Qingzhou. Shangyun City.

The cold wind in the city is howling, and the pedestrians have yellow faces and thin muscles, and their expressions are wooden.

From time to time, on both sides of the street, rickety figures can be seen squatting under the eaves, not knowing whether they are asleep or have lost their life.

This year's winter is really too cold, and it is even more difficult than the hungry years when Yu Wenluo was in power, but fortunately in the misfortune, the people who have swallowed the holy medicine firmly believe that as long as they believe in His Majesty the Holy Emperor who sits high in Chang'an City, even the dead souls can rest in the kingdom of heaven.

Of course, whether such an idea is true or not, no one knows the answer, or the person who knows the answer is long dead.

Qian Liu, however, scoffed at the holy medicine and the various theories that the government had hyped up.

Qian Liu is in his early forties this year, and in the early years his father fell ill and died, so Qian Liu took over his father's class and did a class to guard the tomb and sweep the tomb in a cemetery called Wangyun Mausoleum outside Shangyun City.

Wangyun Mausoleum is also one of the best places in feng shui around Shangyun City, legend has it that for hundreds of years, a certain Taishou of Shangyun City was buried nearby after his death, and then his son was all the way to the top of the clouds, and achieved the position of the state pastor. Therefore, this Wangyun Mausoleum is famous, but all people with some status want to place the tombs of their ancestors here.

However, the owner of this land is very clever, and seeing the momentum of this strange goods, he sat on the ground and started the price, and the sesame land in the tomb was worth ten taels. It was still in the scene of the famine a few years ago when Yu Wenluo was alive.

You must know that these ten taels of silver, at that time, were enough for an ordinary family of three to live comfortably for a year or two, and such a price naturally discouraged many people. Of course, these have nothing to do with Qian Liu, who also only works under the owner of the tomb, Qian Liu is only responsible for looking at the tomb, sweeping the tomb, or helping those large families who have left their hometown but are still buried here to worship during the New Year's holidays.

It's just that in the past few years, the emperor Lao'er in the land of the Great Zhou Dynasty has changed again and again, the famine and snow disaster have not stopped, and Rao is once a big family is also barely able to make ends meet, or directly his wife is separated, his salary for sweeping the tomb has been reduced again and again, and there is very little business to help people worship.

But today, Qian Liu went out early, wrapped in a tattered cotton jacket that was sewn and sewn, mended and mended, stared at the flying snow, took a pot of rice wine and some wine money, slowly walked out of Shangyun City, and walked towards Wangyun Mausoleum.

Take people's money and eliminate disasters with others.

Qian Liu is not a hero, but he is also a particular person.

Rao still heard from time to time, and in the heavy snow, a little beggar in ragged clothes knocked on his door.

The beggar stood in front of his door with a scrawny, barefoot girl dragging a corpse wrapped in a rotten straw mat behind him. He took out a meal of white silver from his arms, defeated Qian Liu, and carefully divided him into two piles.

A pile of ten taels is the money to buy land in Wangyun Mausoleum, and a pile of five taels is the money for Qian Six to sweep the floor for him to worship the tomb in the next ten years.

In terms of the situation at that time, ordinary people rarely had the time to come up with so much money, of course, even if they did, they had to carefully think about how to spend the next year, how could anyone spend so much money for a dead man, let alone a beggar whose clothes were in tatters?

Qian Liu was suspicious, but the little beggar seemed to see through his thoughts, took out a white paper full of handwriting from his arms, handed it to him, and said, "Don't worry, I sold this money." ”

The money is clear, but things are not as simple as the little beggar thinks, buying ten taels of land is not fake, but the coffin and the monument are all expenses, and the little beggar who knows these is very distressed. At that time, Qian Liu may have been moved by the situation of the little beggar who sold himself to bury his father, or it was just because of the shock in his heart. He has done white things for so many years, and he knows more or less the way.

So he helped the little beggar spend another tael of silver to make a cheap coffin, and he could get a cheap tombstone. There were only four taels of silver left, and according to the rules, he had to help the little beggar worship the grave for eight years.

And this year happens to be the last year.

Qian Liu, who had been thinking about this all the way, finally walked to Wangyun Mausoleum, and when he looked up at the destination of his trip, his brows furrowed slightly.

In the snowstorm, a figure squatted in front of a tombstone, with a black cat standing on his shoulder, and a black dog and a yellow monkey squatting beside him.

Qian Liu was a little surprised, in such a situation, it is still difficult for the living to live in peace, and few people have come here to worship their ancestors. But this surprise was fleeting, after all, it had nothing to do with him, and he walked slowly up the snow-covered steps, only to find that the tomb where the figure was worshipping was the destination he had come to today.

