"In different regions, the spices used to make incense are similar, but the process and fragrance are different. However, due to the different regional outputs, there are often some nuances, and some locally produced materials will be added. If you know where it's made, you might be able to guess the difference. The old man said slowly.

Yuan Ming nodded at first, but then shook his head.

"Then forgive the old man for not being able to do anything." The old man looked regretful and shook his head.

"If I break a small piece and scrape out the powder, or ignite it, can you help me distinguish what's inside?" Yuan Ming suddenly had a thought in his heart and asked.

"You think too highly of me, to be able to reach this level, I am afraid that it is only possible to do it if you have been a master who has been doing incense-making for decades, and the old man does not have this ability." The old man shook his head and smiled bitterly.

"The shop often does this incense candle business, do you know such an incense master?" When Yuan Ming heard this, his heart moved and asked.

The old man frowned slightly, lost in thought, but it didn't take long for a strange look to suddenly appear on his face.

There seems to be some hesitation, some hesitation.

"Shopkeeper, don't be in a hurry, think slowly. Give me a handful of each of these incense sticks on the table. Seeing this, Yuan Ming said.

"That's right!" When the old man heard this, a flash of joy flashed in his eyes, and he couldn't help but exclaim.

"When you say this, I really think of a person, their family has been making incense for a living for generations, and the ancestral incense-making workshop has been open for hundreds of years, if you really want to say who has that ability, it must be him."

"Where is this man now?" Yuan Ming was also in good spirits and asked.

"His incense-making workshop is in Tiehu Town, dozens of miles away from here, you go over there and ask, and you can definitely find it. It's just that I haven't been there to pick up the goods for more than half a year, and I haven't seen him for a long time. The old man said as he quickly packed the incense on the table.

When he finished speaking, the bundled incense had already been placed in front of Yuan Ming.

After Yuan Ming paid the money, he asked the old man about the situation of the incense-making workshop in Tiehu Town, and then turned around and left directly.

Yuan Ming did not leave the town in a hurry, but found an inn in the town to stay.

It is said to be an inn, but in fact it is a row of railing-type wooden houses, the style is simple, the furnishings are simple, fortunately, there is no one to stay in on weekdays, and it is clean.

Yuan Ming chose the innermost room to live in, and then began the boring incense trial again.

In the past half a month, he has lit incense more than 100 times, and almost everywhere he went, he bought all the types of incense he could buy, and came back to try it one by one.

But the results were all failures without exception, and the incense burner did not react at all from beginning to end.

In the second half of the night, the moon shadow slanted to the west.

Yuan Ming watched the incense burned out of the incense burner with cloud patterns, and didn't pull it out, allowing the smoke to fill the room.

After repeated failures, he didn't feel anything about it anymore.

On the contrary, if he suddenly succeeds at this time, he may have an illusion that it is not real.

"It seems that I can only try my luck in Iron Tiger Town, if it doesn't work again, I can only return to the sect first." Yuan Ming has already had the idea of retreating.

He felt that he might have made a mistake in direction, this black incense was not a mundane thing at all, but some kind of consumable magic weapon, the output of some special sect?

Although there is no such thing in the Qingfu Hall, and he himself has never seen it in various wild history classics, this does not mean that the black incense must not be a magic weapon, at most, it can only mean that it is not produced by the Southern Xinjiang Sect.

Or is it that during the refining process of this incense, it is mixed with some unknown spiritual material, so that it has such a special effect that makes people possess the body?

"I don't know if the silver cat came with me, but I haven't seen it for a long time. Previously, it said that this incense burner was not a mundane thing, maybe it knew something? Speaking of which, this silver cat is really a bit special. Yuan Ming gathered his chaotic thoughts, got up and opened the window, letting the moonlight shine into the house.

He himself sat in the bright moonlight and began to close his eyes and practice the Dark Moon Technique.

It's just that not long after closing his eyes, Yuan Ming's eyes suddenly opened suddenly, and he realized with some hindsight that the Iron Tiger Town that the old man was talking about today sounded inexplicably familiar.

But when I think about it, I can't remember where I've heard it.

Yuan Ming's mind was stirred up, and he couldn't calm down a little, so he could only give up cultivating the Dark Moon Technique, and instead meditated for a while to calm his nerves and cultivate the Nine Yuan Formula.

Early the next morning, Yuan Ming rode out of the town, and according to the guidance of the old man in the incense and candle shop, he went straight to Tiehu Town.

……

The two towns are only a few dozen miles apart, and there is no small difference in terms of scale and topography.

The terrain around Tiehu Town is flat and open, there is a big river in the north, the city is built quite large-scale, and even fortifications are built on the riverside side, which cannot be passed.

Yuan Ming crossed the river by a wooden bridge upstream, and in the evening, he turned to the south of the city, and finally saw an open city gate.

Compared to the villages and towns encountered earlier, it seems to be much more prosperous here.

