It began to rain again.

After the meal, he asked for a pot of tea, and chose the most corner position on the first floor to sit with Ah Luan. First, it is because of the weather, and secondly, it is good to listen to the discussions of some people in the rivers and lakes, so that it is convenient to inquire about the recent situation of the entire Huansha City.

In addition, Pei Yuanwai told him that at this time, he basically figured it out. This is the west of Beicheng, although it is not prosperous, but because Yu'an Restaurant is located in the transportation hub, the novel fish, meat, vegetables and fruits outside are transported quickly, and the level of cooking of the chefs is a must, and the business has been in full swing.

The northeast of the city was the most prosperous area, where the princes, nobles, and wealthy merchants lived. This is different from the progressive distribution of the rings of Dailuan City. And the place where the accident happened was in the southwest direction. There are large areas of farmland where farmers are toiling. It's just that since this time last year, I don't know what happened in the local area, and suddenly there is no harvest.

This place is not as prosperous as Dailuan City or the capital, but it is also rich in products, and the food saved by every household and vendor is naturally enough to eat, plus the imperial court has allocated a budget, and no one takes the lack of harvest too seriously. By the fall, the situation did not improve at all. No matter how you say that Huansha City is also a big city, two or three hundred thousand mouths want to eat, and if you don't get it, you will never eat. But the people here have long developed the bad problem of fine clothes and food, and they are used to living a good life, so they have no way to reduce food and clothing.

It's not that no one cares about it - just after the New Year, the boss sent someone down to investigate. But as soon as Pei Yuanwai came, he was taken by the magistrate to eat and drink, and he was not nourishing. As a result, after a few months, the matter was not completed, and it was sued by a few people who understood. So the death order came down, and if you don't deal with this bubble-like false prosperity, it will not only be the city that will collapse, but also the face of the court, and this black gauze hat will naturally not be able to be saved.

Pei Yuanwai was in a hurry. But he didn't even know where to plant the field, not to mention that when he heard that it was a monster making trouble, his legs trembled. There is no way, so I burned incense and worshiped the Buddha, and went all over the city to find some monks and humanitarians, Jianghu warlocks, and if anyone succeeded, money was naturally indispensable.

As for what kind of monster it is...... But no one seems to have mentioned it explicitly. As for the monsters hurting people, although there are a lot of rumors, there seem to be no one or two who actually killed people.

While thinking this, a person walked into the store.

A woman who touched the peach and plum years.

Holding an oil-paper umbrella, she stepped in front of the door and gathered it away. She wears a pair of gray-green narrow-legged pants with a long white sleeve on the top. The cuffs and placket were black edges, and the hem of the shirt was splashed with ink spots that were free and easy. If you look closely, it's just a mottled dark green embellishment.

Ordinary people can make such a judgment.

If it was only to this extent, Shanhai would not have been staring at her all the time.

To be exact, he was staring at the umbrella.

The rain was pouring all the time, but the umbrella had not been stained at all since it was brought into the store.

She expertly inserted the umbrella back into the bucket at her waist and walked straight this way. Shanhai realized that he was rude, staggered his gaze slightly, and continued to glance out the window.

The shop is very lively, and there is no place to stop. She came over and sat down at the same table as him, her eyes looking out the window. Ah Luan didn't care, staring straight at the comer.

"Your Excellency is a cultivator?"

"Exactly."

Shanhai turned her head sideways and looked at it seriously, but her gaze remained outside. She had a bruise on the side of her face for some reason, her sideburns were short, and she wore a long low braid with a white ribbon at the back. The broken hair on the woman's eyebrows was pulled to the sides, and a thin strand in the middle was attached to the pendant in front of her forehead.

An intricate hexagonal snowflake.

He is a disciple of the Snow Yan Sect.

"Would you like to count a hexagram for me?"

"Nothing is occupied, and nothing is occupied."

She turned her head to look at the mountains and seas, but he lowered his head and took a sip of tea.

"That's how he is," Ah Luan knelt on the wooden bench, playing with his body back and forth, "There have been many people who have asked him for fortune telling, it must be natural." It's just a nice sound...... It's not good, when there is really a small disaster, they all complain that he cursed it, and say that they should never look for him again. ”

“…… Accurate, huh? ”

Her focus is only on the first half of the sentence.

Shanhai finally turned his face sideways and met her gaze. After a long time, he sighed lightly under his nose, and finally opened his mouth:

"What is it that you have?"

"In the snow inkstone sect Liangqiu Muwan, may I ask the name of Changzun?"

"I don't dare to be respected, Rin was born in the sky, his surname is with his master, and his name is mountains and seas. This is my apprentice, Ah Luan. ”

Miss Mu Wan took out three copper coins and lined them up on the table.

"Find someone."

She uttered two words simply. Shanhai nodded and replied:

"You throw it away, I'm not related to you, the person you want to find, throw it yourself accurately."

Mu Wan did so. Three copper coins fell on the table with a few clicks, one against the other.

"A young man."

As he spoke, Shanhai dipped his fingertips in tea and drew a straight line on the table.

The second time it was exactly the same.

"Eryao Shaoyang."

He then drew another one on it.

Then there are three money backs.

"Sanyao Laoyang."

He drew a straight line, and in parallel places on the side, he drew two short lines.

This time it's three money noodles.

"Four old yin."

He drew two short lines, and in the corresponding position next to it, drew a long one.

"Wuyao Laoyang."

"Liuyao Shaoyang."

When he was done, he copied and completed another drawing. As he painted, his complexion gradually became more solemn, but the changes were subtle. Mu Wan caught this subtle demeanor, and his mood sank a little, but he was silent. Counting today's hour, the mountains and seas pinched their fingers. It seems that there is a result, but it is not easy to say.

