It was almost noon when he came back from flying the kite, and Pang Xi was still chattering about the next activities, when the housekeeper Uncle Fang found him and handed him an invitation.

"Invitations? Who will it be? Pang Shiyuan was a little puzzled in his heart, who else in Guquan Town would invite him so formally?

glanced at the invitation, and it turned out that it was Liu Shanzhi, the spokesman of Hongxingtang in Guquan Town, who invited him to afternoon tea.

"Why did he invite me? Could it be that my conversation with Ge Pingyu was known to him? Pang Shiyuan couldn't think of any other reason other than this.

"But how could he know about my conversation with Ge Pingyu? At that time, it was just me and Ge Pingyu. No, there is someone else who sees me appearing, and that is Ge Pingtang. After thinking about it, Pang Shiyuan thought of the only person who might be bad.

At this moment, Pang Shiyuan really wanted to kill Ge Pingtang. But he also knew that there was no point in doing so now. Now what he has to think about is whether he will go or not when Liu Shanzhi's invitation comes, and how to deal with it.

Pang Shiyuan finally decided to go, he didn't think he would be in any danger, this was his confidence in his own martial arts, and it was also his confidence in Hongxingtang's dare not offend Daizong.

At the same time, he was also a little lucky: "Fortunately, Ge Pingyu has already left first." ”

At noon, he had lunch with his family as usual, and at about two o'clock in the afternoon, he made an excuse and walked out of the house.

The three-zhang high, ornately decorated Dengxian Tower is not worth mentioning in the big city, but in the small Guquan Town, it is the best teahouse, and the place where Liu Shanzhi invited him to drink tea is here.

As soon as he walked into the teahouse, a tea man greeted him: "Is it the second young master of the Pang family?" ”

"Exactly."

"Senior official Liu is already waiting for the second young master in the private room on the second floor, please come here."

The tea guy led Pang Shiyuan all the way to the second floor, and then knocked on the door and pushed open the door of the private room on the second floor. Liu Shanzhi, who was dressed as an outsider, had already stood up from his seat to greet Pang Shiyuan.

While the two were looking at each other, the tea guy had quietly closed the door.

Liu Shanzhi praised Pang Shiyuan as soon as he opened his mouth: "Second Young Master Pang is handsome, and he is really a young hero." ”

Pang Shiyuan naturally didn't take it seriously: "Fledgling, where can you be praised by Liu's predecessors." ”

"Deserved, deserved, how could it not be!" Liu Shanzhi said, stretched out his hand to invite Pang Shiyuan to sit down, and Pang Shiyuan was as good as a stream.

The two sat down, and Liu Shanzhi personally made tea for the two. Although Pang Shiyuan wanted to do it himself, he was firmly rejected by Liu Shanzhi.

Liu Shanzhi was very involved in making tea, and it could be seen that he had been immersed in this way for a long time. The action of making tea like flowing clouds and water shows a leisurely charm unique to the ancient tea ceremony.

Pang Shiyuan believes that this leisurely and impetuous modern person is difficult to understand.

After the tea was divided, Liu Shanzhi signaled that Pang Shiyuan could use tea.

Holding the cup and saucer holding the tea cup, Pang Shiyuan did not drink it directly, but took a deep sip of the tea fragrance, and then said: "The green tea of Mingxiang Mountain is a treasure, and there are not many products. I'm afraid this is not the tea of Dengxian Tower, but the treasure of Liu's predecessor's own collection, right? ”

Hearing that Pang Shiyuan was able to taste the origin of green tea, Liu Shanzhi's eyes suddenly lit up, and he seemed to be happy to find his fellow Taoists.

This kind of look Pang Shiyuan had seen in Master Zhan Xianrong's body, and hurriedly said: "My master likes this kind of tea very much, but unfortunately he always says that I am a cow chewing peonies and almost doesn't give me anything to drink." ”

Liu Shanzhi's eager eyes really dimmed again, and he returned to normal: "Senior Zhan has always been good? When I debuted, Zhan's predecessors still walked around the rivers and lakes, and I have always admired his feat of sweeping the Tianfeng Castle with one person and one sword. ”

It seems that Liu Shanzhi really did enough work before he came, and investigated Pang Shiyuan clearly.

Pang Shiyuan said: "Master is in good health. Lao seniors are worried. ”

"Pang Shaoxia is a senior Zhan, I don't know how much of the true biography of Zhan's predecessor I have learned?" Liu Shanzhi asked about Pang Shiyuan's martial arts, which meant that the topic had to get to the point. And this is also what Pang Shiyuan welcomes, he is really not used to talking in circles.

