According to the customs of the small town of Lizhu Dongtian, on the first day of the new year, every household has a broom upside down, and it is not suitable to travel far.

Chen Ping'an asked Ma Duyi to guide Zeng Ye's practice, this period of time and night together, after Chen Ping'an considered, at the end of last year, he handed over the paper detailing the secret method of ghost cultivation to Ma Duyi, let her browse, if you have any doubts, you can ask Zeng Ye. is also a cultivator, the difference in cultivation qualifications can be seen at a glance, regarding the cultivation of this secret art, Ma Duyi soon came to the top of the latecomers, and in less than a month, he was able to point out the maze and solve the crux of the problem.

Fortunately, Zeng Ye was accustomed to this, and instead of being discouraged, lost, and jealous, he became more and more diligent in his practice, and more and more determined to make up for his clumsiness.

This made Chen Ping'an a little relieved, to be able to accept his fate and not accept his fate, this is a cultivator, an extremely valuable temperament, as long as he perseveres, he is a late bloomer, it is not an extravagant hope.

Today, Chen Ping'an was in the courtyard of the inn with few outsiders, basking in the sun, opening the bookcase left in the muddy snow, recording the books one by one, thinking that if there was a chance, let Zeng Ye exchange it to the original owner in the future, and the private seal of the book printed on the page of the book has two seals, "Water and clouds" and "rugged old man".

At noon, Chen Ping'an received a flying sword summons from Qingxia Island, saying that it was a flying sword from Dali Longquan Phiyun Mountain, and because Chen Ping'an was not in Shujian Lake, he had to stay in the sword room of Qingxia Island temporarily. Liu Zhimao asked Chen Ping'an how to deal with it with the flying sword, and Chen Ping'an replied to Liu Zhimao, informing Liu Zhimao of the current stopping place of the three horsemen, and bothered the owner of Liu Island to personally run and bring the flying sword.

On the night of the first day of the new year, Liu Zhimao rushed to the Zhoucheng Inn and personally brought the transmission flying sword from Dali Beiyue Zhengshen to Chen Ping'an.

Chen Ping'an didn't open the flying sword of Piyun Mountain in front of Liu Zhimao, a Yuan Infant Earth Immortal, especially Liu Zhimao, an old Yuan Infant who is expected to go to the Five Realms, magic and magic powers emerge in endlessly, the two sides are just allies gathered for profit, not friends, and the relationship is not good enough to that extent.

The two sat opposite each other in the inn.

Liu Zhimao got straight to the point and said: "According to Mr. Chen's instructions before leaving Qingxia Island, I have quietly removed the ban on Zhuxian Mansion's red crisp, but I did not take the initiative to send it to Gongliu Island to show favor to Liu Laocheng. Now Liu Laocheng and Mr. Chen are also allies, even if a friend's friend may not be a friend, but the relationship between our Qingxia Island and Gongliu Island has been eased thanks to Mr. Chen. Tan Yuanyi has made a special trip to visit Qingxia Island, and obviously has become more and more respectful to Mr. Chen, so I personally ran errands this time, in addition to bringing Mr. Chen a Dali Flying Sword, there is also a small gift, which should be regarded as the Spring New Year's gift from Qingxia Island to Mr. Chen, Mr. Chen should not refuse, this is the rule of Qingxia Island for many years, in the first month, the island is enshrined, and everyone has a share. ”

Chen Ping'an said with a smile: "The size and old rules of Qingxia Island are clear to me, so even if the owner of the island does not give it, I will remind the owner of the island." ”

Liu Zhimao took out a slightly sparse walnut bracelet, as if it had been a long time, not well kept, and a small half of the walnuts had been lost, leaving only eight walnuts carved with the appearance of gods such as the rain master, the god of thunder, and the electric mother, the size of a thumb, full of antiquity, an ancient god, lifelike, Liu Zhimao smiled: "Just take it off, throw it on the ground, you can order the wind, rain, thunder, lightning, fire, etc., the power of a walnut after it bursts is equivalent to the blow of the ordinary Jindan and the earth immortal." It's just that every walnut is destroyed when it is used up, so it is not a good magic weapon, but Mr. Chen is now damaged in shape, and it is not appropriate to fight with others often, this thing is just right. ”

Chen Ping'an gently tucked it into his sleeve and thanked him: "That's true, Island Master Liu has a heart." ”

Liu Zhimao smiled and said: "There have been three things that have happened recently, which have shaken the Zhu Ying Dynasty and all the vassal states, one is that the Nine Realms Sword Cultivator who was lurking in Shujian Lake was chased by a woman in Tsing Yi and a young man in white for more than a thousand miles, and finally joined forces to kill him. The woman in Tsing Yi is the unknown monk who destroyed the Patriarch Hall of Furong Mountain during the previous Gongliudao Alliance, and it is rumored that her identity is Da Li Sticky Lang. As for the white-clothed young man who was born out of nowhere, the Dao Law is all over the sky, and his magic weapons are dazzling, chasing all the way, as if he is strolling in a leisurely court, and the sword cultivation of the Nine Realms is very embarrassed. ”

Speaking of this, Liu Zhimao looked at Chen Ping'an with a smile.

