If you don't know the distance of the rivers and lakes without setting foot in the mountains, this is a sentence that Taijizi once said.

And when Li Yi stepped out of the mountains, he realized that there were not only rivers and lakes beyond the mountains.

After leaving the mountains, the world transitioned from lush green to decaying yellow.

What caught Li Yi's eyes was basically yellow, occasionally mixed with some gray dead gray and little pitiful green.

These very few shades of green look wilted, and they don't look angry at all.

At this time, Li Yi and Liu Yu were walking on the dry riverbed.

Most of the weeping willows along the river have lost their leaves, and the sparse branches fall off at the touch of them, and the bark on the trunks disappears.

The riverbed beneath his feet was dry as if it had been cut by countless cuts, but there was not a trace of moisture in the wound.

Stepping on it with both feet will make a clicking sound.

In the center of the river, there is a tiny stream of water that insists on flowing like a stubborn child.

Li Yi was in the river, but he could see that there were fish bones.

"It's been a drought for the past few years, and I don't know how many people will starve to death this year."

Liu Yu tightened his backpack and pinched the magic trick in his hand, and whispered the "Taiyi Salvation Sutra".

"I haven't been out of the mountains for a few years, and I never thought that the land that was once in the south of the Yangtze River would be tortured by drought to such a situation."

Li Yi shook his head and sighed, there was nothing he could do about this natural disaster.

"It's not early, let's continue to hurry, 20 miles ahead is Duliang County, we have to enter the county seat before the city gate is closed."

Liu Yu looked up at the sun and urged.

This time, Liu Yu was ordered by his father to visit an old man in Duliang County, and Li Yi will also part ways with Liu Yu here to explore the world alone.

When the two people with dry mouths arrived at Duliang County, it was already sunset.

Fortunately, the soldiers guarding the gate had not completely closed the gate, so that the two of them could enter the city without having to spend the night outside the city.

When they entered the city, they stayed at an inn in the city.

After hastily eating some things, Li Yi climbed to the second floor of the inn and looked at the entire county.

The county seat today is very different from what he remembered this year ago.

In the past, although there would be a curfew at night in the general county town, there would always be a lot of vendors and vendors on the streets of the city before the drum was sounded, and customers also came and went.

But nowadays, there are basically no merchants and hawkers on the streets of Liangcheng, and even pedestrians are sparse and unpopular.

In the distance, most of the entire county is dark, and occasionally a few lights flicker in the dark, making it seem lonely and lonely.

Li Yi inquired like the guy at the inn and found out that many families had fled from Chuzhou because of the drought.

Many of the people who could not afford to flee starved to death at home, and the man also told Li Yi that there were starving people who were carried out of the city gate every day in this county.

Hearing the description of the shopkeeper, Li Yi and Liu Yu were both silent.

The two of them no longer had the nature to watch the night scene, and the two quickly went back to their rooms to rest.

Early the next morning, Liu Yu took Li Yi to visit an old man in Duliang City.

It is said that this old man was the cousin of a powerful eunuch in the palace of the Dayu Dynasty.

When the two came to the door, Li Yi looked up and saw the high walls and deep courtyards, as well as the family members who were always on guard.

At the gate, several family members patrolled the situation around the mansion back and forth.

Li Yi saw that the vermilion door was closed, and the hot stamping plaque of Qiao's Mansion on the door was shining.

After Liu Yu explained in detail the purpose of his visit and handed over the invitation, the two were allowed to enter the mansion through the side door.

As soon as he entered the Qiao family's mansion, Li Yi's eyes lit up.

Compared with the county town of Xiaosuo, which lacks vitality, Qiaofu seems to be full of life.

Because after entering Qiao's Mansion, the first thing that catches your eye is a large area of green vegetation.

The large green meadows, various green plants and clusters of green ornamental bamboos all made Li Yi feel alive.

Surrounded by greenery is a small lake that shines like a jewel dotted with green.

This small lake has a variety of Taihu Lake stones with strange shapes, but they blend seamlessly with the surrounding environment.

In the middle of the small lake is an octagonal pavilion, and a couplet on the pavilion catches Li Yi's attention.

"The water is clear, the fish reads the moon, and the mountains are quiet and the birds talk."

Li Yi couldn't help but sigh at the elegance of this house.

Following the stone path in the middle of the meadow, the two were led by the servants to the small lake.

Li Yi looked down and saw that the water in this lake was really clear.

A plump colored koi fish wandered slowly in the water, and when they heard someone approaching, they all swam towards the shore.

The two followed the covered bridge on the lake to the pavilion in the lake.

I saw an old man with gray hair sitting cross-legged in the center of the pavilion.

There was a table in front of him, and Li Yi judged that it should be a valuable sandalwood table based on the wood and pattern.

