All in all, everything he saw along the way made Xiao Shizhu very satisfied. In all localities and cities, you can see the people living and working in peace and contentment, and the officials are honest, and the social economy is also very prosperous, and at the same time, the public order is also very good.

Xiao Shizhu and the others have been sleeping in the open air all the way, but they have not encountered a single bandit, which makes Xiao Shizhu feel proud when he is pleased.

The mountain breeze blew the front of the noodle shop with a hunting sound. It also shook the dead grass on the roof of the shed outside the door.

The shopkeeper Sang had already moved the table out, and after setting it up in the shed outside the door, a shopkeeper with a white towel on his shoulder immediately rushed out of the store, helped Xiao Shizhu and them wipe the tables and chairs clean, and invited them to sit down.

Xiao Shizhu sat at the same table with the ghost mother, while Hu Biao sat at the same table with the four Su Tianju disciples, and of course, there was Shen Ji who had been hiding in Hu Biao's sleeve and had been sleeping for a long time.

"What do you want to eat? Our restaurant's signature braised green pork noodles are very popular in Miaoguang City. After they were seated, the smiling shopkeeper came over again and asked politely.

"Listen to the shopkeeper's arrangement, in addition to giving us a ghost and a bowl of noodles, please serve two or three delicious side dishes in your store, one or two portions. Xiao Shizhu didn't pick or choose, and said with a smile.

"Okay. The shopkeeper Sang said that he wanted to leave, but was stopped by Xiao Shizhu.

"Excuse me. Xiao Shizhu pointed to the outside of the shed, on the side of the road around the mountain opposite the noodle shop, the wooden pillars that stood on the side of the road and stretched out of the road half a zhang, and the pulleys installed at the front of the upper pillars, as well as the thick ropes coiled on the pulleys, and slowly asked: "In your Miaoguang City, are there many such instruments that can be pulled up and down?"

Xiao Shizhu and the others recognized at a glance that those machines were elevators placed all over the Yuque Palace, which could turn pulleys and go up and down at will.

It was a drawing that Mu Qingming improved through a pulley, and Lai Yueqi, who got the drawing, processed it and processed it, and made a machine; a few years ago, this kind of machinery was promoted in the Nine Shadows Kingdom, and now in all mountain cities in China, you can almost see this kind of machinery on the side of the mountain road.

"Yes, it is said that it was invented by Madame Lai, and we used it to carry heavy loads up and down the mountain in our spare time, so that it could quickly carry the sergeants up and down in wartime. The shopkeeper Sang has been opening the store for a long time, and he is also a talkative soul, and he can't hold it as soon as the box is opened: "This saves time and effort, and it really benefits the people." ”。

"The shopkeeper, do you think Mrs. Lai is great, or is it our mother of the country?" Xiao Shizhu nodded slightly in agreement, glanced at the ghost mother beside him, and then turned back to look at the pensive shopkeeper with interest.

"There's one for each of them. The shopkeeper Sang, who was still a little embarrassed, pondered for a long time before he spoke freely: "Mrs. Lai used her wisdom to make a lot of convenient instruments, and the mother of the country has made our lives better and better. They are all good ghosts worthy of the admiration of all the people, or our lord has taken two good wives. ”。

"Hahaha. Xiao Shizhu immediately laughed a few times when he heard this, and then asked: "What kind of ghost is the lord Xiao Shizhu in the eyes of the shopkeeper?"

If in another country, he didn't know Xiao Shizhu's true identity, but only regarded them as rich guests, the shopkeeper Sang would definitely go to the local government yamen to report him, and the crime was to call the monarch by name, and Xiao Shizhu would definitely end up disrespectful and ghostly.

But there is no such law in the enlightened Nine Shadows Kingdom, and the ghost people can not only call Xiao Shizhu by his name, but even give him a nickname, as long as it is not an insult to the malicious attack on the government and the lord, the ghost people can almost speak freely.