Chen Ping'an asked, "What do you say about Huangli Island?"

Liu Zhimao said: "After the Huangli Island Dixian couple learned the news, they visited Tan Yuanyi on the same day and prayed for shelter, which can be regarded as completely taking refuge in Dali. ”

Chen Ping'an nodded and said, "It's good news." ”

Liu Zhimao continued: "The second thing is that the general Su Gaoshan threatened to break through the capital of Shihao before the Lantern Festival in the first month of this year, and those who are unwilling to be buried with the Han clan of Shihao country, only need to be in the first month, the door of someone in the family is out of office, as long as the two statues of Dali Yuan and Cao are posted, they can avoid the fire of the soldiers. And after the city is broken, within three days, the market is replaced, replaced with the god of Da Limen, the same can avoid all the attacks, three days later, there is no hanging of the god of Da Li Gate of the size of the house, all recorded in the book, in order to settle accounts after the autumn. ”

Chen Ping'an said softly: "The temple is counted first, and the heart is the first." ”

Liu Zhimao's eyes were playful, "As for the third thing, if it is a peaceful and prosperous world, it is not a small movement, but at this moment, it is not very conspicuous." Han Jingxin, the most favored prince of Shihao country, died violently in a wilderness in the local wilderness, the body is incomplete, the royal family worships Mr. Zeng is missing, Hu Han, the first person in the martial arts of Shihao country, was also cut off his head, it is said that Heng Fu Shilang Xu Mao with two heads, as a vote of name, in the snowy night dedicated to the main general Su Gaoshan, was promoted to the Dali Dynasty is the fourth official body of the Qianwu Niu general, can be said to be a step to the sky, now the Dali military merits to earn, it is really not easy. ”

Liu Zhimao took out two wine bowls and put them on the table, Chen Ping'an took off the sword raiser and smiled, Liu Zhimao put away one of them with interest, knowing that the bookkeeper opposite would not use his own wine bowl, but there were still rules for such a wine table, Chen Ping'an poured a bowl of wine for Liu Zhimao, and he used the sword raiser to drink.

Then Chen Ping'an took a sip of wine and said slowly: "Master Liu, don't doubt it, I killed the person, as for the two heads, they were cut off by Xu Mao, I don't kill Xu Mao, he helps me prevent disasters and take what I need." ”

And so it was. ”

Liu Zhimao smiled heartily: "Shi Haoguo said that it is not big, it is not small, and if he can hit the tip of Mr. Chen's sword headlong, it should be that Han Jingxin has not been the emperor in his life." But to be honest, among the princes, Han Jingxin was the most highly anticipated by Emperor Shihaoguo, and his personal city government was also the deepest, and the original opportunity was the best, but it was a pity that this little guy was looking for death by himself, so there was no way. ”

Chen Ping'an asked: "Lord Liu, there is one thing I have never understood, including Shihao Kingdom, Zhu Ying Dynasty has so many vassal states, why do they all choose to fight to the end with Da Li Tie Cavalry, in Aquarius, as a vassal vassal of the Great Dynasty, it should not be so decisive, not to the temple, the opposition is so small, from the beginning of the Great Sui Domain's Huang Ting Kingdom, to the north of Guanhu Academy, the entire northern territory of Aquarius ......"

Chen Ping'an tapped his fingers on the table, "Only here, it's unreasonable." ”

Liu Zhimao hesitated for a moment, raised the wine bowl and took a sip of wine, and said slowly: "The hundred schools of thought, each has its own bet, although the Aquarius Continent is small, but Da Li can get the main lineage of the Mo family, the Yin and Yang family, the Aquarius Continent with the soldiers headed by Zhenwu Mountain, and so on, they all chose the Dali Song family, so as the most powerful Zhu Ying Dynasty in the middle of the Aquarius Continent, it is reasonable to have the support of the big veins and side branches among the hundred schools of thought, as far as I know, there is the strong support of the farmers, pharmacists and merchants, vertical and horizontal families and other branches. The Zhu Ying Dynasty was full of sword cultivators, which could be described as prosperous, and it was close to Guanhu Academy, so it was not surprising that the Da Li Iron Horse was blocked here. ”

Chen Ping'an's heart suddenly rose, raised his sword gourd, Liu Zhimao raised the wine bowl, and drank each other.

Liu Zhimao is dressed in plain linen and white, looking simple, like a hermit in the mountains and forests who lives in the bitter cold, if you look closely, you have a unique fairy style.