There were several things on the table, namely a dust whisk, an incense burner, a book, and a gourd.

Li Yi took a closer look and found that the dust whisk was made of excellent material, the handle of the dust whisk was fine golden silk nanmu, and the tail of the dust whisk was pure white and not long in length.

Therefore, Li Yi judged that this tail should not be made of a horsetail, but from a more precious deer tail.

And the shape of the incense burner is simple, and the style is the style of the Boshan incense burner that Tai Jizi once mentioned to him.

Wisps of white smoke emerge from the top of the incense burner, creating a dynamic feeling of the pattern of the incense burner, which makes people feel refreshed.

As for the book, Li Yi recognized this book as the Taoist classic "Chongxu Zhenjing" just by looking at it.

The gourd is obviously a lacquerware, although it is not big, but you can see the complexity of the process by looking at the intricate black and red patterns on the gourd.

Look at the old man sitting still, his gray hair is coiled into a bun, and a jasper hairpin is inserted into the bun.

Although there is no complicated carving of hairpins, Li Yi knows that good hostas are not skillful.

The old man's beard and hair are all white, but his complexion is ruddy, and there is no trace of wrinkles on his skin.

The two long eyebrows have drooped, and although the eyes are closed, there is a look of compassion for all beings.

"The boy Liu Yu brought his father and disciples to meet Qiao Shibo."

Liu Yu walked to the old man to meet the old man with the etiquette of the juniors, and Li Yi also followed Liu Yu to meet the old man.

"It turned out to be Xiao Yuxian's nephew, I haven't seen him for several years, and I never thought that he would be so outstanding now."

The old man opened his eyes and looked at them for a while before he said with a smile.

"This little brother is the tall foot of the Taijizi Immortal? Sure enough, a talent is a dragon and a phoenix! ”

"Shibo praised it falsely, the kid and the housekeeper are both mountain and wild boys, and they don't dare to be so praised by Shibo."

Liu Yu hurriedly surrendered his hands modestly, but Li Yi was a little uncomfortable with this.

"The virtuous nephew is not too modest, does the virtuous nephew have something to say to me this time?"

The old man surnamed Qiao picked up the dust on the desk and made a door salute.

On the way here, Liu Yu told Li Yi about the past of Mr. Qiao and Tai Jizi.

This Qiao Lao was named Qiao Fugong, and the Qiao family is a prominent family in Duliang County, which has been bred for more than ten generations in Duliang County.

But twelve years ago, Tai Jizi passed through Duliang County, and happened to encounter Qiao's family being retaliated against by the enemy, and dozens of bandits broke into Qiao's house.

For a while, the Qiao family was bloody and bloody, and corpses were everywhere.

Seeing that group of bandits were so ferocious, Tai Jizi made a decisive move, and a ring-headed knife was danced by him impenetrably, and he killed the robbers by relying on the narrow corridor to cry and call his mother.

In just a few breaths, Tai Jizi cut down five or six people.

Seeing that Tai Ji Zi was so fierce, the bandits were so frightened that they didn't dare to do it again, and finally forced all of Tai Ji Zi's power to flee.

At that time, Qiao Fugong led the servants to make up their minds to die with the bandits, but they didn't expect to kill a Taijizi halfway.

Qiao Fugong and others, who were lucky enough to be rescued, immediately bowed to Tai Jizi and thanked him.

And Taejiko also thanked them for their courage to defend their families and treated their injuries one by one.

Many of them were seriously injured, but all of them were saved by Taijiko's skillful hands.

This includes Qiao Fugong and his younger brother.

And his younger brother injured his lower body because of an accident, and finally had to enter the palace and be called a eunuch.

At that time, when treating their injuries, Yang Fugong heard that Tai Jizi was proficient in the art of gossip and divination, so he begged Tai Jizi to make a divination for their family.

At that time, Tai Jizi discovered that the Qiao family had a rich and noble spirit through the art of observing qi, so he made a hexagram for them.

As a result, the hexagram indicates that the Qiao family will have prosperous fortune and smooth sailing in the next century.

After getting this hexagram, Tai Jizi was extremely surprised, because it is not easy for ordinary people's fortune to last for a year or two, not to mention that the fortune of a family can last for a century.

You must know that a century is twelve years, and it is inconceivable that good fortune can last for twelve years.

So Taijizi carefully observed the faces of each person in their family, and asked each person's name and eight characters.

In the end, Tai Jizi laughed after seeing Qiao Fugong's younger brother, pointed to Qiao Fugong's younger brother and said, "Your family has this son Kewang Yiji." ”

This remark made the Qiao family, who was suddenly in a catastrophe at that time, a little confused, you must know that the person had been cut off at that time, and he would not be humane in this life.

