On the bamboo recliner, the thin old Taoist priest Mai Li opened his eyelids, revealing a pair of gray eyes.

When he opened his eyes, he could clearly see that the gray eyeballs trembled slightly, as if just lifting his eyes, which had already made his already overwhelmed body even worse.

"I'm sorry that you can't welcome you from afar. I don't know if it's a disciple of the Sword Sect in the north or a disciple of the Sword Sect in the south. ”

The old Taoist priest's lips didn't move, but the sound came from his abdomen.

Ning Baifeng looked at the old Taoist priest carefully again, and replied, "Return to Yuanshan in the north." ”

The old Taoist priest didn't reply, but his cloudy eyes moved again to show that he knew.

Yuan Tai stared at the old Taoist priest's eyes for a moment, and sighed, "You're about to die." ”

"You're going to die!"

The little girl who was tucking the corner of the old Taoist priest immediately looked at her angrily, "Say bad things about my master again, you go, you go out!"

The little girl tucked the corners of the quilt and ran over to push Yuantai out.

"Cicada, be polite in hospitality. ”

The old Taoist priest's old voice sounded, "The guests are here, how can there be any reason to push out, go make a pot of tea." ”

The little girl looked at the old Taoist priest with some grievances, pouting, "Master......"

"Go, distinguished guests, make green apricot tea. ”

"Oh......"

The little girl was a little reluctant, raised her head and glared at Yuantai fiercely, and then turned around to make tea.

But he suddenly remembered something again, and said to Ning Baifeng, "Big brother, can you help me bring the water to the kitchen." ”

Ning Baifeng nodded with a smile, lifted the bucket and went to the kitchen at the back of the courtyard.

When the two walked away, the old Taoist priest said softly: "There is a stool under the eaves, move it yourself." ”

Yuan Tai glanced under the eaves, there was a small tea table, and a few small benches, he raised his hand, and the tea table and bench flew over, just between the two of them.

The old Taoist's cloudy eyes moved again, "You have a very familiar smell on you, have we ever seen it?"

Yuan Tai looked up at the sky above the small courtyard, did not answer this question clearly, and said with a smile: "It turns out that you rubbed the tortoiseshell pattern on my back back back to arrange this big array. ”

The old Taoist priest didn't react at first, and then his whole body shook, and a glimmer of light flashed in his cloudy eyes.

"Old turtle?"

He couldn't believe that after a few years, he would actually see this old spirit turtle walking the river again.

Yuan Tai sat on the small bench and said with a smile: "Li Lao Niubi, I accepted your love back then, if you hadn't stopped the old master in the end, a few of us would definitely not have been able to escape." ”

Speaking of the old events, the old Taoist priest fell into memories, and the whole person lay quietly on the bamboo chair, his cloudy eyes were deadlocked, and he looked like a dead man.

"It seems that you have successfully crossed the dragon gate, which is very gratifying. ”

After a while, the old Taoist's voice slowly sounded, "Back then, it was just a favor to repay you for rubbing the tortoiseshell pattern, which is not a big deal." Are you coming back this time to be ashamed?"

Yuan Tai glanced at the kitchen and said with a smile: "That's not it, what happened back then was not much of a grudge, although they took away the lotus, but we also killed and injured many disciples, relatively speaking, it can be regarded as a tie." ”

On the other side of the kitchen, a young man in white was helping the little girl make tea.

The old Taoist priest said: "It seems that you are quite sensible, not a fool whose body has turned into a human form, but your brain is still a beast. ”

Yuan Tai looked at the withered body of the old Taoist priest and frowned: "Then how did you become like this? If it weren't for the support of that golden pill, you would have turned into a pile of rotten wood, and in your situation, it is estimated that you will not be able to support it for too long." ”

At this time, Ning Baifeng came over with a saucer, put the teapot on the tea table, and poured the tea.

Although it was estimated that he couldn't drink tea in the situation of the old Taoist priest, he still poured three cups.

The old Taoist priest did not answer Yuantai's question, "Taste it, Qingxing helps clear the heart." Drinking half a pot before meditation and retreat can get rid of distractions and distractions, and it is a poor housekeeping object. ”

The tea soup in the cup is clear, the color is like amber, exuding a faint apricot fragrance.