Chen Ping'an suddenly sighed: "Unconsciously, I almost forgot that Island Master Liu is a Yuanying monk. ”

Liu Zhimao drank slowly, contented, through the window, the ridge outside the window was still covered with snow, and smiled: "Unconsciously, I almost forgot that Mr. Chen was born in Mud Bottle Lane." ”

Chen Ping'an suddenly leaned forward and handed over the sword raiser, Liu Zhimao was stunned for a moment, and gently bumped it with the wine bowl.

Chen Ping'an took a sip of wine and said with a serious expression: "I was wrong earlier, you and I can indeed be regarded as half confidants, and it has nothing to do with whether we are friends or enemies." ”

Liu Zhimao took back the wine bowl, did not rush to drink, stared at the young man in the cyan cotton robe, his body and spirit gradually deepened, only a pair of eyes that were once extremely clear and bright, more and more secluded, but the more turbid, not the kind of deep undercurrent of the city, Liu Zhimao drank the wine in the bowl in one gulp, got up and said: " Don't delay Mr. Chen's business, if Shujian Lake can be good, between you and me, friends don't have to hope for extravagance, I just hope that we will meet again in the future, we can still have a chance to sit down and drink, after drinking and parting, chatting a few words, and then dispersing, he will drink again when he reunites, that's all. ”

Chen Ping'an shook his head: "Shujian Lake is goodbye, once the master of Liu Island is among the upper five realms, there is no other world, but he may not have this state of mind." ”

Liu Zhimao said with a smile: "Mr. Chen's cultivation of his mind is a thousand miles a day, and he may not have today's state of mind when the time comes." ”

The two said in unison: "Confidant." ”

————

After Liu Zhimao left, Ma Duyi and Zeng Ye came to sit down tremblingly.

Liu Zhimao did not exert his immortal powers, isolated from the small world, Chen Ping'an talked to him, and did not deliberately hide it.

Therefore, Ma Duyi and Zeng Ye can still vaguely hear the conversation and laughter here.

Ma Duyi's eyes were complicated.

Zeng Ye looked puzzled.

Chen Ping'an didn't explain much, but just asked some key matters in Zengye's cultivation, and explained them thoroughly and meticulously for the young man one by one. Although Ma Duyi and Zeng Ye have strengthened each other, and can even solve Zeng Ye's doubts, they are still slightly lacking compared to Chen Ping'an, at least Chen Ping'an feels like this. But those words that Chen Ping'an thought were plain fell into the ears of Ma Duyi, who had better qualifications than Zeng Ye, and the huts opened everywhere.

Like an immortal pulling a waterfall, she and Zeng Ye could only stand at the bottom of the waterfall, using pots and bowls to quench their thirst.

After Ma Duyi and Zeng Ye left, Chen Ping'an opened the ban on the Da Li Phiyun Mountain Flying Sword.

It was unexpected news.

In addition to inspecting the Wenwu Temple in Longquan County, a Dali Song Clan's Rite Attendant came to Longquan County in secret to meet with Wei Yan, the god of the mountain, and put forward a new proposal.

The Dali Imperial Court has recently "redeemed" many of the mountains that the immortal family forces have given up, and they plan to make a big deal with Chen Ping'an, and the remaining gold and copper coins that Dali owes Chen Ping'an on credit, and Chen Ping'an can use this to buy those "mature" mountains that have even opened up the immortal mansion and have ready-made embryos in the mountain protection formation. Once Chen Ping'an agrees to this, plus the existing mountains including Luoluo Mountain and Zhenzhu Mountain before, Chen Ping'an will occupy nearly 30% of the mountain territory in the west of Longquan County in one go, not to talk about the amount of aura nurtured by the mountain, only to talk about the scale, Chen Ping'an, the "big landlord", is almost comparable to the sage Ruan Qiong.

Wei Yan said frankly on the secret letter that this is a great good thing, but there are a lot of hidden dangers in it, Chen Ping'an and Dali Song's entanglement will become deeper and deeper, and if you want to clear up the relationship in the future, it will not be like the Xu family of Qingfeng City before. Once Chen Ping'an has such a large boundary under the jurisdiction of Longquan County, which has been demoted from Dongtian to a blessed land, it is necessary to sign a special contract at that time, with Beiyue Phiyun Mountain as the object of the mountain alliance, the Dali court, Wei Bai, Chen Ping'an, and the three jointly signed a mountain alliance that belongs to the second highest rank of the dynasty, and the highest mountain alliance is that the five mountain gods appear at the same time, and it is also necessary for the emperor of Dali to seal the jade seal and form an alliance with a certain monk, but that kind of covenant, only the monks of the upper five realms, involving the Song family, can make Dali so prosperous。

Wei Yan said frankly, believe me Wei Yan or not, whether or not to sign this mountain alliance with you Chen Ping'an can be considered as one of the considerations, but the weight should not be too heavy.

When it comes to the avenue, we must be cautious.

