"You are indeed loyal."
The newcomer chuckled and pointed at the Rice Bucket in mid-air, causing its massive body to crash to the ground as if frozen in time.
He wore a long robe, had a head full of flowers, and exuded a peaceful aura.
This is Yin Ruozhuo, the leader of the Mount Shu Sect, and also the renowned Sword Saint Dugu.
He came here, naturally, for Zhao Ling'er.
In the original storyline, he witnessed the tragedy between Li Xiaoyao, Zhao Ling'er, Lin Yueru, and knew that if the entanglement continued, one of them would inevitably die.
He didn't want to see that scene, so he locked Zhao Ling'er in the Demon-Locking Pagoda.
It was both to prevent a tragedy and to protect Zhao Ling'er.
Because the Demon-Locking Pagoda was his territory, the Moon Worship Sect Leader dared not come.
Ultimately, tragedy struck.
The three were trapped in the Demon-Locking Pagoda and could not escape. The Moon Worship Sect Leader used magic to shatter the Demon-Locking Pagoda, Lin Yueru was also crushed to death by a boulder.
In the original story, Li Xiaoyao was like a puppet on strings, and everything was pre-arranged.
Sword Saint Dugu saw through everything, and chose to observe.
The Moon Worship Sect Leader chose to help Li Xiaoyao collect the Five Spirit Pearls for his own purposes.
Unfortunately, the conspiracy was thwarted by Liu Jinyuan, who discovered the secret of the Concentric Pendant. Afterwards Anu and Tang Yu sacrificed themselves and made a wish, forcing the Moon Worship Sect Leader to summon the Water Demon Beast ahead of schedule.
The Moon Worship Sect Leader lost, and so did the Sword Saint Dugu.
He couldn't resist and chose to go to the Southern Borderlands to fight Moon Worship.
However, he was too late. By the time he arrived, Moon Worship was already dead, and the Water Demon Beast had been suppressed again.
The Legend of Sword and Fairy is a tragedy; none of the important characters in it have a good ending.
Either die, or live a lonely life burdened with everything.
Li Xiaoyao was like this, and so was Sword Saint Dugu.
Let's go!
With a wave of his hand, Zhao Ling'er's figure disappeared along with Sword Saint Dugu, leaving only a panicked Anu and Rice Bucket stood like a statue.
No sooner had Sword Saint Dugu left than Xu Long returned.
What's going on?
Looking at the scene before him, Xu Long felt that something seemed to have gone wrong.
Using Curse Speech Technique to break the seal on the Rice Bucket, the dog immediately started barking.
"Awooo... Woof... Awooo..."
The Rice Bucket gestured with its paws, and Xu Long finally understood what it meant.
An old man tried to take Zhao Ling'er away, and the old man, undeterred by power or hardship, fought him for 108 rounds. However, the old man was more skilled and seized an opening to defeat the old man. But the old man didn't gain any advantage either, as he was bitten hard by the Rice Bucket.
"You? Do you even know who that old man is?"
Xu Long had a suspicious look on his face, yet he was not afraid of power or hardship, and he fought for 108 rounds. He was probably beaten up for 108 rounds.
"Awoo?"
Upon hearing Xu Long's words, a small look of doubt appeared in Rice Bucket's big eyes.
Is that old man famous? I didn't realize it at all.
"That's Yin Ruozhuo, the leader of the Mount Shu Sword Saint Dugu, one of the world's top experts."
Xu Long kicked the rice bucket in the Rice Bucket, then lifted the curtain and saw Anu inside, who looked almost exactly like Er Shazi.
This stupid woman was frozen in place like Rice Bucket, unable to speak or eat, and was on the verge of tears.
"My lord, my lord, the princess has been taken away by an old man with a white beard and white hair, oh dear..."
As she spoke, Anu took a bite of the roast chicken.
"I understand. That's the leader of the Mount Shu. He didn't kidnap Ling'er; he was protecting her."
Xu Long sighed, " Tang Yu is twenty miles to the north. I'm going to Chang'an. Until we meet again."
As soon as he finished speaking, the carriage disappeared, and Xu Long and the Rice Bucket vanished without a trace.
"Hey, hey, hey, you're gone! What am I going to do?!"
Xu Long's sudden departure left Anu completely bewildered. She had run away to find the princess, but now the princess had been captured and the prince consort had fled. Where should she go?
As the capital of thirteen dynasties, Chang'an's prosperity needs no further explanation.
Liu Jinyuan was the newly appointed top scholar in the imperial examination and also the current emperor's teacher; he was a household name in Chang'an.
Yet, despite being a newly wealthy and influential figure in Beijing, the atmosphere at home was extremely somber.
"It seems that kid has already been bitten by the Poison Lady..."
Xu Long stood in front of the Zhuangyuan Mansion, feeling a pang of emotion.
This part of the plot was also very tragic. When I watched it, Xu Long was so angry that I wanted to take a knife and go talk to the screenwriter about his life ideals.
On his way back to Chang'an, Liu Jinyuan encountered a butterfly trapped in a spider web. Out of kindness, he tore the web and released the butterfly.
Unexpectedly, neither the butterfly nor the spider were ordinary creatures, but rather demons with a thousand years of cultivation.
The butterfly spirit is named Caiyi, and the spider spirit is named Poison Lady; both are very famous characters.
Enraged that Liu Jinyuan was meddling in her affairs, the Poison Lady bit him, poisoning him.
To repay the life-saving grace, Caiyi used her essence accumulated over a thousand years to exchange for ten years of Liu Jinyuan's lifespan.
In the end, Liu Jinyuan survived, but Caiyi, having lost her cultivation, transformed into a butterfly.
That Poison Lady is very powerful; she should be on par with the Red Ghost King.
If the Wine Sword Immortal hadn't happened to be nearby, Li Xiaoyao would probably have been in deep trouble.
"The demonic aura is pervasive, yet it cannot suppress the dense deathly energy; he's quite badly injured."
Xu Long muttered something to himself, then said to the guard at the gate, "Tell your master that his master has come to see him."
"The top scholar's teacher?"
The guard hesitated for a moment, but still chose to report it.
After waiting for about two minutes, Xu Long heard a series of hurried footsteps.
"Master, please forgive Jinyuan for not greeting you sooner. Ahem..."
Liu Jinyuan was overjoyed, but perhaps because he had run too fast, he couldn't help coughing a few times.
"Hey, you jerk, can you help my cousin? He's injured, and we've searched all the famous doctors in the capital but none of them can cure him."
Upon seeing Xu Long, Lin Yueru's eyes gleamed with hope.
"Cousin, how can you speak to Master like that! My injury is nothing serious, Master, please come in first."
Liu Jinyuan snorted, Lin Yueru immediately shut her mouth obediently.
"Hmm, your injury isn't life-threatening; you won't die anytime soon."
Xu Long nodded and strode towards the Zhuangyuan Mansion.
Xu Long glanced around and spotted Butterfly Caiyi.
She stood behind Lin Yueru, gentle and graceful, well-behaved and beautiful, much better than that crazy old woman Lin Yueru.
Because of Xu Long's interference, Liu Jinyuan and Lin Yueru got married. I wonder what Caiyi's situation is now; is she married to Liu Jinyuan as his second wife?
"These female demons are so cliché; once they're rescued, they want to get married. No wonder some men in novels are so fond of raising foxes; if they're lucky, they can have a harem of wives and concubines in a few years."
Xu Long muttered to himself, suddenly recalling the story of the farmer who saved a male fox and then "accidentally ate fine porridge"—it was terrifying.