late at night

In the roaring workshop, it is still a simple quiet room.

Lu Daoxuan leaned on his machine chair, staring at the round lake outside the window, under the operation of countless lifting chains and huge hubs, the once smooth as a mirror lake water continued to surge, as if it was boiling.

The heat surged from it, causing wisps of pale vapor to rise from the water of the lake, which had been boiled by the heat of the furnace, and flew into the sky, only to fall into the lake again in a dense curtain of rain.

It's as if the ghosts are hovering between heaven and earth, unable to be freed.

Lu Daoxuan watched quietly and didn't say a word.

In the long trance, it seems to distinguish from it the faces that were once so familiar, as well as the scenes of the past, those outlines that have been covered by time and the past.

But soon, it quickly disappeared without a trace, hidden in the depths of the mist......

Dissipated in the rain and wind.

"It's raining." The old man muttered softly and lowered his eyes.

Behind him, there was a low knock at the door.

"Teacher."

Xin Tong walked back from the door, and the untaken coat was still dripping with water: "The invitations have been sent out, but many families have just sent back gifts, saying that the schedule is busy and it is difficult to come." Many people in the workshop are not optimistic. ”

"Normal." Lu Daoxuan said calmly: "It's not time to place bets yet, why should everyone hurry?" ”

"And ......"

Xin Tong hesitated, "Taifu Shaoqing wants to meet you and discuss important matters in detail." ”

Lu Daoxuan was silent for a long time and shook his head: "Just say I'm tired, don't see me." ”

"Doesn't the teacher care what he wants to say?"

Lu Daoxuan laughed softly: "I'm a bad old man for my birthday, do I have to change my day?" Since you don't intend to hear it, what difference does it make if you see it or not? ”

“…… Then, the disciple retired. ”

"Today, have a good rest." Lu Daoxuan turned around: "After tomorrow, I'm afraid there will be a lot of trouble." ”

Xin Tong bowed his head, turned around and walked just two steps, when he suddenly heard the screams outside the rain curtain, as well as the neighing and wailing of the horses, and his face couldn't help but change.

But then, I heard the wind behind me.

The eight-legged machine chair was already carrying the old man, galloping away in the direction where the screams came from.

Through the layers of rain curtains, through the thick water vapor, you can glimpse the blood red spreading outside the door of the workshop, as well as the few disciples who are slumped in front of the door.

And...... Bloody scenes.

Under the washing of the torrential rain, patches of scarlet blood spread rapidly, from the disintegrated flesh......

As if severed by an invisible blade, the white horse galloping from the torrential rain was brutally executed in front of the gate of the workshop.

The body that had been split in half was still spasming.

The last remaining bit of heat turned into mist, rising from the torrential rain and dissipating like a ghost.

At the top of the workshop walls, dozens of giant machine beasts rose from their slumber, their eyes glowing with alarms, and the massive steel torso shone into the torrential rain.

But he couldn't see anything.

In the dim light in front of the door, only blood kept flowing.

"What's going on?" Xin Tong subconsciously pressed the handle of the knife in his arms, and looked at the rain curtain with sharp eyes, but he got nothing.

"No, I don't know ......"

The disciple guarding the door turned pale, "That horse, suddenly ran over here, my senior brother and I thought whose horse was lost, and we were about to go to check it, but suddenly, suddenly ......"

Suddenly, the whole white horse fell apart in front of them.

Broken by an invisible blade.

Broken into an unknown number of pieces.

Sticky blood spurted across their faces, carrying a thick fishy smell.

Some people couldn't stand it anymore and threw up while holding on to the door frame.

Lu Daoxuan glanced back indifferently, and a disciple who knew the opportunity helped the embarrassed guy to retreat.

But the screams rang out again.

When the lightning flickered, a fluttering shadow appeared in the heavy rain curtain, like a monster crouching in the rainstorm and wind, with fierce edges and corners, choosing people to devour.

Above the deer-like silhouette, two hideous branches branch out from either side of the skull.

His eyes were blood-red.

As if sneering at them, he stared at Lu Daoxuan, raised his hand, and swiped it across his neck.

Electricity shone through the clouds again, but the strange figure disappeared again.

"Deer, antlers!"

Someone exclaimed.

Xin Tong's face instantly became gloomy, and he glared at the silent guy, but the hearts of everyone present couldn't help but sink.

The bloody warning from the Ughan Gong has undoubtedly reached everyone's eyes.

"Teacher...... Let's ......" The disciple who spoke pursed his dry lips: "What should we do?" ”

"It's just a group of small people who can't see the light, what's there to see? Pack up early and go back to sleep. Lu Daoxuan waved his sleeves coldly: "What are you afraid of, before the old man dies, it will not be your turn." ”

"But this ...... Stuff ......"

