August 23.

Mu Chen said goodbye to everyone and went to Dali alone.

The autumn wind is rising again.

The bleak autumn wind shook Mu Chen's clothes and his hair.

When you go out of the city, you can't see the bustling street markets and lively restaurants.

The rest, only desolation.

A heartbreaking desolation.

The ancients often used "endless flowing water" and "bleak falling wood" to lament time, which was incomprehensible to Muchen.

But now he sees the fallen leaves everywhere and feels the bleak meaning of the autumn breeze, and he really feels that time is so precious. Although he is now in the prime of life.

The horse's hooves trample on the fallen leaves, making a rustling sound.

The leaves of this maple forest have not yet fallen off, but the leaves on the trees are as weak as the old man who is dying. As soon as the wind blew, it fluttered down and fell quietly to the ground.

Wood dust was about to walk through this maple forest.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew.

The maple leaf that had been falling in the air suddenly flew up, and then a rustling sound was heard.

It's footsteps.

Mu Chen smiled slightly, jumped over, and disappeared.

And where he just left, a sword appeared, the body of the sword was glowing with cold light, and the tip of the sword was flashing, if it wasn't for Mu Chen's departure, now he would have been stabbed by this sword.

The wind blew again.

Wood dust had fallen behind the sword.

I saw the sword body turning, and the strong wind drove the fallen leaves.

The sword stabbed out again, piercing the center of Mu Chen's eyebrows.

Mu Chen suddenly stretched out two fingers, grabbed a maple leaf in the air, and threw it away, and the maple leaf flew out like an arrow.

The maple leaf struck the tip of the sword with a crisp sound.

The maple leaf had broken in half and fell silently to the ground.

The sword is gone, and so is the tip.

The maple leaf just now actually smoothed the tip of this sword.

The wind was still blowing, and there was silence.

It doesn't seem to have happened.

All that remains is the sound of the wind blowing the leaves.

One person was holding a pointless sword, staring at Mu Chen.

Mu Chen smiled and said, "Long time no see, old boy"

The man who came was indeed an old boy.

But his whole person has become different now, although his figure has not changed, but the beard on his face is already very thick, his hair is scattered, and Mu Chen can even smell the smell emanating from his body.

The old boy stared at Mu Chen, and suddenly his hand was loosened, and the sword fell to the ground.

Then he heard a muffled sound, and the old boy fell to his knees.

Mu Chen looked a little surprised, and said, "What are you doing here?"

The old boy said, "Muchen, I want you to promise me one thing, otherwise I will keep kneeling"

Mu Chen smiled, he suddenly felt that the old boy was a little cute, so he said, "Why should I agree to your request, if you want to kneel, kneel."

Then he turned and was about to leave.

The old boy suddenly shouted, "I know you're going to find Duan Chenfeng, I've been waiting for you here for three months."

Mu Chen turned his head and said in surprise, "Three months?"

The old boy said, "This is the only way to go to Dali"

Mu Chen said, "You are waiting for me, just to kneel for me?"

The old boy said, "I want you to do something for me."

Mu Chen said, "What if I don't help?"

The old boy said, "I can tell you the way to see Duan Chenfeng, after all, not everyone has the right to see Emperor Dali."

When he said "Emperor Dali", his eyes were full of anger and sadness.

Mu Chen smiled, "Thank you for your kindness, but I think he should meet me"

The old boy said, "Then what if I exchange my life for a condition?"

Mu Chen said, "Your life?"

The old boy said, "I know I'm a waste now, and my life is not worth much"

Mu Chen did feel that the sword stabbed by the old boy just now was tangible and weak, just like a child's play.

Mu Chen asked, "Your martial arts have been abolished?"

The old boy said "yes"

Mu Chen said, "Duan Chenfeng did it?"

The old boy gritted his teeth and said "yes"

Mu Chen continued to ask, "Since your life is no longer valuable, why should I..."

Before he could finish his sentence, the old boy interrupted, "I killed Feng Boxi"

Mu Chen's expression suddenly froze, unable to speak.

The old boy continued, "If you do me a favor, I am willing to apologize for the sins of Feng Boxi and Mei Lin and kill myself."

Mu Chen said, "It's easy for me to take your life, so why do I need you to commit suicide?"

The old boy suddenly looked at Mu Chen, his eyes full of sadness.

It's a sad hopelessness.

Mu Chen suddenly said, "But the conditions you are willing to exchange your life for, I really want to hear it"

The old boy's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said, "I want you to help me kill Duan Chenfeng."

Mu Chen said, "Why did I kill Duan Chenfeng?"

The old boy said, "Duan Chenfeng conspired with Lin Hongyue, betrayed the eldest brother, and forcibly married the fifth sister, shouldn't this kind of person who has lost his conscience be killed?"

Mu Chen smiled, "That's just your personal grudge."

The old boy said excitedly, "But he intends to enter the Central Plains, you should know that Dali is now becoming stronger and stronger, if it really provokes a war, the first to bear the brunt is the two northwestern countries, not to mention that you are still an elder of the beggar gang, you can't ignore this matter"

Mu Chen said, "Yes, I do have to take care of it, but I can talk to him"

The old boy sneered, "Do you think you can talk clearly to a bastard who killed his brother and married his sister-in-law?