At the end of the secret letter, Wei Yan also said that this matter is not in a hurry, he can help delay for half a year to a year, and think about it slowly, even if the situation in Aquarius is clear by then, the Dali Song clan has broken through the Zhu Ying Dynasty and continues to go south, when the time comes, whether he Wei Bai is the middleman, or the buyer Chen Ping'an, it is nothing more than not to be cheeky, and the dead skin is to sign with Da Li, up and down the mountain, doing business should be like this, there is nothing to be embarrassed about.

Chen Ping'an opened the small wooden box, and the flying sword sent the exclusive small sword mound to Liu Zhimao, and the island owner helped to summon the message to Phiyun Mountain, and only needed to reply with two words on the letter, "Yes".

Chen Ping'an did this, came to the window, Shi Hao's long lance military general Xu Mao and others, the capital of the hero, in the troubled times, the possibility of rising will be very great, once Da Li can defeat the Zhu Ying Dynasty, homeopathic south, and now Xu Mao, who is already the middle-level military attache of Da Li, can command and dispatch a Da Li elite cavalry army, which is tantamount to a tiger with wings, the road to the south, that is, a lot of military merits are waiting for him to grab, the key is Xu Mao's heart and wrist, far better than the prince Han Jingxin, Xu Mao is poor, but a natural identity.

Su Gaoshan, it is said that he is also from the Han clan in the border pass, which is the same as Xu Mao of Shihao Kingdom, and I believe that Xu Mao can be exceptionally promoted, which is related to this. Replaced by Cao Yuan, the chief general of another army, Xu Mao took refuge in this general with one of the surnames of Shangzhuguo, and there will also be a reward, but he will definitely directly get the body of the fourth-grade general, and he may also be reused in the future, but Xu Mao's climbing speed in the army and career will definitely be a few points slower.

This time to the north, Chen Ping'an passed through many prefectures, counties and counties, Su Gaoshan under the iron cavalry, naturally can not be said to be the autumn without committing a crime, but the many rules of the Dali border army, vaguely, can still be seen, for example, the dilapidated state city where Zhou Guonian's hometown is located before, there was a violent conflict between the righteous warriors of Shihao country risking their lives to assassinate Secretary Wen Lang, after the fact, Dali quickly mobilized a fine cavalry to aid the state city, and joined forces with the army monks, and the main culprits were arrested afterwards were all executed on the spot, and their heads were hung on the head of the city, but there is no unnecessary involvement, during this period, an incident happened, so that Chen Ping'an Su Gaoshan is the most impressive, that is, a young man in a snowy night, touched the city, stole one of them is his teacher's head, the result was found by the head of the city of Dali, still for the martial arts boy to escape, but was quickly intercepted by the two military secretaries, this matter can be big or small, and it is a lonely case on the way south of the army, reported layer by layer, and finally alarmed the general Su Gaoshan, Su Gaoshan asked people to bring the young martial artist of Shihao country to the boss's tent, after some talking, he threw a big bag of silver to the young man, and allowed him to bury the master's whole body, but the only requirement, is to let the young man know that the real culprit is he Su Gaoshan, and he is not allowed to trouble the Dali border army, especially the civilian officials, in the future, and if he wants to take revenge, he will come directly to Su Gaoshan if he has the ability in the future.

This matter has been widely spread in the officialdom and rivers and lakes in the central hinterland of Shihao Kingdom.

Then came the first big thing Liu Zhimao said.

A woman in Tsing Yi, a young man in white.

Chen Ping'an smiled.

With a slight movement of his mind, he jumped on the windowsill, and with a slight tap on his toes, he jumped onto the ridge of the roof, and walked slowly, aimlessly, just walking on the ridge after roof.

The sword gourd was still on the table, and the bamboo knife and the large imitation canal yellow sword were not carried.

Do what you want, don't exceed the rules.

The world is big, and you can go to it.

In the end, Chen Ping'an stopped, stood on the eaves of a roof, closed his eyes, and began to practice the sword furnace pile, but soon stopped insisting and listened with his ears, and there seemed to be the sound of snow melting between heaven and earth.

A secretary of the Great Li Martial Arts stationed in this city, a monk who accompanied the army who did not know which mountain he came from, of course, it could also be from Zhenwu Mountain, one of the ancestral courts of the soldiers of Yizhou.

It was a young man in light armor, he was walking on the ridge of the roof, he had nothing to do today, and now he was not in the army, so he carried a pot of wine that was scalded on the stove in the house, and stopped outside the eaves dozens of steps away, and reminded with a smile in Yizhou Yayan: "It's okay to enjoy the scenery, it doesn't hurt if you want to go to the state city, I just happened to come out to relax, and I can accompany you." ”

This is a very kind kind word, with the iron cavalry of Da Li like a split bamboo, under the crushing of the horse's hooves, all outside the Da Li are naturally foreigners, all are vassal vassals. However, the words of the young monk also have a sense of vigilance.

