In Miaoxiang Building, the prince Li Muzhi had no interest in morning tea, and simply ordered a tofu flower. I saw him sitting on a square stool, frowning slightly, carrying a blue and white porcelain spoon in his left hand, gently playing with the tofu flowers, but he didn't take a breath.

Cao Dong on the side was very relieved, and in a moment, he had eaten three bowls of tofu flowers in a row. Cao Dong thought to himself, this Miaoxianglou is worthy of being a time-honored brand in Turtle Town, and this tofu flower pickled is indeed delicious, and it is not much different from the dignified Forbidden City. Fortunately, he didn't know the sentence of the national teacher Wei Li, "that fool who doesn't have a brain", otherwise, I am afraid that he would have to be like Li Muzhi, panicked.

Li Muzhi gently put down the porcelain spoon, stood up, lightly placed an ingot of official silver next to the tofu flowers, held back a glance and was still gobbling up, shook his head helplessly, and said, "Martial artist, let's go back early." ”

When Cao Dong heard this, he picked up the bowl and drank a large mouthful of tofu flowers at the end, then wiped his mouth with satisfaction, stood up, and said again and again: "Okay, let the son wait for a long time." ”

Li Muzhi and the others walked out of Miaoxiang Building quickly, preparing to go back to an inn.

Li Muzhi's ghost paused for a moment, looked back at the three words "caged finch", and suddenly had a terrible thought in his heart, could it be that the national teacher is also a caged finch in the eyes of others? However, Li Muzhi immediately dispelled this thought, laughed self-deprecatingly, and continued to leave.

How is it possible, he is the national teacher Wei Li.

On the mountainside of the big turtle, there is a wooden hut, the room is not big, only one floor, push open the door is the guest hall for eating, there is a compartment behind the guest hall is the bedroom, there are only two small wooden beds in the bedroom, a basket of human height, a few old books piled up at the head of the bed, some folds but the traces of being flattened, obviously the owner of the book is often read. Other than that, there is nothing else. Although the house is not large, even a little simple, it is also clean.

This is the home of the young Mo Shiping.

"Squeak", as soon as the sky was hazy, a young man carried a basket of equal height on his back and pushed open the wooden door as softly as possible. The boy is ready to go out early to pick some fresh ingredients, pick a hidden place to place his homemade sling sleeve, and if he is lucky enough, he can catch wild chickens, ducks, rabbits and mice. Then we went to a small stream on the mountainside to see if we could catch a few fish with a net. After this trip, it was about the time when the sun was about to set, and Mo Shiping had to carry the goods on his back to the next trip to Da Turtle Town, in order to exchange for some daily necessities and so on. It's still relatively rare to return with a full load like before, and most of the time you can only sell some fresh wild vegetables, and your normal life is tight.

Just as Mo Shiping was about to close the wooden door, an old man from the compartment walked out. I saw that he was wearing a coarse linen coat, and although his hair was gray, he still walked with full of energy, which showed that his body was still very strong.

Mo Shiping covered the wooden door and said softly: "Grandpa, it's cold and windy in the morning, you can sleep a little longer, it's not dawn yet." ”

The eldest grandfather waved his hand lightly and replied indifferently: "It's okay, what is this." The old man had practiced martial arts when he was young, and his body was strong. ”

The old man paused, counted with his fingers, smiled, and asked slowly: "It's you, you have forgotten your life, what day is today, think about it." ”

Mo Shiping scratched his head, he actually knew what day it was, it was his birthday, and he was thirteen years old. As usual, every time he celebrates his birthday, his grandfather will take him to the inn in Da Turtle Town, go to have a good meal to celebrate his birthday, and then go to Yao's bookstore to help him buy an ancient book that he has in mind. Since Mo Shiping learned to read and write at the age of five, he has been given a copy on his birthday every year, some of which are travelogues about some strange things, some are novels about martial arts, and some are sage books that teach people the principles of living in the world.

But this year's Mo Shiping didn't mention these, firstly, he was not very lucky, and he only had a bumper harvest recently, and most of the profits were spent on the pot of monkeys he bought for his grandfather. Second, he thinks that in fact, it is not so important to have a birthday, and the children of poor families are in charge of the family early, as long as they remember it, it may be considered a birthday.

Shortly after Mo Shiping's twelfth birthday, when he went out with his grandfather, his grandfather stumbled and slipped down a hillside, fortunately he only scratched a little skin and sprained his ankle, and only needed to recuperate for a few days, nothing serious. When the grandfather tried to struggle to get out of bed the next day, Mo Shiping bit his lip tightly and refused to let him get out of bed. Then he carried the basket on his back, which was a little taller than him at that time, and went out.

