At the west exit of the town, between the clouds of the inn, the Tianzi room on the third floor is also the only Tianzi room in the entire inn, and the rest of the rooms are from the ground number to the back.

In the middle of this room, there is a set of carved dragon pattern flower low benches and eight immortal tables, and there is a row of complete sets of flower tables and chairs by the back window, antique ornaments, seasonal melons and fruits are all available on the flower table, and there is a row of bookshelves on the right hand side of the door, which is full of rare books of the subset of scriptures and histories, and there is a bookcase in front of the bookshelf, and the four treasures of the study room are all available for paperweights and pens, and there is everything, on the contrary, on the left hand side of the door is a simple and elegant shelf bed, Look at the shape should be from some royal thing.

Among the only guest rooms in this inn with the name of the sky, all the furniture is made of precious South China Sea pear blossom wood worth thousands of gold, and the other furnishings are all famous treasures of great origin, without exception, they are all from the royal tribute of the top empires in Jiuzhou, and they belong to the category that has no price and cannot be bought if they want to buy it outside, which is even worse than the set of Qingyun cups that Ke Yuzhen dropped in the Zhu family.

Moreover, how many years has the whole Zhu family been passed down from generation to generation, there is only one set of Qingyun cups in total, but in this room between the sea of clouds, there is not only one set of such things, which shows how luxurious and spacious this room is! Since the opening of the city in the town, this room has been arranged to accommodate no more than a handful of guests!

But in the past two days, the Tianzi room between the clouds has opened, and the guest staying in it is a tall thin old man with white hair and wide robes and big sleeves, and there are two young people, a man and a woman, who entered the inn with the old man, and they were arranged by the shopkeeper of the inn Fan Lao in the No. 1 and No. 2 guest rooms.

Today, this pair of young people are also in the Tianzi room, among which the girl who walks and jumps is now lying on the side of the wide desk napping, the long sword with tassels that has always been carried behind her back, just leaning on the table leg next to the desk can reach the position, and the young man who looks a little older sits on the chair by the window, placing the sword horizontally on the leg of the legs that are upright and together, pressing the scabbard with his left hand, and holding a red apple in his right hand, but he did not eat it. Just holding it in his hand and dangling it casually, it seemed that his attention was not on the fruit, but he looked at the table of eight immortals in the guest room with empty eyes, without saying a word, stunned.

At this time, there was a chessboard on the table of the eight immortals that the boy was staring at, with nineteen vertical and horizontal lanes, and the black and white chess pieces were placed in different chess positions at intervals.

This game of chess has lasted for many hours, the chess players are two old people of different ages, one is naturally the tenant of this room, that is, the thin and tall old man with silver hair, surnamed Qin Gu Xi, is known as "non-Confucianism and Mo", one of the sons of the Mo family, the second head of the Mo family, and also the chief disciple of the famous Mo family's first ancestor Mozi, this identity is almost one of the top groups of people in Jiuzhou.

Sitting opposite him was the old shopkeeper with a rich round face in the sea of clouds.

The two old men chess to the middle of the game, the white-haired old man holding the black man in his hand twisted the chess pieces and did not fall, suddenly withdrew his hand, intentionally or unintentionally looked up at the rich old shopkeeper opposite, and said with a smile: "Mr. Fan, after this game of chess comes here, it seems that each has its own first move regardless of the winner or loser, I don't know what Mr. thinks, the next plan will be settled?" ”

The old shopkeeper who was questioned was also holding a white chess piece in his hand, and he had been rubbing back and forth for a long time, waiting for the end of the opponent's long exam, when he heard this, he raised his head and looked at the white-haired old man opposite, shook his head with a smile and said: "Mr. Qin's words are exalted to me, and the old man will only make an calculation for the rest of his life." ”

As he spoke, he glanced at the chess piece in his hand, and said with a smile: "Although this chess piece is somewhat similar to the shape of the abacus, and if you have to let the old man fiddle with one or two on this small chessboard, he can barely cope with it, but if this chessboard is enlarged a little more, and when it comes to a larger chess game, the old man will definitely not be able to figure it out!" ”

The white-haired old man on the opposite side listened to the old shopkeeper speak like this, and shook his head with a helpless smile, and then took root on the chessboard with the sunspot in his hand, and at the same time looked at the old shopkeeper and said: "Mr. Fan is afraid that what he said is too modest, almost everyone knows that the four grades of the Jiuzhou Immortal Family are above the fourth grade, and the vigorous national fortune battle in Shijizhou back then, although your Mr. Fan is not a real chess player, but the reputation of the mastermind of this side must be unyielding!" But now Mr. said that he is not proficient in chess, so I am afraid that in this world, there are only a few people who dare to say that they are proficient in two words! Besides, Mr. is not just planning to plate, if the old man remembers well, you still wear the title of the martial temple attendant on your head, right? ”

The round-faced and rich old shopkeeper just smiled when he heard this, neither admitting nor denying it, following the actions of the white-haired old man, he also put the white seed in his hand in the position he had already calculated, and the old god was there, without saying a word.

