Under the guidance of the storyteller, Chu Yuanxiao moved the bookstall placed outside the bookstore into the shop.

When he came out again, the storyteller was still lying on the only bamboo chair that had not been moved, holding the handle of the fan in one hand and the small teapot in the other, looking at the direction of the Wufang Pavilion silently.

"Mr. Lu?" The young man looked at the storyteller and asked very carefully.

Hearing this, the storyteller slowly turned his head to look at the young man, his eyes were indifferent and emotionless, but it was only for a moment that he retracted his emotions and replaced them with a gentle attitude, as if the fleeting look just now was just the illusion of the young man.

The storyteller, who had recovered into a warm smile, looked at the young man and smiled: "What do you think that Shuixiu Lake sister-in-law will use to deal with you?" ”

The young man who was still shocked by the storyteller's cold eyes at the last moment was suddenly asked such a question, and a trace of confusion flashed in his eyes, he looked at the storyteller a little blankly, scratched his head a little in confusion, and began to frown and ponder but to no avail for a long time.

He doesn't know anything about what kind of means a person will have in his cultivation, and he really doesn't know anything.

A middle-aged scribe in a gray robe sat on a bamboo chair and looked at the young man and smiled: "I might as well tell you two more news, and then guess what he will do after listening to it?" ”

The boy nodded, his two hands clutching the hem of his shirt, intentionally or unintentionally.

The middle-aged scribe didn't care about the young man's nervousness, and said slowly: "The first news is that this place in Yanguan Town is still very friendly to its own people, and some people have set rules that do not allow outsiders to attack the people here casually, including you, of course." ”

As he spoke, he turned his head to look at the pentagonal pavilion not far away, and continued: "The person who sets the rules is very skilled, so this rule is not something that anyone dares to touch, which is why that Ke disciple did not attack you on the spot when you provoked him, but just left after saying a cruel word. ”

The young man finally breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, and asked cautiously, "What is the second news that Mr. Lu said?" ”

The middle-aged scribe saw the young man's reaction in his eyes, chuckled inexplicably, and then seemed to have some kind of imperceptible mockery, and continued: "The second news is actually not big news, the Zhu family of Shuixiu Lake who settled on Yuzhu Street, the subordination between the two of them is very strong, to put it simply, unless it involves the major event that the Zhu family may be raided and exterminated, the rest of the things will basically be Zhu Jiantang's obedience......"

At this time, the storyteller, who had always been calm and light-hearted, looked at the young man with a little meaning and asked with a smile: "Now guess what that Ke Yuzhen will do to you?" ”

Almost after the storyteller finished the second news, especially the four words "obey orders", the young man's face instantly darkened.

He probably knew a little about the fact that the people from Shuixiu Lake lived in the Zhu family, but he only thought that the two families had a deal to discuss, so they were just entertaining guests, but now it seems that he is thinking too simply......

The storyteller looked at the boy and smiled meaningfully, "How is it?" Do you feel that money and force are sometimes very helpless? There is still courage in the face of the unknown Shuixiu Lake, but in the face of the long-standing Zhu family, he is a little frightened? ”

The young man stood opposite the middle-aged scribe with a casual tone, his fingers unconsciously pinched the corners of his clothes, but his face couldn't turn back, he took a deep breath and then raised his hand and pinched his shoulder, and scolded in a low voice: "It's really fucking hard!" ”

The storyteller smiled, and didn't care about the young man's faux pas, but said lightly: "The way of the world is like this, it has never changed for thousands of years, and the reason for the chaos in the world is all due to this, and blessings and misfortunes depend on each other, and there is no way to get rid of it." ”

The boy listened in a daze.

The middle-aged scribe waved his hand casually, "You don't need to understand this, what I have to tell you is that if he really instructed the Zhu clan to target you, the method will only be more than if they did it themselves, and it may be more ...... There is no lower limit, or you can also directly think of it as a lower work! You don't have anything else, and the way to force you to bow your head is nothing more than from the people around you or the only things you have. ”

He looked at the young man and reminded kindly: "There are not many people around you, even if Hou Junchen's old man puts aside that little bit of inferior cultivation, he can be regarded as leading the errand of the Salt Bureau, and the Zhu family will not give the Li family face, then the rest will only be your courtyard and the two tombs at the foot of the Dragon's Back Mountain in the east, I am afraid you have to know this point." ”

The words "two tombs" uttered by the storyteller instantly made the boy clench his fists, but the scribe did not finish his words, and he did not seem to care about the young man's reaction, and continued to talk.

