Chapter 73 Meng Lu's Fear [Seeking Follow-up Reading] Meng Lu is only thirty years old, but his cultivation has reached the upper level of the second major level of martial arts, reaching the state of marrow cleansing. Among the younger generation in Gaoliu City, he can be considered to have excellent roots and good talents. At his age, he is like the rising sun. In the future, his blood and energy will be abundant, and his internal organs will be well developed, so achieving inner strength will not be a problem. If he could receive significant training, he would surely be able to reach the peak of his internal strength before the age of forty. A warrior at the age of forty is at the peak of his energy and blood. It will take more than ten years before he will face the decline of his energy and blood due to gradual aging. Therefore, there is still great hope for Meng Lu's future. He has great potential to break the shackles of the Refining Essence Realm. It was the Grand Commander Zhaozhou, who had been paying much attention to him recently. But today, Meng Lu's energy and blood began to decline, and his vitality was severely damaged. It was as if he had just had a serious illness, his foundation was damaged and he looked much older.

"Did something happen to you last night?" Lin Yan stood up, frowning. He thought that since the money for saving his life last night had come to him, then Meng Lu and the others would be safe. After all, the night before yesterday, the night watchmen encountered life-saving money and all died, but he, Meng Lu and others did not encounter such a strange thing that night. Now it seems that this "strange lantern" is not only able to target one place, but can target multiple targets at the same time and take lives! "Last night, the three with the lowest cultivation among my twelve brothers died." "The rest of the people were just like me. They luckily escaped with the help of the magic talisman given by Miss Linghe." "But they were all used up in exchange for the money they paid for their lives, draining away a lot of their energy." Meng Lu sighed and said, "I have the highest level of cultivation. Although my vitality has been severely damaged, I am basically still fine." There was some sadness in his eyes, and he said, "The remaining nine brothers have suffered even more serious injuries. Five of them may not be able to get out of bed without a year or two of rest." After a pause, he said in a hoarse voice, "The other four are completely useless." Lin Yan also felt heavy in his heart. As he asked Meng Lu about the details of what happened last night, after a while, he had some guesses. "Were your energy sucked away by the money you paid for your lives? Didn't you see the strange lantern?" Lin Yan raised his eyebrows and thought, "The lanterns haven't come out yet. It seems that the talisman from Miss Linghe is still useful. It is worthy of being made by the temple keeper himself." Meng Lu's face was also extremely pale, and he whispered, "The question is... will that thing come again tonight?" "..." Lin Yan couldn't give an accurate answer either. What he could confirm was that the strange lantern had completely set its sights on him. Because not only did he take the money but did not deliver the goods, he also killed the incarnation of the strange lamp, which was equivalent to killing the other party's housekeeper and creating a mortal enemy. As for Meng Lu and others, at best they only delivered half of the goods.

So, can Meng Lu and others be considered to have barely completed the transaction with Gui Deng? No one can explain it clearly! "Since the talisman is useful, you should ask the temple for the talisman again for the sake of the great commander of Zhaozhou. It would be best if the temple could spare as many people as possible to come and help." Lin Yan thought for a moment and said, "Based on what I saw yesterday, willow branches can be used as night lights, but the number must be large... It would be best if they were branches from Willow Lord himself." Meng Lu's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he whispered, "I have a way. I can borrow the Great Night-Illuminating Divine Lamp made from the branches of Liu Zun's body!" "I originally thought that after we separated, these ominous signs would not erupt together. Now it seems that whether we disperse or not will not make much difference." Lin Yan said, "Starting tonight, you should burn more incense and candles, sprinkle a lot of incense ash, gather together, and seek self-protection." After a pause, Lin Yan thought again and said, "However, it is hard to say whether this 'strange lamp' follows the 'money for buying life' or the 'person who collects the money'." "If you can trust me, collect the money and give it to me." "If you are here for the money to buy your life, I will take care of it alone, and you won't have to worry." "If you come here in person, I can only do my best to help you." Lin Yan laughed and said, "Even if I say that I can completely protect you and let you entrust your lives to a stranger like me, I'm sure the soldiers under your command will still feel uneasy... In my opinion, please ask the temple for protection!" Meng Lu nodded slightly, but felt helpless in his heart. When Miss Linghe gave the talismans to everyone, she clearly mentioned that the temple was currently short-staffed and could only temporarily give the temple keeper talismans made by himself to suppress the situation. Even Mr. Jing, a senior disciple of the temple, encountered an ominous sign. Ordinary people who burn incense are definitely not qualified to participate in this matter. The only ones who can confidently handle this matter are the twelve temple priests. The temple originally believed that the talismans made by the temple keeper himself could suppress it. Once the matter is resolved through rituals and opening of the altar in the temple, Meng Lu and others will naturally be able to eliminate the disaster. But the life-saving money today is very different from what it was more than ten years ago. It has been swallowed by the strange lamp. The two have merged together, and the evil is so fierce that it is beyond the temple's expectations. "Come on, I'll go with you." When Lin Yan said this, he actually hoped that the strange lantern was targeting the money for buying life, rather than the person who received the money. Firstly, he can save people, and secondly, he can break the strange lantern and obtain the evil spirit. After leaving Linjiangsi and heading towards the city defense, I found that the city gate in front was half ajar. Only half of the city gate was left for merchants to enter and exit. "Two days ago, when the Fifth Master was leaving the city, the Liu family in the inner city sent people to stop him and wanted to close the city gates early." Meng Lu explained: "The city gate was originally a little unsmooth, and I delayed it for a while on the grounds that it was in disrepair." Hearing this, Lin Yan couldn't help but laugh and said, "Could it be that your delay has given the city gate a chance to repair itself?" Meng Lu couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "How can it be that simple? Unless the city gate is broken, it will take at least ten days or half a month to wait for the funds to be allocated by the Outer South Yamen." "Why are they starting to repair the city gate today when the Outer South Yamen hasn't allocated any money?"

"This morning, the carriage of Liyang Merchants lost control and crashed into the city gate, so we paid a sum of silver as compensation and sent people to repair it." "Oh? Lost control for a moment?" Lin Yan raised his eyebrows slightly, with a hint of teasing in his smile. Meng Lu explained, "The shopkeeper of the Liyang Commercial Bank is a smart man. He is highly regarded by various forces in the community... Especially Deputy Commander Zhou of our city defense. They are almost sworn brothers." At this point, Meng Lu remembered that the person in front of him was in charge of supervising Linjiangfang, and hurriedly added: "This time the repairs were also reported to the Wai Nan Yamen, so it can't be considered a bribe." Lin Yan was about to speak when he suddenly became aware that someone was staring at him. When he turned around, he saw an old man who hurriedly retracted his gaze and directed the craftsmen to speed up the repair of the city gate. "Who is that old man?" "Liyang Commercial Bank has a shop in Linjiangfang. The evil spirits attacked the city a while ago and it caused a lot of damage. The craftsmen in the shop were too slow to repair it, so we brought a master craftsman from Licheng this time." Meng Lu thought for a moment and continued, "I heard that this Master Lu was originally from Gaoliu City. When he was young, he learned some skills, tempered his body, and was confident that he had some boxing skills, so he went out with the merchant company and later settled in Licheng." (End of this chapter)