Heaven does not know the evil of the world, and the sky is full of stars on the graves.

After the flood, Pingzhou has almost become an empty city. The corpses that were not buried gave off a strong stench, insects and flies ate and scavenged, epidemics were prone to arise, and the people who were lucky enough to survive fled in all directions.

It is the second day of the first month of June, Xia Muren has been here for a month and a half, and he has lost a lot of weight every day. As early as when he was in the capital, he had already read the report, and knew that the flood in Pingzhou was a disaster that Dahua had not seen in 300 years. However, when the sedan chair was settled outside the city, he was still shocked by the tragic situation in front of him: Standing on a high place and looking into the distance, the yellow mud in his eyes was like silt, the houses had collapsed into ruins, and his eyes were full of desolation.

The monstrous waves hit the city, but there are still a very small number of mansions that are not damaged, and people and property can be preserved in the disaster. And what they all have in common is that they build on high ground.

"The water flows low, and the people go high. The original meaning of this old saying was to persuade people to go to higher places to avoid flooding. However, when it was handed down in later generations, it was artificially given other meanings, tampered with as "people go to high places, and water flows to low places." ”

On the east bank of the Pingzhou River is Pingshan Mountain, which stretches for hundreds of miles, and most of the mansions that have survived are at the foot of the mountain and on the mountain. There is a piece of tens of thousands of acres of flat land at the half waist of Pingshan, more than 170 families live here, and it has become a fall for a long time, calling itself "Pingshangyuan". There are mountain fields, fruit forests, mud ponds, and springs; strong men are engaged in farming, women are weaving, the old are collecting relics, and young children are herding sheep, and hundreds of people have been living a self-sufficient life all along.

Before Xia Muren left, he had already made sufficient preparations, and as soon as he arrived in Pingzhou, he went straight here. The villagers of Pingshangyuan are all pure and kind, and when they see the flood under the mountain, all things do not exist, although they have the heart to rescue, they are beyond their power. Seeing that the imperial court sent people to provide disaster relief, of course he was overjoyed, and spontaneously vacated the largest houses and ancestral halls in the original. Xia Muren brought a lot of people on this trip, more than 28,000 people. However, except for more than 300 personal guards, the rest were all disaster relief conscripts.

More than 28,000 conscripts had already been arranged to deal with the aftermath, and in addition to the 300 personal guards who remained with Xia Muren, there were only nine old and young monks left in Kuchan Temple to go to the imperial court to recruit orders. It turned out that the old monk Hanging Moon and his entourage learned about the rare catastrophe in Pingzhou City in Xiaozhou Mansion of Limin County on the fourth day of the fifth month, and temporarily decided to transfer to Pingzhou to go to the capital. The monks were kind-hearted, and when they saw the terrible situation inside and outside the city, how could they just leave? However, the rations they brought with them were insufficient, and they could not be replenished nearby, so they could not support themselves for a few days.

It's the beginning of the hour, and the Sanskrit sound is still lingering in the ancestral hall—

"Nam no Amitabha night, Dortagada night, Dortaga night. Amiri Dubhavi, Amirido. Sidhamma, Ami sneered. Vigalandhi, Ami Bab. Vikaranta, Gamita, Gagana, Tsagalisha Bhaha......"The recitation of the monks is the Buddha's Mantra of Rebirth.

The summer night on the mountainside is as cool as autumn, if you don't think about the 400,000 souls under the mountain, looking at the starry sky here, wouldn't it be a beautiful thing to let the mountain wind hit you?

Xia Muren was unhappy, not only for this ill-fated family and country, but also for what he did in the past. "Is the throne really so important? Look at these common people, the fortunate ones, who work hard in the fields, and live as a family, young and old, and the mourners, who have nothing to eat, and still can't get a day's food. What's more, such as the hundreds of thousands of people in Pingzhou, a calamity that did not cause them to die, how miserable it is to be outside the wilderness of violent corpses! As a prince of the prince, I am already under one person, above thousands of people, enjoying the wealth of the world, do I really want to fight for the supreme throne again? Over the past year or so, the Mu Dynasty has gradually regained its edge above the court, and its intention to retreat has been revealed, and it seems that it has also made a choice. Alas, Mu Chao really deserves the title of 'wisdom'! Thinking about what I have done in the past ten years, how can I talk about the word 'benevolence'? Hehe......"The dead of night is an excellent time for self-analysis, Xia Muren's mind is dull, and he is secretly ashamed.

The night was so quiet that it could not hide the slight sound of footsteps. A man in the prime of life with white hair and black beard walked over, bowed down and said, "Lord Wang, I just received a letter from the prince of the world. After speaking, he handed over an envelope with both hands. Although the stars are shining outside, after all, the vision is not clear, let alone reading letters and reading words. Xia Muren took the letterhead and walked quickly to the house, and the white-haired and black-bearded man in his prime slowly followed him.

Xia Chenghuan is twenty-eight years old, thoughtful, cautious, and appropriate, and is the most powerful among the emperors and grandchildren. Since he had written a letter, it must have been something important going on in the capital. Xia Muren sat down in front of the bookcase and opened the letter to read it carefully.

... ...

"Alas, the tree wants to be quiet but the wind does not stop, I want to retreat but I am not allowed..."Xia Muren muttered after reading the letter.

The white-haired and black-bearded man in the prime of life saw him like this, and knew that there must be something unfavorable in the book, his hands clenched into fists, and Tong Yin asked coldly: "Master, Ah Tong is going to kill for you!" In his eyes, Xia Muren is a god, and those who violate the gods will die.

