Chapter 913
The Turmoil in the Zhang Family
The second day of the second lunar month is the day when the dragon raises its head, which is the spring plowing festival.
The most important matters of state are sacrifice and war. Every year during the Spring Ploughing Festival, the state holds sacrifices to pray for favorable weather and abundant harvests.
In previous years, such important events were either presided over by Master Zhang or the Director of the Imperial Observatory.
This year, Pan Yun is the host.
However, in addition to the national sacrificial ceremony, the Celestial Master's Mansion also holds a sacrificial ceremony at Longhu Mountain every year without fail.
Taoist temples in other places often follow suit, so the school year at Longhu Mountain starts in February.
How can we not offer sacrifices?
Pan Yun was no longer dizzy. She gathered all her energy and concentrated it in her dantian, then stepped into the barrier just like an ordinary person.
Believe it or not, she actually stepped inside.
Pan Yun breathed a sigh of relief and flew towards Longhu Mountain as soon as she entered.
She didn't dare use the Three Treasures Cauldron or the sword to fly; instead, she used her light-footed skills to run wildly on the road.
Half an hour later, she entered Shangqing Town.
After the second day of the second lunar month, the busy farming season begins. Everyone is busy in the fields, and there are hardly any people on the streets.
With schools not yet open at Longhushan, there are even fewer people on the streets.
The shop was open as usual, but apart from the owner and his staff, there were no customers.
That's why Pan Yun's sudden flight into the street, landing on the archway with her feet barely touching the ground, attracted so much attention.
The shopkeepers turned around abruptly, and only after seeing who it was did they soften their fierce expressions and put on gentle smiles. When Pan Yun turned her head to look at them, they even nodded slightly to her as a greeting.
Do I know them?
A question flashed through Pan Yun's mind.
Although Shangqing Town is not big, she has visited every shop in the past few years, but she rarely speaks to the shopkeepers.
Given that there are so many students here, they shouldn't know her, right?
This was just Pan Yun's assumption. In reality, every shopkeeper and employee on this street knew her and her three apprentices.
Although puzzled, Pan Yun smiled and nodded in response, then looked at the empty street.
Turning their gaze away, the shopkeepers who had their backs to Pan Yun immediately changed their expressions slightly. Oh no, another menace has arrived.
But soon, their expressions relaxed, and they thought to themselves: Come on, come on, let's make a scene, let's get this over with as soon as possible.
Pan Yun stood aggressively in the middle of the street, put one hand on her hip, looked around for a while, and found that there really wasn't a single customer. After thinking for a moment, she turned around and was about to go find the shopkeepers to inquire about the situation.
The moment she moved, the shopkeeper, who had been secretly watching her, trembled. He didn't even bother to give his assistant a signal; he took three steps at a time, jumped up, and slammed the door shut, locking it from the inside.
Pan Jun paused slightly and turned to look at another house.
The shopkeepers of other shops all closed their doors.
Before long, four or five shops belonging to Pan Jun had closed their doors.
Perhaps the noise of closing the door was a bit too loud, because people from shops further away poked their heads out to look.
Pan Jun looked over, and as soon as their eyes met, the heads scurried back in a flash. Then, a series of banging sounds followed, and soon all the gates on the street were closed.
Even the Immortal Pavilion closed its doors and turned off its lights.
Pan Yun stood there blankly for a long time before she finally found her voice: "What bad thing did Fourth Senior Sister do?"
Pan Xiaohei: "Perhaps it's your fault? After all, you're the Imperial Advisor now."
“If they recognized me as the imperial advisor, shouldn’t they be fawning over me right now?” Pan Yun firmly denied that this was her fault.
She stood still, focusing her mind on checking the talismans she had stored in her space, as well as the explosives she had obtained from the Ministry of War's Armaments Department.
While helping the Armaments Department research cannon barrels and cannon bodies, Pan Yun overheard an official mention that "the explosive power is not enough," and he happily helped them improve the explosive formula.
Because the production methods were different, and it was difficult to control the purity of the original formula, Pan Yun worked with the craftsmen to improve the formula.
We aim to use current technology to replicate the explosive power of the formula.
There were many failed experiments during the process.
These failed attempts, if they were to explode, would be enough to destroy the entire room.
This is one of the reasons why gunpowder formulations have progressed slowly.
Gunpowder testing is too dangerous.
The reason this went so smoothly was because Pan Yun was there. She could quickly detect the activity of the synthesized explosives and always placed a barrier talisman on them just before they were about to explode, thus artificially preventing the explosion.
But just like the barrier between the battery and the machine, once it is removed, the battery and the machine are connected, and the machine can start instantly.
The explosive tubes in her hands were very well wrapped up, with only a yellow talisman attached to them. As soon as the talisman was removed, they would explode.
Its explosion speed is faster than a hand grenade or a detonated artillery shell; it's just a second away, absolutely no more.
Pan Yun specifically marked out these failed products and placed them in a place where she could easily reach them.
