Chapter 83 Desire

People have human nature, and human nature hides divinity and animality.

This most primitive fighting scene, without stopping, without mercy, and fighting to the death, the blood sets the atmosphere, which is undoubtedly the best way to stimulate the animality hidden in the human body.

The audience threw away their usual disguises and showed their crazy side. The men, with hot blood and shouting at the top of their lungs, seemed to have regained their youth. The women, with flushed faces, seemed to have reached the peak of bliss at this moment.

Zhang Yuelu's attention only stayed on the ring for a very short time, and soon turned to the audience around her. Seeing these distorted faces, she frowned slightly.

She didn't like this atmosphere very much.

She felt that this atmosphere was very abnormal. I'm afraid it was not just because of the ring. There might be other external factors, but it was not clear whether it was magic or drugs for the time being.

In the Taoist sect, the Taoist priests occupy an absolute leadership position, while the spiritual officials are in a subordinate position, which is somewhat similar to the previous dynasty's civil control of the military. Even the second- and third-rank military officers are subject to the fifth- and sixth-rank civil officials. Although the Taoist sect has not reached such a level, the spiritual officials have long been accustomed to executing orders without making decisions. So Xu Lingguan did not say a word at this time and did not make any comments. The sentence just now, "When the water is too clear, there will be no fish", was his response to Zhang Yuelu's question, which came from other high-ranking Taoist priests, not his own opinion.

As for Xu Kou, he just felt bored.

He has a nickname of "Little Yama", which shows what kind of person he is. As the saying goes, there are only wrong names, but no wrong nicknames. Xu Kou felt that he was not given the wrong name, nor was he called the wrong nickname. He has seen a lot of such things, and he has seen more bloody things than this, and he has even handled them personally. Only these pampered masters, young masters, wives, and young ladies would make a fuss about this little scene.

Of course, he was not interested in feeling sorry for the world, nor was he interested in listening to the teachings of Deputy Hall Master Zhang. He was not Qi Xuansu. He had no interest in a boring and old-fashioned woman like Deputy Hall Master Zhang. At most, he would do whatever Deputy Hall Master Zhang told him to do.

But then again, he did miss Qi Xuansu a little. Although the two did not have much interaction and had some minor conflicts, they were essentially the same kind of people. If Qi Xuansu was here, he would probably feel the same as him.

What a pity.

Just as Xu Kou was lost in thought, the winner was decided on the ring.

A Jianghu man fell into the sea of ​​fire and was soon burned to a charred corpse.

Although his opponent was covered in blood and staggering, and was obviously seriously injured, he still raised his hands and enjoyed the cheers of the audience.

Zhang Yuelu said, "I've seen enough. I want to see the master behind the scenes here."

Xu Kou immediately came back to his senses, responded, and turned to leave.

Not long after, the housekeeper who was responsible for receiving them returned with Xu Kou, with an embarrassed look on his face: "Mr. Lu, this is not in line with the rules."

Zhang Yuelu turned around: "Rules are set by people."

Xu Kou took out a gold note with a face value of 100 yuan, but directly exchanged it for Wuyou money.

The housekeeper's eyes fell on the gold note, and his Adam's apple moved slightly.

One hundred Wuyou money was immediately exchanged for one thousand Taiping money, because gold is expensive and silver is cheap, if it is placed on the black market, it can be higher.

This is not a small amount.

Xu Kou said, "Think it over. If you miss this opportunity, you won't get it again. There aren't many good things in the world that can make so much money."

The housekeeper swallowed hard and took the gold note: "Mr. Lu, wait a minute."

After the housekeeper left, Xu Kou sighed, "Money makes the world go round."

Zhang Yuelu said indifferently, "Remember to bring the money back. If there is a penny missing, you can use your own silver to make up for it."

Xu Kou said seriously, "Please rest assured, deputy hall master."

Of course, this money is not Zhang Yuelu's, nor Xu Kou's, but Tiangang Hall's. It is considered some necessary expenses. Even if Zhang Yuelu takes it for himself, no one will say anything, but Zhang Yuelu doesn't intend to do so.

Xu Kou can be careless about other things, but he dare not be careless about money.

Otherwise, how can he and Qi Xuansu actually be the same kind of people? Only when they are poor can they know the importance of money.

After about half an hour, the housekeeper came back and asked Zhang Yuelu and others to meet the owner of this place, but there was a condition that they could not bring followers.

