It rained last night, and the road is difficult today.

Chen Xiaozhen held an oilcloth umbrella in her hand, carefully avoiding the puddle on the ground.

This umbrella has a long tip, and when walking after rain, this umbrella can barely be used as a crutch.

She rented a hut near the foot of the city gate, and only paid 150 yuan a month, which was the most affordable batch of rentals in the same city.

Although the plot at the foot of the city gate has caravans, tourists, and people entering and leaving the city gate every day, it is very noisy;

But for Chen Xiaozhen, she is quite satisfied with the residence here - after all, thieves don't patronize these small and dilapidated houses at the foot of the city gate, especially when there are often garrisons patrolling nearby.

The garrison patrolling back and forth at the foot of the city gate has created a more stable environment here.

Since she was slow on her hands and feet, and had to rush to the front of the inn in the early morning when the shop opened, she had always gotten up earlier than the others.

Chen Xiaozhen values the job of sprinkling and cleaning in the inn very much.

His hands and feet have become stiff and obscure since the strange disease in his hometown.

The shopkeeper knew about this, but he was still willing to take him in, and he never deducted the monthly money, which was already a blessing in misfortune.

I wonder what happened to the strange disease in my hometown? ……

When she escaped from Chu County, Nanfu County, the old dog who grew up with her at home had completely turned into a bronze statue, and she collapsed to the ground with a painful expression, so frightened that she lost her soul and ran away.

For some reason, the more she ran, the heavier her body became, and her limbs were not as flexible as before, and she thought she was just tired.

The fellow villagers who turned into hideous metal figures on the road made her suspect that she had a nightmare, but her skin and real pain from the fall all confirmed the fact that her hometown was in trouble.

She ran and stopped all the way, passed several neighboring villages one after another, and finally got into an ox cart driven by the eldest sister of the neighboring village, supported each other with several hard-working women, and escaped a long way along the official road.

Until they met Chen Acong, who was going to go back to the village to visit his mother, the women desperately prevented the latter from returning to their hometown, and told all the strange scenes they had just seen:

For example, the old dog in Chen Xiaozhen's house has turned into a bronze statue;

The villagers on the road turned into hideous metal figures;

The eldest sister who was driving the ox cart was repairing the thatch on the roof when she suddenly fell off the roof and shattered into a few sections of iron with a "click......

was so frightened that Chen Acong immediately dispelled the idea of returning to his hometown.

In the end, he arrived in Ningtong City, and introduced the innkeeper to the innkeeper through Chen Acong, and settled down from then on.

After that day, Chen Xiaozhen's body fell to the root of the disease, and since then her hands and feet are no longer flexible.

What is the cause of that strange disease? It is unheard of to be able to transform people and animals into copper and iron......

She remembered with some trepidation as she moved her feet in the direction of the inn.

When the Xiyue Inn was in front of her, she raised her eyes and unexpectedly found that Chen Acong, who often arrived at the inn later than herself, was already waiting outside the store at this time.

"Didn't you come at night last night, and today should have been noon, why did you come so early?"

Chen Xiaozhen used the tip of the umbrella to prop up a puddle, intending to slowly move to the front of the gate, and asked Chen Acong at the same time.

The latter came to his senses, reached out and grabbed her, helping her to the door of the inn.

"Oh, it's okay," Chen Acong's eyes were red, and he waved his hand tiredly, "I'm very concerned about my aunt and little sister, and I'm going to take the two Taoist elders back to my hometown to have a look, so I came early today and waited here." ”

"Do you dare to go back? Before the strange disease was cleared, the man went in and begged for death! ”

Chen Xiaozhen looked at the man in front of her in amazement.

"Those two Taoist leaders came to get rid of the disease in Nanfu County, I have seen their Taoism, and they are very ......."

Chen Acong muttered.

He still wanted to go back, but he still didn't believe me.

You're going to die if you go back! Your name is Ah Cong, but you are so ignorant that you refuse to listen to the woman?!

Chen Xiaozhen's eyes turned red suddenly, and several complex emotions suppressed in her heart pushed the tears of crying outward.

The tears came quickly, and the already sluggish hands were even more powerless to cover them, and they fell into the puddle with a clatter.

In the end, he pleaded:

"Don't go back, please, believe in me......"

Chen Acong glanced at the woman beside him in despair, and opened and closed his mouth several times, but finally did not say a word.

He is tormented between not returning to his hometown.

Don't go back, when I think of A-Niang's seriously ill body at home, the appearance of my little sister taking care of A-Niang with all her might, and the fact that I have not fulfilled my duty as a son and brother, it is like a long whip, swept on my heart;

Let's go back, but the desire for business in my heart has to struggle violently, and the guilt of not being able to save money as I wish has turned into a terrible fluke at this moment.

He didn't want to compromise with the death-scared self, so he stayed in front of this door and waited for the Dao Elders to appear.

"Squeak-"

The closed door of the inn slowly opened, and the figure of the shopkeeper Wang appeared in front of the two of them, and said in an unquestionable tone:

"Come with me."

……

On the third floor, in the private room where Zhang Xu was entertained yesterday, the door was closed and no one disturbed him.

"Shopkeeper, do you mean that the two Taoist elders have already left the inn and rushed to Nanfu County?"

Shopkeeper Wang nodded "um", took out a scroll, and said slowly:

"The two Taoist leaders left this scroll, and told me to say so, if we want to see the appearance of Chu County in Nanfu County today, unfold this painting, reach out and touch it to see, and you can also communicate with the Taoist through this painting and help the Taoist to get rid of the disease!"

Chen Xiaozhen doesn't believe it very much, she is the only one among the three who has not seen the extraordinaryness of Zhang Xu and Le Xun, only that they are ordinary Taoist priests.

"Shopkeeper, without further ado! Let's open this painting quickly! ”

Chen Acong nodded suddenly, and the shopkeeper Wang held the scroll on one side, opened the scroll, and a large blank piece of paper slowly unfolded, only the two characters of ancient text were written in the middle:

"Sound and Picture".

Shopkeeper Wang and Chen Ah Cong lightly touched the picture with their hands, and their bodies were stunned, as if they had seen some magnificent scene.

“……”

Chen Xiaozhen silently looked at the blank scroll and put her hand on it disapprovingly.

"Whoosh!"

In front of her eyes, there was a déjà vu, and now there was a bit of unfamiliar terrain.

The peaks and ridges are lofty, and the smoke and rain are faint.

Chu, Chu County! It's really on the official road of Chu County, Nanfu County!

It's a beautiful scene.

It's a pity that from time to time on the road, you can see a metal figure standing with a hideous expression, sinking in the smoke and rain.

"It's all here, when I first arrived in your hometown, I don't know the way, and I ask three to help guide the way."

It's Zhang Daochang's voice!

The three of them were surprised, and Chen Acong and Chen Xiaozhen replied in unison:

"Yes!"