Pang Shiyuan was not as modest as the ancients, but said confidently: "I think it should be enough to meet the small night on the rivers and lakes." ”

"Really? Young people, overconfidence is not a good thing. Liu Shanzhi seemed to admonish kindly.

Pang Shiyuan-for-tat: "What do senior Liu think should be?" ”

Liu Shanzhi's answer was not what he asked: "If you don't do anything, you should hang it high." ”

However, this answer was not the answer asked, but it was enough for Pang Shiyuan to know what he was referring to, it was the fact that he participated in the battle between Hongxingtang and Ge Pingyu uninvited.

Now that the thing has been done, there is no room for regret. What's more, Pang Shiyuan doesn't think that the thing itself is wrong, what he is wrong is just underestimating the despicability of human nature.

He took a sip of green tea gently, as if he had tasted some tea, but in fact he was thinking about how to answer: "Who let this be my hometown!" I wish my hometown peace and tranquility and my family's happiness and well-being. And what Hongxingtang brought was obviously not what I hoped for. ”

"Then will the White Lotus Society be able to give you what you want?" Liu Shanzhi asked.

Pang Shiyuan put down the cup and saucer in his hand and said solemnly: "I can only choose the lesser of two evils, at least will Bai Lian take the initiative to burn the flames of war here." ”

Liu Shanzhi seemed to accept Pang Shiyuan's reason, and said with some regret: "Ge Pingyu is also a talent, he escaped our pursuit. I think that in three days at most, someone from the White Lotus Society will come to Guquan Town. When the time comes, there will be Pang Shaoxia in the small Guquan Town, the White Lotus Society, and our Hongxing Hall. I thought, it's really too crowded. Therefore, we will leave tomorrow. However, I hope Pang Shaoxia will remember that this is not that we are afraid of the White Lotus Society, but that we don't feel the need to offend Dai Zong at the same time for this. Moreover, as far as I am concerned, I actually admire Pang Shaoxia. I don't know, after this incident, we can still be friends? ”

Pang Shiyuan stretched out his hand to pick up the purple clay pot, refilled the teacup that Liu Shanzhi had drunk half of in front of him, and said, "Aren't we just communicating between friends?" ”

Liu Shanzhi was stunned for a moment, and then laughed: "Pang Shaoxia turned out to be such a wonderful person, and today I really know." Okay, I've made up my friend Pang Shaoxia. ”

Here, Liu Shanzhi's elegant and amiable elder demeanor is like two people in front of Ge Pingtang.

"Since it's a friend, I want to take the liberty of asking, if Senior Liu thinks it's inappropriate, I don't have to answer." Pang Shiyuan said seriously.

Liu Shanzhi also said with a straight face: "Please speak." ”

"Hongxingtang has expanded so much in the past year, which has aroused the vigilance of the entire Wonju rivers and lakes. Now, if you are still in a remote place like Guquan Town, are you really ready to be the enemy of the entire Yuanzhou martial arts? ”

Liu Shanzhi shook his head and said, "Since we are friends, then I won't hide it from you." In fact, the expansion of Hongxingtang has stopped. My behavior in Guquan Town is just my personal action, not the layout of Hongxingtang. Actually, I just want to retire here. ”

"Personal behavior, retirement?" Pang Shiyuan never thought that it would be such an answer.

Then, he immediately realized that there was a mystery in the matter: "Something happened in Hongxingtang?" ”

Liu Shanzhi looked at Pang Shiyuan again: "Pang Shaoxia reacted so quickly. I haven't said anything yet, and you can see the problem. However, this is not a secret, and soon everyone in the rivers and lakes will know that there is indeed something wrong with Hongxingtang. Some of the elderly, including me, were very dissatisfied with the current situation of Hung Hing Hall, believing that the hall master had made a mistake in carrying out the plan of the previous hall master. They mobilized so quickly that what should have been a more effective layout had only achieved modest results so far. Now many people in Hongxingtang have chosen to leave, just like me. ”

Pang Shiyuan never thought that it would be such an answer, Hongxingtang had obtained the territory of small and medium-sized forces in just one year, and it was actually the result of their wrong plan. If their plan is completely successful, won't they become a medium-sized force in one fell swoop?

However, Pang Shiyuan also knew that he had asked enough, and if he asked again, he would be suspected of probing Hongxingtang's secrets. So he said to Liu Shanzhi with a little apology: "Then didn't I destroy Liu's senior's pension plan?" ”

"It's fine. With me and my men, we can't find a place to live. Moreover, your actions also remind me that we people will no longer be able to use the name Hongxingtang in the future. Otherwise, disaster is not far off! ”