Along the way, all the states and counties they passed through were shocked by the strength of Zhao Rui's troops, and they all inquired about the way they came, and when they heard that it was the troops of Zhao Rui, the king of Yongping, they all showed such expressions.

Those state officials and county officials were all surprised when they heard about it, but the imperial court's palace newspaper did not explain anything about King Yongping, so these officials did not take the initiative to greet and entertain Zhao Rui and others.

Guangyuan Prefecture was originally placed in the Tang Dynasty, and it was a feudal state under the jurisdiction of Yongzhou, and at the beginning, Song Shenzong took "desolate" and "miasma" as the reason, and Guangyuan Prefecture was remote and difficult to defend, so Guangyuan Prefecture was given to Jiaozhi.

History is described like this, although there is a slight difference in this world, but it should be very different, it should be about 200 years ago assigned to the management of Jiaozhi.

Guangyuan Prefecture is a source of the Yujiang River, but Zhao Rui and others followed Longzhou all the way to the west, but only saw the dry and cracked riverbed, it seems that this year is a drought year.

The more west it is, the more lofty mountains and mountains, and Longyan Mountain is at the junction of the Song Dynasty and the Chen Dynasty, and it is the starting point of thousands of mountains.

According to the plan, Zhao Rui ordered Zhao Gong to lead people to ambush halfway up the mountain, and then took Arjuna, and the two went to the bandits' stockade together.

Walking in the mountains and forests, maybe because of the dry weather, there is a little feeling of coolness and comfort, which is in Yongping Village can not think of it, the mountain road is smooth, there are bluestone steps, and there are occasional pavilions for rest.

If he didn't know to go to the bandits' lair, Zhao Rui would even think that he had gone to some scenic spots, because not only the scenery here is excellent, but you can even see many people looking like people going up and down.

Some people who went up the mountain carried ingots and candles, looking like they were going to worship and worship, and such a strange situation made Zhao Rui puzzled.

Finally walked through the twists and turns of the mountain road, in front of a solemn Taoist hall standing upright in front of the eyes, on the book three big characters "Qingxuguan", there is a Taoist boy standing at the door, to the pilgrims who come and go.

"Zhao Rui, are we in the wrong place?" Arjuna couldn't help but ask.

"Can't you...... There is no difference between this and the place Song Fengyi said, forget it, go up and ask. ”

The two walked to the door, and finally found the difference of this Taoist temple, the Taoist boy in front of the door turned out to be a fierce man, looking at his leopard head and ringed eyes, and with a beard, a thick figure, his eyes did not feel that he brought out some fierce color, how could he have the appearance of a cultivator?

"This Taoist ......" Zhao Rui stepped forward to salute and asked tentatively: "May I ask there is a bandit lair on Longyan Mountain, I don't know where it is?" ”

"Huh?"

When the Taoist priest heard this, he snorted coldly and said: "There is only a clear void view on Longyan Mountain, where did the thieves come from, Your Excellency should not talk nonsense!" ”

"Oh? Isn't this Taoist temple rebuilt from the lair of thieves? ”

Arjuna was dressed like a young man in battle clothes, and she was glared at fiercely by the Taoist priest instead of saying anything.

"Nonsense, you are the bandits, your whole family is the bandits!"

Unexpectedly, this person made trouble, Zhao Rui hurriedly stopped Arjuna, stepped forward to accompany him, and said: "The young man does not choose what to say, the Taoist is not strange, I don't know that the real person in charge of the sect can be seen, we want to visit." ”

Zhao Rui took out a silver ingot from his sleeve and handed it over as he spoke.

When the Taoist priest saw the silver, his eyes couldn't help but light up, and he quietly took the silver and pinned it in his belt, and his face eased a lot, and then he said: "Our Ma Zhenren went to Guangyuan Prefecture to practice, and it is estimated that it will take a few days to come back, if you want to find him, you should go to Guangyuan Prefecture!" ”

The two of them rushed into the air, so they had to go down the mountain road, and then meet with Zhao Gong's troops.

"Zhao Rui, I think that's a Taoist priest dressed as a bandit!"

Zhao Rui nodded when he heard this, and said with a smile: "I admire this bandit leader more and more, he turned from black to white, otherwise someone would go up the mountain to incense, and he could also go to the state capital of Jiaozhi to do it, it's really interesting." ”

Everyone went towards Guangyuan Prefecture, because the two thousand soldiers and horses were too eye-catching, so Zhao Gong still led people to find a mountain place to garrison, Zhao Rui and Arjuna pretended to be business travelers, and after a brief investigation, entered the city of Guangyuan Prefecture.

They entered at the same time as a number of Song people carrying baskets, where the Song Dynasty's spinning and silk were extremely popular.

Looking at the bustling and lively scene in the city, Zhao Rui also felt that it was the scene when he first arrived in Jingjiang Mansion, although the Yuan army not far from the north was attacking the city and plundering the land, but it was like a pure land here, and it was not affected by the war for the time being.

"Ma Zhenren is going to do it! Check it out! ”

"Really, great, just in time to see Ma Zhenren's spell!"

"Hurry up, hurry up, don't miss your position!"

The crowd was bustling and converging in one place, Zhao Rui was deaf, he had already heard their discussions, and it took no effort to come and take Arjuna to walk with the flow of people.

At the end of the market, a five-person high altar was built out of wooden planks, and on the altar was a yellow-robed Taoist with a golden crown, wielding a peachwood sword, and chanting words in his mouth.