He was stunned, and as far as he could remember, no one had ever come to worship this tomb except for him.

He couldn't help but be in a trance, and hurriedly rubbed his eyes and looked at the tombstone.

Although eight years have passed, I can still identify the tombstone that I take care of from time to time - the tomb of Xu Gongqianrui.

Exactly here.

Qian Liu confirmed that he was not in the wrong place, and he couldn't help but feel a shock in his heart, so he cautiously lowered his head, wanting to look at the black-clothed figure with his back to him. Could it be that the little beggar finally came back? Qian Liu thought secretly in his heart.

"I can't believe you remember this. At this time, the black figure suddenly spoke, and his body slowly turned around at that time.

Qian Liu looked at it fixedly, although there was a lot more maturity and gloom on that face, as well as a lot of frost and indifference, maybe the impression left by the little beggar back then was too deep for Qian Liu, and Qian Liu still recognized the young man in front of him as the little beggar back then.

At this moment, the young man was looking at Qian Liu with a smile, Qian Liu came back to his senses after a while, he didn't know how to face this reunion after eight years, and only after a while did he squeeze out a sentence from his mouth: "Are you back?"

But as soon as the words came out, Qian Liu regretted it a little, obviously the relationship between him and the little beggar back then could only be regarded as a simple transactional relationship, and such an opening statement was somewhat almost meaningful.

But fortunately, the other party didn't seem to care, the young man nodded, reached out and took the pot of rice wine prepared for the people in the tomb from Qian Liu's hand. Qian Liu is also a person with a lot of eyesight, and when the Lord comes, there is naturally no reason for him to worship as an outsider, so he put the things in his hand aside, bowed to the young man, and then retreated to the side.

......

Xu Han opened the seal on the wine jug, and the faint aroma of rice wine overflowed from the jug at that time.

Xu Han shook the flask and looked at the tombstone with a smile.

"I remember you liked to drink the most, but you couldn't even eat a bite of food at that time, where did you get the wine?"

Saying this, Xu Han poured the wine jug, and the wine slowly spilled at that time, and then he himself lifted the wine jug and saluted the tombstone, and raised his head to take a sip of wine.

"To be honest, I always thought you were stupid. After drinking the wine, Xu Han looked at the tombstone again and said, "I can work hard to live better, but I always want to beg and live..."

"But now that I think about it, you're doing well. ”

"If you have wine to drink, you will sleep all day in a ruined temple without wine. ”

"You didn't treat me very well, but you finally gave me a bite to eat, and you never deceived me. ”

"You accepted your fate, so you suffered from hunger and cold for half your life, and now you are lying here. I don't accept my fate, so I wander from place to place, born and die. ”

Speaking of this, Xu Han smiled wryly and laughed at himself: "I don't know whether I have gained more or lost more than I have gained and lost. “

Xu Hanyan raised the wine jug again and sprinkled it in front of the tomb, and then took another sip himself.

"Actually, sometimes I also think, if I had listened to your words and sold myself to a large family, what would I be like now?

Xu Han narrowed his eyes, poured wine again towards the tomb, and then raised his head to drink the last bit of wine in the wine jug.

Then he stood up and bowed respectfully to the tomb.

"You just keep lying here, I can't turn back, I can only fight to the end. ”

"If I am lucky enough to return in his year, I will come back to drink with you, shall I?"

......

Qian Liu, who was standing on the side, carefully observed the little beggar back then, the black clothes showed that the material was extraordinary, and the wooden box on his back seemed to contain a lot of clothes, plus the cats, dogs and yellow monkeys that followed him, it seemed that he was doing the business of that foot artist.

A little beggar has no father and no mother, and it is not bad to be able to work hard to get to this point by relying on his own skills.

Qian Liu thought secretly in his heart, and at this time, Xu Han, who had drunk the last drop of wine, had already stood up and walked to him.

"You have a heart, and you still remember your father after so many years. Qian Liu said.

Xu Han smiled, stretched out his hand and groped in his arms for a while, then took out a heavy silver tael, put it into Qian Liu's hand, and said: "In the future, I will ask my eldest brother to take care of me, my father is very lonely here alone." ”

Qian Liu's heart tightened, and he weighed it slightly, and felt that the amount of silver in this money bag was very expensive, at least fifteen or sixteen taels. Thinking that this young man will not stay here for a long time, according to the amount of this silver tael, it is enough for him to worship for more than 30 years, which is clearly a posture that he does not plan to come back.