Ah Luan saw it. This hexagram is a lower hexagram, a change hexagram...... It's still a subterfuge.

"I'm here to ask for a hexagram, it's sincere, just ask."

"The lower dry and the upper Xun are stacked with different hexagrams. Dry for the sky; Tatsumi is the wind. Your own ability is lacking, your strength is limited, and if you don't take precautions, I'm afraid you won't be able to find someone. Even if you find it, you may not be able to do it, so it is not easy to go out in a hurry. On a windy day, the small animal becomes a fire, and it is still a hexagram superimposed on top of each other, and the bottom is separated from the top. Separation is fire; Redeem for Ze. The fire is on fire and on the bottom, and it is not mutually beneficial. Kezesheng ......"

"Thank you, aisleman."

Before he could finish speaking, Mu Wan made a fist salute, left three copper coins and got up and left, and called Xiao Er to go to the guest room. Shanhai bowed slightly, looked at the hexagram on the table in a daze, and was silent.

Ah Luan felt in her heart that maybe Miss Mu Wan was not very happy, but her ugly words were ahead, and even if she didn't like it, she wouldn't be able to attack. She glanced at the mountains and seas who shook her head again and again, stretched out her hand, and took the three copper coins into her arms. The cuffs wiped off the hexagram, the mountains and seas froze, and sighed again.

"Good words can't be put behind, you see, who listens."

Ah Luan threw out the coin, caught it with the back of his hand, and had a lot of fun. Shanhai shrugged his shoulders and raised his hand as if he didn't care:

"He who refuses to listen to even bad words will only remember the good things you say. At that time, the slightest disobedience will be your fault. ”

In the afternoon, the rain stopped and the sky soon cleared again. Strange to say, when they heard that they were going to the countryside in the countryside, none of the coachmen were willing to send them. They made it clear that there were youkai in that place. Even if they are bold, they say that they can't wait for them for half a day, and there are no guests who are willing to come back, so they are losing money and don't do it.

Fortunately, just when they were in trouble, a caravan saw him dressed in a Taoist robe and said that he was willing to give them a ride. It's just that they have to figure out how to get back.

When you can see the fields from afar, it's the time of the devil. The caravan left them here and left. The two walked a little further and approached the field. It was indeed overgrown with weeds and barren. Looking up, the sparse houses in the vicinity looked extremely desolate. Compared to the woods in the north of the city, this place is really bleak.

There was a figure in front of the road, hunched over, with a staggering gait, and the top of his head was bare, like an old man.

They were ready to come forward and ask questions. Ah Luan shouted a few times, but the man just stopped, but did not look back. Just when Ah Luan had just run out of the two feet, Shanhai hit her behind and grabbed her.

The old man...... It's weird.

The moment he turned around, Luan felt like he was going to stop breathing.

Definitely not human.

The swollen belly looked like a pregnant woman, but his limbs were as slender as firewood, as if he could not support his body and would break off at any moment. But his ribcage was small and thin, and his head was so large that it looked like an upright pole. Its arms were long, straight and straight to the ground. It stared blankly at them, saliva dripping from the corners of its mouth, and looked at them blankly.

The two of them froze in place, and Shanhai's hand was still only pinching Ah Luan's clothes. After a while, the youkai turned around and continued to stumble forward.

"What ......?" Ah Luan had palpitations. Although she hadn't heard of more terrifying ghosts, the ugly monster was really unusual.

“…… I think that's a hungry ghost. ”

"Ahh......h

This is the voice of a third person. They turned, and one of the Arbor was carrying a basket in one hand and the other behind his back, his rickety body curled together. But looking at it like this, it's much kinder than the hungry ghost just now.

"How can there be a traveler here......"

The two visited Abo's home. The house was very simple, just enough for him to live alone. When asked about his family, the old woman said that she left early, and her children had gone to other places.

On the way, when Ah Luan helped him carry the basket, he felt heavy, but he didn't know what it contained. At this time, in front of them, Abel took off the cloth covering the basket, and it was still a layer of cloth. Under this cloth, there is another layer, wrapped in layers like this, and there are only a few wilted wild vegetables left at the bottom. It turned out that the weight was just a rag on it.

"Is this the only thing to eat here?" Shanhai asked him.

"It's good to have it......" he sighed, looked out the window at the gradually gloomy sky, and brushed away the soil from the vegetable roots, "That's it, I'm afraid that the little devils will snatch it." ”

"What about the money used by the imperial court for disaster relief?"

As soon as these words were asked, Shanhai regretted it. You don't have to think about it to know who it is going to. He waved his hand and said to his disciple:

"Ah Luan, come out with some dry food."

Ah Luan immediately got up to unpack the package and took out a clean cloth bag from it. Before she could untie it, the old man suddenly rushed to the door and bolted it shut. I went to check out the window again, looked left and right with my eyes wide open, and placed a wooden board leaning against the wall on the windowsill, blocking out all the light.

The two of them were startled, and looked in the direction of the old man in the dark room in confusion. He cautiously touched it back, took out the fire fold, and lit the candlestick on the table, which was poor in oil.

"What are you doing here?"

"Don't underestimate those ghosts, they have very fine noses, and when they take out the cakes, they can smell them from afar. The posture of smashing the door and removing the window is very scary! ”

"Those hungry ghosts, are they also changed by the people here?"

Ah Luan handed him the bread. The old man took it happily, nodded his head in thanks, and stuffed the cake into his mouth, which was slurred, and it took a lot of effort for the boss to hear what he said.

"Who knows, suddenly one day it will pop up, and there will be a lot of it."

Shan Hai seems to understand something.