So Qiao Fugong sincerely bowed and asked.

"This son will definitely climb the dragon and ride the clouds in the future, and glorify the lintel of your Qiao family."

Tai Jizi's words were like a criticism, which made the Qiao family at that time overjoyed.

Not long after Taijiko left, he was sent to the palace.

I don't know if it's a coincidence that Tai Jizi can really pinch or not, the person who was sent to the palace quickly made a mark in the palace.

He was favored by the emperor and became the emperor's confidant eunuch, and the Qiao family quickly rose to become the richest family in Duliang County.

And because the Qiao family has people in the court, the local officials have stammered, which makes the Qiao family's position in Duliang County more and more stable.

At the beginning, the group of bandits and the enemies behind the bandits were all found out by the Qiao family and wiped out.

It is precisely for this reason that the people of the Qiao family are grateful to Taijizi, and Aiwu and Wuxia also highly respect Taoism.

Even the Qiao family wanted to send their own children to Tai Jizi's door, but it was a pity that Tai Jizi said that he had no master-apprentice fate with the Qiao family.

"The virtuous nephew came at the right time this time, the Taijizi Immortal Chang said twelve years ago that my family would prosper for a period, and now that the first era has arrived, what can the immortal chief bring to me when the virtuous nephew goes down the mountain?"

Although Qiao Fugong seemed to practice Taoist classics and looked indifferent to the immortal family, his true nature was revealed as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Uncle Shi, my father told me to give you this pair of words before I went down the mountain."

Liu Yu pulled out a roll of paper from the bamboo basket behind him.

Qiao Fugong immediately got up, raised his cuffs and bent down to carefully take the paper roll in Liu Yi's hand.

Then take all the things on the desk aside, and then open the paper roll on the desk little by little.

Li Yi felt that this was very similar to the feeling of thieves who had stolen things in the village in the past.

The white paper roll unfolded, and Li Yi also stepped forward.

I saw that the words on the paper were slowly revealed: Heaven has no relatives and good people.

Li Yi knew that this sentence came from the "Tao Te Ching", which means that the way of heaven does not distinguish between relatives and relatives, and often favors those who follow the way of heaven.

"Virtuous nephew, what do you mean by this?"

Although Qiao Fugong also knew the origin and meaning of this sentence, he didn't understand the meaning of Tai Jizi's words.

"Shibo, my father said that this world should conform to the way of heaven in order to prosper for a hundred generations."

"Can the virtuous nephew give guidance to the old decay, and how to conform to the way of heaven."

At this moment, Qiao Fugong's face was full of inquiry, and he had no longer treated Liu Yu with the appearance of an elder at the beginning.

At this time, Liu Yu smiled and said nothing.

Seeing that Liu Yu was not speaking, Qiao Fugong was a little anxious.

"My father once said that he would leave after handing over this character to Shibo, and since then, the fate of the Qiao family and my father has also been here."

After speaking, Liu Yu gave up his hand and prepared to retire.

"Why is it here?"

Qiao Fugong immediately pulled Liu Yu's sleeve, intending to stop Liu Yu.

Li Yi was a little impatient when he saw Qiao Fugong pulling Liu Yu and not letting him go.

So he said: "Old man, the family teacher has already told you to follow the way of heaven, you just do what the family teacher says, why do you want to pester my eldest brother." ”

"Virtuous nephew, but the Lingshi didn't say how to conform to the way of heaven in the old decay."

"You still study the Taoist classics, conform to the way of heaven, enter the world with something, and cultivate your mind with nothing. Isn't this the core idea of Zhuangzi? ”

After Li Yi finished speaking, he pulled Liu Yu's sleeve out of Qiao Fugong's palm.

"Entering the WTO with something and cultivating the mind with nothing?"

Qiao Fugong muttered the sentence.

And Li Yi and Liu Yu turned around and left after saluting, they had already seen that this Qiao Fugong was not a person who could concentrate on cultivation.

"No wonder the master said that his fate with this Qiao family is over." Li Yi thought secretly.

Maybe Qiao Fugong has been completely immersed in the understanding of entering the WTO with something and cultivating his mind with nothing, or Qiao Fugong doesn't want to entangle Taijizi.

Li Yi and Liu Yu left Qiao's Mansion smoothly.

When he went out, Liu Yu looked at the tall courtyard wall of Qiao's house, and then looked at the depressed scene of Duliang County, and couldn't help sighing.

"For a lifetime, good and evil are thoughts, and blessings and misfortunes are brought upon themselves!"

Hearing Liu Yu's words, Li Yi couldn't help but be surprised.

He secretly thought in his heart, no wonder the eldest brother left the Qiao family with him without even drinking a sip of water, it seems that this Qiao family is not a good type.