"Lord?" Hearing this, the shopkeeper raised his head slightly, and pondered: "I heard that he is a ghost with strange words and deeds. ”。

Xiao Shizhu immediately lowered his head when he heard this, and after a little loss in his eyes, he muttered in a voice that he could only hear: "I'm a strange ghost?"

The ghost mother was covering her mouth and snickering, Su Tianju's disciples, the fungus man Shenji, and Hu Biao wanted to laugh but didn't dare to laugh in front of him, so they had to hold back, their cheeks flushed and bulged.

"However, he made the Nine Shadows Kingdom prosperous and powerful, and the military was strong enough to compete with the Northern Yin Dynasty, which often oppressed our souls, and he was still in the country, completely banning the ghost slave market that bought and sold human souls; From this point of view, the lord Xiao Yige is also a good ghost worthy of our ghost people, and he can sincerely admire him. With a sigh, the shopkeeper turned around and walked slowly towards the store.

completely regarded these as small talk, and did not suspect Xiao Shizhu and them at all.

But Xiao Shizhu's eyes lit up when he heard this, and the joy that overflowed his eyes swept away the loss on his face before, and then he raised his head and looked directly at the ghost mother, and said proudly: "See, I'm also a good ghost!"

"Good. The ghost mother had long been accustomed to his kind of joy, and his appearance was proud and proud, so she just calmly took out a pair of bamboo chopsticks with two ends from the chopsticks, wiped and wiped them with her own clean embroidered handkerchief, and handed them to Xiao Shizhu, and said unhurriedly: "Good ghost, please continue to love the people like a son, don't leave too much infamy for future generations." ”......

In the middle of the country of Mashou in Fenglinzhou, there is a prosperous city in the basin between the two towering and steep mountains on the north and south sides, and the peaks are showing.

This city, which is divided into inside and outside in the shape of a zigzag, is the capital of Mashou Castle.

Speaking of this Ma Shou Kingdom, although it is a vassal state of the underworld built at the same time as its neighbor Guoxiong Kingdom, it has nothing to do with the Shou Ma Kingdom recorded in ancient books in the world.

In the beginning, this was the place where the Emperor Xudu distributed the souls of the dead to do coolies. Because of the high yield of all kinds of underworld minerals here, most of the souls who died were sent to this place to mine for the Northern Yin Dynasty. And King Mashou's past was just a foreman who mined for the Northern Yin Dynasty.

As for the soul of the person who dies at the end of his life, his family will not bury his bones hastily, and he will wear a sackcloth and shroud neatly before being buried, and this kind of human soul is still dressed like this when he arrives in the underworld. Therefore, after the founding of the Mashou Kingdom, the king of Mashou gave his country the name of Mashou.

Ma is Mai, and Shou is Shouyi. From then on, the regular clothes of the ghosts of the Mashou Kingdom were either sackcloth or mourning clothes.

But in the underworld, ordinary human souls are generally not welcomed, and it is okay to be bullied by ghosts and demon spirits in the past, along with human souls, those human souls who call themselves old gods will also bully them. Therefore, in Fenglin Continent, where the old god kingdom is the majority, the Mashou Kingdom, a vassal state composed of ordinary souls, has always been the target of bullying.

And now, the life of Ma Shouguo, who has rebelled against the Beiyin Dynasty, is even more sad. Under the fierce pursuit of the bear country, which was loyal to the Northern Yin Dynasty, the fifteen cities in the north of the Mashou country all missed.

If this continues to be fought, it won't take a few years for Ma Shou Kingdom to be erased from the map of the underworld.

In the middle of Mashou City, there are many pavilions and pavilions, and in the palace of Mashou with beautiful scenery, the king of Mashou, who is dressed in white linen made of fine and ripe linen, and his eyebrows are tightly locked into the Sichuan character, sits on the throne in the umbrella-shaped pavilion in the palace that is hexagonal in shape, and the twelve vermilion pillars hold the hexagonal heavy eaves and the spire.