The old man surnamed Qin was not disappointed when he saw him like this, and after pressing a chess piece again, he smiled again: "Since Mr. Fan doesn't want to talk about the situation, why don't you talk about that little guy from the Zhu family?" In the old man's opinion, if he dared to reject the young sect master of Shuixiu Lake who was on the verge of anger in person, the courage of this little fat man was not small. ”

The old shopkeeper's hand ready to drop the chess piece paused slightly above the chessboard, and failed to press the chess piece smoothly, he first raised his eyes and glanced at the smiling expression on the face of the old guy opposite, and then sat up straight and nodded, and said with a calm smile: "The old man has been here for hundreds of years, and he changes his identity every few decades, and this sea of clouds has also reopened again. ”

The white-haired old man on the opposite side smiled secretly when he heard this, and his heart was true, but he turned his head and said deliberately as if he was demolishing the stage: "But I look at the little fat man's mind, it's not as straightforward as his self-proclaimed smart housemaster, aren't you afraid to lose your eyes?" ”

The old shopkeeper knew that he deliberately did not poke it, but calmly explained: "We, the traders who calculate money, have never said that we will make sure that we will not lose money. ”

After that, he dropped the white zi in his hand on the chessboard, his eyes turned around, and swept over the two young men who were sitting on their stomachs in the other two places in the guest room, changed the topic and continued: "After six years, I have been guessing who the Mo family will come to Liangzhou?" But I don't want to open my eyes in the past few days, but it is Mr. Qin who has arrived in person, I don't know if you have a conclusion about the old man Chu at the east entrance of the town? ”

The old shopkeeper turned the topic here in a few words, which made the white-haired old man a little unexpected, and his originally smiling expression became solemn, he frowned and said in a deep voice while observing the situation in the plate: "One of the saints of the three sects and the four directions, the dignified qi practitioner asked the Ten Realms, but died because of an accident, which is really unbelievable!" ”

This is tantamount to admitting in disguise that there is no conclusion.

Shopkeeper Fan heard this, but his expression at this time was not very good-looking, listening to Old Man Qin's words, he also nodded, and said slowly: "A few days ago, the Red Lotus Sacrificial Wine from Fengxue Building once went to that courtyard, and the old man also heard the news from the sloppy husband afterwards, saying that the reason why Old Man Chu took his life was not because of this Yanguan Town, but because of that child...... If this statement is not false, then the various statements that the Hundred Schools of Thought have been promoting before may have been looking in the wrong direction from the beginning......"

The old man, who had half of his mind still on the chessboard, was stunned when he heard this, and then he couldn't think about the direction of the chess move, and after looking at the old shopkeeper for a while, he suddenly realized: "No wonder when the old man entered the town, he saw that the young man's breath was mixed but he couldn't see the origin, and later deliberately accosted him, but found that he had no cultivation...... No wonder, no wonder! ”

The old man said two "no wonders" in a row, but did not say the following.

The old shopkeeper glanced at the old man's stunned expression, and smiled: "It's still the same sentence, if this news is true, I'm afraid that the situation in this Yanguan Town under our feet will be even more complicated and difficult to solve." ”

"Yanguan Town has always been one of the places where the princes are watching, and those who dare to attack the town guard saint so blatantly to take their lives must not be the sect within the nine grades, they don't have the guts!" The white-haired old man looked solemn, and said in a solemn tone with half thought: "But those who don't enter the stream don't have this ability......"

At this point, he looked up in amazement at the old shopkeeper opposite.

Shopkeeper Fan nodded, stretched out his hand to put a chess piece in the last chess position on the chessboard, and said lightly: "There are two possibilities, one is the four major palaces, and the second is ......."

The old shopkeeper didn't speak in full, and after speaking, he glanced at the old man Qin opposite.

In the eyes of the two, there were ink clouds overturned.

——

At the foot of the Longbei Mountain in the east of the town, on the official road opposite the two tombs on the other side, the three masters and servants of Shuixiu Lake, who were about to leave this place and return to Jinchai Island, were stopping and looking back.

This place is already out of the scope of that town, and it is not under the supervision of those saints, so at this time, in their eyes, Yanguan Town seems a little looming, and it is not very real.

Young Sect Master Ke Yuzhen's face was very unsightly, and his face was gloomy.

The graceful and luxurious middle-aged beautiful woman, Zheng Shurou, withdrew her gaze from the distant town, glanced at her son beside her, and said softly and comfortingly: "Don't be too resentful, although the fact that Zhu Zhen did not enter Shuixiu Lake is a little unexpected, but in fact, it is not completely unfavorable to us. ”

As she spoke, she suddenly turned her head to look at the unknown old woman behind her, and chuckled, "What does Mama Xin think?" ”

Ke Yuzhen glanced sideways at her mother, and then looked at the old woman, waiting for her answer.