"In addition, I'm just like Hou Junchen's reckless man, cause and effect are involved, so I won't directly intervene in this matter to help you fight! If you want to find a life under the pressure of the two of them, you have to really rely on your knife to do business, or find some other way to find some help, as for who to find, it depends on your vision and ability, but I suggest you can go to the Xuannu Lake to have a look. ”

At this point in the conversation between the two, the storyteller probably felt that it was almost enough, so he slowly got up from the bamboo chair, and walked towards the shop with the bamboo chair in his hand, while turning his back to the young man and saying something.

"Yanguan Town, where do you go, who will you meet, sometimes it is predestined, but what you will do and what the result will be is not certain, it will give you a difficult time in the dark and leave you a good chance of life, as for whether you can catch it, it depends on your personal creation, and you have no choice with others!"

The storyteller entered the door, put the bamboo chair in his hand on the ground, and the moment before turning around and closed the door, he looked at the young man and said, "Think about it before making any decisions, and regret it if you make a mistake!" In addition, I'm afraid you have to move faster, the Zhu family may have already started planning, don't wait for someone to dig up your ancestral grave, you will be sick and rush to the doctor, at that time it will really be too late. ”

After speaking, the middle-aged scribe slowly closed the door of the bookstore without pause, and said no more.

The young man stood outside the door of the shop, did not speak for a long time, but quietly looked at the closed door of the shop and pondered for a long time, until the sky was completely dark, and then turned to leave.

The mysterious storyteller seemed to have said nothing, and it was as if he had said everything.

The boy felt that it should be enough.

……

In the first month of Liangzhou, the night is cold.

After leaving the Wufang Pavilion, the boy did not go home directly, but as Mr. Nalu said, he went directly through the north street of the town and came to the lake that stretched across the whole town to the north of the town.

It wasn't just because of the storyteller's suggestion, but also about some of the vague speculations that the boy felt he needed to verify for himself.

The dragon's back in the east of the town has already been tested, but the big lake called "Xuannu" in the north of the town needs to come by himself.

Standing on the edge of the lake and looking at the sparkling calm lake, the boy first did a simple warm-up, then took off his clothes and left only one trousers, and put the clothes and pants on a stone on the shore with the slightly larger old shoes, looked back at the town lights behind him, and then plunged into the lake without hesitation.

The moonlight is shining tonight, and the already clear and translucent water of Xuannu Lake looks even clearer under the moonlight.

The boy squinted his eyes slightly under the water, trying to open a gap so that he could see, and he mentally estimated the distance he was from the shore as he slowly swam into the lake.

One, two, three...... Bazhang, the boy stopped before the shore was nine zhang, and surfaced to the surface of the lake again to change his breath, how long the distance of Bazhang had been before, he had changed his breath several times.

From here, there seemed to be nothing unusual beneath the surface of the lake, so calm that the boy wondered if some of his guesses were wrong?

Then he took a deep breath from the surface of the lake and returned to the surface of the water, and with a swing of his arm, he resolutely crossed the boundary of nine feet!

The next moment, after a shaking of the light and shadow in front of him, the young man suddenly discovered a scene that shocked him, even if he had some kind of preparation in his heart before entering the water, he was still shocked by the scene in front of him!

Nine zhang from the shore, the lake bed that should have been the bottom of the lake suddenly disappeared, and the place that should have been the bottom of the lake became a bottomless pitch-black abyss, the water here was clearer and clearer than the water within nine zhang, and he could open his eyes effortlessly without any discomfort.

At the same time, the lake water no longer seems to be as cold and biting as before, as if there are still streams of heat rising from the abyss, making the young man in it feel warm and comfortable!

But such a scene and change cannot be seen at all when standing on the shore!

What's even more strange is that the moon in the sky seems to be unorganized and clear as if it were on the shore, but after the moonlight shines into the water, it disappears without warning when it reaches the place where the lake bed should be, and there is not a trace of it that can shine into the abyss!