Qian Liu inexplicably gave birth to a little sentimentality, who is not displaced in this world now?

"Aren't you coming back?" Qian Liu couldn't help but ask.

Xu Han didn't seem to expect Qian Liu to ask back, but remembering that the other party hadn't forgotten to worship in the past eight years, he also nodded gently: "I can't come back." ”

Qian Liu sighed, looked at the tombstone not far away, and said: "Your father is actually quite lucky, with such a sensible son as you, he can be buried in this Wangyun Mausoleum, but unfortunately, I have swept the tomb in this Wangyun Mausoleum for a lifetime, and I don't know where I can be buried when I am gone, I am afraid that I will not even be able to find a person who collects the body." ”

"What about the eldest brother's children?" Xu Han couldn't help but ask when he heard this.

"Alas. Speaking of this topic, Qian Liu sighed again, "It's dead." ”

"The Holy Soldier and the Holy Son who were pulled up by those officials, the last one did not come back, and they all died there. ”

Maybe it was because of the touching scene, or maybe it was because he thought that Xu Han would not stay here for a long time, Qian Liu's heart that had been hidden in his heart for a long time was poured out by him at this time: "Heh, I don't understand what the Holy Soldier and Holy Son are, my brother's son also died in this matter, but he is like no one else, but from time to time he complains that his son is not angry, and he can't become a holy soldier to open up territory for His Majesty the Holy Emperor..."

"It is said that the emperor is our heaven, but even the real heaven can't take away the life of a good person without saying anything, right?"

"It's just a matter of taking it away, these people don't think about their children, don't complain about God's injustice, but blame the dead for not fighting. Sometimes I don't know if I'm confused or if they're confused. ”

Speaking of this, Qian Liu sighed again, as if he was a little annoyed, but he didn't know where to vent.

Hearing this, Xu Han's eyes flashed, and he seemed to realize something, and suddenly asked, "Big brother didn't take that holy medicine, right?"

Qian Liu was stunned when he heard this, and then he realized that he had lost his words.

The holy medicine is something that is under the human hair, and everyone must take it, and if it is really found that they have not taken the holy medicine, it is a matter of killing the head. And this person who took the holy medicine will never say anything that is dissatisfied with His Majesty the Holy Emperor, Qian Liu's face suddenly changed, and he thought about how to realize his gaffe.

"What are these words, I can't thank the holy relics given by His Majesty the Emperor yet, why don't you eat them?"

Qian Liu said this and hurriedly waved his hand, "It's not early, I have to go back first, I remember your affairs, don't worry." ”

Qian Liu was really a little flustered, and he couldn't think of a good explanation, so he could only say it, so he had to leave under the pretext, so as not to lose too many words.

Xu Han squinted his eyes at Qian Liu, who was leaving quickly, and secretly thought in his heart, as far as he knew, this Senluo Hall had a complete set of methods to check whether the people were taking holy medicine, but this man was able to avoid the other party's investigation, which was obviously hidden.

Thinking of this, his heart moved, and his body flashed to Qian Liu, who was leaving in a hurry, blocking the other party's way.

Qian Liu, how could an ordinary person see Xu Han's ability, he was suddenly shocked, his body subconsciously took a step back, and he said in a panic: "You... What are you going to do?"

Xu Han didn't say a word, but stared at Qian Liu with a calm brow, and then he took a step towards the other party.

Qian Liu's heart was cold, and he retreated again and again, but he had only retreated four or five steps, and a low roar came from behind him.

"Whew!"

Qian Liu looked back, but saw that the seemingly docile black dog who followed Xu Han seemed to have changed his appearance at the moment, looking at him with blood-red eyes and grinning.

Qian Liu was so frightened that he knelt on the ground, began to kowtow to Xu Han continuously, and said again and again: "The adult spares his life, the little one really took the holy medicine, but... It's just..."

Xu Han squinted at Qian Liu and asked softly, "Just what?"

"It's just—" Qian Liu hesitated for a while, but remained silent for a long time.

"What, do you want me to do it myself?" Xu Han saw Qian Liu's fear, he deliberately lowered his voice and asked again.

Qian Liu's body was shocked, and he no longer had the intention of concealing it, and said truthfully at that time: "The little one didn't dare, but when I brought the medicine home, I was accidentally transferred away by the rat at home, although the small one was stopped in time, but a holy medicine was also bitten off by the mouse, and I only swallowed half of the holy medicine." ”

When Xu Han heard this, his eyes froze, and he looked straight at Qian Liu, who was kneeling on the ground, his eyes were like torches, and he saw through at a glance that Qian Liu's body did exude a dull aura, which was the symptom of swallowing the holy medicine, but his mind did not seem to be eroded by the holy medicine. Xu Han was puzzled, so he squatted down at that time and pressed one hand on Qian Liu's chest.

