doing?! Who's being so unruly! Pulling the Dragon King's incense!"

Before the words were finished, Chen Yi had already grabbed the three large incense sticks with one hand and pulled upward abruptly, the incense ashes quivering and cascading like a waterfall.

The temple priest was startled, hurried over to try and snatch them back, but the next moment, a muffled low roar suddenly came from deep within the Dragon King statue.

"Roar!"

The entire Dragon King Temple seemed to shake for a moment, dust falling from the beams, countless candle flames swaying violently, chaotic shadows dancing, momentarily distorting the statue's visage. The incense ashes in the burner were hit as if struck, a large cloud of gray smoke billowed out.