After a moment's pause, the boy uncontrollably cast his gaze to the bottom of the bottomless abyss, trying to keep his eyes open to see what was at the bottom of the lake.

However, before he could have any results, a sudden change occurred!

The heat that had been rising from the bottom of the lake suddenly intensified, and strings of white water bubbles of various sizes rose from the bottom...... It was as if the lake was boiling!

Immediately afterward, the boy saw a terrifying scene that he would remember for the rest of his life!

Hundreds of zhang below the surface of the lake, the dark abyss suddenly lit up with a huge golden yellow light, narrow and huge, the widest position has a vertical black gap, this whole scene combined, is a huge golden vertical pupil with a radius of more than 100 zhang!

And from the moment it opened, this huge pupil began to stare coldly and indifferently at the thin figure floating on the surface of the water, which was so small that it was almost negligible, like a god staring at an ant, and like a fierce beast staring at the prey that ran to its mouth!

The moment the young man who was still floating under the surface of the water saw what it was, a cool breath rushed straight to the heavenly spirit cover from the soles of his feet!

In shock, he even forgot to surface for a breath, and he forgot to swing his limbs to escape from this place! My mind was blank, just stunned to look at the huge emotionless indifferent vertical pupils!

……

The east entrance of the town.

Sitting on the bamboo chair in the thatched hut, waiting for the sloppy man who would go to play as soon as the time came, Hou Junchen's face changed dramatically without warning!

He opened the door of the hut and stared at the huge bronze bell hanging from the treetops across the long street, facing the door of the hut!

The huge bronze bell that has never been seen in the town for hundreds of generations began to rotate slowly at this moment without warning, and a faint golden yellow luster came out from the bronze bell, making it seem that the bell body was a little mottled and green at this moment as if it was made of gold, shining brightly!

The huge old locust tree that hung the bell also began to shake slowly because of the rotation of the bell, and the tooth-aching sound of wood crackling began to sound densely from the huge tree pole.

The sloppy man watched the whole process with some shock, he couldn't help but burst out and was about to raise his hand to do something, but before he could make a move, a figure in a green shirt suddenly appeared under the huge canopy at a distance from the bronze bell.

The visitor first waved the wide sleeves of his robe, isolating the scene here from the outside world, and also blocked the probing consciousness that had tentatively extended after hearing the movement from behind the seemingly nonexistent curtain wall, and some strangers who had sneaked over were also teleported to other parts of the town without warning, unable to get any closer to this place!

This means...... It's not superb.

After this hand, in the eyes of everyone outside the isolation, it seemed as if it was just a sudden aura riot in this place, and then it instantly regained its calm, the tree was still the same tree, the bell was still that clock, nothing was abnormal......

But only the sloppy man who was still standing at the door of the thatched hut could see clearly, and the green-shirted scholar slowly raised his head after doing this, and looked at the golden bronze bell that looked huge and bright at the moment with gentle eyes, and his warm and calm voice sounded slowly: "The junior Confucian Cui Jue, I have seen the seniors." ”

……

This side of Xuannu Lake.

The moment the boy was stared at by that huge vertical pupil, he lost all the ability to move, and he couldn't even move a finger anymore! Because he couldn't breathe underwater, he was about to suffocate in the water!

In addition, there seemed to be an increasing huge suction force slowly growing from the direction of some horns at the bottom of the abyss, pulling the young man to sink towards the bottom of the abyss little by little, and the strength became bigger and bigger, and he even felt in horror that his soul seemed to have penetrated out of his body, and floated in the direction of the vertical pupil before his body!

This feeling of the soul being detached from the body was indescribable and unusually real, and he couldn't help but look behind him, and saw that his body was floating under the water not far away, his eyes were hollow, his limbs were stiff, and he was staring straight at the direction in which he was falling, like a dead man!

The young man's soul was all over the place at this moment, and a trembling tremor like substance almost scattered his soul!

It was at this time that the bronze bell at the east entrance of the town suddenly appeared abnormal!

Of course, the teenager whose life was hanging by a thread did not know this.