There were not a few people coming in and out of the city gate, and there were even southern Xinjiang soldiers wearing heavy armor guarding the gate.

Yuan Ming dismounted and soon came to the gate of the city.

Those soldiers from southern Xinjiang only looked at him casually, then looked away and did not investigate.

Yuan Ming arrived in the city smoothly, and immediately saw the notice board on the side, stacked on top of each other, with some notice documents pasted.

The latest of these, which clearly informs the town, is to be subject to a curfew, and that after the beginning of the day, unless there is a lord's decree or a token of the commander, anyone who wanders outside is to be arrested and beaten with thirty sticks.

Yuan Ming glanced up at the sky, and it was not far from Xushi.

He was about to leave, and his eyes were suddenly attracted by a weathered and faded missing person notice covered under the two layers of notices, on which he could vaguely see the disappearance of the entourage of the Great Jin Regiment, but the handwriting and portraits were already blurred.

"Da Jin...... Missing people? Looking at the broken content, Yuan Ming was puzzled.

But he was only attracted by the word "Da Jin", and didn't pay too much attention to it, leading the horse into the town.

Not long after entering the town, it was getting dark.

Pedestrians on the streets hurried to their homes, apparently fearing the cost of violating the curfew.

As a monk, Yuan Ming was naturally not afraid of the rules of these mundane worlds, but he didn't want to cause any trouble, so he planned to find an inn to settle down in, and wait until the next day later, and then go to the incense-making workshop.

Coincidentally, before he had gone far, he saw a shop with a string of red lanterns hanging on the street, and a sign made of green cloth was hung on the outside, and the word "inn" was written on it in white paint.

Underneath that move, leaning against the threshold, sat an old man in a satin-faced robe and a square feather hat, but looking at his outfit, he looked like a rich man.

But his skin was rough and dark, his face was full of ravines, and he was holding an old cigarette pouch in his hand, and he was smoking it "let's click", and under the white smoke rising, the old face was full of bitterness.

"Look at this face, it should be a rich man who suddenly became rich......" Yuan Ming gave the answer in his heart.

When Yuan Ming saw the old man, the other party also saw him.

The old man, who had a sad and bitter face just now, immediately smiled on his face and greeted him with a smile.

"Honored guest, are you from afar? It's been a hard journey. The old man asked.

"Uncle is the shopkeeper of this inn?" Yuan Minghu said suspiciously.

"Yes, yes. Guest, you look like Junjie who has traveled outside, and you just came to our Tiehu Town, so you shouldn't know that there is a curfew here, right? Is there a place to stay? If you don't dislike it, just rest in my little shop, right? The old man looked concerned and said enthusiastically.

Yuan Ming glanced into the lobby of the inn, the lights had been lit inside, and it looked bright and tidy, but the most important thing was that it was empty and quiet, and there was no one looking.

"Is there a room that doesn't face the street and is secluded?" Yuan Ming asked.

"Yes, yes, there is a house in our backyard, not only is it not facing the street, but there is also a bamboo forest outside, I can guarantee that it is the quietest guest room in this town." The old man hurriedly patted his chest and recommended.

Yuan Ming glanced at the back of the street, and there was no second inn at the end of his sight, so he nodded:

"Then there is a boss Lao to arrange one or two."

"Don't worry, you're satisfied."

The old man smiled and responded, turned to the inn and shouted at the top of his voice: "Tule, hurry up and lead the horse for the guest." ”

Soon, a young man with the same dark skin and a seven-point resemblance to the old man trotted out of it, took the reins from Yuan Ming's hand with his head down, and led the horse from a path next to the inn to the backyard.

"Remember to wash the guests' horses and feed them the best forage." The old man did not forget to admonish loudly.

The young man didn't know if he heard or not, and he didn't respond in the slightest.

"Hehe, my son, he has been like a piece of wood since he was a child, don't mind the guest officer." The old man said with a smile.

"It doesn't matter." Yuan Ming waved his hand.

"Please come in." The old man beckoned Yuan Ming to go to the inn.

Yuan Ming stepped into the threshold of the inn and asked casually: "How long have you been running this inn?" ”

"Distinguished guest, don't call the shopkeeper, it's too outward, just call me an old cigarette pouch and ......" The old man was still familiar with the words, but when he entered the house and saw Yuan Ming's appearance clearly through the bright light in the hall, he was suddenly stunned.

Yuan Ming saw that the old man suddenly stopped halfway through his words, a little strange, his eyes moved to the old man, and immediately saw the old man staring at him with a stunned face.

"Shopkeeper, what's wrong with you?" He subconsciously touched his cheek and immediately asked.

The old man seemed to wake up suddenly, with an embarrassed smile on his face, and said: "Hey, I didn't see it clearly outside just now, but when I came in, I found that it had been many years, and I had never seen such a white offspring in Tiehu Town." ”

(End of chapter)