Mu Chen pondered for a moment and said, "Okay, I promise you"

The old boy looked at Mu Chen with incredible eyes and said, "Thank you"

Mu Chen smiled, walked over to the horse, and got on the horse.

"Driving"

With a soft drink, the wood dust walked farther and farther away with the sound of horses' hooves.

The old boy who stayed where he was was was gone.

After a long time, he smiled stupidly and said, "Big brother said that you are a terrible person, and it is true." He suddenly looked up to the sky and sighed, "Destiny, destiny"

So saying, he picked up the sword from the ground and killed himself.

Blood, making the maple leaves redder.

The wind is colder.

Mu Chen drank his wine, thinking about whether his decision was the right one.

He really didn't have the obligation to help the old boy kill Duan Chenfeng, but he agreed, and he knew that he had no room for regret now.

The reason why the old boy committed suicide safely was precisely because he believed what Mu Chen said, and he would definitely do it.

Mu Chen has some regrets now.

- Wouldn't it be boring if you don't do a few stupid things in life?

That's how he comforted himself, and he was happy with the reason.

So his mood was also relaxed, and the whole person became refreshed.

August 29.

Muchen finally arrived in the capital of Dali.

Dali is much more prosperous than Muchen imagined.

Everything here is different from the Central Plains, the clothes of the people or the houses they build are all different.

The crowds are bustling and the bazaar is thriving.

Muchen couldn't have imagined that there were 400,000 soldiers guarding the border, and there were still so many people here.

I didn't expect that the war would start soon, and the people here would still be able to live happily.

Joy is born in the present and belongs to the present.

On the way here, Muchen passed through a lot of cities, and the scene in all the cities was similar.

It's like this is a haven of peace. The people are at peace and well, and the officials are honest and clean.

What kind of political achievement can a ruler make?

Mu Chen continued to walk around the city, and suddenly saw a crowd of people gathering not far away.

Mu Chen also squeezed in, but what he saw was a gold list.

It is the gold list of the imperial examination.

Then, Muchen heard someone cheering, and then the cheers grew louder and louder.

Mu Chen found someone and asked, "Excuse me, why are they so happy?"

This human, "Can you not be happy with the title of the gold list?"

Mu Chen said, "But not everyone has been lifted"

This human, "It seems that you are from other places, the regulations of our Dali country, if someone in a region is hit by Tanhua, the tax in this area will be halved in one year, two years on the list, and three years for the champion"

Mu Chen was surprised, "There are still such rules?"

"Of course, otherwise why would we be so happy? And those who win the promotion can recommend talents to the emperor, and if the emperor takes a fancy to them, they can also become officials."

Mu Chen smiled: "It seems that the emperor is really thirsty for talent"

This humane "is not, the emperor is not only sympathetic to the people's feelings, has opened warehouses for famine relief many times, but also used many methods to restrain the interests of officials and expand the interests of our people, what a good emperor"

Mu Chen's eyes showed a special look, and after a long time, he said "Thank you"

Mu Chen left the downtown area and found a restaurant.

The restaurant is not big, but there are a lot of people drinking.

Mu Chen sat on the second floor, and a person ordered a pot of wine and some side dishes.

While he was drinking, he listened to the guests in the other seat chanting poems.

Most of the content of the poem is also praising the current peaceful world. It is exaggerated that there is a wise man who knows people and makes good use of them, and is diligent and loves the people.

This was a happy thing, but Mu Chen had a strange feeling in his heart after hearing it.

was drinking wine, and suddenly heard a person say, "The emperor is visiting, hurry up"

Then, I saw a crowd of bees coming to the side of the street.

Ten thousand empty alleys, this is the description of this scene.

I saw a wide street, and a procession was advancing.

And all the people on the side knelt down.

In the middle of the procession there were two luxurious carriages lined up in front and back, one was the emperor and the other was presumably the empress.

There were dozens of officers and soldiers in front of the carriage, and soldiers with bows and swords in the back.

There were people on both sides of the carriage holding imperial flags.

Because it was in the capital, many of the large-scale things that should have appeared did not appear, so the scale of the emperor's honor guard was not large. It should be considered a small tour.

Mu Chen smiled slightly, took a sip of wine, and jumped down from the upper floor.

Everyone was panicked when they saw the wood dust falling in front of the royal car.

The archers drew their bows and arrows, and the rest of the soldiers drew their swords and pointed their spears horizontally at the wood dust.

A man who looked like a general shouted, "Who dares to hold a sword to stop the royal driver, and offend the power of heaven."

Mu Chen shouted, "Mu Chen, meet the emperor"

He said this very loudly, he just wanted Duan Chenfeng to hear it.

Sure enough, a person slowly walked down from the carriage in front.

This person is indeed Duan Chenfeng.

Duan Chenfeng is no longer like back then, now he wears a crown, holds a tiger talisman, his face is dark, and he also has a beard.

His every movement and eyes faintly revealed the aura of an emperor.

Mu Chen couldn't help but be stunned.

Duan Chenfeng walked down, the officials saluted one after another, and the people lowered their heads.