kvmb Chapter 245 The "Plague" Sweeping Through the Blessed Lands
Chapter 245 The "Plague" Sweeping Through the Blessed Lands
Chapter 245 The "Plague" Sweeping Through the Blessed Land
The princess was lost in thought, but her face remained calm.
He glanced at the painting indifferently and said nonchalantly, "It's nothing new for people to look alike."
Zhou Wei also knew that the world was full of wonders, but the resemblance between Ji Zhengyao in the painting and the Princess was so striking that it was impossible to ignore.
It's a strange feeling that you can tell from the same gene sequence just by looking at it.
Just like Zhou Wei seeing an ugly man marry a beautiful woman in modern times, and the child born does not inherit any of the beautiful woman's good qualities.
The ugly man's genes are fully manifested in his child!
Of course, Ji Zhengyao was not ugly; on the contrary, he was quite handsome. The princess resembled him, and her appearance naturally carried a touch of masculine charm.
His facial features were somewhat sharp; when he arrived at the grand court assembly dressed in armor, Zhou Wei almost didn't recognize him.
Jiang Yueli's appearance is simply too perfect for the cold iron armor!
What could be the relationship between two people who look so alike?
Zhou Wei recalled the Princess's birth mother, Consort Li. This woman was very beautiful, but her features did not resemble those of the Princess.
Even the third prince, who shares the same mother, doesn't look like Jiang Yueli's biological younger brother.
As for the Great Zhou Emperor, Zhou Wei had never met him and could not make a judgment.
Tan Lin then cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness has doubts in your heart, why hide them? More than ten years ago, when I first came to the capital, I almost thought I was seeing things when I saw Your Highness in the hunting grounds outside the city."
"Your Highness resembles my friend so much that, for a moment, I even thought Your Highness was a descendant of Ji Zhengyao."
"Insolence!" the princess roared. "Tan Lin, I am a princess of the Great Zhou Dynasty! Do you know what you're saying? To slander my bloodline is to disrespect the Great Zhou royal family! How many heads do you have?"
The eldest princess's authority was beyond question.
Tan Lin also stood up and bowed to the Princess, but his words were more earnest.
“Your Highness, it is not that I question your bloodline, but the facts are right in front of me.”
"Over the past ten years, through Wang Shu, I have met the Emperor, Consort Li, and the Third Prince. Based on their appearances, I am even more certain that Your Highness must have some connection with Ji Zhengyao."
At this point, Tan Lin's back became even more hunched.
"Your Highness, Zhengshan Academy is now deserted, and Tianji Pavilion has followed suit. In the past ten years, it has been like a plague that has affected all the sects in the blessed lands."
"The high monks of Kongshan Temple are still holding on, but their cultivation has stagnated. How long can they hold on?"
The once-enviable paradises and sects of the secular world have long lost their former glory.
But there seems to be one exception, right?
"Mr. Tan, if this is truly a plague, why was Divine Healer Valley unaffected?"
When Wan Qianliang from the Divine Doctor Valley came out to roam the martial world, his arrogant demeanor made it clear that the Divine Doctor Valley had become the number one sect in the blessed land!
Tan Lin sighed: "The Divine Doctor Valley is all show and no substance. The sect leader, Wan Fengnian, has actually been missing for a long time."
Wan Fengnian has disappeared?
Zhou Wei's first reaction was that it was impossible!
In the original storyline, Wan Fengnian was extremely protective of his disciple Shen Shuqing and helped her on many occasions.
How could they have disappeared?
Just as Zhou Wei was about to voice her question, she suddenly realized something was amiss.
It seems that all the scenes in the original story where Wan Fengnian helped Shen Shuqing were done in secret.
In other words, the Wanfeng Year never actually happened!
"What a lousy author! It was just a narrative trick!" Zhou Wei cursed under her breath.
The so-called narrative trick is a technique commonly used by mystery novel authors. It involves using narrative language to guide the reader, making them believe that what they are seeing is the truth.
In fact, this contains a lie by the author!
In the original storyline, Wan Fengnian's whereabouts were exactly as described.
After figuring things out, Zhou Wei's mind suddenly became much clearer.