But the huge vertical pupil that opened at the bottom of the water seemed to shrink slightly because of this abnormal movement, and then narrowed slightly and stared at the thin figure, as if looking at this young man who dared to trespass into the forbidden place without permission!

Then the suction under the water slammed down, and the powerless young man couldn't help but widen his eyes, because he strangely found that he was back in the flesh in an instant, and the two became one!

The feeling of suffocation that he couldn't breathe once again occupied his entire senses, and he couldn't help but start struggling again, and at the same time, the terrifying vertical pupil at the bottom of the lake was inevitably in view again!

Just when the young man was forced to look at the vertical pupil helplessly, a slender rope of unknown material suddenly plunged into the water from the surface of the lake, and quickly wrapped around the young man's waist like an arm, and then the loose rope suddenly tightened, and a force directly pulled the young man out of the water and flew back to the shore!

The huge vertical pupil under the water did not react to this, and just stared silently at the rope entering the water, watching the boy being pulled out of the water, and after a moment it slowly closed again, and all the changes in the lake returned to calm at this moment, as if nothing had happened......

Chu Yuanxiao, a young man who smashed on the shore with a thud, didn't care about anything else, and directly began to gasp for air, and he was almost suffocated underwater!

Of course, although the boy was trying to breathe, his whole body was also trembling unconsciously, and the huge vertical pupil frightened him too much, causing the boy to tremble with fear for a long time after returning to the shore!

How could the poor young man who was still struggling with how to fill the temple of the five internal organs a few days ago have seen such a spectacular and terrifying scene? There are hundreds of square feet in one eye alone, and I don't know how huge the body of that thing is?

The boy was still in shock after temporarily escaping, and his clothes, which had been stacked on the rocks on the shore, were thrown over and smashed on his head, and at the same time, a smart and cold voice came: "Put on your clothes!" ”

When the young man heard the sound, he instantly looked back behind him, and as far as he could see was a girl dressed in white, wearing a big red cloak and a long sword on her back, standing on a stone in the distance with her back to him.

The long sword behind the girl has a simple shape and a square head, and she is still holding a slender rope that has been coiled up in her hand at this time, which is the one that pulled Chu Yuanxiao out of the lake!

Chu Yuanxiao came back to his senses in an instant, hurriedly put on his clothes neatly, and then stood up from the shore, hesitated for a moment in embarrassment, and then bowed down towards the girl who was still facing away from him, and sincerely thanked him, "I'm dressed, thank you girl for saving your life!" ”

When the girl in white heard this, she first turned a little corner of her eye, and only after seeing that the young man was indeed dressed properly turned around, she looked at the young man with some curiosity, "Why did you go to the center of the lake?" ”

It was dark and backlit, and the boy didn't see that the handsome girl's earlobes were slightly red.

He was a little stunned when he heard this, scratched the wet back of his head, and said, "I want to try some of the previous guesses......

The girl couldn't help but roll her eyes, and said in disgust: "You are so bold, if I hadn't happened to come over and faintly noticed that there were people underwater, you would be dead by now!" ”

The young man grinned when he heard this, and he was also a little embarrassed.

The girl in white couldn't help but sneer at the young man's embarrassed expression, her smile was like a flower, "Hello, we have met before, my name is Li Yuyao, you can also call me Li Shisan." ”

"Chu Lantern Festival." The boy was still scratching the back of his head unconsciously, and simply answered his name.

Li Yuyao simply nodded when she heard this, as if she had known the name of this young man for a long time.

The young man was not surprised to see this, he looked at the girl and asked, "Miss Li, are you ...... Why here? ”

The girl looked at the young man with a smile and said something that made him feel familiar: "I also have some guesses, so I am curious, so come and have a look?" ”

Without waiting for Chu Yuanxiao to react, she looked at the young man again with interest and asked, "I heard that you had a conflict with the person surnamed Ke in Shuixiu Lake?" ”

As she spoke, she turned her head to look at the calm lake beside her that had once again fallen into silence, and said again: "I don't think you look like a very stupid person except for being a little reckless, why would you do such an unreliable thing?" You won't be unaware that dealing with him will be hard for you. ”

The last sentence is said with certainty, not in a questioning tone.