Chen Ping'an shook his head with a smile and said, "No need, I'll go back immediately." ”

The young monk was stunned, then laughed, and raised the flask high, and it turned out that the young man in the blue cotton robe actually spoke in the most proficient Dali official language.

So this young but nearly ten years of military secretary Lang said loudly: "Yizhou Yun is in the county, Guan Yiran!"

Chen Ping'an's face was hesitant, not suitable for the self-registration number, so he had to hug his fist at the man and smile apologetically.

Guan Yiran laughed and said: "In the future, if you encounter difficulties, you can find our Dali Iron Horse, wherever the horse's hooves go, it is my Dali territory!"

Chen Ping'an looked in a trance and didn't know how to answer.

After that, on the third day of the first lunar month, Chen Ping'an left the city and continued to the north, constantly approaching the northern border of Shihao country.

Heavy snow melts.

The spring light promotes the willow color, and the sun color is full of acacia smoke.

Along the way, he picked up a lot of good things, such as the seal engraved with "Li Cao made" Shihao State General Military Officer Guan Fangyin, many as bottles and cans thrown on the side of the road antique treasures, mostly large and pocket objects, scattered in a random place, it is estimated that those are not big or small, suitable for carrying, probably have been selected by the fleeing people, in fact, they are all expensive objects worth tens or more than 100 gold in the peaceful and prosperous era, but now they are abandoned, and some of the precious calligraphy and paintings on the road have long been soaked in mud and almost destroyed, Copybooks, or cheap sales to the county pawnshops everywhere that were not affected by the war, never thought that Ma Duyi was still a money fan, Zeng Ye is, every time he set up a porridge shop in the local pharmacy, as soon as he had leisure, the two would run to pick up the leak, he had borrowed it twice from Chen Ping'an, the fairy money was not much, together it was twelve snowflakes, but it was converted into the gold and silver of the secular dynasty, it was not easy, you had to go to the fairy ferry or the fairy inn, fortunately, a certain woman in the fox skin beauty rune paper, born in the first-class but not the top Xianjia Cave Mansion, Chen Ping'an completed the wish of the woman's yin, and exchanged some gold and silver with the fairy money with the fairy money, handed over to Ma Duyi and Zeng Ye to dispose of by themselves, and Ma Duyi also specially pestered Chen Ping'an to build a large bamboo box, which was specially used to place gold and silver.

Chen Ping'an had no objection to this, as long as he didn't delay their respective cultivation and business, he let them go.

On this day, in a small county near the border, after Chen Ping'an was in charge of taking the lead with the local government, Zeng Ye and Ma Duyi, who were familiar with the way, began to be busy with the setting up of the porridge shop and the pharmacy, and they did not dare to have the slightest ambiguity about this, only after they were busy with the daily affairs, they dared to happily go to the major pawnshops to pick up leaks, because although Mr. Chen did not interfere in specific affairs, and even almost never spoke, but the two of them had been with this bookkeeper for so long, and they had already known Mr. Chen's style of acting, and Mr. Chen would see everything in his eyes, and he would only see more far-reaching than them。

As for the money they had borrowed from Mr. Chan on credit and the antiques and treasures they had picked up at the pawnshop, they were all stored in Mr. Chen's belongings for the time being.

This is due to the fact that Ma Duyi was born in a family, and was a small steward of the treasure shop on the island where she was during her lifetime, and her eyesight is far from being comparable to that of the young Zengye.

Later, Chen Ping'an was worried that Ma Duyi would also look away, after all, the objects they bought, mostly miscellaneous, from the rich and noble courtyards of Shihao Country to the people, all kinds of strange things, so he invited a monk who lived in the imitation of the glazed glazed pavilion in the middle five realms of the ghost, to help Ma Duyi and Zeng Ye palms, but the head was refined by Zhu Xianfu Ma Yuanzhi into a well to sit in the ghost of the ghost, and suddenly became addicted, first the objects that Ma Duyi and Zeng Ye picked up were devalued, and then he had to show up in person to leave the imitation glazed pavilion, and help Ma Duyi and Zeng Ye The two idiots to buy real good things, for this he did not hesitate to use the female face of the fox skin talisman paper to appear in the worldIt seems that Chen Ping'an's record in the account book is not a lie, he is indeed an idiot who is obsessed with collecting antiquities and this kind of book Jianhu monk is "tattered", and there is also a comment from a certain earth immortal monk in the early years, saying that this perennial overstretched Guanhai Realm monk, if he does not spend money on those objects, he may have entered the Longmen Realm.

Chen Ping'an is also by the old monks, every day in front of them, obviously she is a graceful beauty, but she will put on the bold sitting posture of the golden knife horse, anyway, he Chen Ping'an has not seen similar scenes, to be honest, the original scene, a "Du Mao" twisted and pinched all day long, when walking, the slender waist twisted, in fact, it was more disgusting.