Then she stuffed a bunch of talismans into her sleeves, bosom, sleeves, and shoes according to their different functions. She even folded one and stuffed it into her hair.
Pan Xiaohei covered her face with her cat paws, feeling extremely embarrassed: "Luckily, no one saw it."
Pan Yun: "Aren't you ashamed to see me? As a cultivator, is being afraid of death a bad thing?"
Pan Xiaohei: "You're just one step away from becoming the second Marquis, what are you afraid of?"
Pan Yun glanced at it: "Aren't you proud? Although I've become the Imperial Advisor, I know myself well. There are always mountains beyond mountains and people beyond people. Can I beat my senior brother? Can I beat Senior Zhang in the palace?"
Pan Yun took out the sword and held it in his hand: "The Zhang family has a thousand-year heritage. Who knows what kind of monsters or ancestors they might be raising in the family?"
Pan Xiaohei: "Then why do we still need to go to the Celestial Master's Mansion?"
Pan Yun gazed resolutely in the direction of the Celestial Master's Mansion: "Although we can't defeat them, Fourth Senior Sister and Third Senior Brother are likely inside, so we still need to go and check."
Pan Xiaohei: "Even if I die?"
Pan Yun: "Who among us can escape death?"
"You just said you were afraid of dying."
As the two walked toward the Celestial Master's Mansion, they bickered: "I'm afraid of death, but there are some things that are above death."
Pan Xiaohei: "This is the second time you've courted death."
Pan Yun didn't care and walked to the gate of the Celestial Master's Mansion.
She looked up at the plaque and the imposing lions in front of the gate.
It was only late afternoon, but the gates of the Celestial Master's Mansion were tightly closed, and there was not a sound inside. It looked like an empty house, and anyone could see the abnormality.
Even so, the old man farming down the mountain knew nothing about it. Well, it's a two-hour journey between them; he's probably a villager from somewhere down the mountain who doesn't usually come to Shangqing Town.
Pan Yun stood in front of the gate, admiring the stone lions and plaques. Seeing that no one came out to pay attention to her, she had no choice but to go up and knock on the door herself.
As soon as she reached out, it felt like her hand was pressed against a thin film. She raised an eyebrow, gently touched it, and pressed it.
They discovered that although they could press their hands against the transparent film to touch the door, they couldn't penetrate it.
This is an advanced magic array.
Pan Yun pretended not to know and banged on the door.
Perhaps sensing the presence of Yuan energy within her, she knocked on the door with great force, yet the sound was soft and muffled, making it difficult for Pan Yun to hear even while standing right in front of her. He wondered if the person inside could even hear her.
She could only keep knocking, and when no one paid any attention, she kept knocking and shouting inside, "Is anyone there? Is anyone there? Senior brothers, senior sisters, senior uncles, senior masters, your disciple has returned from her training to report!"
Pan Yun knocked for a long time but received no response, so she pressed her ear against the door with the thin membrane to listen for any sounds inside.
But she felt that the magic array must also have a soundproofing effect, otherwise, how could she not hear a sound when she was standing here in such a big house?
Pan Yun pulled her head back, lowered her eyes and pondered for a moment, then took three steps back.
Pan Xiaohei, who was on her shoulder, trembled and quickly stopped her, saying, "What are you doing?"
“Break the formation,” Pan Jun said with a serious expression. “Today is not a day off, yet the Celestial Master’s Mansion is tightly closed and the formation has been activated. I wonder if something has happened to my uncles, senior brothers, and senior sisters. For the sake of the Ming Dynasty’s lineage, I must go in and check.”
Pan Xiaohei looked at the explosive tube she was holding: "...Then there's no need to use explosives, right?"
"The Celestial Master's Mansion is so big. By the time I walk around it and come back to find the key point of the formation and break it, who knows how much effort it will take?" Pan Yun had already placed the explosives in front of the door, close to the formation.
"My experience tells me that it's better to do things sooner rather than later!"
Pan Jun took out a bottle of paste and a string, stuck the string onto the paste, and then, fearing that one tube of explosives wouldn't be enough, took out another tube and placed it on the other side, repeating the process.
She carefully pulled herself backward by the two strings, and after retreating twenty meters, she took out two cotton balls and stuffed them into her ears.
She gripped the thread tightly, and before Pan Xiaohei could say another word of advice, she yanked it sharply, tearing out two talismans instantly. The next second, with two loud bangs, the heavens and earth shook, and the entire Shangqing Town trembled.
Pan Yun shielded her eyes with her sleeve; the smoke obscured her vision, but she still noticed a large hole blasted through the plastic sheeting in front of the gate, which quickly contracted again…
This formation will be repaired!
Without a second thought, Pan Yun drew his sword and charged forward, rushing into the formation and kicking the gate.
The gate of the Celestial Master's Mansion, which was not protected by any array, was kicked open by Pan Yun with a kick imbued with his Yuan Power!