The young man was a little embarrassed, scratching his head curtly, after all, the girl in front of him had only saved his life, so he chose to tell the truth: "Well, half of it was on purpose, and half because he wanted something in my house." ”

"Deliberately?" Li Yuyao's bright eyes widened slightly, and she looked at the young man with some curiosity.

She naturally skipped the so-called what Ke Yuzhen wanted, this was almost a fact on the surface, she was a little curious why this young man deliberately provoked Ke Yuzhen, "There is no injustice and no hatred but provokes others to oppose you, but you are still a person you can't fight, I don't think you have any reason to support your so-called 'deliberate'." ”

"Hmm...... It may be mainly because he didn't have a good breath before, and it just so happened that he came to talk about business and didn't look at people seriously, which made people angry, so he couldn't hold back for a while and was a little impulsive......" The young man said more and more embarrassed, and then he shut up a little stupidly.

The girl almost instantly understood what the young man meant, but she still frowned, and said: "Although I can probably understand what you mean, how to say it...... the saying 'the weak eat the strong, the survival of the fittest' is not a new rhetoric in the cultivation world...... When you look up and get used to it, you can't lower your head. ”

After thinking about it, she shook her head with some regret, and muttered, "It's hopeless." ”

The boy was a little stunned when he heard this, and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, "I'm sorry, I'm ...... I don't understand it. ”

The girl in white probably didn't expect the young man to understand this, so she waved her hand and counted it, and she didn't mean to explain in detail, she thought about it again, and then said, "I'm curious, since you deliberately provoked, what method are you going to use to fight him?" Are you going to die? ”

"I haven't found a good solution yet, so I can only say give it a try...... Mr. Lu said that I could use that knife to make a deal with the foreign immortals, but it depends on my eyesight. ”

Speaking of this, the boy was also a little distressed, after all, it depends on his eyesight...... How to measure whether it is accurate or not is a question, "I wonder if I can find a similar immortal family, let them help fight, and then accept me as an apprentice or something...... It should be okay, right? ”

When the girl heard this, she turned her head and looked the young man up and down again, and said uncertainly: "I think you may have some misunderstanding about us strangers coming here to accept apprentices on behalf of the teacher. ”

"What do you mean?" Chu Yuanxiao hurriedly asked, this matter is the thing he is most concerned about at the moment, and there is not even one of them.

After thinking about it, the girl shook her head and didn't say it explicitly, she remembered the statement of the old Taoist on the side of the Northern Spirit Temple, and felt that some things were probably not suitable for her to explain, so she changed the topic and looked at the young man and said: "Although I think there are some problems with your motives for provoking disputes, this should not prevent me from making a deal with you." ”

"Buying and selling?" The young man was a little surprised, "Miss Li, you...... Isn't it with a sword? ”

After speaking, he also glanced at the ancient long sword behind the girl opposite, intentionally or unintentionally.

Li Yuyao didn't mind the young man's eyes, and didn't answer the question, but said again: "But there is one thing I have to explain, this transaction is at most I will help you fight, but there will be no talk of accepting you into the sect, or no matter who among us strangers goes to do this deal, they should not accept you into the sect." ”

When the girl said this, she looked at the young man again, spread her hands and said calmly: "Of course, whether you believe it or not, you can also verify it yourself." ”

"Why?"

Li Yuyao's explanation directly made the young man stunned, it seemed to be different from his previous understanding, and he couldn't help but recall what the old monkey and Mr. Lu had told him before.

The old monkey said that he should find a backer to start practicing, and also said that outsiders would come to Yanguan Town to accept apprentices, and also said that he would be allowed to trade with a knife, but it seems that he did not say that he could use that knife to trade for a master.

Mr. Lu is similar, he has said that he will do business, and he has also said that he will find someone to help, but he doesn't seem to have said that he will change his teacher with a knife......

Coincidental?

The young man shook his head and shook his heart, looked at the girl again and asked, "I don't doubt Miss Li's words, but it's still the previous question, girl, don't you use a sword?" ”

Li Yuyao shook her head and said something in a light tone.

Chu Yuanxiao inexplicably felt that the girl's always cold and pretty face on the opposite side seemed to flash a flash...... Up to no good.

And what she said was......

"I'm missing a reason to kill them right now!"

……