No wonder Shen Shuqing went to such great lengths to treat the leg ailment of the Duke of Qi's heir in the original story.
He not only traveled all over the country to find medicinal herbs, but also personally tested the herbs.
Logically, she could have asked her master, Wan Fengnian, for help. Even if Wan Fengnian didn't intervene, he could still provide his disciple with some treatment plans and herbs.
But Shen Shuqing chose the most difficult path.
I originally thought that Shen Shuqing was suffering from a terminal illness, and that there was no cure for her, so she insisted on going through this ordeal.
Now it seems that she simply couldn't find Wan Fengnian!
The situation is serious, as all four major sects of the blessed land have encountered problems.
The four major sects have been ravaged like this, yet we still don't know who did it or what their purpose is.
The eldest princess then asked a crucial question: "Mr. Tan, why did you decide to come to the capital?"
Jiang Yueli clearly remembered that the young monk Zhu Qi had come to the capital.
It was because when the eminent monks of Kongshan Temple used the Heavenly Mystery Stone to deduce the secrets, they realized that the blessed land fortune that had been stolen from Kongshan Temple had fallen into the Great Zhou Imperial City!
Zhu Qi then came to the capital to investigate.
Unfortunately, when he went to Hexi Palace, he was blocked by the giant hand above the palace that obscured the secrets of heaven, and was unable to discover more of the truth.
Tan Lin cupped his hands and replied truthfully, "If I said that I was guided by some kind of ethereal force within the Tianji Pavilion's mountain gate, leading me to the capital of the Great Zhou, would Your Highness believe me?"
When Tan Lin said this, he also found it somewhat absurd and laughable.
But he was just stating the facts. If the Princess and Zhou Wei didn't believe him, he would have to find another way.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Yueli and Zhou Wei exchanged a glance, showing no surprise, but rather an expression of "I knew it."
The eldest princess nodded. "Mr. Tan, I understand what you have said."
"I can also tell you that this so-called plague that has swept through the blessed land is actually someone stealing the fortune of the blessed land."
Tan Lin was startled and looked at the princess with a shocked expression.
"Your Highness is saying that Zhengshan Academy and Tianji Pavilion are deserted because someone stole all the auspicious energy of our sect's blessed land?"
The truth, which the eminent monks of Kongshan Temple obtained through divination using the Heavenly Secret Stone, would naturally not be revealed to others casually, and Tan Lin was unaware of it.
"Indeed, Kongshan Temple is now following in the footsteps of Zhengshan Academy."
"I just don't know what went wrong. The person who stole the blessed land's fortune was not as decisive in attacking Kongshan Temple as Zhengshan Academy and Tianji Pavilion."
"But Kongshan Temple is barely holding on. If Kongshan Temple can't hold on and is completely drained, then Shenyi Valley will be next!"
Tan Lin's face turned pale; he had never imagined the problem was so serious.
The blessed land's fortune is the foundation of the sect, and now that it has been completely stolen, he seriously doubts whether the headmaster and his fellow disciples are still alive.
Seeing that Tan Lin looked somewhat dazed, Zhou Wei couldn't help but comfort him: "Mr. Tan, even the eminent monks of Kongshan Temple couldn't stop this disaster, so what can you do? There's no need to blame yourself so much."
After a moment of silence, the princess decided, "Weiwei, the young monk Zhu Qi from Kongshan Temple, and I will be going to the blessed land in a few days. Since Mr. Tan has come, he can come with me."
"Even if Zhengshan Academy is a den of dragons and tigers, we have no choice but to venture in."
Tan Lin was overjoyed upon hearing this. He had thought the princess would refuse, but unexpectedly, he had found a way out of his predicament!
Zhou Wei secretly calculated that their team was getting bigger and bigger, and wondered if they would need to add more people later.
The princess's gaze returned to the painting, and she stared at Ji Zhengyao's face, somewhat lost in thought.
At this moment, Ziyu came over to report that the tea-making utensils and chessboard were ready.
The eldest princess stood up: "Let's go, Mr. Tan. Accompany me to the waterside pavilion for a couple of games. Lord Wang must be getting impatient. As for the matter of the blessed land, we can talk about it later."
"Your friend Ji Zhengyao must have some extraordinary stories about him, right?"