The door slammed shut with a bang, and Pan Yun walked in, sword in hand. Inside, the disciples of the Celestial Master's Mansion, swords arrayed in formation, watched her silently.
Pan Yun emerged from the smoke and saw them. She paused for a moment, then the seriousness on her face vanished instantly, replaced by a forced smile: "Senior brother, senior sister, so you're here! You scared me to death! I knocked on the door but no one answered. I thought something had happened to you..."
The young man in the lead interrupted her expressionlessly: "Who are you?"
Pan Yun immediately became serious, clasped her sword and bowed: "Junior sister Pan Yun, a third-year student of Longhu Mountain, greets all senior brothers and sisters."
"A third-year student dares to bomb the Celestial Master's Mansion?"
Pan Yun immediately waved her hand: "Senior brother, you misunderstand. Junior sister didn't come to bomb the Celestial Master's Mansion. She came to report, but when she knocked on the door, no one answered. There was also a strange formation outside the door. She was worried that something might have happened to the senior uncles, senior brothers, and senior sisters in the mansion, so she had no choice but to break down the door..."
"What a sharp tongue! Unlike Zhang Litaoji, he's more like Wang Feiyin." A voice suddenly rang in their ears, and the disciples of the Celestial Master's Mansion, who were holding swords, stood respectfully with their hands clasped.
Pan Yun lowered his eyes, silently tightening his grip on the sword in his hand, a chill running down his spine.
She smiled and was about to speak when a cold voice came from afar: "Bring her in."
The young man at the head of the group responded, looked up at Pan Yun, and stepped aside to invite her inside.
Pan Jun smiled, adjusted the token and jade pendant at her waist, and followed him.
After passing through courtyards and alleyways, we finally reached the back of the mountain.
There is a row of five large courtyards.
In front of the courtyard was a garden, but it was actually a large open space with very little vegetation. In the very center of the open space was a round platform, where more than twenty people were sitting cross-legged, divided into two groups facing each other.
Pan Yun immediately spotted Xuanmiao sitting at the very front.
Her face was pale, and her lips were bloodless. Tao Ji sat behind her, looking at her anxiously.
Pan Yun's expression remained unchanged, a faint smile still on her face. Her gaze swept over the faces of Lin Jingle, Li Wenying, and the others behind them before she looked with interest at the people sitting opposite them.
Hmm, they don't look very familiar, but judging from their age and condition, they're not much better off than Xuanmiao's group.
Pan Yun withdrew her gaze and followed the young man to the front of the platform, where two old Taoist priests sat. Their hair and beards were white, but their skin was delicate and rosy, their fingers were long and strong, and the veins on the back of their hands were slightly protruding. They showed no signs of old age.
Most importantly, Pan Yun couldn't sense the depth of their cultivation levels.
Her smile became more genuine as she followed the young man past Zhang Liuzhen.
Oh, Zhang Liuzhen sat cross-legged on the ground, his face pale but with a smile on his face. Kneeling beside him was a young man about the same age as him. Pan Yun had never seen him before, but after glancing at his face, she had already guessed his identity.
Kneeling next to him was Zhang Ziwang, but at this moment, he had blood at the corner of his mouth, his face was pale, and his breath was weak, making him look like he was about to die.
It seems that his heart meridian has been damaged.
Pan Yun stepped past them, bowed respectfully to the two seated seniors, and said, "Junior Pan Yun greets the two seniors."
"You're Pan Yun, Wang Feiyin's junior sister?"
"It's the junior."
Zhang Liuzhen, who was sitting cross-legged, smiled and said, "Grand Ancestor, Junior Sister Pan is still the Grand Preceptor of the Ming Dynasty and a favorite of His Majesty."
The two elders remained expressionless, but they scrutinized Pan Yun more intently.
They knew that the world had undergone tremendous changes and that the Ming Dynasty had just experienced a major crisis.
In fact, they suspected that Zhang Maocheng's death was also related to this upheaval.
The Zhang family patriarch is closely connected to the Ming Dynasty's dragon veins. Zhang Maocheng's rapid decline may have been due to prior awareness of something amiss.
The two of them looked at Zhang Liuzhen together.
Before Zhang Maocheng died, Zhang Liuzhen was always by his side. Only he knew the truth.
No, there's one more person.
The two men looked at Zhang Ziwang, their imposing presence pressing down on him, and said in a deep voice, "Speak, what exactly happened?"
They were alerted by shouts of killing three days ago and left the pass.
Upon emerging, blood was everywhere. The second branch of the family claimed that the patriarch's death was suspicious, that he was murdered by the heir apparent, Zhang Liuzhen, who was now leading a group to attack the direct line.
Little did they know that Zhang Liuzhen had made preparations in advance. After luring them into the trap, he cut off their escape route, and with the help of both inside and outside forces, he almost completely surrounded the second wife's family.
When the two patriarchs were alerted and emerged from seclusion, Zhang Zhengchang of the second branch nearly died on the spot. He was currently leaning weakly against a chair, relying on elixirs to prolong his life. (End of Chapter)