Someone looked at the broken white horse on the front steps, the white horse's eyes blinking with difficulty, and bloody tears dripping from the corners of his eyes.

It turned out to be alive.

In the torrential rain, moaning in pain......

Lu Daoxuan was silent for a moment, and shook his head slightly: "Living only adds to the pain, Xin Tong, give me the knife." ”

He held out his hand to his students.

Xin Tong was stunned for a moment, looked at by such eyes, couldn't help but tremble, and when he reacted, he had already put the short knife that he bought for five taels of silver a few days ago into the old man's hand.

The machine chair was lowered, and the thin old man actually stood up on his knees, walked into the torrential rain beyond the steps, stretched out his hand, and pressed the neck of the white horse.

Dancing rain falls on him. 's hair, so that the pale hair also became embarrassed.

"Rest in peace—"

Lu Daoxuan lowered his eyes and chanted softly.

Xin Tong was about to say something before stepping forward, but immediately after, his pupils were stabbed by the sword light that was cut off, and the neck of the white horse had been cut open by the old man and cut off neatly.

No more pain.

Everyone was stunned by the old man's hideous posture, and they forgot to breathe for a while.

But when Lu Daoxuan got up, he didn't return the knife to his students.

It's just that the thin five fingers are clenched tightly, staring at the rainstorm in front of him with cold eyes, and the dark clouds that envelop the heavens and the earth, and the thunder and light jump.

After a long time, he turned and left.

No more words.

"Antlers?"

The next day, in the morning, Li Bai, who came to the door after breakfast, got an unexpected news from Xun Qing, who had already understood the situation: "Appeared last night?" ”

"Yes, a lot of people have seen it."

Xun Qing sat down, picked up the teapot next to Li Bai and poured it directly into his mouth, before he took a breath, wiped his mouth and said, "Brother Xin Tong told me personally, many people in the workshop didn't dare to come this morning, and the rest were like ghosts." ”

Li Bai sat on the chair and couldn't help but sigh when he saw the pale faces of those disciples who came and went.

"If I knew I was squatting here last night, I could at least pass two moves."

He had heard of the most elusive assassin in Chang'an City, the killer that countless people talked about, but unfortunately he had never encountered it head-on.

He wanted to see what kind of pretending to be a ghost like to make trouble.

"Aren't all assassins like this, attacking them by surprise, hiding deep and running fast, expecting this kind of guy to face you head-on, I think you have a problem with your brain.

That's it, I'll get busy first, you remember to take care of Li Xiang...... Li Xiang, be careful not to let him drink too much. ”

Hearing Xin Tong's call in the distance, Xun Qing hurriedly said a few words and then got up and left.

Seeing that he was so busy, Li Bai couldn't help but shake his head.

This guy doesn't think he's going to be an organist.

During this period of time, I didn't sleep enough for two hours every day, and I rotated all day long, and there were problems in the morning and evening.

After today, force him to take a good rest.

has been busy all day long, and he is not alone in rebuilding Anle Fang, even if he burns his whole person as firewood, how many pots of water can he heat?

He sighed sympathetically, took out the wine jug and was about to take two sips, but after hearing the faint sound of water, Li Xiang, who was sitting next to him, turned his head and seemed to be staring at him, which made Li Bai embarrassed for a while.

I made it a teacup.

Outside the box, there was a pleasant sound of silk and bamboo, as well as the hustle and bustle of people coming and going.

It's not a dusty workshop with a constant roar every day, and it's not a great place to celebrate birthdays. On his birthday, Lu Gong, who has always been simple, unexpectedly spent a rare amount of money to charter the best song building in Changle Fang-Jiuxiao Pavilion, and invited guests from all over the world to feast.

Now there is a lot of traffic in front of the door, people come and go, and it is still early before the noon birthday banquet, but I don't know how many people come and go.

Xun Qing and Xin Tong, who made cameo appearances, were constantly busy and invited guests in.

As the top organ master in Chang'an, Lu Daoxuan's friends are not to mention that he has a wide range of friends, and there are countless dignitaries and nobles who have arrived at this moment, and as soon as he enters the door, he is invited to the private room upstairs to play cards and listen to music.

And those old relatives and friends, the remnants of Anlefang who have been taking care of them have not been left out in the cold, they sat around the round table in the wide hall, knocking Xuanyong's melon seeds, drinking the incense pieces under the grass, listening to the soft songs on the stage above, and chatting happily.

There were many more people who did not enter the door.

The men, women, and children who hurried from all over Chang'an left their congratulatory gifts at the door and left in a hurry. Many remnants who were not very glamorous in cloth clothes just hesitated and wandered outside the door for a while, and after asking Xun Qing and Xin Tong to congratulate Dao Xuan on their behalf, they wanted to leave.