Among the three souls standing in front of him with solemn faces, the two ghosts were old ghosts with white beards. The other is a blue-faced human soul wearing armor, but his neck and legs are twice as long as ordinary human souls;

"Ji Xuanyuan sent a female lu, and together with Li Mu, he was attacking the central region of our country. King Mashou, who had a square face, looked around at the three souls in front of him, and raised the two thick eyebrows on his face: "Do you have any clever plans to retreat from the enemy?"

The human soul in front of King Mashou's left hand took the lead in speaking after a little thought: "The land is cut and the compensation is settled. ”。 This person's soul is named Ma Qitian, and he is now the minister of Ma Shouguo.

As soon as these words came out, he was immediately retorted by the soul of the Qi decaying mourning clothes across from him, who was dressed in coarse linen cloth and sewn neatly on the edges: "You must not cut the land and pay compensation. ”。

This human soul who is dressed in Qi decay and has wrinkles on his old face is also surnamed Ma, named Maqishan. It is the generalissimo in charge of soldiers and horses in Mashou Country.

Seeing that the two ghosts had different opinions, King Ma Shou did not speak, but just motioned to Marshal Ma Qishan to continue.

"Ten days ago, the Northern Yin Dynasty sent a ghost to our country and issued a holy edict to recruit peace. When Ma Qishan bowed slightly, he stroked his long beard and said leisurely: "This is a signal, and it is a signal that the Beiyin Dynasty is willing to fight with our country." ”。

The cold wind whistled outside the pavilion, and King Mashou's brows furrowed even tighter.

"There is no point in continuing the war, we don't have the strength of the Nine Shadows King, and confronting the Northern Yin Dynasty is tantamount to self-destruction. And the bear country, which replaced the Northern Yin Dynasty to conquer our country, is also very powerful. If the war continues, I don't know how many more people will die as a result. After a pause, Ma Qishan, who was full of solemn faces, continued: "If the headless king Xingtian is not defeated and escapes, our two countries can still save the situation. But he was defeated and became an exiled prince, and the headless ghost country will not support our country. If we wait to accept Zhao'an while the iron is hot at this time, it will not only calm the war, but also make the bear country have no excuse to conquer. ”。

As soon as these words came out, Ma Qitian and Changfu were dumbfounded; it was he Maqi Mountain who instigated King Mashou to oppose the Beiyin Dynasty at the beginning, and now it is he Maqi Mountain who wants King Mashou to accept Zhao'an.

What is he going to do when Ma Qi Mountain falls? Even Chang Fu and Ma Qitian can't see through it.

But King Ma Shou chose to remain silent, he lowered his head slightly in thought, and his frown never opened.

He is a human soul who values love and righteousness, and once he thinks that his people are living in dire straits because of the war for many years, he is worried for a while; but let him stop talking about it, and ask him to beg Quan to surrender to the Beiyin Dynasty, which has oppressed him and his people for thousands of years, he is very unwilling.

For a while, King Ma Shou fell into a tangle.

"King, good birds choose trees to perch!" Seeing that he silently did not answer or express his position, Ma Qishan suddenly became excited, suddenly took a step forward, and said in a voice that was a few decibels higher than before: "And the holy oracle of the Beiyin Dynasty says very clearly, you can keep your throne and give you a fortune." What's more, this will allow the people to come out of the dire situation. Do you want to watch the people continue to live in the midst of war, my lord?"

King Mashou was suddenly stunned when he heard this, and when his eyes widened a little, his eyes were filled with a little fear; he was not afraid of war, but afraid of his own willful behavior, and it was really as Ma Qishan said to bring more sorrow to the people of Mashou Country.

"Enough is enough of Maqi Mountain. Chang Fu, who had been silent, glared at Ma Qishan with angry eyes, and scolded in a deep voice: "Your idea is worse than overnight dinner!"

"Stop arguing. Just when Ma Qishan was about to fight back at Changfu, King Ma Shou shouted and said, "For the sake of the people, I am in favor of Zhao'an." ”。