In the twilight of this day, they were one person and two ghosts, and went to the major pawnshops in the city to pick up leaks, in fact, how can they walk by the river without sticking shoes, so that an old ghost in the sea realm can look at the objects, of course, ordinary mountains and wild cultivators will also be tempted, and even the spectrum immortal master, make a special trip to those war-torn countries, take this as a rare opportunity to make money, many wealthy families inherit the orderly family heirlooms, there will indeed be a few spiritual weapons that contain aura but are ignored by the family, once you encounter this, it is possible to earn a dozen snowflakes or even hundreds of snowflakes。 So Zeng Ye and they will also meet fellow practitioners, before in a big city, almost had a conflict, the other party is a number of immortal masters from a top cave in Shihao country, the two sides said that the public is reasonable, the mother is reasonable, no one can talk about forcible seizure, in the end it was Chen Ping'an to clean up the mess, so Zeng Ye and they took the initiative to give up the spiritual weapon, the other party also took a step back, invited Ye Xiu "Mr. Chen" to drink a drink, and talked happily, but for this reason, Ma Duyi privately complained about Chen Ping'an for a long time.

Chen Ping'an went to the dog meat shop in the market, this is the second time he has come here, in fact, Chen Ping'an doesn't like to eat dog meat, or he hasn't eaten it.

It's just that the shop also sells other food, that is, he, a foreigner who doesn't eat dog meat, sits alone at a table, doesn't drink, and speaks the unfamiliar Shihao official dialect, and the table next door is full of steaming dog meat stewpots. Fortunately, the shop is a century-old shop that has been passed down for several generations, there is no snobbery, the old man is the front desk shopkeeper, the son is a cook, the grandson of Mengxue, it is said that he is a famous little show talent in the nearby streets, so there are often guests who ridicule how to open this store in the future, the funny old man and the wooden man only said that it is fate, what else can be, but even if it is the honest man who does not smile, hearing similar ridicule, his face will still be a little proud, at home, the ancestral tomb is smoking, and finally there is a hope of winning the fame of the study seed, there are more fortunate things in the world than this？

No matter how chaotic the world is, there will always be a day when it will not be chaotic.

The dog meat shop in the alley is still full tonight, and business is quite good. In the middle of summer last year, although the Dali barbarians broke the city, but in fact, there were not many dead people at all, the army continued to go south, leaving only a few Dali barbarians who are said to be extremely proficient in the official dialect of Shihao State, guarding the county guard mansion, not showing their heads, this is also due to the local county guard lord is afraid of death, early rolled up the gold and silver and ran softly, it is said that even the official seal was not taken away, changed into a cyan Confucian shirt, in the middle of the night when the horses' hooves of the big Li were still far away, under the escort of the personal servant, quietly went out of the city, and went south, obviously there is no intention to return to the court as an official。

There was a dark-skinned mute young man in the shop, dry and thin, responsible for picking up people and serving tea and water, and he was not clever at all.

I heard that it was a refugee who escaped from the border gate, and the old shopkeeper was kind, so he took in the boy as a shop buddy, and after more than half a year, he was still an unpleasant teenager, and the regular customers of the store did not like to deal with the boy.

In the twilight of this day, the customers are thinning, and the smell of dog meat is still wafting in the shop.

Chen Ping'an asked for a pot of local wine from the county town, sitting near the gate, the old shopkeeper was drinking with a regular guest, drunk, his face was flushed, and he talked to everyone about the baby grandson, which really made the old man who only had a pound of wine have two or three catties of mass, drinking and drinking, but he didn't forget to tell himself silently in his heart, but he couldn't drink high, so he would charge less money, and now the world is not peaceful, the county town is good, the nearby villages are not good, it is difficult to go out to buy a dog, the guests are not as good as before, and the silver in the guest's pocket is far less than before, so now they have to be more careful to calculate, the grandson is studying, the expenses are large, but everything can not be too tight, in vain let the child's classmates look down on it.

Reading old men, but they all want that face.

The thin and thin young man was still busy, cleaning up the wine and meat scraps on a table, and his figure turned his back to Chen Ping'an.

Chen Ping'an ate the dishes and two bowls of rice, and asked for a few plates of side dishes to accompany the wine, but he didn't drink much, the chopsticks didn't stop, and the dishes were almost empty.

Chen Ping'an suddenly called out the young man's name, and then asked, "I'll entertain a guest later." In addition to the local chickens, are there any freshly caught river carp in the water tank in the backyard of the store?"

The boy nodded indifferently.