On that day, Mo Shiping returned to the wooden house when it was almost dark and he couldn't see his fingers. He held his right hand behind his back, stretched out his left hand, raised the dozen or so copper plates he was holding in his palm, deliberately grinned, and said happily to the grandfather: "Grandpa, look, I will go alone in the future, and it will be fine." ”

But Mo Shiping's right hand quietly behind his back had a slender wound that was scratched, stained with dried blood.

In fact, that day, Mo Shiping, who was making a living alone in Big Turtle Mountain, was busy until the sun set, and he didn't catch a single hare or a wild fish. Some were just a thin layer of wild vegetables under the basket, and for this, they also scratched their right hand.

That day, when Mo Shiping arrived in Big Turtle Town, the inns were almost closed, and only a few were still open. But when Mo Shiping went with the basket on his back, the shopkeeper almost shook his head and said roughly: "What time is it, don't want it, come back tomorrow." ”

One by one, Mo Shiping's shoulders have been grinded out bloodshot by the thick rope of the basket. Finally, he carried the basket to the door of an inn.

At that time, an inn was closed, and Mo Shiping stood at the door and knocked lightly.

With a "squeak", Li Facai opened the guest door.

Mo Shiping originally wanted to speak, but when the words came to his lips, he bit his lip and didn't say anything.

Li Facai glanced at the wolf and smiled, stretched out his right fist, lightly hammered Mo Shiping's shoulder, and said, "Yo, I'm alone today, why is it so late, I've been waiting for you for a long time." ”

Li Facai helped Mo Shiping take off the basket, took away the thin layer of wild vegetables, and then stuffed Mo Shiping with a copper plate, and said: "What time is it, go back quickly, you don't sleep, I'm in a hurry to sleep." After that, he wanted to urge Mo Shiping to leave.

Mo Shiping put the basket on his back, closed the guest door for Li Facai, and the moment he turned around, tears flowed down his eyes. Mo Shiping wiped away his tears and whispered, "I owe you." He knew that these most common wild vegetables, at most, were only a copper plate.

Li Facai, who was about to hang up the door bolt, stopped, pushed open the door, stretched out his right hand, and slapped Mo Shiping's head, and said seriously for the first time: "If you say another word of arrears, you don't treat me as a brother." Let's go quickly, turn back to your old man and wait for a hurry. ”

"Hmm. Mo Shiping responded lightly, carried the basket, and trotted towards the big turtle mountain.

Inside the door, Li Facai hung up the deadbolt and sighed.

Even after the eldest grandfather recovered from his injury, Mo Shiping insisted on collecting ingredients alone. And the eldest grandfather didn't force himself too much, but just taught Mo Shiping a set of simple boxing techniques, telling Mo Shiping that he had nothing to practice on the way to make a living. The boxing method is not difficult, there are six styles in total. According to the grandfather, this is what he learned when he was young when he practiced martial arts, called Xingyi Boxing, which is a set of boxing methods that are widely circulated, and more practice can strengthen the body. Mo Shiping naturally needed it, after all, collecting and selling ingredients was a physical job, so he had been practicing unconsciously for almost a year.

Since then, what Li Facai has seen every day is Mo Shiping carrying a basket alone. Fortunately, Mo Shiping could only pick some ordinary wild vegetables from the beginning to become more and more proficient in the future, and occasionally encountered a bumper harvest with a full load, which also benefited from the set of Xingyi Quan to strengthen his body.

The eldest grandfather helped Mo Shiping take off the basket, and said with a smile: "Let's go, little birthday star." ”

"Hmm!" Mo Shiping smiled and nodded vigorously, it turned out that there were still people who remembered their birthdays, which was good.

At this time, at the foot of the mountain, Li Muzhi and Cao Dong behind him had already returned to the door of an inn. And the national teacher Wei Li happened to come out of an inn.

Wei Li still had that calm and breezy appearance, and he was the first to speak: "Childe, Fang Cai is really old and out of shape. ”

Since Wei Li said so, Li Muzhi naturally wouldn't ask more questions about being bored, so he had to echo: "It's a blessing that the old gentleman is in good health." ”

Next, the national teacher Wei Li took the initiative to propose that the three of them go to the foot of the mountain for a walk, so that for the purpose of this trip, they could investigate the beast that had become a fine beast to find out the rumors.

Since it was Wei Li who took the initiative to put it forward, Li Muzhi naturally would not have any objections, let alone Cao Dong, he only felt that the national teacher Wei Li was careful and meticulous.