Ning Baifeng took a sip of his tea.

The tea soup is slightly sour in the mouth, with a refreshing feeling after entering the throat, and the sour taste dissipates after a while, gradually returning to sweetness, which makes people feel relished.

Yuantai drank it directly, and shook his head: "It's sour, it's not a big deal, it's better to drink it." ”

The old Taoist snorted coldly, "After all, it's just a beast." ”

Yuan Tai raised his eyebrows, and then put it down again, thinking why should he be angry with a dying person.

Ning Baifeng put down the teacup and asked with a smile: "Senior, when I first came to your land, could I ask you something?"

The old Taoist priest guessed what he wanted to ask, and replied very calmly, "In recent months, many people have come around Dongyang Lake, and they don't know much about the poor Taoist trapped in the temple, if you want to know the truth, just find a place to ask when you go out of the Taoist temple." ”

Speaking of this, the old Taoist priest paused for a moment and continued: "But you'd better not show off your identity as a disciple of the Northern Sword Sect, let alone let this old turtle show its head. ”

This last sentence is not so much a reminder as a kind warning.

Ning Baifeng guessed the reason after a little thought.

Before the sword battle was fought, there would always be people who wanted to take advantage of it, and there were even those who used killing the disciples of the Northern Sword Sect as a bargaining chip to surrender to the Southern Sword Sect.

As for why Yuantai was not allowed to show up, it is very likely that it was because of the big trouble in the cave back then.

With Yuantai's approach of almost destroying it, it can be regarded as a mortal enemy.

After all, this is Dongyang Lake, which can be said to be the territory of Dongwei Sect.

Yuantai Yin and Yang snorted angrily, "I didn't want to trouble them, do they still want to die? With such a great majesty, isn't that old guy from Dongwei Sect dead?"

The old Taoist priest was silent for a moment and said: "It is true that he is not dead, the lotus flower that I took from you is a beautiful thing in heaven and earth, and it is called the immortal lotus, which makes Zhan Yi barely survive, and at the same time makes him a madman." ”

Yuan Tai's hand that was about to pour tea stopped, and he said in surprise: "What do you mean, there is something wrong with the lotus?"

The old Taoist priest sighed softly, "If you want to die, you must go crazy first." The lotus flower is a good thing, but to the human heart, it is poison. ”

Ning Baifeng drank tea silently, thoughtful.

The old Taoist priest continued: "Your big killing caused the Dongwei Sect to suffer heavy losses, and many sect seeds were killed by you. After Zhan Yi continued his life, he directly went out of the customs to kill the people who planned to take advantage of the Dongwei Sect after the war, and even wiped out several grudges in the mountains with a lifeless fighting style, so as to strengthen the Dongwei Sect. Now everyone knows on the Qianli Dongyang Lake that Zhan Yi is a madman who wants to kill and wants to pull people on his back before he sits down. ”

Yuan Tai raised his head sullenly and poured down all the sip of tea, smacked his lips, pinched the teacup and turned it in his hand, his eyes jumped lightly.

There was silence at the tea table.

Ning Baifeng suddenly asked, "Is this situation in the senior's body because of a grudge with Zhan Yi?"

The tea in Yuantai's hand stopped, and there was a soft snapping sound when it was placed on the tea table.

The old Taoist priest was silent for a long time, and said slowly: "The apricot blossom forest is a good place, but it is also easy to be coveted. There is an old apricot tree of thousands of years in the side yard next to it, which is the ancestral inheritance of the Taoist temple of the poor road, and the green apricot view also comes from this. ”

These words seemed to be a little irrelevant to what Ning Baifeng asked, but it was this explanation that let the two of them know that the matter was original.

There is no doubt that Zhan Yi has taken a fancy to the apricot blossom forest.

The old Taoist priest is about to die, and there is a good chance that he will be beaten like this.

Yuan Tai's face sank slightly, and he said in a low voice: "Is it because of the reason why you said those fair words before attacking the mountain?"