Zhao Rui and Arjuna squeezed through the crowd and came to the altar, and there were people who looked like Jiaozhi officials standing aside.

This Taoist priest is Ma Yue, the real person in charge of Longyan Mountain's Qingxu Guan, seeing him turning in a small circle, walking with him, a few handsome movements were done, and the peach wood sword made a whirring sound of breaking the wind.

It's like a concert scene, Ma Yue's movements are smooth, which provokes the people below to applaud.

Zhao Rui didn't know why, and there happened to be a middle-aged man from the Song Dynasty standing next to him, so he asked in a kind way: "Brother Tai, what kind of magic is this?" ”

"From out of town, huh?" The middle-aged man said with some pride: "This is a pure and empty Ma Zhenren begging for rain!" There has been no rain in the last two months, and the crops are dying! Ma Zhenren's magic power is superb, and when there was a flood in the first two years, it was he who cast a spell to drive away the rain clouds! ”

"And what it takes?" Zhao Rui couldn't help but look up and admired.

"That's it! You outsiders don't know, now there are not many people in Longzhou and Guangyuan Prefecture who follow Ma Zhenren to practice spells, and now it is a troubled time, even if you can't soar in the daytime, you can learn some self-protection skills! ”

He also took in a large number of disciples......

Isn't this exactly the means used by those "masters" in later generations to accumulate money?

What a talent through and through!

Zhao Rui looked at Ma Zhenren who was about thirty years old, with a thin face and long beard, and a Taoist robe and crown, which really meant some fairy wind and bones.

Seeing that he was mixing cinnabar and burning the Dao talisman again, he tossed for a long time before coming down from the ladder on the altar.

The officials below hurriedly greeted them respectfully.

"Ma Zhenren, it's really hard!"

"Hehe, my lord is serious, for the sake of the world, what does it matter if I just work harder! After today's rituals, I'll go back first! Ma Yue said with a tired look.

"Hard work...... Laborious. ”

The official took out a large ingot of gold and handed it over, Ma Yue walked away without looking, and a Taoist boy behind him continued to carry a large tray, and then from the onlookers, people continued to come forward to offer gold, silver and money.

Zhao Rui was flashed by the yellow gold, and sighed to Arjuna that the people in Guangyuan Prefecture are really rich, and silver is used elsewhere, but there is more gold here.

When the man next to him heard it, he couldn't help but laugh and said: "Little brother, you don't know this, Guangyuan Prefecture is rich in gold mines, so it is naturally much more convenient to use than silver!" ”

Rich in gold mines......

Zhao Rui didn't want to go, gold is the world's hard currency, even if the Southern Song Dynasty completely collapsed, gold also has absolute purchasing power, if it occupies the gold mine, then there is not enough food to buy, and people are not enough to hire it!

It seems that everything that troubled me before can be solved with money.

It's really rich and no worries!

After a while, the Dao boy's tray was already full and about to overflow, and several senior brothers next to him put it in an inconspicuous cloth bag, and then they went together in the direction of Ma Yue's return.

"Let's go, let's take a look."

Zhao Rui called Aruna softly, and the two followed behind the Taoist together.

Without going far, several Taoists entered an inn with a high gate compound, and there were two Taoist priests guarding the door.

Zhao Rui and Arjuna also wanted to follow in, but were stopped by the Taoist priest guarding them.

"I'm sorry, during Ma Zhenren's spell casting, I didn't see any outsiders."

It seems that the inn has been packed, and although the two Taoist guards speak politely, they have a cold attitude of rejecting people.

"Bastard! Go and tell Ma Yue that there is no reason for his senior brother to refuse when he comes! Zhao Rui made up a reason randomly, which made Arjuna look at it in amazement.

The two Taoist priests glanced at each other, although they looked at Zhao Rui's young age, but he was serious, and he really had some momentum that people had to believe.

"Wait a minute, I'll report the real ......"

One of the Taoist priests softened his tone, and then quickly ran into the inner courtyard.

After a short time, this Taoist returned to the door and invited Zhao Rui and the two to enter, but he was followed by two fierce-looking Taoists, like the one at the door of Qingxuguan.

Zhao Rui and the two were in front, and the three of them were behind, and they followed towards the side hall in the inn.

The decoration of the hall is quite elegant, the furniture inside is mostly mahogany, and the whole hall decorated with potted plants and paintings looks luxurious and heavy.

One of them turned his back to Zhao Rui, looked at the scenery outside the window, and did not turn his head when he heard the footsteps.

"Senior brother! It's so hard to find you for your brother! Zhao Rui dragged a long voice at the back.

Arjuna's big eyes flickered, thinking that this is okay, why do you want to act when you see the main master.

But what Arjuna didn't expect the most was that Ma Yue on the opposite side actually cooperated, only to see him turn around, pretend to be melancholy, call out to senior brother, and then invite Zhao Rui and Arjuna to sit down at the round table in the middle.

Zhao Rui was also shocked, thinking that you are in your thirties, I call you junior brother, and you are embarrassed to agree.

"Senior brother, I don't know if the old man is okay?" Ma Yue's grinning appearance made Zhao Rui feel as if he knew him before.

"Oh, it's okay, it's just that my body hasn't been as good as before, I miss you!" Zhao Rui said with him.

"That's right...... It's just that Master, does he know that his eldest apprentice is about to die? ”