Soon, under Xin Tong's arrangement, a row of long tables and stoves were erected in front of the door of the Jiuxiao Pavilion. No matter who comes to say goodbye, regardless of the old and the young, you can eat a bowl of longevity noodles in front of the door before leaving, and it can be regarded as a substitute for Lu Gong to entertain the deceased.

At this moment, Li Bai looked down from the window, and there were countless happy faces surging on the long street, so he couldn't help but be amazed.

Lu Daoxuan's status in the hearts of the remnants of Anle Fang can be seen.

Not to mention the care and blessing for so many years, now that he knows that Lu Gong is so old, and he is still desperate, he wants to run for the owner of the workshop and fight for a place for them, who can not be moved?

Whether it is as a favored junior or a friend of Xun Qing, even if it is a passerby, Li Bai does not intend to stand idly by.

Therefore, whether it is antlers or horns, if you want to pretend to be a ghost, you must pass him first!

Just as he was silently drinking tea, he heard a footstep going upstairs slowly approaching, and the bead curtain was lifted, revealing a handsome face, smiling at him.

"Brother Taibai, you are really here!"

"Shangguan?"

Li Bai was surprised for a while, "Didn't you come?" ”

Shangguan Rong shook his head and smiled: "I didn't plan to come, but I heard that there is a rare bustle to see here, and I feel that it is a pity not to come...... It's hard to choose. Later, I thought that Brother Taibai was here, and thought if there would be any good poems, so I hurriedly rolled up the pen and ink and went out. ”

He sat down in the box, and he didn't look at the top like those literati and ink writers in Qujiangfang, and after seeing Li Xiang next to him, he also said hello with a smile, and he didn't dislike that sharing a table with a musician would lower his identity.

For this noble man who helped him introduce work in Qujiangfang, Li Xiang was also full of gratitude.

After a short period of politeness, Shangguan didn't touch the melon seeds on the table, but just held tea and enjoyed the performance on the stage downstairs, and sighed softly: "The momentum is so huge, it seems that Lu Gong is determined to run for the owner." ”

"Huh?"

Li Bai was puzzled: "Although Lu Gong never covered it up, but it was just a birthday, how could he get involved with the owner's campaign?" ”

"You guy, you really don't know or don't know?"

Shangguan glanced at him in amazement, remembering that this guy had only come to Chang'an a month ago, and couldn't help but shake his head and sigh: "For a passer-by like Brother Taibai, these rules in Chang'an are indeed farther away. ”

As he spoke, Shangguan reached out and dipped a little tea on the table, smeared it on the table, and soon, a rough map of Chang'an City from top to bottom appeared in front of them.

"Chang'an has a total of four gates, which are the four major gates of the Qinglong and White Tigers and the Vermilion Bird Xuanwu, and the middle is run through the Vermilion Bird Street from top to bottom, and the top is the Tianque such as Weiyang Palace and Taiji Palace. And countless fang markets are organs that run and move with Chang'an.

Having said that, there are actually many kinds of fang markets, such as life workshops such as Chonghuafang, Guangdefang and Huaiyuanfang, entertainment workshops such as Pingkang Fang and Changle Fang, and even commercial markets such as the East and West Cities, which handle a large amount of goods every day, and a group of creation workshops such as Chongrenfang, where many institutions and teachers gather......"

With his outline and introduction, Li Bai quickly established the general outline of Chang'an City in his heart. In Shangguan's explanation, the regulations are clearly distinguished, and they are not much stronger than Xun Qing's guy.

"Brother Taibai, do you know that it is different from the Yang and Li families, and the biggest initiative in today's school?" Shangguan asked.

It was rare for Shangguan to have such a dignified and serious expression, which made Li Bai's originally lax attitude serious:

"Listen—"

"In recent years, there have been countless large and small decrees and measures, but the biggest impact on Chang'an is to break the old customs of the past and enter the era of 'Fang City Autonomy'."

Shangguan said solemnly: "Since then, all the owners in Chang'an City have the authority to manage and adjudicate their own markets. The competition among the owners is so strong. ”

Shangguan said solemnly: "Every Fang City is an important resource of Chang'an, and every time a new Fang City is born, it will also set off a round of tragic struggles. The various groups and owners will also want to expand their power to participate in the competition, not to mention the chambers of commerce and competitors in many aspects.

Therefore, during this period of time, all the competitors will show their abilities in the hope of being able to reach the heavens and be hand-picked by His Majesty. If His Majesty does not decide on a candidate, then the owners of each city will negotiate, and if it is not decided, the organ polo team that will run for the city will come out and hold a large-scale league to determine the winner. ”

"And the ball to look at?"

Li bai? I was overjoyed in my heart, and I immediately looked forward to it.

Chang'an's organ polo, that's a special project that doesn't exist elsewhere! He's been fascinated for a long time!