"Haha... Kill someone? Now it's someone else who wants to kill me. Xia Muren's eyes were sharp and he sneered.

Ah Tong's face changed, and he took the letter from Xia Muren's hand and looked at it. He was absolutely loyal to Xia Muren, in exchange for absolute freedom in front of Xia Muren.

"Nine Palaces! Zhang Suiguang is not boring anymore!" Ah Tong frowned and said coldly. He never thought that the one who wanted to kill Xia Muren would be the Nine Palaces.

The Nine Palaces are all over Dahua, the Turkic Kingdom, Shatuo, Xian Ma and the Snow Country, and it is the largest killer hall in the world. The name of the hall is taken from the ninth hall of the ten halls of the underworld: the king of equality. There have always been nine masters in the Nine Palaces, they have extremely high martial arts, decisive and ruthless, and they are the supreme controllers of the Nine Palaces, and Zhang Suiguang is one of the nine masters of the Nine Palaces at this time.

The world is afraid of Zhang Suiguang, the poor are threatened by his salt gang, and the rich are afraid of his Nine Palaces. Therefore, whether it is in the rivers and lakes, in the market, or in the temple, everyone has to let Zhang Suiguang score three points. Fortunately, both the Salt Gang and the Nine Palaces have always acted according to the rules of the rivers and lakes, and they have never done anything out of the ordinary. This is why Xia Muren and Ah Tong were so surprised and angry when they knew that the Nine Palaces were going to send someone to assassinate them.

"Are you coming back?" asked Xia Muren.

"It's back, it's on the place. Hitomi bowed and replied. Although he is proud of his martial arts, he is not arrogant, and it is difficult to ensure Xia Muren's thoroughness by himself.

Xia Muren nodded, got up from his seat, paced a few steps, and then said: "You tell Ah Pu, Ah Lu, Ah Yan, Ah Ye, Ah Ye, Ah Ye, Ah Jian, Ah Ji The people of the Nine Halls will definitely look around, don't let them know the truth. ”

"Yes, master!" Ah Tong sneered, "Even if Zhang Suiguang comes in person this time, he will definitely leave him on this plain!" In his opinion, the eight eyes and two flats plus three hundred personal guards are all the nine masters of the Nine Palaces, and they are not afraid at all.

Xia Muren nodded lightly, with a sad look on his face, and slowly spoke again: "There is another matter, you sent people to greet the villagers one by one, and asked them not to reveal the information that several monks of Kuzen Temple are here. Master Hanging Moon and the five senior monks will not sit idly by, and will be a great help to us. If Zhang Suiguang knew that Master Hanging Moon was here, he would never make a move. ”

Ah Tong bowed down and smiled: "Yes, my subordinates are also thinking about this section." ”

"Go ahead!" Xia Muren waved his hand lightly and sighed.

Hitomi got the instructions, quickly dodged out the door, and disappeared into the dark night.

The starry sky is still the starry sky of the previous moment, but Xia Muren's state of mind has changed: "How unfortunate it is to fight in the same room and kill each other!

"Nam no Amitabha night, Dortagada night, Dortaga night. Amiri Dubhavi, Amirido. Sidhamma, Ami sneered. Vigalandhi, Ami Bab. Vigaranda, Gamira, Gagana, Tsaga, Kalisha, Bhaha..."

"Uncle Shi, His Royal Highness King Yi has been waiting outside for a long time. "The true monk of the real character generation walked to the side of the old monk of the moon and reported in a low voice.

The monks of Kuzen Temple have been in this ancestral hall for the past few days, except for eating, they are chanting mantras, and they have little rest day and night. The old monk of the Hanging Moon listened to his report, got up from the futon, and asked, "Oh, lead me there." ”

An old man and a young man went to the ancestral hall.

Xia Muren was already waiting outside, and when he saw him coming, he bowed slightly and said, "Master, I'm bothered!"

The old monk of Hanging Moon returned the salute and said with a smile: "His Royal Highness King Yi, you're polite!"

"Master, Muren has something to ask for here. Xia Muren got straight to the point.

"Your Highness, but it doesn't hurt to say that the old monk will do his best. Monk Hanging Moon folded his hands and bowed slightly in reply.

Seeing that the old monk of Hanging Moon was so refreshing, Xia Muren couldn't help but smile and said clearly: "In this way, Muren thanked the master first." Is the master free? Why don't we talk while we walk?"

"The monks have always been leisurely, Your Highness, please!" said the monk of the Hanging Moon.

Although the flat plain is not large, several paths have been built through it. Although there was no moon in the night, the stars were scattered all over the sky, and the cold light shone on the ground, and I could barely see my feet. The two walked for more than a hundred zhang, and Xia Muren began to speak: "Master, do you know the Nine Palaces?"

"The name of the Nine Palaces is widely spread in the rivers and lakes, and although the old monk has not heard of it, he has also heard of it. Hanging Moon replied.

Xia Muren asked again: "I think the master also knows what they do?"

Hanging Moon looked sideways at him, and said, "The old monk naturally knows." Could it be... Could it be...?"

"That's right, Mu Ren just got the summons, and someone asked the Nine Palaces to come here to assassinate him. Muren came to Pingzhou only for disaster relief, and I never thought that someone wanted to take my life, and the guards around me were only afraid that they would be insufficient and difficult to deal with. Xia Muren laughed softly.

Monk Hanging Moon sighed and said in a deep voice: "Amitabha! His Royal Highness's benevolent name is widely spread all over the world, and there are people who want to do harm. Even here, we will never allow evildoers to do evil!"

Xia Muren clasped his hands together and saluted: "Muren has thanked the master and the monks of Kuzen Temple!"