It's just that this Li Muzhi thought about it a little more than Cao Dong, and this was the only time Wei Li took the initiative to propose it along the way.

The foot of the mountain is relatively empty, not as noisy as in the town, and there is only one tavern of decent size. And the tavern is full of famous hunters all year round, ready to go up the mountain to hunt.

Mo Shiping's usual livelihood on the mountain is from the mountainside down to the foot of the mountain. And up the mountainside, it is cloudy and misty all year round, and the view of the mountain road is not clear. Strange to say, the ferocious beasts are distributed on the mountainside up to the top of the mountain, and almost never appear below the mountainside, so Mo Shiping will never set foot on the mountainside.

Li Muyi and his entourage came to the tavern called "Meet Again" at the foot of the mountain without hurry.

Li Muzhi looked up at the plaque, "Meet again", for these hunters who lick blood on the tip of the knife, it is a good meaning.

Cao Dong stretched out his hand and pushed open the wooden door of the tavern, today's tavern was not lively, just two or three tables of people sitting on the lobby to eat and drink. Seeing them come in, most of them looked up and glanced at them coldly, and continued to eat.

Li Muzhi and the three of them randomly picked a corner table and just sat down, a person who looked like a shopkeeper trotted over and asked, "What do you want to eat?"

Li Muzhi asked for a pot of the tavern's signature roasted knife, and ordered some snacks such as sauced beef.

"Okay, wait a minute. The shopkeeper got the order, and immediately trotted to the back kitchen to instruct the cook.

The tavern was quiet, unlike in the town, except for the occasional whisper of a faint conversation that had been deliberately muffled.

Cao Dong glanced around, turned his head sideways to Li Muzhi and whispered, "Childe, there is something wrong with this atmosphere, it's better to be careful." ”

Li Muzhi shook his head, signaled Cao Dong to rest assured, and then replied: "It's okay, the atmosphere here is like this." ”

When Cao Dong heard this, he didn't say anything more, but he didn't let his guard down because of this.

And Wei Li didn't say anything, since this Li Muzhi could think of the reason, how could he Wei Li not think of it?

First, this tavern is a group of hunters who are about to set off to make a living, and the beasts of this big turtle mountain are even more famous for their danger and abnormality, so naturally they are not as interested as they are in ordinary taverns. Second, the hunters in the tavern had more or less heard some information, and since this was the case, it was even more impossible to talk at will, and if it leaked out, wouldn't it be an attempt to make a wedding dress? Third, when they went up to the mountains to hunt, they had to guard against wild beasts, and even more so against people. If you pretend to be close to you in a tavern and deceive your trust and cooperation, no one can say whether you will be stabbed in the back in the end.

After a while, the shopkeeper brought a pot of burning knives and a plate of cooked food.

Li Muzhi thanked him, and deliberately asked softly by the way: "This little second brother, our group came from afar to visit the Big Turtle Mountain, and we are not familiar with the place, I don't know if there are any things that need to be paid attention to in this Big Turtle Mountain, can you explain a thing or two?"

The shopkeeper glanced at the business in the store, which was not busy, so he nodded and replied, "I lost a few masters, otherwise it would be a bad thing." Go to this big turtle mountain, as long as a few masters are only halfway up the mountain, nothing will happen, and after half the mountain, you can't say. ”

When Li Muzhi heard this, he continued to ask: "Oh? There are such strange things, how can you say it?"

Dian Xiaoer stretched out his hand and pointed to the mountainside of the big turtle mountain, and said: "A few masters are outsiders who don't know, the residents of this big turtle town know that this big turtle mountain is very strange, those fierce beasts will only haunt the clouds and mist on the mountainside, and will never go down the mountainside, so you can play at ease under the mountainside, as long as you pay attention not to cross the mountainside." ”

"Thank you. Li Muzhi hugged his fists and thanked him.

The shopkeeper patted his head and added: "Oh, by the way, there is a wooden house halfway up the mountain, which is easy to see, and you can't go up to that position." ”

When Cao Dong on the side heard this, he opened his mouth and asked more: "Is there anyone living on that mountain?"

The shopkeeper replied, "Yes, it's an old man who lives there with a teenager." It is said that the old man practiced martial arts when he was young, so he was bold and dared to live there. The young man seems to have been picked up and adopted by the old man, but now he knows how to repay his kindness, and he carries a basket down the mountain to sell things every day, but he is diligent. ”

Wei Li, the national teacher dressed in black, clasped his fingers, tapped the table, and said to himself: "So that's the case." ”