Chen Ping'an smiled: "Then go and tell the cook, you can cook, when the dish is ready, my friend can serve it." By the way, add a portion of roasted pork with spring bamboo shoots. ”

The young man still nodded, went to the backyard, and gestured with the man who was sitting in the stove room resting, and the man who had just been able to catch his breath scolded his mother with a smile, shook his head and stood up, went to kill chickens and cut fish, and had to be busy again, just doing business, who would like to go with the silver? The young man looked at the back of the man to see the back of the water tank, his eyes were complicated, and finally left the stove room silently, went to the chicken coop and caught the biggest, and the result was a smile and scolded the man, saying that this was reserved for his son's body, and he changed it. The boy also went to the chicken coop to change one, and simply picked the smallest, the man was still not satisfied, saying that the same price, the guests could not eat the size of the dishes, but the business, or be kind, the man simply went to the chicken coop and picked a larger one, handed it to the boy, killing the chicken, the boy was quite familiar, and the man went to catch a live river carp by himself.

The boy glanced at the dog cage in the corner, quickly retracting his gaze.

The first pot of braised river carp was served.

The boy noticed that the friend he was talking about hadn't come yet.

Chen Ping'an only said to wait a little longer, and wait for the second dish to be served.

When the spring bamboo shoots and chicken nuggets with green onion and ginger were on the table, the boy found that the guest's friends still hadn't come.

The boy was leaving.

I saw that the sick man in the cotton robe suddenly smiled and said, "The dishes are ready, just wait for you to sit down." ”

The boy looked dazed.

There is only one table of guests left in the dog meat shop, and the old shopkeeper has slurred his speech, and he is still trying to persuade him to drink over there, of course, he has not drunk less, depending on the situation, it is estimated that the idea of not giving a discount to this meal has long been left behind.

Chen Ping'an said to the young man: "I guess you already know, I guessed your identity, and you also guessed that I am a cultivator, otherwise you wouldn't have bypassed me intentionally or unintentionally last time except for serving wine and food, and deliberately didn't look at me." In that case, it's not a big deal that I invite you to dinner. The food and drinks are all served by you, I should be afraid and worried, what are you afraid of. ”

The teenager hesitated.

Chen Ping'an glanced at the table in the distance and said with a smile: "Don't worry, the old shopkeeper has already drunk high, and the guests at that table are ordinary people, and they can't hear the words between you and me." ”

The young man sat opposite Chen Ping'an, but did not go to get the chopsticks.

Chen Ping'an sandwiched a chopsticks of river carp meat, leaned forward, and put it in the rice bowl in front of the young man, and sandwiched dried bamboo shoots and braised chicken nuggets, which were still placed in the young man's bowl.

The boy frowned, staring at the strange stranger.

Chen Ping'an gave himself a chopstick dish, took a bite of rice, chewed it slowly, and then asked: "How many people are you going to kill, the man in charge of the spoon will definitely die, the old shopkeeper who has a unique ability to 'touch the dog', I don't know how many dogs I bought from the shop and stole from the countryside in this life, and I will die." So what about that Mengxue child, do you want to kill them? How many familiar faces do you remember about these familiar customers who are used to eating dog meat in this dog meat shop, do you want to kill them too?"

The young man rested his hands on his knees, his fists clenched, his eyes were cold, his voice was lowered, and he said hoarsely, "You're going to stop me?"

Chen Ping'an asked rhetorically: "What if you stop you, what if you don't stop you?"

The young man said in a deep voice: "If you dare to stop me, I will dare to kill you!"

Chen Ping'an held the chopsticks in one hand, stretched out his free palm with a smile, and motioned to the young man to eat the vegetables first, "Not to mention your little bit of nonsense, can you kill me together." Let's eat first, have enough wine and food, and then try to see if we can divide life and death. This table of dishes, according to today's market price, how can there be seven or eight dollars of silver, this is still this dog meat shop at a fair price, for those restaurants in the county town that are open in the downtown area, estimated at one or two or five dollars of silver, dare to make a price, love to eat or not, no money to get out. ”

The young man stared into the young man's eyes, and after a while, he began to bury his head in eating, and he didn't miss vegetables, he really wanted to kill the demon and eliminate the demon for the cultivator in front of him today, and he had a full meal!

When the young man started eating, Chen Ping'an stopped his chopsticks, just poured the last bit of wine in the wine jug, took a small sip of wine, and directly twisted the few peanuts left in the plate with two fingers.

Chen Ping'an finished drinking the wine and eating the wine and food, and sat there with his hands in his sleeves.

The young man wiped his mouth and put down the dishes and chopsticks.

Chen Ping'an said slowly: "Seeing that the store kills the dog and the guest eats meat, you want to kill someone, I can understand it, but I don't accept it." ”

The boy sneered.

Chen Ping'an continued: "Because you have your reasons and reasons, and you are even willing to pay the price of your life for this. But I hope you know more about this world, for example, you have eaten river carp, local chicken and pork in this meal, and in the future, when you embark on the path of cultivation, you will eat more mountain delicacies, as half of the mountain immortals, as long as you have never died, you will have such and such a banquet and wine party, you may be a guest, you may be the host, anyway, you will be in addition to dog meat for the rest of your life, you will not worry about big fish and meat. Isn't that right?"