The old woman bowed down and was silent, hesitated for a moment, nodded and spoke slowly: "Childe, in fact, from the moment Zhu Jiantang chose to cooperate with our Shuixiu Lake more than ten years ago, the result of our victory is basically a foregone conclusion, and it has nothing to do with whether they suddenly change their hexagram today or not." ”

Mrs. Zheng nodded with a smile, glanced at Ke Yuzhen's expression that she still didn't understand, so she deliberately used the means of the immortal family's voice transmission into the secret, and explained in detail: "The Zhu family, as one of the four surnames of the salt officials, is one of the pillars of this big array, which is also an important reason why the Zhu family has always been rich and evergreen, but it is a pity that Zhu Jiantang violated the ancestral teachings and wanted to climb the green clouds without being satisfied with the wealth and wealth, don't you know that once they are no longer willing to be satisfied with the status quo, they begin to decide to leave this place, Then the salt official array in front of us is destined to be unstable, and whether Zhu Zhen enters Shuixiu Lake or not, the situation of Zhu's departure is also doomed, plus the pressure you put on them before leaving, it will also become one of the motivations for them to work harder to get out of trouble, so that in the end, the result is that the more they work hard for this, the faster this big array will collapse! ”

At this moment, Ke Yuzhen, who has always thought that the city government is smart, instantly blessed his soul and understood a lot of things, no wonder he had a grudge with the little fat man when he first arrived in the Zhu family, his mother just frowned but did not stop him, no wonder he said that he wanted to take away Liu Qingqiu, and his mother did not object.

Mrs. Zheng saw what her son was thinking at a glance, raised her hand and touched the top of Ke Yuzhen's head, and said with a gentle smile: "It doesn't matter the overall situation, my son can do whatever he wants, you are the meat that fell from his mother's body, how can there be any reason to stop you?" ”

Hearing this, Ke Yuzhen's originally terrible mood finally brightened up, and after thinking about it, he said regretfully: "It's a pity that the mud leg surnamed Chu didn't die in my hands, otherwise this trip would really be a success." ”

Mrs. Zheng nodded, and after thinking about it, she said indifferently: "There is no need to force it, after your father negotiated a deal with that side, the other side only mentioned incidentally, let us take care of that young man, but did not clearly say that we must take his life, so whether it is successful or not, it will not hinder the overall situation." ”

Hearing this, Ke Yuzhen thought about it and nodded slowly, "Then forget it!" Anyway, on this trip to Yanguan Town, we have all done what we should do, and then we will wait for the promise to be fulfilled over there! ”

Mrs. Zheng smiled and nodded, "Well, in this way, as long as the other party does not break his promise, then I can be sure that Shuixiu Lake will be promoted from a fifth-grade sect to a fourth-grade sect within ten years. ”

——

Under the big locust tree at the east entrance of the town, two poor ghosts, one big and one small, squatted side by side under the big bell, each holding a blue porcelain bowl in his hand, and the bowl was full of a bowl of braised pork.

The sloppy man is still the one who eats with envy even the dog, but the young man on the side doesn't seem to have much appetite, and the chopsticks in his hand don't pull the meat in the bowl for a while, but he doesn't have much to eat.

Hou Junchen pulled a few chopsticks of fat meat into his mouth, gobbled it up, his mouth was full of oil, turned his head to see the young man's movement, rolled his eyes with his cheeks, and chewed what was in his mouth, while saying vaguely: "Sad, worrying about a use!" Whether it's a fight or a brain, you can't eat first? Could it be that if you starve yourself to death, the enemy can be buried with you? ”

The young man squatting on the side scratched the back of his head in distress when he heard the words, then let out a long breath, turned his head sideways and looked at the man, and said a little sadly: "Old monkey, I mainly sigh, we have known each other for three or four years, and this is the first time I have seen a return meal!" ”

The man originally pulled a mouthful full of braised pork, but he almost choked to death by these words!

He lowered his head and looked at the rice bowl in his hand, and then while protecting the edge of the porcelain bowl with his hand to prevent the meat from falling out, he raised his other hand, slapped the back of the young man's head, and opened his mouth to scold: "You dog, Lao Tzu sees that you are in a bad mood, and wants to buy you a bowl of meat to eat to satisfy your hunger, but you still have to say it?" Don't eat and pull down, get out of the way! ”

The young man was not angry when he was slapped in the face, he looked at the man sideways and smiled, "Old monkey, you have eaten my food for three years in vain, why can't you let me say a word?" I used to think you were just a slammer, but if you talk like that today, I'm going to start adding another one, and I think you're stingy! ”

At the time when the young man was talking, the man pulled two more mouthfuls of meat, rolled his eyes when he heard the words, squinted at the young man, and said with a smile: "Boy, now you owe me ten meals, but I don't owe you!" You dog thing now have to pour me money with this bowl of meat, don't fucking be weird here, otherwise be careful Lao Tzu is a dignified martial arts master, and he can't help but wave his hand and punch you to death! ”

The poor boy just smiled when he heard this, and did not refute it, he turned his head and looked in the direction of the east side of the town for a while, then took a deep breath and began to bow his head to compete with the braised pork in the bowl, and muttered vaguely while picking the meat in his mouth: "It has to be the meat fried by the chef in the inn himself, and it is always a little hot if we do it ourselves!" ”

The man seemed to be too lazy to pay attention to him, just bowed his head and ate meat.

Above their heads was the rust-colored old bronze bell, and while the two of them bowed their heads, the occasional breeze blew, and the bell body swayed, without drumsticks, and there were echoes.

……