Qian Liu's heart was horrified, but he didn't dare to move because of the strangeness that Xu Han had shown before, so he could only worry about his lower head, but his forehead was full of sweat.

Xu Han let go of his mind and carefully sensed the situation in Qian Liu's body, and he quickly frowned.

There was an indescribable force in Qian Liu's body, entrenched in his dantian and meridians, and it was precisely because of this that his body exuded such a cold aura. But that power seemed to be too weak, and after occupying his meridians, there was no power left to spread to his head, Xu Han thought about Zhou Yuan's inference at the beginning.

He once said that the elixir itself does not have the effect of controlling people's hearts, but is a medium that can make the secret method effective. Xu Han probed the condition in this man's body, and carefully sensed the power entrenched in his body, and found that Qian Liu's inference was not unfounded.

He separated a trace of sword intent from his body and poured into Qian Liu's body, carefully made contact with that force, and found that with the influx of sword intent, the power entrenched in Qian Liu's body trembled slightly, as if it was about to merge with the sword intent. But in the end, the sword intent repulsed, and the power rushed from all over Qian Liu's body, as if he wanted to repel the sword intent.

In order to prevent this from causing damage to Qian Liu's body, Xu Han hurriedly withdrew the sword intent.

Qian Liu saw that Xu Han let go of the hand on his body, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, so he looked up at Xu Han, but saw that Xu Han was still with his head down, frowning and pondering. He couldn't figure out Xu Han's thoughts, and he didn't dare to move, so he could only stay in place.

His sword intent is not the power generated by the specific method in his eyes, but it can be seen from the changes in the power in Qian Liu's body just now, that power seems to be able to be fused with the specific power in his eyes, and then achieve the effect of controlling people's hearts, but Qian Liu did not swallow the complete pill, so that power did not invade his whole body, so it could not be completely controlled.

Xu Han figured out the key to this matter, and once again reached out and pressed it on Qian Liu's chest, this time he did not release any more sword intent, but slowly sucked out a small trace of power from Qian Liu's body that invaded his body.

It's not that he doesn't have the ability to completely eradicate the evil power in Qian Liu's body, it's just that Qian Liu's ability to live in Shangyun City without being discovered by those people in the Senluo Hall largely relies on the existence of this power, and if he sucks it all away, it will make the other party lose this layer of protection, so he only extracts a very small part of it to observe it carefully.

However, he had just sucked that power into his palm, and was about to put it in front of him, but that power rioted at that time, and he saw an imperceptible black thing jump in his hand, and then it escaped into his palm like a flying fish, and followed his meridians all the way forward, but the sword intent in his body was like nothing in front of that force, and it was impossible to stop that small power.

Xu Han's heart was horrified, and he immediately gathered the sword intent around his body to block it, but it was also useless, and he could only watch as the two meridians that followed him all the way into the depths of his body, and finally disappeared.

Xu Han stood silently for a long time, carefully sensing the changes that the power brought to him after entering his body, but in fact he didn't feel any changes at all, and the power seemed to have completely disappeared, and he could no longer find a trace.

It's just that Xu Han felt that the power was actually the same as the power of the gods and demons in his body in such a change.

Could it be that the so-called holy medicine is actually the power of the ancient demons?

Xu Han thought secretly, his brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

Qian Liu, who was on the side, saw that Xu Han was still and didn't seem to have any intention of treating him any more, he hesitated for a while, and finally mustered up the courage to look at Xu Han and asked, "My lord... My lord..."

Xu Han came back to his senses when he heard this, he glanced at the cautious Qian Liu, and said, "It's okay, you can go, remember to come here every year to help me take care of my father's grave." ”

When Qian Liu heard this, he suddenly felt like he had been amnestied, and he hurriedly thanked Xu Han vigorously, and then turned around and left.

Xu Han was still standing in place, he thought about the previous things, and a thought suddenly appeared in his mind: although Zhou Yuan's inference was correct, the condition of these people was not irreversible, as long as the power of the ancient demons in their bodies could be extracted...

Thinking of this, Xu Han's face sank, he looked up at the sky, and muttered in his mouth: "It turns out that the so-called holy medicine is nothing more than that." ”

At that time, the gray earth was gray sky, and now it is gray snow...