According to the old Taoist priest, Qingxingguan and Dongweizong are neighbors by Dongyang Lake, and the years should not be short, if there is a complaint, they will do it a long time ago, and they will not have to wait until now.

He has reason to believe that the reason why the old Taoist priest was beaten like this by Zhan Yi was because he spoke for them in the first place.

The old Taoist priest didn't speak, I don't know if it was because of his lack of strength, or because he was told the central matter.

Ning Baifeng turned his head to look at Yuan Tai and found that his face was a little gloomy.

In silence, the little girl brought over with a small tray and two bowls of porridge.

The little girl put one of the bowls in front of Ning Baifeng's table, "Big brother, drink it while it's hot, it's easy to have a stomachache when it's cold." ”

Turning her head, the little girl pouted and snorted coldly at Yuantai.

Then the little girl picked up another bowl and approached the old Taoist priest, "Master open his mouth, cicadas feed you." ”

The old Taoist priest spoke in ventriloquist until now, and his unopened mouth grinned with difficulty.

The little girl immediately pinched the spoon and fed the white rice porridge into the mouth of the old Taoist priest. While feeding, he wiped the corners of the old Taoist's mouth, and whispered: "Master, you are so thin, you need to eat more to get better." The cicadas are too small, so they can only make some porridge for you to eat, and when the cicadas grow up, they will go to the lake to fish and come back, and make fish soup for the master to drink. ”

Yuan Tai was a little unbearable, and was about to say something.

Ning Baifeng immediately raised his hand to stop him and shook his head gently.

The old Taoist priest is about to die, and no matter how much food he feeds, it is useless, and the little girl's hard work can be said to be useless.

Yuan Tai just wanted to tell the little girl the truth, but Ning Baifeng didn't want the little girl to be hit too cruelly.

A bowl of porridge is not much, and it is all fed quickly.

The little girl wiped the porridge paste from the corner of the old Taoist's mouth, looked at the old Taoist, and smiled happily.

"Master, you rest first, I'll go and heat up the medicine. ”

After speaking, he turned around and put the porridge bowl on the tray, but found that the bowl of white porridge placed in front of Ning Baifeng had not moved.

"Big brother, is the porridge I cooked not delicious?"

The little girl waited with big eyes, curious and a little apprehensive to look at the young man in white.

Ning Baifeng immediately picked up the porridge bowl, drank all the porridge in one go, and then handed the bowl to the little girl, looking at her with a smile, "It's delicious, it's delicious." Have you drunk it?"

The little girl took the bowl with a smile, shook her head and said, "I'm not hungry." ”

After speaking, he walked to the kitchen with the tray, and his steps were brisk.

When the little girl was far away, Yuan Tai whispered, "When are you going to tell her, or do you want to let her guard a corpse that is gradually stinking?"

This time, the old Taoist priest was no longer silent, "She is too young, I always think that I can last a little longer." ”

Yuan Tai asked, "One year, or two years?"

The old Taoist priest sighed heavily, powerless to refute.

His injuries were no longer able to recover, so he could only wait to die slowly. And this time is much faster than expected.

Yuan Tai said in a deep voice: "No matter what, I have received a lot of favor from you, and now that I have met it, I should pay it back, if you believe me, I can raise this child for you." ”

The old Taoist priest did not speak, and was silent.

Ning Baifeng said softly: "If the seniors are not at ease, I can ask people to send the Shocking Cicada to Huiyuan Mountain, or to the Great Yan Dynasty in the north, to ensure that this child will not suffer in the future." ”

Since Yuantai has received the favor of the other party, he can't be too casual, and it is impossible to turn a blind eye.

After a long time, the old Taoist priest said in a low voice: "It's not a good place, Kunzhou is going to be chaotic, the sword battle is just the beginning, if you really want to repay the favor, send her away from Kunzhou, the farther the better." ”

Ning Baifeng and Yuan Tai glanced at each other.

At this time, a voice came from outside the Taoist temple.

"Fang Sheng Zhenren, Gao Muhan in the Lower Cave Weizong, came to visit, and hoped that the real person would show up. ”