Xu Kou heard this and said, "This is you being unreasonable. What if something unexpected happens without an attendant? It's not that I don't trust you, but there are other guests here. If there is a misunderstanding between the guests, there will be some conflicts and frictions. Without an attendant, there is no room for buffering. Besides, this is your territory. Are you afraid that we can do something to your master?"

The housekeeper knew that Xu Kou was right, and he hesitated for a moment and said, "How about this, let's each take a step back and only take one attendant."

Xu Kou took a step back: "I won't go."

Xu Lingguan slowly said, "I will accompany the young master."

The housekeeper glanced at Xu Lingguan, who had been silent all the time, and thought to himself that the two attendants of this young master Lu had a strict division of labor. One was responsible for talking, and the other was probably responsible for doing things. He was worthy of being a young master from a big family. Although he had not seen much of the world because of the strict management of his family, he had a solid foundation after all.

The three of them returned to the ground, and the housekeeper called a servant and asked him to take Xu Kou to the side hall to rest. There was wine and drinks there, as well as young men and girls, but the quality was a little lacking. It was a place specially used to entertain guests and their entourage.

Zhang Yuelu and Xu Lingguan followed the housekeeper through the layers of defense and walked towards a three-story blue-black pavilion deep in the manor.

This pavilion was very big, so big that it was beyond Zhang Yuelu's expectation.

The depth is about five feet and the width is ninety feet, which together equals ninety-five. This is exactly the specification of the palace hall.

Although the Daxuan royal family did not pay much attention to these things because they were from a Taoist sect, they did not take it seriously. Even if the sky is high and the emperor is far away, the courage of these people to act like this still shows how courageous they are.

Anyone who can come to this building must be rich or noble. The first floor is a huge gambling house with all kinds of tricks. The second floor is divided into dozens of small halls. As for the third floor, it is the highlight. The entire third floor is directly connected, and because it is the top floor, the dome is obviously much higher than the first and second floors. Under the dome is a ring with two dragons playing with beads in the middle. There are nine lanterns decorated with tassels hanging above the relief. If you look closely, the style is somewhat similar to the sky lanterns above Taiqing City.

At this time, there were two corpses and wet blood stains on the ring. The blood was slowly flowing along the lines of the relief. Under the light of the lights, there was a thrilling beauty.

There is a circle of tables and chairs around the ring, and there are not many of them because there is a lot of space.

The main seat in the middle is particularly majestic. Under the light of the lights, the huge chair shines with golden light, comparable to a dragon chair.

Even people from the Taoist sect who didn't care much about the imperial family would sigh when they saw it, how bold it was.

Zhang Yuelu looked around, his eyes swept over the guests one by one, and finally landed on the young man sitting at the main seat.

The guests were all gentry and wealthy businessmen, and Zhang Yuelu had no doubt that there were official court officials or Taoist disciples among them.

The young man was a little displeased with Zhang Yuelu's direct gaze and frowned.

But before he could speak, Zhang Yuelu had already spoken: "Are you Du Longtan, the master behind this place? You are younger than I thought. It seems that the rumors that Lingshan Witch Cult can rejuvenate people are not groundless."

Du Longtan was drinking from a wine glass. After hearing this, he suddenly threw the wine glass in his hand, showing his anger.

In this world, except for elders and superiors, calling others by name in person is equivalent to swearing. What's more, Zhang Yuelu also mentioned the Lingshan Witch Cult, which was Du Longtan's fatal weakness.

Without Du Longtan's orders, a guard had already walked out of the dimly lit place, ready to capture this daring young man.

Also without Zhang Yuelu speaking, Xu Lingguan, who was standing behind Zhang Yuelu, also took a step forward.

There was a ring between Zhang Yuelu and Du Longtan, and they appeared on the ring almost at the same time.

Then this master who was in the stage of returning to his true nature was grabbed by the throat by the second-grade spiritual officer and couldn't move even after meeting him.

After all, not every true master can be like Zhang Yuelu and have the ability to fight against heavenly beings.

Zhang Yuelu did not look at the two people on the ring, but looked up at the nine lanterns hanging high on the dome, feeling somewhat enlightened.

Why did these people abandon Taoism? Because whether it is Taoism, Confucianism or Buddhism, even if it has various shortcomings, it still basically encourages people to be kind, temperate and love others. In addition to various precepts, morals and rules, it is also an invisible shackles and a restraint on desires. As for these people, what they need is "freedom", freedom from restraint, and the release of desires. Since Taoism cannot satisfy them, they abandon Taoism and turn to the embrace of a cult that can satisfy their desires.