The boy looked sluggish.

Chen Ping'an said slowly: "As long as you take this step today, even if I don't stop you, you will be chased and killed by the monks of the Dali army who supervise the whole city, and you will die." Even if you manage to escape from this county, how many dog-eating people will you kill next, ten or dozens tonight, and a hundred or a thousand in the future? You won't regret dying anyway, will you?"

The boy lowered his head.

Chen Ping'an said: "Since I saw it, I won't let you kill people here, maybe you will think that I am unreasonable, it is a bully, it doesn't matter, in this world, reasoning is a very complicated and unpleasant thing." In fact, in your eyes, in the eyes of the dog meat shop who kills dogs and eats meat, the old shopkeeper and his son, those guests who died inexplicably, and the children who may have survived in the end but can no longer study, they will think that you are unreasonable and unreasonable. This little truth is something you should know before you kill someone. ”

The boy looked up.

The man seemed to really feel sorry for the money, and when he saw that he didn't eat it, he began to pick up the chopsticks, sandwiched a piece of fried pork slices with spring bamboo shoots, and after eating, he went to clip a piece of braised river carp, and then said: "The reason why I do this and tell you this is because I see hesitation and struggle in you, and you also feel that the old shopkeeper and cook who deserve to die are actually good people." You know, I've met many, many people, even people, who are less like people than you who have worked so hard to become human beings, and they are even inferior to you, far inferior. So I'm willing to treat you to this meal, and ......"

Chen Ping'an smiled, took out a piece of broken silver and put it on the table, then took out a small summer money and put it on the table, flicked his fingers, and just slipped near the boy's rice bowl, "I will tell you a possibility, this small summer money, even if I borrow it from you, I will not pay it back, it is up to you, and you will pay me back after ten years and a hundred years, it is okay." Then for example, if you don't kill people first, endure your current inner torment, I know it will be very difficult, but as long as you don't kill people, you can spend money to save more of the same kind, and there are many, many ways, such as relying on cultivation, first become a mountain fairy in the eyes of the prince of a small county and county, and help him deal with some ghostly and weird things, after all, in a small place, you can't meet a 'unreasonable' monk like me, and you can deal with those ghosts and ghosts, so you can take the opportunity to say a word to the county order, and you are not allowed to sell dog meat in the jurisdiction...... You can also become a wealthy gentry and buy all the dogs in a county and state at a high price, causing many dog meat shops to have to change careers...... You can also practice diligently, create your own mountain, within a hundred miles and thousands of miles of the territory, and you will set the rules, one of which is to be kind to dogs......"

The boy asked, "Why are you doing this?"

Chen Ping'an thought for a while and said with a smile: "Although I am very disappointed in the world and very disappointed in myself, I have only recently suddenly figured out that no matter how big the cost of reasoning is, I still have to talk about it." ”

The young man asked again, "Mr. is a Confucian protégé?"

Chen Ping'an was silent for a moment, shook his head and said, "It's not counting for the time being." I'm a swordsman though. ”

The boy was slightly stunned.

"If you don't have enough money, you can borrow from me again, but after that, we'll have to settle the score. ”

Chen Ping'an slowly stood up, "Think about it more, I don't want you to be able to pay me back a little summer money so quickly, even if you are smarter, you can change to a distant county town, as long as I can't hear or see it, it's done." But if you can go the other way, I will be glad that you have this meal in vain. ”

Chen Ping'an walked out of the dog meat shop and walked alone in the alley.

The young man suddenly ran out of the shop, followed Chen Ping'an, and asked: "Sir, you said that you can borrow money from you in the future, but you don't say your name or place of origin, I have no money, how can I find you when the time comes?"

"That's right. ”

Chen Ping'an stood in place, scratching his head, "I'm just polite to you, and say something polite that doesn't cost money." ”

The boy smiled brightly.

It was the first time it had laughed so heartily since it had taken on a human form.

Chen Ping'an stretched out his hand and rubbed the young man's head, "My name is Chen Ping'an, and I am now wandering in Shihao Country, and I will return to Qingxia Island in Shujian Lake after that." Practice well in the future. ”

Chen Ping'an continued to move forward.

The young man shouted loudly: "Mr. Chen, the old shopkeeper and his family are actually good people, so I will first offer a very high price, so that they can't refuse, and sell the shop to me, and the grandson and son of the two of them can study hard, and they will have their own home school and library, and they can hire a very good teacher! After that, I will return to the mountains and practice hard!"

The cotton-robed man, who had no sword or sword on his back but claimed to be a swordsman, only turned his back to the boy, raised his arms high, and cocked his thumb.

The boy finally shouted and asked, "Sir, where is your sword?"

The man just strode forward, "in my heart." ”

After a slight pause, the young swordsman laughed and walked away, adding to himself.

In the night, only three words gently echoed in the alleys.

"Fast!"